William Harmon Norton - "The Elements of Geology"

General Sir John Ayde - "Indian Frontier Policy"

Tom Taylor - "Our American Cousin"

Jean de La Fontaine - "The Tales and Novels, v10: Imitation of Anacreon"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
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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.

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Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 3

J >> John Bunyan >> The Works of John Bunyan Volume 3




That the 'Holy War' allegorically represents Bunyan's personal
feelings, is clearly declared by him in the poetical Introduction
or Address to the Reader, prefixed to the book. He adverts to
books of fiction, and solemnly declares--


'I have somewhat else to do,
Than with vain stories thus to trouble you,
For my part, I (myself) was in the town,
Both when 'twas set up, and when pulling down;
I saw Diabolus in his possession,--
Yea, I was there when she own'd him for Lord.'


A remarkable verse describes his state before conversion--


'When Mansoul trampled upon things divine,
And wallowed in filth as doth a swine;
When she betook herself unto her arms,
Fought her Emmanuel, despis'd his charms,
Then I was there, and did rejoice to see
Diabolus and Mansoul so agree.'


Some editor, imagining that Bunyan could never have so rejoiced,
forgetting his own words in the fourth section of his 'Grace
Abounding'--'It was my delight to be taken captive by the devil,
at his will'--altered these words to--


'Then I was there, and grieved for to see
Diabolus and Mansoul so agree.'


This alteration, which perverts the author's meaning, appears
in a London edition, 1752, and has been copied into many modern
editions, even into those by Mason and Burder.[2]

The author having in the above lines described his unconverted
state, goes on to delineate his convictions in these words:--


'What is here in view,
Of mine own knowledge, I dare say is true.
I saw the Prince's armed men come down,
I saw the captains, heard the trumpets sound;
Yea, how they set themselves in battle-ray,
I shall remember to my dying day.'


The whole of this address is descriptive of what the author saw,
felt, or heard--


'What shall I say? I heard the people's cries,
And saw the Prince wipe tears from Mansoul's eyes;
I heard the groans, and saw the joy of many,
Tell you of all, I neither will, nor can I;
But by what here I say, you well may see
That Mansoul's matchless wars no fables be.'


The narrative of this eventful war is authenticated by his personal
feelings while under the chastising, correcting, hand of his heavenly
Father; in his new birth and subsequent experience; in bringing
his soul from darkness to marvellous light, and from the wretched
bondage of sin to the glorious liberty of the gospel. This address
is closed with a very important notice, which all our readers
should keep constantly in mind--it is to attend to the author's
key to the allegory, and that is his marginal notes--


'Nor do thou go to work without my key,
(In mysteries men soon do lose their way),
And also turn it right, if thou would'st know
My riddle, and would'st with my heifer plough,
It lies there in the window, fare thee well,
My next may be to ring thy passing-bell.'


The last line strongly reminds us of the author's difficulty to
quit the gin and beer-drinking practice of bell-ringing, to which
in his youth he was so much addicted. It is recorded in his 'Grace
Abounding,' Nos. 33 and 34.[3]

The form and order of the narrative is exceedingly beautiful, and
deeply interesting to those who have been engaged in a similar
warfare. Passing over the short and vivid narration of the fall of
man, our personal feelings are excited by witnessing the methods
of grace, adapted by a covenant-keeping God and Father, to rescue
his people from their natural state of Diabolonian slavery. Many of
the incidents will bring, to the enlightened reader's recollection,
the solemn and powerful impressions under which he struggled, when
opposing the invitations of Emmanuel. His holy joy, when a sense
of pardoning love and mercy came over his soul; and his anxieties,
when in conflict with doubts, and fears, and bloodmen.

Our young readers must be cautioned not to give way to doubts
and fears for their soul's safety, because they have never passed
through the same feelings which fitted Bunyan for a sphere of
extraordinary usefulness. God brings his lambs and sheep into the
fold by such means as are agreeable to his infinite wisdom and
grace. Some surrender at the first summons; others hold out during
a long and distressing siege. 'God's ways are not our ways.' All
our anxious inquiries should be, Is Emmanuel in Heart-castle? is
he 'formed in me the hope of glory?' do I live and believe in him
who has immutably decreed that 'whosoever'--be he rich or poor,
learned or unlearned--if he 'liveth and believeth in me, shall never
die?' It matters not, as to my salvation, whether the siege was
long or short. The vital question is, Has my heart been conquered;
do I love Emmanuel? If I do, it is because he first loved me, and
he changeth not. In proportion to the trouble that I gave to my
Conqueror, so should be my zealous, holy, happy obedience to his
commands. Much is expected from those to whom much as been forgiven.
The Conqueror, by his victory, fits us for those peculiar duties
to which he intends to devote us in extending his kingdom. In
the history of this war, the reader's attention will be naturally
arrested by the fact that Mansoul, having voluntarily surrendered
to the dominion of Satan, made no effort to relieve herself. No
spiritual feelings lurked in the walls to disturb the reign of
Diabolus; not even a prayer or a sigh breaks forth from her heart
for deliverance; she felt not her degradation nor her danger; she
was dead while she yet lived--dead in sin; and from this state
would have sunk, as thousands have, from spiritual and temporal
death into eternal and irretrievable ruin. The first conception of
a scheme for her deliverance from such awful danger, arises in
the celestial court of her Creator; grace lays the foundation,
and raises the top-stone. All the redeemed of God will unite in
one song, 'Not unto us, O Lord; not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory.' A covenant is made, ordered in all things and sure, to
save Mansoul; and from this emanates the vast, the costly design
of her deliverance. To effect this great object, the Mosaic
dispensation--the Law, with all its terrors, is sent, in fearful
array, to conquer or destroy. This is allegorically represented
under the similitude of an army of forty thousand warriors, 'stout,
rough-hewn men, fit to break the ice, and make their way by dint
of sword.' They are under the command of four captains, each with
his ensign--Boanerges and Thunder, Conviction and Sorrow, Judgment
and Terror, Execution and Justice. To resist this force, Diabolus
arms the town, hardens the conscience, and darkens the understanding.
He places at Eargate a guard of DEAF MEN, under old Mr. Prejudice,
and plants over that important gate two great guns, Highmind and
Heady. He arms Mansoul with the whole armour of Satan, which is
very graphically described. Summons after summons is unheeded.
The death of friends, sickness, and troubles, pass by apparently
without any good result. They 'will not hearken to the voice
of charmers, charming never so wisely.' At length, the town
is assaulted, conscience becomes alarmed, but the will remains
stubborn. The beleaguering of the town--planting the ensigns--throwing
up batteries--the slings casting, with irresistible force, portions
of the Word into the mind--the battering-rams beating upon the
gates, especially Eargate--exciting alarm under the fear of the
just and awful punishment due to sin--all are described with an
extraordinary knowledge of military terms and tactics. The episode
of the three volunteers who enlisted under Shaddai, into Captain
Boanerges' company--Tradition, Human-wisdom, and Man's-invention--are
inimitably beautiful. When they were aught in the rear, and taken
prisoners--'as they did not live so much by religion as by the
fates of fortune'--they offer their services to Diabolus, and are
joined to Captain Anything's company. After a few sharp assaults,
convictions of sin alarm the conscience, and six of Diabolus' new
Aldermen are slain with one shot. Their names are well worthy an
attentive consideration, showing what open vices are abandoned upon
the soul being first terrified with the fear of retribution--Swearing,
Whoring, Fury, Stand-to-lies, Drunkenness, and Cheating.

Alarms are continued by day and night, until it is said to Mansoul,
'Upon all her pleasant things there was a blast, and burning instead
of beauty; with shows of the shadow of death.' Thus was it with
David--'My soul is cast down within me: deep calleth unto deep at
the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are
gone over me' (Psa 42:6,7).

All the assaults of Moses and the Law are ineffectual; the gates
remain closed against her King and God. The thunders of Sinai and
the voice of the prophets may alarm, but cannot conquer Mansoul.
The thundering, terrifying captains appeal to the celestial court,
and Emmanuel--God with us--condescends to fight the battle, and
secure the victory. The angelic hosts desire to look into these
things--they are the peers of the heavenly realm--the news 'flew
like lightning round about the court'--and the greatest peers
did covet to have commissions under Emmanuel. The captains that
accompany him in this grand expedition are Faith, Hope, Charity,
Innocence, and Patience. Mansoul is to be won by persuasion to
receive her Saviour. The cost of the enterprise is vast indeed;
the army is numerous as our thoughts, and who can number 'the
multitude of his thoughts?' The battering rams and slings, we are
told by the margin, mean the books of Sacred Scripture, sent to us
by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Emmanuel is irresistible--Mansoul
is taken--Diabolus is dragged out, stripped of his armour, and sent
to the parched places in a salt land, 'seeking rest, but finding
none.'

The heart at first trembles lest punishment should be justly poured
out upon her for treason, but it becomes the throne of its lawful
King; and instead of God's anger, his pardon and blessings are
proclaimed, and Mansoul is filled with joy, happiness, and glory.

Reader, can you call to mind the peace and holy enjoyment which
took possession of your soul, when--having passed through the
fears and hopes, the terrors and alarms, of the new birth--you sat
down, for the first time, at the table of the Lord, to celebrate
the wonders of his grace? Then you rejoiced in hope full of
immortality; then you could exclaim, 'O tidings! glad tidings! good
tidings of good, and of great joy to my soul!' 'Then they leaped
and skipped upon the walls for joy, and shouted, Let Emmanuel live
for ever!' And then you fondly thought that happiness was secure
for the rest of your pilgrimage, until your glorified spirit should
enter into the celestial city.

Alas! your enemies were not dead. They insidiously seized an
unguarded moment. Remiss in watchfulness, and formal in prayer,
Carnal-security invade the mind. Your ardent love is cooled--intercourse
with heaven is slight--and by slow degrees, and almost unperceived,
Emmanuel leaves Heart-castle; and the prince of the power of the
air promotes the treason, and foments rebellion, by the introduction
of loose thoughts, under the name of harmless mirth. The news
soon reach Diabolus, and an infernal conference, or dialogue of
devils, is revealed by our author; who had watched the course and
causes of spiritual declension, and was not 'ignorant of Satan's
devices.'

The malignant craft and subtilty displayed in Satan's counsel, are
described in a manner far beyond an ordinary imagination. They
display the almost unbounded resources of genius and invention so
richly possessed by the prince of allegorists, John Bunyan. It
reminds us of the dialogue between Lucifer and Beelzebub, in that
rare work by Barnardine Ochine, a reformer, published in 1549,
called, A Tragedy or Dialogue of the unjust usurped Primacy of
the Bishop of Rome.[4] In this is represented, in very popular
language, the designs of Lucifer to ruin Christianity by the
establishment of Popery. Lucifer thus addresses his diabolical
conclave--'I have devised to make a certain new kingdom, replenished
with idolatry, superstition, ignorance, error, falsehoods, deceit,
compulsion, extortion, treason, contention, discord, tyranny, and
cruelty; with spoiling, murder, ambition, filthiness, injuries,
factions, sects, wickedness, and mischief; in the which kingdom
all kinds of abomination shall be committed. And notwithstanding
that it shall be heaped up with all kinds of wickedness, yet shall
the [professed] Christian men think it to be a spiritual kingdom,
most holy and most godly. The supreme head of this kingdom shall
be a man which is not only sinful, and an abominable robber and
thief, but he shall be sin and abomination itself; and yet, for
all that, shall be thought of Christian men a God in earth, and
his members, being most wicked, shall be called of men most holy.
God sent his Son into the world, who, for the salvation of mankind,
hath humbled himself even to the death of the cross. I will send
my son into the world, who, for the destruction and condemnation
of mankind, shall so advance himself that he shall take upon him
to be made equal with God.' 'I will, by craft and diligence, shadow
and cover superstition and idolatry with a fair face, and beauty
of holy ceremonies, that men shall be made so drunken and so amazed
with this outward pomp and show, that they shall not be able to
discern truth from falsehood, when they be drowned in the flood
of idolatry and superstition.' 'I will cause them to be most cruel
tyrants and butchers of Christ and his members, under a pretence
of zeal to the house of God. They shall hide their uncleanness
and filthy behaviour with an exceeding wide cloak of hypocrisy,
and with glorious shining titles.' Thus this intrepid reformer
opened up the origin, the development, the desolations, of Popery;
and, with a similar knowledge of Satan's devices, the Nonconformist
Bunyan shows the means by which Diabolus urges the young Christian
into a backsliding state. 'Let our Diabolonian friends in Mansoul
draw it into sin, for there is nothing like sin to devour Mansoul;
while we will send against it an army of twenty or thirty thousand
sturdy terrible doubters. Sin renders Mansoul sick and faint, while
doubts are by it made fierce and strong.' At length Diabolus and
his army of doubts march from Hellgate Hill to Mansoul: the order
in which they are placed, and the names of the officers, are very
instructive, as well as curious. Election-doubteres, under Captain
Rage--Vocation-doubters, commanded by Captain Fury--Grace-doubters,
led by Captain Damnation--Faith-doubters, under Captain
led by Captain Brimstone--Resurrection-doubters, by Captain
Torment--Salvation-doubters, under Captain Noease--Glory-doubters,
commanded by Captain Sepulchre--Felicity-doubters, led by Captain
Pasthope. Incredulity was Lord-general, and Diabolus was King
and Commander-in-chief. The roaring of the drum--their alarming
outcries, Hell-fire! Hell-fire!--their furious assaults--the
multitude of doubts--and the perplexity of poor distracted Mansoul,
are admirably and truly narrated. The town makes a sortie in the
night, but Diabolus and his legions, experienced in night work,
drive them back, and severely wound Captains Faith, Hope, and
Experience. Again the gates are assaulted, and Diabolus and his
doubters gain an entrance, by the senses, into the town, but cannot
force the heart; and Mansoul is reduced to the greatest straits
and sadness. In this extremity, prayers are incessantly offered up
to Emmanuel; but, for a long time, they can obtain no satisfactory
answers. Both parties are on the alert; but Diabolus finds it
impossible, either by treachery or by storming with his legion
of doubts, to gain possession of Heart-castle. Being worsted in
a general engagement, the doubters are slain, and are buried with
their armour; yea, all that did but smell of a Diabolonian Doubter.
The arch-fiend now enters upon a new mode of assault--he sends for
a reinforcement, to try the effect of persecution; and obtains an
army of fifteen thousand Bloodmen, from the province of Loathgood. To
these were added ten thousand new Doubters, under their commander
old Incredulity. These Bloodmen were 'rugged villains, and had
done feats heretofore'; 'they were mastiffs, and would fasten upon
father, mother, brother, yea, upon the Prince of princes. Among
their officers is Captain Pope, whose colours were the stake, the
flame, and the good man in it.' To these I would humbly suggest the
propriety of adding one more--it is Captain State-religion, upon
whose standard should be represented the Nonconformist John Bunyan
in a damp, dreary dungeon, writing his 'Pilgrim's Progress,' with
his poor blind child at his feet. O persecutor, whether you burn
or imprison a Nonconformist, or harass him in Ecclesiastical
courts, or seize his goods to support forms or ceremonies which he
believes to be Antichristian, your commander is old Incredulity--your
king is Diabolus! The Bloodmen send a summons to Mansoul 'as hot as
a red hot iron,' threatening fire and sword, and utter destruction;
but the God who visited our pious author in prison, and cherished
and comforted him in his twelve years' sufferings under persecution,
came to the relief of Mansoul. The Diabolonian army is routed--the
Doubters are slain, excepting a few who escaped--the Bloodmen
or persecutors were not to be slain, but to be taken alive. The
prisoners are brought to trial, with all the forms and solemnities
of law; and the narrative concludes with a most admirable charge
from Emmanuel to keep Mansoul in a state of the most prayerful
vigilance. Enemies still lurk within, to keep her humble; that she
may feel her dependence upon God, and be found much in communion
with him. 'Believe that my love,' says Emmanuel, 'is constant to
thee. Watch, hold fast, till I come.'

In the whole detail of this war, very singular skill is manifested.
A keen observer of all that passed before him, aided by a most
retentive memory, and a fertile imagination, enabled our pilgrim
forefather to gain much knowledge in a short time. He had been
engaged, as a private soldier, in the Civil war; and was at the
siege of Leicester, when it was taken by Prince Rupert. This gave
him a knowledge of the meaning of trumpet or bugle sounds; so that,
when the trumpeters made their best music, in the expectation of
Emmanuel's speedy assistance to help Mansoul, Diabolus exclaims,
'What do these madmen mean? they neither sound to boot and saddle,
nor horse and away, nor a charge.'

Bunyan had been released from his tedious and cruel imprisonment
for conscience sake about ten years, when he published the 'Holy
War.' In this interval of time, although labouring incessantly to
win souls to Christ, being a very popular preacher, yet he must
have found time to gratify his incessant thirst for knowledge;
gaining that he might communicate, and in imparting it, receiving
into his own mind a rich increase. This would doubtless lead him
to read the best of our Puritan and Nonconformists' works, so that
we find him using the Latin words primum mobile, carefully noting
in the margin that he meant 'the soul'; and from hence he must
have scraped acquaintance with Python, Cerberus, and the furies of
mythology, whom he uses in this war, describing accurately their
names and qualities.

At first sight, it may seem strange that the armies, both within
and without the city, should be so numerous, as it is but one man
who is the object of attack and defence--one human body, containing
one immortal Mansoul; but if the reader reflects that every soldier
represents a thought, who can number them? At one time, by the
sin-sickness, eleven thousand--men, women, and children--died in
Mansoul! this is interpreted by Bunyan to mean, that the men
represented 'good thoughts'--the women, 'good conceptions'--and
the children, 'good desires.' The town is assaulted by thirty or
forty thousand doubts, very curiously and methodically arranged.

The value of the marginal notes is very great, throwing immediate
light upon many difficult passages. Every reader should make free
use of the key which lieth in the window [the margin]. The value
of this key is seen by a few quotations. Thus, when Diabolus beat
a charge against the town, my Lord Reason was wounded in the
head--the brave Lord Mayor, Mr. Understanding, in the eye--and
'many also of the inferior sort were not only wounded, but slain
outright.' The margin explains this as meaning 'Hopeful thoughts.'
When the enemy broke into the town at Feelgate, during a night of
terror, and got possession, it is described as being accompanied
by all the horrors of war--by atrocities probably even greater
than those perpetrated by Rupert's cavaliers at Leicester. 'Young
children were dashed in pieces, yea, those unborn were destroyed.'
'The women were beastlike abused.' This is interpreted by two
marginal notes--'Good and tender thoughts,' 'Holy conceptions of
good.'

The storming of Leicester took place in the night, and furnished
Bunyan, who was an eyewitness, with a correct notion of raising
the standard, beleaguering the city, and forcing the gates, and a
lively view of the desolations he describes. Awful as is his account
of the sacking of Mansoul, with its murders and desolations, yet
it may prove to be a good description of the conduct of Prince
Rupert and his cavaliers at the storming of Leicester. Strike out
the name of Diabolus, and insert Rupert, and put Leicester instead
of Mansoul, and the account of the brutal conduct of the Royal
army will be found accurately described. Lord Clarendon, who wrote
to gain the smiles of royalty, plainly tells us that, when Prince
Rupert and the King took Leicester, 'The conquerors pursued
their advantage with the usual license of rapine and plunder, and
miserably sacked the whole town, without any distinction of persons
and places. Churches and hospitals, as well as other houses, were
made a prey to the enraged and greedy soldier, to the exceeding
regret of the King.' Clarendon goes on to account for the exceeding
regret of Charles: it was because many of his faithful friends
had suffered, in the confusion of this murderous scene of rapine
and plunder.

In the 'Holy War,' Bunyan has not been, nor can he ever be, charged
with copying from any author who preceded him. Erasmus, Gouge,
and many other of our Reformers, Puritans, and Nonconformists,
commented upon the Christian's armour and weapons. Benjamin Keach,
about the time that the 'Holy War' appeared, published his War
with the Devil, or, the Young Man's Conflict with the Powers of
Darkness. It is a series of admirable poetical dialogues on the
corruption and vanity of youth, the horrible nature of sin, and
deplorable condition of fallen man; with the rule of conscience
and of true conversion. It has nothing allegorical in it, but is
replete with practical warnings and exhortations. No one had ever
attempted, under the form of an allegory, to describe the internal
conflict between the powers of darkness and of the mind in the
renewed man; the introduction of evil thoughts and suggestions,
their unnatural union with the affections, and the offspring of
such union, under the name of Diabolonians, who, when Mansoul is
watchful unto prayer, lurk in the walls; but when in a backsliding
state, are tolerated and encouraged openly to walk the streets.
Some have supposed that there is a slight similarity between the
description, given by John Chrysostom of the battle between the
hosts of hell and mankind, and John Bunyan's 'Holy War.' It is
not at all probable that Bunyan was acquainted with Chrysostom on
the Priesthood, which was then locked up in the Greek language,
but has been since translated into English. Nor can we find any
similarity between the work of the pious apostolically descended
tinker, and the learned Greek father. Chrysostom's picture of the
battle is contained in a letter to Basil, urging him to become
a minister of the gospel. It is in words to this effect:--'Pent
up in this body, like a dungeon, we cannot discern the invisible
powers. Could you behold the black army of the devil and his mad
conflict, you would witness a great and arduous battle, in which
there is no brass or steel,[5] no horses or wheeled chariots, no
fire and arrows, but other instruments much more formidable. No
breastplates, or shields, or swords, or darts. The very sight of
this accursed host is alone sufficient to paralyze a soul which
is not imbued with courage furnished by God, and with even greater
foresight than valour. Could you calmly survey all this array
and war, you would see, not torrents of blood or dead bodies, but
fallen souls! You would see wounds so grievous, that human war,
with all its horrors, is mere child's play or idle pastime, in
comparison to the sight of so many souls struck down every day by
Satan.' Thus this learned Greek father very eloquently represents
the great battle of Satan and his hosts, against all mankind. But
for a description of the internal conflict, Diabolus and his army
of Doubters and Bloodmen arrayed against the powers of Mansoul,
Bunyan stands alone and most beautifully resplendent.