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 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 B V NY A N , 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS; 
 
 COMPILED FROM 
 
 HIS OWN WRITINGS, 
 
 AND FROM 
 
 OTHER AUTHENTIC SOURCES. 
 
 y' 
 BY IKAH CHASE, D, D. 
 
 '/ 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 L. COLBY & COMPANY. 
 
 122 NASSAU STREET. 
 1847 
 
 Lj^/. „/r^ J?^. J/, /V*P 
 

 
 
P?L 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, r 7 
 
 Bunyan's Life, from his Birth in 1628 to his 
 Conversion, 9 — 47 
 
 From his falling into a State of Doubt and 
 Despondency to his being delivered from that 
 State, '. ,-.... 47—104 
 
 From his Baptism in 1653 to his being falsely 
 Accused, 105— 120 
 
 From his Arrest to his Imprisonment for 
 Preaching in 1660, 121—131 
 
 Efforts of his Brethren and Mrs. Bunyan for 
 his Liberation, 131—143 
 
 His Long continuance in Prison, . . . 143 — 152 
 
 His Life from his Liberation in 1672 to his 
 Death in 1688, .......,..'. 152—166 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The writer trusts that he duly appreciates the 
 merits of those who have preceded him. But, 
 at the same time, he hopes that his attempt 
 will not be regarded as arrogance, nor as a useless 
 labor. The brief account here presented, may 
 furnish to its readers an opportunity of forming 
 with the author of the Pilgrim's Progress, as it 
 were, some personal acquaintance ; of glancing 
 at the times in which he lived ; and of knowing, 
 particularly, somewhat of those two very rare 
 books, the Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, and 
 the Practice of Piety, which, even before he 
 became religious, he used sometimes to read with 
 his wife. To render the interview the most 
 interesting and useful, it has seemed proper, that, 
 during the few hours in which this remarkable 
 man is in their presence, he should be the chief 
 speaker, and tell, in his own manner, whal 
 passed in his mind, and what occurred around 
 him. And when his narrative has been inter- 
 rupted, it has been only to guard against some 
 
Viii PREFACE. 
 
 erroneous impression, or to call attention to some 
 fact of special importance. When he has ceased 
 to speak, or has retired, such additional facts as 
 could be obtained from other sources, have been 
 given. 
 
 The pith and soul of Bunyan's biography of 
 himself, entitled Grace Abounding, it is hoped, 
 will be found here. Some pains have been taken 
 to trace the connection of events ; and much that 
 is naturally suggested to the mind has been left 
 unsaid. It can be supplied by the reflecting reader 
 himself. There has been an effort to combine 
 clearness with brevity, to exaggerate nothing, and 
 to do historical justice to the subject of the memoir 
 and to all concerned. But respecting the spirit 
 and manner which actually pervade this humble 
 performance, it does not become the writer to 
 speak. Let the intelligent and candid, of all 
 denominations, read, and judge for themselves. 
 
 L C. 
 
 Cambridge, Mass., ) 
 Dec, 1845. ) 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE OF BUNYAN. 
 
 From his Birth to his Conversion, 
 
 John Bunyan was born at Elstow, a village 
 bordering on the town of Bedford, fifty miles north 
 of London, A. D. 1628. It was early in the reign 
 of Charles I. And he died, at the age of sixty, 
 A. D. 1688, the year of that Revolution which 
 transferred the crown from James II. to William 
 and Mary. The stormy times in which he lived, 
 constitute one of the most memorable periods in 
 English history, civil, ecclesiastical, and literary. 
 It was the period which exhibited Archbishop 
 Laud and others in the height of their power, en- 
 forcing conformity to the church of England as 
 by law established ; the first Charles contending 
 strenuously for the high prerogatives of the crown, 
 and, at length beheaded ; the conflicting parties 
 filling the land with all the complicated evils of 
 war fiercely prosecuted by kinsmen and fellow cit- 
 
10 LIFE OF 
 
 izens against each other ; the commonwealth, with 
 all its discordant elements, under the dominant but 
 imperfect sway of Oliver Cromwell, the stern and 
 sagacious Protector ; the successful intrigues of 
 the selfish and unprincipled, when his sons, less 
 able than himself, shrunk from the perils of suc- 
 ceeding him in the Protectorate ; the hasty restor- 
 ation of the royal power, in the person of the prof- 
 ligate Charles II., without conditions ; the abuse 
 of that power in numberless ways, especially in 
 the ejection of more than two thousand ministers 
 from the pastoral office for their non-conformity, 
 and in the fining and imprisonment of other con- 
 scientious dissenters ; the rapid strides that were 
 made towards a return of the nation to the Romish 
 church, and, among them, the open profession of 
 Romanism by the Duke of York, who, upon the 
 death of his brother Charles in 1685, ascended 
 the throne as James II., and whose downfall, after 
 an arbitrary reign of three or four years, was suc- 
 ceeded by the confirming of some of the rights of 
 Englishmen, for which enlightened patriots had 
 contended, and consistent Christians had suffered, 
 in the great struggle for civil and religious free- 
 dom. It was a period distinguished also for its 
 literary men, Milton, Boyle, Clarendon, Cowley, 
 Dryden, Shaftesbury, and Locke ; and for its theo- 
 logians, Usher, Walton, Barrow, Baxter, Owen, 
 Jeremy Taylor, and Tillotson. 
 
 Bunyan was contemporary with Increase Ma- 
 ther, and, in part, on the one hand, with Roger 
 Williams, and, on the other, with Cotton Mather. 
 He was a schoolboy about ten years of age, sport- 
 
BUNYAN. 11 
 
 ing with the little companions of his humble child- 
 hood, when Harvard College was founded amidst 
 the forests of New England. 
 
 It was not his lot, however, to be trained in 
 academic halls, nor to move in the circles of refin- 
 ed taste and learning, nor of politics and worldly 
 power. His father was a poor mechanic, a tinker, 
 or brazier : and he was himself early bred to his 
 father's employment. And yet he became a re- 
 markably impressive preacher, and the author of 
 works which have great power to interest and in- 
 fluence the mind. To say nothing of his other 
 productions, The Pilgrim's Progress has won 
 for itself a high place in the estimation of all who 
 have read it ; and few books in the English 
 language have had more readers. It has passed 
 through editions without number. It has been 
 translated into all the languages of Europe, and 
 into some of those of the East. ' In most instances, 5 
 says Southey in speaking of this work, 'the many 
 receive gradually and slowly the opinions of the 
 few respecting literary merit ; and sometimes in 
 assentation to such authority profess with their lips 
 an admiration of they know not what, they know 
 not why. But here the opinion of the multitude 
 had, in the time of Cowper, been ratified by the 
 judicious. The people knew what they admired. 
 It is a book which makes its way through the fancy 
 to the understanding and the heart : the child 
 peruses it with wonder and delight ; in youth we 
 discover the genius which it displays ; its worth is 
 apprehended as we advance in years ; and we 
 perceive its merits feelingly in declining age.' 
 
12 LIFE OF 
 
 But the interest which we feel in perusing the 
 Pilgrim's Progress is greatly increased by an 
 acquaintance with the personal history of the 
 author. He has written in view of his own ex- 
 perience ; and yet he has not limited his descrip- 
 tions to this ; but, with admirable good sense and 
 skill, he has, for the most part, adjusted them to 
 the consciousness and observation of all who have 
 thought seriously on their religious state and pros- 
 pects. 
 
 In another work of his, entitled ' Grace abound- 
 ing to the chief of sinners, or a brief relation of the 
 exceeding mercy of God in Christ to his poor 
 servant John Bunyan,' he has given a plain and 
 striking account of his conversion to a lively faith 
 in Jesus Christ. Here we are particularly in- 
 formed what views he had of sin ; what trouble 
 then arose in his mind ; what temptations he met 
 with ; and how at length he was delivered from 
 them all. 
 
 In this narration, he says : ' Notwithstanding the 
 inconsiderableness of my parents, it pleased God 
 to incline their hearts to put me to school, that 
 I might learn both to read and to write ; the 
 which I also attained according to the rate of 
 other poor men's children ; though to my shame I 
 confess I soon lost the little I had learnt, even 
 almost utterly, and that long before the Lord 
 wrought his gracious work of conversion upon my 
 soul. As for my own natural life, for the time 
 that I was without God in the world, it was 
 indeed, according to the course of this world and 
 the spirit that now worketh in the children of 
 
BUNYAN. 13 
 
 disobedience I had but few equals 
 
 (especially considering my years, which were 
 tender, being few,) both for cursing, swearing, 
 lying, and blaspheming the holy name of God. 
 Yea, so settled and rooted was I in these things 
 that they became as a second nature to me ; the 
 which, as I have also with soberness considered 
 since, did so offend the Lord, that, even in my 
 childhood, he did scare and affrighten me with 
 fearful dreams, and did terrify me with fearful 
 visions ; for often, after I had spent this or the 
 other day in sin, I have in my bed been greatly 
 afflicted, while asleep, with the apprehensions of 
 evil spirits ; who still, as I then thought, labored 
 to draw me away with them, of w T hich I would 
 never be rid. . . . These things, I say, when 
 I was but a child, nine or ten years old, did so dis- 
 tress my soul, that then, in the midst of my many 
 sports and childish vanities, amidst my vain com- 
 panions, I was often much cast down and afflicted 
 in my mind therewith ; yet could I not let go my 
 sins ... A while after, those terrible dreams 
 left me, which also I soon forgot ; for my plea- 
 sures quickly cut off the remembrance of them, as 
 if they had never been. 
 
 * In these days, the thoughts of religion were 
 very grievous to me ; I could neither endure it 
 myself, nor that any other should ; so that, when I 
 have seen some read in those books that concerned 
 Christian piety, it would be as it were a prison to 
 me. Then I said unto God, Depart from me, for 
 I desire not the knowledge of thy ways !* I was 
 * Job 21 : 11. 
 2 
 
14 LIFE OF 
 
 now void of all good consideration ; heaven and 
 hell were both out of sight and mind ; and as for 
 saving and damning, they were least in my 
 thoughts. O Lord, thou knowest my life ; and 
 my ways were not hid from thee. 
 
 1 But this I well remember, that though I could 
 myself sin with the greatest delight and ease, and 
 also take pleasure in the vileness of my compan- 
 ions ; yet, even then, if I had at any time seen 
 wicked things, by those who professed goodness, 
 it would make my spirit tremble. As once, above 
 all the rest, when I was in the height of vanity, jet 
 hearing one to swear, that was reckoned for a 
 religious man, it had so great a stroke upon my 
 spirit, that it made my heart ache. God did not 
 utterly leave me, but followed me still, not with 
 convictions, but judgements ; yet such as were 
 mixed with mercy. For, once I fell into a creek of 
 the sea, and hardly escaped drowning. Another 
 time, I fell out of a boat into Bedford river, but 
 mercy yet preserved me alive. Besides, another 
 time, being in the field with one of my companions, 
 it chanced that an adder passed over the highway ; 
 so I, having a stick in my hand, struck her over 
 the back, and having stunned her, I forced open 
 her mouth with my stick, and plucked her sting 
 out with my fingers ; by which act, had not God 
 been merciful unto me, I might by my desperate- 
 ness have brought myself to my end. 
 
 4 This also 1 have taken notice of with thanks- 
 giving : — when I was a soldier, I with others, was 
 drawn out to go to such a place to besiege it, but 
 when I was just ready to go, one of the company 
 
BUN Y AN. 15 
 
 desired to go in my room, to which when I had 
 consented, he took my place, and coming to the 
 siege, as he stood sentinel, he was shot in the head 
 with a musket bullet, and died. 
 
 4 Here, as I said, were judgments and mercy ; 
 but neither of them did awaken my soul to righte- 
 ousness. Wherefore I sinned still, and grew more 
 and more rebellious against God, and careless of 
 my own salvation.' . 
 
 The siege to which Bunyan alludes, was, 
 according to a sketch of his Life, written by an 
 intimate acquaintance and now preserved in the 
 British Museum, the siege of Leicester by the 
 army of the Parliament, in June, 1645. At that 
 time, it would seem, he was in the eighteenth year 
 of his age. 
 
 4 Presently after this, I changed my condition into 
 a married state, and my mercy was to light upon 
 a wife, whose father was counted godly. This 
 woman and I, though we came together as poor as 
 poor might be, (not having so much household stuff 
 as a dish or spoon betwixt us both,) yet this she 
 had for her part, The Plain Man's Pathway to 
 Heaven, and the Practice of Piety, which her 
 father had left her when he died. In these two 
 books I would sometimes read with her, wherein I 
 also found some things that were somewhat pleas- 
 ing to me ; but all this while I met with no con- 
 viction. She also would be often telling me what 
 a godly man her father was, and how he would 
 reprove and correct vice, both in his house and 
 among his neighbors ; what a strict and holy life 
 he lived in his days, both in words and deeds.' 
 
16 LIFE OP 
 
 The two books which Bunyan here mentions 
 have an important connection with the history of 
 his mind ; and they cast light on the times in 
 which they were written. 
 
 The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven was 
 written by Arthur Dent, Preacher of the Word of 
 God, at South Shroobery, in Essex. It was first 
 published near the close of Queen Elizabeth's 
 reign, two years before the beginning of that of 
 her successor, James I. ; for the Epistle Didica- 
 tory is dated fc April 10, An. Dom. 1601.' In a 
 subsequent edition, clear allusions are made to 
 James, and to events which occurred while he 
 occupied the throne. It is a small but very neat 
 duodecimo volume of about 450 pages, with ruled 
 margins. The edition which we have before us is 
 the twenty seventh. It is mostly, though not 
 entirely, in the old English black letter ; and it 
 was printed in 1648, shortly after the time of Bun- 
 yan's marriage. 
 
 The work is in the form of a conversation 
 between Theologus, a Divine; Philagathus, an 
 Honest man ; Asunetus, an Ignorant man ; and 
 Antilegon, a Caviller. 
 
 'This book' to use the words of the author, 
 ' meddleth not at all with any controversies in the 
 church, or any thing in the state ecclesiastical, but 
 only entereth into a controversy with Satan and 
 sin. First, it showeth man's misery in nature, 
 with the means of recovery. Secondly, it sharply 
 inveigheth against the iniquity of the time, and 
 common corruptions of the world. Thirdly, it 
 showeth the marks of the children of God, and of 
 
BUNYAtf. 17 
 
 the reprobates ; together with the apparent signs 
 of salvation and damnation. Fourthly, it declareth 
 how hard a thing it is to enter into life, and how 
 few shall enter. Fifthly, it layeth open the ignor- 
 ance of the world, with the objections of the same. 
 Last of all, it publisheth and proclaimeth the sweet 
 promises of the Gospel, with the abundant mercies 
 of God to all that repent, believe, and truly turn 
 unto him.' 
 
 In the course of the discussion the following 
 points, among others are urged : Man's nature was 
 corrupted, but not destroyed, by Adam's fall. The 
 unregenerate man does nothing that pleases God ; 
 he neither sees nor feels his real condition ; he is 
 under the tyranny of Satan, and the curse of the 
 Law ; if he live and die thus, he will perish t for- 
 ever ; he continues in a state of condemnation till 
 he is born again. What regeneration is ; and 
 what the means. I pray you, says Philagathus, 
 tell me what the same regeneration and new birth 
 is, whereof you speak. It is, replies Theologus, 
 a renewing and repairing of the corrupted and 
 diseased state of our souls, as it is written, Be ye 
 changed by the renewing of your mind, Rom. 12 : 
 2. ; and again, Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 
 Ephes. 4 : 23. To the inquiry by what means is 
 the new birth wrought ? the leading reply is, ' By 
 the preaching of the word, as the outward means ; 
 and the secret work of the spirit, as the inward 
 means.' Eight infallible signs of a regenerate 
 mind : a love to the children of God ; a delight in 
 his word ; often and fervent prayer ; zeal of God's 
 glory ; denial of ourselves ; patient bearing of the 
 
18 LIFE OF 
 
 cross with profit and comfort ; faithfulness in our 
 calling ; and honest, just, and conscionable dealing 
 in all our actions amongst men. Eight signs of 
 an unregenerate mind: no love to the children of 
 God ; no delight in his word ; seldom and cold 
 prayers ; coldness in God's matters ; trusting to 
 ourselves ; impatience under the cross ; unfaithful- 
 ness ; unhonest and unconscionable dealing ; and 
 nine that are yet more palpable : pride, unchastity, 
 covetousness, contempt of the gospel, swearing, 
 lying, drunkenness, idleness, and oppression. Four 
 special signs of the heart's being infected by covet- 
 ousness : an eager and sharp-set desire of getting ; 
 a pinching and niggardly keeping of our own ; 
 neglect of holy duties, (that is, when the minds of 
 men are so taken up with the love of earthly 
 things, that they begin to slack and cool in matters 
 of God's worship ;) and a trusting in riches. Two 
 special causes of covetousness : 1. Ignorance and 
 distrust of God's providence ; and, 2. the want of 
 tasting and feeling heavenly things. The evil 
 effects of covetousness ; its excuses ; its remedies. 
 One of these is meditation on God's providence for 
 his children. His blessing is ail in all. They 
 are sometimes brought into great distress, but are 
 always sure of being delivered. . . . ' He 
 loveth them,' says Theologus in one of his replies, 
 4 he loveth them when he smiteth them. He 
 favoreth them, when he seemeth to be most against 
 them. He woundeth that he may heal them. If 
 he bring them into necessities, it is but for a trial 
 of their faith, love, patience, and diligence in 
 prayer. If he cast them into the fire, it is not 
 
BUNYAN. 19 
 
 to consume them, but to purge and refine them. 
 If he bring them into great dangers, it is but to 
 make them call upon him more earnestly for help 
 and deliverance . . . The Lord oftentimes 
 showeth us the terrible faces of troubles and dan- 
 gers to make us cleave and cling fast unto him, 
 and also to teach us to esteem better of his gifts 
 when we enjoy them, and to be more thankful for 
 them ; as health, wealth, peace, liberty, safety, and 
 other blessings. So then still we see, here is 
 nothing meant on God's part but good ; as it is 
 written, all things work together for good to them 
 that love God* For even the afflictions of God's 
 children are so sanctified unto them by the Spirit 
 that thereby they are made partakers of his holi- 
 ness. Thereby they attain unto a greater measure 
 of joy in the Holy Ghost. Thereby the world is 
 crucified to them, and they to the world. Thereby 
 they are made conformable to the death of Christ. 
 Thereby they are kept from the condemnation of 
 the world. Thereby they learn experience, pa- 
 tience, hope, and so forth. So that, all things 
 considered, God's children are no losers by their 
 afflictions, but gainers. It is better for them to 
 have them, than to be without them. . . . For 
 to them the cross is mercy, and loss is gain . . . 
 That estate which God will have his children to 
 be in, is always best for them, because he who 
 can best discern what is best, seeth it to be best 
 for them ; whether it be sickness or health, 
 poverty or plenty, prison or liberty, prosperity or 
 
 *Heb. 12: 10 
 
20 LIFE OF 
 
 adversity. For sometimes sickness is better for us 
 than health, and poverty than plenty. Are there- 
 fore, the children of God sick ? It is best for them. 
 Are they poor ? It is best for them. Are they in 
 any trouble ? It is best for them ; because their 
 good Father will turn it to the best. He will 
 oftentimes cut us short of our desires, because he 
 seeth we will bane ourselves with them. He in 
 fatherly care will take the knife from us ; because 
 he seeth we will hurt ourselves vvdth it. He will 
 keep us short of health and wealth, because he 
 knoweth we will be the worse for them. He will 
 not give us too much ease and prosperity in this 
 world ; for he knoweth it will poison us. He will 
 not allow us continual rest like standing ponds, for 
 then he knoweth we will gather scum and filth. 
 He dealeth fatherly and mercifully with us in 
 all things ; even then seeking our greatest good, 
 when we think he doeth us most harm. And to 
 speak all in a word, He bringeth into troubles, 
 and straits to this end especially, that he may hear 
 of us. For he right well knoweth our nature, he 
 is w T ell acquainted with our disposition : He 
 knoweth we will not come to him, but when we 
 stand in need of him. We care not for him, so 
 long as all goeth well with us. But if we come 
 into distress, or want any thing that we fain would 
 have, then he is sure to hear of us ; as he saith by 
 the prophet, In their affliction they will seek me 
 early.* 
 
 8 Behold here then,' it is added in the progress 
 
 * Hosea 5 : 15. 
 
BUNYAN. 21 
 
 of the discussion,' behold here then the patience 
 of God's saints, and their humble submission unto 
 his most holy will. They know all shall end 
 well ; and that maketh them glad to think of it. I 
 conclude then that the children of God are happy, 
 in what state soever they are ; happy in trouble, 
 happy out of trouble ; happy in poverty, happy in 
 plenty ; blessed in sickness, blessed in health ; 
 blessed at home likewise, and abroad, and every 
 way blessed. But on the contrary, the wicked 
 are cursed, in what state soever they are ; cursed 
 in sickness, cursed in health, cursed in plenty, 
 cursed in poverty, cursed in prosperity cursed in 
 adversity, cursed in honor, cursed in dishonor ; for 
 all things work together for their destruction. 
 Nothing doeth them any good. They are not any- 
 thing the better, either for God's mercies or for his 
 judgments.' 
 
 Contempt of the Gospel is set forth as a grievous 
 sin, a characteristic of the age, and a token of 
 God's displeasure ; swearing, to be visited with 
 signal punishment. ' It may well indeed,' remarks 
 the principal speaker, ' be called a sign of con- 
 demnation. I think it more than a sign ; it is 
 indeed an evident demonstration of a Reprobate. 
 For I never knew any man truly pleasing God in. 
 his heart, that was an usual and a common 
 swearer.' Excuses for it ; its causes ; and its 
 remedies. Punishments connected with Lying ; 
 its excuses ; its causes ; and its remedies. The 
 evil effects of Drunkenness ; its excuses ; its causes 
 and its remedies. The woful effects of Idleness ; 
 its causes and its remedies. Oppression, as a 
 
22 LIFE OF 
 
 horrible sin ; the many woes denounced against 
 oppressors ; various kinds of oppression ; its cau- 
 ses ; and its remedies. Nine fore signs of coming 
 judgments upon the land. 
 
 The prayers and tears of the faithful keep back 
 the wrath of God. The wicked fare the better for 
 God's children. The best course to prevent the 
 judgments of God. Nine signs of a sound soul : 
 Reverence of God's name, Keeping of his Sabbaths, 
 Truth, Sobriety, Industry, Compassion, Humility, 
 Chastity, and Contrition. The apostle Peter's 
 eight marks of salvation : Faith, Virtue, Know- 
 ledge, Temperance, Patience, Godliness, Brotherly 
 Kindness, and Love. Seven evidences of a man's 
 salvation : assured faith in the promises, sincerity 
 of heart, the spirit of adoption, sound regeneration 
 and sanctification, inward peace, groundedness in 
 the truth, and continuance to the end. 
 
 Assurance of salvation in this life ; — the proofs 
 exhibited, and objections answered. The ground 
 work of our salvation, the gracious and eternal 
 purposes of God. Some doubts may stand with 
 assurance. The wicked cannot be assured of 
 their salvation. The security of which they boast 
 is vain. Nine things required of every one that 
 would be saved by Christ : 
 
 He must be a new creature. 2 Cor. 5 : 27. He 
 must live, not after the lusts of men, but after the 
 will of God. 1 Pet. 4 : 2. He must be zealous 
 of good works. Tit. 2 : 14. He must die to sin, 
 and live to righteousness. Rom. 6 : 14. He must 
 be holy and unblamable. Col. 1 : 23. He must 
 so walk, even as Christ walked. 1 John 2 : 6. 
 
BUNYAN. 23 
 
 He must crucify the flesh, with the affections and 
 lusts. Gal. 5 : 24. He must walk, not after the 
 flesh, but after the spirit. Rom. 8:1. And he must 
 serve God in righteousness and true holiness all 
 the days of his life. Luke 1 : 75. 
 
 Few of those who say that they hope to be 
 saved by Christ, can present any good evidence of 
 their having a personal interest in his death. Few 
 even among nominal Christians, have any good 
 reason to think that they shall be saved. Objec- 
 tions answered. The Holy Scriptures are to be 
 read with diligence and seriousness. It is danger- 
 ous to defer repentance. God was no author of 
 man's condemnation, but himself. 
 
 Objections against Predestination answered. 
 4 Moreover,' says Theologus, * I answer that God's 
 decree doth not enforce the will of man, which 
 worketh and moveth of itself. It hath in itself the 
 beginning of evil motion, and sinneth willingly. 
 Therefore, though the decree of God imposeth 
 a necessity upon all secondary causes, (so as they 
 must needs be framed and disposed according to 
 the same,) yet no co-action or constraint ; for they 
 are all carried with their voluntary motion. Then 
 as we see the plumb of a clock, being the first 
 mover, doth cause all the other wheels to move, 
 but not to move this way or that way ; for in that 
 they move, some one way, and some another, it is 
 of themselves ; I mean, of their own frame. So 
 God's decree doth move all secondary causes, but 
 takes not away their own proper motion. For God 
 is the author of every action, but not of any evil 
 in any action. As the soul of man is the original 
 
24 LIFE OF 
 
 cause of all motion in man, as the philosophers 
 dispute, but yet not of lame and imperfect motion, 
 for that is from another cause, to wit, some defect 
 in the body ; so I say, God's decree is the root and 
 first cause of motion, but not of defective motion ; 
 that is from ourselves. Likewise, that a bell 
 soundeth, the cause is in him, that ringeth it ; but 
 that it jarreth, the cause is in itself. Again, that 
 an instrument soundeth is in him that playeth upon 
 it ; but that it jarreth, is in itself; that is, in its 
 own want of timing. So then, to shut up this 
 point, — all instruments and middle causes are so 
 moved of God being the first mover, that he always 
 doth will holily and justly in his moving. But the 
 instruments moved are carried in contrary motions, 
 according to their own nature and frame. If they 
 be good, they are carried to that which is good ; 
 but if they be evil, they are carried unto evil. So 
 that according to the double beginning of motion 
 and will, there is a double and diverse work and 
 effect.' 
 
 God's decree was no cause of Adam's fair. . . . 
 Reprobation asserted. Prescience in God. What, 
 asks the Caviller, do you call prescience or fore- 
 knowledge in God ? It is replied : ' Prescience, in 
 God is that whereby all things abide present 
 before his eyes ; so that to his eternal knowledge, 
 nothing is past, nothing to come ; but all things 
 are always present ; and they are so present that 
 they are not as conceived imaginations, forms and 
 motions ; but all things are always so present 
 before God, that he doth behold them in their verity 
 and perfection.' . . . Election — Its first motive 
 
BUNYAN. 25 
 
 is in God himself. Faith is dependent upon elec- 
 tion, and not election upon faith. Nine great 
 hindrances to eternal life : infidelity, presumption 
 of God's mercy, examples of the multitude, long 
 custom of sin, long escaping of punishment, hope 
 of long life, conceitedness, ill-company, and evil 
 examples of ministers. 
 
 The answers of the ignorant to the grounds of 
 religion ; the means and the importance of being 
 delivered from ignorance. The weighty charge 
 of Ministers. What is the best course for Minis- 
 ters to take to bring the people out of ignorance. 
 What is the best course for the people to take that 
 they may be delivered from the bondage of sin. 
 Without preaching the people are in great danger 
 of losing their souls. Satan's cunning in frustra- 
 ting the hearing of the Word, and making all 
 preaching utterly unprofitable. Six great dangers 
 of sin. Six most hurtful effects of sin : — 
 
 Sin hardens the heart. Heb. 3 : 23. 
 
 Sin gnaws the conscience. 1 Sam. 25 : 
 
 Sin fights against the soul. 1 Pet. 2 : 11. 
 
 Sin brings forth death. James 1 : 15. 
 
 Sin makes ashamed. Rom. 6 : 21. 
 
 Sin procures plagues of body and soul. Deut. 28 : 
 
 Every sin, though never so little in our eyes, is 
 heinous and capital, because it is against a person 
 of infinite majesty. Nine profitable considerations : 
 What you have been ; What you are ; What you 
 shall be ; What God hath done for you ; What he 
 doeth ; What he will do ; His judgments past; His 
 judgments present ; and His judgments to come. 
 If men would leave words, and fall to doing, great 
 
 3 
 
26 LIFE OF 
 
 good would come of it. Christ's coming to judg- 
 ment : — Its suddenness ; its terrible grandeur ; and 
 its use. The misery of the soul that is lost, — 
 extreme, perpetual, and remediless. 
 
 On hearing these things, the Ignorant man 'is 
 pricked in his conscience, bewails his former life, 
 repents earnestly for his sin and ignorance, and 
 desires spiritual medicine and comfort.' The 
 Preacher administers them to him, and lays open 
 to him the sweet promises of the Gospel, and the 
 infinite mercy of God in Christ to all truly penitent 
 and broken hearted sinners. 
 
 The book of which a rapid sketch has now 
 been given, may have contributed, even more than 
 Bunyan himself was aware, to awaken his con- 
 science and his intellect. 
 
 The other book which he mentions, The Prac- 
 tice of Piety, by Lewis Baily, Bishop of Bangor, 
 was held in high esteem by the more devout in 
 England and in other countries. It was written in 
 the reign of James I., and dedicated to his son 
 Charles, when he was Prince of Wales, and very 
 young. It was early translated into French and 
 other languages on the continent of Europe. * 
 And we have recently met with a translation of it, 
 probably by the apostolic Eliot, into the language 
 
 * Devoirs de l'Ame Chrestienne, ou la Pratique de 
 Piete, adiessante le Chrestien au chemin qu'il faut tenir 
 pour aller a Dieu. Traduite de l'Anglois de L. Bayle, 
 Docteur en Theologie, Ministre du S. Evangile, et 
 Chappelain de sa Majestee Britannique. Derniere edition, 
 corregee et mise en purete de la langue Francoise. A 
 Saumur, 1675. (Pp. 574. 12mo.) 
 
BtJNYAN. 27 
 
 of those American Indians among whom he 
 labored in Massachusetts, printed at Cambridge, 
 New England, in 1685. The English edition 
 which we have consulted, is the seventy first ; and 
 it was printed more than fifty years ago. The 
 whole title of the book is, The Practice of Piety ; 
 directing a Christian how to walk, that he may 
 please God. 
 
 The dedication to the young Prince contains 
 a vivid sketch of the religious state of the people in 
 the first half of the seventeenth century, and is a 
 fair specimen of the commendable seriousness and 
 zeal which characterize the whole work. ' Never,' 
 it is remarked by the author, 'never was there 
 more need of plain and unfeigned admonition ; for 
 the comic poet, in that saying, seems but to have 
 prophesied of our times : 
 
 Obsequium amicos, Veritas odium parit. 
 
 [If we flatter, we have friends ; if we speak the 
 «,ruth, we are hated.] 
 
 1 And no marvel, seeing that we are fallen into 
 the dregs of time, which being the last, must needs 
 be the worst days. And how can there be worse, 
 seeing vanity knows not how to be vainer, nor 
 wickedness how to be more wicked ? And whereas, 
 heretofore, those have been counted most holy, 
 who have showed themselves most zealous in their 
 religion ; they are now reputed most discreet, 
 who can make the least profession of their faith. 
 And that these are the last days, appears evidently, 
 because the security of men's eternal state has so 
 overwhelmed (as Christ foretold it should) all sorts, 
 
28 LIFE OF 
 
 that most who now live are become lovers of 
 pleasures more than lovers of God. And of those 
 who pretend to love God, O God ! what sanctified 
 heart can but bleed to behold how seldom they 
 come to prayers ; what strangers they are at 
 the Lord's table ; how irreverently they hear God's 
 word ; what assiduous spectators they are at stage 
 plays ! where (being Christians) they can sport 
 themselves to hear the vessels of the devil scoffing 
 religion, and blasphemously abusing phrases of the 
 Holy Scripture on their stages, as familiarly as 
 they use their tobacco pipes in their bibbing houses. 
 So that he who would now-a-days seek in most 
 Christians for the power, shall scarce almost find 
 the very show of godliness. Never was there 
 more sinning, never less remorse for sin. Never 
 was the judge nearer to come ; never was there so 
 little preparation for his coming; and if the Bride- 
 groom should now come, how many (who think 
 themselves wise enough, and full of all knowledge) 
 would be found foolish virgins, without one drop of 
 the oil of saving faith in their lamps ! For the 
 greatest wisdom of most men in this age consists 
 in being wise, first to deceive others, and then 
 to deceive themselves. 
 
 * And if sometimes some good book falls into their 
 hands, or some good motion cometh into their 
 heads, whereby they are put in mind to consider 
 the uncertainty of this life present, or how weak 
 assurance they have of eternal life, if this were 
 ended, and how they have some secret sins, for 
 which they must needs repent here or be punished 
 for them in hell hereafter ; — security then forthwith 
 
BTJNYAN. 29 
 
 whispers the hypocrite in the ear, that though it be 
 fit to think of these things, yet it is not yet time ; 
 and that he is yet young enough (though he cannot 
 but know that many millions as young as himself 
 are already in hell for want ot timely repentance.) 
 Presumption warrants him in the other ear, that 
 he may have time hereafter, at his leisure, to 
 repent ; and howsoever others die, yet he is far 
 enough from death, and therefore may boldly take 
 yet a longer time to enjoy his sweet pleasures, and 
 to increase his wealth and greatness ; and here- 
 upon (like Solomon's sluggard) he yields himself 
 to a little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little 
 more folding of the hands to sleep in his former 
 sins, till at last despair, (security's ugly handmaid) 
 comes unlocked for, and shows him his hour glass, 
 dolefully telling him, that his time is past, and that 
 nothing now remains but to die and be damned. 
 Let not this seem strange to any ; for too many 
 have found it too true ; and more, without more 
 grace, are like to be thus soothed to their end, and 
 in the end snared to their endless perdition. 
 
 'In my desire, therefore, of the common salva- 
 tion, but especially of your Highness's everlasting 
 welfare, I have endeavored to extract (out of the 
 chaos of endless controversies) the old practice of 
 true piety, which flourished before these contro- 
 versies were hatched ; for which end my poor 
 labors (in a short while) come now forth again 
 under the gracious protection of your Highness's 
 favor, and by their entertainment seem not to 
 be altogether unwelcome to the church of Christ. 
 If to be pious has in all ages been held the truest 
 
30 life or 
 
 honor, how much more honorable is it, in so 
 impious an age, to be the true patron and pattern 
 of piety ! 
 
 1 It is piety that embalms a Prince's good name, 
 and makes his face to shine before men, and 
 glorifies his soul among angels ; for as Moses's 
 face, by often talking with God, shined in the eyes 
 of the people, so by frequent praying (which is 
 our talking with God) and hearing the word, 
 (which is God speaking unto us,) we shall be 
 changed from glory to glory, by the spirit of the 
 Lord, to the image of the Lord ; and seeing this 
 life is uncertain to all, (especially to Princes) what 
 argument is more fit both for Princes and people to 
 study, than that which teaches sinful man to deny 
 himself, by mortifying his corruptions, that he may 
 enjoy Christ the author of his salvation ; to re- 
 nounce these false and momentary pleasures of the 
 world, that he may attain to the true and eternal 
 joys of heaven, and to make them truly honorable 
 before God in piety, who are now only honorable 
 before men in vanity ? What charges soever we 
 spend in earthly vanities, for the most part they 
 either die before us, or we shortly die after them ; 
 but what we spend, like Mary, in the practice 
 of piety, shall remain our true memorial forever ; 
 for piety hath the promise of this life, and of that 
 which shall never end ; but without piety there is 
 no internal comfort to be found in conscience, nor 
 external peace to be looked for in the world, 
 nor any eternal happiness to be hoped for in 
 heaven.' 
 
 The book, a closely printed duodecimo volume 
 
BUN YAK. 31 
 
 of three hundred pages, contains, 1. 'A plain des- 
 cription of God in respect to his essence, person, 
 and attributes, so far as every Christian should 
 competently endeavor to learn and know; with 
 sundry practical observations and meditations there- 
 upon. 2. Meditations setting forth the miseries 
 of a man in his life and death, that is not re- 
 conciled to God in Christ. 3. Meditations of the 
 blessed state both in life and death of a man that is 
 reconciled to God in Christ; wherein thou shalt 
 find not a few things worthy of thy reading and 
 observation. 4 Meditations on seven hindrances 
 which keep back a sinner from the practice of 
 piety, necessary to be read of all, but especially of 
 carnal gospellers in these times. 5. How to 
 begin the morning with pious meditations and 
 prayers. 6. How to read the Bible, with profit and 
 ease, once over every year. 7. Morning prayer. 
 Another shorter prayer for the morning. Another 
 brief morning prayer. 8. Meditations how to walk 
 with God all the day ; especially how to guide thy 
 thoughts ; thy words ; thy actions. 9. Meditations 
 for the evening. 10. An evening prayer. Ano- 
 ther shorter evening prayer. 11. Things to be 
 meditated upon as thou art going to bed. 12. 
 Meditations of a godly householder. 13. A morn- 
 ing prayer for a family. 14. Holy meditations 
 and graces before and after dinner and supper. 
 
 15. Rules to be observed in singing of Psalms. 
 
 16. An evening prayer for a family. 17. A 
 religious discourse of the Sabbath day, wherein is 
 proved that the Sabbath was altered from the 
 seventh to the first day of the week, not by human 
 
32 XIFE OF 
 
 ordinance, but by Christ himself and his Apostles ; 
 and that the fourth commandment is perpetual and 
 moral under the New Testament as well as under 
 the old ; and the true manner of sanctifying the 
 Sabbath day is described out of the word of God. 
 
 18. A morning prayer for the Sabbath day. 
 
 19. An evening prayer for the Sabbath day. 
 
 20. Meditations of the true manner of fasting, and 
 giving of alms, out of the word of God. 21. The 
 right manner of holy feasting. 22. Holy and 
 devout meditations of the worthy and reverent 
 receiving of the Lord's supper. 23. An humble 
 confession of sins before the holy communion. 
 24. A short soliloquy to be said a little before 
 receiving the holy sacrament. 25. A prayer to 
 be said after receiving the holy sacrament. 
 26. Meditations how to behave thyself in the 
 time of sickness. 27. A prayer when one begins 
 to be sick. 28. Directions for making thy will, 
 and setting thy house in order. 29. A prayer 
 before the taking of medicine. 30. Meditations 
 for one that is recovered from sickness, and a 
 thanks giving. 31. Meditations for one that is like 
 to die. 32. Meditations for the sick, taken from 
 the end of God's chastisements. 33. A prayer to 
 be said by one that is like to die. 34. Comforta- 
 ble meditations against despair. 35. Directions 
 for those who come to visit the sick. 36. A prayer 
 to be said for the sick by those who visit him ; and 
 choice scriptures to be read to him. 37. Consola- 
 tions against impatience in sickness. 38. Con- 
 solations against the fear of death. 39. Seven 
 sanctified thoughts, and so many spiritual sighs fit 
 
BUNYAN. 33 
 
 for a sick man that is like to die. 40. Of the 
 comfortable use of true absolution and receiving of 
 the Lord's supper, to the faithful and penitent, 
 before they depart this life, if they may conveniently 
 be had. 41 The last prayer of a godly man 
 dying. 42. Meditations of martyrdom ; wherein 
 it is proved that those who die for Popery, cannot 
 be Christ's martyrs. 43. A colloquy between the 
 soul and our Saviour, concerning the virtue and 
 excellency of his sufferings. 44. The soul's 
 soliloquy, ravished in contemplation of the suffer- 
 ings of our Lord, the just for the unjust.' 
 
 Such are the contents of one of the few books 
 which addressed the understanding and conscience 
 of Bunyan at a very important period of his 
 life. This work, as well as the Plain Man's 
 Pathway to Heaven, in the circumstances in which 
 it claimed his attention may easily be conceived to 
 have contributed much towards inducing him to 
 break off, in some measure, from his vices, and 
 resolve to become a religious man. It had, indeed, 
 the great fault and disadvantage of seeming, for 
 the most part, to assume that all its readers were 
 already regenerate, and needed only to be led 
 onward in the right way. It may have favored a 
 few other errors here and there, or a few inaccurate 
 statements of sound doctrine. And it may have 
 been abused, as the very best means of grace may 
 be, to the encouragement of a species of formalism. 
 Yet, on the whole, it was salutary in its influence. 
 
 Both of the books were adapted to make him set 
 a high value on religion, and to constrain him 
 to think on his ways. Speaking of these books 
 
34 LIFE OF 
 
 and of the account given by his wife, relative 
 to her father's piety, he says : ' Though they 
 did not reach my heart, to awaken it about my sad 
 and sinful state, yet they did beget within me some 
 desires to reform my vicious life, and fall in very 
 eagerly with the religion of the times ; to wit, 
 to go to church twice a day, and that, too, with the 
 foremost ; and there I would, very devoutly, both 
 say and sing as others did, yet retaining my 
 wicked life. But withal, I was so overrun with the 
 spirit of superstition, that I adored, and that with 
 great devotion, even all things (both the high 
 place, priest, clerk, vestment, service, and what 
 else) belonging to the church; counting all things 
 holy that were therein contained, and especially the 
 priest and clerk most happy, and, without doubt, 
 greatly blessed, because they were the servants, as 
 I then thought, of God, and were principal in 
 the holy temple, to do his work therein. This 
 conceit grew so strong, in a little time, upon 
 my spirit, that had I but seen a priest, (though 
 never so sordid and debauched in his life,) I should 
 find my spirit fall under him, reverence him, 
 and knit unto him. Yea, I thought, for the love I 
 did bear unto them, (supposing they were the 
 ministers of God,) I could have lain down at their 
 feet, and have been trampled upon by them ; their 
 name, their garb, and work, did so intoxicate and 
 bewitch me. 
 
 6 But all this while I was not sensible of the 
 danger and evil of sin ; I was kept from consider- 
 ing that sin would damn me, what religion soever 
 I followed, unless I was found in Christ. Nay, I 
 
BUNYANi 35 
 
 never thought of him, nor whether there was such 
 a one, or no. Thus man, while blind, doth wan- 
 der, but wearieth himself with vanity ; for he 
 knoweth not the way to the city of God. 
 
 ' But one day, amongst all the sermons our par- 
 son made, his subject was, to treat of the Sabbath 
 day, and of the evil of breaking that, either with 
 labor, sports, or otherwise. Now I was, notwith- 
 standing my religion, one that took much delight in 
 all manner of vice, and especially that was the day 
 that I did solace myseif therewith. Wherefore I 
 felt in my conscience under the sermon, thinking 
 and believing that he made that sermon on purpose 
 to show me my evil doing. And at that time 
 I felt what guilt was, though never before, that 
 I can remember ; but then I was, for the present, 
 greatly loaded therewith, and so went home when 
 the sermon was ended, with a great burthen upon 
 my spirit. 
 
 1 This, for an instant, did benumb the sinews of 
 my best delights, and did embitter my former 
 pleasures to me ; but hold, it lasted not ; for, 
 before I had well dined, the trouhle began to go 
 off my mind ; and my heart returned to its old 
 course. But oh ! how glad was I, that this trou- 
 ble was gone from me, and that the fire was put 
 out, that I might sin again without control ! 
 Wherefore, when I had satisfied nature with my 
 food, I shook the sermon out of my mind ; and 
 to my old custom of sports and gaming I returned 
 with great delight. 
 
 4 But the same day, as I was in the midst of 
 a game of cat, and having struck it one blow from 
 
36 LIFE OF 
 
 the hole, just as I was about to strike it the second 
 time, a voice did suddenly dart from heaven into 
 my soul, which said, ' Wilt thou leave thy sins and 
 go to heaven, or have thy sins and go to hell?' 
 At this I was put to an exceeding maze : Where- 
 fore, leaving my cat upon the ground, I looked up 
 to heaven, and was as if I had, with the eyes 
 of my understanding, seen the Lord Jesus looking 
 down upon me as being very hotly displeased with 
 me, and as if he did severely threaten me with 
 some grievous punishment for these and other 
 ungodly practices. 
 
 4 1 had no sooner thus conceived in my mind, 
 but suddenly this conclusion was fastened upon my 
 spirit, (for the former hint did set my sins again 
 before my face,) that I had been a great and 
 grievous sinner, and that it was now too late 
 for me to look after heaven ; for Christ would not 
 forgive me, nor pardon my transgressions. Then 
 I fell to musing on this also ; and while I was 
 thinking of it, and fearing lest it should be so, 
 I felt my heart sink in despair, concluding it was 
 too late ; and therefore I resolved in my mind to 
 go on in sin. For (thought I) if the case be thus, 
 my state is surely miserable ; miserable if I 
 leave my sins, and but miserable if I follow them ; 
 I can but be damned, and if I must be so, I had as 
 good be damned for many sins, as be damned for 
 few. 
 
 4 Thus I stood in the midst of my play, before 
 all that then were present ; but yet I told them 
 nothing. But, I say, having made this conclusion. 
 I returned desperately to my sport again; and 
 
BUNYAN. 37 
 
 I well remember, that, presently, this kind of des- 
 pair did so possess my soul, that I was persuaded I 
 could never attain to other comfort than what 
 I should get in sin ; for heaven was gone already, 
 so that on that I must not think. Wherefore 
 I found within me great desire to take my fill of sin, 
 still studying what sin was yet to be committed, 
 that I might taste the sweetness of it ; and I made 
 as much haste as I could to fill my belly with its 
 delicacies, lest I should die before I had my 
 desires ; for that I feared greatly. In these things 
 I protest before God, I lie not, neither do I frame 
 this sort of speech. These were really, strongly, 
 and with all my heart, my desires. The good 
 Lord, whose mercy is unsearchable, forgive my 
 transgressions ! 
 
 6 And I am very confident, that this temptation 
 of the devil is more usual among poor creatures 
 than many are aware of, even to overrun the 
 spirits with a scurvy and seared frame of heart, and 
 benumbing of conscience ; which frame he stilly 
 and slily supplieth with such despair, that though 
 not much guilt attendeth souls, yet they continually 
 have a secret conclusion within them, that there is 
 no hope for them ; for they have loved sins, there- 
 fore after them they will go.* 
 
 ' Now, therefore, I went on in sin with great 
 greediness of mind, still grudging that I could not 
 be satisfied with it as I would. This did continue 
 with me about a month or more. But one day, as 
 I was standing at a neighbor's shop window, and 
 there cursing and swearing, and playing the mad- 
 
 *Jer. 2: 25, and 18: 12. 
 4 
 
38 BUNYAW. 
 
 man, after my wonted manner, there sat within the 
 woman of the house, and heard me ; who, though 
 she was a very loose and ungodly wretch, yet 
 protested that I cursed and swore at that most 
 fearful rate, that she was made to tremble to hear 
 me, and told me further, that I was the ungodliest 
 fellow for swearing that she ever heard in all her 
 life, and that I, by thus doing, was able to spoil all 
 the youth in the whole town, if they came but 
 in my company. 
 
 1 At this reproof I was silenced, and put to secret 
 shame, and that, too, as I thought, before the God 
 of heaven. Wherefore, while I stood there, and 
 hanging down my head, I wished with all my 
 heart that I might be a little child again, that my 
 father might teach me to speak without this 
 wicked way of swearing ; for, (thought 1)1 am so 
 accustomed to it, that it is in vain for me to think 
 of a reformation, for I thought that could never be. 
 But how it came to pass, I know not ; I did, from 
 this time forward, so leave my swearing, that 
 it was a great wonder to myself to observe it ; and 
 whereas, before, I knew not how to speak unless I 
 put an oath before and another behind, to make 
 my words have authority ; now I could, without 
 it, speak better and with more pleasantness than 
 ever I could before. All this while I knew not 
 Jesus Christ, neither did leave my sports and 
 plays. 
 
 1 But quickly after this, I fell into company with 
 one poor man that made professsion of religion, 
 who, as I then thought, did talk pleasantly of 
 the Scriptures, and of the matter of religion. 
 
BUNYAN. 39 
 
 Wherefore, falling into some love and liking to 
 what he said, I betook me to my Bible, and began 
 to take great pleasure in reading, but especially 
 with the historical part thereof; for as for Paul's 
 epistles, and such like Scriptures, I could not away 
 with them, not knowing as yet either the corrup- 
 tion of my nature or the want and worth of Jesus 
 Christ to save us. 
 
 1 Wherefore, I fell to some outward reformation, 
 both in my words and in my life, and did set 
 the commandments before me for my way to 
 heaven, which commandments I also did strive to 
 keep, and, as I thought, did keep them pretty well 
 sometimes, and then I should have comfort; yet 
 now and then should break one, and so afflict my 
 conscience : but then I should repent, and say, 
 I was sorry for it, and promise God to do better 
 next time, and there got help again ; for then 
 I thought I pleased God as well as any man in 
 England. 
 
 i Thus I continued about a year; all which 
 time our neighbors did take me to be a very godly 
 man, a new and religious man, and did marvel 
 much to see such great and famous alteration 
 in my life and manners ; and indeed, so it was, 
 though I knew not Christ, nor grace, nor faith, nor 
 hope ; for, as I have well since seen, had I 
 then died, my state had been most fearful. But, I 
 say, my neighbors were amazed at this my great 
 conversion from prodigious profaneness to some- 
 thing like a moral life. And truly, so they well 
 might be ; for this my conversion was as great, as 
 for Tom of Bedlam to become a sober man. Now 
 
40 LIFE OF 
 
 therefore they began to praise, to commend, and 
 to speak well of me, both to my face and behind 
 my back. Now I was, as they said, become 
 godly; now I was become a right honest man. 
 But oh ! when I understood those were their 
 words and opinions of me ; it pleased me mighty 
 well. For though as yet I was nothing but a poor 
 painted hypocrite, yet I loved to be talked of as one 
 that was truly godly. I was proud of my godli- 
 ness ; and indeed, I did all I did, either to be seen 
 of men or to be well spoken of by them. 
 
 1 But poor wretch as I was ! I was all this 
 while ignorant of Jesus Christ, and going about to 
 establish my own righteousness ; and had perished 
 therein, had not God, in mercy, showed me more 
 of my state by nature. But upon a day, the good 
 Providence of God called me to Bedford to work on 
 my calling ; and in one of the streets of that town, 
 I came where there were three or four poor 
 women sitting at a door, in the sun, talking about 
 the things of God ; and being now willing to hear 
 their discourse, I drew near to hear what they 
 said ; for I was now a brisk talker of myself in 
 matters of religion. But I may say, I heard, but I 
 understood not ; for they were far above out of my 
 reach. Their talk was about a new birth, the 
 work of God in their hearts ; as also how they 
 were convinced of their miserable state, — how 
 God had visited their souls with his love in the 
 Lord Jesus, and with what words and promises 
 they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported. 
 
 1 And methought they spake as if joy did make 
 them speak. They spake with such pleasantness 
 
BUNYAN, 41 
 
 of Scripture language, and with such appearance 
 of grace in all they said, that they were to me as 
 if they had found a new world ; as if they were 
 people that dwelt alone, and were not to be reckoned 
 among their neighbors. 
 
 1 At this I felt my own heart began to shake, and 
 mistrust my condition to be naught ; for I saw that 
 in all my thoughts about religion and salvation, 
 the new birth did never enter into my mind ; 
 neither knew I the comfort of the word and 
 promise, nor the deceitfulness and treachery of my 
 own wicked heart. As for secret thoughts, I took 
 no notice of them ; neither did I understand what 
 Satan's temptations were, nor how they were to be 
 withstood and resisted. 
 
 1 Thus, therefore, when I had heard and con- 
 siderecl what they said, I left them, and went about 
 my employment again. But their talk and dis- 
 course went with me ; also my heart would tarry 
 with them, for I was greatly affected with their 
 words, both because by them I was convinced that 
 I wanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and 
 also because by them I was convinced of the 
 happy and blessed condition of him that was such 
 a one. Therefore, I would often make it my 
 business to be going again and again into the 
 company of these poor people, for I could not stay 
 away ; and the more I went among them, the 
 more I did question my condition ; and, as I still 
 do remember, presently I found two things within 
 me, at which I did sometimes marvel, (especially 
 considering what a blind, ignorant, sordid and 
 ungodly wretch but just before I was.) The one 
 
42 LIFE OF 
 
 was a very great softness and tenderness of heart, 
 which caused me to fall under the conviction 
 of what by Scripture they asserted ; and the other 
 was a great bending in my mind to a continual 
 meditating on it, and on all other good things, 
 which at any time I heard or read of. 
 
 'By these things my mind was now so turned 
 that it lay like a horse -leech at the vein, still 
 crying out, Give, give, which was so fixed on 
 eternity, and on the things about the kingdom of 
 heaven, (that is, so far as I knew, though as yet 
 I knew but little,) that neither pleasures, nor 
 profits, nor persuasions, nor threats could loose it* 
 or make let go its hold ; and though I may speak 
 it with shame, yet it is in very deed a certain 
 truth, it would then have been as difficult for me to 
 have taken my mind from heaven to earth, as 
 I [have found it often since, to get it again from 
 earth to heaven. 
 
 'About this time I met with some Ranters' 
 books that were put forth by some of our country- 
 men, which books were also highly in esteem by 
 several old professors. Some of these I read, but 
 was not .able to make any judgment about them ; 
 wherefore, as I read in them and thought upon 
 them, seeing myself unable to judge, I would 
 betake myself to hearty prayer in this manner : — 
 O Lord, I am a fool, and not able to know the 
 truth from error. Lord, leave me not to my own 
 blindness either to approve of or condemn this 
 doctrine ; if it be of God, let me not despise it ; if 
 it be of the devil, let me not embrace it. Lord, I 
 lay my soul in this matter only at thy foot ; let me 
 
BUNYAN. 43 
 
 not be deceived, I humbly beseech thee. — I had 
 one religious intimate companion all this while, 
 and that was the poor man I spoke of before ; but, 
 about this time, he also turned a most develish 
 Ranter, and gave himself up to all manner of 
 iilthiness, especially uncleanness. He would also 
 deny that there was a God, angel, or spirit, and 
 would laugh at all exhortations to sobriety. When 
 I labored to rebuke his wickedness, he would 
 laugh the more, and pretend that he had gone 
 through all religions, and could never hit upon the 
 right till now. He told me also, that in a little 
 time I should see all professors turn to the ways of 
 the Ranters. Wherefore, abominating those cursed 
 principles, I left his company forthwith, and became 
 to him as great a stranger as I had before been a 
 familiar. 
 
 i Neither was this man only a temptation to me, 
 but, my calling lying in the country, I happened to 
 come into several people's company, who, though 
 strict in religion formerly, were also drawn away 
 by these Ranters. These would also talk with me 
 of their ways, and condemn me as legal and dark ; 
 pretending that they only had attained to perfection, 
 that could do what they would and not sin. Oh ! 
 these temptations were suitable to my flesh, I 
 being but a young man, and my nature in its 
 prime ; but God who had, as I hoped, designed me 
 for better things, kept me in the fear of his name, 
 and did not suffer me to accept such cursed princi- 
 ples. And, blessed be God, who put it into my 
 heart to cry to him to be kept and directed, still 
 distrusting mine own wisdom ! for I have since 
 
44 IIFE OF 
 
 seen even the effects of that prayer in his preserv- 
 ing me not only from ranting errors, but from 
 those also that have sprung up since. The Bible 
 was precious to me in those days. 
 
 6 And now methought I began to look into the 
 Bible with new eyes, and read as I never did 
 before ; and especially the epistles of the Apostle 
 St. Paul were sweet and pleasant to me ; and, 
 indeed, then I was never out of the Bible, either by 
 reading or meditation, still crying out to God that 
 I might know the truth and the way to heaven and 
 glory.' 
 
 Here we have arrived at a point in the life of 
 Bunyan where it may be useful to pause, and sur- 
 vey some of the particular incidents through which 
 he was conducted to this point. 
 
 In early childhood, it seems, he was taught by his 
 father ' to speak without this wicked way of swearing. ' 
 This he recollected, upon being severely rebuked 
 for his profaneness, when it had become with him 
 a fixed habit ; and the recollection, combined with 
 the rebuke, made him wish with all his heart, to 
 be a little child again under the instruction of his 
 father. It was the means of wonderfully reform- 
 ing him in respect to that vice, and of cherishing 
 in him a reverence for God. That poor and illit- 
 erate father's religious teaching, however feeble 
 and imperfect it may have been, was not lost. 
 
 He was early sent to school by his parents, that 
 he might learn to read and write. Amidst his 
 youthful follies, he may have forgotten much of the 
 little which he had learnt. But he could soon 
 regain it all ; and it was inexpressibly important 
 
BUNYAN. 45 
 
 to possess the elements of improvement. If these 
 had been entirely neglected in his childhood, they 
 would, it is almost certain, have continued to be 
 neglected. He would never have read the Bible 
 nor other religious books. He would have been 
 debarred effectually from some of the most import- 
 ant means of admonition ; and instead of the. rich 
 and perpetual fruits of his Christian character, and 
 of his ministry and authorship, there would, most 
 probably, have been only the sad and unheeded 
 record of an obscure malefactor's doom 
 
 He had a discreet wife, who was religiously 
 inclined. Her value was above that of rubies. 
 She allured him to the reading of books which 
 awakened his conscience, and to the house of God. 
 Those two books, the Plain Man's Pathway to 
 Heaven, and the Practice of Piety, which she had 
 received as her dowry from the hands of a father, 
 the remembrance of whose Christian life was fra- 
 grant and attractive, were of more real value to 
 Bunyan than a princely fortune has been to many 
 a son-in-law. They called his attention earnestly 
 to the concerns of his soul. They presented much 
 Christian truth. They gave many timely admoni- 
 tions. They pointed out and urged many duties 
 which no man can safely neglect. They urged 
 him to fervent prayer and to the diligent reading 
 of the Holy Scriptures. They helped to make him 
 a regular attendant on public worshrp; where, 
 upon hearing a certain sermon, one day, he ' felt 
 what guilt was.' But he needed something more, 
 and this the grace of God, at length, gave him to 
 perceive. 
 
46 LIFE OP 
 
 While struggling under convictions of sin, tossed 
 with temptations, and striving to establish his own 
 righteousness, as men in circumstances like his 
 are prone to do, he listened to the religious conver- 
 sation of Christians whose hearts were glowing 
 with love and gratitude to the Saviour. He heard 
 the three or four poor women, sitting at the door, 
 in one of the streets of Bedford, engaged in con- 
 versing on the new birth, the work of God in their 
 hearts, telling how they w T ere convinced of their 
 sinfulness ; how God had visited their souls with 
 his love in the Lord Jesus : and with what words 
 and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, 
 and supported. That scene most deeply impressed 
 his heart. It opened to his view, as it were, a 
 new world. And while he beheld, and listened, 
 he seems to have been, himself, tranformed by the 
 renewing of his mind. * They spake,' he remarks 
 with a simple and touching pathos, 'they spake as 
 if joy did make them speak. They spake with 
 such pleasantness of scripture language, and with 
 such appearance of grace in all they said, that they 
 were to me as if they had found a new world.' 
 
 The conversion of Bunyan, however, is not to 
 be ascribed, exclusively, to any one particular inci- 
 dent, as the means. There was a series of inci- 
 dents, each of which was important in its place. 
 Early parental instruction, -early instruction at 
 school, the* influences of a virtuous wife, of a few 
 religious books, of a faithful sermon, of a severe 
 rebuke, and of conversation worthy of the sons 
 and daughters of the Lord Almighty, and innumer- 
 able other things, some of which we know, and 
 
BUNYAN. 47 
 
 some of which we do not know, are to be regarded 
 as links in the chain of events leading, under God, 
 to the great and happy result. 
 
 From Ms falling into a state of Doubt and Despond* 
 ency to his being delivered from that state. 
 
 Soon after the time when Bunyan became so 
 much attached to those who were manifestly chil- 
 dren of God, in the best sense of the phrase ; when 
 the Bible seemed to him so new and precious ; 
 when, in view of its declarations, he had a very 
 great softness and tenderness of heart, and a great 
 bending in his mind to a continual meditating on 
 it, and on all other good things; sood after this 
 very time of unwonted interest, and light, and love, 
 he fell into a state of doubt and despondency. For 
 several long years, he continued in darkness and 
 unutterable suffering, relieved only now and then, 
 for a while, by some gleams of hope and heavenly 
 joy. At length, he passed quite through the dread- 
 ful ' Slough of Despond ;' and, after many a hard 
 conflict, he came to a better understanding of the 
 scriptures and to a confirmation of his faith in 
 Christ, as the source of our being enlightened and 
 forgiven, and made holy and happy forever ; who 
 of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctifieation, and redemption.* 
 
 But how did it occur that he fell into that unhap- 
 
 * 1 Cor. 1 : 30. 
 
48 LIFE OF 
 
 py state of mind ? He has himself given the fol- 
 lowing simple and touching account. 
 
 1 As I went on and read, I hit upon that passage, 
 To one is given by the Spirit the icord of wisdom ; 
 to another, the word of knowledge by4he same Spi- 
 rit ; and to another, faith; and so forth.* And 
 though, as I have since seen, that by this scrip, 
 ture the Holy Ghost intends, in special, things 
 extraordinary ; yet on me it did then fasten with 
 conviction, that I did want things ordinary, even 
 that understanding and wisdom that other Chris- 
 tians had. On this word I mused, and could not 
 tell what to do ; especially this word faith put me 
 to it ; for I could not help it, but sometimes must 
 question whether I had any faith or no ; but I was 
 loath to conclude I had no faith ; for if I do so, 
 thought I, then I shall count myself a very cast- 
 away indeed. I could not rest content until I did 
 now come to some certain knowledge whether I 
 had faith or no ; this always running in my mind, 
 But how if you want faith indeed ? But how can 
 you tell you have faith 1 And besides, I saw for 
 certain, if I had not, I was sure to perish forever. 
 So that, though I endeavoured at the first to look 
 over the business of faith, yet in a little time, I 
 better considering the matter, was willing to put 
 myself upon the trial whether I had faith or no. 
 But, alas, poor wretch! so ignorant and brutish 
 was I, that I knew not any more how to do it than 
 I know how to begin and accomplish that rare and 
 curious piece of art which I never yet saw or con- 
 sidered. Wherefore, while I w r as thus consider- 
 
 * 1 Cor. 12 : S, 9. 
 
BtJNYAN. 49 
 
 ing, and being put to a plunge about it, (for you 
 must know that as yet I had not in this matter 
 broken my mind to any one, only I did hear and 
 consider,) the tempter came in with this delusion, 
 and there was no way for me to know I had faith 
 but by trying to work some miracles ; urg- 
 ing those scriptures that seem to look that way 
 for the enforcing and strengthening of his tempt- 
 ation.' 
 
 Here, in the first place, there was a mistake as 
 to the meaning and application of the word faith, 
 in the passage read, 1 Cor. 12 : 9 ; and, in the 
 second place, there was, what is ever dangerous, a 
 seeking for some evidence or assurance of one's 
 having faith or being a believer, aside from the 
 proper fruit of believing, namely, an earnest, child- 
 like desire to do the will of our heavenly Father. 
 Such a desire will be likely to manifest itself by 
 corresponding affections and acts. It is, too, a 
 desire of which the believer may be conscious. 
 His filial temper may testify to him that he is a 
 child of God. If he has faith, it will work by 
 love. If ye love ,me, says the Saviour, keep my 
 commandments. Our Lord does not say, Wait till 
 ye receive some miraculous sign of your good 
 estate ; and then begin to obey and honor me as 
 his disciples. He would have us, unworthy as we 
 are, so trust in him as to leave ourselves in his 
 hands, and rely entirely on his merits. He would 
 have us so sincerely and earnestly engaged in 
 serving him, as to preclude any question as to our 
 being his servants. And if any doubt arise, he 
 would have us find the evidence of our belong- 
 
 5 
 
50 LIFE OF 
 
 ing to him in our doing, spontaneously and with 
 all the heart, whatever he has required. Ye 
 are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
 you* 
 
 But men are exceedingly prone to look in some 
 wrong direction for evidence of their faith. In 
 doing this, many a true believer has been beguiled 
 into the neglect of present duties, and been led 
 into darkness. 
 
 Such, it seems, was the case with Bunyan. But 
 such was not the case with Paul. Bunyan, timid 
 and retiring, had as yet concealed his Teligious 
 experience in his own bosom. Very imperfectly 
 instructed, and comparatively alone, he knew not 
 what to do. Paul was in widely different circum- 
 stances. He, in the midst of primitive illumi- 
 nations, was specially directed what to do ; and 
 he did it. He arose, and was baptized. He 
 took his place promptly as a decided and active 
 Christian. 
 
 Bunyan suffered much perplexity and distress ; 
 and, instead of attaining to any comfortable evi- 
 dence of his having faith in Christ, he began to be 
 assailed with fresh doubts ; ' especially,' he says, 
 i with such as these : Whether I was elected ? But 
 how, if the day of grace should now be past and 
 gone ? By these two temptations I was very much 
 afflicted and disquieted, sometimes by one and some- 
 times by the other of them. And first, to speak of 
 that about questioning my election, I found at this 
 time, that though I was in a flame to find the way 
 to heaven and glory, and though nothing could beat 
 
 * John 15 : 14. 
 
BUN Y AN, 51 
 
 me off from this ; yet this question did so offend 
 and discourage me, that I was, especially some- 
 times, as if the very strength of my body also had 
 been taken away by the force and power thereof. 
 This scripture did also seem to me to trample upon 
 all my desires : It is neither of him that willeth, 
 nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth 
 mercy.* With this scripture I could not tell what 
 to do; for I evidently saw, that unless the great 
 God, of his infinite grace and bounty, had volunta- 
 rily chosen me to be a vessel of mercy, though I 
 should desire, and long, and labor, until my heart 
 did break, no good would come of it. Therefore 
 this would stick with me, — How can you tell that 
 you are elected? and, What if you should not be ? 
 How then ? O Lord, (thought I) what if I should 
 not be indeed ? It may be you are not, said the 
 tempter. It may be so indeed, thought I. Why 
 then (said Satan) you had as good leave off, and 
 strive no farther ; for if indeed you should not be 
 elected and chosen of God, there is no hope of 
 your being saved ; for it is neither in him that 
 willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in God, that 
 showeth mercy. 
 
 1 By these things I was driven to my wit's end, 
 not knowing what to say, or how to answer these 
 temptations. Indeed, I little thought that Satan 
 had thus assaulted me, but that rather it was my 
 own prudence thus to start the question ; for, that 
 the elect only obtained eternal life, — that I, with- 
 out scruple did heartily close withal ; but that 
 myself was one of them, there lay the question.' 
 
 * Rom. 9 : 16. 
 
52 LIFE OF 
 
 Bunyan, it hence appears, was not yet aware 
 that it was a very improper question ; and that, 
 instead of requiring or expecting from God a new 
 revelation or sign from heaven, in reply to such an 
 inquiry, he should have asked himself, Do I loathe 
 my sins ? Do I look to Jesus Christ and him cru- 
 cified, as my only hope of deliverance ? and do I 
 cry, from my very heart, Lord, what wilt thou have 
 me to do ? 
 
 'For several days,' he adds, 'I was greatly 
 assaulted and perplexed, and was often, when I 
 have been walking, ready to sink where I went, 
 with faintness in my mind. But one day, after I 
 had been so many weeks oppressed and cast down, 
 as I was now quite giving up the ghost of all my 
 hopes of ever attaining life, that sentence fell with 
 weight upon my spirit, Look at the generations of 
 old, and see, did ever any trust in God, and were 
 confounded V 
 
 This consideration deeply impressed his mind, 
 and gave him much relief and encouragement. 
 He looked for the passage in the Bible, but did not 
 find it for more than a year. At last, casting his 
 eye upon the apocryphal books, he found it in 
 Ecclesiasticus 2 : 16. 'This,' he says, 'at the 
 first did somewhat daunt me ; but because by this 
 time I had got more experience of the love and 
 kindness of God, it troubled me the less, especially 
 when I considered, that, though it was not in those 
 texts that we call holy and canonical, yet, foras- 
 much as this sentence was the sum and substance 
 of many of the promises, it was my duty to take 
 the comfort of it. And I bless God for that word ; 
 
BUNYAN. 53 
 
 for it was good to me. That word doth still oft- 
 times shine before my face.' 
 
 Next after this, Bunyan, whose mind, it would 
 seem, was now in a lacerated and morbid state, 
 was sadly afflicted by that other doubt. ' But how 
 if the day of grace should be past and gone ?' With 
 this fear he was long troubled ; but when he was 
 
 * scarce able to take one step more,' he was 
 encouraged by the vivid recollection of that instruct- 
 ive passage in the Gospel of Luke, Compel them 
 to come in, that my house may be filled ; . . . and 
 yet there is roo?n* i These words,' he remarks, 
 
 * but especially the last, and yet there is room, 
 were sweet words to me.' 
 
 Soon his despondency assumed a somewhat dif- 
 ferent form. He was under the gloomy apprehen- 
 sion that he was not called, as those must be here 
 who are to be glorified with Christ in another 
 world. ' Again, I was at a very great stand, not 
 knowing what to do, fearing I was not called. 
 For, thought I, if I be not called, what then can do 
 me good? None but those, who are effectually 
 called inherit the kingdom of heaven. But oh ! 
 how I now loved those words that spoke of a 
 Christian's calling ! as when the Lord said to one, 
 Follow me ; and to another, Come after me. And 
 oh ! thought I, that he would say so to me too : 
 how gladly would I run after him ! I cannot now 
 express with what longings and breathings in 
 my soul I cried to Christ to call me. Thus I con- 
 tinued for a time, all on a flame to be converted to 
 Jesus Christ; and did also see at that day such 
 
 * Luke 14 : 22, 23. 
 
54 LIFE OF 
 
 glory in a converted state, that I could not be con- 
 tented without a share therein. Gold ! could it 
 have been gotten for gold, what would I have 
 given for it ! Had I had a whole world, it had 
 all gone ten thousand times over for this, that 
 my soul might have been in a converted state. 
 How lovely now was every one in my eyes, that I 
 thought to be converted men and women ! They 
 shone, they walked like a people that carried the 
 broad seal of heaven about them. Oh ! I saw the 
 lot was fallen to them in 'pleasant places, and they 
 had a goodly heritage* But that which made me 
 sick was that of Christ in St. Mark :j" He went up 
 into a mountain, and called to him whom he would ; 
 and they came unto him. This scripture made me 
 faint and fear; yet it kindled fire in my soul. 
 That which made me fear was this, — lest Christ 
 should have no liking to me ; for he called whom 
 he would. ... At last, after much time spent, 
 and many groans to God, that I might be made 
 partaker of the holy and heavenly calling, that 
 word came in upon me, I will cleanse their blood, 
 that I have not cleansed; for the Lord dwelleth in 
 ZionS% 
 
 Here it is painfully interesting to perceive, that, 
 in the simple childhood of his religious knowledge, 
 his distress, caused by the misapplication of one 
 passage, was mitigated by the misapplication of 
 another. Would that it had been entirely removed 
 by right views of all the passages concerned, and 
 what fhe Lord requires from the humble and con- 
 trite, the laboring and heaven laden ! 
 
 * Ps. 16 : 5. f Chap. 3 : 13. J Joel 3 : 21. 
 
BUNYAN. 55 
 
 The pious females whose religious conversation 
 Bunyan had overheard, belonged to a church of 
 which a Mr. Gifford was the pastor. He had 
 been a major in the king's army ; and, after the 
 defeat of his party, he had been engaged in the 
 unsuccessful insurrection, in Kent, against the 
 Commonwealth. He and eleven others were to 
 be hanged. His sister visited him in prison the 
 night before the intended execution. Finding the 
 guards asleep, she persuaded him to attempt his 
 escape. His fellow prisoners had so stupified 
 themselves by excessive drinking as to be unable 
 to make the effort ; and he alone escaped. He 
 lay concealed in a ditch two or three days. Then, 
 in disguise, he was conveyed by his friends to 
 London, and, subsequently to Bedfordshire ; and 
 was harbored there, so long as it was neces- 
 sary, by certain royalists of high rank. After* 
 wards, he entered upon the practice of medicine 
 in Bedford. 
 
 ; Gifford,' to use the words of Southey, : was at 
 that time leading a profligate and reckless life, like 
 many of his fellow- sufferers whose fortunes had 
 been wrecked in the general calamity. He was a 
 great drinker, a gambler, and oaths came from 
 his lips with habitual profaneness. Some of his 
 actions indeed are said to have evinced as much 
 extravagance of mind as wickedness of heart ; and 
 he hated the Puritans so heartily for the misery 
 which they had brought upon the nation, and upon 
 himself in particular, that he often thought of kill- 
 ing a certain Anthony Harrington, for no other 
 provocation than because he was a leading man 
 
56 LIFE OF 
 
 among persons of that description in Bedford. For 
 a heart and mind thus diseased there is but one 
 cure ; and that cure was vouchsafed at a moment 
 when his bane seemed before him. He had lost, 
 one night, about fifteen pounds in gambling — a 
 large sum for one so circumstanced. The loss 
 made him furious, ' and many desperate thoughts 
 against God ' arose in him ; when, looking into 
 one of the books of Robert Bolton, what he read 
 in it startled him into a sense of his own condition. 
 He continued some weeks under the weight of that 
 feeling ; and when it passed away, it left him in so 
 exalted and yet so happy a state of mind, that 
 from that time till within a few days of his death, 
 he declared — ' he lost not the sight of God's coun- 
 tenance — no, not for an hour.' And now he 
 inquired after the meetings of the persons whom 
 he had formerly most despised, and ' being natu- 
 rally bold, would thrust himself again and again 
 into their company, both together and apart.' 
 They at first regarded him with jealousy ; nor 
 when they were persuaded that he was sincere, 
 did they readily encourage him in his desire to 
 preach ; nor after he had made himself acceptable 
 as a preacher, both in private and public trials, 
 were they forward to form themselves into a dis- 
 tinct congregation under his care, — ' the more 
 ancient professors being used to live, as some other 
 good men of those times, without regard to such 
 separate and close communion.' At length, eleven 
 persons, of whom Anthony Harrington was one, 
 came to that determination, and chose him for 
 their pastor ; the principle upon which they enter- 
 
BUNYAN. 57 
 
 ed into this fellowship one with another, and after- 
 ward admitted those who should desire to join 
 them, being faith in Christ and holiness of life, 
 without respect to any difference in outward or cir- 
 cumstantial things.' 
 
 Bunyan, alluding to his being somewhat com- 
 forted with the hope, that, if he were not already 
 converted, the time might come when he would 
 be, says — 4 About this time I began to break my 
 mind to those poor people in Bedford, and to tell 
 them my condition ; which when they had heard, 
 they told Mr. Gifford of me ; who himself also 
 took occasion to talk with me ; and was willing to 
 be well persuaded of me, though I think from little 
 grounds. But he invited me to his house, where I 
 should hear him confer with others, about the deal- 
 ings of God with their souls. From all which I 
 still received more conviction, and from that time 
 began to see something of the vanity and inward 
 wretchedness of my wicked heart ; for as yet I 
 knew no great matter therein ; but now it began 
 to be discovered unto me, and also to work at that 
 rate as it never did before. Now I evidently 
 found, that lusts and corruptions put forth them- 
 selves within me, in wicked thoughts and desires, 
 which I did not regard before. My de-sires also 
 for heaven and life began to fail. I found also, 
 that whereas before, my soul was full of longing 
 after God, now it began to hanker after every 
 foolish vanity ; yea, my heart would not be moved 
 to mind that which was good. It began to be 
 careless both of my soul and heaven. It would 
 now continually hang back, both to and in every 
 
58 LIFE OF 
 
 duty, and was as a clog on the leg of a bird, to 
 hinder him from flying. Nay, I thought, now I 
 grow worse and worse ; now I am farther from 
 conversion than ever I was before. Wherefore, I 
 began to sink greatly in my soul, and began to 
 entertain such discouragement in my heart, as laid 
 me as low as hell. If now I should have burned 
 at the stake, I could not believe that Christ had a 
 love for me. Alas ! I could neither hear him, nor 
 see him, nor feel him, nor savor any of his things. 
 I was driven as with a tempest ; my heart would 
 be unclean ; and the Canaanites would dwell in 
 the land. 
 
 Further, in these days, I would find my heart to 
 shut itself up against the Lord, and against his holy 
 word. I have found my unbelief to set, as it were, 
 the shoulder to the door, to keep him out ; and that 
 too even then, when I have with many a bitter 
 sigh cried, Good Lord, break it open ; Lord, break 
 these gates of brass, and cut these bars of iron 
 asunder * Yet that word would sometimes create 
 in my heart a peaceable pause, — I girded thee, 
 though thou hast not known me."\ 
 
 1 But all this while, as to the act of sinning, I 
 was never more tender than now. I durst not 
 take a pin or stick, though but so big as a straw ; 
 for my conscience now was sore, and would smart 
 at every touch. I could not now tell how to speak 
 my words, for fear I should misplace them. Oh, 
 how cautiously did I then go, in all I did or said ! 
 I found myself as in a miry bog, that shook if I did 
 but stir ; and was, as there, left both of God and 
 
 * Ps. 107 : 16. f Is. 14 : 5. 
 
BUNYAN. 59 
 
 Christ, and the Spirit, and all good things. But I 
 observed, though I was such a great sinner before 
 conversion, yet God never much charged the guilt 
 of the sins of my ignorance upon me. Only he 
 showed me, I was lost if I had not Christ ; because 
 I had been a sinner. I saw that I wanted a per- 
 fect righteousness to present me without fault 
 before God ; and this righteousness was no where 
 to be found but in the person of Jesus Christ. 
 But my original and inward pollution, — that, that 
 was my plague and affliction ; that I saw at a 
 dreadful rate, always putting forth itself within me ; 
 that I had the guilt of, to amazement ; by reason 
 of that, I was more loathsome in mine own eyes 
 than a toad, and I thought I was so in God's eyes 
 too. Sin and corruption, I said, would as naturally 
 bubble out of my heart, as water would bubble out 
 of a fountain. I thought now, that every one had 
 a better heart than I had ; I would have exchanged 
 heart with any body ; I thought that none but the 
 devil himself could be equal to me for inward 
 wickedness and pollution of mind. I fell, there- 
 fore, at the sight of my own vileness, deeply in 
 despair ; for I concluded, that this condition that I 
 was in could not stand with a state of grace. 
 Sure, thought I, I am forsaken of God ; sure, I am 
 given up to the devil, and to a reprobate mind. 
 And thus I continued a long while, even for some 
 years together. 
 
 'And though^I was much troubled, and tossed, 
 and afflicted, with the sight, and sense, and terror 
 of my own wickedness, yet I was afraid to let this 
 sight and sense go quite off my mind ; for I found, 
 
60 LIFE OF 
 
 that unless guilt of conscience was taken off the 
 right way, that is, by the blood of Christ, a man 
 grew rather worse for the loss of his trouble of 
 mind, than for trouble. Wherefore, if my guilt lay 
 hard upon me, then would I cry that the blood of 
 Christ might take it off; and it was going off with- 
 out it, (for the sense of sin would be sometimes as 
 if it would die, and go quite away,) then I would 
 also strive to fetch it upon my heart again ; and 
 would cry, Lord, let it not go off my heart, but the 
 right way, by the blood of Christ, and the applica- 
 tion of thy mercy, through him, to my soul. For 
 that scripture did lie much upon me, Without the 
 shedding of blood there is no remission ;* and that 
 which made me the more afraid of this was, I had 
 seen some, who, though they were under the 
 wounds of conscience, would cry and pray ; yet 
 feeling rather present ease for their trouble than 
 pardon for their sin, cared not how they lost their 
 guilt, so they got it out of their mind. Now, hav- 
 ing got it off the wrong way, it was not sanctified 
 unto them ; but they grew harder and blinder, and 
 more wicked after their trouble. This made me 
 afraid, and made me cry to God the more, that it 
 might not be so with me.' 
 
 At length, he was greatly comforted, in hearing 
 a sermon on the love of Christ ; especially when 
 the preacher addressed such as were assaulted and 
 afflicted with temptations. ' Then,' he says, ' I 
 began to give place to the word, which, with 
 power, did over and over make this joyful sound 
 within my soul, Thou art my love, thou art my 
 
 *Heb 9:22. 
 
BUNYAff. 
 
 61 
 
 love ; and nothing shall separate thee from my 
 love. And with that my heart was filled full of 
 comfort and hope : and now I could believe that 
 my sins would be forgiven me ; yea, I was now so 
 taken with the love and mercy of God, that I 
 remember, I could not tell how to contain till I got 
 home. I thought I could have spoken of his love, 
 and have told of his mercy to me, even to the very 
 crows that sat upon the plowed lands before me, 
 had they been capable to have understood me. 
 Wherefore I said in my soul, with much gladness, 
 Well, would I had a pen and ink here, I would 
 write this down before I go any farther, for surely 
 I will not forget this forty years hence. But, alas ! 
 within less than forty days I began to question all 
 again. Yet still at times I was helped to believe 
 that it was a true manifestation of grace unto my 
 soul, though I had lost much of the life and savor 
 of it. 
 
 6 Now about a week or a fortnight after this, I 
 was much followed by this scripture, Simon, 
 Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you* 
 And sometimes it would sound so loud within me, 
 yea, and, as it were, call so strongly after me, that 
 once above all the rest, I turned my head over my 
 shoulder, thinking verily that some man, behind 
 me, had called me : being at a distance, methought, 
 he called so loud. It came, as I have thought 
 since, to have stirred me up to prayer and to 
 watchfulness. . . . For, about the space of a month 
 after, a very great storm came down upon me, 
 which handled me twenty times worse than all I 
 
 * Luke 22 : 31. 
 6 
 
62 LIFE OF 
 
 had met with before. It came stealing upon me, 
 now by one piece, then by another. First, all my 
 comfort was taken from me ; then darkness seized 
 upon me ; after which, whole floods of blasphemies 
 against God, Christ, and the Scriptures, were poured 
 upon my spirit, to my greai confusion and astonish- 
 ment. These blasphemous thoughts were such as 
 stirred up questions in me against the very being 
 of God, and of his only beloved Son ; as, whether 
 there were, in truth, a God or Christ ? and whether 
 the Holy Scriptures were not rather a fable and 
 cunning story, than the holy and pure word of 
 God. 
 
 ' The tempter would also much assault me with 
 this : How can you tell but that the Turks have as 
 good scriptures to prove their Mahomet the Saviour 
 as we have to prove our Jesus ? And, could I 
 think, that so many ten thousands, in so many coun- 
 tries and kingdoms, should be without the know- 
 ledge of the right w T ay to heaven, (if there were 
 indeed a heaven ;) and that we only, who live in a 
 corner of the earth, should alone be possessed 
 therewith ? Every one doth think his own religion 
 rightest, Jews, and Moors, and Pagans ; and how, 
 if all our faith, and Christ, and Scriptures, should 
 be but a think-so too ? Sometimes I have endeav- 
 ored to argue against these suggestions, and to set 
 some of the sentences of blessed Paul against 
 them ; but, alas ! I quickly felt, when I thus did, 
 such arguings as these would return again upon 
 me : Though we made so great a matter of Paul 
 and of his words, yet how could I tell, but that, in 
 very deed, he, being a subtle and cunning man, 
 
BUNYAN. 63 
 
 might give himself up to deceive with strong delu- 
 sions, and also take the pains and travel to undo 
 and destroy his fellows ? 
 
 * These suggestions, (with many others which at 
 this time I may not, nor dare not utter, neither by 
 word nor pen,) did make such a seizure upon my 
 spirit, and did so overweigh my heart, with their 
 number, continuance, and fiery force, that I felt as 
 if there were nothing else but these from morning 
 to night within me, and as though indeed there 
 could be room for nothing else ; and I also con- 
 cluded that God had, in very wrath to my soul, 
 given me up to them, to be carried away with them, 
 as with a mighty whirlwind. 
 
 1 Only by the distaste that they gave unto my 
 spirit, I felt there was something in me that refused 
 to embrace them. But this consideration I then 
 only had when God gave me leave to swallow my 
 spittle ; otherwise the noise, and strength, and force 
 of these temptations would drown, and overflow, and, 
 as it were, bury all such thoughts, or the remem- 
 brance of any such thing. While I was in this 
 temptation, I often found my mind suddenly put 
 upon it to curse and swear, or to speak some griev- 
 ous thing against God, or Christ his Son, and the 
 Scriptures. Now, I thought, surely I am possessed 
 of the devil. At other times, again, I thought I 
 should be bereft of my wits ; for, instead of laud- 
 ing and magnifying God the Lord with others, if I 
 have but heard him spoken of, presently some most 
 horrible blasphemous thought or other would bolt 
 out of my heart against him ; so that whether I did 
 think that God was, or again did think there was 
 
64 LIFE OP 
 
 no such thing, no love, nor peace, nor gracious dis- 
 position could I feel within me. These things did 
 sink me into very deep despair ; for I concluded 
 that such things could not possibly be found amongst 
 them that loved God. 
 
 ' In these days, when I have heard others talk 
 of what was the sin against the Holy Ghost, then 
 would the tempter so provoke me to desire to sin 
 that sin, that I was as if I could not, must not, 
 neither should be quiet until I had committed it : 
 now, no sin would serve but that. If it were to 
 be committed by speaking such a word, then I 
 have been as if my mouth would have spoken that 
 word, whether I would or no. And in so strong a 
 measure was this temptation upon me, that often I 
 have been ready to clap my hands under my chin, 
 to hold my mouth from opening ; and, to that end, 
 also, I have, had thoughts at other times to leap, 
 with my head downward, into some muck-hill hole 
 or other, to keep my mouth from speaking. 
 
 ' Now, again, I beheld the condition of the dog 
 and toad, and counted the estate of every thing that 
 God had made far better than this dreadful state of 
 mine, and such as my companions' was. Yea, 
 gladly would I have been in the condition of a dog 
 or horse ; for I knew they had no souls to perish 
 under the everlasting weight of hell or sin, as mine 
 was like to do. Nay, and though I saw this, felt 
 this, and was broken to pieces with it, yet that 
 which added to my sorrow was, that I could not 
 find that with all my soul I did desire deliverance. 
 That scripture did also tear and rend my soul, in 
 the midst of these distractions : The wicked are 
 
BUNYAN. 
 
 65 
 
 like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose wa- 
 ters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith 
 my God, to the ivicked.* 
 
 'And now my heart was, at times, exceeding 
 hard : if I could have given a thousand pounds for 
 a tear, I could not shed one ; no, nor sometimes 
 scarce desire to shed one. I was much dejected, 
 to think that this would be my lot. I saw some 
 could mourn and lament their sin ; and others, again, 
 could rejoice and bless God for* Christ ; and others, 
 again, could quietly talk of, and with gladness re- 
 member, the word of God ; while I only was in the 
 storm and tempest. This much sunk me. I thought 
 my condition was alone. I should, therefore, much 
 bewail my hard hap ; but, get out of, or yet rid of 
 these things, I could not. 
 
 * While this temptatioa lasted, (which was about 
 a year,) I could attend upon none of the ordinances 
 of God, but with sore and great affliction. Yea, 
 then was I most distressed with blasphemies. If 
 I had been hearing the word, then uncleanness, 
 blasphemies, and despair would hold me a captive. 
 If I had been reading, then sometimes I had sud- 
 den thoughts to question all I read. Sometimes, 
 again, my mind would be so strangely snatched 
 away, and possessed with other things, that I have 
 neither known, nor regarded, nor remembered so 
 much as the sentence that but now I have read. 
 
 ' In prayer, also, I have been greatly troubled at 
 this time by the tempter. Sometimes, I have 
 thought I have felt him behind me pull my clothes. 
 He would be also continually at me in time of 
 
 *Isa. 57: 20.21 
 
66 LIFE OP 
 
 prayer, to have done, and break off: Make haste ; 
 you have prayed enough ; and stay no • longer ; 
 still drawing my mind away. Sometimes, also, 
 he would cast in such wicked thoughts as these : 
 That I must pray to him, or for him. I have thought, 
 sometimes, of that passage in Matthew : Fall down, 
 or, If thou wilt fall down and worship me.* Also, 
 when, because I have had wandering thoughts in 
 the time of this duty, I have labored to compose 
 my mind, and fbi it upon God, then with great force 
 hath the tempter labored to distract me, and con- 
 found me, and to turn away my mind, by present- 
 ing to my heart and fancy the form of a bush, a bull, 
 a besom, or the like, as if I should pray to these. 
 To these, he would also, (at sometimes especially,) 
 so hold my mind that I was as if I could think of 
 nothing else, or pray to nothing else but to these, 
 or such as they. 
 
 ' Yet, at times, I had some strong and heart- 
 affecting apprehensions of God, and the reality of 
 the truth of his gospel. But, oh ! how would my 
 heart, at such times, put forth itself with inexpres- 
 sible groanings. My whole soul was then in every 
 word : I cried with pangs after God, that he would 
 be merciful unto me. But then I was daunted 
 again with such conceits as these : I thought that 
 God did mock at these my prayers, saying, (and 
 that in the audience of the holy angels,) This poor 
 simple wretch doth hanker after me, as if I had 
 nothing to do with my mercy but to bestow it on 
 such as he. Alas, poor soul ! how art thou 
 
 * Chap. 4 : 9. 
 
BUNYAN. 67 
 
 deceived ! It is not for such as thee to have favor 
 with the Highest. 
 
 'Then hath the tempter come upon me with 
 such discouragements as these : You are very hot 
 for mercy, but I will cool you ; this flame shall 
 not last always ; many have been as hot as you 
 for a spirt, but I have quenched this zeal, (and 
 with this, such and such, who were fallen off, 
 would be set before mine eyes.) Then I would 
 be afraid that I should do so too. But, thought I, 
 I am glad this comes into my mind : well, I will 
 watch, and take what care I can. Though you do, 
 said Satan, I shall be too hard for you ; I will cool 
 you insensibly, by degrees, by little and little. 
 What care I, saith he, though I be seven years in 
 chilling your heart, if I can do it at last ? Con- 
 tinual rocking will lull a crying child asleep : 1 
 will ply it close, but I will have my end accom- 
 plished. Though you be burning hot at present, I 
 can pull you from this fire ; I shall have you cold 
 before it be long. 
 
 1 These things brought me into great straits ; for, 
 as I at present could not find myself fit for present 
 death, so I thought to live long would make me yet 
 more unfit ; for time would make me forget all, and 
 wear even the remembranee of the evil of sin, 
 the worth of heaven, and the need I had of the 
 blood of Christ to wash me, both out of mind and 
 thought. But I thank Christ Jesus, these things 
 did not at present make me slack my crying, but 
 rather did put me more upon it. . . . In those 
 days, that was a good word to me, after I had suf- 
 fered awhile, — I am persuaded that neither death. 
 
68 LIFE OF 
 
 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities , nor powers, 
 nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord* And now I hoped long life would 
 not destroy me, nor make me miss of heaven. 
 
 ' I had some supports in this temptation, though 
 they were then all questioned by me ; as those in 
 Jeremiah 3: [12 and 13: Go and proclaim these 
 words toward the north, and say, Return, thou back- 
 sliding Israel, saith the Lord ; and I will not cause 
 mine anger to fall upon you ; for I am merciful, 
 saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever ; 
 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast 
 transgressed against the Lord thy God ; — and (in 
 connection with the charge in the 5th verse, 
 Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as 
 thou couldst,) the expostulation in the 4th : Wilt 
 thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou 
 art the guide of my youth ?] 
 
 ' I had also once a sweet glance from that in 
 2 Cor. 5 : 12 : — For he hath made Him to be sin 
 for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the 
 righteousness of God in Mm, I remember that one 
 day, as I was sitting in a neighbor's house, and 
 there very sad at the consideration of my many 
 blasphemies; and as I was saying in my mind, 
 What ground have I to say that I, who have been 
 so vile and abominable, should ever inherit eternal 
 life ? that word came suddenly upon me, What 
 shall we say to these things ? If God be for us, 
 who can be against us ?f That also was a help 
 
 * Rom. 8 : 38 3 39. f Rom. 8: 31. 
 
BUNYAN. 69 
 
 nnto me, Because I live ye shall live also. * But 
 these words were but hints, touches, and short 
 visits, though very sweet when present ; only they 
 lasted not ; but, like to Peter's sheet, of a sudden 
 were caught up from me to heaven again. 
 
 'But, afterwards the Lord did more fully and 
 graciously discover himself unto me ; and, indeed, 
 did quite, not only deliver me from the guilt that 
 by these things was laid upon my conscience, but 
 also from the very filth thereof; for the temptation 
 was removed, and I was put into my right mind 
 again, as other Christians were. 
 
 * I remember, that one day, as I was travelling 
 into the country, and musing on the wickedness 
 and blasphemy of my heart, and considering the 
 enmity that was in me to God, that scripture came 
 into my mind, He hath made peace bg the blood 
 of his Cross :f by which I was made to see, both 
 again and again, that God and my soul were 
 friends by his blood ; yea, I saw that the justice of 
 God, and my sinful soul, could embrace and kiss 
 each other, through his blood. This was a good 
 day to me ; I hope I shall never forget it. 
 
 1 At another time, as I sat by the fire in my 
 house, and was musing on my wretchedness, the 
 Lord made that also a precious word unto me, For 
 as much , then, as the children are partakers of flesh 
 and bloody he also himself likewise took part of the 
 same ; that, through death , he might destroy him 
 that had the power of death , that is, the devil ; and 
 deliver those who, through fear of death, were all 
 their life-time subject to bondage.^. I thought that 
 
 * John 14: 19. f 1 Col. 1 : 20. * Heb. 2: 14, 15. 
 
70 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 the glory of these words was then so weighty on 
 me, that I was both once and twice ready to swoon 
 as I sat ; yet not with grief and trouble, but with 
 solid joy and peace. 
 
 4 At this time, also, I sat under the ministry of 
 holy Mr. Gifford, whose doctrine, by God's grace, 
 was much for my stability. This man made it 
 much his business to deliver the people of God 
 from all those hard and unsound tests that by na- 
 ture we are so prone to. He would bid us take 
 special heed that we took not up any truth upon 
 trust ; as from this, or that, or any other man or 
 men ; but cry mightily to God, that he would con- 
 vince us of the reality thereof, and set us down 
 therein by his own Spirit in the holy word. For, 
 said he, if you do otherwise, when temptation 
 comes, if strongly upon you, you not having received 
 them with evidence from Heaven, will find you 
 want that help and strength now to resist, that 
 once you thought you had. This was as seasona- 
 ble to my soul as the former and latter rains in their* 
 season; for I had found, and that by sad expe- 
 rience, the truth of these his words ; (for I had 
 felt no man can say, especially when tempted by 
 the devil, that Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the 
 Holy Ghost.) Wherefore, I found my soul, through 
 grace, very apt to drink in this doctrine, and to 
 incline to pray to God, that in nothing that per- 
 tained to God's glory, and my own eternal happi- 
 ness, he would suffer me to be without the con- 
 firmation thereof from heaven. For now I saw 
 clearly, there was an exceeding difference betwixt 
 the notion of the flesh and blood, and the re vela- 
 
BUNYAN. 71 
 
 tion of God in heaven ; also a great difference 
 betwixt that faith that is feigned, and according to 
 man's wisdom, and that which comefs by a man's 
 being born thereto of God.* But, oh ! how was 
 my soul now led from truth to truth by God ! 
 Even from the birth and cradle of the Son of God 
 to his ascension, and his second coming to judge 
 the world ! Truly, I then found, upon this account 
 the great God was very good unto me ; for, to my 
 remembrance, there was not any thing that I then 
 cried unto God to make known, and reveal unto 
 me, but he was pleased to do it for me ; I mean, 
 not one part of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, but I 
 was orderly led into it,' 
 
 The incidental testimony here borne to the min- 
 istry of Mr. Gifford is important. It harmonizes 
 with what we learn from other sources respecting 
 his pious zeal and his pastoral fidelity, according 
 to his views of truth and duty ; and it lets us see 
 one of the influences bearing on the mind of Bun- 
 yan. Unquestionably, that influence, for the most 
 part, was good. The pastor seems to have thought 
 well of him, even at their first interview. Unques- 
 tionably, the instruction here mentioned has in it 
 much that is worthy of our profoundest regard. 
 Religious truth must be sought, and received reli- 
 giously. To deny this, would be as unreasonable 
 as to deny that philosophy must be studied philoso- 
 phically. It is they who sincerely desire to receive 
 instruction ; it is the humble and childlike, that 
 are taught of God. The meek will he guide in judg- 
 
 * 1 John 5 : 1. 
 
72 LIFE OF 
 
 ment, and the meek will he teach his way. But this 
 he does, ordinarily, in the use of the means which 
 he has appointed. His Spirit, in the use of these 
 means, enlightens the mind, and fits it to discern 
 clearly, and to feel strongly the truths of the Gos- 
 pel. And the more we are under the influence of 
 his Spirit, the more fitted are we to understand and 
 appreciate those truths. 
 
 Happy the man who seeks and cherishes that 
 awakening, enlightening, heavenly influence ! For, 
 under it, while he faithfully studies the Bible, and 
 looks within him, and around him, he sees things, 
 in some measure, as they are. He can now set 
 them down as being well ascertained ; and he has 
 within his reach, so to speak, some indubitable 
 truths, some fixed principles, to which he can recur, 
 confidently, in seasons of darkness and trial. 
 
 If this be the sense in which the instruction 
 received by Bunyan is to be understood, we assent 
 to it, we commend it most cordially. 
 
 But, on this subject, it is not always easy to 
 make the requisite discriminations. The mind 
 may be powerfully affected in various ways. And 
 it is not to be wondered at, if Bunyan sometimes 
 regarded either the sudden recollection of a strik- 
 ing text of scripture, without duly considering its 
 connection, or the vivid conception of certain great 
 scripture facts, as a kind of new revelation, and an 
 evidence from heaven. (On one occasion, he says, 
 1 Now I had an evidence, as I thought, of my sal- 
 vation, from Heaven, with many golden seals 
 thereon, all hanging in my sight.') 
 
 Then, when the intense excitement of his deli- 
 
BUNYAN. 73 
 
 cate mind subsided, as, in the nature of things, it 
 must subside, it was succeeded by a state of debil- 
 ity and prostration, which inclined him to despon- 
 dency, and exposed him to the malignant assaults 
 of that adversary, who, to use the expressive lan- 
 guage of the Holy Scriptures, Walketh about as 
 a roaring Hon, seeking whom he may devour.* 
 
 1 But, before I had got thus far out of my temp- 
 tations,' Bunyan proceeds, ' I did greatly long to 
 see some ancient godly man's experience, who 
 had written some hundred of years before I was 
 born ; for those who had written in our days, I 
 thought, (but I desire them now to pardon me,) 
 had written only that which others felt ; or else 
 had, through the strength of their wits and parts 
 studied to answer such objections as they perceived 
 others were perplexed with, without going down 
 themselves into the deep. Well, after many such 
 longings in my mind, the God in whose hands are 
 all our days and ways, did cast into my hand, one 
 day, a book of Martin Luther's ; it was his com- 
 ment on the Galatians ; it also was so old that it 
 was ready to fall piece from piece if I did but turn 
 it over. Now, I was pleased much that such an 
 old book had fallen into my hands ; the which, 
 when I had but a little-way perused, I found my 
 condition in his experience so largely and pro- 
 foundly handled, as if his book had been written 
 out of my heart. This made me marvel ; for thus 
 thought I, This man could not know any thing of 
 the state of Christians now, but must needs write 
 and speak the experience of former days. Besides, 
 
 *1 Peter 5: 8. 
 
 7 
 
74 LIFE OF 
 
 he doth most gravely also, in that book, debate of 
 the rise of these temptations, namely, blasphemy, 
 desperation, and the like ; showing that the law of 
 Moses, as well as the devil, death, and hell, hath 
 a very great hand therein ; the which, at first, 
 was very strange to me ; but considering and 
 watching, I found it so indeed. But of particulars 
 here I intend nothing ; only this, methinks, I must 
 let fall before all men, — I do prefer this book of 
 Martin Luther upon the Galatians, (excepting the 
 Holy Bible,) before all the books that ever I have 
 seen, as most fit for a wounded conscience. 
 
 c And now I found, as I thought, that I loved 
 Christ dearly. Oh ! methought, my soul cleaved 
 unto him. .... But I did quickly find that my 
 great love was but too little ; and that I who had, 
 as I thought, such burning love to Jesus Christ, 
 could let him go again for a very trifle : — God can 
 tell how to abase us, and can hide pride from man* 
 Quickly, after this, my love was tried to purpose. 
 
 ' For, after the Lord had, in this manner, thus 
 graciously delivered me from this great and sore 
 temptation, and had set me down so sweetly in the 
 faith of his Holy Gospel, and had given me such 
 strong consolation and blessed evidence from hea- 
 ven, touching my interest in his love, through 
 Christ, the tempter came upon me again, and that 
 with a more grievous and dreadful temptation than 
 before. And that was, to sell and part with this 
 most blessed Christ, to exchange him for the things 
 of this life, — for any thing. The temptation lay 
 upon me for the space of a year, and did follow 
 me so continually, that I was not rid of it one 
 
BUNYAN. 75 
 
 day in a month ; no, not sometimes an hour in 
 many days together, unless when I was asleep. 
 
 'And, though in my judgment, I was persuaded, 
 that those who were once effectually in Christ, (as 
 I hoped, through his grace, I had seen myself,) 
 could never lose him forever ; . . . yet it was a 
 continual vexation to me to think that I should 
 have so much as one such thought within me 
 against a Christ ! a Jesus ! that had done for me 
 as he had done, and yet then I had almost none 
 others but such blasphemous ones. 
 
 i But it was neither my dislike of the thought, 
 nor yet any desire and endeavor to resist it, that in 
 the least did shake or abate the continuation or 
 force and strength thereof; for it did always, in 
 almost whatever I thought, intermix itself there- 
 with in such sort, that I could neither eat my food, 
 nor stoop for a pin, nor cast mine eye to look on 
 this or that, but still the temptation would come : 
 sell Christ for, this or sell Christ for that ; sell him, 
 sell him. 
 
 * Sometimes it would run in my thoughts, not so 
 little as a hundred times together, sell him, sell him, 
 sell him ! Against which, I may say, for whole hours 
 together, I have been forced to stand as continu- 
 ally leaning and forcing my spirit against it, lest 
 haply, before I were aware, some wicked thought 
 might arise in my heart that might consent thereto ; 
 and sometimes the tempter would make me believe 
 I had consented to it ; but then I should be as tor- 
 tured upon a rack for whole days together. 
 
 This temptation did put me to such scares, lest 
 I should at some times, I say, consent thereto, and 
 
76 LIFE OF 
 
 be overcome therewith ; that by the force of my 
 mind, in laboring to resist this wickedness, my 
 very body would be put into action or motion by 
 way of pushing or thrusting with my hands or 
 elbows ; still answering, (as fast as the destroyer 
 said sell him,) I will not, I will not, I will not, no, 
 not for thousands, thousands, thousands of worlds ; 
 thus reckoning, lest I should, in the midst of these 
 assaults, set too low a value on him, even until I 
 scarce well knew where I was, or how to be com- 
 posed again. At these seasons, he would not let 
 me eat my food at quiet ; but, forsooth, when I was 
 set at the table at any meat, I must go hence to 
 pray, I must leave my food now, and just now ; so 
 counterfeit-holy also would this devil be. When I 
 was thus tempted, I would say in myself, Now I 
 am at meat, let me make an end. No, said he, 
 you must do it now, or you will displease God and 
 despise Christ. Wherefore I was much afflicted 
 with these things. . . . 
 
 1 But, to be brief: One morning, as I did lie in 
 my bed, I was as, at other times, most fiercely 
 assaulted with this temptation, to sell and part 
 w r ith Christ ; the wicked suggestion still running 
 in my mind, Sell him, sell him, sell him ! as fast 
 as a man could speak ; against which also, in my 
 mind, as at other times, I answered, No, no, not 
 for thousands, thousands, thousands, at least twenty 
 times together. But at last, after much striving, 
 even until I was almost out of breath, I felt this 
 thought pass though my heart, Let him go, if he 
 will ; and I thought also that I felt my heart freely 
 consent thereto. Oh, the diligence of satan ! Oh, 
 
BTJNYAN. 77 
 
 the desperateness of man's heart ! Now was the 
 battle won ; and down fell I, (as a bird that is 
 shot from the top of a tree,) into great guilt and 
 fearful despair. 
 
 1 And withal, that scripture did seize upon my 
 soul, — Or profane person, as Esau, who for one 
 mvrsel of meat sold his birth right ; for ye know 
 how that afterwards, when he would have inherited 
 the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no 
 place of repentance, though he sought it carefully 
 with tears. Now was I as one bound, I felt my- 
 self shut up unto the judgment to come. Nothing 
 now, for two years together, would abide with me 
 but damnation, and an expectation of damnation. 
 I say nothing now would abide with me but this, 
 save some few moments for relief, as in the sequel 
 you will see. 
 
 'These words were to my soul like fetters of 
 brass to my legs ; in the continual sound of which 
 I went for several months together. But* about 
 ten or eleven o'clock on that day, as I was walk- 
 ing under a hedge, (full of sorrow and guilt,) and 
 bemoaning myself for this hard hap, that such a 
 thought should arise within me, — suddenly this 
 sentence rushed in upon me, The blood of Christ 
 remits all guilt. At this I made a stand in my 
 spirit ; with that, this word took hold upon me, 
 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
 all sin* Now I began to conceive peace in my soul ; 
 and methought I saw as if the tempter did leer, and 
 steal away from me, as being ashamed of what he 
 had done.' .... 
 
 * Heb. 12: 16,17 
 
78 LIFE OF 
 
 For two or three hours Bimyan was comforted, 
 and seemed to see by faith the Son of God suffer- 
 ing for his sins. But, because the vivid concep- 
 tion did not continue, he sank again into des- 
 pair. Sometimes, he was refreshed a little by that 
 passage in Luke 22 : 32 : I have prayed for thee 
 that thy faith fail not, i But,' he says, 6 it would 
 not abide upon me ; neither could I, indeed, when I 
 considered my state, find ground to conceive in the 
 least that there should be the root of this grace in 
 me, having sinned as I had done. Now was I tore 
 and rent in a heavy case for many days together.' 
 
 Then, with a sad and fearful heart, he endea- 
 vored to find in the Bible some word of promise or 
 encouragement. But all seemed to be against 
 him. He feared that he had committed the un- 
 pardonable sin. And this fear was strengthened 
 when he thought again of Esau, How that after- 
 wards, when he would have inherited the blessing, 
 he icdb rejected ; for he found no place of repent- 
 ance, though he sought it carefully with tears. And 
 this was constantly in his mind. 
 
 He now became a burden and a terror to him- 
 self. He was weary of his life, and yet afraid to 
 die : 6 Oh ! how gladly,' he exclaims, i would I 
 have been any body but myself! any thing but a 
 man ! and in any condition but my own ! . . . . 
 God hath let me go, and I am fallen. Oh ! (thought 
 I,) that it was with me as in months past, as in 
 the days when God preserved me. i 
 
 1 Now I saw that as God had his hand in all the 
 providences and dispensations that overtook his 
 
 * 1 Johnl: 7. 
 
BUNYAN. 79 
 
 elect, so he had his hand in all the temptations 
 that they had to sin against him ; not to animate 
 them to wickedness, but to choose their tempta- 
 tions and troubles for them, and also to leave them 
 for a time to such things only as might not destroy, 
 but humble them, as might not put them beyond, 
 but lay them in the way of the renewing of his 
 mercy. But oh ! what love, what care, what kind- 
 ness and mercy did I now see mixing itself with 
 the most severe and dreadful of all God's ways to 
 his people ! He would let David, Hezekiah, Solo- 
 mon, Peter, and others, fall ; but he would not let 
 them fall into the sin unpardonable. . . * O ! (thought 
 I,) these be the men'that God had loved ; these be 
 the men that God, though he chastiseth them, 
 keeps in safety by him ; and that he makes to 
 abide under the shadow of the Almighty. But all 
 these thoughts added sorrow, grief, and horror to 
 me ; as whatever I now thought on, it was killing 
 to me. If I thought how God kept his own, that 
 was killing to me ; if I thought how I was fallen my- 
 self, that was killing to me. As all things wrought 
 together for the best, and to do good to them that 
 were the called, according to God's purpose ; so I 
 thought that all things wrought for damage, and 
 for my eternal overthrow.' 
 
 He had already compared his sin with that of 
 David, and with that of Peter ; and he had con- 
 cluded his own to be the most heinous ; David's 
 was only against the law of Moses ; but his own, 
 against the Gospel, even against the Mediator him- 
 self: Peter's was only a denial of his Master; but 
 his own, a selling of his Savior. 
 
80 LIFE OP 
 
 * Then, again,' he proceeds, ' I began to com- 
 pare my sin with the sin Judas, that, if possible, I 
 might find if mine differed from that which in truth 
 is unpardonable ; and oh ! (thought I,) if it should 
 differ from it, though but the breadth of a hair, 
 what a happy condition is my soul in ! and by con- 
 dering, I found that Judas did his intentionally, 
 but mine was against prayer and strivings ; besides, 
 his was committed with much deliberation, but 
 mine in a fearful hurry, on a sudden. All this 
 while I was tossed to and fro, like the locust, and 
 driven from trouble to sorrow, hearing always the 
 sound of Esau's fall in mine ears, and the dreadful 
 consequences thereof. 
 
 I Yet, this consideration about Judas's sin was, 
 for a while, some little relief to me ; for I saw I 
 had not, as to the circumstances, transgressed so 
 fully as he. But this was quickly gone again ; for 
 I thought with myself, there might be more ways 
 than one to commit this unpardonable sin ; also I 
 thought there might be degrees of that, as well 
 as of other transgressions ; wherefore, for ought I 
 yet could perceive, this iniquity of mine might 
 be such as might never be passed by.' 
 
 So ingeniously was all relief constantly repelled ! 
 Who can wonder at what follows ? 
 
 I I was, much about that time, tempted to con- 
 tent myself by receiving some false opinions ; as, 
 that there should be no such thing as a day of judg- 
 ment ; that we should not rise again ; and that sin 
 was no such grievous thing ; the tempter suggest- 
 ing thus : For, if these things should indeed be true, 
 yet to believe otherwise would yield you ease for 
 
BUN Y AN. 81 
 
 the present. If you must perish, never torment 
 yourself so much before-hand ; drive the thoughts 
 of damnation out of your mind, by possessing your 
 mind with some such conclusions as Atheists and 
 Ranters use to help themselves withal.' 
 
 These suggestions, however, were unsuccessful. 
 And the fact that they had 'no entertainment,' illus- 
 trates the value of a great Christian doctrine, and 
 of that faith by which a person, in seasons of temp- 
 tation, endures as seeing him who is invisible. 
 1 When such thoughts,' he proceeds to say, ' have 
 led through my heart, how, as it were, within a 
 step, hath death and judgment been in my view ? 
 Methought the judge stood at the door ; I was as if 
 it was come already, so that such things could have 
 no entertainment. But methinks I see by this that 
 Satan will use any means to keep the soul from 
 Christ : he loveth not an awakened frame of spirit. 
 Security, blindness, and error, are the very king- 
 dom and habitation of the wicked one.' And it 
 might well have been added, when he cannot keep 
 men from being awakened, he loveth to drive them 
 to despair. 
 
 1 I found it a hard work now to pray to God ; 
 because despair was swallowing me up. I thought 
 I was, as with a tempest, driven aw r ay from God ; 
 for always when I cried to God for mercy, this 
 would come in, 'Tis too late ; I am lost ; God hath 
 let me fall, — not to my correction, but to my con- 
 demnation : my sin is unpardonable ; and I know, 
 concerning Esau, how that, after he had sold his 
 birth-right, he would have received the blessing, 
 but was rejected. 
 
82 LIFE OF 
 
 ' About this time, I did light on that dreadful 
 story of that miserable mortal, Francis Spira ; a 
 book that was to nay troubled spirit as salt when 
 rubbed into a fresh wound : every sentence in that 
 book, every groan of that man, with all the rest of 
 his actions in his dolors, as his tears, his prayers, his 
 gnashing of teeth, his wringing of hands, his twist- 
 ing, and languishing, and pining away under that 
 mighty hand of God that was upon him, were as 
 knives and daggers in my soul ; especially that 
 sentence of his was frightful to me : 4 Man knows the 
 beginning of sin, but who bounds the issues thereof?' 
 Then would the former sentence, as the conclusion 
 of all, fall like a hot thunderbolt again upon my 
 conscience : For ye know how that afterwards, 
 when he would have inherited the blessing, he was 
 rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though 
 he sought it carefully with tears. 
 
 f Then would I be struck, into a very great trem- 
 bling, insomuch that at sometimes I could for whole 
 days together, feel *my very body, as well as my 
 mind, to shake and totter under the sense of this 
 dreadful judgment of God, that would fall on those 
 that have sinned that most fearful and unpardona- 
 ble sin. I felt also such a clogging and heat at 
 my stomach by reason of this my terror, that J was, 
 especially at some times, as if my breast-bone 
 would split asunder : then I thought concerning 
 that of Judas, who, falling headlong, burst asun- 
 der, and all his bowels gushed out.* .... 
 
 ' Yet that saying would sometimes come into 
 my mind, He hath received gifts for the rebellious.^ 
 * Actsl: 18. f Ps. 68: 8. 
 
BUNYAN. 83 
 
 The rebellious ! (thought I.) Why, surely, they 
 are such as once were under subjection to their 
 Prince : even those who, after they have once 
 sworn subjection to his government^ have taken up 
 arms against him ; and this, thought I, is my very 
 condition. I once loved him, feared him, served 
 him ; but now I am a rebel ; I have sold him ; I 
 have said, Let him go, if he will. But yet he has 
 gifts for rebels ; and then why not for me ? 
 
 ' This sometimes I thought on, and would labor 
 to take hold thereof, that some, though small, 
 refreshment, might have been conceived by me. 
 But in this also I missed my desire ; I was driven 
 with force beyond it ; I was like a man going to 
 execution, even by that place where he would fain 
 creep in and hide himself, but may not.' 
 
 Manifestly, Bunyan's mind was now diseased, 
 and had lost its balance. Of this fact, we do not 
 undertake to give a complete explanation. Seve- 
 ral causes may have conspired to produce and 
 aggravate the result. Some of them are suffi- 
 ciently obvious. Others we may know but imper- 
 fectly ; and others still, we may not know at all. 
 It is not the part of candor, nor of sound philosophy, 
 to dogmatize without evidence, or to reject any light 
 which either revelation or well attested facts from 
 other sources, may shed on this difficult subject. 
 Whatever agents may have been at work, it seems 
 to us that here was a malady, receiving its par- 
 ticular character and scope, in part, from its be- 
 ing connected with the great primary falsehood, 
 which, in a dark and evil hour, had been thrust into 
 the lacerated and imaginative mind of Bunyan. 
 
84 LIFE OF 
 
 1 This one consideration,' he says, ' would always 
 kill my heart : my sin was point blank against my 
 Savior ; and that too at that height, that I had in 
 my heart said of him, Let him go, if he will. Oh ! 
 methought, this sin was bigger than the sins of a 
 country, of a kingdom, or of the whole world ; no 
 one pardonable, nor all of them together was able 
 to equal mine ; mine outwent them every one.' 
 
 Here, no one can fail of perceiving and of deplor- 
 ing the disordered state of his mind. We follow 
 him with a trembling solicitude, lest, in some des- 
 perate moment, he should be left to do violence to 
 his life. And it is a relief to us to find him, now 
 and then, soothed, though it be but for a little while, 
 with some precious passage of scripture, or with 
 some just and encouraging reflection. 
 
 He proceeds : ' Now I should find my mind to 
 flee from God, as from the face of a dreadful judge ; 
 yet this was my torment,— I could not escape his 
 hand : (It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
 of the living God.)* But, blessed be his grace, 
 that scripture, in these flying fits, would call, as 
 running after me, ' I have blotted out, as a thick 
 cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins : 
 return unto me, for I have redeemed thecf This, 
 I say, would come in upon my mind, when I was 
 fleeing from the face of God, for I did flee from his 
 face ; that is, my mind and spirit fled before him ; 
 by reason of his highness, I could not endure. 
 Then would the text cry, Return unto me ; it would 
 cry aloud with a very great voice, Return unto me, 
 for I have redeemed thee. Indeed, this would 
 
 * Heb. 10: 1 f Isa. 44: 22. 
 
BUNYAN. 
 
 85.- 
 
 make me make a little stop, and, as it were, look 
 over my shoulder behind me, to see if I could dis- 
 cover that the God of grace did follow me with a 
 pardon in his hand. But I could no sooner do that, 
 but all would be clouded and darkened again by 
 that sentence, For ye know how thai afterwards, 
 when he would have inherited the blessing, he was 
 rejected; for he found no place of repentance, 
 though he sought it carefully with tears. Where- 
 fore I could not refrain, but fled, though at some- 
 times it cried, Return, return, as it did halloo after 
 me ; but I feared to close in therewith, lest it 
 should not come from God ; for that other, as I 
 said, was still sounding in my conscience, For ye 
 know that afterwards, when he would have inher- 
 ited the blessing, he was rejected ; for he found no 
 place of repentance, though he sought it carefully 
 with tears. 
 
 i Once, as I was walking to and fro in a good 
 man's shop, bemoaning myself in my sad and doleful 
 state, afflicting myself with self-abhorrence for this 
 wicked and ungodly thought ; lamenting also this 
 hard hap of mine that I should not be pardoned ; 
 praying also in my heart, that if this sin of mine 
 did differ from that against the Holy Ghost, the 
 Lord would show it me ; and being now ready to 
 sink with fear, — suddenly there was, as if there 
 had rushed in, at the window, the noise of wind 
 upon me, but very pleasant, and as if I heard a 
 voice speaking, Didst thou ever refuse to be justi- 
 fied by the blood of Christ ? And withal, my whole 
 life of profession past was in a moment opened to 
 me, wherein I was made to see that designedly I 
 
 8 
 
86 LIFE OF 
 
 had not : so, my heart answered groaningly, No. 
 Then fell, with power, that word of God upon me, 
 See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.* This 
 made a strange seizure upon my spirit ; it brought 
 light with it, and commanded a silence in my heart, 
 of all those tumultuous thoughts that did before use, 
 like masterless hell-hounds, to roar and bellow, and 
 make a hideous noise w T ithin me. It showed me, 
 also, that Jesus Christ had yet a word of grace 
 and mercy for me ; that he had not, as I had feared, 
 quite forsaken and cast off my soul. Yea, this 
 was a kind of check for my proneness to despera- 
 tion, a kind of threatening of me, if I did not, not- 
 withstanding my sins, and the heinousness of them, 
 venture my salvation upon the Son of God. But, 
 as to my determining about this strange dispensa- 
 tion, w r hat it was, I know not ; or from whence it 
 came I know not ; I have not yet in twenty years' 
 time been able to make a judgment of it. " I 
 thought then what here I should be loath to speak." 
 But, verily, that sudden rushing wind was as if an 
 angel had come upon me ; but both it and the sal- 
 vation I will leave until the day of judgment ; only 
 this I say, it commanded a great calm in my soul ; 
 it persuaded me there might be hope ; it showed 
 me, as I thought, what the sin unpardonable was, 
 and that my soul had yet the blessed privilege to 
 flee to Jesus Christ for mercy. But I say, con- 
 cerning this dispensation, I know not what to say 
 unto it yet, which was also in truth the cause that 
 at first I did not speak of it in the book. I do 
 now also leave it to be thought on by men of sound 
 
 * Heb. 12: 25 
 
BUNYAN. 87 
 
 judgment. I lay not the stress of my salvation 
 thereupon, but upon the Lord Jesus in the promise ; 
 yet, seeing I am here unfolding my secret things, 
 I thought it might not be altogether inexpedient to 
 let this also show itself, though I cannot now 
 relate the matter as there I did experience it. This 
 lasted in the savor of it, for about three or four 
 days ; and then I began to mistrust and to despair 
 again.' .... 
 
 In this troubled state, he was conscious of a 
 desire to cast himself down before the throne of 
 grace in prayer and supplication. To do this, 
 he found to be exceedingly difficult. ' But,' he 
 says, ' I saw that there was only one way with 
 me ; I must go to him, and humble myself unto 
 him, and beg that he, of his wonderful mercy, 
 would show pity to me, and have mercy upon my 
 wretched sinful soul. 
 
 1 Which, when the tempter perceived, he strongly 
 suggested to me, that I ought not to pray to God, 
 for prayer was not for any in my case, neither 
 could it do me good, because I had rejected the 
 Mediator, by whom all prayers came with accept- 
 ance to God the Father ; and without whom no 
 prayer could come into his presence : wherefore, 
 now to pray is but to add sin to sin ; yea, now to 
 pray, seeing God has cast you off, is the next way 
 to anger and offend him more than you ever did 
 before. For God, saith he, hath been weary of 
 you for these several years already, because you 
 are none of his ; your bawling in his ears hath 
 been no pleasant voice to him, and therefore he 
 let you sin in this sin, that you might be quite cut 
 
OO LIFE OF 
 
 off; and will you pray still ? — This the devil urged, 
 and set forth that in Numbers, when Moses said 
 to the children of Israel, that because they would 
 not go up to possess the land when God would 
 have them, therefore for ever he did bar them out 
 from thence, -though they prayed they might with 
 tears.* As it is said, in another place, The man 
 that sins presumptuously shall be taken from God's 
 altar, that he may die ;f even as Joel was by king 
 Solomon, when he thought to find shelter there. ^ 
 
 ' These places did pinch me very sore ; yet, my 
 case being desperate, I thought with myself, I can 
 but die ; and if it must be so, it shall once be said, 
 that such an one died at the foot of Christ in pray- 
 er. This I did, but with great difficulty, God doth 
 know ; and that because, together with this, still 
 that saying about Esau would be set at my heart, 
 even like a flaming sword, to keep the way of the 
 tree of life, lest I should take thereof and live. 
 Oh ! who knows how hard a thing I found it to 
 come to God in prayer !' 
 
 Yet he prayed, and he requested the people of 
 God to pray for him ; though he did it with a with- 
 ering apprehension, that, as God once said to the 
 prophet, Pray not for this people, for I will not 
 hear,§ so he would now say, or had already said, 
 Pray not for him, for I have rejected him. — Alas ! 
 what mischief has been wrought by the notion of 
 new and special revelations ! 
 
 An aged Christian, with whom he conversed 
 freely on his case, and to whom he expressed the 
 
 *Num. 14: 30. tExod. 21: 14. 
 
 1 1 Kings 2: 28. § Jer. 11: 14. 
 
BUNYAN. 89 
 
 fear that he had committed the unpardonable sin 
 replied, that he thought so too. Bunyan was the 
 further cast down. But, after conversing with him 
 more, he found that though he was a good man, 
 yet he might not be qualified to judge in this case. 
 8 Wherefore,' he says, ' I went to God again, as 
 well as I could, for mercy still. 
 
 ' Now, also, did the tempter begin to mock me 
 in my misery, saying, that seeing I had thus parted 
 with the Lord Jesus, and provoked him to displea- 
 sure, who would have stood between my soul and 
 the flame of devouring fire, there was now but one 
 way, and that was to pray that God the Father 
 would be a Mediator betwixt his Son and me ; that 
 he would be reconciled again, and that I might 
 have that blessed benefit in him, that his saints 
 enjoyed. . . . Now, too, the tempter began afresh 
 to mock my soul another way, saying, That Christ 
 indeed did pity my case, and was sorry for my loss ; 
 but, forasmuch as I had sinned and transgressed as 
 I had done, he could by no means help me, nor 
 save me from what I feared ; for my sin was not 
 of the nature of theirs for whom he bled and died ; 
 neither was it counted with those that were laid to 
 his charge, when he hanged on the tree : there- 
 fore, unless he should come down from heaven, 
 and die anew for this sin, though indeed he did 
 greatly pity me, yet I could have no benefit of 
 him. These things may seem ridiculous to others, 
 even as ridiculous as they were in themselves ; 
 but to me they were most tormenting cogitations. 
 Every one of them augmented my misery, that 
 Jesus Christ should have so much love as to pity 
 
90 LIFE OF 
 
 me, when yet he could not help me too ; nor did I 
 think that the reason why he could not help me 
 was, because his merits were weak, or his grace 
 and salvation spent on others already ; but because, 
 his faithfulness to his threatenings would not let 
 him extend his mercy to me. Besides, I thought, 
 as I have already hinted, that my sin was not within 
 the bounds of that pardon that was wrapped up in 
 a promise ; and if not, then I knew surely, that it 
 was more easy for heaven and earth to pass away, 
 than for me to have eternal life. So that the 
 ground of all these fears of mine did arise from a 
 steadfast belief I had of the stability of the holy 
 word of God, and also from my being misinformed 
 of the nature of my sin. 
 
 'But oh ! how this would add to my affliction, 
 to conceit that I should be guilty of such a sin, for 
 which he did not die ! These thoughts did so con- 
 found me, and imprison me, and tie me up from 
 faith that I knew not what to do. Oh ! thought I, 
 that he would come down again ! Oh, that the 
 work of man's redemption was yet to be done by 
 Christ ! How would I pray him and entreat him 
 to count and reckon this sin among the rest for 
 which he died ! But this scripture would strike 
 me down as dead : Christ being raised from the 
 dead, dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion 
 over him.* 
 
 1 Thus, by the strange and unusual assaults of 
 the tempter, my soul was like a broken vessel, 
 driven as with the winds, and tossed.' 
 
 On one occasion, in the midst of his anguish, he 
 
 * Rom. 6: 9. 
 
BUNYAN. 
 
 91 
 
 exclaimed, How can God comfort such a wretch ! 
 ' I had,' he says, ' no sooner said it, but this re- 
 turned upon me, as an echo doth answer a voice, 
 This sin is not unto death.* At which I was as 
 if I had been raised out of the grave. Now, 
 thought I, if this sin is not unto death, then it is 
 pardonable ; therefore from this I have encour- 
 agement to come to God by Christ for mercy, 
 to consider the promise of forgiveness, as that 
 which stands with open arms to receive me as 
 
 well as others Yet, towards the evening 
 
 of the next day, I felt this word begin to leave me ; 
 . . . and so I returned to my old fears again. 
 
 ' But the next day, at evening, being under many 
 fears, I went to seek the Lord ; and, as I prayed, 
 I cried, and my soul cried to him in these words, 
 with strong cries, O Lord, I beseech thee, show 
 me that thou hast loved me with everlasting love. 
 I had no sooner said it, but, with sweetness, this 
 returned upon me as an echo, or sounding, again, 
 I have loved thee with an everlasting love^ Now 
 I went to bed in quiet ; also, when I awaked the 
 next morning, it was fresh upon my soul, and I 
 believed it. But yet the tempter left me not ; for 
 it could not be so little as a hundred times that he 
 that day did labor to break my peace. Oh ! the 
 combats and conflicts that I then did meet with : 
 as I strove to hold by this word, that of Esau would 
 fly in my face like lightning.' .... 
 
 Thus, as we have already intimated, he was 
 tossed from hope to despair, and then from despair 
 to hope, and back again from hope to despair, 
 
 * Compare 1 John 5: 16, 17. f Jer. 31 : 3. 
 
92 LIFE OF 
 
 accordingly as he was the most vividly impressed 
 by an encouraging sentiment, or by a discourag- 
 ing one. At length, there occurred to him a con- 
 sideration, which, had he kept it constantly in 
 remembrance, might have saved him from an im- 
 mensity of trouble, and led him forth, at an early 
 day, to a safe and enduring peace. The consider- 
 ation, to use his own words, was this : ' That 
 whatever comfort and peace I thought I might have 
 from the word of the promise of life, yet unless 
 there could be found in my refreshment a concur- 
 rence and agreement in the scriptures, let me 
 think what I will thereof, and hold it never so fast, 
 I should find no such thing at the end; for the 
 scriptures cannot be broken* 
 
 4 Now began my heart again to ache, and fear I 
 might meet with a disappointment at last. Where- 
 fore, I began with all seriousness to examine my 
 former comfort, and to consider whether one that 
 had sinned as I had done, might with confidence 
 trust upon the faithfulness of God, laid down in 
 these words, by which I had been comforted, and 
 on which I had leaned myself. But now were 
 brought to my mind the following passages : For 
 it is impossible for those who were once en- 
 lightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and 
 were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have 
 tasted the good word of God, and the powers of 
 the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew 
 them again unto repentance.*)" — For, if we sin wil- 
 fully, after we have received the knowledge of the 
 truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, 
 
 * John 10 : 35. f Heb, 6 : 4, 5, 6. 
 
BUNYAN. 93 
 
 but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and 
 fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversa- 
 ries.* — As Esau, who, for one morsel of meat, sold 
 his birth-right. — For ye know how that afterwards, 
 when he would have inherited the blessing, he 
 was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, 
 though he sought it carefully with tears. f 
 
 1 Now was the word of the Gospel forced from 
 my soul, so that no promise or encouragement was 
 to be found in the Bible for me ; and now would 
 that saying work upon my spirit to afflict me, Re- 
 joice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people ; J for I 
 saw, indeed, there was cause of rejoicing for those 
 that held to Jesus ; but for me, I had cut myself 
 off by my transgressions, and left myself neither 
 foot-hold nor hand-hold, among all the stays and 
 props in the precious word of life. And truly I 
 did now feel myself to sink into a gulf, as a house 
 whose foundation is destroyed. 
 
 ' Now while the scriptures lay before me, and 
 laid sin anew at my door, that saying in Luke, 
 with others, did encourage me to prayer : Men ought 
 always to pray, and not to faint. § Then the temp- 
 ter again assailed me, suggesting, That neither the 
 mercy of God, nor yet the blood of Christ, did at 
 all concern me, nor could they help me for my sin ; 
 therefore it was but in vain to pray. — Yet, thought 
 I, I will pray. But, said the tempter, your sin is 
 unpardonable. Well, said I, I will pray. It is to no 
 boot, said he. Yet, said I, I will pray. So I went 
 to prayer to God ; and while I was at prayer, I 
 
 * Heb. 10 : 26, 27. f Heb. 12 : 16, 17. 
 
 $ Hosea9: 1. § Luke 18: 1. 
 
94 LIFE OF 
 
 uttered words to this effect : Lord, satan tells me, 
 that neither thy mercy nor Christ's blood is suffi- 
 cient to save my soul. Lord, shall I honor thee 
 most by believing thou wilt and canst ? or him, by 
 believing thou neither wilt nor canst ? Lord, I 
 would fain honor thee, by believing thou wilt and 
 canst. 
 
 1 And as I was thus before the Lord, that scrip- 
 ture fastened on my heart, O, man, great is thy 
 faith ;* even as if one had clapped me on the back, 
 as I was on my knees before God. Yet, I was 
 not able to believe that this was a prayer of faith, 
 till almost six months after, for I could not think 
 that I had faith, or that there should be a word for 
 me to act faith on ; therefore I continued to be as 
 sticking in the jaws of desperation, and went 
 mourning up and down in a sad condition. 
 
 1 There was nothing now that I longed for more 
 than to be put out of doubt, as to this thing in ques- 
 tion ; and as I was vehemently desiring to know if 
 there was indeed hope for me, these words came 
 rolling into my mind : Will the Lord cast off for- 
 ever ? And will he be favorable no more ? Is 
 his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise 
 fail forever more ? Hath God forgotten to be gra- 
 cious ? Hath he in anger shut up his tender 
 mercies ?f 
 
 ' One morning, as I was again at prayer, and 
 trembling lest no word of God could help me, that 
 piece of a sentence darted in upon me, My grace 
 is sirjficient.^ At this, methought I felt seme stay, 
 as if there might be hope By these words 
 
 * Compare Matt. 15 : 28. f Ps. 77 : 7, 8, 9. %2 Cor. 12 : 9. 
 
BUNYAN. 95 
 
 I was sustained, yet not without exceeding con- 
 flicts, for the space of seven or eight weeks ; for 
 my peace would be in, and out, sometimes twenty 
 times a day ; comfort now, and trouble presently ; 
 peace now, and before I could go a furlong, as full 
 of fear and guilt as ever heart could hold ; and this 
 was not only now and then, but my whole seven 
 weeks' experience. For this about the sufficiency 
 of grace, and that of Esau's parting with his birth- 
 right, would be like a pair of scales within my 
 mind; sometimes one end would be uppermost, 
 and sometimos again the other ; according to which 
 would be my peace or troubles. 
 
 ' Therefore, I did still pray to God, that he would 
 come in with his scripture more fully on my heart ; 
 to wit, that he would help me to apply the whole 
 sentence, for as yet I could not ; that he gave, 
 that I gathered ; but further I could not go, for as 
 yet it only helped me to hope there might be mercy 
 for me ; My grace is sufficient : and though it 
 came no farther, it answered my former question, 
 to wit, That there was hope ; yet, because for thee 
 was left out, I was not contented, but prayed to 
 God for that also. Wherefore, one day, when I 
 was in a meeting of God's people, full of sadness 
 and terror, (for my fears again were strong upon 
 me ;) and, as I was now thinking, my soul was 
 never the bettter, but my case most sad and 
 fearful, these words did with great power suddenly 
 break in upon me : My grace is sufficient for thee, 
 My grace is sufficient for thee, My grace is suffi- 
 cient for thee, — three times together At 
 
 which time my understanding Y\ 7 as so enlightened, 
 
96 LIFE OF 
 
 that I was as though I had seen the Lord Jesus 
 look down from heaven, through the tiles, upon me, 
 and direct these words unto me. This filled me 
 full of joy, and laid me low as the dust ; only it 
 stayed not long with me, — I mean, in this glory 
 and refreshing comfort ; yet it continued with me 
 for several weeks, and did encourage me to hope. 
 But as soon as that powerful operation of it was 
 taken from my heart, that other, about Esau, 
 returned upon me as before. So my soul did hang 
 as in a pair of scales again, sometimes up, and 
 sometimes down ; now in peace, and anon again 
 in terror.' 
 
 Amidst these fluctuations, he began to inquire 
 with himself, 'Why, how many scriptures are 
 thero against me ? There are but three or four ; 
 and cannot God miss them, and save me for all 
 them ? Sometimes again I thought, oh ! if it were 
 not for these three or four words, how might I now 
 be comforted ! And I could hardly forbear, at some- 
 times, to wish them out of the book. Then, me- 
 thought, I saw as if both Peter and Paul, and John, 
 and all the holy writers did look with scorn upon 
 me, and hold me in derision ; and as if they had said 
 unto me, All our words are truth, one as much as 
 another. It is not we that -have cut you off, but 
 you have cast away yourself. There are none of 
 our sentences that you must take hold upon, but 
 these, and such as these : There remains no more 
 sacrifice for sin ;* and, It had been better for them 
 not to have known the way of righteousness, than, 
 after they have known it, to turn from the holy 
 
 * Heb. 10: 26. 
 
BUNYAN. 97 
 
 commandment delivered unto them ;* for the scrip- 
 ture cannot be broken.")* 
 
 • These, as the elders of the city of refuge, I saw, 
 were to be the judges both of my case and me, 
 while I stood with the avenger of blood at my heels, 
 trembling at their gate of deliverance ; also with a 
 thousand fears and mistrusts, I doubted that they 
 would shut me out forever. Thus I was confound- 
 ed, not knowing what to do, or how to be satisfied 
 in this question, Whether the scriptures could agree 
 in the salvation of my soul ? I quaked at the apos- 
 tles ; I knew their words were true, and that they 
 must stand forever. 
 
 4 And I remember, one day as I was in divers 
 frames of spirit, and considering that these frames 
 were according to the nature of the several scrip- 
 tures that came in upon my mind ; — if this of grace, 
 then I was quiet ; but if that of Esau, then tormented, 
 — Lord, (thought I,) if both these scriptures should 
 meet in my heart at once, I wonder which of them 
 would get the better of me ? So, methought, I had 
 a longing mind that they might come both together 
 upon me ; yea, I desired of God they might. Well, 
 about two or three days after, so they did indeed ; 
 they bolted both upon me at a time, and did work 
 and struggle strongly in me for a while. At last, 
 that about Esau's birth-right began to wax weak, 
 and withdraw, and vanish ; and this, about the 
 sufficiency of grace, prevailed with peace and joy. 
 And, as I was in a muse about this thing, that 
 scripture came in upon me, Mercy rejoiceth against 
 judgment.'^ 
 
 * 2 Pet. 2: 21. f John 10 : 35. J James 2: 13. 
 
 9 
 
98 LIFE OF 
 
 Every benevolent feeling rejoices at this pre- 
 cious truth, and at the encouragement which Bun- 
 yan received from the result of the fancied combat. 
 But how much better it had been to have let the 
 encouragement rest on a proper and solid founda- 
 tion ! Such a foundation is afforded by a passage 
 which he soon mentions as sweetly visiting his 
 soul. It is the declaration of our Savior himself: 
 Him that cometh to me I will in no icise cast out. 
 
 ' But,' the account proceeds, i notwithstanding 
 all these helps, and blessed words of grace, yet 
 that of Esau's selling his birth-right would still at 
 times distress my conscience. For, though I had 
 been most sweetly comforted, and that but just 
 before, yet, when that came into my mind, it would 
 make me fear again ; I could not be quite rid 
 thereof; it would every day be with me. Where- 
 fore, now I went another way to work, even to 
 consider the nature of this blasphemous thought ; I 
 mean, if I should take the words at the largest, and 
 give them their own natural force and scope, even 
 every word therein. So when I had thus consi- 
 dered, I found that, if they were fairly taken, they 
 would amount to this : That I had freely left the 
 Lord Jesus Christ to his choice, whether he would 
 be my Savior or no ; for the wicked words were 
 these, Let him go, if he will. Then that scrip- 
 ture gave me hope, I will never leave thee, nor 
 forsake thee?- O Lord, said I, but I have left thee. 
 Then it answered again, But I will not leave thee. 
 For this I thanked God also. 
 
 1 Yet, above all the scriptures that I yet did meet 
 
 * Heb. 13: 5. 
 
BUNYAN. 99 
 
 with, that in Joshua* was the greatest comfort to 
 me, which speaks of the slayer that was to flee for 
 refuge : and if the avenger of blood pursue the 
 slayer, then, saith Moses, they that are the elders 
 of the city of refuge shall not deliver him into his 
 hands, because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, 
 and hated him not aforetime. Oh ! blessed be God 
 for this word ! I was convinced that I was the 
 slayer ; and that the avenger of blood pursued me, 
 I felt with great terror ; only it remained that 
 I inquire whether I have right to enter the city of 
 refuge : so I found that he must not, who lay in 
 wait to shed blood. It was not the wilful murderer, 
 but he who unwittingly did it ; he who did it una- 
 wares, not out of spite, or grudge, or malice ; he 
 that shed it unwittingly, even he did not hate his 
 neighbor before. Wherefore, I thought verily I 
 was the man that must enter, because I had smit- 
 ten my neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not 
 aforetime. I hated him not aforetime ; no, I prayed 
 unto him ; was tender of sinning against him ; 
 yea, and against this wicked temptation I had 
 strove for twelve months before ; yea, and also 
 when it did pass through my heart, it did in spite 
 of my teeth. Wherefore I thought I had a right to 
 enter this city, and the elders (which are the apos- 
 tles) were not to deliver me up. This, therefore, 
 was great comfort to rne, and gave me much ground 
 
 of hope 
 
 ■ Then, methought, I durst venture to come nigh 
 unto those most fearful and terrible scriptures, with 
 which, all this while, I had been so greatly affright- 
 
 * 20: 5. 
 
100 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 ed, and on which indeed, before, I durst scarce cast 
 mine eye, (yea, had much ado, a hundred times, to 
 forbear wishing them out of the Bible,) for I thought 
 they would destroy me. But now, I say, I began 
 to take some measure of encouragement, to come 
 close to them, to read them, and consider them, 
 and to weigh their scope and tendency. 
 
 ' The which when I began to do, I found my 
 visage changed ; for they looked not so grimly as 
 before I thought they did. And, first, I came to 
 the 6th chapter of the Hebrews, yet trembling for 
 fear it should strike me ; which, when I had con- 
 sidered, I found that the falling there intended was 
 a falling quite away ; that is, as I conceived, a fall- 
 ing from, and absolute denying of the Gospel, — of 
 the remission of sins by Jesus Christ : for, from 
 them the apostle begins this argument.* Secondly, 
 I found that this falling away must be openly, even 
 in the view of the world, so as to put Christ to an 
 open shame. Thirdly, I found that those he there 
 intended were forever shut up of God, in blindness, 
 hardness, and impenitency : — It is impossible to 
 renew them again unto repentance. By all these 
 particulars, I found, to God's everlasting praise, my 
 sin was not the sin in this place intended. 
 
 1 First, I confessed I was fallen, but not fallen 
 away; that is, from the profession of faith in Jesus 
 unto eternal life. 
 
 1 Secondly, I confessed that I had put Jesus Christ 
 to shame by my sin, but not to open shame ; I did 
 not deny him before men, nor condemn him as a 
 fruitless one before the world. 
 
 * See the 1st, 2d, and 3d verses of the chapter. 
 
BUN Y AN. 10 1 
 
 « Thirdly, Nor did I find that God had shut me 
 Up, or denied me to come, (though I found it hard 
 work indeed to come,) to him by sorrow and 
 repentance. Blessed be God, for unsearchable 
 grace ! 
 
 6 Then I considered that in the 10th chapter of 
 the Hebrews, and found that the wilful sin there 
 mentionod is not every wilful sin, but that which 
 doth throw off Christ, and then his commandments 
 too. Secondly, That also must be done openly, 
 before two or three witnesses, to answer that of 
 the law. Thirdly, This sin cannot be committed, 
 but with great despite done to the Spirit of grace ; 
 despising both the dissuasions from that sin, and 
 the persuasions to the contrary. But, the Lord 
 knows, . . • my sin did not amount to these. 
 
 ' And as touching that in the 12th chapter of the 
 Hebrews, about Esau's selling his birth-right ; 
 though this was that which killed me, and stood 
 like a spear against me ; yet now I did consider, 
 first, that his was not a hasty thought against the 
 continual labor of his mind, but a thought con- 
 sented to, and put in practice likewise, and that 
 after some deliberation. Secondly, It was a pub- 
 lic and open action, even before his brother, if not 
 before many more. This made his sin of a far 
 more heinous nature than otherwise it would have 
 been. Thirdly, He continued to slight his birth- 
 right ; he did eat and drink, and went his Way, 
 
 6 When I had thus considered these scriptures, 
 and found that thus to understand them was not 
 against, but according to, other scriptures; this 
 still added further to my encouragement and com- 
 
102 LIFE OF 
 
 fort, and also gave a great blow to that objection, to 
 wit, That the scriptures could not agree in the sal- 
 vation of my soul. And now remained only the hin- 
 der part of the tempest, for the thunder had gone 
 beyond me. Only some drops did still remain, that, 
 now and then, would fall upon me ; but because my 
 former frights and anguish were very sore and 
 deep, therefore it oft befel me still, as it befalleth 
 those that have been scared with fire : I thought 
 every voice was, Fire ! fire!' 
 
 But now, looking aw r ay from his own variable 
 frames of mind, he who had been so fearfully agi- 
 tated, fixed his eyes on the Author of all his hopes, 
 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever. ' Now,' he says, ' did my chains fall off my 
 legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions and 
 irons. My temptations also fled away, so that from 
 that time those dreadful scriptures of Goo! left off to 
 trouble me ; now went I also home rejoicing, for 
 
 the grace and love of God Oh ! methought 
 
 Christ ! Christ ! there was nothing but Christ that 
 
 was before my eyes 'Twas glorious to me 
 
 to see his exaltation, and the worth and prevalency 
 of all his benefits, and that because now I could look 
 from myself to him, and would reckon that all those 
 graces of God that now were green on me, were 
 yet but like those cracked groats and fourpence- 
 half pennies that rich men carry in their purses 
 when their gold is in their trunks at home. Oh ! 
 I saw my gold was in my trunk at home, in Christ 
 my Lord and Savior.' 
 
 Here several facts are specially worthy of being 
 remembered. 
 
BUNYAN. 
 
 103 
 
 1. After being long and painfnlly agitated, Bun- 
 yan was reminded of the Savior's own declaration, 
 Him that cometh to me, I icill in no raise cast out ; 
 and he welcomed it to his heart. He strove to 
 hold it fast. And he saw that to come aright, was 
 to come as he was, a sinner, and so cast himself 
 at the feet of mercy, condemning himself for sin. 
 * I was,' he remarks, * greatly holclen off from my 
 former foolish practice of putting by the word of 
 promise when it came into my mind For- 
 merly, I thought I might not meddle with the 
 promise, unless I felt its comfort ; but now it was 
 no time thus to do. — Now, also, I would labor to 
 take the word as God hath laid it down, without 
 restraining the natural force of one syllable there- 
 of. Oh ! what did I see in that blessed sixth 
 chapter of John, And him that cometh to me, I will 
 in no wise cast out /' 
 
 2. When he began to look at his case in a more 
 calm and sane exercise of his faculties than for- 
 merly, he discovered and rejected the primary 
 falsehood with which he had been deluded. He 
 perceived that he had not sold his Savior. ' I went,' 
 he says, ' another way to work, even to consider 
 the nature of the blasphemous thought.' And, in 
 taking a more correct view of his case, he may 
 have been assisted by the representation which 
 Luther, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the 
 Galatians, gives respecting a clergyman at Halle, 
 A. D. 1527, who, according to the statement of the 
 illustrious Reformer, was led, by a diabolical delu- 
 sion, to believe that he had so denied Christ as to 
 
104 LIFE OF 
 
 be forever excluded from forgiveness, and thus to 
 abandon himself to fatal despair.* 
 
 3- He examined carefully the passages of scrip- 
 ture, which, viewed at a distance, and out of their 
 proper connections, had given him distress. ' I 
 began,' he says, ' to take some measure of encour- 
 agement, and to come close to them, to read them, 
 and consider them, and to weigh their scope and 
 tendency. The which, when I began to do, I 
 found my visage changed ; for they looked not so 
 grimly as before I thought they did.' 
 
 4. He looked away from himself to Christ, 
 ' Now,' he informs us, ' now I could look from my- 
 self to him.' 
 
 While we look at ourselves, and contemplate 
 only our sinfulness, we see enough to plunge us 
 into despair. But when we look away from our- 
 selves to Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh 
 away the sin of the world, — to Christ, the mighty, 
 the compassionate Savior, Head over all things to 
 the church, we hear his cheering voice, Come unto 
 me all ye that labor und are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest ; we trust his power and grace ; and 
 we rejoice in the hope of eternal life. 
 
 * Idem, anno Domini mdxxvii, accidit illi misero Doctori 
 Hallensi Kraus, qui dicebat, Ego negavi^ Christum ; ideo 
 jam stat coram Patre et accusat me. Iliam cogitationem 
 praestigiis diaboli captus tarn fortiter conceperat, ut nulla ad- 
 hortatione aut consolatiqne, nullis divinis promissionibus 
 pateretur eam < sibi excuti, atque ita desperavit, et seipsum 
 miserrime occidit. Comment. Mart. Lutheri in III. Cap. ad 
 Galat. V. p. 325. ed. 1554. Of this Commentary, it will be re- 
 collected, Bunyan met with an English translation, in the lat- 
 ter part of his long season of despondency. 
 
BUNYAN. 105 
 
 From his Baptism in 1653 to his being falsely 
 Accused. 
 
 Now, for the first time, Bunyan expresssd to the 
 small Nonconformist church at Bedford, most of 
 whose members were Baptists, his desire to walk 
 with them in the order and ordinances of Christ. 
 He was admitted by them most cordially, and was 
 baptized by their Pastor, 'holy Mr. Gifford,' A. D. 
 1653. 
 
 After the public profession of his faith, he went 
 on his way rejoicing. But, before long, he was 
 assailed w T ith thoughts whose evil character ac- 
 corded well with their having come from the temp- 
 ter, the evil one. ' While I thought,' he says, ' of 
 that blessed ordinance of Christ which was his last 
 supper with his disciples before his death, that 
 scripture, Do this in remembrance of me* was 
 made a very precious word unto me ; for by it the 
 Lord did come down upon my conscience, with 
 the discovery of his death for my sins ; and as I 
 then felt, did as if he plunged me in the virtue of 
 the same. But, behold, I had not been long a 
 partaker at that ordinance ; but, such fierce and 
 sad temptation did attend me at all times therein, 
 both to blaspheme the ordinance, and to wish 
 some deadly thing to those that then did eat there- 
 of; that lest I should at any time be guilty of con- 
 senting to these wicked and fearful thoughts, I was 
 forced to bend myself all the while, to pray to God 
 * Luke 22: 19: and 1 Cor. 11: 24. 
 
106 LIFE OF 
 
 to keep me from such blasphemies ; and also to 
 cry to God to bless the cup and bread to them, as 
 it were, from mouth to mouth. The reason of this 
 temptation, I have thought since, was, because I 
 did not, with that reverence that became me, at 
 first approach to partake thereof. Thus I contin- 
 ued for three-quarters of a year, and could never 
 have rest nor ease. But, at -the last, the Lord 
 came in upon my soul with that same scripture by 
 which my soul was visited before ; and after that, 
 I have been usually very well and comfortable in 
 the partaking of that blessed ordinance ; and have, 
 I trust, therein discerned the Lord's body, as 
 broken for my sins, and that his precious blood 
 hath been shed for my transgressions.' 
 
 Here unworthy thoughts were suggested to Bun- 
 yan. He resisted and rejected them. They were 
 still presented ; and still he firmly resisted them, 
 and fervently prayed to God against them. He 
 implored blessings for those whom he was mali- 
 ciously and madly tempted to curse. At length, 
 he was enabled to keep out the unwelcome, obtru- 
 sive thoughts, by having his mind filled with suita- 
 ble ones, arising from that precious injunction, Do 
 this in remembrance of me. All this, the unsophis- 
 ticated reader must admit, occurs in accordance 
 with well ascertained laws of the human mind, 
 with the experience of men in every age, and with 
 the teachings of Christ and his apostles. 
 
 At one time, and he mentions it in this connec- 
 tion, Bunyan had alarming symptoms of a con- 
 sumption. ' I was,' he states, ; suddenly and 
 violently seized, and had much weakness in my 
 
BUNYAN. 107 
 
 outward man ; insomuch that I thought I could not 
 live. Now began I afresh to give myself up to a 
 serious examination after my state and condition 
 for the future, and of my evidences for that blessed 
 world to come. For it hath, I bless the name of 
 God, been my usual course, as always, so espe- 
 cially in the day of affliction, to endeavor to keep 
 my interest in the life to come, clear before my 
 eyes. But I had no sooner begun to recall to 
 mind my former experience of the goodness of God 
 to my soul, but there came flocking into my mind 
 an innumerable company of my sins and transgres- 
 sions ; amongst which, these were at this time 
 most to my affliction, namely, my deadness, dull- 
 ness, and coldness in my holy duties ; my wander- 
 ings of heart, my wearisomeness in all good things, 
 my want of love to God, his ways and people; 
 with this at the end of all, Are these the fruits of 
 Christianity? Are these the tokens of a blessed 
 man? 
 
 8 At the apprehensions of these things, my sick- 
 ness was doubled upon me ; for now I was sick in 
 my inward man, my soul was clogged with guilt ; 
 now also were my former experiences of God's 
 goodness to me quite taken out of my mind, and 
 hid as if they had never been. Now was my soul 
 greatly pitched between these two considerations, 
 Live I must not ; die I dare not. Now I sunk and 
 fell in my spirit, and was giving up all for lost ; 
 but, as I was walking up and down in the house, 
 as a man in a most woful state, that word of God 
 took hold of my heart, Ye are justified freely by his 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Christ 
 
108 LIFE OF 
 
 Jesus* But oh ! what a turn it made upon me. 
 Now was I as one awakened out of some trouble- 
 some sleep and dream ; and listening to this heav- 
 enly sentence, I was as if I had heard it thus 
 spoken to me : Sinner, thou thinkest that because 
 of thy sins and infirmities, I cannot save thy soul ; 
 but behold, my Son is by me, and upon him I look, 
 and not on thee ; and shall deal with thee accord- 
 ing as I am pleased with him. At this I was 
 greatly enlightened in my mind, and made to under- 
 stand, that God could justify a sinner at any time ; 
 it was but his looking upon Christ, and imputing 
 of his benefits to us, and the work was forthwith 
 done. 
 
 ' And as I was thus in a muse, that scripture 
 also came with great power upon my spirit, Not 
 by ivorks of righteousness which we have done, but ac- 
 cording to his mercy he hath saved us, by the wash- 
 ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.~\ 
 Now was I got on high ; I saw myself within the 
 arms of grace and mercy ; and though I was afraid 
 to think of the dying hour, yet now I cried, Let rne 
 die. Now death was lovely and beautiful in my 
 sight ; for I saw, We shall never live indeed, till 
 we be gone to the other world. Oh ! methought, 
 this life is but a slumber, in comparison with that 
 above. At this time, also, I saw more in these 
 words, Heirs of God,\ than ever I shall be able to 
 express while I live in this world 
 
 1 Again, as I was at another time very ill and 
 weak, all that time also the tempter did beset me 
 strongly ; (for I find he is much for assaulting the 
 * Rom. 3: 24. f Tit. 3 : 5, and 2 Tim. 1 : 9. } Rom. 8: 17. 
 
BI/NYAN. 109 
 
 soul; when it begins to approach towards the 
 grave, then is his opportunity;) laboring to hide 
 from me my former experience of God's goodness ; 
 also setting before me the terrors of death, and the 
 judgment of God ; insomuch that at this time, 
 through my fear of miscarrying for ever, (should I 
 now die,) I was as one dead before death came, 
 and was as if I had felt myself already descending 
 into the pit ; methought I said, there was no way, 
 but to hell I must go : but behold, just as I was in 
 the midst of those fears, these words, • of the an- 
 gels' carrying Lazarus into Abraham's bosom,' 
 darted in upon me ; as who should say, So it shall 
 be with thee when thou dost leave this world* 
 This did sweetly revive my spirits, and help me to 
 hope in God ; which when I had with comfort 
 mused on awhile, that word fell with great weight 
 upon my mind, O death ! where is thy sting ? O 
 grave ! where is thy victory . ? * At this, I became 
 well both in body and in mind, at once ; for my 
 sickness did presently vanish, and I walked com- 
 fortably in my work for God again. 
 
 ' At another time, though just before I was pretty 
 well and savory in my spirit, yet suddenly there 
 fell upon me a great cloud of darkness, which did 
 so hide from me the things of God and Christ, that 
 I was as if I had never seen or known them in my 
 life. I was also so overrun in my soul with a 
 senseless, heartless frame of spirit, that I could not 
 feel my soul to move or stir after grace and life by 
 Christ ; I was as if my loins were broken, or as if 
 my hands and feet had been tied or bound with 
 
 * 1 Cor. 15 : 55. 
 
 10 
 
110 , LIFE OF 
 
 chains. At this time also I felt some weakness to 
 seize upon my outward man, which made still the 
 other affliction the more heavy and uncomfortable 
 to me.' 
 
 Whoever has had much acquaintance with per- 
 sons in a morbidly sensitive state, or has read such 
 a work as that of Dr. Rush on the diseases of the 
 mind, may be prepared to appreciate, in some de- 
 gree, the facts here stated by Bunyan. The influ- 
 ence of the mind upon the body, and of the body 
 upon the mind, is a subject of great practical as 
 well as speculative interest. It ought to be well 
 understood by all, especially by physicians, and by 
 ministers of the gospel. A certain diseased state 
 of the body may predispose the mind to gloom and 
 despondency; and this, for aught any man can 
 prove, may be an occasion of assaults from the 
 Christian's great spiritual adversary. How much, 
 in any particular case, should be attributed to phy- 
 sical causes, and how much to any other cause, it 
 may not be easy nor very important to determine. 
 It is more important to know all the facts pertain- 
 ing to the case, that can be known, and to apply 
 the appropriate remedies, both physical and reli- 
 gious. 
 
 He proceeds : ' After I had been in this condi- 
 tion some three or four days, as I was sitting by 
 the fire, I suddenly felt this word to sound in my 
 heart, — I must go to Jesus ! At this, my former 
 darkness and atheism fled away, and the blessed 
 things of heaven were set in my view. While I 
 was on this sudden thus overtaken with surprise, 
 Wife, (said I,) is there ever such a scripture, 'I 
 
BUNYAN. Ill 
 
 must go to Jesus V She said she could not tell : 
 therefore I stood musing still, to see if I could re- 
 member such a place. I had not sat above two or 
 three minutes, but that came bolting in upon me, 
 And to an innumerable company of angels ; and, 
 withal, the 12th chapter of Hebrews, about the 
 Mount Sion, was set before mine eyes. Then, 
 with jo j I told my wife, O ! now I know, I know ! 
 But that night was a good night to me ; I had 
 never had but few better. I longed for the com- 
 pany of some of God's people, that I might have 
 imparted unto them what God had showed me. 
 Christ was a precious Christ to my soul that night, 
 I could scarce lie in my bed for joy, and peace, 
 and triumph, through Christ ! This great glory 
 did not continue upon me until morning ; yet the 
 12th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews was a 
 blessed scripture to me for many days together 
 after this. The words are these : Ye are come to 
 Mount Sion, the city of the living God, to the hea- 
 venly Jerusalem., and to an innumerable compuny of 
 angels, to the general assembly and church of the 
 first born, which are written in heaven ; to God the 
 Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
 perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Tes- 
 tament, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh 
 better things than that of Abel. Through this sen- 
 tence the Lord led me over and over, first to this 
 word, and then to that, and showed me wonderful 
 glory in every one of them. These words also 
 have oft, since that time, been great refreshment 
 to my spirit. Blessed be God for having mercy 
 on me!' 
 
112 LIFE OP 
 
 Bunyan's ardent piety, his acquaintance with 
 the scriptures, and his ability of utterance, soon 
 made a favorable impression on those who knew 
 him the most intimately. He was, therefore, earn- 
 estly requested by the leading members of Mr. 
 Gifford's church, ' the most able for judgment and 
 holiness of life, 5 to speak a word of exhortation in 
 one of the meetings. At first, he was abashed 
 and reluctant ; but being by them still entreated, 
 he consented to their request; • and,' he adds, 'I 
 did twice, at two several assemblies, (but in pri- 
 vate,) though with much weakness and infirmity, 
 discover my gift amongst them ; at which they not 
 only seemed to be, but did frequently protest, as in 
 the sight of the great God, they were both affected 
 and comforted ; and gave thanks to the Father of 
 mercies for the grace bestowed on me. After this, 
 sometimes, when some of them did go into the 
 country to teach, they would also that I should go 
 with them ; where, though as yet I did not, nor 
 durst make use of my gift in an open way, yet 
 more privately, still, as I came amongst the good 
 people in those places, I did sometimes speak a 
 word of admonition unto them also ; the which 
 they, as the other, received with rejoicing at the 
 mercy of God to me -ward, professing their souls 
 were edified thereby. 
 
 1 Wherefore, to be brief; at last, being still de- 
 sired by the church, after some solemn prayer to 
 the Lord, with fasting, I was more particularly 
 called forth, and appointed to a more ordinary and 
 public preaching of the word ; not only to and 
 amongst them that believed, but also to offer the 
 
BUNYAN. 113 
 
 gospel to those who had not -yet received the faith 
 thereof; about which time I did evidently find in 
 my mind a secret pricking forward thereto ; though, 
 I bless God, not for desire of vain-glory ; for at 
 that time I was most afflicted with the fiery darts 
 of the devil concerning my eternal state. But yet 
 I could not be content, unless I was found in the 
 exercise of my gift. 
 
 He was much encouraged by the continued 
 desire of his brethren, by various passages of scrip- 
 ture, and by examples of holy men set forth in 
 Fox's Acts and Monuments, or Book of Martyrs. 
 *■ Wherefore,' he says, ' though of myself of all 
 the saints the most unworthy, yet I, but with great 
 fear and trembling at the sight of my own weak- 
 ness, did set upon the work, and did, according to 
 my gift, and the proportion of my faith, preach that 
 blessed gospel that God has showed me in the 
 holy word of truth ; which, when the country un- 
 derstood, they came in to hear the word by hun- 
 dreds, and that from all parts, though upon divers 
 and sundry accounts. And I thank God, he gave 
 unto me some measure of bowels and pity for their 
 souls ; which also did put me forward to labor, 
 with great diligence and earnestness, to find out 
 such a word as might, if God would bless it, lay 
 hold of, and awaken the conscience ; in which, 
 also, the good Lord had respect to the desire of 
 his servant. For I had not preached long, before 
 some began to be touched, and be greatly afflicted 
 in their minds at the apprehension of the greatness 
 of their sin? and of their need of Jesus Christ ! . . . 
 
 4 Seeing them, in both their words and deeds, to 
 
114 LIFE OF 
 
 be so constant, and, also in their hearts so earnestly 
 pressing after knowledge of Jesus Christ, rejoicing 
 that ever God did send me where they were ; then I 
 began to conclude it might be so, that God had own- 
 ed in his work such a foolish one as I ; and then came 
 that word of God to my heart, The blessing of them 
 that are ready to perish is come upon me ; yea, I caus- 
 ed the widow's heart to sing for joy.* At this, there- 
 fore, I rejoiced ; yea, the tears of those whom God 
 did awaken by my preaching would be both solace 
 and encouragement to me. I thought on those 
 sayings, Who is he that maketh me glad, but the 
 same that is made sorry by me ?\ and again, Though 
 I be not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am 
 unto you, for the seal of my apostleship are ye in 
 the Lord.% These things, therefore, were as ano- 
 ther argument unto me, that God had called me to, 
 and stood by me in this work. 
 
 ( In my preaching of the word, I took special 
 notice of this one thing, namely, that the Lord did 
 lead me to begin where his word begins with sin- 
 ners ; that is, to condemn all flesh. ... I preach- 
 ed what I felt, what 1 smartingly did feel, even 
 that under which my poor soul did groan and trem- 
 ble to astonishment. Indeed, I have been as one 
 sent to them from the dead. I went myself in 
 chains, to preach to them in chains, and carried 
 that fire in my own conscience, that I persuaded 
 them to be aware of. I can truly say, and that 
 without dissembling, that when I have been to 
 preach, I have gone full of guilt and terror even to 
 the pulpit door ; and there it hath been taken off, 
 
 * Job 29: 13. f 2 Cor. 2:2. jl Cor. 9:2. 
 
BUNYAN. 115 
 
 and I have been at liberty in my mind until I have 
 done my work ; and then immediately, even before 
 I could get down the pulpit-stairs, I have been as 
 bad as I was before ; yet God carried me on, but 
 surely, with a strong hand 
 
 i Thus I went on for the space of two years, 
 crying out against men's sins, and their fearful 
 state because of them. After which the Lord 
 came in upon my own soul, with some sure peace 
 and comfort through Christ ; for he did give me 
 many sweet discoveries of his blessed grace through 
 him. Wherefore, now I altered in my preaching, 
 (for still I preached what I saw and felt ;) now, 
 therefore, I did much labor to hold with Jesus 
 Christ in all his offiees, relations, and benefits unto 
 the world ; and did strive also to discover, to con- 
 demn, and remove those false supports and props, 
 on which the world doth lean, and by them fall 
 and perish. On these things also I staid as long 
 as on the other. 
 
 4 After this, God led me into something of the 
 mystery of the union of Christ. Wherefore that 1 
 discovered and showed to them also. And when I 
 had travelled through these three chief points of 
 the word of God, about the space of five years or 
 more, I was caught in my present practice, and 
 cast into prison, where I have lain, above as long 
 again, to confirm the truth by way of suffering, as 
 I was before in testifying of it according to the 
 scriptures, in a way of preaching.' 
 
 When he preached, his heart would often cry to 
 God that He would make the truth effectual to the 
 salvation of the soul. He was distressed at the 
 
116 LIFE OP 
 
 thought that, (like the good seed in the parable,) it 
 might be taken away from the conscience by the 
 enemy, and so become unfruitful ; and hence he 
 labored to speak with such point and particularity, 
 as, if possible, to fasten it there. And at the close 
 of the exercises, ' it hath,' he says, ' gone to my 
 heart, to think the word should now fall as rain on 
 stony places ; still wishing from my heart, Oh ! 
 that they who have heard me speak this day did 
 but see as I do, what sin, death, hell, and the curse 
 of God is ; and also what the grace, and love, and 
 mercy of God is, through Christ, to men in such 
 a case as they are who are yet estranged from 
 him ! . . . . 
 
 ■ When I first went to preach the word abroad, 
 the doctors and priests of the country did open 
 wide against me ; but I was persuaded of this, not 
 to render railing for railing, but to see how many 
 of their carnal professors I could convince of their 
 miserable state by the law, and of the want and 
 worth of Christ. For, thought I, this shall answer 
 for me in time to come, when they shall be for my 
 hire before their face. I never cared to meddle 
 with things that were controverted and in dispute 
 among the saints, especially things of the lowest 
 nature ; yet, it pleased me much to contend with 
 great earnestness for the word of faith, and the 
 remission of sins by the death and sufferings of 
 Jesus. But, I say, as to other things, I would let 
 them alone ; because I saw they engendered strife ; 
 and because that they, neither in doing nor in 
 leaving undone, did commend us to God to be his. 
 Besides, I saw my work before me did run into 
 
BUNYAN. 117 
 
 another channel, even to carry an awakening 
 word. To that, therefore, I did stick and adhere. . . 
 
 ' If any of those who were awakened by my 
 ministry did after that fall back, (as sometimes too 
 many did,) I can truly say, their loss hath been 
 more to me, than if my own children had been 
 going to the grave. I think, verily, I may speak 
 it without offence to the Lord, nothing has gone so 
 near me as that ; unless it was the fear of the loss 
 of the salvation of my own soul. I have counted 
 as if I had goodly buildings and lordships in those 
 places where my [spiritual] children were born. 
 My heart hath been so wrapped up in the glory of 
 this excellent work, that I counted myself more 
 blessed and honored of God by this, than if he had 
 made me the emperor of the Christian world, or 
 the lord of all the glory of the earth without it ! 
 O these words ! He that converteth a sinner from 
 the error of his way, doth save a soul from death* 
 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life ; and he 
 that ivinneth souls is wise.'f They that be ivise 
 shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and 
 they that turn many to righteousness , as the stars 
 for ever and ever.\ For ichat is our hope^ our joy , 
 or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye in the pre- 
 sence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming 1 For 
 ye are our glory and joy.§ These, I -say, with 
 many others of a like nature, have been great 
 refreshments to me.' 
 
 In fulfilling his ministry, he greatly desired to 
 get into the darkest places of the country; 'yet 
 
 * James 5: 20. f Prov. 12; 30. 
 
 $ Dan. 12: 3. § IThess. 2: 19,20. 
 
118 LIFE OF 
 
 not,' he says, 'because I could not endure the 
 light, (for I feared not to show my gospel to any,) 
 but because I found my spirit lean most after 
 awakening and converting work.' 
 ♦ Sometimes he was tempted to be entirely dis- 
 couraged, fearing that he should not be able to ad- 
 dress the people at all to their edification ; at 
 which times his body would lose its strength, and 
 a strange faintness come over him. Sometimes, 
 when he was preaching, he was violently assaulted 
 with thoughts of blasphemy, and tempted to utter 
 them before the congregation. Sometimes, when 
 about to preach on some searching text, he says, 
 he found the tempter suggest, What ! will you 
 preach this? This condemns yourself. Of this 
 your own soul is guilty. Wherefore, preach not 
 of this at all ; or, if you do, yet so mince it as 
 to make way for your own escape ; lest, instead 
 of awakening others, you lay that guilt upon your 
 own soul, that you will never get from under. 
 
 But he thanks the Lord that he was kept from 
 consenting to these evil suggestions. 
 
 Often, also, while engaged in his ministerial 
 labors, he informs us, he was tempted to think too 
 highly of himself; ' and,' he adds, ' though I dare 
 not say I have not been affected with this, yet truly 
 the Lord, of his precious mercy, hath so carried it 
 towards me, that, for the most part, I have had but 
 small joy to give way to such a thing ; for it hath 
 been my every day's portion to be let into the evil 
 of my own heart, and still made to see such a mul- 
 titude of corruptions and infirmities therein, that it 
 hath caused hanging down of the head under all 
 
BUNYAN. 119 
 
 my gifts and attainments. I have felt this thorn in 
 the flesh, the very mercy of God to me. I have also 
 had, together with this, some notable place or other 
 of the word presented before me ; which word hath 
 contained in it some sharp and piercing sentence 
 concerning the perishing of the soul, notwithstand- 
 ing gifts and parts ; as, for instance, that hath been 
 of great use to me, Though I speak with the tongues 
 of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am 
 become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cynibaU 
 
 Bunyan's ministry was remarkably successful. 
 But for the purpose of causing it to be abandoned, 
 the ignorant and malicious were stirred up to load 
 him with slanders and reproaches. It was 'whirled 
 up and down the country,' that he was a sorcerer, 
 a Jesuit, a highwaymnn, and the like. But, above 
 all, it was most confidently asserted that he was an 
 adulterer. ' These things,' he replies, ' upon mine 
 own account, trouble me not ; no, though they were 
 twenty times more than they are. I have a good 
 conscience ; and whereas they speak evil of me 
 as an evil-doer, they shall be ashamed that falsely 
 accuse my good conversation in Christ. So, then, 
 what shall I say to those who have thus bespattered 
 me ? Shall I threaten them ? Shall I chide them ? 
 Shall I flatter them ? Shall I entreat them to hold 
 their tongues ? No, not I. Were it not for that 
 these things make them ripe for damnation that 
 are the authors and abettors, I would say unto 
 them, Report it ; because it will increase my 
 glory.' 
 
 He then proceeds to challenge his accusers, 
 4 when they have used the utmost of their endea- 
 
120 LIFE OF 
 
 vors, and made the fullest inquiry that they can, to 
 prove against me truly, that there is any woman 
 in heaven, or earth, or hell, that can say I have at 
 any time, in any place, by day or night, so much 
 as attempted to be naught with them. And speak 
 I thus to beg mine enemies into a good esteem of 
 me ? No, not I. I will in this beg belief of no 
 man. Believe or disbelieve me in this, all is a 
 case to me. My foes have missed their mark in 
 this their shooting at me. I am not the man. I 
 wish that they themselves be guiltless. If all the 
 fornicators and adulterers in England were hanged 
 up by the neck, till they be dead, John Bunyan, 
 the object of their envy, would be still alive and 
 well. I know not whether there be such a thing 
 as a woman, breathing under the copes of the hea- 
 vens, but by their apparel, their children, or by 
 
 common fame, except my wife 
 
 ' And now for a wind-up in this matter, I call 
 not only men, but angels, to prove me guilty of 
 having carnally to do with any woman, except my 
 wife ; nor am I afraid to do it a second time, 
 knowing that I cannot offend the Lord in such a 
 case, to call God for a record upon my soul, that 
 in these things I am innocent. Not that I have 
 been thus kept because of any goodness in me 
 more than any other ; but God has been merciful 
 to me, and has kept me ; to whom I pray, that he 
 will keep me still, not only from this, but every 
 evil way and work, and preserve me to his hea- 
 venly kingdom. Amen.' 
 
BUNYAN. 121 
 
 From his Arrest to his Imprisonment for Preaching, 
 in 1660. 
 
 The arrest and imprisonment of Bunyan, for 
 preaching the Gospel contrary to the laws, are 
 important events in his history. He was the first 
 who suffered for Non-conformity in the reign of 
 Charles II. It was only five months after the 
 restoration of the regal power, and the placing of 
 that monarch on the throne of his father ; for it 
 was in November, 1660. 
 
 He had been requested by some of his friends in 
 the country to come and preach on the 12th day 
 of that month, at Samwell, near Harlington, in 
 Bedfordshire. On arriving at the place appointed, 
 the dwelling-house of one of those friends, he heard 
 that a warrant was out to take him. His friends, 
 apprehensive of what might befal the preacher, 
 suggested that it might be better for him to escape 
 immediately. ' No,' replied Bunyan, ■ by no means. 
 Come, be of good cheer ; let us not be daunted. 
 Our cause is good ; we need not be ashamed of it ; 
 to preach God's word, it is so good a work, that 
 we shall be well rewarded if we suffer for it.' 
 
 Then he walked out into the enclosed field, and 
 while pondering the subject, 4 this,' he remarks, 
 ' came into my mind : That I had showed myself 
 hearty and courageous in preaching, and had, bless- 
 ed be grace, made it my business to encourage 
 others, therefore, thought I, if I should now run, and 
 make an escape, it will be of a very ill savor in the 
 
 11 
 
122 LIFE OF 
 
 country. For what will my weak and newly con- 
 verted brethren think of it, but that I was not so 
 strong in deed as in word ? Also I feared that if I 
 should run now there was a warrant out for me, I 
 might by so doing make them afraid to stand, 
 when great words only should be spoken to them. 
 Besides, I thought, that seeing God of his mercy 
 had chosen me to go upon the forlorn hope in this 
 country ; that is, to be the first that should be op- 
 posed for the gospel ; if I should fly, it might be a 
 discouragement to the whole body that might fol- 
 low after. And further, I thought the world there- 
 by might take occasion at my cowardliness to have 
 blasphemed the gospel, and to have had some 
 grounds to suspect worse of me and my profession 
 than I deserved. These things, with others con- 
 sidered by me, I came in again to the house, with 
 a full resolution to keep the meeting, and not to go 
 away, though I could have been gone about an 
 hour before the officer apprehended me ; but I 
 would not ; for I was resolved to see the utmost 
 of what they could say or do unto me. For, bless- 
 ed be the Lord, I knew of no evil that I had said 
 or done.' 
 
 And so he stood up in his place, and began the 
 religious services. From a full heart he poured 
 forth prayer for the blessing of God upon the op- 
 portunity ; and he was about to preach from 
 John 9 : 34 : — Dost thou believe on the Son of 
 God ? At this moment, while he and the listening, 
 anxious little assembly had only their Bibles in 
 their hands, ready to speak and tohear the Gos- 
 pel, the constable entered and apprehended him, 
 
BUNYAN. 123 
 
 so that he could not proceed. ' But,' says the pri- 
 soner, in the account which he wrote of this affair, a 
 few days after its occurrence, ' before I went away, 
 I spake some few words of counsel and encourage- 
 ment to the people, declaring to them that they 
 saw we were prevented of our opportunity to speak 
 and hear the word of God, and were like to suffer 
 for the same ; desiring them that they would not 
 be discouraged ; for it was a mercy to suffer upon 
 so good account. For we might have been appre- 
 hended as thieves or murderers, or for other wick- 
 edness ; but, blessed be God, it was not so : We 
 suffer as christians for well doing ; and we had 
 better be the persecuted than the persecutors. — 
 But the constable and the justice's man waiting on 
 us, would not be at quiet till they had me away 
 from the house. But because the justice was not 
 at home that day, there was a friend of mine en- 
 gaged for me to bring me to the constable on the 
 morrow morning. Otherwise, the constable must 
 have charged a watch with me, or have secured 
 me some other ways, my crime was so great. So 
 on the next morning we went to the constable, 
 and so to the justice. He asked the constable 
 what we did where we were met together, and 
 what we had with us. I trow, he meant whether 
 we had armor or not. But when the constable 
 told him that there were only met a few of us 
 together to preach and hear the word, and no 
 sign of any thing else, he could not well tell what 
 to say. Yet because he had sent for me, he did 
 adventure to put out a few proposals to me, which 
 were to this effect ; namely : What I did there ; 
 
124 LIFE OF 
 
 ♦ 4 
 
 and why I did not content myself with following 
 my calling ; for it was against the law that such 
 as I # should be admitted to do as I did. 
 
 ' To which I answered, that the intent of my 
 coming thither, and to other places, was to in- 
 struct, and counsel people to forsake their sins, 
 and close in with Christ, lest they did miserably 
 perish ; and that I could do both these without 
 confusion, (to wit,) follow my calling, and preach 
 the word also. At this, he was in a chafe, as it 
 appeared ; for he said that he would break the 
 neck of our meetings. 
 
 ' I said, it may be so. Then he wished me to 
 get me sureties to be bound for me, or else he 
 would send me to the jail. 
 
 ' My sureties being ready, I called them in, and 
 when the bond for my appearance was made, he 
 told them that they were bound to keep me from 
 preaching ; and that if I did preach, their bonds 
 would be forfeited. To which I answered, that 
 then I should break them ; for I should not leave 
 speaking the word of God ;— even to counsel, com- 
 fort, exhort, and teach the people among whom I 
 came ; and I thought this to be a work that had no 
 hurt in it, but was rather worthy of commendation 
 than blame. 
 
 1 Whereat he told me, that if they would not be 
 so bound, my mittimus must* be made, and I sent 
 to the jail, there to lie to the quarter-sessions. 
 
 'Now while my mittimus was a making, the 
 justice was withdrawn, and in comes an old enemy 
 to the truth, Dr. Lindale, who when he was come 
 in, fell to taunting at me with many reviling terms. 
 
BUNYAN. 125 
 
 To whom I answered, that I did not come thither 
 to talk with him, but with the justice. Whereat 
 he supposing that I had nothing to say for myself, 
 triumphed as if he had got the victory ; charging 
 and condemning me for meddling with that for 
 which I could show no warrant, and asked me if I 
 had taken the oaths ; and if I had not, it was pity 
 but that I should be sent to prison. I told him, 
 that if I was minded, I could answer to any sober 
 question that he should put to me. He then urged 
 me again, how I could prove it lawful for me to 
 preach, with a great deal of confidence of the vic- 
 tory. But at last, because he should see that I 
 could answer him if I listed, I cited him to that in 
 Peter, which saith, as every man hath received the 
 gift, even so let him minister the same. 
 
 'Ah, saith he, to whom is that spoken? To 
 whom ? said *I ; why, to every man that hath 
 received a gift from God. Mark ; the apostle 
 saith, as every man hath received a gift from God. 
 And again, Ye may all prophecy one by one. 
 Whereat the man was a little stopt, and went a 
 softlier pace. But, not being willing to lose the 
 day, he began again, and said : Indeed, I do re- 
 member that I have read of one Alexander, a cop- 
 persmith, who did much oppose and disturb the 
 apostles. (Aiming, it is like, at me, because I 
 was a tinker.) To which I answered, that I also 
 had read of very many priests and Pharisees, that 
 had their hands in the blood of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Ay, saith he, and you are one of those 
 Scribes and Pharisees ; for you with a pretence, 
 make long prayers to devour widows' houses. I 
 
126 LIFE OF 
 
 answered that if he had got no more by preaching 
 and praying than I had done, he could not be so 
 rich as now he was. But, that scripture coming 
 into my mind, answer not a fool according to his 
 folly, I was as sparing of my speech as I could 
 be, without prejudice to the truth. 
 
 * Now by this time, my mittimus was made, and 
 I committed to the constable to be sent to the jail 
 in Bedford. But as I was going, two of my breth- 
 ren met with me by the way, and desired the con- 
 stable to stay, supposing that they should prevail 
 with the justice, through the favor of a pretended 
 friend, to let me go at liberty. So we did stay, 
 while they went to the justice, and after much dis- 
 course with him, it came to this ; that if I would 
 come to him again, and say some certain words to 
 him, I should be released. Which when they told 
 me, I said if the words were such as' might be said 
 with a good conscience, I would ; otherwise, I 
 would not. So, through their importunity, I went 
 back again, but not believing that I should be de- 
 livered ; for I feared their spirit was too full of 
 opposition to the truth, to let me go, unless I should 
 in something or other dishonor my God, and wound 
 my conscience. Wherefore, as I went, I lifted up 
 my heart to God for light, and strength, to be kept, 
 that I might not do any thing that might either 
 dishonor him, or wrong my own soul, or be a 
 grief or discouragement to any that were inclining 
 after the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 f When I came to the justice again, there was 
 Mr. Foster, of Bedford, who, coming out of another 
 room, and seeing me by the light of the candle, 
 
BUN Y AN. 127 
 
 (for it was dark night when I went thither,) he 
 said unto me, Who is there, John Bunyan ? With 
 much seeming affection as if he would have leaped 
 on my neck and kissed me ; which made me 
 somewhat wonder,- that such a man as he, with 
 whom I had so little acquaintance, and besides, 
 that had ever been a close opposer of the ways of 
 God, should carry himself so -full of love to me. 
 But afterwards, when I saw what he did, it caused 
 me to remember those sayings, Their tongues are 
 smoother than oil, but their words are drawn 
 swords. And again, Beware of men. When I 
 had answered him, that, blessed be God, I was 
 well, he said, what is the occasion of your being 
 here ? or to that purpose. To whom I answered, 
 that I was at a meeting of people a little way off, 
 intending to speak a word of exhortation to them. 
 The justice hearing thereof, (said I,) was pleased 
 to send his warrant to fetch me before him. 
 
 ' So (said he) I understand. But well, if you 
 will promise to call the people no more together, 
 you shall have your liberty to go home ; for my 
 brother is very loath to send you to prison if you 
 will De but ruled. 
 
 ; Sir, said I, pray what do you mean by calling 
 the people together ? My business is not any thing 
 among them when they are come together, but to 
 exhort them to look after the salvation of their 
 souls. 
 
 6 Saith he, we must not enter into explication or 
 dispute now ; but if you will say you will call the 
 people no more together, you may have your 
 liberty ; if not, you must be sent away to prison. 
 
128 LIFE OF 
 
 ' Sir, said I, I shall not force or compel any 
 man to hear me ; but yet, if I come into any place 
 where there is a people met together, I should, 
 according to the best of my skill and wisdom, ex- 
 hort and counsel them to seek after the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, for the, salvation of their souls. 
 
 ' He said, that was none of my work ; I must 
 follow my calling ; »and if I would but leave off 
 preaching, and follow my calling, I should have 
 the justice's favor, and be acquitted presently. 
 
 ' To whom I said that I could follow my calling 
 and that too, namely, preaching the word. And I 
 did look upon it as my duty to do them both, as I 
 had an opportunity. 
 
 ' He said, to have any such meetings was 
 against the law ; and, therefore, he would have 
 me le^ve off, and say, I would call the people no 
 more together. 
 
 ' To whom I said, that I durst not make any 
 further promise ; for my conscience would not 
 suffer me to do it. And again, I did look upon it 
 as my duty to do as much good as I could, not only 
 in my trade, but also in communicating to all peo- 
 ple wheresoever I came, the best knowledge 1 had 
 in the word. 
 
 1 He told me that I was the nearest the Papists 
 of any, and that he would convince me of immedi- 
 ately. I asked him, wherein ? He said, in that 
 we understood the scriptures literally. I told him, 
 that those that were to be understood literally we 
 understood so ; but for those that were to be 
 understood otherwise, we endeavored to understand 
 them. He said, which of the scriptures do you 
 
BUNYAN. 129. 
 
 understand literally ? I said this, He that believeth 
 shall be saved. This was to be understood just as 
 it is spoken, that whosoever believeth in Christ, 
 shall, according to the plain and simple words of 
 the text, be saved. He said that I was ignorant, 
 and did not understand the scriptures ; for how 
 (said he) can you understand them when you know 
 not the original Greek ? To whom I said, that if 
 that was his opinion, that none could understand 
 the scriptures but those that had the original 
 Greek, then but a very few of the poorest sort 
 should be saved ; (this is harsh ;) yet the scrip- 
 ture saith, that God hides his things from the wise 
 and prudent, (that is, from the learned of the 
 world,) and reveals them to babes and sucklings. 
 
 ' He said there was none that heard me but 
 a company of foolish people. I told him that there 
 were the wise as well as the foolish that do hear 
 me ; and again, those that are most commonly 
 counted foolish by the world, are the wisest before 
 God ; also, that God had rejected the wise, and 
 mighty, and noble, and chose the foolish and the 
 base. 
 
 1 He told me that I made people neglect their 
 calling ; and that God had commanded people to 
 work six days, and serve him on the seventh. I 
 told him, that it was the duty of people, (both rich 
 and poor,) to look out for their souls on those 
 days as well as for their bodies ; and that God 
 would have his people exhort one another daily 9 
 while it is called to-day. He said again, that there 
 were none but a company of poor, simple, igno- 
 rant people that came to hear me. I told him, 
 
130 LIFE OF 
 
 that the foolish and ignorant had most need of 
 teaching and information ; and, therefore, it would 
 be profitable for me to go on in that work. 
 
 1 Well, said he, to conclude, but will you promise 
 that you will not call the people together any 
 more ? and then you may be released and go 
 home. I told him, that I durst say no more than 
 I had said ; for I durst not leave off that work 
 which God had called me to. So he withdrew 
 from me ; and then came several of the justice's 
 servants to me, and told me that I stood so much 
 upon a nicety. Their master, they said, was wil- 
 ling to let me go ; and if I would but say I would 
 call the people no more together, I might have my 
 liberty. I told them there were more ways than 
 one, in which a man might be said to call the peo- 
 ple together. As for instance, if a man get upon 
 the market place, and there read a book, or the 
 like, though he do not say to the people, Sirs, come 
 hither and hear ; yet if they come to him because 
 he reads, he, by his very reading, may be said to 
 call them together ; because they would not have 
 been there to hear, if he had not been there to 
 read. And seeing this might be termed a calling 
 the people together, I durst not say I would not 
 call them together ; for then, by the same argu- 
 ment, my preaching might be said to call them 
 together. 
 
 1 Then came the justice and Mr. Foster to me 
 again. (We had a little more discourse about 
 preaching, but because the method of it is out of 
 mind, I pass it.) And when they saw that I was 
 at a point, and would not be moved nor persuaded. 
 
BUNYAN. 131 
 
 Mr. Foster told the justice that then he must send 
 me away to prison ; and that he would do well, 
 also, if he would present all them that were the 
 cause of my coming among them to meetings. 
 Thus we parted. And verily, as I was going forth 
 of the doors, I had much ado to forbear saying to 
 them, that I carried the peace of God along with 
 me. But I held my peace, and, blessed be the 
 Lord, went away to prison with God's comfort in 
 my poor soul. 
 
 Efforts of his Brethren and of Mrs. Bunyanfor 
 his Liberation. 
 
 " After I had lain in the jail five or six days, the 
 brethren sought means again to get me out by 
 bondsmen ; (for so run my mittimus, that I should 
 lie there till I could find sureties.) They went to 
 a justice at Elstow, one Mr. Crumpton, to desire 
 him to take bond for my appearing at the quarter- 
 sessions. At the first he told them he would ; but 
 afterwards he made a demur at the business, and 
 desired first to see my mittimus, which run to this 
 purpose : that I went about to several conventicles 
 in this county, to the great disparagement of the 
 government of the Church of England, &c. When 
 he had seen it, he said that there might be some- 
 thing more against me than was expressed in my 
 mittimus ; and that he was but a young man, 
 therefore, he durst not do it. This my jailor told 
 
132 LIFE OF 
 
 me. Whereat I was not at all daunted, but rather 
 glad, and saw evidently that the Lord had heard 
 me ; for before I went down to the justice, I 
 begged of God, that if I might do more good by- 
 being at liberty than in prison, that then I might 
 be set at liberty ; but if not, his will be done. 
 For I was not altogether without hopes that my 
 imprisonment might be an awakening to the 
 saints in the country. Therefore, I could not tell 
 well which to choose : only I, in that manner, did 
 commit the thing to God. And, verily, at my 
 return I did meet my God sweetly in the prison 
 again, comforting me and satisfying me that it was 
 his will and mind that I should be there. 
 
 4 When I came back again to prison, as I was 
 musing at the slender answer of the justice, this 
 word dropped in upon my heart with some life, 
 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 
 
 ' Thus have I in short declared the manner and 
 occasion of my being in prison, where I lie wait- 
 ing the good will of God, to do with me as he 
 pleaseth ; knowing that not one hair of my head 
 can fall to the ground without the will of my 
 Father which is in heaven. Let the rage and 
 malice of men be never so great, they can do no 
 more, nor go no farther, than God permits them. 
 But when they have done their worst, we know 
 all things shall work together for good to them that 
 love God. Farewell.' 
 
 At the next sessions in Bedford, after lying in 
 prison more than seven weeks, he was indicted as 
 an upholder of unlawful assemblies, and as not 
 conforming to the national worship in the Church 
 
BUNYAN. 133 
 
 of England. He underwent a hasty and supercili- 
 ous examination before the justices, and received 
 the following sentence : ' You must be had back 
 again to prison, and there lie for three months fol- 
 lowing ; and at three months' end, if you do not 
 submit to go to church to hear divine service, and 
 leave your preaching, you must be banished the 
 realm : and if after such a day as shall be ap- 
 pointed you to be gone, you shall be found in this 
 realm, or be found to come over again without 
 special license from the king, . . you must stretch 
 by the neck for it, I tell you plainly.' 
 
 Bunyan could not but feel that his case bore a 
 strong resemblance to that of the apostles Peter 
 and John, when they replied to their judges, 
 Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken 
 unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we 
 cannot but speak the things which we have seen 
 and heard.* And he replied, ' If I were out of 
 prison to-day, I would preach the gospel to-morrow, 
 by the help of God.' Some one made him an 
 answer ; but he could not tell what it was ; for 
 the jailor pulled him away to be gone. Thus he 
 left the court. ' And,' he adds, ' I can truly say, I 
 bless the Lord Jesus Christ for it, that my heart 
 was sweetly refreshed in the time of my examina- 
 tion, and also afterwards, at my returning to the 
 prison ; so that I found Christ's words more than 
 bare trifles, where he saith, I will give you a 
 mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall 
 not be able to gainsay nor resist ; and that his 
 peace no man can take from us.' 
 
 * Acts 4 : 19, 20. 
 
134 LIFE OF 
 
 At the end of the three months, the clerk of 
 the Peace was sent to admonish Bunyan, and 
 receive his submission. He ^conversed with him 
 in a very plausible manner, endeavoring to per- 
 suade him to give up his preaching, and content 
 himself with doing good ' in a neighborly way.' 
 The prisoner replied, ; I bless the Lord that my 
 heart is at that point, that if any man can lay any 
 thing to my charge, either in doctrine or in prac- 
 tice, in this particular, that can be proved error or 
 heresy, I am willing to disown it, even in the very 
 market place. But if it be truth, then to stand to 
 it to the last drop of my blood. And sir, you 
 ought to commend me for so doing. To err, and 
 to be a heretic, are two things. I am no heretic ; 
 because I will not stand refractorily to defend any 
 one thing that is contrary to the word. Prove any- 
 thing which I hold to be an error, and I will re- 
 cant it.' 
 
 But, said the clerk, what if you should forbear 
 a-while, and sit still, till you see further how 
 things will go ? ' Sir,' Bunyan replied, * WicklifFe 
 saith that 'he which leaveth off preaching and 
 hearing of the word of God for fear of excommuni- 
 cation of men, is already excommunicated of God ; 
 and shall, in the day of judgment, be counted a 
 traitor to Christ.' .... 
 
 He proceeded, in the spirit of the great Refor- 
 mation, to maintan that the scriptures duly com- 
 pared with each other, should be our guide. But 
 are you willing, said the clerk, to stand to the 
 judgment of the church ? Yes sir, it was replied, 
 to the approbation of the church of God : (The 
 
BUNYAN. 135 
 
 church's judgment is best expressed in scripture.) 
 . . . Moreover, to cut off all occasions of suspi- 
 cion from any, as touching the harmlessness of my 
 doctrine, I would willingly take the pains to give 
 any one the notes of all my sermons ; for I do 
 sincerely desire to live quietly in my country, and 
 to submit to the present authority. 
 
 Well, neighbor Bunyan, said the clerk, I would, 
 indeed, wish you seriously to consider of these 
 things, between this and the quarter sessions, and 
 to submit yourself. You may do much good if 
 you continue still in the land. But, alas ! what 
 benefit will it be to your friends, or what good can 
 it do to them, if you should be sent away beyond 
 the seas into Spain, or Canstantinople, or some 
 other remote part of the world ? Pray be ruled. 
 
 Indeed, sir, I hope he will be ruled, added the 
 jailor. I shall desire, said Bunyan, in all godli- 
 ness and honesty to behave myself in the nation 
 whilst I am in it, and if I must be so dealt with, 
 as you say, I hope God will help me to bear what 
 shall be laid upon me. I know no evil that I have 
 done in this ma.tter, to be so used. I speak as in 
 the presence of God. 
 
 You know, argued the clerk in reply, (so closes 
 the interesting account which Bunyan has given 
 of this interview,) 'you know that the scripture 
 saith, The powers that be, are ordtiined of God. I 
 said, yes ; and that I was to submit to the king as 
 supreme, and to the governors as to them that 
 are sent by him. Well then, said he, the king 
 commands you, that you should not have any 
 private meetings ; because it is against his law, 
 
136 LIFE OF 
 
 and he is ordained of God, therefore you should 
 not have any. I told him that Paul did own the 
 powers that were in his day as being of God ; and 
 yet he was often in prison under them for all that. 
 And also, though Jesus Christ told Pilate that he 
 had no power against him, but of God, yet he died 
 under the same Pilate ; and yet, said I, I hope you 
 will not say, that either Paul or Christ was such 
 as did deny magistracy, and so sinned against God 
 in slighting the ordinance. Sir, said I, the law 
 hath provided two ways of obeying : The one to 
 do that which I in my conscience do believe that 
 I am bound to do actively ; and [the other] where 
 I cannot obey actively ; — there I am willing to lie 
 down, and to suffer what they shall do unto me. 
 A^ this, he sat still and said no more ; which when 
 he had done, I did thank him for his civil and 
 meek discoursing with me ; and so we parted. O, 
 that we might meet in heaven !' 
 
 The following document needs no comment. It 
 will speak to the heart of every reader, while it 
 will shed some light on the position and the char- 
 acter of the celebrated Sir Matthew Hale, the 
 Lord Chief Justice. Bunyan who begins it w T ith 
 a few prefatory remarks, calls it a Discourse be- 
 tween my Wife and the Judges, with others, touch- 
 ing my deliverance at the assizes following ; the 
 which I took from her own mouth. 
 
 After that I had received this sentence of ban- 
 ishing, or hanging, from them, and after the 
 former admonition, touching the determination of 
 justices, if I did not recant ; just when the time 
 drew nigh, in which I should have abjured, or have 
 
BUNYAN, 137 
 
 done worse, (as Mr. Cobb [the clerk] told me,) 
 came the time in which the king was to be 
 crowned. Now at the coronation of kings, there 
 is usually a releasement of divers prisoners, by 
 virtue of his coronation ; in which privilege also I 
 should have had my share ; but that they took me 
 for a convicted person, and therefore, unless I sued 
 out a pardon, (as they called it,) I could have no 
 benefit thereby, notwithstanding. Yet, for as much 
 as the coronation proclamation did give liberty 
 from the day the king was crowned to that day 
 twelvemonth to sue them out ; therefore, though 
 they would not let me out of prison, as they let out 
 thousands, yet they could not meddle with me, as 
 touching the execution of their sentence ; because 
 of the liberty offered for the suing out of pardons. 
 Whereupon I continued in prison till the next 
 assizes, which are called midsummer assizes, be- 
 ing then kept in August, 1661. 
 
 Now N at that assizes, because I would not leave 
 any possible means unattempted that might be 
 lawful, I did, by my wife, present a petition to the 
 judges three times, that I might be heard, and that 
 they would impartially take my case into consider- 
 ation. 
 
 The first time my wife went, she presented it to 
 Judge Hale, who very mildly received it at her 
 hand, telling her that he would do her and me the 
 best good he could ; but he feared, he said, he 
 could do none. The next day again, lest they 
 should, through the multitude of business, forget 
 me, we did throw another petition into the coach 
 to Judge Twisdon ; who, when he had seen it, 
 
138 LIFE OF 
 
 snapt her up, and angrily told her that I was a 
 convicted person, and could not be released, unless 
 I would promise to preach no more. 
 
 After this, she yet again presented another to 
 Judge Hale, as he sat on the bench, who, as it 
 seemed, was willing to give her audience. Only 
 Justice Chester, being present, stept up and said, 
 that I was convicted in the court, and that I was a 
 hot spirited fellow, or words to that purpose ; 
 whereat he waived it, and did not meddle there- 
 with. But yet, my wife, being encouraged by the 
 high sheriff, did venture once more into their 
 presence, (as the poor widow did to the unjust 
 judge,) to try what she could do with them for my 
 liberty, before they went forth of the town. The 
 place where she went to them, was the Swan 
 Chamber, where the two judges, and many justices 
 and gentry of the country, were in company 
 together. She then, coming into the chamber 
 with a bashful face and a trembling heart, began 
 her errand to them in this manner : 
 
 My lord, (directing herself to Judge Hale,) I 
 make bold to come once again to your lordships to 
 know what may be done to my husband. 
 
 To whom he said, Woman ^ I told thee before 
 I could do thee no good ; because they have taken 
 that for a conviction which thy husband spoke at 
 the sessions ; and, unless there be something done 
 to undo that, I can do thee no good. 
 
 My lord, said she, he is kept unlawfully in 
 prison : They clapped him up before there was 
 any proclamation against the meetings. The 
 indictment also is false. Besides, they never 
 
BUNYAN. 139 
 
 asked him whether he was guilty or no ; neither 
 did he confess the indictment. 
 
 Then one of the justices that stood by, whom 
 she knew not, said, My lord, he was lawfully con- 
 victed. 
 
 It is false, said she : for when they said to him, 
 Do you confess the indictment 1 he said only this, 
 that he had been at several meetings, where there 
 was preaching the word, with prayer, and that they 
 had God's presence among them. 
 
 Whereat Judge Twisdon answered very angrily, 
 saying, What ! you think we can do what we list : 
 your husband is a breaker of the peace, and is con- 
 victed by the law. . . . Whereupon Judge Hale 
 called for the statute book. 
 
 But, said she, My lord, he was not lawfully con- 
 victed. 
 
 Then Justice Chester said, My lord, he was 
 lawfully convicted. 
 
 It is false, said she : It was but a word of dis- 
 course that they took for a conviction, (as you 
 heard before.) 
 
 But it is recorded, woman, it is recorded, says 
 Justice Chester. . . As if it must, of necessity, be 
 true, because it was recorded. With which words 
 he often endeavored to stop her mouth, having no 
 other argument to convince her, but, It is recorded, 
 it is recorded. 
 
 My lord, said she, I was awhile since in Lon- 
 don, to see if I could get my husband's liberty ; 
 and there I spoke with my lord Barkwood, one of 
 the house of lords, to whom I delivered a petition, 
 who took it of me, and presented it to some of the 
 
140 LIFE OP 
 
 rest of the house of lords, for my husband's re- 
 leasement ; who, when they had seen it, said, that 
 they could not release him, but had committed his 
 releasement to the judges, at the next assizes. 
 This he told me ; and now I come to you to see 
 if any thing may be done in this business ; and 
 you give neither releasement nor relief. To 
 which they gave her no answer, but made as if 
 they heard her not. 
 
 Only Justice Chester was often up with this, 
 He is convicted, and it is recorded. 
 
 If it be, it is false, said she. 
 
 My lord, said Justice Chester, he is a pestilent 
 fellow ; — there is not such a fellow in the country 
 again. 
 
 What ! said Judge Twisdon, will your husband 
 leave preaching ? If he will do so, then send for 
 him. 
 
 My lord, said she, he dares not leave preaching, 
 as long as he can speak. 
 
 See here, (exclaimed Judge Twisdon,) what 
 should we talk any more about such a fellow ? 
 must he do what he lists ? He is a breaker of the 
 peace. 
 
 She told him again, that he desired to live 
 peaceably, and to follow his calling, that his family 
 might be maintained ; and moreover said, My 
 lord, I have four small children, that cannot help 
 themselves, of whom one is blind, and have nothing 
 to live upon, but the charity of good people. 
 
 Hast thou four children ? said Judge Hale. 
 Thou art but a young woman to have four chil- 
 dren. 
 
BUNYAN. 141 
 
 My lord, said she, I am but mother-in-law to 
 them, having not been married to him yet full two 
 years. Indeed, I was with child when my hus- 
 band was first apprehended ; but being young and 
 unaccustomed to such things, I, being dismayed at 
 the news, fell into labor, and so continued for 
 eight days, and then was delivered, but my child 
 died. 
 
 Whereat, he looking very soberly on the matter, 
 said, alas, poor woman ! 
 
 But Judge Twisdon told her, that she made 
 poverty her cloak ; and said, moreover, that he 
 understood, I was maintained better by running up 
 and down a preaching, than by following my 
 calling. 
 
 What is his calling ? said Judge Hale. 
 
 Then some of the company that stood by, said, 
 a tinker, my lord. 
 
 Yes, said she, and because he is a tinker, and a 
 poor man, therefore he is despised, and cannot 
 have justice. 
 
 Then Judge Hale answered, very mildly, saying, 
 I tell thee, woman, seeing it is so, that they have 
 taken what thy husband spake, for a conviction ; 
 thou must either apply thyself to the king, or sue 
 out his pardon, or get a writ of error. 
 
 But when Justice Chester heard him give her 
 this counsel ; and especially, (as she supposed,) 
 because he spoke of a writ of error, he chafed, and 
 seemed to be very much offended ; saying, my 
 lord, he will preach and do what he lists. 
 
 He preacheth nothing but the word of God, said 
 she. 
 
142 LIFE OF 
 
 He preach the word of God ! said Twisdon, 
 (and withal, she thought he would have struck her,) 
 — he runneth up and down, and doth harm. 
 
 No, my lord, said she ; it is not so. God hath 
 owned him, and done much good by him. 
 
 God ! said he. — His doctrine is the doctrine of 
 the devil. 
 
 My Lord, said she, when the righteous Judge 
 shall appear, it will be known, that his doctrine is 
 not the doctrine of the devil. 
 
 My lord, said he to Judge Hale, do not mind 
 her, but send her away. 
 
 Then said Judge Hale, I am sorry, woman, that 
 I can do thee no good. Thou must do one of 
 those three things aforesaid, namely, either to 
 apply thyself to the king, or sue out his pardon, or 
 get a writ of error ; but a writ of error will be the 
 cheapest. 
 
 At which Chester again seemed to be in a chafe, 
 and put off his hat, and as she thought scratched 
 his head for anger. But I saw, said slie, that 
 there was no prevailing to have my husband sent 
 for, though I often desired them that they would 
 send for him, that he might speak for himself, 
 telling them that he could give them better satis- 
 faction than I could, in what they demanded of 
 him ; with several other things, which now I for- 
 get. Only this I remember, that though I was 
 somewhat timorous at my first entrance into the 
 chamber, yet before I went out, I could not but 
 break forth into tears, not so much because they 
 were so hard-hearted against me and my husband* 
 but to think what a sad account such poor crea- 
 
BUNYAN. 143 
 
 tures will have to give at the coming of the Lord, 
 when they shall there answer for all things what- 
 soever they have done in the body, whether it be 
 good, or whether it be bad. 
 
 So when I departed from them, the book of 
 statute was brought ; but what they said of it, I 
 knew nothing at all ; neither did I hear any more 
 from them. 
 
 His long Continuance in Prison* 
 
 Thus Bunyan still continued a prisoner. For a 
 while, however, he had more liberty granted him 
 by his jailor, than at the first ; and he availed 
 himself of all the opportunities which were put in 
 his power to make known the truth of God, 
 whether in the prison or out of it, and to visit his 
 brethren, and exhort them to be firm in their prin- 
 ciples, and exemplary in their practice. But when 
 his persecutors heard that such lenity was shown 
 him, they were very angry, and threatened to have 
 his jailor removed from office. Upon this, he 
 says, ' my liberty was more straightened than it 
 was before ; so that I must not look out of the door.' 
 
 Through the malignity, the prejudice, or the 
 selfishness of men in power and place, or of those 
 who were seeking the favor of such, the various 
 efforts which he made to obtain a hearing, were 
 ineffectual. Day after day, and night after night, 
 as they succeeded each other, still found him in 
 
144 LIFE OF 
 
 prison. Spring, and summer, and autumn, and 
 winter came, and passed away, twelve times, and 
 still he was there ; waiting to see what God would 
 suffer these men to do with him. He learned to 
 make tagged lace ; and in this manner, helped to 
 supply the wants of his family. He had with him 
 a Bible, a Concordance, and Fox's Book of Mar- 
 tyrs. 
 
 In this condition, he writes, near the close of his 
 confinement, 1 1 have continued with much con- 
 tent, through grace ; but have met with many 
 turnings and goings upon my heart ; . . of which 
 at large I shall not here discourse, only give you 
 a hint or two, a word that may stir up the godly to 
 bless God, and to pray for me ; and also to take 
 encouragement, should the case be their own, not 
 to fear what man can do unto them. .... Oh ! 
 that word, We have not preached unto you cun- 
 ningly devised fables ;* and that, God raised Christ 
 from the dead, and gave him glory, that our faith 
 and hope might be in God,^ were blessed words 
 unto me in this imprisoned condition. 
 
 ' These three or four scriptures also have been 
 great refreshments in this condition to me : John 
 14 : 1—4 ; John 16 : 33 ; Col. 3 : 3, 4 ; and 
 Heb. 12 : 22 — 24. So that sometimes when I 
 have been in the savor of them, I have been able 
 to laugh at destruction, and to fear neither the 
 horse nor his rider. £ I have had sweet sights of 
 the forgiveness of my sins in this place, and of my 
 being with Jesus in another world. Oh ! the 
 mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumer- 
 
 * 2 Pet. 1 : 16. f 1 Pet. 1:2. % See Exod. 15 : 1. 
 
BUNYAN. 145 
 
 able company of angels, and God the Judge of 
 all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and 
 Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, have been 
 sweet unto me in this place ! I have seen that 
 here, that I am persuaded I shall never, while in 
 this world, be able to express. I have seen a truth 
 in the scripture, Whom not having seen, ye love ; 
 in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, 
 ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.* 
 
 c Before I came to prison, I saw what was com- 
 ing, and had especially two considerations warm 
 upon my heart. The first was, how to be able to 
 encounter, death, should that be here my portion. 
 For this, tnese scriptures were of great use to me ; 
 that which speaks of praying to God to be strength- 
 ened with all might according to his glorious power, 
 unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness ; 
 and that which says, But we had the sentence of 
 death in ourselves, that we might not trust in our- 
 selves, but in God which raiseth the dead. .... I 
 was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, 
 I must first pass sentence of death upon every 
 thing that can properly be called a thing of this 
 life ; even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, 
 my health, my enjoyments, and all, as dead to me, 
 and myself as dead to them. 
 
 ' The second was, to live upon God that is invis- 
 ible ; as Paul said in another place, the way not 
 to faint is, to look not at the things which are seen, 
 but at the things which are not seen ; for the things 
 which are seen are temporal, but the things which 
 are not seen, are, eternal, 'f 
 
 * IPet. 1: 8. f 2 Cor. 4: 18. 
 
 13 
 
146 LIFE OF 
 
 No considerations, surely, could have been more 
 appropriate and sustaining. ' But,' with a touch- 
 ing simplicity and pathos, he adds, ' notwithstand- 
 ing these helps, 1 found myself a man encompassed 
 with infirmities. The parting with my wife and 
 poor children hath often been to me in this place 
 as the pulling the flesh from the bones ; and that 
 not only because I am somewhat too fond of these 
 great mercies ; but also because I have often 
 brought to my mind the many hardships, miseries, 
 and wants, that my poor family was like to meet 
 with, should I be taken from them ; especially my 
 poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart than all 
 beside. Oh ! the thoughts of the hardships I 
 thought my poor blind one might go under, would 
 break my heart to pieces. Poor child ! (thought 
 1) what sorrow art thou like to have for thy por- 
 tion in this world ! Thou must be beaten, must 
 beg, suffer hunger, cold, nakedness, and a thou- 
 sand calamities, though I cannot now endure the 
 wind should blow upon thee. But yet, recalling 
 myself, (thought I,) I must venture you all with 
 God, though it goeth to the quick to leave you. 
 Oh ! I saw in this condition, I was a man who was 
 pulling down his house upon the head of his wife 
 and children. Yet, (thought I,) I must do it, I 
 must do it.' 
 
 Thus, in the preface to another work, a treatise 
 which he entitled a Confession of my Faith and a 
 Reason of my Practice in the Worship of God, 
 and which, as well as the Grace Abounding, he 
 published near the close of his long confinement in 
 prison, he remarks, ' Neither have I in this rela- 
 
BUN Y AN. 147 
 
 tion abusively presented my reader with other doc- 
 trines or practices, than what I held, professed, 
 and preached, when apprehended and cast into 
 prison. Nor did I then or now retain a doctrine 
 besides, or which is not thereon grounded. The 
 subject I should have preached upon, even then 
 when the constable came, was, Dost thou believe 
 on the Son of God? From whence I intended to 
 show the absolute need of faith in Christ ; and 
 that it was also a thing of the highest concern for 
 men to inquire into, and to ask their own hearts 
 whether they had it or no. 
 
 ' Faith and holiness are my professed principles, 
 with an endeavor, so far as in me lieth, to be at 
 peace with all men. What shall I say ? Let mine 
 enemies themselves be judges, if any thing in 
 these following doctrines, or if aught that any man 
 hath heard me preach, doth or hath, according to 
 the true intent of my words, savored either of her- 
 esy or rebellion. I say again, let themselves be 
 judges, if aught they find in my writing or preach- 
 ing, doth render me worthy of almost twelve years' 
 imprisonment, or one that deserveth to be hanged, 
 or banished forever, according to their tremendous 
 sentence. Indeed, my principles are such as lead 
 me to a denial to communicate, in the things of 
 the kingdom of Christ, with the ungodly and open 
 profane ; neither can I consent that, by the super- 
 stitious inventions of this world, my soul should be 
 governed in any of my approaches to God ; be- 
 cause [I am] commanded [of God] to the contrary, 
 and commended for so refusing. Wherefore, ex- 
 cepting this one thing, for which I ought not to be 
 
148 LIFE OP 
 
 rebuked, I shall, I trust, in despite of slander and 
 falsehood, discover myself at all times a peaceable 
 and an obedient servant. But if nothing will do, 
 unless I make my conscience a continual butchery 
 and slaughter-shop, — unless, putting out my own 
 eyes, I commit me to the blind to lead me, as I 
 doubt is desired by some, I have determined, the 
 Almighty God being my help and shield, jet to 
 suffer, if frail life might continue so long, even till 
 the moss shall grow on mine eyebrows, rather 
 than thus to violate my faith and principles.' 
 
 But, to return to the* current of the account given 
 in the Grace Abounding, he says, 'that which 
 helped me in this temptation was divers consider- 
 ations, of which three in special here I will name. 
 The first was the consideration of those two scrip- 
 tures : Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve 
 them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me ;* and 
 again, The Lord said, verily it shall go well with thy 
 remnant ; verily, I will cause the enemy to entreat 
 thee well in the time of evil."\ I had also this con- 
 sideration, that if I should venture all for God, I 
 engaged God to take care of my concernments ; 
 but if I forsook him in his ways for fear of any 
 trouble that should come to me or mine, then I 
 should not only falsify my profession, but should 
 count also my concernments were not so sure, if 
 left at God's feet, whilst I stood to and for his 
 name, as they would be if they were under my 
 own care, though with the denial of the way of 
 God. This was a smarting consideration, and as 
 spurs into my flesh. I had also another consid- 
 * Jer. 49 : 11. f Jer. 15 : 11. 
 
BUNYAN. 149 
 
 eration, and that was the dread of the torments of 
 hell, which I was sure they must partake of, that, 
 for fear of the cross, do shrink from their profes- 
 sion of Christ, his words, and laws, before the sons 
 of men. I thought also of the glory that he had 
 prepared for those that in faith, and love, and 
 patience, stood to his ways before them. These 
 things, I say, have helped me, when the thoughts 
 of the misery that both myself and mine might, for 
 the sake of my profession, be exposed to, have lain 
 pinching on my mind. 
 
 ' I was once, above all the rest, in a very sad 
 and low condition for many weeks ; at which time 
 also I, being but a young prisoner, and not ac- 
 quainted with the laws, had this lying much upon 
 my spirits, that my imprisonment might end at the 
 gallows for aught that I could tell. Now, there- 
 fore, Satan laid hard at me, to beat me out of 
 heart, by suggesting thus unto me : But if, when 
 you come indeed to die, you should be in this con- 
 dition ; that is, as not to savor the things of God, 
 nor to have any evidence upon your soul for a better 
 state hereafter ? . . Wherefore, when I first began 
 to think of this, it was a great trouble to me ; for 
 I thought with myself, that in the condition I now 
 was, I was not fit to die, neither did I think I 
 could, if I should be called to it. Besides, I 
 thought with myself, if I should make a scramb- 
 ling shift to clamber up the ladder, yet I should, 
 either with quaking, or other symptoms of fainting, 
 give occasion to the enemy to reprjoach the way 
 of God and his people for their timorousness. 
 This, therefore, lay with great trouble upon me ; 
 
150 LIFE OF 
 
 for methought I was ashamed to die with a pale 
 face and tottering knees in such a case as this. 
 Wherefore, I prayed to God that he would comfort 
 me, and give me strength to do and suffer what 
 he should call me to ; yet no comfort appeared, 
 but all continued hid. I was also at this time so 
 really possessed with the thought of death, that oft 
 I was as if I was on the ladder with a rope about 
 my neck. Only this was some encouragement to 
 me : I thought I might now have an opportunity 
 to speak my last words unto a multitude, which, I 
 thought, would come to see me die ; and, thought 
 I, if it must be so, if God will but convert one soul 
 by my last words, I shall not count my life thrown 
 away nor lost. 
 
 1 But jet all the things of God were kept out of 
 my sight ; and still the tempter followed me with, — 
 But whither must you go when you die ? What 
 will become of you ? Where will you be found in 
 another world ? What evidence have you for 
 heaven and glory, and an inheritance among them 
 that are sanctified ? 
 
 ' Thus was I tossed for many weeks, and knew 
 not what to do. At last, this consideration fell 
 with weight upon me, that it was for the word and 
 way of God that I was in this condition : Where- 
 fore, I was engaged not to flinch an hair's breadth 
 from it. I thought also that God might choose 
 whether he would give me comfort now, or at the 
 hour of death ; but I might not therefore choose 
 whether I wquld hold my profession or no : I was 
 bound, but he was free ; yea, 'twas my duty to 
 stand to his word, whether he would ever look 
 
BUNYAN. 151 
 
 upon me or save me at the last. Wherefore 
 thought I, save the point being thus, I am for going 
 on and venturing my eternal state with Christ, 
 whether I have comfort here or no. If God do 
 not come in, (thought I,) I will leap off the ladder 
 even blindfolded into eternity ; sink or swim ; 
 come heaven, come hell ; Lord Jesus, receive me 
 on thine arms, if thou wilt ; if not, I will venture 
 all for thy name. 
 
 ' I was no sooner fixed in this resolution, but this 
 word dropped upon me, Doth Job serve God for 
 nought T* as if the accuser had said, Lord, Job 
 is no upright man ; he serves thee for by-respects ; 
 hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about 
 his house, and about all that he hath, on every side ? 
 thou hast blessed the ivork of his hands, and his sub- 
 stance is increased in the land. But put forth thine 
 hand novo, and touch all thai he hath, and he will 
 curse thee to thy face. — How now ? (thought I ;) is 
 this the sign of an upright soul, to desire to serve 
 God when all is taken from him ? Is he a godly 
 man that will serve God for nothing, rather than 
 give out? Blessed be God, then, I hope I have 
 an upright heart ; for I am resolved, (God giving 
 me strength,) never to deny my profession, though 
 I had nothing at all for my pains. And as I was 
 thus considering, that scripture was set before me, 
 Psalm 44 : 12—28. 
 
 1 Now was my heart full of comfort ; for I hoped 
 it was sincere. I would not have been without 
 this trial for much ; I am comforted every time 1 
 think of it ; and I hope I shall bless God for ever, 
 
 * Job 1 : 9. 
 
152 LIFE OF 
 
 for the teaching I liave had by it. Many more of 
 the dealings of God towards me I might relate ; 
 but these out of the spoils won in battle have I 
 dedicated to maintain the house of the Lord J 1 
 
 From his Liberation in 1672, to his Death in 1688. 
 
 The liberation of Bunyan was obtained in 
 1672. By most it has been ascribed to the kind 
 interference of Dr. Barlow, who was afterwards 
 Bishop of Lincoln, but by some to that of a distin- 
 guished Quaker, named Whitehead. Perhaps 
 there was, in this matter, a concurrence of efforts ; 
 and both Barlow and Whitehead, — and others, 
 known to him who seeth in secret, — may have 
 had a part in this act of humanity. If he had been 
 confined much longer, it is suggested by his earli- 
 est biographer, ' there, perhaps, he had died by 
 the noisomeness and ill usage of the place.' At a 
 subsequent period, when Howard, the philanthro- 
 pist, as high sheriff of Bedfordshire, had his atten- 
 tion directed to the state of the prisons, he began, 
 at the old damp one, which had so long been the 
 ' home' of Bunyan, that reform of prison discipline 
 which has mitigated so much human suffering 
 throughout most of Christendom. 
 
 Towards the close of his imprisonment, Bunyan 
 had received many tokens of confidence on the 
 part of his jailor. 
 
 In this connection, the following anecdote is 
 
BUNYAN. 153 
 
 commonly related : It having been reported to 
 some of the persecuting ecclesiastical powers, that 
 Bunyan was often out of prison, they sent an offi- 
 cer to ascertain the fact ; and, for this purpose, 
 they directed him to arrive at the prison in the 
 night. Bunyan, till a late hour, was actually gone, 
 having received permission to spend the night 
 with his family. But he was so restless that he 
 could not sleep, and remarked, I must return imme- 
 diately. This he did ; and the jailor blamed him 
 for coming in at so unseasonable an hour. Shortly 
 after, the officer arrived, and asked, are all the 
 prisoners safe ] Yes, it was replied. Is John 
 Bunyan safe ? Yes. — Let me see him. . . . He 
 was called ; he presented himself; and all was 
 well. When the officer had retired, the jailor said 
 to Bunyan, Well, you may go out again when you 
 think proper ; for you know v:hen to return better 
 than I can tell you. 
 
 Thus the prisoner had been permitted to attend 
 the meetings of the little non-conformist church to 
 which he belonged at Bedford. And, upon the 
 occurrence of a vacancy in the Pastorship, the year 
 before his liberation, he was chosen Pastor, Dec. 
 12, 1671. His complete liberation, in 1672, 
 opened a wide field before him, and cheered the 
 hearts of many who had been ready to faint. 
 
 He now gave himself entirely to his work as a 
 minister of the gospel, his pecuniary wants being 
 supplied, so that he could live comfortably and 
 creditably. 
 
 Once, at least, he seems to have been compelled 
 to retire from the people of his charge. It must 
 
154 LIFE OF 
 
 have been as early as the year 1675 ; for that is 
 the date of the publication of the work which we 
 are about to mention. But when he could not 
 preach to his people, he wrote a considerably 
 extended work, in the form of a plain and easy 
 Dialogue, entitled Instruction for the Ignorant, and 
 addressed it to them, with the following letter. 
 
 To the Church of Christ in and about Bedford. 
 My people perish for lack of knowledge. — Hosea 4 : 6. 
 
 Holy and Beloved, — Although I have designed 
 this little treatise for public and common benefit, 
 yet considering that I am to you a debtor, not only 
 in common charity, but by reason of special bonds 
 which the Lord hath laid upon me to you ward, I 
 could do no less, (being driven from you in pres- 
 ence, not affection,) but first present you with this 
 little book ; not for that you are wanting in the 
 things contained herein, but to put you again in 
 remembrance of first things, and to give you occa- 
 sion to present something to your carnal relations, 
 that may be, (if God will,) for their awakening 
 and conversion. Accept it, therefore, as a token 
 of my Christian remembrance of you. 
 
 Next, I present it to all those unconverted, old 
 and young, who have been at any time under my 
 preaching, and yet remain in their sins. And I 
 entreat them also, that they receive it as a token 
 of my love to their immortal souls. Yea, I charge 
 them, as they will answer it in the day of terrible 
 judgment, that they read, ponder, and receive this 
 wholesome medicine prepared for them. Now the 
 God of blessing bless it to the awakening of many 
 
BUNYAN. 155 
 
 sinners, and the salvation of their souls by faith in 
 Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 Yours to serve you by my ministry (when I can) 
 to your edification and consolation. J. B. 
 
 His church increased ; and soon the number of 
 his hearers was so multiplied that it was found 
 necessary, for their accommodation, to erect a new 
 and large house of public worship. Both statedly 
 and occasionally, he visited other places, encour- 
 aging and aiding the afflicted and persecuted, and 
 preaching wherever he had opportunity, though 
 the laws against nonconformist meetings were still 
 in force. By these visitations and his abundant 
 labors he acquired among some, in the way either 
 of jeering or of pleasantry, the appellation of 
 'Bishop' Bunyan. 
 
 He was careful to bring up his children in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord ; and a bless- 
 ing rested on his endeavors. 
 
 But, about the year 1678, as if to illustrate, on 
 the one hand, the malignity which may exist in the 
 hearts of opposers of the gospel, and, on the other, 
 the grace and providence of God, a new storm 
 was permitted to burst on Bunyan. An attempt 
 was made to implicate him in a charge of seduc- 
 tion and murder. 
 
 A young female, Agnes Beaumont, a member 
 of his church, had accompanied him to meeting at 
 one of his preaching stations. A clergyman who 
 met them on the way, started a calumnious report. 
 The father of Agnes was a violent opposer of Bun- 
 yan and the nonconformists. When she returned, 
 
156 LIFE OF 
 
 he refused to admit her into his house ; and the 
 broken hearted daughter was obliged to spend a 
 cold winter's night in the barn. From Friday 
 night to Sunday night, he was inexorable. At 
 length, he was persuaded to let her in. She 
 soothed him by her affectionate demeanor, and his 
 heart was melted. Tuesday evening they spent 
 happily together ; and he retired to bed in perfect 
 health. In the night she was awaked by his 
 cries. She hastened to his bed-side. He had 
 been suddenly seized with a severe pain in his 
 stomach. She made every effort in her power for 
 his relief; for she was the only person with him 
 in the house ; but all was in vain. He fainted, 
 and died in her arms. 
 
 A lawyer whose hand Agnes had refused, and 
 who had excited her father against Bunyan, now 
 took his opportunity of revenge. He added to the 
 clergyman's report, which had been industriously 
 spread abroad, the insinuation that Agnes had 
 murdered her father with poison furnished by her 
 Pastor. The funeral was deferred. A jury was 
 summoned. The matter was fully investigated ; 
 and the innocence of Agnes and her Pastor came 
 forth as the light. 
 
 When his engagements would permit, he often 
 visited the congregations of nonconformists in 
 London, and was there listened to, by crowded 
 audiences, with the liveliest interest. Even Dr. 
 Owen was so favorably impressed with his preach- 
 ing, that he spake of it in high terms, one day, in 
 the presence of Charles II. The king expressed 
 his astonishment that so learned a man as he 
 
BUNYAN. 157 
 
 should ever listen to the preaching of a tinker. 
 6 May it please your Majesty,' replied Dr. Owen, 
 • could I possess that tinker's abilities for preach- 
 ing, I would most gladly relinquish all my learn- 
 
 ing.' 
 
 The preaching of Bunyan was distinguished for 
 its setting forth, in a clear and convincing manner, 
 the fundamental truths of the gospel, and for its 
 earnestness and unction. He longed with all his 
 soul, and labored with all his might, for the salva- 
 tion of his hearers, — 
 
 Much impressed 
 Himself, as conscious of his awful charge. 
 And anxious mainly that the flock be fed. 
 Might feel it too. 
 
 When, in the reign of James II., liberty of 
 conscience was unexpectedly given to Dissenters 
 of all persuasions,, says his earliest biographer, he 
 perceived 'that it was not for the Dissenters' sakes 
 they were so suddenly freed from the prosecutions 
 that had long lain heavily upon them, and set, in a 
 manner, on an equal footing with the church of 
 England, which the Papists were undermining, 
 and about to subvert. He foresaw that all the 
 advantages which could redound to the Dissenters 
 would have been no more than what Polyphemus, 
 the monstrous giant of Sicily, would have allowed 
 Ulysses, namely, that he would eat his men first, 
 and do him the favor of being eaten last. For 
 although Mr. Bunyan, following the examples of 
 others, did lay hold of this liberty, as an accepta- 
 ble thing in itself * knowing that God is the only 
 
 14 
 
158 LIFE OF 
 
 Lord of the conscience, and that it is good at all 
 times to do according to the dictates of a good con- 
 science, and that the preaching of the glad tidings 
 of the gospel is beautiful in the preacher ; yet in 
 all this he moved with caution and a holy fear, 
 earnestly praying for the averting of the impend- 
 ing judgments, which he saw, like a black tempest, 
 hanging over our heads for our sins, and ready to 
 break in upon us.' 
 
 He had often prayed for his oppressors, even 
 with tears ; and, considering the times in which 
 he lived and the vexatious and trying conflicts in 
 which he was sometimes engaged, his spirit, cer- 
 tainly, for the most part, was remarkably Chris- 
 tian ; his example, salutary, elevating, heavenly. 
 It would be asserting too much to say that all his 
 views were perfectly correct. He understood and 
 preached ; faith and holiness,' the weightier mat- 
 ters ; and exemplified them, most impressively, 
 in his life. For this we love and commend him ; 
 we rejoice ; (let heaven and earth rejoice ;) and 
 render most hearty thanks to God. 
 
 If there are some other matters, which our Lord 
 would say 'ye ought not to leave undone ;' then, 
 surely, we shall do well not to leave them undone, 
 though they do not belong to ' the weightier mat- 
 ters.' All the truths which have been revealed 
 must be valuable, though some of them may be 
 more fundamental than others. All the commands 
 which our Lord has given, must be important, 
 though some of them may have the precedence of 
 others, or be greater. But who would wish to be 
 blind to any revealed truth, or to disregard one of 
 
BUNYAN. 159 
 
 the least of his Savior's injunctions and teach 
 men so ? 
 
 The circumstances in which Bunyan was placed 
 at Bedford, in the early stages of his religious pro- 
 gress, will, perhaps, sufficiently explain any pecu- 
 liarity in his ecclesiastical relations and in his 
 views of what was or was not requisite for church 
 membership and communion. In the ardor of his 
 first love, he had become connected with a church 
 in which baptism was not required ; though he 
 himself had chosen to be baptized. He had con- 
 tinued to be nourished and cherished there ; for he 
 had found there what was infinitely more precious 
 than any external observance, — a living faith in 
 Christ and fraternal love. What could have been 
 more beautiful and attractive ? What more wor- 
 thy of filling our whole vision, and occupying the 
 attention of all ? And yet it was thought by some 
 that, even in attending to things the most spiritual 
 and important, we must take care not to overlook 
 things less important, if they are required by our 
 Lord. 
 
 This led to sharp controversy, in which some- 
 what of human infirmity was manifested, but far 
 less than was usual in the polemics of those times. 
 Both parties intended to be faithful, and to contend 
 only for Christ and the truth. Would that no 
 reproach had been cast on Bunyan for his former 
 low condition, and no contemptuous feeling either 
 indulged or expressed ! When, O when will all 
 Christians duly bear in mind that the cause of 
 Christ is injured and betrayed, if they, even to pro- 
 mote it, employ means that are unchristian ? 
 
160 LIFE OF 
 
 Bunyan, instead of being convinced of error, 
 felt that he was wronged ; and replied triumph- 
 antly, 'What it is that gives a man reverence 
 with you, I know not ; but for certain, he that 
 despiseth the poor, reproacheth his Maker ; yet a 
 
 poor man is better than a liar What need 
 
 you, before you have showed one syllable of rea- 
 sonable argument in opposition to what I assert, 
 thus trample my person, my gifts, and grace (have 
 I any) so disdainfully under your feet ? And why 
 is my rank so mean that the most gracious and 
 godly among you may not duly and soberly con- 
 sider of what I have said ? Was it not the art of 
 the false apostles of old to bespatter a man, that 
 his doctrine might be disregarded ? " Is not this 
 the carpenter ?" and " His bodily presence is weak 
 and contemptible," did not used to be in the 
 mouths of the saints.* .... Your artificial squib- 
 bling suggestions to the world about myself, im- 
 prisonment, and the like, I freely bind upon me as 
 an ornament among the rest of my reproaches, till 
 the Lord shall wipe them off at his coming. 'f 
 
 Besides preaching in season and out of season, 
 and visiting in his own vicinity and elsewhere, the 
 labors of Bunyan as an author, were not small. 
 He had published two or three short treatises before 
 his imprisonment ; the first in 1658. It is entitled 
 Gospel Truths Opened. In prison he wrote sev- 
 eral ; among which are, a Discourse on Prayer ; 
 the Holy City ; a Confession of my Faith and a 
 Reason of my Practice ; several pieces in verse ; 
 
 * Differences in Judgment, &c. Works, vol. Ill, p. 303. 
 f Peaceable Principles and True. Works, vol. III. p. 369, 
 
BUN Y AX. 161 
 
 » 
 
 (as probably, Mount Ebal and Gerizim, or the 
 Blessing and the Curse; the Four Last Things, 
 Death and Judgment, Heaven and Hell ; Divine 
 Emblems, for Youth, or Temporal things Spiritu- 
 alized ; and Prison Meditations, dedicated to the 
 heart of suffering saints and reigning sinners ;) 
 Justification by Jesus Christ, against a work by 
 Bishop Fowler ; Grace abounding to the chief of 
 Sinners ; The Strait Gate, or the Difficulty of 
 going to Heaven ; and The Pilgrim's Progress, 
 (the First Part.) The Second Part was written 
 ten or twelve years after his liberation, and was 
 first published in 1684. The Holy War made by 
 Shaddai upon Diabolus for regaining the Metropolis 
 of the World, or the losing and taking again of 
 the Town of Mansoul, it is remarked by Conder, 
 4 would of itself have immortalized the author, had 
 he produced nothing else.' It was first published 
 in 1682. The life and death of Mr. Badman, pre- 
 sented to the world in a familiar dialogue between 
 Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive, seems to have 
 been published a few years later, and bears the 
 impress of Banyan's genius. These three are his 
 larger works ; and they belong, substantially, to 
 the same class. The others exhibit much variety 
 in their character and extent. Among them are 
 Christian Behaviour, being the Fruits of True 
 Christianity, teaching Husbands, Wives, Parents, 
 Children, Masters, and Servants how to walk so 
 as to please^ God, with a word of Direction to all 
 Backsliders ; Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, 
 or a Discourse showing the cause, truth, and man- 
 ner of the coming of a Sinner to Jesus Christ ; 
 
162 LIFE OF 
 
 The Barren Fig Tree, or the Doom and Down- 
 fall of the^ Fruitless Professor ; Holy Life the 
 Beauty of Christianity ; The Pharisee and Publi- 
 can ; The First Day Sabbath ; The Jerusalem 
 Sinner Saved, or Good News for the Vilest of 
 Men, for the comfort of those who fear they have 
 sinned against the Holy Ghost ; Jesus Christ an 
 Advocate : The Water of Life ; Solomon's Tem- 
 ple Spiritualized, or Gospel Light brought out of 
 the Temple at Jerusalem ; The Excellence of a 
 Broken Heart ; Paul's Departure and Crown ; 
 The Heavenly Footman, or the Man. that gets to 
 Heaven ; a Pocket Concordance ; and an Account 
 of his Imprisonment. 
 
 The whole number of his works, large and 
 small, is sixty. He published six during the last 
 year of his life. But his labors, doubtless, ex- 
 ceeded his strength. He was hastening to the 
 termination of his course. 
 
 He had been distinguished as a peace maker ; 
 and had spent much time in reconciling differences 
 among those on whom he could have influence. 
 A late English writer has given, from an authentic 
 source, a brief and simple account which presents 
 to us the closing scene. ' The last act of his life,' 
 it is stated, ' was a labor of love. A young gen- 
 tleman, falling under his father's displeasure, and 
 being much troubled in mind on that account, and 
 also from hearing it was his father's design to dis- 
 inherit him, selected Mr. Bunyan as a fit man to 
 make way for his submission, and prepare the 
 mind of the father to receive him ; which he, 
 being willing to undertake any good office, readily 
 
SUN Y AN. 163 
 
 engaged in, and went to Reading in Berkshire, for 
 that purpose. There he so successfully accom- 
 plished his design, by urging considerations against 
 anger and for love and reconciliation, that the 
 father's heart was softened. . . . After Mr. Bun- 
 yan had disposed every thing in the best manner 
 to promote an accommodation, as he returned to 
 London on horseback, he was overtaken by exces- 
 sive rains ; and coming to his lodgings extremely 
 wet, he fell sick with a violent fever, which he 
 bore with much constancy and patience ; and ex- 
 pressed himself as if he wished nothing more than 
 
 to depart and be with Christ Finding his 
 
 strength decay, he settled his worldly affairs as 
 well as the shortness of the time and the violence 
 of the disorder would permit, and, after an illness 
 often days, with unshaken confidence, he resigned 
 his soul, on the 31st of August, 1688, being sixty 
 years of age, into the hands of his most merciful 
 Redeemer.' 
 
 The author of the manuscript sketch in the 
 British Museum, says : i He comforted those that 
 wept about him, exhorted them to trust in God, and 
 pray to him for mercy and forgiveness of their 
 sins, — expounding to them the comfortable scrip- 
 tures by which they were to hope and assuredly 
 come unto a blessed resurrection in the last day. 
 He desired some to pray with him, and he joined 
 with them in prayer. His last words were, Weep 
 not for me, but for yourselves : I go to the Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will, no doubt, 
 through the mediation df his blessed Son, receive 
 me, though a sinner, where I 'hope we ere long 
 
164 LIFE OF 
 
 shall meet, to sing the new song, and remain ever- 
 lastingly happy, world without end P 
 
 He was buried at Bunhill fields, in the vault of 
 an affectionate friend, a Mr. Stradwick, at whose 
 house he had been most cordially entertained dur- 
 ing his sickness. 
 
 The following sketch of his character and per- 
 son, is from the pen of one who seems to have 
 been intimately acquainted with him : ' He ap- 
 peared in countenance to be of a stern and rough 
 temper ; but in his conversation, he was mild and 
 affable ; not given to loquacity or much discourse 
 in compan}?", unless some urgent occasion required 
 it ; observing never to boast of himself or his parts, 
 but rather seem low in his own eyes, and submit 
 himself to the judgment of others ; abhorring lying 
 and swearing, being just in all that lay in his 
 power to his word ; not seeming to revenge inju- 
 ries, loving to reconcile differences, and make 
 friendship with all. He had a sharp, quick eye, 
 accompanied with an excellent discerning of per- 
 sons, being of good judgment and quick wit. As 
 for his person, he was tall of stature, strong bound, 
 though not corpulent, somewhat of a ruddy face, 
 with sparkling eyes, wearing his hair on his upper 
 lip, after the old British fashion. His hair was 
 reddish, but, in his latter days, time had sprinkled 
 it with gray ; his nose well set, but not declining 
 or bending ; and his mouth moderately large ; his 
 forehead somewhat iiigh ; and his habit always 
 plain and modest. — And thus we have impartially 
 described the internal andtexternal parts of a per- 
 son, whose death has been much regretted ; a per- 
 
BUNYAN. 165 
 
 son who had tried the smiles and frowns of time ; 
 not puffed up in prosperity, nor shaken in adver- 
 sity ; always holding the golden mean. 
 
 ' P. S. In this his pilgrimage, God blessed him 
 with four children ; one of whom, named Mary, 
 was blind, and died some years before. His other 
 children were Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah. His 
 wife Elizabeth, having lived to see him overcome 
 his labor and sorrow, and pass from this life to 
 receive the reward of his works, did not long sur- 
 vive him ; for in 1692 she died, to follow her faith- 
 ful pilgrim from this world to the other, whither 
 he was gone before her.' 
 
 In 1692, many of his works were collected and 
 printed in one volume folio. In 1735 and 1736, 
 another edition was published in two folio vol- 
 umes. This, if we mistake not, was reprinted, 
 with a preface from the pen of the Rev. George 
 Whitefield ; and, in 1767 and 1768, there was an 
 edition at Edinburgh in six volumes 8vo. In 1830, 
 an incomplete collection, in three large octavo vol- 
 umes, was printed at New Haven. Various se- 
 lections have appeared in Europe and in America. 
 
 The writings of Bunyan have exerted a silent 
 but powerful influence on millions of the human 
 family. It is not our design in this sketch to re- 
 view them. The wonder is, not that they furnish 
 some materials for criticism, but that they present 
 so much to approve and admire. 
 
 There have been innumerable separate editions 
 of several of these works, especially of the Holy 
 War, and, above all, of the Pilgrim's Progress. 
 This, unquestionably, is, what a competent judge 
 
166 LIFE OF BUNYAN. 
 
 has pronounced it to be, c the most popular reli- 
 gious book in English literature.' It needs no 
 commendation. Its popularity is the growth of 
 nearly two hundred years ; and it is not likely soon 
 to pass away. In England, some of the ablest 
 men of genius and renown have, of late, been 
 occupied in writing on its author. And in our 
 own country, a glowing and splendid work, admi- 
 rably adapted to awaken new interest in this his 
 most attractive allegory, has appeared within the 
 last two years, and is passing rapidly through 
 successive editions. In harmony with these indi- 
 cations, a committee of the British Parliament 
 have recently reported his name among those of 
 the eminent writers who are to be honored by 
 having their statues placed in the gallery of the 
 new Senate House. Indeed, Cowper, whose soul 
 was prepared to sympathize with that of Bunyan, 
 would not, were he now alive, have any reason to 
 indulge the fear of naming him which he so inge- 
 niously acknowledged, when he wrote, sixty or 
 seventy years ago, — 
 
 thou, whom, borne on fancy's eager wing 
 Back to the season of life's happy spring, 
 
 1 pleased remember, and while memory yet 
 Holds fast her office here, can ne'er forget ; 
 Ingenious dreamer, in whose well-told tale . 
 Sweet fiction and sweet truth alike prevail, 
 
 Whose humorous vein, strong sense, and simple style, 
 
 May teach the gayest, make the gravest smile ; 
 
 Witty, and well-employed, and, like thy Lord, 
 
 Speaking in parables his slighted word ; 
 
 I name thee not, lest so despised a name 
 
 Should move a sneer at thy deserved fame ; 
 
 Yet, e'en in transitory life's late day, 
 
 That mingles all my brown with sober gray, 
 
 Revere the man, whose Pilgrim marks the road, 
 
 And guides the PpwOGEess of the soul to God. 
 
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 DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A CHECK TO MODERN ARIANISM, 
 
 As taught by Unitarians, Campbelhtes, Hicksites, New 
 Lights, Vniversalists, and Mormons ; and e**>ecially by 
 a sect celling themselves Christians. 
 
 BY REV. H. MATTISON. 
 
 The author has done a good service in attacking 
 that grand feature of almost all modern heresies — the 
 denial of the Godhead of the Son and Holy Spirit. 
 His treatise seems to be peculiarly adapted to gen- 
 eral circulation, and Arianism is shown to be any- 
 thing but the truth as revealed from on high. — The 
 Presbyterian. 
 
 This small volume is wisely intended to meet a 
 practical want, by defending the doctrine of the 
 Trinity — not so much against scholastic speculations 
 as against the more popular forms of error. — New- 
 York Recorder. 
 
 An able little volume in defence of the doctrine 
 of the Trinity The line of argument is vig- 
 orously and closely traced, and in a style adapted to 
 popular readers. — Zion's Herald &f Wesleyan Jour. 
 
 This is a timely production — serving to quicken at- 
 tention to what must ever be a central truth of Chris- 
 tianity. — Olive Branch, 
 
 An able defence of the doctrine of the Trinity. — 
 The author has done good service to the cause of 
 truth in the volume before us. — North. Chr. Adv. 
 
 The author has presented a fair view of the Scrip- 
 tural doctrine on this subject. He has also exposed 
 the fallacy of the objections brought against the doc- 
 trine of the Divinity of Christ. — Christ. Chronicle. 
 
 We take rank with Trinitarians, and regard Mr 
 Mattison as having done good justice to^the subject 
 He is a close reasoner, and possesses a mind well 
 adapted to polemic investigation. — True Wesleyan. 
 
FOR BIBLE CLASSES, 
 
 ELEMENTS OF THEOLOGY; 
 
 OR, JHE LEADING TOPICS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, 
 PLAINLY AND SCRIPTURALLY SET FORTH; WITH 
 THE PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES OF DIVINE REVELA- 
 TION CONCISELY STATED. 
 
 WITH QUESTIONS, 
 
 FOR THE USE OF BIBLE CLASSES, SEMINARIES OF LEARNING 
 AND FAMILIES. 
 
 By DANIEL HASOALL, A. M. 
 
 The plan of the work is thus stated by the author :— 
 
 1. After a concise proof of the existence of God from creation, to se* 
 forth the evidences of a Divine Revelation contained in the Scriptures 
 of the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 2. The attributes of God, as delineated in the revelations which he 
 has made of himself. 
 
 3. The primitive and present character of man. 
 
 4. The recovery of lost men. 
 
 5. The agency of creatures connected with this recovery. 
 
 6. What befalls man at and after death. 
 
 t These subjects are treated of in a series of brief essays, with ques- 
 tions at the close of each essay or chapter. The whole is comprised 
 in an ISmo of 260 pages. The style of the author is terse and sugges 
 tive. He just touches upon the leading thoughts in every subject 
 treated of— puts the reader upon the right train of thought— and then 
 leaves it for another. 
 
 The book is very readable, and interesting to the solitary inquirer 
 into the " elements" of religious truth ; but judging from the ques- 
 tions, the author designed it mainly as a text-book for instruction. 
 Pastors will find it a suitable book to put into the hands of any in 
 their charge, who may wish to form a class for the systematic study 
 of the groundwork of our religion ; and Preceptors of ^Academies, who 
 think that theological science should have a place among othel 
 sciences in the education of youth, will find this book better adapted 
 to their wants than anything which has been before published. 
 
 *' The author is a man of experience, soundness, piety, and learning 
 in the topics of which the present work treats. His successful aim 
 has been to give instruction in the most important branch of know- 
 ledge—' the knowledge of Ged and of ourselves.' " 
 
 [Christian Reflector, 
 
 " Its use among the young will, with the divine blessing, contribute 
 to a sounder condition of our churches. Topics relating to church 
 order are omitted, and it may therefore be appropriately circulated 
 among all evangelical denominations."— .tf. Y. Recorder. 
 
LEWIS COLBY & COMPANY, 
 
 122 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK, 
 
 PUBLISH A GREAT VARIETY OP 
 
 CHOICE AND VALUABLE 
 
 SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS, 
 
 Uniformly bound, in neat half-roan, and generally illustrated 
 with fine wood Engravings. 
 
 NEW BOOKS OF APPROVED CHARACTER, 
 
 ARE CONTINUALLY BEING ISSUED. 
 
 IB ® © IS © IS Sa ILa IE Hi © s . 
 
 And dealers in S. S. Books, may be supplied upon advan- 
 tageous terms. Such as reside at a distance and have not 
 means of making selections, may depend upon great care be- 
 ing taken, and upon receiving new and perfect copies. 
 
 ©JklBIBJk'aFISI ©03H©(D3LiS 
 
 Wishing to replenish their libraries, may rely upon having 
 their orders carefully attended to. Orders from the country 
 should be accompanied by a list of such books as are already 
 on hand, together with the amount to be expended. 
 
 {^Catalogues furnished gratis upon application. 
 
 THE SABBATH SCHOOL MINSTREL, 
 
 DESIGNED EOR SABBATH SCHOOLS, FAMILIES AND 
 SOCIAL MEETINGS. 
 
 This collection of music and hymns has been made with 
 especial reference to the # wants of the Sabbath School. 
 The style of the music is simple and devotional ; and while it 
 will gratify those somewhat advanced in the science, it may 
 be learned with facility by even the youngest scholar. The 
 object has been to introduce as large a number of appropriate 
 hymns as possible, varying in length and in measure ; and 
 all adapted to the exercises of the Sabbath School, its Anni- 
 versaries, Celebrations, &c. 
 
LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE J U D SON OFFERING. 
 
 Intended aa a token of Christian Sympathy with tho ! 
 Living, and a Memento of Christian 
 Affection for the Dead. 
 
 BY REV. JOHN DOWLING, A. M,„ 
 Author of " History of Romanism," &c 
 
 [Fifth Thousand.] 
 
 HF This edition contains several additional articles, in ; 
 prose and verse, relative to the departure of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Judson for Burmah. 
 
 Notices of tje former Is tortious. 
 
 It is done up in fancy style, something after the fash- 
 ion of the annuals ; and a handsome engraving, repre 
 senting " The Departure," faces the title. It is neat and 
 spirited, and we aoubt not, will meet, as it deserves, an 
 extensive circulation. The fervent missionary spirit that 
 runs through its pages, renders it a valuable work for 
 the young ; and we hope it will be selected by thou- 
 sands as a holiday present, instead ©f the expensive, but 
 less useful annuals, with which the shelves of the book- 
 stores are plentifully supplied. — Christian Secretary, 
 
 Altogether, it will form an acceptable popular offering, 
 and obtain a wide circulation. Considering the taste and 
 perfection of the mechanical execution, the price is low. 
 — New-York Recorder. 
 
 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 
 
 X.&& JNASSAH-BI., IN.UVV-XUK.JV. *m 
 
^ LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. " 
 
 The volume before us is a collection of the effusions, 
 in poetry and prose, which have been called forth by the 
 arrival and presence of Dr. Judson in this country ; to- 
 gether with several pieces written expressly for this 
 work, and " Sketches of Missionary Life," by its editor, 
 comprising a brief, connected history of the leading 
 events in the missionary life of Judson. The editor, 
 with whose powers and talents as a writer, the readers 
 of the Watchman have, for sometime, been well ac- 
 quainted, has performed a task which cannot fail to be 
 highly acceptable to the Christian public, and must have 
 been very grateful to his own feelings. His " sketches" 
 are very graphic and touching, and the whole arrange- 
 ment of the volume displays sound sense, good taste, 
 literary skill, and a deep interest in his theme. — Chris- 
 tian Watchman. 
 
 We are happy to commend this volume, both for the 
 beauty of its execution, and for the valuable and inter- 
 esting matter it contains. Christian parents, or others, » 
 who may wish to present a token of affection, will find a 
 suitable one in this " Offering." — New-England Puritan. 
 
 The design of this work is to render the tribute, which 
 every Christian heart must feel, to the pious labors and 
 self-denial of Dr. Judson, who has been so long and 
 successfully engaged in missionary labors in Burmah. 
 It consists of various pieces of poetry and prose, chiefly 
 by the editor, of no little merit, and bearing upon the 
 missionary enterprise. It is very neatly printed. — New- 
 York Evangelist. 
 
 It is composed of missionary pieces, from the most 
 pious and gifted poetic and prose writers. The whole 
 breathes a right spirit ; and it is a happy thing that this 
 occasion has been seized upon to give popularity and j 
 currency to reading of so pure and benevolent a charac- 
 ter.—- Boston Recorder. 
 
 Lg 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. jg 
 
LEWIS COLBY & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 It comprises various short articles, in prose and verse, 
 including the addresses to Judson, at the meeting of the 
 Triennial Convention, by Dr. Wayland, and at the mass 
 meeting in Richmond, by Elder Jeter. Some of the 
 best articles are from the pen of the editor, entitled, 
 " Sketches of Missionary Life." We have no doubt 
 that many thousands will be sold. It is well calculated 
 | to be a popular work. — Rel. Herald, Richmond, Va. 
 
 A beautiful volume, of near 300 pages, consisting of 
 deeply interesting missionary sketches, both in prose 
 and poetry, from some of the ablest pens ; valuable for 
 the biographical and historical information it contains, as 
 well as for the influence it will exert in favor of the 
 great enterprise. — Baptist Register, Utica. 
 
 A tribute justly due to living and departed worth — 
 does honor to the head and heart of the estimable com- 
 piler — well-adapted, not only to awaken and increase 
 the spirit of missions, but to have a salutary impression 
 upon the minds of all who peruse it. — Advocate of 
 Moral Reform. 
 
 It is the frame work of the History of the Burman 
 Mission, interlaced and entwined with the blossoms and 
 fragrance of some of the choicest effusions of poetry. 
 The style of execution is elegant. Every family should 
 have this book. — Baptist Record, Philadelphia. 
 
 A handsome, and deeply interesting publication, 
 which we desire to see introduced to the notice of our 
 readers, in something more than merely a formal decla- 
 ration. The execution is worthy of the design ; and its 
 wide circulation will accomplish much more than the 
 commemoration of Judson's visit ; it will tend to culti- 
 vate a Judson's spirit in the rising generation. We hope 
 to see it in many of the happy homes of Michigan. It 
 will always make an elegant and acceptable gift— 
 Michigan Herald, Detroit. 
 
 gr 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK 
 
 ^H^WWW^ >i » » wvwwwwv»A^wvwwwwyw»wv»wwvvwww*wv 
 
sr 
 
 LEWIS COLBT & CO. '8 PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 WORKS OP 
 WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, D. D 
 
 THE CONSERVATIYE PRINCIPLE 
 
 IN OUR L1TERATURF 
 
 18two. cloth, 37£ cents. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, 
 THE HOME AND HOPE OP THE FREE. 
 
 127710. pamphlet, 12£ cents. 
 
 GOD'S PRESENCE IN HIS SANCTUARY. 
 
 Qvo. pamphlet, 64 pages, price 25 cents. 
 
 Like the other productions of its eloquent author, it abounds 
 in splendid imagery and striking original views, set forth in 
 language glowing and expressive. — Christian Reflector. 
 
 A GOOD MINISTER 
 
 OF 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 12m0. pamphlet, 12£ cents. 
 
 122 NA8SAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
r- 
 
 lewis colby's publications, 
 
 FULLER AND WAYLAND ON SLAVERY 
 
 DOMESTIC SLAVERY 
 
 CONSIDERED AS A SCRIPTURAL INSTITUTION ; 
 In a Correspondence between the 
 REV. RICHARD FULLER, D. D. f 
 
 OF BEAUFORT, S. C, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PEV. FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D. f 
 
 OF PROVIDENCE, R. I. 
 
 This is a standard text-book upon the subject. 
 Let no one say, I have read enough on this sublet. It 
 fills a place never before occupied — a calm, candid, and 
 
 I very able discussion of the subject in a Christian-like 
 manner. No one fchould be without it, as it will long be 
 a book of reference. 
 
 " This is the best specimen of controversial writing on 
 slavery, or any other subject, we have ever read. The 
 parties engaged in it are men of high distinction, and pre- 
 eminently qualified for the task ; and the kind" and Chris- 
 tian spirit that pervades the entire work, is a beautiful 
 commentary on the power of the gospel. This discus- 
 sion is complete, and whoever reads it need read nothing 
 more, to enable him to form a correct view of the subject 
 in question." — Lutheran Observer, 
 
 It is handsomely executed, and put at a low price. 50 
 cents — 254 pages, 18mo. 
 
 122 NASSAU-ST , NEW-YORK. 
 
LEWIS C OLBY & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE 
 
 PASTORS' HANDBOOK, 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 SELECTIONS OF SCRIPTURE, 
 
 ARRANGED FOR VARIOUS OCCASIONS OF OFFICIAL DUTY, 
 
 SELECT FORMULAS FOR THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY, ETC.; 
 
 AND 
 
 RULES OF BUSINESS 
 
 For Churches, Ecclesiastical and other Deliberative Assemblies. 
 
 BY REV. W. W. EVERTS, 
 
 PASTOR OF LAIGHT STREET CHURCH, NEW-Y07K. 
 
 Recommendations 
 
 There are strong and just feelings against formulas of 
 worship ; but the design of this work is simply to bring 
 together passages of the Bible on one subject, in order to 
 save the minister the trouble of collecting them, at the 
 time, for himself. In addition to the mere convenience 
 of such a work, it will contribute not a little to unfold the 
 beauties and harmonies of the sacred writings. 
 
 E. W. Dickinson. 
 
 The language in which inspired men breathed their 
 devotions to Heaven, and in which the Holy Spirit has 
 clothed his own thoughts, is most appropriate to the ends 
 of worship, and no doubt, most acceptable to the Father 
 of our Spirits. 
 
 A judicious arrangement and classification of Scripture 
 passages, therefore, to be used on public occasions, would 
 be found eminently serviceable to all the Pastors of our 
 country. It would relieve an embarrassment, which 
 they all, in common with the subscriber, have probably 
 felt, especially on sudden emergencies. I would there- 
 fore, earnestly recommend the work of Mr. Everts to the 
 attention of the Pastors, and of the public generally. 
 
 Pharcellus Church. 
 
 122 NASSAU STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
 im^mr**** mn*n*** 
 
sr 
 
 LEWIS COLBY & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 I am confident it will be of great service to ministers- 
 of the Gospel. J. S. Backus. 
 
 Should the work which you have so well commenced, 
 be faithfully executed in all parts, I could most cordially 
 recommend its publication. As a help to pastors, es- 
 pecially on extraordinary occasions, it would possess 
 great value. Baron Stow. 
 
 I regard the plan as very judicious, and the selections 
 as well made and highly appropriate. There can be no 
 doubt that such a work, properly executed, would be 
 very convenient and acceptable to the ministry generally, 
 and tend much to increase the facility, pertinence, and 
 impressiveness of their official duties. Gorge B. Ide. 
 
 I concur in opinion with the Rev. Mr. Ide. 
 
 Thomas H. Skinner, 
 >V. Patton. 
 
 We heartily concur in the above recommendations. 
 
 Elisha Tucker, 
 James L. Hodge, 
 David Bellamy, 
 Henry Davis, 
 E. E. L. T ylor, 
 
 E. Lathrop. 
 
 Such a work I have no doubt will be received with 
 great satisfaction by every one in the sacred profession, 
 who values appropriateness in public religious services. 
 
 I cannot help thinking that the time has come when 
 such a book will be received with great interest. It 
 brings no one to any prescribed course, and yet suggests 
 services of a character that will almost compel the greater 
 proportion of those clergymen into whose hands it may 
 fall, to avail themselves of its aid. Joel Parker, 
 
 I heartily concur in the above recommendations of the 
 Rev. Dr. Parker. N. Bangs. 
 
 & 
 
 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 
 
B LEWIS COLBY & CQ.'S PUBLICATIONS. Jt 
 
 THE 
 
 BIBLE MANUAL. 
 
 BY REV: W. W. EVEHTS, 
 
 PAJTOR OF LAIQHT STREET CHURCH, NEW-YORK. 
 
 This is an enlargement of the plan of the "Pastor's Hand- 
 book," and contains selections of Scripture, arranged for 
 nearly all special occasions of religious worship, as the Or- 
 dinance of Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Church meetings, 
 Ordination and Dedication services, Bible, Missionary, 
 and Sunday School meetings, Thanksgiving, and Fast 
 days, &c. &c. It embraces also a large variety of 
 selections for ordinary occasions of private and public 
 worship, unfolding the leading doctrines and duties *of 
 Revelation. 
 
 The Appendix consists of a copious classification of 
 Scripture text, upon the various doctrines of Scripture, 
 originally published under the name of the u Scripture 
 Text Book," by the Irish Religious Tract Society. It 
 was received with such favor that more than thirty 
 thousand copies have already been sold, and of the last 
 edition three thousand copies were sold in one month. 
 
 Thus comprehensive in its plan, and various in its 
 matter, the " Selections" is a suitable companion for the 
 Bible and Hymn book, in the family circle, and in the 
 place of worship ; a useful guide to private devotion, and 
 a convenient directory for the pulpit. 
 
 I have examined, at much length, the Manuscript of 
 the " Scripture Selections," prepared by the Rev. W. W. 
 Everts of this city. They seem well chosen and arranged, 
 and promise to afford, especially to the Christian pastor, 
 when suddenly summoned to funeral and other services, 
 very efficient aid ; whilst to the private Christian they 
 must be of interest, as guiding his studies in the Scrip- 
 tures, and as illustrations of the harmony and fulnes* of 
 God's word on the several topics discussed. 
 
 William R. Williams. 
 
 * 122 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
3* 
 
 LEWIS COLBY & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. ' 
 
 , , . 
 
 I regard the " Scripture Selections," prepared by my ex- 
 cellent friend and brother, the Rev. W. VV. Everts, as a 
 work of much practical utility in the discharge of pastoral 
 duties. I have examined the plan and some of the proof- 
 sheets with considerable minuteness, and consider both 
 the plan and the selections as eminently judicious. The 
 need of such appropriate and copious selections of holy 
 writ, is often felt by the minister of the gospel in the per- 
 formances of the multifarious duties of the pastoral office. 
 At funerals, I have long been in the habit of carrying into 
 practice the plan so fully developed in this useful work. 
 I have opened the Bible, as though I were reading, and 
 by the aid of a somewhat retentive memory, have repeated 
 from different parts of the Bible, some twenty or thirty 
 texts appropriate to the circumstances and the occasion. 
 In future, I shall relieve my memory, and I have no doubt 
 increase the interest of these and other occasions, by avail- 
 ing myself of the excellent compilation of Mr. Everts. 
 
 — John Dowling. 
 
 After examining your plan and a portion of your work, 
 I cheerfully express the belief that you will do good, by 
 furnishing the Church with " the Scripture Selections." 
 
 George Potts. 
 
 I am happy to say that I see reason to believe that 
 your volume will meet a want which has been felt by 
 almost every minister, who has been in the habit of 
 making the reading of the Scriptures a part of his public 
 exercise. R. W. Cushman. 
 
 Having considered the object and plan of the " Selec- 
 tions of Scripture, arranged for various occasions of 
 religious service," and satisfied of its desirableness and 
 utility, I cordially concur in the above recommendation. 
 
 Thomas DeWitt. 
 
 I am satisfied that it will answer most valuable purposes 
 
 ices. 
 
 George Peck, 
 
 as a manual for conducting religious services. 
 
 We heartily concur in the above recommendations. 
 
 Elisha Tucker 
 James L. Hodge, 
 
 David Bellamy, 
 Henry Davis, 
 
 E. E. L. Taylor, 
 E. Lathrop. 
 
 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 
 
M 
 
 FACTS FOR BOYS, 
 
 SELECTED AND ABBANGPD 
 
 BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D. 
 
 Handsomely bound in cloth. ISmo 31 cents. 
 
 Extra Gilt, .50 " 
 
 FACTS FOR GIRLS. 
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 
 And uniform with the above. 
 
 These a/e very entertaining and useful books for chil- 
 dren — inculcating religious Truth by interesting Facts, 
 Anecdotes, and Stories. It is just the kind of reading 
 which children like. 
 
 EVERY DAY DUTY: 
 
 OR 
 
 SKETCHES OF CHILDISH CHARACTER. 
 
 The Author, in this book, in plain and simple language, 
 enters into the sports and incidents of childhood, and 
 would show to children that they are always happiest 
 when doing right. Uniform with the above. 
 
 122 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
r lewis colby's publications. *t 
 
 A PUEE CHRISTIANITY I 
 
 A PUEE CHRISTIANITY 
 TftE WORLD'S ONLY HOPE. 
 
 BY REV. R. W. CUSHMAN, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE BOWDOIN SQUABS CHURCH, B08T'Jtf 
 
 A Practical and Standard Work. 
 Price, 31} cents. 
 
 SYNOPTICAL VIEW. 
 
 True Religion the only Moral Conservative. 
 
 Scripture View of Christianity. 
 
 Means of Restoring Christianity to its Primitive 
 
 Efficacy. 
 Duty of the Christian in the Present State of Things. 
 
 This work is an able vindication of Scriptural Christianity, both in 
 reference to its spirit, and its organization and ordinances. 
 
 44 There is in this work a forcible statement of 6orae prevalent ob- 
 stacles to the progress of pure religion, which ought to be universally 
 studied. The author shows a sagacious and penetrating mind in his 
 view of the subject, and a degree of boldness and outspoken honesty 
 in setting it forth, quite worthy of a follower of Roger Williams- 
 We commend it to all who love religious freedom, as worth study and 
 a d miration."— New- York Evangelist. 
 
 " It is severe against the errors of the age ; is written with great 
 vigor of style, and spiciness of illustration, and cannot fail to awaken 
 iuterest."— Baptist Advocate. 
 
 44 This little book is a desideratum, and ought to be read by all 
 classes." — Baptist Record. 
 
 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 
 
 M 
 
THE LONDON APPRENTICE : 
 
 AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE J 
 
 WITH A PREFACE. 
 
 BY W. H. PEARCE, 
 Missionary from Calcutta. 
 
 " I should be glad if my notice of this little work — * The 
 Happy Transformation' — should induce numbers of young 
 men to purchase and read it." — Rev. J. A. James's " Young 
 Man from Home" 
 
 Nothing can be more suitaole for young men leaving 
 home, to engage in business. The work is especially in- 
 tended for the benefit of young persons, about to enter on, 
 or already engaged in, the pursuit of business in cities and 
 large towns. The narrative is also adapted for usefulness 
 to persons of every age, and in the most varied circum- 
 stances. It exhibits in striking colors the unsatisfactory 
 nature, and the bitter consequences, even in this life, of 
 what are falsely called " the pleasures" of yoath* Em- 
 bellished with engravings. 18mo. 31 cent'- 
 
 THE WAY FOR A CHILD TO BE SAVED. 
 
 This entertaining book, which has already had a wide 
 circulation, can hardly fail of being a means of good to 
 every child that reads it. 18mo. 31 cents. 
 
 122 NAS8AU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
 L ; * 
 
LEWIS COLBY & COMPANY, 
 
 122 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK, 
 
 PUBLISH A GREAT VARIETY OF 
 
 CHOICE AND VALUABLE 
 
 SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS, 
 
 Uniformly bound, in neat half-roan, and generally illustrated 
 ivithfine wood Engravings. 
 
 # NEW BOOKS OF APPROVED CHARACTER, 
 
 ARE CONTINUALLY BEING ISSUED. 
 
 IB © © IE i M 3L Ha n m @ s 
 
 And dealers in S. S. Books, may be supplied upon advan- 
 tageous terms. Such as reside at a distance and have not 
 means of making selections, may depend upon great care be- 
 ing taken, and upon receiving new and "perfect copies. 
 
 ©AEBIB.&'aFIHI i03H©©ILg 
 
 Wishing to replenish their libraries, may rely upon having 
 their orders carefully attended to.^ Orders from the country 
 should be accompanied by a list of such books as are already 
 on hand, together with the amount to be expended. 
 
 {^Catalogues furnished gratis upon application. 
 
 THE SABBATH SCHOOL MINSTREL, 
 
 DESIGNED EOR SABBATH SCHOOLS, FAMILIES AND 
 SOCIAL MEETINGS. 
 
 This collection of music and hymns has been made with 
 especial reference to the # wants of the Sabbath School. 
 The style of the music is simple and devotional ; and while it 
 will gratify those somewhat advanced in the science, it may 
 be learned with facility by even the youngest scholar. The 
 object has been to introduce as large a number of appropriate 
 hymns as possible, varying in length and in measure ; and 
 all adapted to the exercises of the Sabbath School, its Anni- 
 versaries, Celebrations, &c. 
 
PJ5D0-BAPTISTS NOT OPEN COMMUNIONISTS. 
 
 A DEFENCE OF RESTRICTED COMMUNION, 
 
 By Rev. S. Remingtow, A. M., Pastor of the Stanton-st Baptist Church, 
 New-York ; author of " Reasons for becoming a Baptist." 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 Messrs. L. Colby & Co. 
 
 I have read carefully Brother Remington's Manuscript upon 
 the subject of Strict Communion, and recommend its -speedy publi- 
 cation. It contains several interesting historical facts, showing the 
 bigoted and persecuting nature of Infant Sprinkling; and proves 
 conclusively that Pffido-Baptists believe in close communion equally 
 with the Baptists, and cannot cease to practice it without violating 
 their avowed principles of Church government and discipline. When, 
 therefore, they cry out "close communion— bigotry," against Baptists, 
 they condemn in others what they allow in themselves. This little 
 tract is calculated to do these inconsistent cavillers good, if they read 
 it without prejudice, and allow the truth to have/ree course. 
 
 Brother Remington having been associated with the Methodists for 
 more than twenty years, as a public teacher, of course speaks under- 
 ■tandingly, whenever he touches upon their peculiar tenets ; and I 
 cannot but hope that his experience and example may be the means 
 of bringing many of the Lord's children into the liberty and order of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 SPENCER H. CONE. 
 
 Messrs. L. Colby & Co. 
 
 I have had the pleasure of perusing, in manuscript, the valuable 
 little work of my esteemed brother, the Rev. S. Remington, entitled 
 " Peedo-Baptist-s not open communionists.^ I think the work is just 
 what is wanted as a cheap tract for extensive and general circulation, 
 in order to rebut the unfair and uncharitable accusation of bigoted 
 exclusiveness, so frequently employed against Baptists, in order to 
 operate upon the prejudices of the ignorant and experienced, when 
 inclined by the force of truth, and the plain directions of the New 
 Testament, to be "buried with Christ in baptism," and to unite with 
 our denomination. 
 
 I think that Brother Remington has conclusively shown, that while, 
 in maintaining the priority of what we regard as Scriptural Baptism, 
 to Communion at the Lord's Table, we occupy only the common 
 ground of Pcedo-Baptist denominations ; in other respects, some of 
 these denominations, are, at least so far as their creeds are concerned, 
 far more exclusive than ourselves From the practical common sense 
 of Brother Remington, and his long experience as a minister in high 
 standing of one of the most numerous and influential Paedo Baptist de- 
 nominations, I know of no man better qualified to prepare just such a 
 tract on this subject, as every pastor would be glad to have on hand, 
 for the uso of the honest and sincere inquirer after truth. 
 
 JOHN COWLING 
 
THE 
 
 PASTOR'S HANDBOOK, 
 
 C Oil PRISING 
 
 SELECTIONS OF SCRIPTURE, 
 Arranged for various occasions of Official Duty. 
 
 SELECT FORMULAS FOR THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY, ETC 
 
 RULES OF ORDER 
 
 FOR CHURCHES, ECCLESIASTICAL AND OTHER DELIBERATIVE 
 ASSEMBLIES ; AND 
 
 TABLES FOR STATISTISTICAL RECORD. 
 
 The Pastor's Handbook having within the last year found its way 
 into the hands of about two thousand Pastors, and thus proved its 
 adaptation to the wants of the clerical profession generally, has now 
 been enlarged and greatly enriched in its matter. The following 
 recommendations from ministers of different denominations, set forth 
 the present character and claims of the book : 
 
 "This book contains Scriptures arranged for occasions of official 
 duty, as funerals, the visitation of the sick, the celebration of mar- 
 riage ; also several marriage forms suited to various modes of the 
 celebration of that institution ; also devotional excerpta for the cele- 
 bration of marriage, for funerals, and for the Lord's Supper ; also 
 rules for professional life and services, compiled from distinguished 
 divines ; also, rules of order for ecclesiastical and other deliberative 
 assemblies, together with various ecclesiastical formulas ; and finally, 
 several tables by which may be preserved from year to year a statis- 
 tical record otprofessional services, of the history of churches, of reli- 
 gious denominations, and of Christian missions. Though repudiating 
 cumbersome and restrictive form books, we believe that a book of 
 this kind has long been felt to be a desideratum amongst Protestant 
 clergymen of all denominations, and are persuaded that this volume, 
 so comprehensive in plan, so various in matter, pointing out rules of 
 professional service approved by the most eminent divines, and withal 
 gotten up in a form and binding so convenient for use, will be found 
 exceedingly serviceable to pastors generally. We cordially com- 
 mend it to the attention of all, and especially young clergymen. 
 Thomas H. Skinner, D. D. B. T. Welch, D. D- 
 
 George Peck, D. D. John Dowling, D. D. 
 
 G. B. Cheever, D. D. Noah Levings, D. D. 
 
 Wm. R. Williams, D. D. Rev. H. Davis, 
 
 Chas. Pitman, D D. Rev. J. L. Hodge, 
 
 S. H. Cone, D. D. Rev. Edward Lathrop, 
 
 * Thomas D. Witt, D. D. Rev. O. B. Judd." 
 
FOR BIBLE CLASSES. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF THEOLOGY; 
 
 OR, THE LEADING TOPICS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, 
 PLAINLY" AND SCRirTURALLY SET FORTH; WITH 
 THE PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES OF DIVINE REVELA- 
 TION CONCISELY STATED. 
 
 WITH QUESTIONS, 
 
 FOR TILE USE OF BIBLE CLASSES, SEMINARIES OF LEARNING 
 AND FAMILIES. 
 
 By DANIEL HASOALL, A. M. ' 
 
 The plan of the work is thus stated by the author :— 
 
 1. After a concise proof of the existence of God from creation, to se* 
 forth the evidences of a Divine Revelation contained in the Scriptures 
 of the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 2. The attributes of God, as delineated in the revelations widen he 
 has made of himself. 
 
 3. The primitive and present character of man. 
 
 4. The recovery of lost men. 
 
 5. The agency of crep.tures connecte 1 with this recovery. 
 
 6. What befalls man at and after death. 
 
 These subjects are treated of in a series of brief essays, with ques 
 tions at the close of each essay or chapter. The whole is comprised 
 in an ISmo of 260 pages. The style of the author is terse and sugges 
 live. He just tcfuches upon the leading thoughts in every subject 
 treated of— puts the reader upon the right train of thought — and then 
 leaves it for another. 
 
 The book is very readable, and interesting to the solitary inquirer 
 into the " elements" of religious truth ; but judging from the ques- 
 tions, the author designed it mainly as a text-book for instruction. 
 Pastors will find it a suitable book to put into the hands of any in 
 their charge, who may wish to form a class for the systematic study 
 of the groundwork of our religion ; and Preceptors of Academies, wh$ 
 think that theological science should have a place among othei 
 sciences in the education of youth, will find this book better adapted 
 to their wants than anything which has been before published. 
 
 " The author is a man of experience, soundness, piety, and learning 
 in the topics of which the present work treats. His successful aim 
 has been to give instruction in the most important branch of know- 
 ledge — ' the knowledge of God and of ourselves.' " 
 
 [Christian Reflector. 
 
 " Its use among the young will, with the divine blessing, contribute 
 to a sounder condition of our churches. Topics relating to church 
 order are omitted, and it may therefore be appropriately circulated 
 among all evangelical denominations."— N. Y. Recorder. 
 
DOMESTIC SLAVERY 
 
 CONSIDERED AS A SCRIPTURAL INSTITUTION ; 
 
 IN A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE 
 
 REV. RICHARD FULLER, D. D., 
 
 OF BEAUFORT, S. C, 
 A>'D THE 
 
 REV. FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D., 
 
 OF PROVIDENCE, R. I. 
 
 " In this book meet two great minds, each tried long, known well, 
 clear, calm and strong. The point on which they meet is a great one 
 — few so great for weal or wo. Since it first shook our land, the 
 strife, from day to day, has grown more keen and more harsh. It 
 cheers the heart, when there is so much strife, and so free a use of 
 harsh words, to see men like those w r hose names are at the head of 
 this piece write in a tone so kind, and so apt to turn the edge of 
 strife. But, though its tone be kind and calm, its style is not the less 
 strong. Each brings to bear all that a clear head and a sound mind 
 can call forth. When two so strong minds meet, there is no room 
 for weak words. Each word tells— each line bears with weight on 
 the main point. — each small page has in it more of thought than 
 weak men can crowd in a large book. 
 
 [Corespondent of National Intelligencer. 
 
 " This is the best specimen of controversial writing on Slavery, or 
 any other subject, we have ever read. The parties engaged in it are 
 men of high distinction, and pre-eminently qualified for the task ; and 
 the kind and Christian spirit which pervades the entire work is a 
 beautiful commentary on the power of the Gospel. This discussion 
 is complete, and whoever reads it need read nothing more, to enable 
 him to form a correct view of the subject in question." 
 
 [Lutheran Observer. 
 
 "The Christian feeling, the gentlemanly courtesy, the powerful 
 reasoning, and the inspiring eloquence, which have characterized 
 the whole correspondence, conduce, with the importance of the sub- 
 ject under consideration, and the excitement which it always pro- 
 duces in American minds, to render the volume containing all "the let- 
 ters on both sides one of the most attractive which has ever been 
 issued in this country."— Baptist Advocate. 
 
 " Its thoroughness, ability, and admirable candor, and the great and 
 growing importance of the subject, entitle it to a universal circu- 
 lation.— iV*. Y. Evangelist. 
 
A PURE CHRISTIANITY 
 THE WORLD'S ONLY HOPE. 
 
 BY REV. R. W. CUSHMAN, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE BOWDOIN SQUARE CHURCH, BOSTON 
 
 A Practical and Standard Work. 
 
 The events, in the religious world, that mark 
 the present time, show that the day has come 
 when the corruptions of Christianity must be dealt 
 with faithfully, and Christianity itself must be vin- 
 dicated from the surreptitious institutes and usages 
 which have claimed its authority and assumed its 
 name. 
 
 " This little book is a desideratum — ought to be read by 
 all classes. It is a most able, not to say masterly vindica- 
 tion of scriptural or primitive Christianity, both in refer- 
 ence to its spirit and its organization and ordinances." 
 
 [Baptist Record. 
 
 " There is in this work a forcible statement of some pre- 
 valent obstacles to the progress of pure religion which 
 ought to be universally studied. The author shows a 
 sagacious and penetrating mind in his view of the subject, 
 and a degree of boldness and outspoken honesty in setting 
 it forth, quite worthy of a follower of Roger Williams. 
 We commend it to all who love religious freedom, as 
 worth study and admiration." — New York Evangelist. 
 
 " It is severe against the errors of the age ; is written 
 with great vigor of style, and spiciness of illustration, and 
 cannot fail to awaken interest." — Baptist Advocate. 
 
Itse^- 
 
 ■»*@&i 
 
 i 
 
 VALUABLE 
 
 t 
 
 t RELIGIOUS BOOKS, T 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 FIRESIDE AND SABBATH SCHOOL. 
 
 MIS3 CHUBMJCK'S, (now Mrs. Judscn) 
 
 PRACTICAL STORIES. 
 
 REVISED EDITIONS. 
 
 THE GREAT SECRET, 
 
 Or How to be Happy. 
 
 FANNY ELMORE, 
 
 A SECOND PART TO THE GREAT SECRET. 
 
 CHARLES LINN, 
 
 Or How to Observe the Golden Rule. 
 
 ALLEN LUCAS, 
 
 The Self- made Max. 
 
 H^hhc- 
 
v LEWIS COLBY & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. * 
 
 THE J UPSON OFFERING. 
 
 Intended as a token of Christian Sympathy with the 
 
 Living, and a Memento of Christian 
 
 Affection for the Dead. 
 
 BY REV. JOHN DOWLTNG-, A. M, ; 
 Author of " History of Romanism," &c 
 
 [Fifth Thousand*] 
 
 83P This edition contains several additional articles, in 
 prose and verse, relative to the departure of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Judson for Burmah. 
 
 _ 
 
 Not tecs of tf)e former 3Eoitions. 
 
 It is done up in fancy style, something after the fash- 
 ion of the annuals ; and a handsome engraving, repre 
 senting " The Departure," faces the title. It is neat and 
 spirited, and we doubt not, will meet, as it deserves, an 
 extensive circulation. The fervent missionary spirit that 
 runs through its pages, renders it a valuable work for 
 the young ; and we hope it will be selected by thou- 
 sands as a holiday present, instead of the expensive, but 
 less useful annuals, with which the shelves of the book- 
 stores are plentifully supplied. — Christian Secretary. 
 
 Altogether, it will form an acceptable popular offering, 
 and obtain a wide circulation. Considering the taste and 
 perfection of the mechanical execution, the price is low. 
 — New- York Recorder. ^ *J f\ O ^ *** 
 
 L 122 NASSAiAt a , NEW-YORK. V/ W ^ 
 
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