The History of the Devil, As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two PartsDefoe, Daniel
Philosophy
The History of the Devil, As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts
Defoe, Daniel
Devil -- Early works to 1800
In all these Notions of _Hell_ and _Devil_, the Torments of the first,
and the Agency of the last Tormenting, we meet with not one Word of the
main and perhaps only Accent of Horror, which belongs to us to judge of
about Hell, I mean the Absence of Heaven; Expulsion, and Exclusion from
the Presence and Face of the chief Ultimate, the only eternal and
sufficient Good; and this loss sustain'd by a sordid Neglect of our
Concern in that excellent Part, in exchange for the most contemptible
and justly condemn'd Trifles, and all this eternal and irrecoverable:
These People tell us nothing of the eternal Reproaches of Conscience,
the Horror of Desperation, and the Anguish of a Mind hopeless of ever
seeing the Glory, which alone constitutes Heaven, and which makes all
other Places dreadful, and even Darkness it self.
And this brings me directly to the Point in Hand, (_viz._) the State of
that Hell which we ought to have in view when we speak of the _Devil_ as
_in Hell_: This is the very Hell, which is the Torment of the _Devil_;
in short, the _Devil_ is in HELL, and HELL is in the _Devil_; he is
fill'd with this unquenchable Fire, he is expel'd the Place of Glory,
banish'd from the Regions of Light, Absence from the Life of all
Beatitude is his Curse, Despair is the reigning Passion in his Mind, and
all the little Constituent Parts of his Torment, such as Rage, Envy,
Malice, and Jealousy are consolidated in this, to make his Misery
compleat, (_viz._) the Duration of it all, the Eternity of his
Condition; that he is without Hope, without Redemption, without
Recovery.
If any thing can inflame this _Hell_ and make it hotter, 'tis this only,
and this does add an inexpressible Horror to the Devil himself;
_namely_, the seeing Man (the only Creature he hates) placed in a State
of Recovery, a glorious Establishment of Redemption form'd for him in
Heaven, and the Scheme of it perfected on Earth; by which _this Man_,
tho' even the _Devil_ by his Art may have deluded him, and drawn him
into Crime, is yet in a State of Recovery, which the Devil is not; and
that it is not in his (_Satan_'s) Power to prevent it: Now take the
Devil as he is in his own Nature Angelic, a bright immortal Seraph,
Heaven-born, and having tasted the eternal Beatitude, which these are
appointed to enjoy; the Loss of that State to himself, the Possession
of it granted to his Rival tho' wicked like and as himself; I say, take
the Devil as he is, having a quick Sense of his own Perdition, and a
stinging Sight of his Rival's Felicity, 'tis _Hell enough_, and more
than enough, even for an Angel to support; nothing we can conceive can
be worse.
As to any other Fire than this, such and so immaterially intense as to
Torment a Spirit, which is it self Fire also; I will not say it cannot
be, because to Infinite every Thing is possible, but I must say, I
cannot conceive rightly of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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