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

worship 1t. 30 shall he live curse to his |
fellows and to himself, and when the death |
angel comes, he shall clutch the yellow dross
in his skinny hands, and die, and come with
all my votaries, and make his bed in hell |
! Thus spake Mammon, and as he paused,
Satan griuned horribly, ghastly smile
upon his servant.
Then up rose the fierce APoLLYoN, the
Destroyer, and spake thus:
/ O thou Arch-ruler of the damned, listen
unto me! The volcano, the avalanche. the
! earthquake, the pestilence and famine are
mine. Be it mine to rule the Earth I will
pour down boiling lava from the mountain
tops, burning up the fruits of the earth, and
Overwhelming the thronged cities, with all
their wealth and people, in the twfnkling of
an eye. / will hurl the avalanche from the
i glaciers crest, upon tlse slupaberipg. village
| will dry up the springs, and send hail and
blight and mildew upon the fields; and strong
men, and women, and tender children, shall
go forth, and creeping under the leahess
hedges, shall faint and die of famine [ will
send the earthquake, and he shall smack
his mumbling lips when he swallows up
city-and the pestilence shall finish what
the famine and earthquake leave and men
shall fall in the streets, and houses be filled
with the dead and dying, and none shall be
left 20 bury them. Dogs shall howl through
the vacant streets without master; in the
palaces and temples, the owl and the raven
shall build their nests, and the ships rot down
sailorless and all the sons of men, DESTROYED
by me unwarned, will send to thee as tri-
h11fn Ro Al Il IN II
for thy glory and for mine.
Loud rang the plaudits, as the fend sat
down, and the rest obsequious gave place,
not, doubling that Apolyon should be ruler
Of the Earth. The tumult was hushed, and
all waited intent, their great Masters decis-
: ion when suddenly, from beetling cliff,
far out in the burning lake, arose a blue
lamoent fame-which while they gazed,
took shape "a horrid shape; and stood before
the assembled fiends.
1t was clad in vesture wet with blood !;
the gore hung heavy from its matted locks,
and the fercest fires of hell shot from its
z burning eye-balls Even Satan started and
turned pale with fear, and He'll shrank back
with horror.
"Ha! Ye fear me, then; p Kissed the
horrid monster. "Well might ye fear were
, L not friend and an ally. But thou know
est me not, . Satan, for [ am an earth born
spirit, and have long hid myself-aye, for a
thousand years-but now come to offer SER
vice and allegiance, and to claim the offered
prize. Fear not, but listen, and let me be
ruler Of the Earth, for none hath power ike
!. me, in all thy dark dominions.
{ Moloch and Belial and Mammea, and A.
i pollyon promise much, bnt they shaft be me-
: seIzants md -uealtAsu4- laair s.o-se.sx, s
weakness compared witk mine. D eli,
till tell thee of my strength, aaa .,u Tm0 u
will WELD it. My shapes and names are
legion. and | change them at will, so that
men shall oftimes hug me to their bosoms
as an angel of light. I will be the greatest
it ofall hypocrites and deceivers, betraying
e ever with kiss protesting love and kind.
e ness, when my only aim is ruin. I will be
the patron and sole support of the gamb-
), ing den, and OF her whose house inclineth
L unto death. and her paths unto the dead"
t And | will through her portals, bring the
S very flower of manhood. to blight and sham
and everlasting contempt.
/ On every foot Of earth and sea will I fol-
low my victims. Where discord and anar.
| chy prevail, there will l be; where cruelty
l ls' there will come, and burn out from the
! hearts of men every vestige of mercy till they
3 become hends lncarnate, and devise unim-
aglnable horrors. will stand beneath the
gallows-tree, and even while the deatb.rat-
We wait IN thss thbs ttFgsatt tthF9at Of the criminal will drive
midnight fire and assassination. | viii
plunge my victims into prisons and hospitals;
d will steep them in poverty and degradation
II to the very lips. I will cast forth their
families to want and wintry winds, and the
y babe shall perish in its mothers arms, with
'e its tears frozen to ice-drops upon her bosom.
er I will turn the dagger ofthe husband against
d the heart Of his wife. and her blood shall
vs. stain the cradle Of his children. Stimulated
ID and urged on by me, the father shall dance
ID in maniac glee over the maugled bodies 9
j. his murdered babes, and laugh to see theil
lg fair locks dabbled in blood the mothe
all shall forget her sucking child" slain b.
rs her hand, and mock at the tender years ant
nd helplessness of her own offspring.
or, On whatsoever hearth-stone my foot shal
cir be planted, the gladstone fire shall 60 out, t
ms be lighted no more forever; and the roo
sh tree shall fall, and the voices of children b
We hushed, and all that men cluster aroun
fe, them, to make their earthly homes so muc
. like heaven, shall vanish like wreath
ak, smoke, and desolation brood over the ruin
ne, I will point the sons knife against the
ed theirs throat, and his grey hair shall DIR
hat with gore. Where war and vengeance ar
my will rouse their fury to ten-fold rage, al
ere blot from the soldiers breast the last vesti
dot of humanity. The incendiary' s torch sh'
ON be my banner; the cracking flames of bur
gh- ing villages, and the shrek of murdered
hey nocence, the music of my march
the Pestilence shall follow me as shadoN
her and I will open unto him the gates of a mi
her ion dwellings, which else had been secu
her, 1 will spread famine and disease even
and lands Of plenty and health, and will seal
/ go the eyes of all my victims so that they sh
etch not see nor know that their next plunge
hall into perdition. I will sweep whole cor
call nents of their inhabitants; and give VI
very aud sorrows and " wounds without eau
God, to the whole race of man. Yet, whosoe
cruel is wounded BY me, shall seek me as hid tr'
him ures, to be wounded yet again. will
shall upon their brows the iron crown OF suffer