ing of wings and
with songs of triumph. Iahveh, on his mountain, was jealous of Lucifer.
You both know it: angels like unto men feel love and hatred quicken
within them. Capable, at times, of generous resolves, they too often
follow their own interests and yield to fear. Then, as now, they showed
themselves, for the most part, incapable of lofty thoughts, and in the
fear of the Lord lay their sole virtue. Lucifer, who held vile things in
proud disdain, despised this rabble of commonplace spirits for ever
wallowing in a life of feasts and pleasure. But to those who were
possessed of a daring spirit, a restless soul, to those fired with a
wild love of liberty, he proffered friendship, which was returned with
adoration. These latter deserted in a mass the mountain of God and
yielded to the Seraph the homage which That Other would fain have kept
for himself alone.

"I ranked among the Dominations, and my name, Alaciel, was not unknown
to fame. To satisfy my mind--that was ever tormented with an insatiable
thirst for knowledge and understanding--I observed the nature of things,
I studied the properties of minerals, air, and water. I sought out the
laws which govern nature, solid or ethereal, and after much pondering I
perceived that the Universe had not been formed as its pretended Creator
would have us believe; I knew that all that exists, exists of itself
and not by the caprice of Iahveh; that the world is itself its own
creator and the spirit its own God. Henceforth I despised Iahveh for his
imposture, and I hated him because he showed himself to be opposed to
all that I found desirable and good: liberty, curiosity, doubt. These
feelings drew me towards the Seraph. I admired him, I loved him. I dwelt
in his light. When at length it appeared that a choice had to be made
between him and That Other I ranged myself on the side of Lucifer and
knew no other aim than to serve him, no other desire than to share his
lot.

"War having become inevitable, he prepared for it with indefatigable
vigilance and all the resourcefulness of a far-seeing mind. Making the
Thrones and Dominations into Chalybes and Cyclopes, he drew forth iron
from the mountains bordering his domain; iron, which he valued more than
gold, and forged weapons in the caverns of Heaven. Then in the desert
plain of the North he assembled myriads of Spirits, armed them, taught
them, and drilled them. Although prepared in secret, the enterprise was
too vast for his ad