The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1845-05-24
THE WICKEDEST THING ALIVE
lAN APOLOGIZE FROM ARABlANMss1
BY a. BnowNsoN sMALLcorr.
The Evil One held high festival i

loud was the clanking of the gobfets o
fire, and wild the laughter of the fiends
They encircled their masters witt
songs of Joy and triumph. taisingh hi.
blsckened form on high, and throwing
aloft his giant arms,
i Beelzebub spoke-he said:
"Brothers, It's the anniversary of oul
fall from yonder heavens. Be it cele
brated with shouts and song. Shout
ye fends, shout! from every rock o
fire, from every battement OF fame
send up the shout-Long live the pow
er of Evil, and the Rule of Death!-
Shoutr'
The shout arose, and the fends grew
merry in their joy.
Beelzebub raised his goblet filled to
the brim with molten flame
"Pledge me, brothers! pledge me!
feel the glory Of conquest swelling in
my breast, and here, before we all, !
swear 10 bestow this crown of fire up
on the fiend who shall produce before
my throne the most wicked thing in all
created space, or in unshapen chaos
Brothers, search we the earth, and ye
brothers sweep the air, while We my
friends shall dive into the depths be-
meath the earth, aud ye shall scale the
stars that gimmer through eternal
space! Search, say! The crown Of
fire shall be his, who brings before my
throne the most wicked, heinous, and
depraved being or thing that lives! 1t is
a decree!"
And then spreading their wings, the
fends arose, and sped them on their
mission.
One searched the gibbet, and then
brought to his masters throne the mur-
derer, stained in brothers blood; an
other came, and smile was on his
lips, for he had at his side the parricide,
reeking with the mothers blood who
gave him birth Twas in vain.
"Ha, hal" laughed Beelzebub,-- b,--"'Tis
in vain! Ye are dull to-day, my broth
ers. These men committed crime in
the sudden flush of passion. They
were not sinners from mere love of sin.
Away, and to your search!'
The fends again departed on their
mission.
A dark proud fend bowed low before
his masters throne, and claimed the
crown of fire.
"The crown Of Fire is mine!" he cri.
ed. Lo! Master, looked not on the
gibbet for the most wicked thing that
lives. WE'LL knew that the greater
the criminal the more certain the es-
cape from punishment. I searched
not the prisons; looked not under the
axe Of the gulloline! Ah, no, but di.
wing down into the oceans depths, !
dragged from its dunnest caverns a pi-
rate. dyed in the blood Of "A thousand
victims. lie is the meanest, most ac-
cursed thing alive. claim the crown
of frem
Then raising the crown from off his
brow blackened by the thunder-scar,
Beelzebub was about to place it upon
the head of the fend who stood before
him with the pirate, when wild yell,
more terrible than the widest choral
song of Pandemonium, broke upon his
ear. High it rose! The roof OF burn
ing brass gave back the shout! Deepit
fell! And Ten thousand thousand souls,
floating in the dark abyss, returned the
yell!
On they came, band of fiends, and
with laugh and shout they followed
short, thick fend, who grinned and
chuckeed as he pointed to his prize.
"There stands the meanes, thing
alivem he shrieked. "Master,the crown
is mine! Where think you got him?
In the prison? No. On the gibbet?
Not bit of it. In the ocean depths?
All, no. Where did secure him? Lis
ten, We fiends, while | tell the story. !
flew to the wide and spacious city-a
crowd lined the streets, crowd of Or
phans beggared, a crowd of mothers
with their babes starving at their breast!
And around wide and lofty building,
built OF whitest marble, fast and thick
like ants upon molehill swarmed the
multitude! Sweet music broke upon
the ear! The music of orphans groans,
the music of widows cries, the music
of bankrupt merchants curses--these
all broke upon the air! Sweet music!
| entered the building--the building OF
whitest marble! From behind desk,
filled not with skulls or daggers, ,or aught
that usually betokens death-but filled
with books and papers--from behind
the desk dragged this cheeriul-faced,
this round-paunched man. He was the
cause OF all this misery. Iclaim the
crown of fire; ] am the fiend Of Gold
there stands nv brother fend Of Fraud