that they might stone them to death. And now did Mansoul arrive at some degree of peace, her Prince also abode within her borders, her captains also, and her soldiers did their duties, and Mansoul minded her trade that she had with the country afar off; also she was busied in her manufactures, Isa. 33. 17 Phil. 3. 20. Prov. 31.

When the town of Mansoul had thus far rid themselves of so many of their enemies, and the troublers of their peace; the Prince sent to them, and appointed a day wherein he would at the market-place meet the whole people, and there charge them concerning their future affairs, that would tend to their farther safety and comfort, and to the condemnation and destruction of their home-bred Diabolians. So the day appointed was come, and the townsmen met together; Emanuel also came down in his chariot, and all his captains in their state attending of him on the right-hand and on the left. Then was an Oyes made for silence, and after some mutual carriages of love, the Prince thus spoke to them: You, my Mansoul, and the beloved of mine heart, many and great are the privileges I have bestowed on you; I have singled you out from others, and have chosen you to myself, not for your worthiness, but for mine own sake. I have also redeemed you, not only from the dread of my Father's law, but from the hand of Diabolus. This I have done, because I loved you, and because I have set my mind upon you to do you good. I have also that all things that might hinder thy way to the pleasures of Paradise might be taken out of the way, laid down for thee, for thee, for thy soul, a plenary satisfaction, and have bought thee for myself; a price not of corruptible things, as of silver and gold, but a price of blood, which I have freely spilt upon the ground to make thee mine. So I have reconciled thee, O my Mansoul, to my Father, and intrusted thee in the Mansion-houses that are with my Father in the royal city, where things are, O my Mansoul,

Mansoul, that eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive.

"Besides, O my Mansoul, thou seest what I have done, and how I have taken thee out of the hands of thine enemies; unto whom thou hast deeply revolted from my Father, and by whom thou wast content to be possessed and destroyed. I came to thee first by my law, then by my gospel, to awaken thee and shew thee my glory. And thou knowest what thou wast, what thou saidst, what thou didst, and how many times thou rebelled against my Father and me; yet I left thee not, as thou seest, but came to thee, have born thy manners, have waited upon thee, even of my mere grace and favour; and would not suffer thee to be lost, as thou wouldst have been. I also compassed thee about, and afflicted thee, that I might make thee weary of thy ways, and bring down thy heart to a willingness to close with thy good and happiness. And when I had gotten acc npleat conquest over thee, I turned it to thy advantage.

too.

"Thou seest also what a company of my Father's host I have lodged within thy borders, captains and rulers, soidiers, men of war, engines an excellent levices to subdue and bring down thy foes; thou knowest my meaning, O Mansoul. And they are my servants, and thine Yea, m design of possessing of thee with them, and the natural tendency of each of them, is to defend, purge, strengthen, and sweeten thee for meself, and to m ke thee meet for my Father's presence, blessing and glory; for thon, my Minsoui, are created to be prepared unto these. Thou seest moreover, how I have passed by thy backslidings, and have healed thee. Indeed I was angry with thee, but I have turned my anger, and mine in dignation is ceased in the destruction of thine encamies. Nor did thy goodness fetch me again unto thee, after that I for thy transgressions have bid my face, and withdrawn my presence from thee. The way of

backsliding was thine, but the way an 1 means of recovery was mine. I invented the means of thy return; it is I that made an hedge and a wall, when thou wast beginning to turn to things in which I delighted not. "Twas I that made thy sweet bitter, thy day night; thy smooth way thorny; and that also confounded all that sought thy destruction. Twas I that set Mr. Godlyfear to work in Mansoul. It was I that stirred up thy conscience and understanding, thy will and affections after thy woeful decay. It was I that put life in thee, O Mansoul, to seek me, that thou mightest find me, and in thy finding, find thy own happiness and salvation. It was I that fetched the Diabolians away the second time; and it was I that overcame and destroyed them before thy face.

"And now, my Mansoul, I am returned to thee in peace, and thy transgressions against me are as if they had not been: nor shall it be with thee as in former days, but I will do better for thee than at the beginning. For yet a little while, O my Mansoul, after a few more times are gone over thy head, I will (but be not thou troubled) take down thy town to the ground. And I will carry the stones, the timber, the walls, the dust, and the inhabitants thereof into mine own country, the kingdom of my Father; and will there set it up in such strength and glory, as it never yet saw. I will even there set it up for my Father's habitation, for, for that purpose it was first erected in the kingdom of Universe; and there will I make it a spectacle of wonder, a monument of mercy. There shall the natives of Mansoul see all that of which they have seen nothing here; there shall they equal those that they have been inferior to here. And there shalt thou, O my Mansoul, have such communion with me, with my Father, and with your Lord Secretary, as is not possible here to be enjoyed, should thou live in Universe a thousand years. And there, O Mansoul, thou shalt be

afraid of the murderers and Diabolians no more; there shall be no more plots, contrivances, or designs against thee, O my Mansoul. There thou shalt no more hear the evil tidings, or the Diabolian drum; there thou shalt neither see the Diabolian standard or its bearers; no Diabolian mount shall be cast up against thee there, nor shall their standard there be set up to make thee afraid. There thou shalt meet with no sorrow, nor grief, nor shall it be possible for any Diabolian again to creep into thy skirts, burrow in thy walls, or be seen within thy borders all the days of eternity. Life shall there last longer than here you can wish it, and yet it shall always be sweet and new, nor shall any impediment attend it for ever.

"There, O Mansoul, thou shalt meet with many that have been like to thee, and partakers of thy sorrows; even such as I have chosen and redeemed, and set apart as thou for my Father's court and city royal. All they .will be glad in thee, and thou, when thou seest them, shall be glad in thine heart.

"There are things, O Mansoul, things of thy Father's providing and mine, that never were seen since the beginning of the world, and they are laid up with my Father, and sealed up among his treasures for thee, till thou shalt go thither to them. I told you that I would remove my Mansoul, and set it up elsewhere, and where I will set it, there are those that love thee and rejoice in thee now, but much more when they see thee exalted to honour. My Father will then send them to fetch you; and their bosoms are chariots to put you in. And you, O my Mansoul shall ride upon the wings of the wind, Ps. 68. 17. They will come to convey you to that which, when you have seen more, will be your desired haven.

"And thus, O my Mansoul, I have shewed thee what shall be done thee hereafter, if thou canst understand; and now i will tell thee what at present must be thy duty and practice, until I shall come and fetch thee to myself, as saith the scriptures of truth. First,

"First, I charge thee that thou dost hereafter keep more white and clean the liveries which I gave thee before my last wandering from thee. Do it, I say, for this will be thy wisdom. They are in themselves fine linen, but thou must keep them white and clean. This will be your wisdom, your honour, and greatly for my glory. When your garments are white, the world will count you mine; also when your garments are white, then I am delighted in your ways; for then your goings to and fro will be like a flash of lightening, that those that are present must take notice of; also their eyes will be dazzled thereat. Deck thyself therefore according to my bidding, and make thyself by my law straight steps for thy feet, so shall thy King greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. Now that thou mayest keep them as I bid thee, I have, as I told thee, provided for thee an open fountain to wash thy garments in. Look therefore that thou wash often in my fountain, and go not in defiled garments; for as it is to my dishonour and disgrace, so it will be to thy discomfort to walk in filthy garments, Zach. iii. 1, 2. Let not therefore my garments, your garments, the garments that I gave thee, be defiled or spotted by the flesh, Jude, v 23. Keep thy garments always white, and let thy head lack no ointment.

My Mansoul, I have oftentimes delivered thee from the designs, plots, attempts, and conspiracies of Diabolus, and for all this I ask thee nothing, but that thou render not to me evil for good, but that thou bear in mind my love, an 1 the continuance of my kindness to my beloved Mansoul, so as to provoke thee to walk in thy measure, according to the bencfit bestowed on thee. f old the sacrifices were bound with cords to the horn of the golden altar. Consider what is said to thee, O my blessed Man-oul.

"my Mansoul, I have lived, I have died; I live, and will die no more for thee. I live that thou mayest

not