Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/252

240 Lord would need me for the glory of His name; and, in deep thankfulness, I thanked God that I, so great a sinner, should have been chosen to testify to His power. And as I hastened along, I looked from side to side, lest, haply, any that I loved was in this hell; but none saw I that I had loved, though many that I had known on earth and had thought righteous, and most were Pharisees; and many that I had thought to have seen were not there.

"Then I said:' If time be short, show me the nethermost hells, that I may know of the greatest sins.'

"And while I spoke, the ground on which I stood gave way, and we fell still lower; and Truth said: 'Look around and see the confusion of this hell, for in it God hath put no check, and the lack of it hath made them as if mad.'

"And I saw men and women running hither and thither in haste, yet doing nothing, save quarrelling and tearing each other to pieces; yet death would not release them.

" 'Who are these?' I said. 'These be schemers and plotters and lawyers,' said the Spirit of Truth. 'They ran to and fro on earth and laid snares for men; and they still do so, but now they fall into their own toils; and to the makers of laws none hearken, for none careth for the law, for he hath naught to gain who keepeth it, nor hath he aught to lose who transgresseth it.

"And, looking on their faces, I saw such fury as I had thought that no man could wear, for they seemed to place no bounds upon their rage and envyings, for they had lost all power of self-restraint,