THE FALLEN STAR, or, THE HISTORY OF A FALSE RELIGION

by E. L. Bulwer




HISTORY OF A FALSE RELIGION.
AN ALLEGORY OF THE STARS.

And the Stars sat, each on his ruby throne, and watched with
sleepless eyes upon the world. It was the night ushering in the
new year, a night on which every star receives from the
archangel that then visits the universal galaxy, its peculiar
charge.

The destinies of men and empires are then portioned forth for
the coming year, and, unconsciously to ourselves, our fates
become minioned to the stars.

A hushed and solemn night is that in which the dark gates of
time open to receive the ghost of the dead year, and the young
and radiant stranger rushes forth from the clouded chasms of
eternity. On that night, it is said that there are given to the
spirits that we see not, a privilege and a power; the dead are
troubled in their forgotten graves, and men feast and laugh,
while demon and angel are contending for their doom.