ng so long! The miasma
of the swamp, the simoom of the desert, the merciless sirocco,
are healthful when compared to such an atmosphere. And, hark! what
formidable being is that who, with black expanded wings, flies about
from place to place, and from person to person, with a cup of fire in
his hands, which he applies to their eager lips? And what spell or
charm lies in that burning cup, which, no sooner do they taste than they
shout, clap their hands with exultation, and cry out, "We are happy! we
are happy!" Hark; he proclaims himself, and shouteth still louder than
they do; but they stop their ears, and will not listen; they shut their
eyes and will not see. What sayeth he? "I am the Angel of Intemperance,
Discord, and Destruction, who oppose myself to God and all his laws--to
man, and all that has been made for his good; my delight is in misery
and unhappiness, in crime, desolation, ruin, murder, and death in a
thousand shapes of vice and destitution. Such I am, such I shall be, for
behold, my dominion shall last forever!"

But hush again! Look towards the south! What faint but beautiful light
is it, which, fairer than that of the morning, gradually breaketh upon
that dark sky? See how gently, but how steadily, its lustre enlarges
and expands! It is not the light of the sun, nor of the moon, nor of the
stars, neither is it the morning twilight, which heralds the approach of
day; no, but it is the serene effulgence which precedes and accompanies
a messenger from God, who is sent to bear a new principle of happiness
to man! This principle is itself an angelic spirit, and lo! how the sky
brightens, and the darkness flees away like a guilty thing before it!
Behold it on the verge of the horizon, which is now glowing with the
rosy hues of heaven--it advances, it proclaims its mission:--hark!

"I am the Angel of Temperance, of Industry, of Peace! who oppose myself
to the Spirit of Evil and all his laws--I am the friend of man, and
conduct him to the true enjoyment of all that has been made for his
good. My mission is to banish misery, unhappiness, and crime, to save
mankind from desolation, ruin, murder, and death, in a thousand shapes
of vice and destitution."

And now see how he advances in beauty and power, attended by knowledge,
health, and truth, while the harmonies of domestic life, of civil
concord, and social duty, accompany him, and make music in his path. But
where is the angel of intemperance, discord, and de