Chapter 24
Anuhasaj, alias the Lord God, had said to Te-in, the false, into whose charge he gave Jaffeth and her heavenly places: At the same time that Osiris and his hosts fall upon his divisions of the earth, even in that day and hour you and your hosts shall fall upon Jaffeth (China), possessing the temples, altars, and places of oracles, where they serve the Great Spirit under the name Ormazd, and you shall subdue them to me under the name Joss, who is and ever shall be Ho-Joss of heaven and earth.
So Te-in, the false, with his billion warriors sped forth, downward, to the earth, having spread his army wide, to cover the whole of Jaffeth, hoping to capture it suddenly. And, even as Osiris had, he plunged into the temples and oracle-houses, and surrounded the altars, in the dead of night, to drive away Jehovih’s guardian angels, and like Osiris, but even worse, Te-in was baffled and repulsed, and saw the morning sun arise upon his shame in total failure. And then he, too, with his mighty legions, went stalking about all day long on the earth, waiting for the next night’s assault on sleeping mortals, and to receive new orders from the Lord God, as to the next proceeding.
So when the second night came, Te-in went in with his army, furious because of the previous night’s cowardly failure. And to the sleeping mortal men, women and children, his army rushed in with oaths and loud boastings, threatening Jehovih’s angels with the tortures of hell if they did not instantly resign all to Ho-Joss, the all highest ruler, dweller in Hored.
But faithful stood the Jehovihians; laid their hands on the sleeping mortals, and became all powerful against the terrible odds, and held them in abeyance again, till the sun arose and scattered Te-in’s hosts, ashamed and sulky, in most pitiful defeat. Of which news Te-in now, most painfully, sent word to his commanding God.
De’yus sent word to him, even as he did to Osiris, to next attack the houses of the men of learning, the unbelievers; and the ignorant, and the superstitious; to abandon, for the present, the arcs, temples, oracle-houses, and the firmly sworn Faithists. De’yus said: Send your numerators and mathematicians; and measure and mark all mortals in Jaffeth, as to their vulnerable points, and map their localities; and when you have completed this work, set apart another night for an attack upon them. And your hosts shall not fall upon the Faithists who are firm in the Great Spirit, Ormazd, but upon the weak and disbelieving, the skeptical and much learned philosophers, who are weak in spirit, and you shall not fail.
So Te-in enumerated the Jaffethans, as commanded, marking them as to their vulnerable points, whether in disbelief in spirit, or if given to lust, or to hasty passions, or to telling lies, or to stealing, or to murder, or to hypocrisy, or to desire for leadership. And before the time of battle, Te-in knew the grade of every mortal in Jaffeth. And he called his generals and captains before him in his heavenly place, Che-su-gow, over the Chesain Mountains, twenty miles high, showing them the lists and maps.
Take these, he said, and distribute them to my mighty armies, and before tomorrow night they shall learn every mortal’s place and quality; and in the night my legions shall rush upon the places, laying hands on the sleeping mortals, thus gaining power; and they shall hurl missiles, with terrible noises, through the houses of the sleepers, and so rouse them to awaken and experience the war of heaven carried to their homes.
The generals and captains took the lists and maps, and had millions of copies made, and then sent them into all the regions of De’yus’ militants; and sent, too, millions and millions of proclaimers, with terrible oaths against the Great Spirit, but who extolled the munificence of De’yus to the utmost; appealing to their love of independence, and to their power to cast off all other rulers forever, except Ho-Joss.
And now, when the night of battle came, the infuriated angel warriors of Te-in marched in lines, millions strong, toward the sleeping mortals. Their great armies spread broad, covering the land of Jaffeth from east to west and from north to south. Over Flang’e’loe, the CITY OF THE SUN, thirty million of Te-in’s warring angels were sent, sworn to subjugate the people of great learning, alive or dead, and scatter the angels of Jehovih, or bind them and cast them into hell. And over the city of Pen Goo twenty million of Te-in’s hosts were sent; while the cities of Tsee, Wung, Ha-tzo, Ne King, and Zoo Wun, each had over them twenty million of Te-in’s angels of war.
Besides these there were millions and millions stationed over the great valley of Wan, and in the mountains of So Jon. In the plains of Wow Gan seventy million were stationed. Five million were allotted to each of the following cities: Sum Conc, Ah-gee, Ah-sin, Chang-ha, Ge Oooh-young, Gwan Gouk, Na’tji, Yuk Hoh, Ah Tosh, Ah Koan, Chaung, Shon, Nufow, Zow, Lin, Gee Bak, Ow-wa, Tdong, King-do, Ghi Sam, Seung, Chog, Doth, Jawh, Bing-Tah, Gha, Haih, Huug, Wing-tze, Ni Am, Ah Sam, and Zow-lin.
In the mountains of Witch How Loo were stationed eighty million, set to fall upon the Listian breed of men. On the borders of the sea, for sea-faring men, and for their wives and children, were one hundred and ninety million of Te-in’s angel soldiers, ready for the assault. Besides these there were tens of thousands of smaller armies, stationed in the small cities and country places, waiting for the signal. ||
Now in this age, Jaffeth had attained to great wisdom in many things, but in war her people were as babes. More than half her people were Faithists, followers of Po, worshippers of the Great Spirit. And they practiced peace and dwelt in communities. Many of the cities were in families of tens, and hundreds, and thousands, but nowhere more than two thousand. And the city families were ordered in this manner: The manufacturers of wool cloth, one family; of linen cloth, another family; of silk cloth, another family; of leather, another family; of paper, another family; of transportation, another family; and so on, till all departments were full; and of these combinations there were cities of fifty thousand, and a hundred thousand, and two hundred thousand inhabitants. And in the country places there were small cities, whose people tilled the soil and gathered the fruits of the earth, and they exchanged goods with the manufacturers who dwelt in large cities.
The government was by priests, one for each communion family; and the priests, who were called Wa-shon, were the receivers and distributors of goods, and they ministered in the temples and at the altars of worship in the name of the Great Spirit, Ormazd, sometimes called Po-e-tein, and sometimes E’O’lin, and by other names also.
Besides the schools and colleges there were HOUSES OF PHILOSOPHY, and HOUSES OF PROPHECY, and HOUSES OF ASTRONOMY, thousands and thousands.
The Jaffethans were large, being I’huans, with one degree more of the brown people’s blood in them than the Par’si’e’ans. Nor was there in all the world, at that time, so strong a people, and clean and jovial, high aspiring, with great gentleness. And because the land was tilled and made to bloom on every side, the angels of heaven named it the FLOWERY KINGDOM; and because the people reveled in song, and poetry, and oratory, they were called, LAMBS OF THE GREAT SPIRIT IN THE FLUSH OF SPRINGTIME.
And these things were well known to De’yus, and to Te-in, the false, and to hundreds of millions of the assaulting angels, sworn to subdue them to Ho-Joss or to everlasting destruction.
But, as previously described, because of the power of Jehovih with the most faithful of the Faithists, the arcs and temples of worship had stood unharmed by the satanic raid; equally so the Te-ins failed to overpower the Great Spirit’s guardian angels. So now, after due preparation, the time came for another contest, this time upon the least Jehovih-like of mortals.
On the other hand, the true God, Son of Jehovih, sent word from his throne in Craoshivi to the guardian angels dwelling with these mortals, who were so unmindful of the Father’s care. He said: Come defeat, disaster or terrible darkness, overpowering your utmost strength, still struggle on, in the name of Jehovih. The true Faithist knows nothing impracticable, but does his utmost for his highest light, though failure stares him in the face.
For once distrust of weakness enters the human soul, the man slides backward down the hill of faith; while he who will not consider results, except to serve Jehovih right on, fail or not, rises, even though his project fails. ||
With this and no other word from Jehovih, the Faithists stood by their weak and helpless wards on the low earth, waiting for the billion Te-ins. But not in any lengthened suspense, for when the sun stood with the widest part of the earth between, being the midnight hour, the militants came rushing on, with oaths most hideous, and by their dense flood of numbers reached the sleeping mortals and laid hands on them.
Then, with joy run to mania because of triumph, hurled objects about in the dwellings. And, in many places, they spoke in the dark with audible speech to the frightened mortals:
From Sanc-tu I come, to lay in the dust every mortal born who will not bow down in reverence to Ho-Joss, ruler of worlds. Give ear, O man; the anger of heaven’s Creator is let loose upon a disobedient race!
And then, to give semblance of truth to the words, the angel intruders let fly such knocks and poundings that they moved many a house on its foundation, and roused the mortals, panic-stricken, to find the cause or to hasten quickly to repentance and prayers.
But it was not a complete victory; for the Jehovihians firmly held the power in hundreds of thousands of places. And yet the Te-ins had a great victory.
Te-in quickly sent word to De’yus, exulting, and exaggerating the victories won. And in turn, De’yus congratulated him and his army of one billion, who, now anchored on the earth, and with mortals, frolicked about in all regions.
And in course of time, the same questions arose in Jaffeth as in Arabin’ya; questions from mortals to the spirits; as to the destination of the soul of man; as to the origin of things; as to the heavenly places? And Te-in in turn sent word on up to De’yus, in Hored, as to what answer should be given. It was thus, that he, too, was summoned to Sanc-tu, in Hored, to meet with Osiris, Baal, Ashtaroth, and Sudga, subduer of Vind’yu.