them, that they had considered the thing before, and that hearing they were upon their march for such a design, came hither on purpose to meet them, that they might be listed under their excellencies. Then Captain Boanerges, for that they were men of courage, listed them into his company, and so away they went to the war.

Now when the war was begun, in one of the briskest skirmishes, so it was, that a company of the Lord Will-be-will's men sallied out of the sally ports, or posterns of the town, and fell in upon the rear of Captain Boanerges's men, where these three fellows happened to be, so he took them prisoners, and away they carried them They are ta- into the town; where they had not lain long in durance, but it began to be noised about the streets of the town, what three notable prisoners the Lord Will-be-will's men had taken, and brought in prisoners out of the camp of Shaddai. At length tidings thereof were carried to Diabolus to the castle, to wit, what my Lord Will-be-will's men had done, and whom they had taken prisoners.

ken prisoners.

They are brought before Diabolus, and

are content to

fight under his

banner.

Then Diabolus called for Will-be-will, to know the certainty of this matter. So he asked him, and he told him. Then did the giant send for the prisoners, and, when they were come, he demanded of them who they were, whence they came, and what they did in the camp of Shaddai? and they told him. Then he sent them into ward again. Not many days after, he sent for them to him again, and then asked them, if they would be willing to serve him against their former captains? They then told him, that they did not so much live by religion, as by the fates of fortune; and that, since

his lordship was willing to entertain them, they should be willing to serve him. Now while things were thus in hand, there was one CapAny-thing. tain Any-thing, a great doer in the town of Mansoul, and to this Captain Any-thing did Diabolus send these men, with a note under his hand, to receive them into his company; the contents of which letter were these:

He therefore sends them to

Captain Anything with a letter.

"Any-thing, my darling, the three men that are the bearers of this letter, have a desire to serve me in the war, nor know I better to whose conduct to commit them, than to thine: receive them therefore in my name, and, as require, make use of them against Shaddai and his men. Farewel." So they came, and he received them, and he made two of them serjeants; but he made Mr. Man's Invention his armour bearer3. But thus much for this, and now to return to the camp.

need shall

Any-thing receives them

into his service.

The roof of

They of the camp did also some execution upon the town; for they did beat down the old Incredu- roof of the new lord mayor's house, lity's house and so laid him more open than he was beaten down. before. They had almost (with a sling) slain my Lord Will-be-will outright; but he made shift to recover again. But they made a notable slaughter among the aldermen, for with only one

3 Tradition, Human Wisdom, and Man's Invention have too often been enlisted into the service of religion, but they never did any good to it. They are not to be depended upon; and are far more in their element when engaged on the contrary side. Let Captain Any-thing have them and welcome; the gospel of Jesus needs not their services.

Six alder. men slain.

shot they cut off six of them; to wit, Mr. Swearing, Mr. Whoring, Mr. Fury, Mr. Stand-to-lies, Mr. Drunkenness, and Mr. Cheating.

The two great guns

upon

They also dismounted the two great guns that stood the tower over Ear-gate, and laid them flat in the dirt. I told dismounted. you before, that the king's noble captains had drawn off to their winter-quarters, and had there intrenched themselves and their carriages, so as with the best advantage to their king, and the greatest annoyance to the enemy, they might give the seasonable and warm alarms to the town of Mansoul. And this design of them did so hit, that I may say they did almost what they would to the molestation of the corporation.

For now could not Mansoul sleep securely as Continual before, nor could they now go to their alarms given debaucheries with that quietness as in to Mansoul. times past: for they had from the camp of Shaddai such frequent warm 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 the though common, longest, the weather coldest, and so if abiding. consequently the season most unseasonable, that that winter was to the town of Mansoul a winter by itself. Sometimes the trumpets

The effects of convictions

4 Here is some good effect of the preached word: unbelief is, in part, unveiled and discovered; the stubborn will receives a shock, and some gross immoralities are discarded; the guns are also silenced," Heady and High-mind," that is, pride, is somewhat brought down.

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 their voice for the battle. Sometimes again, some of them in The town much the town would be wounded, and molested. their cry and lamentable voice would be heard, to the great molestation of the now languishing town of Mansoul. Yea, so distressed were they with those that laid siege against them, that I dare say Diabolus their king had in these days his rest much broken.

thoughts in Mansoul.

In those days, as I was informed, new thoughts, Change of and thoughts that began to run counter one to another, by degrees possessed 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 King Shaddai, and so put an end to all these troubles.' And a fourth would come in with a fair speech, saying, "I doubt he will not receive us"."

Conscience speaks

5

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".

5 Further degrees of success: the false peace, which before prevailed, is effectually disturbed by abiding convictions. Alarm follows alarm; and some faint inclinations arise towards peace with God; which, however, the sinner begins to fear may not be practicable.

6 Conscience, which had long been unfaithful and silent,

Also things began to grow scarce in Mansoul; now the things that her soul lusted afA famine in ter departed from her, Luke xv. 14, 15. Mansoul. Upon all her pleasant things there was a blast, and burning instead of beauty. Wrinkles now, and some shews 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 winter, did They are sum- send, by the mouth of Boanerges's moned again to trumpeter, a summons to Mansoul, yield. 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 time 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 Will-bewill. Diabolus also began to rave; wherefore Mansoul, as to yielding, was not as yet Mansoul in all of one mind, therefore they still lay distressed under these perplexing

distress.

fears.

awakes from his lethargy, and begins to speak, yea, to cry aloud; and conscience has a dreadful voice, more awful than thunder.

7 A famine in Mansoul;-the pleasures of sin begin to fail. The case of the prodigal is here referred to; he never thought of returning to his father till he began to be in want. The dreary season of winter adds to the affliction; the summer of gaiety is gone; the winter of affliction succeeds. This affords a favourable opportunity to the ministers of Christ to renew