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
_Cain._ It is very kind, my dear Children, to shew your Respect thus to
your true Progenitor, and to offer your Assistance: I confess, as you
say, my Mind is oppress'd and displeased; but tho' 'tis very heavy, yet
I know not which way to look for Relief, for the Distemper is above our
Reach, no Cure can be found for it on Earth.
_D._ Do not say so, Sir; there can be no Disease sure on Earth but may
be cur'd on Earth; if it be a mental Evil, we have heard that your great
Ancestor, the first Father of us all, who lives still on the great
western Plains towards the Sea, is the Oracle to which all his Children
fly for Direction in such Cases as are out of the Reach of the ordinary
understanding of Mankind; please you to give leave, we will take a
Journey to him, and representing your Case to him, we will hear his
Advice, and bring it to you with all Speed, for the Ease of your Mind.
_Cain._ I know not whether he can reach my Case or no.
_D._ Doubtless he may, and if not, the Labour of our Journey is nothing
when plac'd in Competition with the Ease of your Mind; 'tis but a few
Days travel lost, and you will not be the worse if we fail of the
desired Success.
_Cain._ The offer is filial, and I accept your affectionate Concern for
me, with a just Sense of an oblig'd Parent; go then, and my Blessing be
upon you; but alas! why do I bless? can he bless whom God has not
bless'd!
_D._ O! Sir, do not say so, has not God bless'd you? are you not the
second Sovereign of the Earth? and does he not converse with you Face to
Face? are not you the Oracle to all your growing Posterity, and next
after his Sovereign Imperial Majesty Lord _Adam_, Patriarch of the
World?
_Cain._ But has not God rejected me, and refused to converse any more
with me, while he daily Favours and Countenances my younger Brother
_Abel_, as if he resolv'd to set him up to rule over me?
_D._ No, Sir, that cannot be, you cannot be disturb'd at such a thing;
is not the Right of Sovereignty yours by Primogeniture? can God himself
take that away, when 'tis once given? are not you Lord _Adam_'s eldest
Son? are you not the firstborn Glory of the Creation? and does not the
Government descend to you by the divine Right of Birth and Blood?
_Cain._ But what does all that signify to me, while God appears to
favour and caress my younger Brother, and to shine upon him, while a
black Dejection and token of Displeasure surrounds me every Day, and he
does not appear to me as he used to do?
_D._ And what need your Majesty be concern'd at that, if it be so? if he
does not appear pleased, you have the whole World to enjoy your self in,
and all your numerous and rising Posterity Adore and Honour you; what
need those remote Things be any disturbance to you?
_Cain._ How! my Children, not the Favour of God be valued! yes, yes, in
his favour is Life; what can all the World avail without the Smiles and
Countenance of him that made it?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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