{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_25468/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_25468","id":"gutenberg_25468","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25468","summary":null,"tags":["Category: German Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Faust, -approximately 1540 -- Fiction"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1864 W. Kent and Co. edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\nFAUSTUS:\nHIS\nLIFE, DEATH, AND DOOM.\n\n\n                           A ROMANCE IN PROSE.\n\n                       Translated from the German.\n\n          \"Speed thee, speed thee,\n          Liberty lead thee,\n    Many this night shall hearken and heed thee.\n          Far abroad,\n          Demi-god,\n    Who shall appal thee!\n    Javal, or devil, or what else we call thee.\"\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                    W. KENT AND CO., PATERNOSTER-ROW.\n                                  1864.\n\n                                 LONDON:\n              ROBSON AND LEVEY, PRINTERS, GREAT NEW STREET,\n                               FETTER LANE.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRANSLATOR TO THE PUBLIC.\n\n\nThe publication of the present volume may at first sight appear to\nrequire some brief explanation from the Translator, inasmuch as the\ncharacter of the incidents may justify such an expectation on the part of\nthe reader.  It is therefore necessary to state, that although strange\nscenes of vice and crime are here exhibited, it is in the hope that they\nmay serve as beacons, to guide the ignorant and unwary from the shoals on\nwhich they might otherwise be wrecked.\n\nThe work, when considered as a whole, is strictly moral.  The Catholic\npriest is not praised for burning his fellow-creature at an _auto-da-fe_,\nand for wallowing in licentiousness; nor is the Calvinist commended for\nhis unrelenting malignity to all those whose tenets are different from\nhis own, and for crying down the most innocent pleasures and relaxations\nwhich a bountiful and just God has been pleased to place within the reach\nof his earthly children.\n\nThe tyrant and the oppressor of mankind will here find himself depicted\nin his proper colours.\n\nNeither will the _champions of freedom_ pass the fiery ordeal with feet\nunseared; since a glorious specimen of what they all are will be found\namong the following pages.  Ye who with ever-open mouths are constantly\nclamouring at whatever is established, whether it be beneficial to the\nhuman race or injurious, will here find the motives for your conduct\npointed out and held up to contempt and execration.\n\nBut, above all, this work contains the following highly useful advice:\n\nLet every one bear his lot with patience, and not seek, at the expense of\nhis repose, to penetrate into those secrets which the spirit of man,\nwhile dressed in the garb of mortality, cannot and must not unveil.  Let\nevery one bridle those emotions which the strange and frequently\nrevolting phenomena of the moral world may cause to arise in his bosom,\nand beware of deciding upon them; for He alone who has power to check or\npermit them, can know how and why they happen, whither they tend, and\nwhat will be their ultimate consequence.  To the mind of man all is dark;\nhe is an enigma to himself: let him live, therefore, in the hope of once\nseeing clearly; and happy indeed is he who in this manner passes his\ndays.\n\nThe present translation, it should be added, has been executed with as\nmuch fidelity to the original as the difference of the two languages, and\nother considerations, would allow.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n            CHAPTER I.              1\nAmbitious Character of\nFaustus--His Discovery of\nPrinting--Journey to\nFrankfort--The Devil, the White\nNun, and Father Gebhardt of\nMayence--Faustus offers his Bible\nto the Council of Frankfort--His\nfirst Interview with a\nSpirit--The Infernal\nBanquet--Speech of\nSatan--Allegorical Entertainments\nof Leviathan--Faustus's Dialogue\nwith the Devil\n           CHAPTER II.              60\nLeviathan meets Faustus at an Inn\nat Frankfort--Assembling of the\nCouncil, and Discussion on\nFaustus's Bible--Corporation\nSquabbles--Leviathan and Faustus\ninvited to a grand Civic\nEntertainment--Faustus presents\nhis Bible to the City--His\nIntroduction to the\nMayoress--Knighthood of the\nMayor--The Devil's Revenge on the\nCorrupt Corporation--The Hermit\nof Homburg--A Lesson to\nMisanthropists--The Hermit and\nthe lovely Pilgrim--His Hut burnt\nby Leviathan, and he perishes in\nthe Flames--Faustus returns to\nhis Wife and Family at\nMayence--Espouses the Cause of a\ndespairing Client, and corrupts\nthe Judge--Dispute about the Nun\nClara--Leviathan's Revenge on the\navaricious Judge--Faustus's\nAdventure with Clara--Takes leave\nof his Family--Rescues a Youth\nfrom Drowning\n           CHAPTER III.             116\nThe Devil and Faustus continue\ntheir Journey on the Banks of the\nFulda--The oppressive\nPrince-Bishop--Faustus's\nInterview with the\nBishop--Clerical Luxury--Case of\nDr. Robertus, the Protector of\nthe People--Faustus espouses his\nCause, and liberates the\n\"Patriot\"--The Devil and Faustus\nvisit the Court of the Prince of\n---.--The betrayed Minister and\nhis Daughter--The Devil and\nFaustus imprisoned--The Fiend\nsuffocates the Prince, and, with\nFaustus, resumes his Journey--The\nWildgrave and burning\nVillage--The infatuated\nMonk--School of\nPhysiognomy--Faustus and the\nVirgin Student--The Devil's\nPeep-show, and its Talismanic\nInfluence--Portrait of the Fiend\n           CHAPTER IV.              181\nFrance in the Reign of Louis\nXI.--Interview of the Devil and\nFaustus with Father Vesois--Loves\nof Madame de Monserau--Faustus\nand the French Widow--The Fatal\nSupper--Arrival of Faustus and\nthe Devil at Paris--Execution of\nthe Duke of Nemours--Faustus and\nthe avaricious\nFather--Infanticide\nrecommended--Horrible Death of\nthe Miser, and Ruin of his\nDaughter--Trial of a humane\nSurgeon, and ungrateful\nMurderer--Anatomical\nCruelties--Prisons of\nParis--Bishop of Verdun's\nCages--Perillus, the Tyrant\nPhalaris, and the Brazen\nBull--Atrocious Character of\nLouis XI.--The Hermit of\nCalabria--Faustus and the Devil\nvisit England--Cruelties of\nRichard, Duke of Gloucester--The\nDevil's Portraiture of the\nEnglish Character--Arrival of\nFaustus and the Fiend at\nMilan--Murder of the Duke Galeas\nSforza--Florence--Spanish\nAuto-da-Fe--Pope Alexander\nVI.--Combat of a Papal General\nwith one of his Officers for a\nWhite Goat--Machinations of the\nPope--Ancient and Modern Rome,\nand her Abominations--Cardinal\nCaesar Borgia--Licentious\nEntertainments at the\nVatican--The Pope and his\nIllegitimates--Caesar Borgia and\nMichelotto--Stratagem to depose\nhis Brother Francisco--Murder of\nthe latter--Faustus and the\nlovely Lucretia--Vanity of Human\nPhilosophy, and Sophistry of its\nProfessors--Atrocious Plots and\nExcesses of Pope Alexander--His\nSale of Indulgences--Amended\nCatalogue, with increased\nPrices--Murder of Alphonso of\nArragon--Caesar Borgia's Letter\nto the Pope--Cardinal\nOrsini--Borgia's Triumphal Entry\ninto Rome--Marriage of\nLucretia--Gross Festivities--The\nDevil's Apostrophe\nthereon--Descent of the Pope into\nHell, and Death of Caesar Borgia\n            CHAPTER V.              261\nFaustus's Consolation for his\nCrimes--Philosophy of\nVoltaire--Faustus's portentous\nDream--Apparition of his\nFather--Baseness and Ingratitude\nof Man--Flight of the Devil and\nFaustus to Mayence--Death of his\nSon, and Destruction of his\nFamily--Retrospect of his\ncriminal Career--Accursed Destiny\nof Faustus, and Triumph of the\nDevil--Descent of Faustus into\nHell\n CHAPTER I.\n\n\nFaustus, having long struggled with the shadows of Theology, the bubbles\nof Metaphysics, and the _ignes-fatui_ of Morality, without being able to\nbring his mind to a firm conviction, at length cast himself into the dark\nfields of Magic, in the hope of forcing from Nature what she had so\nobstinately withheld from him.  His first attainment was the remarkable\ninvention of Printing; but his second was horrible.  He discovered,\nalmost fortuitously, the dreadful formula by which devils are called out\nof hell, and made subservient to the will of man.  But as yet he had not\nexerted his power, out of love to his immortal soul, for whose welfare\nevery Christian is so anxious.  At this period he was in the full bloom\nof manhood.  Nature had favoured him in his person, and had given him a\nnoble and expressive countenance.  Here was enough to bespeak his\nhappiness in the world; but she superadded pride and untamable\nimpetuosity of mind, which displayed itself in deep determination of\npurpose, and in the constant workings of a heated imagination, which was\nnever satisfied with the present, but affected to discover the emptiness\nand insufficiency of the acquired object, even in the zest of its\nenjoyment.\n\nFaustus soon lost the path by which moderation leads frail mortals to the\nabode of true happiness.  He soon felt the narrow limits of humanity, and\nendeavoured to burst their bonds.  By what he had learnt and believed in\nhis youth, he entertained a high opinion of the capacity and moral worth\nof man; and, in comparing himself with others, he naturally laid the\ngreatest part of the sum-total to his own account.  Here were fine\nmaterials for greatness and glory: but true greatness and true glory\ngenerally fly from him who is on the point of attaining them, just before\nhe can separate their fine pure forms from the mist and vapour which\ndelusion has shed round them.  It appeared to Faustus that, in his\nsituation, the nearest and most convenient way to honour and reputation\nwould be the sciences; yet scarcely had he tasted their enchantment when\nhis soul became inflamed with an ardent passion after truth.  Every one\nwho is acquainted with these sirens, and has heard their deceitful song,\nmust know that, provided he does not make a mere trade of them, he must\ninfallibly miss his aim, from the necessity of assuaging the burning\nthirst with which they inspire him.  Faustus, after he had for a long\ntime groped about in the labyrinth, found that his earnings were doubt;\ndispleasure at the short-sightedness of man; and discontent and murmuring\nagainst the Being who had formed him.  He might still have been\ncomparatively happy had he had only these feelings to combat: but when\nthe perusal of the sages and the poets awakened a thousand new wants in\nhis soul, and his now winged and artificial imagination conjured up\nbefore his eyes the many intoxicating enjoyments which gold and\nreputation could only procure him, his blood ran like fire through his\nveins, and all his faculties were soon swallowed up by this sensation.\n\nBy the discovery of Printing, Faustus thought he had at length opened the\ndoor to riches, honour, and enjoyment.  He exerted himself to the utmost,\nin order to bring the art to perfection, and he now laid his discovery\nbefore mankind; but their lukewarmness quickly convinced him that,\nalthough the greatest inventor of his age, he and his family would soon\nperish with hunger unless his genius continually displayed itself in some\nnew forms.  Hurled from the pinnacle of hope, oppressed by heavy\ndebts,--which he had incurred by generosity and extravagant living, and\nby his becoming security for false friends,--he now surveyed the world\nthrough a gloomy medium.  His domestic ties, when he no longer knew how\nto support his family, became an intolerable burden.  He began to think\nthat there was a malign influence in the distribution of men's fortunes:\nor how did it happen that the noble and intellectual man was every where\noppressed, neglected, and in misery; whilst the knave and the fool were\nrich, prosperous, and honoured in life?\n\nIn this melancholy state of mind Faustus wandered from Mayence to\nFrankfort, intending to sell one of his printed Latin Bibles to the\nmagistracy, and then to return and buy with the produce food for his\nhungry children.  He had been able to accomplish nothing in his native\ncity, because at that time the Archbishop was at war with the whole\nChapter, and all Mayence found itself in the greatest confusion.  The\ncause was as follows: a Dominican monk had dreamt that he passed the\nnight with his penitent, the lovely Clara, who was a white nun, and a\nniece of the Archbishop.  In the morning it was his turn to read mass; he\ndid so, and, unabsolved from the night of sin, received the host in his\nprofane hands.  At eve-tide, after a cup or two of Rhenish, he related\nhis dream to a young novice.  The dream tickled the imagination of the\nnovice: he told it with some additions to a monk; and in this manner the\nstory, embellished with horrors and licentiousness, ran through the\nconvent, until it came to the ears of the Prior himself.  This holy man,\nwho hated Father Gebhardt on account of his intimacy with the most\nrespectable houses, was shocked at the scandalousness of the affair,\nwhich he considered as a profanation of the holy sacrament; and, refusing\nto decide on such a weighty matter, he referred it to the Archbishop.\nThe Archbishop, wisely concluding that whatever sinful man wishes or\nthinks by day he dreams of by night, denounced the ban of the Church\nagainst the monk.  The Chapter, whose hatred to an Archbishop always\nincreases the longer he lives, and gladly seizes every opportunity to\nannoy him, took Father Gerhardt under its protection, and opposed the ban\non these grounds: \"It is well known that the Devil tempted St. Anthony\nwith the most licentious representations and voluptuous enticements; and\nif the Devil dared to act so with a saint, whose equal was not to be\nfound in the calendar, what should prevent him from playing off his\npranks with a Dominican?  We must therefore advise the monk to follow the\nexample of the holy Anthony, and, like him, to oppose the temptations of\nthe fiend with the weapons of prayer and fasting.  It is, however, much\nto be lamented, that Satan should have so little respect for the\nArchbishop as to make the instrument of his wiles assume the figure of\none of his reverence's family.\"  The Chapter conducted itself in this\ncase exactly in the same manner as hereditary princes do whose fathers\nlive too long.  But what served more completely to confuse the case was a\nreport from the nunnery.  The nuns had assembled in the refectory, and\nwere busied in dressing up a Madonna for the next festival, hoping to\nsurpass by its magnificence their rivals the black nuns, when suddenly\nthe old porteress entered, told the licentious story, and added, that the\nDominican, whose name she had forgot, would certainly be burnt alive, for\nthat the Chapter had even then assembled for the purpose of trying him.\nWhilst the porteress was relating the tale with its various\ncircumstances, the faces of the young nuns were violently flushed, and\nSin, who never loses an opportunity of corrupting innocent hearts, shot\ninto their blood, and hastily pictured the dangerous scene to their\nimaginations.  Fury and consternation, in the mean time, deformed the\nfeatures of the old ones.  The abbess trembled and leaned on her staff,\nwhile the spectacles fell from her face.  But when the porteress added,\nthat it was the sister Clara whom the fiend had brought to the Dominican\nin his dream, a dreadful shriek filled the whole hall.  Clara alone\nremained tranquil, and when the uproar had ceased, she said, smiling:\n\"Dear sisters, why do you shriek so fearfully?  I myself dreamt that I\npassed the night with Father Gebhardt, my confessor; and if it was the\nwork of the fiend\" (here she and all the rest made the sign of the\ncross), \"why, we must give him the discipline.\"  \"The Father Gebhardt!\"\ncried the porteress; \"now, all ye saints and angels, that is the very\nperson who dreamt of you; that is he whom they are about to burn.\"  The\nporteress having thus expressed herself, this second version of the dream\nwas immediately circulated through the city.  The Madonna was allowed to\nremain naked, for the sisters cared now very little if the black nuns\nbore away the palm.  The abbess did all in her power to spread the news\nabroad, the housekeeper followed her example, the porteress harangued an\naudience beneath the gateway, and Clara candidly replied to the yet more\ncandid questions of her companions.  The last trumpet could not have\ndiffused in Mayence more terror and confusion than did this extraordinary\ntale.\n\nNo sooner did the Dominican prior hear of this accident than he ran to\nthe assembled Chapter, and gave, by his information, a new turn to the\naffair.  The Archbishop would willingly have suppressed the whole\nbusiness; but it was now time for the Chapter to take it up, and all the\ncanons were unanimously of opinion, that so strange a circumstance ought\nto be communicated to the Holy Father at Rome.  They now became\ninfuriated, and nothing but the midday bell had power to separate them.\nFrom that moment, all Mayence, clergy and laity, divided into two\nparties; and for many years nothing was heard, spoken, or dreamt of, but\nthe Devil, the white nun, and Father Gebhardt.  The matter was argued\nfrom the pulpit of every sect: mountebanks, Capuchins, and dog-doctors,\nmade it their theme; while the lawyers, after having taken the\ndepositions of the nun and the father, and confronted them with each\nother, wrote folio volumes concerning the sinful and unsinful chances of\nthe dream.  Was this a time for Faustus and his discoveries to succeed?\n\nIn Frankfort, which is at the present day the asylum of science, Faustus,\nhowever, hoped for better fortune.  He offered his Bible to the reverend\nTown Council for two hundred gold guilders; but, as a large sum had just\nbeen expended in purchasing five hogsheads of prime Rhenish for the\ncouncil cellar, his demand came rather unseasonably.  He paid his court\nto the town-clerk, to the speaker, and to the senators,--from the proud\npatrician to the yet prouder head of the shoemaker guild.  He was\npromised by all favour, protection, and assistance.\n\nAt length he attached himself to the then presiding mayor, from whom he\nfor a long time gained nothing; but, as if in recompense, the\nlady-mayoress kindled a violent passion in his susceptible heart.  One\nevening the mayor assured him that the council, on their next day of\nmeeting, would come to a determination, by virtue of which the assembled\nmembers would most probably pay down the sum for the Bible.  Faustus\nreplied, that his children might very possibly die of hunger before so\nenlightened an assembly had decided; and, maddened with despair, he now\nreturned to his solitary apartment.  In this moment he suddenly\nrecollected his magic formula.  The thought of running some bold risk,\nand of purchasing independence of man by an alliance with the Devil,\nrushed more vividly than ever through his brain.  Yet the idea terrified\nhim.  With hasty steps, furious gestures, and fearful cries, he strode up\nand down the chamber, struggling with his rebellious spirit, which urged\nhim to penetrate the surrounding darkness; still his soul shuddered and\nwas unresolved.  The clock struck eleven from the neighbouring tower.\nBlack night hung about the earth.  The north-wind howled, and clouds\nobscured the face of the full moon.  Nature now appeared in a second\nchaos.  A night more suited to bewilder an excited imagination could not\nbe conceived.  Yet was the beam of his mind balanced.  In one scale hung\nreligion and its firm supporter--the hope of immortality; while thirst\nfor independence and knowledge, pride, pleasure, malevolence, and\nbitterness filled the other.\n\nAt length Faustus, according to the custom of magic, drew the horrible\ncircle which was for ever to remove him from the providential care of the\nOmnipotent, and from the sweet ties of humanity.  His eyes sparkled, his\nheart beat louder, and his yellow tresses stood erect on his head.  At\nthis moment he thought he saw his aged father and his blooming wife and\nchildren wring their hands in despair, and fall down upon their knees to\npray for him to that Being whom he was about to renounce.  \"It is their\nmisery, it is their situation, that maddens me,\" he wildly shrieked, and\nstamped on the ground with his foot.  He now became enraged at the\nweakness of his heart, and advanced towards the circle; the storm rattled\nagainst the windows, the foundation of the house trembled: a noble\nangelic figure appeared before him, exclaiming, \"Stay, Faustus!\" and the\nfollowing colloquy ensued:\n\n_Faustus_.  Who art thou, that disturbest my daring work?\n\n_Figure_.  I am the Genius of Man, and will save thee, if thou art to be\nsaved.\n\n_Faustus_.  What canst thou give me to assuage my thirst for knowledge,\nand my desire for freedom and enjoyment?\n\n_Figure_.  Humility, resignation in suffering, content, and a proper\nestimation of thyself; above all, an easy death, and light in the world\nto come.\n\n_Faustus_.  Begone, vision of my heated fancy!  I know thee by the\ncunning with which thou wouldst deceive the wretches whom thou hast made\nsubservient to power.  Begone, and hover around the brows of the beggar,\nof the monk, of the debased slave, and of all those who have their hearts\nfettered by unnatural bonds; and who keep their senses locked up, in\norder to escape from the claws of despair.  The powers of my soul require\nroom, and let Him who has given me it answer for its workings.\n\n\"Farewell, unhappy man,\" sighed the Genius, and disappeared.\n\nFaustus cried, \"Am I to be frightened on the very brink of hell by\nnursery-tales?  But they shall not prevent me from piercing the darkness;\nI will know what the gloomy curtain conceals, which a tyrannical hand has\ndrawn before our eyes.  And who is to blame, I repeat?  Was it I that\nformed myself so that trifling exertion exhausts my strength?  Did I\nplant in my bosom the seeds of passion?  Did I place there that impulse\nfor aggrandisement which never lets me rest?  Did I fashion my soul, so\nthat it will not submit, and will not bear contempt?  Perhaps I am like\nthe earthen pot, which, formed by a strange hand, is broken into pieces,\nbecause it does not hit the fancy of the maker, and because it does not\nanswer the use for which it appears to have been designed.  Alas! I am a\nmere vessel; yet wherefore then this struggle with my destiny, which\nwould fetter my noblest resolves?  And was mind given for no purpose?\nSurely not!  The bull trusts in his horns, and the stag in his swiftness\nto escape from the hunter; and is that which so eminently distinguishes\nman less his own?  Mind I possess; I employed it for the benefit of my\nfellow-men, and neglect was my reward; perhaps the devils will respect it\nmore.\"\n\nHere he sprung furiously into the circle; while the lamentations of his\nwife, father, and children seemed to echo, in the deep tones of despair,\n\"Lost! for ever lost!\"\n\nSatan, ruler of hell, had, by the hoarse sound of his trumpets, which\nechoed even to the glowing sides of the sun, announced to all the fallen\nspirits dispersed through the upper and lower world, that he intended on\nthis day to give a great festival.  The spirits assembled at the mighty\ncall.  Even his envoys at the papal stool, and at the different courts of\nEurope, forsook their posts; for the invitation led them to expect\nsomething great and important.\n\nAlready the monstrous vaults of hell resounded with the wild cries of the\nfiendish populace, while myriads seated themselves upon the scorched\nground.  The princes then stepped forth, and commanded silence to the\nmultitude, whilst Satan heard the intelligence brought by his envoys from\nthe upper world.  The devils obeyed, and a death-like stillness prevailed\namid the thick, misty darkness, interrupted only by the groans of the\ndamned.  In the mean time the slaves of the fiends--shades who are\nneither worthy of happiness nor damnation--prepared the immeasurable\ntables for the banquet; and they deserved to be under the thraldom of\nsuch a task.  When they were yet in flesh and blood, and ate the fruits\nof the earth, they were of that equivocal kind, who seem the friends of\nall men and yet are the friends of none; whose tongues continually\nprattle of the noble precepts of virtue, which they feel not in their\nhearts; who only abstain from evil because it is accompanied by danger,\nand from doing good because it requires courage and self-denial; who\ntraffic with religion, and, like avaricious Jews, lay out their capital\nat interest, for the purpose of securing a comfortable berth for their\nmiserable souls; and who worship God from fear, and tremble before Him\nlike slaves.\n\nThe devils, who, to say the truth, are no better masters than the Polish,\nLivonian, and Hungarian nobility, drove them about in hell at a furious\nrate.  Others were sweating in the infernal kitchen, and cooking the meal\nfor their haughty lords--an unpleasant service for a soul which had once\nsupported its own human body by eating and drinking.  For although the\ndevils originally neither ate nor drank, yet they had learnt from men the\ncustom of celebrating every solemnity by means of the glass and platter;\nand on such occasions they feast on souls.  The general of each legion\n(for hell is arranged on a military footing, and in this respect\nresembles every despotic government, or rather every despotic government\nin this respect resembles hell) chooses a certain number of damned souls,\nas food for his subalterns.  These are delivered over to the slaves, who\nstew, broil, and baste them with infernal sauce.  It frequently happens\nthat these wretches have to stick their own wives, daughters, fathers,\nsons, or brothers upon the spits, and to keep up the purgatorial fire\nbeneath them; a truly horrible and tragic employment, rendered yet more\nso, since their overseer, a capricious devil, like all understrappers of\ngreat lords, stands behind them with a whip in order to expedite the\nwork.  On the present occasion two popes, a conqueror, a celebrated\nphilosopher, and a recently canonised saint, were intended to feast the\npalates of Satan, his viziers, and his favourites.  Abundance of fresh\nvictuals had just arrived for the common people.  The pope had a little\ntime before set by the ears two armies of French, Italians, Spaniards,\nand Germans, in order to fish up in the tumult certain districts, to add\nto the patrimony of St. Peter.  They fought like heroes, and fell by\nthousands into the infernal regions.  What happiness would it be for the\nsouls intended for these devilish repasts, if they were thereby to find\nan end to their torments!  But no sooner are they swallowed, digested,\nand returned piecemeal into the pools of hell than they are regenerated,\nand arise to become the patients of new suffering.\n\nWhile these victims were writhing on the spits, the cellarers and\nbutlers, slaves of the above-mentioned order, decked out the sideboards.\nThe flasks were filled with tears of hypocrites, of would-be saints, of\npretenders to sensibility, and of persons who repent from weakness of\nsoul; with tears which envy squeezes out on hearing of another's\nprosperity; with tears of egotists who weep for joy because they\nthemselves have escaped the misfortunes by which others are overwhelmed;\nand of sons who weep over the palls of their harsh and avaricious\nfathers.  The flasks on the supper-table were filled with the tears of\npriests, who, like actors, play a part in the pulpit, in order to move\ntheir auditors; and to give the liquor a sharper flavour, it was mingled\nwith tears of courtesans, who walk the streets weeping for hunger, until\nsome inexperienced youth barters his dollar with them for sin.  Reserved\nfor Satan and his princes stood, on various sideboards, flasks of the\nnoblest drink.  This was heady and foaming, being a mixture of the tears\nof monarchs, who weep for the misery of their subjects, whilst they issue\ncommands only calculated to perpetuate it; of the tears of maidens who\nweep for the loss of their chastity with streaming eyes; and of the tears\nof favourites who have fallen into disgrace, and now weep because they\ncan no longer rob and oppress under the protection of their masters.\n\nNo sooner had the slaves decked the table, and stationed themselves\nbehind the chairs of their masters, than the grandees poured forth from\nthe chambers of Satan.  The furies went foremost; the body-guards\nfollowed them, and were succeeded by the chamberlains.  Then came pages\nbearing lighted torches, woven out of the souls of monks who entrap\nwives, and press round the deathbed of husbands to force them to leave\ntheir property to the Church, without reflecting that their own\nillegitimate spawn must beg for bread through the land.  Then came Satan\nhimself, closely followed by the remaining nobility of his court,\naccording to their rank and favour.  The devils bowed their heads in\nreverence, the pages placed the torches upon the table of their\nsovereign; while Satan, with a triumphant air, mounted his high throne,\nand delivered the following speech:\n\n\"Princes, potentates, immortal spirits, welcome! thrice welcome!\nRapturous emotions glow through me when I cast my eyes along your\nsquadrons of countless heroes.  We are yet what we were when, for the\nfirst time, we awoke in this pool from the stunning consequences of our\nfall, and for the first time assembled here.  Only one feeling still\nrules,--unanimity alone maintains her sway, and in this place only do all\ndevote themselves to the same end.  He who has the happiness of\ncommanding you may easily forget all other glory.  I own we have\nsuffered, and still suffer, much, especially since the full exercise of\nour powers is restrained.  But in the feeling of the vengeance which we\ntake on the sons of dust,--in the contemplation of their madness and\ncrimes, by which they continually thwart the purposes of their\nbeing,--lies a recompense for our suffering.  Welcome, thrice welcome,\nall ye whom this sentiment inflames.\n\n\"Hear now the occasion of the festival which I intend this day to\ncelebrate with you.  Faustus, a daring mortal, who, like us, is at war\nwith the Eternal, and who, through the strength of his spirit, may at\nsome future period be deemed worthy to dwell along with us here, has\ndiscovered the art of multiplying, on an easy principle, a thousand and a\nthousandfold, those things denominated books,--those dangerous toys of\nmen,--those vehicles of delusion, of error, of lies, and of\nhorror,--those sources of pride and of painful doubt.  Until now they\nhave been too costly, and only in the hands of the rich, whom they filled\nwith fancies, and from whom they chased that humility which God had for\ntheir happiness infused into their hearts.  Triumph!  Soon will the\npoison of knowledge and inquiry be communicated to all classes.  New\ncravings, new wants, will arise; and I doubt whether my enormous kingdom\nwill be able to contain all those who will destroy themselves by this\ndelicious poison.  But this were only a slight victory: my eye pierces\ndeeper into that distant period, which is to us no more than an hour is\nto man.  Soon will cavillers and haters of the established Church spread\nabout like the plague: pretended reformers of heaven and earth will\narise, and their doctrines, from the facility of communication, will\npenetrate even into the hut of the beggar.  They will think to do good,\nand to purify the object of their hope from falsehood.  But, if men begin\nwell, how long do they continue to act so!  Sin is not more inseparable\nfrom them than are ill consequences from their noblest pursuits.  The\nwell-beloved people of God, whom he endeavoured to snatch from evil by\nthe sacrifice of his only Son, will quarrel about tenets which no one\nunderstands, and will tear each other to pieces like wild-beasts.\nHorrible atrocities, surpassing all the abominations perpetrated by men\nsince they first sprung into existence, will desolate unhappy Europe.  My\nhopes appear to you too bold,--I read it in your doubting countenances;\nbut listen to me whilst I explain.  Religious disagreements will give\nrise to these frenzies.  Then first will Fanaticism, the wild son of\nHatred and Superstition, untie all the bonds of nature and humanity.  The\nfather will murder the son, and the son the father; kings will joyfully\ndip their fingers in the blood of their subjects, and place the sword in\nthe hands of bigots, in order that they may slaughter their brothers by\nthousands, because their opinions are different.  Then will the water of\nthe rivers turn into streams of blood, and the shrieks of the murdered\nwill shake hell to its very centre.  We shall see wretches come down to\nus stained with crimes for which we have had hitherto neither names nor\npunishments.  Already do I see them attack the papal chair, which keeps\ntogether the fragile fabric through treachery and deceit, whilst it\nundermines itself through crime and luxury.  The great props of the\nreligion which we dread give way; and, if the sinking structure be not\nsustained by means of new miracles, it will disappear from the face of\nthe earth, and we shall once more shine in the temples as worshiped\ndivinities.  Where will the spirit of man stop, when he has once\nundertaken to illumine that which he formerly honoured as a mystery?  He\nwill dance on the grave of the tyrant, at whose frown he the day before\ntrembled.  He will break to pieces the altar on which he lately\nsacrificed, if he once endeavour to find the way to heaven by his own\nwisdom.  Will the Creator take home to himself a human being, who is not\na million times more allied to us than to him?  Man abuses every thing,\neven the strength of his soul as well as of his body.  He abuses all that\nhe sees, hears, feels, or thinks; and all with which he trifles, or with\nwhich he is seriously engaged.  Not content with deforming whatever he\ncan seize with his hands, he soars upon the wings of imagination into\nworlds to him unknown, and arrays them in ideal deformity.  Even freedom,\nthe noblest of his treasures, to obtain which he has shed rivers of\nblood, he readily sells for gold and pleasure, before he has tasted its\nsweets.  Incapable of good, he yet trembles at evil, he heaps horror upon\nhorror to escape it, and then destroys his own handiwork.\n\n\"After the bloodshed of war, mankind, wearied with slaughter, will take a\nfew moments' repose, and then their venomous hatred will be displayed in\npetty and private bickerings.  Some, indeed, will every now and then\nraise piles of wood and fagot, and burn those alive who disagree with\nthem in religion; others will attempt the solution of inexplicable\nriddles; and those born for darkness will dare to struggle for light;\ntheir imaginations will become inflamed, and their desires insatiable.\nTruth, simplicity, and religion will be trodden under foot, for the sake\nof writing a book.  Yes, yes, book-writing will become a universal\nemployment, by which fools and men of genius will alike seek fame and\nemolument; caring very little whether they confuse the heads of their\nfellow-creatures, and hurl firebrands into the hearts of the innocent.\nThe heaven, the earth, the secret strength of nature, the dark causes of\nher phenomena, the power which rules the stars and bowls the comets\nthrough space,--every thing visible and invisible,--they will wish to\nhandle, measure, and dive into.  They will invent, for all that is\nincomprehensible, words and numbers; and heap system upon system, till\nthey have brought deeper darkness upon the earth, through which doubt,\nlike the fen-fire, will only shine to allure the wanderer into the\nmorass.  Only then will they think to see clearly, and then I expect\nthem.  After they have shovelled away religion, and are forced, out of\nthe remains, to patch together a new and monstrous mixture of human\nwisdom and superstition, then I expect them.  And then open wide the\ngates of hell, that the race of man may enter.  The first step is already\ntaken; the second is near.  But this must be preceded by a horrible\nrevolution upon the face of the earth.  Soon will the inhabitants of the\nold world emigrate, for the purpose of discovering new, and to them\nunknown, regions of the globe.  They will there attack and slaughter\nmillions, to possess themselves of that gold which the innocents value\nnot.  They will fill this new world with all their crimes, and then\nreturn with materials for corrupting even the old one.  Thus will nations\nbecome our prey, whom till now innocence and ignorance have protected\nfrom us.  And thus shall we, by the assistance of the favourites of\nheaven, triumph.\n\n\"This, then, O potentates! is what I wished to communicate to you; and\nnow rejoice with me over this mighty day, and enjoy in anticipation the\nvictory which I, who know men, promise you.  Long live Faustus!\"\n\nWith horrible uproar, which made the axis of the earth tremble, and the\nbones of the dead rattle in their coffins, the devils shouted, \"Long live\nFaustus!\"  \"Long live the corrupter of the sons of dust!\"  Hereupon the\nchief nobility of the kingdom were permitted to kiss the hand of his\nSatanic majesty.\n\nThe triumphant devils now sat down to table, and fell upon the prepared\nmeal.  The goblets clattered, the souls were craunched between their iron\nteeth; and they drank the health of Satan, of Faustus, of the clergy, of\nthe tyrants of the earth, and of future and living authors, amidst the\nclang of hellish artillery.  In order to render the banquet more\nmagnificent, the masters of the revels went to the pools, drew out the\nburning souls, and chased them over the tables, to illumine the gloomy\nscene; while they ran behind the wretches with poisoned whips, forcing\nthem to caper; and sparks ascended to the blackened roofs, crackling like\nwheat-sheaves ignited by lightning in an autumn storm.  That the devils\nmight have music to their meat, others hastened to the pools, and poured\nmolten metal amid the flames, so that the damned howled and cursed in\ngrisly despair.  If priests now could, instead of their cold and\nfruitless sermons about penitence, give a specimen upon earth of these\nhorrid cries, sinners would quickly turn a deaf ear to the voluptuous\nwarblings of castrati, and join in some pious psalm: but, alas, hell is\ndistant, and pleasure close at hand.  After the banquet a great stage was\nerected, and various plays were performed, founded on the heroic deeds of\nSatan; for example, the Fall of Man, the Betrayal of Judas Iscariot, &c.\n\nThe performance was then suddenly changed to an allegorical ballet.  The\nscene was a wild and dreary spot.  In a dark cavern sat Metaphysics, in\nthe shape of an Egyptian mummy, whose eyes were fixed upon five\nglittering words, which flitted continually backwards and forwards, and\nat each change had a different import.  The mummy ceased not to follow\nthem with its stony eyes; while in a corner stood a little roguish devil,\nwho incessantly blew bubbles of air into its face.  Pride, the amanuensis\nof Metaphysics, gathered the bubbles up as they fell, pressed the air\nout, and kneaded them into hypotheses.  The mummy was clothed in an\nEgyptian waistcoat, embroidered with mystic characters.  Over this it\nwore a Grecian mantle, which ought to have concealed the characters, but\nwas much too short and too narrow for that purpose.  Its legs, thighs,\nand body, were cased in long loose drawers, which did not, however,\nentirely conceal its nakedness.  A huge doctorial hat covered its bald\nhead, which was marked with the scratches worn by its long nails in\nprovoking deep reflection.  Its shoes were made after the European\nfashion, and sprinkled with the finest dust of the schools and\nuniversities.  After it had gazed a considerable time on the moving\nwords, without being able to understand them, its attendant, Pride, gave\nthe wink to Delusion, who was walking near.  He seized a wooden trumpet,\nand sounded a dance.  No sooner did the mummy hear the noise than it took\nPride by the hand, and danced about with antic gambols; but its thin\nwithered legs could not bear this long, and it soon sunk breathless into\nits former posture.\n\nThen came forward Morality, a fine female form, hooded in a veil, which,\nchameleon-like, sported all colours.  She held Virtue and Vice by the\nhands, and danced a trio with them.  For music, a naked savage played\nupon an oaten pipe, a European philosopher scraped the fiddle, while an\nAsiatic beat the drum; and although these contradictory tones would have\ndistracted an harmonious ear, yet the dancers did not once lose the\nstep,--so well had they learnt their parts.  When the maiden gave Vice\nher hand, she coquetted and languished significantly before him; but when\nshe gave it to Virtue, she moved along with the modest gait of a matron.\nAfter the dance, she reposed upon a thin, transparent, and\nbeautifully-painted cloud, which her admirers had woven out of various\nshreds and remnants.\n\nNext appeared nude Poetry: she danced with Sensuality a characteristic\ndance, to which Imagination played the flute d'amour.\n\nHistory then advanced upon the stage.  Before her went Fame, with a long\nbrazen trumpet.  She herself was hung round with stories of murders,\npoisonings, perjuries, conspiracies, and other horrors.  Behind her\npanted, beneath a prodigious load of chronicles, diplomas, and documents,\na strong nervous man, clothed in the German fashion.  She danced with\nSlavery, to the rustling of the stories with which she was hung.\nFalsehood at length took the trumpet from the mouth of Fame, and tuned it\nto the dance; and Flattery led the figures.\n\nThen appeared Medicine and Quackery, and were received with loud\nlaughter: they danced a minuet, to which Death clinked the music with a\npurse of gold.\n\nAfter them were seen Astrology, Cabala, Theosophy, and Mysticism.  They\ngrasped each other by the hands, and whirled around in intricate figures;\nwhile Superstition, Delusion, and Fraud stood near, and blew the\nbagpipes.\n\nThese were followed by Jurisprudence, a sleek, rosy-faced dame, fed with\nfees, and hung about with commentaries--she coughed through a tedious\nsolo; and Chicanery played the bass-viol.\n\nLast of all entered Policy, in a triumphant car drawn by two mares,\nWeakness and Deceit.  On her right sat Theology, holding in one hand a\nsharp-pointed dagger, and in the other a blazing torch.  Policy herself\nwore a golden crown upon her head, and supported a sceptre over her right\nshoulder.  She descended from the car, and danced with Theology a\npas-de-deux, to which Cunning, Ambition, and Tyranny played on soft\ntinkling instruments.  After she had finished the pas-de-deux, she made\nall the other figures a sign to begin a general dance.  They immediately\nobeyed, and sprang about in wild confusion.  All the before-mentioned\nmusicians played on their instruments, and raised a din, only surpassed\nin loudness by the table-music of Satan.  Yet Contention soon insinuated\nherself among the unsuspicious dancers; and, animated by Zeal and Fury,\nthey hastily snatched up weapons.  When Theology perceived that all\nembraced delightful Poetry, and that Morality wished to tear off her own\nveil, in order to cover her with it, she gave the latter a thrust with a\nponiard from behind, and singed the nude and tender Poetry with her\nflaming torch.  Both raised a dreadful shriek: Policy commanded silence,\nand Quackery hastened to bind up the wound of Morality, whilst Medicine\ncut a shred from her robe in payment.  Death stretched out his claw from\nunder the mantle of thievish Medicine to seize Morality, but Policy gave\nhim such a blow that he yelled aloud, and grinned most hideously.  Poetry\nwas allowed to hop about, because she was naked, and had nothing to be\ndespoiled of.  At length History took pity on her, and laid upon the burn\na wet leaf from a sentimental romance.  Policy then tied them all behind\nher chariot, and drove away in triumph.\n\nAll hell expressed approbation of this last spectacle by reiterated\nclappings; and Satan embraced the devil Leviathan for having got up the\nentertainment, which flattered him exceedingly, it being one of his chief\nwhims to be reckoned by the fiends as the inventor of the sciences.  He\noften said, in his pride, that he had begotten them in his intercourse\nwith the daughters of earth, in order to divert men from the\nstraightforward and noble feelings of their hearts; to remove from their\neyes the mystic veil which constitutes their happiness; to make them\nacquainted with their state of restriction and weakness; and to fill them\nwith painful doubt concerning their after destination.  \"I taught them,\"\nhe would continue, \"by their means, to reason, so that they might forget\nto practise virtue, and to worship.  We ourselves have defied Heaven with\nbold and open weapons, and I have at least shown them the way of\nskirmishing incessantly with the Eternal.\"\n\nThe sensible reader will here pause, and admire the strict resemblance of\nall courts to each other: that is, how the great, through the service,\ntoil, and sweat of the little, win the favour of their sovereigns, and\nbear away the rewards.  Leviathan gave himself out as the inventor of\nthis allegorical ballet, and was on that account thanked and caressed,\nalthough the real author of it was the Bavarian Poet Laureate, who a\nshort time before had died of hunger, and found his way to hell.  He\nprepared the ballet after the latest court-fashion, by the command of\nPrince Leviathan, who had at least talent enough to discover merit: the\nreason of his bitter allusions to the sciences was, probably, because\nthey had so ill supported him; and perhaps Leviathan, who knew perfectly\nwell what would please Satan, had given him a hint to that effect.  Be\nthis as it may, the devil had the reward, and the thin shade of the\nBavarian Laureate sat cowering behind a rock of the theatre, and observed\nwith bitterest agony the marks of unmerited favour which Satan had\nlavished on Leviathan.\n\nThe half-intoxicated devils now became so clamorous as nearly to drown\nthe howls of the damned; when suddenly the powerful voice of Faustus\nechoed from the upper world through hell.  He had at length surmounted\nevery obstacle, and now summoned before him one of the first princes of\nthe kingdom of darkness.\n\nSatan started up in ecstasy: \"It is Faustus who calls there.  No one else\nhas the power; and no one else, if he had such power, would dare to knock\nso loudly against the iron portals.  Up! up! a man like him is worth a\nthousand of the scoundrels who come down hither every day by rote.\"\nThen, turning to the devil Leviathan, his favourite, he added, \"I choose\nthee, the subtlest seducer, the deadliest hater of the human race, to\nascend and purchase for me, by thy dangerous services, the soul of this\ndesperado.  Only thou canst chain, satiate, and then, drive to despair,\nhis craving heart and his proud and restless spirit.  Quick, quick!\nascend! dispel the vapours of school-wisdom from his brain.  Consume with\nthe fire of voluptuousness the noble feelings of his heart.  Disclose to\nhim the treasures of nature, and hurry him into life, that he may the\nsooner grow tired of it.  Let him see evil arise from good, vice\nrewarded, justice and innocence trodden under foot, as is the custom of\nmen.  Conduct him through the wild and terrible scenes of human life; let\nhim mistake its aim, and lose among its horrors the guiding thread of\nvirtue.  And when he stands separated from all natural and heavenly ties,\nin doubt concerning the noble destination of his race,--when even\npleasure and enjoyment have left him, and the inward worm awakes,--then\ndepict to him, with infernal bitterness, the consequences of his deeds\nand delusions, and unfold to him all their links, extending to remotest\ngenerations.  If despair should then seize him, hurl him down, and return\nin triumph to hell.\"\n\n_Leviathan_.  Wherefore, O Satan, dost thou impose this work upon me?\nThou knowest that I have long ago had enough of men, and of their\nplayground,--the world.  What is to be made out of wretches who, as thou\nhast observed, have strength neither for good nor evil?  Gold, ambition,\nor pleasure, can quickly make rascals of them, who have for a short\nperiod pursued the phantom virtue; and if any one should move boldly at\nfirst along the path of vice, he will be driven back when half-way by the\nspectres of his crazy imagination.  If, indeed, it were a proud\nhot-headed Spaniard, a revengeful assassinating Italian, or even a wild\nlascivious Frenchman, whom you wanted me to catch--but a German, one of\nthose thick-pated swine, who slavishly bend before rank, riches, and all\nthe artificial distinctions of men, who believe that their lords and\nprinces are made of superior materials to themselves, and have a right to\ndispose of them just as they please, either in fighting their own\nbattles, or those of other sovereigns!  Hast thou heard from them for\ncenturies a single word of rebellion against tyranny, or of shedding\nblood for the rights of man?  Not one of them has, as yet, come down to\nhell in glory; a proof that these people have no distinguished heads\namong them.  Those are to my mind who wish to clear up every thing, who\nfight with the adamantine shield of individuality, against which all\nprejudices, earthly or heavenly, are shivered.  Show me such a man who is\nwilling to become great on earth at the expense of his soul, and I will\nimmediately ascend.\n\n_Satan_.  Shall devils, O Leviathan, be blinded by prejudice, like the\nsons of dust?  I tell thee, the man after our own heart is born under\nthat district of heaven.  He is one of those who, endued by nature with\nhot and furious passions, rebel against all the old-established customs\nof society.  When such a spirit tears its way through these cobwebs, it\nresembles a flame, which, by its own fury, speedily consumes the\nmaterials which feed its lustre.  He is one of those visionary\nphilosophers who strive to seize, through imagination, what is denied to\ncold understanding; and who, if they are unsuccessful, laugh at all\nknowledge, and make pleasure and enjoyment their gods.  Away, away,\nLeviathan! soon shall a fire break out in Germany which will spread\nthrough all Europe.  Already is the germ of that delusion springing up\nwhich shall endure for centuries.  What the German has once caught, he\nwill not easily let go.\n\nThe commanding voice of Faustus now resounded for the second time.  Satan\ncontinued:\n\n\"Thou mayst know by this call that he is no trembler.  Hasten to him,\nfor, if thou delayest, perhaps he may doubt the strength of his charms,\nand hell will lose the fruits of his temerity.  Truly, the fellow is such\na genius, that I can almost overlook his origin.\"\n\nThe devil Leviathan angrily replied: \"I swear, by the hot and foul pool\nof the damned, that the rebel shall one day blaspheme, and curse this and\nthe hour of his birth.\"\n\nHe went away wrapt in a veil of smoke, and the fiends pursued him with\nloud huzzas.\n\nFaustus stood within the magic circle, while his breast swelled with\nrage.  For the third time he repeated the dreadful formula, in a voice\nthat resembled thunder.  The door suddenly flew open; a thick vapour\nhovered around the margin of the circle; he struck into it with his magic\nrod, and cried in triumph, \"Unveil thyself, thou thing of darkness!\"  The\nvapour dispersed, and Faustus saw a tall figure concealed beneath a red\nmantle.\n\n_Faustus_.  Why this tedious disguise to one who wishes to see thee?\nDiscover thyself to him, who fears thee not in whatever shape thou mayst\nappear.\n\nThe Devil flung back his mantle, and stood in a daring and majestic\nattitude before the circle.  His fiery eyes sparkled from beneath their\nblack brows, between which malice, hatred, fury, agony, and scorn had\nformed themselves in thick folds.  These furrows were sunk in a smooth,\nclear, high-arched forehead, which contrasted strangely with the fiendish\nmarks between the eyes.  A finely-formed aquiline nose inclined towards a\nmouth which seemed to have been framed only for the enjoyment of immortal\nthings.  He had the mien of a fallen angel, whose countenance was once\nilluminated by the Godhead, but which was now obscured by a gloomy veil.\n\n_Faustus_ (_in surprise_).  Is man, then, every where at home?  Who art\nthou?\n\n_Devil_.  I am a prince of hell, and come because thy mighty call compels\nme.\n\n_Faustus_.  A prince of hell under this mask; under the figure of a man!\nI wished for a fiend, and not one of my own race.\n\n_Devil_.  Perhaps, Faustus, we are most so when we resemble ye; at least,\nno mask suits us better.  Besides, is it not your custom to conceal what\nye are, and to appear what ye are not?\n\n_Faustus_.  Bitter enough, and yet true as bitter; for, if our outsides\nlooked like our insides, we should not be very different from that which\nwe imagine you to be; still, I expected to see thee more terrible, and\neven hoped that thy appearance would try the strength of my courage.\n\n_Devil_.  Thus do ye always imagine things contrary to what they are.\nProbably you expected a devil with horns and a cloven foot, as the\ncowardly age has depicted him.  But since you have ceased to worship the\npowers of nature, they have forsaken you, and you can no longer conceive\nany thing great.  If I were to stand before thee such as I really am,--my\neyes threatening comets, my body a dark, hovering cloud, which shoots\nlightning from its gloom, in my hand the sword which I once brandished\nagainst the Avenger, and on my arm the ponderous shield which his thunder\npierced,--thou wouldst become a heap of ashes in thy circle.\n\n_Faustus_.  But then I should at least see something great.\n\n_Devil_.  I might admire your courage; but you are never more ridiculous\nthan in these would-be grand bursts of feeling, when you contrast the\nlittle you can embrace with the monstrous and great which are so high\nabove you.  Thus may the worm measure the trampling elephant, and reckon\nhis weight in the moment when it dies beneath his powerful foot.\n\n_Faustus_.  Mocker! and what, then, is the spirit within me, which, if it\nonce get fairly on the ladder, will mount from step to step into\ninfinity?  What are its limits?\n\n_Devil_.  The length of your own nose.  But, if you called me out of hell\nmerely for this chit-chat, permit me to return for ever.  I have long\nknown your inclination to prate about that which you do not understand.\n\n_Faustus_.  Thy bitterness pleases me; it chimes in with my humour, and I\nshould like to be better acquainted with thee.  What is thy name?\n\n_Devil_.  Leviathan; which signifies _all_, for I can do all.\n\n_Faustus_.  Hear the braggart!  Are devils, then, so boastful?\n\n_Devil_.  'Twas said merely to do honour to the shape in which thou seest\nme: but words are vain.  Set me to the proof.  What dost thou require?\n\n_Faustus_.  Require?  What an indefinite word for a devil!  If thou art\nwhat thou seemest, anticipate desires, and gratify them ere they become\nwishes.\n\n_Devil_.  The noble steed champs the bit in fury when curbed by a timid\nrider: how he then resembles the man who feels wings that could bear him\ninto light, yet who is kept down in the dark abyss!  Faustus, thou art\none of those fiery spirits who are not contented with the scanty meal of\nknowledge which Omniscience has set before them.  Great is thy strength,\nmighty is thy soul, and bold thy will; but the curse of finite reason\nlies upon thee, as it does upon all.  Faustus, thou art as great as man\ncan be.\n\n_Faustus_.  Masquerading fiend, return into hell; must thou, too, deceive\nus by flattery?\n\n_Devil_.  Faustus, I am a spirit formed of flaming light; I saw the\nmonstrous worlds arise out of nothing: thou art of dust, and of\nyesterday.  Do I flatter thee?\n\n_Faustus_.  And yet must thou serve me if I command.\n\n_Devil_.  For that I expect the approbation of hell, besides a reward;\nneither man nor devil will work for nothing.\n\n_Faustus_.  What reward dost thou expect?\n\n_Devil_.  To have that which animates thee; that which would make thee my\nequal if it had power.\n\n_Faustus_.  I were well off then, truly; yet, adept as thou art, thou\nknowest little of men, if thou doubtest the strength of one who has set\nhimself free from the bonds which nature has drawn so tightly round our\nhearts.  How gentle did they appear to me once, when the eye of my youth\nclothed men and the world in the pure colours of morning!  'Tis gone;\ndark is my horizon; I stand on the gloomy verge of eternity, and have\nbroken through the laws which keep the human race in harmony.\n\n_Devil_.  What madness is this, Faustus?  Harmony! does _she_ rule the\nconfused dance of life?\n\n_Faustus_.  Silence!  I feel it perhaps for the last time; and perhaps\nlook back for the last time upon the pleasant, joyous days of youth.  How\nlamentable that man must awake from this dream of bliss; that the plant\nmust shoot up, in order to wither away as a tree, or be felled!  Ha,\ndemon, smile; I was once happy.  But let that be forgotten which can\nnever be recalled.  Yes, we have only strength when we pursue wickedness.\nBut wherein am I great?  If I were so, should I want thee?  Go, cunning\nflatterer; thou wilt only make me feel my own littleness.\n\n_Devil_.  He who is capable of feeling where the shoe pinches him, and\nhas courage enough to tear away the cause of it, is at least great so\nfar.  More I will not say, and woe to thee if I were to stimulate thee\nwith words.\n\n_Faustus_.  Observe me now, and tell me what my spirit requires, but what\nI dare not utter.\n\nAt these words Faustus pointed to himself, then towards the heavens, and\nmoved his magic staff towards the east and the west.  He then continued,\n\"Thou wast, when nothing was.\"  He laid his hand upon his breast and\nforehead: \"Here is darkness; let it be dispelled.\"\n\n_Devil_.  Desperate man! full well I know thy wish, and tremble, devil as\nI am, at thy boldness.\n\n_Faustus_.  Wretched spirit! thou shalt not escape by this subterfuge.\nIn my burning thirst I would undertake to drink dry the deep sea, if I\nhoped to find at its bottom what I sought.  I am thine, or another's: I\nyet stand where no devil can penetrate.  Faustus is yet his own master.\n\n_Devil_.  Thou wast so a few minutes since.  But thy lot was cast when\nthou enteredst this circle.  Whoever has looked me in the face turns back\nin vain; and thus I leave thee.\n\n_Faustus_.  Thou shalt speak, and remove the dark covering which conceals\nfrom me the world of spirits.  I will know the destination of man, and\nthe cause of moral evil in the world; I will know wherefore virtue\nsuffers, and vice is rewarded; I will know why we must purchase a\nmoment's enjoyment by years of agony and sorrow.  Thou shalt disclose to\nme the source of things, and the mysterious causes of the phenomena of\nthe physical and moral world.  Thou shalt make Him, who has arranged all,\ncomprehensible to me--yes! even if the vivid lightnings, which at this\nmoment shoot from thy demon eyes, were to stretch me lifeless in this\ncircle of damnation.  Dost thou think that I have summoned thee merely\nfor pleasure and gold?  Any dastard may fill his belly, and satiate the\ndesires of the flesh.  Thou tremblest!  Have I more courage than thyself?\nWhat quaking devil has hell vomited out?  And thou callest thyself\nLeviathan, who canst do all!  Away, away! thou art no fiend, but a\nmiserable thing like myself.\n\n_Devil_.  Madman! thou hast not yet felt, as I have, the vindictiveness\nof the Avenger, the anticipation of which alone would make thee return to\ndust, even if thou didst bear in thy bosom the united strength of men\nfrom the first to the last sinner.  Urge me no farther.\n\n_Faustus_.  I will, and am resolved.\n\n_Devil_.  Thou inspirest me with reverence and pity.\n\n_Faustus_.  Obedience is all I require.\n\n_Devil_.  Go to war with him who has lighted up a torch within thee which\nwill consume thee, if fear do not extinguish it.\n\n_Faustus_.  I have done so, and in vain.  Obey!\n\n_Devil_.  Insatiable man!  But know that a devil has his bounds too.\nSince our fall, we have lost the idea of these sublime secrets, and\nforget even the language to express them.  The pure spirits of yonder\nworld can alone sing and imagine them.\n\n_Faustus_.  Dost thou think by this crafty excuse to cheat me of that\nwhich I desire?\n\n_Devil_.  Fool!  I would wish for no better revenge upon thee than to be\nable to paint to thy soul, in the glittering colours of Paradise, all\nthat thou hast lost, and then see thee writhe in despair.  Knew I more\nthan I know, can the tongue formed of flesh make intelligible to the ear\nof flesh what lies beyond the bounds of sense, and the disembodied spirit\nonly comprehends?\n\n_Faustus_.  Then be a spirit, and speak!  Shake off this figure.\n\n_Devil_.  Wilt thou then understand me?\n\n_Faustus_.  Shake off this figure, and let me see thee as a spirit.\n\n_Devil_.  Thy words are folly.  Now, then, see me: I shall exist, but not\nfor thee; I shall speak, but thou wilt not catch my meaning.\n\nLeviathan then melted into a thin clear flame, and disappeared.\n\n_Faustus_.  Speak, and unfold the enigma.\n\nAs the soft west wind moves along the perfumed meadows and gently kisses\nthe tender flowers, so did it murmur around the ears of Faustus.  Then\nthe murmur changed to a loud continued tumult, which resembled the\nrolling of thunder, or the dash of a breaker against the coral reef, or\nits howl and bellow in the caves of the ocean.  Faustus crept close\nwithin his circle, and with difficulty supported himself.\n\n_Faustus_.  Ah, if this be the language of spirits, my dream has\nvanished; I am deceived, and must gnash my teeth in darkness.  I have,\nthen, exchanged my soul for the gratification of earthly lust! for that\nis all in which this intriguing devil can assist me.  That is all against\nwhich I risked eternity!  I thought to move among men enlightened as no\none had ever yet been, and to dazzle them with my glory like the rising\nsun.  The sublime thought of living for ever as the greatest in their\nhearts is gone; and I am more wretched than I was.  Where art thou,\ntrickster, that I may vent my fury upon thee?\n\n_Devil_ (_in his former figure_).  Here I am.  I spoke, and thou didst\nnot understand the sense of my words.  Dost thou not feel that thou art\nborn for darkness?  Thou canst not become that which thou must not.\nWithdraw thy mind from impossibilities, and direct it to what is\nattainable.  Thou wishedst to hear the language of spirits; thou heardst\nit, and wert stunned and deafened by the sound.\n\n_Faustus_.  Provoke but my wrath, and I will bruise thee to tears with my\nmagic rod.  I will chain thee to the rim of my circle, and then stamp on\nthy neck.\n\n_Devil_.  Do it, and hell will laugh at thy anger.  For every tear thou\nmakest me shed, Despair shall one day wring a drop of blood from thy\nbrow, and Revenge shall hold the scales to catch and weigh it.\n\n_Faustus_.  How revolting to a noble creature like myself to hold\nconverse with an outcast, who has only sense for wickedness, and will\nonly assist in wickedness!\n\n_Devil_.  How disgusting to be forced to listen to a man who reproaches\nthe Devil because he is a devil, and does not boast of that shadow,\nVirtue, like one of you!\n\n_Faustus_.  Vain boast.  If thou couldst but taste the moral value of\nman, by which he approaches the immortal, and which makes him worthy of\nimmortality!\n\n_Devil_.  I can prove that it does not exist.\n\n_Faustus_.  Yes; I believe thou canst.  And so can any one of us who\nmakes the measure of his own wickedness that of all mankind, and who\nmakes that virtue contemptible which he has never felt in his breast.  We\nhave had philosophers who in this matter have long had the start of the\nDevil.\n\n_Devil_.  Better if thou hadst never read them; thy head would then have\nbeen more clear, and thy heart more sound.\n\n_Faustus_.  Damnation!  Is the Devil always right?\n\n_Devil_.  I will show you that which those philosophers only talk of.  I\nwill blow away from your eyes the clouds which pride, vanity, and\nself-love have collected, and so charmingly coloured.\n\n_Faustus_.  How wilt thou accomplish that?\n\n_Devil_.  By conducting thee through the theatre of the world, and\nshowing thee men in their nakedness.  Let us travel by water, by land, on\nfoot, on horseback, on the rapid winds, and see the race of man.  Perhaps\nwe may discover that for which so many thousand adventurers have broken\ntheir necks.\n\n_Faustus_.  Agreed.  Let us go through the world; I must intoxicate\nmyself by variety and enjoyment; and I have long wished for a broader\nsphere of observation than my own wild heart.  Let us go forth, and I\nwill force the Devil to believe in human virtue.  He shall avow to me\nthat man is the eye-apple of Him whom I now no more must name.\n\n_Devil_.  Then will I return to hell a convicted liar, and give thee back\nthe bond which thou wilt presently sign with thy blood.\n\n_Faustus_.  But if I were to trust a devil, who might palm upon me his\nown fiendish performances for the works of men, how would the scoffer\nlaugh?\n\n_Devil_.  Such a monkish notion I should not have expected from one who\nhas so long toyed with philosophy; but in this ye are all alike, fools\nand wise men.  If any thing goes wrong, pride and self-love will never\npermit you to lay the blame on yourselves.  Observe now those two words,\nGood and Evil, which you would fain stamp into ideas; for when you have\nwords, you always think you have coined the empty sound into a thought.\nYou labour with your eyes closed, and when you open them it is but\nnatural that the good should be your own work, and the evil that of the\nDevil.  Thus, then, must we poor devils ride about day and night, in\norder to turn to this or that piece of roguery the heart or the\nimagination of this or that scoundrel, who, if it had not been for us,\nwould have remained an honest fellow.  Faustus! Faustus! man seeks abroad\nand in the clouds a thousand things which lie in his own bosom, or before\nhis face.  No; during our tour I will add to nothing, except thou command\nme.  All that thou seest shall be the work of men; and thou wilt soon\nperceive that they do not require the Devil to incite them.\n\n_Faustus_.  And is this all that thou canst afford me?\n\n_Devil_.  I will lead you from step to step; when we have run through\nthis course, another scene will immediately open.  Get first acquainted\nwith that which surrounds thee, and then mount upwards.  The treasures of\nthe earth are thine; thou mayst command my power: do but dream--do but\nwish.\n\n_Faustus_.  That is something.\n\n_Devil_.  Only something!  Discontented being, thou shalt be able to\nforce Leviathan to further the projects which thou callest good and\nnoble, and the consequences of them shall be thy earnings, and the reward\nof thy heart.\n\n_Faustus_.  That were more, if the Devil did not say it.\n\n_Devil_.  Who can boast that he has forced the fiend to do good?\nHowever, let this thought inflate thy bosom.  Faustus, step out of the\ncircle!\n\n_Faustus_.  It is not yet time.\n\n_Devil_.  Dost thou fear me?  I repeat, thou shalt spend the moments\nallotted to thee according to thy own pleasure: yes, Faustus, I will fill\nfor thee the intoxicating cup of enjoyment, as it has never been filled\nfor any other mortal.  Thy nerves shall wear away before thou hast\nemptied it.  Count the sands of the shore, and thence thou mayst guess\nthe number of joys that I will strew before thee.\n\nThereupon he placed a casket of gold near the circle.  The figures of the\nmayoress and a train of lovely maidens then passed by.\n\n_Faustus_.  Ha, devil, who has showed thee the way to my heart?\n\n_Devil_.  Is not my name Leviathan?  I have weighed thee, and thy\nstrength.  Dost thou respect these?\n\n(He shook upon the ground, from a sack, a quantity of orders of\nknighthood, bishops' hats, crosses of honour, and diplomas of nobility.)\n\n\"No, no; I know Faustus better: knowledge and pleasure are his gods.\nRemain what you are; these things are vain and futile.  Thus, by\ndifferent bribes may ye all be won; and for the sake of lust or\nadvancement, ye would work bare your hands and your intellects.  But,\nwhilst fools toil for them in the sweat of their brow, and in the\nexhaustion of their mind, do thou enjoy, without care or labour, what I\nshall serve up.  To-morrow, with thy consent, I will conduct thee to the\nmayoress.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  But how?\n\n_Devil_.  Accept the conditions, and I will tell thee.  Come out of the\ncircle; thou lookest still like a drunken man.\n\n_Faustus_.  I would annihilate myself if it were not for one thought!\n\n_Devil_.  Which is--\n\n_Faustus_.  That I shall only thereby sooner fall into thy power.\n\n_Devil_.  How rash and hasty are men!  Learn but to know me, and, if I\ncannot gratify thy wildest earthly desires, return to poverty, to\ncontempt, and thy starving philosophy.  Step forth, I say.\n\n_Faustus_.  The fury of a lion inflames me, and, if hell were to yawn\nbeneath my foot, I would spring beyond the limits of humanity.\n\nHe sprang out of the circle, and cried,\n\n\"I am thy lord.\"\n\n_Devil_.  Yes; as long as thy time runs.  I lead a mighty man by the\nhand, and am proud to be his slave.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nOn the following morning the devil Leviathan came with all the pomp and\nretinue of a nobleman to the inn where Faustus sojourned.  He alighted\nfrom his richly caparisoned steed, and asked the host whether the famous\nFaustus sojourned there?\n\nThe host replied by a reverential bow, and ushered him into the house.\nThe Devil then advanced to Faustus, and said to him, in the presence of\nthe host:\n\n\"Your renown, your great talents, and, above all, your mighty invention,\nhave induced me to make a wide circuit in my journey in order to become\nacquainted with so remarkable a man, whom the world, in spite of its\nlukewarmness, knows how to value.  I came, likewise, to request your\ncompany in the tour of Europe, and shall be happy to accede to whatever\nstipulations you may choose to make, for I am perfectly aware that such a\npleasure is above all price.\"\n\nFaustus played his part agreeably to that of the Devil; and the host\nhurried out in order to relate the adventure to his household.  The\nrumour was immediately spread, by a thousand channels, through all\nFrankfort; and the arrival of the distinguished stranger was soon known,\nfrom the sentinel at the city-gate to his most worshipful the mayor\nhimself.  Away ran the magistrates, as if the Devil drove them, to the\nsenate-house, leaving all the weighty affairs of state to remain\nunsettled whilst they consulted about this unexpected apparition.  The\nsenior alderman, a patrician, who was particularly expert in deciphering\nthe meaning of the signs which occasionally appeared in the political\nhorizon, and had thereby obtained a powerful ascendency in the council,\npressed his fat chin into furrows, and his narrow brow into wrinkles,\nand, with reflection in his little eyes, assured his sapient brethren\nthat \"This distinguished stranger was nothing else than a secret envoy of\nhis imperial majesty, who was come into Germany to observe attentively\nthe situation, the comparative strength, the disagreements, and the\nalliances, of the various states and princes; so that the high and mighty\ncourt, at the opening of the approaching Diet, might know how to comport\nitself.  And since the imperial court had always kept a watchful eye upon\ntheir republic, they must now endeavour to convince this distinguished\nvisitor of the fiery zeal which they had always entertained for the high\nimperial house, and not let him depart without winning him over to the\ninterest of the state.  That they must, in so doing, take as their\npattern the prudent senate of Venice, who never failed to show the\ngreatest friendship and honour towards him whom they intended to\ndeceive.\"\n\nThe subordinate members of the assembly affirmed that the alderman had\nspoken like the Doge of Venice himself; but the mayor, who bore the\nalderman a secret grudge, because the latter, like a true patrician,\nhated the democratic form of government, and was accustomed to say,\nwhenever he was outvoted, \"Ha, thus it goes when tradesmen and\nshopkeepers are made statesmen,\" quickly took up the cudgels against him\nin these words:\n\n\"Truly laudable and excellent, most sapient masters, seems to me that\nwhich our most prudent and politic brother has now advanced, were it not\nfor one single circumstance which unhappily spoils all.  I, indeed, do\nnot make a boast of possessing the deep visual penetration of the\nalderman,--a penetration, my brethren, which can spy out a storm before\nit arises; nevertheless, whether it be from chance or reflection, I have\nlong foreseen, and have long foretold, that which is now gathering around\nus.  You must all remember, that at each of our sittings I advised you\nnot to treat this Faustus so contemptuously, but to purchase his Latin\nBible for the small sum he demanded.  Even my wife, who is a mere woman,\nlike all other women, has frequently said that, although we ourselves\nneither understood nor could use the book, we ought nevertheless to have\nit; and, on account of the beautiful letters in the title-page, and of\nthe curious invention, to make a show of it, as we do of our golden bull,\nand attract strangers from all parts.  It was likewise fitting that a\nfree and rich state like ours should protect the arts, and give them a\nhelping hand.  But I know very well what was in your minds; 'twas\nenvy--sheer envy.  You could not brook that my name should be rendered\nimmortal.  You could not digest that posterity should read in the\nchronicle, '_Sub consulatu_ . . . a Latin Bible was bought from Faustus\nof Mayence for two hundred gold guilders.'  Yes, yes; 'twas that stuck in\nyour gizzards; but, as you have brewed, so may you drink: Faustus is a\ndevilish wild fellow, and a very strange hand to deal with; I saw that\nproved yesterday.  And now that the imperial envoy has travelled hither\nmerely on his account, merely on account of him whom we have treated\nworse than a poor cobbler, think ye not he will blow us up with the envoy\nout of revenge, and all our scrapings and grimaces will serve for nothing\nbut to make us appear ridiculous before the citizens?  But he who has\ndriven his cart into the mire may draw it out again.  I wash my hands of\nthe whole business, and, like Pilate, am innocent of Israel's blindness\nand destruction.\"\n\nHere followed a deep silence.  The bloody battle of Cannae, which\nthreatened Rome with ruin, did not terrify her senate more than did this\neloquent philippic the enlightened magistracy of Frankfort.  Already the\nmayor triumphed in proud anticipation: he thought even that he had hurled\nthe alderman entirely out of his saddle; when the latter, collecting his\npolitical wisdom and heroic strength, hastened to the assistance of the\nsinking state, and bellowing aloud, _ad majora_, undauntedly proposed\n\"immediately to send an embassy from the council to the hotel, in order\nto welcome the distinguished guest, and to offer Faustus four hundred\ngold guilders for his Latin Bible, and thereby to appease him, and to\nmake him favourable to the state.\"\n\nThe mayor scoffed at the idea of giving four hundred gold guilders for a\nthing which the day before they might, in all probability, have had for\none hundred; but his jeers and his scoffs availed nothing.  \"_Salus\npopuli suprema lex_,\" cried the alderman; and, with the approbation of\nthe council, he commanded the mayor to entertain Faustus and the envoy in\nthe most sumptuous manner, at the expense of the state.\n\nThis circumstance consoled his worship, who willingly displayed his\nwealth, partly on account of his defeat by the alderman, while the\nconcluding words, \"at the expense of the state,\" put him in good humour.\nThe junior alderman immediately set out with one of the four syndics, and\nthe mayor sent to his house to order every thing proper for the festival.\nThe devil Leviathan was engaged with Faustus in a deep discourse when\nthese ambassadors were announced.  They were instantly admitted.  They\nwelcomed, with all humility, in the name of the senate, the distinguished\nguest, and gave him to understand that his noble person, as well as his\nimportant errand, were well known to them; assuring him at the same time,\nin set terms, of their zeal and devotion for the high imperial house.\nThe Devil, upon this, screwed up his features, turned to Faustus, took\nhim by the hand, and assured the speakers that nothing had brought him to\ntheir town but the desire of removing from it this great man, whom he had\nno doubt they knew how to prize.  The ambassadors were now somewhat\ndisturbed; however, they soon recollected themselves, and continued thus:\n\n\"It rejoiced them highly that they could give him on the spot a\nconvincing proof of the respect which the magistracy entertained for so\ngreat a man, as they were authorised to tender to Faustus four hundred\ngold guilders for his Latin Bible, which they had long been anxious to\npossess, and preserve as a precious treasure.  The illustrious magistracy\nwould also be most happy to enrol him, if it were agreeable, among the\nnumber of citizens, and thereby open to him the way to glory and\nemolument.\"\n\nThis last stroke was added by their own political wisdom; a proof that\nthey, as skilful negotiators, knew how to supply and fill up every vacuum\nwhich had been at first overlooked.\n\nFaustus started up in a fury, stamped on the ground, and cried:\n\n\"Base, lying, deceitful pack!  How long did I not fawn upon you, from the\nproud patrician down to the shoemaker and the pepper-seller, around whose\nnecks you hang the magisterial insignia, like halters around asses?  And\ndid ye not permit me to wait at your dirty thresholds without deigning me\na single look?  And now that you hear this noble personage sees that in\nme which you did not, you come and would pay me back in my own coin.  But\nsee, here is gold; for which you would barter the Holy Roman Empire,\nprovided you could find fools gross enough to buy the huge, monstrous\ncarcass, without head, sense, or proportion.\"\n\nThe Devil highly enjoyed the rage of Faustus and the downcast looks of\nthe young senators; but they, who had never read Roman history, were not\nso high-spirited as to fling Faustus a declaration of war from beneath\ntheir closely-folded robes of office; on the contrary, they communicated\nthe invitation to the mayor's festival in as unconcerned a tone as if\nnothing had happened,--a new proof of their expertness in negotiation.\nHad they, for example, replied to the insult, they would thereby have\nacknowledged that they felt the force of it; but when they let it fall\nflat upon the ground, as if it were nothing to any of them, it lost all\nits power, and assumed the colour of an unfair reproach.  Genius alone is\ncapable in such critical moments of like discrimination.\n\nAt the word \"mayor,\" Faustus pricked up his ears, and the Devil gave him\na significant side-glance.  Faustus thereupon took the Bible from the\ncasket, handed it over to the senators, and said, with some degree of\ncomplaisance,\n\n\"That, upon due consideration, he was determined to make the city a\npresent of his Bible, on condition that they showed the sentence which he\nmarked under, and of which he wrote a German translation on the margin,\nto the assembled magistrates; and, in remembrance of him, caused it to be\nwritten in letters of gold on the wall of the council-chamber.\"\n\nThe senators hastened back to their brethren, as delighted as envoys who,\nafter a ruinous war, return with an advantageous peace.  They were\nreceived with great joy, and, the Bible being opened at the appointed\nplace, they read--\n\n\"_And lo_!_ the fools sat in council_, _and idiots clamoured in the\njudgment-chamber_.\"\n\nThey swallowed this bitter pill, because the presumptive shadow of\nimperial majesty, in the form of the demon, prevented them from spitting\nit out.  They comforted themselves with having been spared the four\nhundred gold guilders, and wished each other joy for having escaped so\nwell out of this unpleasant affair.  The envoys received a vote of\nthanks, and it is to be regretted that their names are not handed down to\nposterity.  When at last they spoke of Faustus's well-filled money-chest,\nthe glitter of gold darted like lightning through the souls of all, and\neach secretly determined to make the man his friend, in order to get\npossession of it.  The alderman shouted, \"We must make him a citizen, and\ngive him a seat and voice in the council.  Policy demands that we should\noverstep law and custom, if the advantage of the State depends upon it.\"\n\nFaustus, in the mean time, strolled out with the Devil; but they found\nthe people of the place modelled after so unsightly a pattern, with such\nugly figures and fiat features, that the Devil owned he had never seen\nthem equalled, except by the inhabitants of an English town called N---,\nwhen dressed in their Sunday's best.  \"Envy, malice, curiosity, and\navarice,\" said he, \"are here and there the sole springs of action; and\nboth places are governed by a pitiful mercantile spirit, which prevents\nthem from being grandly wicked or nobly virtuous.  In short, Faustus,\nthere is little to be done in either place by a man of spirit, and we\nwill hurry away from hence as soon as you have brought the mayoress to\nthe point you wish her.\"\n\nThe clock sounded the hour of dinner; the Devil and Faustus, mounted upon\nnoble horses, and attended by a numerous retinue, proceeded to the house\nof the mayor.  They entered the hall of assembly, where all the\nmagistrates awaited them, and, on their appearance, bowed before them\neven to the dust.  The fat, bloated mayor, after a long speech,\nintroduced them to the wives of the dignitaries of the corporation, whose\nfigures, loaded with tawdry ornaments, seemed now to display a double\nportion of awkwardness and vulgarity.  They stared like a flock of geese,\nand could not satiate themselves with looking at the dress and\nphysiognomy of Leviathan; but the mayoress, a native of Saxony, towered\nabove them all, like an Oriad.  The expressive look of Faustus had\nattracted her attention, as well as his prepossessing figure, and his\nfine handsome face.  She blushed when he saluted her, and could find no\nother answer to his eloquent address than a few broken words, which the\nears of Faustus caught like enchanting music.  The senators exerted their\nwits to the utmost in complimenting their guests, and all now sat down to\nthe well-spread table.  After dinner the Devil led the mayor by the hand\nto a private apartment,--a circumstance which flattered him\nextraordinarily, but which was a dagger-blow to all the other guests,\nespecially to the alderman.\n\nThe mayor, heated with wine, and intoxicated with the honour which the\nsupposed imperial envoy showed him, in a bending attitude and with\nstaring eyes awaited the communication.  The Devil assured him, in soft,\nsilvery tones, how much he was flattered by the mayor's hospitable\nreception, and how very desirous he was to prove himself thankful;\nadding, that he carried with him a number of letters of nobility, signed\nby the emperor's own hand, and he would gladly bestow the first upon him,\nprovided--\n\nJoy, transport, and astonishment darted through the mayor's soul; he\nstood before the Devil with wide-gaping mouth, and at length stammered\nout, \"Provided how--what--oh!\"  The Devil then murmured softly into his\near: \"His friend Faustus was desperately in love with the beautiful\nmayoress, and that for his sake only he would do it; and if the mayoress\nwould retire with Faustus for a few moments,--which would be entirely\nunobserved amid the noise and confusion of a festival,--he should deliver\ninto her hand the patent of nobility.\"\n\nThereupon the Devil hastened to Faustus, informed him of what had\nhappened, and gave him the letter of nobility, with certainty of success.\nFaustus doubted, and the Devil laughed at his doubts.\n\nThe mayor remained in his cabinet almost petrified.  The sudden glitter\nof such unexpected happiness was at once so clouded by an odious and\ndetestable condition, that he determined upon rejecting it.  But all at\nonce Ambition blew into his ear: \"Ho! ho! Mr. Mayor; to be dubbed a\nnobleman at once, and in such an off-hand manner, as the saying is, and\nthereby to be placed on a footing with the proudest of thy foes, and to\nraise thy voice in the council like a trumpet, and appear among those\nthere like a man whom, on account of his services, his imperial majesty\nwill exalt above the heads of all!\"\n\nAnother feeling softly whispered--\n\n\"Uh! uh! with my own knowledge and consent to be thus disgraced!  But\nthen, again, who will know it? and what is there in the whole affair?  I\nreceive a certain good in lieu of what has long ceased to have any charms\nfor me.  The evil consists in the idea alone, and it will be a secret\nbetween me and my wife.  But, stating the case fairly, can I arrive at so\nhigh a distinction at a cheaper rate?  Will it not be a nail in the\nalderman's coffin; and what will the citizens not say when they see that\nhis imperial majesty knows how to value me?  Shall I not get every thing\ninto my power, and revenge myself on those who have thwarted and\ncontradicted me?  Ho! ho! Mr. Mayor; be no fool; seize fortune by the\nforelock.  Man is only what he appears in the eyes of the world, and no\none asks the nobleman how he became so.  But there is my wife; she will\nset herself against my advancement, for I well know her Saxon prudery.\"\n\nAt that very moment she entered the room, eager to learn from her husband\nwhat the magnificent stranger had confided to him in private.  He looked\nat her with a roguish leer, but still with some degree of bashfulness.\n\n_Mayor_.  Well, my chick, suppose I were to make thee a noblewoman\nto-day?\n\n_Mayoress_.  Then, duck, the wives of all the citizens and magistrates\nwould swoon with envy, and the alderman's lady would instantly die of\nthat husky cough which has so long assailed her.\n\n_Mayor_.  That she would, for certain; and I could crush her proud\nhusband beneath my foot.  But hark, my chick: it only rests with you to\nbring all this about.\n\n_Mayoress_.  Who ever heard of wives making their husbands noblemen,\nduck?\n\n_Mayor_.  Who knows, my child, how many have been made so?  But be not\nterrified; you have driven that cursed Faustus out of his wits.  (_The\nMayoress blushed_; _he continued_)  Only on his account will the envoy\ncreate me a nobleman, and Faustus is to deliver to thee the patent of\nnobility in private.  You understand me, I perceive.  Hem! What do you\nthink of the plan?\n\n_Mayoress_.  I was thinking, my treasure, that if these two gentlemen\nwere to change their minds, we should certainly lose the patent.\n\n_Mayor_.  Curse it! so we might.  Let us be quick, my mouse; such\nbargains are not met with every day.\n\nThe company had in the mean while dispersed themselves in the garden; and\nhis worship, getting behind Faustus, whispered softly in his ear that\n\"his wife would esteem it an honour to receive the patent of nobility\nfrom his hand; and he had only to step up a back staircase, which he\nwould show him, to an apartment where he would find her.  That as for\nhimself, he feared nothing from a man who had shown so much honour and\nconscience.\"  He led him thereupon to the back staircase.  Faustus glided\nup immediately, and entered a chamber, where he found the mayoress: he\nflew to her, and created the mayor a knight of the Holy Roman Empire.\nShe then went and delivered to her spouse the letter of nobility; and\nthey determined between them that it should be laid upon the supper-table\nin a covered golden dish, in order, by its unexpected appearance, to make\nthe blow more painful to the guests.  The Devil, to whom the mayor\nconfided the plan, highly approved of it; but Faustus murmured in the ear\nof Leviathan, \"I command thee to play this rascal, who has prostituted\nhis wife for ambition's sake, a thorough knavish trick; and to revenge\nme, at the same time, on all these sheep-headed magistrates, who so long\nforced me to pay my court to them.\"\n\nThey sat down to supper, and the glasses went quickly round; when all at\nonce the Devil commanded the dish, which had so long excited the\nCuriosity of the surrounders, to be uncovered; then, holding up the\nletter of nobility, he delivered it to the mayor with these words:\n\"Worthy sir, his majesty the emperor, my master, is pleased by this\npatent letter of nobility to create you, on account of your fidelity and\nservices, a knight of the Holy Roman Empire.  I hope and trust that you\nwill never grow lukewarm in your zeal for the high imperial house; and\nnow, Sir Knight, I have the honour of first drinking your health.\"\n\nThese words rolled like thunder in the ears of the guests.  The drunken\nbecame sober, and the sober drunk; the lips of the women turned blue with\nrage, and could scarcely stammer out a congratulation.  The alderman was\nseized with an apoplectic fit, and his wife was near dying of her husky\ncough.  Fear, in the mean time, obliged the rest to assume a joyous\ncountenance; and they drank, with a loud huzza, the health of the\nnew-made knight.  While the tumult was at the highest pitch, a thin\nvapour suddenly filled the hall; the glasses began to dance about upon\nthe tables; and the roasted geese, turkeys, and fowls cackled, gobbled,\nand crowed.  The calves, sheep, and boars' heads cried, bleated, and\ngrunted, bounced across the table, and snapped at the fingers of the\nguests.  The wine issued in blue flames from out the flasks; and the\npatent of nobility caught fire, and was burnt to ashes in the hands of\nthe trembling mayor.  The whole assembly now sat like so many ridiculous\ncharacters in a mad masquerade.  The mayor bore a stag's head upon his\nshoulders; and the rest, men and women, adorned with grotesque masks,\nspoke, cackled, crowed, neighed, or bellowed, according to the kind of\nmask which had been allotted to each individual.  The alderman alone, in\nthe dress of a harlequin, sat motionless; and Faustus avowed to the Devil\nthat the ruse did great honour to his ingenuity.  After Faustus had\nsatiated himself by gazing at the spectacle, he gave the Devil the wink,\nand they both flew out of the window; the latter personage, according to\ncustom, leaving behind him the sulphurous stench.\n\nBy and by the whole illusion disappeared; and when the sapient\nmagistrates re-assembled next morning in the council-chamber, they\nscarcely mentioned to each other what had taken place the night before.\nThey kept the whole matter a state secret, and only revealed it now and\nthen to a chosen few.  All that the mayor got by this business was, that\nhis adversary, the alderman, lost the use of his limbs, and never again\ntook his seat in the council.\n\nFaustus and Leviathan, in the mean time, passed over the city-walls; and\nwhen they were in the open field, the Devil despatched an attendant\nspirit to the hotel, in order to pay the reckoning, and to fetch away\nFaustus's baggage.  Then turning to the young German, he asked him if he\nwere contented with this first feat.\n\n_Faustus_.  Hem! if the Devil wants praise, I am content to give it him.\nBut I should never have imagined that yon pompous scoundrel would have\nsold his wife for ambition's sake.\n\n_Devil_.  Let us proceed a little further, my Faustus, and I will soon\nconvince thee that Ambition is the godhead which ye all worship; although\nyou disguise it under all kind of glittering forms, in order to conceal\nits nakedness.  Till now you have studied man merely in books and\nphilosophical treatises; or, in other words, you have been thrashing\nempty straw.  But the film will soon fall from your eyes.  We will\nshortly quit this dirty country of yours, where priestcraft, pedantry,\nand oppression reign unmolested and undisturbed.  I will usher you upon a\nstage where the passions have a freer scope, and where great energies are\nemployed to great ends.\n\n_Faustus_.  But I will force thee to believe in the moral worth of man\nbefore we quit my native land.  Not far from hence lives a prince, whom\nall Germany praises as a paragon of every virtue.  Let us seek him, and\nput him to the test.\n\n_Devil_.  Agreed; such a man would please me for his rarity.\n\nThe spirit now returned with the baggage, and was sent forward to Mayence\nto bespeak a lodging in an hotel.  Faustus, for secret reasons which the\nDevil guessed, proposed spending the night with a hermit who dwelt in the\nhill of Homburg, and who was renowned through the whole neighbourhood for\nhis piety.  They reached the hermitage about midnight, and knocked at the\ndoor.  The solitary opened it; and Faustus, who had dressed himself in\nthe richest clothes which the Devil had provided for him, begged pardon\nfor disturbing the repose of the holy man, and said that the night had\nsurprised him and his companion while hunting, and had separated them\nfrom their attendants, and that they should be obliged by his giving them\nhouse-room for a few hours.  The hermit looked on the ground, and\nreplied, with a deep sigh:\n\n\"He who lives for heaven seldom abandons himself to dangerous repose.\nYou have not disturbed me; and, if you wish to stay here till sunrise,\nyou must take things as you find them.  Bread and water, with straw to\nlie on, is all I can afford you.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Brother hermit, we have brought all that the stomach requires\nalong with us.  We will only trouble you for a draught of water.\n\n(_The hermit took his pitcher and went to a fountain_.)\n\n_Faustus_.  Peace dwells in his heart as well as on his brow, and I may\nthink myself happy that he is not acquainted with that which binds me to\nthee.  Faith and hope serve him instead of those things which I have\ndamned myself for; at least it seems so.\n\n_Devil_.  And only seems.  What if I were to prove that your heart is\npure as gold in comparison with his?\n\n_Faustus_.  Devil!\n\n_Devil_.  Faustus, thou wert poor, ill-treated, and despised; thou didst\nsee thyself in the dust; but, like an energetic being, thou hast sprung\nout of contempt at thy own risk.  Thou wert incapable of gratifying thy\nlusts by the murder of thy fellow-creatures, as this saint would if I led\nhim into temptation.\n\n_Faustus_.  I see all thy infernal craftiness.  If I were to command thee\nto put him to a fair trial, thou wouldst confuse the senses of the just\nman, so that he would commit acts which his heart abhorred.\n\n_Devil_.  Ridiculous!  Why, then, do ye boast of your free-will, and\nthereby ascribe your deeds to your own hearts?  But ye are all saints\nwhile there is nothing to tempt ye.  No, Faustus; I will remain neuter,\nand merely offer delights to his senses; for the Devil has no need to\ncreep into ye when you are already disposed for wickedness.\n\n_Faustus_.  And if things do not turn out as you assert, think not that\nyour assurance shall remain unpunished.\n\n_Devil_.  Thou mayst then torment me a whole day by preaching of the\nvirtues of men.  Let us see whether this will allure him.\n\nA table, provided with dainty meats and delicious wines, now appeared in\nthe middle of the hermitage.  The solitary entered, and silently placed\nthe pitcher before Faustus, and then retired into a corner, without\nheeding the luxurious banquet.\n\n_Faustus_.  Now, brother hermit, since the things are on the table, fall\nto without waiting to be asked twice.  You may eat of our fare without\nthe least injury to your reputation.  I see your mouth begins to water.\nCome, a glass to the honour of your patron saint.  What is his name?\n\n_Hermit_.  St. George.\n\n_Faustus_.  Here's his health.\n\n_Devil_.  Ho, ho, brother hermit! the renowned St. George of Cappadocia\nwas a fellow after my own heart; and if you take him for a model, you\ncannot go wrong.  I am perfectly well acquainted with his history, and\nwill relate it in a few words for your instruction.  He was the son of\nwretchedly poor people, and was born in a miserable hut in Cilicia.  As\nhe grew up, he early perceived his own talents, and, by force of\nflattery, servility, and corruption, found his way into the houses of the\ngreat and opulent, who at length, out of gratitude for his services,\nprocured him a commission in the army of the Greek emperor.  But when\nthere he pilfered and plundered to so enormous an extent, that he was\nsoon obliged to fly, to avoid being hanged.  Thereupon he joined himself\nto the sect of the Arians, and, by his quick parts, soon learnt to gabble\nthe unintelligible jargon of theology and metaphysics.  About this time\nthe Arian emperor, Constantine, kicked from the episcopal chair at\nAlexandria the good and most Catholic Athanasius; and your redoubtable\nCappadocian was, by an Arian synod, appointed to the vacant see.  George\nwas now completely in his element: he puffed, strutted, and filled his\npaunch.  But when he, by his injustice and cruelty, had driven his\nsubjects to the verge of madness, they put him to death, and carried his\nbody in triumph through the streets of Alexandria.  Thus did he become a\nmartyr, and consequently a saint.\n\n_Hermit_.  There is not a word of this in the legend.\n\n_Devil_.  I believe ye, brother; and, for the sake of truth, the Devil\nonly ought to have written it.\n\nThe hermit then crossed himself.\n\n_Faustus_.  Do you call eating and drinking crimes?\n\n_Hermit_.  They may tempt us to commit crimes.\n\n_Devil_.  Your virtue must be very weak if it cannot resist temptation;\nfor temptation and resistance should be the glory of a saint.\n\n_Hermit_.  You are right so far; but every one is not a saint.\n\n_Faustus_.  Are you happy, brother?\n\n_Hermit_.  Solitude makes me happy; a good conscience makes me blessed.\n\n_Devil_.  How do you obtain your food?\n\n_Hermit_.  The peasants bring me wherewithal to support my existence.\n\n_Faustus_.  And what do you give them in return?\n\n_Hermit_.  I pray for them.\n\n_Faustus_.  Are they bettered by your prayers?\n\n_Hermit_.  They think so, and I hope so.\n\n_Devil_.  Brother, you are a rogue.\n\n_Hermit_.  The reproaches of the sinful world are what the just man ought\nto expect.\n\n_Devil_.  Why do you not look upwards, and why do you blush?  But know,\nthat I have the art of reading in a man's face what is passing in his\nheart.\n\n_Hermit_.  So much the worse for yourself.  You will have little\nenjoyment in company.\n\n_Devil_.  Ho, ho! you know that?  (_Looking at Faustus_.)\n\n_Hermit_.  It is a vile world in which we live, and woe for you if\nthousands did not hasten into solitude to avert by their prayers the\nanger of incensed Heaven from the heads of sinners.\n\n_Faustus_.  Reverend brother, you own yourself that you are paid for your\nprayers; and, believe me, it is much easier to pray than work.\n\n_Devil_.  Listen once more.  You have a twist of the mouth which tells me\nyou are a hypocrite; and your eyes, which revolve in so narrow a circle,\nand which are generally cast downward, tell me that you are convinced\nthey would betray the feelings of your heart, were you to raise them.\n\nThe hermit lifted his eyes towards the heavens, prayed with clasped\nhands, and said, \"Thus does the righteous man reply to the scoffer.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Enough.  Come, brother, and bear us company in our repast.\n\nBut the hermit remained inflexible.  Faustus looked scornfully on the\nDevil, who merely smiled and shook his head.  Suddenly the door opened,\nand a young female pilgrim rushed in almost breathless.  When she had\nrecovered from her fear, she related how she had been pursued by a\nknight, from whom she had the good fortune to escape by reaching the cell\nof the pious hermit.  She was received in a friendly manner; and,\nunclasping her long mantle, she exhibited such beauty as would have made\nthe victory over the flesh no easy matter for the holy Anthony himself.\nShe placed herself by the side of Leviathan, ate sparingly of the meal,\nand the Devil began to--\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nThe hermit was at first shocked, and at last confused; and he had\nscarcely power to struggle with the temptation.  The pilgrim tore\nherself, ashamed and angry, from the arms of Leviathan, to seek\nprotection by the side of the hermit, which he could not refuse her.\n\nThe Devil and Faustus now pretended to be intoxicated and overwhelmed\nwith sleep; but before they took repose the Devil placed, in the presence\nof the hermit, a weighty purse of money under the straw, and deposited\nhis own rich rings and those of Faustus in a casket, which the latter\nlaid close beside him.  On the table they placed their swords and\ndaggers, and then flung themselves down and soon snored.\n\nThe pilgrim softly approached the table, and poured out with her delicate\nand snow-white hands a goblet of foaming wine.  She just touched the rim\nwith her rosy lips, and then offered it to the hermit.  He stood like one\namazed; and in his confusion emptied it, and another besides, and\ngreedily swallowed the luxurious morsels which the tempter, one after\nanother, held up to his mouth.  She then led him out, and bursting into\ntears, entreated his pardon for having been forced to outrage his holy\neyes.  She then looked mournful and inconsolable, pressed his hand\nwarmly, and at last fell down on her knees before him.  At this instant\nthe silvery moon beamed upon her bosom, over which the gentle night-wind\nmoved her dark, dishevelled locks.  The hermit sank upon this dazzling\nbosom, without knowing whether he was dead or alive.  At length the\npilgrim said, \"That she would yield herself entirely to his wishes, if he\nwould revenge her first on those daring reprobates, and take possession\nof their treasure, which would enable him and her to live happily to the\nend of their days.\"\n\nThe hermit, at these words, recovered in some degree from his\nintoxication, and asked her, in a trembling voice, what she meant, and\nwhat she would have him do.\n\nAmongst broken exclamations of rapture she murmured, \"Their daggers lie\non the table: do you murder the one; I will manage the other.  Then dress\nyourself in their clothes, and seize their treasure.  We will then set\nthe hermitage on fire, and fly to France together.\"\n\nThe horrible idea of murder made the hermit shudder.  He hesitated, was\nundecided, looked on the charms of the siren; he saw that he could make\nhimself master of her and of the treasure without danger; and, all his\nvirtue yielding, he forgot heaven and his oft-repeated vows.  The pilgrim\ndragged the reeling miscreant into the hut; each seized a dagger; and\njust as he was about to aim a blow at Faustus, the Devil burst into the\nfiendish scorn-laugh; and Faustus saw the hermit, with a lifted dagger,\nstanding by his side.\n\n_Faustus_.  Cursed monster, who, under the mask of religion, wouldst\nmurder thy guest!\n\nThe hermit sunk trembling to the earth.  The pilgrim, a phantom of hell,\nappeared to him in a frightful form, and then vanished.\n\nFaustus commanded Leviathan to set fire to the hut, and burn it to ashes,\nalong with the hypocrite.  The Devil obeyed with joy.  The following\nmorning the peasants shed many tears for the fate of the righteous man;\nand, having collected his bones, they preserved them as precious relics.\n\nFaustus and the Devil arrived early the next day at Mayence, and alighted\nat the dwelling of the former.  His young wife fell with a cry of joy\nupon his neck, embraced him, and then burst into tears of sorrow.  The\nchildren clung sobbing to his knees, and greedily examined his pockets,\nto see whether he had brought them any thing.  His old gray-headed father\nnext staggered towards him, and shook him mournfully by the hand.  The\nheart of Faustus was moved, and his eyes began to moisten, while he\ntrembled, and looked angrily upon the Devil.  When he asked his wife why\nshe wept, she wrung her hands, and replied, \"Ah, Faustus, do you not\nperceive how the hungry ones examine your pockets for bread?  How can I\nsee that without tears?  They have eaten nothing for a long time; we have\nbeen unfortunate, and all thy friends have forsaken us; but now I see\nthee again, it is to me as though I saw the countenance of an angel.  I\nand thy father have suffered more on thy account than on our own.  We\nhave had such frightful dreams and visions; and when my eyes, weary with\nweeping, have closed for a few hours, I saw thee torn from us by force,\nand all was dark and horrible.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Thy dream, love, is about to be partly fulfilled.  This\ngentleman here will reward thy husband for those talents which his\nungrateful country overlooked or despised.  I have agreed to travel with\nhim far and wide.\n\n_Old Faustus_.  \"My son, stay at home and support thyself honourably,\"\nsays Scripture.\n\n_Faustus_.  And die of hunger, says Experience.\n\nThe wife began to weep yet more bitterly, and the children screamed for\nbread.  Faustus gave the Devil a sign, and he called to his servant, who\npresently afterwards brought into the room a heavy coffer.  Faustus\nunlocked it, and flung a large bag of gold upon the table; which being\nopened, and the yellow coin appearing, a lively flush of joy was\ninstantly diffused over the melancholy countenances of the family.  He\nthen took out magnificent clothes and jewels, which he delivered to his\nwife.  Her tears vanished, and vanity at once dried them up, as the\nsun-rays dry up the morning dew.  The Devil smiled, and Faustus muttered\nto himself, \"O magic of gold and of vanity!  I may now go to the\nantipodes, and no other tears than those of hypocrisy will be shed.\"\nThen, aloud, \"Well, wife, these are the fruits of my journey, reaped in\nadvance.  Is not this better than staying at home with you and starving?\"\n\nBut the wife heard him not; for she stood with her rich robes and jewels\nbefore the looking-glass to see how they became her.  The little girls\nfrolicked around her, took up the clothes and ornaments she had laid\naside, and aped the mother.  In the mean time a servant brought in a\nsubstantial breakfast, the children fell upon it, cried and shouted with\njoy; but the mother had, in the mean time, forgotten her hunger.\n\nThe old father took Faustus aside, and said, \"If thou hast obtained all\nthese things by honourable means, let us thank God, my son, and enjoy his\nbounty; but for some nights past I have had horrible dreams, although I\nhope they were merely caused by our necessities.\"\n\nThis remark of the old man sank deep into the heart of Faustus; but the\npleasure of seeing his children eat so heartily, and of observing with\nwhat love and thankfulness his eldest son and favourite looked at him;\nthe thought of having relieved them from their misery; and, above all, an\ninward longing for pleasure,--considerably damped the impression.  The\nDevil added a large sum to the money in the bag, presented the young wife\nwith a costly necklace, gave each of the children a trifle, and assured\nthe family that he would bring back Faustus to them safe, sound, and\nwealthy at no very distant period.\n\nFaustus, attended by the Devil, now went to see a friend, whom he found\nmuch dejected.  He asked him the cause of his unhappiness, and the other\nreplied:\n\n\"This afternoon the law-suit which you have often heard me speak of is to\nbe determined; and I am certain of losing it, although justice is on my\nside.  In short, Master Faustus, nothing remains for me to do but to beg,\nor drown myself in the deepest part of the Rhine.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  How can you be certain that you will lose your cause, if\njustice is for you, as you say it is?\n\n_Friend_.  But the five hundred gold guilders which my opponent has given\nthe Judge are against me; and if I cannot outbid him, I must fall to the\nground.\n\n_Faustus_.  Pooh! does it merely depend on that?  Come, lead me to the\nJudge.  I have a friend here who willingly assists people out of such\ndifficulties.\n\nThey found the Judge to be a proud, inflated man, who would scarcely\ndeign to honour a poor client with a look.  Faustus had long known him\nfor what he was.  When they entered the room, the Judge, in an imperious\ntone, thus addressed Faustus's friend, \"Why do you come to trouble me?\nDo you not know that tears never interrupt the course of justice?\"\n\nThe unhappy friend looked humbly to the ground.\n\n_Faustus_.  Mighty sir, you have spoken well: tears are like water; they\nmerely spoil the eyes of those that shed them.  But do you know that my\nfriend has right on his side?\n\n_Judge_.  Master Faustus, I know you for a man who plays away his money\nat ducks-and-drakes, and who has a loose tongue.  Right and law are very\ndifferent things: if he has the first for him, it is no reason that he\nshould have the second.\n\n_Faustus_.  You say that right and law are two different things:\nsomething like judge and justice, perhaps.\n\n_Judge_.  Master Faustus, I have already said that I know you.\n\n_Faustus_.  Perhaps we are mistaken in each other, most enlightened sir.\nBut it is mere waste of soap to attempt to wash a blackamoor white.  (_He\nopened the door_, _and in stalked the Devil_.)  Here is a gentleman who\nwill lay before you a document, which I hope will give the cause of my\nfriend a new aspect.\n\nWhen the Judge saw the richly-dressed Leviathan, he assumed a more\nfriendly countenance, and asked them all to be seated.\n\n_Faustus_.  We can settle the whole business standing.  (_To the Devil_)\nProduce the document which we have found.\n\nThe Devil counted out of his purse five hundred gold guilders; he then\nstopped and looked at the Judge.\n\n_Judge_.  The document is by no means a bad one, gentlemen; but the\nadverse party has long ago given me one of equal weight.\n\nThe Devil continued counting till he had told out a thousand; he then\nstopped.\n\n_Judge_.  In truth, I had overlooked this circumstance.  Such vouchers,\nhowever, are not to be withstood.\n\nHe then gathered up the gold and secured it in his coffer.\n\n_Faustus_.  I hope now that right and law will go together.\n\n_Judge_.  Master Faustus, you understand the art of appeasing the\nbitterest enemies.\n\nFaustus, whom the servility of the Judge as much offended as his former\nrudeness, whispered to the Devil, in going away, \"Do thou avenge justice\non this wretch.\"\n\nThereupon he left his friend, without waiting for his thanks, and went\nabout with the Devil to discharge his debts.  He then paid visits to his\nother friends, showered gold upon them by handfuls, even on those who had\nforsaken him in his adversity; and he felt happy in being able to give\nunbridled scope to his generosity and greatness of soul.  The Devil,\nhowever, who saw deeper into things than Faustus, laughed within himself\nat the consequences.\n\nThey now went to the hotel, Faustus, recollecting the conduct of his\nwife, once again fell into an exceedingly ill humour.  He could not\npardon her for having ceased to lament his departure the moment she had\nseen the gold and jewels.  Till now he had imagined that she loved him\nmore than all the treasures of the earth; but what he had just observed\nforced him to believe the contrary, and his affection for her was turned\nto bitterness.  The Devil, who perceived where the shoe pinched,\nwillingly allowed Faustus to torment himself with these gloomy thoughts,\nso that he might tear himself from that sweet tie by which nature still\ngently fettered him.  He foresaw, with secret rapture, the dreadful\nanguish which would one day arise in the bosom of the headstrong Faustus,\nwhen the future should disclose to him all the horrors which he was now\nabout to perpetrate.\n\nThey dined in the public room, in company with some professors of law and\ndivinity, who, to the great delight of the Devil, soon fell into a\nviolent dispute concerning the nun Clara.  The flame of that controversy\nwas still at its full height; party-spirit raged in all houses, and the\npresent disputants talked so loudly, and said so many ridiculous things,\nthat Faustus soon forgot his ill humour.  But when a doctor of theology\nasserted that it was possible for Satan to have carried his wickedness so\nfar as to have brought the nun into certain circumstances by means of the\ndream, the Devil burst into a bellowing laugh; and Faustus immediately\nthought of a scheme by which he might revenge himself, in a signal\nmanner, upon the Archbishop, who had paid so little attention to his\ndiscovery.  He hoped then to involve the thread of the theological and\npolitical war at Mayence in such confusion that no human power would be\nable to unravel it.  After dinner he asked the demon whether it would be\npossible for him, under the figure of the Dominican, to pass that night\nwith the lovely Clara.  The Devil assured him that nothing was more easy;\nand, if he chose, the abbess herself should usher him into the nun's\ncell.  Faustus, who had always considered the abbess to be a strict,\npious, and conscientious woman, laughed in scorn at these last words of\nthe Devil.\n\n_Devil_.  Thy wife, O Faustus, set up a shriek of despair when thou didst\ntell her of thy intended departure; but when the glitter of gold and\ndress burst upon her view, the sorrows of her heart vanished at once.  I\nrepeat, that the abbess herself shall introduce thee to the cell of the\nnun, and I will employ no supernatural means.  Thou thyself shalt see how\nthe old gudgeon will swallow the hook.  Come, we will pay her a visit\nunder the pious figures of two nuns.  I know the manners and ways of the\nnuns, ay, and of the monks too, of Germany, well enough to ape them.  I\nwill represent the Abbess of the Black Nuns, and thou shalt be her\nfriend, Sister Agatha.\n\nAt this moment Faustus's friend came, full of joy, to inform him of the\nhappy issue of the law-suit.  He was about to thank Faustus and the Devil\nupon his knees; but Faustus said, \"Spare your thanks, and take care of my\nwife and family during my absence.\"  He then whispered into the ear of\nthe Devil, \"It is time to think of the Judge.\"\n\nThe Judge wished after dinner to gratify his beloved wife by counting the\ngold pieces in her presence.  He unlocked the coffer, and started back in\na tremor at the sight of its contents: the gold pieces were changed into\nlarge rats, which sprang out, and fell furiously upon his face and hands.\nThe Judge, who had a great aversion to these animals, rushed out of the\nroom; but they pursued him, fastening on his heels.  He hurried from the\nhouse, and ran through the streets; but still they were close behind him.\nHe fled into the fields; but they allowed him no rest, and at last forced\nthe terrified wretch to seek shelter in the stone tower where the tolls\nare gathered, and which stands in the middle of the Rhine.  Here he\nthought himself safe from farther pursuit; but rats and mice hot from\nhell are not to be terrified by water: they swam through, fell upon him,\nand ate him up alive.  His wife, in her terror and astonishment, told the\nhistory of the transformation of the gold pieces by which her unfortunate\nhusband had allowed himself to be dazzled; and from that time there has\nnot been in the whole diocese of Mayence a single instance of a judge or\na man in office taking a bribe.  The Devil could not have foreseen this,\nor he certainly would have let the scoundrel go unpunished.\n\nFaustus and the Devil stood in their disguises before the gate of the\nconvent of White Nuns.  The portress ran as fast as she could in order to\ninform the abbess of the unexpected visitors.  The abbess received them\nwith conventual greetings, to which the Devil answered in a similar tone.\nSweetmeats and wines were then brought in, and while partaking of them\nthe two abbesses talked together, of cloister affairs, and of the wicked\nworld; and the Devil, with a deep sigh, turned the discourse to Clara's\naccident.  Clara, who, on account of her rank, was the pet-lamb of the\ncloister, stood near the abbess, and laughed beneath her veil.  Faustus\nobserved this, and, looking at her, really thought he had never seen a\nmore charming rogue wear the sacred veil.  The Devil at length gave the\nconversation a serious turn, and led the abbess to conclude that he had\nsomething weighty to confide to her.\n\n_Abbess_ (_to Clara_).  You may go, my lamb, to the nuns in the garden,\nand divert yourself with them; I will send you out some sweetmeats, so\nthat you may celebrate the coming of our venerable sister.\n\nClara bounded away.  After a few words, which the Devil uttered in a\ndisturbed and thoughtful kind of tone, so that he might thereby arouse\nthe curiosity of the abbess, he came to the point.\n\n_Devil_.  Ah, dear sister, how much do I pity you!  It is true, and that\nought in some degree to comfort you, that the whole city and the entire\ndistrict are convinced of your holiness, your piety, and the strictness\nof your discipline.  In a word, you possess all the virtues requisite for\na bride of heaven.  But, alas, the world will be the world still; and the\nFiend often infuses evil thoughts into the minds of worldly men, so that\nthrough them he may disturb those saints who are thorns in his side.  No,\nno; the wicked Devil cannot bear that you should bring up your lambs in\nuntainted purity.  I pity you, as I said before, and still more the\nlittle innocents who are at present confided to your care.  What will\nbecome of them when they lose you?\n\n_Abbess_.  Kind sister, be of good cheer; though I am old, I am yet,\nthanks to Heaven, sound and hearty, and the little inconveniences which\nattend a uniform course of devotion and penitence prolong life rather\nthan shorten it.  So, at least, the physician of the convent tells me\nwhen I complain to him.\n\nThe Devil looked at her attentively.\n\n\"Have you, then, had no anticipation of what is hanging over your head?\nno warning vision?  Has nothing occurred in the convent to make you look\nforward to the future with anxiety?  It is customary for pious souls to\nbe informed by certain signs when any disaster menaces them.\"\n\n_Abbess_.  You frighten me so, that I tremble in my whole body.  But let\nme reflect;--yes, yes, I am very restless, and dream of raw heads and\nbloody bones; and some days ago--ah, yes!--that certainly was a sign and\na warning--some few days ago I went with my lap-dog, which you see there,\nto walk in the garden.  I was alone; the nuns were at some distance,\ntelling stories beneath the linden-trees.  All at once the gardener's\ngreat mastiff sprung upon _Piety_, for that is the name of my pet.  I\nshuddered from head to foot, and crossed myself again and again; but that\nwould avail nothing.  At last I struck at the hideous brute with my\nstaff,--yes, I struck with all my strength the filthy hound who would\nthus profane the cloister; and I continued striking until the staff,\nwhich his reverence the Archbishop delivered to me upon my consecration\nas abbess, broke in two.  Was that a sign or a warning, think ye?\n\nThe Devil and Faustus pretended to be shocked.\n\n_Devil_.  Ah, the very worst in the world.  All now is but too clear and\nmanifest.  Did not I tell you how it would turn out, Sister Agatha?\n\nFaustus made a humble bow of assent.\n\n_Abbess_.  For Heaven's sake, speak, or I shall run mad.\n\n_Devil_.  Contain yourself, dear sister.  Help is to be found, and who\nknows but I bring it with me?  Remember that it was the staff which the\nArchbishop presented to you upon your being consecrated an abbess which\nyou broke; and now listen to me attentively.  You know my cousin the\nprebend; well, he confided to me a very terrible affair.  He indeed made\nme solemnly promise not to tell you; but I know it is best to commit a\nlittle sin, if by its means we can prevent a great one and confound the\nprojects of Satan.\n\n_Abbess_.  You are perfectly right; and the Fathers of the Church hold\nthat doctrine, as my confessor has often told me.\n\n_Devil_.  Know, then, that the Archbishop has so far got the upper hand\nof the Chapter, that he has brought them to consent to your being deposed\nafter the lapse of a few months, and his niece Clara being made abbess in\nyour stead.\n\n\"Jesu Maria!\" cried the abbess, wrung her hands, and fell into a swoon.\nThe Devil made a sour face at her exclamation, and Faustus, laughing,\nrubbed her wrinkled brows.  After she had recovered herself, she shed a\ntorrent of tears, and shrieked a thousand curses against the wickedness\nof the world.\n\n_Devil_.  Do not despair, dear sister.  For a distant evil there is\nalways a remedy.\n\n_Abbess_.  And what do you advise me to do?  Wretch that I am!  O\nHeavens! what will become of me,--what will become of the nuns?\n\n_Devil_.  I have already said that it is best to commit a slight sin if,\nby so doing, we prevent a great one, and you yourself have proved it by\nthe authority of holy Fathers; but, dear sister, courage and\nunderstanding will be necessary, if you wish to obtain your purpose\nwithout danger to your own soul, by loading another person with the\ncapital sin.\n\n_Abbess_.  Ah, dear sister, and how is that to be contrived?\n\n_Devil_.  I was once in our convent in almost a similar perplexity.  The\ngood Sister Agatha here is my witness; and as she saw every thing, and\nassisted me, we may speak out before her.\n\nFaustus bowed with humility.\n\n_Devil_.  A nun who, by sinful wit, and yet more sinful beauty, had found\nfavour among the great and powerful, was, by their assistance, on the\npoint of rising above me.  Ah! I have felt how grievous are the thoughts\nof being forced to obey, after one has for a long time exercised\nboundless power.  Well, in the presence of Sister Agatha, I entered into\na consultation with my relation the prebend: he is very knowing in\naffairs of conscience and crime, and understands to a hair's-breadth what\nis damnable and what is not.  This wise man gave me a piece of advice\nwhich helped me out of my trouble, and for which I shall always have\nreason to bless him.  I admit that the expedient at first appeared to me\nsinful; but he assured me, and proved to me out of the casuists, that a\nlittle fasting and penance would do away with all that was culpable in\nit.\n\n_Abbess_.  But the advice--the advice!\n\n_Devil_.  I am ashamed to tell it you aloud.\n\n_Abbess_.  Then whisper it into my ear.  What the Abbess of the Black\nNuns could do without endangering her salvation, the Abbess of the White\nNuns may do also.\n\n_Devil_ (_softly into her ear_).  He advised me to contrive so that this\ndangerous nun should commit the sin of * * *\n\n_Abbess_ (_crossing herself_).  Blessed Ursula!  Why, that is the work of\nthe Devil, and leads directly to hell.\n\n_Devil_.  Ay, very true, but only the person who commits it; and I was\nnot advising you to do it.  Remember, dear sister, you are not to be\npunished for all the sins which your nuns may choose to commit.\n\n_Abbess_.  But, in Heaven's name, how did you manage this dangerous\naffair without being discovered?\n\n_Devil_.  Oh, my situation was much more difficult than yours, for you\nare assisted by the report of the dream, which already fills the whole\ncity.  Suppose, now, you were to let a man, dressed like the Dominican,\nslip into Clara's cell, and the signs of the sinful deed were afterwards\nto appear, would not the whole world say that it was a trick of the arch\nfoe of mankind?  Let Satan have the credit of it, and do you remain\nsitting in your chair, adorned with that dignity which Heaven has been\npleased to grant you.  I have given you this advice out of friendship,\nand for your good; you are now at liberty to do as you please.  At all\nevents, I will send you some one to-night to personate the Dominican, and\nhe will only have to return if you are too scrupulous.\n\nThe abbess sat like one amazed, and in her confusion began to tell her\nRosary: \"_Ave Maria_.  It is certainly allying oneself to the Devil.\nBlessed Ursula, illumine my darkness.\"  She cast her eyes upon the image\nof the saint.  \"It would certainly be a great scandal to the convent.\n_Ave Maria_.  But then it would be placed to Satan's account.  Perhaps,\nthough, I might be damned for it.  _Pater noster_.  And am I now to\nbecome a servant in the cloister, and in my old days to be tormented by a\nsuperior, after I have so long tormented the nuns?  This little baggage\nhas already afforded sufficient scandal to the whole town without this.\nAlas, when I have no longer authority to box the nuns about, how will\nthis and that malignant creature revenge herself upon me!  _Ave Maria_.\nWell, I have made up my mind, and, for the good of the cloister, I will\ncontinue abbess the remainder of any days, cost what it will.\"\n\nThe Devil applauded her, and the plan was soon arranged.  Upon going away\nthe Devil said to Faustus:\n\n\"Now, what have I done else than ask the pride of this old beldame\nwhether it is better to risk eternal damnation, or to give up that\ntyrannical power over the poor nuns, which the hand of Death will soon\ndeprive her of?\"\n\nWhatever pleasure Faustus derived from the certainty that his desires\nwould be gratified, he was nevertheless much displeased that the Devil\nshould always be in the right.  That same evening the abbess herself\nintroduced him, under the disguise of the Dominican, into Clara's cell\nwhile the nuns were at vespers.  Clara herself soon appeared, and after\nshe had commended herself to St. Ursula, she laid herself down.  Her\nimagination, which had once been directed to a certain object, often\nrepeated to her in dreams her former vision; and she lay in just such a\ntransport, when Faustus approached her, and embodied the apparition, upon\nwhich Clara awoke, and still believed herself merely in a dream.  The\nabbess in the mean time did penance in her cell, and made a vow to fast\nevery week for the good of her soul.  But the consequences of this night\nwere horrible to poor Clara.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nThe next morning Faustus took leave of his family.  Few tears were shed;\nbut his old father, in a mournful tone, gave him wholesome advice.\n\nAs Faustus, with the Devil, rode over the bridge which leads across the\nRhine, thinking of last night's adventure, and making comments upon the\nabbess, he saw afar off a man in the water, who seemed upon the point of\ndrowning, and only feebly struggled against approaching death.  He\ncommanded Leviathan to save the man.  The Devil answered, with a\nsignificant look:\n\n\"Think well of what thou requirest; he is a youth, and perhaps it will be\nbetter for him and for thee that he ends his life here.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Thou fiend, only ready for mischief, wouldst thou have me\nwithstand the sacred feeling of nature?  Hasten and save him, I repeat.\n\n_Devil_.  Canst thou not swim thyself?  No.  Well, the consequences be\nthy reward; thou wilt repent of this.\n\nHe rushed into the stream, and rescued the youth.  Faustus consoled\nhimself with the idea of having, by this good act, atoned for the\npreceding night of sin; and Leviathan laughed at the consolation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe Devil now led Faustus through a series of adventures which were to\nserve as a prelude to the most afflicting vicissitudes.  What Faustus had\nhitherto seen had embittered his heart; but the scenes which now opened\nupon him by degrees so wounded his spirit, that his mind was unable\neither to support or remedy them; and only one of the worldly great, or,\nwhat is nearly synonymous, a worker and designer of human misery, could\nhave witnessed them unmoved.\n\nThe Devil and Faustus were riding in close conversation along the banks\nof the Fulda, when they saw beneath an oak-tree a countrywoman sitting\nwith her children, appearing to be the lifeless image of agony and dumb\ndespair.  Faustus, whom sorrow attracted as much as joy, went hurriedly\nup to her, and inquired the cause of her grief.  The woman gazed at him\nfor some time, and it was not until his sympathising look had in some\ndegree melted her frozen heart that she was able, amidst tears and\nsobbings, to explain herself in the following words:\n\n\"In the whole world there are no beings so wretched as myself and these\npoor children.  My husband was indebted to the Prince-Bishop for three\nyears' rent.  The first year he could not pay it, on account of the\nfailure of his crops; during the second the Bishop's wild-boars grubbed\nup all his seed from the ground; and during the third his whole\nhunting-train galloped over our fields and destroyed our harvest.  As my\nhusband had often been threatened by the steward with a distress, he\nintended to have gone this morning to Frankfort, to sell a fat calf and\nhis last pair of oxen, and with the amount to have paid his rent.  But\njust as he was setting out the Bishop's clerk-of-the-kitchen came, and\ndemanded the calf for his lordship's table.  My husband pleaded his\npoverty, and told him how unjust it would be to take away his calf, which\nwould fetch a high price at Frankfort.  The clerk-of-the-kitchen\nanswered, that no peasant had a right to carry any thing out of his\nmaster's domain.  The steward and his bailiffs then came, and instead of\ntaking my husband's part, he drove off the oxen; the clerk-of-the-kitchen\ntook the calf; the bailiffs turned me and my children out of house and\nhome; and while they were pillaging and carrying off our goods, my\nhusband went into the barn and out his throat in despair.  The poor\nwretch lies under that sheet, and we sit here to watch the body, so that\nit may not be devoured by the wild-beasts, for the priest has refused to\nbury it.\"\n\nShe tore away the white sheet which had concealed the body, and fell to\nthe ground.  Faustus started at the horrible sight, while tears gushed\nfrom his eyes, and he cried, \"Man, man, is this thy lot?\"  Then looking\nup to heaven, \"Oh! didst thou create this unfortunate man merely that a\nservant of thy religion might drive him to despair and suicide?\"  He cast\nthe cloth over the body, flung the woman some gold, and said, \"I will go\nto the Bishop and tell him your melancholy story.  I am certain that he\nwill bury your husband, give you back your goods, and punish the\nvillains.\"\n\nThis circumstance made so strong an impression upon Faustus, that he and\nthe Devil reached the Bishop's castle before he could collect himself.\nThey were received with great civility, and shown into a spacious hall,\nwhere his reverence was at table.  The Prince-Bishop was a man in his\nbest years, but so enormously corpulent that fat seemed to have\noverwhelmed his nerves, his heart, and his very soul.  He was only\nanimated while eating; all his sense lay in his palate, and he never knew\nvexation, except when he was disappointed of a dish which he had ordered.\nHis table was so well furnished, that Faustus, whom the Devil had often\nbanqueted by means of his spirits, thought to himself that the Bishop\nsurpassed the master of a thousand arts in his dinners.  In the middle of\nthe table stood, amongst other dishes, a large calf's-head,--a favourite\nmorsel with the Bishop.  He was engaged, both body and soul, in the\nfeast, and had not yet spoken a single word, when suddenly Faustus\nexclaimed:\n\n\"Gracious sir, do not take it ill of me if I spoil your appetite, but it\nis impossible for me to look on that calf's-head without telling you of a\nshocking affair which has this day occurred in the neighbourhood of your\npalace.  I hope, from your humanity and Christian mildness, that you will\ncause those aggrieved to be recompensed, and take care in future that\nyour officers do not again outrage humanity, as they have done in this\naffair.\"\n\nThe Bishop raised his eyes in wonder, looked at Faustus, and emptied his\nglass.\n\nFaustus related the story with warmth and feeling; none of those present,\nhowever, paid any attention to him, and the Bishop continued eating.\nFaustus then said: \"I think I am speaking to a Bishop, a shepherd of his\nflock, and am standing among teachers and preachers of religion and\nChristian charity?  My lord, am I right or not?\"\n\nThe Bishop eyed him scornfully; then calling for the\nclerk-of-the-kitchen, he said: \"What hubbub is this about a peasant who\nhas been fool enough to cut his throat?\"\n\nThe clerk-of-the-kitchen laughed, told the story as Faustus had done, and\nadded: \"I took away his calf because it would grace your lordship's\ntable, and was too good for the Frankfort burghers, to whom he wished to\nsell it.  The steward distrained his goods because he had always been a\nbad tenant, and for three years had not paid his rent.  Thus, my lord,\ndoes the case stand; and truly no peasant shall drive any thing good out\nof your demesne with my consent.\"\n\n_Bishop_.  Go; you are quite right.  (_To Faustus_)  What have you now to\nsay? you see that he did his duty in taking the calf; or do you think\nthat the Frankfort citizens ought to eat the fat calves of my land, and I\nthe lean?\n\nFaustus was about to speak.\n\n_Bishop_.  Listen! eat, drink, and be silent.  You are the first person\nthat has ever spoken of peasants and such rabble at my table.  Verily, if\nyour dress did not declare you to be a gentleman, I should be inclined to\nthink that you were sprung from beggars, since you speak so warmly in\ntheir favour.  Learn that the peasant who does not pay his rent does just\nas well in cutting his throat, as certain people would do in holding\ntheir tongues instead of spoiling my appetite with useless speeches.\nClerk-of-the-kitchen, that is a noble calf's-head.\n\n_Clerk-of-the-kitchen_.  It is the head of Hans Ruprecht's calf.\n\n_Bishop_.  So, so!  Send it me here, and reach me the pepper.  I will cut\nmyself a slice.  And you, Mr. What's-your-name, may as well take a piece\nwith me.\n\nThe clerk-of-the-kitchen placed the pepper-castor before the Bishop.\nFaustus whispered into the ear of the Devil; and at the moment the Bishop\nran his knife into the calf's-head, the Devil changed it to the head of\nHans Ruprecht, which, wild, horrible, and bloody, now stared the Bishop\nin the face.  His reverence let fall his knife, and sank back in a\nfeinting fit; while the whole company sat in lifeless horror and\nstupefaction.\n\n_Faustus_.  My Lord Bishop, and ye most reverend gentlemen, learn from\nthis to practise Christian charity as well as to preach it.\n\nHe hurried away with the Devil.\n\nThe _sang-froid_ of the Bishop and his table-companions, and the brutal\nmanner in which he spoke of the fate of the unfortunate suicide, sowed\nthe first seeds of gloomy horror in the breast of Faustus.  He revolved\nin his mind his former experience, as well as what he had seen since he\nhad roamed about with the Devil, and perceived, whichever way he turned,\nnothing but hard-heartedness, deceit, tyranny, and a willingness to\ncommit crime for the sake of gold, preferment, or luxury.  He wished to\nseek for the cause of all this in man himself; but his own unquiet and\ndoubtful spirit, and his imagination, which always avoided difficulties\nwithin its reach, began already in dark dissatisfaction to make the\nCreator of mankind, if not the author, yet, by his sufferance of all\nthese horrors, at least the accomplice.  These impious ideas only\nrequired the aid of a few more horrible scenes to derange his\nunderstanding entirely; and the Devil inwardly rejoiced in being able to\nafford a future opportunity for that purpose.  Faustus hoped soon to cure\nhimself of this sadness at the court of the renowned prince, and his\ncompanion willingly left him in this delusion.  About evening they\narrived at a city, at the entrance of which they perceived a crowd of\npeople assembled round a tower, in which culprits condemned to death were\naccustomed to pass the last night of their lives.  Faustus, observing\nthat the people were looking up to the ironed windows with the deepest\nsorrow, asked the cause of this assemblage.  Whereupon a hundred voices\ngave him an answer.\n\n\"Dr. Robertus, our father, the friend of freedom, the protector of the\npeople, the avenger of the oppressed, sits imprisoned in yonder tower.\nThe cruel tyrannical Minister, once his friend, has now condemned him to\ndeath; and to-morrow he is to be executed, because he dared to uphold our\nprivileges.\"\n\nThese words sunk deep into the soul of Faustus.  He conceived a high\nopinion of a man who, at the risk of his own life, had dared to stand\nforward as the avenger of his fellow-creatures.  As he himself had just\nbeen a witness of the consequences of oppression, he commanded the Devil\nto carry him to this doctor.  The Devil took him aside, and then flew up\nwith him into the tower, and entered the cell of the avenger of the\npeople.  Faustus saw before him a man whose daring and gloomy physiognomy\nwas truly disgusting.  But the romantic imagination of Faustus pictured,\nat first sight, the form of a great man, from what he had heard and from\nwhat he saw before him.  The doctor did not seem much surprised at their\nsudden appearance.  Faustus approached him, and said:\n\n\"Doctor Robertus, I come to hear your story from your own mouth; not that\nI have any doubt, for your appearance confirms all that has been told me\nof you; I am now convinced that you fall a sacrifice to that tyranny\nwhich oppresses the race of man, and which I abhor as much as you do.  I\ncome likewise to offer you my assistance, which, contrary to all\nappearances, can extricate you from this dreadful situation.\"\n\nThe doctor looked coldly upon him, let his face sink into his hands, and\nreplied:\n\n\"Yes, I fall a victim to power and tyranny; and, what is most grievous to\nme, through the means of a false friend, who sacrifices me more to his\nfear and envy than to his despotic principles.  I know not who ye are,\nand whether ye can save me; but I wish that men of your appearance should\nknow Dr. Robertus, who is to bleed to-morrow in the cause of freedom.\nFrom my earliest youth the noble spirit of independence, which man is\nbound to thank for every thing great that he is capable of, fired my\nbreast; from my early youth the numerous examples of tyranny and\noppression which I saw with my eyes, or read of in history, roused my\nsoul and inflamed me to fury.  Often did I shed tears because I felt\nmyself unable to avenge the sufferings of mankind.  To increase my\nmisery, I read in the history of the Greeks and Romans what advancement\nman made in virtue when tyrants were put down, and he was left to follow\nthe bent of his own nature.  Think not that I am one of those fools whose\nidea of freedom is that every one should do as he pleases.  Full well I\nknow that the capacities of men are different, and that their situations\nin life must be different; but when I considered the laws which should\nsecure to each individual his life and property, I found nothing but a\nwild chaos, which tyrannical power had artfully mixed up in order to make\nherself the sole and arbitrary mistress of the happiness and the\nexistence of the subject.  After this discovery, the whole human race\nappeared to me as a flock of sheep, which a band of robbers had conspired\nto plunder and devour by means of laws enacted by themselves, and to\nwhich they themselves are not amenable: for where is the law that fetters\nthe rulers of the earth?  Is it not madness that those very people who,\nby their situations, are most liable to the abuse of their passions, are\nsubservient to no law, and acknowledge no tribunal which can call them to\naccount?  Misery is near, and promised vengeance is far off; and that\nchimes-in but poorly with the feelings and nature of man.\"  Faustus\nearnestly listened to all this, looked furious, and struck his forehead\nwith his hand.  The Devil was quite enraptured with the orator, who\ncontinued:\n\n\"The wild indignation which I expressed at every new act of oppression\ndoes honour to my heart, and therefore I care very little though my\nenemies can reproach me for want of prudence; for what is termed prudence\nby the world is nothing else than blind submission, servility, flattery,\nand being unscrupulous how or in what manner a place is obtained; but an\nindependent being like myself seeks for happiness by purer means.  I had\nthe misfortune to be allied, by the bonds of friendship, to the present\nMinister from the time we were at school together.  He sought\nadvancement, and he has the spirit which insures it; for, from his very\ninfancy, he has endeavoured to obtain power and riches by principles\nentirely opposite to mine; and in proportion as I have attacked\ntyrannical forms of government, he has defended them.  We have disputed\nthis delicate point privately and in public, and my honesty has always\nenabled me to defeat him; but as it was natural that I should have the\noppressed part of mankind on my side, so was it yet more reasonable that\nhe should succeed in winning over all those who derive advantage from\nenslaving their fellow-men.  As these are the very people who can open\nthe door of happiness and fortune to their confederates, so was he soon\ndistinguished and raised, step by step, to the rank of prime-minister of\nthe kingdom; whilst I, neglected, despised, and unknown, remained\nstationary.  The proud despot exerted his utmost to bring me over to his\nparty by bribery and promise of place; but I saw that he only wished to\nmake me thereby more deeply feel his power, and that he felt nothing more\nwas wanting to complete his triumph than to have a man of my principles\nacknowledge him as patron, and sanctify his arbitrary measures by\ncooperating with him.  True, therefore, to myself, I the more eagerly\nexposed and censured the crimes which he was daily committing.  You must\nbe aware that if he had been capable of feeling what was great, this\nhostility would have inspired him with admiration for a man who took him\nto task with so much danger to himself; but it operated in a different\nmanner.  The more I exposed him, the more his hatred against me\nincreased; and when I, a month ago, published a paper in which I depicted\nhim in his true colours, and the people thereupon assembled round his\nhouse, threatened his life, and shouted my name with enthusiasm, the\nwretch had the baseness to send the paper forthwith to the Prince, who\nhad me tried and condemned to death.  Thus the laws of tyrants condemn\nme, but the rights of man acquit me.--I have now told you my history, and\nyou shall hear nothing more from me.  I die without a murmur, and merely\ngrieve that I cannot burst the chain which fetters my fellow-men.  If you\ncan assist me, good; but know that death from the hand of my foe is more\nwelcome to me than mercy.  Leave me now to myself; return to slavery,\nwhile I wing my course to everlasting freedom.\"\n\nFaustus was confounded at the magnanimity of the Doctor, and hurried away\nto reproach the minister with his injustice, and put him to shame.  The\nDevil, who saw deeper into matters, perceived that the Doctor was\nanimated with quite a different spirit than that of freedom.  The\nminister gave them an immediate audience; when Faustus spoke to him with\nmuch warmth and boldness concerning the situation and opinions of the\nDoctor.  He represented to him how injurious it would be to his\nreputation to sacrifice a man, whom he once called friend, at the shrine\nof despotism.  He gave him to understand that every man would believe\nthat revenge and fear had actuated him to get rid of so sharp-sighted an\nobserver of his actions.  \"If your proceedings be just,\" he continued,\n\"you have, then, nothing to fear from him; if, on the contrary, you are\nsuch a man as he declares you to be, his execution will only strengthen\nhis assertion, and every honest man will call you a false friend and an\noppressor of your fellow-citizens.\"\n\n_Minister_.  I do not know you, nor do I ask who you are.  The manner in\nwhich I bear your reproaches and your epithets will best prove my opinion\nof you.  Consider, now, whether you have a right to bestow them from mere\nhearsay, being yourself unacquainted with the affairs of this country.  I\nwill conclude, however, that you speak from compassion, and therefore\nwill give you an answer.  I was, and am still, the friend of Dr.\nRobertus; and I deplore the necessity which forces me to deliver up to\njustice a man whose talents might have made him useful to his country,\nhad he not perverted them to her destruction.  I will not search for the\ncause of this in his breast, but will leave it to his own conscience.\nFor a long time I have tolerated his dangerous infatuation; but since he\nhas inflamed the minds of the people for whose welfare I am answerable,\nand has placed himself at the head of a rebellion, he must die, as my own\nson must, were he guilty of the like offence.  The law has judged him,\nand not I; he knew this law, and knew what penalties rebellion draws down\nupon its sons.  I have nothing to say against the opinion of the people:\nwhen they are no longer misled, I believe they will consider me as their\nfather.  If you please, you may stay among us; and whenever you can see\nany thing really calculated for the people's good, be assured that I\nshall always pay attention to it.\n\nAfter these words, which he spoke in a firm and unaltered tone, he\nretired, and left Faustus, who was unable at the moment to make any\nreply.  Upon going away, the latter said to the Devil, \"Which of these\ntwo, now, shall I believe?\"  The Devil shrugged his shoulders; for he\ngenerally appeared to be ignorant when concealing the truth would be\nprofitable to himself and injurious to mankind.\n\n_Faustus_.  But why should I ask thee?  I will obey the call of my own\nheart.  A man who is so nearly allied to me by his way of thinking shall\nnot die.\n\nIf Faustus had been acquainted with some of our modern bawlers for\nfreedom, he would not have been so mistaken in the Doctor; but such a\nbeing was a novelty at that period.\n\nThe next morning, when the execution was to take place, Faustus went into\nthe grand square, attended by the Devil, and told him in going along what\nhe was to do.  At the very moment the executioner was about to decapitate\nthe Doctor, who had kneeled down, looking very ghastly, the latter\ndisappeared.  The Devil carried him through the air beyond the frontiers;\nand there, delivering him a large sum of money, he abandoned him joyfully\nto his fate, for he saw pretty clearly how he would employ his gold and\nliberty.  The people raised a wild shout of joy at the disappearance of\nthe Doctor, and believed that Providence had rescued their favourite.\nFaustus also shouted, and rejoiced at the glorious action.\n\nFaustus and the Devil now rode to the court of the Prince of ---. {134}\nThey soon reached the court of this prince, who was cried up through all\nGermany as a wise and virtuous ruler, whose only happiness consisted in\nthe welfare of his subjects.  It is true that the subjects themselves did\nnot always join in this cry; but the prince is not yet born who can give\nsatisfaction to all men.\n\nFaustus and the Devil, by means of their dress and equipage, soon found\nadmittance at court.  Faustus regarded the Prince with the eyes of a man\nwhose heart was already prepossessed in his favour; and to carry this\nprepossession even to conviction, nothing more was necessary than the\nnoble exterior of the Prince himself.  He was, or appeared to be, frank\nand open; endeavoured to please and to win all hearts without appearing\nto do so; was familiar without laying aside his dignity, and possessed\nthat prudent coldness which inspires respect, though we scarcely know\nwhy.  All this was blended with so much elegance, urbanity, and decorum,\nthat it would have been difficult for the most acute eye to have\ndistinguished the acquired, the artificial, and the assumed, from the\nplain and natural.  Faustus, who had as yet seen few of those men of the\nworld whose natural characters are swallowed up by political prudence,\nformed an ideal one out of the above-mentioned materials; and after he\nhad for some time visited the court, and believed that he had obtained a\nthorough knowledge of the head personage, the following conversation took\nplace one evening between him and the Devil:\n\n_Faustus_.  I have hitherto purposely said nothing to you of this Prince;\nbut now, having, as I flatter myself, caught his character, I venture to\naffirm that report is no liar, and I hope to wring from thee an avowal\nthat he is the man we have been seeking.\n\n_Devil_.  I guessed, from your beginning, how you would end.  I suppose\nyou verily believe that you have brought the Devil into a quandary; but\nof this anon.  Your prince shall be for the present a thoroughly honest\nfellow.  I will tell you nothing of the result of the observations I have\nmade upon him; for, from what I have learnt at the minister's, there is\nsomething going forward which will soon give you ocular demonstration of\nhis worth; till then keep the idea you have formed of him in your bosom,\nand tell me what is your opinion of Count C., his favourite.\n\n_Faustus_.  Curse it: he is the only person here whom I cannot\ncomprehend.  He is the bosom friend of the Prince, and yet is as slippery\nas an eel, which always escapes through your fingers; and as smooth as a\nwoman is towards her husband when she has resolved to deceive him.  But\nperhaps he is obliged to conceal the emotions of his soul, lest some of\nthose spies who are always hanging round the favourites of princes should\ntake advantage of him.\n\n_Devil_.  His soul!  Dost think then, Faustus, that a man who so\nstudiously endeavours to disguise himself has a breast that would bear\nthe light?  Never trust him in whom art and subtlety have so far overcome\nanimal nature, that even the signs of his instinct and his sensations are\nextinguished.  When that which works and ferments within you shows itself\nno more in your face, in your eyes, and in your actions, you are no\nlonger what nature formed you; but are become the most dangerous brutes\non the earth.\n\n_Faustus_.  And is the Count such a being as you have described?\n\n_Devil_.  The Count is a man who has travelled much and has made the tour\nof the courts of Europe, has smoothed down the rugged man, and has\nsacrificed the noble feelings of his heart at the cold shrine of reason;\nin short, one of those calculating heads who laugh at your ideal virtue,\nand act with men like the potters, who dash the work of their hands to\npieces if it does not please their fancy.  He is one of those who think\nthemselves justified, by their experience, to consider the entire race of\nmen as a pack of wolves who will devour all who put confidence in them.\nNothing delights him more than to carry on an intricate state-plot; and\nhe treats a maiden as he does a rose which he plucks from the\nstalk,--inhales the sweetness, and then very coolly treads it under foot.\n\n_Faustus_.  Malicious devil! and can the man thou hast depicted to me be\nthe bosom friend of the Prince of ---?\n\n_Devil_.  Time will show what he is to him.  I tell thee there is\nsomething going forward.  Didst thou, by the by, observe the minister\nthis evening?\n\n_Faustus_.  He appeared sad and melancholy.\n\n_Devil_.  He, now, is one of those whom you call honest men.  He is just,\nnoble-minded, and attentive to the duties of his situation; but, like all\nof you, he has a foible to counterbalance his virtues; this is an\nunbounded tenderness for the other sex: and as he, out of principle,\nrequired the blessing of the priest to his pleasures, so did he, after\nthe death of his first wife, make a fool of himself by marrying the woman\nwhom you have seen.  Through a few hours' enjoyment he destroyed the\nfabric of his fortune.  She took advantage of his doting fondness, and\nwasted in luxury, dress, and play, her, his, and his children's property,\nand involved him in debts to an immense amount.  It is true she found in\nBaron H., whom you know, and who is sole master in the house, a powerful\ncoadjutor.  When they were completely aground, and their desires had\nbecome more craving in proportion as the difficulty of gratifying them\nincreased, the lady readily agreed to a plan which her minion proposed to\nher in private, and which was nothing else \"than to sell the honour of\nher stepdaughter, under an equivocal promise of marriage, at as high a\nprice as the favourite would buy it.\"  The minister had not the slightest\nsuspicion of all this; he only felt his lack of money, the weight of his\ndebts, the full mass of his folly, and trembled in momentary expectation\nof the arrival of his son, whom the wife had driven from home in order\nthat she might dissipate his property.  The poor youth had in the\ninterval departed for the Turkish wars, and had been rewarded for his\ninterference with a wooden arm.  I do not say that the favourite might\nnot have had, at the commencement of this affair, serious views of\nmarrying the daughter, for he was well aware of the father's interest\nwith the Prince; but during these last few days the scene has quite\nchanged.  The Prince has proposed to him an alliance with one of the\nrichest heiresses in the land; and he has determined, by one secret\nstroke, so entirely to overwhelm the minister and his whole house, that\nno one shall dare to cry for revenge or to complain of him.  They will\nall be silent, and the minister will be crushed beneath his foot, like\nthe worm, whose sufferings are unheard.\n\n_Faustus_.  But will not the Prince hear of this deed, and punish it?\n\n_Devil_.  Thine own eyes shall be witnesses of the issue of the affair.\n\n_Faustus_.  I command thee, under pain of my displeasure, to play none of\nthy tricks here.\n\n_Devil_.  Those who by their crimes put the Devil himself to blush, have\nvery little need of his assistance.  We begin now, O Faustus, to remove\nthe covering from the hearts of men; and I own that I feel sincere joy in\nfinding that the Germans are capable of something grand.  You, indeed,\nare merely the imitators of other nations, and lose thereby the glory of\noriginality; but in hell that is not esteemed essential, and good-will in\nthe cause of wickedness is all that is required.\n\nFaustus passed his time gaily among the women of the court, corrupting\nall those who were to be obtained by money or a fine face; whilst the\ndrama of the favourite was rapidly hastening to a conclusion.  He now\nrevealed his finely-spun design to Baron H.  The latter was to be the\ninstrument of it; and as the glitter of gold was no longer at hand to\nsharpen his palled passion for the minister's wife, and as the tears of\nthe unfortunate daughter, the misery of the father, and the expected\narrival of the crippled son, began to bear heavily upon his tender\nconscience, he determined at once to free himself of all these burdens.\nHis reward consisted in the Count's undertaking to persuade the Prince to\nsend the Baron on an important mission to the imperial court.  In\nconsideration of this, the Baron was to procure the wife of the minister\nto purloin secretly, from the cabinet of her husband, a certain\nparchment, considered to be one of the most important title-deeds of the\nprincely house; and which the favourite was well aware would shortly be\ncalled for, on account of a certain law-suit with another illustrious\nfamily.  The Count then hoped to make it appear that the minister, for a\nsum of money, would have delivered it into the hands of the adversaries,\nif the favourite's watchfulness had not detected his treachery.  The\nspouse of the minister, who thought that an old man who could no longer\nsupply her with gold for her follies deserved no mercy, readily delivered\nthe paper into the hands of the Baron, for whom she had the most doting\nfondness.\n\nThe minister was walking, in a melancholy manner, up and down his\napartment.  The sense of approaching shame, and the certainty of deceived\nlove, had removed from him even his daughter, who latterly had been his\nonly consolation.  She was weeping in her chamber, and breaking a heart\nworthy of a better destiny.  The minister's meditations were interrupted\nby his wife, who now came to reproach him, and thereby add to his misery.\nBaron H. presently entered, and coolly demanded the commission, by virtue\nof which he was to act at the imperial court.  As he brought with him the\nPrince's order for the same, the minister instantly went into his cabinet\nto fetch it.  In the mean time the lady, who now first heard of the\nBaron's intended departure, began to rave at him in the agony of despair.\nNo sooner did the minister return with the Baron's commission than a\nmessenger brought him a note from the Prince, in which he was commanded\ninstantly to bring the title-deed into court in order that it might be\nlaid before the envoy of the adverse party.  The minister searched the\ncabinet, emptied all his drawers of their contents, and the cold sweat of\ndeath began to trickle down his face.  He questioned his secretaries and\nclerks, his wife also, and his daughter; but to no purpose.  At length he\nwas obliged to resolve, fortified as he was by his innocence, to expose\nhimself to the dreadful storm.  He hastened to the Prince, who was\nsitting alone with the Count, informed him of his misfortune, assured him\nof his innocence, and submitted to his destiny.  The Count allowed the\nPrince to give way to his first indignation at this unwelcome\nintelligence, when, advancing very coolly, he took the title-deed out of\nhis own pocket, and delivered it to the Prince with a low bow.  He then\nsuffered himself to be closely questioned as to the means by which the\ndeed came into his possession; but not until the Prince had threatened\nhim with his displeasure did he confess, with the greatest apparent\nreluctance, the process of the affair according to his concerted plan.\nThe minister was dumb; this evidence of his guilt so confused him, that\nnot even the consciousness of his innocence could dispel the darkness\nwhich had come over him.  The Prince looked furiously upon him, and said:\n\"I ought long since to have expected that you would endeavour to pay the\ndebts of your waste and extravagance by betraying me.\"  This last\nreproach in some degree restored the wretched man to his senses; he was\nabout to speak, but the Prince commanded him to be silent, to resign his\nsituation immediately, go home, and not leave his house till sentence\nshould have been pronounced upon him.\n\nThe minister accordingly went home, while big tears rolled down his\ncheeks.  Despair forced from the daughter the secret of her shame, and\nfrom the wife the avowal of her crime.  The strength of his spirit gave\nway, his senses became confused, and that most frightful of all\nvisitations, insanity, drew a gloomy veil over the remembrance of the\npast, and, by the ruin of his mind, healed his heart of the wounds which\nhis nearest and dearest had inflicted upon it.\n\nIt was at this moment that the Devil led Faustus into the chamber of the\nminister, having previously informed him of every particular of the\naffair.  All the fibres of feeling were not yet entirely destroyed, and\nsome few drops of paternal sensibility were yet falling from the eyes of\nthe good old man upon the miserable daughter who was clasping his knees.\nHe smiled once more, played with her dishevelled locks, and smiled yet\nagain.  Suddenly his son rushed in, and was about to precipitate himself\ninto his embrace.  The father gave him a ghastly look; a wild shriek of\nmadness, which thrilled through the nerves of every one present, burst\nfrom his heaving breast; and the poor sufferer became for ever an object\nof horror and painful compassion.\n\nFaustus raged, and uttered the most frightful curses.  He instantly\ndetermined to inform the Prince of the whole proceeding, and to unmask\nthe traitors.  The Devil smiled, and advised him to go softly to work if\nhe wished thoroughly to know this Prince whom he boasted of as an\nimpersonation of all human virtues.  Faustus hastened to court; and\ncertain, as he imagined, of being able to cause the ruin of the favourite\nby this discovery, he coolly communicated every thing to the Prince.\nWhen he came to the motive which urged the Count to this horrible action,\nnamely, his wish to free himself from his engagements with the daughter\nof the minister, the countenance of the Prince brightened; he sent for\nthe Count, and embracing him on his entrance, said:\n\n\"Happy is the Prince who finds a friend who, out of obedience and the\nfear of displeasing him, dares commit an action which the common rules of\nmorality condemn.  The minister has always acted like a fool.  I am glad\nthat we have thus got rid of him.  Thou wilt fill his situation much\nbetter.\"\n\nFaustus stood for a moment petrified with horror.  Noble warmth soon,\nhowever, began to fire his breast.  He depicted in frightful colours the\npresent situation of the minister.  He then burst into fury and\nreproaches, and, without the least reserve or fear, spoke like an avenger\nof humanity when unmasking a cold-blooded, hypocritical tyrant.  He was\nturned out of the palace as a madman.  He returned home, and the Devil\nreceived him with a triumphant air.  Faustus said nothing, but gnashed\nhis teeth, and, in his venomous wrath, rejoiced that he was entirely\nseparated from the race of man.\n\nAbout midnight the Count caused the Devil and Faustus to be arrested, and\ncast into a frightful dungeon.  Faustus commanded the fiend to submit\nquietly, because he wished to see how far these hypocrites would carry\ntheir wickedness.  When in prison, the dreadful scene of the day flitted\nbefore his mind's eye in colours of tenfold horror; and wild thoughts\nagainst Him who rules the destiny of man arose from the contemplation of\nit.  His soul became inflamed; and at length he exclaimed, with scornful\nlaughter:\n\n\"Where is here the finger of the Godhead, and where is that Providence\nwhich presides over the path of the righteous?  I see the just man\ninsane, and the wretch who drove him to madness rewarded; I disclosed to\nthe tyrant, who affects virtue, the wickedness of his favourite, and he\nfound him only so much the more worthy of his friendship and favour.  If\nthis be the order and harmony of the moral world, then there is harmony\nand order in the brain of the poor lunatic, who is suffered to fall\nunprotected and unrevenged.\"\n\nHe continued, while the Devil listened and laughed: \"But allowing that\nman is obliged, by necessity, to do every thing he does, then must his\ndeeds and his actions be ascribed to the Supreme Being, and they thereby\ncease to be punishable.  If nothing but what is good and perfect can flow\nfrom a Perfect Being, then are our deeds, horrible as they seem to us,\ngood and perfect.  If they are wicked, and in reality what they seem to\nus, then ought that Being to be looked up to with horror and aversion.\nCome, fiend, resolve my doubts, and tell me what causes the moral misery\nof man.\"\n\n_Devil_.  A truce to your doubts! no one clothed in flesh is permitted to\nuntie that knot, and _therefore_ _a thousand fools will hang_, _drown_,\n_and destroy themselves_.  Do not, O Faustus, forget the end which we\nproposed to ourselves at our first interview.  I promised to show thee\nmen in their nakedness, in order to cure thee of the prejudices thou\nhadst imbibed from thy books, so that they might not disturb thee in the\nenjoyment of life.  But when thou hast rid thyself of all these human\nfrailties, and hast discovered that the pretended guidance of the Eternal\nOne whom thou hast renounced on my account, and before whose sight thou\nmayst commit, undeterred, the most horrible atrocities, is only a\ndelusion, perhaps thy soul will then have sufficient strength to\nunderstand these horrible mysteries; and, if so, I will reveal them to\nthee.\n\n_Faustus_.  Then, by the mysteries of evil which surround men from their\nbirth to their grave, I shall yet be the greatest of my race; for, in\nsummoning thee, I shall have threaded the labyrinth in which the rest\nmust grope about to all eternity.\n\n_Devil_.  It is well that the rest of men do not possess the magic art\nwhich has enabled thee to render me thy subject, else would hell soon be\nemptied; and thou wouldst see more devils walking upon the earth than\nthere are saints in the Calendar.  Heigh ho!  I know what a troublesome\nlife a devil has who is forced to put in execution all the designs of an\nhonest heart and a sound head: what, then, would become of us, if every\nrascal and fool could call us out of hell!\n\nThis observation of the Devil's was on the point of putting Faustus into\na better humour; but his attention was almost immediately directed to\nanother subject.  Six armed men, with dark lanterns, followed by two\nexecutioners with empty sacks, now entered the dungeon.  Faustus asked\nthem what they wanted; and the leader answered, with great politeness:\n\"We are merely come, sir, to request you and your honourable companion to\ncreep into these sacks; for we are ordered to tie you up in them, and\nthen fling you into the neighbouring stream.\"  The Devil laughed aloud,\nand exclaimed: \"See, Faustus, the Prince of --- wishes to cool in you\nthat enthusiasm for virtue which you displayed so warmly before him\nto-day.\"  Faustus looked furiously, and gave a sign: a fiendish roar\ninstantly filled the arched vaults; the soldiers and executioners sunk\ntrembling to the ground, and out flew the prisoners on the wings of the\nmighty wind.\n\nRevenge now inflamed the breast of Faustus, and arrayed itself in the\nbrilliant hues of a great and noble call.  The idea of avenging mankind\non its oppressors rushed through his brain, and he determined to employ\nthe power of the Devil in clearing the earth of hypocrites and villains.\nHe therefore exclaimed:\n\n\"Fly this moment to the palace, and strangle the wretch who makes a game\nof virtue.  Annihilate him who rewards the traitor, and knowingly treads\nupon the righteous man.  Avenge mankind on him, in my name.\"\n\n_Devil_.  Faustus, thou art forestalling the vengeance of the Avenger.\n\n_Faustus_.  His vengeance sleeps, and the righteous man suffers; I will\nhave him destroyed who wears only the mask of virtue.\n\n_Devil_.  Bid me, then, breathe pestilence and death over the whole\nearth, so that the whole race of man may perish.  I tell thee, Faustus,\nthou art giving thyself useless trouble, and sending wretches down to\nhell in vain; for things will still go on as they did, or perhaps worse.\n\n_Faustus_.  Crafty fiend, thou wouldst willingly save him in order that\nhe might commit more crimes.  Princes like him do indeed deserve thy\nprotection, for they render virtue contemptible by rewarding villany.\nDie he shall, and, loaded with his last deed, sink trembling into\ndamnation.\n\n_Devil_.  Know, thou fool, that the Devil rejoices over the death of a\nsinner; and what I said was merely to secure myself from thy future\nreproaches, and that thou mightest have no excuse remaining.  The\nconsequences of this deed be thine.\n\n_Faustus_.  Yes, be they mine.  I will lay them in the scale against my\nsins.  Hasten, and be firm.  Be thou the arrow of my vengeance.  Seize\nthe favourite and hurl him among the sands of burning Libya, so that he\nmay perish by inches.\n\n_Devil_.  Only private revenge, and spite in finding thyself deceived,\ndrive thee to this.\n\n_Faustus_.  Babbling fiend!  It is a solitary remnant of what you call my\nyouthful prejudices which inspires me with angry thoughts at the sight of\nany atrocious act.  If I could have seen and tolerated the wickedness of\nmen, should I have wanted thee?  Hasten and obey.\n\nThe Devil suffocated the Prince on his magnificent couch, then seized the\ntrembling favourite and hurled him among the burning sands of Libya.  He\nthen returned to Faustus, and cried, \"The deed is done!\"  They once more\nmounted the rapid winds, and sailed out of the country.\n\nFaustus sat, melancholy, upon his horse; for, after they had passed the\nfrontiers, the Devil had changed their method of travelling.  The history\nof the minister still gnawed his heart, and he was stung to the quick at\nbeing obliged to acknowledge that the Devil had as yet been right in\nrespect to men; and the bitterness of his spirit increased in proportion\nas they displayed themselves to him in their true colours.  Yet the idea\nof having avenged the unfortunate minister upon the hypocrites cheered\nhim in the midst of his gloomy sorrows.  Pride by degrees so inflated his\nheart, that he almost began to consider his alliance with the Devil as\nthe act of a man who yields up his soul for the good of his race, and\nthereby surpasses all the heroes of antiquity, who merely sacrificed\ntheir temporal existence; nay more, for as they sacrificed themselves for\nthe sake of glory, or for a recompense,--which he, on account of his\nengagement, could entertain no hopes of,--so at last he imagined that\nthey were not worthy to stand for a moment in comparison with him.  Thus,\nplace men in whatever situation you will, they soon begin to feel happy,\nprovided their self-love has an opportunity of working; for self-love can\neven gild the yawning gulf of hell, as in the case of Faustus.  He\nforgot, in his pride, the motives of his alliance with the Devil, and his\nthirst for pleasure and enjoyment; and while he sat upon his horse, his\nimagination dubbed him the knight-errant of virtue and the champion of\ninnocence.  The Devil rode by his side without once disturbing his\nmeditations; for he only saw in each of these would-be noble feelings the\nsources of future torment and despair.  His hatred of Faustus, however,\nincreased in proportion as the ideal prospects of the latter brightened\nand expanded; he enjoyed, in anticipation, the hour when all these airy\nvisions would melt and disappear, and all these painted images of fancy\nwould deck themselves in the livery of hell, and tear the rash one's\nheart as the heart of mortal had never yet been torn.  After a long\nsilence, Faustus suddenly exclaimed: \"Tell me how it fares with the false\nfavourite.\"\n\n_Devil_.  He pants upon the scorched sands, and stretches his parched\ntongue from out his burning jaws, that the air and dew may refresh and\nmoisten it; but no cooling wind blows there, and for a millennium there\nwill fall no refreshing drop from heaven.  His blood boils like molten\nmetal in his veins, and the rays of the sun fall perpendicularly upon his\nbare head.  Already is a curse against the Almighty conceived in his\ninflamed brain, but his tongue is unable to stammer it forth.  He turns\nup the hot sand like a mole, in order that he may suck the damp earth;\nbut thus he only digs his own grave.  Is thy revenge satisfied?\n\n_Faustus_.  Revenge!  Why dost thou call the exercise of justice revenge?\nHere am I shedding cold drops of sweat through my skin at what thou hast\nbeen telling me; but I saw him laugh when I described to him and his\npatron the sufferings of the noble father and the ruined daughter.\n\n_Devil_.  Time, which slowly draws up the curtain, will at length\ndisclose every thing.  If the villanies of a petty despot and his\ncatamite horrify thee, what wilt thou think when thou seest men who have\na thousand times more power, and consequently will, to commit evil?  We\nhave, as yet, only removed the first skin of the monster: what will\nbecome of thee when we tear open his breast?  Soon would He, to whom\nvengeance properly belongs, empty the magazine of his thunder, were he to\ndestroy all those who, according to thy opinion, do not deserve to live.\n\nFaustus was about to reply, when he saw afar off a village in a blaze.\nAs every thing uncommon excited his curiosity, he spurred forward his\nhorse, and the Devil followed at his heels.  He was soon met by a\nconfused rout of knights and attendants, who had been vanquished by\nanother party, which, however, did not pursue them.  When they came\nnearer to the village, they found the plain strewed with the bodies of\nmen and horses.  They saw among the dead a miserable wretch, who, with\nboth his hands, was endeavouring to force back his entrails, which were\nhanging out of his mangled belly.  He howled and cursed frightfully\nduring this horrid operation.  Faustus asked him the cause of all this\nbloodshed.  The fellow screamed, \"Get to the Devil, Mr. Curiosity; if you\nsaw your inside outmost, as I see mine, you would have no wish to answer\nquestions.  If you want to know why they have served me thus, inquire of\nthat noble gentleman, my master, who lies there dead, and whom I have to\nthank for this treatment.\"\n\nThey left him, and approached a knight who was wounded in the shoulder,\nand Faustus put the same question to him.  The knight answered: \"A boor\nbelonging to yon burning village killed, some time ago, a stag, the\nproperty of the mighty Wildgrave.  Thereupon the Wildgrave demanded the\nculprit of my master, in order that he might be tied upon the back of a\nstag and run to death, according to the German custom.  My master refused\nto give up the boor; but in order to punish him, seized every thing he\npossessed, and confiscated it to his own use.  The Wildgrave then sent a\nletter of defiance to my lord, in the name of Heaven, and with the\npermission of the emperor.  We were worsted in the battle, and the\nWildgrave has set fire to the village, which he has surrounded with his\nhorsemen, so that the inhabitants cannot escape; for he intends to fulfil\nthe oath which he swore, viz. to roast all the peasants, like Michaelmas\ngeese, for his hounds and wild-boars.\"\n\n_Faustus_ (_furiously_).  Where is his castle?\n\n_Knight_.  On yonder eminence; it is the strongest and most magnificent\ncastle in the whole country.\n\nFaustus rode to the top of a hill, and looked down upon the burning\nvillage, which lay beneath him in the valley.  Mothers with children in\ntheir arms, old men, youths, and maidens rushed out, cast themselves at\nthe feet of the horsemen, and begged for mercy.  The Wildgrave shouted\ntill the valley reechoed, \"Drive the rabble back; they shall perish in\nthe flames!\"  The peasants screamed out, again and again: \"We are\ninnocent! we are innocent!  He who offended you has escaped.  What have\nwe and our children done?  Ah, spare but them!\"  The horsemen whipped\nthem up from the ground, and drove them into the fire.  The poor mothers\nflung down their babes, in the hope that they would pity them; but the\nhoofs of the horses trampled them to death.\n\nFaustus cried deliriously: \"Fly, Devil, and return not till thou hast\nconsumed the tyrant's castle, and all that is therein.  When he returns\nhome, let him find retribution.\"\n\nThe Devil laughed, shook his head, and flew away; whilst Faustus flung\nhimself down beneath a tree, and gazed impatiently upon the castle.  When\nhe beheld it in flames, the madman imagined that he had restored all\nthings to their right order, and received the Devil on his return with\nthe utmost joy.  The latter came back in triumph, and boasted of the ruin\nhe had caused; and, pointing to the Wildgrave and his myrmidon, who were\nscampering towards the castle, he exclaimed: \"The vapours of the hellish\npool will not, one day, strike him with such horror, O Faustus, as this\nthy deed: his young and beloved wife was a few days ago delivered of her\nfirstborn.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Oh, save her and the new-born babe!\n\n_Devil_.  It is too late.  The mother pressed the boy in her arms, and he\nwas burnt to ashes upon her bosom.\n\nThis episode made Faustus shudder, and he exclaimed, \"How ready is the\nDevil to destroy!\"\n\n_Devil_.  Not so ready as daring men are to decide and punish.  Had ye\nbut our might, ye would long ago have shattered the vast globe, and\nreduced it to a chaos.  Are you not a proof of this yourself, since you\nso madly abuse the power which you have over me?  Go to; go to.  The man\nwho does not bridle himself resembles the wheel which rolls down the\nsteep: who can stop its course?  It springs from rock to rock till it is\nshivered.  Faustus, I would willingly have permitted the babe to grow up\nand commit sin; for I am now deprived both of him and his mother.  Yes,\nFaustus; she endeavoured to preserve him from the scorching flames with\nher arms, the flesh of which was already frightfully burnt.\n\n_Faustus_.  Thou drivest it home to my very heart.  (_Hiding his face in\nhis mantle_, _already wet with his tears_.)\n\nThe desire of avenging the virtuous and the innocent upon the wicked now\nbegan to cool in the heart of Faustus.  He however comforted his spirit,\ntormented by the last spectacle, with the thought of the mother and the\nsuckling being preserved from hell.  Besides this, his hot blood, his\neagerness for pleasure, his desire for change, and finally his doubts,\ndid not permit any sensation to make a lasting impression upon his heart.\nAs he was attracted by every new object, his feelings, therefore, burnt\nlike sky-rockets, which for a moment illumine the darkness of the night,\nand then suddenly disappear.  The rich meal and the delicious wines which\nhe enjoyed in the next city where they arrived soon chased away his\nmelancholy fancies; and as the grand fair was being held there at that\ntime, Faustus and the Devil, after they had dined, went into the\nmarket-place to see the crowd.\n\nThey now found themselves in a strange city.  There lived in one of the\nconvents a young monk, who had, by means of a heated imagination,\nsucceeded in so powerfully convincing himself of the force of religious\nfaith, that he believed he should be able to remove mountains, and to\nprove himself a new apostle in deeds and miracles, if once his soul\nreceived the true inspiration, and the Holy Spirit worked its way through\nhim.  Besides this, he imbibed all the follies and quackeries which\nothers had rejected,--a circumstance in which visionaries entirely differ\nfrom philosophers.  The young monk, like every theorist who is inspired\nwith the importance of his subject, was a fiery orator; he thereby soon\nwon over the minds of the simple, especially of the women, who were\neasily caught by any warm and impassioned appeal.  His imagination,\nhowever, quickly formed for him another magic wand; for as he, on account\nof his alliance with the highest of all beings, had a lofty opinion of\nman, he formed the design of physiognomically dissecting the masterpiece\nof creation, this favourite of heaven, and of allotting to him his\ninterior qualities by means of his exterior appearance.  Men of his\ncharacter so frequently deceive themselves, that it is impossible to say\nwhether some remaining spark of understanding had whispered to him that\nthis new delusion would give a fresh polish to the old one; and that more\npious souls would come to him than ever, in order to be told so many\nwondrous things about their faces.  As he had only seen the four walls of\nhis cell, his penitents, and people of his own cast, and as he was as\nignorant in regard to mankind, the world, and true science, as men of\nsanguine imaginations usually are,--it may be concluded that fancy alone\nexcited him to this scheme.  His words and his writings operated\nprodigiously upon the minds of all those who would much rather be\nconfused than think clearly.  This is the case with the greater part of\nmankind; and, as the hours of life glide away very pleasantly when\nself-love is tickled, it was impossible that he should be without\ndisciples, for he flattered every body.  Our monk did not confine his\nresearches to man alone; for he descended to the more ignoble beasts of\nthe earth, allotted to them their qualities by examining their faces and\nthe structure of their bodies, and imagined that he had made a wonderful\ndiscovery when he proved--from the mighty claws, the teeth, and the\naspect of the lion, and from the tender, light fabric of the hare--why\nthe lion was not a hare, and the hare a lion.  He was strangely surprised\nthat he had succeeded in pointing out so clearly the appropriate and\nunalterable signs of brute nature, and to be able to apply them to\nman,--although society has so much accustomed the latter to mask his\nfeatures, that they are rarely to be seen in their primitive state.  Not\nsatisfied with these triumphs, our monk descended even into the kingdoms\nof the dead--tore skulls from the graves, and the bones of animals from\nthe muck-heaps; and showed his visitors why the dead were dead, and, from\ntheir bones, how it was impossible that they should be otherwise than\ndead.  In a word, he proved, clearly and unanswerably, that death never\nyet came without a cause.\n\nThe Devil was well aware of the general infatuation, and perceived that,\nwhile he and Faustus sat at dinner in the public room, some of the\ncompany, and even the innkeeper himself, were surveying them with the\nutmost attention; and were communicating to each other, in whispers, the\nresult of their observations, and showing the profiles which they had\nsecretly taken.  The fame of the wonderful monk had long since reached\nthe ears of Faustus; but he had hitherto paid so little attention to it,\nthat he now hardly knew what to make of these signs and whisperings.\nWhen they arrived in the market-place, they were surprised by a new and\nextraordinary spectacle.  This resort was the true school for\nphysiognomists.  Every one there could single out his man, lay his visage\nupon the balance, and weigh out the powers of his mind.  Some stood\ngazing at horses, asses, goats, swine, dogs, and sheep.  Others held\nbetween their fingers spiders, butterflies, grasshoppers, and other\ninsects, and endeavoured to ascertain what their instinct might be from\nan attentive survey of their exterior.  Some were employed in judging,\nfrom the weight of jaw-bones or the sharpness of teeth, to what animals\nthey belonged.  But when Faustus and the Devil advanced among them, each\nman desisted from his occupation, and began to cry out, \"What a nose!\nwhat eyes! what a searching glance! what a soft and beautiful curve of\nthe chin! what strength! what intuition! what penetration! what a\ncleanly-made figure! what a vigorous and majestic gait! what strength of\nlimb! how uniform and harmonious is his whole frame!\"  \"I would give I\nknow not what for the autographs of the gentlemen,\" said a weaver, \"in\norder that I might judge, by their handwriting, of the quickness of their\nthoughts.\"  The Devil happening to knit his brows from impatience of this\nfolly, one of the physiognomists instantly said, \"The internal force of\nthe lion, which the gentleman possesses, has been aroused by some\nexternal provocation, or some trifling thought.\"\n\nFaustus was laughing at all this, when suddenly a beautiful female looked\ndown upon him from a window, and cried, in sweet amazement: \"Holy\nCatherine! what a noble head! what soft and angelic pensiveness in the\neyes! what a sweet and lovely physiognomy!\"  These melodious words sunk\ninto the heart of Faustus.  He looked up to the window: her eyes met his\nfor a moment ere she drew herself back.  Faustus whispered to the Devil:\n\"I will not quit this town till I have possessed that maiden: what\nvoluptuousness beams in her eyes!\"  They had scarcely entered a side\nstreet, when one of the physiognomists came up and asked them very\ncivilly for \"the physiognomy of their writing,\" assuring them that no\nstranger had hitherto refused him this favour, and he hoped and trusted\nthat they would not.  He thereupon pulled out his album, and offered it\nto Faustus, at the same time producing pen and ink.\n\n_Faustus_.  Not so fast, my friend; one good turn deserves another.  Tell\nme, first, who the maiden is that I this moment saw at the window of\nyonder house, and whose countenance is so celestial.\n\n_Physiognomist_.  Ah! she is an angel in every sense of the word.  Our\nillustrious master has often assured us, that her eyes are the very\nmirrors of chastity, her lovely mouth only formed to express the\ninspiration of a heart filled with heavenly ideas; that her brow is the\npolished shield of virtue, against which all temptations, all earthly\nsin, will be shivered; that her nose snuffs the odours of the fields of\nbliss; and that she is the most perfect cast of ideal beauty ever yet\npermitted to appear in the world.\n\n_Faustus_.  Truly, you have depicted her to me with more than earthly\ncolours; and now tell me her situation in life, and her name.\n\n_Physiognomist_.  She is the daughter of a physician; but her father and\nmother being lately dead, she lives by herself on her own property.  Her\nname is Angelica.\n\nThey then wrote some nonsensical lines in his album, and the\nphysiognomist departed, delighted with his treasure.\n\n_Faustus_.  Now tell me, Devil, how this child of grace is to be come at.\nI am just inclined to see this monk's ideal beauty.\n\n_Devil_.  By the high road to the human heart you will certainly meet\nher; for sooner or later all must fall in with it, however far their\nfancies may have caused them to stray from it.\n\n_Faustus_.  What a delightful enjoyment it would be to fill so exalted an\nimagination as hers with images of pleasure!\n\n_Devil_.  The monk has already had the start of you, and has so sharpened\nher feelings, and filled her little soul with so much vanity and\nself-conceit, and made her piety so carnal, that you have nothing else to\ndo than give one audible tap at the gate of her heart, in order to be\nadmitted.  Let us now see to what lengths such delusions will lead a\nyoung woman.\n\n_Faustus_.  And let it be done quickly.\n\nThe Devil was perfectly willing to steal so pure a soul from heaven, and\nthereby to consummate more speedily the measure of Faustus's sins.  He\nsuddenly stood in the shape of an old man with a peep-show, and, giving\nFaustus the wink, he hurried away into the market-place.  He raised his\nvoice, and invited the people to come and see his peep-show.  The\npopulace flocked around him,--footmen and chambermaids, wives and widows,\nboys and graybeards.  The Devil showed them all kinds of scenes, which he\naccompanied with pious explanations and moral sayings.  Each person\nstepped back delighted from the peep-show, and charmed the bystanders\nwith the recital of the wonders he had witnessed.  The beautiful Angelica\nnow looked out of her window; and, hearing the Devil descant in so pious\na tone, she felt an irresistible desire to see the wonders of his box,\nand to bestow alms upon the devout old showman.  The Devil was sent for.\nEven he was struck by her wondrous beauty, her gentle manners, and her\ningenuousness; but he became only so much the more desirous to confuse\nher senses and entrap her.  She placed her enthusiastic eye to the window\nof the box.  The Devil preluded with a few proverbs and wise saws, and\nunfolded to her view scenes of love, in which he led her fancy so\nadroitly from the spiritual to the carnal, that she was scarcely aware of\nthe gradation.  If she were about to turn away her eyes with shame, the\noffensive object changed itself at once into a sublime image, which again\nattracted her attention.  Her cheeks glowed, and she believed herself\ngazing upon an unknown and enchanted world.  The artful Devil caused the\nfigure of Faustus to appear in all these scenes.  She saw him pursuing a\nshadow which resembled her own, and undertaking for its sake the greatest\nactions, and exposing himself to dangers of every description.  When the\nDevil had completely chained her attention, and perceived that she was\nhighly curious to know wherefore the figure of Faustus was thus\nassociated with her own, he changed the scene, and represented the\nparties in situations not to be misconstrued.  Lightning does not so\nquickly glance through the darkness as did these scenes flit before the\neyes of the innocent maiden; a moment is an age in comparison, and the\npoison was glowing in her breast before she was able to retreat.  She\nstarted back, and, with her hands before her eyes, rushed into her\nchamber, and sunk senseless into the arms of Faustus.  When she became\naware of her fall, she hid her face and repulsed the miscreant.  He laid\ncostly jewels at her feet; but she spurned them, and cried, \"Tremble,\nthou wretch! the hand of the Avenger will one day fall heavily upon thee\nfor this crime.\"\n\nThe insensate Faustus rejoiced at his victory; and went, without the\nleast feeling of repentance, to the Devil, who laughed at the affair, and\nyet more fiendishly when he thought of its terrific consequences.\n\nFaustus found himself here in his element.  He flew from conquest to\nconquest, and made very little use of the power of the Devil, but a great\ndeal of his gold, which has some influence even over devout minds.\nAngelica became invisible, and all the endeavours of Faustus to see her\nonce more were of no avail; but he soon forgot her in the tumult of his\npleasures.  Reading by chance some of the manuscript publications of the\nmonk, he was irritated by the self-conceit and ignorance of the author.\nHe proposed to the Devil to play him a trick, and with that intention\nthey both went to the convent.  As they were exceedingly well dressed,\nand appeared to be persons of distinction, they were received by the\nyoung monk in the most cordial and friendly manner.  His eyes had\nscarcely met those of the Devil when he became so agitated by his\nphysiognomy, that, forgetting all the forms of politeness, he shook him\nviolently by the hand; and going to some distance, he looked at him first\nfull in the face, and then in the profile.  He then cried out:\n\n\"Ha! who art thou, most mighty one?  Yes; you can do what you like; and\nwhat you wish you can also do: your physiognomy tells me this; therefore\nit is not necessary for me to know you.  Never have I been more perfectly\nconvinced of the truth of my science than at this moment.  Who can behold\nsuch a human visage without interest, without admiration?  Who cannot\nperceive in that nose, original greatness; in that eye, penetration,\nstrength, and expression?\"\n\nHe felt his forehead, and then continued:\n\n\"Permit me, with my measure, to ascertain the height of your brow?  Yes;\nI see unshaken courage in that forehead, as clearly as I do steadfast\nfriendship, fidelity, love of God and man, in those lips.  What a\nnobleness in the whole!  Thy face is the physiognomy of an extraordinary\nman, who thinks deeply, who holds fast to whatever he undertakes, works,\nflies, triumphs, finds few men in whom he will confide, but many who will\nrely on him.\n\n\"Ah! if a common mortal had such a brow, such a mouth, such a nose, or\neven such hair, what would become of physiognomy?\n\n\"Perhaps there is not a man existing whom thy countenance would not by\nturns attract and repel.  What infantine simplicity!  What heroic\ngrandeur!  Few mortals can be so well known and so little known as\nyourself.\n\n\"Eagle, lion, destroyer, reformer of mankind, move on, move on, and\nreclaim men from their blindness; share with them the intellectual\nstrength which nature has given thee; and announce thyself to all as I\nhave just announced thee to thyself.\"\n\nFaustus craunched his teeth while the monk was saying all these noble\nthings about the countenance of the Devil, who turning coolly to the\nphysiognomist, said,\n\n\"And what is thy opinion of that gentleman?  Tell me what he is.\"\n\n_Monk_.  Great, bold, mighty, powerful, soft, and mild; but thou, his\ncompanion, art greater, bolder, mightier, more powerful, more soft, more\nmild.\n\nThen looking at Faustus, he exclaimed:\n\n\"Mighty pupil of a mightier man, if thy spirit and thy heart could\nentirely catch his greatness, thou wouldst still be merely reflecting the\nrays of his glory.  But seat thyself, and let me take thy shadow.\"\n\nFaustus, more and more enraged to see how infinitely the monk rated him\nbelow the Devil, now burst forth:\n\n\"Shadows! yes, indeed, shadows only hast thou seen.  How darest thou thus\njudge and measure the human race?  Hast thou seen men?  Where, and how?\nThou hast merely seen their shadows, which thou adornest with the tinsel\nof thy crazed imagination, and givest them out as the true forms.  Tell\nme what kind of human beings thou hast seen.  Were they not sectaries,\nfanatics, visionaries, the very offscourings of human nature?  Were they\nnot vain devotees, young wives who have cold husbands, and widows who\nhave sleepless nights?  Were they not authors eager to have every mark\nand pimple on their insignificant features turned into a sign and\nprognostication of genius?  Were they not grandees, whose brilliant\nstations rendered their physiognomies imposing to thine eye?  Thou seest\nthat I know thy customers, and have read thy book.\"\n\n_Devil_.  Bravo, Faustus!  Let me now put in a word, and tell his\nreverence a few mortifying truths.  Brother monk, thou hast formed in thy\nsolitary cell a phantom of perfection, and wouldst fain thrust that into\npeople's heads, which, when there, poisons the brain, as the gangrene\ncorrupts all the flesh around it.  There were men long ago who ventured\nto judge of the innermost of their fellow-creatures from the outside; but\nthere was some difference between them and thee.  They had travelled over\na considerable part of the earth; experience had made them gray; they had\nlived and conversed with men, visited all the lurking holes of vice and\niniquity, roved from the palace to the cot, crept into the caves of\nsavages, and thus knew what belonged to a well-organised man, and what he\ncould do with his faculties.  But shalt thou--swollen with prejudices,\npent up in a convent like a toad in the trunk of an oak--pretend to have\na clear idea of that which even they barely understood?\n\nThe monk stood between the two speakers as between two volcanoes in\neruption; he crossed his hands humbly upon his breast, and cried, \"Have\nmercy!\"\n\nThe Devil continued:\n\n\"Among the many impudent follies which I observed in thy book was an\nattempt to draw the Devil's portrait.  It is now high time for him to\nappear to thee, in order that thou mayst correct the likeness.  Look at\nme; and for once thou shalt be able to say thou hast seen an object in\nits proper form.\"\n\nThe Devil then appeared to him in the most frightful of infernal figures;\nbut he rolled a thick mist before the eyes of Faustus, in order that he\nmight not blast his sight.  The monk fell to the earth; and the Devil,\nresuming all his former comeliness, exclaimed:\n\n\"Now thou mayst paint the Devil in his proper colours, provided thou hast\nstrength.  Thou wouldst often be thus overcome, if thou didst in reality\nsee the innermost of those whom thou makest angels.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Persist in thy folly; communicate it to others; and by thy\nextravagances render religion repulsive to reasonable people.  Thou canst\nnot farther more efficaciously the interests of the enemy.  Farewell!\n\nThe monk had lost his senses through terror; but he still continued\nwriting notwithstanding his madness; and his readers never once perceived\nhis derangement, so much did his new books resemble his old ones.\n\nFaustus was delighted with this adventure; but becoming weary of the\ntown, he quitted it the next morning with the Devil, and took the road to\nFrance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nWhen Faustus and the Devil entered upon the fertile soil of France, it\nwas groaning beneath the oppression of that cruel and cowardly tyrant\nLouis the Eleventh, who was the first that ever styled himself \"the most\nChristian king.\"  The Devil had determined not to give Faustus the\nslightest information beforehand concerning this prince.  He had resolved\nto drive him to despair, and then overwhelm him with the most frightful\nblow a mortal can receive who has rebelliously transgressed the bounds\nwhich a powerful hand has drawn around him.\n\nThe Devil had learnt from one of his spies that the most Christian king\nwas meditating a masterpiece of state policy; or, in other words, was on\nthe point of getting rid of his brother, the Duke de Berry, in order that\na province which had been granted to him might revert to the crown.  The\nmalicious fiend resolved to make Faustus a spectator of this horrid\nscene.  They rode through a wood of oaks contiguous to a castle, and saw\namong the trees a Benedictine monk, who seemed to be telling his rosary.\nThe Devil rejoiced inwardly at this sight; for he read upon the\ncountenance of the monk that he was imploring the Mother of God to assist\nhim in the great enterprise which his abbot had intrusted him with, and\nlikewise to save him from all danger.  This monk was Faber Vesois,\nconfessor of the king's brother.  The Devil did not disturb him in his\npious meditations, but went on to the castle with Faustus.  They were\nreceived with all the respect generally shown to persons of distinction\nwho come to visit a prince.  The duke passed his days here in the company\nof his beloved Monserau, thinking of no harm, and expecting no\nmisfortune.  His agreeable manners soon gained him the good-will of\nFaustus, who was delighted to see a scion of royalty think and act like a\nman; for he had been accustomed to see among the German princes nothing\nbut pride, coldness, and that foolish ceremony which is only intended to\nmake visitors appear contemptible in their own eyes.  Some days were very\npleasantly spent in hunting and other amusements, and the prince gained\nmore and more upon the heart of Faustus.  The only thing that displeased\nhim in the prince was the weakness he displayed in regard to his\nconfessor, the Benedictine.  He loaded him with so much tenderness, and\nsubmitted with so much complaisance to his will, and the monk always\nlooked so studiously devout, that Faustus could not conceive how a man so\nfrank himself could prize such a hypocrite.  The Devil, however, soon let\nhim into the secret by informing him of the duke's connexion with\nMonserau.  His love for this fair lady was equalled by his fear of hell;\nand, Madame de Monserau having a husband still living, he was not\naltogether easy in respect to his amours with her.  As he neither wished\nto renounce her nor expose himself to eternal punishment, he greedily\ncaught at the baits which the monks hang out in order to make themselves\nmasters of the minds of men; and when the dread of hell tormented him too\nmuch, he allayed his fears by receiving absolution for his sins; while he\nthought it impossible for him to be too grateful to a man who encouraged\nhim to enjoy the present, and tranquillised him in respect to the future.\n\"Thou seest, O Faustus,\" said the Devil, \"what men have made of religion.\nIts abuse has often been associated with crimes and horrors, but is\nnevertheless used by the wicked to cajole and appease their rebellious\nconsciences.\"\n\nThe conduct of the prince in this respect did him little honour in the\nopinion of Faustus, who had long ago parted with his own conscience, and\nthis last remark of the Devil's operated strongly upon his mind; however,\nhe permitted things to go on in their own way, and chiefly thought of\npassing his time pleasantly.\n\nThey were one evening at table in excellent humour; the Devil was\ndiverting the company with his pleasant stories, and Faustus was employed\nin saying soft things to a pretty French widow, who listened to him very\ncomplaisantly; when all of a sudden, Death, in his most frightful shape,\ncame to disturb the festival.  The Benedictine caused a basket of\nextraordinarily large peaches, which he had just received as a present,\nto be brought in at dessert; and, selecting one of the finest, he offered\nit to the prince with a smiling and benignant air.  The prince divided it\nwith his beloved, and both ate of the peach without the slightest\nsuspicion.  They then rose from table; the monk gave his benediction to\nall, and hurried away.  The Devil was about to commence a new story, when\nMadame de Monserau uttered a loud shriek.  Her lovely features were\ndistorted, her lips became blue, and the paleness of death covered her\ncountenance.  The prince rushed to her assistance; but the terrible\npoison began likewise to operate upon him; he fell at her feet, and\ncried, \"Listen, O Heaven: my brother, my cruel brother, has assassinated\nme by the hand of that monster.  He who caused his father to die of\nhunger in order to avoid being poisoned, has now bribed the minister of\nreligion to poison me.\"\n\nFaustus ran out of the room to seize the confessor, but he had fled; a\ntroop of horse were waiting for him in the forest, and accompanied him in\nhis flight.  Faustus returned; but Death had seized his victims, and they\nhad ceased to struggle with him.  Faustus and the fiend instantly quitted\nthe place.\n\n_Devil_.  Well, Faustus, what think you of the deed committed by the\nBenedictine in the name of the most Christian king?\n\n_Faustus_.  I am almost inclined to believe that our bodies are animated\nby fiendish spirits, and that we are only their instruments.\n\n_Devil_.  What a debasing employment for an immortal spirit to have to\nanimate such an ill-contrived machine!  Although I am a haughty demon,\nyet, believe me, I would rather animate a swine that wallows in the mire\nthan one of ye, who roll in all manner of vice, and yet have the\nconfidence to call yourselves images of the Most High.\n\nFaustus was silent; for the adventures he was every day compelled to\nwitness forced him, against his inclination, to believe in the moral\nworthlessness of man.  They travelled forward, and found every where\nhideous monuments of the cruelty of Louis the Eleventh.  Faustus\nfrequently made use of the Devil's gold and treasure to stop the bleeding\nwounds which the hand of the tyrant had inflicted.\n\nAt length they arrived at Paris.  Upon entering the city they found every\nthing in commotion.  The people were rushing in crowds down one\nparticular street; they followed the populace, and arrived in front of a\nscaffold covered with black cloth, and which communicated, by means of a\ndoor, with an adjoining building.  Faustus asked what was the cause of\nall this; and he was told \"that the rich Duke of Nemours was just going\nto be executed.\"  \"And for what?\"  \"The king has commanded it: there is a\nreport, indeed, that he had hostile designs against the royal house, and\nthat he intended to murder the dauphin; but as he has only been tried in\nhis dungeon by judges named by the king, we know nothing for certain.\"\n\n\"Say, rather,\" exclaimed another of the bystanders, \"that it is his\nproperty which costs him his life; for our sovereign, in order to make us\na great and celebrated nation, cuts off the heads of all our wealthy men,\nand would serve us in the same manner if we were to find fault with his\nproceedings.\"\n\nThe Devil left the horses at the nearest inn, and then led Faustus\nthrough the crowd.  They saw the duke, accompanied by his children, enter\na chamber hung round with black, where a monk waited to receive his last\nconfession.  The father had his eyes fixed upon his sons, and could not\nlook to heaven.  After he had confessed himself, he laid his trembling\nhands upon the heads of the children, who were sobbing, and said, \"May\nthe blessing of an unhappy father, who falls a victim to tyranny and\navarice, be your safeguard through life; but, alas, ye are the heirs of\nmisfortune.  Your rights and pretensions will infallibly doom you to long\nsufferings; ye are born for misery, and I shall die in this conviction.\"\nHe wished to say something more; but the guards silenced him, and hurried\nhim out upon the scaffold.\n\nThe tyrannical king had given orders that the duke's children should be\nplaced under the scaffold, so that the blood of their father might drop\nthrough the boards upon their white robes.  The cries which the wretched\nparent uttered at the moment his darlings were torn from him struck\nterror to the hearts of all around.  Tristan alone, who was the\nexecutioner, and the king's most intimate friend, looked on with perfect\ncoolness, and felt the sharpness of the axe.  Faustus imagined that the\ngroans of the unhappy parent would excite Heaven to avenge outraged\nhumanity.  He lifted his tearful eyes towards the bright blue sky, which\nseemed to smile upon the horrid scene.  For a moment he felt himself\nstrongly tempted to command the Devil to rescue the duke from the hands\nof the executioner; but his troubled and agitated mind was incapable of\ncoming to any resolution.  The duke fell upon his knees; he heard the\nshrieks and lamentations of his children who were beneath the scaffold;\nhis own infamous death no longer occupied his mind; he felt for the last\ntime, and felt only for these unfortunates; big tears hung in his eyes,\nhis lips trembled; the executioner gave the fatal blow, and the boiling\nblood of the father trickled down upon the trembling children.  Bathed\nwith paternal gore, they were then led upon the scaffold.  They were\nshown the livid headless trunk, were made to kiss it, and then\nre-conducted to their prison, where they were chained up against the damp\nwall, so that whenever they took repose the whole weight of their bodies\nrested on the galling fetters.  To increase their misery, their teeth\nwere torn out from time to time.\n\nFaustus, overwhelmed by the frightful scene he had witnessed, returned\nshuddering to the inn, and commanded the Devil to annihilate the tyrant\nwho thus made a sport of human suffering.\n\n_Devil_.  I will not annihilate him, for that would be against the\ninterest of hell; and why should the Devil put a stop to his cruelties\nwhen by some they are viewed with patience?  If I were to further the\nprojects of thy blind rage, who would escape thy vengeance?\n\n_Faustus_.  Should I not be performing a noble part, if, like unto\nanother Hercules, I were to roam the world, and purge its thrones of such\nmonsters?\n\n_Devil_.  Short-sighted man, does not your own corrupt nature prove that\nyou must have these kings?  And would not new monsters arise out of their\nashes?  There would then be no end of murder; the people would be\ndivided, and thousands would fall the victims of civil war.  You see here\nmillions of bipeds like yourself, who suffer a man like themselves to\ndespoil them of their property, to flay them alive, and to murder them at\nhis pleasure.  Did not they witness the execution of this duke, who died\ninnocent as any lamb?  Did they not gaze with pleasure, mingled with\nagony and grief, upon the tragic spectacle?  Does not that prove they\ndeserve their lot, and are unworthy of a better?  Could they not crush\nthe tyrant at a blow?  If they have the power of relieving themselves in\ntheir own hands, wherefore should we pity their sufferings?\n\nHere the disputation ceased.\n\nFaustus shortly afterwards became acquainted with a gentleman of sense\nand education, who had an excellent character for probity.  Faustus and\nthe Devil pleased him so much, that he invited them to come and pass some\ndays with him on his estate at a short distance from Paris, where he\nlived with his family, which consisted of his wife and his daughter, who\nwas about sixteen years old, and lovely as an angel.  At the sight of\nthis divine object Faustus was like one enchanted, and felt, for the\nfirst time, the sweet torments of delicate love.  He confided his\nsufferings to the Devil, who instantly offered to assist him, and laughed\nat the pretended delicacy of his sentiments.  Faustus owned that it was\nrepugnant to his feelings to violate the laws of hospitality.  The Devil\nreplied: \"Well, Faustus, if you wish to have the gentleman's consent, I\nwill engage to procure it.  For what do you take him?\"\n\n_Faustus_.  For an honest man.\n\n_Devil_.  It is a great pity, O Faustus, that you are so liable to\ndeception.  And so you really believe him to be an honest man!  I admit\nthat all Paris is of the same opinion.  What do you think he loves best\nin the world?\n\n_Faustus_.  His daughter.\n\n_Devil_.  I know something which he loves more.\n\n_Faustus_.  And what is that?\n\n_Devil_.  Gold; and you ought to have seen that long ago.  But since I\nhave been obliged to open to thee the treasures of the earth, and thou\nhast had them at thy disposal, thou hast resembled the torrent which\ninundates the fields, caring very little where its waters flow, or where\nthey are received.  How much hast thou lost at play with this gentleman?\n\n_Faustus_.  Let them reckon who care more for the dross than I.\n\n_Devil_.  He who tricked you can tell to a ducat.\n\n_Faustus_.  Tricked!\n\n_Devil_.  Yes, tricked you.  He saw how little you cared for money, and\nhas made a noble harvest out of you.  Think not that the table of this\nmiser would be so well provided, and that he would be so prodigal of the\nrichest wines, and that thou wouldst see so many guests around him,\nprovided thy gold did not work these miracles.  At every moment he\ntrembles lest we should leave his house.  I see by thy astonishment that\nthou hast been a spendthrift all thy life, and that thou hast never felt\nthis thirst for gold, which can extinguish all the desires of the heart,\nand even the most pressing wants of nature.  Follow me, but tread softly.\n\nThey descended a staircase, went through several subterranean passages,\nand came at last to an iron door.  The Devil then said to Faustus: \"Look\nthrough the key-hole.\"  Faustus perceived in a vault, illumined by the\nfeeble light of a lamp, the gentleman seated by the side of a strong-box,\nin which were many sacks of money, which he was looking at with\ntenderness.  He then flung the money he had won from Faustus into another\nbox, and wept because he saw there was not sufficient to fill it.  The\nDevil said softly to Faustus: \"For the sum which is wanting to fill that\nbox, he will sell thee his daughter.\"\n\nFaustus was incredulous.  The Devil waxed wroth, and said impatiently:\n\n\"I will show thee that gold has such irresistible power over the minds of\nmen, that even at this moment some fathers and mothers belonging to the\nvillage are in the neighbouring wood selling for money their babes and\nsucklings to the emissaries of the king, although they are well aware\nthat the poor little things are destined to be slaughtered, in order that\nthe king may drink their blood, with the foolish hope of renovating and\nrefreshing the corrupt tide which flows in his own veins.\n\n_Faustus_ (_with a shudder_).  Then the world is worse than hell, and I\nshall quit it without regret.  But I will be convinced with my own eyes\nbefore I credit any thing so horrible.\n\nThey now went into the wood, and concealed themselves among the bushes,\nwhere they perceived the emissaries of the king in conference with some\nmen and women, and the priest of the parish.  Four little children were\nstretched upon the grass, one of them crying pitiably.  The mother lifted\nit up and gave it pap, in order to quiet it; whilst the others crept upon\nthe ground, and played with the flowers.  The emissaries counted money\ninto the hands of the husbands; the priest had his share, and the\nchildren were delivered up.  The echoes of the wood repeated for a long\ntime the cries of the little wretches as they were carried away.  The\nmothers groaned; but the men said to them, \"Here is gold; let us go to\nthe public-house and buy wine, and drink to a fresh offspring.  It is\nbetter that the king should eat the brats now they are young than flay\nthem when they are old, or tie them up in a sack and fling them into the\nSeine.  It would have been much better for us if we had been devoured as\nsoon as we were born.\"\n\nThe priest comforted them, and said:\n\n\"They had done a meritorious act, and one which was pleasing to the\nMother of God, to whom the king was entirely devoted.\"  He added, \"that\nsubjects were born for the king; and that, as he reigned upon earth as\nHeaven's vicegerent, he had a right to dispose of them according to his\npleasure, and that they were bound to revere the slightest of his fancies\nas a sacred law.\"\n\nThe peasants then went to the public-house, where they spent half the\nblood-money in drink, and kept the rest to pay the king's taxes.\n\nThe Devil now looked at Faustus with an air of mockery, and said, \"Hast\nthou still doubts whether the gentleman will sell thee his daughter?\nThou at least wilt not eat her.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  I swear by the black hell which at this moment appears to me\na paradise when compared with the earth, that I will henceforward give\nboundless scope to all my passions, and, by ravaging and destroying,\nbelieve that I am acting consistently to such a monster as man.  Fly, and\npurchase me his daughter: she is doomed to destruction, as is every thing\nthat breathes.\n\nThis was exactly the disposition in which the Devil had long been\ndesirous to see Faustus, in order that he might precipitate him to the\nend of his career, and thereby ease himself of a grievous burden, and\ncease to be the slave of a thing so contemptible as man was in his eyes.\nThat very evening he began to sound the father; and the next morning,\nwhilst they walked together, he made proposals to him, and showed him\ngold and jewels, which the miser gazed at with rapture; but which,\nhowever, he would not take until he had made a parade of his virtue.  At\nevery objection the old hypocrite started, the Devil augmented the sum;\nand at last he bade so high that the miser accepted it, after much\nceremony, laughing secretly at the madman who flung away his gold so\nfoolishly.  The contract was made, and the father led Faustus to his\ndaughter; and as he could prove that her parent was a consenting party,\nshe fell a willing victim.\n\nThe father in the mean time went with his gold and a lamp to the vault\nwhere he kept his treasure, and which was known to none of his family.\nHe was overjoyed in having obtained sufficient to fill his second\nstrong-box.  From fear of being followed, he closed the door hastily\nbehind him, forgetting that it went with a spring-lock, and that he had\nleft the key on the outside.  The lamp was extinguished by the wind of\nthe door, and he found himself suddenly involved in profound darkness.\nThe air of the vault was thick and damp, and he soon felt a difficulty in\nhis respiration.  He now first perceived that he had not the key with\nhim, and death-like anguish shot coldly through his heart.  He had still\nstrength and instinct sufficient to find his box; he laid the gold in it,\nand staggered back to the door, where he considered whether he should cry\nout or not.  He was cruelly agitated by the alternative of discovering\nhis secret, or of making this vault his tomb.  But his cries would have\nbeen to no purpose; for the cavern had no connexion with the inhabited\npart of the house, and he had always so well chosen his time, that no one\nhad ever yet seen him when he crept to the worship of his idol.  After\nhaving for a long time struggled with himself, without coming to any\nresolution, the terrible images which assailed his imagination, joined to\nthe thickness of the air, totally disordered his brain.  He sunk to the\nearth, and rolling himself to the spot where his box stood, he hugged it\nin his arms, and became raving mad.  He struggled with despair and death\nat the moment of the ruin of his daughter, whose innocence he had\nbartered for gold.  Some days after, when all the corners of the house\nhad been closely searched, chance led a servant to the cavern; it was\nopened, and the unfortunate wretch was found lying, a blue and ghastly\ncorpse, upon his dear-bought treasure.  The Devil informed Faustus upon\ntheir return to Paris of the issue of this affair, and Faustus believed\nthat, on this occasion, Providence had justified itself.\n\nThe fiend having learnt that the Parliament were about to decide upon a\ncase unexampled and disgraceful to humanity, he thought it advisable that\nFaustus should hear it.  The fact was this: a surgeon, returning late one\nnight to Paris with his faithful servant, heard, not far from the\nhighway, the groans and lamentations of a man.  His heart led him to the\nspot, where he found a murderer broken alive upon the wheel, who conjured\nhim, in the name of God, to put an end to his existence.  The surgeon\nshuddered with horror and fright; but recovering himself, he thought\nwhether it would not be possible for him to reset the bones of this\nwretch, and preserve his life.  He spoke a few words to his servant, took\nthe murderer from the wheel, and laid him gently in the chaise.  He then\ncarried him to his house, where he undertook his cure, which he at last\naccomplished.  He had been informed that the Parliament had offered a\nreward of one hundred louis-d'ors to any one who would discover the\nperson who had taken the assassin from the wheel.  He told the murderer\nof this when he sent him away, and, giving him money, he advised him not\nto stay in Paris.  The very first thing which this monster did was to go\nto the Parliament and betray his benefactor, for the sake of the hundred\nlouis-d'ors.  The cheeks of the judges, which so seldom change colour,\nbecame pallid at this denunciation; for he informed them with the\ngreatest effrontery that he was the very assassin, who, having been\nbroken alive upon the place where he had committed the murder, had been\nsaved by the compassion of the surgeon.  The latter was sent for; and the\nDevil conducted Faustus into the hall of judgment exactly at the moment\nhe appeared.  The attorney-general informed the surgeon of what he was\naccused; but the surgeon, being certain of his servant's fidelity,\nstoutly denied the charge.  He was advised to confess, because a most\nconvincing witness could be brought against him.  He bade them produce\nhim.  A side-door opened, and the murderer stepped coolly into the court,\nand, looking the surgeon full in the face, undauntedly repeated his\naccusation, without forgetting a single circumstance.  The surgeon\nshrieked, \"O monster! what can have urged thee to this horrible\ningratitude?\"\n\n_Murderer_.  The hundred louis-d'ors, which you told me of when you sent\nme away.  Did you think that I was satisfied with merely recovering the\nuse of my limbs?  I was broken alive on the wheel for a murder which I\ncommitted for ten crowns, and I was not fool enough to lose gaining a\nhundred louis without running any risk.\n\n_Surgeon_.  Thou wretch! thy cries and groans touched my heart.  I took\nthee down from the wheel, comforted thee, and bound up thy wounds.  I fed\nthee with mine own hand, till thou couldst use thy shattered joints.  I\ngave thee money, which thou canst not yet have spent.  I discovered to\nthee, from regard to thy own safety, the reward which had been offered by\nthe Parliament; and I swear to thee, by Heaven above, that if thou hadst\ntold me of thy devilish intention, I would have sold my last rag, and\nhave furnished thee with the sum, in order that so horrible a piece of\ningratitude might remain for ever unknown to the world.  Gentlemen, judge\nbetween me and him; I confess myself guilty.\n\n_President_.  You have grievously offended justice by endeavouring to\npreserve the life of him whom the law, for the common safety, had\ncondemned to die; but for this once strict justice shall be silent, and\nhumanity only shall sit in judgment.  The hundred louis-d'ors shall be\nyours, and the murderer shall be again broken upon the wheel.\n\nFaustus, who during the whole of this strange trial had been snorting\nlike a madman, gave now such a thundering huzza, that the whole gallery\nechoed.  The Devil, who observed that the last impression was about to\ndestroy the first, soon led him to another scene.\n\nSome surgeons, doctors of medicine, and naturalists had formed a secret\nsociety, for the purpose of inquiring into the mechanism of the human\nbody, and the effect of the soul upon matter.  In order to satisfy their\ncuriosity, they inveigled, under all sorts of pretences, poor men and\nwomen into a house at some distance from the city, the upper part of\nwhich was constructed in such a manner that it was impossible to discover\nfrom without what was going forward within.  Having tied their victims\nwith strong cords down upon a long table, and having placed a gag in\ntheir mouths, they then removed their skin and their flesh, and laid bare\ntheir muscles, their nerves, their hearts, and their brains.  In order to\ncome at what they sought, they fed the wretches with strengthening\nbroths, and caused them to die slowly under the slashing of their knives\nand lancets.  The Devil knew that they intended this night to assemble,\nand said to Faustus, \"Thou hast seen a surgeon, who, for the sake of\nhumanity, or for love of his art, cured an assassin whom justice had\nbroken on the wheel; I will now show thee physicians, who, in pursuit of\nsecrets which they will not discover, skin their fellow-creatures alive.\nThou appearest incredulous!  Follow me, and I will convince thee.  We\nwill represent two doctors.\"\n\nHe led him to a solitary house.  They entered the laboratory, which the\nrays of the sun never penetrated.  Here they saw the surgeons dissecting\na miserable being, whose flesh quivered beneath their fratricidal hands,\nand whose bosom heaved with the most painful agony.  They were so engaged\nwith their object, that they never once perceived the Devil and Faustus.\nThe latter, feeling his nerves thrill with horror, rushed out, struck his\nforehead with his hand, and commanded the fiend to tear down the house\nupon their heads, and bury them and their deed beneath its ruins.\n\n_Devil_.  Why this rage, O Faustus?  Dost thou not perceive that thou art\nacting, in respect to the moral world, in the same manner as they act in\nregard to the physical world?  They mangle the flesh of the living; and\nthou, by my destructive hand, exercisest thy fury upon the whole\ncreation.\n\n_Faustus_.  Outcast fiend! dost thou think my heart is made of stone?\nDost thou think that I can see unmoved the torments of yon poor flayed\nand butchered wretch?  But if I can neither dry his tears nor cure his\nwounds, I can avenge him, and put him out of pain.  Away! away! do as I\nhave bid thee, or dread my wrath!\n\nThe Devil obeyed with pleasure.  He shook the house to its foundation,\nand down it toppled with a hideous noise, and overwhelmed the wicked\ndoctors.  Faustus hurried to Paris, without attending to the look of wild\nexultation which the Devil cast upon him.\n\nFaustus, having heard much talk of the prisons which the most Christian\nking had caused to be built for the purpose of receiving those whom he\ndreaded, had a strong desire to see the interior of them.  The Devil\nwillingly undertook to satisfy his curiosity; and although the guards\nwere forbidden, under pain of death, to permit any strangers to enter\nthese habitations of horror, yet the golden arguments which the Devil\nused procured him and his companion a ready admittance.  They saw there\ncages of iron, in which it was impossible for a man to stand upright, or\nsit down, or place himself in any easy posture.  The wretches who were\ncompelled to tenant these iron dwellings had their limbs galled by heavy\nchains.  The keeper said, confidentially, that when the king was in good\nhealth, he frequently walked in the gallery, in order to enjoy the song\nof his nightingales; for thus did he call these wretched victims.\nFaustus asked some of the unfortunates the cause of their captivity; and\nhe heard stories which pierced him to the heart.  At last, coming to a\ncage wherein was a venerable-looking old man, he put the same question to\nhim, and the prisoner answered, in a plaintive tone:\n\n\"Whoever you are, let my sad story serve you as a warning never to assist\na tyrant in his cruelties.  You behold in me the Bishop of Verdun, who\nfirst gave to the king the idea of these horrible cages, and was the very\nfirst to be shut up in one of them after they were completed.  Here have\nI, for fourteen years, done penance for my sins, praying daily to God to\nend my torments by death.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  Ha, ha!  Your excellence, then, like another Perillus, has\nfound a Phalaris.  Do you know that story?  You shake your head.  Well, I\nwill tell it you.\n\n\"This Perillus, who was neither a bishop nor a Christian, constructed a\nbrazen bull, which he showed to the tyrant Phalaris as a masterpiece of\ninvention, and assured him that it was constructed in such a manner,\nthat, if his majesty would shut up a man in it, and then heat it red-hot\nby a fire laid beneath it, the shrieks of the tormented man would exactly\nresemble the bellowings of a bull, which would doubtless afford his\nmajesty great pleasure.  'My dear Perillus,' said the tyrant, 'I am much\nindebted to you; but it is right that the artist should prove his own\nwork.'  He then made Perillus creep into the beast's belly; and when the\nfire was laid beneath it, he did in reality bellow like a bull.  Thus did\nPhalaris, a thousand years ago, play very much the same part with\nPerillus which the most Christian king has been playing with you, most\nreverend Bishop of Verdun.\"\n\n_Bishop_.  I wish I had heard this story twenty years ago; I should then\nhave taken warning from it.\n\n_Faustus_.  You see that history may sometimes be useful, even to a\nbishop.  I weep for the fate of your companions in misery; but I laugh at\nyours.\n\nFaustus wished now to see this king, whose horrible deeds had so heated\nhis imagination, that he could hardly represent him to himself under a\nhuman figure.  The Devil told him that it would be impossible for them in\ntheir present forms to enter the Castle of Plessis du Parc, where\ncowardice and fear kept the tyrant a prisoner.  He added, that no one,\nwith the exception of some necessary domestics, the physician, the\nconfessor, and one or two astrologers, could enter without a particular\norder.\n\n_Faustus_.  Then let us assume other figures and dresses.\n\n_Devil_.  Good; I will instantly remove two of his guards, and we will do\ntheir duty.  This is an excellent time to see the tyrant.  The fear of\ndeath is already avenging upon his cowardly spirit the thousands whom he\nhas slaughtered.  Day and night he only thinks of putting off the moment\nwhich is to terminate his existence, and death seems to him more hideous\nevery second.  I will make you a witness of his torments.\n\nThe Devil instantly put his project into execution, and they found\nthemselves standing sentinels in the interior of the castle, where\nreigned the mournful silence of the tomb.  Thither had he, before whom\nmillions trembled, banished himself, in order to escape from the\nvengeance of the relations of the murdered.  Although he could thus fly\nfrom the sight of his subjects, he could not escape the cutting remorse\nof his own heart, nor the pains of his emaciated body.  In vain did he\nimplore Heaven to grant him health and repose; in vain did he attempt to\nbribe it by presents to saints, to priests, and to churches; in vain did\nhe cover himself with relics from all parts of the world: that frightful\nsentence, _thou shall die_, seemed always ringing in his ears.  He\nscarcely ventured to move out of his chamber, lest he should find an\nassassin in one of those whom he might meet.  If anguish drove him into\nthe free air, he went armed with lance and dagger, just as if he had\nstrength to use either.  Four hundred guards watched day and night around\nthe stronghold of the half-dead monster; three times every hour did their\nhoarse calls, echoing from post to post, break the solemn stillness, and\nremind the tyrant of the flight of time.  All around his castle gibbets\nwere erected; and the hangman, Tristan, his only true friend, went about\nthe country every day, and returned at night with fresh victims, in\norder, by their execution, to diminish the fears of the tyrant, who from\ntime to time would walk in an apartment which was only separated from the\ntorture-room by a thin partition.  There he listened to the groans and\nshrieks of the wretches on the rack, and found in the sufferings of\nothers a slight alleviation of his own.  Wearing on his hat a leaden\nimage of the Virgin,--his pretended protectress,--he drank the blood of\nmurdered sucklings, and allowed himself to be tormented by his physician,\nwhom he requited with ten thousand crowns a month.\n\nThis was the wretch whom Faustus saw; and his heart rejoiced when he\ncontemplated the paleness of his cheeks, and the farrows which anguish\nand despair had made in his brow.  He was on the point of leaving this\nabode of monotonous horror, when the Devil whispered him to remain until\nthe next day, and he would see a singular spectacle.  The king had heard\nthat a hermit lived in Calabria, who was honoured as a saint through all\nSicily.  This fool had, from his fourteenth to his fortieth year, dwelt\nupon a naked rock, where, exposed to the rains and tempests of heaven, he\nmartyred his body by stripes and fasting, and refused his mind all\ncultivation.  But, the rays of sanctity concealing his stupidity, he soon\nsaw the prince and the peasant at his feet.  Louis had requested the King\nof Sicily to send him this creature, because he hoped to be cured by him.\nThe hermit was now on the road; and as he brought with him the holy oil\nof Rheims, to anoint the tyrant's body, the latter imagined that all his\ndisorders would soon vanish, and he should become young again.  The happy\nday arrived: the Calabrian boor approached the castle; the king received\nhim at the gate, fell at his feet, and asked him for life and health.\nThe Calabrian played his part in so ridiculous a manner, that Faustus\ncould not avoid laughing aloud at the farce.  Tristan and his myrmidons\nwere advancing to seize him, and he would doubtlessly have paid for\nlaughing with his life, had not the Devil rescued him from their claws,\nand flown away with him.  When they arrived at Paris, Faustus said:\n\n\"Is it by this contemptible, superstitious, tottering object, that the\nbold sons of France allow themselves to be enslaved?  He is a mere\nskeleton in purple, who can scarcely cough out of his asthmatic throat\nthe desire to live; yet they tremble before him, as if he were a giant,\nwhose terrible arms could encircle the whole earth.  When the lion,\nenfeebled by age, lies languishing in his den, the most insignificant\nbeasts of the forests are not afraid of him, but approach and mock the\nfallen tyrant.\"\n\n_Devil_.  It is this which chiefly distinguishes the king of men from the\nking of beasts.  The latter is only formidable as long as he can use his\nown strength; but the former, who binds the strength of his slaves to his\nwill, is as powerful when lying on the bed of sickness, as when, in the\nvigour of health, he is at the head of his armies.  Are you not now\nconvinced that men are only guided by folly, which dooms them to be\nslaves?  Break their chains to-day, and they would forge themselves\nothers to-morrow.  Do what you can, they will always go on in the same\neternal circle, and are condemned for ever to seize the shadow for the\nreality.\n\nThe Devil, having shown Faustus all that was remarkable in and about the\ncapital of France, took him to Calais; and, crossing the Channel, they\narrived in London at the very moment that hideous abortion, the Duke of\nGloucester, made himself Protector of the kingdom, and was endeavouring\nto take away the crown from the children of his brother, the late king.\nHe had removed the father by means of poison, and had already persuaded\nthe queen (who, upon the first discovery of his projects, had fled for\nrefuge, with her children, to Westminster Sanctuary) to deliver up to him\nthe youthful heir of the throne, together with his brother York.  Faustus\nwas present when Doctor Shaw, by the command of the Protector, informed\nthe astonished people from the pulpit, that the yet living mother of the\nduke and the deceased king had admitted various lovers; that the late\nking was the offspring of such adultery; and that no one of the royal\nline, except the Protector, could boast of a legitimate birth.  He saw\nthose noblemen executed who would not accede to the execrable plot; and\nthe Devil conducted him into the Tower at the very moment when Tyrrell\nand his assistant murdered the lawful king and his brother, and buried\nthem beneath the threshold of the dungeon.  He was a witness of the base\nsubmission of the Parliament, and of the coronation of the frightful\ntyrant.  He witnessed the negotiation of the queen to support the\nmurderer of her sons in his usurped throne, by giving him the hand of her\neldest daughter, in order that she herself might still retain a shadow of\nsovereignty; although at the same time she had entered into a secret\nalliance with the Earl of Richmond, who was destined to be her avenger.\nFaustus felt himself so enraged, that not all the charms of the blooming\nEnglishwomen could keep him any longer in this cursed isle, which he\nquitted with hatred and disgust; for neither in Germany nor in France had\nhe seen crimes committed with so much coolness and impunity.  When they\nwere on the point of embarking, the Devil said to him:\n\n\"These people will groan for a time beneath the yoke of despotism; they\nwill then sacrifice one of their kings upon the scaffold of freedom, in\norder that they may sell themselves to his successors for gold and\ntitles.  In hell there is very little respect paid to these gloomy\nislanders, who would suck the marrow from all the carcasses in the\nuniverse, if they thought to find gold in the bones.  They boast of their\nmorality, and despise all other nations; yet if you were to place what\nyou call virtue in one scale, and vice, with twopence, in the other, they\nwould forget their morality, and pocket the money.  They talk of their\nhonour and integrity, but never enter into a treaty but with a firm\nresolution of breaking it as soon as a farthing is to be gained by so\ndoing.  After death, they inhabit the most pestilential marsh of the\nkingdom of darkness, and their souls are scourged without mercy.  None of\nthe other damned will have any communication with them.  If the\ninhabitants of the Continent could do without sugar and coffee, the sons\nof proud England would soon return to the state in which they were when\nJulius Caesar, Canute of Denmark, or William the Conqueror, did them the\nhonour to invade their island.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  For a devil, thou knowest history passably well.\n\nHereupon he led him to Milan, where they saw the Duke Galeas Sforza\nmurdered on St. Stephen's day in the cathedral; Faustus having previously\nheard the assassins loudly beseeching St. Stephen and St. Ambrose to\ninspire them with the courage necessary for so noble a deed.\n\nIn Florence, the seat of the Muses, they saw the nephew of the great\nCosmo, the father of his country, murdered in the church of Santa\nReparata, at the altar, just at the moment when the priest raised the\nhost in his hands; for the Archbishop of Florence, Salviati, had informed\nthe murderers that this was to be the signal.  He had been bribed to\nassist in this enterprise by the Pope, who was determined to annihilate\nthe Medicis, in order to rule sole sovereign in Italy.\n\nIn the north of Europe they saw wild barbarians and drunken ruffians\nmurdering and pillaging like the more civilised Europeans.  In Spain they\nfound upon the throne deceit and hypocrisy wearing the mask of religion.\nThey saw, at an _auto-da-fe_, men and women immolated in the flames to\nthe mild Deity of the Christians; and they heard the grand inquisitor,\nTorquemada, boast to Ferdinand and Isabella that, since the establishment\nof the holy tribunal, it had tried eighty thousand suspected persons, and\nhad burnt six thousand convicted heretics.  When Faustus first saw the\nladies and cavaliers assembled in the grand square, dressed in their\nrichest habits, he imagined that he had come just in time for some joyous\nfestival; but when he heard the condemned wretches howling and lamenting\nin the midst of a mob of monks who were at their devotions, he was\nconvinced that religion, when misused, makes man the most execrable\nmonster on the earth.  He, however, began to imagine that all these\nhorrors were the necessary consequences of man's nature, who is an animal\nthat must either tear his fellow-creatures to pieces, or be torn to\npieces by them.\n\nThe Devil, perceiving that Faustus was amazed and confounded by these\nscenes, said to him:\n\n\"Thou seest how the courts of Europe resemble each other in wickedness\nand crime.  Let us now go to Rome, and see whether the ecclesiastical\ngovernment goes on better.\"\n\nThe malicious Leviathan flattered himself that Alexander the Sixth, who\nwore at that time the triple crown, and held in his hands the keys of\nheaven and of hell, would give the finishing blow to the harassed spirit\nof Faustus, and would enable him to return below with his victim.  For a\nlong time he had been weary of staying on the earth; for although he had\nin the course of many thousand years so often traversed it, he still saw\nmerely the same beings and the same actions.  From this we may learn that\nthere is something so annoying in uniformity, that even the wild horrors\nof Satan's hall are to be preferred to it.\n\nOn the way to Rome they passed by two hostile armies encamped face to\nface.  The one was commanded by Malatesta of Rimini, the other by a papal\ngeneral.  The crafty Alexander was now endeavouring, either by poisoning,\nsecret assassination, or open war, to deprive all the Italian noblemen of\ntheir property, in order that he might convert their castles and domains\ninto principalities for his illegitimates.  He began with the weakest,\nand had despatched this little army to eject Malatesta from his fief of\nRimini.  Faustus and the Devil, riding along the road, perceived upon an\neminence contiguous to the papal camp two men, magnificently dressed,\nengaged in a furious combat.  Moved by curiosity, Faustus advanced to the\nspot; the fiend followed him; and they perceived, by the rage of the\nantagonists, that nothing less than the death of one of them would end\nthe struggle.  But what appeared to Faustus most extraordinary was a\nmilk-white goat, adorned with ribbons of various colours, which a page\nseemed to hold as the prize of victory, as he stood, with the utmost\ncoolness, near the two raging warriors.  Many cavaliers had assembled\nupon the height, and awaited the issue of the affair.  Faustus approached\none of them, and asked, with his German simplicity, whether the gentlemen\nwere fighting for that handsome goat.  He had observed that the two\nchampions, whenever they paused to take breath, looked at the goat with\nmuch tenderness, and each seemed, according to knightly custom, to\nentreat it to assist him in his danger.  The Italian, turning to Faustus,\ncoolly answered, \"Yes, certainly; and I hope our general will punish with\ndeath the audacious knight who dared to remove from his tent the\nhandsomest goat in the world, at the time he was gone to reconnoitre the\nenemy's camp.\"  Faustus stepped back, shook his head, and scarcely knew\nwhether he was dreaming or awake.  The Devil let him remain for some time\nin this perplexity; he then took him aside, and whispered certain things\nin his ear, which made Faustus blush, and which will not bear repetition.\nThe duel in the mean time went on as hotly as ever, until the sword of\nthe papal general found an opening in the knight's mail, and laid him\nwallowing in blood upon the ground.  He yielded up his soul amidst curses\nand imprecations, and took, with his last look, a tender farewell of the\npretty animal.  The general was congratulated by the surrounders, and the\npage delivered him the goat.  He called it \"his dearest, his\nbest-beloved,\" and loaded it with the most tender caresses.\n\nFaustus departed from the place of combat, and was hesitating between a\ndesire to laugh and a feeling of disgust, when the Devil said to him:\n\n\"This duel has made thee acquainted with the papal general; but he who\ncommands the hostile army does not deserve thy attention less.  The one\nhas risked his life for love of a white goat; and the other has already\npoisoned and strangled with his own hand, in order that he might get\npossession of their property, two of his wives, sprung from the best\nfamilies in Italy.  He is now on the point of marrying a third; and she\nwill, in all probability, experience the same fate.  Both of these\npersonages are otherwise very religious men,--attend processions, make\nvows to Heaven, and implore it for assistance.  For which side do you\nthink it will now declare?\"\n\nFaustus gave the Devil a wild look, and left the malicious question\nunanswered; but the Devil, who wished to punish him for having formerly\nboasted of the moral worth of man, failed not to make some bitter jokes\nupon the amours of the papal general and the conjugal tenderness of\nMalatesta of Rimini.\n\nThe sight of Rome and its majestic ruins, over which the mighty spirit of\nthe old Romans seemed yet to hover, filled Faustus with wonder; and, as\nhe was well acquainted with the history of those lords of the ancient\nworld, the remembrance of their heroic actions elevated his soul to a\npitch of enthusiasm.  But the modern inhabitants of this celebrated city\nsoon inspired him with very different sentiments.  By the Devil's advice,\nthey announced themselves as German noblemen, whom curiosity to see the\nmagnificence of Rome had brought there.  But their retinue, their pomp,\nand their demeanour, caused a suspicion to be entertained that they were\nof more consequence than they pretended to be.  Friars and matrons,\nquacks and harlequins, flocked to them, as soon as the noise of their\narrival had echoed through all the haunts of those who get their\nlivelihood by administering to the crimes and the weaknesses of men.\nThey offered them their several female relations, and depicted their\ncharms and various attractions with such fiery eloquence, that Faustus,\nbesieged on every side, knew not which to prefer.  As these wretches\nuttered religious maxims in the same breath with the most stimulant\ndescriptions of voluptuousness, Faustus imagined himself authorised in\nbelieving that they merely made use of religion to appease the cravings\nof passion, revolted by their shameful deeds and wickedness.\n\nThe next day after their arrival, Faustus and the Devil were invited to\ndinner by the Cardinal Caesar Borgia, one of the many illegitimates of\nthe Pope.  He received them in the most splendid manner, and promised to\nintroduce them to his holiness.  They went on horseback, attended by a\nretinue of servants, to the Vatican, and Faustus and the Devil kissed the\ntoe of the Pope: the German performed this act of devotion with all the\nfervour of a good Christian Catholic; but the Devil muttered to himself,\n\"If Alexander knew who I am, I should, most probably, see him at my own\nfeet.\"  After the usual ceremonies were over, the Pope invited them into\nhis private apartments, where he spoke to them very freely, and made them\nacquainted with his other illegitimates, the famous Lucretia; Francisco\nBorgia, Duke of Candia, &c.\n\nThe Pope found the society of the handsome and well-made Leviathan so\nmuch to his liking, that, from the first interview, he showed him\nparticular favour, which grew at length, as we shall see, to the closest\nintimacy.  Faustus attached himself to Cardinal Borgia, who gave him such\na glowing description of the pleasures and temptations of Rome, that he\nhardly knew whether he was in the Vatican or in the Temple of Venus.  The\nCardinal made him more nearly acquainted with his sister, who was married\nto Alphonso of Arragon.  This siren displayed voluptuousness and\nsensuality in a form and face so attractive and charming, that Faustus\nstood before her like one enchanted.\n\nFaustus and the Devil went one evening to the Vatican to see a play,\nwhich astonished the young German more than any thing he had yet seen at\nthe papal court.  It was the _Mandragola_ which was represented.  The\nnoble Machiavel had composed this licentious and satirical piece, in\norder to lay before the eyes of the court of Rome a striking picture of\nthe boundless corruption of the clergy, and to prove that to be the sole\ncause of the dissolute lives of the laity.  But he deceived himself in\nhis honourable design: the _Mandragola_ was applauded, not on account of\nits morality, which was not understood, but of its licentiousness.\nFaustus heard the Pope and the cardinals, the nuns and the ladies,\npraising certain things which, in his opinion, the most dissolute of the\nRoman emperors would not have permitted upon their theatre.  But real\nscenes yet more abominable soon put an end to his astonishment; and he\nperceived that the actions of Alexander and his children infinitely\nsurpassed all that which the annals of the human race had hitherto\nconsigned to infamy and abhorrence.  Lucretia was pleased yet more by\nFaustus's rich presents than his fine face and form.  By this intimate\nconnexion with her, he discovered her incestuous intercourse with her two\nbrothers, the Cardinal and Francisco; which she also extended to the Pope\nher father.  The only one whom she treated ill was Alphonso, who had the\nhonour to be her spouse.  Faustus now guessed the cause of the implacable\nhatred which the Cardinal entertained against his brother Francisco: it\narose from jealousy at his sister's preferring the latter to himself; and\nhe often swore to take vengeance upon his brother.\n\nIt was the custom of Faustus, after having the whole day wallowed in the\nshameful pleasures of the court and city, to pester the Devil's ears with\ncomplaints of the wickedness of men.  He was shocked at their crimes,\nalthough he himself had neither strength nor desire to resist any of his\ninclinations.  He generally concluded his sermonising by asking, \"How\ncould such a monster ever have been elected Pope?\"\n\nThe Devil, who perfectly knew how that event had been brought about (for\none of the princes of hell had been at the election), would tell him how\n\"Alexander bought up the votes of the cardinals by magnificent promises;\nand being called upon, after his installation, to fulfil them, he either\nbanished or caused to be privately assassinated all those who had any\nclaims upon him.\"\n\n_Faustus_.  I can easily conceive that the cardinals were sufficiently\ncorrupt to make him Pope; but how the people can submit to his decrees is\nbeyond my comprehension.\n\n_Devil_.  The Romans are perfectly content with him.  He protects the\npopulace, and ravages and pillages the great.  Can they wish for a better\nPope than one who sanctifies their crimes by his own example; and who,\nbesides the indulgences he distributes, shows by his actions that men\nhave no reason to be terrified at any crime?\n\nThe Pope having, at a consistorial court, elevated his eldest\nillegitimate, Francisco, to the dignity of General of the Papal See, the\nCardinal instantly formed the Christian resolution of putting his brother\nout of the way, and thereby opening a more extensive field to his own\nambition.  Vanosa, his mother, had informed him that the Pope intended to\nraise a throne for Francisco upon the ruin of the Italian princes; and\nthrough him, as his eldest-born, execute all the projects which he had\nformed for the prosperity and aggrandisement of his family.  The\nCardinal, who had always certain assassins in his pay, sent for his\nfaithful Dom Michelotto, and thus addressed him:\n\n\"Brave and honest Michelotto, five years have already passed since the\naccession of my father to the papal chair, and I am not yet what I might\nhave been, had I acted with less delicacy and more prudence.  He first\nmade me an archbishop, and now I am become a cardinal; but what is that\nfor a spirit which burns with a desire to distinguish itself, and which\naspires to glory!  My revenues scarcely supply me with absolute\nnecessaries, and it is impossible for me to reward, according to the wish\nof my heart, those friends who have rendered me essential services.  Art\nthou not, O Michelotto, a striking example of it thyself?  Have I been\nable to acquit myself towards thee in the manner which my obligations to\nthee demand?  But shall we always languish in this shameful inactivity;\nand shall we wait till fortune or chance do something for those who will\ndo nothing for themselves?  Dost thou think that the monotonous life I\nlead in the conclave and in the church was intended for a spirit like\nmine?  Am I born for all these ridiculous and superstitious ceremonies?\nIf nature had not by foolish caprice brought my brother into the world\nbefore me, would not all those situations, all those honours, by which\nmen are alone enabled to perform great actions, have fallen to my lot?\nDoes my brother know how to profit by the advantages which the Pope and\nblind Fortune fling in his way?  Let me once occupy his place, and my\nname shall soon resound through all Europe.  Nature stamped me for a\nhero, and him for a priest; therefore I must seek to repair the\nnegligence of Fortune if I wish to fulfil my destiny.  Compare him and\nme, and who will say we are sprung from the same father?  But be he my\nbrother--and it little matters; for the man who wishes to rise above the\nrest should forget tenderness and relationship--those puny bonds of\nnature--and should not hesitate to dip his hands in the sacrifice of any\none whose existence may be an obstacle to his noble views.  It is thus\nthat all great men act; it is thus that the founder of immortal Rome\nacted.  In order that Rome might arrive at the height of grandeur to\nwhich his genius wished to carry it, he did not hesitate to stab his\nbrother; and, in order that Caesar Borgia may attain immortality, his\nbrother Francisco must bleed beneath thy knife, most courageous\nMichelotto.  Yes; for although it would be easy for me, in the darkness\nof the night, to assassinate him myself and remain unsuspected, I reserve\nfor thee this deed, in order that thou mayst have a greater right to\nshare with me my grandeur and my future fortunes.  To-morrow I shall go\nto Naples to assist, in quality of legate, at the coronation of the king.\nVanosa, my mother, who, between you and me, is weary of seeing her\nenterprising Caesar a cardinal, gives this evening a supper to myself, my\nbrother, and a few friends.  Francisco will go late at night to an\nassignation in which he and I mutually share; and I ill know Michelotto\nif ever he finds his way back to his palace.  My name is Caesar, and I\nwill be all or nothing.\"\n\nMichelotto grasped the cardinal's hand, thanked him for his confidence,\nassured him of his fidelity, and went his way in order to get some of his\ncompanions to assist him in the affair.\n\nFaustus and the Devil were also invited to the supper.  Gaiety reigned\namong the guests.  The good-natured Francisco loaded his brother with\ncaresses, which, however, did not shake his resolution.  When they rose\nfrom table, Caesar took leave of his mother, and said he must now go to\nthe Pope and receive his orders for Naples.  The two brothers walked with\neach other a little way, followed by Faustus and the Devil.  Francisco\nsoon took leave of his brother, having first told him where he was going.\nThe Cardinal, with a smiling air, wished him much pleasure: hurrying to\nthe Vatican, he finished his business there, and then went to the\nrendezvous, where he found Michelotto and his ruffians, whom he directed\nhow to proceed.  Faustus had not the slightest suspicion of what was\ngoing forward; but the Devil, who knew when the horrible drama was to\nconclude, transported him to the banks of the Tiber at the very moment\nMichelotto and his assistants flung into the stream the corpse of the\nmurdered Francisco.  Faustus would have attacked the assassins, though he\nwas still ignorant who their victim was; but the Devil prevented him, and\nsaid:\n\n\"Do not approach; keep thyself quiet, and let none of those people see\nthee; they swarm so at Rome and at the Vatican, that thou wouldst not be\nsafe, even at my side, if they were to perceive that thou didst observe\nthem.  The murdered man whom they flung into the water is Francisco\nBorgia, Duke of Candia; his murderer is his brother, and what thou seest\nnow is only the prelude to actions which will astonish hell itself and\nmake it tremble.\"\n\nHe then discovered to him the whole of the plot, and repeated to him the\nCardinal's conversation with Michelotto.  Faustus replied, with more\ncoolness than the Devil expected:\n\n\"Their deeds will not astonish me, however infamous they may be; for what\nelse can we expect from a family where the father lives in incest with\nhis daughter, and the brothers with their sister?  But henceforth I will\nnever suffer any one to boast in my presence of the moral worth of man;\nfor, in comparison with man, especially if he be a priest, the worst\nfiend is innocent as an angel.  Oh, why was I not born in happy Arabia,\nwhere I might have passed my solitary existence, with a palm-tree for my\nshelter, and with Nature for my god!\"\n\nThe body of Francisco being found in the Tiber, his assassination was\nsoon noised about Rome and through all Italy.  The Pope was so afflicted\nat the intelligence, that he abandoned himself to the most frightful\ndespair, and remained three days without eating or drinking; but he did\nnot forget to offer immense rewards for the discovery of the murderers.\nHis daughter, who guessed from whence the blow came, gave her mother\nintelligence of the severe intentions of the Pope; and Vanosa, at dead of\nnight, went to the Vatican.  The Devil, who, in quality of favourite, had\nremained alone with his holiness whilst his affliction was at its height,\nhastened away upon the appearance of Vanosa; and having found Faustus,\nwho was consoling the lovely Lucretia, he led him to the door of the\nPope's apartment, where they heard the following dialogue.\n\n\"A fratricide! a cardinal!--and thou, mother of them both, dost tell me\nthis with as much coolness as if Caesar had merely poisoned one of the\nColonnas or Orsinis.  He has, in murdering his brother, destroyed his own\nfame, and has undermined the foundation of that monument of grandeur\nwhich I was about to raise.  But the monster shall not escape punishment;\nhe shall feel my vengeance.\"\n\n_Vanosa_.  Rodrigo Borgia, thou hast shared the couch of my mother and\nmyself, and wast the first that dishonoured Lucretia, my daughter and\nthine.  Who can number all those whom thou hast secretly poisoned and\nassassinated?  Yet thou art not less a pope.  Rome trembles before thee,\nand all Christianity adores thee.  Every thing depends upon the situation\nin which men are when they commit crimes.  I am the mother of both,\nRodrigo, and I knew that Caesar would murder Francisco.\n\n_Pope_.  Thou wretch!\n\n_Vanosa_.  Am I?  If I be, I have become so in thy school.  It was right\nthat the timorous and gentle Francisco should give place to the fiery,\nthe enterprising Caesar, in order that the glittering hopes may be\nfulfilled which thou didst confide to me upon thy elevation to the papal\nchair.  Francisco was intended by nature to be a monk; my Caesar to be a\nconqueror--and I call him so already in prophetic spirit.  He alone has\npower to annihilate the great and petty tyrants of Italy, and to win\nhimself a crown.  Appoint him standard-bearer to the papal see, and he\nwill make the Borgias kings of the Italian realms.  Is not this thy most\nardent wish?  All thy poisonings and murders will have been to no more\npurpose if Caesar remains a cardinal, than they would have been if yon\nfeeble driveller had lived.  Only from Caesar can I expect protection\nwhen thou art no more.  He loves his mother; but the other boy neglected\nme, and only flattered thee, from whom he expected his greatness.  Caesar\nfeels that a woman like me, who could bring forth a hero, can likewise\npoint out to him the way to immortal deeds.  Brighten up, Rodrigo, and be\nwise; for know that the hand which dispatched thy favourite was directed\nby a daring spirit, who would not hesitate to take thy own life wert thou\nto remove the veil which has been flung over this deed of necessity.\n\n_Pope_.  The solidity of thy arguments restores me to myself, and thy\neloquence exalts my soul, although it makes me shudder.  Francisco is\ndead; Caesar lives: let him live, and take his brother's place, since\nfate will have it so.\n\nHe rang the bell, caused refreshments to be brought, and was in excellent\nspirits.\n\nFrancisco was forgotten, and the Pope thought of nothing else than to\nopen to the daring Caesar a wider field in which he might exercise his\ndangerous talents.  The latter, in the mean time, crowned the King of\nNaples, with hands yet reeking with fraternal blood.  He returned to\nRome; and Faustus saw, with a malicious laugh, the cardinals and the\nambassadors of Spain and Venice receive the fratricide, whom they knew\nfor such, at the city-gate, and then conduct him in triumph to the Pope,\nwho embraced him with great tenderness.  Vanosa laid aside her mourning,\nand celebrated the day of his return by a festival, at which appeared all\nthe grandees of Rome.  Caesar shortly afterwards changed his cardinal's\nhat for a helmet, and was with much pomp and magnificence consecrated\nGonfalonier, or Standard-bearer of the Holy See.\n\nThe Devil saw, with much pleasure, Faustus endeavouring, by the wildest\nexcesses, to escape the pangs by which his heart was now torn.  He\nremarked how every new scene of horror he was doomed to witness galled\nhis soul, and that he was becoming more and more convinced that all he\nsaw or heard had its origin in the nature of man.  The Devil supported\nhim in this idea by sophisms, which later philosophers have worked up\ninto systems.  He ransacked the earth of its treasures, and showered gold\nand precious gems upon his victim; and Faustus, dishonouring the wives\nand daughters of Rome, believed that he could not sufficiently corrupt\nthe human family, which, in his opinion, was doomed to misfortune and\ndestruction.  The lessons he had learnt from Lucretia had long since\npoisoned his senses.  All the sweet ties of humanity, which had so long\nfettered his heart, were now totally destroyed.  He represented the world\nto himself as a stormy sea, on which the human race is cast, and is\ntossed here and there by the wind, which drives this man upon a rock,\nwhere he is dashed to pieces, and blows the other happily to his haven.\nBut what seemed to Faustus most incomprehensible was, that the\nshipwrecked mariner should be punished in an after-state for not having\nguided his vessel better; when the rudder which had been given him to\nshape his course by was so weak that any extraordinary billow could not\nfail to shatter it.\n\nA new scene now presented itself.  Alexander had determined on taking the\namusements of the chase at Ostia.  He was accompanied thither by a vast\nthrong of cardinals, bishops, ladies, and nuns; the latter being summoned\nfrom their cloisters, and, by their beauty, rendering the cavalcade a\nglorious spectacle.  The Devil was constantly by the side of the Pope,\nand Faustus and Lucretia were inseparable.  Every one abandoned himself\nat Ostia to pleasure, and in the course of a few days excesses were\ncommitted there from which even Tiberius and Nero might have learnt\nsomething.  Faustus had now an excellent opportunity of examining man in\nhis nakedness, as the Devil had expressively termed it; but what were all\nthese scenes of wickedness when compared with the plans which the Pope\nformed with his bastards, by way of relaxation, in the presence of\nFaustus and the Devil?  It was here determined that Alphonso of Arragon,\nthe husband of Lucretia, should be assassinated, in order that they might\ngive the King of France a proof that they were willing to break entirely\nwith the King of Naples, and to assist the former in his usurpation of\nthe crown of Sicily.  Louis the Twelfth had already, with the approbation\nof Alexander, invaded Italy, and the Borgias thereby saw all their\nprojects ripening.  Lucretia intrusted this bloody deed to the management\nof her brother, and already considered herself as a widow.  The plan of\nthe ensuing campaign was then adjusted in a very expeditious manner; for\nit was merely to take possession of all the towns, castles, and domains\nof the noblemen of Italy, who were one and all of them to be murdered,\ntogether with their offspring and relations, in order that not a soul\nmight remain alive who had the slightest claim upon the property, and who\nmight therefore trouble the assassins with future conspiracies.  To\nsupport the army in the interim, the Pope and Caesar dictated to Lucretia\na list of rich cardinals and prelates, who were to be poisoned\nsuccessively, and their goods to be taken possession of by the right of\ninheritance vested in the papal chair.\n\nWhen this secret council was broken up, the members of it repaired to the\ngrand hall, where supper awaited them.  The Pope was so contented with\nhis schemes, and the certainty of their accomplishment, that he\ncommitted, in his joy, the most shameful extravagances, and by his\nexample incited his guests to actions similar to what we have read of in\nthe pages of Petronius Arbiter, and other writers of the same character.\nHe, nevertheless, did not entirely forget the cares of the state; for he\nsuddenly asked those present how the revenues of the papal see might be\nincreased, so as to support its numerous army during the approaching\ncampaign.  After various projects, Ferrara of Modena, Bishop of Patria,\nAlexander's worthy minister, by whom he caused the benefices of the\nChurch to be disposed of to the highest bidder, proposed that indulgences\nshould be sold through Europe, under the pretence of an approaching war\nwith the Turks; adding, like a true papal financier, \"that the foolish\nidea which men entertained, of being able to wash away their sins by\nmeans of gold, was the surest source from which the income of a pope\narose.\"\n\nLucretia, who lay on the lap of her father, and played with Faustus's\nyellow looks, incidentally remarked, with a smile,\n\n\"The present list of indulgences contains such insipid, antiquated, and\nabsurd crimes, that it is impossible to turn it to much account.  It was\ncomposed in stupid and barbarous times; and it is now highly necessary to\nmake a new tariff of sin, for which Rome herself can furnish the most\nimportant articles.\"\n\nThe company, hot with wine, and reeking from their abominations, eagerly\ncaught up this sally of female wantonness; and the Pope commanded each\none present to propose some particular sin, and to tax it; recommending\nthem, above all, to choose those which were most in vogue, and which\nwould consequently bring in the most wealth.\n\n_Borgia_.  Holy father, leave this to the cardinals and prelates; they\nare better versed in crime than any other people.\n\nFerrara of Modena sat down to fulfil the office of secretary.\n\n_A Cardinal_.  Absolution to each and every priest who commits\nfornication, let it be with whom it may; with permission to perform all\nthe duties of the Church, and to receive and hold new benefices, provided\nhe pay into the papal treasury nine gold ducats.\n\n_Pope_.  Write down nine gold ducats, Bishop; and then let us drink\nabsolution to those priests who shall pay the sum.\n\nEach guest filled his glass, and exclaimed in chorus, \"Absolutio!\ndispensatio!\"\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n_A Nun_.  Ha; what means all this?  Will no one think of us?  Holy\nfather, have we alone no claim to your paternal favour?  I entreat you to\nlet us be taxed also, in order that we may sin in peace.\n\n_Pope_.  Right, my daughter; and you shall not be dealt with more hardly\nthan the priests.  Bishop, write down: Absolution for each nun who shall\ncommit carnal sin, be it with whom it may, within or out of the circle of\nthe cloister; with fall capacity of assuming any conventual dignity when\ncalled upon so to do: nine ducats.\n\n_Chorus_.  Absolutio! dispensatio!\n\n_A Bishop_.  Absolution and dispensation to each priest who publicly\nkeeps a mistress: five ducats.\n\nLucretia then interposed: \"Absolution for carnal knowledge, the enormity\nof which is indicated by fifteen ducats.\"\n\nFaustus, whom this scene had horribly mortified, on account of the\ntriumph which it afforded the Devil over him, but who, nevertheless,\nwished to have a hit at Borgia, exclaimed, with a voice of thunder,\n\n\"Absolution to any parricide, matricide, or fratricide, for three\nducats.\"\n\n_Pope_.  Ho, ho, friend; what are you aiming at now?  Will you tax murder\nlower than fornication?\n\n_Caesar Borgia_.  Holy father, he does not wish, by too high a penalty,\nto deter men from the commission of the crime.\n\n_Devil_.  You are well aware, gentlemen, that the poor are incapable of\nreceiving benefit from any of the above-named absolutions and\ndispensations.\n\n_Chorus_ (_amidst shouts of laughter_).  Damnation to him who has no\nmoney!\n\n_Caesar Borgia_.  Whoever commits theft, be it sacrilege or not, shall\nhave his soul secured from damnation, upon depositing in the papal\ntreasury three parts of what he has stolen.\n\n_Chorus_.  Absolution to all thieves, sacrilegious or not, provided they\nshare their booty with the Pope.\n\n_Pope_.  Thou hast opened a rich mine, Caesar.  Write that down, Bishop.\n\n_Faustus_.  Absolution to any one who shall practise magic, or enter into\nan alliance with the Devil.  How high shall I tax that, father?\n\n_Pope_.  My son, you will not, by this last article, enrich the papal\ntreasury.  The fiend does not understand his own advantage; we call upon\nhim in vain.\n\n_Faustus_.  But provided that should so happen, how high, I repeat?\n\n_Pope_.  For rarity's sake, one hundred ducats.\n\n_Faustus_.  Here they are; and now write me out an absolution, that I may\nbe able to shake it in the face of the Devil, provided I ever sell myself\nto him.\n\n_Chorus_.  Absolution to him who shall sell himself to the fiend.\n\n_A Nun_.  Most reverend Bishop, since you are writing out the absolution\nfor the magician, be so good as to furnish me with a paper likewise,--you\nknow for what.  Here is my rosary; it is worth fifteen ducats; I shall\nhave, therefore, something in bank until another absolution becomes\nnecessary.\n\nFerrara wrote, and the Pope signed his name beneath.\n\n_Devil_.  Does your holiness imagine that Satan will pay any regard to\nthese scraps of paper?\n\nThe grand inquisitor snatched his hand out of the bosom of an abbess, and\nscreamed, with stammering tongue:\n\n\"I smell heresy!  Who is the atheist? who has uttered that blasphemy?\"\n\nThe Pope pressed his forefinger softly upon the mouth of the Devil, and\nsaid, \"Cavalier, these are state secrets: handle them not; for if you do,\nI myself, with all my authority, shall not be able to protect you.\"\n\nEvery male in the assembly now opened his purse, either from a wish to\npay his court to the Pope, or to quiet his conscience.  The Bishop had so\nmany applications, that he was soon obliged to call in other secretaries,\nto assist him in expediting absolutions.  Each applicant took away his\nparticular license, and each sought and found an opportunity of using it\nduring the remainder of the night.  Never were sins committed with more\nquiet minds.\n\nFerrara of Modena, the next day, caused this tariff to be fairly copied;\nhe then sent it to the press, {249} and caused it to be secretly\ncirculated throughout Christendom.\n\nCaesar Borgia did not forget the promise which he had made to his sister.\nAlphonso of Arragon was dispatched on the steps of the Gonfalonier's\npalace, at the moment he was about to enter, in order to be present at a\nplay to which all the nobility of Rome had been invited, and which\nrepresented the victories of the great Caesar, whom Borgia intended\nhenceforward to imitate, if not excel.  This latter personage shortly\nafter marched out of Rome with his army; and, within the space of a few\nmonths, the Devil purloined from the Pope's pocket the following letter,\nwhich he gave Faustus to read:\n\n    \"REVEREND FATHER,--\n\n    \"I kiss the feet of your holiness.  Victory and fortune have followed\n    my steps, and I drag them behind my car like slaves.  I hope now that\n    Caesar is worthy of his name; for I also can say, _Veni_, _vidi_,\n    _vici_.  The Duke of Urbino has fallen into the snare which I laid\n    for him.  By virtue of your holiness' letter, I asked him for his\n    artillery to fight your enemies with.  Dazzled by the marks of\n    friendship and affection which I showed him, and which flattered his\n    self-love, he sent to me a gentleman with his consent in writing.\n    Having thus a very decent pretence, I instantly despatched some\n    thousands of men to Urbino, who, by my commands, took possession of\n    that city and of the whole duchy.  The duke, unfortunately, escaped;\n    but I revenged myself for his flight upon the powerful and dangerous\n    family of Montefeltro, and annihilated their whole race.  Vitelozzo\n    was fool enough to join me, with all his troops, near Camerino.  I\n    deceived Caesar di Varono by promising him honourable conditions if\n    he would evacuate Camerino, and I attacked the city at the very\n    moment he was engaged in signing the articles of capitulation.  I had\n    hoped to have exterminated the whole family at once; but the father\n    found means to elude me.  However, I strangled his wife, and cut the\n    throats of his two sons; and I flatter myself that despair and grief\n    will soon send the old fellow after them.  I left Camerino, and\n    despatched Paul Orsino, Vitelozzo, and Oliverotto, to Sinegaglia,\n    with orders to take the town by storm, so that they might prepare\n    their future grave with their own hands.  When I saw them all in the\n    net, I sent forward my trusty Michelotto and his associates, with\n    directions to seize the fools when I should give the signal.  I then\n    put myself upon the march, and Orsino, Vitelozzo, and Oliverotto came\n    to meet me, and pay me their respects.  They had left all the troops\n    behind them, according to my expectations.  I received them with\n    caresses, and went with them into the city; and at the very moment my\n    people fell upon their straggling soldiers, Michelotto and his\n    comrades each seized his man.  Thus I made myself master of the\n    domains and fortresses of those whom we deceived by pretending to\n    assist them in subduing their enemies.  The following night I caused\n    them to be slaughtered in their dungeons.  Michelotto, to whom I\n    intrusted this business, told me, with much laughter, that all the\n    mercy Vitelozzo prayed for was, _that he might not be murdered until\n    he had received_, _from your holiness_, _absolution for his sins_.\n    Who now will tell me that it requires much art to make oneself master\n    of the minds of men?  As soon as your holiness shall have put out of\n    the way the Orsinis and the rest, I will send the Pagolas, the Duke\n    of Gravina, and my other prisoners, to bear them company.  If\n    Carraccioli, General of the Venetians, whose lovely wife I seized\n    upon her journey, and who now sweetens my labour, should come to Rome\n    with his _complaint_, send him Michelotto's brother to be his\n    physician.  I hear that he is a turbulent, hot-headed fellow, and\n    therefore it will be as well to get rid of him.  The tumult of arms\n    has not made me forget my sister's widowhood: the envoy of the eldest\n    son of the Duke of Este is already on the way to marry her, in his\n    name.  We have now massacred the most dangerous of our foes; if we\n    can win over or exterminate (which is almost the same thing) the\n    houses of Este and Medici, who will then have the audacity to oppose\n    the Borgias in Italy?  I kiss the feet of your holiness.\n\n                                             \"CAESAR BORGIA, Gonfalonier.\"\n\nFaustus, after reading this letter, looked angrily upward; but the Devil,\nwithout giving him time to moralise, led him to the Vatican, where they\nfound the Pope overjoyed at the success which had attended his weapons.\nHe had already ordered the remaining Orsinis, Alvianis, Santa Croces, and\nthe other cardinals and archbishops, to be arrested, and awaited the\nevent with impatience.  All Rome hastened to congratulate him.  Those who\nwere marked out for destruction were seized in the Vatican, conducted\ninto different prisons, and privately executed; whilst the myrmidons of\nthe Pope plundered their palaces.  The Cardinal Orsini alone was sent to\nthe Castle of Saint Angelo, and was permitted, for a few days, to be\nsupplied with food from his mother's kitchen; but the Pope, having heard\nthat he possessed a pearl, very precious on account of its extraordinary\nsize, retracted this favour.  The mother of the once mighty and\nflourishing Orsinis went to the Vatican, and offered the Pope the pearl\nand two thousand crowns if he would liberate her son; when he seized the\npearl and the money with one hand, and with the other gave the sign for\nthe cardinal's execution.\n\nWhen Caesar Borgia learnt that the Pope had accomplished his design, he\ninstantly commanded all his own prisoners to be assassinated; and,\nentering Rome in triumph, shared, with his holiness and the other\nillegitimates, the booty he had brought with him; and, in return,\nreceived his dividend of the confiscated property of the slaughtered\ncardinals and ecclesiastics.\n\nThe marriage of Lucretia was soon afterwards celebrated with more than\nAsiatic pomp, and the Romans contributed to render it as brilliant as\npossible.  The bells pealed from the churches; the artillery thundered\nfrom Saint Angelo; there were bull-fights; the most immoral and indecent\ncomedies were performed; and the delighted populace shouted before the\nVatican, \"Long live Pope Alexander! long live Lucretia, Duchess of Este!\"\nFaustus huzzaed with the best of them, and said to the Devil: \"If these\nacclamations ascend to heaven with the groans of the assassinated, which\nwill the Eternal believe?\"  The fiend bowed himself to the earth, and was\nsilent.\n\nIn order to crown the festivities of the marriage, Alexander and his\ndaughter commanded a spectacle which must for ever stand unparalleled in\nthe annals of human infamy.  The Pope sat, with his daughter, upon a\ncouch, in a vast illuminated hall.  Faustus, the Devil, and others who\nhad been invited to this scene, stood around them.  Suddenly the doors\nopened, and in rushed fifty nude courtesans,--more beautiful than the\nhouris in Mahomet's paradise,--and performed, to the voluptuous sound of\nflutes and other instruments, a dance which decency forbids us to\ndescribe, although it was a Pope who designed the figure.  When the dance\nwas ended, his Holiness gave the signal for a combat which we are still\nless permitted to depict,--he himself holding the prize of victory.  They\nproclaimed Faustus to be the conqueror.  Lucretia overwhelmed him with\nkisses, and crowned him with laurels; while the Pope delivered to him the\nprize,--a golden goblet, on which Lucretia had caused to be engraven the\nSchool of Pleasure.  Faustus gave it the very next day to a Venetian\nmonk, in whose possession Aretino saw it a long time afterwards, and\nillustrated some of its incidents in his sonnets.\n\nThe Pope, on the day of his daughter's marriage, had made an election of\ncardinals, choosing only the richest prelates for that dignity.  Caesar\nBorgia, being in want of large sums of money for the next campaign,\ndetermined to send some of the newly-elected into the other world, at a\nfestival which his father intended to give at one of his villas.  [The\ndetails of these marriage-festivities are omitted; inasmuch as the\ngrossness of the spectacle renders it unfit for the general reader.  The\nconduct of Lucretia Borgia has been the subject of much obloquy, which\nher defenders maintain rests chiefly on inferences from her living in a\nflagitious court, where she witnessed the most profligate scenes.  It is\nasserted that some of the accusations have no better foundation than the\nepigrams of Pontano, and other Neapolitan poets, the natural enemies of\nher family.--_Transl_.]  The Pope went in a coach, with his daughter, the\nDevil, Faustus, Borgia, and the wife of the Venetian general.  Here,\nafter witnessing a gross spectacle, Lucretia retired with Faustus; and\nBorgia went with the Venetian; and the Pope remained alone with the\nDevil.  His holiness now made to the fiend certain proposals, which so\nexasperated the Devil that he appeared under a form which no mortal eye\nhad ever yet been able to sustain.  The Pope, who knew him immediately,\nuttered a cry of joy.\n\n\"Ah, ben venuto Signor Diavolo!  You could not have come to me at a more\nseasonable time than the present; I have long wished to see you, for I\nknow perfectly well what a deal of use might be made of so powerful a\nspirit as yourself.  Ha, ha, ha! you please me now much better than you\ndid before, you rogue, you!  Come, be my friend; assume your former\nfigure, and I will make you a cardinal; for you only can raise me at once\nto the height which I wish to attain.  I entreat you to destroy my foes,\nprocure me money, and drive the French out of Italy, since I have no\nfurther occasion for them.  This to you will merely be the work of a\nmoment; and you may then ask me for any reward you please.  But by all\nmeans do not discover yourself to my son Caesar: he is so great a wretch,\nthat I verily believe he would poison me, his father, in order to become,\nby thy help, King of Italy and Pope at the same time.\"\n\nThe Devil, who had at first been a little mortified that his frightful\nexterior had produced no greater effect, was now unable to refrain from\nlaughing; for what he saw and heard surpassed every thing which had as\nyet come to the knowledge of hell.  But recovering himself, he said, with\na serious air, \"Pope Alexander, Satan once showed to the Son of the\nEternal all the kingdoms of the world, and offered him them, if he would\nfall down and worship him.\"\n\n_Pope_.  I understand you.  He was a God, and wanted nothing; had he been\na man, and a pope, he would have done what I will now do.\n\nHe fell upon his knees, and kissed the fiend's feet.\n\nThe Devil stamped upon the floor, so that the whole villa trembled.\nFaustus and Lucretia, Caesar and the Venetian, saw through the door,\nwhich had been burst open by the shock, the Pope kneeling with clasped\nhands before the frightful figure of the Devil, who seized the trembling\nmiscreant, strangled him, and gave his soul to an attendant spirit to be\nconveyed to hell.  Borgia fell to the ground in an agony of terror; and\nthe horrible spectacle brought upon him an illness, which soon sent him\nafter his father.  The body of the Pope, frightfully disfigured, was\nburied with much pomp; and his historians, who are not well acquainted\nwith his tragic end, invented the story, which is partly founded on\ntruth, that he and his son having drunk, by the cupbearer's mistake, some\npoisoned wine which had been intended for the cardinals, were thus caught\nin their own net.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nThe horrible death of the Pope, and the frightful figure of the Devil,\nwhom Faustus had hitherto only seen majestic and comely, made so strong\nan impression upon him, that he hastened from the villa to Rome; and,\nhaving packed up his things, instantly departed, with perturbed mind and\nbeating heart.  His spirit had become so weak from all that he had seen\nand heard, that he who once dared to defy the Eternal in thought scarcely\nventured now to look Satan in the face, though he still had absolute\ndominion over him.  Hatred and contempt for men, cruel doubt,\nindifference to every thing which occurred around him, murmurings at the\ninsufficiency of his moral and physical powers, were the rewards of his\nexperience and the fruits of his life; yet he consoled himself with the\nidea that what he had witnessed authorised in him these gloomy\nsentiments, and confirmed him in the opinion, that there either existed\non earth no connexion between man and his Creator, or that, if any did\nexist, such connexion ran so confusedly and equivocally through the\nlabyrinth of life, that it was impossible for the eye of man to follow\nit.  He yet flattered himself with the delusion, that his crimes, when\nadded to the vast mass of earthly wickedness, would be like a drop of\nwater falling into the ocean.  The Devil willingly permitted him to\nrepose in this dream, in order that the blow he intended for him might\nfall with greater violence.  Faustus resembled those men of the world who\nabandon themselves to their pleasures without thinking of the\nconsequences; and at length, worn out and dejected, look morosely on the\nworld, and judge of the human race according to their own sad experience,\nwithout reflecting that they have only trodden the worst paths of life,\nand seen the worst part of the creation.  In a word, he was on the point\nof becoming a philosopher of the species of Voltaire, who, whenever he\nfound the _bad_, always held it forth to public view; and, with\nunexampled industry, always endeavoured to keep the _good_ in the\nbackground.\n\nFaustus was lying in a sweet morning slumber on the frontiers of Italy,\nwhen a portentous dream depicted itself to his soul in the liveliest\ncolours; and this dream was followed by a frightful apparition.  He saw\nthe Genius of Man, whom he had once before seen.  He saw him upon a vast\nand blooming island, surrounded by a stormy sea, wandering up and down,\nand looking very anxiously upon the raging billows.  The ocean was\ncovered with innumerable barks, in which men, aged and young, children,\nwomen, and maidens, of all the nations of the world, were struggling\nagainst the tempest, in order to reach the island.  When they arrived\nthere, their first care was to bring to land different building\nmaterials, which they flung together confusedly.  After an immense number\nhad gained the shore, the Genius marked out, upon the most elevated part\nof the island, the plan of a vast edifice; and each of the crowd, young\nand old, weak or strong, took, according to his or her strength, a piece\nfrom the mass of materials, and, directed by those whom the Genius had\nchosen, carried it, and deposited it at the proper place.  All worked\nwith pleasure, with courage, and without relaxation; and the fabric had\nalready risen high above the ground, when they were suddenly attacked by\nnumerous foes, who advanced out of a dark ambush in three columns.  At\nthe head of each of these columns stood a general.  The first bore a\nglittering crown upon his head; on his brazen shield was written the word\n_Power_; and in his right hand he held a sceptre, which, like the rod of\nMercury, had a snake and a scourge twisted round it.  Before him went a\nfierce hyena, holding in its jaws a book, on the back of which was\nwritten _My Word_.  His troops were armed with swords, spears, and other\nimplements of destruction.  The second column was commanded by a majestic\nmatron, whose noble figure was clothed in a sacerdotal robe.  On her\nright stood _Superstition_, a gloomy-eyed spectre, bearing in his hand a\nbow formed from the bones of the dead, and on his back a quiver filled\nwith poisoned arrows.  On her left hovered a wild, fantastically clothed\nfigure, called _Fanaticism_, bearing a blazing torch.  These two\nphantoms, with menacing gestures and frightful grimaces, led the noble\nmatron in chains, like a prisoner.  Before them went _Ambition_, whose\nhead was adorned with a triple crown; in his hand was an episcopal staff,\nand on his mailed breast shone the word _Religion_.  Fanaticism and\nSuperstition waited, with the utmost impatience, until Religion should\ngive them the signal to vent their fury, which they could scarcely\nrestrain.  The army was a confused and howling rabble, and each soldier\ncarried a dagger and a flaming torch.  The chief of the third column\nadvanced with bold and haughty steps; he was clothed in the simple dress\nof the sages, and was called _Philosophy_.  He bore in his hand, as did\nall his followers, a golden cup, filled with foaming and intoxicating\nliquor.  These two last armies howled and screamed so frightfully, that\neven the bellowing of the waters and the roar of the tempest were no\nlonger audible.\n\nWhen the three columns arrived near the labourers, they united, by the\ndirections of their generals, and attacked them furiously with their\nmurderous weapons.  The most courageous of the workmen flung away their\nimplements of labour, and drew their swords, which hung at their belts,\nin order to drive their foes back.  The others, in the mean time,\nendeavoured, with redoubled zeal, to complete the fabric they had begun.\nThe Genius protected his brave warriors and his industrious labourers\nwith a huge glittering shield, which was handed to him from the sky; but\nhe could not cover the whole of the countless multitude.  He saw with\ndeep sorrow thousands of his people sink to the earth beneath the swords\nand poisoned darts of their adversaries.  Many allowed themselves to be\nensnared by the invitations and allurements of those who offered them the\nenchanted cup to refresh themselves with; and, in their intoxication,\nthey soon destroyed the laborious work of their hands.\n\nThose who bore torches made their way with their daggers, and hurled the\ntorches into the unfinished edifice, when the flames, rearing up,\nthreatened to reduce it to ashes.  The Genius looked mournfully upon the\nslain, and on those who had been intoxicated by the deceitful beverage;\nbut he encouraged the rest, and inspired them, by his firmness and his\ndignity, with strength and patience.  They extinguished the flames;\nreplaced what the others had overturned; and laboured, amid death and\ndestruction, with so much zeal, that, in spite of the fury and malignity\nof their foes, they raised at length a vast and sublime temple.  The\nGenius then healed the wounded, comforted the weary, praised the bold\nwarriors, and conducted them all, amid songs of triumph, into the temple.\nThe foes stood confounded at the enormous work; and, after they had in\nvain attempted to shatter its solidity, they retreated, with rage in\ntheir hearts.  Faustus now found himself upon the island.  The field\naround the majestic building was covered with dead bodies of all ages and\nof both sexes; and those who had tasted of the enchanted cup walked\ncoolly among the corpses, disputed with each other, and laughed at and\ncriticised the structure of the temple.  Faustus went past them, and as\nhe approached the edifice he read over the entrance the following words:\n\"Mortal, if thou hast bravely struggled, and hast remained faithful,\nenter, and learn to know thy noble destiny.\"\n\nAt these words he felt his heart leap with joy, and he hoped to be now\nable to penetrate the obscurity which had so long tormented him.  With\nbold and daring pace he ran up the lofty steps, and caught a glimpse of\nthe interior of the edifice, which seemed filled with the roseate colours\nof morning.  He heard the soft voice of the Genius, and was about to\nenter; but the gate of brass closed before him with a harsh sound, and he\nrecoiled in terror.  His desire to penetrate into the secrets of the\ntemple was increased by the impossibility.  All of a sudden he felt\nwings, and rising high into the air, he precipitated himself furiously\nagainst the brazen gate, was hurled back, and started out of his sleep\njust as he was on the point of touching the ground.  He opened his eyes\nin dismay.  A ghastly figure, wrapped in a winding-sheet, drew back the\ncurtains of his bed.  He recognised the features of his old father, who,\ngazing upon him for a moment, said, in a lamentable voice:\n\n\"Faustus! Faustus! never yet did father beget a more unfortunate son; and\nin this feeling I have just died.  For ever--ah! for ever!--must the gulf\nof damnation lie between thee and me.\"\n\nThe portentous dream and this horrible apparition filled the soul of\nFaustus with affright.  He sprang from his bed, and opened the window to\ninhale the fresh air.  Before him lay the enormous Alps, whose tops were\njust gilded by the rising sun.  He surveyed them for some time, and at\nlast fell into a profound reverie.  He trembled as he thought of his\nnocturnal vision, and was endeavouring to explain to himself its most\nprominent passages, when, falling anew into his cruel doubts, he\nexclaimed:\n\n\"Whence came those monsters who attacked the industrious labourers?  By\nwhom were they authorised to disturb and destroy them while engaged in\ntheir noble occupation?  Who permitted it?  Was he who permitted it\nunable, or did he not wish, to hinder it?  And why did the Supreme Genius\nprotect and save only a part of them who were assailed by those\ncannibals?  Were some predestined to perish, in order that the others\nmight triumph and taste repose?  Who, then, will dare to tell me that I\nam not one of those who are born with destruction for their lot?  What\nevil had those unfortunates committed, and why should those be esteemed\ncriminal who, pressed by a burning thirst, endeavoured to quench it by\ntasting the enchanted cup?\"\n\nFaustus wandered for a long time in a maze of doubt; but, remembering the\napparition of his father, it brought back to his mind his long-forgotten\nfamily.  He instantly determined to return to them; to become again a\nmember of society; to resume his business; and to get rid of his infernal\ncompanion.  He pursued his journey towards home like many others, who,\nmistaking the ardour of insensate youth for genius, enter upon the career\nof the world with high pretensions, and, having quickly exhausted the\nlittle fire which their souls possess, soon find themselves a burden to\ntheir kindred and their friends, at the very place from whence they\nstarted.  Faustus brooded over all this, while he rode silently and\nmoodily by the side of the Devil.\n\nThe latter left him to his reflections, laughed inwardly at his\nresolution, and shortened the time with the sweet idea of soon being able\nto breathe the pleasant vapours of hell.  He determined to have a bitter\nlaugh at Satan, who had represented to him as a man of superior strength\nof mind this Faustus, whom he now saw completely dejected even before he\nknew the horrors of his fate.  He compared his present downcast and timid\nlooks with the haughty and bold glances he had cast upon him when he\nfirst made him appear before his magic circle.  His hatred against him\nincreased, and he rejoiced in his black soul when he saw Worms lie before\nthem in the plain.\n\nThey rode towards the celebrated city; and when they were about half a\nmile distant from it, they perceived a gibbet, to which was suspended a\ntall, slender youth.  Faustus lifted up his eyes and gazed upon him.  The\nevening wind blew freshly among his long hair, which half-concealed his\nface, and swung his body to and fro.  Faustus burst into tears at this\nspectacle, and cried, with trembling voice:\n\n\"Poor youth! hanging at the cursed tree before thou hadst reached the\nflower of life!  What sin hast thou committed, which induced the tribunal\nof men to cut thee off so soon?\"\n\n_Devil_ (_in a solemn and impressive tone_).  Faustus, this is thy work.\n\n_Faustus_.  My work!\n\n_Devil_.  Thy work.  Look at him closer.  He is thy eldest son.\n\nFaustus looked up, recognised him, and sunk from his horse.\n\n_Devil_.  Cry and groan!  The hour approaches in which I must remove the\nthick veil from before thine eyes, and blow away, with a single breath,\nthe labyrinth in which thou hast so long wandered.  I will fling light\nupon the moral world, and show thee how thou hast outraged it by each of\nthy actions.  I, a devil, will show thee what are the consequences when a\nworm like thyself dares to stop the wheel of so exact and so enormous a\nmachine.  Dost thou remember the youth whom I, at our departure from\nMayence, saved from drowning by thy command?  I gave thee warning, but\nthou wouldst obey the rash impulse of thy heart.  If thou hadst permitted\nthat miscreant to perish, thy son would not now be rotting on yon gibbet.\nHe on whose account thou didst change the order of things, insinuated\nhimself, shortly after thy departure, into the society of thy young wife.\nThe glitter of the gold which we had left her in such abundance,\nattracted him much more than her youth and beauty.  It was no difficult\nthing for him to win the affections of her who had been forsaken by thee;\nand in a short time he gained such influence over her, that she delivered\nup herself and all she possessed to his will and control.  Thy old father\nendeavoured to oppose his shameless sway; but the young man insulted him\nand beat him: the poor old man sought an asylum in the workhouse, where\nhe died, a few days ago, of grief for thee and thy family.  Thy son,\nhaving taken his grandfather's part, and threatened the life of his\nmother's seducer, was by him turned out of the house also.  The boy\nwandered among the woods and wildernesses till he was half famished.\nArriving at length in this city, and being ashamed to beg, he stole a few\npence from the poor-box in a church, in order to assuage his hunger; but\nhe committed this theft so artlessly, that several people perceived him,\nand the most worshipful magistrate, in consideration of his youth,\nsentenced him only to be hanged: he was accordingly hanged; although he\nprotested, with tears, that for the last four days he had swallowed\nnothing but grass.  Thy daughter is at Frankfort, where she subsists upon\nthe earnings of vice; thy second son is in the profligate service of an\ninfamous prelate.  The young man whom thou didst save from death robbed\nthy wife not long ago of her last stiver; thy friend whom we preserved\nfrom beggary refused thy old father the slightest assistance, and spurned\nthy children from his door when they came to him for bread.  And I will\nnow show thee thy family, in order that thou mayest see to what a state\nthou hast reduced them.  I will then bring thee here again, and hold\nreckoning with thee; for I am no longer thy slave--thou art mine.  The\nworm of despair begins to gnaw within thee; thou art no longer fit to\nlive, and hell only is fit to receive thee.\n\nThe Devil seized the wretched man, flew with him to Mayence, and showed\nhim his wife and two youngest children sitting at the gate of the\nFranciscan convent in expectation of the remnant of the monks' supper.\nWhen the mother beheld Faustus, she screamed, \"O Heaven!  Faustus! your\nfather--\" then, covering her eyes with her hands, she fell into a swoon.\nThe children ran to him, clung about him, and cried for bread.\n\n_Faustus_.  Devil, decide upon my fate: let it be more frightful than the\nheart of man can support or conceive, but supply these unfortunate\ncreatures with bread, and rescue them from misery and hunger.\n\n_Devil_.  I have plundered for thee the earth of its treasures; thou hast\nsacrificed them to thy infamous pleasures, without once thinking of these\nwretches.  Feel now thy folly; thou hast spun the web of their destiny,\nand thy hungry, beggarly, miserable brood will transmit to their remotest\nposterity the misery of which thou art the cause.  Thou didst beget\nchildren--wherefore hast thou not been a father to them?  Wherefore hast\nthou sought happiness where mortal never yet found it?  Look at them once\nmore.  In hell thou shalt see them again; and they will there curse thee\nfor the inheritance which thou didst entail upon them.\n\nHe tore him from his miserable family at the moment the wife was about to\nembrace his knees, and to ask his pardon.  Faustus wished to comfort her;\nbut the Devil grasped him, and placed him once more beneath the gibbet at\nWorms.\n\nNight sunk dark upon the earth.  Faustus stood gazing on the remains of\nhis unfortunate son; madness glowed in his brain, and he cried, in the\nwild tone of despair:\n\n\"Devil, let me bury this poor victim; take then my life, and bear me to\nhell, where I shall never again see men in flesh and bone.  I have learnt\nto know them; I am disgusted with them, with their destination, with the\nworld, and with life.  Since one good action brings on my head such\ninexpressible evils, I have reason to believe that the wicked only have a\nright to happiness.  If such be the order of things in this world, hurl\nme at once into hell.  Its darkness is a thousand times preferable to the\nlight of day.\n\n_Devil_.  Not so fast, Faustus.  In the first place, I take away from\nthee thy mighty magic rod, and confine thee in the narrow circle which I\ndraw around thee.  Here shalt thou listen to me, and howl and tremble.  I\nwill unfold to thee the consequences of thy deeds, and will assassinate\nthee through downright despair.\n\n\"Fool! thou sayest thou hast learnt to know man!  Where?  How and when\nhast thou attained this knowledge?  Hast thou ever sounded his nature?\nHast thou separated from him that which he has acquired, and which is\nforeign to him?  Hast thou distinguished that which proceeds from his\nheart, from that which is merely the affect of an imagination corrupted\nby artifice?  Hast thou compared the wants and the desires resulting from\nhis nature, with those which he owes to civilisation?  Hast thou\nconsidered man in his proper shape, where each of his movements bears the\nstamp of his inward disposition?  _Thou hast taken the mask of society\nfor his natural figure_; _and thou hast only known that man whom his\ntitles_, _his rank_, _his riches_, _his power_, _and his acquirements\nhave corrupted_.  _Thou hast only known him who has sacrificed his nature\nto thy own idol_,--_to vanity_.  Thou hast merely frequented palaces and\ncourts, where men spurn away the unfortunate, and laugh at the complaints\nof the oppressed, whilst they are dissipating in revel-rout and roar that\nwhich they have robbed them of.  Thou hast seen the sovereigns of the\nworld; thou hast seen tyrants surrounded by their parasites and their\ninfamous courtesans; and thou hast seen priests who make use of religion\nas an instrument of oppression.  Such are the men thou hast seen, and not\nhim who groans under the heavy yoke, and comforts himself with the hope\nof futurity.  Thou hast passed by with disdain the hut of the poor and\nsimple man, who does not even know your artificial wants by name, who\ngains his bread by the sweat of his brow, shares it faithfully with his\nwife and children, and rejoices, at the last moment of his life, in\nhaving completed his long and laborious task.  If thou hadst opened his\ndoor, thou wouldst not indeed have found a vain ideal of heroic and\nover-refined virtue, which is only the offspring of your vices and your\ncrimes; but thou wouldst have seen a man who, in meekness and resigned\nmagnanimity, shows more force of soul, than do your renowned heroes in\ntheir blood-stained fields of battle, or your ministers in their\nperfidious cabinets.  If it were not for these, and for your priests, and\nabove all for your false philosophers, the gates of hell would soon be\nclosed.  Canst thou say that thou knowest man, when thou hast only sought\nfor him in the paths of vice and crime?  Dost thou know thyself?  I will\nmake your wounds yet deeper, and pour poison into them.  But if I had a\nthousand human tongues, and were to keep thee here confined for as many\nyears, I should still be unable to enumerate to thee all the frightful\nconsequences of thy actions and thy temerity.  Know now the result of thy\nlife, and remember, that I have scarcely fulfilled one of thy insensate\ndesires without having forewarned thee to check it.  It is by thy command\nthat I have interrupted the course of things, and committed crimes which\nI myself could scarcely have imagined; so that, devil as I am, I am not\nso bad as thyself.\n\n\"Dost thou remember the nun Clara, and the voluptuous night which thou\ndidst pass with her?  But how canst thou have forgotten her?  Listen now\nto the consequences.  A short time after thy departure, the Bishop, who\nwas her friend and protector, died; and she, having become a mother, was\ncondemned, as an object of public horror, to be starved with her child in\na dark dungeon.  In her ravenous hunger she fell upon the newly-born, ate\nof thy flesh and her own, and prolonged her existence as long as there\nwas a bone for her to gnaw.  In what had she sinned?--she who did not\ncomprehend her crime; she who did not know, or even suspect, the author\nof her ignominy and her frightful death.  Feel now the result of one\nsingle moment of pleasure, and tremble!  Hast thou not strengthened the\ndelusion which condemned her?  Must not hell now bear the reproach of thy\ncrime?  Those people condemned the child as the spawn of Satan, and\nmurdered the mother under the idea that she had been possessed by him;\nand through this thy deed thou hast bewildered their minds, and those of\ntheir posterity.\n\n\"Thou wast not more fortunate with the Prince Bishop.  He caused, it is\ntrue, Hans Ruprecht to be buried, and provided for his family.  He\nlikewise, by the trick I played him, lost his fat, and became the most\nmild and merciful of princes; but he so relaxed the band of social order\nby his over-indulgence, that his subjects soon became a horde of\ndrunkards, sluggards, ruffians, and highwaymen.  The present Bishop is\nobliged to be their executioner, and to disperse and destroy a hundred\nfamilies, in order that the rest, terrified by their example, may again\nbecome humanised, and submit to the laws.  The furies themselves could\nnot do half the injury to these people which those now do to whom the\nBishop has been obliged to intrust the sword of justice and the power of\nvengeance.\n\n\"Doctor Robertus, the renowned champion of freedom, the man after thine\nown heart, was from his earliest youth an enemy to the Minister, whom he\nhated on account of his talents.  Envy and jealousy caused his\nindependence of spirit; and if he had been in the situation of the other,\nhe would have adopted with pleasure the most cruel principles of\ndespotism, for which his wild and ferocious heart was only formed.  The\nhonest man was the Minister; Robertus was a monster, who would have set\nthe whole world in a blaze, and has done it partly, in order to satisfy\nhis boundless ambition.  Thou didst oblige me to rescue him, and to\nfurnish him with a large sum of money.  He made such good use of his\nfreedom, his gold, and the enthusiasm which his miraculous escape had\ncaused among the people, that he soon succeeded in stirring up a dreadful\nrebellion.  He armed the peasants; they murdered the nobility, and\ndesolated the whole land.  The noble Minister fell a victim to his\nrevenge; and Robertus, the friend of liberty, the champion of the\noppressed, is the author of the calamitous war of the peasants, which by\ndegrees will spread over the whole of Germany, and will ravage it.\nMurders, assassinations, robberies, and sacrilege are now committed with\nimpunity; and thy noble hero stands at the head of a furious rabble, and\nthreatens to make Germany the cemetery of the human race.  Satan himself\ncould not have laboured more effectually for the destruction of mankind,\nthan thou didst when I was forced by thee to rescue this madman from the\nstroke of justice.\n\n\"Let us now return to the court of the German prince, where thou so\naudaciously didst make thyself the avenger of virtue and oppressed\ninnocence.  That prince and his favourite affected virtues which they did\nnot possess; but their actions contributed to the good of the people,\nbecause both had sense enough to perceive that the happiness of the\npeople constitutes that of the prince.  Does the thirsty traveller know,\nor does he care, if the spring of which he drinks gushes out of a\nmountain filled with poison, provided he cools his hot blood without\nreceiving any harm?  That hypocrite displeased thee because he did not\nanswer to thy preconceived high opinion, which thou, for certain reasons,\ndidst wish to thrust upon me; and I was compelled to strangle him by thy\norders.  His infant son was destined to succeed him in the government.\nHis tutors harassed and oppressed the people, once happy under the\ndominion of his father; they corrupted the heart and the mind of the\nfuture regent, who having enervated his body through early pleasure, they\nrule him now he is come of age, and are his and his people's tyrants.\nHadst thou not compelled me to murder the father, he would have brought\nup his son in his own maxims; he would have developed his faculties, and\nhave made him a man fit to govern a nation.  The numerous subjects who\nare now groaning beneath iron-handed oppression, and whose misery is all\nto be imputed to thee, would then have been the happiest in Germany.  Let\ntheir tears, their despair, and the horrors of an approaching\ninsurrection, reward thee for having rashly exercised the duty of a\njudge.\n\n\"Madman! in obedience to thy command, I burnt the castle of the fierce\nWildgrave, with all its inhabitants, with his wife and his infant.  What\ncrime had they committed?  It was a moment of delight to me.  If the\ninfant was consumed on the breast of the mother, it was thy work.  If the\nWildgrave attacked a neighbouring nobleman as the cause of the\nconflagration, set fire to his house, and ignominiously whipped him, it\nwas thy work.  Thousands have already fallen beneath their reciprocal\nvengeance, and tranquillity will not be restored to that part of Germany\nuntil the hostile families shall be completely exhausted and annihilated.\nAnd thus, poor worm, hast thou avenged the innocent; thou, who all thy\nlife hast been wallowing in the grossest sensuality; thou, who didst pull\nme out of hell merely to satiate thy lusts.  Groan and weep; but I will\noverwhelm thee with fresh horrors.\n\n\"By thy order I infused the poison of lust into the heart of the innocent\nAngelica, she who was the ornament of her sex and of the world.  Thou\ndidst enjoy her in the wild intoxication of thy senses, and she scarcely\nknew what had happened to her.  Shudder at the consequences!  I, who find\npleasure in evil and destruction, think with pity and compassion on her\nend.  She fled from her native place, and a feeling of shame forced her\nto conceal the state in which she found herself, and to which thou hadst\nreduced her.  Alone, in solitude, and without help, amid agonising throes\nand deadly pains, she became a mother.  The child died as soon as it saw\nthe light of day.  She, the wretched victim of thy momentary pleasure,\nwas cast into prison, and publicly executed as an infanticide.  Thou\nshouldst have seen her in the last moments of her life; thou shouldst\nhave seen her pure blood spouting high into the air, when the sword of\nthe executioner separated her lovely neck.\"\n\nFaustus gave a loud groan.  Despair was raging in his heart.\n\n_Devil_.  The daughter of the miser in France, whom thou didst seduce,\nand in whose bosom thou didst cause slumbering desire to awake, became\nshortly afterwards the mistress of the youthful king.  She ruled him\nentirely, and in order that he might not disturb her in her intercourse\nwith another lover, she urged him to the disastrous expedition into\nItaly, and brought misfortunes upon France which many future reigns will\nnot be able to heal.  The flower of the French nobility, and the heroes\nof the kingdom, are rotting on the sun-scorched plains of Italy; and the\nking has returned home overwhelmed with shame and ignominy.  Thus,\nwherever thou hast wandered, thou hast scattered around thee the seeds of\nmisery, which have sprung up, and will bear fruit to all eternity.\n\n\"Thou didst not pay attention to the look I gave thee when I tore down\nthe house upon the cruel physicians at Paris.  I had previously told thee\nthat, by my destructive hand, thou didst mangle the moral world worse\nthan they did the flesh of their fellow-creatures.  Thou didst pay no\nattention to that look--hear now the cause of it.  Those wretches deserve\nto perish beneath the ruins of their laboratory; but what evil had the\npoor people committed who lodged in the lower part of the house, and who\nwere totally ignorant of what was going forward above their heads?  Why\nshould an innocent, happy family be crushed along with those monsters?\nTo satisfy thy blind vengeance, I was forced to bury them beneath stones\nand falling timbers.  Judge and avenger at the same time, thou hadst not\nthought of this.  Consider now all the consequences of thy delirium and\nthy folly; cast thine eyes along the whole chain, extending to the\nremotest posterity, and then sink beneath the terrible survey.  Did I not\nonce tell thee that man is much more rash in his decisions and in his\nvengeance, than the Devil is in the accomplishment of wickedness?\"\n\nFaustus opened his haggard eyes, and looked towards heaven.\n\n_Devil_.  It is deaf to thee.  Be proud of having lived a moment when thy\natrocity was so great that it almost made the deeds of the devils\nthemselves forgotten.  I speak of that moment when thou didst command me\nto withdraw the veil which concealed the Eternal from thy sight.  The\nangel whose charge it was to register thy sins averted his face, and\nstruck thy name from the Book of Life.\n\n_Faustus_ (_springing up_).  Cursed be thou; cursed be myself; cursed be\nthe hour of my birth; cursed be he who begot me; cursed be the breast\nwhich I sucked!\n\n_Devil_.  O the delightful moment!  Precious reward of my toils!  Hell\nrejoices at thy curses, and expects a yet more frightful one from thee.\nFool! wast thou not born free?  Didst thou not bear in thy breast, like\nall who live in flesh, the instinct of good as well as of evil?  Why\ndidst thou transgress, with so much temerity, the bounds which had been\nprescribed to thee?  Why didst thou endeavour to try thy strength with\nand against Him who is not to be reached?  Did not God create you in such\na manner, that you were as much elevated above the devils as above the\nbeasts of the earth?  Did he not grant you the perceptive faculty of good\nand evil?  Were not your will and choice free?  We wretches are without\nchoice, without will; we are the slaves of evil and of imperious\nnecessity; constrained and condemned to all eternity to wish nothing but\nevil, we are the instruments of revenge and punishment upon you.  Ye are\nkings of the creation, free beings, masters of your destiny, which ye fix\nyourselves; masters of the future, which only depends upon your actions.\nIt is on account of these prerogatives that we detest you, and rejoice\nwhen, by your follies, your impatience, and your crimes, you cease to be\nmasters of yourselves.  It is only in resignation, Faustus, that present\nor future happiness consists.  Hadst thou remained what thou wast, and\nhad not doubt, pride, vanity, and voluptuousness torn thee out of the\nhappy and limited sphere for which thou wast born, thou mightst have\nfollowed an honourable employment, and have supported thy wife and\nchildren; and thy family, which is now sunk into the refuse of humanity,\nwould have been blooming and prosperous; lamented by them, thou wouldst\nhave died calmly on thy bed, and thy example would have guided thy\nposterity along the thorny path of life.\n\n_Faustus_.  Ah, the greatest torment of the damned is, no doubt, to hear\nthe devil preach penitence.\n\n_Devil_.  It is pleasant enough that you force us to moralise; but,\nwretch, if the voice of truth and of penitence were to echo down from\nheaven, you would close your ears to it.\n\n_Faustus_.  Destroy me at once, and do not kill me by thy prattling,\nwhich tears my heart without convincing my spirit.  Pour out thy venom,\nand do not distil it upon me drop by drop.  I am not to blame if, having\nsown the seeds of good, bad has arisen from them.  A good action has\ncaused the ignominious death of my son, and a good action has\nprecipitated my family into the most profound misery.\n\n_Devil_.  Why dost thou boast to me of thy good deed?  How does it\ndeserve that name?  I suppose because thou didst give me a command,\nwhich, by the by, did not cost thee much.  To have made the action\nmeritorious, thou shouldst have cast thyself into the water, and have\nsaved the young man at the risk of thine own life.  I brought him to the\nshore, and disappeared; he would have known thee, and, moved by\ngratitude, would probably have become the protector, instead of the\ndestroyer, of thy family.\n\n_Faustus_.  Thou canst torment me, Devil; but thou canst not, from\nstupidity, or thou wilt not, from wickedness, dispel my doubts.  Never\nhave they torn my heart more venomously than at this moment, when I\nconsider the miseries of my existence and of my after-destination.  Is\nhuman life any thing else than a tissue of crimes, torments, pains,\nhypocrisy, contradictions, and false virtues?  What are free agency,\nchoice, will, and that so much vaunted faculty of distinguishing good\nfrom evil, if the passions drown the feeble voice of reason, as the roar\nof the sea drowns the voice of the pilot whose vessel is about to be\ndashed against the rocks?  Is it possible for man to destroy and root out\nof his breast the germ of evil which has been designedly introduced\nthere?  I hate, more bitterly than ever, the world, my fellow-creatures,\nand myself.  Destined to suffer, why was I born with the desire of being\nhappy?  Born for darkness, why was I filled with the desire of seeing\nlight?  Why had the slave the thirst for freedom?  Why had the worm the\nwish to fly?  Why had I a boundless imagination, the teeming mother of\nbold desires, daring wishes and thoughts?  Tear from my uncertain and\ndoubtful soul the flesh which envelops it; destroy in it all remembrance\nof its ever having animated a human body: I wish to become henceforward\none of you, and only to live in the desire of evil.  Ah, Devil, this is\nnot so pleasant to thy ears as the hissing, howling song of despair which\nthou didst expect.  But loosen the enchantment which fetters me in this\ncircle; and let me perform my last sad duty.  I will not attempt to\nescape from thee; if I could, I would not, for the pain of hell cannot be\ngreater than that which I now feel.\n\n_Devil_.  Faustus, I am pleased with thy courage, and I would sooner hear\nwhat thou hast said than the wild shriek of despair.  Be proud that the\nforce of thy spirit has carried thee even to madness and blasphemy, for\nwhich the pain of hell awaits thee.  Step out of thy circle; bury that\nwretched youth; thy part will then be played here, and thou must begin\nanother, which will never end.\n\nFaustus climbed the gibbet, and cut the rope from the neck of his son.\nHe then bore him into a neighbouring field which the plough had lately\nturned up, and scratching a grave with his hands, he buried the body of\nthe unfortunate youth.  He then returned to the Devil, and said, in a\nwild tone:\n\n\"The measure of my wretchedness is full; break now the vase which can\nhold nothing more; but I have yet courage to struggle with thee for my\nlife.  I will not perish like the slave who yields without resistance to\nthe might of his master.  Appear to me under whatever form thou wilt, and\nI will grapple with thee.  For freedom, for independence, I once drew\nthee out of hell; on its verge I will yet assert my right to both; on the\nverge of the frightful gulf I will use my strength, and remember that I\nonce saw thee tremble before my magic circle, when I threatened to\nscourge thee with my rod.  The tears which thou seest in my eyes ore\ntears of indignation, of hate, and of disgust.  Not the fiend, but my own\nheart, triumphs over me.\n\n_Devil_.  Insipid braggart!  With this form I tear off the mask which\nbelied my courage.  Vengeance is at hand, and Leviathan is himself once\nmore!\n\nHe stood in gigantic stature before him.  His eyes glowed like full-laden\nthunder-clouds, which reflect the rays of the descending sun.  The noise\nof his breath was like the rushing of the tempest-blast.  The earth\ngroaned beneath his iron feet.  The storm rustled in his hair, which\nwaved round his head like the tail from the threatening comet.  Faustus\nlay before him like a worm; for the horrible sight had deprived him of\nhis senses and his strength.  The Devil uttered a contemptuous laugh,\nwhich hissed over the surface of the earth; and seizing the trembling\nbeing, he tore him to pieces, as a capricious boy would tear an insect.\nHe strewed the bloody members with fury and disgust about the field, and\nplunged with the soul into the depths of hell.\n\nThe devils were assembled round Satan, who was consulting with his\nprinces concerning the punishments which should be inflicted upon Pope\nAlexander the Sixth.  His crimes, and the last moments of his life, had\nbeen unparalleled, so that even the worst devils found themselves at a\nloss to allot him a punishment suitable to his deserts.  The Pope stood\nbefore his judges, who treated him as contemptuously as a tribunal of\nprinces treats an accused person who has nothing else to recommend him\nthan his being a man.  All of a sudden Leviathan rushed triumphantly into\nthe midst, held the soul of Faustus on high, and then hurled it with\nviolence upon the table, saying:\n\n\"There you have Faustus!\"\n\nHe was received with so loud a bellow of joy, that the damned trembled in\ntheir pools: \"Welcome, Prince Leviathan!  There is Faustus!  There is\nFaustus!\"\n\n_Satan_.  Welcome, prince of hell.  Welcome, Faustus; we have heard\nenough of you here.\n\n_Leviathan_.  There he is, Satan; see him yourself.  He has plagued me\nnot a little, but he has been a good recruit for us, and I hope that thou\nart contented with my long sojourn upon earth.  But I entreat thee, for\nmany centuries to come, to send me no more on such errands; for I am\nquite weary of the human race.  I must, however, acknowledge that this\nfellow did not badly support the last hour of his life, hard as it was;\nbut that arose, I suppose, from his having applied himself in his youth\nto that philosophy which thou hast taught mankind.\n\n_Satan_.  I thank thee, Prince Leviathan; and I promise thee that thou\nshalt long continue with me among the sweet vapours of this place, and\nscourge the shades of the great princes of the earth for thy pastime.\nHem! a fine fellow, and seems to have had quite enough of men and things.\nDespair, audacity, hate, rancour, agony, and pride, have torn deep\nfurrows in his soul.  He looks even at us and hell without trembling.\nFaustus, art thou become dumb of a sudden?\n\n_Faustus_.  Not from fear, I assure thee.  I have been bold to one much\nmightier than thyself, and therefore am I here.\n\n_Satan_.  Hey! carry the saucy hound to the pool of the damned; and after\nbeing soused therein, let him be well scourged by a legion of my most\nactive pages, in order that he may become a little acquainted with the\nrules of these regions.\n\nA devil dragged Faustus to the pool; the legion swarmed after him.\n\n_Leviathan_ (_perceiving the Pope_).  Ah! welcome, Pope Alexander.  I\nhope you no longer feel any desire to make a Ganymede of the Devil.\n\n_Pope_ (_sighing_).  No, alas!\n\n_Satan_.  Ha, ha, ha!  This is now a good specimen of the men who at\npresent ravage the earth; but let them once get to the new world, and\nthey will make it a theatre of crimes which will put the old one to\nshame.\n\n_Pope_.  Would that I could be there too!\n\n_Satan_.  A wish truly worthy of a pope; but console thyself,--thy\ncountrymen will murder millions of men for their gold.\n\n_Pope_.  What will men not do for gold?\n\nFaustus came back with his fiendish attendants.\n\n_Satan_.  Well, Faustus, how do you like your bath, and those that rubbed\nyou dry?\n\n_Faustus_.  Maddening and intolerable thought, that the noble and\nethereal part of man must expiate the sins of a body formed of clay!\n\nThe devils laughed till the vaults reechoed.\n\n_Satan_.  Bravo, Faustus!  I am convinced, from thy words and behaviour,\nthat thou art too good for a man.  I am, besides, much indebted to thee\nfor having invented Printing, that art which is so singularly useful to\nus.\n\n_Pope_.  What, a printer!  He gave himself out at my court for a\ngentleman, and won my daughter Lucretia!\n\n_Faustus_.  Silence, proud Spaniard.  I paid her richly; and thou wouldst\nhave prostituted thyself to me for a like sum, if I had been one of thine\nown stamp.  My noble invention will sow more good, and will be more\nprofitable to the human race, than all the popes from St. Peter down to\nthyself.\n\n_Satan_.  Thou art mistaken, Faustus.  In the first place, men will rob\nthee of the honour of having invented this art.\n\n_Faustus_.  That is worse than damnation.\n\n_Satan_.  Observe now this man: he stands before me, the ruler here, and\nholds everlasting torments as nothing when compared with the loss of his\nfame and glory, those chimeras of his overheated brain.  In the second\nplace, Faustus, the shades will descend by hundreds of thousands, will\nfall upon thee, and overwhelm thee with curses, for having converted the\nlittle stream which poisoned the human mind into a monstrous flood.  I,\nwho am the ruler here, and shall gain by it, am therefore thy debtor; and\nif thou wilt curse the Eternal, who either could not or would not make\nthee better, thou shalt escape the torments of this place, and I will\nmake thee a prince of my dark kingdom.\n\n_Pope_.  Let me be the first to curse, O Satan; as a pope, I have an\nundoubted right to the precedence.\n\n_Satan_.  Observe these men, ye devils, and see how they outdo ye.  No,\nPope; thou didst it when thy lips kissed the feet of my Leviathan.\nChoose, Faustus.\n\nFaustus stepped forward; raging despair was engraven in frightful\ncharacters on his shadowy face.  He--!  Who can express what he said?\n\nThe devils trembled at his words, and were astonished at his audacity.\nSince hell first existed, no such stillness had reigned in the dark,\nfrightful kingdom, the abode of eternal misery.  Faustus broke it, and\nrequired Satan to fulfil his promise.\n\n_Satan_.  Fool! how canst thou imagine that I, ruler of hell, will keep\nmy word, as there is no example of a prince of earth ever having kept his\nword when he got nothing by so doing?  If thou canst forget that thou art\na man, forget not that thou standest before the Devil.  My fiendish\nsubjects turned pale at thy temerity; thy horrid words made my firm and\nimperishable throne tremble; and I thought for a moment that I had risked\ntoo much.  Away! thy presence makes me uneasy; and thou art a proof that\nman can do more than the Devil can bear.  Drag him, ye fiends, into the\nmost frightful corner; let him there languish in solitude, and madden at\nthe recollection of his deeds, and of this moment, which he can never\natone for.  Let no shade approach him.  Go, thou accursed one, and hover\nalone and abandoned in that land where neither hope, comfort, nor sleep\nare found.  Those doubts which have tormented thee in life shall for ever\ngnaw thy soul, and no one shall explain to thee that mystery, the pursuit\nof which has brought thee here.  This is the most painful punishment of\nall to a philosopher like thee.  Drag him away, I repeat; torture him.\nSeize that Pope, and plunge him into the hottest pool; for their equals\nare not to be found in hell.\n\nAfter their departure, Satan said to himself, smiling:\n\n\"When men wish to represent any thing abominable, they paint the Devil:\nlet us, therefore, in revenge, when we wish to represent any thing\ninfamous, depict man; and philosophers, popes, priests, conquerors,\nministers, and authors, shall serve us as models.\"\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes:\n\n\n{134}  It is not out of fear that I refrain from giving the names of the\nGerman princes who appear in this work, but because, having discovered\nthe secret springs of their actions, I should too often have to\ncontradict their lying, flattering, ignorant historians; and men who\nwillingly allow themselves to be deceived, might perhaps doubt the truth\nof my assertions.  Hercules himself could not clear away all the ordure\nwhich these historians have heaped up.--_Original_.\n\n{249} See _Taxae Cancellariae Apostolicae_, &c., printed at Rome and\nParis.","title":"Faustus : $b his life, death, and doom","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":56169}