Books: The Holy War
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John Bunyan >> The Holy War
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Clerk. Where did you hear him say so?
Hate. In All-base Lane, at a house next door to the sign of the
Conscience seared with a hot iron.
Clerk. Mr. Know-All, what can you say for our Lord the King
against the prisoner at the bar?
Know. My lord, I know this man well. He is a Diabolonian, the son
of a Diabolonian: his father's name was Love-Naught; and for him,
I have often heard him say, that he counted the very thoughts of
goodness the most burdensome thing in the world.
Clerk. Where have you heard him say these words?
Know. In Flesh Lane, right opposite to the church.
Then said the Clerk, 'Come, Mr. Tell-True, give in your evidence
concerning the prisoner at the bar, about that for which he stands
here, as you see, indicted by this honourable Court.'
Tell. My lord, I have heard him often say he had rather think of
the vilest thing than of what is contained in the Holy Scriptures.
Clerk. Where did you hear him say such grievous words?
Tell. Where?--in a great many places, particularly in Nauseous
Street, in the house of one Shameless, and in Filth Lane, at the
sign of the Reprobate, next door to the Descent into the Pit.
Court. Gentlemen, you have heard the indictment, his plea, and the
testimony of the witnesses. Gaoler, set Mr. Hard-Heart to the bar.
He is set to the bar.
Clerk. Mr. Hard-Heart, thou art here indicted by the name of Hard-
Heart, (an intruder upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou didst
most desperately and wickedly possess the town of Mansoul with
impenitency and obdurateness; and didst keep them from remorse and
sorrow for their evils, all the time of their apostacy from and
rebellion against the blessed King Shaddai. What sayest thou to
this indictment? Art thou guilty, or not guilty?
Hard. My lord, I never knew what remorse or sorrow meant in all my
life. I am impenetrable. I care for no man; nor can I be pierced
with men's griefs; their groans will not enter into my heart.
Whomsoever I mischief, whomsoever I wrong, to me it is music, when
to others mourning.
Court. You see the man is a right Diabolonian, and has convicted
himself. Set him by, gaoler, and set Mr. False-Peace to the bar.
False-Peace set to the bar.
"Mr. False-Peace, thou art here indicted by the name of False-
Peace, (an intruder upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou didst
most wickedly and satanically bring, hold, and keep the town of
Mansoul, both in her apostacy and in her hellish rebellion, in a
false, groundless, and dangerous peace, and damnable security, to
the dishonour of the King, the transgression of his law, and the
great damage of the town of Mansoul. What sayest thou? Art thou
guilty of this indictment, or not?
Then said Mr. False-Peace: 'Gentlemen, and you now appointed to be
my judges, I acknowledge that my name is Mr. Peace; but that my
name is False-Peace I utterly deny. If your honours shall please
to send for any that do intimately know me, or for the midwife that
laid my mother of me, or for the gossips that were at my
christening, they will, any or all of them, prove that my name is
not False-Peace, but Peace. Wherefore I cannot plead to this
indictment, forasmuch as my name is not inserted therein; and as is
my true name, so are also my conditions. I was always a man that
loved to live at quiet, and what I loved myself, that I thought
others might love also. Wherefore, when I saw any of my neighbours
to labour under a disquieted mind, I endeavoured to help them what
I could; and instances of this good temper of mine many I could
give; as,
'1. When, at the beginning, our town of Mansoul did decline the
ways of Shaddai, they, some of them, afterwards began to have
disquieting reflections upon themselves for what they had done; but
I, as one troubled to see them disquieted, presently sought out
means to get them quiet again.
'2. When the ways of the old world, and of Sodom, were in fashion,
if anything happened to molest those that were for the customs of
the present times, I laboured to make them quiet again, and to
cause them to act without molestation.
'3. To come nearer home: when the wars fell out between Shaddai
and Diabolus, if at any time I saw any of the town of Mansoul
afraid of destruction, I often used, by some way, device,
invention, or other, to labour to bring them to peace again.
Wherefore, since I have been always a man of so virtuous a temper
as some say a peace-maker is, and if a peace-maker be so deserving
a man as some have been bold to attest he is, then let me,
gentlemen, be accounted by you, who have a great name for justice
and equity in Mansoul, for a man that deserveth not this inhuman
way of treatment, but liberty, and also a license to seek damage of
those that have been my accusers.'
Then said the clerk, 'Crier, make a proclamation.'
Crier. Oyes! Forasmuch as the prisoner at the bar hath denied his
name to be that which is mentioned in the indictment, the Court
requireth that if there be any in this place that can give
information to the Court of the original and right name of the
prisoner, they would come forth and give in their evidence; for the
prisoner stands upon his own innocency.
Then came two into the court, and desired that they might have
leave to speak what they knew concerning the prisoner at the bar:
the name of the one was Search-Truth, and the name of the other
Vouch-Truth. So the Court demanded of these men if they knew the
prisoner, and what they could say concerning him, 'for he stands,'
said they, 'upon his own vindication.'
Then said Mr. Search-Truth, 'My Lord, I--'
Court. Hold! give him his oath.
Then they sware him. So he proceeded.
Search. My lord, I know and have known this man from a child, and
can attest that his name is False-Peace. I know his father; his
name was Mr. Flatter: and his mother, before she was married, was
called by the name of Mrs. Sooth-Up: and these two, when they came
together, lived not long without this son; and when he was born,
they called his name False-Peace. I was his play-fellow, only I
was somewhat older than he; and when his mother did use to call him
home from his play, she used to say, 'False-Peace, False-Peace,
come home quick, or I'll fetch you.' Yea, I knew him when he
sucked; and though I was then but little, yet I can remember that
when his mother did use to sit at the door with him, or did play
with him in her arms, she would call him, twenty times together,
'My little False-Peace! my pretty False-Peace!' and, 'Oh! my sweet
rogue, False-Peace!' and again, 'Oh! my little bird, False-Peace!'
and 'How do I love my child!' The gossips also know it is thus,
though he has had the face to deny it in open court.
Then Mr. Vouch-Truth was called upon to speak what he knew of him.
So they sware him.
Then said Mr. Vouch-Truth, 'My lord, all that the former witness
hath said is true. His name is False-Peace, the son of Mr.
Flatter, and of Mrs. Sooth-Up, his mother: and I have in former
times seen him angry with those that have called him anything else
but False-Peace, for he would say that all such did mock and
nickname him; but this was in the time when Mr. False-Peace was a
great man, and when the Diabolonians were the brave men in Mansoul.
Court. Gentlemen, you have heard what these two men have sworn
against the prisoner at the bar. And now, Mr. False-Peace, to you:
you have denied your name to be False-Peace, yet you see that these
honest men have sworn that that is your name. As to your plea, in
that you are quite besides the matter of your indictment, you are
not by it charged for evil-doing because you are a man of peace, or
a peace-maker among your neighbours; but for that you did wickedly
and satanically bring, keep, and hold the town of Mansoul, both
under its apostasy from, and in its rebellion against its King, in
a false, lying, and damnable peace, contrary to the law of Shaddai,
and to the hazard of the destruction of the then miserable town of
Mansoul. All that you have pleaded for yourself is, that you have
denied your name, etc.; but here, you see, we have witnesses to
prove that you are the man. For the peace that you so much boast
of making among your neighbours, know that peace that is not a
companion of truth and holiness, but that which is without this
foundation, is grounded upon a lie, and is both deceitful and
damnable, as also the great Shaddai hath said. Thy plea,
therefore, has not delivered thee from what by the indictment thou
art charged with, but rather it doth fasten all upon thee. But
thou shalt have very fair play. Let us call the witnesses that are
to testify as to matter of fact, and see what they have to say for
our Lord the King against the prisoner at the bar.
Clerk. Mr. Know-All, what say you for our Lord the King against
the prisoner at the bar?
Know. My lord, this man hath of a long time made it, to my
knowledge, his business to keep the town of Mansoul in a sinful
quietness in the midst of all her lewdness, filthiness, and
turmoils, and hath said, and that in my hearing, Come, come, let us
fly from all trouble, on what ground soever it comes, and let us be
for a quiet and peaceable life, though it wanteth a good
foundation.
Clerk. Come, Mr. Hate-Lies, what have you to say?
Hate. My lord, I have heard him say, that peace, though in a way
of unrighteousness, is better than trouble with truth.
Clerk. Where did you hear him say this?
Hate. I heard him say it in Folly-yard, at the house of one Mr.
Simple, next door to the sign of the Self-deceiver. Yea, he hath
said this to my knowledge twenty times in that place.
Clerk. We may spare further witness; this evidence is plain and
full. Set him by, gaoler, and set Mr. No-Truth to the bar. Mr.
No-Truth, thou art here indicted by the name of No-Truth, (an
intruder upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou hast always, to
the dishonour of Shaddai, and the endangering of the utter ruin of
the famous town of Mansoul, set thyself to deface, and utterly to
spoil, all the remainders of the law and image of Shaddai that have
been found in Mansoul after her deep apostasy from her king to
Diabolus, the envious tyrant. What sayest thou, art thou guilty of
this indictment, or not?
No. Not guilty, my lord.
Then the witnesses were called, and Mr. Know-All did first give in
his evidence against him.
Know. My lord, this man was at the pulling down of the image of
Shaddai; yea, this is he that did it with his own hands. I myself
stood by and saw him do it, and he did it at the commandment of
Diabolus. Yea, this Mr. No-Truth did more than this, he did also
set up the horned image of the beast Diabolus in the same place.
This also is he that, at the bidding of Diabolus, did rend and
tear, and cause to be consumed, all that he could of the remainders
of the law of the King, even whatever he could lay his hands on in
Mansoul.
Clerk. Who saw him do this besides yourself?
Hate. I did, my lord, and so did many more besides; for this was
not done by stealth, or in a corner, but in the open view of all;
yea, he chose himself to do it publicly, for he delighted in the
doing of it.
Clerk. Mr. No-Truth, how could you have the face to plead not
guilty, when you were so manifestly the doer of all this
wickedness?
No. Sir, I thought I must say something, and as my name is, so I
speak. I have been advantaged thereby before now, and did not know
but by speaking no truth, I might have reaped the same benefit now.
Clerk. Set him by, gaoler, and set Mr. Pitiless to the bar. Mr.
Pitiless, thou art here indicted by the name of Pitiless, (an
intruder upon the town of Mansoul,) for that thou didst most
traitorously and wickedly shut up all bowels of compassion, and
wouldest not suffer poor Mansoul to condole her own misery when she
had apostatised from her rightful King, but didst evade, and at all
times turn her mind awry from those thoughts that had in them a
tendency to lead her to repentance. What sayest thou to this
indictment? Guilty or not guilty?
'Not guilty of pitilessness: all I did was to cheer up, according
to my name, for my name is not Pitiless, but Cheer-up; and I could
not abide to see Mansoul inclined to melancholy.'
Clerk. How! do you deny your name, and say it is not Pitiless, but
Cheer-up? Call for the witnesses. What say you, the witnesses, to
this plea?
Know. My lord, his name is Pitiless; so he hath written himself in
all papers of concern wherein he has had to do. But these
Diabolonians love to counterfeit their names: Mr. Covetousness
covers himself with the name of Good-Husbandry, or the like; Mr.
Pride can, when need is, call himself Mr. Neat, Mr. Handsome, or
the like; and so of all the rest of them.
Clerk. Mr. Tell-True, what say you?
Tell. His name is Pitiless, my lord. I have known him from a
child, and he hath done all that wickedness whereof he stands
charged in the indictment; but there is a company of them that are
not acquainted with the danger of damning, therefore they call all
those melancholy that have serious thoughts how that state should
be shunned by them.
Clerk. Set Mr. Haughty to the bar, gaoler. Mr. Haughty, thou art
here indicted by the name of Haughty, (an intruder upon the town of
Mansoul,) for that thou didst most traitorously and devilishly
teach the town of Mansoul to carry it loftily and stoutly against
the summons that was given them by the captains of the King
Shaddai. Thou didst also teach the town of Mansoul to speak
contemptuously and vilifyingly of their great King Shaddai; and
didst moreover encourage, both by words and examples, Mansoul, to
take up arms both against the King and his son Emmanuel. How
sayest thou, art thou guilty of this indictment, or not?
Haughty. Gentlemen, I have always been a man of courage and
valour, and have not used, when under the greatest clouds, to sneak
or hang down the head like a bulrush; nor did it at all at any time
please me to see men veil their bonnets to those that have opposed
them; yea, though their adversaries seemed to have ten times the
advantage of them. I did not use to consider who was my foe, nor
what the cause was in which I was engaged. It was enough to me if
I carried it bravely, fought like a man, and came off a victor.
Court. Mr. Haughty, you are not here indicted for that you have
been a valiant man, nor for your courage and stoutness in times of
distress, but for that you have made use of this your pretended
valour to draw the town of Mansoul into acts of rebellion both
against the great King, and Emmanuel his Son. This is the crime
and the thing wherewith thou art charged in and by the indictment.
But he made no answer to that.
Now when the Court had thus far proceeded against the prisoners at
the bar, then they put them over to the verdict of their jury, to
whom they did apply themselves after this manner:
'Gentlemen of the jury, you have been here, and have seen these
men; you have heard their indictments, their pleas, and what the
witnesses have testified against them: now what remains, is, that
you do forthwith withdraw yourselves to some place, where without
confusion you may consider of what verdict, in a way of truth and
righteousness, you ought to bring in for the King against them, and
so bring it in accordingly.'
Then the jury, to wit, Mr. Belief, Mr. True-Heart, Mr. Upright, Mr.
Hate-bad, Mr. Love-God, Mr. See-Truth, Mr. Heavenly-Mind, Mr.
Moderate, Mr. Thankful, Mr. Humble, Mr. Good-Work, and Mr. Zeal-
for-God, withdrew themselves in order to their work. Now when they
were shut up by themselves, they fell to discourse among themselves
in order to the drawing up of their verdict.
And thus Mr. Belief (for he was the foreman) began: 'Gentlemen,'
quoth he, 'for the men, the prisoners at the bar, for my part I
believe that they all deserve death.' 'Very right,' said Mr. True-
Heart; 'I am wholly of your opinion.' 'Oh what a mercy is it,'
said Mr. Hate-Bad, 'that such villains as these are apprehended!'
'Ay! ay!' said Mr. Love-God, 'this is one of the joyfullest days
that ever I saw in my life.' Then said Mr. See-Truth, 'I know that
if we judge them to death, our verdict shall stand before Shaddai
himself' 'Nor do I at all question it,' said Mr. Heavenly-Mind; he
said, moreover, 'When all such beasts as these are cast out of
Mansoul, what a goodly town will it be then!' 'Then,' said Mr.
Moderate, 'it is not my manner to pass my judgment with rashness;
but for these their crimes are so notorious, and the witness so
palpable, that that man must be wilfully blind who saith the
prisoners ought not to die.' 'Blessed be God,' said Mr. Thankful,
'that the traitors are in safe custody.' 'And I join with you in
this upon my bare knees,' said Mr. Humble. 'I am glad also,' said
Mr. Good-Work. Then said the warm man, and true-hearted Mr. Zeal-
for-God, 'Cut them off; they have been the plague, and have sought
the destruction of Mansoul.'
Thus, therefore, being all agreed in their verdict, they come
instantly into the Court.
Clerk. Gentlemen of the jury, answer all to your names: Mr.
Belief, one; Mr. True-Heart, two; Mr. Upright, three; Mr. Hate-Bad,
four; Mr. Love-God, five; Mr. See-Truth, six; Mr. Heavenly-mind,
seven; Mr. Moderate, eight; Mr. Thankful, nine; Mr. Humble, ten;
Mr. Good-Work, eleven; and Mr. Zeal-for-God, twelve. Good men and
true, stand together in your verdict: are you all agreed?
Jury. Yes, my lord.
Clerk. Who shall speak for you?
Jury. Our foreman.
Clerk. You, the gentlemen of the jury, being empannelled for our
Lord the King, to serve here in a matter of life and death, have
heard the trials of each of these men, the prisoners at the bar:
what say you? are they guilty of that, and those crimes for which
they stand here indicted, or are they not guilty?
Foreman. Guilty, my lord.
Clerk. Look to your prisoners, gaoler.
This was done in the morning, and in the afternoon they received
the sentence of death according to the law.
The gaoler, therefore, having received such a charge, put them all
in the inward prison, to preserve them there till the day of
execution, which was to be the next day in the morning.
But now to see how it happened, one of the prisoners, Incredulity
by name, in the interim betwixt the sentence and the time of
execution, brake prison and made his escape, and gets him away
quite out of the town of Mansoul, and lay lurking in such places
and holes as he might, until he should again have opportunity to do
the town of Mansoul a mischief for their thus handling of him as
they did.
Now when Mr. Trueman, the gaoler, perceived that he had lost his
prisoner, he was in a heavy taking, because that prisoner was, to
speak on, the very worst of all the gang: wherefore first he goes
and acquaints my Lord Mayor, Mr. Recorder, and my Lord Willbewill,
with the matter, and to get of them an order to make search for him
throughout the town of Mansoul. So an order he got, and search was
made, but no such man could now be found in all the town of
Mansoul.
All that could be gathered was, that he had lurked a while about
the outside of the town, and that here and there one or other had a
glimpse of him as he did make his escape out of Mansoul; one or two
also did affirm that they saw him without the town, going apace
quite over the plain. Now when he was quite gone, it was affirmed
by one Mr. Did-see, that he ranged all over dry places, till he met
with Diabolus, his friend, and where should they meet one another
but just upon Hell-gate hill.
But oh! what a lamentable story did the old gentleman tell to
Diabolus concerning what sad alteration Emmanuel had made in
Mansoul!
As, first, how Mansoul had, after some delays, received a general
pardon at the hands of Emmanuel, and that they had invited him into
the town, and that they had given him the castle for his
possession. He said, moreover, that they had called his soldiers
into the town, coveted who should quarter the most of them; they
also entertained him with the timbrel, song, and dance. 'But
that,' said Incredulity, 'which is the sorest vexation to me is,
that he hath pulled down, O father, thy image, and set up his own;
pulled down thy officers and set up his own. Yea, and Willbewill,
that rebel, who, one would have thought, should never have turned
from us, he is now in as great favour with Emmanuel as ever he was
with thee. But, besides all this, this Willbewill has received a
special commission from his master to search for, to apprehend, and
to put to death all, and all manner of Diabolonians that he shall
find in Mansoul: yea, and this Willbewill has taken and committed
to prison already eight of my Lord's most trusty friends in
Mansoul. Nay, further, my Lord, with grief I speak it, they have
been all arraigned, condemned, and, I doubt, before this executed
in Mansoul. I told my Lord of eight, and myself was the ninth, who
should assuredly have drunk of the same cup, but that through
craft, I, as thou seest, have made mine escape from them.'
When Diabolus had heard this lamentable story, he yelled and
snuffed up the wind like a dragon, and made the sky to look dark
with his roaring; he also sware that he would try to be revenged on
Mansoul for this. So they, both he and his old friend Incredulity,
concluded to enter into great consultation, how they might get the
town of Mansoul again.
Now, before this time, the day was come in which the prisoners in
Mansoul were to be executed. So they were brought to the cross,
and that by Mansoul, in most solemn manner; for the Prince said
that this should be done by the hand of the town of Mansoul, 'that
I may see,' said he, 'the forwardness of my now redeemed Mansoul to
keep my word, and to do my commandments; and that I may bless
Mansoul in doing this deed. Proof of sincerity pleases me well;
let Mansoul therefore first lay their hands upon these Diabolonians
to destroy them.'
So the town of Mansoul slew them, according to the word of their
Prince; but when the prisoners were brought to the cross to die,
you can hardly believe what troublesome work Mansoul had of it to
put the Diabolonians to death; for the men, knowing that they must
die, and every of them having implacable enmity in their hearts to
Mansoul, what did they but took courage at the cross, and there
resisted the men of the town of Mansoul? Wherefore the men of
Mansoul were forced to cry out for help to the captains and men of
war. Now the great Shaddai had a secretary in the town, and he was
a great lover of the men of Mansoul, and he was at the place of
execution also; so he, hearing the men of Mansoul cry out against
the strugglings and unruliness of the prisoners, rose up from his
place, and came and put his hands upon the hands of the men of
Mansoul. So they crucified the Diabolonians that had been a
plague, a grief, and an offence to the town of Mansoul.
Now, when this good work was done, the Prince came down to see, to
visit, and to speak comfortably to the men of Mansoul, and to
strengthen their hands in such work. And he said to them that, by
this act of theirs he had proved them, and found them to be lovers
of his person, observers of his laws, and such as had also respect
to his honour. He said, moreover, (to show them that they by this
should not be losers, nor their town weakened by the loss of them,)
that he would make them another captain, and that of one of
themselves. And that this captain should be the ruler of a
thousand, for the good and benefit of the now flourishing town of
Mansoul.
So he called one to him whose name was Waiting, and bid him, 'Go
quickly up to the castle gate, and inquire there for one Mr.
Experience, that waiteth upon that noble captain, the Captain
Credence, and bid him come hither to me.' So the messenger that
waited upon the good Prince Emmanuel went and said as he was
commanded. Now the young gentleman was waiting to see the captain
train and muster his men in the castle yard. Then said Mr. Waiting
to him, 'Sir, the Prince would that you should come down to his
highness forthwith.' So he brought him down to Emmanuel, and he
came and made obeisance before him. Now the men of the town knew
Mr. Experience well, for he was born and bred in Mansoul; they also
knew him to be a man of conduct, of valour, and a person prudent in
matters; he was also a comely person, well-spoken, and very
successful in his undertakings.
Wherefore the hearts of the townsmen were transported with joy when
they saw that the Prince himself was so taken with Mr. Experience,
that he would needs make him a captain over a band of men.
So with one consent they bowed the knee before Emmanuel, and with a
shout said, 'Let Emmanuel live for ever!' Then said the Prince to
the young gentleman, whose name was Mr. Experience, 'I have thought
good to confer upon thee a place of trust and honour in this my
town of Mansoul.' Then the young man bowed his head and
worshipped. 'It is,' said Emmanuel, 'that thou shouldest be a
captain, a captain over a thousand men in my beloved town of
Mansoul.' Then said the captain, 'Let the King live!' So the
Prince gave out orders forthwith to the King's secretary, that he
should draw up for Mr. Experience a commission to make him a
captain over a thousand men. 'And let it be brought to me,' said
he, 'that I may set to my seal.' So it was done as it was
commanded. The commission was drawn up, brought to Emmanuel, and
he set his seal thereto. Then, by the hand of Mr. Waiting, he sent
it away to the captain.
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