The Holy War, Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World; Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of MansoulBunyan, John
ReligionChristian
The Holy War, Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World; Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul
Bunyan, John
Christian fiction; Soul; Spiritual warfare -- Fiction
They of the camp did also some execution upon the town; for they did beat
down the roof of the Lord Mayor’s house, and so laid him more open than
he was before. They had almost, with a sling, slain my Lord Willbewill
outright; but he made a shift to recover again. But they made a notable
slaughter among the aldermen, for with one only shot they cut off six of
them; to wit, Mr. Swearing, Mr. Whoring, Mr. Fury, Mr. Stand-to-Lies, Mr.
Drunkenness, and Mr. Cheating.
They also dismounted the two guns that stood upon the tower over
Ear-gate, and laid them flat in the dirt. I told you before that the
King’s noble captains had drawn off to their winter quarters, and had
there entrenched themselves and their carriages, so as with the best
advantage to their King, and the greatest annoyance to the enemy, they
might give seasonable and warm alarms to the town of Mansoul. And this
design of them did so hit, that I may say they did almost what they would
to the molestation of the corporation. For now could not Mansoul sleep
securely as before, nor could they now go to their debaucheries with that
quietness as in times past; for they had from the camp of Shaddai such
frequent, warm, and terrifying 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, they had their alarms so
frequently, and that when the nights were at longest, the weather
coldest, and so consequently the season most unseasonable, that that
winter was to the town of Mansoul a winter by itself. Sometimes the
trumpets would sound, and sometimes the slings would whirl the stones
into the town. Sometimes ten thousand of the King’s soldiers would be
running round the walls of Mansoul at midnight, shouting and lifting up
the voice for the battle. Sometimes, again, some of them in the town
would be wounded, and their cry and lamentable voice would be heard, to
the great molestation of the now languishing town of Mansoul. Yea, so
distressed with those that laid siege against them were they, that, I
dare say, Diabolus, their king, had in these days his rest much broken.
In these days, as I was informed, new thoughts, and thoughts that began
to run counter one to another, began to possess the minds of the men of
the town of Mansoul. Some would say, ‘There is no living thus.’ Others
would then reply, ‘This will be over shortly.’ Then would a third stand
up and answer, ‘Let us turn to the King Shaddai, and so put an end to
these troubles.’ And a fourth would come in with a fear, saying, ‘I
doubt he will not receive us.’ The old gentleman, too, the Recorder,
that was so before Diabolus took Mansoul, he also began to talk aloud,
and his words were now to the town of Mansoul as if they were great claps
of thunder. No noise now so terrible to Mansoul as was his, with the
noise of the soldiers and shoutings of the captains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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