第27章 Part 3(4)

This town of Mansoul, as thou very well knowest, is mine, and that by a twofold right. 1. It is mine by right of conquest;I won it in the open field; and shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive be delivered? 2. This town of Mansoul is mine also by their subjection. They have opened the gates of their town unto me; they have sworn fidelity to me, and have openly chosen me to be their king;they have also given their castle into my hands; yea, they have put the whole strength of Mansoul under me.

'Moreover, this town of Mansoul hath disavowed thee, yea, they have cast thy law, thy name, thy image, and all that is thine, behind their back, and have accepted and set up in their room my law, my name, my image, and all that ever is mine. Ask else thy captains, and they will tell thee that Mansoul hath, in answer to all their summonses, shown love and loyalty to me, but always disdain, despite, contempt, and scorn to thee and thine. Now, thou art the Just One and the Holy, and shouldest do no iniquity. Depart, then, I pray thee, therefore, from me, and leave me to my just inheritance peaceably.'

This oration was made in the language of Diabolus himself;for although he can, to every man, speak in their own language, (else he could not tempt them all as he does,) yet he has a language proper to himself, and it is the language of the infernal cave, or black pit.

Wherefore the town of Mansoul (poor hearts!) understood him not; nor did they see how he crouched and cringed while he stood before Emmanuel, their Prince.

Yea, they all this while took him to be one of that power and force that by no means could be resisted. Wherefore, while he was thus entreating that he might have yet his residence there, and that Emmanuel would not take it from him by force, the inhabitants boasted even of his valour, saying, 'Who is able to make war with him?'

Well, when this pretended king had made an end of what he would say, Emmanuel, the golden Prince, stood up and spake;the contents of whose words follow:-'Thou deceiving one,' said he, 'I have, in my Father's name, in mine own name, and on the behalf and for the good of this wretched town of Mansoul, somewhat to say unto thee. Thou pretendest a right, a lawful right, to the deplorable town of Mansoul, when it is most apparent to all my Father's court that the entrance which thou hast obtained in at the gates of Mansoul was through thy lie and falsehood; thou beliedst my Father, thou beliedst his law, and so deceivedst the people of Mansoul. Thou pretendest that the people have accepted thee for their king, their captain, and right liege lord; but that also was by the exercise of deceit and guile. Now, if lying, wiliness, sinful craft, and all manner of horrible hypocrisy, will go in my Father's court (in which court thou must be tried) for equity and right, then will I confess unto thee that thou hast made a lawful conquest. But, alas! what thief, what tyrant, what devil is there that may not conquer after this sort? But I can make it appear, O Diabolus, that thou, in all thy pretences to a conquest of Mansoul, hast nothing of truth to say. Thinkest thou this to be right, that that didst put the lie upon my Father, and madest him (to Mansoul) the greatest deluder in the world? And what sayest thou to thy perverting knowingly the right purport and intent of the law? Was it good also that thou madest a prey of the innocency and simplicity of the now miserable town of Mansoul? Yea, thou didst overcome Mansoul by promising to them happiness in their transgressions against my Father's law, when thou knewest, and couldest not but know, hadst thou consulted nothing but thine own experience, that that was the way to undo them. Thou hast also thyself, O thou master of enmity, of spite defaced my Father's image in Mansoul, and set up thy own in its place, to the great contempt of my Father, the heightening of thy sin, and to the intolerable damage of the perishing town of Mansoul.

'Thou hast, moreover, (as if all these were but little things with thee,) not only deluded and undone this place, but, by thy lies and fradulent carriage, hast set them against their own deliverance. How hast thou stirred them up against my Father's captains, and made them to fight against those that were sent of him to deliver them from their bondage! All these things, and very many more, thou hast done against thy light, and in contempt of my Father and of his law, yea, and with design to bring under his displeasure for ever the miserable town of Mansoul. I am therefore come to avenge the wrong that thou hast done to my Father, and to deal with thee for the blasphemies wherewith thou hast made poor Mansoul blaspheme his name. Yea, upon thy head, thou prince of the infernal cave, will I requite it.

'As for myself, O Diabolus, I am come against thee by lawful power, and to take, by strength of hand, this town of Mansoul out of thy burning fingers; for this town of Mansoul is mine, O Diabolus, and that by undoubted right, as all shall see that will diligently search the most ancient and most authentic records, and I will plead my title to it, to the confusion of thy face.

'First, for the town of Mansoul, my Father built and did fashion it with his hand. The palace also that is in the midst of that town, he built it for his own delight. This town of Mansoul, therefore, is my Father's, and that by the best of titles, and he that gainsays the truth of this must lie against his soul.

'Secondly, O thou master of the lie, this town of Mansoul is mine.

'1. For that I am my Father's heir, his firstborn, and the only delight of his heart. I am therefore come up against thee in mine own right, even to recover mine own inheritance out of thine hand.