ince one good action brings on my head such
inexpressible evils, I have reason to believe that the wicked only have a
right to happiness. If such be the order of things in this world, hurl
me at once into hell. Its darkness is a thousand times preferable to the
light of day.

_Devil_. Not so fast, Faustus. In the first place, I take away from
thee thy mighty magic rod, and confine thee in the narrow circle which I
draw around thee. Here shalt thou listen to me, and howl and tremble. I
will unfold to thee the consequences of thy deeds, and will assassinate
thee through downright despair.

"Fool! thou sayest thou hast learnt to know man! Where? How and when
hast thou attained this knowledge? Hast thou ever sounded his nature?
Hast thou separated from him that which he has acquired, and which is
foreign to him? Hast thou distinguished that which proceeds from his
heart, from that which is merely the affect of an imagination corrupted
by artifice? Hast thou compared the wants and the desires resulting from
his nature, with those which he owes to civilisation? Hast thou
considered man in his proper shape, where each of his movements bears the
stamp of his inward disposition? _Thou hast taken the mask of society
for his natural figure_; _and thou hast only known that man whom his
titles_, _his rank_, _his riches_, _his power_, _and his acquirements
have corrupted_. _Thou hast only known him who has sacrificed his nature
to thy own idol_,--_to vanity_. Thou hast merely frequented palaces and
courts, where men spurn away the unfortunate, and laugh at the complaints
of the oppressed, whilst they are dissipating in revel-rout and roar that
which they have robbed them of. Thou hast seen the sovereigns of the
world; thou hast seen tyrants surrounded by their parasites and their
infamous courtesans; and thou hast seen priests who make use of religion
as an instrument of oppression. Such are the men thou hast seen, and not
him who groans under the heavy yoke, and comforts himself with the hope
of futurity. Thou hast passed by with disdain the hut of the poor and
simple man, who does not even know your artificial wants by name, who
gains his bread by the sweat of his brow, shares it faithfully with his
wife and children, and rejoices, at the last moment of his life, in
having completed his long and laborious task. If thou hadst opened his
door, thou wouldst not indeed have found a vain ideal of heroic and
over-refi