of
the flood, to be swept down to us in the fire. But at present, though
your strength and your natural cruelty are not a whit diminished, yet you
are become in some degree inactive; if that had not been the case, we
might long since have destroyed the few who are godly, and have caused
the earth to be united with this our vast empire. But know, ye black
ministers of my displeasure, that unless ye be more resolute and more
diligent, and make the most of the short time which yet remains to you
for doing evil, ye shall experience the weight of my anger, in torments
new and strange to the oldest of you. This I swear by the deepest Hell,
and the vast, eternal pit of Darkness." And, thereupon, he frowned, till
the palace became seven times more gloomy than before.

Moloch now arose, one of the infernal potentates, and after making his
obeisance to the king, he said, "O emperor of the Air! mighty ruler of
Darkness! no one ever doubted my propensity to malice and cruelty; the
sufferings of others have been, and still are, my supreme delight. It is
as capital sport to me, to hear the shrieks of infants perishing in the
fire as of old, when thousands of sucklings were sacrificed to me outside
of Jerusalem. When was I ever slack at my work? Since the return of the
crucified Enemy to the supreme abodes, I have employed myself in slaying
and burning his subjects. I did all I could, to destroy the Christians
from the face of the earth, during the reigns of ten emperors; and many
an awful butchery I have made of them in modern times, both in Paris and
England, to say nothing of other places: but what are we the nearer to
our object for all this? The One above has caused the tree to grow,
after its branches have been severed; and all our efforts, are nothing
better than showing one's teeth, without the power of biting." "Pshaw!"
said Lucifer, "a fig for such heartless legions as ye. I will no longer
rely upon you! I will do the work myself, and the glory thereof I will
share with no one. I will go to the earth in my own kingly person, and
will swallow up the whole; not one man, henceforth, shall be found on the
earth to adore the Almighty." Thereupon he gave a furious bound,
attempting to set off, in a firmament of living fire; but, behold! the
fist above his head shook the terrific bolt till he trembled in the midst
of his frenzy, and before he could move far, an invisible hand lugged the
old fox back by his chain, in s