Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-09-20
lands, and wife and children, and hope and

lands, and wife and children, and hope and
heaven
Let Jehovah send forth spirits, pure as
the snowflake, to dwell In earthly bodies; I
will seek them out, and kiudle in their Eearts
an unquenchable fire that shall consume
them; and the cherubim shall watch long
for their return, at heavens gate, but they
shall never again look upon their Father in
Heaven. The student at his books, the me-
chanic at his tolls the laborer at the pIow.
will | destroy, and none shall stay me.
will coil myself in the brain Of the sea.cap-
tain, and seal up hiseYes, or so distort them
that he shall know neither chart nor COM
pass. and his vessel aud all on board shall
be engulfed, and the bones of the mariners
whiten the bottom of the ocean. Twill be
the omnipresent curse Of humanity. and nm
der my guidance the race ol1aii N ak forever
as in the shadow Of an eclipse. Eyes they
have, but shall see not and ears they have,
but shall hear not, the end and the purport
of the crooked paths throug which will
lead them.
will take the sons fthe kings and the
mighty men, and the captains. and the great
ones of earth, and will mangle them With
horrid wounds, strip them of wealth, repus
tation, life itself, and Eli their last hour with
torment. Around their dying couchos I
will send serpent forms, unfolding coil after
coil from out the darkness, brandishing their
forked tongues to sting them and lick their
blood, as fierce fame licks up its fuel
Thoughts shall become things, living things,
70 i A. = Il
agony shall leap into this burning lake, in
hope to escape still greater torture; and
some will hold upon the brink. and rejoice
when see every nerve shrieking In agony,
as | open to their startled gaze the horrors
Of that pitin which plunge them foreperIm
Yet this is not all. know that you will
laugh, Gf6ends can laugh) when I tell you
that will so manage that mankind shall all
along think me their friend T Though it is
my mission to torture and destroy the whole
race of Adam, yet so will | mix with their
business, their pleasures and their daily
habits; so datter and delude their stupid
senses, that they shall pronounce me g good
creature" nay creature Of God" At
their wedding feasts will be the source of
JOY, and at the funeral gathering the solace
of their sorrow. The raEk grass shall grow
over those slain by my hand, and the Inour-
ners shall forget it. and fall in their turn
The father shall commend me to his son, and
reeling to his grave, shall leave him as an
Inheritance, fondness for me and the SON
shall follow in the footsteps of his father,
down to perdition. The physician shall in
woke my aid in sickness, and in all circles.
/ will plant myself securely, and make my
self companion and familiar, aud men
Ssan never be so merry as in the presence
f aaeis deaAliest foe.
yK Poetry shall lend me her rose. garland
@ad music her charm; and the spirit of mel.
ody shall speak from myraid harps to sound
my praises, and witch the world with tho
idle dream that | am the inspirer of mirth
and the soul Of happiness and all good fel-
loWship-and if there be one of all that glo4
rIous race, for whom yon planets, from their
golden urnS pour down their silent ever
lasting cataract of light, who excels his fet.
lows, L will lure him with song and visions
of beauty, and strew his path With rose
leaves, till at last be shall walk needless into
my tolls. And, once my slave, though a
thousand should weave tEeir heart-strippp
around him, and weep tears of blood. 6e
shall, IN all his pride and beauty, sink deeper.
and in tribulation and anguish unutterable'
dig his own pathway down to hell. Will
be at the feasts of all the great and the wise
OF earth where rank and fashion reign s1-
preme-where forms not less beautiful than
those OF heaven, move to celestial harmonies
and where wit and mirth and wine 90 round.
richer, wiser, sttJu5~. Al---L..-a + nil H.
before But at the last, | will hurl them
down, one by one, from their fancied ele-
Yaton; and they shall drag ont wretche6
existence in the hunger-dens and viest pur-
lieus of the earth, and sneak to dishonored
graves, rejoicing to hide from the withering
scorn of their species, and to give their souls
to eternal punishment in fires less fierce than
those in which I have tortured them on
earth. Nay, the kings and governments Of
the earth shall pass laws for my protection,
and that of nv emissaries, as we walk the
earth, decimating its inhabitants and tumb-
ling them into hell Give me then, . Sa-
tan, the dominion of the earth, and thou
shalt behold, through ages,
"HePs every wave break on living shore.
Heaped with the damned like psbbles."
He ceased. One unearthly yell Of ap'
plause arose, amid the stamping counties:
feet and the clashing of adamantine shields
! The Arch Enemy stepped from bis throne
and leading the horrid spectre to seat a
his right hand, thus spake:
Terrible being if thou canst indeed dt
these things, thou art henceforth my Vice
gerent upon the earth. Go forth and m.
: realms shall be crowded with the souls G
men, thick as autumn leaves or sands uPol
the shore. But tell US by what name to cal
thee
And the fend answered ALCOHOL =
So saying, he spread his broad bat-hke wings
and hell grew lighter as he vanished.
. How hath he fulfilled bis mission2
n For thousand years hath his fiery breath,
Smote the wide earth with crime and death,
And furnished men, as daintiest food,
IS For the hesh-worm's shiny brood.