And now many familiar faces shone upon me like white stars in a mist of rain,—all faces of the dead,—all marked with unquenchable remorse and sorrow. One figure passed before me drearily, in fetters glistening with a weight of gold,—I knew him for my college-friend of olden days; another, crouching on the ground in fear, I recognised as him who had staked his last possession at play, even to his immortal soul,—I even saw my father’s face, worn and aghast with grief, and trembled lest the sacred beauty of Her who had died to give me birth, should find a place among these direful horrors. But no!—thank God I never saw her!——her spirit had not lost its way to Heaven!
Again my eyes reverted to the Mover of this mystic scene,—that Fallen Splendour whose majestic shape now seemed to fill both earth and sky. A fiery glory blazed about him, ... he raised his hand, ... the ship stopped,—and the dark Steersman rested motionless on the wheel. Round us the moonlit landscape was spread like a glittering dream of fairyland,—and still the unknown bird of God sang on with such entrancing tenderness as must have soothed hell’s tortured souls.
“Lo, here we pause!” said the commanding Voice—“Here, where the distorted shape of Man hath never cast a shadow!—here,—where the arrogant mind of Man hath never conceived a sin!—here, where the godless greed of Man hath never defaced a beauty, or slain a woodland thing!—here, the last spot on earth left untainted by Man’s presence! Here is the world’s end!—when this land is found, and these shores profaned,—when Mammon plants its foot upon this soil,—then dawns the Judgment-Day! But, until then, ... here, where only God doth work perfection, angels may look down undismayed, and even fiends find rest!”
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A solemn sound of music surged upon the air,—and I who had been as one in chains, bound by invisible bonds and unable to stir, was suddenly liberated. Fully conscious of freedom I still faced the dark gigantic figure of my Foe,—for his luminous eyes were now upon me, and his penetrating voice addressed me only.
“Man, deceive not thyself!” he said—“Think not the terrors of this night are the delusion of a dream or the snare of a vision! Thou art awake,—not sleeping,—thou art flesh as well as spirit! This place is neither hell nor heaven nor any space between,—it is a corner of thine own world on which thou livest. Wherefore know from henceforth that the Supernatural Universe in and around the Natural is no lie,—but the chief Reality, inasmuch as God surroundeth all! Fate strikes thine hour,—and in this hour ’tis given thee to choose thy Master. Now, by the will of God, thou seest me as Angel;—but take heed thou forget not that among men I am as Man! In human form I move with all humanity through endless ages,—to kings and counsellors, to priests and scientists, to thinkers and teachers, to old and young, I come in the shape their pride or vice demands, and am as one with all. Self finds in me another Ego;—but from the pure in heart, the high in faith, the perfect in intention, I do retreat with joy, offering naught save reverence, demanding naught save prayer! So am I,—so must I ever be,—till Man of his own will releases and redeems me. Mistake me not, but know me!—and choose thy Future for truth’s sake and not out of fear! Choose and change not in any time hereafter,—this hour, this moment is thy last probation,—choose, I say! Wilt thou serve Self and Me? or God only?”
The question seemed thundered on my ears, ... shuddering, I looked from right to left, and saw a gathering crowd of faces, white, wistful, wondering, threatening and imploring,—they pressed about me close, with glistening eyes and lips that moved dumbly. And as they stared upon me I beheld another spectral thing,—the image of Myself!—a poor frail creature, pitiful, ignorant, and undiscerning,—limited in both [p 474] capacity and intelligence, yet full of strange egotism and still stranger arrogance; every detail of my life was suddenly presented to me as in a magic mirror, and I read my own chronicle of paltry intellectual pride, vulgar ambition and vulgarer ostentation,—I realised with shame my miserable vices, my puny scorn of God, my effronteries and blasphemies; and in the sudden strong repulsion and repudiation of my own worthless existence, being and character, I found both voice and speech.
“God only!” I cried fervently—“Annihilation at His hands, rather than life without Him! God only! I have chosen!”
My words vibrated passionately on my own ears, ... and ... even as they were spoken, the air grew misty with a snowy opalescent radiance, ... the sable and crimson wings uplifted in such multitudinous array around me, palpitated with a thousand changeful hues, ... and over the face of my dark Foe a light celestial fell like the smile of dawn! Awed and afraid I gazed upward, ... and there I saw a new and yet more wondrous glory, ... a shining Figure outlined against the sky in such surpassing beauty and vivid brilliancy as made me think the sun itself had risen in vast Angel-shape on rainbow pinions! And from the brightening heaven there rang a silver voice, clear as a clarion-call,—
“Arise, Lucifer, Son of the Morning! One soul rejects thee,—one hour of joy is granted thee! Hence and arise!”
Earth, air, and sea blazed suddenly into fiery gold,—blinded and stunned, I was seized by compelling hands and held firmly down by a force invisible, ... the yacht was slowly sinking under me! Overwhelmed with unearthly terrors, my lips yet murmured,