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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 79

Chapter X. — An angel appeareth with a book

Chapter X.

An angel appeareth with a book.

And I saw Bill the Namer come down from my Southern Cross of terse truth, clothed with a cloud, writing anonymously, And a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, having the broad grin of fearless assurance, and his feet were as pillars of fire.

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2. And he had in his right hand a little book open, freed fron vain-imaginings, ghosts, shadows, figures, metaphors, gush, and fabled grandeur; the seven devils of gross darkness, and with foot on solid ground he spoke enthematically, saying: When he looked down upon the intellectual occupation of man he saw them one and all deducing well or ill conclusions from premises, each concerning the subject matter of his own particular business, and many foolishly were after the dollar. He found the process going on in each of so many different minds during their wakefful moments was the same, and the principles on which it was conducted could be reduced to a regular system, and rules could be deduced from that system for the better conducting of the process, and one could trace the natural laws governing that process, and they saw that the duff did contain terms, propositions, and arguments like unto almonds, raisins, and ginger, and he did reason therefrom that for a man to think he not only required a brain to think with but required also a stock of common terms to do the thinking. And Bill with his rod measured deeper and found man had no immortal soul, inasmuch as he could not deduce his syllogistic ginger without a prior movement in the senses of muscle and motion, hence he was forced to deny the soul's immortality, and upon opening holy writ he found his dictum did agree with the word imbued in the mind of ancient Israel, and upon a more mature investigation of that process, which is peculiarly and universally the occupation of man as man, he, the seventh angel, spoke seven soul-stirring words like unto seven thunders.

3. Crying with a loud voice as when a lion roareth, When man is dead all is dead.

4. And when those seven words were uttered the mystery of God was unsealed.

5. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven.

6. And swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, and who most consistently regulates the uniformity and the stability of the laws of nature, that prophetic time should be no longer, for clear it was from our forefathers we had inherited lies, and to dispel delusions Bill drew up a syllogism in barbara which did but stagger the intelligence of man:—

All souls reason only after an operation of the senses of muscle and motion. The senses of muscle and motion die with the body. Therefore the soul of man is necessarily mortal.

7. In the days of the voice of Pete, the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

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8. And I went unto the angel and took the little book of thirty chapters, and if any man preach any other gospel let him be accursed, for a light is in it which doth but speak the true word of God.

9. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

10. And I took the little book and saw fads, fancies, foibles, fables, funk, and filth like unto a herd of swine go scuttling down hill and drown themselves, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, but as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter, for I saw that paradise was lost unto all mankind for ever and ever.

11. And he said this book of thirty-three chapters shall speak to many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, and all those who read good stuff shall dwell upon its pages, for it doth but show unto them that their mental powers hath been paralysed by apathetic ignorance, prejudice, and adherence to error, and the same was widespread and deep-rooted, and the travail of his soul will yet be satisfied, for the blood of Bill, like that of Abel, crieth from the ground for the destruction of those who destroyeth this earth.