the shades will descend by hundreds of thousands, will
fall upon thee, and overwhelm thee with curses, for having converted the
little stream which poisoned the human mind into a monstrous flood. I,
who am the ruler here, and shall gain by it, am therefore thy debtor; and
if thou wilt curse the Eternal, who either could not or would not make
thee better, thou shalt escape the torments of this place, and I will
make thee a prince of my dark kingdom.

_Pope_. Let me be the first to curse, O Satan; as a pope, I have an
undoubted right to the precedence.

_Satan_. Observe these men, ye devils, and see how they outdo ye. No,
Pope; thou didst it when thy lips kissed the feet of my Leviathan.
Choose, Faustus.

Faustus stepped forward; raging despair was engraven in frightful
characters on his shadowy face. He--! Who can express what he said?

The devils trembled at his words, and were astonished at his audacity.
Since hell first existed, no such stillness had reigned in the dark,
frightful kingdom, the abode of eternal misery. Faustus broke it, and
required Satan to fulfil his promise.

_Satan_. Fool! how canst thou imagine that I, ruler of hell, will keep
my word, as there is no example of a prince of earth ever having kept his
word when he got nothing by so doing? If thou canst forget that thou art
a man, forget not that thou standest before the Devil. My fiendish
subjects turned pale at thy temerity; thy horrid words made my firm and
imperishable throne tremble; and I thought for a moment that I had risked
too much. Away! thy presence makes me uneasy; and thou art a proof that
man can do more than the Devil can bear. Drag him, ye fiends, into the
most frightful corner; let him there languish in solitude, and madden at
the recollection of his deeds, and of this moment, which he can never
atone for. Let no shade approach him. Go, thou accursed one, and hover
alone and abandoned in that land where neither hope, comfort, nor sleep
are found. Those doubts which have tormented thee in life shall for ever
gnaw thy soul, and no one shall explain to thee that mystery, the pursuit
of which has brought thee here. This is the most painful punishment of
all to a philosopher like thee. Drag him away, I repeat; torture him.
Seize that Pope, and plunge him into the hottest pool; for their equals
are not to be found in hell.

After their departure, Satan said to himself, smiling:

"When men wish to represent any thin