had put them in execution, made no small addition 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, the place that the prince Diabolus was afraid of; for 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 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 wonderful Potentate, victor over Diabolus, and conqueror of the town of Mansoul, we, the miserable inhabitants of that most woful corporation, humbly beg that we may find favour in thy sight, and remember not against us our former transgressions, nor yet the sins 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 anything else,) therefore they consulted again, and sent another petition; which was much after the form and method of the former.

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 them,) so they attempted to make Captain Conviction their messenger with it; but he said, that he 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 adven

ture to send it by the hand 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 danger 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 desired of him that he would go therewith to the Prince. Then said Mr. Desires-awake, "Why should I not do the best I can to save so famous a town as Mansoul from 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. So he came 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, "Oh that Mansoul might live before

thee!" and with that he presented the petition. The which when the Prince had read, he turned away for a while and wept; but refraining himself, he turned again to the man, who all this 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 longing 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 Will-be-will, and Mr. Recorder. So he went forwards towards the prison-house, where the men of Mansoul lay bound But, oh! what a multitude flocked after to hear what the messenger said. So, when he was come, and had showed himself at the gate of the prison, my Lord Mayor himself looked as white as a clout; the Recorder also quaked. 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 fell 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, 'Oh that Mansoul might live before thee!'

So, when for a while he had looked thereon, he turned 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 to hear the news; nor knew they what, or what manner of interpretation to put on what the Prince had said. Now, when the prison was cleared of the throng, the prisoners began to comment among themselves upon Emanuel's words. My Lord Mayor said, that the answer did not look with 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 prisoners' judgment thereon; so none had a right understanding of things. But you cannot imagine 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 one thing and another quite the contrary, and both were sure enough they told true, for they heard, 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 now Mansoul had 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 the quite 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 intended 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 I could get, all this

What will guilt do.

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 that began the fright in Mansoul; for Mansoul in former times used to count that Mr. Recorder was a seer, that his sentence was equal to the best of oracles; and thus was Mansoul a terror to itself.

And now they began to feel the effects of stubborn rebellion and unlawful resistance against their Prince. I say, they now began to feel the effects thereof by guilt and fear, that now had swallowed them up; and who more involved in the one, but they that were most in the other, to wit, the chief of the town of Mansoul?

To be brief: when the fame of the fright was out of the town, and the prisoners had a little recovered themselves, they take to themselves some heart, and think to petition the Prince again for life. So they drew up a third petition, the contents whereof were these:

"Prince Emanuel the Great, Lord of all worlds, and Master of mercy, we, thy poor, wretched, miserable, dying town of Mansoul, do confess unto thy great and glorious Majesty, that we have sinned against thy Father and Thee; and are no more worthy to be called thy Mansoul, but rather to be cast into the pit. If thou wilt slay us, we have deserved it. If thou wilt condemn us to the deep, we cannot but say thou art righteous. We cannot complain, whatever thou dost, or however thou carriest it towards us. But, oh! let mercy reign, and let it be extended to us! Oh! let mercy take hold upon us, and free us from our transgressions, and we will sing of thy mercy and of thy judgments! Amen."

Prayer attended

This petition, when drawn up, was designed to be sent to the Prince as the first; but who should carry it ?-that was the question. Some said, "Let him do it that went with the first;" but with difficulty. others thought good not to do that, and that because he sped no better. Now, there was an old man in the town, and his name was Mr. Good-deed; a man that bare only the name, but had nothing of the nature of the thing. Some were for sending him; but the Recorder was by no means for that: "For," said he, "we now stand in need of, and are pleading for mercy : wherefore, to send our petition by a man of this name, will seem to cross the petition itself. Should we make Mr. Good-deed our messenger, when our petition cries for mercy?