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-be-will. Diabolus also began to rave; wherefore Mansoul, as to yielding, was not yet all of one mind; therefore they still lay distressed under these perplexing fears.

I told you but now, that they of the King's army had, this winter, sent three times to Mansoul to submit herself. The first time the trumpeter went, he went with words of peace, telling of them, That the captains, the noble captains of Shaddai, did pity and bewail the misery of the now perishing town of Mansoul; and were troubled to see them stand so much in the way of their own deliverance. He said moreover, that the captains bid him tell them, that if now poor Mansoul would bumble herself and turn, her former rebellions and most notorious treasons should, by their merciful King, be forgiven them; yea, and forgotten too. And having bid them beware that they stood not in their own way, that they opposed not themselves, nor made themselves their own losers, he returned again into the camp.

Secondly, The second time the trumpeter went, he did treat them a little more roughly, for after sounding of trumpet he told them, that their continuing in rebellion did lut chafe and beat the spirit of the captains, and thut they were resolved to make a conquest of Mansoul, or to lay their bones before the town walls.

Thirdly, He went again a third time, and dealt with them yet more roughly, saying, that now since they bad been so borribly profane, he did not know, not certainly know, whether the captains were inclined to mercy or judgment; only, said be, they commanded me to give you a summons to open the gates unto them. So he returned and went into the camp.

These

These three summonses, and especially the two last, did ro distress the town, that they presently call a consultation, the result of which was this, that my Lord Will-be-will should go up to Ear-gate, and there with sound of trumpet, call to the captains of the camp for a parley, Well, the Lord Will-be-will sounded upon the wall; so the captains came up in their harness, with their ten thousands at their feet. The townsmen then told the captains, that they had heard and considered their summons, and would come to an agreement with them and with their King Shaddai, upon such certain terms, articles, and propositions, as with and by the order of their prince they to them were to offer and propound. To wit, they would agree upon these grounds to be one people with them;

1. If that those of their own company, as the now Lord Mayor, and their Mr. Forget-good, with their brave Lord Will-be-will, might under Shaddai, be still the governors of the town, castle, and gates of Mansoul.

2. Provided that no man that now served under the great Giant Diabolus, be by Shaddai cast out of house, barbour, or the freedom that be bath hitherto enjoyed in the famoas town of Mansoul.

3. That it shall be granted them, that they of the town of Mansoul enjoy certain of their rights and privileges; to wit, such as bave formerly been granted them, and that they have long lived in the enjoyment of, under the reign of their King Diabolus, that now is, and long bas been, their only Lord, and great defender.

4. That no new law, officer, or executioner of law or office, shall have any power over them, without their own choice and consent.

These be our propositions, or conditions of peace: And upon these terms, said they, we will submit to your King.

But when the captains had heard this weak and fee

ble offer of the town of Mansoul, and their high and bold demands, they made to them again by their noble. captain, the Capt. Boanerges, this speech following:

O ye inhabitants of the town of Mansoul, when I heard your trumpet sound for a parley with us, I can truly say, I was glad; but when you said you were willing to submit yourselves to our Lord and King, then I was yet more glad : but when by your silly provisoes, and foolish cavils, you laid the stumbling block of your iniquity before your faces, then was my gladness turned into sorrows, and my hopeful beginnings of turn, into languishing fainting fears.

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I count that old Ill-pause, the ancient enemy of Mansoul, did draw up these proposals that now ye present us with, as terms of an agreement; but they deserve not to be admitted to sound in the ear of any man that pretends to have service for Shaddai, (2 Tim. ii. 19.) We do therefore jointly, and that with the highest disdain, refuse and reject such things, as the greatest of iniquities.

But, O Mansoul! if you will give yourselves into our hands, or rather into the hands of our King, and will trust him to make such terms with, and for you, as shall seem good in his eyes, (and I dare say they shall be such as you shall find to be most profitable to you); then we will receive you, and be at peace with you; but if you like not to trust yourselves in the arms of Shaddai our King, then things are but where they were before, and we know also what we have to do.

Then cried out old Incredulity, the Lord Mayor, and said: And who, being out of the hands of their enemies, as ye see we are now, will be so foolish as to put the staff out of their own hands, into the hands of they know not who? I for my part, will never yield to so unlimited a proposition. Do you know the manner and temper of their King? 'Tis said by some, that he

will be angry with his subjects if but the breadth of an hair they chance to step out of the way; and by others, that he requireth much more of them than they can perform. Wherefore it seems, O Mansoul, to be thy wisdom to take good heed what thou dost in this matter. For if you once yield, you give up yourselves to another, and so you are no more your own: Wherefore to give up yourselves to an unlimited power, is the greatest folly in the world. For now indeed you may repent, but can never justly complain. But do you indeed know, when you are his, which of you he will kill, and which of you he will save alive? Or whether he will not cut off every one of us, and send out of his country another new people, and cause them to inhabit this town?

This speech of the Lord Mayor undid all, and threw flat to the ground their hopes of an accord: Wherefore the captains returned to their trenches, to their tents, and to their men, as they were; and the Mayor to the castle, and to his king.

Now Diabolus had,waited for his return; for he had heard that they had been at their points. So when he was come into the chamber of state, Diabolus saluted him with, Welcome, my Lord; how went matters betwixt you to-day? So the Lord Incredulity, with a low congee, told him the whole of the matter, saying, And thus said the captain or Shaddai, and thus and thus said I; the which, as it was told to Diabolus, he was very glad to hear; and said, My Lord Mayor, my faithful Incredulity, I have proved thy fidelity above ten times already, but never found thee false. I do promise thee, if we rub over this brunt, to prefer thee to a place of honour, a place far better than to be Lord Mayor of Mansoul. I will make thee my Universal Deputy, and thou shalt, next to me, have all nations under thy hand; yea, and thou shalt lay bands upon them, that they may not resist thee, nor shall any of our

vassals

vassals walk more at liberty, but those that shall be content to walk in thy fetters.

Now came the Lord Mayor out from Diabolus, as if he had obtained a favour indeed; wherefore to his habitation he goes in great state, and thinks to feed himself well enough with hopes, until the time came that his greatness should be enlarged.

But now, though the Lord Mayor and Diabolus did thus well agree, yet this repulse to the brave captains put Mansoul into a mutiny. For while old Incredulity went into the castle to congratulate his Lord with what had passed, the old Lord Mayor, that was so before Diabolus came to the town, to wit, my Lord Understanding; and the old Recorder, Mr. Conscience, getting intelligence of what had passed at Ear-gate (for you must know, that they might not be suffered to be at that debate, lest they should then have mutiņied for the captains) but I say, they got intelligence of what had passed there, and were much concerned therewith; wherefore they getting some of the town together, began to possess them with the reasonableness of the noble captain's demands, and with the bad consequences that would follow upon the speech of old Incredulity the Lord Mayor; to wit, how little reverence he shewed therein, either to the captains or their King; also how he implicitly charged them with unfaithfulness and treachery; for what less, quoth he, could be made of his words, when he said he would not yield to their proposition; and added moreover, a supposition, that he would destroy us, when before he had sent us word he would shew mercy. The multitude being now possessed with the conviction of the evil Incredulity had done, began to run together by companies in all places, and in every corner of the streets of Mansoul, and first they began to mutter, then to talk openly, and after that they run to and fro, and cried as they run, O the brave captains of

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