"the great prince of Listlessness and Laziness; great is my power on
myriads of men of all ages and degrees. I am the still pool, where 'the
root of all evil' is generated; where coagulate the dregs of all
destructive corruption and filthiness. What would you be worth,
Asmodeus; or you, ye other master spirits of evil, without me who keep
the window open for you, without any watch, so that you may go into man
by his eyes, by his ears, by his mouth, and by every other orifice which
he has, whensoever you please. I will go, and will roll to you all the
inhabitants of Britain over the precipice in their sleep."
Then arose Satan, the devil of _Deceit_, who sat next to Lucifer on his
left hand, and after turning a frightful visage on the king,--"It is
unnecessary for me," he said, "to declare my deeds to you, O lost
archangel! or to you, black princes of Destruction! because it was I who
struck the first blow which man ever received; and a mighty blow it was,
causing him to remain _mortal_, from the beginning of the world to its
end. Do you imagine that I, who despoiled the whole world, cannot at
present give counsel which will serve for a paltry islet? And cannot I,
who cheated _Eve_ in _Paradise_, vanquish _Anne_ in _Britain_? If no
natural craft will avail, and continued experience for more than five
thousand years, my counsel to you is, to dress up your daughter
_Hypocrisy_, to deceive Britain and its queen; you have not a daughter in
the world, so useful to you as she; she has more extensive authority and
more numerous subjects, than all your other daughters. Was it not
through _her_ that I cheated the first woman? It was: and ever from that
time she has remained and increased exceedingly upon the earth. At
present indeed, the whole vast world is but one _Hypocrisy_; and if it
were not for the skill of Hypocrisy, how should any one of us do business
in any corner of the world? Because if people were to see _sin_ in its
own _color_, and under its own _name_, who would ever come in contact
with it? The world would no more do so, than it would embrace the Devil
in his infernal shape and garb. If Hypocrisy were not able to disguise
her _name_, and the _nature_ of every _evil_, under the similitude of
some _good_, and were not able to give some evil nickname to all
_goodness_, no one would approach, and no one would covet evil at all.
Traverse the whole city of Destruction, and you will see her in every
corner. Go to the street of _Pride_, and enquire for an _arrogant man_,
or for a pennyworth of _coquetry_, mixed up by Pride; 'woe's me,' says
Hypocrisy, 'there is no such thing here; nothing at all I assure you in
the whole street but grandeur.' Or go to the street of _Lucre_, and
enquire for the house of the _Miser_; fie, there is no such person in it:
or for the house of the _murderer_ amongst the physicians: or the house
of the _arrant thief_ amongst the drovers, and see how you would fare;
you would sooner get into prison for enquiring, than get any body to
confess his name. Yes, Hypocrisy creeps between man and his own heart,
and conceals every _iniquity_ so craftily, under the name and similitude
of some virtue, that she has made every body almost unable to recognise
himself. _Avarice_ she will call _economy_. In her language
_dissipation_ is _innocent diversion_; _pride_ is _gentility_; a
_perverse_ _man _is a _fine manly fellow_; _drunkenness_ is _good
fellowship_, and _adultery_ is only the _heat of youth_. On the other
hand, if _she_ and her disciples are to be believed, the _devout man_ is
only a _hypocrite_ or a _blockhead_; the _gentle_ but a _sneaking dog_;
the _sober_ a mere _hunks_, and so on. Send her, therefore," he
continued, "thither, in her full array, I will warrant that she will
deceive every body, and that she will blind the counsellors and the
warriors, and all the officers, secular and ecclesiastical, and will draw
them hither in multitudes presently, by means of her _mask of changeable
hue_." And thereupon he sat down.
Then Beelzebub arose, the devil of _Inconsiderateness_, and with a rough,
bellowing voice,--"I am," said he, "the mighty prince of _Bewilderment_;
to me it pertains to prevent man from reflecting upon and considering his
condition. I am the principal of those wicked, infernal _flies_ which
craze mankind, by keeping them ever in a kind of continual buzz, about
their possessions or their pleasures, without ever leaving them with my
consent, a moment's respite, to think about their courses or their end.
It ill becomes one of you, to attempt to put himself on an equality with
me, for feats useful to the kingdom of Darkness. For what is Tobacco but
one of my meanest instruments, to carry bewilderment into the brain? And
what is the kingdom of _Mammon_, but a branch of my vast domain? Yea, if
I were to recite the ties which I have on the subjects of _Mammon_ and
_Pride_--yea, and on the subjects of _Asmodeus_, _Belphegor_, and
_Hypocrisy_--no man would tarry a minute longer under the rule of one of
them. Therefore," said he, "I am the one to do the work, and let none of
you boast again about his merits." Then Lucifer the Great arose himself
from his burning throne, and with a would-be complaisant but nevertheless
frightful look on both sides,--"Ye master-spirits of eternal Night! ye
supreme possessors of the cunning of Despair!" he said, "though the vast
black gulf and the wilds of Destruction, are indebted to no one for
inhabitants, more than to my own royal majesty since I of yore, failing
to drag the Omnipotent from his possession, drew millions of you, my
swarthy angels to this place of horrors, and have since drawn millions of
men to you; nevertheless, it cannot be denied, that ye too have all done
your part, to sustain this vast infernal empire."
Then Lucifer began to answer them one by one. "For one of late origin, I
will not deny, O _Cerberus_, that thou hast brought to us many a booty
from the island of our enemies, by means of tobacco, a weed the cause of
much deceit; for how much deceit is practiced in carrying it about, in
mixing it, and in weighing it: a weed which entices some people to bib
ale; others to curse, swear, and to flatter in order to obtain it, and
others to tell lies in denying that they use it: a weed productive of
maladies in various bodies, the excess of which is injurious to every
man's body, without speaking of his _soul_: a weed, moreover, by which we
get multitudes of the poor, whom we should never get, did they not set
their love on tobacco, and allow it to master them, and pull the bread
from the mouths of their children.
"And as for you, my brother _Mammon_, your power is so universal, and
likewise so manifest upon the earth, that it has become a proverb that
'_any thing can be got for money_.' And undoubtedly," said he, turning
to Apollyon, "my beloved daughter _Pride_ is of great utility to us; for
what is more capable of injuring a man in his condition, his body, and
his soul, than that _proud_, _haughty idea_, which will make him squander
a _hundred pounds_ for display, rather than stoop to give a _crown_ for
peace. _She_ keeps people so stiff-necked, with their sight so intent on
lofty things, that it is a pleasure to see them, by staring and reaching
into the air, falling plump into the abysses of Hell. As for you,
_Asmodeus_, we all remember your great services of yore; no one keeps his
prisoners more firmly under the lock, and no one meets with less rebuke
than yourself--the whole rebuke, indeed, consisting in a little laughing,
at what is called wanton tricks. Yes, Asmodeus, I admit that your power
is very great; though I cannot help reminding you," he added, with a
jocular though truly infernal grin, "that you were all but starved, above
there, during the last dear years. As for you, my son _Belphegor_, lousy
prince of Sloth, nobody has afforded us more pleasure than yourself, so
very great is your authority amongst gentle and simple, even down to the
beggar. Nevertheless, if it were not for the skill of my daughter
_Hypocrisy_, in coloring and disguising, who would ever swallow one of
your hooks? And after all, if it were not for the diligent firmness of
my brother _Beelzebub_, in keeping men in _inconsiderate bewilderment_, I
question whether all of you united would be worth a straw. Now," said
he, "let us review the whole.
"What would you be worth, Cerberus, with your excessive sucking, if it
were not for the assistance of Mammon? What merchant would ever fetch
your leaves from India, through so many perils, if it were not for the
sake of Mammon? And if it were not for _his_ sake, what king would
receive it, in Britain especially? And who, but for the sake of Mammon,
would carry it to every corner of the kingdom? But, notwithstanding
this, what wouldst thou be worth, Mammon, without Pride to squander thee
upon fine houses, magnificent garments, needless litigations, music,
horses and costly appurtenances, various dishes, beer and ale in a flood,
far above the _means_ and _rank_ of the possessor; for if money were used
within the limits of _necessity_ and _propriety_, of what advantage would
Mammon be to us? Thus you would be worth nothing without _Pride_; and
little would _Pride_ be worth without _Wantonness_, because bastards are
the most numerous and the fiercest subjects, which my daughter _Pride_
possesses in the world.
"You too, Asmodeus, prince of _Wantonness_, what would you be worth, if
it were not for _Sloth and Idleness_; where but for them would you get a
night's lodging? You could hardly expect it from a labourer or toiling
student. And you, Belphegor of Idleness, who would welcome you a minute,
attended as you would be with shame and reproach, if it were not for
Hypocrisy, who conceals your ugliness under the name of _internal
sickness_, or of a _well meaning person_, or under the shape of
_despising riches_ and the like.
"And she too, my dear daughter _Hypocrisy_, what is she worth, or what
would she ever be worth, skilful and resolute sempstress as she is, if it
were not for your help, my eldest brother _Beelzebub_, mighty prince of
_Inconsiderateness_. If he would leave people leisure and respite, to
seriously consider the nature of things and their difference, how often
would they spy holes in the folds of the gold-cloth robe of _Hypocrisy_,
and perceive the hooks through the bait? What man, did not
Inconsiderateness deprive him of his senses, would chase baubles and
pleasures--evanescent, surfeiting, foolish and disgraceful--and prefer
them to _peace of conscience_, and glorious _everlasting happiness_? And
who would hesitate to suffer martyrdom for his faith, for an hour or a
day, or to endure affliction for forty or sixty years, if he would
reflect that his neighbours here are suffering in an hour, more than he
can ever suffer upon the earth?
"_Tobacco_ then is nothing without _money_, nor money without _Pride_;
and Pride is but feeble without Wantonness, and Wantonness is nothing
without _Idleness_; Idleness without _Hypocrisy_, and Hypocrisy without
_Inconsiderateness_. But," said Lucifer, (and he raised his fiendish
hoofs on the fore claws,) "to speak my own opinion, however excellent all
these may be, I have a _friend_ to send against the she-enemy of Britain,
better than the whole."
Then I could see all the chief devils, with their ghastly mouths opened
towards Lucifer, in anxious expectation of learning what this friend
might be, whilst I was as impatient to hear as they. "The one I allude
to," said Lucifer, "is called _Ease_; she is one whose merits I have too
long disregarded, and whose merit, Satan, you yourself disregarded of
yore, when in tempting Job you turned the unpleasant side of life towards
him. She is my darling, and her I now constitute deputy, immediately
next to myself, in all matters relating to my earthly government; Ease is
her name, and _she_ has damned more men than all ye together, and very
few would ye catch without _her_. For in _war_, _or danger_, _or
hunger_, _or sickness_, who would value _tobacco_, _or money_, or the
pomposity of Pride, or would entertain a thought of welcoming either
_Wantonness or Sloth_? Or who in such straits, would permit themselves
to be distracted either by _Hypocrisy or Inconsiderateness_? No, no!
they are too awake then, and not one of the infernal _flies of
Bewilderment_, which shows its beak, will buzz, during one of these
storms. But _Ease_, smooth Ease, is the nurse of you all: in her calm
shadow, and in her teeming bosom ye are all bred, and also every other
infernal worm of the conscience, which will come to gnaw its possessor
_here_ for ever, without intermission.
"As long as _Ease_ lasts, there is no talk but of some species of
diversion, of banquets, bargains, pedigrees, stories, news, and the like.
There is no mention of _God_, except in idle swearing and cursing;
whereas the _poor_ and the _sick_, who know nothing of ease, have God in
their mouths and their hearts every minute.
"But go ye also in the rear of her, and keep every body in his sleep and
his rest, in prosperity and comfort, abundance and carelessness; and then
you will see the poor honest man, as soon as he shall drink of the
alluring cup of Ease, become a perverse, proud, untractable churl--the
industrious labourer change into a careless, waggish rattler--and every
other person become just what you would desire him. Because pleasant
_Ease_ is what every one seeks and loves; she hears not counsel, fears
not punishment--if good, she will not recognise it--if bad, she will
foster it of her own accord. _She_ is the prime-temptation; the man who
is proof against _her_ tender charms, ye may fling your caps to--for we
must bid farewell for ever to his company. _Ease_, then, is my
terrestrial _deputy_, follow her to Britain, and be as obedient to her as
to our own royal majesty."
At this moment the huge bolt was shaken, and Lucifer and his chief
counsellors were struck to the vortex of _extremest Hell_; and oh, how
horrible it was to see the throat of Unknown opening to receive them!
"Well," said the angel "we will now return; but you have not yet seen any
thing in comparison with the _whole_, which is within the bounds of
_Destruction_, and if you had seen the whole, it is nothing to the
inexpressible misery which exists in _Unknown_, for it is not possible to
form an idea of the World in extremest Hell." And at that word the
celestial messenger snatched me up to the firmament of the accursed
kingdom of Darkness, by a way I had not seen, whence I obtained, from the
palace along all the firmament of the black and hot _Destruction_, and
the whole _land of Forgetfulness_, even to the walls of the _city of
Destruction_, a full view of the accursed monster of a _giantess_, whose
feet I had seen before--I do not possess words to describe her figure.
But I can tell you that she was a _triple-faced giantess_, having one
very atrocious countenance turned towards the heavens, barking, snorting
and vomiting accursed abomination against the celestial king; another
countenance very fair towards the _earth_, to entice men to tarry in her
shadow; and another, the most frightful countenance of all, turned
towards _Hell_, to torment it to all eternity. She is larger than the
entire earth, and is yet daily increasing, and a hundred times more
frightful than the whole of Hell. She caused Hell to be made, and it is
she who fills it with inhabitants. If _she_ were removed from Hell, Hell
would become Paradise; and if she were removed from the earth, the little
world would become Heaven; and if she were to go to Heaven, she would
change the regions of bliss into utter Hell. There is nothing in all the
universe, (except herself,) that God did not create. She is the mother
of the four female deceivers of the city of Destruction; she is the
mother of _Death_; she is the mother of every _evil_ and _misery_; and
she has a fearful hold on every living man--her name is SIN. "_He who
escapes from her hook_, _for ever blessed is he_!" said the angel.
Thereupon he departed, and I could hear his voice saying, "_write down
what thou hast seen_, _and he who shall read it carefully shall never
have reason to repent_."
The Heavy Heart.
Heavy's the heart with wandering below,
And with seeing the things in the country of woe;
Seeing lost men and the fiendish race,
In their very horrible prison place;
Seeing that the end of the crooked track
Is a flaming lake,
Where dragon and snake
With rage are swelling.
I'd not, o'er a thousand worlds to reign,
Behold again,
Though safe from pain,
The infernal dwelling.
Heavy's my heart, whilst so vividly
The place is yet in my memory;
To see so many, to me well known,
Thither unwittingly sinking down.
To-day a hell-dog is yesterday's man,
And he has no plan,
But others to trepan
To Hell's dismal revels.
When he reach'd the pit he a fiend became,
In face and in frame,
And in mind the same
As the very devils.
Heavy's the heart with viewing the bed,
Where sin has the meed it has merited;
What frightful taunts from forked tongue,
On gentle and simple there are flung.
The ghastliness of the damned things to state.
Or the pains to relate
Which will ne'er abate
But increase for ever,
No power have I, nor others I wot:
Words cannot be got;
The shapes and the spot
Can be pictured never.
Heavy's the heart, as none will deny,
At losing one's friend or the maid of one's eye;
At losing one's freedom, one's land or wealth;
At losing one's fame, or alas! one's health;
At losing leisure; at losing ease;
At losing peace
And all things that please
The heaven under.
At losing memory, beauty and grace,
Heart-heaviness
For a little space
Can cause no wonder.
Heavy's the heart of man when first
He awakes from his worldly dream accursed,
Fain would be freed from his awful load
Of sin, and be reconciled with his God;
When he feels for pleasures and luxuries
Disgust arise,
From the agonies
Of the ferment unruly,
Through which he becomes regenerate,
Of Christ the mate,
From his sinful state
Springing blithe and holy.
Heavy's the heart of the best of mankind,
Upon the bed of death reclined;
In mind and body ill at ease,
Betwixt remorse and the disease,
Vext by sharp pangs and dreading more.
O mortal poor!
O dreadful hour!
Horrors surround him!
To the end of the vain world he has won;
And dark and dun
The eternal one
Beholds beyond him.
Heavy's the heart, the pressure below,
Of all the griefs I have mentioned now;
But were they together all met in a mass,
There's one grief still would all surpass;
Hope frees from each woe, while we this side
Of the wall abide--
At every tide
'Tis an outlet cranny.
But there's a grief beyond the bier;
Hope will ne'er
Its victims cheer,
That cheers so many.
Heavy's the heart therewith that's fraught;
How heavy is mine at merely the thought!
Our worldly woes, however hard,
Are trifles when with that compared:
That woe--which is known not here--that woe
The lost ones know,
And undergo
In the nether regions;
How wretched the man who exil'd to Hell,
In Hell must dwell,
And curse and yell
With the Hellish legions!
At nought, that may ever betide thee, fret
If at Hell thou art not arrived yet;
But thither, I rede thee, in mind repair
Full oft, and observantly wander there;
Musing intense, after reading me,
Of the flaming sea,
Will speedily thee
Convert by appalling.
Frequent remembrance of the black deep
Thy soul will keep,
Thou erring sheep,
From thither falling.
Footnotes:
{3} Probably Cheshire; the North Welsh commonly call Chester Caer.
{23} It is the custom of Mahometans, to lay aside their sandals, before
entering the Mosque.
{49} Taliesin lived in the sixth century; he was a foundling, discovered
in his infancy lying in a coracle, on a salmon-weir, in the domain of
Elphin, a prince of North Wales, who became his patron. During his life
he arrogated to himself a supernatural descent and understanding, and for
at least a thousand years after his death he was regarded by the
descendants of the Ancient Britons, as a prophet or something more. The
poems which he produced procured for him the title of "Bardic King;" they
display much that is vigorous and original, but are disfigured by
mysticism and extravagant metaphor. The four lines which he is made to
quote above are from his Hanes, or History, one of the most spirited of
his pieces. When Elis Wynn represents him as sitting by a cauldron in
Hades, he alludes to a wild legend concerning him, to the effect, that he
imbibed awen or poetical genius whilst employed in watching "the seething
pot" of the sorceress Cridwen, which legend has much in common with one
of the Irish legends about Fin Macoul, which is itself nearly identical
with one in the Edda, describing the manner in which Sigurd Fafnisbane
became possessed of supernatural wisdom.
{50} A dreadful pestilence, which ravaged Gwynedd or North Wales in 560.
Amongst its victims was the king of the country, the celebrated Maelgwn,
son of Caswallon Law Hir.
{84} Llyn Tegid, or the lake of Beauty, in the neighbourhood of Bala.
{93} The reader is left to guess what description of people these
prisoners were. They were probably violent fifth monarchy preachers.
{100} An active London Magistrate, treacherously murdered by a gang of
papist conspirators in the reign of Charles the Second.
{108} A celebrated Welsh poet, who flourished in the thirteenth century.
A short account of him will be found in Owen's Cambrian Biography.