By Ev. King Osiemo

The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America, p. 99.1 (Percy Tilson Magan)

“As far as my observation goes, and as I understand the present status of the American people, we have no Constitution left.” Speech, United States Senate, Feb. 9, 1899.

“No man,” said Abraham Lincoln, “is good enough to govern another man without that other man’s consent. When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also another man that is more than self-government,-that is despotism.” Speech at Peoria, III,. Oct. 16, 1854

Liberty is an inalienable right. Nature has planted it in the human breast, and just as long as it exists there, many and grievous will be the troubles of colonial empires.

Colonial empires are wrong in principle. The conception of the thing itself is wrong. Colonial empires are built upon arbitrary theories and force, instead of on natural law. The splendid colonial system of England is held up as an example of this type of government; but Goldsmith called upon legislators—

” … to judge how wide the limits stand Betwixt a splendid and a happy land.” Written from Monticello, VA., Jan. 16, 1817 PRUS90.2

I speak also of that moral courage more important in a democracy, which defies the popular outcry in maintaining what it believes right, and in opposing what it thinks wrong.

If that man, faithfully obeying the voice of his conscience, frankly denounces that war, and thereby risks the public station he may occupy, or the friendship of his neighbors, and resolutely meets the clamor vilifying him as a craven recreant and an enemy to the republic, he is, morally, surely no less a hero than the soldier who at the word of command and in the excitement of battle rushes against a hostile battery.

“The Reflex of Imperialism” American Sentinel 14, 6, p. 82.
JANUARY 6, 1899, Hon. Wm. J. Bryan, in a speech at Cincinnati, O., said:—

“If we enter upon a colonial policy, we must expect to hear the command ‘Silence!’ issuing with increasing emphasis from the imperialists. When the discussion of fundamental principles is attempted in the United States, if a member of Congress attempts to criticise any injustice perpetrated by a government official against a helpless people, he will be warned to keep silent, lest his criticism encourage resistance to American authority in the Orient.”

And this being so, the following also from the same speech may be expected to come true in due time and order:—

“If an orator on the Fourth of July dares to speak of inalienable rights, or refers with commendation to the manner in which our forefathers resisted taxation without representation, he will be warned to keep silent, lest his utterances excite rebellion among distant subjects. If we adopt a colonial policy, and pursue the course which excited the Revolution of 1776, we must muffle the tones of the old Liberty Bell, and commune in whispers when we praise the patriotism of our forefathers.”

And if they do these things in a green tree, what will they do in the dry? Yet for all this, Mr. Bryan well says:—

“we cannot afford to destroy the Declaration of Independence; we cannot afford to erase from our constitutions, State and national, the Bill of Rights, we have not time to examine the libraries of the nation, and purge them of the essays, the speeches, and the books that defend the doctrine that law is the crystallization of public opinion, rather than an emanation from physical power

“But even if we could destroy every vestige of the laws which are the outgrowth of the immortal law penned by Jefferson; if we could obliterate every written word that has been inspired by the idea that this is a ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ we could not tear from the heart of the human race the hope which the American Republic has planted there. The impassioned appeal, ‘Give me liberty, or give me death,’ still echoes around the world. In the future, as in the past, the desire to be free will be stronger than the desire to enjoy a mere physical existence.” A. T. J.

W.J.Bryan, speech at Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan, 6, 1899, on the occasion of the Duck-worth Club Banquet

The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America, p. 129.2 (Percy Tilson Magan)
…

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Revelation:17:2,13

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Proverbs:23:29-30,32

What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Isaiah:3:15

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The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America
HomeAdventist Pioneer LibraryPioneer AuthorsMagan, Percy TilsonThe Peril of the Republic of the United States of America

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM—NATIONAL APOSTASY
Why Spain was conquered-Why America was chosen to conquer her-The setting sun of Spanish glory-An Old World power is driven from Cuba, but an Old World idea invades the United States-The doctrine that might makes right-The doctrine that right makes might-American Imperialism-The Declaration of Independence mocked at-The forcible annexation of the Philippines-A. D. 1899 ideas of the Declaration-Jefferson opposed to conquest-Ideas of John Fiske-James G. Blaine on wars of conquest-Macaulay on colonial empires-The American Revolution a war against the colonial system-Supreme Court opinion versus United States dependencies-The national records opposed to dependencies, in the organization of the Northwest Territory, treaty of cession with France over Louisiana purchase, in the treaty of Washington over the Floridas, in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo over California, Nevada, etc., and in the Gadsden and Alaskan purchases-A change of front on the “government by consent” doctrine-The purchase of the Philippines-Recent opinions on the “consent of the governed” doctrine-In the track of King George-Grand words from Carl Schurz-Criminal aggression-Can the government endure half citizen, half colonial?—The command, “Silence!”—Liberty at the point of the bayonet-Lord Macaulay on slavery in the West Indies-Is history a fable?

The war, begun in 1898, between the kingdom of Spain and the republic of the United States is now at an end, and the laurels of victory are worn by the armies and the navy of the Western Giant. Few were the battles and brief the campaign which laid the feeble foe prostrate in the dust. Continued violation of natural law had produced internal weakness and disintegration. Spain fell an easy and helpless prey, not simply on account of the superiority of American prowess and gunnery, but because of inherent weakness, produced by her own sin.

It was altogether fitting that the long struggle which the Iberians had carried on against their own colonies for the purpose of enforcing the ideas that all men are not created equal, and that governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, should be abruptly terminated by that nation which was conceived in principles the exact reverse of these theories.

That Providence willed it so, there can be no doubt. Only the hand that was free from the stain of despotism could be used to inflict punishment upon her whose every garment was spotted with its leprosy. With the surrender of Cuba and Porto Rico, Spain relinquished the last acre of that great landfall which Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought to the united thrones of Aragon and Castile. Spain’s administration of these domains was one long series of national crime. Long ago the King of kings arraigned her at the bar above, and there and then it was justly decreed that the unjust steward should have her stewardship taken away. Instalments of the penalty have fallen due from time to time. Just now we have witnessed the last payment, that of the uttermost farthing. And in the words of Lincoln, “As was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’”

As the stereopticon pictures dissolve upon the sheet upon which they are thrown, and fade away from view, so in a. d. 360 the empire of the Romans began dissolving upon the great sheet of time and space upon which all nations are cast, until in a. d. 476 the last faint traces and shadowy outlines of her once great power and glory had utterly vanished. But as her fleeting specter disappeared from off the canvas, the Visigoths, in the childlike bloom of semi-barbaric virginity, may be seen in that dim twilight of time stealthily gliding in to occupy the rich peninsula which the fall of Rome had left without a tenant. Weal might have been their day; glorious with white and gold the years of the hoar hair of their national existence, the harvest of their allotted span. By their own choice alone it has brought forth only tears and woe,-first to others, and finally to themselves. They followed in the steps of Rome, they repeated her history, and as far as colonial empire is concerned, they have met her end, while their own dissolution, the last grand tableau in the tragedy, already looms in the offing of time. For as God is no respecter of persons, even so he is no respecter of nations.

Columbus sailed with the intent of finding, not the West, but the East Indies. To the day of his death he never discovered his mistake. It was his intent there to plant the monarchical tyranny of Spain. Four hundred years have passed away since then, and it is passing strange that these United States, after breaking the power of Spain in the West, are even now engaged in fastening upon that land which Columbus sought to reach, those same Spanish principles of power and tyranny which he would fain have taken there.

An Old World power has been driven from Cuba, but an Old World idea has invaded and well-nigh captured the republic of the United States,-the idea that all men are not created equal, and that governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. There have been times when the ship of state in the United States has been partially diverted from her course, and greed has used her officers for private ends and personal emoluments. But now the very foundation-stones of the fabric governmental are being undermined.

Prior to the year 1898 this government was a republic pure and simple. Its foundations were laid in principle, and not in power. It was not an empire in any sense of the word, for the foundations of an empire are laid in power, and not in principle. It was built upon that everlasting rock that right makes might. Against this the coming of floods and the blowing and beating of winds are alike powerless, for it standeth sure and falleth not forever. But empires, on the other hand, are built upon that sinking sand that might makes right. Against these the floods come, and the winds blow and beat, and they fall, and great is the fall thereof.

To-day this nation is in danger of abandoning the rock and settling upon the sand. The love of power, so prone to the human breast, is smothering priceless, eternal principle. From being a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, it is being rapidly transformed into a government of some of the people, by a few of the people, for all the people. This is imperialism as opposed to republicanism, and this is national apostasy.

Until the summer of 1898 the word “imperialism” was but little heard from the lips of Americans. Now the very atmosphere is fairly drenched with it. A perfect wave of imperialism has swept over the land, and the desire for an Imperial America, or an “Imperial Republic,” as it has been styled, sits supreme upon hundreds of scores of souls. But an imperial republic cannot exist. With equal sense and propriety one might talk about “good badness.”

What means this wild babel of tongues clamoring for subjects over which to exercise sway? What means this strange jargon, formed from an Old World monarchical vocabulary? Are men crazed with the madness sometimes begotten by victory at arms? Are men drunken with the lust of colonial empire? Are men raving in the delirium of that dread fever, earth-hunger, in which all the monarchies of the Old World are writhing? Think they in the hour of triumph over a foe, outclassed at every point, to build a tower of national greatness which will reach to the very heavens, and at the same time to lay its unrighteous foundations on the stricken forms of vassal peoples? The result will surely be as it was before in the case of the builders of Babel, there will be confusion of tongues, and the dissolution of the nation. PRUS81.3

Until the summer of 1898 the word “imperialism” was but little heard from the lips of Americans. Now the very atmosphere is fairly drenched with it. A perfect wave of imperialism has swept over the land, and the desire for an Imperial America, or an “Imperial Republic,” as it has been styled, sits supreme upon hundreds of scores of souls. But an imperial republic cannot exist. With equal sense and propriety one might talk about “good badness.” PRUS 81.3

Prior to the year 1898 this government was a republic pure and simple. Its foundations were laid in principle, and not in power. It was not an empire in any sense of the word, for the foundations of an empire are laid in power, and not in principle. It was built upon that everlasting rock that right makes might. Against this the coming of floods and the blowing and beating of winds are alike powerless, for it standeth sure and falleth not forever. But empires, on the other hand, are built upon that sinking sand that might makes right. Against these the floods come, and the winds blow and beat, and they fall, and great is the fall thereof.

To-day this nation is in danger of abandoning the rock and settling upon the sand. The love of power, so prone to the human breast, is smothering priceless, eternal principle. From being a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, it is being rapidly transformed into a government of some of the people, by a few of the people, for all the people. This is imperialism as opposed to republicanism, and this is national apostasy. PRUS 80.5

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) Job:8:9

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RISE OF PAPACY AND RISE OF ELIJAH MOVEMENT, CLIMATE

…: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
Ecclesiastes:8:9

At the eleventh hour the Lord will gather a company out of the world, to serve Him. There will be a converted ministry. Those who have had privileges and opportunities to become intelligent in regard to the truth, and yet who continue to counterwork the work God would have accomplished, will be purged out, for God accepts the service of no man whose interest is divided. He accepts the whole heart, or none. 13LtMs, Ms 64, 1898, par. 26

CLIMATE: You cannot depend upon priest, rulers, human lawmakers, for, as in Christ’s day they teach for doctrines the commandments of men. They know not the Scriptures nor the power of God. Letter 12, January 23, 1897. (see also UL 37) https://t.co/R70NSmSWBg