第431章

"And the wandering star--again started on its eternal round.And her voice, passing through space, called me to the assistance of mine own.

"When that voice readied me, I knew that the descendants of my sister were still exposed to frightful perils.Those perils are even now on the increase.

"Tell me, O Lord! will they escape the scourge, which for so many centuries has weighed down our race?

"Wilt thou pardon me in them? wilt thou punish me in them? Oh, that they might obey the last will of their ancestor!

"Oh, that they might join together their charitable hearts, their valor and their strength, their noble intelligence, and their great riches!

"They would then labor for the future happiness of humanity--they would thus, perhaps, redeem me from my eternal punishment!

"The words of the Son of Man, LOVE YE ONE ANOTHER, will be their only end, their only means.

"By the help of those all-powerful words, they will fight and conquer the false priests, who have renounced the precepts of love, peace, and hope, for lessons of hatred, violence, and despair.

"Those false priests, who, kept in pay by the powerful and happy of this world, their accomplices in every age, instead of asking here below for some slight share of well-being for my unfortunate brethren, dare in thy name, O Lord God, to assert that the poor are condemned to endless suffering in this world--and that the desire or the hope to suffer less is a crime in thine eyes--because the happiness of the few, and the misery of nearly the whole human race, is (O blasphemy!) according to thy will.Is not the very contrary of those murderous words alone worthy of divinity!

"In mercy, hear me, Lord! Rescue from their enemies the descendants of my sister--the artisan as the king's son.Do not let them destroy the germ of so mighty and fruitful an association, which, with thy blessing, would make an epoch in the annals of human happiness!

"Let me unite them, O Lord, since others would divide them--defend them, since others attack; let me give hope to those who have ceased to hope, courage to those who are brought low with fear--let me raise up the falling, and sustain those who persevere in the way of the righteous!

"And, peradventure, their struggles, devotion, virtue, and grief, may expiate my fault--that of a man, whom misfortune alone rendered unjust and wicked.

"Oh! since Thy Almighty hand hath led me hither--to what end I know not--

lay aside Thy wrath, I beseech Thee--let me be no longer the instrument of Thy vengeance!

"Enough of woe upon the earth! for the last two years, Thy creatures have fallen by thousands upon my track.The world is decimated.A veil of mourning extends over all the globe.

"From Asia to the icy Pole, they died upon the path of the wanderer.

Dost Thou not hear the long-drawn sigh that rises from the earth unto Thee, O Lord?

"Mercy for all! mercy for me!--Let me but unite the descendants of my sister for a single day, and they will be saved!"

As he pronounced these words, the wayfarer sank upon his knees, and raised to heaven, his supplicating hands.Suddenly, the wind blew with redoubled violence; its sharp whistlings were changed into the roar of a tempest.

The traveller shuddered; in a voice of terror he exclaimed: "The blast of death rises in its fury--the whirlwind carries me on--Lord! Thou art then deaf to my prayer?"

"The spectre! oh, the spectre! it is again here! its green face twitching with convulsive spasms--its red eyes rolling in their orbits.Begone!

begone!--its hand, oh! its icy hand has again laid hold of mine.Have mercy, heaven!"

"GO ON!"

"Oh, Lord! the pestilence--the terrible plague--must I carry it into this city?--And my brethren will perish the first--they, who are so sorely smitten even now! Mercy!"

"GO ON!"

"And the descendants of my sister.Mercy! Mercy!"

"GO ON!"

"Oh, Lord, have pity!--I can no longer keep my ground; the spectre drags me to the slope of the hill; my walk is rapid as the deadly blast that rages behind me; already do I behold the city gates.Have mercy, Lord, on the descendants of my sister! Spare them; do not make me their executioner; let them triumph over their enemies!"

"GO ON! GO ON!"

"The ground flies beneath my feet; there is the city gate.Lord, it is yet time! Oh, mercy for that sleeping town! Let it not waken to cries of terror, despair, and death! Lord, I am on the threshold.Must it be?--

Yes, it is done.Paris, the plague is in thy bosom.The curse--oh, the eternal curse!"

"GO ON! GO ON! GO ON!"