L.B. Woolfolk

By illustrations given in the last chapter, the reader can perceive the method by which the symbols of prophecy are identified with the powers they symbolize .  We are now ready to proceed to identify the Dragon as the symbol of the London Money Power .

And here, I wish to say that, if there were not more evidence to prove that the Dragon is the symbol of the London Money Power, than there is to prove the identity of the other symbols of prophecy with the powers they symbolize, I should not venture to advance the idea at all, in this age of general scoffing of prophecy .

But there is about eight times as much evidence to prove that the Dragon is the symbol of the London Money Power, as there is to prove the identity of any other prophetic symbol with the power it symbolizes .—There is one Historical Mark, three Parallelisms of Character, and two Coincidences of Fact, to prove that the Lion with Eagle's Wings is the symbol of the Babylonian empire ;  and one Historical Mark, two Parallelisms of Character, and three Coincidences of Fact, to prove that the Bear is the symbol of the Persian empire .—But, on the other hand, there are no less than six Historical Marks, twenty Parallelisms of Character, and twenty-two Coincidences of Fact, to prove that the Dragon is the symbol of the London Money Power .  It seems as though divine inspiration had purposed to give such an array of evidence to establish the fact that the Dragon is the symbol of the Money Power, as would force conviction upon the most incredulous .

The Marks, the Parallelisms of Character, and the Coincidences of Fact, which prove that the Lion with Eagle's Wings is the symbol of the Babylonian empire, and the Bear, of the Persian, are not very striking ;—but the Historical Marks, the Parallelisms of Character, and the Coincidences of Fact, which prove the Dragon is the symbol of the London Money Power, are, all of them, striking, and some of them very remarkable-so remarkable, indeed, that no idea of a chance resemblance can be entertained for a moment .  They prove that Divine inspiration intended thus to mark the Dragon unmistakably as the symbol of the London Money Power .  It is evident that Divine Providence wished to make the proof of the identity of the Dragon with the Money Power so certain than none can doubt ;  but that, as it is said in another prophecy of the Dragon in the Old Testament, “He who runs may read”.  The proof dispels all doubt, and compels belief .

As the world may be slow to accept the fact that the Dragon is the symbol of the Money Power, I shall array the evidence in regular order, even at the risk of seeming tedious .

i .  first proof that the dragon is the symbol, of the london money power : historical marks.

1st .  Recapitulation .

Let us now briefly review the facts respecting the Seven Heads and Ten Horns :

1 .  The angel says of the seven heads, “there are seven kings,” that is, kingdoms or empires .  Of these seven empires he says, “five are fallen”.—These are the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Persian, and the Macedonian empires, which had all fallen at the time the vision was given .

2 .  The angel continues, “And one is .”  This was the Roman empire, which was in existence at the time when the Revelation was given .

I) Immediately after the fall of the Roman empire, ten Barbarian kingdoms were planted in its territories, which have been in existence ever since .  These Ten Kingdoms are symbolized by the Ten Horns which grew upon the dead Sixth Head of the Beast .

3 .  The angel continues, “And the other, [the Seventh Head] is not yet come ;  and when he cometh he must continue a short space.”—This is the Dragon head ;  and, as I shall prove, it symbolizes the London Money Power .

4 .  The angel then proceeds to explain the Beast from the Pit as an Eighth empire, but not an eighth head, being the Sixth Head come to life again, or the Roman empire re-established.—This Eighth empire, as we have seen, is the empire of Prussia at the head of Germany, extended over Southern and Western Europe .

5 .  The Dragon gives to Prussia its imperial dominion, as we learn from the 13th Chapter of Revelation, “The Dragon gave to the Beast his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

6 .  And then the prophet saw that the Dragon and the Beast wielded a united imperial sway over the empire :  “they worshipped the Dragon which gave power onto the beast :  and they worshipped the beast saying, who is like unto the beast ?  Who is able to make war with him ? ”

2nd .  Six Important Historical Marks

are here found, which will go far toward enabling us to identify the Dragon empire :—

First Mark :—The Dragon empire is the seventh empire in order of time .—Hence it is an empire which rises after the fall of the Roman empire, 476 a.d.

Second Mark :—The Dragon empire, “When he cometh must continue a short space .”

I .  Both of these marks prove that the Dragon empire is not the Papacy :  for I) The Papacy rose in the Pontificate of Leo the Great (440 a.d.-460 a.d.) before the fall of the Western Roman empire ;  and 2) The Papacy, instead of continuing “a short space,” has been in existence more than 1,400 years .

Leaving the Papacy aside, what empire has risen since the fall of the Roman empire, 476 a.d. ?

2 .  It can not be the empire of Charlemagne ;  nor that of Charles V ;  nor that of Napoleon I.  For those empires were only the temporary rising into power of one of the horns ;  and in each instance the access of power continued only for a generation .  The nature of the symbol precludes the idea that either of these empires could be the Seventh Head ;  for, as has been said, a horn can not become a head .  The ten horns are all upon the Sixth Head :  they are all accounted for :  from the nature of the symbol, neither of them can be the Dragon .

3 .  Aside from these empires and the Papacy, no empire has risen in Europe since the fall of the Roman empire, 476 a.d., except the Money Power of London .  It is the seventh empire of the earth .  It is the grandest Imperialism that has ever existed in the world .—This is especially an age of industry ;  and it has established an empire over industry, of which it is the head .  It is at the head of the mighty movement of the age in which the whole world is marching .  The kingdoms of Europe are all dependent upon it for loans .  They all truckle to it, and do its will .  They are kingdoms :  it is an empire .—Being the one empire that has risen since the fall of the Roman empire, it is the seventh empire :  and this Mark proves it to be the power symbolized by the Dragon .

That the Dragon empire is the London Money Power is corroborated by the other Historical Marks mentioned of the Dragon :—

Third Mark :—The Dragon empire a power of modern times .—In the 13th Chapter of Revelation it is contemporary with the healed head, or Beast from the Pit,—the Prussian empire .  And all expositors agree that the Beast from the Pit is a power that has not yet risen .  In the 13th Chapter of Revelation, the Dragon is represented as aiding in the rise of the empire of the Beast from the Pit, and as wielding with it a partnership imperial sway .—The Dragon empire is certainly a power of modern times, existing contemporaneously with the Beast from the Pit, a power that has not yet risen .  This agrees perfectly with the Money Power, which has also risen in modern times .

Fourth Mark : —The Dragon is represented, in the 13th Chapter of Revelation, as attaining its highest power at a time yet future .—This agrees with the Money Power, which is, in our time, rapidly rising in power, and will reach its highest point of dominion at some time yet future .

Fifth Mark :—The Dragon empire is the Seventh head :  the Beast from the Pit, or Prussian empire, is the eighth, in order of time .—Therefore it rises after the Dragon empire ;  the Dragon empire being in existence at the time of its rise, and aiding it to attain its imperial dominion .  Hence, if the Prussian empire is about to be established in the near future, the Dragon empire is now in existence .—And as the Money Power is the only such imperial power now in existence, it must be the Dragon .

Sixth Mark :—The Dragon empire was only to continue a short space.—And, as it is in existence at a time yet future, according to prophecy, its rise to imperial dominion can not be very far in the past .—This agrees with the Money Power, which, as we have seen, rose to imperial dominion in the year 1757, A.D., and has now been in existence one hundred and thirty years .

The Dragon Agrees With the Money Power in all these particulars .  There is no other power now in existence that agrees with these marks in any particular .  The Historical Marks of the prophecies point unmistakably to the Money Power as the imperialism symbolized by the Dragon .

This Far, the Conclusions Reached Are Sure .  It is impossible to dispute them .  The clear statements of prophecy are irresistible .—1) It is certain that the Roman empire is not yet re-established .—2) It is certain that the Dragon empire is in existence before the re-establishment of the Roman empire, and aids in its re-establishment—3) It is certain that, if the Roman empire is about to be re-established at an early day, the Dragon empire is now in existence .—4) It is certain, as the Dragon empire is to “continue only a short space” that, as it is in existence at a time yet future, it has risen to imperial power in very recent times .—5) It is certain that the Dragon is a power of modern times .

On the other hand, the Money Power is the only great Imperialism that is now in existence .—The Money Power is an Imperialism that has not been long risen .—The Money Power is an Imperialism that is still rising .—The Money Power is an Imperialism which has, by its loans, enabled Prussia to crush Austria and France, and to become the first power in Europe ;  and which, according to present indications, will soon, by its loans, enable Prussia and her allies, Britain, Austria and Italy, to crush Russia and France and attain to imperial dominion over Southern and Western Europe, and thus re-establish the Roman empire .—And just as the Money Power has wielded the power of Britain in the past, it will wield the power of Prussia, the Beast from the Pit, in the future .—All these Marks point unmistakably to the Money Power as the Imperialism symbolized by the Dragon .