Clerk. Where did you hear him say these things?

Hate-lyes. In Drunkard's-row, just at Rascalslane end, at the house in which Mr. Impiety lived.

Lustings set to the bar.

Clerk. Set him by, gaoler3, and set Mr. Lustings to the bar.

Mr. Lustings, thou art here indicted by the name of Lustings (an intruder upon His indictment. the town of Mansoul) for that thou hast devilishly and traitorously taught by practice and filthy words, that it is lawful and profitable to man to give way to his carnal desires; and that thou, for thy part, hast not, nor ever wilt, deny thyself of any sinful delight as long as thy name is Lustings. How sayest thou? art thou guilty of this indictment or not?

Lustings. Then said Mr. Lustings, My lord, I am a man of high birth, and have been His plea. used to pleasures, and pastimes, and greatness. I have not been wont to be snubbed for my doings, but have been left to follow my I will as if it were law. And it seems strange to me that I should this day be called into question for what not only I, but almost all men, do either secretly or openly countenance, love, and approve of.

Clerk. Sir, we concern not ourselves with your greatness (though the higher, the better you should have been) but we are concerned, and so are you, about an indictment preferred against you. How say you? are you guilty of it, or not?

3 Atheism is fairly tried and justly condemned. Alas! how much practical atheism is there among professed Christians! For if men live without prayer, and in opposition to his will, they live" without God in the world," and what is this but atheism ?

Lustings. Not guilty.

Clerk. Cryer, call upon the witnesses to stand forth and give their evidence.

Witnesses called

against Lust

ings.

Cryer. Gentlemen, you the witnesses for the king, come and give in your evidence for our lord the king against the prisoner at the bar.

Clerk. Come, Mr. Know-all, look upon the prisoner at the bar. Do you know him? Know-all. Yes, my lord, I know him.

Clerk. What is his name?

Know-all. His name is Lustings: he is the son of one Beastly; his mother bare him in Fleshstreet she was one Evil-concupiscence's daughter. I knew all the generation of them.

Clerk. Well said. You have heard his indictment: what say you to it? is he guilty of the things charged against him, or not?

Know-all. My lord, he has, as he saith, been a great man indeed; and greater in wickedness than by pedigree, more than a thousand fold.

Clerk. But what do you know of his particular actions, and especially with reference to his indictment?

Know-all. I know him to be a swearer, a lyar, His guilt a sabbath-breaker; I know him to be a proved. fornicator, and an unclean person; I know him to be guilty of abundance of evils. He has been, to my knowledge, a very filthy

man.

Clerk. But where did he use to commit his wickednesses? in some private corners, or more openly and shamelessly?

Know-all. All the town over, my lord.

Clerk. Come, Mr. Tell-true, what have you to say for our lord the king against the prisoner at the bar?

Tell-true. My lord, all that the first witness has said I know to be true, and a great deal more besides.

Clerk. Mr. Lustings, do you hear what these gentlemen say?

his defence.

Lustings. I was ever of opinion, that the happiest life that a man could live on Lustings sets up earth, was, to keep himself from nothing that he desired in the world; nor have I been false at any time to this opinion of mine, but have lived in the love of my notions all my days: nor was I ever so churlish, having found such sweetness in them myself, as to keep the commendation of them from others.

Court. Then said the court, There hath proceeded enough from his own mouth to lay him open to condemnation; wherefore set him by1, gaoler, and set Mr. Incredulity to the bar.

Incredulity set

to the bar.

His indictment.

Clerk. Mr. Incredulity, thou art here indicted by the name of Incredulity (an intruder upon the town of Mansoul), for that thou hast feloniously and wickedly, and that when thou wert an officer in the town of Mansoul, made head against the captains of the great Shaddai, when they came, and demanded possession of Mansoul; yea, thou didst bid defiance to the name, forces, and cause of the king; and didst also, as did Diabolus thy captain, stir up and encourage the town of Mansoul to make head against and resist the said force of the king. What

4

* Lustings, or the sinful lusts of the flesh, is well described; he is the son of one Beastly, his mother a daughter of Evilconcupiscence, a swearer, a lyar, a fornicator, &c. &c. He is a true Diabolonian; and as all God s people are to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, he must die.

sayest thou to this indictment? art thou guilty, or not?

Then said Incredulity, I know not Shaddai: I loved my old prince; I thought it my His plea. duty to be true to my trust, and to do what I could to possess the minds of the men of Mansoul to do their utmost to resist strangers and foreigners, and with might to fight against them. Nor have I, nor shall I, change my opinion for fear of trouble, though you at present are possessed of place and power.

to the bar.

His indictment.

Court. Then said the court, The man, as you see, is incorrigible; he is for maintaining his villanies by stoutness of words, and his rebellion with impudent confidence. And Forget-good set therefore set him by, gaoler'; and set Mr. Forget-good to the bar. Clerk. Mr. Forget-good, thou art here indicted by the name of Forget-good (an intruder upon the town of Mansoul), for that thou, when the whole affairs of the town of Mansoul were in thy hand, didst utterly forget to serve them in what was good, and didst fall in with the tyrant Diabolus against Shaddai the king, against his captains, and all his host, to the dishonour of Shaddai, the breach of his law, and the endangering of the destruction of the famous town of Mansoul. What sayest thou to this indictment? art thou guilty, or not guilty?

Then said Forget-good, Gentlemen, and at this time my judges, as to the indictment by His plea. which I stand accused of several crimes before you, pray attribute my forgetfulness to my

5 Unbelief is the great instigator of rebellion against God; out of his own mouth he is condemned as absolutely incorrigible.

age, and not to my wilfulness; to the craziness of my brain, and not the carelessness of my mind; and then I hope I may by your charity be excused from great punishment, though I be guilty.

Then said the court, Forget-good, Forget-good, thy forgetfulness of good was not simply of frailty, but of purpose, and for that thou didst loathe to keep virtuous things in thy mind. What was bad, thou couldst retain: but what was good, thou couldst not abide to think of: thy age, therefore, and thy pretended craziness, thou makest use of to blind the court withal, and as a cloak to cover thy knavery. But let us hear what the witnesses have to say for the king, against the prisoner at the bar. Is he guilty of this indictment, or not?

Witnesses called.

Hate-lies. My lord, I have heard this Forgetgood say, that he could never abide to think of goodness, no not for a quarter of an hour.

Clerk. Where didst thou hear him say so?

Hate-lies. In All-base-lane, at a house next door to the sign of the Conscience-seared-with-a-hotiron.

General character of For

Clerk, Mr. Know-all, what can you say for our lord the king, against the prisoner at the bar? Know-all. My lord, I know the man well; he is a Diabolonian, the son of a Diabolonian, his father's name was Lovenaught; and for him, I have often heard him say, that he counted the very thoughts of goodness the most burdensome thing in the world.

get-good.

Clerk. Where have you heard him say these words?

Know-all. In Flesh-lane, right opposite to the church.

Then said the clerk, Come, Mr. Tell-true, give