now was not full of these vermin? Yea, they turned the men of the town out of their houses, and would lie in their beds, and sit at their tables themselves. Ah, poor Mansoul! now thou feelest the fruits of sin, and what venom was in the flattering words of Mr. CarnalSecurity! They (Guilt) made great havoc of whatever they laid their hands on; yea, they fired the town in several places; many young children also (Good and tender thoughts) were by them dashed in pieces; yea, those that were yet unborn they destroyed; for you must needs think that it could not now be otherwise; for what conscience, what pity, what bowels of compassion can any expect at the hands of outlandish doubters? Many in Mansoul (Holy conceptions of good), both young and old, they beast-like abused, so that they fainted, swooned, and many of them died, and so lay at the top of every street and in all by-places of the town. And now did Mansoul seem to be nothing but a den of dragons, an emblem of hell, and a place of total darkness. Now did Mansoul lie almost like the barren wilderness; nothing but nettles, briers, thorns, weeds, and stinking things seemed now to cover the face of Mansoul. I told you before how that these Diabolonian doubters turned the men of Mansoul out of their beds (Mansoul has no rest), and now I will add, they wounded them, they mauled them, yea, and almost brained many of them. Many, did I say? yea, most, if not all of them. Mr. Conscience they so wounded, yea, and his wounds so festered, that he could have no ease day nor night, but lay as if continually upon a rack; but that Shaddai rules all, certainly they had slain him outright. Mr.

Lord Mayor they so abused that they almost put out his eyes; and had not my Lord Willbewill got into the castle, they intended to have chopped him all to pieces (Satan has a particular site against a sanct fied will); for they did look upon him, as his heart now stood, to be one of the very worst that was in Mansoul against Diabolus and his crew. And indeed he hath showed himself a man, and more of his exploits you will hear of afterwards.

Now, a man might have walked for days together in Mansoul, and scarcely have seen one in the town that looked like a religious man (Thought). Oh, the fearful state of Mansoul now! now every corner swarmed with outlandish doubters; red-coats and black-coats walked the town by clusters, and filled up all the houses with hideous noises, vain songs, lying stories, and blasphemous language (The soul full of idle thoughts and blasphemies) against Shaddai and his Son. Now also those Diabolonians that lurked in the walls and dens and holes that were in the town of Mansoul came forth and showed themselves: yea, walked with open face in company with the doubters that were in Mansoul. Yea, they had more boldness now to walk the streets, to haunt the houses, and to show themselves abroad, than had any of the honest inhabitants of the now woeful town of Mansoul.

But Diabolus and his outlandish men were not at peace in Mansoul; for they were not there entertained as were the captains and forces of Emmanuel: the townsmen did browbeat them what they could; nor did they partake of or destroy any of the necessaries of

Mansoul, but that which they seized on against the townsmen's will: what they could, they hid from them, and what they could not, they had with an ill-will. They, poor hearts! had rather have had their room than their company; but they were at present their captives, and their captives for the present they were forced to be. (Rom. vii.) But, I say, they discountenanced them as much as they were able, and showed them all the dislike that they could.

The captains also from the castle did hold them in continual play with their slings, to the chafing and fretting of the minds of the enemies. True, Diabolus made a great many attempts to have broken open the gates of the castle, but Mr. Godly-Fear was made the keeper of that; and he was a man of that courage, conduct, and valour, that it was in vain, as long as life lasted within him, to think to do that work, though mostly desired; wherefore, all the attempts that Diabolus made against him were fruitless. I have wished sometimes that that man had had the whole rule of the town of Mansoul.

Well, this was the condition of the town of Mansoul for about two years and a half: the body of the town was the seat of war, the people of the town were driven into holes, and the glory of Mansoul was laid in the dust. What rest, then, could be to the inhabitants, what peace could Mansoul have, and what sun could shine upon it ? Had the enemy lain so long without in the plain against the town, it had been enough to have famished them: but now, when they shall be within, when the town shall be in their tent, their trench and

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fort against the castle that was in the town; when the town shall be against the town, and shall serve to be a defence to the enemies of her strength and life: I say, when they shall make use of the forts, and town-holds to secure themselves in, even till they shall take, spoil, and demolish the castle (The heart)—this was terrible! and yet this was now the state of the town of Mansoul.

After the town of Mansoul had been in this sad and lamentable condition, for so long a time as I have told you, and no petitions that they presented their Prince with all this while could prevail, the inhabitants of the town, namely, the elders and chief of Mansoul, gathered together, and, after some time spent in condoling their miserable state, and this miserable judgment coming upon them, they agreed together to draw up yet another petition, and to send it away to Emmanuel for relief. But Mr. Godly-Fear stood up and answered that he knew that his Lord the Prince never did, nor ever would receive a petition for these matters, from the hand of any whoever, unless the Lord Secretary's hand was to it. "And this," quoth he, "is the reason that you prevailed not all this while." Then they said they would draw up one, and get the Lord Secretary's hand unto it. But Mr. Godly-Fear answered again, that he knew also that the Lord Secretary would not set his hand to any petition that himself had not an hand in composing and drawing up. "And besides," said he, "the Prince doth know my Lord Secretary's hand from all the hands in the world: wherefore he cannot be deceived by any pretence whatever. Wherefore, my advice is, that you to my Lord, and implore him to lend you his aid."

(Now he did yet abide in the castle, where all the captains and men at arms were.)

So they heartily thanked Mr. Godly-Fear, took his counsel, and did as he had bidden them. So they went and came to my Lord, and made known the cause of their coming to him: namely, that since Mansoul was in so deplorable a condition, his Highness would be pleased to undertake to draw up a petition for them to Emmanuel, the Son of the mighty Shaddai, and to their King and his Father by him.

Then said the Secretary to them, "What petition is it that you would have me draw up for you?" But they said, "Our Lord knows best the state and condition of the town of Mansoul; and how we are back-slidden and degenerated from the Prince; thou also knowest who has come up to war against us, and how Mansoul is now the seat of war. My Lord knows, moreover, what barbarous usuages our men, women, and children have suffered at their hands; and how our homebred Diabolonians do walk now with more boldness than dare the townsmen in the streets of Mansoul. Let our Lord therefore, according to the wisdom of God that is in him, draw up a petition for his poor servants to our Prince Emmanuel." Well," said the Lord Secretary, "I will draw up a petition for you, and will also set my hand thereto." Then said they, "But when shall we call for it at the hands of our Lord ?" But he answered, "Yourselves must be present at the doing of it; yea, you must put your desires to it. True, the hand and pen shall be mine, but the ink and paper must be yours; else how can you say it is your petition? Nor have