his face, and said, "If you want me, you must come and fetch me."
There was a flash, a roar--the sergeant had fired. But when the smoke
had cleared away, Rohan was still standing on the ledge with the strange
smile on his face. The shot had gone wide.

"You can smile," said the sergeant angrily, "but you cannot escape. If I
cannot bring you down, I will starve you out. My men are watching for
you, above and below. You are surrounded."

"And so are you," said Rohan, with a laugh, pointing to the mouth of the
cavern. "Look behind you!"

The sergeant and his men turned round, and gave a cry of dismay. The
tide had turned, and the sea was surging fiercely into the mouth of the
cavern.

"Give him one volley," shouted the sergeant, "and then swim for your
lives."

But when the men turned to aim at Rohan, he was no longer visible. They
fired at random at the hole in the cliff, and after filling the great
cavern with drifting smoke and echoing thunder, they fled for their
lives, wading, swimming through the high spring tide.

"At any rate," said the sergeant, when they had all got safely back to
land, "we can stop Mother Gwenfern from bringing the mad rebel any more
food."

So a watch was set over the cottage in which Rohan's widowed mother
lived, and she was always searched whenever she left her house, and
bands of armed men kept guard night and day by the hole at the top of
the cliff and by the seaward entrance to the cavern. At the end of two
weeks the sergeant resolved to make another attack. The man, he thought,
must surely have been starved to death, as every avenue of aid had long
since been blocked.

So one moonlight night at ebb tide the crowd of soldiers crept into the
cavern and lashed two long ladders together, and began to climb up the
precipice. But a strong arm seized the ladders from above, and flung
them back on the granite floor of the cave. Standing like a ghost in the
faint, silvery radiance falling through the hole in the cliff, Rohan
hurled down upon the dark mass of the besieging crowd great fragments of
rock which he had placed, ready for use, along the ledge on which he
slept.

"Fire Fire!" shrieked the sergeant, pointing at the white figure of
Rohan.

But before the command could be obeyed, Rohan got under shelter, and the
bullets rained harmlessly round the spot where he had just stood. Then,
under cover of fire, some men advanced and again placed the ladder
against the precipice. As Rohan crouched down on the ledge, he was
startled by the apparition of a human face. With a cry of rage, he
sprang to his feet, and, heedless of the bullets thudding on the rock
around him, he slowly and painfully lifted up a terrible granite
boulder, poised it for a moment over his head, and then hurled it down
at the shapes dimly struggling below him. There was a crash, a shriek.
Under the weight of the boulder the ladders broke, and the men upon them
fell down, amid horrible cries of agony and terror.

What happened after this Rohan never knew; for, overcome by frenzy and
fatigue, he swooned away. When he opened his eyes, he was lying beneath
the hole in the cliff, with the moonlight streaming upon his face. From
below him came the soft sound of lapping water, and, looking down, he
saw that the tide had entered the cave, and forced the besiegers to give
over their attack.

Yes, the battle was over, and he had conquered! His position indeed was
impregnable; had he been well supplied with food, he could have held it
against hundreds of men for a long period. But, as he laid down on his
bed of seaweed, a rough tongue licked his hand. It was his goat,
Jannedik. For the last fortnight, Rohan's mother had sent the goat every
day to her son with a basket of food tied round its neck and hidden in
the long hair of its throat. Rohan groped in the darkness for the
basket, and Jannedik uttered a low cry of pain, rolled over at his feet
into the moonlight, revealing a terrible bullet-wound in its side, and
quivered and died. Some soldier had shot it.

As Rohan stared at the dead body of his four-footed friend, the strength
of mind which had enabled him to withstand all the power that Napoleon,
the conqueror of Europe, could bring against him at last went from him.
Trembling and shivering, he looked around him, overcome by utter
desolation and despair. He had held out bravely, but he could hold out
no longer; slowly and laboriously he climbed down the dark face of the
precipice, and reached the narrow strip of shingle below, just as the
moon got clear from a cloud and lighted up the cavern. Its cold rays
fell on the white face of the sergeant, who laid half on the shingle and
half in the water, crushed by the great boulder with which Rohan had
broken down the ladders.

Rohan gazed for a moment on the features of the man he had killed, and
then, with a cry of agony and despair, he fell upon his knees.

"Not on my head, O God, be the guilt!" he prayed. "Not on my head, but
on his who hunted me down and made me what I am; on his, whose red sword
shadows all the world, and drives on millions of innocent men to murder
each other! Ah, God, God, God! The men that Napoleon has slain! Is it
not high time that some man like me sought him out and killed him, and
brought peace back once more to this blood-covered earth of ours? Yes, I
will do it!"

Rising wildly to his feet, full of the strange strength and the strange
powers of madness, Rohan Gwenfern climbed up the precipice to his bed of
seaweed, and then took a path that no man had taken and lived--the
sheer, precipitous path from the roof of the cavern to the top of the
cliff.


_III.--Rohan Meets Napoleon_


As the Grand Army swept into Belgium for the last great battle against
the united powers of England, Germany, Austria, and Russia, a strange,
savage creature followed it--a gaunt, half-naked man, with long yellow
hair falling almost to his waist, and bloodshot eyes with a look of
madness in them. How he lived it is difficult to tell. He never begged,
but the soldiers threw lumps of bread at him as he prowled round their
camp-fires, asking everyone whom he met: "Where is the emperor? Where is
Napoleon? Do you think he will come this way?"

Twice he had been arrested as a spy, and hastily condemned to be shot.
But each time, on hearing his sentence of death, he gave so strange a
laugh that the officer examined him more closely, and then set him free,
saying with scornful pity, "It is a harmless maniac. Let him go."

He always lagged in the rear of the advancing army, and as each fresh
regiment arrived he mingled with the soldiers, and asked them in a
fierce whisper, "Is the emperor coming now? Isn't he coming?"

At last, one dark rainy evening, the wild outcast saw the man for whom
he was seeking. Wrapped in an old grey overcoat, and wearing a cocked
hat from which the rain dripped heavily, Napoleon stood on a hill, with
his hands clasped behind his back, his head sunk deep between his
shoulders, looking towards Ligny. But he was guarded; a crowd of
officers stood close behind him, waiting for orders.

Suddenly a bareheaded soldier came riding along the road, spurring and
flogging his horse as if for dear life; galloping wildly up the hill he
handed the emperor a dispatch. Napoleon glanced at it, and spoke to his
staff officers. With a wild movement of joy they drew their swords, and
waved them in the air, shouting, "_Vive l'Empereur!"_ Napoleon smiled.
His star was again in the ascendant! The Prussians were retreating from
Ligny; he had struck the first blow, and it was a victory!

Near the hill on which he was standing was a deserted farmhouse; he gave
orders that it should be prepared for his reception. But, as he rode
down the hill at the head of his staff, the man who had been watching
him divined his intention, and reached the house before his attendants.
The soldiers who searched the place before Napoleon entered failed to
see the dark figure crouching up in the corner of a loft among the black
rafters.

"Leave me," said Napoleon to his men, after he had finished the plain
meal of bread and wine set before him.

To-morrow he would meet for the first time, on the rolling fields of
Waterloo, the only captain of a European army whom he had not defeated.
He wanted to think his plans of battle over in silence. Some time he
paced up and down the room, his chin drooping forward on his breast, and
his hands clasped upon his back. Through the wide, clear spaces of his
mind great armies passed in black procession, moving like storm-clouds
over the stricken earth; burning cities rose in the distance, amid the
shrieks of dying men, and the thunder of cannon. His plan was at last
matured. Victory? Yes, that was certain! So his thoughts ran. An
aide-de-camp entered with a dispatch. He tore it open, and ran his eye
over it.

"It is nothing," he said. "Don't disturb me for two hours except on a
matter of great importance. I want to sleep."

Going up to the old armchair of oak that was set before the fire, he
fell on his knees, and covered his eyes and prayed.

"What!" said the man who was watching him up in the rafters. "Does Cain
dare to pray? Surely God will not answer his prayers! He is praying that
he may wipe the English to-morrow from the face of the earth, and again
cement his throne with blood, and forge his sceptre of fire!"

That, no doubt, was what Napoleon prayed for. Yet, when he rose up his
face was wonderfully changed and softened by the religious light which
had shone on it for a few moments. Then, throwing himself into the
armchair, he closed his eyes. And, as the fire burnt low, Rohan Gwenfern
silently descended from the loft, and something gleamed in his hand. He
crept up to the sleeping emperor, and stared at his face, reading it
line by line. Napoleon moved uneasily in his sleep, and murmured to
himself, and his hand opened and shut.

As Rohan raised his knife to strike home to the heart of the tyrant he
saw the hand--white and small, like a woman's or a child's. Again he
looked at the face. Ah, there was no imperial grandeur here! Only a
feeble, sallow, tired, and sickly creature, whom a strong man could
crush down with one blow of his fist. Rohan grew weak as he looked, and
the long knife almost fell from his clutch.

"I must kill him--I must kill him!" he kept saying to himself. "His one
life against the peace and happiness of earth--the life of a Cain! If he
awakens, war will awaken, and fire, famine, and slaughter! Kill him,
Rohan, kill him!"

Perhaps if Napoleon had not prayed before he slept, his enemy would have
carried out his purpose. But he had prayed; his face had become
beautiful for a moment, and he fell asleep as fearlessly as a child. No!
Rohan Gwenfern was not made of the stuff of which savage assassins are
formed; though there was madness in his brain, there was still love in
his heart. He could not kill even Cain, when God had sanctified the
murderer with sleep. God had made Napoleon, and God had sent him; bloody
as he was, he, too, was God's child.

Opening the great casement window of the room in the farmhouse, Gwenfern
gazed for a moment with wild eyes and quivering lips on the pale, worn
face of the great conqueror, and then leaped out into the darkness. When
Napoleon awoke, a long knife was lying at his feet; but he heeded it
not, and little dreamt that a few minutes ago it had been pointed at his
heart.

Ah, Rohan Gwenfern had done well to leave the mighty emperor in the
hands of God, and go back, a wild, tattered, mad beggar to his
sweetheart Marcelle, in the little Breton village of Kromlaix. For as
Napoleon came out of the farmhouse, and looked at the dawning sky, there
rose up, clouding the lurid star of his destiny, the blood-red shadow--
WATERLOO!

*       *       *       *       *




JOHN BUNYAN


The Holy War

John Bunyan was born at Elstow, near Bedford, England, in
1628. After receiving a scanty education at the village
school, he worked hard at the forge with his father. In his
sixteenth year he lost his mother, and soon after he joined
the army, then engaged in the Civil War; but his military
experience lasted only a few months. Returning to Elstow, he
again worked at the forge, and married. After various
alternating religious experiences, in 1655 he became a member
of the Baptist congregation at Bedford, of which he was ere
long chosen pastor. His success was extraordinary; but after
five years his ministry was prohibited, and he was
incarcerated in Bedford Gaol, his imprisonment lasting for
twelve years. There he wrote his immortal "Pilgrim's
Progress." Released under the Act of Indulgence, he resumed
his ministry, and ultimately his pastoral charge in Bedford.
He took fever when on a visit to London, and died on August
31, 1688. The "Holy War" is considered by critics even
superior to the "Pilgrim," inasmuch as it betrays a finer
literary workmanship. It was written in 1682, after
molestation of Bunyan as a preacher had ceased, and when he
was known widely as the author of the first part of the
"Pilgrim's Progress," the second part of which was published
two years later. Macaulay held that if there had been no
"Pilgrim's Progress," "Holy War" would have been the first of
religious allegories. No doubt its popularity has been due in
some degree to its kinship to that work; but the vigour of its
style overcomes the minute elaboration of an almost impossible
theme, and the book lives, alike as literature and theology,
by its own vitality. An elaborate analysis of it may be found
in Froude's volume on Bunyan. He said of it: "'The Holy War'
would have entitled Bunyan to a place among the masters of
English Literature."


_I.--The Founding of Mansoul_


In the gallant country of Universe there is a fair and delicate town, a
corporation called Mansoul, a town for its building so curious, for its
situation so commodious, for its privileges so advantageous, that there
is not its equal under the whole heaven.

As to the situation of the town, it lieth between two worlds, and the
first founder and builder of it was one Shaddai, who built it for his
own delight. And as he made it goodly to behold, so also mighty to have
dominion over all the country round about.

There was reared up in the midst of this town a most famous and stately
place--for strength it may be called a castle; for pleasantness, a
paradise. This place King Shaddai intended for himself alone, and not
another with him; and of it he made a garrison, but committed the
keeping of it only to the men of the town.

This famous town of Mansoul had five gates--Eargate, Eyegate, Mouthgate,
Nosegate, and Feelgate. It had always a sufficiency of provisions within
its walls, and it had the best, most wholesome and excellent law that
was then extant in the world. There was not a rogue, rascal, or
traitorous person within its walls; they were all true men, and fast
joined together.


_II.--The Plot and Capture_


Well, upon a time there was one Diabolus, a mighty giant, made an
assault upon the famous town of Mansoul, to take it, and make it his own
habitation. This Diabolus was first one of the servants of King Shaddai,
by whom he was raised to a most high and mighty place. But he, seeing
himself thus exalted to greatness and honour, and raging in his mind for
higher state and degree, what doth he but begin to think with himself
how he might set up as lord over all, and have the sole power under
Shaddai--but that the king had reserved for his son. Wherefore Diabolus
first consults with himself what had best to be done, and then breaks
his mind to some others of his companions, to which they also agreed. So
they came to the issue that they should make an attempt upon the king's
son to destroy him, that the inheritance might be theirs.

Now, the king and his son, being all and always eye, could not but
discern all passages in his dominions; wherefore, what does he but takes
them in the very nick, and the first trip that they made towards their
design, convicts them of the treason, horrid rebellion, and conspiracy
that they had devised, and casts them altogether out of all place of
trust, benefit, honours, and preferment; and this done, he banishes them
the court, turns them down into horrid pits, never more to expect the
least favour at his hands.

Banished from his court, you may be sure they would now add to their
former pride, malice and rage against Shaddai. Wherefore, roving and
ranging in much fury from place to place, if perhaps they might find
something that was the king's, they happened into this spacious country
of Universe, and steered their course to Mansoul. So when they found the
place, they shouted horribly on it for joy, saying: "Now have we found
the prize, and how to be revenged on King Shaddai!" So they sat down and
called a council of war.

Now, with Diabolus was, among others, the fierce Alecto, and Apollyon,
and the mighty giant Beelzebub, and Lucifer, and Legion. And Legion it
was whose advice was taken that they should assault the town in all
pretended fairness, covering their intentions with lies, flatteries, and
delusive words; feigning things that will never be, and promising that
to them which they shall never find. It was designed also that, by a
stratagem, they should destroy one Mr. Resistance, otherwise called
Captain Resistance--a man that the giant Diabolus and his band more
feared than they feared the whole town of Mansoul besides. And they
appointed one Tisiphone to do it.

Thus, having ended the council of war, they rose up and marched towards
Mansoul; but all in a manner invisible, save only Diabolus, who
approached the town in the shape and body of a dragon. So they drew up
and sat down before Eargate, and laid their ambuscade for Mr. Resistance
within a bow shot of the town. Then Diabolus, being come to the gate,
sounded his trumpet for audience, at which the chiefs of the town, such
as my lord Innocent, my lord Will-be-will, Mr. Recorder, and Captain
Resistance, came down to the wall to see who was there and what was the
matter.

Diabolus then began his oration.

"Gentlemen of the famous town of Mansoul, I have somewhat of concern to
impart unto you. And first I will assure you it is not my own but your
advantage that I seek. I am come to show you how you may obtain ample
deliverance from a bondage that, unawares to yourselves, you are
captivated and enslaved under."

At this the town of Mansoul began to prick up its ears.

"And what is it, pray? What is it?" thought they.

Then Diabolus spoke on.

"Touching your king, I know he is great and potent; but his laws are
unreasonable, intricate, and intolerable. There is a great difference
and disproportion betwixt the life and an apple, yet one must go for the
other by the law of your Shaddai. Why should you be holden in ignorance
and blindness? O ye inhabitants of Mansoul, ye are not a free people!
And is it not grievous to think on, that the very thing you are
forbidden to do, might you but do it would yield you both wisdom and
honour?"

And just now, while Diabolus was speaking these words to Mansoul,
Tisiphone shot at Captain Resistance, where he stood on the gate, and
mortally wounded him in the head, so that he, to the amazement of the
townsmen, fell down quite dead over the wall. Now, when Captain
Resistance was dead--and he was the only man of war in the town--poor
Mansoul was left wholly naked of courage. Then stood forth Mr.
Ill-pause, that Diabolus brought with him as his orator, and persuaded
the townsfolk to take of the tree which King Shaddai had forbidden; and
when they saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eye, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, they took and did
eat. Now even while this Ill-pause was making his speech, my lord
Innocent--whether by a shot from the camp of the giant, or from some
qualm that suddenly took him, or whether by the stinking breath of that
treacherous villain, old Ill-pause, for so I am most apt to think--sunk
down in the place where he stood still, nor could he be brought to life
again.

Now, these brave men being dead, what do the rest of the townsfolk but
fall down and yield obedience to Diabolus, and having eaten of the
forbidden fruit, they become drunk therewith, and so opened both Eargate
and Eyegate, and let in Diabolus and all his band, quite forgetting
their good Shaddai and his law.

Diabolus now bethinks himself of remodelling the town for his greater
security, setting up one and putting down another at pleasure. Wherefore
he put out of power and place my lord mayor, whose name was my lord
Understanding, and Mr. Recorder, whose name was Mr. Conscience. But my
lord Will-be-will, a man of great strength, resolution, and courage,
resolved to bear office under Diabolus, who, perceiving the willingness
of my lord to serve him forthwith, made him captain of the castle,
governor of the walls, and keeper of the gates of Mansoul. He also had
Mr. Mind for his clerk.

When the giant had thus engarrisoned himself in the town of Mansoul, he
betakes himself to defacing. Now, there was in the market-place, and
also in the gates of the castle, an image of the blessed King Shaddai.
This he commanded to be defaced, and it was basely done by the hand of
Mr. No-truth. Moreover, Diabolus made havoc of the remains of the laws
and statutes of Shaddai, and set up his own vain edicts, such as gave
liberty to the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride
of life.


_III.--The Re-Taking of Mansoul_


Now, as you may well think, long before this time, word was carried to
the good King Shaddai that Mansoul was lost, and it would have amazed
one to have seen what sorrow and compunction of spirit there was among
all sorts at the king's court to think that the place was taken. But the
king and his son foresaw all this before, yea, had sufficiently provided
for the relief of Mansoul, though they told not everybody thereof.
Wherefore, after consultation, the son of Shaddai--a sweet and comely
person, and one that always had great affection for those that were in
affliction--having striven hard with his father, promised that he would
be his servant to recover Mansoul. The purport of this agreement was
that at a certain time, prefixed by both, the king's son should take a
journey into the country of Universe, and there, in a way of justice and
equity, make amends for the follies of Mansoul, and lay the foundation
of her perfect deliverance.

Now King Shaddai thought good at the first not to send his army by the
hand and conduct of brave Emmanuel, his son, but under the hand of some
of his servants, to see first by them the temper of Mansoul, and whether
they would be won to the obedience of their king. So they came up to
Mansoul under the conduct of four stout generals, each man being captain
of ten thousand men, and having his standard-bearer.

Having travelled for many days, at the king's cost, not hurting or
abusing any, they came within sight of Mansoul, the which, when they
saw, the captains could for their hearts do no less than bewail the
condition of the town, for they quickly perceived it was prostrate to
the will of Diabolus.

Well, before the king's forces had set before Mansoul three days,
Captain Boanerges commanded his trumpeter to go down to Eargate to
summon Mansoul to give audience to the message he was commanded to
deliver, but there was none that appeared to give answer or regard.

Again and again was the summons sounded, till at last the townsmen came
up--having first made Eargate as sure as they could. So my lord
Incredulity, came up and showed himself over the wall. But when the
captain had set eyes on him he cried out aloud, "This is not he; where
is my lord Understanding, the ancient mayor of the town of Mansoul?"
Then stood forth the four captains, and, taking no notice of the giant
Diabolus, each addressed himself to the town of Mansoul; but their brave
speeches the town refused to hear, yet the sound thereof beat against
Eargate, though the force thereof could not break it open.

Then Diabolus commanded the lord mayor Incredulity to give answer, and
his oration was seconded by desperate Will-be-will, while the recorder,
whose name was Forget-good, followed with threats. Then did the town of
Mansoul shout for joy, as if by Diabolus and his crew some great
advantage had been obtained over the captains. They also rang the bells,
and sang and made merry, and danced for joy upon the walls. Now, when
the captains heard the answer of the great ones, and they could not get
a hearing from the old natives of the town, they resolved to try it out
by the power of the arm; so with their slings they battered the houses,
and with rams they sought to break Eargate open, but Mansoul stood it
out so lustily that after several skirmishes and brisk encounters they
made a fair retreat and entrenched themselves in their winter quarters.

But now could not Mansoul sleep securely as before, nor could they go to
their debaucheries with quietness, as in times past, for they had from
the camp of Shaddai such frequent warm alarms, yea, alarms upon alarms,
first at one gate and then at another, and again at all the gates at
once, that they were broken as to former peace; yea, so distressed were
they that I daresay Diabolus, their king, had in these days his rest
much broken. And by degrees new thoughts possessed the minds of the men
of the town. Some would say, "There is no living thus." Others would
then reply, "This will be over shortly." Then a third would answer, "Let
us turn to King Shaddai, and so put an end to all these troubles." The
old gentlemen, too, Mr. Conscience, the recorder that was so before
Diabolus took Mansoul, began to talk aloud, and his words were now like
great claps of thunder. Yea, so far as I could gather, the town had been
surrendered before now had it not been for the opposition of old
Incredulity and the fickleness of my lord Will-be-will.

They of the king's army this winter sent three times to Mansoul to
submit herself, and these summonses, especially the two last, so
distressed the town that presently they called a consultation for a
parley, and offered to come to an agreement on certain terms, but they
were such that the captains, jointly and with the highest disdain,
rejected, and returned to their trenches.

The captains then gathered themselves together for a conference, and
agreed that a petition should forthwith be drawn up and forwarded by a
fit man to Shaddai, with speed, that more forces be sent to Mansoul.
Now, the king at sight of the petition was glad; but how much more,
think you, when it was seconded by his son. Wherefore, the king called
to him Emmanuel, his son, and said, "Come now, therefore, my son, and
prepare thyself for war, for thou shalt go to my camp at Mansoul; thou
shalt also there prosper and prevail."

The time for the setting forth being expired, the king's son addresses
himself for the march and taketh with him five noble captains and their
forces. So they sat down before the town, not now against the gates
only, but environed it round on every side. But first, for two days
together, they hung out the white flag to give the townsfolk time to
consider; but they, as if they were unconcerned, made no reply to this
favourable signal, so they then set the red flag upon the mount called
Mount Justice.

When Emmanuel 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. They then, together with Diabolus, their king,
called a council of war, and resolved on certain propositions that
should be offered to Emmanuel.

Now, there was in the town of Mansoul an old man, a Diabolonian, and his
name was Mr. Loath-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. But none of his proposals would Emmanuel grant--all his
ensnaring propositions were rejected, and Mr. Loath-to-Stoop departed.

Then was an alarm sounded, and the battering-rams were played, and the
slings whirled stones into the town amain, and thus the battle began.
And the word was at that time "Emmanuel." First Captain Boanerges made
three assaults, most fierce, one after another, upon Eargate, to the
shaking of the posts thereof. Captain Conviction also made up fast with
Boanerges, and both discovering that the gate began to yield, they
commanded that the rams should still be played against it. But Captain
Conviction, going up very near to the gate, was with great force driven
back, and received three wounds in the mouth. Nor did Captain Good-hope
nor Captain Charity come behind in this most desperate fight, for they
too so behaved at Eyegate that they had almost broken it quite open. And
this took away the hearts of many of the Diabolonians. As for Will-be-
will, I never saw him so daunted in my life, and some say he got a wound
in the leg.

When the battle was over Diabolus again attempted to make terms by
proposing a surrender on the condition that he should remain in the town
as Emmanuel's deputy, and press upon the people a reformation according
to law; but Emmanuel replied that nothing would be regarded that he
could propose, for he had neither conscience to God nor love to the town
of Mansoul. Diabolus therefore withdrew himself from the walls to the
fort in the heart of the town, and, filled with despair of retaining the
town in his hands, resolved to do it what mischief he could; for, said
he, "Better demolish the place and leave it a heap of ruins than that it
should be a habitation for Emmanuel."

Knowing the next battle would issue in his being master of the place,
Emmanuel gave out a royal commandment to all his men of war to show
themselves men of war against Diabolus and all Diabolonians, but
favourable and meek to the old inhabitants of Mansoul. Then, after three
or four notable charges, Eargate was burst open, and the bolts and bars
broken into a thousand pieces. Then did the prince's trumpets sound, the
captains shout, the town shake, and Diabolus retreat to his hold. And
there was a great slaughter till the Diabolonians lay dead in every
corner--though too many were yet alive in Mansoul. Now, the old recorder
and my lord Understanding, with some others of the chief of the town,
came together, and jointly agreed to draw up a petition, and send it to
Emmanuel while he sat in the gate of Mansoul. The contents of the
petition were these: "That they--the old inhabitants of the deplorable
town of Mansoul--confessed their sin, and were sorry that they had
offended his princely majesty, and prayed that he would spare their
lives." Unto this petition he gave no answer. After some time and
travail the gate of the castle was beaten open, and so a way was made to
go into the hold where Diabolus had hid himself.

Now, when he was come to the castle gates he commanded Diabolus to
surrender himself into his hands. But, oh, how loath was the beast to
appear! How he stuck at it! How he shrunk! How he cringed! Then Emmanuel
commanded, and they took Diabolus, and bound him first in chains, and
led him to the market-place, and stripped him of his armour. Thus having
made Diabolus naked in the eyes of Mansoul, the prince commands that he
shall be bound with chains to his chariot-wheels, and he rode in triumph
over him quite through the town. And, having finished this part of his
triumph over Diabolus, he turned him up in the midst of his contempt and
shame. Then went he from Emmanuel, and out of his camp to inherit
parched places in a salt land, seeking rest but finding none.

Now, the prince, having by special orders put my lord Understanding, Mr.
Conscience, and my lord Will-be-will in ward, they again drew up a
petition and sent it to Emmanuel by the hand of Mr. Would-Live, and this
being unanswered, they used as their messenger Mr. Desires-Awake, and
with him went Mr. Wet-Eyes, a near neighbour. Then the prisoners were
ordered to go down to the camp and appear before the prince. This they
did with drooping spirits and ropes round their necks. But the prince
gave them their pardon, embraced them, took away their ropes, and put
chains of gold round their necks. He also sent by the recorder a pardon
for all the people of Mansoul.

Then the prince commanded that the image of Diabolus should be taken
down from the place where it was set up, and that they should utterly
destroy it without the town wall; and that the image of Shaddai, his
father, should be set up again with his own. Moreover, he renewed the
charter of the city, and brought forth out of his treasury white
glittering robes and granted to the people that they should put them on,
so that they were put into fine linen, white and clean. Then said the
prince unto them, "This, O Mansoul, is my livery, and the badge by which
mine are known from the servants of others. Wear them if you would be
known by the world to be mine."


_IV.--The Downfall_


But there was a man in the town named Mr. Carnal-Security, and he
brought this corporation into great, grievous bondage. When Emmanuel
perceived that through the policy of Mr. Carnal-Security the hearts of
men were chilled and abated in their practical love for him, he in
private manner withdrew himself first from his palace, then to the gate
of the town, and so away from Mansoul till they should more earnestly
seek his face.

Then the Diabolonians who yet dwelt in Mansoul sent letters to Diabolus,
who promised to come to their assistance for the ruin of the town with
twenty thousand Doubters. Diabolus suddenly making an assault on
Feelgate, the gate was forced and the prince's men were compelled to
betake themselves to the castle as the stronghold of the town, leaving
the townsmen open to the ravages of the Doubters. Still the castle held
out, and more urgent petitions to Emmanuel, carried by Captain Credence,
brought at last the assurance that he would come presently to the relief
of the town.

Indeed, before that time Diabolus had thought it wise to withdraw his
men from the town to the plain; but here the Doubters, being caught
between the defenders of the city and the rescuing army of Emmanuel,
were slain to the last man, and buried in the plains.

Even yet Diabolus was not satisfied with his defeat, but determined on a
last attempt upon the town, his army being made up of ten thousand
Doubters and fifteen thousand Blood-men, all rugged villains. But Mr.
Prywell discovered their coming, and they were put to route by the
prince's captains, the Blood-men being surrounded and captured.

And so Mansoul arrived at some degree of peace and quiet, and her prince
also abode within her borders. Then the prince appointed a day when he
should meet the whole of the townsmen in the market-place, and they
being come together, he said, "Now, my Mansoul, I have 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 the beginning.

"Yet a little while, and I will take down this famous town of Mansoul,
street and stone, to the ground, and will set it up in such strength and
glory in mine own country as it never did see in the kingdom where now
it is placed. There, O my Mansoul, thou shalt be afraid of murderers no
more, of Diabolonians no more. There shall be no more plots, nor
contrivances, nor designs against thee. But first I charge thee that
thou dost hereafter keep more white and clean the liveries which I gave
thee. When thy garments are white, the world will count thee mine. And
now that thou mayest keep them white I have provided for thee an open
fountain to wash thy garments in. I have oft-times delivered thee, and
for all this I ask thee nothing but that thou bear in mind my love.
Nothing can hurt thee but sin, nothing can grieve me but sin, nothing
make thee pause before thy foes but sin. Watch! Behold, I lay none other
burden upon thee--hold fast till I come!"

*       *       *       *       *




The Pilgrim's Progress

The "Pilgrim's Progress" was begun during Bunyan's second and
briefer term of imprisonment in Bedford gaol. As originally
conceived, the work was something entirely different from the
masterpiece that was finally produced. Engaged upon a
religious treatise, Bunyan had occasion to compare Christian
progress to a pilgrimage--a simile by no means uncommon even
in those days. Soon he discovered a number of points which had
escaped his predecessors, and countless images began to crowd
quickly upon his imaginative brain. Released at last from
gaol, he still continued his work, acquainting no one with his
labours, and receiving the help of none. The "Pilgrim," on its
appearance in 1678, was but a moderate success; but it was not
long before its charm made itself felt, and John Bunyan
counted his readers by the thousand in Scotland, in the
Colonies, in Holland, and among the Huguenots of France.
Within ten years 100,000 copies were sold. With the exception
of the Bible, it is, perhaps, the most widely-read book in the
English language, and has been translated into seventy foreign
tongues.


_I.--The Battle with Apollyon_


As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain