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They did
so; and, by the blaze of the hell-kindled
torches, the wretched man beheld his Faith,
and the wife her husband, trembling before
that unhallowed altar.
"Lo, there ye stand, my children," said
the figure, in a deep and solemn tone,
almost sad with its despairing awfulness,
as if his once angelic nature could yet
mourn for our miserable race. "Depending
upon one another's hearts, ye had still
hoped that virtue were not all a dream.
Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature
of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness.
Welcome again, my children, to the communion
of your race."
"Welcome," repeated the fiend
worshippers, in one cry of despair and
triumph.
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