The Holy War
by
John Bunyan

Part 2 out of 5



for they had from the camp of Shaddai such frequent, warm, and
terrifying alarms, yea, alarms upon alarms, first at one gate and
then at another, and again at all the gates at once, that they were
broken as to former peace. Yea, they had their alarms so
frequently, and that when the nights were at longest, the weather
coldest, and so consequently the season most unseasonable, that
that winter was to the town of Mansoul a winter by itself.
Sometimes the trumpets would sound, and sometimes the slings would
whirl the stones into the town. Sometimes ten thousand of the
King's soldiers would be running round the walls of Mansoul at
midnight, shouting and lifting up the voice for the battle.
Sometimes, again, some of them in the town would be wounded, and
their cry and lamentable voice would be heard, to the great
molestation of the now languishing town of Mansoul. Yea, so
distressed with those that laid siege against them were they, that,
I dare say, Diabolus, their king, had in these days his rest much
broken.

In these days, as I was informed, new thoughts, and thoughts that
began to run counter one to another, began to possess the minds of
the men of the town of Mansoul. Some would say, 'There is no
living thus.' Others would then reply, 'This will be over
shortly.' Then would a third stand up and answer, 'Let us turn to
the King Shaddai, and so put an end to these troubles.' And a
fourth would come in with a fear, saying, 'I doubt he will not
receive us.' The old gentleman, too, the Recorder, that was so
before Diabolus took Mansoul, he also began to talk aloud, and his
words were now to the town of Mansoul as if they were great claps
of thunder. No noise now so terrible to Mansoul as was his, with
the noise of the soldiers and shoutings of the captains.

Also things began to grow scarce in Mansoul; now the things that
her soul lusted after were departing from her. Upon all her
pleasant things there was a blast, and burning instead of beauty.
Wrinkles now, and some shows of the shadow of death, were upon the
inhabitants of Mansoul. And now, O how glad would Mansoul have
been to have enjoyed quietness and satisfaction of mind, though
joined with the meanest condition in the world!

The captains also, in the deep of this winter, did send by the
mouth of Boanerges' trumpeter a summons to Mansoul to yield up
herself to the King, the great King Shaddai. They sent it once,
and twice, and thrice; not knowing but that at some times there
might be in Mansoul some willingness to surrender up themselves
unto them, might they but have the colour of an invitation to do it
under. Yea, so far as I could gather, the town had been
surrendered up to them before now, had it not been for the
opposition of old Incredulity, and the fickleness of the thoughts
of my Lord Willbewill. Diabolus also began to rave; wherefore
Mansoul, as to yielding, was not yet all of one mind; therefore
they still lay distressed under these perplexing fears.

I told you but now that they of the King's army had this winter
sent three times to Mansoul to submit herself.

The first time the trumpeter went he went with words of peace,
telling them that the captains, the noble captains of Shaddai, did
pity and bewail the misery of the now perishing town of Mansoul,
and were troubled to see them so much to stand in the way of their
own deliverance. He said, moreover, that the captains bid him tell
them, that if now poor Mansoul would humble herself and turn, her
former rebellions and most notorious treasons should by their
merciful King be forgiven them, yea, and forgotten too. And having
bid them beware that they stood not in their own way, that they
opposed not themselves, nor made themselves their own losers, he
returned again into the camp.

The second time the trumpeter went, he did treat them a little more
roughly; for, after sound of trumpet, he told them that their
continuing in their rebellion did but chafe and heat the spirit of
the captains, and that they were resolved to make a conquest of
Mansoul, or to lay their bones before the town walls.

He went again the third time, and dealt with them yet more roughly;
telling them that now, since they had been so horribly profane, he
did not know, not certainly know, whether the captains were
inclining to mercy or judgment. 'Only,' said he, 'they commanded
me to give you a summons to open the gates unto them.' So he
returned, and went into the camp.

These three summonses, and especially the last two, did so distress
the town that they presently call a consultation, the result of
which was this--That my Lord Willbewill should go up to Ear-gate,
and there, with sound of trumpet, call to the captains of the camp
for a parley. Well, the Lord Willbewill sounded upon the wall; so
the captains came up in their harness, with their ten thousands at
their feet. The townsmen then told the captains that they had
heard and considered their summons, and would come to an agreement
with them, and with their King Shaddai, upon such certain terms,
articles, and propositions as, with and by the order of their
prince, they to them were appointed to propound; to wit, they would
agree upon these grounds to be one people with them.

1. If that those of their own company, as the now Lord Mayor and
their Mr. Forget-Good, with then brave Lord Willbewill, might,
under Shaddai, be still the governors of the town, castle, and
gates of Mansoul.

2. Provided that no man that now serveth under their great giant
Diabolus be by Shaddai cast out of house, harbour, or the freedom
that he hath hitherto enjoyed in the famous town of Mansoul.

3. That it shall be granted them, that they of the town of Mansoul
shall enjoy certain of their rights and privileges; to wit, such as
have formerly been granted them, and that they have long lived in
the enjoyment of, under the reign of their king Diabolus, that now
is, and long has been, their only lord and great defender.

4. That no new law, officer, or executioner of law or office, shall
have any power over them, without their own choice and consent.

'These be our propositions, or conditions of peace; and upon these
terms,' said they, 'we will submit to your King.'

But when the captains had heard this weak and feeble offer of the
town of Mansoul, and their high and bold demands, they made to them
again, by their noble captain, the Captain Boanerges, this speech
following:

'O ye inhabitants of the town of Mansoul, when I heard your trumpet
sound for a parley with us, I can truly say I was glad; but when
you said you were willing to submit yourselves to our King and
Lord, then I was yet more glad; but when, by your silly provisos
and foolish cavils, you laid the stumbling-block of your iniquity
before your own faces, then was my gladness turned into sorrows,
and my hopeful beginnings of your return, into languishing fainting
fears.

'I count that old Ill-Pause, the ancient enemy of Mansoul, did draw
up those proposals that now you present us with as terms of an
agreement; but they deserve not to be admitted to sound in the ear
of any man that pretends to have service for Shaddai. We do
therefore jointly, and that with the highest disdain, refuse and
reject such things, as the greatest of iniquities.

'But, O Mansoul, if you will give yourselves into our hands, or
rather into the hands of our King, and will trust him to make such
terms with and for you as shall seem good in his eyes, (and I dare
say they shall be such as you shall find to be most profitable to
you,) then we will receive you, and be at peace with you; but if
you like not to trust yourselves in the arms of Shaddai our King,
then things are but where they were before, and we know also what
we have to do.'

Then cried out old Incredulity, the Lord Mayor, and said, 'And who,
being out of the hands of their enemies, as ye see we are now, will
be so foolish as to put the staff out of their own hands into the
hands of they know not who? I, for my part, will never yield to so
unlimited a proposition. Do we know the manner and temper of their
King? It is said by some that he will be angry with his subjects
if but the breadth of an hair they chance to step out of the way;
and by others, that he requireth of them much more than they can
perform. Wherefore, it seems, O Mansoul, to be thy wisdom to take
good heed what thou dost in this matter; for if you once yield, you
give up yourselves to another, and so you are no more your own.
Wherefore, to give up yourselves to an unlimited power, is the
greatest folly in the world; for now you indeed may repent, but can
never justly complain. But do you indeed know, when you are his,
which of you he will kill, and which of you he will save alive; or
whether he will not cut off every one of us, and send out of his
own country another new people, and cause them to inhabit this
town?'

This speech of the Lord Mayor undid all, and threw flat to the
ground their hopes of an accord. Wherefore the captains returned
to their trenches, to their tents, and to their men, as they were;
and the Mayor to the castle and to his King.

Now Diabolus had waited for his return, for he had heard that they
had been at their points. So, when he was come into the chamber of
state, Diabolus saluted him with--'Welcome, my lord. How went
matters betwixt you to-day?' So the Lord Incredulity, with a low
congee, told him the whole of the matter, saying, 'Thus and thus
said the captains of Shaddai, and thus and thus said I.' The which
when it was told to Diabolus, he was very glad to hear it, and
said, 'My Lord Mayor, my faithful Incredulity, I have proved thy
fidelity above ten times already, but never yet found thee false.
I do promise thee, if we rub over this brunt, to prefer thee to a
place of honour, a place far better than to be Lord Mayor of
Mansoul. I will make thee my universal deputy, and thou shalt,
next to me, have all nations under thy hand; yea, and thou shalt
lay bands upon them, that they may not resist thee; nor shall any
of our vassals walk more at liberty, but those that shall be
content to walk in thy fetters.'

Now came the Lord Mayor out from Diabolus, as if he had obtained a
favour indeed. Wherefore to his habitation he goes in great state,
and thinks to feed himself well enough with hopes, until the time
came that his greatness should be enlarged.

But now, though the Lord Mayor and Diabolus did thus well agree,
yet this repulse to the brave captains put Mansoul into a mutiny.
For while old Incredulity went into the castle to congratulate his
lord with what had passed, the old Lord Mayor, that was so before
Diabolus came to the town, to wit, my Lord Understanding, and the
old Recorder, Mr. Conscience, getting intelligence of what had
passed at Ear-gate, (for you must know that they might not be
suffered to be at that debate, lest they should then have mutinied
for the captains; but, I say, they got intelligence of what had
passed there, and were much concerned therewith,) wherefore they,
getting some of the town together, began to possess them with the
reasonableness of the noble captains' demands, and with the bad
consequences that would follow upon the speech of old Incredulity,
the Lord Mayor; to wit how little reverence he showed therein
either to the captains or to their King; also how he implicitly
charged them with unfaithfulness and treachery. 'For what less,'
quoth they, 'could be made of his words, when he said he would not
yield to their proposition; and added, moreover, a supposition that
he would destroy us, when before he had sent us word that he would
show us mercy!' The multitude, being now possessed with the
conviction of the evil that old Incredulity had done, began to run
together by companies in all places, and in every corner of the
streets of Mansoul; and first they began to mutter, then to talk
openly, and after that they run to and fro, and cried as they run,
'Oh the brave captains of Shaddai! would we were under the
government of the captains, and of Shaddai their King!' When the
Lord Mayor had intelligence that Mansoul was in an uproar, down he
comes to appease the people, and thought to have quashed their heat
with the bigness and the show of his countenance; but when they saw
him, they came running upon him, and had doubtless done him a
mischief, had he not betaken himself to house. However, they
strongly assaulted the house where he was, to have pulled it down
about his ears; but the place was too strong, so they failed of
that. So he, taking some courage, addressed himself, out at a
window, to the people in this manner:

'Gentlemen, what is the reason that there is here such an uproar
to-day?'

Then answered my Lord Understanding, 'It is even because that thou
and thy master have carried it not rightly, and as you should, to
the captains of Shaddai; for in three things you are faulty.
First, in that you would not let Mr. Conscience and myself be at
the hearing of your discourse. Secondly, in that you propounded
such terms of peace to the captains that by no means could be
granted, unless they had intended that their Shaddai should have
been only a titular prince, and that Mansoul should still have had
power by law to have lived in all lewdness and vanity before him,
and so by consequence Diabolus should still here be king in power,
and the other only king in name. Thirdly, for that thou didst
thyself, after the captains had showed us upon what conditions they
would have received us to mercy, even undo all again with thy
unsavoury, unseasonable, and ungodly speech.'

When old Incredulity had heard this speech, he cried out, 'Treason!
treason! To your arms! to your arms! O ye, the trusty friends of
Diabolus in Mansoul.'

Und.--Sir, you may put upon my words what meaning you please; but I
am sure that the captains of such an high lord as theirs is,
deserved a better treatment at your hands.

Then said old Incredulity, 'This is but little better. But, Sir,'
quoth he, 'what I spake I spake for my prince, for his government,
and the quieting of the people, whom by your unlawful actions you
have this day set to mutiny against us.'

Then replied the old Recorder, whose name was Mr. Conscience, and
said, 'Sir, you ought not thus to retort upon what my Lord
Understanding hath said. It is evident enough that he hath spoken
the truth, and that you are an enemy to Mansoul. Be convinced,
then, of the evil of your saucy and malapert language, and of the
grief that you have put the captains to; yea, and of the damages
that you have done to Mansoul thereby. Had you accepted of the
conditions, the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war had now
ceased about the town of Mansoul; but that dreadful sound abides,
and your want of wisdom in your speech has been the cause of it.'

Then said old Incredulity, 'Sir, if I live, I will do your errand
to Diabolus, and there you shall have an answer to your words.
Meanwhile we will seek the good of the town, and not ask counsel of
you.'

Und.--Sir, your prince and you are both foreigners to Mansoul, and
not the natives thereof; and who can tell but that, when you have
brought us into greater straits, (when you also shall see that
yourselves can be safe by no other means than by flight,) you may
leave us and shift for yourselves, or set us on fire, and go away
in the smoke, or by the light of our burning, and so leave us in
our ruins?

Incred.--Sir, you forget that you are under a governor, and that
you ought to demean yourself like a subject; and know ye, when my
lord the king shall hear of this day's work, he will give you but
little thanks for your labour.

Now while these gentlemen were thus in their chiding words, down
come from the walls and gates of the town the Lord Willbewill, Mr.
Prejudice, old Ill-Pause, and several of the new-made aldermen and
burgesses, and they asked the reason of the hubbub and tumult; and
with that every man began to tell his own tale, so that nothing
could be heard distinctly. Then was a silence commanded, and the
old fox Incredulity began to speak. 'My lord,' quoth he, 'here are
a couple of peevish gentlemen, that have, as a fruit of their bad
dispositions, and, as I fear, through the advice of one Mr.
Discontent, tumultuously gathered this company against me this day,
and also attempted to run the town into acts of rebellion against
our prince.'

Then stood up all the Diabolonians that were present, and affirmed
these things to be true.

Now when they that took part with my Lord Understanding and with
Mr. Conscience perceived that they were like to come to the worst,
for that force and power was on the other side, they came in for
their help and relief; so a great company was on both sides. Then
they on Incredulity's side would have had the two old gentlemen
presently away to prison; but they on the other side said they
should not. Then they began to cry up parties again: the
Diabolonians cried up old Incredulity, Forget-Good, the new
aldermen, and their great one Diabolus; and the other party, they
as fast cried up Shaddai, the captains, his laws, their
mercifulness, and applauded their conditions and ways. Thus the
bickerment went awhile; at last they passed from words to blows,
and now there were knocks on both sides. The good old gentleman,
Mr. Conscience, was knocked down twice by one of the Diabolonians,
whose name was Mr. Benumbing; and my Lord Understanding had like to
have been slain with an arquebuse, but that he that shot did not
take his aim aright. Nor did the other side wholly escape; for
there was one Mr. Rashhead, a Diabolonian, that had his brains
beaten out by Mr. Mind, the Lord Willbewill's servant; and it made
me laugh to see how old Mr. Prejudice was kicked and tumbled about
in the dirt; for though, a while since, he was made captain of a
company of the Diabolonians, to the hurt and damage of the town,
yet now they had got him under their feet, and, I'll assure you, he
had, by some of the Lord Understanding's party, his crown cracked
to boot. Mr. Anything also, he became a brisk man in the broil;
but both sides were against him, because he was true to none. Yet
he had, for his malapertness, one of his legs broken, and he that
did it wished it had been his neck. Much more harm was done on
both sides, but this must not be forgotten; it was now a wonder to
see my Lord Willbewill so indifferent as he was: he did not seem
to take one side more than another, only it was perceived that he
smiled to see how old Prejudice was tumbled up and down in the
dirt. Also, when Captain Anything came halting up before him, he
seemed to take but little notice of him.

Now, when the uproar was over, Diabolus sends for my Lord
Understanding and Mr. Conscience, and claps them both up in prison
as the ringleaders and managers of this most heavy, riotous rout in
Mansoul. So now the town began to be quiet again, and the
prisoners were used hardly; yea, he thought to have made them away,
but that the present juncture did not serve for that purpose, for
that war was in all their gates.

But let us return again to our story. The captains, when they were
gone back from the gate, and were come into the camp again, called
a council of war, to consult what was further for them to do. Now,
some said, 'Let us go up presently, and fall upon the town;' but
the greatest part thought rather better it would be to give them
another summons to yield; and the reason why they thought this to
be best was, because that, so far as could be perceived, the town
of Mansoul now was more inclinable than heretofore. 'And if,' said
they, 'while some of them are in a way of inclination, we should by
ruggedness give them distaste, we may set them further from closing
with our summons than we would be willing they should.' Wherefore
to this advice they agreed, and called a trumpeter, put words into
his mouth, set him his time, and bid him God speed. Well, many
hours were not expired before the trumpeter addressed himself to
his journey. Wherefore, coming up to the wall of the town, he
steereth his course to Ear-gate, and there sounded, as he was
commanded. They then that were within came out to see what was the
matter, and the trumpeter made them this speech following:

'O hard-hearted and deplorable town of Mansoul, how long wilt thou
love thy sinful, sinful simplicity, and, ye fools, delight in your
scorning? As yet despise you the offers of peace and deliverance?
As yet will ye refuse the golden offers of Shaddai, and trust to
the lies and falsehoods of Diabolus? Think you, when Shaddai shall
have conquered you, that the remembrance of these your carriages
towards him will yield you peace and comfort, or that by ruffling
language you can make him afraid as a grasshopper? Doth he entreat
you for fear of you? Do you think that you are stronger than he?
Look to the heavens, and behold and consider the stars, how high
are they? Can you stop the sun from running his course, and hinder
the moon from giving her light? Can you count the number of the
stars, or stay the bottles of heaven? Can you call for the waters
of the sea, and cause them to cover the face of the ground? Can
you behold every one that is proud, and abase him, and bind their
faces in secret? Yet these are some of the works of our King, in
whose name this day we come up unto you, that you may be brought
under his authority. In his name, therefore, I summon you again to
yield up yourselves to his captains.'

At this summons the Mansoulians seemed to be at a stand, and knew
not what answer to make. Wherefore Diabolus forthwith appeared,
and took upon him to do it himself; and thus he begins, but turns
his speech to them of Mansoul.

'Gentlemen,' quoth he, 'and my faithful subjects, if it is true
that this summoner hath said concerning the greatness of their
King, by his terror you will always be kept in bondage, and so be
made to sneak. Yea, how can you now, though he is at a distance,
endure to think of such a mighty one? And if not to think of him
while at a distance, how can you endure to be in his presence? I,
your prince, am familiar with you, and you may play with me as you
would with a grasshopper. Consider, therefore, what is for your
profit, and remember the immunities that I have granted you.

'Farther, if all be true that this man hath said, how comes it to
pass that the subjects of Shaddai are so enslaved in all places
where they come? None in the universe so unhappy as they, none so
trampled upon as they.

'Consider, my Mansoul: would thou wert as loath to leave me as I
am loath to leave thee. But consider, I say, the ball is yet at
thy foot; liberty you have, if you know how to use it; yea, a king
you have too, if you can tell how to love and obey him.'

Upon this speech, the town of Mansoul did again harden their hearts
yet more against the captains of Shaddai. The thoughts of his
greatness did quite quash them, and the thoughts of his holiness
sunk them in despair. Wherefore, after a short consult, they (of
the Diabolonian party they were) sent back this word by the
trumpeter, That, for their parts, they were resolved to stick to
their king, but never to yield to Shaddai; so it was but in vain to
give them any further summons, for they had rather die upon the
place than yield. And now things seemed to be gone quite back, and
Mansoul to be out of reach or call, yet the captains who knew what
their Lord could do, would not yet be beat out of heart; they
therefore sent them another summons, more sharp and severe than the
last; but the oftener they were sent to, to reconcile to Shaddai,
the further off they were. 'As they called them, so they went from
them--yea, though they called them to the Most High.'

So they ceased that way to deal with them any more, and inclined to
think of another way. The captains, therefore, did gather
themselves together, to have free conference among themselves, to
know what was yet to be done to gain the town, and to deliver it
from the tyranny of Diabolus; and one said after this manner, and
another after that. Then stood up the right noble the Captain
Conviction, and said, 'My brethren, mine opinion is this:

'First, that we continually play our slings into the town, and keep
it in a continual alarm, molesting them day and night. By thus
doing, we shall stop the growth of their rampant spirit; for a lion
may be tamed by continual molestation.

'Secondly, this done, I advise that, in the next place, we with one
consent draw up a petition to our Lord Shaddai, by which, after we
have showed our King the condition of Mansoul and of affairs here,
and have begged his pardon for our no better success, we will
earnestly implore his Majesty's help, and that he will please to
send us more force and power, and some gallant and well-spoken
commander to head them, that so his Majesty may not lose the
benefit of these his good beginnings, but may complete his conquest
upon the town of Mansoul.'

To this speech of the noble Captain Conviction they as one man
consented, and agreed that a petition should forthwith be drawn up,
and sent by a fit man away to Shaddai with speed. The contents of
the petition were thus:-

'Most gracious and glorious King, the Lord of the best world, and
the builder of the town of Mansoul, we have, dread Sovereign, at
thy commandment, put our lives in jeopardy, and at thy bidding made
a war upon the famous town of Mansoul. When we went up against it,
we did, according to our commission, first offer conditions of
peace unto it. But they, great King, set light by our counsel, and
would none of our reproof. They were for shutting their gates, and
for keeping us out of the town. They also mounted their guns, they
sallied out upon us, and have done us what damage they could; but
we pursued them with alarm upon alarm, requiting them with such
retribution as was meet, and have done some execution upon the
town.

'Diabolus, Incredulity, and Willbewill are the great doers against
us: now we are in our winter quarters, but so as that we do yet
with an high hand molest and distress the town.

'Once, as we think, had we had but one substantial friend in the
town, such as would but have seconded the sound of our summons as
they ought, the people might have yielded themselves; but there
were none but enemies there, nor any to speak in behalf of our Lord
to the town. Wherefore, though we have done as we could, yet
Mansoul abides in a state of rebellion against thee.

'Now, King of kings, let it please thee to pardon the
unsuccessfulness of thy servants, who have been no more
advantageous in so desirable a work as the conquering of Mansoul
is. And send, Lord, as we now desire, more forces to Mansoul, that
it may be subdued; and a man to head them, that the town may both
love and fear.

'We do not thus speak because we are willing to relinquish the
wars, (for we are for laying of our bones against the place,) but
that the town of Mansoul may be won for thy Majesty. We also pray
thy Majesty, for expedition in this matter, that, after their
conquest, we may be at liberty to be sent about other thy gracious
designs. Amen.'

The petition, thus drawn up, was sent away with haste to the King
by the hand of that good man, Mr. Love-to-Mansoul.

When this petition was come to the palace of the King, who should
it be delivered to but to the King's Son? So he took it and read
it, and because the contents of it pleased him well, he mended, and
also in some things added to the petition himself. So, after he
had made such amendments and additions as he thought convenient,
with his own hand, he carried it in to the King; to whom, when he
had with obeisance delivered it, he put on authority, and spake to
it himself.

Now the King, at the sight of the petition, was glad; but how much
more, think you, when it was seconded by his Son! It pleased him
also to hear that his servants who camped against Mansoul were so
hearty in the work, and so steadfast in their resolves, and that
they had already got some ground upon the famous town of Mansoul.

Wherefore the King called to him Emmanuel, his Son, who said, 'Here
am I, my Father.' Then said the King, 'Thou knowest, as I do
myself, the condition of the town of Mansoul, and what we have
purposed, and what thou hast done to redeem it. Come now,
therefore, my Son, and prepare thyself for the war, for thou shalt
go to my camp at Mansoul. Thou shalt also there prosper and
prevail, and conquer the town of Mansoul.'

Then said the King's Son, 'Thy law is within my heart: I delight
to do thy will. This is the day that I have longed for, and the
work that I have waited for all this while. Grant me, therefore,
what force thou shalt in thy wisdom think meet; and I will go and
will deliver from Diabolus, and from his power, thy perishing town
of Mansoul. My heart has been often pained within me for the
miserable town of Mansoul; but now it is rejoiced, but now it is
glad,'

And with that he leaped over the mountains for joy, saying, 'I have
not, in my heart, thought anything too dear for Mansoul: the day
of vengeance is in mine heart for thee, my Mansoul: and glad am I
that thou, my Father, hast made me the Captain of their salvation.
And I will now begin to plague all those that have been a plague to
my town of Mansoul, and will deliver it from their hand.'

When the King's Son had said thus to his Father, it presently flew
like lightning round about at court; yea, it there became the only
talk what Emmanuel was to go to do for the famous town of Mansoul.
But you cannot think how the courtiers, too, were taken with this
design of the Prince; yea, so affected were they with this work,
and with the justness of the war, that the highest lord and
greatest peer of the kingdom did covet to have commissions under
Emmanuel, to go to help to recover again to Shaddai the miserable
town of Mansoul.

Then was it concluded that some should go and carry tidings to the
camp, that Emmanuel was to come to recover Mansoul, and that he
would bring along with him so mighty, so impregnable a force, that
he could not be resisted. But, oh! how ready were the high ones at
court to run like lackeys to carry these tidings to the camp that
was at Mansoul. Now, when the captains perceived that the King
would send Emmanuel his Son, and that it also delighted the Son to
be sent on this errand by the great Shaddai his Father, they also,
to show how they were pleased at the thoughts of his coming gave a
shout that made the earth rend at the sound thereof. Yea, the
mountains did answer again by echo, and Diabolus himself did totter
and shake.

For you must know, that though the town of Mansoul itself was not
much, if at all concerned with the project, (for, alas for them!
they were wofully besotted, for they chiefly regarded their
pleasure and their lusts,) yet Diabolus their governor was; for he
had his spies continually abroad, who brought him intelligence of
all things, and they told him what was doing at court against him,
and that Emmanuel would shortly certainly come with a power to
invade him. Nor was there any man at court, nor peer of the
kingdom, that Diabolus so feared as he feared this Prince; for, if
you remember, I showed you before that Diabolus had felt the weight
of his hand already; so that, since it was he that was to come,
this made him the more afraid.

Well, you see how I have told you that the King's Son was engaged
to come from the court to save Mansoul, and that his Father had
made him the Captain of the forces. The time, therefore, of his
setting forth being now expired, he addressed himself for his
march, and taketh with him, for his power, five noble captains and
their forces.

1. The first was that famous captain, the noble Captain Credence.
His were the red colours, and Mr. Promise bare them; and for a
scutcheon he had the holy lamb and golden shield; and he had ten
thousand men at his feet.

2. The second was that famous captain, the Captain Good-Hope. His
were the blue colours; his standard-bearer was Mr. Expectation, and
for his scutcheon he had the three golden anchors; and he had ten
thousand men at his feet.

3. The third was that valiant captain, the Captain Charity. His
standard-bearer was Mr. Pitiful: his were the green colours, and
for his scutcheon he had three naked orphans embraced in the bosom;
and he had ten thousand men at his feet.

4. The fourth was that gallant commander, the Captain Innocent.
His standard-bearer was Mr. Harmless: his were the white colours,
and for his scutcheon he had the three golden doves.

5. The fifth was the truly loyal and well-beloved captain, the
Captain Patience. His standard-bearer was Mr. Suffer-Long: his
were the black colours, and for a scutcheon he had three arrows
through the golden heart.

These were Emmanuel's captains; these their standard-bearers, their
colours, and their scutcheons; and these the men under their
command. So, as was said, the brave Prince took his march to go to
the town of Mansoul. Captain Credence led the van, and Captain
Patience brought up the rear; so the other three, with their men,
made up the main body, the Prince himself riding in his chariot at
the head of them.

But when they set out for their march, oh, how the trumpets
sounded, their armour glittered, and how the colours waved in the
wind! The Prince's armour was all of gold, and it shone like the
sun in the firmament; the captains' armour was of proof, and was in
appearance like the glittering stars. There were also some from
the court that rode reformades for the love that they had to the
King Shaddai, and for the happy deliverance of the town of Mansoul.

Emmanuel also, when he had thus set forwards to go to recover the
town of Mansoul, took with him, at the commandment of his Father,
fifty-four battering-rams, and twelve slings to whirl stones
withal. Every one of these was made of pure gold, and these they
carried with them, in the heart and body of their army, all along
as they went to Mansoul.

So they marched till they came within less than a league of the
town; there they lay till the first four captains came thither to
acquaint them with matters. Then they took their journey to go to
the town of Mansoul, and unto Mansoul they came; but when the old
soldiers that were in the camp saw that they had new forces to join
with, they again gave such a shout before the walls of the town of
Mansoul, that it put Diabolus into another fright. So they sat
down before the town, not now as the other four captains did, to
wit, against the gates of Mansoul only; but they environed it round
on every side, and beset it behind and before; so that now, let
Mansoul look which way it will, it saw force and power lie in siege
against it. Besides, there were mounts cast up against it. The
Mount Gracious was on the one side, and Mount Justice was on the
other. Further, there were several small banks and advance-
grounds, as Plain-Truth Hill and No-Sin Banks, where many of the
slings were placed against the town. Upon Mount Gracious were
planted four, and upon Mount Justice were placed as many, and the
rest were conveniently placed in several parts round about the
town. Five of the best battering-rams, that is, of the biggest of
them, were placed upon Mount Hearken, a mount cast up hard by Ear-
gate, with intent to break that open.

Now when the men of the town saw the multitude of the soldiers that
were come up against the place, and the rams and slings, and the
mounts on which they were planted, together with the glittering of
the armour and the waving of their colours, they were forced to
shift, and shift, and again to shift their thoughts; but they
hardly changed for thoughts more stout, but rather for thoughts
more faint; for though before they thought themselves sufficiently
guarded, yet now they began to think that no man knew what would be
their hap or lot.

When the good Prince Emmanuel had thus beleaguered Mansoul, in the
first place he hangs out the white flag, which he caused to be set
up among the golden slings that were planted upon Mount Gracious.
And this he did for two reasons: 1. To give notice to Mansoul that
he could and would yet be gracious if they turned to him. 2. And
that he might leave them the more without excuse, should he destroy
them, they continuing in their rebellion.

So the white flag, with the three golden doves in it, was hung out
for two days together, to give them time and space to consider; but
they, as was hinted before, as if they were unconcerned, made no
reply to the favourable signal of the Prince.

Then he commanded, and they set the red flag upon that mount called
Mount Justice. It was the red flag of Captain Judgment, whose
scutcheon was the burning fiery furnace; and this also stood waving
before them in the wind for several days together. But look how
they carried it under the white flag, when that was hung out, so
did they also when the red one was; and yet he took no advantage of
them.

Then he commanded again that his servants should hang out the black
flag of defiance against them, whose scutcheon was the three
burning thunderbolts; but as unconcerned was Mansoul at this as at
those that went before. But when the Prince saw that neither mercy
nor judgment, nor execution of judgment, would or could come near
the heart of Mansoul, he was touched with much compunction, and
said, 'Surely this strange carriage of the town of Mansoul doth
rather arise from ignorance of the manner and feats of war, than
from a secret defiance of us, and abhorrence of their own lives; or
if they know the manner of the war of their own, yet not the rites
and ceremonies of the wars in which we are concerned, when I make
wars upon mine enemy Diabolus.'

Therefore he sent to the town of Mansoul, to let them know what he
meant by those signs and ceremonies of the flag; and also to know
of them which of the things they would choose, whether grace and
mercy, or judgment and the execution of judgment. All this while
they kept their gates shut with locks, bolts, and bars, as fast as
they could. Their guards also were doubled, and their watch made
as strong as they could. Diabolus also did pluck up what heart he
could, to encourage the town to make resistance.

The townsmen also made answer to the Prince's messenger, in
substance according to that which follows:-

'Great Sir,--As to what, by your messenger, you have signified to
us, whether we will accept of your mercy, or fall by your justice,
we are bound by the law and custom of this place, and can give you
no positive answer; for it is against the law, government, and the
prerogative royal of our king, to make either peace or war without
him. But this we will do,--we will petition that our prince will
come down to the wall, and there give you such treatment as he
shall think fit and profitable for us.'

When the good Prince Emmanuel heard this answer, and saw the
slavery and bondage of the people, and how much content they were
to abide in the chains of the tyrant Diabolus, it grieved him at
the heart; and, indeed, when at any time he perceived that any were
contented under the slavery of the giant, he would be affected with
it.

But to return again to our purpose. After the town had carried
this news to Diabolus, and had told him, moreover, that the Prince,
that lay in the leaguer without the wall, waited upon them for an
answer, he refused, and huffed as well as he could; but in heart he
was afraid.

Then said he, 'I will go down to the gates myself, and give him
such an answer as I think fit.' So he went down to Mouth-gate, and
there addressed himself to speak to Emmanuel, (but in such language
as the town understood not,) the contents whereof were as follows:-

'O thou great Emmanuel, Lord of all the world, I know thee, that
thou art the Son of the great Shaddai! Wherefore art thou come to
torment me, and to cast me out of my possession? This town of
Mansoul, as thou very well knowest, is mine, and that by a twofold
right. 1. It is mine by right of conquest; I won it in the open
field; and shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful
captive be delivered? 2. This town of Mansoul is mine also by
their subjection. They have opened the gates of their town unto
me; they have sworn fidelity to me, and have openly chosen me to be
their king; they have also given their castle into my hands; yea,
they have put the whole strength of Mansoul under me.

'Moreover, this town of Mansoul hath disavowed thee, yea, they have
cast thy law, thy name, thy image, and all that is thine, behind
their back, and have accepted and set up in their room my law, my
name, my image, and all that ever is mine. Ask else thy captains,
and they will tell thee that Mansoul hath, in answer to all their
summonses, shown love and loyalty to me, but always disdain,
despite, contempt, and scorn to thee and thine. Now, thou art the
Just One and the Holy, and shouldest do no iniquity. Depart, then,
I pray thee, therefore, from me, and leave me to my just
inheritance peaceably.'

This oration was made in the language of Diabolus himself; for
although he can, to every man, speak in their own language, (else
he could not tempt them all as he does,) yet he has a language
proper to himself, and it is the language of the infernal cave, or
black pit.

Wherefore the town of Mansoul (poor hearts!) understood him not;
nor did they see how he crouched and cringed while he stood before
Emmanuel, their Prince.

Yea, they all this while took him to be one of that power and force
that by no means could be resisted. Wherefore, while he was thus
entreating that he might have yet his residence there, and that
Emmanuel would not take it from him by force, the inhabitants
boasted even of his valour, saying, 'Who is able to make war with
him?'

Well, when this pretended king had made an end of what he would
say, Emmanuel, the golden Prince, stood up and spake; the contents
of whose words follow:-

'Thou deceiving one,' said he, 'I have, in my Father's name, in
mine own name, and on the behalf and for the good of this wretched
town of Mansoul, somewhat to say unto thee. Thou pretendest a
right, a lawful right, to the deplorable town of Mansoul, when it
is most apparent to all my Father's court that the entrance which
thou hast obtained in at the gates of Mansoul was through thy lie
and falsehood; thou beliedst my Father, thou beliedst his law, and
so deceivedst the people of Mansoul. Thou pretendest that the
people have accepted thee for their king, their captain, and right
liege lord; but that also was by the exercise of deceit and guile.
Now, if lying, wiliness, sinful craft, and all manner of horrible
hypocrisy, will go in my Father's court (in which court thou must
be tried) for equity and right, then will I confess unto thee that
thou hast made a lawful conquest. But, alas! what thief, what
tyrant, what devil is there that may not conquer after this sort?
But I can make it appear, O Diabolus, that thou, in all thy
pretences to a conquest of Mansoul, hast nothing of truth to say.
Thinkest thou this to be right, that that didst put the lie upon my
Father, and madest him (to Mansoul) the greatest deluder in the
world? And what sayest thou to thy perverting knowingly the right
purport and intent of the law? Was it good also that thou madest a
prey of the innocency and simplicity of the now miserable town of
Mansoul? Yea, thou didst overcome Mansoul by promising to them
happiness in their transgressions against my Father's law, when
thou knewest, and couldest not but know, hadst thou consulted
nothing but thine own experience, that that was the way to undo
them. Thou hast also thyself, O thou master of enmity, of spite
defaced my Father's image in Mansoul, and set up thy own in its
place, to the great contempt of my Father, the heightening of thy
sin, and to the intolerable damage of the perishing town of
Mansoul.

'Thou hast, moreover, (as if all these were but little things with
thee,) not only deluded and undone this place, but, by thy lies and
fradulent carriage, hast set them against their own deliverance.
How hast thou stirred them up against my Father's captains, and
made them to fight against those that were sent of him to deliver
them from their bondage! All these things, and very many more,
thou hast done against thy light, and in contempt of my Father and
of his law, yea, and with design to bring under his displeasure for
ever the miserable town of Mansoul. I am therefore come to avenge
the wrong that thou hast done to my Father, and to deal with thee
for the blasphemies wherewith thou hast made poor Mansoul blaspheme
his name. Yea, upon thy head, thou prince of the infernal cave,
will I requite it.

'As for myself, O Diabolus, I am come against thee by lawful power,
and to take, by strength of hand, this town of Mansoul out of thy
burning fingers; for this town of Mansoul is mine, O Diabolus, and
that by undoubted right, as all shall see that will diligently
search the most ancient and most authentic records, and I will
plead my title to it, to the confusion of thy face.

'First, for the town of Mansoul, my Father built and did fashion it
with his hand. The palace also that is in the midst of that town,
he built it for his own delight. This town of Mansoul, therefore,
is my Father's, and that by the best of titles, and he that
gainsays the truth of this must lie against his soul.

'Secondly, O thou master of the lie, this town of Mansoul is mine.

'1. For that I am my Father's heir, his firstborn, and the only
delight of his heart. I am therefore come up against thee in mine
own right, even to recover mine own inheritance out of thine hand.

'2. But further, as I have a right and title to Mansoul by being my
Father's heir, so I have also by my Father's donation. His it was,
and he gave it me; nor have I at any time offended my Father, that
he should take it from me, and give it to thee. Nor have I been
forced, by playing the bankrupt, to sell or set to sale to thee my
beloved town of Mansoul. Mansoul is my desire, my delight, and the
joy of my heart. But,

'3. Mansoul is mine by right of purchase. I have bought it, O
Diabolus, I have bought it to myself. Now, since it was my
Father's and mine, as I was his heir, and since also I have made it
mine by virtue of a great purchase, it followeth that, by all
lawful right, the town of Mansoul is mine, and that thou art an
usurper, a tyrant, and traitor, in thy holding possession thereof.
Now, the cause of my purchasing of it was this: Mansoul had
trespassed against my Father; now my Father had said, that in the
day that they broke his law they should die. Now, it is more
possible for heaven and earth to pass away than for my Father to
break his word. Wherefore when Mansoul had sinned indeed by
hearkening to thy lie, I put in and became a surety to my Father,
body for body, and soul for soul, that I would make amends for
Mansoul's transgressions, and my Father did accept thereof. So,
when the time appointed was come, I gave body for body, soul for
soul, life for life, blood for blood, and so redeemed my beloved
Mansoul.

'4. Nor did I do this by halves: my Father's law and justice, that
were both concerned in the threatening upon transgression, are both
now satisfied, and very well content that Mansoul should be
delivered.

'5. Nor am I come out this day against thee, but by commandment of
my Father; it was he that said unto me, "Go down and deliver
Mansoul."

'Wherefore be it known unto thee, O thou fountain of deceit, and be
it also known to the foolish town of Mansoul, that I am not come
against thee this day without my Father.

'And now,' said the golden-headed Prince, 'I have a word to the
town of Mansoul.' But so soon as mention was made that he had a
word to speak to the besotted town of Mansoul, the gates were
double-guarded, and all men commanded not to give him audience. So
he proceeded and said, 'O unhappy town of Mansoul, I cannot but be
touched with pity and compassion for thee. Thou hast accepted of
Diabolus for thy king, and art become a nurse and minister of
Diabolonians against thy sovereign Lord. Thy gates thou hast
opened to him, but hast shut them fast against me; thou hast given
him an hearing, but hast stopped thine ears at my cry. He brought
to thee thy destruction, and thou didst receive both him and it: I
am come to thee bringing salvation, but thou regardest me not.
Besides, thou hast, as with sacrilegious hands, taken thyself, with
all that was mine in thee, and hast given all to my foe, and to the
greatest enemy my Father has. You have bowed and subjected
yourselves to him, you have vowed and sworn yourselves to be his.
Poor Mansoul! what shall I do unto thee? Shall I save thee?--shall
I destroy thee? What shall I do unto thee? Shall I fall upon
thee, and grind thee to powder, or make thee a monument of the
richest grace? What shall I do unto thee? Hearken, therefore,
thou town of Mansoul, hearken to my word, and thou shalt live. I
am merciful, Mansoul, and thou shalt find me so: shut me not out
of thy gates.

'O Mansoul, neither is my commission nor inclination at all to do
thee hurt. Why fliest thou so fast from thy friend, and stickest
so close to thine enemy? Indeed, I would have thee, because it
becomes thee to be sorry for thy sin, but do not despair of life;
this great force is not to hurt thee, but to deliver thee from thy
bondage, and to reduce thee to thy obedience.

'My commission, indeed, is to make a war upon Diabolus thy king,
and upon all Diabolonians with him; for he is the strong man armed
that keeps the house, and I will have him out: his spoils I must
divide, his armour I must take from him, his hold I must cast him
out of, and must make it a habitation for myself. And this, O
Mansoul, shall Diabolus know when he shall be made to follow me in
chains, and when Mansoul shall rejoice to see it so.

'I could, would I now put forth my might, cause that forthwith he
should leave you and depart; but I have it in my heart so to deal
with him, as that the justice of the war that I shall make upon him
may be seen and acknowledged by all. He hath taken Mansoul by
fraud, and keeps it by violence and deceit, and I will make him
bare and naked in the eyes of all observers.

'All my words are true. I am mighty to save, and will deliver my
Mansoul out of his hand.'

This speech was intended chiefly for Mansoul, but Mansoul would not
have the hearing of it. They shut up Ear-gate, they barricaded it
up, they kept it locked and bolted, they set a guard thereat, and
commanded that no Mansoulonian should go out to him, nor that any
from the camp should be admitted into the town. All this they did,
so horribly had Diabolus enchanted them to do, and seek to do for
him, against their rightful Lord and Prince; wherefore no man, nor
voice, nor sound of man that belonged to the glorious host, was to
come into the town.

So when Emmanuel saw that Mansoul was thus involved in sin, he
calls his army together, (since now also his words were despised,)
and gave out a commandment throughout all his host to be ready
against the time appointed. Now, forasmuch as there was no way
lawfully to take the town of Mansoul but to get in by the gates,
and at Ear-gate as the chief, therefore he commanded his captains
and commanders to bring their rams, their slings and their men, and
place them at Eye-gate and Ear-gate, in order to his taking the
town.

When Emmanuel had put all things in a readiness to give Diabolus
battle, he sent again to know of the town of Mansoul, if in
peaceable manner they would yield themselves, or whether they were
yet resolved to put him to try the utmost extremity? They then,
together with Diabolus their king, called a council of war, and
resolved upon certain propositions that should be offered to
Emmanuel, if he will accept thereof, so they agreed; and then the
next was, who should be sent on this errand. Now, there was in the
town of Mansoul an old man, a Diabolonian, and his name was Mr.
Loth-to-stoop, a stiff man in his way, and a great doer for
Diabolus; him, therefore, they sent, and put into his mouth what he
should say. So he went and came to the camp to Emmanuel, and when
he was come, a time was appointed to give him audience. So at the
time he came, and after a Diabolonian ceremony or two, he thus
began and said, 'Great sir, that it may be known unto all men how
good-natured a prince my master is, he has sent me to tell your
lordship that he is very willing, rather than go to war, to deliver
up into your hands one half of the town of Mansoul. I am therefore
to know if your Mightiness will accept of this proposition.'

Then said Emmanuel, 'The whole is mine by gift and purchase,
wherefore I will never lose one half.'

Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, 'Sir, my master hath said that he will
be content that you shall be the nominal and titular Lord of all,
if he may possess but a part.'

Then Emmanuel answered, 'The whole is mine really, not in name and
word only; wherefore I will be the sole lord and possessor of all,
or of none at all, of Mansoul.'

Then Mr. Loth-to-stoop said again, 'Sir, behold the condescension
of my master! He says, that he will be content, if he may but have
assigned to him some place in Mansoul as a place to live privately
in, and you shall be Lord of all the rest.'

Then said the golden Prince, 'All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me; and of all that he giveth me I will lose nothing--no,
not a hoof nor a hair. I will not, therefore, grant him, no, not
the least corner of Mansoul to dwell in; I will have all to
myself.'

Then Loth-to-stoop said again, 'But, sir, suppose that my Lord
should resign the whole town to you, only with this proviso, that
he sometimes, when he comes into this country, may, for old
acquaintance' sake, be entertained as a wayfaring man for two days,
or ten days or a month, or so. May not this small matter be
granted?'

Then said Emmanuel, 'No. He came as a wayfaring man to David, nor
did he stay long with him, and yet it had like to have cost David
his soul. I will not consent that he ever should have any harbour
more there.'

Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, 'Sir, you seem to be very hard.
Suppose my master should yield to all that your lordship hath said,
provided that his friends and kindred in Mansoul may have liberty
to trade in the town, and to enjoy their present dwellings. May
not that be granted, sir?'

Then said Emmanuel, 'No; that is contrary to my Father's will; for
all, and all manner of Diabolonians that now are, or that at any
time shall be found in Mansoul, shall not only lose their lands and
liberties, but also their lives.'

Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop again, 'But, sir, may not my master and
great lord, by letters, by passengers, by accidental opportunities,
and the like, maintain, if he shall deliver up all unto thee, some
kind of old friendship with Mansoul?'

Emmanuel answered, 'No, by no means; forasmuch as any such
fellowship, friendship, intimacy, or acquaintance, in what way,
sort, or mode soever maintained, will tend to the corrupting of
Mansoul, the alienating of their affections from me, and the
endangering of their peace with my Father.'

Mr. Loth-to-stoop yet added further, saying, 'But, great sir, since
my master hath many friends, and those that are dear to him, in
Mansoul, may he not, if he shall depart from them, even of his
bounty and good-nature, bestow upon them, as he sees fit, some
tokens of his love and kindness that he had for them, to the end
that Mansoul, when he is gone, may look upon such tokens of
kindness once received from their old friend, and remember him who
was once their king, and the merry times that they sometimes
enjoyed one with another, while he and they lived in peace
together?'

Then said Emmanuel, 'No; for if Mansoul come to be mine, I shall
not admit of nor consent that there should be the least scrap,
shred, or dust of Diabolus left behind, as tokens of gifts bestowed
upon any in Mansoul, thereby to call to remembrance the horrible
communion that was betwixt them and him.'

'Well, sir,' said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, 'I have one thing more to
propound, and then I am got to the end of my commission. Suppose
that, when my master is gone from Mansoul, any that shall yet live
in the town should have such business of high concerns to do, that
if they be neglected the party shall be undone; and suppose, sir,
that nobody can help in that case so well as my master and lord,
may not now my master be sent for upon so urgent an occasion as
this? Or if he may not be admitted into the town, may not he and
the person concerned meet in some of the villages near Mansoul, and
there lay their heads together, and there consult of matters?'

This was the last of those ensnaring propositions that Mr. Loth-to-
stoop had to propound to Emmanuel on behalf of his master Diabolus;
but Emmanuel would not grant it; for he said, 'There can be no
case, or thing, or matter fall out in Mansoul, when thy master
shall be gone, that may not be solved by my Father; besides, it
will be a great disparagement to my Father's wisdom and skill to
admit any from Mansoul to go out to Diabolus for advice, when they
are bid before, in everything, by prayer and supplication to let
their requests be made known to my Father. Further, this, should
it be granted, would be to grant that a door should be set open for
Diabolus, and the Diabolonians in Mansoul, to hatch, and plot, and
bring to pass treasonable designs, to the grief of my Father and
me, and to the utter destruction of Mansoul.'

When Mr. Loth-to-stoop had heard this answer, he took his leave of
Emmanuel, and departed, saying that he would carry word to his
master concerning this whole affair. So he departed, and came to
Diabolus to Mansoul, and told him the whole of the matter, and how
Emmanuel would not admit, no, not by any means, that he, when he
was once gone out, should for ever have anything more to do either
in, or with any that are of the town of Mansoul. When Mansoul and
Diabolus had heard this relation of things, they with one consent
concluded to use their best endeavour to keep Emmanuel out of
Mansoul, and sent old Ill-Pause, of whom you have heard before, to
tell the Prince and his captains so. So the old gentleman came up
to the top of Ear-gate, and called to the camp for a hearing, who
when they gave audience, he said, 'I have in commandment from my
high lord to bid you tell it to your Prince Emmanuel, that Mansoul
and their king are resolved to stand and fall together; and that it
is in vain for your Prince to think of ever having Mansoul in his
hand, unless he can take it by force.' So some went and told to
Emmanuel what old Ill-Pause, a Diabolonian in Mansoul, had said.
Then said the Prince, 'I must try the power of my sword, for I will
not (for all the rebellions and repulses that Mansoul has made
against me) raise my siege and depart, but will assuredly take my
Mansoul, and deliver it from the hand of her enemy.' And with that
he gave out a commandment that Captain Boanerges, Captain
Conviction, Captain Judgment, and Captain Execution should
forthwith march up to Ear-gate with trumpets sounding, colours
flying, and with shouting for the battle. Also he would that
Captain Credence should join himself with them. Emmanuel,
moreover, gave order that Captain Good-Hope and Captain Charity
should draw themselves up before Eye-gate. He bid also that the
rest of his captains and their men should place themselves for the
best of their advantage against the enemy round about the town; and
all was done as he had commanded.

Then he bid that the word should be given forth, and the word was
at that time, 'EMMANUEL.' Then was an alarm sounded, and the
battering-rams were played, and the slings did whirl stones into
the town amain, and thus the battle began. Now Diabolus himself
did manage the townsmen in the war, and that at every gate;
wherefore their resistance was the more forcible, hellish, and
offensive to Emmanuel. Thus was the good Prince engaged and
entertained by Diabolus and Mansoul for several days together; and
a sight worth seeing it was to behold how the captains of Shaddai
behaved themselves in this war.

And first for Captain Boanerges, (not to under-value the rest,) he
made three most fierce assaults, one after another, upon Ear-gate,
to the shaking of the posts thereof. Captain Conviction, he also
made up as fast with Boanerges as possibly he could, and both
discerning that the gate began to yield, they commanded that the
rams should still be played against it. Now, Captain Conviction,
going up very near to the gate, was with great force driven back,
and received three wounds in the mouth. And those that rode
reformades, they went about to encourage the captains.

For the valour of the two captains, made mention of before, the
Prince sent for them to his pavilion, and commanded that a while
they should rest themselves, and that with somewhat they should be
refreshed. Care also was taken for Captain Conviction, that he
should be healed of his wounds. The Prince also gave to each of
them a chain of gold, and bid them yet be of good courage.

Nor did Captain Good-Hope nor Captain Charity come behind in this
most desperate fight, for they so well did behave themselves at
Eye-gate, that they had almost broken it quite open. These also
had a reward from their Prince, as also had the rest of the
captains, because they did valiantly round about the town.

In this engagement several of the officers of Diabolus were slain,
and some of the townsmen wounded. For the officers, there was one
Captain Boasting slain. This Boasting thought that nobody could
have shaken the posts of Ear-gate, nor have shaken the heart of
Diabolus. Next to him there was one Captain Secure slain: this
Secure used to say that the blind and lame in Mansoul were able to
keep the gates of the town against Emmanuel's army. This Captain
Secure did Captain Conviction cleave down the head with a two-
handed sword, when he received himself three wounds in his mouth.

Besides these there was one Captain Bragman, a very desperate
fellow, and he was captain over a band of those that threw
firebrands, arrows, and death: he also received, by the hand of
Captain Good-Hope at Eye-gate, a mortal wound in the breast.

There was, moreover, one Mr. Feeling; but he was no captain, but a
great stickler to encourage Mansoul to rebellion. He received a
wound in the eye by the hand of one of Boanerges' soldiers, and had
by the captain himself been slain, but that he made a sudden
retreat.

But I never saw Willbewill so daunted in all my life; he was not
able to do as he was wont, and some say that he also received a
wound in the leg, and that some of the men in the Prince's army
have certainly seen him limp as he afterwards walked on the wall.

I shall not give you a particular account of the names of the
soldiers that were slain in the town, for many were maimed, and
wounded, and slain; for when they saw that the posts of Ear-gate
did shake, and Eye-gate was well-nigh broken quite open, and also
that their captains were slain, this took away the hearts of many
of the Diabolonians; they fell also by the force of the shot that
were sent by the golden slings into the midst of the town of
Mansoul.

Of the townsmen, there was one Love-no-Good; he was a townsman, but
a Diabolonian; he also received his mortal wound in Mansoul, but he
died not very soon.

Mr. Ill-Pause also, who was the man that came along with Diabolus
when at first he attempted the taking of Mansoul, he also received
a grievous wound in the head; some say that his brain-pan was
cracked. This I have taken notice of, that he was never after this
able to do that mischief to Mansoul as he had done in times past.
Also old Prejudice and Mr. Anything fled.

Now, when the battle was over, the Prince commanded that yet once
more the white flag should be set upon Mount Gracious in sight of
the town of Mansoul, to show that yet Emmanuel had grace for the
wretched town of Mansoul.

When Diabolus saw the white flag hung out again, and knowing that
it was not for him, but Mansoul, he cast in his mind to play
another prank, to wit, to see if Emmanuel would raise his siege and
begone, upon promise of reformation. So he comes down to the gate
one evening, a good while after the sun was gone down, and calls to
speak with Emmanuel, who presently came down to the gate, and
Diabolus saith unto him:

'Forasmuch as thou makest it appear by thy white flag that thou art
wholly given to peace and quiet, I thought meet to acquaint thee
that we are ready to accept thereof upon terms which thou mayest
admit.

'I know that thou art given to devotion, and that holiness pleaseth
thee; yea, that thy great end in making a war upon Mansoul is, that
it may be a holy habitation. Well, draw off thy forces from the
town, and I will bend Mansoul to thy bow.

'First, I will lay down all acts of hostility against thee, and
will be willing to become thy deputy, and will, as I have formerly
been against thee, now serve thee in the town of Mansoul. And more
particularly,

'1. I will persuade Mansoul to receive thee for their Lord; and I
know that they will do it the sooner when they shall understand
that I am thy deputy.

'2. I will show them wherein they have erred, and that
transgression stands in the way to life.

'3. I will show them the holy law unto which they must conform,
even that which they have broken.

'4. I will press upon them the necessity of a reformation according
to thy law.

'5. And, moreover, that none of these things may fail, I myself, at
my own proper cost and charge, will set up and maintain a
sufficient ministry, besides lectures, in Mansoul.

'6. Thou shalt receive, as a token of our subjection to thee, year
by year, what thou shalt think fit to lay and levy upon us in token
of our subjection to thee.'

Then said Emmanuel to him, 'O full of deceit, how movable are thy
ways! How often hast thou changed and rechanged, if so be thou
mightest still keep possession of my Mansoul, though, as has been
plainly declared before, I am the right heir thereof! Often hast
thou made thy proposals already, nor is this last a whit better
than they. And failing to deceive when thou showedst thyself in
thy black, thou hast now transformed thyself into an angel of
light, and wouldst, to deceive, be now as a minister of
righteousness.

'But know thou, O Diabolus, that nothing must be regarded that thou
canst propound, for nothing is done by thee but to deceive. Thou
neither hast conscience to God, nor love to the town of Mansoul;
whence, then, should these thy sayings arise but from sinful craft
and deceit? He that can of list and will propound what he pleases,
and that wherewith he may destroy them that believe him, is to be
abandoned, with all that he shall say. But if righteousness be
such a beauty-spot in thine eyes now, how is it that wickedness was
so closely stuck to by thee before? But this is by-the-bye.

'Thou talkest now of a reformation in Mansoul, and that thou
thyself, if I will please, wilt be at the head of that reformation;
all the while knowing that the greatest proficiency that man can
make in the law, and the righteousness thereof, will amount to no
more, for the taking away of the curse from Mansoul, than just
nothing at all; for a law being broken by Mansoul, that had before,
upon a supposition of the breach thereof, a curse pronounced
against him for it of God, can never, by his obeying of the law,
deliver himself therefrom (to say nothing of what a reformation is
like to be set up in Mansoul when the devil is become corrector of
vice). Thou knowest that all that thou hast now said in this
matter is nothing but guile and deceit; and is, as it was the
first, so is it the last card that thou hast to play. Many there
be that do soon discern thee when thou showest them thy cloven
foot; but in thy white, thy light, and in thy transformation, thou
art seen but of a few. But thou shalt not do thus with my Mansoul,
O Diabolus; for I do still love my Mansoul.

'Besides, I am not come to put Mansoul upon works to live thereby;
should I do so, I should be like unto thee: but I am come that by
me, and by what I have and shall do for Mansoul, they may to my
Father be reconciled, though by their sin they have provoked him to
anger, and though by the law they cannot obtain mercy.

'Thou talkest of subjecting of this town to good, when none
desireth it at thy hands. I am sent by my Father to possess it
myself, and to guide it by the skilfulness of my hands into such a
conformity to him as shall be pleasing in his sight. I will
therefore possess it myself; I will dispossess and cast thee out; I
will set up mine own standard in the midst of them; I will also
govern them by new laws, new officers, new motives, and new ways;
yea, I will pull down this town, and build it again; and it shall
be as though it had not been, and it shall then be the glory of the
whole universe.'

When Diabolus heard this, and perceived that he was discovered in
all his deceits, he was confounded, and utterly put to a nonplus;
but having in himself the fountain of iniquity, rage, and malice
against both Shaddai and his Son, and the beloved town of Mansoul,
what doth he but strengthen himself what he could to give fresh
battle to the noble Prince Emmanuel? So, then, now we must have
another fight before the town of Mansoul is taken. Come up, then,
to the mountains, you that love to see military actions, and behold
by both sides how the fatal blow is given, while one seeks to hold,
and the other seeks to make himself master of the famous town of
Mansoul.

Diabolus, therefore, having withdrawn himself from the wall to his
force that was in the heart of the town of Mansoul, Emmanuel also
returned to the camp; and both of them, after their divers ways,
put themselves into a posture fit to give battle one to another.

Diabolus, as filled with despair of retaining in his hands the
famous town of Mansoul, resolved to do what mischief he could (if,
indeed, he could do any) to the army of the Prince and to the
famous town of Mansoul; for, alas! it was not the happiness of the
silly town of Mansoul that was designed by Diabolus, but the utter
ruin and overthrow thereof, as now is enough in view. Wherefore,
he commands his officers that they should then, when they see that
they could hold the town no longer, do it what harm and mischief
they could, rendering and tearing men, women, and children. 'For,'
said he, 'we had better quite demolish the place, and leave it like
a ruinous heap, than so leave it that it may be an habitation for
Emmanuel.'

Emmanuel again, knowing that the next battle would issue in his
being made master of the place, gave out a royal commandment to all
his officers, high captains, and men of war, to be sure to show
themselves men of war against Diabolus and all Diabolonians; but
favourable, merciful, and meek to the old inhabitants of Mansoul.
'Bend, therefore,' said the noble Prince, 'the hottest front of the
battle against Diabolus and his men.'

So the day being come, the command was given, and the Prince's men
did bravely stand to their arms, and did, as before, bend their
main force against Ear-gate and Eye-gate. The word was then,
'Mansoul is won!' so they made their assault upon the town.
Diabolus also, as fast as he could, with the main of his power,
made resistance from within; and his high lords and chief captains
for a time fought very cruelly against the Prince's army.

But after three or four notable charges by the Prince and his noble
captains, Ear-gate was broken open, and the bars and bolts
wherewith it was used to be fast shut up against the Prince, were
broken into a thousand pieces. Then did the Prince's trumpets
sound, the captains shout, the town shake, and Diabolus retreat to
his hold. Well, when the Prince's forces had broken open the gate,
himself came up and did set his throne in it; also he set his
standard thereby, upon a mount that before by his men was cast up
to place the mighty slings thereon. The mount was called Mount
Hear-well. There, therefore, the Prince abode, to wit, hard by the
going in at the gate. He commanded also that the golden slings
should yet be played upon the town, especially against the castle,
because for shelter thither was Diabolus retreated. Now, from Ear-
gate the street was straight even to the house of Mr. Recorder that
so was before Diabolus took the town; and hard by his house stood
the castle, which Diabolus for a long time had made his irksome
den. The captains, therefore, did quickly clear that street by the
use of their slings, so that way was made up to the heart of the
town. Then did the Prince command that Captain Boanerges, Captain
Conviction, and Captain Judgment, should forthwith march up the
town to the old gentleman's gate. Then did the captains in the
most warlike manner enter into the town of Mansoul, and marching in
with flying colours, they came up to the Recorder's house, and that
was almost as strong as was the castle. Battering-rams they took
also with them, to plant against the castle gates. When they were
come to the house of Mr. Conscience, they knocked, and demanded
entrance. Now, the old gentleman, not knowing as yet fully their
design, kept his gates shut all the time of this fight. Wherefore
Boanerges demanded entrance at his gates; and no man making answer,
he gave it one stroke with the head of a ram, and this made the old
gentleman shake, and his house to tremble and totter. Then came
Mr. Recorder down to the gates, and, as he could, with quivering
lips he asked who was there? Boanerges answered, 'We are the
captains and commanders of the great Shaddai and of the blessed
Emmanuel, his Son, and we demand possession of your house for the
use of our noble Prince.' And with that the battering-ram gave the
gate another shake. This made the old gentleman tremble the more,
yet durst he not but open the gate: then the King's forces marched
in, namely, the three brave captains mentioned before. Now, the
Recorder's house was a place of much convenience for Emmanuel, not
only because it was near to the castle and strong, but also because
it was large, and fronted the castle, the den where now Diabolus
was, for he was now afraid to come out of his hold. As for Mr.
Recorder, the captains carried it very reservedly to him; as yet he
knew nothing of the great designs of Emmanuel, so that he did not
know what judgment to make, nor what would be the end of such
thundering beginnings. It was also presently noised in the town
how the Recorder's house was possessed, his rooms taken up, and his
palace made the seat of the war; and no sooner was it noised
abroad, but they took the alarm as warmly, and gave it out to
others of his friends, and you know, as a snowball loses nothing by
rolling, so in little time the whole town was possessed that they
must expect nothing from the Prince but destruction; and the ground
of the business was this, the Recorder was afraid, the Recorder
trembled, and the captains carried it strangely to the Recorder.
So many came to see, but when they with their own eyes did behold
the captains in the palace, and their battering-rams ever playing
at the castle gates to beat them down, they were riveted in their
fears, and it made them all in amaze. And, as I said, the man of
the house would increase all this; for whoever came to him, or
discoursed with him, nothing would he talk of, tell them, or hear,
but that death and destruction now attended Mansoul.

'For,' quoth the old gentleman, 'you are all of you sensible that
we all have been traitors to that once despised, but now famously
victorious and glorious Prince Emmanuel; for he now, as you see,
doth not only lie in close siege about us, but hath forced his
entrance in at our gates. Moreover, Diabolus flees before him; and
he hath, as you behold, made of my house a garrison against the
castle where he is. I, for my part, have transgressed greatly, and
he that is clean, it is well for him. But I say I have
transgressed greatly in keeping silence when I should have spoken,
and in perverting justice when I should have executed the same.
True, I have suffered something at the hand of Diabolus for taking
part with the laws of King Shaddai; but that, alas! what will that
do? Will that make compensation for the rebellions and treasons
that I have done, and have suffered without gainsaying to be
committed in the town of Mansoul? Oh! I tremble to think what will
be the end of this so dreadful and so ireful a beginning!'

Now, while these brave captains were thus busy in the house of the
old Recorder, Captain Execution was as busy in other parts of the
town, in securing the back streets and the walls. He also hunted
the Lord Willbewill sorely; he suffered him not to rest in any
corner; he pursued him so hard that he drove his men from him, and
made him glad to thrust his head into a hole. Also this mighty
warrior did cut three of the Lord Willbewill's officers down to the
ground: one was old Mr. Prejudice, he that had his crown cracked
in the mutiny. This man was made by Lord Willbewill keeper of the
Ear-gate, and fell by the hand of Captain Execution. There was
also one Mr. Backward-to-all-but-naught, and he also was one of
Lord Willbewill's officers, and was the captain of the two guns
that once were mounted on the top of Ear-gate; he also was cut down
to the ground by the hands of Captain Execution. Besides these two
there was another, a third, and his name was Captain Treacherous; a
vile man this was, but one that Willbewill did put a great deal of
confidence in; but him also did this Captain Execution cut down to
the ground with the rest.

He also made a very great slaughter among my Lord Willbewill's
soldiers, killing many that were stout and sturdy, and wounding
many that for Diabolus were nimble and active. But all these were
Diabolonians; there was not a man, a native of Mansoul, hurt.

Other feats of war were also likewise performed by other of the
captains, as at Eye-gate, where Captain Good-Hope and Captain
Charity had a charge, was great execution done; for the Captain
Good-Hope, with his own hands, slew one Captain Blindfold, the
keeper of that gate. This Blindfold was captain of a thousand men,
and they were they that fought with mauls; he also pursued his men,
slew many, and wounded more, and made the rest hide their heads in
corners.

There was also at that gate Mr. Ill-Pause, of whom you have heard
before. He was an old man, and had a beard that reached down to
his girdle: the same was he that was orator to Diabolus: he did
much mischief in the town of Mansoul, and fell by the hand of
Captain Good-Hope.

What shall I say? The Diabolonians in these days lay dead in every
corner, though too many yet were alive in Mansoul.

Now, the old Recorder and my Lord Understanding, with some others
of the chief of the town, to wit, such as knew they must stand and
fall with the famous town of Mansoul, came together upon a day, and
after consultation had, did jointly agree to draw up a petition,
and to send it to Emmanuel, now while he sat in the gate of
Mansoul. So they drew up their petition to Emmanuel, the contents
whereof were these: That they, the old inhabitants of the now
deplorable town of Mansoul, confessed their sin, and were sorry
that they had offended his princely Majesty, and prayed that he
would spare their lives.

Unto this petition he gave no answer at all, and that did trouble
them yet so much the more. Now, all this while the captains that
were in the Recorder's house were playing with the battering-rams
at the gates of the castle, to beat them down. So after some time,
labour, and travail, the gate of the castle that was called
Impregnable was beaten open, and broken into several splinters, and
so a way made to go up to the hold in which Diabolus had hid
himself. Then were tidings sent down to Ear-gate, for Emmanuel
still abode there, to let him know that a way was made in at the
gates of the castle of Mansoul. But, oh! how the trumpets at the
tidings sounded throughout the Prince's camp, for that now the war
was so near an end, and Mansoul itself of being set free.

Then the Prince arose from the place where he was, and took with
him such of his men of war as were fittest for that expedition, and
marched up the street of Mansoul to the old Recorder's house.

Now, the Prince himself was clad all in armour of gold, and so he
marched up the town with his standard borne before him; but he kept
his countenance much reserved all the way as he went, so that the
people could not tell how to gather to themselves love or hatred by
his looks. Now, as he marched up the street, the townsfolk came
out at every door to see, and could not but be taken with his
person and the glory thereof, but wondered at the reservedness of
his countenance; for as yet he spake more to them by his actions
and works than he did by words or smiles. But also poor Mansoul,
(as in such cases all are apt to do,) they interpreted the carriage
of Emmanuel to them as did Joseph's brethren his to them, even all
the quite contrary way. 'For,' thought they, 'if Emmanuel loved
us, he would show it to us by word of carriage; but none of these
he doth, therefore Emmanuel hates us. Now, if Emmanuel hates us,
then Mansoul shall be slain, then Mansoul shall become a dunghill.'
They knew that they had transgressed his Father's law, and that
against him they had been in with Diabolus, his enemy. They also
knew that the Prince Emmanuel knew all this; for they were
convinced that he was an angel of God, to know all things that are
done in the earth; and this made them think that their condition
was miserable, and that the good Prince would make them desolate.

'And,' thought they, 'what time so fit to do this in as now, when
he has the bridle of Mansoul in his hand?' And this I took special
notice of, that the inhabitants, notwithstanding all this, could
not--no, they could not, when they see him march through the town,
but cringe, bow, bend, and were ready to lick the dust of his feet.
They also wished a thousand times over that he would become their
Prince and Captain, and would become their protection. They would
also one to another talk of the comeliness of his person, and how
much for glory and valour he outstripped the great ones of the
world. But, poor hearts, as to themselves, their thoughts would
chance, and go upon all manner of extremes. Yea, through the
working of them backward and forward, Mansoul became as a ball
tossed, and as a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

Now, when he was come to the castle gates, he commanded Diabolus to
appear, and to surrender himself into his hands. But, oh! how
loath was the beast to appear! how he stuck at it! how he shrank!
how he cringed! yet out he came to the Prince. Then Emmanuel
commanded, and they took Diabolus and bound him fast in chains, the
better to reserve him to the judgment that he had appointed for
him. But Diabolus stood up to entreat for himself that Emmanuel
would not send him into the deep, but suffer him to depart out of
Mansoul in peace.

When Emmanuel had taken him and bound him in chains, he led him
into the marketplace, and there, before Mansoul, stripped him of
his armour in which he boasted so much before. This now was one of
the acts of triumph of Emmanuel over his enemy; and all the while
that the giant was stripping, the trumpets of the golden Prince did
sound amain; the captains also shouted, and the soldiers did sing
for joy.

Then was Mansoul called upon to behold the beginning of Emmanuel's
triumph over him in whom they so much had trusted, and of whom they
so much had boasted in the days when he flattered them.

Thus having made Diabolus naked in the eyes of Mansoul, and before
the commanders of the Prince, in the next place, he commands that
Diabolus should be bound with chains to his chariot wheels. Then
leaving some of his forces, to wit, Captain Boanerges and Captain
Conviction, as a guard for the castle-gates, that resistance might
be made on his behalf, (if any that heretofore followed Diabolus
should make an attempt to possess it,) he did ride in triumph over
him quite through the town of Mansoul, and so out at and before the
gate called Eye-gate, to the plain where his camp did lie.

But you cannot think, unless you had been there, as I was, what a
shout there was in Emmanuel's camp when they saw the tyrant bound
by the hand of their noble Prince, and tied to his chariot wheels!

And they said, 'He hath led captivity captive, he hath spoiled
principalities and powers. Diabolus is subjected to the power of
his sword, and made the object of all derision.'

Those also that rode reformades, and that came down to see the
battle, they shouted with that greatness of voice, and sung with
such melodious notes, that they caused them that dwell in the
highest orbs to open their windows, put out their heads, and look
to see the cause of that glory.

The townsmen also, so many of them as saw this sight, were, as it
were, while they looked, betwixt the earth and the heavens. True,
they could not tell what would be the issue of things as to them;
but all things were done in such excellent methods, and I cannot
tell how, but things in the management of them seemed to cast a
smile towards the town, so that their eyes, their heads, their
hearts, and their minds, and all that they had, were taken and held
while they observed Emmanuel's order.

So, when the brave Prince had finished this part of his triumph
over Diabolus his foe, he turned him up in the midst of his
contempt and shame, having given him a charge no more to be a
possessor of Mansoul. Then went he from Emmanuel, and out of the
midst of his camp, to inherit the parched places in a salt land,
seeking rest, but finding none.

Now, Captain Boanerges and Captain Conviction were, both of them,
men of very great majesty; their faces were like the faces of
lions, and their words like the roaring of the sea; and they still
quartered in Mr. Conscience's house, of whom mention was made
before. When, therefore, the high and mighty Prince had thus far
finished his triumph over Diabolus, the townsmen had more leisure
to view and to behold the actions of these noble captains. But the
captains carried it with that terror and dread in all that they
did, (and you may be sure that they had private instructions so to
do,) that they kept the town under continual heart-aching, and
caused (in their apprehension) the well-being of Mansoul for the
future to hang in doubt before them, so that for some considerable
time they neither knew what rest, or ease, or peace, or hope meant.

Nor did the Prince himself as yet abide in the town of Mansoul, but
in his royal pavilion in the camp, and in the midst of his Father's
forces. So, at a time convenient, he sent special orders to
Captain Boanerges to summons Mansoul, the whole of the townsmen,
into the castle-yard, and then and there, before their faces, to
take my Lord Understanding, Mr. Conscience, and that notable one,
the Lord Willbewill, and put them all three in ward, and that they
should set a strong guard upon them there, until his pleasure
concerning them was further known: the which orders, when the
captains had put them in execution, made no small addition to the
fears of the town of Mansoul; for now, to their thinking, were
their former fears of the ruin of Mansoul confirmed. Now, what
death they should die, and how long they should be in dying, was
that which most perplexed their heads and hearts; yea, they were
afraid that Emmanuel would command them all into the deep, the
place that the prince Diabolus was afraid of, for they knew that
they had deserved it. Also to die by the sword in the face of the
town, and in the open way of disgrace, from the hand of so good and
so holy a prince, that, too, troubled them sore. The town was also
greatly troubled for the men that were committed to ward, for that
they were their stay and their guide, and for that they believed
that, if those men were cut off, their execution would be but the
beginning of the ruin of the town of Mansoul. Wherefore, what do
they, but, together with the men in prison, draw up a petition to
the Prince, and sent it to Emmanuel by the hand of Mr. Would-live.
So he went, and came to the Prince's quarters, and presented the
petition, the sum of which was this:

'Great and wonderful Potentate, victor over Diabolus, and conqueror
of the town of Mansoul, We, the miserable inhabitants of that most
woful corporation, do humbly beg that we may find favour in thy
sight, and remember not against us former transgressions, nor yet
the sins of the chief of our town: but spare us according to the
greatness of thy mercy, and let us not die, but live in thy sight.
So shall we be willing to be thy servants, and, if thou shalt think
fit, to gather our meat under thy table. Amen.'

So the petitioner went, as was said, with his petition to the
Prince; and the Prince took it at his hand, but sent him away with
silence. This still afflicted the town of Mansoul; but yet,
considering that now they must either petition or die, for now they
could not do anything else, therefore they consulted again, and
sent another petition; and this petition was much after the form
and method of the former.

But when the petition was drawn up, By whom should they send it?
was the next question; for they would not send this by him by whom
they sent the first, for they thought that the Prince had taken
some offence at the manner of his deportment before him: so they
attempted to make Captain Conviction their messenger with it; but
he said that he neither durst nor would petition Emmanuel for
traitors, nor be to the Prince an advocate for rebels. 'Yet
withal,' said he, 'our Prince is good, and you may adventure to
send it by the hand of one of your town, provided he went with a
rope about his head, and pleaded nothing but mercy.'

Well, they made, through fear, their delays as long as they could,
and longer than delays were good; but fearing at last the
dangerousness of them, they thought, but with many a fainting in
their minds, to send their petition by Mr. Desires-awake; so they
sent for Mr. Desires-awake. Now he dwelt in a very mean cottage in
Mansoul, and he came at his neighbour's request. So they told him
what they had done, and what they would do, concerning petitioning,
and that they did desire of him that he would go therewith to the
Prince.

Then said Mr. Desires-awake, 'Why should not I do the best I can to
save so famous a town as Mansoul from deserved destruction?' They
therefore delivered the petition to him, and told him how he must
address himself to the Prince, and wished him ten thousand good
speeds. So he comes to the Prince's pavilion, as the first, and
asked to speak with his Majesty. So word was carried to Emmanuel,
and the Prince came out to the man. When Mr. Desires-awake saw the
Prince, he fell flat with his face to the ground, and cried out,
'Oh that Mansoul might live before thee!' and with that he
presented the petition; the which when the Prince had read, he
turned away for a while and wept; but refraining himself, he turned
again to the man, who all this while lay crying at his feet, as at
the first, and said to him, 'Go thy way to thy place, and I will
consider of thy requests.'

Now, you may think that they of Mansoul that had sent him, what
with guilt, and what with fear lest their petition should be
rejected, could not but look with many a long look, and that, too,
with strange workings of heart, to see what would become of their
petition. At last they saw their messenger coming back. So, when
he was come, they asked him how he fared, what Emmanuel said, and
what was become of the petition. But he told them that he would be
silent till he came to the prison to my Lord Mayor, my Lord
Willbewill, and Mr. Recorder. So he went forwards towards the
prison-house, where the men of Mansoul lay bound. But, oh! what a
multitude flocked after, to hear what the messenger said. So, when
he was come, and had shown himself at the gate of the prison, my
Lord Mayor himself looked as white as a clout; the Recorder also
did quake. But they asked and said, 'Come, good sir, what did the
great Prince say to you?' Then said Mr. Desires-awake, 'When I
came to my Lord's pavilion, I called, and he came forth. So I fell
prostrate at his feet, and delivered to him my petition; for the
greatness of his person, and the glory of his countenance, would
not suffer me to stand upon my legs. Now, as he received the
petition, I cried, "Oh that Mansoul might live before thee!" So,
when for a while he had looked thereon, he turned him about, and
said to his servant, "Go thy way to thy place again, and I will
consider of thy requests."' The messenger added, moreover, and
said, 'The Prince to whom you sent me is such a one for beauty and
glory, that whoso sees him must both love and fear him. I, for my
part, can do no less; but I know not what will be the end of these
things.'

At this answer they were all at a stand, both they in prison, and
they that followed the messenger thither to hear the news; nor knew
they what, or what manner of interpretation to put upon what the
Prince had said. Now, when the prison was cleared of the throng,
the prisoners among themselves began to comment upon Emmanuel's
words. My Lord Mayor said, that the answer did not look with a
rugged face; but Willbewill said that it betokened evil; and the
Recorder, that it was a messenger of death. Now, they that were
left, and that stood behind, and so could not so well hear what the
prisoners said, some of them catched hold of one piece of a
sentence, and some on a bit of another; some took hold of what the
messenger said, and some of the prisoners' judgment thereon; so
none had the right understanding of things. But you cannot imagine
what work these people made, and what a confusion there was in
Mansoul now.

For presently they that had heard what was said flew about the
town, one crying one thing, and another the quite contrary; and
both were sure enough they told true; for they did hear, they said,
with their ears what was said, and therefore could not be deceived.
One would say, 'We must all be killed;' another would say, 'We must
all be saved;' and a third would say that the Prince would not be
concerned with Mansoul; and a fourth, that the prisoners must be
suddenly put to death. And, as I said, every one stood to it that
he told his tale the rightest, and that all others but he were out.
Wherefore Mansoul had now molestation upon molestation, nor could
any man know on what to rest the sole of his foot; for one would go
by now, and as he went, if he heard his neighbour tell his tale, to
be sure he would tell the quite contrary, and both would stand in
it that he told the truth. Nay, some of them had got this story by
the end, that the Prince did intend to put Mansoul to the sword.
And now it began to be dark, wherefore poor Mansoul was in sad
perplexity all that night until the morning.

But, so far as I could gather by the best information that I could
get, all this hubbub came through the words that the Recorder said
when he told them that, in his judgment, the Prince's answer was a
messenger of death. It was this that fired the town, and that
began the fright in Mansoul; for Mansoul in former times did use to
count that Mr. Recorder was a seer, and that his sentence was equal
to the best of orators; and thus was Mansoul a terror to itself.

And now did they begin to feel what were the effects of stubborn
rebellion, and unlawful resistance against their Prince. I say,
they now began to feel the effects thereof by guilt and fear, that
now had swallowed them up; and who more involved in the one but
they that were most in the other, to wit, the chief of the town of
Mansoul?

To be brief: when the fame of the fright was out of the town, and
the prisoners had a little recovered themselves, they take to
themselves some heart, and think to petition the Prince for life
again. So they did draw up a third petition, the contents whereof
were these:-

'Prince Emmanuel the Great, Lord of all worlds, and Master of
mercy, we, thy poor, wretched, miserable, dying town of Mansoul, do
confess unto thy great and glorious Majesty that we have sinned
against thy Father and thee, and are no more worthy to be called
thy Mansoul, but rather to be cast into the pit. If thou wilt slay
us, we have deserved it. If thou wilt condemn us to the deep, we
cannot but say thou art righteous. We cannot complain whatever
thou dost, or however thou carriest it towards us. But, oh! let
mercy reign, and let it be extended to us! Oh! let mercy take hold
upon us, and free us from our transgressions, and we will sing of
thy mercy and of thy judgment. Amen.'

This petition, when drawn up, was designed to be sent to the Prince
as the first. But who should carry it?--that was the question.
Some said, 'Let him do it that went with the first,' but others
thought not good to do that, and that because he sped no better.
Now, there was an old man in the town, and his name was Mr. Good-
Deed; a man that bare only the name, but had nothing of the nature
of the thing. Now, some were for sending him; but the Recorder was
by no means for that. 'For,' said he, 'we now stand in need of,
and are pleading for mercy: wherefore, to send our petition by a
man of this name, will seem to cross the petition itself. Should
we make Mr. Good-Deed our messenger, when our petition cries for
mercy?

'Besides,' quoth the old gentleman, 'should the Prince now, as he
receives the petition, ask him, and say, "What is thy name?" as
nobody knows but he will, and he should say, "Old Good-Deed," what,
think you, would Emmanuel say but this? "Ay! is old Good-Deed yet
alive in Mansoul? then let old Good-Deed save you from your
distresses." And if he says so, I am sure we are lost; nor can a
thousand of old Good-Deeds save Mansoul.'

After the Recorder had given in his reasons why old Good-Deed
should not go with this petition to Emmanuel, the rest of the
prisoners and chief of Mansoul opposed it also, and so old Good-
Deed was laid aside, and they agreed to send Mr. Desires-awake
again. So they sent for him, and desired him that he would a
second time go with their petition to the Prince, and he readily
told them he would. But they bid him that in anywise he should
take heed that in no word or carriage he gave offence to the
Prince; 'For by doing so, for ought we can tell, you may bring
Mansoul into utter destruction,' said they.

Now Mr. Desires-awake, when he saw that he must go on this errand,
besought that they would grant that Mr. Wet-Eyes might go with him.
Now this Mr. Wet-Eyes was a near neighbour of Mr. Desires, a poor
man, a man of a broken spirit, yet one that could speak well to a
petition; so they granted that he should go with him. Wherefore,
they address themselves to their business: Mr. Desires put a rope
upon his head, and Mr. Wet-Eyes went with his hands wringing
together. Thus they went to the Prince's pavilion.

Now, when they went to petition this third time, they were not
without thoughts that, by often coming, they might be a burden to
the Prince. Wherefore, when they were come to the door of his
pavilion, they first made their apology for themselves, and for
their coming to trouble Emmanuel so often; and they said, that they
came not hither to-day for that they delighted in being
troublesome, or for that they delighted to hear themselves talk,
but for that necessity caused them to come to his Majesty. They
could, they said, have no rest day nor night because of their
transgressions against Shaddai and against Emmanuel, his Son. They
also thought that some misbehaviour of Mr. Desires-awake the last
time might give distaste to his Highness, and so cause that he
returned from so merciful a Prince empty, and without countenance.
So, when they had made this apology, Mr. Desires-awake cast himself
prostrate upon the ground, as at the first, at the feet of the
mighty Prince, saying, 'Oh! that Mansoul might live before thee!'
and so he delivered his petition. The Prince then, having read the
petition, turned aside awhile as before, and coming again to the
place where the petitioner lay on the ground, he demanded what his
name was, and of what esteem in the account of Mansoul, for that
he, above all the multitude in Mansoul, should be sent to him upon
such an errand. Then said the man to the Prince, 'Oh let not my
Lord be angry; and why inquirest thou after the name of such a dead
do--as I am? Pass by, I pray thee, and take not notice of who I
am, because there is, as thou very well knowest, so great a
disproportion between me and thee. Why the townsmen chose to send
me on this errand to my Lord is best known to themselves, but it
could not be for that they thought that I had favour with my Lord.
For my part, I am out of charity with myself; who, then, should be
in love with me? Yet live I would, and so would I that my townsmen
should; and because both they and myself are guilty of great
transgressions, therefore they have sent me, and I am come in their
names to beg of my Lord for mercy. Let it please thee, therefore,
to incline to mercy; but ask not what thy servants are.'

Then said the Prince, 'And what is he that is become thy companion
in this so weighty a matter?' So Mr. Desires told Emmanuel that he
was a poor neighbour of his, and one of his most intimate
associates. 'And his name,' said he, 'may it please your most
excellent Majesty, is Wet-Eyes, of the town of Mansoul, I know that
there are many of that name that are naught; but I hope it will be
no offence to my Lord that I have brought my poor neighbour with
me.'

Then Mr. Wet-Eyes fell on his face to the ground, and made this
apology for his coming with his neighbour to his Lord:-

'O, my Lord,' quoth he, 'what I am I know not myself, nor whether
my name be feigned or true, especially when I begin to think what
some have said, namely, That this name was given me because Mr.
Repentance was my father. Good men have bad children, and the
sincere do oftentimes beget hypocrites. My mother also called me
by this name from the cradle; but whether because of the moistness
of my brain, or because of the softness of my heart, I cannot tell.
I see dirt in mine own tears, and filthiness in the bottom of my
prayers. But I pray thee (and all this while the gentleman wept)
that thou wouldest not remember against us our transgressions, nor
take offence at the unqualifiedness of thy servants, but mercifully
pass by the sin of Mansoul, and refrain from the glorifying of thy
grace no longer.'

So at his bidding they arose, and both stood trembling before him,
and he spake to them to this purpose:-

"The town of Mansoul hath grievously rebelled against my Father, in
that they have rejected him from being their King, and did choose
to themselves for their captain a liar, a murderer, and a runagate
slave. For this Diabolus, your pretended prince, though once so
highly accounted of by you, made rebellion against my Father and
me, even in our palace and highest court there, thinking to become
a prince and king. But being there timely discovered and
apprehended, and for his wickedness bound in chains, and separated
to the pit with those that were his companions, he offered himself
to you, and you have received him.

'Now this is, and for a long time hath been, a high affront to my
Father; wherefore my Father sent to you a powerful army to reduce
you to your obedience. But you know how these men, their captains
and their counsels, were esteemed of you, and what they received at
your hand. You rebelled against them, you shut your gates upon
them, you bid them battle, you fought them, and fought for Diabolus
against them. So they sent to my Father for more power, and I,
with my men, are come to subdue you. But as you treated the
servants, so you treated their Lord. You stood up in hostile
manner against me, you shut up your gates against me, you turned
the deaf ear to me, and resisted as long as you could; but now I
have made a conquest of you. Did you cry me mercy so long as you
had hopes that you might prevail against me? But now I have taken
the town, you cry; but why did you not cry before, when the white
flag of my mercy, the red flag of justice, and the black flag that
threatened execution, were set up to cite you to it? Now I have
conquered your Diabolus, you come to me for favour; but why did you
not help me against the mighty? Yet I will consider your petition,
and will answer it so as will be for my glory.

'Go, bid Captain Boanerges and Captain Conviction bring the
prisoners out to me into the camp to-morrow, and say you to Captain
Judgment and Captain Execution, "Stay you in the castle, and take
good heed to yourselves that you keep all quiet in Mansoul until
you shall hear further from me."' And with that he turned himself
from them, and went into his royal pavilion again.

So the petitioners, having received this answer from the Prince,
returned, as at the first, to go to their companions again. But
they had not gone far, but thoughts began to work in their minds
that no mercy as yet was intended by the Prince to Mansoul. So
they went to the place where the prisoners lay bound; but these
workings of mind about what would become of Mansoul had such strong
power over them, that by that they were come unto them that sent
them, they were scarce able to deliver their message.

But they came at length to the gates of the town, (now the townsmen
with earnestness were waiting for their return,) where many met
them, to know what answer was made to the petition. Then they
cried out to those that were sent, 'What news from the Prince? and
what hath Emmanuel said?' But they said that they must, as afore,
go up to the prison, and there deliver their message. So away they
went to the prison, with a multitude at their heels. Now, when
they were come to the gates of the prison, they told the first part
of Emmanuel's speech to the prisoners, to wit, how he reflected
upon their disloyalty to his Father and himself, and how they had
chosen and closed with Diabolus, had fought for him, hearkened to
him, and been ruled by him; but had despised him and his men. This
made the prisoners look pale; but the messengers proceeded and
said, 'He, the Prince, said, moreover, that yet he would consider
your petition, and give such answer thereto as would stand with his
glory.' And as these words were spoken, Mr. Wet-Eyes gave a great
sigh. At this they were all of them struck into their dumps, and
could not tell what to say: fear also possessed them in a
marvellous manner, and death seemed to sit upon some of their
eyebrows. Now, there was in the company a notable, sharp-witted
fellow, a mean man of estate, and his name was old Inquisitive.
This man asked the petitioners if they had told out every whit of
what Emmanuel said, and they answered, 'Verily, no.' Then said
Inquisitive, 'I thought so, indeed. Pray, what was it more that he
said unto you?' Then they paused awhile; but at last they brought
out all, saying, 'The Prince bade us bid Captain Boanerges and
Captain Conviction bring the prisoners down to him to-morrow; and
that Captain Judgment and Captain Execution should take charge of
the castle and town till they should hear further from him. They
said also that when the Prince had commanded them thus to do, he
immediately turned his back upon them, and went into his royal
pavilion.

But, oh! how this return, and specially this last clause of it,
that the prisoners must go out to the Prince into the camp, brake
all their loins in pieces! Wherefore, with one voice they set up a
cry that reached up to the heavens. This done, each of the three
prepared himself to die; (and the Recorder said unto them, 'This
was the thing that I feared;') for they concluded that to-morrow,
by that the sun went down, they should be tumbled out of the world.
The whole town also counted of no other, but that, in their time
and order, they must all drink of the same cup. Wherefore the town
of Mansoul spent that night in mourning, and sackcloth and ashes.
The prisoners also, when the time was come for them to go down
before the Prince, dressed themselves in mourning attire, with
ropes upon their heads. The whole town of Mansoul also showed
themselves upon the wall, all clad in mourning weeds, if, perhaps,
the Prince with the sight thereof might be moved with compassion.
But, oh! how the busy-bodies that were in the town of Mansoul did
now concern themselves! They did run here and there through the
streets of the town by companies, crying out as they ran in
tumultuous wise, one after one manner, and another the quite
contrary, to the almost utter distraction of Mansoul.

Well, the time is come that the prisoners must go down to the camp,
and appear before the Prince. And thus was the manner of their
going down: Captain Boanerges went with a guard before them, and
Captain Conviction came behind, and the prisoners went down, bound
in chains, in the midst. So I say, the prisoners went in the
midst, and the guard went with flying colours behind and before,
but the prisoners went with drooping spirits.

Or, more particularly, thus: The prisoners went down all in
mourning: they put ropes upon themselves; they went on, smiting
themselves on the breasts, but durst not lift up their eyes to
heaven. Thus they went out at the gate of Mansoul, till they came
into the midst of the Prince's army, the sight and glory of which
did greatly heighten their affliction. Nor could they now longer
forbear, but cry out aloud, 'O unhappy men! O wretched men of
Mansoul!' Their chains, still mixing their dolorous notes with the
cries of the prisoners, made the noise more lamentable.

So, when they were come to the door of the Prince's pavilion, they
cast themselves prostrate upon the place; then one went in and told
his Lord that the prisoners were come down. The Prince then
ascended a throne of state, and sent for the prisoners in; who,
when they came, did tremble before him, also they covered their
faces with shame. Now, as they drew near to the place where he
sat, they threw themselves down before him. Then said the Prince
to the Captain Boanerges, 'Bid the prisoners stand upon their
feet.' Then they stood trembling before him, and he said, 'Are you
the men that heretofore were the servants of Shaddai?' And they
said, 'Yes, Lord, yes.' Then said the Prince again, 'Are you the
men that did suffer yourselves to be corrupted and defiled by that


 


Back to Full Books