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Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1

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22. 'In downright earnest'; as one who is in imminent danger of
drowning, or in a house on fire, eager to escape. Reader, have you
ever felt thus 'in downright earnest' for salvation? Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they SHALL be
filled.--Ed.

23. This is an interesting view of church fellowship; and the
admission of a convert to Christian communion. See also Christiana
at the Interpreter's House, and the preface to Bunyan's 'Christian
Behaviour.'--Ed.

24. The Christian who is found waiting upon God, is the thriving
one; the best way to be assured of our election is to examine our
state with the touchstone of truth, the Scriptures. The elect of God
know Christ savingly, esteem him precious, and obey him cheerfully
from love and gratitude.--Mason.

25. 'Gingerly'; cautiously.

'Has it a corn? or do's it walk on conscience, It treads so gingerly.'
Love's Cure, Act ii., Scene 1.--Ed.

26. Manifestations of love and grace are not to be rested in, or
made a saviour of; they are given to strengthen and prepare us for
future trials.--Mason.

27. Here we have Christian in the valley of the shadow of death. 'One
thing I would not let slip, I took notice that now poor Christian
was so confounded, that he did not know his own voice; and thus I
perceived it, just when he was come over against the mouth of the
burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stept up
softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies
to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own
mind.'--Pilgrim's Progress.--Ed.

28. 'Under her apron,' was altered in subsequent editions to 'in
her arms.'--Ed.

29. 'Poor fool'; altered, in later editions, to 'poor soul.'--Ed.

30. John Gifford, Bunyan's pastor, was a Kentish man, and had been
a major in the King's army, a roistering cavalier. For some crimes,
he, with eleven others, was condemned to be hung, but made his
escape to London, and thence to Bedford, where, being unknown, he
practiced physic. Addicted to swearing, drinking, and gambling,
he, in distress at a serious loss, vowed repentance; he became
greatly distressed under conviction of sin; at length his mind was
enlightened, the Holy Spirit led him to forgiveness by the atonement
of Christ, and his heart was filled with a hitherto unknown source
of blessedness. This he imparted to others, and at length, in 1650,
formed a church, with which the soul-harassed pilgrim Bunyan cast
in his lot as a member in 1653. There appears to have been a strong
mutual affection between him and his pastor. In 1658, Mr. Gifford
published a preface to Bunyan's 'Few Sighs from Hell,' in which
he speaks of him with the warmest affection, as one 'that I verily
believe God hath counted faithful, and put him into the ministry--one
that hath acquaintance with God, and taught by his Spirit, and hath
been used to do souls good. Divers have felt the power of the word
delivered by him, and I doubt not but that many more may, if God
continue him in his work.' Judging from Gifford's preface, he must
have been an excellent teacher to train Bunyan for his important
labours as a Christian minister. He uses the same fervid striking
language. Thus, on the value of the soul: 'Consider what an
ill bargain thou will make to sell thy precious soul for a short
continuance in sin and pleasure. If that man drives an ill trade,
who to gain the whole world should lose his own soul, then certainly
thou art far worse that sells thy soul for a very trifle. Oh, 'tis
pity that so precious a thing should be parted withal to be made a
prey for the devouring lion, for that which is worse than nothing.
If they were branded for desperate wretches that caused their
children to pass through the fire to Moloch, surely thou much more
that gives thy soul to devouring flames. What meanest thou, O man!
to truck+ with the devil?'--See Sighs, 1st Edition, and Brooks'
Puritans.--Ed.

+ 'To truck'; to barter or exchange.

31. That persons called Quakers held these heresies, there can be
no doubt; but they were never held by that respectable and useful
body of Christians, the Society of Friends, is equally clear.
Barclay, in his Theses, 1675, says of the Scriptures:--'They are
the doctrine of Christ, held forth in precious declarations, spoken
and written by the movings of God's Spirit.' He goes on to say,
that the same Spirit can alone guide man into these sacred truths.
In all important doctrines, the difference between the Quakers
and evangelical professors is in terms and not in things. Their
distinguishing difference relates to the work of the ministry.--Ed.

32. How natural is it for man to build up vain hopes of long life!
Bunyan's vigorous constitution, had he enjoyed the free air of
liberty, might have prolonged his pilgrimage to extreme old age.
But his long imprisonment shortened his valuable life: it almost
amounted to legal murder.--Ed.

33. Bunyan, in his treatise on 'Jesus Christ the Advocate,' admirably
shows the analogy between the year of jubilee and the Christian's
reversion to his inheritance, although deprived for a time of the
comfort of it during his pilgrimage, by reason of sin.--Ed.

34. He is a restless, powerful, and malicious enemy; ever striving
to drive the sinner to desperation. Let the tempted look to Jesus
the serpent-bruiser to shield him, so that the fiery darts of the
wicked one may be quenched.--Mason.

35. Printed 'did hear' in first edition.--Ed.

36. Altered to 'indeed' in later editions.--Ed.

37. 'Racked or broken upon the wheel,' was a horrid mode of torturing
a criminal to death, formerly used in France. The sufferer was
stretched and made fast upon a large wheel, when the executioner,
with a heavy iron bar, proceeded to break every bone in his body;
beginning with the toes and fingers, and proceeding to crush those
bones that the least affected life, and ending by crushing the
skull into the brains. How piercing must have been the convictions
of sin upon Bunyan's soul, to have led him to such a simile!--Ed.

38. 'A Relation of the Fearful Estate of Francis Spira.'


'Here see a soul that's all despair; a man
All hell; a spirit all wounds.
Reader, would'st see what may you never feel,
Despair, racks, torments, whips of burning steel?
Behold this man, this furnace, in whose heart,
Sin hath created hell.'


From the address to the reader, in a copy of this awful narrative
in possession of the Editor. Spira was filled with remorse and
despair for having been induced, by improper motives, to become a
papist.--Ed.

39. No Christian minister ever dwelt more richly on the 'Saint's
Knowledge of Christ's Love' than Bunyan. See vol. ii. p. 1. It was
the result of this soul-harrowing experience. He there shows its
heights exceeding the highest heavens, depths below the deepest hell,
lengths and breadths beyond comprehension. That treatise ought to
be read and cherished by every trembling believer.--Ed.

40. Alter, in later editions, to 'flying fits.'--Ed.

41. Internal conflicts, dreams, or visions ought not to be the source
of peace or of bitterness to the soul. If they drive us to Christ,
we may hope that they are from heaven for our relief; but if their
tendency is to despair, by undervaluing the blood of atonement, or
to lasciviousness, they are from Satan. Our real dependence must
be upon 'a more sure word of prophecy': if we are well-grounded in
the promises, it will save us from many harassing doubts and fears
which arise from a reliance upon our feelings.--Ed.

42. That a poor penitent should perish at the feet of Jesus is an
utter impossibility. God, when manifest in the flesh, decreed, that
'Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.' 'I will
give him rest.' His Word must stand fast for ever.--Ed.

43. How soul-rending a thought! but it can only be the case with
those who continue to their death despising the Saviour. Those
who love him are kept by almighty power, everlasting love, and
irresistible grace.--Ed.

44. Happy would it be for tempted souls, in their distress, to
look simply to the declarations and promises of God in the Word;
we there find salvation completed by Christ. Our duty is to look
in faith and prayer to the Spirit of God for the application and
comfort of it.--Mason.

45. However humbling, this is a truth not to be disputed. The wisest
philosopher and most illiterate peasant are upon a level, fallen
from God. None will be excluded who come to Christ, whose gracious
invitation is general, 'Whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely' (Rev 22:17).--Mason.

46. This is the proper source of comfort--the records of infallible
truth. There is found mercy for the miserable, redemption for the
captive, salvation for the lost, heaven for the hell-deserving
sinner.--Mason.

47. Though we may wait long for mercy, yet the hand of faith never
knocked in vain at the door of heaven. Mercy is as surely ours as
if we had it, if it be given us in faith and patience to wait for
it.--Mason.

48. To sin against light and knowledge, received in and by the
gospel, is a very heinous aggravation of sin. The condition of
persons simply ignorant is not so sad by far, as theirs who have
been enlightened and yet afterwards apostatized. Let the formalist
and lukewarm professors read this and tremble.--Mason.

49. The Holy Spirit is the candle of the Lord, by whose light the
awakened conscience is brought to see something of the mystery
of iniquity lurking in the heart. He first convinces of sin,
righteousness, and judgment; and then points to Jesus as the only
security: 'Behold the Lamb of God.'--Mason.

50. This is very beautifully expressed; nothing can be more descriptive
of a poor pilgrim who has been toiling through the valley of the
shadow of death, and upon whose soul the day-spring from on high
has arisen.--Ed.

51. 'Cracked groats and fourpence-halfpennies.' The humility of our
author is here most unobtrusively apparent. He had some treasure in
his 'earthen vessel'; but, in comparison with his store in Christ,
it was like a few cracked groats by the side of massive pure gold.
What he meant by 'fourpence-halfpennies' somewhat puzzled me, there
never having been any piece of English money coined of that value.
I found that a proclamation was issued shortly before Mr. Bunyan's
time (April 8, 1603), to save the people from being deceived with
the silver harp money of Ireland, purporting to be twelve and
sixpenny pieces. It fixed the value of the Irish twelvepence to be
ninepence English; so that the Irish sixpence was to pass current
for fourpence-halfpenny in England. That accomplished antiquary,
Mr. Hawkins, the curator of the coins in the British Museum, shewed
me this Irish silver money; and agreed with me in believing that
Bunyan alludes to these Irish sixpences, placing them in company
with cracked groats, depreciated in value. Mr. Hawkins was not
aware that they had been in common circulation in England.--Ed.

52. 'Common or public,' belonging equally to many. Christ is the
federal or covenant head of his church, each member claiming an
equal or common right to all his merits as a Saviour, Mediator,
and Advocate.--Ed.

53. This retort, or rebuke, is inserted twice in the first edition,
probably a typographical error.--Ed.

54. See note on No. 152. The feelings of Bunyan must have been
exceedingly pungent.--Ed.

55. This is a view of the power given to the apostles to forgive
or retain sins worthy of our serious consideration. That mysterious
power, under the pretence of possessing which merchandise is
made of souls, if it was not limited to the apostles personally,
was intended to be used by all those whom God sends to preach the
gospel; an authority to proclaim salvation or condemnation to those
who receive or reject the Saviour. Bunyan considers it a similar
power to that given to the governors of the city of refuge; to
admit the terror-stricken soul that 'shall declare his cause'--or
confess his guilt--into the city, there to abide the judgment upon
him, as in Christ the Refuge. This is very different to turning
God out of his judgment-seat; as is the case when a poor worm says
to his fellow-worm, 'I absolve thee from all thy sins.' See the
visitation of the sick, in the Book of Common Prayer.--Ed.

56. The mode of admitting members into the church, among the
Baptists, appears to have been the same in Bunyan's days as it is
now practiced. It is, first to be introduced to the minister, who
endeavours to ascertain whether there is an earnest desire to flee
from the wrath to come, sincere repentance, and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. If so, he mentions it to the church; and visitors are
appointed, to encourage the young convert, and to scrutinize into
moral character. If they are satisfied, he is invited to attend a
private church meeting; and if the members have a good hope that
he is a decided believer in Jesus, they receive him into their
fellowship; and if he requests it, he is publicly baptized in
water, and communicates with the church at the Lord's table. This
appears to have been the mode in which Bunyan was admitted into
the church at Bedford. Most of the Baptist churches now agree with
Bunyan, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or inward spiritual
regeneration, is, alone, the essential pre-requisite to the Lord's
table; and they leave members to their own conclusions as to the
validity of their having been sprinkled in infancy, or the necessity
of immersion in water upon a profession of faith.--Ed.

57. Many will be surprised that Bunyan, who was so ready a writer,
should be unable to tell what he saw and felt when in these holy
enjoyments; but all who have had similar feelings will unite with
him in saying, they are inexpressible, great, and full of glory.--Ed.

58. This is a very correct view of the excellent mode in which
dissenting ministers are generally called to their important work.
First, their gifts in prayer and conversation upon Divine things,
and aptness in illustrating and confirming what they advance from
the Scriptures, is noticed; and, secondly, they are encouraged to
pray with and address the poor children in a Sunday school. If they
manifest an aptness to teach, they are, thirdly, invited to give
an exhortation to the church privately; and then, fourthly, they
are encouraged to pray and preach among the poor in country villages
and in work-houses. The God who gave the wish and the talent, soon
opens a way to still more public usefulness. In most cases, they
enter upon a course of study, to fit them for their momentous labours;
but many of our most valuable ministers have, like Bunyan, relied
entirely upon their prayerful investigation of the Scriptures. his
college was a dungeon, his library the Bible; and he came forth
with gigantic power to grapple with the prince of darkness. No human
learning could have so fitted him for this terrible and mysterious
warfare.--Ed.

59. 'With great sense,' means with great feeling, arising from his
own acute experience.--Ed.

60. In the first edition Bunyan says, 'I have lain as long,' (five
years). This was in 1666.--Ed.

61. When God sends forth a zealous ambassador to publish the glad
tidings of salvation to perishing sinners, he will be sure to meet
with the fiercest opposition from proud pharisaical professors:
so it was from the beginning, and will be to the end of time; but
the Lord will work, and none shall hinder. Experimental preaching
will always be offensive to the carnal and profane.--Mason.

62. It is impossible to identify the sect to which Bunyan belonged by
reading his works. He rises above all sectarian bias in his earnest
efforts to win souls to Christ, and to keep them in a heavenly
frame of mine.--Ed.

63. 'Other men's lines,' other men's compositions. Bunyan went
himself to the fountain head of Divine truth, and was not taught
by the wisdom of his fellow-men in the things that pertained to
salvation. He spoke as he felt; and, while he copied no sentence from
others, no man that ever wrote has been so copied from by others.
Application was once made to the Editor, to publish an admirable
sermon which had been taken in short hand from the lips of a D.D.;
when, to the surprise of the applicant, he was shown the whole
sermon in Bunyan's Heavenly Footman.--Ed.

64. Altered, in later editions, to 'searching.'--Ed.

65. Gifts are no evidence of God's favour; they are like the gold
which adorned the temple, but grace, the saving grace of the Spirit,
is like the altar which sanctifies the gold.--Mason..

66. In this paragraph is displayed that modest genuine humility
which shone so conspicuously in Bunyan. He possessed that popular
natural eloquence, by which he could deliver himself like an angel;
but when pride began to rise, he knocked it on the head with that
severe maul, 'Is it so much to be a fiddle' that Satan once so
played upon?--Ed.

67. One circumstance from which these vile slanders were raised,
is narrated in the thrilling narrative of God's gracious dealings
with Mrs. Agnes Beaumont. She was waiting in hopes of attending
a meeting, when 'at last, quite unexpectedly, came Mr. Bunyan. The
sight of him caused a mixture of joy and grief. I was glad to see
him, but afraid he would not be willing to take me up behind him,
and how to ask him I knew not. At length my brother did; but Mr.
Bunyan answered, with some degree of roughness, "No, I will not carry
her." These words were cutting indeed, and made me weep bitterly.
My brother, perceiving my trouble, said, "Sir, if you do not carry
her, you will break her heart"; but he made the same reply, adding,
"Your father would be grievously angry if I should." "I will venture
that," said I. And thus, with much entreaty, he was prevailed on;
and O how glad was I to think I was going. Soon after we set out,
my father came to my brother's, and asked his men whom his daughter
rode behind? They said, Mr. Bunyan. Upon hearing this, his anger
was greatly inflamed; he ran down the close, thinking to overtake
me, and pull me off the horse, but we were gone out of his reach.

'I had not ridden far, before my heart began to be lifted up with
pride at the thoughts of riding behind this servant of the Lord;
and was pleased if any looked after us, as we rode along. Indeed,
I thought myself very happy that day: first, that it pleased God
to make way for my going; and then, that I should have the honour
to ride behind Mr. Bunyan, who would sometimes be speaking to me
about the things of God. My pride soon had a fall; for, in entering
Gam'gay, we were met by one Mr. Lane, a clergyman who lived at
Bedford, and knew us both, and spoke to us, but looked very hard
at us as we rode along; and soon after raised a vile scandal upon
us, though, blessed be God, it was false.'

No Christian should be without that deeply interesting volume of
Christian experience, James' Abstract of the Gracious Dealings of
God with several Eminent Christians. The persecutions that Mrs.
Beaumont went through were like a dreadful tempest, yet was she
joyfully delivered out of them all.--Ed.

68. 'All is a case,' all the same. A case--that which falls, comes,
or happens; an event. See Blackie's Imperial Dictionary.--Ed.

69. 'Baulks,' missing, omitting, leaving untouched. 'This was
looked for at your hand, and this was baulked; the double gill of
this opportunity you let time wash off, and you are now sailed into
the north of my lady's opinion; where you will hang like an icicle
on a Dutchman's beard.'--Twelfth Night, Act iii. Scene 2; and
Imperial Dictionary.--Ed.

70. 'Above five year and a quarter' are the words in the first
edition, 1666. His imprisonment commenced November 1660; the order
for his release bears date September 13, 1672, but it was some
months before he was discharged.--Ed.

71. Angel visits may be expected when Antichrist persecutes the
Christian to bonds and imprisonment. An angel released Peter from
prison; angels revealed to John, when exiled to Patmos, the wonders
of his book of Revelation. The Lord of angels, the angel of the
covenant, communes with Bunyan in his dungeon, and converts it into
a Bethel to his soul; and this, for refusing obedience to the laws
of his country, because those laws violated God's prerogative, and
impiously dared to assume authority which belongs exclusively to
the Almighty. They remain to this day a disgrace to our statutes,
but are never enforced.--Ed.

72. Bunyan did well to prepare for the worst. He must have been
familiar with the horrid cruelties practiced upon Dr. Leighton by
that fiend in human shape, Archbishop Laud. The pious and learned
doctor was caught in Bedfordshire; and the story of his unparalleled
sufferings strengthened the Roundheads to deeds of valour,
in putting an end to such diabolical cruelties. The spirit of the
charges against him were his saying that no king may make laws
in the house of God; and that the bishops were ravens and magpies
that prey upon the state. His sufferings are narrated in Brooke's
Puritans, vol. ii. p. 478.--Ed.

73. 'Tuition' was altered to 'care' in later editions.--Ed.

74. i.e., My profession--the soul, shrinking from pain, moving him
one way, and his profession another.--Ed.

75. 'To scrabble,' to go on all fours--'to move along on the hands and
knees, by clawing with the hands.'--Blackie's Imperial Dictionary.--Ed.

76. This is the language of a heaven-born soul, which sees such
beauty and excellency in Christ, that it would not part with him for
a thousand worlds; if there were no heaven hereafter, his delight
in the ways of God renders his service preferable to all the wealth,
grandeur, and vain pleasures of the ungodly.--Mason.

***

A RELATON OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN, MINISTER OF THE
GOSPEL AT BEDFORD, IN NOVEMBER 1660. HIS EXAMINATION BEFORE THE
JUSTICES; HIS CONFERENCE WITH THE CLERK OF THE PEACE; WHAT PASSED
BETWEEN THE JUDGES AND HIS WIFE WHEN SHE PRESENTED A PETITION FOR
HIS DELIVERANCE, ETC.

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF, AND NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:
for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you." Matthew 5:10-12

London: Printed for James Buckland, at the Buck, in Paternoster
Row, MDCCLXV.

The relation of my imprisonment in the month of November 1660.

When, by the good hand of my God, I had for five or six years
together, without any interruption, freely preached the blessed
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; and had also, through his blessed
grace, some encouragement by his blessing thereupon; the devil,
that old enemy of man's salvation, took his opportunity to inflame
the hearts of his vassals against me, insomuch that at the last
I was laid out for by the warrant of a justice, and was taken and
committed to prison. The relation thereof is as followeth:

Upon the 12th of this instant November 1660, I was desired by
some of the friends in the country to come to teach at Samsell,
by Harlington, in Bedfordshire. To whom I made a promise, if the
Lord permitted, to be with them on the time aforesaid. The justice
hearing thereof, whose name is Mr. Francis Wingate, forthwith issued
out his warrant to take me, and bring me before him, and in the
meantime to keep a very strong watch about the house where the
meeting should be kept, as if we that were to meet together in that
place did intend to do some fearful business, to the destruction
of the country; when, alas, the constable, when he came in, found
us only with our Bibles in our hands, ready to speak and hear the
Word of God; for we were just about to begin our exercise. Nay, we
had begun in prayer for the blessing of God upon our opportunity,
intending to have preached the Word of the Lord unto them there
present;[1] but the constable coming in prevented us; so that I
was taken and forced to depart the room. But had I been minded to
have played the coward, I could have escaped, and kept out of his
hands. For when I was come to my friend's house, there was whispering
that that day I should be taken, for there was a warrant out to
take me; which when my friend heard, he being somewhat timorous,
questioned whether we had best have our meeting or not; and whether
it might not be better for me to depart, lest they should take me
and have me before the justice, and after that send me to prison,
for he knew better than I what spirit they were of, living by them;
to whom I said, No, by no means, I will not stir, neither will I
have the meeting dismissed for this. 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 is so good a work, that we shall be well
rewarded, if we suffer for that; or to this purpose; but as for my
friend, I think he was more afraid of [for] me, than of himself.
After this I walked into the close, where, I somewhat seriously
considering the matter, this came into my mind, That I had showed
myself hearty and courageous in my preaching, and had, blessed 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 savour in the country. For what will my weak and newly converted
brethren think of it, but that I was not so strong indeed as I was
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 should choose me to go upon the forlorn
hope in this country; that is, to be the first, that should be
opposed, for the gospel; if I should fly, it might be a discouragement
to the whole body that might follow after. And further, I thought
the world thereby would take occasion at my cowardliness, to have
blasphemed the gospel, and to have had some ground to suspect worse
of me and my profession than I deserved. These things with others
considered 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 blessed be the Lord, I knew of no evil that I
had said or done. And so, as aforesaid, I began the meeting. But
being prevented by the constable's coming in with his warrant to
take me, I could not proceed. But before I went away, I spake some
few words of counsel and encouragement 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 should not be discouraged, for it was a mercy
to suffer upon so good account. For we might have been apprehended
as thieves or murderers, or for other wickedness; but blessed be
God it was not so, but we suffer as Christians for well doing: and
we had better be the persecuted than the persecutors, &c. But the
constable and the justice's man waiting on us, would not be at
quiet till they had me away, and that we departed the house. But
because the justice was not at home that day, there was a friend
of mine engaged 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 the justice.[2]
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 armour
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
anything 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? 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.