The Works of John Bunyan, vol 3, John Bunyan [ebook reader color screen TXT] 📗

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 5:2).

‘O Mansoul, neither is my commission, nor inclination, at all to do thee hurt; why fliest 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 (Luke 9:56; John 12:47).

‘My commission, indeed, is to make a war upon Diabolus thy king, and upon all Diabolonians with him; for he is the strong man armed that keeps the house, and I will have him out; his spoils I must divide,[151] 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 Mansoul shall rejoice to see it so.

‘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 save, and will deliver my Mansoul out of his hand.’[152]

This speech was intended chiefly for Mansoul, but Mansoul would not have the hearing of it. They shut up Ear-gate, they barricaded it up, they kept it locked and bolted; they set a guard thereat, and commanded that no Mansoulonian 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 enchanted them to do, and 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.[153]

[CHAPTER VII.]

[CONTENTS:—Emmanuel prepares to make war upon Mansoul—Diabolus sends Mr. Loth-to-stoop with proposals for peace—These proposals being dishonourable to Emmanuel, are all rejected—Again Diabolus proposes to patch up a peace by reformation, offering to become Emmanuel’s deputy in that business—This proposal also rejected—New preparations made for battle—Diabolus, expecting to be obliged to abandon the town, does much mischief—Ear-gate, violently assaulted by the battering-rams, at length gives way, and is broken to pieces—Emmanuel’s forces enter the town, and take possession of the Recorder’s house—Several mischievous Diabolonians are killed.]

So when Emmanuel saw that Mansoul was thus involved in sin, he calls his army together, since now also his words were despised, and gave out a commandment throughout all his host 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, their slings, and their men, and place them at Eye-gate and Ear-gate, in order to his taking the town.

When Emmanuel had put all things in readiness to give Diabolus battle, he sent again to know of the town of Mansoul if in peaceable manner they would yield themselves, or whether they were yet resolved to put him to try the utmost extremity. Then they together, with Diabolus their king, called a council of war, and resolved upon certain propositions that should be offered to Emmanuel, 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.[154] So he went, and came to the camp to Emmanuel; 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, ‘Great Sir, that it may be known 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 to go to war, to deliver up into your hands one-half of the town of Mansoul (Titus 1:16). I am therefore to know if your Mightiness will accept of this proposition.’[155]

Then said Emmanuel, ‘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 13:25).

Then Emmanuel answered, ‘The whole is mine really; not in name and word only: wherefore I will be the sole Lord and possessor of all, or of none at all of 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 5:1-5).

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 of Mansoul to dwell in, I will have all to myself.’

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 way-faring man for two days, or ten days or a month, or so; may not this small matter be granted?’

Then said Emmanuel, ‘No: he came as a way-faring man to David, nor did he stay long with him, and yet it had like to have cost David his soul (2 Sam 12:1-5). I will not consent that he ever should have any harbour more 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 Emmanuel, ‘No: that is contrary to my Father’s will; 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’ (Rom 6:13; Gal 5:24; Col 3:5).

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 10:8).

Emmanuel 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 of 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, may he not, if he shall 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, and the merry times that they sometimes enjoyed one with another, while he and they lived in peace together.’

Then said Emmanuel, ‘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’ (Rom 6:12-13).

‘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. Suppose that when my master is gone from Mansoul, any that shall yet live in the town should 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 person concerned meet in some of the villages near Mansoul, and there lay their heads together, and there consult of matters?’[156]

(2 Kings 1:3,6,7).

This was the last of those ensnaring propositions that Mr.

Loth-to-stoop had to propound to Emmanuel on behalf of his master Diabolus; but Emmanuel 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 salved157 by my Father; 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 everything, by prayer and supplication, to let their requests be made known to my Father (1 Sam 28:15; 2

Kings 1:2-3). Further, this, should it be granted, would be to grant that a door should be set open for Diabolus and the Diabolonians in Mansoul, to hatch, and plot, and bring to pass treasonable designs, to the grief of my Father and me, and to the utter destruction of Mansoul.’[158]

When Mr. Loth-to-stoop had heard this answer, he took his leave of Emmanuel and departed, saying, that he would do word to his master concerning this whole affair. So he departed and came to Diabolus to Mansoul, and told him the whole of the matter, and how Emmanuel would not admit, no, not by any means, that he, when he was once gone out, should for ever have anything more to do, either in, or with any that are of, the town of Mansoul. When Mansoul and Diabolus had heard this relation of things, they with one consent concluded to use their best endeavour to keep Emmanuel out of Mansoul, and sent old Ill-pause, of whom you have heard before, to tell the Prince and his captains so. So the old gentleman came up to the top of Ear-gate, and called to the camp for a hearing; who, when they gave audience, he said, ‘I have in commandment from my high Lord to bid you tell it to your Prince Emmanuel, that Mansoul and their King are resolved to stand and fall together, and that it is in vain for your Prince to think of ever having of Mansoul in his hand, unless he can take it by force.’ So some