might do thee good! 1 Pet. v. 8. Rev. xii. 10. Far be it, far be it from me to desire to make war upon you; if ye will but willingly and quickly deliver up yourselves unto me. Diabolus exerts You know that you were mine of old, Matt. iv. 8. Luke iv. 6, 7. Remember also, that so long as you enjoyed me for your lord, and that I enjoyed you for my subjects, you wanted for nothing of all the delights of the earth, that 1, your lord and prince, could get for you; or that I could invent to make you bonny and blithe withal. Consider, you never had so many hard, dark, troublesome, and heart-afflicting hours, while you were mine, as you have had since you revolted from me, nor shall you ever have peace again until you and I become one as before. Be but prevailed with to embrace me himself to bring again, and I will grant, yea, enlarge the townsfolk your old charter with abundance of over to him. privileges, so that your licence and liberty shall be to take, hold, enjoy, and make your own, all that is pleasant from east to west. Nor shall any of those incivilities, wherewith you have offended me, be ever charged upon you by me, so long as the sun and moon endure. Nor shall any of those dear friends of mine, that now, for the fear of you, lie lurking in dens and holes and caves in Mansoul, be hurtful to you any more; yea, they shall be your servants, and shall minister unto you of their substance, and of whatever shall come to hand. I need speak no more, you know them, and have some time since been much delighted in their company; why then should we abide at such odds? Let us renew our old acquaintance and friendship again. "Bear with your friend, I take the liberty at this time to speak thus freely unto you. The love that I have to you presses me to do it, as also does I am come against you with a stout and valiant army, and all the chief princes of the den are even at the head. Besides, my captains are swifter than eagles, stronger than lions, and more greedy of prey than are the evening wolves. What is Og or Bashan! what is Goliath of Gath? and what are an hundred more of them to one of the least of my captains! how then shall Mansoul think to escape my hand and force "?" Diabolus having thus ended his flattering, fawning, deceitful, and lying speech to the famous town of Mansoul; the Lord-mayor replied unto him as follows: The lord-may or's answer. "O Diabolus, prince of darkness, and master of all deceit; thy lying flatteries we have had, and made sufficient probation of, and have tasted too deeply of that destructive cup already; should we therefore again hearken unto thee, and so break the commandment of our great Shaddai, to join affinity with thee, would not our prince reject us, and cast us off for ever, and, being cast off by him, can the place that he has prepared for thee be a place of rest for us! Besides, O thou that art empty and 17 This infernal liar promises great things-wonderful liberty-all sensual gratifications, with perfect freedom from all religious fears and restraints; but he does not say, that after all this-"ye shall lie down in sorrow." U i void of all truth, we are rather ready to die by thy hand than to fall in with thy flattering and lying deceits 1.' 18 22 When the tyrant saw that there was little to be got in parleying with my lord-mayor, he fell into an hellish rage, and resolved that again with his army of Doubters he would another time assault the town of Mansoul. Diabolus draws up his army against the town. So he called for his drummer, who beat up for his men (and while he did beat, Mansoul shook) to be in a readiness to give battle to the corporation; then Diabolus drew near with his army, and thus disposed of his men. Captain Cruel, and Captain Torment, these he drew up, and placed against Feelgate, and commanded them to set down there for the war And he also appointed, that, if need were, Captain No-ease should come in to their relief. At Nose-gate he placed Captain Brimstone and Captain Sepulchre, and bid them look well to their ward on that side of the town of Mansoul. But at Eve-gate he placed that grim-faced one the Captain Past-hope, and there also now did he set up his terrible standard. 19 Now Captain Insatiable was to look to the carriages of Diabolus, and was also appointed to take into custody that, or those persons and things that should at any time as prey be taken from the eneThe inhabitants of Mansoul kept Mouthgate for a sally-port, wherefore that they kept my. 18 An excellent answer! Past experience has proved that sin is bitterness in the end. Let us treat Satan as a liar, and maintain our allegiance to our prince. 19 Satan's intention being to fill the soul with doubts, and, if possible, with despair, places his forces at Feel-gate; that is, he would lead the soul to doubt by trusting to his religious frames and feelings, instead of looking only to Jesus. strong, for that was it by and out at which the townsfolk sent their petitions to Immanuel their prince; that also was the gate, from the top of which the captains played their slings at the enemies, for that gate stood somewhat ascending, so that the placing of them here, and the letting of them fly from that place, did much execution against the tyrant's army; wherefore for these causes, with others, Diabolus sought, if possible, to stop up Mouth-gate with dirt 20. The Lord Will the man. The Now, as Diabolus was busy and industrious in preparing to make his assault upon the town of Mansoul without, so the captains and soldiers in the corporation were as busy in preparing within; they mounted their slings, set up their banners, sounded their trumpets, and put themselves in such order as was judged most for the annoyance of the enemy, and for the advantage of Mansoul, and gave their soldiers orders to be ready at the sound of the trumpet for war. be-will plays Lord Will-be-will also, he took the charge of watching against the rebels within, and to do what he could to take them while without, or to stifle them within their caves, dens, and holes in the town-wall of Mansoul. And, to speak the truth of him, ever since he did penance for his fault, he has shewed as much honesty and bravery of spirit as may be in Mansoul, for he took one Jolly, and his brother Jolly and Griggish taken and Griggish, the two sons of his servant Harmless-mirth; (for to that day, though the father was committed to ward, the sons had a dwelling in the house of my lord) I say, he executed. 20 The christian's chief weapon is prayer; no wonder, then, that the enemy wishes to obstruct it. took them, and with his own hands put them to the cross. And this was the reason why he hanged them up: after their father was put into the hand of Mr. Trueman the gaoler, his sons began to play their pranks, and to be tricking and toying with the daughters of their lord; nay, it was jealoused that they were too familiar with them, which was brought to his lordship's ear. Now his lordship being unwilling unadvisedly to put any man to death, did not suddenly fall upon them; but set watch and spies to see if the thing was true; of the which he was soon informed, for his two servants, whose names were Find-out and Tell-all, catched them together in an uncivil manner more than once or twice, and went and told their lord. So when my Lord Will-be-will had sufficient ground to believe the thing was true, he takes the two young Diabolonians, for such they were (for their father was a Diabolonian born), and has them to Eye-gate, where he raised a very high cross just in the face of Diabolus, and of his army, and there he hanged the young villains, in defiance to Captain Past-hope, and the horrible standard of the tyrant. Mortification of Now this christian act of the brave Lord Willbe-will greatly abashed Captain Pastsin is a sign of hope, discouraged the army of Diahope of life. bolus, put fear into the diabolonian runnagades in Mansoul, and put strength and courage into the captains that belonged to Immanuel the prince; for they without gathered, and that by this very act of my lord, that Mansoul was resolved to fight, and that the Diabolonians within the town could not do such things as Diabolus had hopes they would. Nor was this the only proof of the brave Lord Will-be-will's honesty to the town, |