“And I,” said another menette, “had no such object to fix my imagination; I wore invariably a modest dress, my veil always drawn over my eyes, and sleeves to my very hands: I rose early in the morning to go to church, and was constantly seen at all devotional exercises; for me there was neither parties, assemblies, nor feasts: I did not attach myself to my confessor, although often at his grate. In the mean time, I had some good friends, who went about preaching my virtue far and wide, and principally to those rich men whom they knew not to be fond of gallantry, and yet exceedingly fearful of what generally happens to men of their years after marriage. Your affair is finished, say they to the marrying men; I have discovered a girl of superlative virtue, who knows not a single man in the world, and who is so unsophisticated with respect to love matters, that she does not even know the name of masculine garments; always engaged in her domestic duties; without luxury, without vanity, rich withal, and beloved of her father. ‘This is a girl that will exactly suit me,’ said an opulent citizen with sixty years and the gout; ‘I shall have a nurse for the remainder of my life; I will make her fine presents, and after my death she shall have the enjoyment of my estate.’ In fine, they consulted me with regard to this man; I demanded time to determine; something unlucky might happen to my virtue; I asked light from above; heaven appeared favourable to this union. See me then espoused; I play the innocent, the ingenuous: my husband, deceived, felicitates himself in my simplicity: all this time I secretly received the attentions of a handsome young man; the more I saw him, the stronger appeared my conjugal attachment. Behold my history, and discreet devotion.”
I saw still other menettes of different characters, who exposed the motives of their hypocrisy, and confessed that they had no other religion. These are liars, for truly religious souls shun ostentation: true devotion is so considerate, that those who possess it endeavour to conceal it, to avoid being elevated in the opinion of the world. Christian humility flies the eulogies of men: their praise seems a dangerous enemy, which, in flattering, withdraws the heart from the right way; it refuses the recompense due to merit, and contents itself with affording that good example, which the honour of virtue and religion demand; all which, Jupiter, in a homily to the fanatics, set forth at large. The following is the decree that was then read and published before this great audience, in presence of the demons and the damned.
DECREE OF LUCIFER.
“Lucifer, to the legions of demons and damned people of hell, unhappiness, despair, eternal pains. In order to the due execution of justice and vengeance entrusted to our hands, we will, ordain, and command, under the severest penalties:
“First, that our demons be always present at the tribunals of the world, whether secular or canonical; that they take care of the account books of merchants; prevent soldiers from thinking of death; trouble the imagination of fanatics; inspire mundane sentiments in those who wish to enter holy orders, benefices, and monasteries; that they be the confidants of intrigues; that they repeat every day, to wives and daughters, what a lovely young man has said to them once only: in fine, let nothing be done in the world; let nothing be transacted in the shops, bureaus, academies, places of commerce, etc. at which they shall not be present; and we charge them to render an account to ourselves once a year.
“Secondly, we ordain them reporters, flatterers, go-betweens, authors of discord, divisions and lawsuits, under pain of disobedience.
“Thirdly, we order, also, in the matter which concerns those condemned to hell, that the judgments we have pronounced against them in their causes be put into immediate execution; that all those who have been condemned, whether individually or collectively, return to their cells, resume their irons, and there remain to all eternity, without hope of solace, or change in their sufferings. Such is our will, and we make no distinction in favour of pagan gods and goddesses, whom we regard in the same light as other subjects of our empire.”
When Lucifer had spoken, his visage entirely changed; his eyes became sparkling like two flambeaus; his nostrils cast out smoke mixed with fire; his mouth exhaled an infectious odour; his hands and feet changed to claws; from behind him issued a long tail, upon the end of which was a great button of iron; his ears were horns like those of the rhinoceros: he spoke again, and his voice sounded like the crash of thunder. This is the substance of what he uttered: “Let these places return to their former state; let darkness pervade the whole region; let the prisons shut with horrid sound upon all this infernal race; let rage and despair seize upon the damned; let a violent fire devour them; let the worm of remorse knaw without consuming, and let the habitude of torment afford no solace. Go, miserable wretches! obey! precipitate yourselves into these black retreats! suffer without expiation! and let my ears be sweetly flattered by the sound of your cries and chains!”
When Lucifer had pronounced this terrible sentence my demon transported me out of the hall, and at the same instant I heard it and the whole palace sink with a horrid crash. Those crushed among the ruins uttered the most lamentable cries: I then perceived an immense volume of smoke; after that I found myself in the midst of the field which is at the extremity of my garden, from whence I returned to my house, totally absorbed in the contemplation of this vision.—If the things here related did not actually pass in hell as I have supposed, the probability is, that the fact does not widely differ from the representation. The judgments of Lucifer are there promptly executed, without notice to the culprit: cases are decided without advocates: no person is absolved, for innocence never enters places destined to eternal punishment. The fire of hell exposes their perfidious designs, their passions and crimes; it reveals all secrets, and sets forth the reasons for which the guilty have been condemned. The sight of suffering companions affords no relief; it rather augments their grief; contrary to which, in the world, egotism and corruption render them insensible to the sufferings of another. The reformation made by Lucifer operates invisibly in the commerce of men; the demons and our passions are the causes of the disorder and injustice that prevail in society. Oh! if it was possible for each one really to behold what is here only imagined, how soon would they abandon their careless manner of life! But ought we to be more wicked because we have less fear? Let us think, let us think upon the other world; let us seriously reflect upon our latter end; if that offers us happiness and rapture, let us, by perseverance, endeavour to attain it; but if, on the contrary, we anticipate unhappiness and anguish, let us spare no pains to escape so direful a doom; let the aspect of hell contribute to the reformation of our manners, and be so impressed upon our minds as to be the means of our salvation from the greatest of all evils.
THE END.