Then I could see all the chief devils, with their ghastly mouths opened towards Lucifer, in anxious expectation of learning what this friend might be, whilst I was as impatient to hear as they. "The one I allude to," said Lucifer, "is called _Ease_; she is one whose merits I have too long disregarded, and whose merit, Satan, you yourself disregarded of yore, when in tempting Job you turned the unpleasant side of life towards him. She is my darling, and her I now constitute deputy, immediately next to myself, in all matters relating to my earthly government; Ease is her name, and _she_ has damned more men than all ye together, and very few would ye catch without _her_. For in _war_, _or danger_, _or hunger_, _or sickness_, who would value _tobacco_, _or money_, or the pomposity of Pride, or would entertain a thought of welcoming either _Wantonness or Sloth_? Or who in such straits, would permit themselves to be distracted either by _Hypocrisy or Inconsiderateness_? No, no! they are too awake then, and not one of the infernal _flies of Bewilderment_, which shows its beak, will buzz, during one of these storms. But _Ease_, smooth Ease, is the nurse of you all: in her calm shadow, and in her teeming bosom ye are all bred, and also every other infernal worm of the conscience, which will come to gnaw its possessor _here_ for ever, without intermission. "As long as _Ease_ lasts, there is no talk but of some species of diversion, of banquets, bargains, pedigrees, stories, news, and the like. There is no mention of _God_, except in idle swearing and cursing; whereas the _poor_ and the _sick_, who know nothing of ease, have God in their mouths and their hearts every minute. "But go ye also in the rear of her, and keep every body in his sleep and his rest, in prosperity and comfort, abundance and carelessness; and then you will see the poor honest man, as soon as he shall drink of the alluring cup of Ease, become a perverse, proud, untractable churl--the industrious labourer change into a careless, waggish rattler--and every other person become just what you would desire him. Because pleasant _Ease_ is what every one seeks and loves; she hears not counsel, fears not punishment--if good, she will not recognise it--if bad, she will foster it of her own accord. _She_ is the prime-temptation; the man who is proof against _her_ tender charms, ye may fling your caps to--for we must bid farewell for ever to his company. _Ease_, then, is my terrestrial _deputy_, follow her to Britain, and be as obedient to her as to our own royal majesty."