shall I do unto thee? Shall I save thee? Shall I destroy thee? What shall I do unto thee? Shall I fall upon thee, and grind thee to powder: or make thee a monument of the richest grace? What shall I do unto thee? Hearken therefore, thou town of Mansoul, hearken to my word.* and thou shalt live. I am merciful, Mansoul, and thou shalt find me so: shut me not out of thy gates, Cant. v. ii.

"O Mansoul, neither is my commission or inclination at all to do thee hurt: why flyest thou so fast from thy friend, and stickest so close to thine enemy? Indeed I would have thee, because it becomes thee, to be sorry for thy sin but do not despair of life: this great force is not to hurt thee, but to deliver thee from thy bondage, and to reduce thee to thy obedience.

"My Commission indeed is, to make war upon Diabolus thy king, and upon all Diabolonians with him, for he is the strong man armed that keeps the house; but I will have him out; his spoils I must divide, his armour I must take from him, his hold I must cast him out of, and must make it an habitation for myself. And this, O Mansoul, shall Diabolus know, when he shall be made to follow me in chains, and when Mansou! shall rejoice to see it too.

"I could, would I now put forth my might, cause that forthwith he should leave you, and depart; but I have it in my heart so to deal with him, as that the justice of the war, that I shall make upon him, may be seen and acknowledged by all. He hath taken Mansoul by fraud, and keeps it by violence and deceit ; and I will make him bare and naked in the eyes of all observers. All my words are true: I am mighty to to save, and will deliver my Mansoul out of his hand."

This speech was intended chiefly for Mansoul, but Mansoul would hot have the hearing of it. They shut

up

*It is a duty absolutely incumbant on man to listen to the voice of God, and obey his will; for man is evidently a favourite being of the Almighty, since he has distinguished him above all his other works.

up Ear-gate, they barricadoed it up, they kept it locked and bolted, they set a guard thereat, and commanded that no Mansoulian should go out to him, nor that any from the camp should be admitted into the town; all this they did, so horribly had Diabolus inchanted them to do, and to seek to do for him, against their rightful Lord and Prince; wherefore no man nor voice, nor sound of man that belonged to the glorious host, was to come into the town.

So when Emanuel saw that Mansoul was thus involved in sin, he called his army together (since now all his words were despised) and gave out a commandment throughout all his hosts, to be ready against the time appointed. Now forasmuch as there was no way lawfully to take the town of Mansoul, but to get in by the gates, and at Ear-gate as the chief, therefore he commanded his captains and commanders to bring their rams and their slings, and their men, and place them at Eye-gate and Ear-gate, in order to his taking the town.

When Emanuel had put all things in readiness to bid Diabolus battle, he sent again to know of the town of Mansoul, if in peaceable manner they would yield themselves; or whether they were resolved to put him to try the utmost extremity? They then, together with Diabolus the king, called a council of war, and resolved upon certain propositions that should be offered Emanuel, if he will accept thereof: so they agreed; and then the next was, who should be sent on this errand. Now there was in the town of Mansoul an old man, a Diabolonian, and his name was Mr. Loth to-stoop: a stiff man in his way, and a great doer for Diabolus ; him therefore they sent, and put into his mouth what he should say. So he went, and came to the camp of Emanuel; and when he was come, a time was appointed to give him audience. So at the time he came : and after a Diabolonian ceremony or two, he thus began, and said, Tit. i. 16. 'Great Sir, that it may be known

unto

unto all men, how good-natured a prince my master is, he hath sent me to tell your lordship that he is very willing rather than go to war, to deliver up into your hands one half of the town of Mansoul.* I am therefore to know if your Mightiness will accept of this proposition.'

Then said Emanuel, "The whole is mine by gift and purchase, wherefore I will never lose one half."

Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, Sir, my master hath said, that he will be content that you shall be the nominal and titular Lord of all, if he may possess but a part," Luke xiii. 25.

Then Emanuel answered, "The whole is mine really, not in naine and word only; wherefore I will be the sole lord and possessor of all, or of none at all, in Mansoul."

Then Mr. Loth-to-stoop said again,Sir, behold the condescension of my master! He says, that he will be content if he may but have assigned to him some place in Mansoul, as a place to live privately in, and you shall be Lord of all the rest,' Acts v. 1--5. Then said the Golden Prince, "All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me; and of all that he hath given me, I will lose nothing, no not a hoof nor a hair; I will not therefore grant him, no not the least corner in Mansoul to dwell in, I will have all to myself."

6

Then Loth-to-stoop said again, But, Sir, suppose that my Lord should resign the whole town to you only with this proviso, that he sometimes, when he comes into this country, may, for old acquaintance sake, be entertained as a wayfaring man for two days, or ten days, or a month, or so; may not this small matter be granted?'

Then said Emanuel; "No. He came as a wayfaring man to David, nor did he stay long with him,

and

A man may make an outward and feigned appearance of Christianity, without being a Christian in his heart. An almost Christian is a very infidel. We cannot serve too masters, God and Mammon. Jesus is worthy of all love and service. In him are treasured up every needful blessing for time and eternity.

and yet it had like to have cost David his soul, 2 Sam. xii. 1-5. I will not consent that he ever should have any more harbour there."

Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, Sir, you seem to be very hard. Suppose my master should yield to all that your lordship hath said, provided that his friends and kindred in Mansoul may have liberty to trade in the town, and to enjoy their present dwellings; may not that be granted, Sir?'*

Then said Emanuel, "No; that is contrary to my Father's will, Rom. vi. 13. Col. iii. 5. Gal. v. 24. For all, and all manner of Diabolonians that now are, or that at any time shall be found in Mansoul, shall not only lose their lands and liberties, but also their lives." Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop again, But, Sir, may not my master and great lord, by letters, by passengers, by accidental opportunities, and the like, maintain, if he shall deliver up all unto thee, some kind of old friendship with Mansoul?' John x. 8.

Emanuel answered, "No, by no means; forasmuch as any such fellowship, friendship, intimacy, or acquaintance, in what way, sort, or mode soever maintained, will tend to the corrupting of Mansoul, the alienating of their affections from me, and the endangering their peace with my Father."

Mr. Loth-to-stoop yet added further, saying, But, great Sir, since my master hath many friends, and those that are dear to him in Mansoul, Rom. vi. 12, 13. may he not, if he depart from them, even of his bounty and good nature, bestow upon them, as he sees fit, some tokens of his love and kindness that he had for them, to the end that Mansoul, when he is gone, may look upon such tokens of kindness once received from their old friend, and remember him who was once their

king,

It is not to be wondered at that a soul, already alienated from the life of God, finds it so difficult to part with any darling lust, and suc for mercy at the feet of Christ. But when any sinner is born again in the spirit the proud heart is humbled and wonderfully turned Zionward, and made the habitation of God.

king, and the merry times that they sometimes enjoyed one with another, while he and they lived in peace together?'

Then said Emanuel, "No; for if Mansoul come to be mine, I shall not admit of, nor consent that there' should be the least scrap, shred, or dust of Diabolus left behind, as tokens or gifts bestowed upon any in Mansoul, thereby to call to remembrance the horrible communion that was betwixt them and him."*

Well, Sir, said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, I have one thing more to propound, and then I am got to the end of my commission: 2 Kings i. 3, 6, 7. Suppose that when my master is gone from Mansoul, any that yet shall live in the town shall have such business of high concerns to do, that, if they be neglected, the party shall be undone and suppose, Sir, that nobody can help, in that case, so well as my master and lord; may not now my master be sent for upon so urgent an occasion as this? Or if he may not be admitted into the town, may not he and the persons concerned meet in some of the villages near Mansoul, and there lay their heads together, and there consult together?'

This was the last of those ensnaring propositions that Mr. Loth-to-stoop had to propound to Emanuel on behalf of his master Diabolus: but Emanuel would not grant it; for he said, there can be no case, or thing, or matter, fall out in Mansoul, when thy master shall be gone, that may not be solved by my Father, 1 Sam. xxviii. 15. Besides, it will be a great disparagement to my Father's wisdom and skill, to admit any from Mansoul to go out to Diabolus for advice, when they are bid before, in every thing, by prayer and supplication, to let their requests be made known to my Father, 2 Kings i. 2, 3. Further, this, should it be granted, would

be

God is undoubtedly worthy of our supreme and most consummate affection: our duty and happiness call on us to give it him: the more we are renewed in his image, the greater strength we shall derive from his fulness.

P