An eloquent minister in New York, Octavius B. Frothingham, being
requested to write out his views on the 'question' of everlasting
damnation, began with the remark that he felt somewhat as a sportsman
suddenly called upon to hunt the Iguanodon. Really it is Behemoth and
Leviathan he was called to deal with. Leviathan transmitted from Jonah
to the Middle Ages the idea of 'the belly of Hell,' and Behemoth's
jaws expanded in the 'mouth of Hell' of the Miracle-plays; and their
utility, as described in the Book of Enoch, perhaps originated
the doctrine of souls tasting heavenly joys from the agonies of
others. The dogma of Hell has followed the course of its prototype
with precision. It has arrived at just that period when, as in the
case of Enoch's inquiring, the investigator finds it has taken the
veil. Theologians shake their heads, call it a terrible question,
write about free-will and sin, but only a few, of the fatuous sort,
confess belief in the old-fashioned Hell where the worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
Let us now take under consideration the outcome of the Aryan Dragon,
which has travelled far to meet Behemoth in the west. And it is
probable that we could not, with much seeking, find an example so
pregnant with instruction for our present inquiry as our little Durham
folk-tale of the Lambton Worm.
This Worm is said to have been slain by Sir Lambton, crusader, and
ancestor of the Earls of Durham. This young Lambton was a wild fellow;
he was fond of fishing in the river Wear, which runs near Durham
Castle, and he had an especial taste for fishing there on Sunday
mornings. He was profane, and on Sundays, when the people were all
going to mass, they were often shocked by hearing the loud oaths
which Lambton uttered whenever he had no rise. One Sunday morning
something got hold of his hook, pulled strong, and he made sure of a
good trout; what was his disappointment when instead thereof he found
at the end of his line a tiny black worm. He tore it off with fierce
imprecations and threw it in a well near by. However, soon after this
the young man joined the crusaders and went off to the Holy Land,
where he distinguished himself by slaying many Saracens.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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