"The Papists," said the
messenger, "somehow or other broke out of their purgatory, and then, to
pay off old scores, went to unhinge the portals of Mahomet's paradise,
and let loose the Turks from their prison, and afterwards in the
confusion, through some ill chance, Cromwell's crew escaped from their
cells." Then Lucifer turned and peered beneath his throne, where every
damned king lay, and commanded that Cromwell himself should be kept
secure in his kennel, and that all the sultans should be guarded.
Accordingly, Lucifer and his host hurried across the sombre wilds of
darkness, each one's own person furnishing light and heat; guided by the
tumultuous clangor he marched fearlessly upon them. Silence was
proclaimed in the King's name, and Lucifer demanded the cause of such
uproar in his realm. "May it please your infernal majesty," said
Mahomet, "a quarrel arose between myself and Pope Leo as to which had
done you the better service--my Koran or the Romish religion; and when
this was going on a pack of Roundheads, who had broken out of their
prison during the disorder, joined in and clamoured that their Solemn
League and Covenant deserved more respect at your hands than either; so,
from striving to striking from words to blows.
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