'
But all the answer that he gave to this was, 'that they had
offended their Emmanuel, and had also grieved himself, and that
therefore they must as yet partake of their own devices.'
This answer of the Lord Secretary fell like a millstone upon them;
yea, it crushed them so that they could not tell what to do; yet
they durst not comply with the demands of Diabolus, nor with the
demands of his captain. So then here were the straits that the
town of Mansoul was betwixt, when the enemy came upon her: her
foes were ready to swallow her up, and her friends did forbear to
help her.
Then stood up my Lord Mayor, whose name was my Lord Understanding,
and he began to pick and pick, until he had picked comfort out of
that seemingly bitter saying of the Lord Secretary; for thus he
descanted upon it: 'First,' said he, 'this unavoidably follows
upon the saying of my Lord, "that we must yet suffer for our sins."
Secondly, But,' quoth he, 'the words yet sound as if at last we
should be saved from our enemies, and that after a few more
sorrows, Emmanuel will come and be our help.' Now the Lord Mayor
was the more critical in his dealing with the Secretary's words,
because my lord was more than a prophet, and because none of his
words were such, but that at all times they were most exactly
significant; and the townsmen were allowed to pry into them, and to
expound them to their best advantage.
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