Beyond all this, I command myriads of
spirits, invisible, and reputedly omnipotent. If I but stamp my foot, if
I but wave this wand, they fly swifter than the wings of thought to my
presence. One look of favour inspires them with tranquility and
exultation; one frown of displeasure terrifies them into despair. I
dispatch them far as the corners of the moon. At my bidding they engage
in the most toilsome enterprises, and undertake the labour of revolving
years. Oh impotence of power! oh mockery of state! what end can ye now
serve but to teach me to be miserable? Power, the hands of which are
chained and fettered in links of iron; state, which is bestowed only
like a paper crown to adorn the brows of a baby, are the most cruel
aggravations of disappointment, the most fearful insults upon the weak.
But shall I always obey the imperious mandate?"
"Yes, Roderic, thou shalt obey," exclaimed the inimical goblin, who at
this moment burst through a condensed cloud, that had arisen unperceived
in one corner of the apartment, and appeared before him. "In vain dost
thou struggle with the links of destiny. In vain dost thou exert thyself
to escape from the fillets that on every side surround thee. The greater
and the more obstinate are thy efforts, the more closely art thou bound,
and the more inextricably engaged.
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