Gustave Droz - "Monsieur, Madame and Bebe, v1"

A. Frances Friebe - "The Nomad of the Nine Lives"

Frances Hodgson Burnett - "In the Closed Room"

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse - "Piccadilly Jim"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1

J >> John Bunyan >> The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1




John Bunyan.

***

A CONTINUATION OF MR. BUNYAN'S LIFE, BEGINNING WHERE HE LEFT OFF,
AND CONCLUDING WITH THE TIME AND MANNER OF HIS DEATH AND BURIAL,
TOGETHER WITH HIS TRUE CHARACTER.

Reader, the painful and industrious author of this book has already
given you a faithful and very moving relation of the beginning and
middle of the days of his pilgrimage on earth; and since there yet
remains somewhat worthy of notice and regard, which occurred in the
last scene of his life; the which, for want of time, or fear that
some over-censorious people should impute it to him, as an earnest
coveting of praise from men, he has not left behind him in writing.
Wherefore, as a true friend and long acquaintance of Mr. Bunyan's,
that his good end may be known as well as his evil beginning, I
have taken upon me, from my knowledge, and the best account given
by other of his friends, to piece this to the thread, too soon
broke off, and so lengthen it out to his entering upon eternity.

He has told you at large of his birth and education; the evil
habits and corruptions of his youth; the temptations he struggled
and conflicted so frequently with; the mercies, comforts, and
deliverances he found; how he came to take upon him the preaching
of the gospel; the slanders, reproaches, and imprisonments that
attended him; and the progress he notwithstanding made, by the
assistance of God's grace, no doubt to the saving of many souls.
Therefore take these things as he himself has methodically laid them
down in the words of verity; and so I pass on as to what remains.

After his being freed from his twelve years' imprisonment and upwards,
for nonconformity, wherein he had time to furnish the world with
sundry good books, &c.; and, by his patience, to move Dr. Barlow,
the then Bishop of Lincoln,[20] and other churchmen, to pity his
hard and unreasonable sufferings, so far as to stand very much
his friends in procuring his enlargement, or there perhaps he had
died by the noisesomeness and ill usage of the place; being now,
I say, again at liberty, and having, through mercy, shaken off his
bodily fetters, for those upon his soul were broken before, by the
abounding grace that filled his heart, he went to visit those that
had been a comfort to him in his tribulation, with a Christian-like
acknowledgment of their kindness and enlargement of charity; giving
encouragement by his example if it happened to be their hard haps
to fall into affliction or trouble, then to suffer patiently for
the sake of a good conscience, and for the love of God in Jesus
Christ towards their souls; and, by many cordial persuasions,
supported some whose spirits began to sink low through the fear
of danger that threatened their worldly concernment, so that the
people found a wonderful consolation in his discourse and admonitions.

As often as opportunity would admit, he gathered them together in
convenient places, though the law was then in force against meetings,
and fed them with the sincere milk of the Word, that they might grow
up in grace thereby. To such as were anywhere taken and imprisoned
upon these accounts, he made it another part of his business to
extend his charity, and gather relief for such of them as wanted.

He took great care to visit the sick, and strengthen them against
the suggestions of the tempter, which at such times are very
prevalent; so that they had cause for ever to bless God, who had
put into his heart, at such a time, to rescue them from the power
of the roaring lion, who sought to devour them; nor did he spare any
pains or labour in travel, though to the remote counties, where he
knew, or imagined, any people might stand in need of his assistance,
insomuch that some of these visitations that he made, which was
two or three every year, some, though in jeering manner, no doubt,
gave him the epithet of Bishop Bunyan, whilst others envied him
for his so earnestly labouring in Christ's vineyard, yet the seed of
the Word he, all this while, sowed in the hearts of his congregation,
watered with the grace of God, brought forth in abundance, in
bringing in disciples to the church of Christ.

Another part of his time he spent in reconciling differences,
by which he hindered many mischiefs, and saved some families from
ruin; and, in such fallings out, he was uneasy, till he found a
means to labour a reconciliation, and become a peace maker, on whom
a blessing is promised in Holy Writ: and, indeed, in doing this
good office, he may be said to sum up his days, it being the last
undertaking of his life, as will appear in the close of this paper.

When, in the late reign, liberty of conscience was unexpectedly
given and indulged to Dissenters of all persuasions,[21] his
piercing with penetrated the veil, and found that it was not for the
Dissenters' sake they were so suddenly freed from the prosecutions
that had long lain heavy upon them, and set, in a manner, on
an equal foot with the Church of England, which the Papists were
undermining, and about to subvert. He foresaw all the advantages
that could have redounded to the Dissenters, would have been no
more than what Poliphemus, the monstrous giant of Sicily, would
have allowed Ulysses, viz., That he would eat his men first, and
do him the favour of being eaten last. For, although Mr. Bunyan,
following the examples of others, did lay hold of this liberty, as
an acceptable thing in itself, knowing that God is the only lord
of conscience, and that it is good at all times to do according to
the dictates of a good conscience, and that the preaching 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 averting the impendent judgments, which he saw, like a black
tempest hanging over our heads, for our sins, and ready to break
upon us, and that the Ninevites' remedy was now highly necessary.
Hereupon, he gathered his congregation at Bedford, where he mostly
lived, and had lived, and had spent the greatest part of his life;
and there being no convenient place to be had, for the entertainment of
so great a confluence of people as followed him, upon the account
of his teaching, he consulted with them, for the building of a
meeting house; to which they made their voluntary contributions,
with all cheerfulness and alacrity; and the first time he appeared
there to edify, the place was so thronged, that many were constrained
to stay without, though the house was very spacious, every one
striving to partake of his instructions, that were of his persuasion;
and show their good will towards him, by being present at the opening
of the place; and here he lived in much peace and quiet of mind,
contenting himself with that little God had bestowed upon him, and
sequestering himself from all secular employments, to follow that
of his call to the ministry; for, as God said to Moses, he that
made the lips and heart, can give eloquence and wisdom, without
extraordinary acquirements in a university.

During these things, there were regulators sent into all cities
and towns corporate, to new-model the government in the magistracy,
&c., by turning out some, and putting in others. Against this,
Mr. Bunyan expressed his zeal with some weariness, as foreseeing
the bad consequence that would attend it, and laboured with his
congregation to prevent their being imposed on in this kind; and
when a great man in those days, coming to Bedford upon some such
errand, sent for him, as it is supposed, to give him a place of
public trust, he would by no means come at him, but sent his excuse.

When he was at leisure from writing and teaching, he often
came up to London, and there went among the congregations of the
nonconformists, and used his talent to the great good liking of the
hearers; and even some, to whom he had been misrepresented, upon
the account of his education, were convinced of his worth and
knowledge in sacred things, as perceiving him to be a man of sound
judgment, delivering himself plainly and powerfully; insomuch that
many who came as mere spectators, for novelty's sake, rather than
to be edified and improved, went away well satisfied with what they
heard, and wondered, as the Jews did at the apostles, viz., whence
this man should have these things; perhaps not considering that
God more immediately assists those that make it their business
industriously and cheerfully to labour in his vineyard.

Thus he spent his latter years, in imitation of his great Lord and
Master, the ever-blessed Jesus; he went about doing good, so that
the most prying critic, or even malice herself, is defied to find,
even upon the narrowest search or observation, any sully or stain
upon his reputation with which he may be justly charged; and this
we note as a challenge to those that have had the least regard for
him, or them of his persuasion, and have, one way or other, appeared
in the front of those that oppressed him, and for the turning whose
hearts, in obedience to the commission and commandment given him
of God, he frequently prayed, and sometimes sought a blessing for
them, even with tears, the effects of which they may, peradventure,
though undeservedly, have found in their persons, friends, relations,
or estates; for God will hear the prayers of the faithful, and
answer them, even for those that vex them, as it happened in the
case of Job's praying for the three persons that had been grievous
in their reproach against him, even in the day of his sorrow.

But yet let me come a little nearer to particulars and periods of
time for the better refreshing the memories of those that knew his
labour and suffering, and for the satisfaction of all that shall
read this book.

After he was sensibly convicted of the wicked state of his life,
and converted, he was baptized into the congregation and admitted a
member thereof, viz., in the year 1655, and became speedily a very
zealous professor; but, upon the return of King Charles to the
crown, in 1660, he was, on the 12th of November, taken, as he was
edifying some good people that were got together to hear the Word,
and confined in Bedford jail for the space of six years, till the
Act of Indulgence to Dissenters being allowed, he obtained his
freedom by the intercession of some in trust and power that took
pity of his sufferings; but within six years afterwards [from his
first imprisonment] he was again taken up, viz., in the year 1666,
and was then confined for six years more, when even the jailer took
such pity of his rigorous sufferings that he did as the Egyptian
jailer did to Joseph, put all the care and trust into his hands.
When he was taken this last time, he was preaching on these words,
viz., "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" and this imprisonment
continued six years; and when this was over, another short
affliction, which was an imprisonment of half a year, fell to his
share. During these confinements he wrote these following books,
viz.: Of Prayer by the Spirit, The Holy City, Resurrection, Grace
Abounding, Pilgrim's Progress, the first part.

[Defence of Justification by Jesus Christ.]

In the last year of his twelve years' imprisonment, the pastor of
the congregation at Bedford died, and he was chosen to that care
of souls on the 12th of December 1671. And in this his charge,
he often had disputes with scholars, that came to oppose him, as
supposing him an ignorant person, and though he argued plainly and
by Scripture without phrases and logical expressions; yet he nonplussed
one who came to oppose him in his congregation, by demanding
whether or no we had the true copies of the original Scriptures;
and another, when he was preaching, accused him of uncharitableness,
for saying, It was very hard for most to be saved; saying, by that,
he went about to exclude most of his congregation; but he confuted
him and put him to silence with the parable of the stony ground
and other texts out of the 13th of Matthew, in our Saviour's sermon
out of a ship, all his method being to keep close to the Scriptures;
and what he found not warranted there, himself would not warrant
nor determine, unless in such cases as were plain, wherein no doubts
or scruples did arise.

But not to make any further mention of this kind, it is well known
that this person managed all his affairs with such exactness as
if he had made it his study, above all other things, not to give
occasion of offence, but rather suffer many inconvencies to avoid;
being never heard to reproach or revile any, what injury soever
he received, but rather to rebuke those that did; and as it was in
his conversation, so it is manifested on those books he has caused
to be published to the world; where, like the archangel disputing
with Satan about the body of Moses, as we find it in the epistle
of Jude, he brings no railing accusation, but leaves the rebukers,
those that persecuted him, to the Lord.

In his family he kept up a very strict discipline in prayer and
exhortations; being in this like Joshua, as that good man expresses
it, viz., Whatsoever others did, as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord; and, indeed, a blessing waited on his labours and
endeavours, so that his wife, as the Psalmist says, was like a
pleasant vine upon the walls of his house, and his children like
olive branches round his table; for so shall it be with the man
that fears the Lord; and though by reason of the many losses he
sustained by imprisonment and spoil, of his chargeable sickness,
&c., his earthly treasures swelled not to excess, he always had
sufficient to live decently and creditably, and with that he had
the greatest of all treasures, which is content; for, as the wise
man says, that is a continual feast.

But where content dwells, even a poor cottage is a kingly palace;
and this happiness he had all his life long, not so much minding
this world as knowing he was here as a pilgrim and stranger, and had
no tarrying city, but looking for one not made with hands, eternal
in the highest heavens; but at length, worn out with sufferings,
age, and often teaching, the day of his dissolution drew near,
and death, that unlocks the prison of the soul, to enlarge it for
a more glorious mansion, put a stop to his acting his part on the
stage of mortality; heaven, like earthly princes when it threatens
war, being always so kind as to call home its ambassadors before
it be denounced; and even the last act or undertaking of his was
a labour of love and charity; for it so falling out, that a young
gentleman, a neighbour of Mr. Bunyan, happening into the displeasure
of his father, and being much troubled in mind upon that account,
as also for that he had heard his father purposed to disinherit
him, or otherwise deprive him of what he had to leave, he pitched
upon Mr. Bunyan as a fit man to make way for his submission, and
prepare his father's mind to receive him; and he, as willing to
do any good office as it could be requested, as readily undertook
it; and so, riding to Reading, in Berkshire, he then there used
such pressing arguments and reasons against anger and passion, as
also for love and reconciliation, that the father was mollified,
and his bowels yearned towards his returning son.

But Mr. Bunyan, after he had disposed all things to the best
for accommodation, returning to London, and being overtaken with
excessive rains, coming to his lodging extreme wet, fell sick of
a violent fever, which he bore with much constancy and patience;
and expressed himself as if he desired nothing more than to
be dissolved, and to be with Christ, in that case esteeming death
as gain, and life only a tedious delaying of felicity expected;
and finding his vital strength decay, having settled his mind and
affairs, as well as the shortness of his time and the violence of
his disease would admit, with a constant and Christian patience,
he resigned his soul into the hands of his most merciful Redeemer,
following his pilgrim from the City of Destruction to the New
Jerusalem; his better part having been all along there, in holy
contemplation, pantings, and breathings after the hidden manna, and
water of life; as by many holy and humble consolations expressed
in his letters to several persons, in prison and out of prison,
too many to be here inserted at present.[22] He died at the house
of one Mr. Straddocks, a grocer, at the Star on Snowhill, in the
parish of St. Sepulchre, London, on the 12th of August 1688, and
in the sixtieth year of his age, after ten days' sickness; and was
buried in the new burying place near the Artillery Ground; where he
sleeps to the morning of the resurrection, in hopes of a glorious
rising to an incorruptible immortality of joy and happiness; where
no more trouble and sorrow shall afflict him, but all tears be
wiped away; when the just shall be incorrupted, as members of Christ
their head, and reign with him as kings and priests for ever.[23]

A BRIEF CHARACTER OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN.

He appeared in countenance to be of a stern and rough temper; but
in his conversation mild and affable, not given to loquacity or
much discourse in company, 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 injuries, loving
to reconcile differences, and make friendship with all; he had
a sharp quick eye, accomplished with an excellent discerning of
persons, being of good judgment and quick wit. As for his person,
he was tall of stature, strong-boned, 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 reddish, but in his
latter days, time had sprinkled it with grey; his nose well-set,
but not declining or bending, and his mouth moderate large; his
forehead something high, and his habit always plain and modest. And
thus have we impartially described the internal and external parts
of a person, whose death hath been much regretted; a person who had
tried the smiles and frowns of time; not puffed up in prosperity,
nor shaken in adversity, always holding the golden mean.


In him at once did three great worthies shine,
Historian, poet, and a choice divine;
Then let him rest in undisturbed dust,
Until the resurrection of the just.


POSTSCRIPT.

In this his pilgrimage, God blessed him with four children, one
of which, names Mary, was blind, and died some years before; his
other children are Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah; and his wife Elizabeth,
having lived to see him overcome his labour and sorrow, and pass
from this life to receive the reward of his works, long survived
him not, but in 1692 she died; to follow her faithful pilgrim from
this world to the other, whither he was gone before her; while his
works, which consist of sixty books, remain for the edifying of
the reader, and the praise of the author. Vale.

***

MR. JOHN BUNYAN'S DYING SAYINGS.

OF SIN.

Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the procurer of
all miseries to man, both here and hereafter: take away sin and
nothing can hurt us: for death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal,
is the wages of it.

Sin, and man for sin, is the object of the wrath of God. How dreadful,
therefore, must his case be who continues in sin! For who can bear
or grapple with the wrath of God?

No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great
God of heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find out a little
God, it may be easy to find out little sins.

Sin turns all God's grace into wantonness; it is the dare of his
justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight
of his power, and the contempt of his love.[24]

Take heed of giving thyself liberty of committing one sin, for that
will lead thee to another; till, by an ill custom, it become natural.

To begin a sin, is to lay a foundation for a continuance; this
continuance is the mother of custom, and impudence at last the
issue.

The death of Christ giveth us the best discovery of ourselves, in
what condition we were, in that nothing could help us but that;
and the most clear discovery of the dreadful nature of our sins.
For if sin be so dreadful a thing as to wring the heart of the Son
of God, how shall a poor wretched sinner be able to bear it?

OF AFFLICTION.

Nothing can render affliction so insupportable as the load of sin:
would you, therefore, be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the
burden of your sins laid aside, and then what afflictions soever
you may meet with will be very easy to you.

If thou canst hear and bear the rod of affliction which God shall
lay upon thee, remember this lesson--thou art beaten that thou
mayest be better.

The Lord useth his flail of tribulation to separate the chaff from
the wheat.

The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the
world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of
God's mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light.

In times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences
of the love of God.

Did we heartily renounce the pleasures of this world, we should
be very little troubled for our afflictions; that which renders an
afflicted state so insupportable to many is because they are too
much addicted to the pleasures of this life, and so cannot endure
that which makes a separation between them.

OF REPENTANCE AND COMING TO CHRIST.

The end of affliction is the discovery of sin, and of that to bring
us to a Saviour. Let us therefore, with the prodigal, return unto
him, and we shall find ease and rest.

A repenting penitent, though formerly as bad as the worst of men,
may, by grace, become as good as the best.

To be truly sensible of sin is to sorrow for displeasing of God;
to be afflicted that he is displeased by us more than that he is
displeased with us.

Your intentions to repentance, and the neglect of that soul-saving
duty, will rise up in judgment against you.

Repentance carries with it a Divine rhetoric, and persuades Christ
to forgive multitudes of sins committed against him.

Say not with thyself, To-morrow I will repent; for it is thy duty
to do it daily.

The gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrines the most
dangerous, if it be received in word only by graceless men; if it
be not attended with a sensible need of a Saviour, and bring them
to him. For such men as have only the notion of it, are of all men
most miserable; for by reason of their knowing more than heathens,
this shall only be their final portion, that they shall have greater
stripes.

OF PRAYER.

Before you enter into prayer, ask thy soul these questions--1. To
what end, O my soul, art thou retired into this place? Art thou not
come to discourse the Lord in prayer? Is he present; will he hear
thee? Is he merciful; will he help thee? Is thy business slight;
is it not concerning the welfare of thy soul? What words wilt thou
use to move him to compassion?

To make thy preparation complete, consider that thou art but dust
and ashes, and he the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that clothes himself with light as with a garment; that thou art
a vile sinner, he a holy God; that thou art but a poor crawling
worm, he the omnipotent Creator.

In all your prayers forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.

When thou prayest, rather let thy hearts be without words, than
thy words without a heart.

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to
cease from prayer.

The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and
silver.

Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God,
and a scourge for Satan.

OF THE LORD'S DAY, SERMONS, AND WEEK DAYS.

Have a special care to sanctify the Lord's day; for as thou keepest
it, so it will be with thee all the week long.

Make the Lord's day the market for thy soul; let the whole day be
spent in prayer, repetitions, or meditations; lay aside the affairs
of the other part of the week; let thy sermon thou hast heard be
converted into prayer: Shall God allow thee six days, and wilt not
thou afford him one?

In the church, be careful to serve God; for thou art in his eyes,
and not in man's.

Thou mayest hear sermons often, and do well in practicing what thou
hearest; but thou must not expect to be told thee in a pulpit all
that thou oughtest to do, but be studious in searching the Scriptures,
and reading good books; what thou hearest may be forgotten, but
what thou readest may better be retained.

Forsake not the public worship of God, lest God forsake thee, not
only in public, but in private.

In the week days, when thou risest in the morning, consider, 1.
Thou must die. 2. Thou mayest die that minute. 3. What will become
of thy soul. Pray often. At night consider, 1. What sins thou
hast committed. 2. How often thou hast prayed. 3. What hath thy
mind been bent upon. 4. What hath been thy dealing. 5. What thy
conversation. 6. If thou callest to mind the errors of the day,
sleep not without a confession to God, and a hope of pardon. Thus
every morning and evening make up thy accounts with Almighty God,
and thy reckoning will be the less at last.