An Unexpected Encounter

On pilgrimage twixt Leeds and China an angel I met in the Land of Shinar, who showed me visions as angels might, some of which gave me quite a fright. I heard hissing sounds and then a boo as though I stood at the gate of a zoo. No, sounds from humans pierced my ears. ferocious enough to arouse great fears. The council of earth's most wise sought all the ways they might devise to save the world from death and destruction by education and instruction. One party bawled the cure was reason; to others all such talk was treason. So much woe and desolation banned all hope of restoration Some said that only divine inspiration could bring an end to our desperation, while others pleaded that in due season mankind would see the light of reason. The angel spoke: ‘O son of dust. which of these counsels do you trust?’ ‘It’s not for me to praise or blame. I think both answers said the same.’ The angel laid on me a charge: to impart this truth to the world at large.