camp, to inherit the parched places in a salt land, seeking rest and finding none, Mat xii. 34.

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 seas; 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 their 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 stand 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 Will-be-will, 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 additions 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 Emanuel would command them all into the

deep,

deep, the place that the Prince Diabolus was afraid of, for they knew 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 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 Emanuel 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 powerful Potentate, victor over Diabolus, and conqueror of the town of Mansoul: we, the miserable inbabitants of that most woeful corporation, do bumbly beg that we may find favour in thy sight, and remember not against us former transgressions, nor yet the sin 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 any thing else, therefore they consulted again, and sent another petition, which was much after the form and method of the former.

And when the petition was drawn up, by whom should they send it, was the next question; for they would not send it 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

they attempted to make Capt. Conviction their messenger with it, but he said, That be neither durst nor would petition Emanuel for traitors, nor be to the Prince an advocate for rebels. Yet withal, said he, our Prince is good, and you may venture to send it by the band 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 neighbours' 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. Se he comes to the Prince's pavilion, as the first, and asked to speak with his Majesty. So word was carried to Emanuel, 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, O that Mansoul might live before thee! and with that he presented the petition. The which when the Prince had read it, he turned away for awhile and wept, but refraining himself, he turned again to the man (who all the while lay crying at his feet as at 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 Emanuel 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 Willbe-will, and Mr. Recorder. So he went forwards towards the Prison-house, where the men of Mansoul lay bound. But O! what a multitude flocked after to hear what the messenger said. So when he was come, and had shewn 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 fel! 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, O that Mansoul might live before thee! So when for awhile 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 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 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 Emanuel's words. My Lord Mayor said, That the answer did not look with a rug

a rugged face; but Will-be-will said 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 prisoner's judgment thereon, so none had a right understanding of things; but you cannot conceive what work these people made, and what confusion there was in Mansoul now.

For presently they that had heard what was said, flew about the town, one crying out 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 quite the 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 next 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 had 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

Р

that