rsally, that it shall become one with this place of unextinguishable
flame; for there is not much chance, that any one will return from
following me, to lay hold of the paths of Life." And thereupon he sat
down.

Then arose Belphegor, prince of _Sloth and Idleness_. "I am," said he,
"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 disguis