p Mansoul; and (headstrong man that he was) thus he began betimes; for this man, when Diabolus did make his oration at Ear-gate, was one of the first that was for consenting to his words, and for accepting of his counsel as wholesome, and that was for opening the gate, and letting him into the town: wherefore Diabolus had a kindness for him, and for that reason designed him for a place; and, perceiving the valour and stoutness of the man, he coveted to have him for one of his great ones, to act and do in matters of the highest concern3. The will takes abolus. So he sent for him, and talked with him of that secret matter which lay in his breast; but there needed not much persuasion in the place under Di- case; for as at first he was willing that Diabolus should be let into the town, so now he was as willing to serve him there. When the tyrant, therefore, perceived the willingness of my lord to serve him, and that his mind stood bending that way, he forthwith made him captain of the castle, governor of the wall, and keeper of the gates of Mansoul: yea, there was a clause in his commission, that nothing without him should be done in all the town of Mansoul: so that now, next to Diabolus himself, who but my Lord Will-be-will in all the town of Mansoul! nor could any thing be now done, but at his will and pleasure, throughout the Mr. Mind, my town of Mansoul, Rom. viii. 7. He had also one Mr. Mind for his clerk; lord's clerk. 5 My Lord Will-be-will.-The author represents the will as a lord, a person of great consequence in the town, and very justly, for the human will is that power of the soul whereby we chuse and determine. It is a governing faculty, and there could be no sin, till the will consented to the temptation. In fallen man the will is not subject to the law of God, but obstinately opposed to it, and therefore a fit deputy for the devil. a man, to speak on, every way like his master; for he and his lord were in principle one, and in practice not far asunder, Eph. ii. 2, 3, 4. And now was Mansoul brought under to purpose, and made to fulfil the lusts of the will, and of the mind. But it will not be out of my thoughts, what a desperate one this Will-be-will was, when power was put into his hand. First, he flatly denied that he owed any suit or service to his former prince and liege lord. This done, in the next place he took an oath, swore fidelity to his great master Diabolus, and then being stated and settled in his place, office, advancement, and preferment, oh, you cannot think, unless you had seen it, the strange work that this workman made in the town of Mansoul. opposes conscience. First, He maligned Mr. Recorder to death; he The carnal will would neither endure to see him, nor hear the words of his mouth, he would shut his eyes when he saw him, and stop his ears when he heard him speak. Also he could not endure that so much as a fragment of the law of Shaddai should be any where seen in the town. For example, his clerk, Mr. Mind, had some old rents, Nehem. ix. 26. and torn parchments of the law of good Shaddai in his house but when Will-be-will saw them, he cast them behind his back. True, Mr. Recorder had some of the laws in his study; but my lord could by no means come at them: he also thought, and Corrupt will said, the windows of my old lord mayor's house were always too light understanding. for the profit of the town of Mansoul. loves a dark 6 By the mind, the author probably designs the judgment, or that faculty by which we distinguish between good and evil, and we are assured by the scriptures that "the carnal mind is enmity against God." The light of a candle he could not endure. Now nothing at all pleased Will-be-will, but what pleased Diabolus his lord". There was no other like him to trumpet about the streets the brave nature, the wise conduct, and great glory of the king Diabolus. He would range throughout all the streets of Mansoul, to cry up his illustrious lord; and would make himself even as an abject, among the base and rascally crew, to cry up his va Vain thoughts. liant prince. And I say, when and wheresoever he found those vassals, he would even make himself as one of them In all ill courses, he would act without bidding, and do mischief without commandment. A match be The Lord Will-be-will also had a deputy under him, and his name was Mr. Affection: one that was also greatly debauched in his principles, and answered thereto in his life, Rom. i. 25: he was only given to the flesh, and therefore they call him Vile-affection. Now there was he, and one Carnal-lust, the daughter of Mr. Mind (like to like, quoth the devil to the collier), that fell in love and made a match, and were married; and, as I take it, they had several children, as Impudence, Black-mouth, and Hate-reproof. These three were black boys; and besides these three, they had three daughters, as Scorn-truth, Slight-God, and the name of the youngest was Revenge; these were all married in the town, and also begot and tween Vile-af fections and Carnal lust. 7 Great is the aversion of the carnal mind and will to the Bible. Never was greater hatred to it discovered than in this day! But why do our infidels hate it? The true reason is, "they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil," John iii. 19. The little remaining light of conscience they cannot endure, because it condemns their beloved carnality. yielded many bad brats, too many to be inserted. But to pass by this 8. When the giant had thus ingarrisoned himself in the town of Mansoul, and had put down and set up whom he thought good, he betakes himself to defacing. Now there was in the market-place of Mansoul, and also upon the gates of the castle, an image of the blessed king Shaddai; this image was so exactly engraven (and it was engraven in gold), that it did the most resemble Shaddai himself, of any thing that then was extant in the world. This he basely commanded What No-truth to be defaced, and it was basely done by the hand of Mr. No-truth. Now you must know, that as Diabolus had commanded, and that by the hand of Mr. No-truth, the image of Shaddai was defaced; he likewise gave order that the same Mr. No-truth should set up, in its stead, the horrid and formidable image of Diabolus; to the great contempt of the former king, and debasing his town of Mansoul. did Moreover, Diabolus made havock of all remains of the laws and statutes of Shaddai, All law-books destroyed that that could be found in the town of could be found. Mansoul; to wit, such as contained either doctrines or morals, with all civil and natural documents: also relative severities he sought to extinguish. To be short, there was nothing of the remains of good in Mansoul, which he and Will-be-will sought not to destroy; for their design was, to turn Mansoul into a brute, and to 8 The affections follow the dictates of the will. The offspring of Vile-affection and Carnal-lust are enumerated :—a wretched brood! 9 God made man in his own holy and beautiful image. Sin has miserably defaced this image of God in the soul, and substituted the horrid and deformed image of the devil. O what a change! make it like to the sensual sow, by the hands of Mr. No-truth 10. The edicts of When he had destroyed what law and good orders he could, then further to effect his design, namely to alienate Mansoul from Shaddai her king, he commands, and they set up his own vain edicts, statutes, and commandments, in all places of resort or concourse in Mansoul, 1 John ii. 16. to wit, such as gave liberty to." the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, which are not of Shaddai, but of the world." He encouraged, countenanced, and promoted, lasciviousness and all ungodliness there. Yea, much more did Diabolus to encourage wickedness in the town of Mansoul; he promised them peace, content, joy, and bliss, in doing his commands, and that they should never be called to an account for their not doing the contrary. And let this serve to give a taste to them that love to hear of what is done beyond their knowledge, afar off in other countries. Now Mansoul being wholly at his beck, and brought wholly to his bow, nothing was heard or seen therein but that which tended to set up him. But now, he having disabled the Lord Mayor and Mr. Recorder from bearing any office in Mansoul, and seeing that the town, before he came to it, was the most ancient of corporations in the world; and fearing, if he did not maintain They have a new lord mayor and a new recorder. 10 Satan would obliterate all the commandments of God, prevent the practice of all duty to him or to our neighbour, and make us merely carnal and brutish. Awfully hath he succeeded, so that man is become that motley monster-" halfbeast-half-devil," as Bishop Hall calls him: uniting in himself the sensual appetites of the former, with the diabolical tempers of the latter. |