Evil questioning, along with four doubters who were hiding in his home, were captured by my Lord Willbewill and Mr. Diligence, jailed by Mr. Truman, and brought to trial for public judgment. At trial, evil questioning was set to the bar and commanded to listen to his charge. He was told that he had liberty to object if he had anything fit to say for himself. So his indictment was read. The manner and form here follows. Mr. Questioning, you are here indicted by the name of Evil Questioning, an intruder upon the town of Mansoul, for you are a Diabolonian by nature, and also a hater of the prince, Emmanuel, and one who has studied the ruin of the town of Mansoul. You are also here indicted for supporting the king's enemies after wholesome laws made to the contrary. For one, you have questioned the truth of her doctrine and state. Two, in wishing that 10,000 doubters were in her. And three, in receiving entertaining, in receiving, entertaining, and encouraging her enemies who had come from their army to you. What do you say to this indictment? Are you guilty or not guilty? My lord, he said, I do not know the meaning of this indictment for as much as I am not the man of this matter. The man charged and accused before this bench is called by the name of Evil Questioning, which name I deny to be mine, mine being Honest Inquiring. They do indeed sound familiar, but I believe your lordships know that between these two there is a wide difference. For I know that a man, even in the worst of times, and that too amongst the worst of men, may make an honest inquiry after things, without running the danger of death. Then my Lord will be well spoke, for he was one of the witnesses. My Lord and you, the honorable bench and magistrates of the town of Mansoul, you all have heard with your ears that the prisoner at the bar has denied his name, and so he thinks he can exonerate himself from the charge of the indictment. But I know him to be the man concerned, and that his proper name is evil questioning. I have known him, my Lord, above these thirty years, for he and I, a shame it is for me to speak it, were great acquaintances when Diabolus, that tyrant, had the government of Mansoul. I testify that he is a Diabolonian by nature, an enemy to our prince, and a hater of the blessed town of Mansoul. He has, in time of rebellion, been at my house and rested there, my Lord, not as few as twenty nights together. We used to talk then, for the substance of talk was no different than the kind of talk he and his doubters have talked of late. True, I have not seen him for many days. I suppose the coming of Emmanuel to Mansoul has made him change his lodgings, just as this indictment has driven him to change his name. But this is the man, my Lord." Then the court said the evil questioning, have you any more to say? Yes, answered the old gentleman, that I have, for all that has yet been said against me is by the mouth of one witness, and it is not lawful for the famous town of Mansoul to put any man to death at the mouth of one witness. Then Mr. Diligent stood forth and said, my lord, As I was upon my watch, such a night at the head of Bad Street in this town, I happened to hear a muttering within this gentleman's house. Then I thought, what is going on here? So I went up close, but very quietly, to the side of the house to listen, thinking, as indeed it turned out, that there I might light upon some Diabolonian meeting convened. So, as I said, I drew nearer and nearer, and when I was close to the wall, it was only a little while before I perceived that there were outlandish men in the house. But I understood their speech quite well, for I have been a traveler myself. Now, hearing such language in such a tottering cottage as this old gentleman dwelt in, I cupped my ear to a hole in the window and heard them talk as follows. This old Mr. Questioning asked these doubters what they were, where they were from, and what their business was in these parts. And they answered all his questions while he entertained them. He also asked how many there were of them, and they told him 10,000 men. He then asked them why they made no more manly assaults upon Mansoul, and they told him, So he called their general a coward for marching off when he should have fought for his prince. Furthermore, this old evil questioning wished, and I heard him say it, that all the 10,000 doubters were now in Mansoul and that he himself were leading them. He also directed them to take heed and lie cowering, for if they were taken, they must die, even if they had heads of gold. Then said the court, Mr. Evil Questioning, here is now another witness against you, and his testimony is full. One, he swears that you received these men into your house and that you nourished them there. though you knew that they were Diabolonians and the king's enemies. Two, he swears that you wished 10,000 of them in Mansoul. Three, he swears that you gave them advice to squat low and close for fear they might be taken by the king's servants. All this testifies that you are a Diabolonian. Had you been a friend to the king, you would have taken them captive and turned them in. Then said evil questioning, here is my answer to the first. The men that came into my house were strangers, and I took them in. Is it now a crime in Mansoul for a man to entertain strangers? That I also fed them is true, and why should my charity be blamed? As for the reason why I wish 10,000 of them in Mansoul, I never told it to the witnesses, neither to the doubters. I might wish them to be taken, and so my wish might mean well for Mansoul, but no one knows for sure. I also caution them not to fall into the captain's hands, but that might be because I am unwilling that any should be slain, and not because I would have the king's enemies as such escape. My Lord Mayor then replied, although it is a virtue to entertain strangers, yet it is treason to entertain the king's enemies. As for everything else you have said, by your words you only labor to evade and defer the execution of judgment. Even if there was no other evidence against you, you are a Diabolonian. Thus for that, you must die the death by the law. But to be a receiver, a nourisher, a supporter, and a harborer of others, of them, yes, of outlandish Diabolonians, yes, of them who came from far on purpose to cut off and destroy our mansoul, this must not be tolerated. Then said evil questioning, I see how the game is. I must die because of my name and for my charity. And so he held his peace. Then they called the outlandish doubters to the bar, and the first of them arraigned was the election doubter. So this indictment was read, and because he was an outlandish man, the substance of it was told him by an interpreter, namely, that he was there charged with being an enemy of Emmanuel the prince, a hater of the town of Mansoul, and an enemy of her most wholesome doctrine. Then the judge asked him how he would plead, but his only answer was that he confessed he was an election doubter and that it was the only religion he had ever known. Moreover, he said, if I must die for my religion, I trust I shall die a martyr and so I could not care less." The judge replied, to question election is to overthrow a great doctrine of the gospel, namely the omniscience, power, and will of God, to remove the liberty of God with his creature. to stumble the town of Mansoul's faith and to make salvation depend upon works and not upon grace. It also counterfeits the word and disquiets the minds of Mansoul's men. Therefore, by the best of laws, he must die. To be continued.