After a little time, behold _Courts Comprised_ held betwixt two devils. "O ho! angel of patience," said Lucifer, "are you come? Hold him fast on your peril," said he to the satellites. Before we had advanced far, there came the _Contriver_ and the _Slanderer_ bound betwixt forty devils, and whispering in each others ears. "O most mighty Lucifer!" said the _Contriver_, "I am exceedingly grieved to see so much disturbance in your dominions, but I will teach you a way to prevent such in future, if you will but grant me a hearing. You only need, under pretence of a general parliament, to summon all the damned to the glowing pandemonium, and then cause the devils to cast them headlong into the throat of _Unknown_, and the gulf to be closed over them, and then, I warrant you, they will give you no more trouble." "See," said Lucifer, frowning very horribly on the _Contriver_, "the universal Meddler is still behind." On returning again to the porch of the infernal palace, who should come with the fairest face imaginable to meet the king but the _Meddler_. "O my liege," said he, "I have a word for you." "Perhaps I have one or two for you," said the Fiend. "I have been," continued the Meddler, "over half _Destruction_, to observe how your affairs are standing. You have many officers in the East doing nothing at all; but sitting still instead of looking to the torments of their prisoners, or keeping guard over them, and this has been the cause of all this great disturbance. Besides," said he, "many of your devils, and your damned too, whom you dispatched to the world to tempt folks, are not returned, though their time is out; and others have arrived in a sculking manner, and not given an account of their errands." Then Lucifer caused the herald to proclaim another parliament; and lo! before you could turn your hand, all the potentates and satellites were met together, to hold the infernal sessions again. The first thing which was done was to change the officers, and to cause a place to be made about the throat of Unknown, for the reception of the Coxcomb, the bouncing lady, and the rest; the two first were tied nose to nose, and the other rioters tail to tail. Then a law was promulgated, that whoever should henceforth neglect his duty, whether imp or lost man, should be cast there among them until the day of judgment. At these words you might see all the goblins--yea, Lucifer himself--tremble and look agitated. The next thing was to call some devils and some damned to reckoning, who had been sent to the world to hunt up recruits: the devils gave a very good account of themselves; but some of the damned were lame in their reckoning, and were sent to the hot school, where they were scourged with twisted fiery serpents, for not learning their lesson better.