Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Foreign.
and in embryo . The light which unites and destroys all produced two sons—life and death , day and night . Aurora dispelled the night of deception and prejudice ; and in the evening the sky shook its red banner , and the conquered darkness returned in victory . Existence drew the sword against existence ; love against hatred , fidelity against treachery , and death against all . Nature had parted with all her power , and nothing remained unowned . AVhat was gained by the one was lost
by the other ; each breath was a theft—each beating of the pulse a murder . Thus grew the plant of discord , touching the clouds with her bianches , and her blossom was MAN . —As the sublimity of the creation developes itself in mankind , so also does corruption ; for the highest trees are the most deepl y rooted . If the irrational creatures of nature strove , thoughtlessly , in their contests against each other—if their grief was accompanied witii neither expectation nor recollection ; in man , not
the deed alone , but also the will , was bloody ; repentance followed after the sin , and before the evil went , threatening fear . Tyranny was born , and with it slavery . Right yielded to strength , fortune was sacrificed to cupidity , and innocence left at the mercy of wickedness . Each tree of joy bore the poisoned fruit of envy , ancl innocent generations reaped the mischief sown by others . Madness had seized man , he forgot that but one heart beats in the bosom of creation ; he tore his own members with suicidal hand , —man slew his brother . Thus was continued
the contest for thousands of years ; the conquered lost , but the conqueror gained nothing , and corpses only kept the field . The object for which they fought none obtained ; the shallow cup of joy was turned over in rashness ; ancl , sooner than wished for , the avaricious earth grasped her spoil . AVhat was the source of this everlasting enmity , and what its object ? It was not the prize of victory for which men fought ; they fought merely for the enjoyment of the light ; for often people returned tired of strifesatisfied was each desireand each wish appeased .
, , Silence of death reigned over the field of corpses , and the dawn of peace rose brightly . Thereon the wicked were- frightened , and held' their sinful council . Shall our realms sink into ruins ? Does nothing exist which may stir up the extinguished flame ; and has Heaven no lightnings to inflame the world of peace ? They sought such lightnings , and found them also . The most sacred thing which appertained to earth and Heaven , the highest good which man possessed , they robbed shamelessly ,
threw it down on the field of battle , and the flame of war blazed anew . AAliat was this sacred thing , which must serve as a pretext to ignorance ? What the name of this divine object which man used as a whetstone for his malice ? How it was called ?—None shall ask me . I know it well , yet dare not say it . I shall not pronounce the word in this house of peace and joy , that , like an evil charm , tears away the curtains from bloody ages . I may not name the word , which in a few syllables shows the most horrible , —the murder , the murderer , and the murdered , at once .
" The good and best of all ages saw how mankind thus tore their own entrails ; they saw it ancl mourned . They mourned , yet they despaired not ; for the plant of salvation grew up in their hearts , and the hope of recovery made them recover . They resolved again to invest banished reason with her former prerogatives ; they harangued the people of darkness , ancl words of peace and reconciliation flowed from their lips . Oh , ye kings of nature , have ye taken possession of life . for an eternity , that you do not deem lost centuries wasted away in hatred . Shall ye
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Foreign.
and in embryo . The light which unites and destroys all produced two sons—life and death , day and night . Aurora dispelled the night of deception and prejudice ; and in the evening the sky shook its red banner , and the conquered darkness returned in victory . Existence drew the sword against existence ; love against hatred , fidelity against treachery , and death against all . Nature had parted with all her power , and nothing remained unowned . AVhat was gained by the one was lost
by the other ; each breath was a theft—each beating of the pulse a murder . Thus grew the plant of discord , touching the clouds with her bianches , and her blossom was MAN . —As the sublimity of the creation developes itself in mankind , so also does corruption ; for the highest trees are the most deepl y rooted . If the irrational creatures of nature strove , thoughtlessly , in their contests against each other—if their grief was accompanied witii neither expectation nor recollection ; in man , not
the deed alone , but also the will , was bloody ; repentance followed after the sin , and before the evil went , threatening fear . Tyranny was born , and with it slavery . Right yielded to strength , fortune was sacrificed to cupidity , and innocence left at the mercy of wickedness . Each tree of joy bore the poisoned fruit of envy , ancl innocent generations reaped the mischief sown by others . Madness had seized man , he forgot that but one heart beats in the bosom of creation ; he tore his own members with suicidal hand , —man slew his brother . Thus was continued
the contest for thousands of years ; the conquered lost , but the conqueror gained nothing , and corpses only kept the field . The object for which they fought none obtained ; the shallow cup of joy was turned over in rashness ; ancl , sooner than wished for , the avaricious earth grasped her spoil . AVhat was the source of this everlasting enmity , and what its object ? It was not the prize of victory for which men fought ; they fought merely for the enjoyment of the light ; for often people returned tired of strifesatisfied was each desireand each wish appeased .
, , Silence of death reigned over the field of corpses , and the dawn of peace rose brightly . Thereon the wicked were- frightened , and held' their sinful council . Shall our realms sink into ruins ? Does nothing exist which may stir up the extinguished flame ; and has Heaven no lightnings to inflame the world of peace ? They sought such lightnings , and found them also . The most sacred thing which appertained to earth and Heaven , the highest good which man possessed , they robbed shamelessly ,
threw it down on the field of battle , and the flame of war blazed anew . AAliat was this sacred thing , which must serve as a pretext to ignorance ? What the name of this divine object which man used as a whetstone for his malice ? How it was called ?—None shall ask me . I know it well , yet dare not say it . I shall not pronounce the word in this house of peace and joy , that , like an evil charm , tears away the curtains from bloody ages . I may not name the word , which in a few syllables shows the most horrible , —the murder , the murderer , and the murdered , at once .
" The good and best of all ages saw how mankind thus tore their own entrails ; they saw it ancl mourned . They mourned , yet they despaired not ; for the plant of salvation grew up in their hearts , and the hope of recovery made them recover . They resolved again to invest banished reason with her former prerogatives ; they harangued the people of darkness , ancl words of peace and reconciliation flowed from their lips . Oh , ye kings of nature , have ye taken possession of life . for an eternity , that you do not deem lost centuries wasted away in hatred . Shall ye