versary not to be soon aware of it. It might in truth
be said that he had always foreseen and dreaded it, for he had made a
citadel of his abode and a warlike host of his angels, and he gave
himself the name of the God of Hosts. He made ready his thunderbolts.
More than half of the children of Heaven remained faithful to him;
thronging round him he beheld obedient souls and patient hearts. The
Archangel Michael, who knew not fear, took command of these docile
troops. Lucifer, as soon as he saw that his army could gain no more in
numbers or in warlike skill, moved it swiftly against the foe, and
promising his angels riches and glory marched at their head towards the
mountain upon whose summit stands the Throne of the Universe. For three
days our host swept onward over the ethereal plains. Above our heads
streamed the black standards of revolt. And now, behold, the Mountain of
God shone rosy in the orient sky and our chief scanned with his eyes the
glittering ramparts. Beneath the sapphire walls the foe was drawn up in
battle array, and, while we marched clad in our iron and bronze, they
shone resplendent in gold and precious stones.

"Their gonfalons of red and blue floated in the breeze, and lightning
flashed from the points of their lances. In a little while the armies
were only sundered one from the other by a narrow strip of level and
deserted ground, and at this sight even the bravest shuddered as they
thought that there in bloody conflict their fate would soon be sealed.

"Angels, as you know, never die. But when bronze and iron, diamond point
or flaming sword tear their ethereal substance, the pain they feel is
more acute than men may suffer, for their flesh is more exquisitely
delicate; and should some essential organ be destroyed, they fall inert
and, slowly decomposing, are resolved into clouds and during long aeons
float insensible in the cold ether. And when at length they resume
spirit and form they fail to recover full memory of their past life.
Therefore it is but natural that angels shrink from suffering, and the
bravest among them is troubled at the thought of being reft of light and
sweet remembrance. Were it otherwise the angelic race would know neither
the delight of battle nor the glory of sacrifice. Those who, before the
beginning of Time, fought in the Empyrean for or against the God of
Armies, would have taken part without honour in mock battles, and it
would not now become me to say to you, my ch