up, and when she was marriagable, he gave her to this old Evil-questioning to wife. Now the lord Will-be-will put into execution his commission, with great Diligence his man. He took Fooling in the streets, and hanged him up in Wantwit-alley, over against his own house. This Fooling was he that would have had the town of Mansoul deliver up captain Credence into the hands of Diabalus, provided that then he would have withdrawn his force out of the town: he also took Mr. Let-good-slip, one day as he was busy in the market, and executed him according to law. Now there was an honest poor man in Mansoul, and his name was Mr. Meditation,* one of no great account in the days of Apostacy; but now of repute with the best of the town. This man therefore they were willing to prefer. Now Mr. Letgood slip had a great deal of wealth heretofore in Mansoul, and at Emanuel's coming it was sequestered to the use of the Prince; this therefore was now given to Mr. Meditation to improve for the common good, and after him to his son Mr. Think-well; this Think-well he had by Mrs. Piety his wife, and she was the daughter of Mr. Recorder. After this my lord apprehended Clip-promise; now because he was a notorious villian (for by his doings, much of the King's coin was abused,) therefore he was made a public example. He was arraigned, and adjudged to be first set in the pillory, and then to be whipped by all the children and servants in Mansoul, and then to be hanged till he was dead. Some may wonder at the severity of this man's punishment, but they that are honest traders in Mansoul, are sensible of great abuse that one Clipper of promises in little may do to the town of Mansoul. And truly my judgment the time * It is undoubtedly for want of reflection of the depravity of human nature, that multitudes go in the broad way, till the bottomless pit of misery swallows them up; so for want of meditation many of God's people do not enjoy those privileges and that communion which their birthright entitles them to. you, and because I have set my heart 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 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, mine own 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, that eye hath not seen, nor hath 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 hand of thine enemies; unto whom thou hast deeply revolted from my Father, and by whom thou wast content to be possessed, and also to be 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 rebelledst against my Father and me; yet I left thee not, as thou seest this day, but came to thee, have borne thy manners, have waited upon thee, and, after all, accepted of thee even of my mere grace and favour; and would not suffer thee to be lost, as thou most willingly wouldst have been. I also compassed thee about, afflicted thee on every side, that I might make thee weary of thy ways, and bring down thy heart with molestation to a willingness to close with thy good and happiness. And when I had gotten a complete conquest over thee, I turned it to thy advantage. "Thou seest also what a company of my Father's host I have lodged within thy borders, captains and rulers, soldiers, men of war, engines, and excellent devices, to subdue and bring down thy foes; thou knowest my meaning, O Mansoul. And they are my servants, and * Man's salvation is the glorious effect of the love of God, which the divine influence of the Spirit reveals to the soul of sinners. and thine too, Mansoul. Yea, my design of possessing of thee with them, and the natural tendency of each of them, is to defend, purge, strengthen, and sweeten thee for myself, O Mansoul, and to make thee meet for my Father's presence, blessing, and glory; for thou, my Mansoul, art created to be prepared unto these. "Thou seest moreover, my Mansoul, how I have passed by thy backslidings, and have healed thee. Indeed I was angry with thee, but I have turned away my anger, and mine indignation is ceased in the destruction of thine enemies, O Mansoul. Nor did thy goodness. fetch me again unto thee, after that I for thy transgressions had hid my face, and withdrawn my presence from thee,* The way of backsliding was thine, but the way and means of recovery were 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. It was I that made thy sweet bitter, thy day night, thy smooth way was thorny, and that also confounded all that sought thy destruction. It was I that set Mr. Godly-fear to work in Mansoul. It was I that stirred up thy conscience and understanding, thy will and thy affections, after thy great and woeful decay. It was I that put life into thee, O Mansoul, to seek me, that thou mightest find me, and in thy finding, find thy own health, happiness and salvation. It was I that fetched the second time the Diabolonians out of Mansoul; it was I that overcame them, and that destroyed them before thy face. ex eis Carvont "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 thy beginning. For yet a little while, O my Mansoul, even after a few more * Mercy is probably the most glorious attribute of the Deity: We must ever remember, that Jehovah in covenant, by Jesus the Mediator, begins, carries on, and perfects the whole wok of salvation, by the powerful influence of the eternal Spirit: so that when the headstone is put on the spiritual building in glory, it will be with shouting of Grace, grace unto it, Zech. iv. 7. more times are gone over thy head, I will (but be not thou troubled at what I say) take down this famous town of Mansoul, stick and stone to the ground. And I will carry the stones thereof, and the timber thereof, and the walls thereof, and the dust thereof, and inhabitants thereof, into mine own country, even into the kingdom of my Father; and will there set it up in such strength and glory as it never did see in the kingdom where it now is placed. I will even there set it up for my Father's habitation, because for that purpose it was at first erected in the kingdom of Universe; and there will I make it a spectacle of wonder, a monuiment of mercy. There shall the natives of Mansoul see all that of which they have seen nothing here; there shall they be equal to those unto whom they have been inferior 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, nor even could be, shouldest thou live in Universe the space of a thousand years." "There, O Mansoul, thou shalt be afraid of mur derers no more; of Diabolonians no more. There shall be no more plots, not contrivances, nor designs against thee, O my Mansoul. There thou shalt no more hear evil tidings, or the noise of the Diabolonian drum. There thou shalt not see the Diabolonian standard-bearers, nor yet behold Diabolus's standard. No Diabolonian mount shall be cast up against thee there, nor shall the Diabolonian standard be set up there to make thee afraid. There shalt thou meet with no sorrow, nor grief, nor shall it be possible that any Diabolonian should again (for ever) be able to creep into thy skirts, burrow in thy walls, or be seen within thy borders ail the days of eter nity. Life shall there last longer than here you are able to desire it should, and yet it shall always be sweet and new, nor shall any impediment attend it for ever. "There * "There shall our grateful songs abound, No sin, no sorrow shall be found, No night o'ercloud the endless day." WATTS "There, O Mansoul, thou shalt meet with many of those that have been like thee, and that have been partakers of the 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, even 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 come hither to them.* I told you before, that I would remove my Mansoul, and set it up elsewhere; and where I will set it, there are those that love thee, and those that rejoice in thee now, but much more when they see thee exalted to honour. My Father will then send them for you to fetch you; and their bosoms are chariots to put you in. And thou, O my Mansoul, shalt ride upon the wings of the wind, Psal. Ixviii. 17. They will come to convey, conduct, and bring you to that, when your eyes see more, that will be your desired haven. "And thus, O my Mansoul, I have shewed unto thee, what shall be done to 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, according as is related in the scriptures of truth. "First, I charge thee that thou dost hereafter keep more white and clean the liveries which I gave thee before my last withdrawing 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 As there are many gracious promises made to us in Christ by the scriptures, and such an exceeding and eternal weight of glory set before us, let us implore the Almighty to enable us to run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, that we may be found of bim in peace. |