CHAPTER VI.

THE DARKNESS.

HERE Moloch again lifted up his gigantic form, and turning to the chief, observed,

"Your majesty stated that Adam spoke of Calvary. I was anxious to know whether he advanced any thing there, beyond what has hitherto been understood among the fallen angels."

"Much of what he said," answered Lucifer, "was essentially that which has been taught in the church, on this great subject, from age to age, viz., 'that the death of Christ was the fulfilment of those sacrifices and significant types given to the Old Testament church; that it was designed to declare God's righteousness, maintain his law, and atone for sin.' But when he spoke of the prodigies and convulsions of nature that accompanied Messiah's death, his observations were perfectly marvellous."

"Ah," said Moloch; "did he explain that supernatural darkness, that for eighteen hundred years has perplexed all the philosophers of earth, and confounded the conjectures of all the angels of the bottomless pit?"

"What darkness?" said a demon from Madagascar, who now arose and addressed himself to Moloch. His face was as black as ebony, and his eyes large and white.

"What darkness!" rejoined Moloch. "I speak of that which occurred at Messiah's death. You know that the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked, the rocks burst asunder, the graves opened, the dead awoke, and for three hours a supernatural darkness hung over all the land."

"You presume too much on my knowledge," said the Madagascar demon. "Much that has been mentioned here is entirely new to me. I have been employed among the descendants of Ham since the repeopling of the world after the flood. My labors have mostly been confined to certain districts in the centre and south of Africa, and some of the African islands. The light of revealed religion has but little interrupted us there. It is true that, about three thousand years ago, when the queen of Sheba returned from her visit to King Solomon, at Jerusalem, she brought some sacred books, and teachers of revealed religion, and some of the people were turned from idolatry to the worship of Jehovah; but, in the course of a few generations, I succeeded in rolling the darkness of heathenism over the population again, and so it has chiefly continued since. But, as to the darkness of which you spoke, was it not a total eclipse of the sun, occasioned by an intervention of the body of the moon between the sun and the earth?”

"That could not be the cause," answered Moloch, "for two reasons:

"1st. Because the crucifixion of Christ took place at the Jewish passover, which was always at full moon, when the sun and moon are in opposite directions from the earth. And,

"2d. Because no total eclipse of the sun by the moon can continue beyond a very few minutes, owing to the moon's rapid progress in its orbit; whereas the strange darkness, at the crucifixion of Christ, continued, without mitigation, for the space of three full hours. But," said Moloch, bowing to Lucifer, "your majesty was about to state the explanation which Adam gave of this remarkable phenomenon."

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“The explanation given by Adam," said Lucifer, was to me very surprising, and seemed greatly to interest and delight his audience. His commencement resembled Christ's parable of the shepherd, the hundred sheep, and the one that had gone astray. He said that the Mediator is the head of the creation of God;' that all things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made;' that principalities and powers in heavenly places, visible and invisible, thrones and dominions, were all created by him and for him; that all the starry worlds are his, the countless multitudes of their inhabitants are under his supervision; he leadeth out their hosts by numbers, and calleth them all by their names, by the greatness of his might; and because he is strong in power, not one faileth.

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"Now,' said he, 'one branch of this wide-spread family of God, viz., the race of man, went astray, and the great Shepherd, leaving the ninety and nine, — that is, all who had kept their first estate, came down to earth, to seek and to save that which was lost. But this wonderful errand of the Son of God was known far and wide through Jehovah's kingdom, not only to the ministering angels, who were eager to look into the

plan of the gospel, but to other orders of holy beings, whom the apostle styles principalities and powers, and dominions and thrones. The great Immanuel was on earth during a space of from thirty to forty years, and through all this period, there was much interest and sympathy felt in other branches of the great family of God, for the cause in which he was engaged. It may be illustrated by the redemption of Israel from Egypt. While they journeyed through the wilderness, led by that pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, and fed by the manna, and drinking of the stream that flowed from the smitten rock, tidings of what God was doing there spread into distant lands, and messengers came from remote nations, like Hobab, the prince of Midian, to see and learn more perfectly the marvellous works of Jehovah. So now, in this greater redemption, of which the release of Israel from Egypt was but a dim and faint shadow, while the Redeemer was on earth, moving forward in the mighty work, frequent messengers came in from the remote tracts of creation, excited and anxious to pry into the mysteries of pardoning mercythose deep things of God. And when, at length, Christ told his disciples that he was going up to Jerusalem to the passover, and that there he should be condemned to die, should be crucified and slain, to atone for the sins of men, not only were the disciples startled and astonished at the announcement, but the intelligence was borne with the speed of lightning through fields of creation far remote. And when the appointed moment came, that Immanuel was to bear the heavy vengeance that eternal justice laid on him for crimes that man had done, multitudes came from far to gaze upon the

strange sight; distant worlds were, for a time, emptied of their inhabitants; from all parts of heaven they were seen flying as clouds, directing their way toward earth. Over Calvary and over the cross these clouds paused and were condensed, filling all the region of the air. O, it was a gathering together of the sons of God, beyond all that had hitherto taken place during the feign of the Almighty. Never before had an event occurred of such immeasurable interest as the death of God's incarnate Son never before had such an assembly been convened. All were now animated by one intense desire. All were crowded towards the one great object of attraction. Throng pressed eagerly on throng, to behold the scene, and multitude on multitude, till the light of the noonday sun was shut out, and "darkness covered all the land, from the sixth till the ninth hour," while Jesus bled for the redemption of man.'"

Here Lucifer stopped short in his rehearsal, and the spirits of darkness seemed troubled, while over the assembly appeared strange and varying expressions of countenance. Profound silence, however, was observed through all their ranks, and presently the chief resumed his narrative.

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