" Some mocked, others,
menacing, bade them have done with their wicked nonsense; yet one here
and there would ask, "Whither shall we flee?" "Hither," answered the
watchmen, "flee hither to your rightful king, who through us still offers
you reconciliation, if ye return to your allegiance, and leave that rebel
Belial and his bewitching daughters. However fair they appear, it is all
sham; Belial is but a very poor prince at home; he has nought but you as
faggots for the fire and for food, both roast and boiled, and never will
ye suffice him; never will his hunger be appeased or your pain cease.
Who would ever in a moment of madness enter the service of such a
malignant slaughterer, and suffer eternal torments, when he might live
well under a king who is merciful and kind to his subjects, and who hath
never done them aught but good on all sides, and kept them from Belial,
so that in the end he might give to each one a kingdom in the realm of
light. Oh, ye fools, will ye have that terrible foe, whose lips are
parched with thirst for your blood, and reject the compassionate prince
who hath given his own blood to save you?" Yet these reasons which would
melt the rock seemed to have no good effect upon them, and chiefly
because few had the time to listen to them, the others were too intently
gazing at the gates; and of those listening, very few reflected thereon,
and of these again, many soon forgot them; some would not believe they
served Belial, others would not have it that this untrodden little hole
was the gate of Life, and that the other bright portals, and this castle,
were a delusion to prevent them seeing their doom before coming face to
face with it.
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