The last Vision, that of Hell, is the longest of the three. The Bard is carried in his sleep by the same angel who in his first vision had shown him the madness and vanity of the world, to the regions of eternal horror and woe, where he beholds the lost undergoing tortures proportionate to the crimes which they had committed on earth. After wandering from nook to nook, the Bard and his guide at last come to the court before the palace of the hellish regions, where, amidst thousands of horrible objects, the Bard perceives two feet of enormous magnitude, reaching to the roof of the whole infernal firmament, and inquires of his companion what those horrible things may be, but is told to be quiet for the present, as on his return he will obtain a full view of the monster to whom they belong, and is then conducted into the palace of Lucifer, who is about to hold a grand council. The Arch-Fiend is described as seated on a burning throne in a vast hall, the roof of which is of glowing steel. Around him are his potentates on thrones of fire, and above his head is a huge fist, holding a very frightful thunderbolt, towards which he occasionally casts uneasy glances. In the midst of the palace is a gulf, of yet more horrible and frightful aspect than hell itself, which is continually opening and closing, and which, the angel says, is the month of ‘Unknown’ or extremest hell, to which the devils and the damned are to be hurled for ever on the last day. The council is held in order to devise measures for the farther extension of the kingdom of Lucifer. The Arch-Fiend, in a speech which he makes, boasts that three parts of the world have already been brought to acknowledge his sway, chiefly through the instrumentality of his three daughters—Pleasure, Pride, and Lucre; and he hopes that eventually the whole world will be brought to do the same. He is particularly desirous that Britain should be subject to him, and requests the advice of his counsellors as to the best means to be employed in order to accomplish his wish. Various infernal potentates then arise and give him their advice, each of whom is a personification of some crime, vice, or folly. The debate is frequently interrupted by the sound of war; for, as the angel observes, there is continual war in hell. There is at one time a terrible disturbance and outbreak, arising from a dispute between the Papists, the Mahometans, and the bloody-minded Roundheads, as to which has done most service to the cause of hell,—the Koran, the Creed of Rome, or the Solemn League and Covenant. Lucifer is only able to quell this disturbance—during which Mahomet and Pope Julius assault each other tooth and nail—by causing his old picked soldiers, the champions of hell, to tear the combatants from each other. Amidst interruptions like these the debate proceeds. Each of the personified crimes and vices in succession—amongst whom are Mammon, Pride,