Galloping Dick
the spirit. For the Almighty has appointed unto Him ministers of His Wrath, the which shall exact of you the penalty to the uttermost farthing.” Whereat he hiccoughed, and incautiously changing the position of his feet, sat down upon the floor very suddenly. “Ryder,” says he, proceeding still solemnly, and without any appearance of having discovered his collapse, “I warn you as a priest of the Church, to flee from the wrath to come. What is man but as the grass that to-day is and to-morrow is burned in the oven? Yea, what is he, but as the flame of a candle that is blown out with a breath? And I will put it thus unto you, for your surer edification. Firstly, there is the sin of Lasciviousness, the which deserves reprobation. Verily it has its reward. Secondly, to divide our discourse into heads, there is the sin of Drunkenness. The drunkard shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Mark that, ye that look upon the wine when it is red. Thirdly, there is also the sin of Covetousness, the which even princes commit. And finally, to pass over the several Cardinal vices, which at this moment
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