me to give you a summons to open the gates unto them; so he returned, and went into the camp.

These three summonses, and especially the two last, so distressed the town, that they presently call a consultation, the result of which was this, that my lord Will-bewill 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 told the captains, that they had heard and considered their summons; and would come to an agreement with their King Shaddai, upon such certain terms, articles, and propositions, as, with and by the order of their prince, they to them were appointed to propouud: 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, harbour, or the freedom that he hath hitherto enjoyed in the famous 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 have 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 has 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.

C 5. These

* There are, undoubtedly, many who would embrace religion, and be candidates for heaven, if they might retain their old lords and rulers, namely, their lusts and inordinate affections. But this cannot be; Christ can have no concord with Belial: he will be a complete Saviour, to cleanse, renew, and sanctify, that he may, as most-worthy, have all the glory in earth and heaven.

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

Oye inhabitants of the town of Mansoul, when I heard your trumpet sound for a parley with us, 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 sorrow, and my hopeful beginnings of your return into languishing and fainting fears.*

I count, that old Ill pause, the ancient enemy of Mansoul, drew up these proposals that now you present us with, as terms of an agreement; but they deserve not to be admitted to sound in the ears 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 you 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

The ministers of Christ, conscious that the salvation of an immortal soul is of infinite consequence, and the loss of it inconceivably dreadful, rejoice at the most distant prospect of it's return to God and happiness. But owing to the insensibility and hardness of men's hearts, their hopes are often frustrated; and, instead of seeing a successful end to their labours in the Lord, they have often abundant reason to lament, that the conviction of some hearers is as the morning cloud, and goes away as the early dew, Hos. vi. 4. Hereby they are convinced, that "Paul may preach, and Apollos may water, but God giveth the increase," 1 Cor. iii. 6,

if

you like not to trust yourselves in the arms of Shaddai our King, then these 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 ye 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, (x) 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 of them much more 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 a 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

(z) Unbelief is never profitable in talk, but always speaks misChievously.

*These wicked speeches are the genuine suggestions of an evil heart, inasmuch as God, who is love, intends no evil, but only good to man. God delighteth in mercy; and in the return of sinners to himself, the fountain of bliss: and therefore he says, Deut. xxxii. 47. "It is not a vain thing for you [to forsake sin, and serve the Lord] because it is your life: q. d. it is essential to the happiness of your soul and is the only means of your escaping misery both here and for ever. This scriptural truth all real christians will subscribe to as their own happy experience.

and to their men, as they were; and the mayor to the castle, and to his king.

66

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 twixt you to-day?' Then the lord Incredulity (with a low congé) told him the whole of the matter, saying, Thus said the captain of Shaddai, and thus, and thus said I. The which as it was told 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 hands upon them, that they may not resist thee; nor shall any of our 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 with his lord on what had passed, the old lord mayor that was so before Diabolus came to town, to wit, my lord Understanding,

and

*As God's service is perfect freedom, so a disposition to serve sin, exposes to the worst of slavery; because the subjects of it, conscious that God is their enemy, and judgment at hand, are, through fear of death, all their life-time subject to bondage,' Heb. ii. 15 Such Christ came to deliver, by his blood-shedding and righteousness, having conquered death and hell, and obtained eternal. redemption for

them.

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 have then mutinied 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 captains' 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, that he would shew us mercy?* The multitude being now possessed with the conviction of the evil old 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 taik openly; and after that they ran to and fro, and cried as they ran, O the brave captains of Shaddai! Would we were under the government of the captains, and of Shaddai their King! When the lord mayor had intelligence, that Mansoul was in an uproar, down he comes to appease the people, and thought to have quash

ed

The ministers of the gospel of reconciliation are very unjustly slandered, as though they proclaimed nothing but wrath and damnation to sinners in general; whereas they only denounce inevitable destruction to those who obstinately persist in their rebellious and sinful courses; but free, sovereign, boundless mercy, and everlasting love, through the Lord Jesus Christ, is held out to sensible, returning sinners, who are enabled to obey the gracious invitation. May the didivine Spirit quicken many dead souls, and dispose them to accept the offers of peace and salvation, in this their day: for