T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S (like baptism ) to the god worshipped: in th e forehead, as the proof o t a wor shipping soul; in the hand, as the proof of a devoted servant. But th e main reason of the Mark is a masterpiece of economic diabolism. I t is imposed so “th a t no man should be able to buy or sell, save he th a t hath the m ark .” The transactions of com merce are made illegal w ithout it: it is th e voucher fo r all business tra n s actions: no one is prevented from en tering th e shops or m arkets, but before any deal across th e counter can be es tablished, the h a t must be removed, or the palm opened. Ay food will be ra tioned, and will be reserved for wor shippers of th e A ntichrist, publicly and indelibly self-confessed as such, alone: it makes all secret worship, or secret refusal to worship, impossible: as God demands public confession, so does Antichrist. The late W ar, by its univer sal registration and strict food-ration ing, brought us an enormous stride n earer th e goal; but the far superior economy of the final system is obvious — no enrolm ent, no reg istration cards, no costly organization; simply a cutting in the flesh, self-inflicted, and th ere fore self-expensive. A rem arkable ancient example occur red under Ptolemy. He decreed th a t all Jews, when enrolled as citizens, should have an ivy-leaf, th e emblem of th e god Bacchus, im printed on th eir bodies w ith a hot iron ; and th a t any who refused the m ark should be put to death. Three hundred Jews aposta tized, to please Ptolemy, and were immediately excommunicated by the re st of Israel. This so enraged Ptolemy th at, resolving to extirpate th e race, he decreed th a t anyone who concealed a Jew should be pu t to death; and mean while “ he was greatly and constantly filled w ith joy, and prepared a banquet in honour of all th e idols, uttering blasphem ies against the Most High God.”
124 puncturing w ith needles, or burning with hot irons, or m arking w ith indelible ink: “The operation,” we are told, in the E ast to-day, “periorm ed w ith a hammer and a serrated chisel, causes g reat swelling and excruciating pain, and is sometimes th e work of years.” E arly in the Rus sian Revolution a private le tte r from F inland said: “Soldiers of the Bol sheviks are obliged to wear a m ark on th e ir caps, and on th e ir arm s; and they call it The A ntichrist’s M ark.” So a telegram in th e Times (Oct. 6, 1915) re veals th a t th e Austro-Germans branded men of m ilitary age in th e Poliesie on th e rig h t arm above th e w rist, to pre vent escape from conscription. But the history of Paganism reveals a significance still deeper and more sinister. Stigm ata have always been associated w ith Idolatry. No H indu can en ter his temple w ithout a m ark on his forehead, painted on it by a firah- min, called th e T iluk: a scarlet mark, and perpendicular, if of K rishn a; a saffron, and horizontal, if of Siva. So in ancient Rome the “m ark ” of Neptune was the trid e n t; of Ju p iter, the th u n derbolt; of Mars, th e spear; of Bacchus, th e ivy-leaf: in Egypt, the m ark of th e god Neph was the snake; of Thoth, the ape; of Bubastis, th e cat; and of the Sun, th e beetle. Some devotees branded themselves w ith the name of the idol, cut a t full length, as Zeus; others w ith the num ber of th e god’s name, as, for example, 608, the number of th e Sun. F o r th e M ark is a sacra m ental sign; it is equivalent to saying— “A ntichrist is god, and he is my god,” Some have though t th a t th e m ark, as d istinct from th e name, or its number, will be th e six-pointed double triangle, a symbol sacred to Islam, to apostate Israel, and to pseudo-Christians; but more probably it will be an image of the A ntichrist’s death-scar; for it is a “sacram ent,” a commemorating of the slaughtered and risen Wild Beast; a ritu a l of confession; a public devotion
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