In half an hour not one of that vast
multitude was living; and the fragments of seven score thousand
of the Criminal Class slain by one another's angles attested
the triumph of Order.
The Circles delayed not to push their victory to the uttermost.
The Working Men they spared but decimated. The Militia of the
Equilaterals was at once called out, and every Triangle suspected
of Irregularity on reasonable grounds, was destroyed by Court Martial,
without the formality of exact measurement by the Social Board.
The homes of the Military and Artisan classes were inspected in a course
of visitation extending through upwards of a year; and during that period
every town, village, and hamlet was systematically purged of that excess
of the lower orders which had been brought about by the neglect to pay
the tribute of Criminals to the Schools and University, and by the violation
of other natural Laws of the Constitution of Flatland. Thus the balance
of classes was again restored.
Needless to say that henceforth the use of Colour was abolished,
and its possession prohibited. Even the utterance of any word
denoting Colour, except by the Circles or by qualified scientific
teachers, was punished by a severe penalty.
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