An Auspicious Beginning . . .

First Things

Yea, auspicious indeed:

I am born, and grow to manhood, in such circumstances as would hardly seem conducive to evil.

As aforesaid, an auspicious beginning . . . but unfortunately followed by a suspicious subsequence:

Evil has been very good to me. I have wealth and social position, and moreover the nearly universal esteem of all men, who seem to regard me as a prodigy of virtue. All this has come to me through relentless devotion to the principles of evil. Indeed, I believe that the benefits of a course of evil, conscientiously pursued with unflagging vigor, have not been adequately impressed upon the minds of our young people.

Alas, we've turned from auspicious to suspicious -- a difference of one letter but an entire world -- as Eve turned from innocent Adam to guilty serpent in John Milton's Paradise Lost.

Something's askew, anyhow, so it sounds like a good read . . .