,transcribed from the #ahid ,oliphant   
,anderson and ,ferrier edition by ,david
  ,price1 email ccx#jgd;coventry4ac4uk  
,,bunyan ,,characters--,,second ,,series
  ,lectures delivered in ,st4 ,george's 
,free ,church ,edinburgh  ,by ,alexander
 ,whyte1 ,d4,d4      ,,ignorance        
,i was alive without the law            
once4--,paul4       ,i was now a brisk  
talker also myself in the matter of     
religion4--,bunyan4    ,this is a new   
kind of pilgrim4  ,there are not many   
pilgrims like this  bright brisk youth4 
,a few more young gentlemen like this1  
and the  pilgrimage way would positively
 soon become fashionable and popular1   
and  be the thing to do4  ,had you met  
with this young gentleman in society1   
had you noticed him beginning to come   
about your church1 you would have  lost 
no time in finding out who he was4  ,i  
can well believe it1 you would  have    
replied4  ,indeed1 ,i felt sure of it4  
,i must ask him to the house4  ,i  was  
quite struck with his appearance and his

 manners4  ,yes2 ask him at  once to    
your house2 show him some pointed       
attentions and you will never  regret   
it4  ,for if he goes to the bar and     
works even decently at his  cases1 he   
will be first a sheriff and then a judge
 in no time4  ,if he  should take to    
politics1 he will be an under-secretary 
before his first  parliament is out4    
,and if he takes to the church1 which is
 not at all  unlikely1 our ,west-end    
congregations will all be competing for 
him as  their junior colleague2 and1 if 
he elects either of our ,established    
churches to exercise his profession in  
it1 he will have dined with ,her        
,majesty while half of his class-fellows
 are still half-starved  probationers4  
,society fathers will point him out with
 anger to their  unsuccessful sons1 and 
society mothers will smile under their  
eyelids as  they see him hanging over   
their daughters4    ,well1 as this      
handsome and well-appointed youth       
stepped out of his own  neat little lane

 into the rough road on which our two   
pilgrims were  staggering upward1 he    
felt somewhat ashamed to be seen in     
their company4  ,and ,i do not wonder4  
,for a greater contrast you would not   
have seen on  any road in all that      
country that day4  ,he was at your very 
first sight  of him a gentleman and the 
son of a gentleman4  ,a little          
over-dressed  perhaps2 as1 also1 a      
little lofty to the two rather battered 
but  otherwise decent enough men who1   
being so much older than he1 took the   
liberty of first accosting him4  ,brisk 
is his biographer's description  of him4
  ,feather-headed1 flippant1 and almost 
impudent1 you might have  been tempted  
to say of him had you joined the little 
party at that  moment4  ,but those two  
tumbled1 broken-winded1 and1 indeed1    
broken-hearted old men had been1 as an  
old author says1 so emptied from  vessel
 to vessel--they had had a life of such 
sloughs and stiff  climbs--they had been
 in hunger and thirst1 in cold and      

nakedness so  often--that it was no     
wonder that their dandiacal companion   
walked on a  little ahead of them4      
',gentlemen1' his fine clothes and his  
cane and his  head in the air all said  
to his two somewhat disreputable-looking
 fellow-  travellers1--,gentlemen1 you  
be utter strangers to me3 ,i know you   
not4  ,and1 besides1 ,i take my pleasure
 in walking alone1 even more a great    
deal  than in company1 unless ,i like it
 better4  ,but all his society manners1 
and all his costly and well-kept        
clothes1 and all his easy and           
self-confident airs did not impose upon 
the two wary old pilgrims4  ,they  had  
seen too much of the world1 and had been
 too long mixing among all  kinds of    
pilgrims1 young and old1 true and false1
 to be easily imposed  upon4  ,besides1 
as one could see from their             
weather-beaten faces1 and  their        
threadbare garments1 they had found the 
upward way so dreadfully  difficult that
 they both felt a real apprehension as  

to the future of  this light-hearted and
 light-headed youth4  ,you may find some
 difficulty  at the gate1 somewhat      
bluntly broke in the oldest of the two  
pilgrims on  their young comrade4  ,i   
shall1 no doubt1 do at the gate as other
 good  people do1 replied the young     
gentleman briskly4  ,but what have you  
to  show at the gate that may cause that
 the gate be opened to you8  ,why1 ,i   
know my ,lord's will1 and ,i have been a
 good liver all my days1 and ,i pay     
every man his own4  ,i pray1 moreover1  
and ,i fast4  ,i pay tithes1 and give   
alms1 and have left my country for      
whither ,i am going4  ,now1 before we   
go further3 ,do all you young gentlemen 
do as much as that8  ,have you  always  
been good livers8  ,have you paid every 
man and woman their due8  ,do  you pray 
to be called prayer8  ,and1 if so1 when1
 and where1 and what for1  and how long 
at a time8  ,i do not ask if your       
private prayer-book is like  ,bishop    
,andrewes' ,devotions1 which was so     

reduced to pulp with tears and  sweat   
and the clenching of his agonising hands
 that his literary  executors were with 
difficulty able to decipher it4  ,clito 
in the  ,christian ,perfection was so   
expeditious with his prayers that he    
used  to boast that he could both dress 
and do his devotions in a quarter of an 
hour4  ,what was the longest time you   
ever took to dress or undress and  say  
your prayers8  ,then1 again1 there is   
another ,anglican young gentleman  in   
the same ,high ,church book who always  
fasts on ,good ,friday and the          
,thirtieth of ,january4  ,did you ever  
deny yourself a glass of wine or a      
cigar or an opera ticket for the church 
or the poor8  ,could you honestly  say  
that you know what tithes are8  ,and is 
there a poor man or woman or  child in  
this whole city who will by any chance  
put your name into their  prayers and   
praises at bedtime to-night8  ,i am     
afraid there are not many  young        
gentlemen in this house to-night who    

could cast a stone at that  brisk lad   
,ignorance1 ,vain-,hope1 door in the    
side of the hill1 and all4  ,he  was not
 far from the kingdom of heaven2 indeed1
 he got up to the very  gate of it4     
,how many of you will get half as far8  
,now 7what think you871 was it not a    
very bold thing in ,john ,bunyan1 whose 
own descent was of such a low and       
inconsiderable generation1 his father's 
house being of that rank that is meanest
 and most despised of all the  families 
in the land--was it not almost too bold 
in such a clown to take  such a         
gentleman-scholar as ,saul of ,tarsus1  
the future ,apostle of the  ,lord1 and  
put him into the ,pilgrim's ,progress1  
and there go on to  describe him as a   
very brisk lad and nickname him with the
 nickname of  ,ignorance8  ,for1 in     
knowledge of all kinds to be called     
knowledge1  ,gamaliel's gold medallist  
could have bought the unlettered tinker 
of  ,elstow in one end of the market and
 sold him in the other4  ,and nobody    

knew that better than ,bunyan did4  ,and
 yet such a lion was he for the  truth1 
such a disciple of ,luther was he1 and  
such a defender and preacher  of the one
 doctrine of a standing or falling      
church1 that he fills page  after page  
with the crass ignorance of the         
otherwise most learned of all  the ,new 
,testament men4  ,bunyan does not accuse
 the rising hope of the  ,pharisees of  
school or of synagogue ignorance4  ,that
 young ,hebrew ,rabbi  knew every jot   
and tittle of the law of ,moses1 and all
 the accumulated  traditions of the     
fathers to boot4  ,but ,bunyan has ,paul
 himself with him  when he accuses and  
convicts ,saul of an absolutely brutish 
ignorance of  his own heart and hidden  
nature4  ,that so very brisk lad was    
always  boasting in himself of the day  
on which he was circumcised1 and of the 
old stock of which he had come2 of his  
tribe1 of his zeal1 of his              
blamelessness1 and of the profit he had 
made of his educational and             

ecclesiastical opportunities4  ,whereas 
,bunyan is fain to say of himself  in   
his ,grace ,abounding that he is not    
able to boast of noble blood or  of a   
high-born state according to the flesh4 
,though1 all things  considered1 ,i     
magnify the ,heavenly ,majesty for that 
by this door ,he  brought me into this  
world to partake of the grace and life  
that is in  ,christ by the ,gospel4     
,as we listen to the conversation that  
goes on between the two old  pilgrims   
and this smartly appointed youth1 we    
find them striving hard1  but without   
any sign of success1 to convince him of 
some of the things  from which he gets  
his somewhat severe name4  ,for one     
thing1 they at last  bluntly told him   
that he evidently did not know the very 
,a ,b ,c about  himself4  ,till1 when   
too hard pressed by the more ruthless of
 the two old  men1 the exasperated youth
 at last frankly burst out3 ,i will     
never  believe that my heart is thus    
bad6  ,there is a warm touch of         

,bunyan's  own experience here1 mixed up
 with his so dramatic development of    
,paul's  morsels of autobiography that  
he lets drop in his ,epistles to the    
,philippians and to the ,galatians4     
,now was ,i become godly2 now ,i was    
become a right honest man4  ,though as  
yet ,i was nothing but a poor  painted  
hypocrite1 yet ,i was proud of my       
godliness4  ,i read my ,bible1 but  as  
for ,paul's ,epistles1 and such like    
,scriptures1 ,i could not away with     
them2 being1 as yet1 but ignorant both  
of the corruptions of my nature  and of 
the want and worth of ,jesus ,christ to 
save me4  ,the new birth did  never     
enter my mind1 neither knew ,i the      
deceitfulness and treachery of my  own  
wicked heart4  ,and as for secret       
thoughts1 ,i took no notice of them4    
,my brethren1 old and young1 what do you
 think of all that8  ,what have you  to 
say to all that8  ,does all that not    
open a window and let a flood of        
daylight into your own breast8  ,i am   

sure it does4  ,that is the best        
portrait of you that ever was painted4  
,do you not see yourself there as  in a 
glass8  ,and do you not turn with       
disgust and loathing from the  stupid   
and foolish face8  ,you complain and    
tell stories about how  impostors and   
cheats and liars have come to your door 
and have impudently  thrust themselves  
into your innermost rooms2 but your own 
heart1 if you  only knew it1 is         
deceitful far above them all4  ,not the 
human heart as it  stands in            
confessions1 and in catechisms1 and in  
deep religious books1  but your own     
heart that beats out its blood-poison of
 self-deceit1 and  darkness1 and death  
day and night continually4  ,my heart is
 a good  heart1 said that poor          
ill-brought-up boy1 who was already     
destroyed by  his father and his mother 
for lack of self-knowledge4  ,i entirely
 grant  you that those two old sinners  
by this time were taking very           
pessimistic  and very melancholy views  

of human nature1 and1 therefore1 of     
every human  being1 young and old4      
,they knew that no language had ever    
been coined in  any scripture1 or creed1
 or catechism1 or secret diary of the   
deepest  penitent1 that even half       
uttered their own evil hearts2 and they 
had  lived long enough to see that we   
are all cut out of one web1 are all dyed
  in one vat1 and are all corrupted     
beyond all accusation or confession in  
,adam's corruption4  ,but how was that  
poor1 mishandled lad to know or  believe
 all that8  ,he could not4  ,it was     
impossible4  ,you go so fast1           
gentlemen1 that ,i cannot keep pace with
 you4  ,go you on before and ,i will    
stay a while behind4  ,then said        
,christian to his companion3 ,it pities 
me much for this poor lad1 for it will  
certainly go ill with him at  last4     
,alas6 said ,hopeful1 there are         
abundance in our town in his  condition3
 whole families1 yea1 whole streets1 and
 that of pilgrims too4  ,is your family 

such a family as this8  ,and are you    
yourself just such a  pilgrim as        
,ignorance was1 and are you hastening on
 to just such an end8    ,and then1 as a
 consequence1 being wholly ignorant of  
his own corruption  and condemnation in 
the sight of ,god1 this miserable man   
must remain  ignorant and outside of all
 that ,god has done in ,christ for      
corrupt and  condemned men4  ,i believe 
that ,christ died for sinners and that  
,i shall  be justified before ,god from 
the curse through ,his gracious         
acceptance of  my obedience to ,his law4
  ,or1 then1 to take it this way1       
,christ makes my  duties that are       
religious acceptable to ,his ,father by 
virtue of ,his  merits1 and so shall ,i 
be justified4  ,now1 ,i verify believe  
that nine  out of ten of the young men  
who are here to-night would subscribe   
that  statement and never suspect there 
was anything wrong with it or with      
themselves4  ,and yet1 what does        
,christian1 who1 in this matter1 is just

  ,john ,bunyan1 who again is just the  
word of ,god--what does the old pilgrim 
say to this confession of this young    
pilgrim's faith8  ,ignorance is thy     
name1 he says1 and as thy name is1 so   
art thou3 even this thy answer          
demonstrateth what ,i say4  ,ignorant   
thou art of what justifying             
righteousness is1 and as ignorant how to
 secure thy soul through the  faith of  
it from the heavy wrath of ,god4  ,yea1 
thou also art ignorant of  the true     
effect of saving faith in this          
righteousness of ,christ's1 which  is to
 bow and win over the heart to ,god in  
,christ1 to love ,his name1 ,his  word1 
,his ways1 and ,his people4  ,paul sums 
up all his own early life in  this one  
word1 ignorant of ,god's righteousness4 
,going about1 he says  also1 to         
establish our own righteousness1 not    
submitting ourselves to be  justified by
 the righteousness that ,god has        
provided with such wisdom and  grace1   
and at such a cost in ,his ,son ,jesus  

,christ4  ,now1 young men1 ,i  defy you 
to be better born1 better brought up1 or
 to have better  prospects than ,saul of
 ,tarsus had4  ,i defy you to have      
profited more by  all your opportunities
 and advantages than he had done4  ,i   
defy you to be  more blameless in your  
opening manhood than he was4  ,and yet  
it all went  like smoke when he got a   
true sight of himself1 and1 with that1 a
 true  sight of ,christ and ,his        
justifying righteousness4  ,read at home
 to-night1  and read when alone1 what   
that great man of ,god says about all   
that in  his classical epistle to the   
,philippians1 and refuse to sleep till  
you  have made the same submission4     
,and1 to-night1 and all your days1 let  
submission1 ,paul's splendid submission1
 be the soul and spirit of all  your    
religious life4  ,submission to be      
searched by ,god's holy law as by a     
lighted candle3 submission to be        
justified from all that that candle     
discovers3 submission to take ,christ as

 your life and righteousness1           
sanctification and redemption3 and      
submission of your mind and your will   
and your heart to ,him at all times and 
in all things4  ,nay1 stay still1  and  
say where you sit1 ,lord1 ,i submit4  ,i
 submit on the spot to be  pardoned4  ,i
 submit now to be saved4  ,i submit in  
all things from this  very hour and     
house of ,god not any longer to be mine 
own1 but to be  ,thine1 ,o ,god1 ,thine1
 ,thine1 for ever1 in ,jesus ,christ    
,thy ,son and my  ,saviour6    ,but1 one
 day1 as ,i was passing in the field1   
and that1 too1 with some  dashes in my  
conscience1 fearing lest all was not    
right1 suddenly this  sentence fell upon
 my soul1 ,thy ,righteousness is in     
heaven6  ,and1  methought1 ,i saw with  
the eyes of my soul ,jesus ,christ at   
,god's right  hand4  ,there1 ,i saw1 was
 my ,righteousness4  ,i also saw1       
moreover1 that it  was not my good frame
 of heart that made my ,righteousness   
better1 nor my  bad frame of heart that 

made my ,righteousness worse3 for my    
,righteousness  was ,jesus ,christ      
,himself1 the same yesterday1 and       
to-day1 and for ever4  ',twas glorious  
to me to see ,his exaltation1 and the   
worth and prevalency  of ,his benefits4 
,and that because ,i could now look from
 myself to ,him  and should reckon that 
all those graces of ,god that were now  
green in me  were yet but like those    
crack-groats and four-pence halfpennies 
that rich  men carry in their purses    
when their gold is in their trunks at   
home6  ,oh1  ,i saw that day that my    
gold was all in my trunk at home6  ,even
 in ,christ1  my ,lord and ,saviour6    
,now1 ,christ was all to me3 all my     
wisdom1 all my  righteousness1 all my   
sanctification and all my redemption4   
,methinks in this ,god speaks1     ,no  
tinker hath such power4                 
,,little-,,faith         ,o thou of     
little faith4--,our ,lord4              
,little-,faith1 let it never be         
forgotten1 was1 all the time1 a good    

man4  ,with all his mistakes about      
himself1 with his sad misadventure1 with
 all  his loss of blood and of money1   
and with his whole after-lifetime of    
doleful and bitter complaints1--all the 
time1 ,little-,faith was all  through1  
in a way1 a good man4  ,to keep us right
 on this all-important  point1 and to   
prevent our being prematurely prejudiced
 against this  pilgrim because of his   
somewhat prejudicial name--because give 
a dog a  bad name1 you know1 and you had
 better hang him out of hand at         
once--because1 ,i say1 of this pilgrim's
 somewhat suspicious name1 his          
scrupulously just1 and1 indeed1 kindly  
affected biographer says of him1  and   
says it of him not once nor twice1 but  
over and over and over again1  that this
 ,little-,faith was really all the time 
a truly good man4  ,and1  more than     
that1 this good man's goodness was not a
 new thing with him it  was not a thing 
of yesterday4  ,this man had1 happily to
 begin with1 a  good father and a good  

mother4  ,and if there was a good town  
in all those  parts for a boy to be born
 and brought up in it was surely the    
town of  ,sincere4  ,train up a child in
 the way he should go1 and when he is   
old  he will not depart from it4  ,well1
 ,little-,faith had been so trained up  
both by his father and his mother and   
his schoolmaster and his minister1  and 
he never cost either of them a sore     
heart or even an hour's sleep4  ,one who
 knew him well1 as well1 indeed1 as only
 one young man knows  another1 has been 
fain to testify1 when suspicions have   
been cast on the  purity and integrity  
of his youth1 that nothing will describe
 this  pilgrim so well in the days of   
his youth as just those beautiful words 
out of the ,new ,testament--an example  
to all young men in word1 in            
conversation1 in charity1 in spirit1 in 
faith even1 and in purity--and  that1 if
 there was one young man in all that    
town of ,sincere who kept his  garments 
unspotted it was just our pilgrim of    

to-night4  ,yes1 said one  who had known
 him all his days1 if the child is the  
father of the man1  then ,little-,faith1
 as you so unaccountably to me call him1
 must have been  all along a good man4  
,it was said long ago in ,vanity ,fair  
about our present ,premier that if  he  
were a worse man he would be a better   
statesman4  ,now1 ,i do not repeat  that
 in this place because ,i agree with it1
 but because it helps to  illustrate1 as
 sometimes a violent paradox will help  
to illustrate1 a  truth that does not   
lie all at once on the surface4  ,but it
 is no paradox  or extravagance or      
anything but the simple truth to say    
that if ,little-  ,faith had had more   
and earlier discoveries made to him of  
the innate evil  of his own heart1 even 
if it had been by that innate evil      
bursting out of  his heart and laying   
waste his good life1 he would either    
have been  driven out of his little     
faith altogether or driven into a far   
deeper  faith4  ,had the commandment    

come to him in the manner it came to    
,paul2  had it come so as that the      
sinfulness of his inward nature had     
revived1  as ,paul says1 under its      
entrance2 then1 either his great        
goodness or his  little faith must have 
there and then died4  ,god's truth and  
man's  goodness cannot dwell together in
 the same heart4  ,either the truth will
  kill the goodness1 or the goodness    
will kill the truth4  ,little-,faith1 in
  short1 was such a good man1 and had   
always been such a good man1 and had    
led such an easy life in consequence1   
that his faith had not been much        
exercised1 and therefore had not grown1 
as it must have been exercised  and must
 have grown1 had he not been such a good
 man4  ,in short1 and to  put it        
bluntly1 had ,little-,faith been a worse
 sinner1 he would have been  a better   
saint4  ,o felix culpa6 exclaimed a     
church father2 ,o happy  fault1 which   
found for us sinners such a ,redeemer4  
,an apostrophe which  ,bishop ,ken has  

put into these four bold lines--        
,what ,adam did amiss1     ,turned to   
our endless bliss2     ,o happy sin1    
which to atone1     ,drew ,filial ,god  
to leave ,his throne4    ,and ,john     
,calvin1 the soberest of men1 supports  
,augustine1 the most  impulsive of men1 
in saying the same thing4  ,all things  
which happen to  the saints are so      
overruled by ,god that what the world   
regards as evil  the issue shows to be  
good4  ,for what ,augustine says is     
true1 that even  the sins of saints are1
 through the guiding providence of ,god1
 so far  from doing harm to them1 that1 
on the contrary1 they serve to advance  
their salvation4  ,and ,richard ,hooker1
 a theologian1 if possible1 still  more 
judicious than even ,john ,calvin1 says 
on this same subject and in  support of 
the same great father1 ,i am not afraid 
to affirm it boldly  with ,st4          
,augustine that men puffed up through a 
proud opinion of their  own sanctity and
 holiness receive a benefit at the hands

 of ,god1 and are  assisted with ,his   
grace1 when with ,his grace they are not
 assisted1 but  permitted1 and that     
grievously1 to transgress4  ,ask the    
very soul of  ,peter1 and it shall      
undoubtedly make you itself this answer3
 ,my eager  protestations1 made in the  
glory of my ghostly strength1 ,i am     
ashamed of2  but those crystal tears1   
wherewith my sin and weakness were      
bewailed1  have procured my endless joy3
 my strength hath been my ruin1 and my  
fall  my stay4  ,and our own ,samuel    
,rutherford is not likely to be left far
  behind by the best of them when the   
grace of ,god is to be magnified4  ,had 
sin never been we should have wanted the
 mysterious ,emmanuel1 the  ,beloved1   
the ,chief among ten thousand1 ,christ1 
,god-man1 the ,saviour of  sinners4     
,for1 no sick sinners1 no soul-physician
 of sinners2 no captive1  no ,redeemer2 
no slave of hell1 no lovely ransom-payer
 of heaven4  ,mary  ,magdalene with her 
seven devils1 ,paul with his hands      

smoking with the  blood of the saints1  
and with his heart sick with malice and 
blasphemy  against ,christ and ,his     
,church1 and all the rest of the washen 
ones whose  robes are made fair in the  
blood of the ,lamb1 and all the         
multitude that  no man can number in    
that best of lands1 are all but bits of 
free grace4  ,o what a depth of         
unsearchable wisdom to contrive that    
lovely plot of  free grace4  ,come1 all 
intellectual capacities1 and warm your  
hearts at  this fire4  ,come1 all ye    
created faculties1 and smell the        
precious  ointment of ,christ4  ,oh     
come1 sit down under ,his shadow and eat
 the  apples of life4  ,oh that angels  
would come1 and generations of men1 and 
wonder1 and admire1 and fall down before
 the unsearchable wisdom of this        
gospel-art of the unsearchable riches of
 ,christ6  ,and always pungent  ,thomas 
,shepard of ,new ,england3 ,you shall   
find this1 that there is not  any       
carriage or passage of the ,lord's      

providence toward thee but ,he will  get
 a name to ,himself1 first and last1 by 
it4  ,hence you shall find that  those  
very sins that dishonour ,his name ,he  
will even by them get ,himself  a better
 name2 for so far will they be from     
casting you out of ,his love  that ,he  
will actually do thee good by them4     
,look and see if it is not so  with     
thee8  ,doth not thy weakness strengthen
 thee like ,paul8  ,doth not  thy       
blindness make thee cry for light8  ,and
 hath not ,god out of darkness          
oftentimes brought light8  ,thou hast   
felt venom against ,christ and thy      
brother1 and thou hast on that account  
loathed thyself the more4  ,thy  falls  
into sin make thee weary of it1 watchful
 against it1 long to be rid  of it4     
,and thus ,he makes thy poison thy food1
 thy death thy life1 thy  damnation thy 
salvation1 and thy very greatest enemies
 thy very best  friends4  ,and hence    
,mr4 ,fox said that he thanked ,god more
 for his sins  than for his good works4 

,and the reason is1 ,god will have ,his 
name4  ,and1 last1 but not least1 listen
 to our old acquaintance1 ,james ,fraser
 of  ,brea3 ,i find advantages by my    
sins3 ',peccare nocet1 peccavisse vero  
juvat4'  ,i may say1 as ,mr4 ,fox said1 
my sins have1 in a manner1 done me  more
 good than my graces4  ,grace and mercy 
have more abounded where sin  had much  
abounded4  ,i am by my sins made much   
more humble1 watchful1  revengeful      
against myself4  ,i am made to see a    
greater need to depend  more upon ,him  
and to love ,him the more4  ,i find that
 true which ,shepard  says1 'sin loses  
strength by every new fall4'  ,have you 
followed all  that1 my brethren8  ,or   
have you stumbled at it8  ,do you not   
understand  it8  ,does your superficial 
gin-horse mind incline to shake its     
empty head  over all this8  ,i know that
 great names1 and especially the great  
names  of your own party1 go much       
farther with you than the truth goes1   
and  therefore ,i have sheltered this   

deep truth under a shield of great      
names4  ,for their sakes let this sure  
truth of ,god's best saints lie in peace
 and  undisputed beside you till you    
arrive to understand it4    ,but1 to    
proceed1--the thing was this4  ,at this 
passage there comes down  from          
,broadway-gate a lane called            
,dead-,man's-lane1 so called because of 
the murders that are commonly done      
there4  ,and this ,little-,faith going  
on  pilgrimage1 as we now do1 chanced to
 sit down there and fell fast asleep4   
,yes2 the thing was this3 ,this good man
 had never been what one would call     
really awake4  ,he was not a bad man1 as
 men went in the town of ,sincere1  but 
he always had a half-slept half-awakened
 look about his eyes1 till  now1 at this
 most unfortunate spot1 he fell         
stone-dead asleep4  ,you all  know1 ,i  
shall suppose1 what the apostle ,paul   
and ,john ,bunyan mean by  sleep1 do you
 not8  ,you all know1 at any rate1 to   
begin with1 what sleep  means in the    

accident column of the morning papers4  
,you all know what  sleep meant and what
 it involved and cost in the ,thirsk    
signal-box the  other night4 #a  ,when a
 man is asleep1 he is as good as dead1  
and other  people are as good as dead to
 him4  ,he is dead to duty1 to danger1  
to  other people's lives1 as well as to 
his own4  ,he may be having pleasant    
dreams1 and may even be laughing aloud  
in his sleep1 but that may only  make   
his awaking all the more hideous4  ,he  
may awake just in time1 or he  may awake
 just too late4  ,only1 he is asleep and
 he neither knows nor  cares4  ,now1    
there is a sleep of the soul as well as 
of the body4  ,and as  the soul is in   
worth1 as the soul is in its life and in
 its death to the  body1 so is its      
sleep4  ,many of you sitting there are  
quite as dead to  heaven and hell1 to   
death and judgment1 and to what a stake 
other people  as well as yourselves have
 in your sleep as that poor sleeper in  
the  signal-box was dead to what was    

coming rushing on him through the black 
night4  ,and as all his gnashing of     
teeth at himself1 and all his sobs      
before his judge and before the laid-out
 dead1 and before distracted  widows and
 half-mad husbands did not bring back   
that fatal moment when he  fell asleep  
so sweetly1 so will it be with you4     
,lazarus6 come forth6  ,wise and foolish
 virgins both3 ,behold the ,bridegroom  
cometh6  ,awake1 thou  that sleepest1   
and arise from the dead1 and ,christ    
shall give thee light6    ,and1 with    
that1 ,guilt with a great club that was 
in his hand struck  ,little-,faith on   
the head1 and with that blow felled him 
to the earth1  where he lay bleeding as 
one that would soon bleed to death4     
,yes1 yes1  all true to the very life4  
,a man may be the boast and the example 
of all  the town1 and yet1 unknown to   
them all1 and all but unknown to himself
  till he is struck down1 he may have   
had guilt enough on his track all the   
time to lay him half dead at the mouth  

of ,dead-,man's-lane4  ,good as was  the
 certificate that all men in their      
honesty gave to ,little-,faith1 yet     
even he had some bad enough memories    
behind him and within him had he  only  
kept them ever present with him4  ,but1 
then1 it was just this that  all along  
was the matter with ,little-,faith4     
,till1 somehow1 after that  sad and yet 
not wholly evil sleep1 all his past sins
 leapt out into the  light and suddenly 
became and remained all the rest of his 
life like  scarlet4  ,so loaded1 indeed1
 was the club of ,guilt with the nails  
and  studs and clamps of secret         
aggravation1 that every nail and stud   
left its  own bleeding bruise in the    
prostrate man's head4  ,i have myself1  
says the  narrator of ,little-,faith's  
story1 ,i have myself been engaged as he
 was1  and ,i found it to be a terrible 
thing4  ,i would1 as the saying is1 have
  sold my life at that moment for a     
penny2 but that1 as ,god would have it1 
,i was clothed with armour of proof3 ay1

 and yet though ,i was thus  harnessed1 
,i found it hard work to quit myself    
like a man4  ,no man can  tell what in  
that combat attends us but he that hath 
been in the battle  himself4            
,great-,grace himself1--whoso looks well
 upon his face shall see  those cuts and
 scars that shall easily give           
demonstration of what ,i say4    ,most  
unfortunately there was no good         
,samaritan with his beast on the road   
that day to take the half-dead man to an
 inn4  ,and thus it was that            
,little-,faith was left to lie in his   
blood till there was almost no more     
blood left in him4  ,till at last1      
coming a little to himself1 he made a   
shift to scrabble on his way4  ,when he 
was able to look a little to  himself1  
besides all his wounds and loss of      
blood1 he found that all his  spending  
money was gone1 and what was he to do1 a
 stranger in such a  plight on a strange
 road8  ,there was nothing for it but he
 must just beg  his way with many a     

hungry belly for the remainder of his   
way4  ,you all  understand the parable  
at this point8  ,our knowledge of gospel
 truth2 our  personal experience of the 
life of ,god in our own soul2 our       
sensible  attainments in this grace of  
the ,spirit and in that2 in secret      
prayer1 in  love to ,god1 in forgiveness
 of injuries1 in goodwill to all men1   
and in  self-denial that no one knows   
of1--in things like these we possess    
what  may be called the pocket-money of 
the spiritual life4  ,all these things1 
at their best1 are not the true jewel   
that no thief can break through nor     
steal2 but though they are not our best 
and truest riches1 yet they have  their 
place and play their part in sending us 
up the pilgrim way4  ,by our  long and  
close study of the word of ,god1 if that
 is indeed our case2 by  divine truth   
dwelling richly and experimentally in   
our hearts2 and by a  hidden life that  
is its own witness1 and which always has
 the ,holy  ,spirit's seal set upon it  

that we are the children of ,god1--all  
that  keeps1 and is designed by ,god to 
keep our hearts up amid the labours and 
the faintings1 the hopes and the fears  
of the spiritual life4  ,all that  keeps
 us at the least and the worst above    
famine and beggary4  ,now1 the  whole   
pity with ,little-,faith was1 that      
though he was not a bad man1 yet  he    
never1 even at his best days1 had much  
of those things that make a  good and   
well-furnished pilgrim2 and what little 
he had he had now clean  lost4  ,he had 
never been much a reader of his ,bible2 
he had never sat  over it as other men  
sat over their news-letters and their   
romances4  ,he  had never had much taste
 or talent for spiritual books of any   
kind4  ,he  was a good sort of man1 but 
he was not exactly the manner of man on 
whose  broken heart the ,holy ,ghost    
sets the broad seal of heaven4  ,but for
 his  dreadful misadventure1 he might   
have plodded on1 a decent1 humdrum1     
commonplace1 everyday kind of pilgrim2  

but when that catastrophe fell on  him  
he had nothing to fall back upon4  ,the 
secret ways of faith and love  and hope 
were wholly unknown to him4  ,he had no 
practice in importunate  prayer4  ,he   
had never prayed a whole night all his  
life4  ,he had never  needed to do so4  
,for were we not told when we first met 
him what a  blameless and pure and true 
and good man he had always been8  ,he   
did not  know how to find his way about 
in his ,bible2 and as for the maps and  
guide-books that some pilgrims never let
 out of their hand1 even when he  had   
some spending money about him1 he never 
laid it out that way4  ,and a  more     
helpless pilgrim than ,little-,faith was
 all the rest of the way you  never saw4
  ,he was forced to beg as he went1 says
 his historian4  ,that is  to say1 he   
had to lean upon and look to wiser and  
better-furnished men  than himself4  ,he
 had to share their meals1 look to them 
to pay his  bills1 keep close to their  
company1 walk in their foot-prints1 and 

at  night borrow their oil1 and it was  
only in this poor dependent way that    
,little-,faith managed to struggle on to
 the end of his dim and joyless         
journey4    ,it would have been far more
 becoming and far more profitable if    
,christian  and ,hopeful1 instead of    
falling out of temper and calling one   
another bad  names over the sad case of 
,little-,faith1 had tried to tell one   
another  why that unhappy pilgrim's     
faith was so small1 and how both their  
own  faith and his might from that day  
have been made more4  ,hopeful1 for some
  reason or other1 was in a rude and    
boastful mood of mind that day1 and     
,christian was more tart and snappish   
than we have ever before seen him2  and1
 altogether1 the opportunity of learning
 something useful out of                
,little-,faith's story has been all but 
lost to us4  ,but1 now1 since there  are
 so many of ,little-,faith's kindred    
among ourselves--so many good men  who  
are either half asleep in their         

religious life or are begging their  way
 from door to door--let them be told1 in
 closing1 one or two out of  many other 
ways in which their too little faith may
 possibly be made  stronger and more    
fruitful4    ,well1 then1 faith1 like   
everything else1 once we have it1 grows 
greater  by our continual exercise of   
it4  ,exercise1 then1 intentionally and 
seriously and on system your faith every
 day4  ,and exercise it habitually  and 
increasingly on your ,bible1 on heaven1 
and on ,jesus ,christ4  ,and let  your  
faith on all these things1 and places1  
and persons1 work by love1--by  love and
 by imagination4  ,our love is cold and 
our faith is small and  weak for lack of
 imagination4  ,read your ,psalm1 your  
,gospel1 your ,epistle  every morning   
and every night with your eye upon the  
object4  ,think you  see the ,psalmist  
amid all his deep and divine            
experiences4  ,think you see  ,jesus    
,christ speaking ,his parables1 saying  
,his prayers1 and doing ,his  good      

works4  ,walk up and down with ,him1    
observing ,his manner1 ,his look1  ,his 
gait1 ,his divinity in your humanity1   
till ,galilee and ,jerusalem  become    
,scotland and ,edinburgh2 that is1 till 
,he is as much with you1 and  more1 than
 ,he was with ,peter and ,james and     
,john4  ,never close your eye a  single 
night till you have again laid your hand
 on the very head of the  ,lamb of ,god1
 and till you feel that your sin and    
guilt have all passed  off your hand and
 on upon ,his head4  ,and never rise    
without1 like ,william  ,law1 saluting  
the rising sun in the name of ,god1 as  
if he had just been  created and sent up
 into your sky to let you see to serve  
,god and your  neighbour for another    
day4  ,and be often out of this world   
and up in  heaven4  ,beat all about you 
at building castles in the air2 you have
 more  material and more reason4  ,for  
is not faith the substance of things    
hoped  for1 and the evidence of things  
not seen8  ,walk often in heaven's      

friendly streets4  ,pass often into     
heaven's many mansions filled with      
happy families4  ,imagine this unhappy  
life at an end1 and imagine  yourself   
sent back to this probationary world to 
play the man for a few  short years     
before heaven finally calls you home4   
,little-,faith was a  good man1 but     
there was no speculation in his eyes and
 no secrets of love  in his heart4  ,and
 if your faith also is little1 and your 
spending money  also is run low1 try    
this way of love and imagination4  ,if  
you have a  better way1 then go on with 
it and be happy yourself and helpful to 
others2 but if your faith is at a       
standstill and is stricken with         
barrenness1 try my counsel of putting   
more heart and more inward eye1  more   
holy love and more heavenly joy1 into   
your frigid and sterile  religion4      
,,the ,,flatterer         ,a man that   
flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net
 for his     feet4--,the ,wise ,man4    
,both ,ignorance and ,little-,faith     

would have had their revenge and        
satisfaction upon ,christian and        
,hopeful had they seen those two so     
,pharisaical old men taken in the       
,flatterer's net4  ,for it was nothing  
else but the swaggering pride of        
,hopeful over the pitiful case of       
,little-  ,faith1 taken along with the  
hard and hasty ways of ,christian with  
that  unhappy youth ,ignorance1 that so 
soon laid them both down under the small
  cords of the ,shining ,one4  ,this    
word of the wise man1 that pride goeth  
before destruction1 and a haughty spirit
 before a fall1 was fulfilled to  the   
very letter in ,christian and ,hopeful  
that high-minded day4  ,at the  same    
time1 it must be admitted that          
,christian and ,hopeful would have been 
more than human if they had not both    
felt and let fall some superiority1     
some scorn1 and some impatience in the  
presence of such a silly and  upsetting 
stripling as ,ignorance was2 as1 also1  
over the story of such a  poor-spirited 

and spunging creature as ,little-,faith 
was4  ,christian and  ,hopeful had just 
come down from their delightful time    
among the  ,delectable ,mountains1 and  
they were as full as they could hold of 
all  kinds of knowledge1 and faith1 and 
hope1 and assurance2 when1 most         
unfortunately1 as it turned out1 they   
first came across ,ignorance1 and  then1
 after quarrelling with him1 they fell  
out between themselves over  the case of
 ,little-,faith4  ,their superior       
knowledge of the truth1 and  their      
superior strength of faith1 ought to    
have made them more able to  bear with  
the infirmities of the weak1 and with   
the passing moods1  however provoking1  
of one another4  ,but no4  ,and their   
impatience and  contempt and bad temper 
all came at this crisis to such a head  
with them  that they could only be cured
 by the small cords and the stinging    
words  of the ,shining ,one4  ,the true 
key to this so painful part of the      
parable  hangs at our own girdle4  ,we  

who have been born and brought up in an 
evangelical church are thrown from time 
to time into the company of             
men--ministers and people--who have not 
had our advantages and  opportunities4  
,they have been born1 baptized1 and     
brought up in  communities and churches 
the clean opposite of ours2 and they are
 as  ignorant of all ,new ,testament    
religion as ,ignorance himself was2 or1 
on  the other hand1 they are as full of 
superstition and terror and spiritual   
starvation as ,little-,faith was4  ,and 
then1 instead of recollecting and       
laying to heart ,who made us to differ  
from such ignorance and such  unbelief1 
and thus putting on love and humility   
and patience toward our  neighbours1 we 
speak scornfully and roughly to them1   
and boast ourselves  over them1 and as  
good as say to them1 ,stand by thyself1 
come not near to  me1 for ,i am wiser1  
wider-minded1 stronger1 and better every
 way than  thou4  ,and then1 ere ever we
 are aware of what we are doing1 we have

 let  the arch-flatterer of religious   
superiority and of spiritual pride      
seduce  us aside out of the lowly and   
heavenly way of love and humility till  
we  are again brought back to it with   
rebukes of conscience and with other    
chastisements4  ,you all understand1 my 
brethren1 that the man black of  flesh  
but covered with a white robe was no    
wayside seducer who met  ,christian and 
,hopeful at that dangerous part of the  
road only and only on  that high-minded 
day4  ,you know from yourselves surely  
that both  ,christian and ,hopeful      
carried that black but smooth-spoken man
 within  themselves4  ,the ,flatterer   
who led the two pilgrims so fatally     
wrong that  day was just their own heart
 taken out of their own bosom and       
personified  and dramatised by ,bunyan's
 dramatic genius1 and so made to walk   
and talk  and flatter and puff up       
outside of themselves till they came    
again to see  who in reality he was and 
whence he came1--that is to say1 till   

they were  brought to see what they     
themselves still were1 and would always 
be1 when  they were left to themselves4 
,where did you lie last night8 asked the
  ,shining ,one with the whip4  ,with   
the ,shepherds on the ,delectable       
,mountains1 they answered4  ,he asked   
them then if they had not of those      
shepherds a note of direction for the   
way8  ,they answered1 ,yes4  ,but did   
you not1 said he1 when you were at a    
stand pluck out and read your note8     
,they answered1 ,no4  ,he asked them    
why8  ,they said they forgot4  ,he      
asked1  moreover if the shepherds did   
not bid them beware of the ,flatterer8  
,they  answered1 ,yes2 but we did not   
imagine1 said they1 that this           
fine-spoken  man had been he4    ,all   
good literature1 both sacred and        
profane1 both ancient and modern1 is    
full of the ,flatterer4  ,let me not1   
protests ,elihu in his powerful speech  
in the book of ,job1 let me not accept  
any man's person2 neither let me  give  

flattering titles unto man1 lest in so  
doing my ,maker should soon  take me    
away4  ,and the ,psalmist in his        
powerful description of the wicked  men 
of his day3 ,there is no faithfulness in
 their mouth2 their inward  part is very
 wickedness2 their throat is an open    
sepulchre2 they flatter  with their     
tongue4  ,and again3 ,they speak with   
flattering lips1 and with  a double     
heart do they speak4  ,but the ,lord    
shall cut off all flattering  lips1 and 
the tongue that speaketh proud things4  
,the perpetual  hyperbole of pure love  
becomes in the lips of impure love the  
impure  bait that leads the simple ones 
astray on the streets of the city as    
seen  and heard by the wise man out of  
his casement4  ,my son1 say unto wisdom1
  ,thou art my sister1 and call         
understanding thy kinswoman2 that they  
may  keep thee from the strange woman1  
from the stranger which flattereth thee 
with her words1 which forsaketh the     
guide of her youth1 and forgetteth  the 

covenant of her ,god4  ,and then in the 
same book of ,hebrew aphorisms  we find 
this text which ,bunyan puts on the     
margin of the page3 ,a man  that        
flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net
 for his feet4  ,and now1  before we    
leave the ancient world1 if you would   
not think it beneath the  dignity of the
 place we are in1 ,i would like to read 
to you a passage out  of a round-about  
paper written by a satirist of ,greece  
about the time of  ,ezra and ,nehemiah  
in ,jerusalem4  ,you will easily remark 
the difference of  tone between the     
seriousness and pathos of the ,hebrew   
prophet and the  light and chaffing     
touch of ,theophrastus4  ,the ,flatterer
 is a person1  says that satirist of    
,greek society1 who will say to you as  
he walks  with you1 ',do you observe how
 people are looking at you8  ,this      
happens to  no man in ,athens but to    
you4  ,a fine compliment was paid you   
yesterday in  the ,porch4  ,more than   
thirty persons were sitting there when  

the question  was started1 ,who is our  
foremost man8  ,every one mentioned you 
first1 and  ended by coming back to your
 name4'  ,the ,flatterer will laugh also
 at  your stalest joke1 and will stuff  
his cloak into his mouth as if he could 
not repress his amusement when you again
 tell it4  ,he will buy apples and      
pears and will give to your children    
when you are by1 and will kiss them  all
 and will say1 ',chicks of a good       
father4'  ,also1 when he assists at  the
 purchase of slippers he will declare   
that the foot is more shapely  than the 
shoe4  ,he is the first of the guests to
 praise the wine and to  say as he      
reclines next the host1 ',how delicate  
your fare always is'2 and  taking up    
something from the table1 ',now1 how    
excellent that is6'  ,and  so on4  ,yes1
 we have heard it all over and over     
again in ,modern ,athens  also4  ,the   
,greek fable also of the fox and the    
crow and the piece of  cheese is only   
another illustration of the truth that  

the ,god of truth  and integrity never  
left ,himself without a witness4  ,our  
own literature  also is scattered full  
of the ,flatterer and his too willing   
dupes4  ,of  praise a mere glutton1 says
 ,goldsmith of ,david ,garrick1 he      
swallowed  what came4  ,the puff of a   
dunce he mistook it for fame4           
,delicious  essence1 exclaims ,sterne1  
how refreshing thou art to poor human   
nature6  ,how sweetly dost thou mix with
 the blood1 and help it through the most
  difficult and tortuous passages to the
 heart4  ,he that slanders me1  says    
,cowper1 paints me blacker than ,i am1  
and he that flatters me  whiter4  ,they 
both daub me1 and when ,i look in the   
glass of conscience1 ,i  see myself     
disguised by both4  ,and then he sings3 
,the worth of these three kingdoms ,i   
defy     ,to lure me to the baseness of 
a lie2     ,and of all lies 7be that one
 poet's boast71     ,the lie that       
flatters ,i abhor the most4    ,now1    
praise1 which is one of the best and    

sweetest things in human life1  so soon 
passes over into flattery1 which is one 
of the worst things1 that  something    
must here be said and laid to heart     
about praise also4  ,but1 to  begin     
with1 praise itself must first be       
praised4  ,there is nothing nobler  than
 true praise in him who speaks it1 and  
there is nothing dearer and  sweeter to 
him who hears it4  ,god ,himself        
inhabits the praises of ,israel4  ,all  
,god's works praise ,him4  ,whoso       
offereth praise glorifieth ,me4  ,praise
  waiteth for ,thee1 ,o ,god1 in ,zion4 
,enter into ,his gates with             
thanksgiving1 and into ,his courts with 
praise4  ,violence shall no more be     
heard in thy land1 wasting nor          
destruction within thy borders2 but thou
  shalt call thy walls ,salvation1 and  
thy gates ,praise4  ,and such also is   
all true praise between man and man4    
,how deliciously sweet is praise6  ,how 
we labour after it6 how we look for it  
and wait for it6 and how we  languish   

and die if we do not get it6  ,again1   
when it comes to us1 how it  cheers us  
up and makes our face to shine6  ,for a 
long time after it our  step is so swift
 on the street and our face beams so    
that all men can  quite well see what   
has come to us4  ,praise is like wine in
 our blood2 it  is new life to our      
fainting heart4  ,so much is this the   
case that a  salutation of praise is to 
be our first taste of heaven itself4    
,it will  wipe all tears off our eyes   
when we hear our ,lord saying to us1    
,well  done6 when all our good works    
that we have done in the body shall be  
found unto praise and honour and glory  
in the great day of ,jesus ,christ4     
,at the same time1 this same love of    
praise is one of our most besetting  and
 fatal temptations as long as we are in 
this false and double and  deceptive    
world4  ,sin1 ,god curse it6 has        
corrupted and poisoned  everything1 the 
very best things of this life1 and when 
the best things  are corrupted and      

poisoned they become the worst things4  
,and praise does  not escape this       
universal and fatal law4  ,weak1 evil1  
and self-seeking  men are near us1 and  
we lean upon them1 look to them1 and    
listen to them4  ,we make them our      
strength and support1 and seek repose   
and refreshment  from them4  ,they      
cannot be all or any of these things to 
us2 but we are  far on in life1 we are  
done with life1 before we have          
discovered that and  will admit that4   
,most men never discover and admit that 
till they are  out of this life         
altogether4  ,christ's praise and the   
applause of ,his  saints and angels are 
so future and so far away from us1 and  
man's praise  and the applause of this  
world1 hollow and false as it is1 is so 
near us1  that we feed our souls on     
offal and garbage1 when1 already1 in the
  witness of a good conscience1 we might
 be feasting our souls on the  finest of
 the wheat1 and satisfying them with    
honey out of the rock4  ,and1  then1    

this insatiable appetite of our hearts1 
being so degraded and  perverted1 like  
all degraded and perverted appetites1   
becomes an iron-  fast slave to what it 
feeds upon4  ,what miserable slaves we  
all are to  the approval and the praise 
of men6  ,how they hold us in their     
bondage6  ,how we lick their hands and  
sit up on our haunches and go through   
our  postures for a crumb6  ,how we     
crawl on our belly and lick their feet  
for  a stroke and a smile6  ,what a     
hound's life does that man lead who     
lives  upon the approval and the praise 
and the patronage of men6  ,what        
meanness  fills his mind2 what baseness 
fills his heart6  ,what a shameful leash
 he  is led about the world in6  ,how   
kicked about and spat upon he is2 while 
not half so much as he knows all the    
time that he deserves to be6  ,better   
far be a dog at once and bay the moon   
than be a man and fawn upon the  praises
 of men4    ,if you would be a man at   
all1 not to speak of a ,christian man1  

starve  this appetite till you have     
quite extirpated it4  ,you will never be
 safe  from it as long as it stirs      
within you4  ,extirpate it6  ,extirpate 
it6  ,you  will never know true         
self-respect and you will never deserve 
to know it1  till you have wholly       
extirpated your appetite for praise4    
,put your foot  upon it1 put it out of  
your heart4  ,stop fishing for it1 and  
when you see  it coming1 turn away and  
stop your ears against it4  ,and should 
it still  insinuate itself1 at any rate 
do not repeat to others what has already
 so  flattered and humbled and weakened 
you4  ,telling it to others will only   
humble and weaken you more4  ,by        
repeating the praise that you have heard
  or read about yourself you only expose
 yourself and purchase  well-deserved   
contempt for yourself4  ,and1 more than 
that1 by fishing for  praise you lay    
yourself open to all sorts of           
flatterers4  ,honest men1 men  who truly
 respect and admire you1 will show you  

their dignified regard  and appreciation
 of you and your work by their silence2 
while your leaky  slaves will crowd     
around you with floods of praise that   
they know well  will please and purchase
 you4  ,and when you cannot with all    
your arts  squeeze a drop out of those  
who love and honour you1 gallons will be
  poured upon you by those who have     
respect neither for themselves nor for  
you4  ,faugh6  ,flee from flatterers1   
and take up only with sternly true  and 
faithful men4  ,i am much less          
regardful1 says ,richard ,baxter1 of    
the approbation of men1 and set much    
lighter store by their praise and  their
 blame1 than ,i once did4  ,all worldly 
things appear most vain and             
unsatisfying to those who have tried    
them most4  ,but while ,i feel that     
this has had some hand in my distaste   
for man's praise1 yet it is the         
increasing impression on my heart of    
man's nothingness and ,god's            
transcendent greatness2 it is the       

brevity and vanity of all earthly       
things1 taken along with the nearness of
 eternity2--it is all this that  has at 
last lifted me above the blame and the  
praise of men4    ,to conclude2 let us  
make up our mind and determine to pass  
on to ,god on  the spot every syllable  
of praise that ever comes to our eyes or
 our  ears--if1 in this cold1 selfish1  
envious1 and grudging world1 any        
syllable of praise ever should come to  
us4  ,even if pure and generous and     
well-deserved praise should at any time 
come to us1 all that does not  make it  
ours4  ,the best earned usury is not the
 steward's own money to do  with it what
 he likes4  ,the principal and the      
interest1 and the trader  too1 are all  
his master's4  ,and1 more than that1    
after the wisest and the  best trader   
has done his best1 he will remain1 to   
himself at least1 a  most unprofitable  
servant4  ,pass on then immediately1    
dutifully1 and to  its very last        
syllable1 to ,god all the praise that   

comes to you4  ,wash  your hands of it  
and say1 ,not unto us1 ,o ,god1 not unto
 us1 but unto ,thy  name4  ,and then1 to
 take the most selfish and              
hungry-hearted view of this  whole      
matter1 what you thus pass on to ,god as
 not your own but ,his1 ,he  will soon1 
and in a better and safer world1 return 
again to the full with  usury to you1   
and you again to ,god1 and ,he again to 
you1 and so on1 all  down the pure and  
true and sweet and blessed life of      
heaven4          ,,atheist          4 4 
4 without ,god literally1 atheists in   
the world4--,paul4    ,yonder is a man  
with his back toward ,zion1 and he is   
coming to meet us4  ,so he drew nearer  
and nearer1 and at last came up to them4
  ,his name was  ,atheist1 and he asked 
them whither they were going8  ,we are  
going to the  ,mount ,zion1 they        
answered4  ,then ,atheist fell into a   
very great laughter4  ,what is the      
meaning of your laughter8 they asked4   
,i laugh to see what  ignorant persons  

you are to take upon you so tedious a   
journey1 and yet  are like to have      
nothing but your travel for your pains4 
,why1 man8  ,do  you think we shall not 
be received8 they said4  ,received6     
,there is no  such place as you dream of
 in all this world4  ,but there is in   
the world  to come1 replied ,christian4 
,when ,i was at home1 ,atheist went on1 
in mine  own country ,i heard as you now
 affirm1 and1 from that hearing1 ,i went
 out  to see1 and have been seeking this
 city you speak of this twenty years1   
but find no more of it than ,i did the  
first day ,i set out4  ,and1 still      
laughing1 he went his way4    ,having   
begun to tell us about ,atheist1 why did
 ,bunyan not tell us more8  ,we would   
have thanked him warmly to-night for a  
little more about this  unhappy man4    
,why did the dreamer not take another   
eight or ten pages in  order to tell us1
 as only he could have told us1 how this
 man that is now  ,atheist had spent his
 past twenty years seeking ,mount ,zion8

  ,those  precious unwritten pages are  
now buried in ,john ,strudwick's vault  
in  ,bunhill ,fields1 and no other man  
has arisen able to handle ,bunyan's     
biographic pen4  ,had ,bunyan but put   
off the entrance of ,christian and      
,hopeful into the city till he had told 
us something more about the twenty      
years it had taken this once earnest    
pilgrim to become an atheist1 how       
valuable an interpolation that would    
have been6  ,what was it that made  this
 man to set out so long ago for the     
,celestial ,city8  ,what was it that  so
 stoutly determined him to leave off all
 his old companions and turn  his back  
on the sweet refreshments of his youth8 
,how did he do at the  ,slough of       
,despond8  ,did he come that way8  ,what
 about the ,wicket ,gate1  and the      
,house ,beautiful1 and the              
,interpreter's ,house1 and the          
,delectable  ,mountains8  ,what men1 and
 especially what women1 did he meet and 
converse  with on his way8  ,what were  

his fortunes1 and what his misfortunes8 
,how  much did he lay out at ,vanity    
,fair1 and on what8  ,at what point of  
his  twenty years' way did his youthful 
faith begin to shake1 and his youthful  
love begin to become lukewarm8  ,and    
what was it that at last made him  quite
 turn round his back on ,zion and his   
face to his own country8  ,i  cannot    
forgive ,bunyan to-night for not telling
 us the story of ,atheist's  conversion1
 his pilgrimage1 and his apostasy in    
full4    ,at the same time1 though it   
cannot be denied that ,bunyan has lost  
at this  point a great opportunity for  
his genius and for our advantage1--at   
the  same time1 he undoubtedly did a    
very courageous thing in introducing    
,atheist at all2 and1 especially1 in    
introducing him to us and making him    
laugh so loudly at us when we are on the
 very borders of the land of  ,beulah4  
,a less courageous writer1 and a writer 
less sure of his ground1  would have    
left out ,atheist altogether2 or1 if he 

had felt constrained to  introduce him1 
would have introduced him at any other  
period of our  history rather than at   
this period4  ,under other hands than   
,bunyan's we  would have met with this  
mocking reprobate just outside the ,city
 of  ,destruction2 or1 perhaps1 among   
the booths of ,vanity ,fair2 or1 indeed1
  anywhere but where we now meet him4   
,and1 that our greater-minded author    
does not let loose the laughter of      
,atheist upon us till we are almost out 
of the body is a stroke of skill and    
truth and boldness that makes us  glad  
indeed that we possess such a sketch at 
,bunyan's hand at all1 all  too abrupt  
and all too short as that sketch is4    
,in the absence1 then1 of  a full-length
 and finished portrait of ,atheist1 we  
must be content to  fall back on some of
 the reflections and lessons that the   
mere mention of  his name1 the spot he  
passes us on1 and the ridicule of his   
laughter1 all  taken together1 awaken in
 our minds4  ,one rapid stroke of such a

 brush as  that of ,john ,bunyan conveys
 more to us than a full-length likeness1
 with  all the strongest colours1 of any
 other artist would be able to do4      
#a4  ,one thing the life-long admiration
 of ,john ,bunyan's books has helped  to
 kindle and burn into my mind and my    
imagination is this3 ,what a  universe  
of things is the heart of man6  ,were   
there nothing else in the  heart of man 
but all the places and all the persons  
and all the  adventures that ,john      
,bunyan saw in his sleep1 what a world  
that would  open up in all our bosoms6  
,all the pilgrims1 good and bad--they1  
or the  seed and possibility of them    
all1 are all in your heart and in mine4 
,all  the cities1 all the roads that    
lead from one city to another1 with all 
the paths and all the by-paths1--all the
 adventures1 experiences1  endurances1  
conflicts1 overthrows1 victories1--all  
are within us and  never are to be seen 
anywhere else4  ,heaven and hell1 ,god  
and the devil1  life and death1         

salvation and damnation1 time and       
eternity1 all are  within us4  ,there is
 no ,mount ,zion in all this world1     
bellowed out this  blinded fool4  ,no2  
,i know that quite well1 quickly        
responded ,christian2  but there is in  
the world to come4  ,he would have said 
the whole truth1  and he would have been
 entirely right1 had he taken time to   
add1 and in  the world within4  ,and    
more1 he should have said to ,atheist1  
much  more in the world within than in  
any possible world to come4  ,the       
,celestial ,city1 every ,sabbath-school 
child begins gradually to  understand1  
is not up among the stars2 till1 as he  
grows older1 he takes  in the whole of  
the ,new ,testament truth that the      
kingdom of heaven is  wholly within him4
  ,you all understand1 my brethren1 that
 were we swept  in a moment up to the   
furthest star1 by all that infinite     
flight we would  not be one             
hair's-breadth nearer the heavenly city4
  ,that is not the  right direction to  

that city4  ,the city whose builder and 
maker is ,god  lies in quite a different
 direction from that altogether2 not by 
ascending up beyond sun and moon and    
stars to all eternity would we ever  get
 one hand's-breadth nearer ,god4  ,but  
if you deny yourself sleep to-  night   
till you have read ,his book and bowed  
your knees in ,his closet2 if1  for ,his
 sake1 you deny yourself to-morrow when 
you are eating and  drinking2 as often  
as you say1 ,not my will1 but ,thine be 
done2 as often  as you humble yourself  
when others exalt themselves2 as often  
as you  refuse praise and despise blame 
for ,his sake2 as often as you forgive  
before ,god your enemy1 and rejoice with
 your friend1--,behold6 the kingdom  of 
heaven1 with its ,king and all ,his     
shining court of angels and saints  is  
around you2--is1 indeed1 within you4    
,no2 there is no such place4  ,heaven is
 not in any place3 heaven is in a person
 where it is at all2 and  you are that  
person as often as you put off an       

earthly and put on a  heavenly mind4    
,that mocking reprobate1 with his secret
 heart all through  those twenty years  
hungering after the lusts of his        
youth1--he was wholly  right in what he 
so unintentionally said2 there is no    
such place in all  this world4  ,and1   
even if there were1 it would spue him   
and all who are  like him out of its    
mouth4    #b4  ,and1 then1 in all that  
universe of things that fills that      
bottomless  pit and shoreless sea the   
human heart1 there is nothing deeper    
down in it  than just its deep and      
unsearchable atheism4  ,the very deepest
 thing1 and  the most absolutely        
inexpugnable thing1 in every human heart
 is its  theism2 its original and       
inextinguishable convictions about      
itself and  about ,god4  ,but1 all but  
as deep as that--for all around that1   
and all  over that1 and soaking all     
through that--there lies a              
superincumbent mass  of sullen1 brutish1
 malignant atheism4  ,nay1 so deep down 

is the atheism  of all our hearts1 that 
it is only one here and another there of
 the  holiest and the ripest of ,god's  
saints who ever get down to it1 or even 
get at their deepest within sight of it4
  ,robert ,fleming tells us about       
,robert ,bruce1 that he was a man that  
had much inward exercise about his  own 
personal case1 and had been often       
assaulted anent that great  foundation  
truth1 if there was a ,god4  ,and often1
 when he had come up to  the pulpit1    
after being some time silent1 which was 
his usual way1 he  would say1 ,i think  
it is a great matter to believe there is
 a ,god2  telling the people that it was
 another thing to believe that than they
  judged4  ,but it was also known to his
 friends what extraordinary             
confirmations he had from the ,lord     
therein1 and what near familiarity he   
did attain to in his heart-converse with
 ,god3 ,yea1 truly1 adds ,fleming1  some
 things ,i have had thereanent that seem
 so strange and marvellous  that ,i     

forbear to set them down4  ,and in      
,halyburton's priceless ,memoirs  we    
read3 ,hereby ,i was brought into a     
doubt about the truths of religion1  the
 being of ,god1 and things eternal4     
,whenever ,i was in dangers or  straits 
and would build upon these things1 a    
suspicion secretly haunted  me1 what if 
the things are not8  ,this perplexity   
was somewhat eased while  one day ,i was
 reading how ,robert ,bruce was shaken  
about the being of ,god1  and how at    
length he came to the fullest           
satisfaction4  ,and in another  place3  
,some days ago reading ,ex4 ix4 and x41 
and finding this1 ',that ye  may know   
that ,i am ,god' frequently repeated1   
and elsewhere in passages  innumerable1 
as the end of ,god's manifesting        
,himself in ,his word and  works2 ,i    
observe from it that atheism is deeply  
rooted even in the ,lord's  people1     
seeing they need to be taught this so   
much4  ,the great difficulty  that the  
whole of revelation has to grapple with 

is atheism2 its whole  struggle is to   
recover man to his first impressions of 
a ,god4  ,this one  point comprehends   
the whole of man's recovery1 just as    
atheism is the  whole of man's apostasy4
  ,and1 again1 in another part of the   
same great  book1 ,halyburton says3 ,i  
must observe1 also1 the wise providence 
of ,god1  that the greatest difficulties
 that lie against religion are hid from 
atheists4  ,all the objections ,i meet  
with in their writings are not  nearly  
so subtle as those which are often      
suggested to myself4  ,the  reason of   
this is obvious from the very nature of 
the thing--such persons  take not a     
near-hand view of religion1 and while   
persons stand at a  distance neither are
 the advantages nor the difficulties of 
religion  discerned4  ,and now listen to
 ,bunyan1 that arch-atheist3 ,whole     
floods  of blasphemies both against     
,god1 ,christ1 and the ,scriptures were 
poured  upon my spirit1 to my great     
confusion and astonishment4  ,against   

the very  being of ,god and of ,his only
 beloved ,son2 or1 whether there were1  
in  truth1 a ,god and a ,christ1 or no4 
,of all the temptations that ever ,i met
  with in my life1 to question the being
 of ,god and the truth of the ,gospel   
is the worst1 and the worst to be borne4
  ,when this temptation comes it  takes 
away my girdle from me1 and removeth the
 foundation from under me4       ,fool1 
said my ,muse to me1 look in thy heart  
and write4    ,and ,john ,bunyan looked 
into his own deep and holy heart1 and   
out of it he  composed this incident of 
,atheist4    #c4  ,it may not be out of 
place at this point to look for a moment
 at some  of the things that agitate1   
stir up1 and make the secret atheism of 
our  hearts to fluctuate and overflow4  
,butler has a fine passage in which he  
points out that it is only the higher   
class of minds that are tempted  with   
speculative difficulties such as those  
were that assaulted ,christian  and     
,hopeful after they were so near the end

 of their journey4  ,coarse1            
commonplace1 and mean-minded men have   
their probation appointed them  among   
coarse1 mean1 and commonplace things2   
whereas enlightened1  enlarged1 and     
elevated men are exercised after the    
manner of ,robert  ,bruce1 ,thomas      
,halyburton1 ,john ,bunyan1 and ,butler 
himself4  ,the chief  temptations of the
 generality of the world are the        
ordinary motives to  injustice or       
unrestrained pleasure2 but there are    
other persons without  this shallowness 
of temper2 persons of a deeper sense as 
to what is  invisible and future4  ,now1
 these persons have their moral         
discipline set  them in that high       
region4  ,the profound bishop means that
 while their  appetites and their       
tempers are the stumbling-stones of the 
most of men1  the difficult problems of 
natural and revealed and experimental   
religion  are the test and the triumph  
of other men4  ,as we have just seen in 
the  men mentioned above4  ,students1   

whose temptations lie fully as much in  
their intellects as in their senses1    
should buy 7for a few pence7            
,halyburton's ,memoirs4  ,with          
,halyburton1 says ,dr4 ,john ,duncan1 ,i
 feel  great intellectual congruity4    
,halyburton was naturally a sceptic1 but
  ,god gave that sceptic great faith4   
,then again1 what ,atheist calls the    
tediousness of the journey has          
undoubtedly a great hand in making some 
half-in-earnest men sceptics1 if  not   
scoffers4  ,many of us here to-night who
 can never now take this  miserable     
man's way out of the tedium of the      
,christian life1 yet most  bitterly feel
 it4  ,whether that tedium is inherent  
in that life1 and  inevitable to such   
men as we are who are attempting that   
life2 how far  that feature belongs to  
the very essence of the pilgrim life1   
and how far  we import our own tedium   
into the pilgrimage2 the fact remains as
 ,atheist  puts it4  ,as ,atheist in    
this book says1 so the ,atheist who is  

in our  hearts often says3 ,we are like 
to have nothing for all our pains but a 
lifetime of tedious travel4  ,yes1      
wherever the blame lies1 there can be   
no doubt about it1 that what this       
hilarious scoffer calls the tediousness 
of the way is but a too common          
experience among many of those who1     
tediousness and all1 will still cleave  
fast to it and will never leave  it4    
,then1 again1 great trials in life1     
great straits1 dark and                 
too-long-continued providences1 prayer  
unanswered1 or not yet answered in  the 
way we dictate1 bad men and bad causes  
growing like a green bay tree1  and good
 men and good work languishing and      
dying2 these things1 and many  more     
things such as these1 of which this     
world of faith and patience is  full1   
prove quite too much for some men till  
they give themselves up to a  state of  
mind that is nothing better than        
atheism4  ,my evidences and my          
certainty1 says ,halyburton1 were not   

answerable to the weight ,i was         
compelled to lay upon them4  ,a figure  
which ,goodwin in his own tender  and   
graphic way takes up thus3 ,set pins in 
a wall and fix them in ever  so loosely1
 yet1 if you hang nothing upon them they
 will seem to stand  firm2 but hang a   
heavy weight upon them1 or even give    
them the least jog  as you pass1 and the
 whole thing will suddenly come down4   
,the wall is  ,god's word1 the slack pin
 is our faith1 and the weight and the   
jog are  the heavy burdens and the      
sudden shocks of life1 and down our     
hearts go1  wall and pin and suspended  
vessel and all4    ,when the church and 
her ministers1 when the ,scriptures and 
their  anomalies1 and when the faults   
and failings of ,christian men are made 
the  subject of mockery and laughter1   
the reverence1 the fear1 the awe1 the   
respect that all enter so largely into  
religion1 and especially into the       
religion of young people1 is too easily 
destroyed2 and not seldom the  first    

seeds of practical and sometimes of     
speculative atheism are thus  sown4     
,the mischief that has been done by     
mockery and laughter to the  souls1     
especially of the young and the         
inexperienced1 only the great day  will 
fully disclose4    ,and then1 two men of
 great weight and authority with us1    
tell us what we  who are ministers would
 have found out without them3 this1     
namely1 that  the greatest atheists are 
they who are ever handling holy things  
without  feeling them4    ,is it true1  
said ,christian to ,hopeful1 his fellow1
 is it true what  this man hath said8   
,take heed1 said ,hopeful1 remember what
 it hath  cost us already for hearkening
 to such kind of fellows4  ,what6  ,no  
,mount  ,zion6  ,did we not see from the
 ,delectable ,mountains the gate of the 
,city8  ,and1 besides1 are we not to    
walk by faith8  ,let us go on lest the  
man  with the whip overtakes us again4  
,christian3 ,my brother1 ,i said that   
but to prove thee1 and to fetch from    

thee a fruit of the honesty of thy      
heart4  ,many a deep and powerful       
passage has ,butler composed on that    
thesis which ,hopeful here supplies him 
with2 and many a brilliant sermon  has  
,newman preached on that same text till 
he has made our  predispositions to     
faith a fruitful and an ever fresh      
commonplace to  hundreds of preachers4  
,yes2 the best bulwark of faith is a    
good and  honest heart4  ,to such a     
happy heart the truth is its own        
unshaken  evidence4  ,to whom can we go 
but to ,thee8--they who have such a     
heart  protest4  ,the whole bent of such
 men's minds is toward the truth of the 
gospel4  ,their instincts keep them on  
the right way even when their  reason   
and their observation are both          
confounded4  ,as ,newman keeps on       
saying1 they are easy of belief4  ,they 
cannot keep away from ,christ and  ,his 
church4  ,they cannot turn back4  ,they 
must go on4  ,though ,he slay  them they
 will die yearning after ,him4  ,they   

often fall into great error  and into   
great guilt1 but their seed remaineth in
 them1 and they cannot  continue in     
error or in guilt1 because they are born
 of ,god4  ,they are  they in whom      
,persuasion and belief     ,have ripened
 into faith2 and faith become     ,a    
passionate intuition4          ,,hopeful
         ,we are saved by hope4--,paul  
,up till the time when ,christian and   
,faithful passed through ,vanity ,fair  
on their way to the ,celestial ,city1   
,hopeful was one of the most light-     
minded men in all that light-minded     
town4  ,by his birth1 and both on his   
father's and his mother's side1 ,hopeful
 was1 to begin with1 a youth of an      
unusually shallow and silly mind4  ,in  
the jargon of our day he was a man  of a
 peculiarly optimistic temperament4  ,no
 one ever blamed him for being  too     
subjective and introspective4  ,it took 
many sharp trials and many  bitter      
disappointments to take the inborn      
frivolity and superficiality  out of    

this young man's heart4  ,he was far on 
in his life1 he was far on  even in his 
religious life1 before you would have   
ever thought of calling  him a          
serious-minded man4  ,hopeful had been  
born and brought up to early  manhood in
 the town of ,vanity1 and he knew       
nothing better and desired  nothing     
better than to lay out his whole life   
and to rest all his hopes  on the things
 of the fair2 on such things1 that is1  
as houses1 lands1  places1 honours1     
preferments1 titles1 pleasures1 and     
delights of all  sorts4  ,and that vain 
and empty life went on with him1 till1  
as he told  his companion afterwards1 it
 had all ended with him in revelling1   
and  drinking1 and uncleanness1 and     
,sabbath-breaking1 and all such things  
as  destroyed his soul4  ,but in        
,hopeful's happy case also the blood of 
the  martyrs became the seed of the     
church4  ,hopeful1 as he was afterwards 
called1 had suffered so many bitter     
disappointments and shipwrecks of       

expectation from the things of the fair1
 that is to say1 from the houses1  the  
places1 the preferments1 the pleasures  
and what not1 of the fair1  that even   
his heart was ripe for something better 
than any of those  things1 when1 as ,god
 would have it1 ,christian and ,faithful
 came to the  town4  ,hopeful was still 
hanging about the booths of the fair2 he
 was  just fingering his last sixpence  
over a commodity that he knew quite well
  would be like gall in his belly as    
soon as he had bought it2 when1--what   
is that hubbub that rolls down the      
street8  ,hopeful was always the first  
to see and to hear every new thing that 
came to the town1 and thus it was  that 
he was soon in the thick of the tumult  
that rose around ,christian  and        
,faithful4  ,had those two pilgrims come
 to the town at any former  time1       
,hopeful would have been among the      
foremost to mock at and smite the  two  
men2 but1 to-day1 ,hopeful's heart is so
 empty1 and his purse also1  that he is 

already won to their side by the loving 
looks and the wise and  sweet words of  
the two ill-used men4  ,some of the men 
of the town said  that the two pilgrims 
were outlandish and bedlamite men1 but  
,hopeful took  courage to reprove some  
of the foremost of the mob4  ,till1 at  
last1 when  ,faithful was at the stake1 
it was all that his companions could do 
to  keep back ,hopeful from leaping up  
on the burning pile and embracing the   
expiring man4  ,and then1 when ,he who  
overrules all things so brought it      
about that ,christian escaped out of    
their hands1 who should come forth  and 
join him at the upward gate of the city 
but just ,hopeful1 who not  only joined 
himself to the lonely pilgrim1 but told 
him also that there  were many more of  
the men of the city who would take their
 time and  follow after4  ,and thus1    
adds his biographer1 when one died to   
make his  testimony to the truth1       
another rose up out of his ashes to be a
  companion to ,christian4    ,when     

,madame ,krudener was getting her foot  
measured by a pietist  shoemaker1 she   
was so struck with the repose and the   
sweetness and the  heavenly joy of the  
poor man's look and manner that she     
could not help  but ask him what had    
happened to him that he had such a look 
on his  countenance and such a light in 
his eye4  ,she was miserable1 though she
  had all that heart could wish4  ,she  
had all that made her one of the most   
envied women in ,europe2 she had birth1 
talents1 riches1 rank1 and the          
friendship of princes and princesses1   
and yet she was of all women the  most  
miserable4  ,and here was a poor chance 
shoemaker whose whole heart  was running
 over with a joy such that all her      
wealth could not purchase  to her heart 
one single drop of it4  ,the simple soul
 soon told her his  secret2 it was no   
secret3 it was just ,jesus ,christ who  
had done it all4  ,and thus her poor    
shoemaker's happy face was the means of 
this great  lady's conversion4  ,and1 in

 like manner1 it was the beholding of   
,christian and ,faithful in their words 
and in their behaviour at the fair  that
 decided ,hopeful to join himself to    
,christian and henceforth to be  his    
companion4    ,what were the things1    
asked ,christian of his young companion1
 that first  led you to leave off the   
vanities of the fair and to think to be 
a  pilgrim8  ,many things1 replied      
,hopeful4  ,sometimes if ,i did but meet
 a  good man in the street4  ,or if mine
 head began unaccountably1 or mine      
heart1 to ache4  ,or if some one of my  
companions became suddenly sick4  ,or   
if ,i heard the bell toll that some one 
was dead4  ,but1 especially1 when ,i    
thought of myself that ,i must quickly  
come to judgment4  ,and then it is  told
 in the best style of the book how peace
 and rest and the beginning  of true    
satisfaction came to poor ,hopeful's    
heart at last4  ,but you must  promise  
me to read the passage for yourselves   
before you sleep to-night2  and to read 

it again and again till1 like           
,hopeful's1 your heart also is  full of 
joy1 and your eyes full of tears1 and   
your affections running  over with love 
to the name and to the people and to all
 the ways of ,jesus  ,christ4    ,and   
then1 it is very encouraging and        
reassuring to us to see how  ,hopeful's 
true conversion so deepened and sobered 
and strengthened his  whole character4  
,he remained to the end in his mental   
constitution and  whole temperament1 as 
we say1 the same man he had always been2
 but1 while  remaining the same man1 at 
the same time a most wonderful change   
gradually began to come over him1 till1 
by slow but sure degrees1 he  became the
 ,hopeful we know and look to and lean  
upon4  ,to use his own  autobiographic  
words about himself1 it was by hearing  
and considering of  things that are     
,divine that his natural levity was so  
completely whipped  out of his soul till
 he was made at last an indispensable   
companion to  ,christian1 strong-minded 

and serious-minded man as he was4       
,conversion  to ,god1 says ,william     
,law1 is often very sudden and          
instantaneous1  unexpectedly raised from
 variety of occasions4  ,thus1 one by   
seeing only  a withered tree1 another by
 reading the lives and deaths of the    
antediluvian fathers1 one by hearing of 
heaven1 another of hell1 one by  reading
 of the love or wrath of ,god1 another  
of the sufferings of ,christ1  may find 
himself1 as it were1 melted into        
penitence all of a sudden4  ,it  may be 
granted also that the greatest sinner   
may in a moment be converted  to ,god1  
and may feel himself wounded in such a  
degree as perhaps those  never were who 
have been turning to ,god all their     
lives4  ,but1 then1 it  is to be        
observed that this suddenness of change 
or flash of conviction  is by no means  
of the essence of true conversion4      
,this stroke of  conversion is not to be
 considered as signifying our high state
 of a new  birth in ,christ1 or a proof 

that we are on a sudden made new        
creatures1  but that we are thus        
suddenly called upon and stirred up to  
look after a  newness of nature4  ,the  
renewal of our first birth and state is 
something  entirely distinct from our   
first sudden conversion and call to     
repentance4  ,that is not a thing done  
in an instant1 but is a certain         
process1 a gradual release from our     
captivity and disorder1 consisting of   
several stages and degrees1 both of life
 and death1 which the soul must  go     
through before it can have thoroughly   
put off the old man4  ,it is well  worth
 observing that our ,saviour's greatest 
trials were near the end of  ,his life4 
,this might sufficiently show us that   
our first awakenings have  carried us   
but a little way2 that we should not    
then begin to be self-  assured of our  
own salvation1 but should remember that 
we stand at a  great distance from1 and 
are in great ignorance of1 our severest 
trials4  ,such was the way that         

,christian in his experience and in his 
wisdom  talked to his young companion   
till his outward trials and the         
consequent  discoveries he made of his  
own weakness and corruption made even   
,hopeful  himself a sober-minded and a  
thoughtful man4  ,where pain ends1 gain 
ends  too4    ,then1 again1 no one can  
read ,hopeful's remarkable history      
without  discovering this about him1    
that he showed best in adversity and    
distress1 just as he showed worst in    
deliverance and prosperity4  ,it is a   
fine lesson in ,christian hope to       
descend into ,giant ,despair's dungeon  
and  hear the older pilgrim groaning and
 the younger pilgrim consoling him1     
and1 again1 to stand on the bank of the 
last river and hear ,hopeful  holding up
 ,christian's drowning head4  ,be of    
good cheer1 my brother1 for  ,i feel the
 bottom1 and it is good6  ,bless        
,hopeful for that1 all you  whose       
deathbeds are still before you4  ,for   
never was more true and fit  word spoken

 for a dying hour than that4  ,read1    
till you have it by heart  and in the   
dark1 ,hopeful's whole history1 but     
especially his triumphant  end4  ,and   
have some one bespoken beforehand to    
read ,hopeful in the ,river  to you when
 you have in a great measure lost your  
senses1 and when a  great horror has    
taken hold of your mind4  ,i sink in    
deep waters1 cried  ,christian1 as his  
sins came to his mind1 even the sins    
which he had  committed both since and  
before he came to be a pilgrim4  ,but ,i
 see the  gate1 said ,hopeful1 and men  
standing at it ready to receive us4     
,read  to me where ,i first cast my     
anchor1 said ,john ,knox to his weeping 
wife4    ,the ,enchanted ,ground1 on the
 other hand1 threatened to throw        
,hopeful back  again into his former    
light-minded state4  ,and there is no   
saying what  shipwreck he might have    
made there had the older man not been   
with him to  steady and reprove and     
instruct him4  ,as it was1 a touch now  

and then of  his old vain temper        
returned to him till it took all his    
companion's  watchfulness and wariness  
to carry them both out of that second   
,vanity  ,fair4  ,i acknowledge myself  
in a fault1 said ,hopeful to ,christian1
 and  had ,i been here alone ,i had run 
in danger of death4  ,hitherto1 thy     
company hath been my mercy1 and thou    
shalt have a good reward for all thy    
labour4    ,now1 my brethren1 in my     
opinion we owe a great debt of gratitude
 to ,john  ,bunyan for the large and the
 displayed place he has given to        
,hopeful in  the ,pilgrim's ,progress4  
,the fulness and balance and proportion 
of the  ,pilgrim's ,progress are        
features of that wonderful book far too 
much  overlooked4  ,so far as my reading
 goes ,i do not know any other author   
who  has at all done the justice to the 
saving grace of hope that ,john ,bunyan 
has done both in his doctrinal and in   
his allegorical works4  ,bunyan  stands 
alone and supreme not only for the      

insight1 and the power with  which he   
has constructed the character and the   
career of ,hopeful1 but  even for having
 given him the space at all adequate to 
his merits and his  services4  ,in those
 eighty-seven so suggestive pages that  
form the index  to ,dr4 ,thomas         
,goodwin's works ,i find some hundred   
and twenty-four  references to faith1   
while there are only two references to  
hope4  ,and  that same oversight and    
neglect runs through all our religious  
literature1 and ,i suppose1 as a        
consequence1 through all our preaching  
too4  ,now that is not the treatment the
 ,bible gives to this so essential      
,christian grace1 as any one may see at 
a glance who takes the trouble to  turn 
up his ,cruden4  ,hope has a great place
 alongside of faith and love  in the    
,holy ,scriptures1 and it has a         
correspondingly large and eloquent      
place in ,bunyan4  ,now1 that being so1 
why is it that this so great and so     
blessed grace has so fallen out of our  

sermons and out of our hearts8  ,may    
,god grant that our reading of          
,hopeful's autobiography and his        
subsequent  history to-night may do     
something to restore the blessed grace  
of hope to  its proper place both in our
 pulpit and in all our hearts4    ,to   
kindle then1 to quicken1 and to anchor  
your hope1 my brethren1 may ,i  have    
,god's help to speak for a little longer
 to your hearts concerning  this        
neglected grace6  ,for1 what is hope8   
,hope is a passion of the soul1  wise or
 foolish1 to be ashamed of or to be     
proud of1 just according to  the thing  
hoped for1 and just according to the    
grounds of the hope4  ,hope  is made up 
of these two ingredients--desire and    
expectation4  ,what we  greatly desire  
we take no rest till we find good       
grounds on which to  build up our       
expectations of it2 and when we have    
found good grounds for  our             
expectations1 then a glad hope takes    
possession of our hearts4  ,now1  to    

begin with1 how is it with your desires8
  ,you are afraid to say much  about    
your expectations and your hopes4       
,well2 let us come to your  hearts'     
desires4--,men of ,god1 ,i will enter   
into your hearts and ,i will  tell you  
your hearts' desires better than you    
know them yourselves2 for  the heart is 
deceitful above all things4  ,the time  
was1 when1 like this  young pilgrim     
before he became a pilgrim1 your desires
 were all set on  houses1 and lands1 and
 places1 and honours1 and preferments1  
and wives1  and children1 and silver1   
and gold1 and what not4  ,these things  
at one  time were the utmost limit of   
your desires4  ,but that has all been   
changed4  ,for now you have begun to    
desire a better city1 that is1 an       
heavenly4  ,what is your chief desire   
for this ,new ,year8 #b   ,is it not a  
new heart8  ,is it not a clean heart8   
,is it not a holy heart8  ,is it not    
that the ,holy ,ghost would write the   
golden rule on the tables of your       

heart8  ,does not ,god know that it is  
the deepest desire of your heart to  be 
able to love your neighbour as yourself8
  ,to be able to rejoice with  him in   
his joy as well as to weep with him in  
his sorrow8  ,what would you  not give  
never again to feel envy in your heart  
at your brother1 or  straitness and     
pining at his prosperity8  ,one thing do
 ,i desire1 said the  ,psalmist1 that   
mine ear may be nailed to the doorpost  
of my ,god3 that ,i  may always be ,his 
servant1 and may never wander from ,his 
service4  ,now1  that is your desire    
too4  ,i am sure it is4  ,you would not 
say it of  yourself1 but ,i defy you to 
deny it when it is said about you4      
,well1  then1 such things being found   
among your desires1 what grounds have   
you  for expecting the fulfilment of    
such desires8  ,what grounds8  ,the best
 of  grounds and every ground4  ,for you
 have the sure ground of ,god's word4   
,and you have more than ,his word3 you  
have ,his very nature1 and the very     

nature of things4  ,for shall ,god      
create such desires in any man's heart  
only to starve and torture that man8    
,impossible6  ,it were blasphemy to     
suspect it4  ,no4  ,where ,god has made 
any man to be so far a partaker of  the 
,divine nature as to change all that    
man's deepest desires1 and to  turn them
 from vanity to wisdom1 from earth to   
heaven1 and from the  creature to the   
,creator1 doubt not1 wherever ,he has   
begun such a work1  that ,he will hasten
 to finish it4  ,yes2 lift up your heavy
 hearts1 all ye  who desire such things1
 for ,god hath sent ,his ,son to say to 
you1 ,blessed  are ye that hunger and   
thirst after righteousness1 for ye shall
 be  filled4  ,only1 keep desiring4     
,desire every day with a stronger and a 
more inconsolable desire4  ,desire1 and 
ground your desire on ,god's word1  and 
then heave your hope like an anchor     
within the veil whither the  ,forerunner
 is for you entered4  ,may ,i so hope8  
you say4  ,may ,i venture to  hope8     

,yes2 not only may you hope1 but you    
must hope4  ,you are commanded  to hope4
  ,it is as much your bounden duty to   
hope always1 and to hope for  the       
greatest and best things1 as it is to   
repent of your sins1 to love  ,god and  
your neighbour1 to keep yourself pure1  
and to set a watch on the  door of your 
lips4  ,you have been destroyed1 ,i     
confess and lament it1 for  lack of     
knowledge about the nature1 the grounds1
 and the duty of hope4  ,but make up now
 for past neglect4  ,hope steadfastly1  
hope constantly1  hope boldly2 hope for 
the best things1 the greatest things1   
the most  divine and the most blessed   
things4  ,if you forget to-night all    
else you  have heard to-day1 ,i implore 
you not any longer to forget and neglect
  this1 that hope is your immediate1    
constant1 imperative duty4  ,no sin1 no 
depth of corruption in your heart1 no   
assault on your heart from your         
conscience1 can justify you in ceasing  
to hope4  ,even when trouble comes      

tumbling over the neck of all your      
reformations as it came tumbling on     
,hopeful1 let that only drive you the   
more deeply down into the true  grounds 
of hope2 even against hope rejoice in   
hope4  ,remember the  ,psalmist in the  
hundred-and-thirtieth ,psalm1--down in  
the deeps1 if ever  a fallen sinner was4
  ,yet hear him when you cannot see him 
saying3 ,i hope  in ,thy word6          
,and--for it is worthy to stand beside  
even that splendid  psalm1--,i beseech  
you to read and lay to heart what       
,hopeful says about  himself in his     
conversion despair4    ,and then1 as if 
to justify that hope1 there always come 
with it such  sanctifying influences and
 such sure results4  ,the hope that you 
are one  day to awaken in the ,divine   
likeness will make you lie down on your 
bed  every night in self-examination1   
repentance1 prayer1 and praise4  ,the   
hope that your eyes are one day to see  
,christ as ,he is will make you  purify 
yourself as nothing else will4  ,the    

hope that you are to walk with  ,christ 
in white will make you keep your        
garments clean2 it will make you  wash  
them many times every day in the blood  
of the ,lamb4  ,the hope that  you are  
to cast your crown at ,his feet will    
make you watch that no man  takes your  
crown from you4  ,the hope that you are 
to drink wine with ,him  in ,his        
,father's kingdom will reconcile you    
meanwhile to water1 lest with  your wine
 you stumble any of ,his little ones4   
,the hope of hearing ,him  say1 ,well   
done6--how that will make you labour and
 endure and not faint6  ,and the hope   
that you shall one day enter in through 
the gates into the  city1 and have a    
right to the tree of life1--how         
scrupulous that will  make you to keep  
all ,his commandments6  ,and this is one
 of ,his  commandments1 that you gird up
 the loins of your mind1 and hope to the
  end for the grace that is to be       
brought unto you at the revelation of   
,jesus ,christ4          ,,temporary    

,they are they1 which1 when they hear1  
receive the word with joy2 and     have 
no root1 which for a while believe1 and 
in time of temptation     fall          
away4--,our ,lord4    ,well1 then1 did  
you not know about ten years ago one    
,temporary in your  parts who was a     
forward man in religion8  ,know him6    
replied the other4  ,yes4  ,for my house
 not being above three miles from his   
house he would  ofttimes come to me1 and
 that with many tears4  ,truly ,i pitied
 the man1  and was not altogether       
without hope of him2 but one may see    
that it is  not every one who cries     
,lord1 ,lord4  ,and now1 since we are   
talking about  him1 let us a little     
inquire into the reason of the sudden   
backsliding of  him and such others4    
,it may be very profitable1 said        
,christian1 but do  you begin4  ,well1  
then1 there are in my judgment several  
reasons for it4  ,and then1 with the    
older man's entire approval1 ,hopeful   
sets forth  several reasons1 taken from 

his own observation of backsliders1 why 
so  many men's religion is such a       
temporary thing2 why so many run well   
for a  time1 and then stand still1 and  
then turn back4    #a4  ,the fear of man
 bringeth a snare1 said ,hopeful1       
moralising over his  old acquaintance   
,temporary4  ,and how true that         
observation is every  evangelical       
minister knows to his deep              
disappointment4  ,a young man comes  to 
his minister at some time of distress in
 his life1 or at some time of  revival  
of religion in the community1 or at an  
ordinary communion season1  and gives   
every sign that he is early and fairly  
embarked on an  honourable ,christian   
life4  ,he takes his place in the       
,church of ,christ1  and he puts out his
 hand to her work1 till we begin to look
 forward with  boastfulness to a life of
 great stability and great attainment   
for that  man4  ,our ,lord1 as we see   
from so many of ,his parables1 must have
 had  many such cases among ,his first  

followers4  ,our ,lord might be speaking
  prophetically1 as well as out of ,his 
own experience1 so well do ,his         
regretful and lamenting words fit into  
so many of our own cases to-day4  ,for1 
look at that young business man4  ,he   
has been born and brought up in  the    
,church of ,christ4  ,he has gladdened  
more hearts than he knows by the  noble 
promise of his early days4  ,many       
admiring and loving eyes have been      
turned on him as he took so hopefully   
the upward way4  ,but a sifting-time    
soon comes4  ,a time of temptation      
comes4  ,a time comes when sides must be
  taken in some moral1 religious1       
ecclesiastical controversy4  ,this young
  man is at that moment a candidate for 
a post that will bring distinction1     
wealth1 and social influence to him who 
holds it4  ,and the candidate we  are so
 much interested in is admittedly a man 
of such outstanding talents  that he    
would at once get the post were it not  
that the holder of that  post must not  

have his name so much associated with   
such and such a  church1 such and such  
political and religious opinions1 and   
such and such  public men4  ,he is told 
that4  ,indeed1 he is not so dull as to 
need to be  told that4  ,he has seen    
that all along4  ,and at first it is a  
dreadful  wrench to him4  ,he feels how 
far he is falling from his high ideals  
in  life2 and1 at first1 and for a long 
time1 it is a dreadful humiliation to   
him4  ,but1 then1 there are splendid    
compensations4  ,and1 better than  that1
 there are some good1 and indeed        
compelling1 reasons that begin to  rise 
up in our minds when we need them and   
begin to look for them1 till  what at   
first seemed so mean and so             
contemptible1 and so ungrateful1 and  so
 dishonourable1 as well as so           
spiritually perilous1 comes to be faced 
and gone through with positively on a   
ground of high principle1 and1  indeed1 
of stern moral necessity4  ,so deceitful
 is the human heart that  you could not 

believe what compelling reasons such a  
mean-spirited man  will face you with as
 to why he should leave all the ways he 
once so  delighted in for a piece of    
bread1 and for the smile of the open    
enemies  of his church1 and his faith1  
not to say his ,saviour4  ,you will meet
 with  several such men any afternoon   
coming home from their business4        
,sometimes  they have still some honest 
shame on their faces when they meet you2
 but  still oftener they pass you with a
 sullen hatred and a fierce defiance4   
,this is he who heard the word1 and anon
 with joy received it4  ,yet had he  not
 root in himself1 but dured for a while2
 for when tribulation or  persecution   
arose because of the word by and by he  
was offended4  ,they  went out from us1 
says ,john1 but they were not of us2 for
 if they had  been of us they would no  
doubt have continued with us2 but they  
went out  that they might be made       
manifest that they were not all of us4  
#b4  ,guilt1 again1 ,hopeful went on1   

and to meditate terror1 are so  grievous
 to most men1 that they rather choose   
such ways as will but  harden their     
hearts still more and more4  ,you all   
know what it is to  meditate terror8    
,thine heart shall meditate terror1 says
 the prophet1  when thou sayest to      
thyself1 who among us shall dwell with  
the devouring  fire8 who among us shall 
dwell with everlasting burnings8  ,the  
fifty-  first ,psalm is perhaps the best
 meditation both of guilt and of terror 
that we have in the whole ,bible4  ,but 
there are many other psalms and         
passages of psalms only second to the   
fifty-first ,psalm1 such as the         
twenty-second1 the thirty-eighth1 the   
sixty-ninth1 and the hundred-and-       
thirtieth4  ,our ,lord ,himself also was
 meditating terror in the garden of     
,gethsemane1 and ,paul both guilt and   
terror when he imagined himself both  an
 apostate preacher and a castaway soul4 
,and ,john's meditations of  terror in  
the ,revelation rose into those         

magnificent pictures of the ,last       
,judgment with which he has to all time 
covered the walls of the ,seven         
,churches4  ,in his own ,grace          
,abounding there are meditations of     
terror  quite worthy to stand beside the
 most terrible things of that kind that 
ever were written1 as also in many      
others of our author's dramatical and   
homiletical books4  ,i read to you the  
other ,sabbath morning a meditation  of 
terror that was found among ,bishop     
,andrewes' private papers after his     
death4  ,you will not all have forgotten
 that meditation1 but ,i will read  it  
to you to-night again4  ,how fearful1   
says ,andrewes1 in his terror1  will    
,thy judgment be1 ,o ,lord1 when the    
thrones are set1 and the angels  stand  
around1 and men are brought in1 and the 
books are opened1 and all  our works are
 inquired into1 and all our thoughts are
 examined1 and all  the hidden things of
 darkness6  ,what1 ,o ,god1 shall ,thy  
judgment that day  be upon me8  ,who    

shall quench my flame1 who shall lighten
 my darkness1 if  ,thou pity me not8    
,lord1 as ,thou art loving1 give me     
tears1 give me  floods of tears1 and    
give me all that this day1 before it be 
too late4  ,for then will be the        
incorruptible ,judge1 the horrible      
judgment-seat1 the  answer without      
excuse1 the inevitable charge1 the      
shameful punishment1  the endless       
,gehenna1 the pitiless angels1 the      
yawning hell1 the roaring  stream of    
fire1 the unquenchable flame1 the dark  
prison1 the rayless  darkness1 the bed  
of live coals1 the unwearied worm1 the  
indissoluble  chains1 the bottomless    
chaos1 the impassable wall1 the         
inconsolable cry4  ,and none to stand by
 me2 none to plead for me2 none to      
snatch me out4  ,now1 no ,temporary ever
 possessed anything like that in his own
  handwriting among his private papers4 
,a meditation like that1 written  out   
with his own hand1 and hidden away under
 lock and key1 will secure  any man from

 it1 even if he had been appointed to   
backsliding and  reprobation4  ,bishop  
,andrewes1 as any one will see who reads
 his ,private  ,devotions1 was the chief
 of sinners2 but his discovered and     
deciphered  papers will all speak for   
him when they are spread out before the 
great  white throne1 glorious in their  
deformity1 being slubbered1 as his      
editors say1 with his pious hands1 and  
watered with his penitential  tears4    
,thomas ,shepard's ,ten ,virgins is the 
most terrible book upon ,temporaries    
that ever was written4  ,temporaries    
never once saw their true vileness1  he 
keeps on saying4  ,temporaries are1 no  
doubt1 wounded for sin  sometimes1 but  
never in the right place nor to the     
right depth4  ,and  again1 sin1 and     
especially heart-sin1 is never really   
bitter to  ,temporaries4  ,in an        
exhortation to all new beginners1 and so
 to all  others1 ,be sure1 ,shepard     
says1 your wound for sin at first is    
deep  enough4  ,for all the error in a  

man's faith and sanctification springs  
from his first error in his humiliation4
  ,if a man's humiliation be  false1 or 
even weak or little1 then his faith and 
his hold of ,christ are  weak and       
little1 and his sanctification          
counterfeit4  ,but if a man's  wound be 
right1 and his humiliation deep enough1 
that man's faith will be  right and his 
sanctification will be glorious4  ,the  
esteem of ,christ is  always little     
where sin lies light4  ,and ,hopeful    
himself says a thing at  this point that
 is quite worthy of ,shepard himself1   
such is its depth and  insight4  ,he    
speaks of the righteous actually loving 
the sight of their  misery4  ,he does   
not explain what he means by that       
startling language  because he is       
talking all the time1 as he knows quite 
well1 to one who  understood all that   
before he was born4  ,nor will ,i       
attempt to explain or  to vindicate what
 he says4  ,those of you who love the   
sight of your own  misery as sinners    

will understand what ,hopeful says      
without any  explanation2 while those   
who do not understand him would only be 
the more  stumbled by any explanation of
 him4  ,the love of the sight of their  
misery1 and the unearthly sweetness of  
their sorrow for sin1 are only  another 
two of those provoking paradoxes of     
which the lives of ,god's true  saints  
are full--paradoxes and impossibilities 
and incoherencies that  make the        
literature of experimental religion to  
be positively hateful and  unbearable to
 ,temporary and to all his self-seeking 
and apostate kindred4    #c4  ,but even 
where the consciences of such men are   
occasionally awakened1  proceeds        
,hopeful1 in his so searching discovery 
of ,temporaries1 yet their  minds are   
not changed4  ,there you are pretty near
 the business1 replied  his fellow2 for 
the bottom of all is1 for want of a     
change of their mind  and will4  ,now1  
one would have been afraid and ashamed  
for one moment to  suspect that         

,temporary's mind was not completely    
changed1 so forward  was he at first in 
his religion4  ,but1 no3 forward before 
all his  neighbours as ,temporary was1  
to begin with1 yet all the time his mind
 was  not really changed4  ,his         
forwardness did not properly spring out 
of his  true mind at all1 but only out  
of his momentarily awakened conscience  
and  his momentarily excited heart4  ,a 
sinner with a truly changed mind is     
never forward4  ,his mind is so changed 
that forwardness in anything is  utterly
 alien to it1 and especially all        
forwardness in the profession of        
religion4  ,the change that had taken   
place in ,temporary1 whatever was the   
seat of it1 only led him to bully men   
like ,christian and ,hopeful1 who  would
 not go fast enough for him4  ,come1    
said ,pliable1 in the beginning  of the 
book1 come on and let us mend our pace4 
,i cannot go so fast as  ,i would1      
humbly replied ,christian1 because of   
this burden on my back4  ,it is a common

 observation among mountaineers that he 
who takes the hill  at the greatest     
spurt is the last climber to come to the
 top1 and that  many who so             
ostentatiously make spurts at the bottom
 of the hill never  come within sight of
 the top at all4  ,and this is one of   
the constant  dangers that wait on all  
revivals1 religious retreats1           
conferences1 and  even communion        
seasons4  ,our hot fits1 the hotter they
 are1 are only the  more likely1 unless 
we take the greatest care1 to cast us   
down into all  the more deadly a chill4 
,it is this danger that our ,lord points
 out so  plainly in ,his parable of     
apostasy4  ,the same is he1 says our    
,lord1 that  heareth the word1 and anon 
with joy receiveth it2 yet hath he not  
root in  himself1 but dureth for a      
while4  ,in ,hopeful's words1 his mind  
and will  were never changed with all   
his joy1 only his passing moods and his 
momentary emotions4    ,multitudes of   
men who are as forward at first as      

,pliable and ,temporary  were turn out  
at last to have no root in themselves2  
but here and there  you will discover a 
man who is all root together4  ,there   
are some men  whose whole mind and heart
 and will1 whose whole inward man1 has  
gone to  root4  ,all the strength and   
all the fatness of their religious life 
retreat into its root4  ,they have no   
leaves at all1 and they have too  little
 fruit as yet2 but you should see their 
roots4  ,only1 no eye but  the eye of   
,god can see sorrow for sin--secret and 
sore humiliation on  account of secret  
sin--the incessant agony that goes on   
within between  the flesh and the       
spirit1 between sin and grace1 between  
very hell and  heaven itself4  ,to know 
your own evil hearts1 my brethren1 say  
to you on  that subject what any        
,temporary will1 is the very root of the
 whole  matter to you4  ,whatever ,dr4  
,newman's mistakes as to outward        
churches may  have been1 he was a master
 of the human heart1 the most difficult 

of all  matters to master4  ,listen1    
then1 to what he says on the matter now 
in  hand4  ,now1 unless we have some    
just idea of our hearts and of sin1 we  
can have no right idea of a ,moral      
,governor1 a ,saviour1 or a ,sanctifier2
  that is1 in professing to believe in  
them we shall be using words without    
attaching any distinct meaning to them4 
,thus self-knowledge is at the  root of 
all real religious knowledge2 and it is 
vain1--it is worse than  vain1--it is a 
deceit and a mischief1 to think to      
understand the  ,christian doctrines as 
a matter of course1 merely by being     
taught by  books1 or by attending       
sermons1 or by any outward means1       
however  excellent1 taken by themselves4
  ,for it is in proportion as we search 
our  hearts and understand our own      
nature that we understand what is meant 
by  an ,infinite ,governor and ,judge2  
it is in proportion as we comprehend the
  nature of disobedience and our actual 
sinfulness that we feel what is the     

blessing of the removal of sin1         
redemption1 pardon1 sanctification1     
which  otherwise are mere words4  ,god  
speaks to us primarily in our hearts4   
,self-  knowledge is the key to the     
precepts and doctrines of ,scripture4   
,the  very utmost that any outward      
notices of religion can do is to startle
 us  and make us turn inward and search 
our hearts2 and then1 when we have      
experienced what it is to read          
ourselves1 we shall profit by the       
doctrine  of the ,church and the ,bible4
  ,my brethren1 the temper in which you 
receive that passage1 and receive it    
from its author1 may be safely taken  by
 you as a sure presage whether you are  
to turn out a ,temporary and a          
,castaway or no4    ,now1 to conclude   
with a word of admission1 and1 bound up 
with it1 a word  of encouragement4      
,after all that has been said1 ,i fully 
admit that we  are all ,temporaries to  
begin with4  ,we all cool down from our 
first heat  in religion4  ,we all halt  

from our first spurt4  ,we all turn back
 from  faith and from duty and from     
privilege through our fear of men1 or   
through our corrupt love of ourselves1  
or through our coarse-minded love  of   
this present world4  ,only1 those who   
are appointed to perseverance1  and     
through that to eternal life1 always    
kindle again2 they are kindled  again1  
and they love the return of their lost  
warmth4  ,they recover  themselves and  
address themselves again and again to   
the race that is  still set before them4
  ,they prove themselves not to be of   
those who draw  back unto perdition1 but
 of those that believe to the saving of 
the soul4  ,now1 if you have only too   
good ground to suspect that you are but 
a  temporary believer1 what are you to  
do to make your sure escape out of  that
 perilous state8  ,what1 but to keep on 
believing8  ,you must cry  constantly1  
,lord1 ,i believe1 help ,thou mine      
unbelief6  ,when at any time  you are   
under any temptation or corruption1 and 

you feel that your faith  and your love 
are letting slip their hold of ,christ  
and of eternal life1  then knot your    
weak heart all the faster to the throne 
of grace1 to the  cross of ,christ1 and 
to the gate of heaven4  ,give up all    
your mind and  heart1 and all that is   
within you1 to the one thing needful4   
,labour  night and day in your own heart
 at believing on ,christ1 at loving your
  neighbour1 and at discovering1        
denying1 and crucifying yourself4  ,it  
will  all pay you in the long run4  ,for
 if you do all these things1 and        
persistently do them1 then1 though you  
are at this moment all but dead to  all 
divine things1 and all but a reprobate1 
it will be found at last that  all the  
time your name was written among the    
elect in heaven4    ,the perseverance of
 the saints1 the five points            
notwithstanding1 is not  a foregone     
conclusion4  ,the final perseverance of 
the ripest and surest  saint is all made
 up of ever-new beginnings in           

repentance1 in faith1 in  love1 and in  
obedience4  ,begin1 then1 every new day 
to repent anew1 to  return anew1 to     
believe and to love anew4  ,and if all  
your ,new-,year  repentances and        
returnings and reformations are all     
already proved to be  but               
temporary--even if they lie all around  
you already a bitter mockery  of all    
your professions--still1 begin again4   
,begin to-night1 and begin  again       
to-morrow morning4  ,spend all the      
remainder of your days on earth         
beginning4  ,and1 ere ever you are      
aware1 the final perseverance of        
another predestinated saint will be     
found accomplished in you4              
,,secret         ,the secret of the     
,lord is with them that fear            
,him4--,david4    ,a truly religious    
life is always a secret life3 it is a   
life hid1 as ,paul  has it1 with ,christ
 in ,god4  ,the secret of the ,lord1    
says the ,psalmist1  is with them that  
fear ,him4  ,and thus it is that when   

men begin to fear  ,god1 both their     
hearts and their lives are henceforth   
full of all kinds  of secrets that are  
known to themselves and to ,god only4   
,it was when  ,christiana's fearful     
thoughts began to work in her mind about
 her husband  whom she had lost--it was 
when all her unkind1 unnatural1 and     
ungodly  carriages to her dear friend   
came into her mind in swarms1 clogged   
her  conscience1 and loaded her with    
guilt--it was then that ,secret knocked 
at  her door4  ,next morning1 so her    
opening history runs1 when she was up1  
and had prayed to ,god1 and talked with 
her children awhile1 one knocked  hard  
at the door to whom she spake out1      
saying1 ,if thou comest in ,god's  name1
 come in4  ,so he who was at the door   
said1 ,amen1 and opened the  door1 and  
saluted her with1 ,peace be to this     
house4  ,the which when he  had done1 he
 said1 ,christiana1 knowest thou        
wherefore ,i am come8  ,then  she       
blushed and trembled1 also her heart    

began to wax warm with desires  to know 
whence he came1 and what was his errand 
to her4  ,so he said unto  her1 ,my name
 is ,secret1 ,i dwell with those that   
are high4  ,it is talked  of where ,i   
dwell as if thou hadst a desire to go   
thither2 also1 there is  a report that  
thou art aware now of the evil thou     
formerly didst to thy  husband in       
hardening of thy heart against his way1 
and in keeping of thy  babes in their   
ignorance4  ,christiana1 the ,merciful  
,one has sent me to  tell thee that ,he 
is a ,god ready to forgive1 and that ,he
 taketh delight  to multiply to pardon  
offences4  ,he would also have thee know
 that ,he  inviteth thee to come into   
,his presence1 even to ,his table1 and  
that ,he  will there feed thee with the 
fat of ,his house1 and with the heritage
 of  ,jacob thy father4  ,christiana at 
all this was greatly abashed in herself1
  and she bowed her head to the ground1 
while her visitor proceeded and  said1  
,christiana1 here is a letter for thee  

which ,i have brought from thy          
husband's ,king4  ,so she took it and   
opened it1 and1 as she opened it1 it    
smelt after the manner of the best      
perfume2 also it was written in         
lettering of gold4  ,the contents of the
 letter was to this effect1 that  the   
,king would have her do as did          
,christian her husband1 for that was the
  way to come to the city and to dwell  
in ,his presence with joy for ever4  ,at
 this the good woman was completely     
overcome4  ,so she said to her  visitor1
 ,sir1 will you carry me and my children
 with you that we may go  and worship   
this ,king8  ,then said the heavenly    
visitor1 ,christiana1 the  bitter is    
before the sweet4  ,thou must through   
troubles1 as did he that  went before   
thee1 enter this celestial city4  ,and  
so on4    #a4  ,now1 to begin with1 you 
will have noticed the way in which      
,christiana  was prepared for the       
entrance of ,secret into her house4     
,she was a widow4  ,she sat alone in    

that loneliness which only widows know  
and understand4  ,more than lonely1 she 
was very miserable4  ,mark this1 says   
the author  on the margin1 you that are 
churls to your godly relations4  ,for   
this  widow felt sure that her husband  
had been taken from her because of her  
cruel behaviour to him4  ,her past      
unnatural carriages toward her husband  
now rent the very caul of her heart in  
sunder4  ,and1 again and again1  about  
that same time strange dreams would     
sometimes visit her4  ,dreams  such as  
this4  ,she would see her husband in a  
place of bliss with a harp  in his hand1
 standing and playing upon it before    
,one that sat on a throne  with a       
rainbow round ,his head4  ,she saw also 
as if he bowed his head with  his face  
to the paved work that was under the    
,prince's feet1 saying1 ,i  heartily    
thank my ,lord and ,king for bringing me
 to this place4  ,you will  easily see  
how ready this lone woman was with all  
that for his entrance  who knocked and  

said1 ,peace be to this house1 and      
handed her a letter of  perfume from her
 husband's ,king4  ,then you will have  
remarked also some  of the things this  
visitor from on high said to her of the 
place whence  he had come4  ,he told    
her1 to begin with1 how they sometimes  
talked about  her in his country4  ,she 
thought that she was a lonely and       
forgotten  widow1 and that no one cared 
what became of her4  ,but her visitor   
assured  her she was quite wrong in     
thinking that4  ,he had often himself   
heard her  name mentioned in            
conversation above2 and the most hopeful
 reports1 he  told her1 were circulated 
from door to door that she was actually 
all but  started on the upward way4     
,yes1 he said1 and we have a place      
prepared  for you on the strength of    
these reports1 a place among the        
immortals  close beside your husband4   
,and all that1 as you will not wonder1  
was the  beginning of ,christiana's     
secret life4  ,after that morning she   

never  again felt alone or forgotten4   
,i am not alone1 she would after that   
say1  when any of her old neighbours    
knocked at her door4  ,no1 ,i am not    
alone1  but if thou comest in ,god's    
name1 come in4    #b4  ,and from that   
day a long succession of secret         
providences began to  enter             
,christiana's life1 till1 as time went  
on1 her whole life was filled  full of  
secret providences4  ,and not her       
present life only1 but her  discoveries 
of ,god's secret providences towards her
 and hers became  retrospective also1   
till both her own parentage and birth1  
her husband's  parentage and birth also1
 the day she first saw him1 the day of  
their  espousals1 the day of their      
marriage1 and the day of his death1 all 
shone  out now as so many secret and    
special providences of ,god toward her4 
,bishop ,martensen has a fine passage on
 the fragmentariness of our  knowledge1 
not only of divine providence as a      
whole1 but even of those  divine        

providences that fill up our own lives4 
,and he warns us that1  till we have    
heard the ,prologue in ,heaven1 many a  
riddle in our lives  must of necessity  
remain unsolved4  ,christiana could not 
have told her  inquiring children what a
 prologue was1 nor an epilogue either1  
but many  were the wise and winning     
discourses she held with her boys about 
their  father now in heaven1 about her  
happiness in having had such a father   
for  her children1 and about their      
happiness that the road was open before 
them to go to where he now is4  ,and    
there are many poor widows among        
ourselves who are wiser than all their  
teachers1 because they are in that      
school of experience into which ,god    
takes ,his afflicted people and opens   
to them ,his deepest secrets4  ,they    
remember1 with ,job1 when the secret of 
the ,lord was first upon their          
tabernacle4  ,their widowed hearts are  
full  of holy household memories4  ,they
 remember the days when the candle of   

the ,lord shone upon their head when    
they washed their steps with butter1    
and the rock poured them out rivers of  
oil4  ,and still1 when1 like ,job  also1
 they sit solitary among the ashes1 the 
secret of the ,lord is only  the more   
secretly and intimately with them4      
,john ,bunyan was well fitted  to be    
,christiana's biographer1 because his   
own life was as full as it  could hold  
of these same secret and special        
providences4  ,one day he was           
walking--so he tells us--in a good man's
 shop1 bemoaning himself of his  sad and
 doleful state--when a mighty rushing   
wind came in through the  window and    
seemed to carry words of ,scripture on  
its wings to ,bunyan's  disconsolate    
soul4  ,he candidly tells us that he    
does not know1 after  twenty years'     
reflection1 what to make of that strange
 dispensation4  ,that  it took place1   
and that it left the most blessed       
results behind it1 he is  sure2 but as  
to how ,god did it1 by what means1 by   

what instruments1 both  the rushing wind
 itself and the salutation that         
accompanied it1 he is  fain to let lie  
till the day of judgment4  ,and many of 
ourselves have had  strange             
dispensations too that we must leave    
alone1 and seek no other  explanation of
 them for the present but the blessed   
results of them4  ,we  have had divine  
descents into our lives that we can     
never attempt to  describe4             
,interpositions as plain to us as if we 
had both seen and  spoken with the angel
 who executed them4  ,miraculous        
deliverances that  throw many ,old and  
,new ,testament miracles into the shade4
  ,providential  adaptations and        
readjustments also1 as if all things    
were actually and  openly and without a 
veil being made to work together for our
 good4  ,extrications also2 nets broken1
 snares snapped1 and such pavilions of  
safety and solace opened to us that we  
can find no psalm secret and  special   
enough in which to utter our life-long  

astonishment4  ,importunate  prayers    
anticipated1 postponed1 denied1         
translated1 transmuted1 and then        
answered till our cup was too full2     
sweet changed to bitter1 and bitter     
changed to sweet1 so wonderfully1 so    
graciously1 and so often1 that words    
fail us1 and we can only now laugh and  
now weep over it all4  ,poor ,cowper    
knew something about it--       ,god    
moves in a mysterious way        ,his   
wonders to perform2     ,he plants ,his 
footsteps in the sea1        ,and rides 
upon the storm4       ,ye fearful       
saints1 fresh courage take1        ,the 
clouds ye so much dread     ,are big    
with mercy1 and shall break        ,in  
blessings on your head4       ,blind    
unbelief is sure to err1        ,and    
scan his work in vain2     ,god is ,his 
own interpreter1        ,and ,he will   
make it plain4    #c4  ,secret          
scriptures also--from that enlightening 
day ,christiana's ,bible  became full of
 them4  ,peter says that no prophecy is 

of any private  interpretation2 and1    
whatever he means by that1 what he says 
must be  true4  ,but ,christiana would  
have understood the apostle better if he
 had  said the exact opposite of        
that1--if not about the prophecies1 at  
least  about the psalms4  ,leave the    
prophecies in this connection alone2 but
 of  the psalms it may safely be said   
that it is neither the literal nor the  
historical nor the mystical             
interpretation that gets at the heart of
  those supreme scriptures4  ,it is the 
private1 personal1 and1 indeed1  secret 
interpretation that gets best at the    
deepest heart of the psalms4  ,an old   
,bible came into my hands the other     
day--a ,bible that had seen             
service--and it opened of its own accord
 at the ,book of ,psalms4  ,on  turning 
over the yellow leaves ,i found a date  
and a deep indentation  opposite these  
words3 ,commit thy way unto the ,lord3  
trust also in ,him3  and ,he will bring 
it to pass4  ,and as ,i looked at the   

figures on the  margin1 and at the      
underscored text1 ,i felt as if ,i were 
on the brink of  an old-world secret4   
,create in me a clean heart had a       
significant  initial also2 as had this3 
,the sacrifices of ,god are a broken    
spirit4  ,the whole of the              
hundred-and-third psalm was bracketed   
off from all  public interpretation2    
while the tenth1 the cardinal verse of  
that secret  psalm1 had a special seal  
set upon it4  ,judging from its stains  
and scars  and other accidents1 the     
whole of the hundred-and-nineteenth     
psalm had  been a special favourite2    
while the hundred-and-forty-third also  
was all  broidered round with shorthand 
symbols4  ,but the secret key of all    
those  symbols and dates and enigmatical
 marks was no longer to be found2 it had
  been carried away in the owner's own  
heart4  ,but1 my head being full of     
,christiana at the time1 ,i felt as if  
,i held her own old ,bible in my hand   
as ,i turned over those ancient leaves4 

#d4  ,our ,lord so practised secrecy    
,himself in ,his fasting1 in ,his       
praying1  and in ,his almsgiving1 and   
,he makes so much of that same secrecy  
in all  ,his teaching1 as almost to make
 the essence of all true religion to    
stand  in its secrecy4  ,when thou      
prayest1 says our ,lord1 shut thy door  
and  pray in secret4  ,as much as to say
 that we are scarcely praying at all    
when we are praying in public4  ,praying
 in public is so difficult that  new    
beginners1 like ,his disciples1 have to 
practise that so difficult art  for a   
long time in secret4  ,public prayer has
 so many besetting sins1 it  is open to 
so many temptations1 distractions1 and  
corruptions1 that it is  almost         
impossible to preserve the real essence 
of prayer in public  prayer4  ,but in   
secret all those temptations and        
distractions are happily  absent4  ,we  
have no temptation to be too long in    
secret prayer1 or too  loud1 or too     
eloquent4  ,stately old ,english goes   

for nothing in secret  prayer4  ,we     
never need to go to our knees in secret 
trembling1 lest we  lose the thread of  
our prayer1 or forget that so fit and so
 fine  expression4  ,the longer we are  
the better in secret prayer4  ,much     
speaking is really a virtue in secret   
prayer2 much speaking and many          
repetitions4  ,also1 we can put things  
into our secret prayers that we  dare   
not come within a thousand miles of in  
the pulpit1 or the prayer-  meeting1 or 
the family4  ,we can enter into the most
 plain-spoken  particulars about        
ourselves in secret4  ,we can put our   
proper name upon  ourselves1 and upon   
our actions1 and especially upon our    
thoughts when  our door is shut4  ,then1
 again1 we can pray for other people by 
name in  secret2 we can enter1 so far as
 we know them1 into all their           
circumstances in a way it is impossible 
to do anywhere but in the utmost        
secrecy4  ,we can1 in short1 be         
ourselves in secret2 and1 unless it is  

to  please or to impress men1 we had    
better not pray at all unless we are    
ourselves when we are engaged in it4    
,you can be yourself1 your very  worst  
self2 nay1 you must be1 else you will   
not long pray in secret1 and  even if   
you did you would not be heard4  ,i do  
not remember that very much  is said in 
so many words in her after-history about
 ,christiana's habits  of closet-prayer4
  ,but that ,secret taught her the way1 
and waited till  she had tasted the     
sweetness and the strength of being a   
good while on  her knees alone1 ,i am   
safe to say2 indeed1 ,i read it between 
the lines in  all her after-life4  ,she 
was rewarded openly in a way that       
testifies to  much secret prayer2 that  
is to say1 in the early conversion of   
her  children1 in the way they settled  
in life1 and such like things4  ,pray   
much for those things in secret that you
 wish to possess openly4    #e4  ,but   
perhaps the best and most infallible    
evidence we can have of the  truth of   

our religion in this life is in the     
steady increase of our  secret          
sinfulness4  ,christiana had no trouble 
with her own wicked heart  so long as   
she was a woman of a wicked life4  ,but 
directly she became a  new creature1 her
 heart began to swarm1 such is her own  
expression1 with  sinful memories1      
sinful thoughts1 and sinful feelings2   
till she had need  of some one ever near
 her1 like ,greatheart1 constantly to   
assure her that  those cruel and deadly 
swarms1 instead of being a bad sign of  
her  salvation1 were the very best signs
 possible of her good estate4  ,humility
  is the foundation of all our graces1  
and there is no humility so deep and  so
 ever-deepening as that evangelical     
humility which in its turn rises  out of
 and rests upon secret sinfulness4  ,not
 upon acts of secret sin4  ,do  not     
mistake me4  ,acts of secret sin harden 
the heart and debauch the  conscience4  
,but ,i speak of that secret1 original1 
unexplored1 and  inexpugnable sinfulness

 out of which all a sinner's actual     
sins1 both  open sins and secret1       
spring2 and out of which a like life of 
open and  actual sins would spring in   
,god's very best saints1 if only both   
,he and  they did not watch night and   
day against them4  ,sensibility to sin1 
or  rather to sinfulness1 is far and    
away the best evidence of sanctification
  that is possible to us in this life4  
,it is this keen and bitter  sensibility
 that secures1 amid all oppositions and 
obstructions1 the true  saint's onward  
and upward progress4  ,were it not for  
the misery of their  own hearts1 ,god's 
best saints would fall asleep and go    
back like other  men4  ,a sinful heart  
is the misery of all miseries4  ,it is  
the deepest  and darkest of all         
dungeons4  ,it is the most painful and  
the most  loathsome of all diseases4    
,and the secrecy of it all adds to the  
bitterness and the gall of it all4  ,we 
may know that other men's hearts  are as
 sinful as our own1 but we do not feel  

their sinfulness4  ,we cannot  sensibly 
feel humiliation1 bondage1 sickness1 and
 self-loathing on  account of another   
man's envy1 or ill-will1 or resentment1 
or cruelty1 or  falsehood1 or impurity4 
,all these things must be our own before
 we can  enter into the pain and the    
shame of them2 but1 when we do1 then we 
taste  what death and hell are indeed4  
,as ,i write these feeble words about   
it1  a devil's shaft of envy that was   
shot all against my will into my heart  
this morning1 still1 after a whole day1 
rankles and festers there4  ,i  have    
been on my knees with it again and      
again2 ,i have stood and looked  into an
 open grave to-day2 but there it is     
sucking at my heart's blood  still1 like
 a leech of hell4  ,who can understand  
his errors8  ,cleanse  ,thou me from    
secret faults4  ,create in me a clean   
heart1 ,o ,god1 ,o  wretched man that ,i
 am6  ,let a man1 says ,william ,law    
when he is  enforcing humility1 but     
consider that if the world knew all that

 of him  which he knows of himself3 if  
they saw what vanity and what passions  
govern his inside1 and what secret      
tempers sully and corrupt his best      
actions1 he would have no more pretence 
to be honoured and admired for  his     
goodness and wisdom than a rotten and   
distempered body to be loved  and       
admired for its beauty and comeliness4  
,this is so true1 and so known  to the  
hearts of almost all people1 that       
nothing would appear more  dreadful to  
them than to have their hearts fully    
discovered to the eyes  of all          
beholders4  ,and1 perhaps1 there are    
very few people in the world  who would 
not rather choose to die than to have   
all their secret follies1  the errors of
 their judgments1 the vanity of their   
minds1 the falseness  of their          
pretences1 the frequency of their vain  
and disorderly passions1  their         
uneasinesses1 hatreds1 envies1 and      
vexations made known to all the  world4 
,where did ,william ,law get that       

terrible passage8  ,where could he  get 
it but in the secret heart of the       
miserable author of the ,serious  ,call8
    #f4  ,the half cannot be told of the
 guilt and the corruption1 the pain and 
the shame and the manifold misery of    
secret sin2 but all that will be  told1 
believed1 and understood by all men long
 before the full  magnificence of their 
sanctification1 and the superb          
transcendence of  their blessedness1    
will even begin to be described to      
,god's secret  saints4  ,for1 all that  
sleepless1 cruel1 and soul-killing pain1
 and all  that shameful and humbling    
corruption1--all that means1 all that   
is1 so  much holiness1 so much heaven1  
working itself out in the soul4  ,all   
that  is so much immortal life1 spotless
 beauty1 and incorruptible joy already  
begun in the soul4  ,every such pang in 
a holy heart is a death-pang of  another
 sin and a birth-pang of another grace4 
,brotherly love is at last  being born  
never to die in that heart where envy   

and malice and  resentment and revenge  
are causing inward agony4  ,and humility
 and  meekness and the whole mind of    
,christ are there where pride and anger 
and  ill-will are felt to be very hell  
itself4  ,and holiness1 even as ,god is 
holy1 will soon be there for ever where 
the sinfulness of sin is a  sinner's    
acutest sorrow4  ,as for me1 said one   
whose sin was ever before  him1 ,i will 
behold ,thy face in righteousness2 ,i   
shall be satisfied when  ,i wake with   
,thy likeness4          ,,mrs4          
,,timorous         ,but the fearful     
literally1 the timid and the cowardly   
shall have     their part in the second 
death4--,revelation xxi4    ,no sooner  
had ,secret bidden ,christiana farewell 
than she began with all  her might to   
make ready for her great journey4       
,come1 my children1 let  us pack up and 
begone to the gate that leads to the    
,celestial ,city1 that  we may see your 
father and be with him1 and with his    
companions1 in  peace1 according to the 

laws of that land4  ,and then3 ,come in1
 if you  come in ,god's name6           
,christiana called out1 as two of her   
neighbours  knocked at her door4        
,having little to do at home this       
morning1 said  the elder of the two     
women1 ,i have come across to kill a    
little time  with you4  ,i spent last   
night with ,mrs4 ,light-mind1 and ,i    
have some good  news for you this       
morning4  ,i am just preparing for a    
journey this  morning1 said ,christiana1
 packing up all the time1 and ,i have   
not so  much as one moment to spare4    
,you know yourselves what ,christiana's 
nervousness and almost impatience were4 
,you know how it upsets your good       
temper and all your civility when you   
are packing up for a long absence  from 
home1 and some one comes in1 and will   
talk1 and will not see how  behindhand  
and how busy you are4  ,for what        
journey1 ,i pray you8 asked  ,mrs4      
,timorous1 for that was her visitor's   
name4  ,even to go after my  good       

husband1 the busy woman said1 and with  
that she fell a-weeping4  ,but  you must
 read the whole account of that eventful
 morning in ,christiana's  memoirs for  
yourselves till you have it1 as ,secret 
said1 by  root-of-heart4  ,on the       
understanding that you are not total    
strangers to  that so                   
excellently-written passage ,i shall now
 venture a few  observations upon it4   
#a4  ,well1 to begin with1 ,mrs4        
,timorous was not a bad woman1 as women 
went  in that town and in that day4     
,her companions1--her gossips1 as she   
would  have called them1--were far worse
 women than she was2 and1 had it not    
been for her family infirmity1 had it   
not been for that timid1  hesitating1   
lukewarm1 and half-and-half habit of    
mind which she had  inherited from her  
father1 there is no saying what part she
 might have  played in the famous       
expedition of ,christiana and ,mercy and
 the boys4  ,her  father had been a     
pilgrim himself at one time2 but he had 

now for a long  time been known in the  
town as a turncoat and a temporary1 and 
all his  children had unhappily taken   
after their father in that4  ,had her   
father  held on as he at one time had   
begun--had he held on in the face of all
  fear and all danger as ,christiana's  
noble husband had done--to a  certainty 
his daughter would have started that    
morning with ,christiana  and her       
company1 and would have been1 if a      
timid1 easily scared1 and  troublesome  
pilgrim1 yet as true a pilgrim1 and made
 as welcome at last1  as1 say1 ,miss    
,much-afraid1 ,mr4 ,fearing1 and ,mr4   
,ready-to-halt were made4  ,but her     
father's superficiality and shakiness1  
and at bottom his warm  love of this    
world and his lukewarm love of the world
 to come1 had  unfortunately all        
descended to his daughter1 till we find 
her actually  reviling ,christiana on   
that decisive morning1 and returning to 
her dish  of tea and tittle-tattle with 
,mrs4 ,bats-eyes1 ,mrs4 ,inconsiderate1 

,mrs4  ,light-mind1 and ,mrs4           
,know-nothing4    #b4  ,the thing that  
positively terrified ,mrs4 ,timorous at 
the very thought  of setting out with   
,christiana that morning was that       
intolerable way in  which ,christiana   
had begun to go back upon her past life 
as a wife and a  mother4  ,christiana   
could not hide her deep distress1 and1  
indeed1 she  did not much try4  ,such   
were the swarms of painful memories that
 her  husband's late death1 the visit of
 ,secret1 and one thing and another had 
let loose upon ,christiana's mind1 that 
she could take pleasure in nothing  but 
in how she was to escape away from her  
past life1 and how she could  in any way
 mend it and make up for it where she   
could not escape from it4  ,you may     
judge yourself1 said ,mrs4 ,timorous to 
,mrs4 ,light-mind1 whether  ,i was      
likely to find much entertainment with a
 woman like that6  ,for1  ,mrs4         
,timorous too1 you must know1 had a past
 life of her own2 and it was  that past 

life of hers all brought back by        
,christiana's words that  morning that  
made ,mrs4 ,timorous so revile her old  
friend and return to  the society we so 
soon see her with4  ,now1 is not this   
the case1 that we  all have swarms of   
evil memories that we dare not face8    
,there is no  single relationship in    
life that we can boldly look back upon  
and fully  face4  ,as son or as         
daughter1 as brother or as sister1 as   
friend or as  lover1 as husband or as   
wife1 as minister or as member1 as      
master or as  servant--what swarms of   
hornet-memories darken our hearts as we 
so look  back6  ,let any grown-up man1  
with some imagination1 tenderness of    
heart1  and integrity of conscience1 go 
back step by step1 taking some time to  
it1--at a new year1 say1 or a birthday1 
or on some such suitable  occasion3 let 
him go over his past life back to his   
youth and  childhood--and what an       
intolerable burden will be laid on his  
heart  before he is done6  ,what a      

panorama of scarlet pictures will pass  
before  his inward eye6  ,what a forest 
of accusing fingers will be pointed at  
him6  ,what hissing curses will be spat 
at him both by the lips of the  living  
and the dead6  ,what untold pains he    
will see that he has caused to  the     
innocent and the helpless6  ,what       
desolating disappointments1 what        
shipwrecks of hope to this man and to   
that woman6  ,what a stone of  stumbling
 he has been to many who on that stone  
have been for ever broken  and lost6    
,what a rock of offence even his mere   
innocent existence1 all  unknown to     
himself till afterwards1 has been6      
,swarms1 said ,christiana4  ,swarms of  
hornets armed1 said ,samson4  ,and many 
of us understand what  that bitter word 
means better than any commentator on    
,bunyan or on ,milton  can tell us4     
,one of the holiest men the ,church of  
,england ever produced1  and one of her 
best devotional writers1 used to shut   
his door on the  night of every first   

day of the week1 and on his knees spread
 out a  prayer which always contained   
this passage3 ,i worship ,thee1 ,o ,god1
 on my  face4  ,i smite my breast and   
say with the publican1 ,god be merciful 
to me  a sinner2 the chief of sinners2 a
 sinner far above the publican4         
,despise  me not--an unclean worm1 a    
dead dog1 a putrid corpse4  ,despise me 
not1  despise me not1 ,o ,lord4  ,but   
look upon me with those eyes with which 
,thou  didst look upon ,magdalene at the
 feast1 ,peter in the hall1 and the     
thief  on the cross4  ,o that mine eyes 
were a fountain of tears that ,i might  
weep night and day before ,thee6  ,i    
despise and bruise myself that my       
penitence is not deeper1 is not fuller4 
,help ,thou mine impenitence1 and  more 
and more pierce1 rend1 and crush my     
heart4  ,my sins are more in  number    
than the sand4  ,my iniquities are      
multiplied1 and ,i have no  relief4     
,perish your ,puritanism1 and your      
prayer-books too6  ,i hear some         

high-minded and indignant man saying4   
,perish your ,celestial ,city and all   
my desire after it1 before ,i say the   
like of that about myself6  ,brave      
words1 my brother2 brave words6  ,but   
there have been men as blameless as  you
 are1 and as brave-hearted over it1 who1
 when the scales fell off  their eyes1  
were heard crying out ever after3 ,o    
wretched man that ,i am6  ,and3 ,have   
mercy on me1 the chief of sinners6  ,and
 so1 if it so please  ,god1 will it yet 
be with you4    #c4  ,having had little 
to do this morning1 said ,mrs4 ,timorous
 to ,mrs4  ,light-mind1 ,i went to give 
,christiana a visit4  ,law1 ,i read in  
his  most impressive ,life1 by this time
 was well turned fifty1 but he rose as  
early and was as soon at his desk as    
when he was still a new1  enthusiastic1 
and scrupulously methodical student at  
,cambridge4  ,summer  and winter ,law   
rose to his devotions and his studies at
 five o'clock1 not  because he had      
imperative sermons to prepare1 but      

because1 in his own  words1 it is more  
reasonable to suppose a person up early 
because he is a  ,christian than because
 he is a labourer or a tradesman or a   
servant4  ,i  have a great deal of      
business to do1 he would say4  ,i have a
 hardened  heart to change2 ,i have     
still the whole spirit of religion to   
get4  ,when  ,law at any time felt a    
temptation to relax his rule of early   
devotion1 he  again reminded himself how
 fast he was becoming an old man1 and   
how far  back his sanctification still  
was1 till he flung himself out of bed   
and  began to make himself a new heart  
before the servants had lighted their   
fires or the farmers had yoked their    
horses4  ,shame on you1 he said to      
himself1 to lie folded up in a bed when 
you might be pouring out your  heart in 
prayer and in praise1 and thus be       
preparing yourself for a place  among   
those blessed beings who rest not day   
and night saying1 ,holy1 ,holy1  ,holy4 
,i have little to do this morning1 said 

,mrs4 ,timorous4  ,but ,i am  preparing 
for a journey1 said ,christiana4  ,i    
have now a price put into  my hand to   
get gain1 and ,i should be a fool of the
 greatest size if ,i  should have no    
heart to strike in with the opportunity4
    #d4  ,another thing that completely 
threw out ,christiana's idle visitor and
  made her downright angry was the way  
she would finger and kiss and read      
pieces out of the fragrant letter she   
held in her hand4  ,you will  remember  
how ,christiana came by that letter she 
was now so fond of4  ,here1 said        
,secret1 is a letter ,i have brought    
thee from thy husband's  ,king4  ,so she
 took it and opened it1 and it smelt    
after the manner of  the best perfume2  
also it was written in letters of gold4 
,i advise  thee1 said ,secret1 that thou
 put this letter in thy bosom1 that thou
  read therein to thy children until you
 have all got it by root-of-heart4  ,his
 messenger was here1 said ,christiana to
 ,mrs4 ,timorous1 and has  brought me a 

letter which invites me to come4  ,and  
with that she plucked  out the letter   
and read to her out of it1 and said3    
,what now do you say  to all that8      
,that1 again1 is so true to our own     
life4  ,for there is  nothing that more 
distastes and disrelishes many people   
among us than  just that we should name 
to them our favourite books1 and read a 
passage  out of them1 and ask them to   
say what they think of such wonderful   
words4  ,samuel ,rutherford's ,letters1 
for instance2 a book that smells to some
  nostrils with the same heavenly       
perfume as ,secret's own letter did4  ,a
  book1 moreover1 that is written in the
 same ink of gold4  ,ask at  afternoon  
tea to-morrow1 even in so-called        
,christian homes1 when any of  the      
ladies round the table last read1 and   
how often they have read1  ,grace       
,abounding1 ,the ,saint's ,rest1 ,the   
,religious ,affections1 ,jeremy         
,taylor1 ,law1 a ,kempis1 ,fenelon1 or  
such like1 and they will smile to one   

another and remark after you are gone on
 your strange taste for  old-fashioned  
and long-winded and introspective books4
  ,julia has buried  her husband and    
married her daughters1 and since that   
she spends her time  in reading4  ,she  
is always reading foolish and unedifying
 books4  ,she  tells you every time she 
sees you that she is almost at the end  
of the  silliest book that ever she read
 in her life4  ,but the best of it is   
that  it serves to dispose of a good    
deal of her spare time4  ,she tells you 
all  romances are sad stuff1 yet she is 
very impatient till she can get all  she
 can hear of4  ,histories of intrigue   
and scandal are the books that  ,julia  
thinks are always too short4  ,the truth
 is1 she lives upon folly  and scandal  
and impertinence4  ,these things are the
 support of her dull  hours4  ,and yet  
she does not see that in all this she is
 plainly telling  you that she is in a  
miserable1 disordered1 reprobate state  
of mind4  ,now1  whether you read her   

books or no1 you perhaps think with her 
that it is a  dull task to read only    
religious and especially spiritual      
books4  ,but  when you have the spirit  
of true religion1 when you can think of 
,god as  your only happiness1 when you  
are not afraid of the joys of eternity1 
you  will think it a dull task to read  
any other books4  ,when it is the care  
of your soul to be humble1 holy1 pure1  
and heavenly-minded2 when you know      
anything of the guilt and misery of sin1
 or feel a real need of  salvation1 then
 you will find religious and truly      
spiritual books to be  the greatest     
feast and joy of your mind and heart4   
,yes4  ,and then we  shall thank ,god   
every day we live that ,he raised us up 
such helpers in  our salvation as the   
gifted and gracious authors we have been
 speaking  of4    #e4  ,the further ,i  
go the more danger ,i meet with1 said   
old ,timorous1  the father1 to          
,christian1 when ,christian asked him on
 the ,hill ,difficulty  why he was      

running the wrong way4  ,i1 too1 was    
going to the ,city of  ,zion1 he said2  
but the further on ,i go the more danger
 ,i meet with4  ,and1 in saying that1   
the old runaway gave our persevering    
pilgrim  something to think about for   
all his days4  ,for1 again and again1   
and  times without number1 ,christian   
would have gone back too if only he had 
known where to go4  ,go on1 therefore1  
he must4  ,to go back to him was  simply
 impossible4  ,every day he lived he    
felt the bitter truth of what  that old 
apostate had so unwittingly said4  ,but1
 with all that he kept  himself in his  
onward way till1 dangers and            
difficulties1 death and hell  and all1  
he came to the blessed end of it4  ,and 
that same has been the  universal       
experience of all the true and          
out-and-out saints of ,god in all  time4
  ,if poor old ,timorous had only known 
it1 if he had only had some  one beside 
him to remind him of it1 the very thing 
that so fatally turned  him back was the

 best proof possible that he was on the 
right and the  only right way2 ay1 and  
fast coming1 poor old castaway1 to the  
very city  he had at one time set out to
 seek4  ,now1 it is only too likely that
  there are some of my hearers at this  
with it to-night1 that they are on  the 
point of giving up the life of faith1   
and hope1 and love1 and holy  living2   
because the deeper they carry that life 
into their own hearts the  more         
impossible they find it to live that    
life there4  ,the more they aim  their  
hearts at ,god's law the more they      
despair of ever coming within  sight of 
it4  ,my supremely miserable brother6 if
 this is any consolation  to you1 if you
 can take any crumb of consolation out  
of it1 let this be  told you1 that1 as a
 matter of fact1 all truly holy men have
 in their  heart of hearts had your very
 experience4  ,that is no strange and   
unheard-  of thing which is passing     
within you4  ,and1 indeed1 if you could 
but  believe it1 that is one of the     

surest signs and seals of a true and    
genuine child of ,god4  ,dante1 one of  
the bravest1 but hardest bestead of     
,god's saints1 was1 just like you1      
well-nigh giving up the mountain        
altogether when his ,greatheart1 who was
 always at his side1 divining what  was 
going on within him1 said to him--      
,those scars     ,that when they pain   
thee most then kindliest heal4    ,the  
more ,i do1 complained one of ,thomas   
,shepard's best friends to him1  the    
worse ,i am4  ,the best saints are the  
most sensible of sin1 wrote  ,samuel    
,rutherford4  ,and1 again he wrote1 ,sin
 rages far more in the godly  than ever 
it does in the ungodly4  ,and you dare  
not deny but that ,samuel  ,rutherford  
was one of the holiest men that ever    
lived1 or that in saying  all that he   
was speaking of himself4  ,and ,newman3 
,every one who tries to  do ,god's      
will--and that also is ,newman          
himself--will feel himself to be  full  
of all imperfection and sin2 and the    

more he succeeds in regulating  his     
heart1 the more will he discern its     
original bitterness and guilt4  ,as our 
own hymn has it3       ,they who fain   
would serve ,thee best     ,are         
conscious most of wrong within4         
,without knowing it1 ,mrs4 ,timorous's  
runaway father was speaking the same    
language as the chief of the saints4    
,only he said1 ,therefore ,i have       
turned back1 whereas1 first ,christian1 
and then ,christiana his widow1  said1  
,yet ,i must venture6    ,and so say    
you4  ,say1 ,i must and ,i will venture6
  ,say it2 clench your  teeth and your  
hands and say it4  ,say that you are    
determined to go on  towards heaven     
where the holy are--absolutely          
determined1 though you are  quite well  
aware that you are carrying up with you 
the blackest1 the  wickedest1 the most  
corrupt1 and the most abominable heart  
either out of  hell or in it4  ,say     
that1 say all that1 and still venture4  
,say all that  and all the more venture4

  ,venture upon ,god of whom such       
reassuring  things are said4  ,venture  
upon the ,son of ,god of whom ,his      
,father is  represented as saying such  
inviting things4  ,venture upon the     
cross4  ,survey the wondrous cross and  
then make a bold venture upon it4       
,think  who that is who is bleeding to  
death upon the cross1 and why8  ,look at
  ,him till you never afterwards can see
 anything else4  ,look at ,god's        
,eternal1 ,divine1 ,well-pleasing ,son  
with all the wages of sin dealt out to  
,him1 body and soul1 on that tree to the
 uttermost farthing4  ,and1 devil       
incarnate though you indeed are1 yet1   
say1 if that spectacle does not  satisfy
 you1 and encourage you1 and carry your 
cowardice captive4  ,venture6 ,i say1   
venture6  ,and if you find at last that 
you have ventured  too far--if you have 
sinned and corrupted yourself beyond    
redemption--then  it will be some       
consolation and distinction to you in   
hell that you had  out-sinned the       

infinite grace of ,god1 and had seen the
 end of the  unsearchable riches of     
,christ4  ,timid sinner1 ,i but mock    
thee1 therefore  venture6  ,fearful     
sinner1 venture6  ,cowardly sinner1     
venture4  ,venture  thyself upon thy    
,god1 upon ,christ thy ,saviour1 and    
upon ,his cross4  ,venture all thy guilt
 and all thy corruption taken together  
upon ,christ  hanging upon ,his cross1  
and make that tremendous venture now6   
,,mercy         ,blessed are the        
merciful3 for they shall obtain         
mercy4--,our ,lord4    ,the first time  
that we see ,mercy she is standing one  
sunshine morning  knocking along with   
another at ,christiana's door4  ,and all
 that we  afterwards hear of ,mercy     
might be described as1 ,a morning call  
and all  that came of it2 or1 ,how a    
godly matron led on a poor maid to fall 
in  love with her own salvation4  ,john 
,bunyan1 her biographer1 in all his     
devotion to ,mercy1 does not make it at 
all clear to us why such a sweet  and   

good girl as ,mercy was could be on such
 intimate terms with ,mrs4  ,timorous   
and all her so questionable circle4     
,could it be that ,mercy's  mother was  
one of that unhappy set8  ,and had this 
dear little woman-child  been brought up
 so as to know no better than to figure 
in their  assemblies1 and go out on     
their morning rounds with ,mrs4         
,light-mind and  ,mrs4 ,know-nothing8   
,or1 was poor ,mercy an orphan with no  
one to watch  over her1 and had her     
sweet face1 her handsome figure1 and her
 winning  manners made her one of the   
attractions of old ,madam ,wanton's     
midnight  routs8  ,however it came      
about1 there was ,mercy out on a series 
of morning  calls with a woman twice her
 age1 but a woman whose many years had  
taught  her neither womanliness nor     
wisdom4  ,if you come in ,god's name1   
come  in1 a voice from the inside       
answered the knocking of ,mrs4 ,timorous
 and  ,mercy1 her companion1 at         
,christiana's door4  ,in all their      

rounds that  morning the two women had  
not been met with another salutation    
like that2  and that strange salutation 
so disconcerted and so confounded them  
that  they did not know whether to lift 
the latch and go in1 or to run away and 
leave those to go in who could take     
their delight in such outlandish        
language4  ,if you come in ,god's name1 
come in4  ,at this the women were       
stunned1 for this kind of language they 
used not to hear or to perceive  to drop
 from the lips of ,christiana4  ,yet    
they came in2 but1 behold1 they  found  
the good woman preparing to be gone from
 her house4  ,the  conversation that    
ensued was all carried on by the two    
elder women4  ,for  it was often        
remarked about ,mercy all her after-days
 that her voice was  ever soft1 and low1
 and1 especially1 seldom heard4  ,but   
her ears were not  idle4  ,for all the  
time the debate went on--because by this
 time the  conversation had risen to be 
a debate--,mercy was taking silent sides

 with  ,christiana and her distress and 
her intended enterprise1 till1 when     
,mrs4  ,timorous reviled ,christiana and
 said1 ,come away1 ,mercy1 and leave her
 in  her own hands1 ,mercy by that time 
was brought to a standstill4  ,for1     
like a rose among thorns1 ,mercy was    
thoughtful and wise and womanly far     
beyond her years4  ,so much so1 that    
already she had made up her mind to     
offer herself as a maidservant to help  
the widow with her work and to see  her 
so far on her way1 and1 indeed1 though  
she kept that to herself1 to  go all the
 way with her1 if the way should prove  
open to her4  ,first1 her  heart yearned
 over ,christiana2 so she said within   
herself1 ,if my  neighbour will needs be
 gone1 ,i will go a little way with her 
to help  her4  ,secondly1 her heart     
yearned over her own soul's salvation1  
for what  ,christiana had said had taken
 some hold upon ,mercy's mind4          
,wherefore she  said within herself1 ,i 
will yet have more talk with this       

,christiana1 and  if ,i find truth and  
life in what she shall say1 myself with 
all my heart  shall also go with her4   
,neighbour1 spoke out ,mercy to ,mrs4   
,timorous1  ,i did indeed come with you 
to see ,christiana this morning1 and    
since she  is1 as you see1 a-taking of  
her last farewell of her country1 ,i    
think to  walk this sunshine morning a  
little way with her to help her on the  
way4  ,but she told her not of her      
second reason1 but kept that to herself4
  ,i  would fain go on with ,mercy's    
memoirs all night4  ,but you will take  
up  that inviting thread for yourselves4
  ,and meantime ,i shall stop here and  
gather up under two or three heads some 
of the more memorable results and       
lessons of that sunshine-morning call4  
#a4  ,well1 then1 to begin with1 there  
was something quite queen-like1         
something absolutely commanding1 about  
,christiana's look and manner1 as  well 
as about all she said and did that      
morning4  ,mercy's morning  companion   

had all the advantages that dress and   
equipage could give her2  while         
,christiana stood in the middle of the  
floor in her housewife's  clothes1      
covered with dust and surrounded with   
all her dismantled house2  but1 with all
 that1 there was something about        
,christiana that took  ,mercy's heart   
completely captive4  ,all that          
,christiana had by this time  come      
through had blanched her cheek and      
whitened her hair3 but all that  only   
the more commanded ,mercy's sensitive   
and noble soul4  ,to be open to         
impressions of that kind is one of the  
finest endowments of a finely  endowed  
nature2 and1 all through1 the attentive 
reader of her history  will be sure to  
remark and imitate ,mercy's exquisite   
and tenacious  sensibility to all that  
is true and good1 upright and honourable
 and  noble4  ,and then1 what a blessing
 it is to a girl of ,mercy's mould to   
meet at opening womanhood with another  
woman1 be it a mother1 a mistress1  or a

 neighbour1 whose character then1 and as
 life goes on1 can supply the  part of  
the supporting and sheltering oak to the
 springing and clinging  vine4          
,christiana being now the new woman she 
was1 as well as a woman of  great       
natural wisdom1 dignity1 and stability  
of character1 the safety1  the salvation
 of poor motherless ,mercy was as good  
as sure4  ,indeed1 all  ,mercy's        
subsequent history is only one long and 
growing tribute to the  worth1 the      
constant love1 and the sleepless        
solicitude of this true  mother in      
,israel4    #b4  ,now1 it was so1 that1 
wholly unknown to all her companions1   
young and  old1 in her own very         
remarkable words1 ,mercy had for a long 
time been  hungering with all her heart 
to meet with some genuinely good        
people1--with some people1 as she said  
herself1--of truth and of life4  ,these 
are remarkable words to hear drop from  
the lips of a young girl1  and          
especially a girl of ,mercy's           

environment4  ,now1 had there been      
anything hollow1 had there been one atom
 of insincerity or exaggeration  about  
,christiana that morning1 had she talked
 too much1 had all her  actions not far 
more than borne out all her words1 had  
there not been in  the broken-hearted   
woman a depth of mind and a warmth of   
heart far beyond  all her words1 ,mercy 
would never have become a pilgrim4  ,but
 the natural  dignity of ,christiana's  
character2 her capable1 commanding1     
resolute  ways2 the reality1 even to    
agony1 of her sorrow for her past       
life--all  taken together with her      
iron-fast determination to enter at once
 on a new  life--all that carried       
,mercy's heart completely captive4      
,mercy felt that  there was a solemnity1
 an awesomeness1 and a mystery about her
 new  friend's experiences and memories 
that it was not for a child like        
herself to attempt to intrude into4     
,but1 all the more because of that1 a   
spell of love and fear and reverence lay

 on ,mercy's heart and mind all  her    
after-days from that so solemn and so   
eventful morning when she first  saw    
,christiana's haggard countenance and   
heard her remorseful cries4  ,my  so    
churlish carriages to him6  ,now1 such  
carriages between man and wife  had     
often pained and made ashamed ,mercy's  
maidenly heart beyond all  expression4  
,till she had sometimes said to herself1
 blushing with shame  before herself as 
she said it1 that if ever she was a     
wife--may my tongue  cleave to the roof 
of my mouth before ,i say one churlish  
word to him who  is my husband6  ,and   
thus it was that nothing that           
,christiana said that  morning in the   
uprush of her remorse moved ,mercy more 
with pity and with  love than just what 
,christiana beat her breast about as    
concerning her  lost husband4  ,mercy   
used to say that she saw truth and life 
enough in  one hour that morning to     
sober and to solemnise and to warn her  
to set a  watch on the door of her lips 

for all her after-days4    #c4  ,before 
,mrs4 ,timorous was well out of the     
door1 ,mercy had already  plucked off   
her gloves1 and hung up her morning     
bonnet on a nail in the  wall1 so much  
did her heart heave to help the cumbered
 widow and her  fatherless children4    
,if thou wilt1 ,i will hire thee1 said  
,christiana1  and thou shalt go with me 
as my servant4  ,yet we will have all   
things  common betwixt thee and me2     
only1 now thou art here1 go along with  
me4  ,at this ,mercy fell on            
,christiana's neck and kissed her       
mother2 for after  that morning         
,christiana had always a daughter of her
 own1 and ,mercy a  mother4  ,and you   
may be sure1 with two such women working
 with all their  might1 all things were 
soon ready for their happy departure4   
,mr4 ,kerr ,bain invites his readers to 
compare ,john ,bunyan's ,mercy at this  
point with ,william ,law's ,miranda4  ,i
 shall not tarry to draw out the full   
comparison here1 but shall content      

myself with simply repeating ,mr4       
,bain's happy reference4  ,only1 ,i     
shall not content myself till all to    
whom my voice can reach1 and who are    
able to enjoy only a first-rate  book1  
have ,mr4 ,bain's book beside their     
,pilgrim's ,progress4  ,that  morning1  
then1 on which ,mrs4 ,timorous1 having  
nothing to do at home1 set  out with    
,mercy on a round of calls--that was    
,mercy's last idle morning  for all her 
days4  ,for her mind was1 ever after    
that1 to be always  busying of herself  
in doing1 for when she had nothing to do
 for herself  she would be making of    
hosen and garments for others1 and would
 bestow  them upon those that had need4 
,i will warrant her a good housewife1   
quoth ,mr4 ,brisk to himself4  ,so much 
so that at any place they stopped on    
the way1 even for a day and a night to  
rest and refresh themselves1 ,mercy     
would seek out all the poor and all the 
old people1 and ere ever she was  aware 
what she was doing1 already a good      

report had spread abroad  concerning the
 pilgrims and their pilgrimage4  ,at the
 same time1 it must  be told that poor  
,mercy's heart was more heavy for the   
souls of the poor  people than for their
 naked bodies and hungry bellies4  ,so  
much was this  so that when the         
shepherds1 ,knowledge1 ,experience1     
,watchful1 and ,sincere1  took her to a 
place where she saw one ,fool and one   
,want-wit washing of an  ,ethiopian with
 intention to make him white1 but the   
more they washed him  the blacker he    
was1 ,mercy blushed and felt guilty     
before the  shepherds1--she so took home
 to her charitable heart the bootless   
work of  ,fool and ,want-wit4  ,mercy   
put on the ,salvationist bonnet at her  
first  outset to the ,celestial ,city1  
and she never put it off till she came  
to  that land where there are no more   
poor to make hosen and hats for1 and no 
more ,ethiopians to take to the         
fountain4    #d4  ,there are not a few  
young communicants here to-night1 as    

well as not  a few who are afraid as yet
 to offer themselves for the ,lord's    
table2  and1 as it so falls out         
to-night1 ,mercy's case contains both an
  encouragement and an example to all   
such4  ,for never surely had a young    
communicant less to go upon than ,mercy 
had that best morning of all her  life4 
,for she had nothing to go upon but a   
great desire to help  ,christiana with  
her work2 some desire for truth and for 
life2 and some  first and feeble        
yearnings over her own soul1--yearnings1
 however1 that  she kept entirely to    
herself4  ,that was all4  ,she had no   
remorses like  those which had ploughed 
up ,christiana's cheeks into such       
channels of  tears4  ,she had no dark   
past out of which swarms of hornets     
stung her  guilty conscience4  ,nor on  
the other hand1 had she any such sweet  
dreams  and inviting visions as those   
that were sent to cheer and encourage   
the  disconsolate widow4  ,she will have
 her own sweet dreams yet1 that will    

make her laugh loud out in her sleep4   
,but that will be long after this1  when
 she has discovered how hard her heart  
is and how great ,god's grace  is4  ,how
 shall ,i be ascertained1 she put it to 
,christiana1 that ,i also  shall be     
entertained8  ,had ,i but this hope1    
from one that can tell1 ,i  would make  
no stick at all1 but would go1 being    
helped by ,him that can  help1 though   
the way was never so tedious4  ,had ,i  
as good hope for a  loving reception as 
you have1 ,i think no ,slough of        
,despond would  discourage me4  ,well1  
said the other1 you know your sore1 and 
,i know  mine2 and1 good friend1 we     
shall all have enough evil before we    
come to  our journey's end4  ,and soon  
after that1 of all places on the upward 
way1 ,mercy's evil began at the ,wicket 
,gate4  ,i have a companion1 said       
,christiana1 that stands without4  ,one 
that is much dejected in her mind1  for 
that she comes1 as she thinks1 without  
sending for2 whereas ,i was  sent to by 

my husband's ,king4  ,so the porter     
opened the gate and looked  out2 but    
,mercy was fallen down in a swoon1 for  
she fainted and was afraid  that the    
gate would not be opened to her4  ,o    
sir1 she said1 ,i am  faint2 there is   
scarce life left in me4  ,but he        
answered her that one  once said1 ,when 
my soul fainted within me1 ,i remembered
 the ,lord1 and my  prayer came in into 
,thee1 into ,thy holy temple4  ,fear    
not1 but stand up  upon thy feet1 and   
tell me wherefore thou art come4  ,i am 
come1 sir1  into that for which ,i never
 was invited1 as my friend ,christiana  
was4  ,her  invitation was from the     
,lord1 and mine was but from her4       
,wherefore1 ,i  fear that ,i presume4   
,then said he to those that stood by1   
,fetch  something and give it to ,mercy 
to smell on1 thereby to stay her        
fainting4  ,so they fetched her a bundle
 of myrrh1 and a while after she        
revived4--,let young communicants be    
content with ,mercy's invitation4  ,she 

started for the ,city just because she  
liked to be beside a good woman who  was
 starting thither4  ,she wished to help 
a good woman who was going  thither2 and
 just a little desire began at first to 
awaken in her heart  to go to the city  
too4  ,till1 having once set her face to
 go up1 one  thing after another worked 
together to lead her up till she1 too1  
had her  life full of those invitations 
and experiences and interests and       
occupations and enjoyments that make    
,mercy's name so memorable1 and her     
happy case such an example and such an  
inspiration1 to all ,god-fearing  young 
women especially4    #e4  ,john ,bunyan 
must be held responsible for the strong 
dash of romance  that he so boldly      
throws into ,mercy's memoirs4  ,but ,i  
shall postpone ,mr4  ,brisk and his     
love-making and his answer to another   
lecture4  ,i shall not  enter on        
,mercy's love matters here at all1 but  
shall leave them to be  read at home by 
those who like to read romances4  ,only1

 since we have  seen so much of ,mercy  
as a maiden1 one longs to see how she   
turned out as  a wife4  ,i can only     
imagine how ,mercy turned out as a wife2
 but there is  a picture of a ,scottish 
,covenanting girl as a married wife     
which always  rises up before my mind   
when ,i think of ,mercy's matronly days4
  ,that  picture might hang in ,bunyan's
 own peculiar gallery1 so beautiful is  
the  drawing1 and so warm and so        
eloquent the colouring4  ,take1 then1   
this  portrait of one of the daughters  
of the ,scottish ,covenant4  ,she was a 
woman of great worth1 whom ,i therefore 
passionately loved and inwardly         
honoured4  ,a stately1 beautiful1 and   
comely personage2 truly pious and       
fearing the ,lord4  ,of an evenly       
temper1 patient in our common           
tribulations and under her personal     
distresses4  ,a woman of bright  natural
 parts1 and of an uncommon stock of     
prudence2 of a quick and  lively        
apprehension in things she applied      

herself to1 and of great  presence of   
mind in surprising incidents4           
,sagacious and acute in  discerning the 
qualities of persons1 and therefore not 
easily imposed  upon4  ,see ,mr4        
,brisk's interviews with ,mercy4        
,modest and grave in her  deportment1   
but naturally cheerful2 wise and affable
 in conversation1  also having a good   
faculty at speaking and expressing      
herself with  assurance4  ,being a      
pattern of frugality and wise management
 in household  affairs1 all such were   
therefore entirely committed to her2    
well fitted  for and careful of the     
virtuous education of her children2     
remarkably  useful in the countryside1  
both in the ,merse and in the ,forest1  
through  her skill in physic and        
surgery1 which in many instances a      
peculiar  blessing appeared to be       
commanded upon from heaven4  ,and1      
finally1 a  crown to me in my public    
station and pulpit appearances4  ,during
 the time  we have lived together we    

have passed through a sea of trouble1 as
 yet  not seeing the shore but afar off4
    ,the words of ,king ,lemuel1 the    
prophecy that his mother taught him4    
,what1  my son8 and what1 the son of my 
womb8 and what1 the son of my vows8     
,who  can find a virtuous woman8 for her
 price is far above rubies4  ,her       
children arise up and call her blessed2 
her husband also1 and he praiseth  her4 
,favour is deceitful1 and beauty is     
vain2 but a woman that feareth  the     
,lord1 she shall be praised4            
,,mr4 ,,brisk         ,be ye not        
unequally yoked4--,paul4    ,there were 
some severe precisians in ,john         
,bunyan's day who took the  objection to
 the author of the ,pilgrim's ,progress 
that he sometimes  laughed too loud4    
,one may 7,i think7 say1 both he laughs 
and cries1     ,may well be guessed at  
by his watery eyes4     ,some things are
 of that nature as to make     ,one's   
fancy chuckle while his heart doth ake4 
,when ,jacob saw his ,rachel with the   

sheep1     ,at the same time he did both
 laugh and weep4    ,and even ,dr4      
,cheever1 in his excellent lectures on  
the ,pilgrim's  ,progress1 confesses    
that though the ,second ,part never     
ceases for a  moment to tell the serious
 story of the ,pilgrimage1 at the same  
time1 it  sometimes becomes so merry as 
almost to pass over into absolute       
comedy4  ,there is one passage1 says    
,cheever1 which for exquisite humour1   
quiet  satire1 and naturalness in the   
development of character is scarcely    
surpassed in the language4  ,it is the  
account of the courtship between  ,mr4  
,brisk and ,mercy which took place at   
the ,house ,beautiful4    ,now1 the     
insertion of such an episode as that of 
,mr4 ,brisk into such a  book as the    
,pilgrim's ,progress is only yet another
 proof of the health1  the strength1 and
 the truth to nature of ,john ,bunyan's 
mind4  ,his was  eminently an honest1   
straightforward1 manly1 ,english        
understanding4  ,a  smaller man would   

not have ventured on ,mr4 ,brisk in such
 a book as the  ,pilgrim's ,progress4   
,but there is no affectation1 there is  
no prudery1  there is no superiority to 
nature in ,john ,bunyan4  ,he knew quite
 well  that of the thousands of men and 
women who were reading his ,pilgrim     
there was no subject1 not even religion 
itself1 that was taking up half  so much
 of their thoughts as just love-making  
and marriage4  ,and1 like  the wise man 
and the true teacher he was1 he here    
points out to all his  readers how well 
true religion and the fullest           
satisfaction of the  warmest and the    
most universal of human affections can  
be both harmonised  and made mutually   
helpful4  ,in ,bunyan's day love was too
 much left to the  playwrights1 just as 
in our day it is too much left to the   
poets and the  novelists4  ,and thus it 
is that in too many instances affection 
and  passion have taken full possession 
of the hearts and the lives of our      
young people before any moral or        

religious lesson on these all-important 
subjects has been given to them3 any    
lesson such as ,john ,bunyan so         
winningly and so beautifully gives here4
  ,this incident1 says ,thomas  ,scott1 
is very properly introduced1 and it is  
replete with instruction4    ,now1 ,mr4 
,brisk1 to begin with1 was1 so we are   
told1 a young man of some               
breeding1--that is to say1 he was a     
young man of some social position1  some
 education1 and of a certain good       
manner1 at least on the surface4  ,in   
,david ,scott's ,illustrations ,mr4     
,brisk stands before us a handsome and  
well-dressed young man of the period1   
with his well-belted doublet1 his       
voluminous ruffles1 his heavily-studded 
cuffs1 his small cane1 his  divided     
hair1 and his delicate hand1--altogether
 answering excellently to  his name1    
were it not for the dashed look of      
surprise with which he gets  his answer1
 and1 with what jauntiness he can at the
 moment command1 takes  his departure4  

,mr4 ,brisk was a man of some breeding1 
says ,bunyan1 and  that pretended to    
religion2 but a man that stuck very     
close to the  world4  ,that ,mr4 ,brisk 
made any pretence to religion at any    
other time  and in any other place is   
not said2 only that he put on that      
pretence  with his best clothes when he 
came once or twice or more to ,mercy and
  offered love to her at the ,house     
,beautiful4  ,the man with the least    
religion at other times1 even the man   
with no pretence to religion at  other  
times at all1 will pretend to some      
religion when he is in love with  a     
young woman of ,mercy's mind4  ,and yet 
it would not be fair to say that  it is 
all pretence even in such a man at such 
a time4  ,grant that a man  is really in
 love2 then1 since all love is of the   
nature of religion1 for  the time1 the  
true lover is really on the borders of a
 truly religious  life4  ,it may with   
perfect truth be said of all men when   
they first fall  in love that they are1 

for the time1 not very far away from the
 kingdom  of heaven4  ,for all love is  
good1 so far as it goes4  ,god is ,love2
 and  all love1 in the long-run1 has a  
touch of the divine nature in it4  ,and 
for once1 if never again1 every man who 
is deeply in love has a far-off  glimpse
 of the beauty of holiness1 and a       
far-off taste of that ineffable         
sweetness of which the satisfied saints 
of ,god sing so ecstatically4  ,but1  in
 too many instances1 a young man's love 
having been kindled only by the         
creature1 and1 never rising from her to 
his and her ,creator1 as a rule1  it    
sooner or later burns low and at last   
burns out1 and leaves nothing  but      
embers and ashes in his once so ardent  
heart4  ,mr4 ,brisk's  love-making might
 have ended in his becoming a pilgrim   
but for this fatal  flaw in his heart1  
that even in his love-making he stuck so
 fast to the  world4  ,it is almost     
incredible3 you may well refuse to      
believe it--that  any young man in love1

 and especially a young gentleman of    
,mr4 ,brisk's  breeding1 would approach 
his mistress with the question how much 
she  could earn a day4  ,as ,mr4 ,brisk 
looks at ,mercy's lap so full of hats   
and  hosen and says it1 ,i can see his  
natty cane beginning to lengthen itself 
out in his soft-skinned hand and to send
 out teeth like a muck-rake4  ,give     
,mr4 ,brisk another thirty years or so  
and he will be an ancient churl1  raking
 to himself the sticks and the straws   
and the dust of the earth1  neither     
looking up to nor regarding the         
celestial crown that is still  offered  
to him in exchange for his instrument4  
,now1 ,mercy was of a fair countenance1 
and1 therefore1 all the more  alluring4 
,but her fair countenance was really no 
temptation to her4  ,sit still1 my      
daughter1 said ,naomi to ,ruth in the   
,old ,testament4  ,and  it was entirely 
,mercy's maidenly nature to sit still4  
,even before she  had come to her full  
womanhood under ,christiana's motherly  

care she would  have been an example to 
,ruth4  ,long ago1 while ,mercy was     
still a mere  girl1 when ,mrs4          
,light-mind said something to her one   
day that made her  blush1 ,mercy at last
 looked up in real anger and said1 ,we  
women should be  wooed2 we were not made
 to woo4  ,and thus it was that all     
their time at  the ,house ,beautiful    
,mercy stayed close at home and worked  
with her needle  and thread just as if  
she had been the plainest girl in all   
the town4  ,i  might have had husbands  
afore now1 she said1 with a cast of her 
head  over the coat that lay on her lap1
 though ,i spake not of it to any4  ,but
  they were such as did not like my     
conditions1 though never did any of     
them find fault with my person4  ,so    
they and ,i could not agree4  ,once     
,mercy's mouth was opened on the subject
 of possible husbands it is a  miracle  
that she did not go on in confidence to 
name some of the husbands  she might    
have had4  ,mercy was too truthful and  

too honourable a maiden  to have said   
even on that subject what she did say if
 it had not been  true4  ,no doubt she  
believed it true4  ,and the belief so   
long as she  mentioned no names1 did not
 break any man's bones and did not spoil
 any  man's market4  ,don't set up too  
prudishly and say that it is a pity that
  ,mercy so far forgot herself as to    
make her little confidential boast4  ,we
  would not have had her without that   
little boast4  ,keep-at-home1           
sit-still1 hats and hosen and all--her  
little boast only proves ,mercy to  have
 been at heart a true daughter of ,eve  
after all4    ,there is an old-fashioned
 word that comes up again and again in  
the  account of ,mr4 ,brisk's           
courtship1--a word that contains far    
more interest  and instruction for us   
than might on the surface appear4  ,when
 ,mr4 ,brisk  was rallied upon his      
ill-success with ,mercy1 he was wont to 
say that  undoubtedly ,mistress ,mercy  
was a very pretty lass1 only she was    

troubled  with ill conditions4  ,and    
then1 when ,mercy was confiding to      
,prudence all  about her possible       
husbands1 she said that they were all   
such as did not  like her conditions4   
,to which ,prudence1 keeping her        
countenance1  replied1 that the men were
 but few in their day that could abide  
the  practice that was set forth by such
 conditions as those of ,mercy4  ,well1 
tossed out ,mercy1 if nobody will have  
me ,i will die a maid1 or my  conditions
 shall be to me as a husband6  ,as ,i   
came again and again across  that old   
seventeenth-century word conditions1 ,i 
said to myself1 ,i feel  sure that ,dr4 
,murray of the ,oxford ,scriptorium will
 have noted this  striking passage4     
,and on turning up the ,sixth ,part of  
the ,new ,english  ,dictionary1 there1  
to be sure1 was the old word standing in
 this present  setting4  ,five long1    
rich1 closely packed columns stood under
 the head of  ,condition2 and amid a    
thousand illustrations of its use1 the  

text3  #afhd1 ,bunyan1 ,pilgr41 ii4 #hd4
  ,he said that ,mercy was a pretty     
lass1 but  troubled with ill conditions4
  ,poor illiterate ,john ,bunyan stood  
in the  centre of a group of learned and
 famous men1 composed of ,chaucer1      
,wyclif1  ,skelton1 ,palsgrave1         
,raleigh1 ,featly1 ,richard ,steel1 and 
,walter ,scott--all  agreeing in their  
use of our word1 and all supplying      
examples of its use  in the best        
,english books4  ,by ,mercy's           
conditions1 then1 is just meant  her    
cast of mind1 her moral nature1 her     
temper and her temperament1 her         
dispositions and her inclinations1 her  
habits of thought1 habits of  heart1    
habits of life1 and so on4    ,well1    
said ,mercy proudly1 if nobody will have
 me1 ,i will die a maid1  or my         
conditions shall be to me as a husband4 
,for ,i cannot change my  nature1 and to
 have one that lies cross to me in      
this1--that ,i purpose  never to admit  
of as long as ,i live4  ,by this time1  

though she is still  little more than a 
girl1 ,mercy had her habits formed1 her 
character cast1  and1 more than all1 her
 whole heart irrevocably set on her     
soul's  salvation4  ,and                
everything--husband and children and    
all--must condition  themselves to that1
 else she will have none of them4  ,she 
had sought  first the kingdom of ,god   
and ,his righteousness1 and she will    
seek  nothing1 she will accept          
nothing--no1 not even a husband--who    
crosses her  choice in that4  ,she has  
chosen her life1 and her husband with   
it4  ,not  the man as yet1 but the whole
 manner of the man4  ,the conditions of 
the  man1 as she said about herself2    
else she will boldly and bravely die a  
maid4  ,and there are multitudes of     
married women who1 when they read this  
page about ,mercy1 will gnash their     
teeth at the madness of their youth1    
and will wildly wish that they only were
 maids again2 and1 then1 like  ,mercy1  
they would take good care to make for   

themselves husbands of their  own       
conditions too--of their own means1     
their own dispositions1  inclinations1  
tastes1 and pursuits4  ,for1 according  
as our conditions to  one another are or
 are not in our marriages1       ,they  
locally contain or heaven or hell2      
,there is no third place in them4       
,what untold good1 then1 may all our    
young women not get out of the loving   
study of ,mercy's sweet1 steadfast1     
noble character6  ,and what untold      
misery may they not escape6  ,from first
 to last--and we are not yet come  to   
her last--,i most affectionately        
recommend ,mercy to the hearts and      
minds of all young women here4  ,single 
and married2 setting out on  pilgrimage 
and steadfastly persevering in it2      
sitting still till the  husband with the
 right conditions comes1 and then rising
 up with her  warm1 well-kept heart to  
meet him--if any maiden here has no     
mother1 or  no elder sister1 or no wise 
and prudent friend like ,prudence or    

,christiana to take counsel of--and even
 if she has--let ,mercy be her          
meditation and her model through all her
 maidenly days4    ,nay1 then1 said     
,mercy1 ,i will look no more on him1 for
 ,i purpose never  to have a clog to my 
soul4  ,a pungent resolve for every     
husband to read  and to think to himself
 about1 who has married a wife with a   
soul4  ,let  all husbands who have such 
wives halt here and ask themselves with 
some  imagination as to what may        
sometimes go on1 at communion times1    
say1 in  the souls of their wives4  ,it 
is not every wife1 it is true1 who has a
  soul to clog2 but some of our wives   
have4  ,well1 now1 let us ask           
ourselves3 ,how do we stand related to  
their souls8  ,do our wives1 when       
examining the state of their souls since
 they married us1 have to say  that at  
one time they had hoped to be further on
 in the life of the soul  than they yet 
are8  ,and are they compelled before    
,god to admit that the  marriage they   

have made1 and would make1 has terribly 
hindered them8  ,would they have been   
better women1 would they have been      
living a better  life1 and doing far    
more good in the world1 if they had     
taken their  maidenly ideals1 like      
,mercy1 for a husband8  ,let us         
sometimes imagine  ourselves into the   
secrets of our wives' souls1 and ask if 
they ever feel  that they are unequally 
and injuriously yoked in their deepest  
and best  life4  ,do we ever see a tear 
falling in secret1 or hear a stolen sigh
  heaved1 or stumble on them at a       
stealthy prayer8  ,a ,roman lady on     
being  asked why she sometimes let a sob
 escape her and a tear fall1 when she   
had such a gentleman of breeding and    
rank and riches to her husband1  touched
 her slipper with her finger and said3  
,is not that a well-made1 a  neat1 and a
 costly shoe8  ,and yet you would not   
believe how it pinches  and pains me    
sometimes4    ,but some every whit as   
good women as ,mercy was have purposed  

as nobly and  as firmly as ,mercy did1  
and yet have wakened up1 when it was too
 late1 to  find that1 with all their    
high ideals1 and with all their         
prudence1 their  husband is not in      
himself1 and is not to them1 what they  
at one time felt  sure he would be4     
,mercy had a sister named ,bountiful1   
who made that  mistake and that dreadful
 discovery2 and what ,mercy had seen of 
married  life in her sister's house     
almost absolutely turned her against    
marriage  altogether4  ,the one thing   
certain1 says ,thomas ,mozley in his    
chapter  on ,ideal ,wife and ,husband1  
is that both wife and husband are       
different  in the result from the       
expectation4  ,age1 illness1 an         
increasing family1  no family at all1   
household cares1 want of means1         
isolation1 incompatible  prejudices1    
quarrels1 social difficulties1 and such 
like1 all tell on  married people1 and  
make them far other than they once      
promised to be4  ,when that awakening   

comes there is only one solace1 and     
women take to  that supreme solace much 
more often than men4  ,and that solace1 
as you  all know1 is true1 if too late1 
religion4  ,and even where true religion
  has already been1 there is still a    
deeper and a more inward religion       
suited to the new experiences and the   
new needs of life4  ,and if both        
husband and wife in such a crisis truly 
betake themselves to ,him who  gathereth
 the solitary into families1 the result 
will be such a  remarriage of depth and 
tenderness1 loyalty and mutual help1 as 
their  early dreams never came within   
sight of4  ,not early love1 not         
children1  not plenty of means1 not all 
the best amenities of married life taken
  together1 will repair a marriage and  
keep a marriage in repair for one       
moment like a living and an intense     
faith in ,god2 a living and an intense  
love to ,god2 and then that faith in and
 love for one another that spring  out  
of ,god and out of ,his love alone4     

,the tree     ,sucks kindlier nurture   
from a soil enriched     ,by its own    
fallen leaves2 and man is made1     ,in 
heart and spirit1 from deciduous hopes  
,and things that seem to perish4        
,,mr4 ,,skill         ,the vine of      
,sodom4--,moses4    ,with infinite      
delicacy ,john ,bunyan here tells us the
 sad story of  ,matthew's sore sickness 
at the ,house ,beautiful4  ,the cause of
 the sore  sickness1 its symptoms1 its  
serious nature1 and its complete cures  
are  all told with the utmost plainness2
 but1 at the same time1 with the most   
exquisite delicacy4  ,bunyan calls the  
ancient physician who is summoned  in   
and who effects the cure1 ,mr4 ,skill1  
but you must believe that ,bunyan       
himself is ,mr4 ,skill2 and ,i question 
if this skilful writer ever wrote a     
more skilful page than just this page   
that now lies open before him who  has  
the eyes to read it4    ,matthew1 it    
must always be remembered1 was by this  
time a young man4  ,he  was the eldest  

son of ,christiana his mother1 and for  
some time now she  had been a sorely    
burdened widow4  ,matthew's father was  
no longer near  his son to watch over   
him and to warn him against the         
temptations and the  dangers that wait  
on opening manhood4  ,and thus his      
mother1 with all her  other cares1 had  
to be both father and mother to her     
eldest son2 and1  with all her good     
sense and all her long and close        
acquaintance with the  world1 she was   
too fond a mother to suspect any evil of
 her eldest son4  ,and thus it was that 
,christiana had nearly lost her eldest  
son before her  eyes were open to the   
terrible dangers he had for a long time 
been  running4  ,for it was so1 that the
 upward way that this household without 
a head had to travel lay through a land 
full of all kinds of dangers both  to   
the bodies and to the souls of such     
travellers as they were4  ,and what     
well-nigh proved a fatal danger to      
,matthew lay right in his way4  ,it was 

,beelzebub's orchard4  ,not that this   
young man's way lay through that        
orchard exactly2 yet1 walled up as was  
that orchard with all its  forbidden    
fruit1 that evil fruit would hang over  
the wall so that if any  lusty youth    
wished to taste it1 he had only to reach
 up to the  over-hanging branches and   
plash down on himself some of the       
forbidden  bunches4  ,now1 that was just
 what ,matthew had done4  ,till we have 
him  lying at the ,house ,beautiful1 not
 only not able to enjoy the delights of 
the ,house and of the season1 but so    
pained in his bowels and so pulled      
together with inward pains1 that he     
sometimes cried out as if he were  being
 torn to pieces4  ,at that moment ,mr4  
,skill1 the ancient physician1  entered 
the sick-room1 when1 having a little    
observed ,matthew's intense  agony1 with
 a certain mixture of goodness and      
severity he recited these  professional 
verses over the trembling bed3       ,o 
conscience1 who can stand against thy   

power8     ,endure thy gripes and       
agonies one hour8     ,stone1 gout1     
strappado1 racks1 whatever is           
,dreadful to sense1 are only toys to    
this--     ,no pleasures1 riches1       
honours1 friends can tell     ,how to   
give ease to this1 'tis like to hell4   
,and then1 turning to the sick man's    
mother1 who stood at the bed's head     
wringing her hands1 the ancient leech   
said to her3 ,this boy of yours has     
been tampering with the forbidden fruit6
  ,at which the angry mother  turned on 
the well-approved physician as if he had
 caused all the trouble  that he had    
come to cure4  ,but the ancient man knew
 both the son and the  mother too1 and  
therefore he addressed her with some    
asperity3 ,i tell  you both that strong 
measures must be taken instantly1 else  
he will die4  ,when ,mr4 ,skill had seen
 that the first purge was too weak1 he  
made him  one to the purpose2 and it was
 made1 as he so learnedly said1 ex carne
  et sanguine ,christi4  ,the pills were

 to be taken three at a time1  fasting1 
in half a quarter of a pint of the tears
 of repentance4  ,after  some coaxing1  
such as mothers know best how to use1   
,matthew took the  medicine and was soon
 walking about again with a staff1 and  
was able to  go from room to room of the
 hospitable and happy house4            
,understandest  thou what thou readest8 
said ,philip the deacon to ,queen       
,candace's  treasurer as he sat down    
beside him in the chariot and opened up 
to him  the fifty-third of the prophet  
,isaiah4  ,and1 understandest thou what 
thou  here readest in ,matthew and ,mr4 
,skill8    #a4  ,now1 on this almost too
 closely veiled case ,i shall venture to
  remark1 in the first place1 that      
multitudes of boys grow up into young   
men1 and go out of our most godly homes 
and into a whole world of  temptation   
without due warning being given them as 
to where they are  going4  ,i do marvel 
that none did warn him of it1 said ,mr4 
,skill1 with  some anger4  ,what        

,matthew's father might have done in    
this matter had he  been still in this  
world when his son became a man in it we
 can only  guess4  ,as it was1 it never 
entered his mother's too fond mind to   
take  her fatherless boy by himself when
 she saw ,beelzebub's orchard before    
him1 and tell him what ,solomon told his
 son1 and to point out to him the       
prophecy that ,king ,lemuel's mother    
prophesied to her son4  ,poor ,matthew  
was a young man before his mother was   
aware of it4  ,and1 poor woman1 she     
only found that out when ,mr4 ,skill was
 in the sick-room and was looking  at   
her with eyes that seemed to say to her 
that she had murdered her  child4  ,she 
had loved too long to look on her       
first-born as still a  child4  ,when he 
went at any time for a season out of her
 sight1 she had  never followed him with
 her knowledge of the world2 she had    
never  prevented him with an awakened   
and an anxious imagination2 till now she
  had got him home with no rest in his  

bones because of his sin4  ,and then    
she began to cry too late1 ,o naughty   
boy1 and1 ,o careless mother1 what      
shall ,i do for my son6    #b4  ,that   
food1 to wit1 that fruit1 said ,mr4     
,skill1 is even the most  hurtful of    
all4  ,it is the fruit of ,beelzebub's  
orchard4  ,so it is4  ,there is no fruit
 that hurts at all like that fruit4     
,how it hurts at the  time1 we see in   
,matthew's sick-room2 and how it hurts  
all a man's after  days we see in       
,jacob1 and in ,job1 and in ,david1 and 
in a thousand sin-  sick souls of whose 
psalms of remorse and repentance the    
world cannot  contain all the books that
 should be written4  ,and yet ,i marvel1
 said  the indignant physician1 that    
none did warn him of it2 many have died 
thereof4  ,oh if ,i could but get the   
ears of all the sons of godly  fathers  
and mothers who are beginning to tamper 
with ,beelzebub's orchard-  trees1 ,i   
feel as if ,i could warn them to-night1 
and out of this text1 of  what they are 

doing6  ,i have known so many who have  
died thereof4  ,oh if  ,i could but save
 them in time from those gripes of      
conscience that will  pull them to      
pieces on the softest and the most      
fragrant bed that shall  ever be made   
for them on earth6  ,it will be well    
with them if they do not  lie down torn 
to pieces on their bed in hell1 and     
curse the day they  first plashed down  
into their youthful hands the vine of   
,sodom4  ,both the  way to hell and the 
way to heaven are full of many kinds of 
hurtful  fruits2 but that species of    
fruit that poor misguided ,matthew      
plucked and  ate after he had well      
passed the gate that is at the head of  
the way is1  by all men's testimony1 by 
far the most hurtful of all forbidden   
fruits4    #c4  ,the whole scene in     
,matthew's sick-room reads1 after all1  
less like a  skilful invention than a   
real occurrence4  ,inventive and        
realistic as  ,john ,bunyan is1 there is
 surely something here that goes beyond 

even his  genius4  ,after making all    
allowance for ,bunyan's unparalleled    
powers of  creation and narration1 ,i am
 inclined to think1 the oftener ,i read 
it1  that1 after all1 we have not so    
much ,john ,bunyan here as very ,nature 
herself4  ,yes2 ,john ,gifford surely   
was ,mr4 ,skill4  ,sister ,bosworth     
surely  was ,matthew's mother4  ,and    
,matthew himself was ,sister ,bosworth's
 eldest  son1 while one ,john ,bunyan1 a
 travelling tinker1 was busy with his   
furnaces and his soldering-irons in     
,dame ,bosworth's kitchen4  ,young      
,bunyan1 with all his blackguardism1 had
 never plashed down ,beelzebub's        
orchard4  ,he swears he never did1 and  
we are bound to believe him4  ,but      
young ,bosworth had been tampering with 
the forbidden fruit1 and ,gifford  saw  
at a glance what was wrong4  ,john      
,gifford was first an officer in the    
,royalist army1 then a doctor in        
,bedford1 and now a ,baptist ,puritan   
pastor2 and the young tinker looked up  

to ,gifford as the most wonderful  man  
for learning in books and in bodies and 
souls of men in all the  world4  ,and   
when ,gifford talked over young         
,bosworth's bed half to himself  and    
half to them about a medicine made ex   
carne et sanguine ,christi1  the future 
author of the ,pilgrim's ,progress never
 forgot the phrase4  ,at  a glance      
,gifford saw what was the whole matter  
with the sick man4  ,and  painful as the
 truth was to the sick man's mother1 and
 humiliating with a  life-long          
humiliation to the sick man himself1    
,gifford was not the man or  the        
minister to beat about the bush at such 
a solemn moment4  ,this boy  has been   
tampering with that which will kill him 
unless he gets it taken  off his        
conscience and out of his heart         
immediately4  ,now1 this same           
divination into our pastoral cases is by
 far and away the most difficult  part  
of a minister's work4  ,it is easy and  
pleasant with a fluent tongue  to get   

through our pulpit work2 but to descend 
the pulpit stairs and deal  with life1  
and with this and that sin in the lives 
of our people1--that  is another matter4
  ,we must labour1 says ,richard ,baxter
 in his  ,reformed ,pastor1 to be       
acquainted with the state of all our    
people as  fully as we can2 both to know
 the persons and their inclinations and 
conversation2 to know what sins they are
 most in danger of1 what duties  they   
neglect1 and what temptations they are  
most liable to4  ,for1 if we  know not  
their temperament or their disease1 we  
are likely to prove but  unsuccessful   
physicians4  ,but when we begin to      
reform our pastorate to  that pattern1  
we are soon compelled to set down such  
entries in our  secret diary as that of 
,thomas ,shepard of ,harvard            
,university3 ,sabbath1  #eth ,april     
#afda4  ,nothing ,i do1 nay1 none under 
my shadow prosper4  ,i so  want wisdom  
for my place1 and to guide others4      
,yes2 for what wisdom is  needed for the

 place of a minister like ,john         
,gifford1 ,john ,bunyan1  ,richard      
,baxter1 and ,thomas ,shepard6  ,what   
wisdom1 what divine genius1 to  dive    
into and divine the secret history of a 
soul from a twinge of  conscience1 even 
from a drop of the eye1 a tone of the   
voice1 or a  gesture of the hand or of  
the head6  ,and yet1 with some natural  
taste for  the holy work1 with study1   
with experience1 and with life-long     
expert  reading1 even a plain minister  
with no genius1 but with some grace and 
truth1 may come to great eminence in the
 matters of the soul4  ,and then1  with 
what an interest1 solemn and awful1 with
 what a sleepless interest  such a      
pastor goes about among his diseased1   
sin-torn1 and scattered  flock6  ,all   
their souls are naked and open under his
 divining eye4  ,they  need not to tell 
him where they ail1 and of what sickness
 they are nigh  unto death4  ,that food1
 he says1 with some sternness over their
 sick-bed1  ,i warned you of it2 ,i told

 you with all plainness that many have  
died of  eating that fruit6  ,we must be
 ready1 ,baxter continues1 to give      
advice  to those that come to us with   
cases of conscience4  ,a minister is not
  only for public preaching1 but to be a
 known counsellor for his people's      
souls as the lawyer is for their        
estates1 and the physician is for their 
bodies4  ,and because the people are    
grown unacquainted with this office  of 
the ministry1 and their own necessity   
and duty herein1 it belongeth to  us to 
acquaint them herewith1 and to press    
them publicly to come to us  for advice 
concerning their souls4  ,we must not   
only be willing of the  trouble1 but    
draw it upon ourselves by inviting them 
hereto4  ,to this end  it is very       
necessary to be acquainted with         
practical cases and able to  assist them
 in trying their states4  ,one word of  
seasonable and prudent  advice hath done
 that good that many sermons would not  
have done4    #d4  ,as he went on       

pounding and preparing his well-approved
 pill1 the 7at  the bottom of his heart7
 kind old leech talked encouragingly to 
the  mother and to her sick son1 and    
said3 ,come1 come2 after all1 do not he 
too much cast down4  ,had we lived in   
the days of the old medicine1 ,i  would 
have been compounding a purge out of the
 blood of a goat1 and the  ashes of an  
heifer1 and the juice of hyssop4  ,but  
,i have a far better  medicine under my 
hands here4  ,this moment ,i will make  
you a purge to the  purpose4  ,and then 
the learned man1 half-doctor1           
half-divine1 chanted  again the sacred  
incantation as he bent over his pestle  
and mortar1  saying3 ,ex carne et       
sanguine ,christi6  ,those shrewd old   
eyes soon saw  that1 in spite of all    
their defences and all their denials1   
damage had  been done to the conscience 
and the heart that nothing would set    
right  but a frank admission of the evil
 that had been done1 and a prompt       
submission to the regimen appointed and 

the medicine prepared4  ,and how  often 
we ministers puddle and peddle with     
goat's blood and heifer's ashes  and    
hyssop juice when we should instantly   
prescribe stern fasting and  secret     
prayer and long spaces of repentance1   
and then the body and the  blood of     
,christ4  ,how often our people cheat us
 into healing their hurt  slightly6     
,how often they succeed in putting us   
off1 after we are called  in1 with their
 own account of their cases1 and set us 
out on a wild-goose  chase6  ,i myself  
have more than once presented young men 
in their trouble  with apologetic books1
 ,university sermons1 and watered-down  
explanations  of the ,confession and the
 ,catechism1 when1 had ,i known all ,i  
came  afterwards to know1 ,i would have 
sent them ,bunyan's ,sighs from ,hell4  
,i  have sent soul-sick women also ,the 
,bruised ,reed1 and ,the ,mission of    
the ,comforter with sympathising        
inscriptions1 and sweet scriptures      
written inside1 when1 had ,i had ,mr4   

,skill's keen eyes in my stupid head1   
,i would have gone to them with the     
total abstinence pledge in my one  hand1
 and ,jeremy ,taylor's ,holy ,living and
 ,dying in my other4  ,no diet  but that
 which is wholesome6 almost in anger    
answered the sick man's  mother4  ,i    
tell you1 the honest leech replied1 in  
more anger1 this boy  has been tampering
 with ,beelzebub's orchard4  ,and many  
have died of it6    #e4  ,it was while  
all the rest of the ,house ,beautiful   
were supping on lamb  and wine1 and     
while there was such music in the ,house
 that made ,mercy  exclaim over it with 
wonder--it was at the smell of the      
supper and at the  sound of the psalmody
 that ,matthew's gripes seized upon him 
worse than  ever4  ,all the time the    
others sat late into the night ,matthew 
lay on the  rack pulled to pieces4      
,after ,william ,law's death at ,king's 
,cliffe1 his  executors found among his 
most secret papers a prayer he had      
composed for  his own alone use on a    

certain communion day when he was       
self-debarred  from the ,lord's table4  
,i do not know for certain just what    
fruit the  young non-juror had stolen   
out of ,beelzebub's orchard before that 
communion season2 but ,i can see that he
 was in poor ,matthew's exact           
experience that communion               
night1--literally torn to pieces with   
agonies  of conscience while all his    
fellow-worshippers were at the table of 
the  ,lord4  ,while the psalms and hymns
 are being sung at the supper-table1 lay
  your ear to ,law's closet door4       
,whilst all ,thy faithful servants are  
on  this day offering to ,thee the      
comfortable sacrifice of the body and   
the  blood of ,christ1 and feasting at  
that holy table which ,thou hast        
ordained  for the refreshment1 joy1 and 
comfort of their souls1 ,i1 unhappy     
wretch1  full of guilt1 am justly denied
 any share of these comforts that are   
common to the ,christian world4  ,o my  
,god1 ,i am an unclean worm1 a dead     

dog1 a stinking carcass1 justly removed 
from that society of saints who  this   
day kneel about ,thine altar4  ,but1 oh6
 suffer me to look toward ,thy  holy    
,sanctuary2 suffer my soul again to be  
in the place where ,thine  honour       
dwelleth4  ,reject not the sacrifice of 
a broken heart1 and do ,thou  be with me
 in secret1 though ,i am not fit to     
appear in ,thy public  worship4  ,lord1 
if ,thou wilt ,thou canst make me clean4
  ,lord1 speak but  the word1 and ,thy  
servant shall be healed4  ,it is the    
fruit of  ,beelzebub's orchard4  ,many  
have died thereof4    #f4  ,pray1 sir1  
make me up twelve boxes of them2 for if 
,i can get these1  ,i will never take   
other physic4  ,these same pills1 he    
replied1 are  good also to prevent      
diseases as well as to cure when one is 
sick4  ,but1  good woman1 thou must take
 these pills no other way but as ,i have
  prescribed2 for if you do1 they will  
do no good4  ,i have taken one          
illustration from ,william ,law's life2 

,i shall take another from that  world  
of such illustrations and so close4  ,o 
,god1 let me never see such  another day
 as this4  ,let the dreadful punishment 
of this day never be  out of my mind4   
,and it never was4  ,for1 after that day
 in hell1 ,law  never laid down his head
 on his pillow that he did not seem to  
remember  that dreadful day4  ,william  
,law would have satisfied ,dr4 ,skill   
for a  convalescent4  ,for he never felt
 that he had any right to touch the body
  and blood of ,christ1 either at       
communion times1 or a thousand times    
every  day1 till he had again got ready 
his heart of true repentance4  ,my      
brethren1 self-destroyed out of         
,beelzebub's orchard1 and all my        
brethren1  live a life henceforth of    
true repentance4  ,not out of the sins  
of your  youth only1 but out of the     
best1 the most watchful1 and the most   
blameless day you ever live1 distil your
 half-pint of repentance every  night   
before you sleep4  ,for1 as dear old    

,skill said1 unless you do1  neither    
flesh nor blood of ,christ1 nor anything
 else1 will do you any  genuine good4   
,,the ,,shepherd ,,boy         ,he      
humbled ,himself4--,paul4    ,now as    
they were going along and talking1 they 
espied a boy feeding his  father's      
sheep4  ,the boy was in very mean       
clothes1 but of a very fresh  and       
well-favoured countenance1 and as he sat
 by himself he sang4  ,hark1  said ,mr4 
,greatheart1 to what the shepherd boy   
saith4  ,so they hearkened  and he said3
          ,he that is down1 needs fear  
no fall2     ,he that is low no pride3  
,he that is humble1 ever shall     ,have
 ,god to be his guide4          ,i am   
content with what ,i have1     ,little  
be it or much3     ,and1 ,lord1         
contentment still ,i crave1     ,because
 thou savest such4          ,fulness to 
such a burden is     ,that go on        
pilgrimage3     ,here little1 and       
hereafter bliss1     ,is best from age  
to age4    ,then said their guide1 ,do  

you hear him8  ,i will dare say that    
this boy  lives a merrier life and wears
 more of that herb called ,heart's-ease 
in  his bosom than he that is clad in   
silk and velvet4    ,now1               
notwithstanding all that1 nobody knew   
better than ,john ,bunyan knew1  that no
 shepherd boy that ever lived on the    
face of the earth ever sang  that song2 
only one ,boy ever sang that song1 and  
,he was not the son of a  shepherd at   
all1 but the son of a carpenter4  ,and1 
saying that leads me  on to say this    
before ,i begin1 that ,i look for a man 
of ,john ,bunyan's  inventive and       
sanctified genius to arise some day1 and
 armed also to boot  with all our latest
 and best ,new ,testament studies4      
,when that sorely-  needed man so arises
 he will take us back to ,nazareth where
 that  carpenter's ,boy was brought up1 
and he will let us see ,him with our own
  eyes being brought up4  ,he will lead 
us into ,mary's house on ,sabbath  days1
 and into ,joseph's workshop on week    

days1 and he will show us the  child    
,jesus1 not so much learning ,his       
letters and then putting on ,his        
carpenter's clothes1 as learning        
obedience by the things that ,he every  
day suffered4  ,that choice author will 
show us our ,lord1 both before ,he  had 
discovered ,himself to be our ,lord1 as 
well as after ,he had made that  great  
discovery1 always clothing ,himself with
 humility as with a garment2  taking up 
,his yoke of meekness and               
lowly-mindedness every day1 and never   
for one moment laying it down4  ,when   
some writer with as holy an  imagination
 as that of ,john ,bunyan1 and with as  
sweet an ,english style1  and with a    
,new ,testament scholarship of the first
 order so arises1 and so  addresses     
himself to the inward life of our ,lord1
 what a blessing to our  children that  
writer will be6  ,for he will make them 
see and feel just  what all that was in 
which our ,lord's perfect humility      
consisted1 and how  ,his perfect        

humility fulfilled itself in ,him from  
day to day2 up through  all ,his        
childhood days1 school and synagogue    
days1 workshop and holy  days1 early    
manhood and mature manhood days2 till   
,he was so meek in all  ,his heart and  
so humble in all ,his mind that all men 
were sent to ,him to  learn their       
meekness and their humility of ,him4  ,i
 envy that gifted man  the deep delight 
he will have in his work1 and the       
splendid reward he  will have in the    
love and the debt of all coming         
generations4  ,only1 may  he be really  
sent to us1 and that soon6  ,theodor    
,keim comes nearest a far-  off glimpse 
of that eminent service of any ,new     
,testament scholar ,i know4  ,jeremy    
,taylor and ,thomas ,goodwin also1 in   
their own time and in their own  way1   
had occasional inspirations toward this 
still-waiting treatment of  the         
master-subject of all learning and all  
genius--the inward  sanctification1 the 
growth in grace1 and then the           

self-discovery of the  incarnate ,son of
 ,god4  ,but1 so let it please ,god1    
some contemporary  scholar will arise   
some day soon1 combining in himself     
,goodwin's  incomparable ,christology1  
and ,taylor's incomparable eloquence1   
and ,keim's  incomparably digested      
learning1 with ,john ,bunyan's          
incomparable  imagination and           
incomparable ,english style1 and the    
waiting work will be  done1 and theology
 for this life will take on its         
copestone4  ,in his  absence1 and till  
he comes1 let us attempt a few          
annotations to-night on  this so-called 
shepherd boy's song in the ,valley of   
,humiliation4       ,he that is down1   
needs fear no fall4    ,the whole       
scenery of the surrounding valley is set
 before us in that  single eloquent     
stanza4  ,the sweet-voiced boy sits well
 off the wayside  as he sings his song  
to himself4  ,he looks up to the        
hill-tops that hang  over his valley1   
and every shining tooth of those many   

hill-tops has for  him its own evil     
legend4  ,he thinks he sees a little    
heap of bleaching  bones just under     
where that eagle hangs and wheels and   
screams4  ,not one  traveller through   
these perilous parts in a thousand gets 
down those  cruel rocks unhurt2 and many
 travellers have been irrecoverably lost
  among those deadly rocks1 and have    
never received ,christian burial4  ,all 
the shepherds' cottages and all the     
hostel supper-tables for many miles     
round are full of terrible stories of   
the ,hill ,difficulty and the ,descent  
,dangerous4  ,and thus it is that this  
shepherd boy looks up with such fear  at
 those sharp peaks and shining          
precipices1 and lifts his fresh and     
well-  favoured countenance to heaven   
and sings again3 ,he that is down1 needs
  fear no fall4  ,down in his own       
esteem1 that is4  ,for this is a song of
  the heart rather than of the highway4 
,down--safe1 that is1 from the  steep   
and slippery places of self-estimation1 

self-exaltation1  self-satisfaction4    
,down--so as to be delivered from all   
ambition and  emulation and envy4       
,down1 and safe1 thank ,god1 from all   
pride1 all high-  mindedness1 and all   
stout-heartedness4  ,down from the hard 
and cruel  hills1 and buried deep out of
 sight among those meadows where that   
herb  grows which is called             
,heart's-ease4  ,down1 where the green  
pastures grow  and the quiet waters     
flow4  ,no1 indeed2 he that is down into
 this sweet  bottom needs fear no fall4 
,for there is nowhere here for a man to 
fall  from4  ,and1 even if he did fall1 
he would only fall upon a               
fragrance-breathing bed of lilies4  ,the
 very herbs and flowers here would      
conspire to hold him up4  ,many a day1  
as ,he grew up1 the carpenter's son  sat
 in that same valley and sang that same 
song to ,his own humble and  happy      
heart4  ,he loved much to be here4  ,he 
loved also to walk these  meadows1 for  
,he found the air was pleasant4         

,methinks1 ,he often said with  ,mercy1 
,i am as well in this valley as ,i have 
been anywhere else in ,my  journey4     
,the place1 methinks1 suits with ,my    
spirit4  ,i love to be in  such places  
where there is no rattling with coaches 
nor rumbling with  wheels4  ,methinks1  
also1 here one may without much         
molestation be  thinking what he is1    
whence he came1 and to what his ,king   
has called him4       ,he that is low1  
no pride4    ,low in his own eyes1 that 
is4  ,for pride goeth before            
destruction1 and a  haughty spirit      
before a fall4  ,yes2 but he who is low 
enough already--none  of the sure       
destructions that pride always works    
shall ever come near to  him4  ,the     
proud man1 says ,sir ,henry ,taylor1 is 
of all men the most  vulnerable4  ',who 
calls8' asks the old shepherd in ,as    
,you ,like ,it4  ',your betters1' is the
 insolent answer4  ,and what is the     
shepherd's  rejoinder8  ',else are they 
very wretched4'  ,by what retort1       

reprisal1 or  repartee could it have    
been made half so manifest that the     
insult had  lighted upon armour of      
proof8  ,such is the invincible         
independence and  invulnerability of    
humility4       ,he that is humble ever 
shall        ,have ,god to be his guide4
    ,for thus saith the high and holy   
,one that inhabiteth eternity1 whose    
name  is ,holy3 ,i dwell in the high and
 holy place1 with him also that is of a 
contrite and humble spirit1 to revive   
the heart of the humble1 and to  revive 
the heart of the contrite ones 4 4 4    
,all those things hath ,mine  hand made1
 but to this man will ,i look1 saith the
 ,lord1 even to him that  is poor and of
 a contrite spirit1 and who trembleth at
 ,my word 4 4 4  ,though the ,lord be   
high1 yet hath ,he respect unto the     
lowly2 but the  proud ,he knoweth afar  
off 4 4 4 ,likewise1 ye younger1 submit 
yourselves  unto the elder4  ,yea1 all  
of you be subject one to another1 and be
  clothed with humility2 for ,god       

resisteth the proud and giveth grace to 
the humble 4 4 4 ,lord1 my heart is not 
haughty1 nor mine eyes lofty1  neither  
do ,i exercise myself in great matters1 
or in things too high for  me4  ,surely 
,i have behaved and quieted myself1 as a
 child that is weaned  of his mother3 my
 soul is even as a weaned child 4 4 4   
,take ,my yoke upon  you and learn of   
,me1 for ,i am meek and lowly in heart1 
and ye shall find  rest unto your souls4
  ,for ,my yoke is easy and ,my burden  
is light4       ,i am content with what 
,i have1        ,little be it1 or much3 
,and1 ,lord1 contentment still ,i crave1
        ,because thou savest such4      
,the only thing this sweet singer is    
discontented with is his own            
contentment4  ,he will not be content as
 long as he has a shadow of  discontent 
left in his heart4  ,and how blessed is 
such holy discontent6  ,for1 would you  
know1 asks ,law1 who is the greatest    
saint in all the  world8  ,well1 it is  
not he who prays most or fasts most2 it 

is not he who  gives most alms or is    
most eminent for temperance1 chastity1  
or justice4  ,but it is he who is always
 thankful to ,god1 who wills everything 
that ,god  willeth1 who receives        
everything as an instance of ,god's     
goodness1 and  has a heart always ready 
to praise ,god for it4  ,perhaps the    
shepherd's  boy1 says ,thomas ,scott1   
may refer to the obscure and quiet      
stations of  some pastors over small    
congregations1 who live almost unknown  
to their  brethren1 but are in a measure
 useful and very comfortable4  ,perhaps 
he  does4  ,and1 whether he does or no1 
at any rate such a song will suit some  
of our brethren very well as they go    
about among their few and far-off       
flocks4  ,they are not church leaders or
 popular preachers4  ,there is not  much
 rattling with coaches or rumbling with 
wheels at their church door4  ,but1     
then1 methinks1 they have their         
compensation4  ,they are without much   
molestation4  ,they can be all the more 

thinking what they are1 whence  they    
came1 and to what their ,king has called
 them4  ,let them be happy in  their    
shut-in valleys4  ,for ,i will dare to  
say that they wear more of  that herb   
called ,heart's-ease in their bosom than
 those ministers do they  are sometimes 
tempted to emulate4  ,i will add in this
 place that to the  men who live and    
trace these grounds the ,lord hath left 
a yearly revenue  to be faithfully paid 
them at certain seasons for their       
maintenance by  the way1 and for their  
further encouragement to go on in their 
pilgrimage4       ,here little1 and     
hereafter bliss1     ,is best from age  
to age4    ,but1 now1 from the shepherd 
boy and from his valley and his song1   
let us  go on without any more poetry or
 parable to look our own selves full in 
the face and to ask our own hearts      
whether they are the hearts of really   
humble-minded and ,new ,testament men or
 no4  ,dr4 ,newman1 that subtle1  devout
 man1 as ,dr4 ,duncan calls him1 says   

that humility is one of the  most       
difficult of virtues both to attain and 
to ascertain4  ,it lies1 he  says1 close
 upon the heart itself1 and its tests   
are exceedingly  delicate and subtle4   
,its counterfeits abound4  ,most true4  
,and yet  humility is not intended for  
experts in morals only1 or for men of a 
rare  religious genius only4  ,the      
plainest of men1 the least skilled and  
the  most unlettered of men1 may not    
only excel in humility1 but may also be 
permitted to know that they are indeed  
planted1 and are growing slowly  but    
surely in that grace of all graces4  ,no
 doubt our ,lord had1 so to  describe   
it1 the most delicate and the most      
subtle of human minds2 and1  no doubt   
whatever1 ,he had the most practised    
skill in reading off what  lay closest  
to ,his own heart4  ,and1 then1 it was  
just ,his attainment of  the most       
perfect humility1 and then ,his absolute
 ascertainment of the  same1 that       
enabled ,him to say3 ,take ,my yoke upon

 you and learn of ,me4  ,at  the same   
time1 divine as the grace is1 and divine
 as the insight is that  is able to     
trace it out in all its exquisite       
refinements of thought and  feeling in  
the sanctified soul1 yet humility is a  
human virtue after all1  and it is open 
to all men to attain to it and          
intelligently and lovingly  to exercise 
it4  ,the simplest and the least        
philosophical soul now in  this house   
may apply to himself some of the        
subtlest and most sensitive  tests of   
humility1 as much as if he were ,dr4    
,duncan or ,dr4 ,newman  themselves2 and
 may thus with all assurance of hope    
know whether he is a  counterfeit and a 
castaway or no4    ,take this test for  
one1 then4  ,explain this text to me3   
,phil4 ii4 #c--;,in  lowliness of mind  
let each esteem other better than       
himself4  ,explain  and illustrate that4
  ,not from a commentary1 but straight  
out from your  own heart4  ,what does   
your heart make of that scripture8      

,does your heart  turn away from that   
scripture almost in anger at it8  ,do   
you say you are  certain that there must
 be some other explanation of it than   
that8  ,do  you hold that this is just  
another of ,paul's perpetual hyperboles1
 and  that the ,new ,testament is the   
last book in the world to be taken as it
  reads8  ,yes2 both bold and subtle    
father that he is3 counterfeits abound6 
,another much blunter test1 but1        
perhaps1 a sufficiently sharp test1 is  
this3 ,how do you receive correction and
 instruction8  ,does your heart  meekly 
and spontaneously and naturally take to 
correction and instruction  as the most 
natural and proper thing possible to    
you8  ,and do you  immediately1 and     
before all men1 show forth and exhibit  
the correction  and the instruction8    
,or1 does this rather take place8  ,does
 your heart  beat1 and swell1 and boil1 
and boil over at him who dares to       
correct or  counsel you8  ,if this is a 
fair test to put our humility to1 how   

little  humility there is among us6     
,how few men any of us could name among 
our  friends to whom we would risk      
telling all the things that behind their
  backs we point out continually to     
others8  ,we are terrified to face their
  pride4  ,we once did it1 and we are   
not to do it again1 if we can help it6  
,let a man not have too many irons in   
the fire2 let him examine himself  just 
by these two tests for the time--what he
 thinks of himself1 and what  he thinks 
of those who attempt1 and especially    
before other people1 to  set him right4 
,and after these two tests have been    
satisfied1 others  will no doubt be     
supplied till that so humble man is made
 very humility  itself4    ,and now1 in 
the hope that there may be one or two   
men here who are really  and not        
counterfeitly in earnest to clothe      
themselves with humility  before ,god   
and man1 let them take these two looms  
to themselves out of  which whole webs  
of such garments will be delivered to   

them every  day--their past life1 and   
their present heart4  ,with a past life 
like  ours1 my brethren--and everyman   
knows his own--pride is surely the      
maddest state of mind that any of us can
 allow ourselves in4  ,the first  king  
of ,bohemia kept his clouted old shoes  
ever in his sight1 that he  might never 
forget that he had once been a          
ploughman4  ,and another wise  king used
 to drink out of a coarse cup at table1 
and excused himself to  his guests that 
he had made the rude thing in his rude  
potter days4  ,look  with ,primislaus   
and ,agathocles at the hole of the pit  
out of which you  also have been dug2   
look often enough1 deep enough1 and long
 enough1 and  you will be found passing 
up through the ,valley of ,humiliation  
singing3       ,with us ,he dealt not as
 we sinn'd1     ,nor did requite our    
ill6    ,another excellent use of the   
past is1 if you are equal to it1 to call
  yourself aloud sometimes1 or in       
writing1 some of the names that other   

people who know your past are certainly 
calling you4  ,it is a terrible         
discipline1 but it is the terror of the 
,lord1 and ,he will not let it hurt  you
 too much4  ,i was before a blasphemer1 
and a persecutor1 and  injurious1 says  
,paul4  ,and1 to show ,titus1 his       
gospel-son1 the way1 he  said to him3   
,we ourselves were sometimes foolish1   
disobedient1 deceived1  serving divers  
lusts and pleasures1 living in malice   
and envy1 hateful1  and hating one      
another4  ,and ,john ,bunyan calls      
himself a blackguard1 and  many other   
worse names2 only he swears that neither
 with his soldiering  nor with his      
tinkering hands did he ever plash down  
,beelzebub's orchard4  ,but if you have 
done that1 or anything like that1 call  
yourself aloud by  your true name on    
your knees to-night4  ,william ,law     
testifies1 after five-  and-twenty      
years' experience of it1 that he never  
heard of any harm that  he had done to  
any in his house by his habit of singing

 his secret psalms  aloud1 and          
sometimes1 ere ever he was aware1       
bursting out in his  penitential        
prayers4    ,and1 then1 how any man with
 a man's heart in his bosom for a single
 day  can escape being the chief of     
sinners1 and consequently the humblest  
of  men for all the rest of his life on 
earth1 passes my comprehension6  ,how  a
 spark of pride can live in such a hell 
as every human heart is would be  past  
belief1 did we not know that ,god       
avenges sin by more sin2 avenges        
,himself on a wicked and a false heart  
by more wickedness and more  falsehood1 
all ending in ,satanic pride4    ,too   
long as ,i have kept you in this valley 
to-night1 ,i dare not let you  out of it
 till ,i have shared with you a few     
sentences on evangelical  humiliation   
out of that other so subtle and devout  
man1 ,jonathan ,edwards4  ,but what     
special kind of humiliation is          
evangelical humiliation8 you will  ask4 
,hear1 then1 what this master in ,israel

 says4  ,evangelical  humiliation is the
 sense that a ,christian man has of his 
own utter  insufficiency1 utter         
despicableness1 and utter odiousness2   
with an always  answerable frame of     
heart4  ,this humiliation is peculiar to
 the true  saints4  ,it arises from the 
special influence of the ,spirit of ,god
  implanting and exercising supernatural
 and divine principles2 and it is       
accompanied with a sense of the         
transcendent beauty of divine things4   
,and1 thus1 ,god's true saints all more 
or less see their own odiousness on     
account of sin1 and the exceedingly     
hateful nature of all sin4  ,the very   
essence of evangelical humiliation      
consists in such humility as becomes a  
man in himself exceeding sinful but now 
under a dispensation of grace4  ,it     
consists in a mean esteem of himself1 as
 in himself nothing1 and  altogether    
contemptible and odious4  ,this1 indeed1
 is the greatest and  the most essential
 thing in true religion4  ,and so on    

through a whole  chapter of beaten gold4
  ,to which noble chapter ,i shall only 
add that  such teaching is as sweet1 as 
strengthening1 and as reassuring to the 
truly ,christian heart as it is bitter  
and hateful to the counterfeit  heart4  
,,old ,,honest         ,an honest       
heart4--,our ,lord4       ,next tell    
them of ,old ,honest1 who you found     
,with his white hairs treading the      
pilgrim's ground2     ,yea1 tell them   
how plain-hearted this man was1     ,how
 after his good ,lord he bare his cross3
     ,perhaps with some grey head this  
may prevail1     ,with ,christ to fall  
in love1 and sin bewail4    ,you would  
have said that no pilgrim to the        
,celestial ,city could possibly  have   
come from a worse place1 or a more      
unlikely place1 than was that  place    
from which ,christian and ,christiana   
and ,matthew and ,mercy had come4  ,and 
yet so it was4  ,for ,old ,honest1 this 
most excellent and every way  most      
delightful old saint1 hailed from a far 

less likely place than even  the ,city  
of ,destruction4  ,for he came1 this    
rare old soul1 of all places  in the    
world1 from the ,town of ,stupidity4    
,so he tells us himself4  ,and1  partly 
to explain to us the humiliating name of
 his native town1 and  partly to exhibit
 himself as a wonder to many1 the frank 
old gentleman  goes on to tell us that  
his birthplace actually lies four       
degrees further  away from the sun than 
does the far-enough away ,city of       
,destruction  itself4  ,so that you see 
this grey-haired saint is all that he   
always  said he was--a living witness to
 the fact that his ,lord is able to save
  to the uttermost1 and to gather in    
,his ,father's elect from the utmost    
corner of the land4  ,men are mountains 
of ice in my country1 said ,old         
,honest4  ,i was one of the biggest of  
those icebergs myself1 he said4  ,no    
man was ever more cold and senseless to 
divine things than ,i was1 and  still   
sometimes am4  ,it takes the ,sun of    

,righteousness all ,his might to  melt  
the men of my country4  ,but that ,he   
can do it when ,he rises to do  it1 and 
when ,he puts out ,his full strength to 
do it--,look at me6 said the  genial old
 soul4    ,we have to construct this    
pilgrim's birth and boyhood and youth   
from his  after-character and           
conversation2 and we have no difficulty 
at all in  doing that4  ,for1 if the    
child is the father of the man1 then the
 man  must be the outcome of the child1 
and we can have no hesitation in        
picturing to ourselves what kind of     
child and boy and young man dear ,old   
,honest must always have been4  ,he     
never was a bright child1 bright and    
beaming old man as he is4  ,he was      
always slow and heavy at his lessons2   
indeed1 ,i would not like to repeat to  
you all the bad names that his          
schoolmasters sometimes in their        
impatience called the stupid child4     
,only1 this was to be said of him1 that 
dulness of uptake and  disappointment of

 his teachers were the worst things     
about this poor boy2  he was not so     
ill-behaved as many were who were made  
more of4  ,when his  wits began to waken
 up after he had come some length he had
 no little  leeway to make up in his    
learning2 but that was the chief        
drawback to ,old  ,honest's pilgrimage4 
,for one thing1 no young man had a      
cleaner record  behind him than our     
,honest had2 his youthful garments were 
as unspotted  as ever any pilgrim's     
garments were4  ,even as a young man he 
had had the  good sense to keep company 
with one ,good-conscience2 and that     
friend of  his youth kept true to ,old  
,honest all his days1 and even lent him 
his  hand and helped him over the river 
at last4  ,in his own manly1 hearty1    
blunt1 breezy1 cheery1 and genial way   
,old ,honest is a pilgrim we could  ill 
have spared4  ,old ,honest has a warm   
place all for himself in every  good and
 honest heart4    ,now1 a little before 
the pilgrims stood an oak1 and under it 

when they  came up to it they found an  
old pilgrim fast asleep2 they knew that 
he  was a pilgrim by his clothes and his
 staff and his girdle4  ,so the guide1  
,mr4 ,greatheart1 awaked him1 and the   
old gentleman1 as he lifted up his      
eyes1 cried out3 ,what's the matter8    
,who are you8  ,and what is your        
business here8  ,come1 man1 said the    
guide1 be not so hot2 here is none  but 
friends6  ,yet the old man gets up and  
stands upon his guard1 and will  know of
 them what they are4  ,that             
weather-beaten oak-tree under which we  
first meet with ,old ,honest is an      
excellent emblem of the man4  ,when he  
sat down to rest his old bones that day 
he did not look out for a bank of  soft 
moss or for a bed of fragrant roses2    
that knotted oak-tree alone had  power  
to draw down under its sturdy trunk this
 heart of human oak4  ,it  was a sight  
to see those thin grey haffets making a 
soft pillow of that  jutting knee of    
gnarled and knotty oak1 and with his    

well-worn  quarterstaff held close in a 
hand all wrinkled skin and scraggy bone4
  ,and  from that day till he waved his 
quarterstaff when half over the river   
and  shouted1 ,grace reigns6 there is no
 pilgrim of them all that affords us    
half the good humour1 sagacity1         
continual entertainment1 and brave      
encouragement we enjoy through this same
 old ,christian gentleman4    #a4  ,now1
 let us try to learn two or three       
lessons to-night from ,old  ,honest1 his
 history1 his character1 and his        
conversation4  ,and1 to begin  with1 let
 all those attend to ,old ,honest who   
are slow in the uptake in  the things of
 religion4  ,o fools and slow of heart6 
exclaimed our ,lord at  the two         
travellers to ,emmaus4  ,and this was   
,old ,honest to the letter when  he     
first entered on the pilgrimage life2 he
 was slow as sloth itself in  the things
 of the soul4  ,i have often wondered1  
said ,greatheart1 that any  should come 
from your place2 for your town is worse 

than is the ,city of  ,destruction      
itself4  ,yes1 answered ,honest1 we lie 
more off from the sun1  and so are more 
cold and senseless4  ,and his biographer
 here annotates on  the margin this     
reflection3 ,stupefied ones are worse   
than merely  carnal4  ,so they are2     
though it takes some insight to see     
that1 and some  courage to carry that   
through4  ,now1 to be downright stupid  
in a man's  natural intellects is sad   
enough1 but to be stupid in the         
intellects of  the soul and of the      
spirit is far more sad4  ,you will often
 see this if  you have any eyes in your 
head1 and are not one of the stupid     
people  yourself4  ,you will see very   
clever people in the intellects of the  
head  who are yet as stupid as the      
beasts in the stall in the far nobler   
intellects of the heart4  ,you will meet
 every day with men and women who  have 
received the best college education this
 city can give them1 who are  yet stark 
stupid in everything that belongs to    

true religion4  ,they are  quick to find
 out the inefficiency of a university   
chair1 or a  schoolmaster's desk1 but   
they know no more of what a ,new        
,testament pulpit  has been set up for  
than the stupidest sot in the city4     
,the ,divine  ,nature1 human nature1    
sin1 grace1 redemption1 salvation1      
holiness1 heart-  corruption1 spiritual 
life1 prayer1 communion with ,god1 a    
conversation  and a treasure in         
heaven1--to all these noblest of studies
 and divinest  of exercises they are as 
a beast before ,god4  ,when you come    
upon a man  who is a sot in his senses  
and in his understanding1 you expect him
 to be  the same in his spiritual life4 
,but to meet with an expert in science1 
a  classical scholar1 an author or a    
critic in letters1 a leader in          
political or ecclesiastical or municipal
 life1 and yet to discover that  he is  
as stupid as any sot in the things of   
his own soul1 is one of the  saddest and
 most disheartening sights you can see4 

,much sadder and much  more             
disheartening than to see stairs and    
streets of people who can  neither read 
nor write4  ,and yet our city is full of
 such stupid people4  ,you will find as 
utter spiritual stupidity among the rich
 and the  lettered and the refined of   
this city as you will find among the    
ignorant  and the vicious and the       
criminal classes4  ,is stupidity a sin8 
asks  ,thomas in his ,forty-,sixth      
,question4  ,and the great schoolman    
answers  himself1 ,stupidity may come of
 natural incapacity1 in which case it is
  not a sin4  ,but it may come1 on the  
other hand1 of a man immersing his  soul
 in the things of this world so as to   
shut out all the things of ,god  and of 
the world to come1 in which case        
stupidity is a deadly sin4  ,now1  from 
all that1 you must already see what you 
are to do in order to escape  from your 
inborn and superinduced stupidity4  ,you
 are1 like ,old ,honest1  to open your  
gross1 cold1 senseless heart to the ,sun

 of ,righteousness1  and you are to take
 care every day to walk abroad under    
,his beams4  ,you  are to emigrate south
 for your life1 as our well-to-do       
invalids do1 to  where the sun shines in
 his strength all the day4  ,you are to 
choose such  a minister1 buy and read   
such a literature1 cultivate such an    
acquaintanceship1 and follow out such a 
new life of habits and practices  as    
shall bring you into the full sunshine1 
till your heart of ice is  melted1 and  
your stupefied soul is filled with      
spiritual sensibility4  ,for1 were a man
 a mountain of ice1 said ,old ,honest1  
yet if the ,sun of  ,righteousness will 
arise upon him his frozen heart shall   
feel a thaw2 and  thus hath it been with
 me4  ,your poets and your philosophers 
have no  resource against the stupidity 
that opposes them4  ,even the gods1 they
  complain1 fight unvictorious against  
stupidity4  ,but your divines and  your 
preachers have hope beside the dullest  
and the stupidest and even  the most    

imbruted4  ,they point themselves and   
their slowest and dullest-  witted      
hearers to ,old ,honest1 this rare old  
saint2 and they set up their  pulpit    
with hope and boldness on the very      
causeway of the town of  ,stupidity     
itself4    #b4  ,in the second          
place1--on this fine old pilgrim's birth
 and boyhood  and youth4  ,the apostle  
says that there is no real difference   
between one  of us and another2 and what
 he says on that subject must be true4  
,no2  there is really no difference     
compared with the ,celestial ,city      
whether a  pilgrim is born in           
,stupidity1 in ,destruction1 in ,vanity1
 or in ,darkland4  ,at the same time1   
nature1 as well as grace1 is of ,god1   
and ,he maketh1  when it pleaseth ,him1 
one man to differ in some most important
 respects  from another4  ,you see such 
differences every day4  ,some children  
are  naturally1 and from their very     
infancy1 false and cruel1 mean and      
greedy2  while their brothers and       

sisters are open and frank and generous4
  ,one  son in a house is born a vulgar 
snob1 and one daughter a shallow-hearted
  and shameless little flirt2 while     
another brother is a born gentleman1    
and another sister a born saint4  ,some 
children are tender-hearted1  easily    
melted1 and easily moulded2 while others
 in the same family are  hard as stone  
and cold as ice4  ,sometimes a noble and
 a truly ,christian  father will have   
all his days to weep and pray over a son
 who is his  shame2 and then1 in the    
next generation1 a grandson will be born
 to him  who will more than recover the 
lost image of his father's father4  ,and
 so  is it sometimes with father ,adam's
 family4  ,here and there1 in ,darkland1
  in ,destruction1 and in ,stupidity1 a 
child will be born with a surprising    
likeness to the first ,adam in his first
 estate4  ,that happy child at his  best
 is but the relics and ruins of his     
first father2 at the same time1  in him 
the relics are more abundant and the    

ruins more easy to trace out4  ,and     
little ,honest was such a well-born     
child4  ,for1 ,stupidity and all1  there
 was a real inborn and inbred integrity1
 uprightness1  straightforwardness1 and 
nobleness about this little and not     
over-clever  man-child4  ,and1 on the   
principle of to him that hath shall be  
given1  there was something like a      
special providence that hedged this boy 
about  from the beginning4  ,i girded   
thee though thou hast not known ,me was 
never out of ,old ,honest's mouth as    
often as he remembered the days of his  
own youth and heard other pilgrims      
mourning over theirs4  ,i have  surnamed
 thee though thou hast not known ,me1 he
 would say to himself in  his sleep4    
,slow-witted as he was1 no one had been 
able to cheat young  ,honest out of his 
youthful integrity4  ,he had not been   
led1 and he had  led no one else1 into  
the paths of the destroyer4  ,he could  
say about  himself all that ,john       
,bunyan so boldly and so bluntly said   

about himself  when his enemies charged 
him with youthful immorality4  ,he left 
the town  in nobody's debt4  ,he left   
the print of his heels on no man or     
woman or  child when he took his staff  
in his hand to be a pilgrim4  ,the      
upward  walk of too many pilgrims is    
less a walk than an escape and a flight4
  ,the  avenger of men's blood and      
women's honour has hunted many men deep 
into  heaven's innermost gate4  ,but    
,old ,honest took his time4  ,he walked1
 if  ever pilgrim walked1 all the way   
with an easy mind4  ,he lay down to     
sleep  under the oaks on the wayside1   
and smiled like a child in his sleep4   
,and1  when he was suddenly awaked1     
instead of crying out for mercy and     
starting  to his heels1 he grasped his  
staff and demanded even of an armed man 
what  business he had to break in on an 
honest pilgrim's midday repose6  ,the   
,king of the ,celestial ,city had a few 
names even in ,stupidity which had  not 
defiled their garments1 and ,old ,honest

 was one of them4  ,and all his  days   
his strength was as the strength of ten1
 because his heart was pure4    #c4  ,at
 the same time1 honesty is not holiness2
 and no one knew that  better than did  
this honest old saint4  ,when any one   
spoke to ,old ,honest  about his        
blameless youth1 the look in his eye    
made them keep at arm's-  length as he  
growled out that without holiness no man
 shall see ,god6  ,writing from         
,aberdeen to ,john ,bell of ,hentoun1   
,samuel ,rutherford says3 ,i  beseech   
you1 in the ,lord ,jesus1 to mind your  
country above2 and now1 when  old age is
 come upon you1 advise with ,christ     
before you put your foot  into the last 
ship and turn your back on this life4   
,many are beguiled  with this that they 
are free of scandalous sins4  ,but      
common honesty will  not take men to    
heaven4  ,alas6 that men should think   
that ever they met  with ,christ who had
 never a sick night or a sore heart for 
sin4  ,i have  known a man turn a key in

 a door and lock it by4  ,i can1 says   
,john  ,owen1 and ,i do1 commend moral  
virtues and honesty as much as any man  
ought to do1 and ,i am sure there is no 
grace where they are not4  ,yet to  make
 anything to be our holiness that is not
 derived from ,jesus ,christ1--,i  know 
not what ,i do more abhor4  ,are morally
 honest and sober men  qualified for the
 ,lord's ,supper8 asks ,john ,flavel4   
,no2 civility and  morality do not make 
a man a worthy communicant4  ,they are  
not the  wedding garment2 but           
regenerating grace and faith in the     
smallest measure  are4  ,my outside may 
be honest1 said this honest old pilgrim1
 while  all the time my heart is most   
unholy4  ,my life is open to all men1   
but ,i  must hide my heart with ,christ 
in ,god4    #d4  ,and then this         
racy-hearted old bachelor was as full of
 delight in  children1 and in children's
 parties1 with all their sweetmeats and 
nuts  and games and riddles1--quite as  
much so--as if he had been their very   

grandfather himself4  ,nay1 this        
rosy-hearted old rogue was as inveterate
  a matchmaker as if he had been a      
mother of the world with a houseful of  
daughters on her hands and with the sons
 of the nobility dangling around4  ,it  
would make you wish you could kiss the  
two dear old souls1 ,gaius the          
innkeeper and ,old ,honest his guest1 if
 you would only read how they laid      
their grey heads together to help       
forward the love-making of ,matthew and 
,mercy4  ,yes1 it would be a great pity1
 said ,old ,honest1--thinking with a    
sigh of his own childless old age1--it  
would be a great pity if this  excellent
 family of our sainted brother should   
fail for want of children1  and die out 
like mine4  ,and the two old plotters   
went together to the  mother of the     
bridegroom1 and told her with an aspect 
of authority that  she must put no      
obstacle in her son's way1 but take     
,mercy as soon as  convenient into a    
closer relation to herself4  ,and ,gaius

 said that he for  his part would give  
the marriage supper4  ,and ,i shall make
 no will1 said  ,honest1 but hand all ,i
 have over to ,matthew my son4  ,this is
 the way1  said ,old ,honest2 and he    
skipped and smiled and kissed the cheek 
of the  aged mother and said1 ,then thy 
two children shall preserve thee and thy
  husband a posterity in the earth6     
,then he turned to the boys and he      
said1 ,matthew1 be thou like ,matthew   
the publican1 not in vice1 but in       
virtue4  ,samuel1 he said1 be thou like 
,samuel the prophet1 a man of faith  and
 of prayer4  ,joseph1 said he1 be thou  
like ,joseph in ,potiphar's house1      
chaste1 and one that flees from         
temptation4  ,and ,james1 be thou like  
,james the ,just1 and like ,james the   
brother of our ,lord4  ,mercy1 he said1 
is thy name1 and by mercy shalt thou be 
sustained and carried through all  thy  
difficulties that shall assault thee in 
the way1 till thou shalt come  thither  
where thou shalt look the ,fountain of  

,mercy in the face with  comfort4  ,and 
all this while the guide1 ,mr4          
,greatheart1 was very much  pleased1 and
 smiled upon the nimble old gentleman4  
#e4  ,then it came to pass a while after
 that there was a post in the town  that
 inquired for ,mr4 ,honest4  ,so he came
 to his house where he was1 and         
delivered to his hands these lines1     
,thou art commanded to be ready  against
 this day seven night1 to present       
thyself before thy ,lord at ,his        
,father's house4  ,and for a token that 
my message is true1 all thy  daughters  
of music shall be brought low4  ,then   
,mr4 ,honest called for his  friends and
 said unto them1 ,i die1 but shall make 
no will4  ,as for my  honesty1 it shall 
go with me3 let him that comes after me 
be told of  this4  ,when the day that he
 was to be gone was come he addressed   
himself  to go over the river4  ,now1   
the river at that time overflowed the   
banks  at some places4  ,but ,mr4       
,honest in his lifetime had spoken to   

one ,good-  conscience to meet him      
there1 the which he also did1 and lent  
him his  hand1 and so helped him over4  
,the last words of ,mr4 ,honest were1   
,grace  reigns6  ,so he left the world4 
,look at that picture and now look at   
this3 ,they then addressed themselves to
 the water1 and1 entering1  ,christian  
began to sink1 and crying out to his    
good friend ,hopeful1 he  said1 ,i sink 
in deep waves1 the billows go over my   
head1 all ,his waters  go over me4      
,then said the other1 ,be of good cheer1
 my brother1 ,i feel  the bottom1 and it
 is good4  ,then said ,christian1 ,ah1  
my friend1 the  sorrows of death have   
compassed me about2 ,i shall not see the
 land that  flows with milk and honey4  
,and with that a great horror and       
darkness  fell upon ,christian1 so that 
he could not see before him2 and all the
  words that he spoke still tended to   
discover that he had horror of mind     
lest he should die in that river and    
never obtain entrance in at the  gate4  

,here also1 as they that stood by       
perceived1 he was much in the           
troublesome thoughts of the sins that he
 had committed1 both since and  before  
he began to be a pilgrim4  ',twas also  
observed that he was  troubled with     
apparitions of hobgoblins and evil      
spirits4  ,hopeful1  therefore1 had much
 ado to keep his brother's head above   
water4  ,yea1  sometimes he would be    
quite gone down1 and then ere a while he
 would rise  up again half dead4  ,my   
brethren1 all my brethren1 be not       
deceived2 ,god  is not mocked2 for      
whatsoever a man soweth that shall he   
also reap4  ,whom  the ,lord loveth ,he 
chasteneth1 and scourgeth every son whom
 ,he receiveth4  ,thou1 ,o ,god1 wast a 
,god that forgavest them1 but ,thou     
tookest vengeance  on their inventions4 
,,mr4 ,,fearing         ,happy is the   
man that feareth alway4--,solomon       
,for humour1 for pathos1 for tenderness1
 for acute and sympathetic insight  at  
once into nature and grace1 for         

absolutely artless literary skill1 and  
for the sweetest1 most musical1 and most
 exquisite ,english1 show me  another   
passage in our whole literature to      
compare with ,john ,bunyan's  portrait  
of ,mr4 ,fearing4  ,you cannot do it4   
,i defy you to do it4  ,spenser1 who1   
like ,john ,bunyan1 wrote an elaborate  
allegory1 says3 ,it is  not in me4      
,take all ,mr4 ,fearing's features      
together1 and even  ,shakespeare himself
 has no such heart-touching and         
heart-comforting  character4  ,addison  
may have some of the humour and ,lamb   
some of the  tenderness2 but1 then1 they
 have not the religion4  ,scott has the 
insight  into nature1 but he has no eye 
at all for grace2 while ,thackeray1 who1
 in  some respects1 comes nearest to    
,john ,bunyan of them all1 would be the 
foremost to confess that he is not      
worthy to touch the shoe-latchet of  the
 ,bedford tinker4  ,as ,dr4 ,duncan said
 in his class one day when telling  us  
to read ,augustine's ,autobiography and 

,halyburton's3--,but1 he said1  be      
prepared for this1 that the tinker beats
 them all6  ,methinks1 says  ,browning1 
in this ,god speaks1 no tinker hath such
 powers4    ,now1 as they walked along  
together1 the guide asked the old       
gentleman if  he knew one ,mr4 ,fearing 
that came on pilgrimage out of his      
parts4  ,yes1  said ,mr4 ,honest1 very  
well4  ,he was a man that had the root  
of the  matter in him2 but he was one of
 the most troublesome pilgrims that ever
  ,i met with in all my days4  ,i       
perceive you knew him1 said the guide1  
for you have given a very right         
character of him4  ,knew him6  exclaimed
 ,honest1 ,i was a great companion of   
his2 ,i was with him most an  end4      
,when he first began to think of what   
would come upon us hereafter1  ,i was   
with him4  ,and ,i was his guide1 said  
,greatheart1 from my  ,master's house to
 the gates of the ,celestial ,city4     
,then1 said ,mr4  ,honest1 it seems he  
was well at last4  ,yes1 yes1 answered  

the guide1  ,i never had any doubt about
 him2 he was a man of a choice spirit1  
only  he was always kept very low1 and  
that made his life so burdensome to     
himself and so troublesome to others4   
,he was1 above many1 tender of sin2  he 
was so afraid of doing injuries to      
others that he would often deny  himself
 of that which was lawful because he    
would not offend4  ,but  what1 asked    
,honest1 should be the reason that such 
a good man should be  all his days so   
much in the dark8  ,there are two sorts 
of reasons for  it1 said the guide2 one 
is1 the wise ,god will have it so3 some 
must  pipe and some must weep4  ,now1   
,mr4 ,fearing was one that played upon  
this  base4  ,he and his fellows sound  
the sackbut1 whose notes are more       
doleful  than the notes of other music  
are4  ,though1 indeed1 some say that the
  base is the ground of music4  ,and1   
for my part1 ,i care not at all for     
that profession that begins not with    
heaviness of mind4  ,the first string   

that the musician usually touches is the
 base when he intends to put all  in    
tune4  ,god also plays upon this string 
first when ,he sets the soul in  tune   
for ,himself4  ,only1 here was the      
imperfection of ,mr4 ,fearing1 that  he 
could play upon no other music but this 
till toward his latter end4    #a4      
,take ,mr4 ,fearing1 then1 to begin     
with1 at the ,slough of ,despond4       
,christian and ,pliable1 they being     
heedless1 did both fall into that bog4  
,but ,mr4 ,fearing1 whatever faults you 
may think he had--and faults1 too1  that
 you think you could mend in him--at any
 rate1 he was never heedless4           
,everybody has his fault to find with   
poor ,mr4 ,fearing4  ,everybody blames  
poor ,mr4 ,fearing4  ,everybody can     
improve upon poor ,mr4 ,fearing4  ,but  
,i  will say again for ,mr4 ,fearing    
that he was never heedless4  ,had ,peter
  been on the road at that period he    
would have stood up for ,mr4 ,fearing1  
and would have taken his judges and     

would have said to them1 with some      
scorn--,go to1 and pass the time of your
 sojourning here with something of  the 
same silence and the same fear6         
,christian's excuse for falling into    
the ,slough was that fear so followed   
him that he fled the next way1 and  so  
fell in4  ,but ,mr4 ,fearing had no such
 fear behind him in his city as         
,christian had in his4  ,all ,mr4       
,fearing's fears were within himself4   
,if  you can take up the distinction    
between actual and indwelling sin1      
between guilt and corruption1 you have  
already in that the whole key to  ,mr4  
,fearing4  ,he was blamed and counselled
 and corrected and pitied and           
patronised by every morning-cloud and   
early-dew neophyte1 while all the  time 
he lived far down from the strife of    
tongues where the root of the  matter   
strikes its deep roots still deeper     
every day4  ,it took him a  whole month1
 tells ,greatheart1 to face the ,slough4
  ,but he would not go  back neither4   

,till1 one sunshiny morning1 nobody ever
 knew how1 he  ventured1 and so got     
over4  ,but the fact of the matter is1  
said the  shrewd-headed guide1 ,mr4     
,fearing had1 ,i think1 a slough of     
despond in  his own mind2 and a slough  
that he carried everywhere with him4    
,yes1  that was it4  ,greatheart in that
 has hit the nail on the head4  ,with   
one  happy stroke he has given us the   
whole secret of poor ,mr4 ,fearing's    
life-  long trouble4  ,just so2 it was  
the slough in himself that so kept poor 
,mr4 ,fearing back4  ,this poor pilgrim1
 who had so little to fear in his  past 
life1 had yet so much scum and filth1   
spume and mire in his present  heart1   
that how to get on the other side of    
that cost him not a month's  roaring    
only1 but all the months and all the    
years till he went over the  ,river not 
much above wet-shod4  ,and1 till then1  
not twenty million cart-  loads of      
wholesome instructions1 nor any number  
of good and substantial  steps1 would   

lift poor ,mr4 ,fearing over the ditch  
that ran so deep and so  foul           
continually within himself4  ,yes1 he   
had1 ,i think1 a slough of  despond in  
his mind1 a slough that he carried      
everywhere with him1 or  else he never  
could have been the man he was4  ,i1 for
 one1 thank the  great-hearted guide for
 that fine sentence4    #b4  ,it was a  
sight to see poor ,mr4 ,fearing at the  
wicket gate4  ,knock1  and it shall be  
opened unto you4  ,he read the          
inscription over the gate  a thousand   
times1 but every time he read it his    
slough-filled heart said  to him1 ,yes1 
but that is not for such as you4        
,pilgrim after pilgrim came  up the way1
 read the writing1 knocked1 and was     
taken in2 but still ,mr4  ,fearing stood
 back1 shaking and shrinking4  ,at last 
he ventured to take  hold of the hammer 
that hung on the gate and gave with it a
 small rap  such as a mouse might make4 
,but small as the sound was1 the        
,gatekeeper  had had his eye on his man 

all the time out of his watch-window2   
and  before ,mr4 ,fearing had time to   
turn and run1 ,goodwill had him by the  
collar4  ,but that sudden assault only  
made ,mr4 ,fearing sink to the earth1   
faint and half-dead4  ,peace be to thee1
 ,o trembling man6 said ,goodwill4      
,come in1 and welcome6  ,when he did    
venture in1 ,mr4 ,fearing's face was  as
 white as a sheet4  ,you would have said
 that an officer had caught a  thief if 
you had seen poor ,mr4 ,fearing hiding  
his face1 and the  ,gatekeeper hauling  
him in4  ,and not all the entertainment 
for which the  ,gate was famous1 nor all
 the encouragement that ,goodwill was   
able to  speak1 could make terrified    
,mr4 ,fearing for once to smile4  ,a    
more hard-  to-entertain pilgrim1 all   
the ,gate declared when he had gone1    
they had  never had in their hospitable 
house4    #c4  ,so he came1 said the    
guide1 till he came to our ,house2 but  
as he  behaved himself at the ,gate1 so 
he did at my ,master the ,interpreter's 

door4  ,he lay about in the cold a good 
while before he would adventure to      
call4  ,yet he would not go back        
neither4  ,and the nights were cold and 
long then4  ,at last ,i think ,i looked 
out of the window1 and perceiving a  man
 to be up and down about the door1 ,i   
went out to him1 and asked what  he was2
 but1 poor man1 the water stood in his  
eyes4  ,so ,i perceived what  he wanted4
  ,i went in1 therefore1 and told it in 
the house1 and we showed  the thing to  
our ,lord4  ,so ,he sent me out again to
 entreat him to come  in1 but ,i dare   
say ,i had hard work to do it4  ,at last
 he came in1 and ,i  will say that for  
my ,lord1 ,he carried it wonderful      
lovingly to ,mr4  ,fearing4  ,there were
 but a few good bits at the table1 but  
some of it was  laid upon his trencher4 
,in this way the guide tells us his     
first  introduction to ,mr4 ,fearing1   
and how ,mr4 ,fearing behaved himself in
 the  ,interpreter's ,house4  ,for      
instance1 in the parlour full of dust1  

when the  ,interpreter said that the    
dust is original sin and inward         
corruption1 you  would have thought that
 the ,interpreter had stabbed poor ,mr4 
,fearing to  the heart1 so did he break 
out and weep4  ,before the damsel could 
come  with the pitcher1 ,mr4 ,fearing's 
eyes alone would have laid the dust1    
they  were such a fountain of tears4    
,when he saw ,passion and ,patience1    
each  one in his chair--,i am that child
 in rags1 said ,mr4 ,fearing2 ,i have   
already received all my good things6    
,also1 at the wall where the fire       
burned because oil was poured into it   
from the other side1 he perversely      
turned that fire also against himself4  
,and when they came to the man in  the  
iron cage1 you could not have told      
whether the miserable man inside  the   
cage or the miserable man outside of it 
sighed the loudest4  ,and so  on1       
through all the significant rooms4  ,the
 spider-room overwhelmed him            
altogether1 till his sobs and the       

beating of his breast were heard all    
over the house4  ,the robin also when   
gobbling up spiders he made an  emblem  
of himself1 and the tree that was rotten
 at the heart1--till the  ,interpreter's
 patience with this so perverse pilgrim 
was fairly worn out4  ,so the           
,interpreter shut up his significant    
rooms1 and had this so  troublesome     
pilgrim into his own chamber1 and there 
carried it so  tenderly to ,mr4 ,fearing
 that at last he did seem to have taken 
some  little heart of grace4  ,and then 
we1 said ,greatheart1 set forward1 and  
,i went before him2 but the man was of  
few words1 only he would often sigh     
aloud4    #d4  ,dumpish at the ,house   
,beautiful is his biographer's not very 
respectful comment on the margin of the 
history4  ,there were too many          
merry-hearted damsels running up and    
down that house for ,mr4 ,fearing4  ,he 
could not lift his eyes but one of those
 too-tripping maidens was looking  at   
him4  ,he could not stir a foot but he  

suddenly ran against a talking  and     
laughing bevy of them4  ,there was one  
thing he loved above  everything1 and   
that was to overhear the talk that went 
on at that season  in that house about  
the ,city above1 and about the ,king of 
that ,city1 and  about ,his wonderful   
ways with pilgrims1 and the             
entertainment they all  got who entered 
that ,city4  ,but to get a word out of  
,mr4 ,fearing upon any  of these        
subjects1--all the king's horses could  
not have dragged it out  of him4  ,only1
 the screen was always seen to move     
during such  conversations1 till it soon
 came to be known to all the house who  
was  behind the screen4  ,and the       
talkers only talked a little louder as  
the  screen moved1 and took up1 with a  
smile to one another1 another and a yet 
more comforting topic4    ,the ,rarity  
,rooms also were more to ,mr4 ,fearing  
than his necessary food4  ,he would be  
up in the morning and waiting at the    
doors of those rooms  before the keepers

 had come with their keys4  ,and they   
had to tell him  that the candles were  
to be put out at night before he would  
go away4  ,he  was always reading1 as if
 he had never read it before1 the       
pedigree of  the ,lord of the ,hill4    
,moses' rod1 ,shamgar's goad1 ,david's  
sling and  stone1 and what not--he      
laughed and danced and sang like a child
 around  these ancient tables4  ,the    
armoury-room also held him1 where were  
the  swords1 and shields1 and helmets1  
and breast-plates1 and shoes that would 
not wear out4  ,you would have thought  
you had your man all right as long  as  
you had him alone among these old       
relics2 but1 let supper be ready1  and  
the house gathered1 and ,mr4 ,fearing   
was as dumpish as ever4  ,eat he  would 
not1 drink he would not1 nor would he   
sit at the same table with  those who   
ate and drank with such gladness4  ,i   
remembered ,mr4 ,fearing at  the ,house 
,beautiful when ,i was present at a     
communion season some time  back in     

,ross-shire4  ,the church was half full 
of ,mr4 ,fearing's close  kindred that  
communion morning4  ,for1 all that the  
minister himself could  do1 and all that
 the assisting minister could do--no6 to
 the table those  self-examined1        
self-condemned1 fear-filled souls would 
not come4  ,the two  ministers1 like    
,mr4 ,greatheart's ,master1 carried it  
wonderful lovingly  with those poor     
saints that day2 but those who are in   
deed1 and not in  name only1 passing the
 time of their sojourning here in       
fear--they cannot  all at once be lifted
 above all their fears1 even by the     
ablest action  sermons1 or by the most  
wise and tender table-addresses4  ,and1 
truth to  tell1 though you will rebuke  
me all the way home to-night for saying 
it1  my heart sat somewhat nearer to    
those old people who were perhaps a     
little too dumpish in their repentance  
and their faith and their hope  that    
morning1 than it did to those who took  
to the table with a light  heart4  ,i   

know all your flippant cant about gospel
 liberty and against  ,highland         
introspection1 as you call it--as well  
as all your habitual  neglect of a close
 and deep self-examination1 as ,paul    
called it2 but ,i  tell you all to-night
 that it would be the salvation of your 
soul if you  too worked your way up to  
every returning ,lord's table with much 
more  fear and much more trembling4     
,let a man examine himself1 ,saxon as   
well  as ,celt1 in ,edinburgh as well as
 in ,ross-shire1 and so let him eat of  
that flesh and drink of that blood4     
,these pills1 said ,mr4 ,skill1 are  to 
be taken three at a time fasting in half
 a quarter of a pint of the  tears of   
repentance2 these pills are good to     
prevent diseases1 as well as  to cure   
when one is sick4  ,yea1 ,i dare say it1
 and stand to it1 that if a  man will   
but use this physic as he should1 it    
will make him live for  ever4  ,but thou
 must give these pills no other way but 
as ,i have  prescribed2 for1 if you do1 

they will do no good4  ,then he and ,i  
set  forward1 said the guide1 and ,i    
went before2 but my man was of but few  
words1 only he would often sigh aloud4  
#e4  ,as to the ,hill ,difficulty1 that 
was no stick at all to ,mr4 ,fearing2   
and as for the lions1 he pulled their   
whiskers and snapped his fingers in     
their dumfoundered faces4  ,for you must
 know that ,mr4 ,fearing's trouble  was 
not about such things as these at all2  
his only fear was about his  acceptance 
at last4  ,he beat ,mr4 ,greatheart     
himself at getting down into  the       
,valley of ,humiliation1 till the guide 
was fain to confess that he  went down  
as well as he ever saw man go down in   
all his life4  ,this  pilgrim cared not 
how mean he was1 so he might be but     
happy at last4  ,that  is the reason why
 so many of ,god's best saints take so  
kindly and so  quietly to things that   
drive other men mad4  ,you wonder       
sometimes when  you see an innocent man 
sit down quietly under accusations and  

insults  and injuries that you spend all
 the rest of your life resenting and    
repaying4  ,and that is the reason also 
that so many of ,god's best saints  in  
other ages and other communions used to 
pursue evangelical humility  and ascetic
 poverty and seclusion till they        
obliterated themselves out of  all human
 remembrance1 and buried themselves in  
retreats of silence and  of prayer4     
,yes1 you are quite right4  ,a garment  
of sackcloth may cover  an unsanctified 
heart2 and the fathers of the desert did
 not all escape  the depths of ,satan   
and the plague of their own heart4      
,quite true4  ,a  contrite heart may be 
carried about an applauding city in a   
coach and  six2 and a crucified heart   
may be clothed in purple and fine linen1
 and  may fare sumptuously every day4   
,a saint of ,god will sometimes sit on a
  throne with a more weaned mind than   
that with which ,elijah or the ,baptist 
will macerate themselves in the         
wilderness4  ,every man who is really   

set  on heaven must find his own way    
thither2 and he who is really intent on 
his own way thither will neither have   
the time nor the heart to throw  stones 
at his brother who thinks he has        
discovered his own best way4  ,all  the 
pilgrims who got to the ,city at last   
did not get down ,difficulty and        
through ,humiliation so well as ,mr4    
,fearing did2 nor was it absolutely     
necessary that they should4  ,it was not
 to lay down an iron-fast rule for      
others1 but it was only to amuse the way
 with his account of ,mr4 ,fearing1     
that the guide went on to say3 ,yes1 ,i 
think there was a kind of sympathy      
betwixt that valley and my man4  ,for ,i
 never saw him better in all his        
pilgrimage than when he was in that     
valley4  ,for here he would lie down1   
embrace the ground1 and kiss the very   
flowers that grew in this valley4  ,he  
would now be up every morning by break  
of day1 tracing and walking to  and fro 
in that valley4    #f4  ,now1 do you    

think you could guess how ,mr4 ,fearing 
conducted himself  in ,vanity ,fair8    
,your guess is important to us and to   
you to-night2 for  it will show whether 
or no ,john ,bunyan and ,mr4 ,greatheart
 have spent  their strength for nought  
and in vain on you4  ,it will show      
whether or no  you have got inside of   
,mr4 ,fearing with all that has been    
said2 and thus1  inside of yourself4    
,guess1 then4  ,how did ,mr4 ,fearing do
 in ,vanity ,fair1  do you think8  ,to  
give you a clue1 recollect that he was  
the timidest of  souls4  ,and remember  
how you have often been afraid to look  
at things in  a shop window lest the    
shopkeeper should come out and hold you 
to the  thing you were looking at4      
,remember also that you are the         
life-long  owners of some things just   
because they were thrown at your head4  
,remember how you sauntered into a sale 
on one occasion1 and1 out of sheer      
idleness and pure fun1 made a bid1 and  
to your consternation the  encumbrance  

was knocked down to your name2 and it   
fills up your house to-  day till you   
would give ten times its value to some  
one to take it away  for ever out of    
your sight4  ,well1 what was it that    
those who were so  shamelessly and so   
pesteringly cadging about places1 and   
titles1 and  preferments1 and wives1 and
 gold1 and silver1 and such like--what  
was it  they prevailed on this poor     
stupid countryman to cheapen and buy8   
,do you  guess1 or do you give it up8   
,well1 ,greatheart himself was again and
  again almost taken in2 and would have 
been had not ,mr4 ,fearing been  beside 
him4  ,but ,mr4 ,fearing looked at all  
the jugglers1 and cheats1 and  knaves1  
and apes1 and fools as if he would have 
bitten a firebrand4  ,i  thought he     
would have fought with all the men of   
the fair2 ,i feared there  we should    
have both been knock'd o' th' head1 so  
hot was he against their  fooleries4    
,and then--for ,greatheart was a bit of 
a philosopher1 and  liked to entertain  

and while the away with tracing things  
up to their  causes--it was all1 he     
said1 because ,mr4 ,fearing was so      
tender of sin4  ,he was above many      
tender of sin4  ,he was so afraid1 not  
for himself only1  but of doing injury  
to others1 that he would deny himself   
the purchase  and possession and        
enjoyment even of that which was lawful1
 because he  would not offend4  ,all    
this while1 says ,bunyan himself1 in the
 eighty-  second paragraph of ,grace    
,abounding1 as to the act of sinning ,i 
was  never more tender than now4  ,i    
durst not take a pin or a stick1 though 
but so big as a straw1 for my conscience
 now was sore and would smart at  every 
touch4  ,i could not now tell how to    
speak my words for fear ,i  should      
misplace them4  ,the highest flames1    
says ,jeremy ,taylor in his  ,life of   
,christ1 are the most tremulous4    #g4 
,but when he was come at the river where
 was no bridge1 there1 again1  ,mr4     
,fearing was in a heavy case4  ,now1 he 

said1 he should be drowned for  ever1   
and so never see that ,face with comfort
 that he had come so many  miles to     
behold4  ,and here also ,i took notice  
of what was very  remarkable2 the water 
of that river was lower at this time    
than ever ,i  saw it in all my life1 so 
he went over at last not much above     
wet-shod4  ,then said ,christiana1 ,this
 relation of ,mr4 ,fearing has done me  
good4  ,i  thought nobody had been like 
me1 but ,i see there was some semblance 
betwixt this good man and ,i1 only we   
differed in two things4  ,his  troubles 
were so great that they broke out1 but  
mine ,i kept within4  ,his  also lay so 
hard upon him that he could not knock at
 the houses provided  for entertainment1
 but my trouble was always such that it 
made me knock  the louder4  ,if ,i might
 also speak my heart1 said ,mercy1 ,i   
must say  that something of him has also
 dwelt in me4  ,for ,i have ever been   
more  afraid of the lake1 and the loss  
of a place in ,paradise1 than ,i have   

been  of the loss of other things4  ,oh6
 thought ,i1 may ,i have the happiness  
to  have a habitation there3 'tis enough
 though ,i part with all the world to   
win it4  ,then said ,matthew1 ,fear was 
one thing that made me think that  ,i   
was far from having that within me that 
accompanies salvation2 but if  it was so
 with such a good man as he1 why may it 
not also go well with  me8  ,no fears1  
no grace1 said ,james4  ,though there is
 not always  grace where there is fear  
of hell2 yet1 to be sure1 there is no   
grace  where there is no fear of ,god4  
,well said1 ,james1 said ,greatheart2   
thou hast hit the mark1 for the fear of 
,god is the beginning of wisdom2  and1  
to be sure1 they that want the beginning
 have neither middle nor  end4  ,but we 
shall here conclude our discourse of    
,mr4 ,fearing after we  have sent after 
him this farewell3--             ,it is 
because     ,then thou didst fear1 that 
now thou dost not fear4     ,thou hast  
forestalled the agony1 and so     ,for  

thee the bitterness of death is past4   
,also1 because already in thy soul      
,the judgment is begun4  ,that day of   
doom1     ,one and the same for this    
collected world--     ,that solemn      
consummation for all flesh1     ,is1 in 
the case of each1 anticipate     ,upon  
his death2 and1 as the last great day   
,in the particular judgment is          
rehearsed1     ,so now1 too1 ere thou   
comest to the ,throne1     ,a presage   
falls upon thee1 as a ray     ,straight 
from the ,judge1 expressive of thy lot4 
,that calm and joy uprising in thy soul 
,is first-fruit to thy recompense1      
,and heaven begun4                      
,,feeble-,,mind         ,comfort the    
feeble-minded4--,paul4    ,feeble-mind  
shall first tell you his own story in   
his own words1 and then  ,i shall       
perhaps venture a few observations upon 
his history and his  character4    ,i am
 but a sickly man1 as you see1 said     
,feeble-mind to ,greatheart1 and        
because ,death did usually knock once a 

day at my door1 ,i thought ,i should    
never be well at home4  ,so ,i betook   
myself to a pilgrim's life1 and have    
travelled hither from the town of       
,uncertain1 where ,i and my father were 
born4  ,i am a man of no strength at all
 of body1 nor yet of mind2 but  would1  
if ,i could1 though ,i can but crawl1   
spend my life in the pilgrim's  way4    
,when ,i came at the gate that is at the
 head of the way1 the ,lord of  that    
place did entertain me freely4  ,neither
 objected he against my  weakly looks1  
nor against my feeble mind2 but gave me 
such things as were  necessary for my   
journey1 and bade me hope to the end4   
,when ,i came to  the house of the      
,interpreter ,i received much kindness  
there2 and1 because  the ,hill          
,difficulty was judged too hard for me1 
,i was carried up that  hill by one of  
his servants4  ,indeed ,i have found    
much relief from  pilgrims1 though none 
were willing to go so softly as ,i am   
forced to do4  ,yet1 still1 as they came

 on1 they bid me be of good cheer1 and  
said that  it was the will of their     
,lord that comfort should be given to   
the feeble-  minded1 and so went on     
their own pace4  ,i look for brunts by  
the way2 but  this ,i have resolved on1 
to wit1 to run when ,i can1 to go when  
,i cannot  run1 and to creep when ,i    
cannot go4  ,as to the main1 ,i thank   
,him that  loves me1 ,i am fixed4  ,my  
way is before me1 my mind is beyond the 
river  that has no bridge1 though ,i am1
 as you see1 but of a feeble mind4      
,then said old ,mr4 ,honest1 ,have you  
not some time ago been acquainted  with 
one ,mr4 ,fearing1 a pilgrim8           
,acquainted with him6 yes4  ,he came    
from the town of ,stupidity1 which lies 
four degrees to the northward of  the   
,city of ,destruction1 and as many off  
where ,i was born4  ,yet we were  well  
acquainted2 for1 indeed1 he was mine    
uncle1 my father's brother4  ,he  and ,i
 have been much of a temper2 he was a   
little shorter than ,i1 but yet  we were

 much of a complexion4  ,i perceive that
 you know him1 said ,mr4  ,honest1 and  
,i am apt to believe also that you were 
related one to  another2 for you have   
his whitely look1 a cast like his with  
your eye1  and your speech is much      
alike4    ,alas6 ,feeble-mind went on1  
,i want a suitable companion4  ,you are 
all  lusty and strong1 but ,i1 as you   
see1 am weak4  ,i choose therefore      
rather  to come behind1 lest1 by reason 
of my many infirmities1 ,i should be    
both  a burden to myself and to you4  ,i
 am1 as ,i said1 a man of a weak and    
feeble mind1 and shall be offended and  
made weak at that which others can      
bear4  ,i shall like no laughing2 ,i    
shall like no gay attire2 ,i shall like 
no unprofitable questions4  ,nay1 ,i am 
so weak a man as to be offended  with   
what others have a liberty to do4  ,i do
 not yet know all the truth4  ,i am a   
very ignorant ,christian man4           
,sometimes1 if ,i hear some rejoice in  
the ,lord1 it troubles me because ,i    

cannot do so too4  ,it is with me as    
with a weak man among the strong1 or as 
with a sickly man among the  healthy1 or
 as a lamp despised4  ,but1 brother1    
said ,greatheart1 ,i  have it in        
commission to comfort the feeble-minded 
and to support the  weak4  ,thus        
therefore1 they went on--,mr4           
,greatheart and ,mr4 ,honest went       
before2 ,christiana and her children    
went next2 and ,mr4 ,feeble-mind and    
,mr4 ,ready-to-halt came behind with his
 crutches4    #a4  ,in the first place1 
a single word as to ,feeble-mind's      
family tree4    ,thackeray says that    
,the ,peerage is the ,family ,bible of  
every true-born  ,englishman4  ,every   
genuine ,englishman1 he tells us1       
teaches that sacred  book diligently to 
his children4  ,he talks out of it to   
them when he sits  in the house and when
 he walks by the way4  ,he binds it upon
 his  children's hands1 and it is as a  
frontlet between their eyes4  ,he writes
  its names upon the doorposts of his   

house1 and makes pictures out of it     
upon his gates4  ,now1 ,john ,bunyan was
 a born ,englishman in his liking for  a
 family tree4  ,he had no such tree     
himself--scarcely so much as a  bramble 
bush2 but1 all the same1 let the tinker 
take his pen in hand1 and  the pedigrees
 and genealogies of all his pilgrims are
 sure to be set  forth as much as if    
they were to form the certificates that 
those  pilgrims were to hand in at the  
gate4    ,feeble-mind1 then1 was of an  
old1 a well-rooted and a wide-spread    
race4  ,the county of ,indecision was   
full of that ancient stock4  ,they had  
intermarried in-and-in also till their  
small stature1 their whitely look1  the 
droop of their eye1 and their weak leaky
 speech all made them to be  easily     
recognised wherever they went4  ,it was 
,feeble-mind's salvation  that ,death   
had knocked at his door every day from  
his youth up4  ,he was  feeble in body  
as well as in mind2 only the feebleness 
of his body had  put a certain strength 

into his mind2 the only strength he ever
 showed1  indeed1 was the strength that 
had its roots in a weak constitution at 
which sickness and death struck their   
dissolving blows every day4  ,to  escape
 death1 both the first and the second   
death1 any man with a  particle of      
strength left would run with all his    
might2 and ,feeble-mind  had strength   
enough somewhere among his weak joints  
to make him say1 ,but  this ,i have     
resolved on1 to wit1 to run when ,i can1
 to go when ,i cannot  run1 and to creep
 when ,i cannot go4  ,as to the main1 ,i
 am fixed6    #b4  ,at the ,wicket ,gate
 pilgrim ,feeble-mind met with nothing  
but the  kindest and the most           
condescending entertainment4  ,it was   
the gatekeepers  way to become all      
things to all men4  ,the gatekeeper's   
nature was all in  his name2 for he was 
all ,goodwill together4  ,no kind of    
pilgrim ever came  wrong to ,goodwill4  
,he never found fault with any4  ,only  
let them knock  and come in and he will 

see to all the rest4  ,the way is full  
of all the  gatekeeper's kind words and 
still kinder actions4  ,every several   
pilgrim  has his wager with all the rest
 that no one ever got such kindness at  
the  gate as he got4  ,and even         
,feeble-mind gave the gatekeeper this   
praise--,the ,lord of the place1 he     
said1 did entertain me freely4  ,neither
 objected he against my weakly looks nor
 against my feeble mind4  ,but he gave  
me such things as were necessary for my 
journey1 and bade me  hope to the end4  
,all things considered1 that is perhaps 
the best praise  that ,goodwill and his 
house ever earned4  ,for1 to receive and
 to secure  ,feeble-mind as a           
pilgrim--to make it impossible for      
,feeble-mind to  entertain a scruple or 
a suspicion that was not removed        
beforehand--to  make it impossible for  
,feeble-mind to find in all the house   
and in all  its grounds so much as a    
straw over which he could stumble--that 
was  extraordinary attention1 kindness1 

and condescension in ,goodwill and all  
his good-willed house4  ,go on1 go on1  
dear ,mr4 ,feeble mind1 said  ,goodwill 
giving his hand to ,mr4 ,fearing's      
nephew1 go on3 keep your  feeble mind   
open to the truth1 and still hope to the
 end6    #c4  ,as to the ,interpreter's 
,house1 ,i received much kindness there4
  ,that  is all4  ,but in that short    
speech ,i think there must he hid no    
little  shame and remorse4  ,no words   
could possibly be a severer condemnation
 of  ,feeble-mind than his own two or   
three so irrelevant words about the     
,interpreter's house4  ,no doubt at all1
 ,feeble-mind received kindness  there2 
but that is not the point4  ,that noble 
house was not built at such  cost1 and  
fitted up1 and kept open all the year   
round1 and filled with  fresh furniture 
from year to year1 merely that those who
 passed through  its significant rooms  
might report that they had received no  
rudeness at  the hands of the           
,interpreter4   ',come1' said the       

,interpreter to ,feeble-  mind1 'and ,i 
will show thee what will be profitable  
to thee4'  ,so he  commanded his man to 
light the candle and bid ,feeble-mind   
follow him4  ,but  it was all to no use4
  ,feeble-mind had neither the taste nor
 the capacity  for the significant      
rooms4  ,nay1 as one after another of   
those rich rooms  was opened to him1    
,feeble-mind took a positive dislike to 
them4  ,nothing  interested him2 nothing
 instructed him4  ,but many things      
stumbled and  angered him4  ,the parlour
 full of dust1 and how the dust was     
raised and  laid2 ,passion and          
,patience2 the man in the iron cage2 the
 spider-room2  the muck-rake room2 the  
robin with its red breast and its pretty
 note1  and yet with its coarse food2   
the tree1 green outside but rotten at   
the  heart1--all the thanks the         
,interpreter took that day for all that 
from  ,feeble-mind was in such speeches 
as these3 ,you make me lose my head4  ,i
  do not know where ,i am4  ,i did not  

leave the town of ,uncertain to be      
confused and perplexed in my mind with  
sights and sounds like these4  ,let  me 
out at the door ,i came in at1 and ,i   
shall go back to the gate4  ,goodwill   
had none of these unhappy rooms in his  
sweet house6  ,nothing  could exceed the
 kindness of the ,interpreter himself2  
but his house was  full of annoyances   
and offences and obstructions to ,mr4   
,feeble-mind4  ,he  did not like the    
,interpreter's house1 and he got out of 
it as fast as he  could1 with his mind  
as feeble as when he entered it2 and1   
what was  worse1 with his temper not a  
little ruffled4    ,and we see this very
 same intellectual laziness1 this very  
same downright  dislike at divine truth1
 in our own people every day4  ,there   
are in every  congregation people who   
take up their lodgings at the gate and  
refuse to  go one step farther on the   
way4  ,a visit to the ,interpreter's    
,house  always upsets them4  ,it turns  
their empty head4  ,they do not know    

where  they are4  ,they will not give   
what mind they have to divine truth1 all
  you can do to draw them on to it1 till
 they die as feeble-minded1 as          
ignorant1 and as inexperienced as they  
were born4  ,they never read a          
religious book that has any brain or    
heart in it4  ,the feeble ,lives of     
feeble-minded ,christians1 written by   
feeble-minded authors1 and published  by
 feeble-minded publishers1--we all know 
the spoon-meat that multitudes  of our  
people go down to their second childhood
 upon4  ,jonathan ,edwards--a  name they
 never hear at home1 but one of the most
 masculine and seraphic  of             
interpreters--has a noble discourse on  
,the ,importance and ,advantage of  a   
thorough ,knowledge of ,divine ,truth4  
,consider yourselves1 he says1  as      
scholars or disciples put into the      
school of ,christ1 and therefore be     
diligent to make proficiency in         
,christian knowledge4  ,content not     
yourselves with this1 that you have been

 taught your ,catechism in your         
childhood1 and that you know as much of 
the principles of religion as is        
necessary to salvation4  ,let not your  
teachers have cause to complain  that   
while they spend and are spent to impart
 knowledge to you1 you take  little     
pains to learn4  ,be assiduous in       
reading the ,holy ,scriptures4  ,and    
when you read1 observe what you read4   
,observe how things come in4  ,compare  
one scripture with another4  ,procure   
and diligently use other  books which   
may help you to grow in this knowledge4 
,there are many  excellent books extant 
which might greatly forward you in this 
knowledge4  ,there is a great defect in 
many1 that through a lothness to be at a
  little expense1 they provide          
themselves with no more helps of this   
nature4  ,weighty1 wise1 and lamentably 
true words4    ,mundanus1 says ,william 
,law1 is a man of excellent parts1 and  
clear  apprehension4  ,he is well       
advanced in age1 and has made a great   

figure in  business4  ,he has aimed at  
the greatest perfection in everything4  
,the  only thing which has not fallen   
under his improvement1 nor received any 
benefit from his judicious mind1 is his 
devotion2 this is just in the  same poor
 state it was when he was six years of  
age1 and the old man  prays now in that 
little form of words which his mother   
used to hear him  repeat night and      
morning4  ,this ,mundanus that hardly   
ever saw the poorest  utensil without   
considering how it might be made or used
 to better  advantage1 has gone on all  
his life long praying in the same manner
 as  when he was a child2 without ever  
considering how much better or oftener  
he might pray2 without considering how  
improvable the spirit of devotion  is1  
how many helps a wise and reasonable man
 may call to his assistance1  and how   
necessary it is that our prayers should 
be enlarged1 varied1 and  suited to the 
particular state and condition of our   
lives4  ,how poor and  pitiable is the  

conduct of this man of sense1 who has so
 much judgment  and understanding in    
everything but that which is the whole  
wisdom of  man6  ,how true to every     
syllable is that6  ,how simple-looking1 
and yet  how manly1 and able1 and noble6
  ,we close our young men's session with
  ,law and ,butler to-night1 and ,i     
cannot believe that our session with    
those  two giants has left one feeble   
mind in the two classes2 they were all  
weeded out after the first fortnight of 
the session2 though1 after all is  done1
 there are still plenty left both among 
old and young in the  congregation4     
,even ,homer sometimes nods2 and ,i     
cannot but think that  ,john ,bunyan has
 made a slip in saying that ,feeble-mind
 enjoyed the  ,interpreter's ,house4    
,at any rate1 ,i wish ,i could say as   
much about all  the feeble minds known  
to me4    #d4  ,the ,hill ,difficulty1  
which might have helped to make a man of
 ,feeble-  mind1 saw a laughable1 if it 
had not been such a lamentable1         

spectacle4  ,for it saw this poor       
creature hanging as limp as wet linen on
 the back of  one of the ,interpreter's 
sweating servants4  ,your little boy    
will explain  the parable to you4       
,shall ,i do this8 or1 shall ,i rather  
do that8 asks  ,feeble-mind at every    
stop4  ,would it be right8 or1 would it 
be wrong8  ,shall ,i read that book8    
,shall ,i go to that ball8  ,shall ,i   
marry that  man8  ,tell me what to do4  
,give me your hand4  ,take me up upon   
your back1  and carry me over this      
difficult hill4  ,i was carried up that1
 says  poor ,feeble-mind1 by one of his 
servants4    #e4  ,the one calamity of  
,mr4 ,feeble-mind's history1 says our   
ablest  commentator on ,bunyan1 was the 
finest mercy of his history4  ,that one 
calamity was his falling into ,giant    
,slay-good's hands1 and his finest      
mercy was his rescue by ,greatheart1 and
 his consequent companionship with  his 
deliverer1 with ,mr4 ,honest1 and with  
,christiana and her party till  they    

came to the river4  ,you constantly see 
the same thing in the life of  the      
,church and of the ,christian ,family4  
,some calamity throws a weak1  ignorant1
 and immoral creature into close contact
 with a minister or an  elder or a      
,christian visitor1 who not only        
relieves him from his present  distress1
 but continues to keep his eye upon his 
new acquaintance1  introduces him to    
wise and good friends1 invites him to   
his house1 gives  him books to read1 and
 keeps him under good influences1 till1 
of a weak1  feeble1 and sometimes       
vicious character1 he is made a         
,christian man1 till  he is able for    
himself to say1 ,it was good for me to  
be afflicted2 the  one calamity of my   
history has been my best mercy6    #f4  
,feeble-mind1 ,i am ashamed to have to  
admit1 behaved himself in a  perfectly  
scandalous manner at the house of ,gaius
 mine host4  ,he went  beyond all bounds
 during those eventful weeks4  ,those   
weeks were one long  temptation to      

,feeble-mind--and he went down in a     
pitiful way before his  temptation4     
,two marriages and two honeymoons1 with 
suppers and dances  every night1 made   
the old hostelry like very ,pandemonium 
itself to poor  ,feeble-mind4  ,he would
 have had ,matthew's and ,james's       
marriages conducted  next door to a     
funeral4  ,because he would not eat     
flesh himself1 he  protested against    
,gaius killing a sheep4  ,man1 said old 
,honest1 almost  laying his quarterstaff
 over ,feeble-mind's shoulders--,man1   
dost thou  think because thou art       
virtuous1 there shall be no more cakes  
and ale8  ,i shall like no laughing1    
said ,feeble-mind2 ,i shall like no gay 
attire2 ,i shall like no unprofitable   
questions4  ,i think it took some       
self-conceit to refuse to sit at table  
beside ,christiana because of her  gay  
attire4  ,and ,i hope ,mercy did not    
give up dressing well1 even after  she  
was married1 to please that weak-minded 
old churl4  ,and as to  unprofitable    

questions--we are all tempted to think  
that question  unprofitable which our   
incapacity or our ignorance keeps us    
silent upon  at table4  ,we think that  
topic both ill-timed and impertinent and
 unsafe  to which we are not invited to 
contribute anything4  ,i am a very      
ignorant man1 he went on to say2 and1 if
 that was said in any humility1         
,feeble-mind never said a truer word4   
,it is with me as it is with a weak  man
 among the strong1 or as with a sick man
 among the healthy1 or as a  lamp       
despised in the thought of him that is  
at ease4  ,all which only  brought      
,greatheart out in his very best        
colours4  ,but1 brother1 said  the      
guide1 ,i have it in commission to      
comfort the feeble-minded1 and to       
support the weak4  ,you must needs go   
along with us2 we will wait for you1  we
 will lend you our help1 we will deny   
ourselves of some things1 both          
opinionative and practical1 for your    
sake2 we will not enter into  doubtful  

disputations before you2 we will be made
 all things to you  rather than that you
 shall be left behind4    #g4  ,the     
first thing that did ,mr4 ,feeble-mind  
any real good was his being  made       
military guard over the women and the   
children while the men went  out to     
demolish ,doubting ,castle4  ,quis      
custodiet8 you will smile and  say when 
you hear that4  ,who shall protect the  
protector8 you will say4  ,but wait a   
little4  ,greatheart knew his business4 
,for not only did  ,feeble-mind rise to 
the occasion1 when he was put to it2    
but1 more than  that1 he was the soul of
 good company at supper-time that night4
  ,jocund  and merry are the very words4
  ,yes2 give your feeble and            
fault-finding  folk something to do4    
,send them to teach a class4  ,send them
 down into a  mission district4  ,lay a 
sense of responsibility upon them4      
,leave them  to deal with this and that 
emergency themselves4  ,cease carrying  
them on  your back1 and lay weak and    

evil and self-willed people on their    
back4  ,let them feel that they are of  
some real use4  ,as ,matthew ,arnold    
says1  ,let the critic but try practice1
 and you will make a new man of him4    
,as  ,greatheart made of ,feeble-mind by
 making him mount guard over the        
,celestial caravan while the fighting   
men were all up at ,doubting ,castle4   
#h4  ,mark this1 says ,mr4              
,feeble-mind's biographer on the early  
margin of  his history1 lest we should  
be tempted to forget the good parts of  
this  troublesome and provoking         
pilgrim--,mark this4  ,this1 namely1    
which  ,feeble-mind says to his guide4  
,as to the main1 ,i thank ,him that     
loves  me1 ,i am fixed4  ,my way is     
before me1 my mind is beyond the river  
that  has no bridge1 though ,i am1 as   
you see1 but of a feeble mind4  ,and    
that  leads us with returning regard and
 love to turn to the end of his         
history1 where we read3 ,after this ,mr4
 ,feeble-mind had tidings brought  him  

that the post sounded his horn at his   
chamber door4  ,then he came in  and    
told him1 saying1 ,i am come to tell    
thee that thy ,master hath need of      
thee1 and that in very little time thou 
must behold ,his face in  brightness4   
,then ,mr4 ,feeble-mind called for his  
friends1 and told them  what errand had 
been brought to him1 and what token he  
had received of  the truth of the       
message4  ,as for my feeble mind he     
said1 that ,i shall  leave behind me1   
for ,i shall have no need of that in the
 place whither ,i  go4  ,nor is it worth
 bestowing upon the poorest pilgrim4    
,wherefore1 when  ,i am gone1 ,i desire 
that you would bury it in a dung-hill4  
,this done1  and the day being come in  
which he was about to depart1 he entered
 the  river as the rest4  ,his last     
words were1 ,hold out1 faith and        
patience6  ,so  he went over to the     
other side4          ,,great-,,heart    
--when thou shalt enlarge my            
heart4--,david4    ,on ,sabbath1 the    

#abth ,december #ahhf1 ,i heard the late
 ,canon ,liddon preach  a sermon in ,st4
 ,paul's ,cathedral1 in which he classed
 ,oliver ,cromwell  with ,alexander the 
,sixth and with ,richard the ,third4  ,i
 had taken my  estimate of the great    
,protector's character largely from     
,carlyle's famous  book1 and you can    
judge with what feelings ,i heard the   
canon's  comparison4  ,and1 besides1 ,i 
had been wont to think of the ,protector
 as  having entered largely into ,john  
,bunyan's portrait of ,greatheart1 the  
pilgrim guide4  ,and the researches and 
the judgments of ,dr4 ,gardiner have    
only gone to convince me1 the eloquent  
canon notwithstanding1 that ,bunyan     
could not have chosen a better          
contemporary groundwork for his         
,greatheart  than just the great        
,puritan soldier4  ,cromwell's mental   
struggles before  his conversion1 his   
life-long searchings of heart1 his utter
 absence  of vindictiveness1 his        
unequalled capacity for seeing into the 

heart of  a situation1 and his own      
all-embracing hospitality of heart--all 
have  gone to reassure me that my first 
guess as to ,bunyan's employment of the 
,protector's matchless personality and  
services had not been so far  astray4   
,and the oftener ,i read the noble      
history of ,greatheart1 the  better ,i  
seem to hear1 beating behind his fine   
figure1 by far the  greatest heart that 
ever ruled over the realm of ,england4  
#a4  ,the first time that we catch a    
glimpse of ,greatheart's weather-beaten 
and sword-seamed face is when he is     
taking a stolen look out of the  window 
at ,mr4 ,fearing1 who is conducting     
himself more like a chicken than  a man 
around the ,interpreter's door4  ,and   
from that moment till ,mr4  ,fearing    
shouted ,grace reigns6 as he cleared the
 last river1 never  sportsman surely    
stalked a startled deer so patiently and
 so skilfully  and so successfully as   
,greatheart circumvented that           
chicken-hearted  pilgrim4  ,at last ,i  

looked out of the window1 and perceiving
 a man to be  up and down about the     
door1 ,i went out to him and asked him  
what he was2  but1 poor man1 the water  
stood ill his eyes4  ,so ,i perceived   
what he  wanted4  ,i went in1 therefore1
 and told it in the house1 and we showed
  the thing to our ,lord4  ,so ,he sent 
me out again to entreat him to come  in2
 but ,i dare say ,i had hard work to do 
it4  ,greatheart's whole account  of    
,mr4 ,fearing always brings the water to
 my eyes also4  ,it is indeed a         
delicious piece of ,english prose4  ,if 
,i were a professor of belles  lettres  
instead of what ,i am1 ,i would compel  
all my students1 under pain  of         
rustication1 to get those three or four 
classical pages by heart till  they     
could neither perpetrate nor tolerate   
bad ,english any more4  ,this  camp-fire
 tale1 told by an old soldier1 about a  
troublesome young recruit  and all his  
adventures1 touches1 surely1 the        
high-water mark of sweet and  undefiled 

,english4  ,greatheart was not the first
 soldier who could handle  both the     
sword and the pen1 and he has not been  
the last4  ,but not ,caesar  and not    
,napier themselves ever handled those   
two instruments better4    #b4          
,greatheart had just returned to his    
,master's house from having seen  ,mr4  
,fearing safely through all his troubles
 and well over the river1  when1 behold1
 another caravan of pilgrims is ready   
for his convoy4  ,for  ,greatheart1 you 
must know1 was the ,interpreter's armed 
servant4  ,when at  any time ,greatheart
 was off duty1 which in those days was  
but seldom1 he  took up his quarters    
again in the ,interpreter's house4  ,as 
he says  himself1 he came back from the 
river-side only to look out of the      
,interpreter's window to see if there   
was any more work on the way for him  to
 do4  ,and1 as good luck would have it1 
as has been said1 the guide was  just   
come back from his adventures with ,mr4 
,fearing when a pilgrim party1  than    

which he had never seen one more to his 
mind1 was introduced to him  by his     
,master1 the ,interpreter4  ,the        
,interpreter1 so we read at this  point1
 then called for a man-servant of his1  
one ,greatheart1 and bid him  take      
sword1 and helmet1 and shield1 and take 
these1 my daughters1 said  he1 and      
conduct them to the house called        
,beautiful1 at which place they  will   
rest next4  ,so he took his weapons and 
went before them1 and the  ,interpreter 
said1 ,god-speed4    #c4  ,now ,i saw in
 my dream that they went on1 and        
,greatheart went before  them1 so they  
came to the place where ,christian's    
burden fell off his  back and tumbled   
into a sepulchre4  ,here1 then1 they    
made a pause1 and  here also they       
blessed ,god4  ,now1 said ,christiana1  
it comes to my mind  what was said to us
 at the gate2 to wit1 that we should    
have pardon by  word and by deed4  ,what
 it is to have pardon by deed1 ,mr4     
,greatheart1 ,i  suppose you know2      

wherefore1 if you please1 let us hear   
your discourse  thereof4  ,so then1 to  
speak to the question1 said ,greatheart4
  ,you  have all heard about the        
question-day at ,highland communions4   
,that day  is so called because         
questions that have arisen in the minds 
of the men  in connection with doctrine 
and with experience are on that day set 
forth1 debated out1 and solved by much  
meditation and prayer2 age1             
saintliness1 doctrinal and experimental 
reading1 and personal experience  all   
making their contribution to the        
solution of the question in hand4  ,just
 such a question1 then1 and handled in  
such a manner1 was that  question which 
whiled the way and cheated the toil till
 the pilgrims came  to the ,house       
,beautiful4  ,the great doctrinal and   
experimental ,puritans1  with ,hooker at
 their head1 put forth their full       
strength and laid out  their finest work
 just on this same question that        
,christiana gave out at  the place1     

somewhat ascending1 upon which stood a  
cross1 and a little  below1 in the      
bottom1 a sepulchre4  ,but not the great
 ,comment on ,the  ,galatians itself1   
next to the ,holy ,bible as it is1 as   
most fit for a  wounded conscience2 no1 
nor that perfect mass of purest gold1   
,the ,learned  ,discourse of            
,justification1 nor anything else of    
that kind known to me1  is for one      
moment1 to compare in beauty1 in        
tenderness1 in eloquence1 in  scriptural
 depth1 and in scriptural simplicity    
with ,greatheart's noble  resolution of 
,christiana's question which he made on 
the way from the  ,interpreter's house  
to the ,house ,beautiful4  ,this is     
brave6 exclaimed  that mother in        
,israel1 when the guide had come to an  
end4  ,methinks it  makes my heart to   
bleed to think that ,he should bleed for
 me4  ,o ,thou  loving ,one6  ,o ,thou  
blessed ,one6  ,thou deservest to have  
me1 for ,thou  hast bought me4  ,no     
marvel that this made the water to stand

 in my  husband's eyes1 and that it made
 him trudge so nimbly on4  ,o ,mercy1   
that  thy father and thy mother were    
here2 yea1 and ,mrs4 ,timorous too6     
,nay1 ,i  wish now with all my heart    
that here was ,madam ,wanton too4       
,surely1  surely their hearts would be  
affected here6  ,promise me to read at  
home  ,greatheart's discourse on the    
,righteousness of ,christ1 and you will 
thank  me for having exacted the        
promise4    ,the incongruity of a       
soldier handling such questions1 and    
especially in  such a style1 has        
stumbled some of ,john ,bunyan's        
fault-finding readers4  ,the same       
incongruity stumbled the ,honourable    
,colonel ,hacker1 at ,peebles  or       
elsewhere1 to whom ,cromwell sent these 
from ,edinburgh on the #beth  ,december 
#afej--;,but indeed ,i was not satisfied
 with your last speech to  me about     
,empson1 that he was a better preacher  
than fighter or soldier--or  words to   
that effect4  ,truly1 ,i think that he  

that prays and preaches  best will fight
 best4  ,i know nothing that will give  
like courage and  confidence as the     
knowledge of ,god in ,christ will2 and  
,i bless ,god to see  any in this army  
able and willing to impart the knowledge
 they have for  the good of others4  ,i 
pray you receive ,captain ,empson       
lovingly3 ,i dare  assure you he is a   
good man and a good officer2 ,i would we
 had no worse4    #d4  ,will you not go 
in and stay till morning8 said the      
porter to  ,greatheart1 at the gate of  
the ,house ,beautiful4  ,no1 said the   
guide2 ,i  will return to my lord       
to-night4  ,o sir6 cried ,christiana and
 ,mercy1  we know not how to be willing 
you should leave us in our pilgrimage4  
,oh  that we might have your company    
till our journey's end4  ,then said     
,james1 the youngest of the boys1 ,pray 
be persuaded to go with us and  help us1
 because we are so weak and the way so  
dangerous as it is4  ,i  am at my lord's
 commandment1 said ,greatheart4  ,if he 

shall allow me to  be your guide quite  
through1 ,i shall willingly wait upon   
you4  ,but here  you failed at first2   
for when he bid me come thus far with   
you1 then you  should have begged me of 
him to have gone quite through with you1
 and he  would have granted your        
request4  ,however1 at present1 ,i must 
withdraw1  and so1 good ,christiana1    
,mercy1 and my brave children1 adieu6   
,help  lost for want of asking for1 is  
our author's condemnatory comment on the
  margin at this point in the history4  
,and there is not a single page in  my  
history1 or in yours1 my brethren1 on   
which the same marginal lament  is not  
written4  ,what help we would have had  
on our ,lord's promise if we  had but   
taken the trouble to ask for it6  ,and  
what help we once had1 and  have now    
lost1 just because when we had it we did
 not ask for a  continuance of it6  ,no1
 said ,greatheart to the porter1 and to 
the two  women1 and to ,james--,no4  ,i 
will return to my lord to-night4  ,i am 

at my  lord's commandment2 only1 if he  
shall still allot me ,i shall willingly 
wait upon you4    ,now1 what with the   
,house ,beautiful1 so full of the most  
delightful  company2 what with music in 
the house and music in the heart2 what  
with  ,mr4 ,brisk's courtship of ,mercy1
 ,matthew's illness1 ,mr4 ,skill's cure 
of  the sick man1 and what not--a whole 
month passed by like a day in that so   
happy house4  ,but at last ,christiana  
and ,mercy signified it to those of  the
 house that it was time for them to be  
up and going4  ,then said ,joseph  to   
his mother1 ,it is convenient that you  
send back to the house of ,mr4          
,interpreter to pray him to grant that  
,mr4 ,greatheart should be sent to us   
that he may be our conductor the rest of
 our way4  ,good boy1 said she1  ,i had 
almost forgot4  ,so she drew up a       
petition and prayed ,mr4 ,watchful  the 
porter to send it by some fit man to her
 good friend1 ,mr4  ,interpreter2 who1  
when it was come and he had seen the    

contents of the  petition1 said to the  
messenger1 ,go1 tell them that ,i will  
send him4 4  4 4 ,now1 about this time  
one knocked at the door4  ,so the porter
 opened1  and1 behold1 ,mr4 ,greatheart 
was there6  ,but when he came in1 what  
joy was  there6  ,then said ,mr4        
,greatheart to the two women1 ,my lord  
has sent each  of you a bottle of wine1 
and also some parched corn1 together    
with a  couple of pomegranates4  ,he has
 also sent the boys some figs and       
raisins  to refresh you on your way4    
,the weak may sometimes call the strong 
to  prayers1 ,i read again in the margin
 opposite the mention of ,joseph's      
name4  ,not that ,i am strong1 and not  
that she is weak1 but one of my  people 
,i spent an hour with last afternoon    
whom you would to a certainty  have     
called weak had you seen her and her    
surrounding1--she so called me  to      
prayer that ,i had to hurry home and go 
straight to it4  ,and all last  night   
and all this morning ,i have had as many

 pomegranates as ,i could eat  and as   
much wine as ,i could drink4  ,yes2 you 
attend to what the weakest  will        
sometimes say to you1 and they will     
often put you on the way to get         
,greatheart back again with a load of   
wines and fruits and corn on his        
shoulder to refresh you on your journey4
  ,good boy6 said ,christiana to        
,joseph her youngest son1 ,good boy6  ,i
 had almost forgot6    #e4  ,when old   
,mr4 ,honest began to nod after the good
 supper that ,gaius  mine host gave to  
the pilgrims1 ,what1 sir1 cried         
,greatheart1 you begin  to be drowsy2   
come1 rub up2 now here's a riddle for   
you4  ,then said ,mr4  ,honest1 ,let's  
hear it4  ,then said ,mr4 ,greatheart1  
,he that will kill1 must first be       
overcome2     ,who live abroad would1   
first must die at home4    ,hah6 said   
,mr4 ,honest1 it is a hard one2 hard to 
expound1 and harder  still to practise4 
,yes2 this after-supper riddle of ,mr4  
,greatheart is a  hard one in both      

respects2 and for this reason1 because  
the learned and  much experienced       
guide--learned with all that his        
life-long quarters in  the              
,interpreter's ,house could teach him1  
and experienced with a  lifetime's      
accumulated experience of the pilgrim   
life--has put all his  learning and all 
his life into these two mysterious      
lines4  ,but old  ,honest1 once he had  
sufficiently rubbed up his eyes and his 
intellects1  gave the answer3       ,he 
first by grace must conquered be        
,that sin would mortify4     ,and who1  
that lives1 would convince me1          
,unto himself must die4    ,exactly2    
shrewd old ,honest2 you have hit off    
both ,greatheart and his  riddle too4   
,you have dived into the deepest heart  
of the ,interpreter's  man-servant4     
,the magnanimous man was ,aristotle's   
masterpiece4  ,that  great teacher of   
mind and morals created for the ,greek  
world their  ,greatheart4  ,but1 thou   
must understand1 says ,bunyan to his    

readers1  that ,i never went to school  
to ,aristotle or ,plato4  ,no2 but to   
,paul1 who  taught ,bunyan that what    
,aristotle calls magnanimity is really  
pride--taught him that1 till there is   
far more of the ,christian religion  in 
those two doggerel lines at ,gaius's    
supper-table than there is in all  ,the 
,ethics taken together4  ,and it is only
 from a personal experience of  the same
 life as that which the guide puts here 
into his riddle that any  man's proud   
heart will become really humble and thus
 really great1 really  enlarged1 and of 
an all-embracing hospitality like       
,cromwell's and  ,greatheart's and ,john
 ,bunyan's own4  ,would you1 then1      
become a ,greatheart  too8  ,and would  
you be employed in your day as they were
 employed in  their day8  ,then expound 
to yourself1 and practise1 and follow   
out that  deep riddle with which        
,greatheart so woke up old ,honest3     
,he that will kill1 must first be       
overcome2     ,who live abroad would1   

first must die at home4    #f4          
,greatheart again and again at the      
river-side1 ,greatheart sending  pilgrim
 after pilgrim over the river with      
rapture1 and he himself still  summoned 
to turn his back on the ,celestial      
,city1 and to retrace his steps  through
 the land of ,beulah1 through the       
,valley of the ,shadow of ,death1  and  
through the ,valley of ,humiliation1 and
 back to the ,interpreter's  house to   
take on another and another and another 
convoy of fresh  pilgrims1 and his own  
abundant entrance still put off and     
never to  come1--our hearts bleed for   
poor ,greatheart4  ,back and forward1   
back and  forward1 year after year1 this
 noble soul uncomplainingly goes4  ,and1
  ever as he waves his hand to another  
pilgrim entering with trumpets  within  
the gates1 he salutes his next pilgrim  
charge with the brave  words3 ,yet what 
,i shall choose ,i wot not4  ,for ,i am 
in a strait betwixt  two3 having a      
desire to depart and to be with ,christ4

  ,nevertheless to  abide in the flesh  
is more needful for you1 for your       
furtherance and joy  of faith by my     
coming to you again4  ,if ,greatheart   
could not usher  himself out of this    
life along with ,christiana1 and ,mercy1
 and ,mr4  ,honest1 and ,standfast1 and 
,valiant-for-truth--if he had still to  
toil  back and bleed his way up again at
 the head of another happy band of      
pilgrims--well1 after all is said1 what 
had the ,celestial ,city itself to  give
 to ,greatheart better than such blessed
 work8  ,with every such  returning     
journey he got a more and more enlarged1
 detached1 hospitable1  and ,christ-like
 heart1 and the ,king's palace in very  
glory itself had  nothing better in     
store for this soldier-guide than that4 
,a nobler  heaven ,greatheart could not 
taste than he had already in himself1 as
 he  championed another and another     
pilgrim company from his ,master's      
earthly  gate to his ,master's heavenly 
gate4  ,like ,paul1 his apostolic       

prototype1  ,greatheart sometimes       
vacillated just for a moment when he    
came a little  too near heaven1 and felt
 its magnificent and almost dissolving  
attractions full in his soul4  ,you will
 see ,greatheart's mind staggering  for 
a moment between rest and labour1       
between war and peace1 between  ,christ 
on earth and ,christ in heaven--you will
 see all that set forth  with great     
sympathy and great ability in ,principal
 ,rainy's new book on  ,paul's ,epistle 
to the ,philippians1 and in the chapter 
entitled1 ,the  ,apostle's ,choice      
between ,living and ,dying4    ,then    
there came a summons for ,mr4           
,standfast4  ,at which he called to him 
,mr4 ,greatheart1 and said unto him1    
,sir1 although it was not my hap to be  
much in your good company in the days of
 my pilgrimage1 yet1 since the  time ,i 
knew you1 you have been profitable to   
me4  ,when ,i came from home ,i  left   
behind me a wife and five small         
children4  ,let me entreat you1 at  your

 return 7for ,i know that you will go   
and return to your master's  house in   
hopes that you may be a conductor to    
more of the holy pilgrims71  that you   
send to my family and let them be       
acquainted with all that hath  and shall
 happen to me4  ,tell them1 moreover1 of
 my happy arrival to this  place1 and of
 the present late blessed condition ,i  
am in1 and so on for  many other        
messages and charges4  ,yes1 ,mr4       
,standfast2 very good4  ,but ,i  would  
have liked you on your deathbed much    
better if you had had a word  to spare  
from yourself and your wife and your    
children for poor  ,greatheart himself1 
who had neither wife nor children1 nor  
near hope of  heaven1 but only your     
trust and charge and many suchlike      
trusts and  charges to carry out when   
you are at home and free of all trust   
and all  charge and all care4  ,but     
yours is the way of all the pilgrims--so
 long1  at least1 as they are in this   
selfish life4  ,let them and their      

children  only be well looked after1 and
 they have not many thoughts or many    
words  left for those who sweat and     
bleed to death for them and theirs4     
,they  lean on this and that ,greatheart
 all their own way up1 and then they    
leave their widows and children to lean 
on whatever ,greatheart is sent to  meet
 them2 but it is not one pilgrim in ten 
who takes the thought or has  the heart 
to send a message to ,mr4 ,greatheart   
himself for his own  consolation and    
support4  ,i read that ,mr4             
,ready-to-halt alone1 good soul1  had   
the good feeling to do it4  ,he thanked 
,mr4 ,greatheart for his conduct  and   
for his kindness1 and so addressed      
himself to his journey4  ,all the  same1
 noble ,greatheart6 go on in thy        
magnanimous work4  ,take back all  their
 errands4  ,seek out at any trouble all 
their wives and children4  ,embark again
 and again on all thy former battles and
 hardships for the  good of other men4  
,but be assured that all this thy labour

 is not in  vain in thy ,lord4  ,be well
 assured that not one drop of thy blood 
or thy  sweat or thy tears shall fall to
 the ground on that day when they that  
be  wise shall shine as the brightness  
of the firmament1 and they that turn    
many to righteousness as the stars for  
ever and ever4  ,go back1 then1  from   
thy well-earned rest1 ,o brave          
,greatheart6 go back to thy waiting     
task4  ,put on again thy whole armour4  
,receive again1 and again fulfil1  thy  
,master's commission1 till ,he has no   
more commissions left for thy  brave    
heart and thy bold hand to execute4     
,and1 one glorious day1 while  thou art 
still returning to thy task1 it shall   
suddenly sound in thy  dutiful          
ears3--,well done6 good and faithful    
servant6  ,and then thou too            
,shalt hang thy trumpet in the hall     
,and study war no more4          ,,mr4  
,,ready-,,to-,,halt         ,for ,i am  
ready to halt4--,david4    ,mr4         
,ready-to-halt is the ,mephibosheth of  

the pilgrimage4  ,while  ,mephibosheth  
was still a child in arms1 his nurse let
 the young prince  fall1 and from that  
day to the day of his death he was lame 
in both his  feet4  ,mephibosheth's     
life-long lameness1 and then ,david's   
extraordinary  grace to the disinherited
 cripple in commanding him to eat       
continually at  the king's table2 in    
those two points we have all that we    
know about ,mr4  ,ready-to-halt also4   
,we have no proper portrait1 as we say1 
of ,mr4 ,ready-  to-halt4  ,mr4         
,ready-to-halt is but a name on ,john   
,bunyan's pages--a name  set upon two   
crutches2 but1 then1 his simple name is 
so suggestive and  his two crutches are 
so eloquent1 that ,i feel as if we might
 venture to  take this life-long lameter
 and his so serviceable crutches for our
  character-lecture to-night4    ,john  
,bunyan1 who could so easily and so     
delightfully have done it1 has  given us
 no information at all about ,mr4       
,ready-to-halt's early days4  ,for  once

 his ,english passion for a pedigree has
 not compelled our author's  pen4  ,we  
would have liked immensely to have been 
told the name1 and to  have seen        
displayed the whole family tree of young
 ,ready-to-halt's  father2 and1         
especially1 of his mother4  ,who was his
 nurse also8  ,and did  she ever forgive
 herself for the terrible injury she had
 done her young  master8  ,what were his
 occupations and amusements as a little 
cripple  boy8  ,who made him his first  
crutch8  ,of what wood was it made8     
,and at  what age1 and under whose kind 
and tender directions did he begin to   
use  it8  ,and1 then1 with such an      
infirmity1 what ever put it into ,mr4   
,ready-  to-halt's head to attempt the  
pilgrimage8  ,for the pilgrimage was a  
task  and a toil that took all the limbs
 and all the lungs and all the labours  
and all the endurances that the         
strongest and the bravest of men could  
bring to bear upon it4  ,how did this   
complete cripple ever get through  the  

,slough1 and first up and then down the 
,hill ,difficulty1 and past all  the    
lions1 and over a thousand other        
obstacles and stumbling-blocks1 till  he
 arrived at mine host's so hospitable   
door8  ,the first surprised sight  we   
get of this so handicapped pilgrim is   
when ,greatheart and ,feeble-mind  are  
in the heat of their discourse at the   
hostelry door4  ,at that moment  ,mr4   
,ready-to-halt came by with his crutches
 in his hand1 and he also was  going on 
pilgrimage4  ,thus1 therefore1 they went
 on4  ,mr4 ,greatheart and  ,mr4 ,honest
 went on before1 ,christiana and her    
children went next1 and ,mr4            
,feeble-mind and ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt    
came behind with his crutches4          
,put by the curtains1 look within my    
veil1     ,turn up my metaphors1 and do 
not fail1     ,there1 if thou seekest   
them1 such things to find1     ,as will 
be helpful to an honest mind4    #a4    
,well1 then1 when we put by the curtains
 and turn up the metaphors1  what do we 

find8  ,what1 but just this1 that poor  
,mr4 ,ready-to-halt was1  after all1 the
 greatest and the best believer1 as the 
,new ,testament would  have called him1 
in all the pilgrimage4  ,we have not    
found so great faith  as that of ,mr4   
,ready-to-halt1 no1 not in the very best
 of the pilgrim  bands4  ,each several  
pilgrim had1 no doubt1 his own good     
qualities2 but1  at pure and downright  
believing--at taking ,god at ,his bare  
and simple  word--,mr4 ,ready-to-halt   
beat them all4  ,all that flashes in    
upon us from  one shining word that     
stands on the margin of our so          
metaphorical author4  ,this single word1
 the promises1 hangs like a key of gold 
beside the  first mention of ,mr4       
,ready-to-halt's crutches--a key such   
that in a  moment it throws open the    
whole of ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt's otherwise
 lockfast  and secret and inexplicable  
life4  ,there it all is1 as plain as a  
pike-  staff now6  ,yes2 ,mr4           
,ready-to-halt's crutches are just the  

divine  promises4  ,i wonder ,i did not 
see that all the time4  ,why1 ,i could  
compose all his past life myself now4   
,i have his father and his mother  and  
his nurse at my finger-ends now4  ,this 
poor pilgrim--unless it would  be       
impertinence to call him poor any       
more--had no limbs to be called  limbs4 
,such limbs as he had were only an      
encumbrance to this unique  pedestrian4 
,all the limbs he had were in his       
crutches4  ,he had not one  atom of     
strength to lean upon apart from his    
crutches4  ,a bone1 a muscle1  a tendon1
 a sinew1 may be ill-nourished1         
undeveloped1 green1 and unknit1  but1 at
 the worst1 they are inside of a man and
 they are his own4  ,but a  crutch1 of  
however good wood it may be made1 and   
however good a lame man  may be at using
 it--still1 a crutch at its best is but 
an outside  additament2 it is not really
 and originally a part of a man's very  
self  at all4  ,and yet a lame man is   
not himself without his crutch4  ,other 

men  do not need to give a moment's     
forethought when they wish to rise up to
  walk1 or to run1 or to leap1 or to    
dance4  ,but the lame man has to wait   
till his crutches are brought to him2   
and then1 after slowly and  painfully   
hoisting himself up upon his crutches1  
with great labour1 he at  last takes the
 road4  ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt1 then1 is a 
man of ,god2 but he is  one of those men
 of ,god who have no godliness within   
themselves4  ,he has  no inward graces4 
,he has no past experiences4  ,he has no
 attainments  that he can for one safe  
moment take his stand upon1 or even     
partly lean  upon4  ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt 
is absolutely and always dependent upon 
the  promises4  ,the promises of ,god in
 ,holy ,scripture are this man's very   
life4  ,all his religion stands in the  
promises4  ,take away the promises1  and
 ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt is a heap of       
heaving rags on the roadside4  ,he      
cannot take a single step unless upon a 
promise4  ,but1 at the same time1  give 

,mr4 ,ready-to-halt a promise in his    
hand and he will wade the ,slough  upon 
it1 and scale up and slide down the     
,hill ,difficulty upon it1 and  fight a 
lion1 and even brain ,beelzebub with it1
 till he will with a  grudge and a doubt
 exchange it even for the chariots and  
the horses that  wait him at the river4 
,what a delight our ,lord would have    
taken in ,mr4  ,ready-to-halt had ,he   
come across him on ,his way to the      
passover6  ,how ,he  would have given   
,mr4 ,ready-to-halt ,his arm2 how ,he   
would have made  ,himself late by       
walking with him1 and would still have  
waited for him6  ,nay1 had that been a  
day of chap-books in carpenters' shops  
and on the  village stalls1 how ,he     
would have had ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt's    
story by heart  had any brass-worker in 
,galilee told the history6  ,our ,lord  
was within an  inch of telling that     
story ,himself1 when ,he showed ,thomas 
,his hands and  ,his side4  ,and at     
another time and in another place we    

might well have  had ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt
 as one more of our ,lord's parables for
 the common  people4  ,only1 ,he left   
the delight and the reward of drawing   
out this  parable to one ,he already saw
 and dearly loved in a far-off island of
 the  sea1 the ,puritan tinker of       
,evangelical ,england4    #b4  ,and now1
 after all that1 would you think it     
going too far if ,i were  to say that in
 making ,himself like unto all ,his     
brethren1 our ,lord made  ,himself like 
,mr4 ,ready-to-halt too8  ,indeed ,he   
did4  ,and it was because  his ,lord did
 this1 that ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt so loved
 his ,lord as to follow  ,him upon      
crutches4  ,it would not be thought     
seemly1 perhaps1 to carry the  figure   
too close to our ,lord4  ,but1 figure   
apart1 it is only orthodox and          
scriptural to say that our ,lord        
accomplished ,his pilgrimage and        
finished  ,his work leaning all along   
upon ,his ,father's promises4  ,esaias  
is very  bold about this also1 for he   

tells his readers again and again that  
their  ,messiah1 when ,he comes1 will   
have to be held up4  ,he will have to be
  encouraged1 comforted1 and carried    
through by ,jehovah4  ,and in one       
remarkable passage he lets us see       
,jehovah hooping ,messiah's staff first 
with brass1 and then with silver1 and   
then with gold4  ,let ,thomas           
,goodwin's genius set the heavenly scene
 full before us4  ,you have it          
dialoguewise set forth1 says that great 
preacher4  ,first ,christ shows  ,his   
commission1 telling ,god how ,he had    
called ,him and fitted ,him for the     
work of redemption1 and ,he would know  
what reward ,he should receive of  ,him 
for so great an undertaking4  ,god at   
first offers low2 only the elect  of    
,israel4  ,christ thinks these too few1 
and not worth so great a labour  and    
work1 because few of the ,jews would    
come in2 and therefore ,he says  that   
,he would labour in vain if this were   
all ,his recompense2 and yet  withal ,he

 tells ,god that seeing ,his heart is so
 much set on saving  sinners1 to satisfy
 ,him1 ,he will do it even for those    
few4  ,upon this ,god  comes off more   
freely1 and openeth ,his heart more     
largely to ,him1 as  meaning more amply 
to content ,him for ,his pains in dying4
  ',it is a light  thing1' says ,god to 
,him1 'that ,thou shouldest be ,my      
servant to raise up  the tribes of      
,jacob--that is not worth ,thy dying    
for4  ,i value ,thy  sufferings more    
than so4  ,i will give ,thee for a      
salvation to the ends of  the earth4'   
,upon this ,he made a promise to        
,christ1 a promise which ,god1  who     
cannot lie1 promised before the world   
began4  ,god cannot lie1 and1  most of  
all1 not to ,his ,son4    ,and1 then1   
more even than that4  ,this same deep   
divine tells us that it  is a certain   
rule in divinity that1 whatsoever we    
receive from ,christ1  that ,he ,himself
 first receives in ,himself for us4     
,all the promises of  ,god's word are   

made and fulfilled to ,christ first1 and
 so to us in and  after ,him4  ,in other
 words1 our ,lord's life was so planned 
for ,him in  heaven and was so followed 
out and fulfilled by ,him on earth1     
that1 to  take up the metaphor again1   
,he actually tried every crutch and     
every  staff with ,his own hands and    
with ,his own armpits2 ,he actually     
leaned  again and again ,his own whole  
weight upon every several one of them4  
,every single promise1 the most unlikely
 for ,him to lean upon and to  plead1   
yet1 be sure of it1 ,he somehow made    
experiment upon them all1 and  made sure
 that there was sufficient and          
serviceable grace within and  under     
every one of them4  ,so that1 ,mr4      
,ready-to-halt1 there is no  possible   
staff you can take into your hand that  
has not already been in  the hand of    
your ,lord4  ,think of that1 ,o ,mr4    
,ready-to-halt6  ,reverence1  then1 and 
almost worship thy staff6  ,throw all   
thy weight upon thy staff4  ,confide all

 thy weakness to it4  ,talk to it as    
thou walkest with it4  ,make  it talk to
 thee4  ,worm out of it all its secrets 
about its first ,owner4  ,and let it    
instruct thee about how ,he walked with 
it and how ,he handled  it4  ,the ,bible
 is very bold with its ,master4  ,it    
calls ,him by the most  startling names 
sometimes4  ,there is no name that a    
penitent and a  returning sinner goes by
 that the ,bible does not put somewhere 
upon the  sinner's ,saviour4  ,and in   
one place it as good as calls ,him      
,ready-to-halt  in as many words4  ,nay1
 it lets us see ,him halting altogether 
for a time2  ay1 oftener than once2 and 
only taking the road again1 when a still
  stronger staff was put into his       
trembling hand4  ,and if ,john had but  
had  room in his crowded gospel he would
 have given us the very identical  psalm
 with which our ,lord took to the upward
 way again1 strong in ,his new  staff4  
,for ,i am ready to halt1 was ,his psalm
 in the house of ,his  pilgrimage1 and  

,my sorrow is continually before ,me4   
,mine enemies are  lively1 and they are 
strong2 and they that hate ,me          
wrongfully are  multiplied4  ,they also 
that render evil for good are ,mine     
adversaries2  because ,i follow the     
thing that good is4  ,forsake ,me not1  
,o ,lord2 ,o ,my  ,god1 be not far from 
,me4  ,make haste to help ,me1 ,o ,lord 
,my salvation4    #c4  ,among all the   
devout and beautiful fables of the      
dispensation of  paganism1 there is     
nothing finer than the fable of blind   
,tiresias and  his staff4  ,by some sad 
calamity this old prophet had lost the  
sight of  his eyes1 and to compensate   
their servant for that great loss the   
gods  endowed him with a staff with     
eyes4  ,as ,aaron's rod budded before   
the  testimony and bloomed blossoms and 
yielded almonds1 so ,tiresias' staff    
budded eyes1 and divine eyes too1 for   
the blind prophet's guidance and        
direction4  ,tiresias had but to take   
his heaven-given staff in his hand1     

when1 straightway1 such a divinity      
entered into the staff that it both  saw
 for him with divine eyes1 and heard for
 him with divine ears1 and  then led him
 and directed him1 and never once in all
 his after journeys  let him go off the 
right way4  ,all other men about him1   
prophets and  priests both1 often lost  
their way1 but ,tiresias after his      
blindness1  never1 till ,tiresias and   
his staff became a proverb and a parable
 in the  land4  ,and just such a staff1 
just such a crutch1 just such a pair of 
crutches1 were the crutches of our own  
so homely ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt4  ,with   
all their lusty limbs1 all the other    
pilgrims often stumbled and went out  of
 their way till they had to be helped   
up1 led back1 and their faces set  right
 again4  ,but1 last as ,mr4             
,ready-to-halt always came in the       
procession--behind even the women and   
the children as his crutches always     
kept him--you will seek in vain for the 
dot of those crutches on any by-  path  

or on any wrong road4  ,no2 the fact is1
 if you wish to go to the  same city1   
and are afraid you lose the way2 as     
,evangelist said1 ,do you  see yon      
shining light8 so ,i would say to you   
to-night1 ,do you see these             
crutch-marks on the road8  ,well1 keep  
your feet in the prints of these        
crutches1 and as sure as you do that    
they will lead you straight to a        
chariot and horses1 which1 again1 will  
carry you inside the city gates4  ,for  
,mr4 ,ready-to-halt's crutches have not 
only eyes like ,tiresias' staff1  they  
have ears also1 and hands and feet4  ,a 
lamp also burns on those  crutches2 and 
wine and oil distil from their wonderful
 wood4  ,happy  blindness that brings   
such a staff6  ,happy exchange6 eyes    
full of earth  and sin for eyes full of 
heaven and holiness6    #d4  ,they began
 to be merry1 says our ,lord1 telling   
the story of the  heart-broken father   
who had got back his younger son from a 
far country4  ,and even ,feeble-mind and

 ,ready-to-halt begin to be merry on the
 green  that day after ,doubting ,castle
 has fallen to ,greatheart's arms4      
,now1  ,christiana1 if need was1 could  
play upon the viol1 and her daughter    
,mercy  upon the lute2 and1 since they  
were so merry disposed1 she played them 
a  lesson1 and ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt would
 dance4  ,so he paid a boy a penny to   
hold one of his crutches1 and1 taking   
,miss ,much-afraid by the hand1 to      
dancing they went4  ,and1 ,i promise you
 he footed it well2 the lame man  leaped
 as an hart2 also the girl was to be    
commended1 for she answered  the music  
handsomely4  ,in spite of his life-long 
infirmity1 there was  deep down in ,mr4 
,ready-to-halt an unsuspected fund of   
good-humour4  ,there  was no heartier   
merriment on the green that day than was
 the merriment  that ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt
 knocked out of his nimble crutch4      
,true1 he could  not dance without one  
crutch in his hand4  ,true1 dear and    
noble ,bunyan1  thou canst not write a  

single page at any time or on any       
subject without  thy genius and thy     
tenderness and thy divine grace marking 
the page as  thine own alone6    #e4    
,the next time we see ,mr4              
,ready-to-halt he is coming in on his   
crutches to see ,christiana1 for she has
 sent for him to see him4  ,so she  said
 to him1 ,thy travel hither hath been   
with difficulty1 but that will  make thy
 rest the sweeter4  ,and then in process
 of time there came a  post to the town 
and his business this time was with ,mr4
 ,ready-to-halt4  ,i am come to thee in 
the name of ,him whom thou hast loved   
and followed1  though upon crutches4    
,and my message is to tell thee that ,he
 expects  thee at ,his table to sup with
 ,him in ,his kingdom the next day after
  ,easter4  ,i am sent for1 said ,mr4   
,ready-to-halt to his fellow-pilgrims1  
and ,god shall surely visit you also4   
,these crutches1 he said1 ,i  bequeath  
to my son that shall tread in my steps1 
with an hundred warm  wishes that he may

 prove better than ,i have done4  ,isaac
 was a child of  promise1 and ,mr4      
,ready-to-halt had an ,isaac also on    
whom his last  thoughts turned4  ,isaac 
had been born to ,abraham by a special  
and  extraordinary and supernatural     
interposition of the grace and the power
  of ,god2 and ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt had  
always looked on himself as a second    
,abraham in that respect4  ,a second    
,abraham1 and more4  ,true1 his son was 
not yet a pilgrim2 perhaps he was too   
young to be so called2 but  ,greatheart 
will take back the old man's            
crutches--,greatheart was both man-     
of-war and beast-of-burden to the       
pilgrims and their wives and            
children--and will in spare hours teach 
young ,ready-to-halt the use of  the    
crutch1 till the son can use with the   
same effect as his father his  father's 
instrument4  ,is your child a child of  
promise8  ,is he to you a  product of   
nature1 or of grace8  ,did you receive  
him and his brothers and  sisters from  

,god after you were as good as dead8    
,did you ever steal in  when his nurse  
was at supper and say over his young    
cradle1 ,he hath not  dealt with me     
after my sins1 nor rewarded me according
 to my iniquities8  ,is it in your will 
laid up with ,christ in ,god about your 
crutches and  your son what ,mr4        
,ready-to-halt dictated on his deathbed8
  ,and does ,god  know that there is no 
wish in your old heart a hundred times  
so warm for  your son as is this        
wish1--that he may prove better at      
handling ,god's  promises than you have 
been8  ,then1 happy son1 who has old    
,mr4 ,ready-to-  halt for his father6   
#f4  ,he whom thou hast loved and       
followed1 though upon crutches1 expects 
thee at ,his table the next day after   
,easter4  ,take comfort1 cripples6  ,had
 it been said that the ,king so expects 
,greatheart1 or ,standfast1 or          
,valiant-for-truth1 that would have been
 after the manner of the kings of  this 
world4  ,but to insist on having ,mr4   

,ready-to-halt beside ,him by such  and 
such a day2 to send such a post to a    
pilgrim who has not a single  sound bone
 in all his body2 to a sinner without a 
single trustworthy  grace in all his    
heart2 to a poor and simple believer who
 has nothing in  his hand but one of    
,god's own promises--,who is a king like
 unto our ,king8  ,surely ,king ,david  
was never a better type of ,christ than 
when he said to  ,mephibosheth1 lame in 
both his feet from his nurse's arms3    
,fear not1  ,mephibosheth1 for ,i will  
surely show thee kindness1 and thou     
shalt eat  bread at my table            
continually4  ,and ,mephibosheth shall  
always be our  spokesman when he bows   
himself and says in return3 ,what is thy
 servant1  that thou shouldst look upon 
such a dead dog as ,i am8               
,,valiant-,,for-,,truth         --,they 
are not valiant for the                 
truth4--,jeremiah       --,ye should    
contend earnestly for the faith4--,jude4
       ,forget not ,master              

,valiant-for-the-,truth1     ,that man  
of courage1 tho' a very youth4     ,tell
 every one his spirit was so stout1     
,no man could ever make him face about4 
,bunyan4    ,i am of ,dark-land1 for    
there was ,i born1 and there my father  
and mother  are still4  ,dark-land1 said
 the guide2 doth not that lie upon the  
same coast as the ,city of ,destruction8
  ,yes1 it doth1 replied ,valiant-      
for-truth4  ,and had ,i not found       
incommodity there1 ,i had not forsaken  
it  at all2 but finding it altogether   
unsuitable to me1 and very unprofitable 
for me1 ,i forsook it for this way4     
,now1 that which caused me to come on   
pilgrimage was this4  ,we had one ,mr4  
,tell-true came into our parts1 and  he 
told it about what ,christian had done1 
that went from the ,city of             
,destruction4  ,that man so told the    
story of ,christian and his travels     
that my heart fell into a burning haste 
to be gone after him1 nor could  my     
father and mother stay me1 so ,i got    

from them1 and am come thus far on  my  
way4    #a4  ,a very plain and practical
 lesson is already read to us all in    
,valiant-for-truth's explanation of his 
own pilgrimage4  ,he tells the  guide   
that he was made a pilgrim just by      
having the story of ,the ,pilgrim  told 
to him4  ,all that ,tell-true did was   
just to recite the story of the         
pilgrim1 when young ,valiant's heart    
fell into a burning haste to be a       
pilgrim too4  ,my brethren1 could any   
lesson be plainer8  ,read the           
,pilgrim's ,progress with your children4
  ,and1 after a time1 read it  again    
till they call it beautiful1 and till   
you see the same burning  haste in their
 hearts that young ,valiant felt in his 
heart4  ,circulate  the ,pilgrim's      
,progress4  ,make opportunities to give 
the ,pilgrim's  ,progress to the        
telegraph boys and errand boys at your  
door4  ,never go  on a holiday without  
taking a dozen cheap and tasteful copies
 of ,the  ,pilgrim to give to boys and  

girls in the country4  ,make sure that  
no  one1 old or young1 of your          
acquaintance1 in town or country1 is    
without a  good copy of ,the ,pilgrim4  
,and the darker their house is1 make all
 the  more sure that ,john ,bunyan is in
 it4       ,now may this little book a  
blessing be1     ,to those that love    
this little book and me     ,and may its
 buyer have no cause to say     ,his    
money is but lost or thrown away4    #b4
  ,but the great lesson of ,valiant's so
 impressive life lies in the  tremendous
 fight he had with three ruffians who   
all set upon him at once  and well-nigh 
made an end of him4  ,for1 when we put  
by the curtains here  again1 and turn up
 the metaphors1 what do we find8  ,what1
 but a lesson of  first-rate importance 
for many men among ourselves2 for many  
public men1  many ministers1 and many   
other much-in-earnest men4  ,for        
,valiant1 as his  name tells us1 was set
 to contend for the truth4  ,he had the 
truth4  ,the  truth was put into his    

keeping1 and he was bound to defend it4 
,he was  thrown into a life of          
controversy1 and thus into all the      
terrible  temptations--worse than the   
temptations to whoredom or wine--that   
accompany a life of controversy4  ,the  
three scoundrels that fell upon         
,valiant at the mouth of the lane were  
,wildhead1 ,inconsiderate1 and          
,pragmatic4  ,in other words1 the       
besetting temptations of many men who   
are  set as defenders of the truth in   
religion1 as well as in other matters1  
is to be wild-headed1 inconsiderate1    
self-conceited1 and intolerably         
arrogant4  ,the bloody battle that      
,valiant fought1 you must know1 was not 
fought at the mouth of any dark lane in 
the midnight city1 nor on the  side of  
any lonely road in the moonless country4
  ,this terrible fight was  fought in   
,valiant's own heart4  ,for ,valiant was
 none of your calculating  and          
cold-blooded friends of the truth4  ,he 
did not wait till he saw the  truth     

walking in silver slippers4  ,let any   
man lay a finger on the truth1  or wag a
 tongue against the truth1 and he will  
have to settle it with  ,valiant4  ,his 
love for the truth was a passion4       
,there was a fierceness  in his love for
 the truth that frightened ordinary men 
even when they  were on his own side4   
,valiant would have died for the truth  
without a  murmur4  ,but1 with all that1
 ,valiant had to learn a hard and a     
cruel  lesson4  ,he had to learn that   
he1 the best friend of truth as he      
thought  he was1 was at the same time1  
as a matter of fact1 the greatest enemy 
that the truth had4  ,he had to take    
home the terrible discovery that no  man
 had hurt the truth so much as he had   
done4  ,save me from my friend6  the    
truth was heard to say1 as often as she 
saw him taking up his weapons  in her   
behalf4  ,we see all that every day4    
,we see ,wildhead at his  disservice of 
the truth every day4  ,sometimes above  
his own name1 and  sometimes with grace 

enough to be ashamed to give his name1  
in the  newspapers4  ,sometimes on the  
platform2 sometimes in the pulpit2 and  
sometimes at the dinner-table4  ,but    
always to the detriment of the truth4   
,in blind fury he rushes at the         
character and the good name of men who  
were servants of the truth before he was
 born1 and whose shield he is not       
worthy to bear4  ,how shall ,wildhead be
 got to see that he and the like of  him
 are really the worst friends the truth 
can possibly have8  ,will he  never     
learn that in his wild-bull gorings at  
men and at movements1 he is  both       
hurting himself and hurting the truth as
 no sworn enemy of his and  of the truth
 can do8  ,will he never see what an    
insolent fool he is to go  on imputing  
bad motives to other men1 when he ought 
to be prostrate  before ,god on account 
of his own8  ,more than one wild-headed 
student of  ,william ,law has told me   
what a blessing they have got from that 
great  man's teaching on the subject of 

controversy4  ,will the ,wildheads here 
to-  night take a line or two out of    
that peace-making author and lay them to
  heart8  ,my dear ,l-1 take notice of  
this1 that no truths1 however solid  and
 well-grounded1 will help you to any    
divine life1 but only so far as  they   
are taught1 nourished1 and strengthened 
by an unction from above2  and that     
nothing more dries and extinguishes this
 heavenly unction than a  talkative     
reasoning temper that is always catching
 at every opportunity  of hearing or    
telling some religious matters4  ,stop  
your ears and shut  your eyes to all    
religious tales 4 4 4 ,i would no more  
bring a false  charge against a deist   
than ,i would bear false witness against
 an  apostle4  ,and if ,i knew how to do
 the deists more justice in debate ,i   
would gladly do it 4 4 4 ,and as the    
gospel requires me to be as glad to  see
 piety1 equity1 strict sobriety1 and    
extensive charity in a ,jew or a        
,gentile as in a ,christian2 as it      

obliges me to look with pleasure upon   
their virtues1 and to be thankful to    
,god that such persons have so much  of 
true and sound ,christianity in them2 so
 it cannot be an unchristian  spirit to 
be as glad to see truths in one party of
 ,christians as in  another1 and to look
 with pleasure upon any good doctrines  
that are held  by any sect of ,christian
 people1 and to be thankful to ,god that
 they have  so much of the genuine      
saving truths of the gospel among them 4
 4 4  ,selfishness and partiality are   
very inhuman and base qualities even in 
the things of this world1 but in the    
doctrines of religion they are of a  far
 baser nature4  ,in the present divided 
state of the ,church1 truth  itself is  
torn and divided asunder2 and1          
therefore1 he is the only true          
,catholic who has more of truth and less
 of error than is hedged in by any      
divided part4  ,to see this will enable 
us to live in a divided part  unhurt by 
its division1 and keep us in a true     

liberty and fitness to be  edified and  
assisted by all the good that we hear or
 see in any other  part of the ,church4 
,and thus1 uniting in heart and spirit  
with all that  is holy and good in all  
,churches1 we enter into the true       
communion of  saints1 and become real   
members of the ,holy ,catholic ,church1 
though we  are confined to the outward  
worship of only one particular part of  
it4  ,and thus we will like no truth the
 less because ,ignatius ,loyola or ,john
  ,bunyan were very jealous for it1 nor 
have the less aversion to any error     
because ,dr4 ,trapp or ,george ,fox had 
brought it forth4  ,if ,wildhead would  
take a winter of ,william ,law1 it would
 sweeten his temper1 and civilise  his  
manners1 and renew his heart4    #c4    
,inconsiderate1 again1 is the shallow   
creature he is1 and does the  endless   
mischief that he does1 largely for lack 
of imagination4  ,he never              
thinks--neither before he speaks nor    
after he has spoken4  ,he never put     

himself in another man's place all his  
days4  ,he is incapable of doing  that4 
,he has neither the head nor the heart  
to do that4  ,he never once  said1 ,how 
would ,i like that said about me8 or1   
,how would ,i like that done  to me8 or1
 ,how would that look and taste and feel
 to me if ,i were in ,so-  and-so's     
place8  ,it needs genius to change      
places with other men2 it  needs a grace
 beyond all genius2 and this poor       
headless and heartless  creature does   
not know what genius is4  ,it needs     
imagination1 the noblest  gift of the   
mind1 and it needs love1 the noblest    
grace of the heart1 to  consider the    
case of other people1 and to see1 as    
,butler says1 that we  differ as much   
from other people as they differ from   
us4  ,and it is by  far the noblest use 
of the imagination1 far nobler than     
carving a  ,laocoon1 or painting a ,last
 ,judgment1 or writing a ,paradiso or a 
,paradise ,lost1 to put ourselves into  
the places of other men so as to  see   

with their eyes1 and feel with their    
hearts1 and sympathise with  their      
principles1 and even with their         
prejudices4  ,now1 the inconsiderate    
man has so little imagination and so    
little love that he is sitting here  and
 does not know what ,i am saying2 and   
what suspicion he has of what ,i  am    
saying is just enough to make him       
dislike both me and what ,i am saying   
too4  ,but his dull suspicion and his   
blind dislike are more than made up  for
 by the love and appreciation of those  
lovers and defenders of the  truth who  
painfully feel how wild and             
inconsiderate1 how hot-headed1 how      
thoughtless1 and how reckless their past
 service even of ,god's truth has  been4
       ,the ,king is full of grace and  
fair regard4     ,consideration1 like an
 angel1 came     ,and whipp'd the       
offending ,adam out of him4    #d4  ,and
 as to ,pragmatic1 ,i would not call you
 a stupid person even though  you       
confided to me that you had never heard 

this footpad's name till to-  night4    
,john ,bunyan has been borrowing ,latin 
again1 and not to the  improvement of   
his style1 or to the advantage of his   
readers4  ,it would  be insufferably    
pragmatic in me to begin to set ,john   
,bunyan right in his  ,english2 but ,i  
had rather offend the shades of a       
hundred ,john ,bunyans  than leave my   
most unlettered hearer without his full 
and proper ,sabbath-  night lesson4     
,the third armed thief1 then1 that fell 
upon ,valiant was1  under other names1  
,impertinence1 ,meddlesomeness1         
,officiousness1  ,over-,interference4   
,pragmatic1--by whatever name he calls  
himself1 there  is no mistaking him4    
,he is never satisfied4  ,he is never   
pleased4  ,he is  never thankful4  ,he  
is always setting his superiors right4  
,he is like  the ,psalmist in one thing1
 he has more understanding than all his 
teachers4  ,and he enjoys nothing more  
than in letting them know that4  ,there 
is nothing he will not correct you      

in--from cutting for the stone  to      
commanding the ,channel ,fleet4  ,now1  
if all that has put any visual  image of
 ,pragmatic into your mind1 you will see
 at once what an enemy he  too is fitted
 to be to the truth4  ,for the truth    
does not stand in  points1 but in       
principles4  ,the truth does not dwell  
in the letter but in  the spirit4  ,the 
truth is not served by setting other    
people right1 but  by seeing every day  
and in every thing how far wrong we are 
ourselves4  ,the truth is like charity  
in this1 that it begins at home4  ,it is
 like  charity in this also1 that it    
never behaves itself unseemly4  ,a      
pragmatical man1 taken along with an    
inconsiderate man1 and then a wild-     
headed man added on to them1 are three  
about as fatal hands as any truth  could
 fall into4  ,the worst enemy of the    
truth must pity the truth1 and  feel his
 hatred at the truth relenting1 when he 
sees her under the  championship of     
,wildhead1 ,inconsiderate1 and          

,pragmatic4    #e4  ,the first time we  
see ,valiant-for-truth he is standing at
 the mouth  of ,dead-man's-lane with his
 sword in his hand and with his face all
  bloody4  ,they have left upon me1 as  
you see1 said the bleeding man1  some of
 the marks of their valour1 and have    
also carried away with them  some of    
mine4  ,and1 in like manner1 we see     
,paul with the blood of  ,barnabas still
 upon him when he is writing the        
thirteenth of ,first  ,corinthians2 and 
,john with the blood of the ,samaritans 
still upon him  down to his old age when
 he is writing his ,first ,epistle2 and 
,john ,bunyan  with the blood of the    
,quakers upon him when he is covertly   
writing this  page of his autobiography 
under the veil of ,valiant-for-truth2   
and  ,william ,law with the blood of    
,bishop ,hoadly and ,john ,wesley       
dropping on  the paper as he pens that  
golden passage which ends with ,dr4     
,trapp and  ,george ,fox4  ,where did   
you think ,paul got that splendid       

passage about  charity8  ,where did you 
think ,william ,law got that companion  
passage  about ,church divisions1 and   
about the ,church ,catholic8  ,where are
 such  passages ever got by inspired    
apostles1 or by any other men1 but out  
of  their own bloody battles with their 
own wild-headedness1 intolerance1       
dislike1 and resentment8  ,where do you 
suppose ,i got the true key to the      
veiled metaphor of ,valiant-for-truth8  
,it does not exactly hang on the        
doorpost of his history4  ,where1 then1 
could ,i get it but off the inside  wall
 of my own place of repentance8  ,just  
as you understand what ,i am now        
labouring to say1 not from my success in
 saying it1 but from your own           
trespasses against humility and love1   
your unadvised speeches1 and your  wild 
and whirling words4  ,without shame and 
remorse1 without  self-condemnation and 
self-contempt1 none of those great      
passages of  ,paul1 or ,john1 or        
,bunyan1 or ,law were ever written2 and 

without a like  shame1 remorse1         
self-condemnation1 and self-contempt    
they are not rightly  read4       ,oh6  
who shall dare in this frail scene      
,on holiest1 happiest thoughts to lean1 
,on ,friendship1 ,kindred1 or on ,love8 
,since not ,apostles' hands can clasp   
,each other in so firm a grasp1     ,but
 they shall change and variance prove4  
,but sometimes even beneath the moon    
,the ,saviour gives a gracious boon1    
,when reconciled ,christians meet1      
,and face to face1 and heart to heart1  
,high thoughts of ,holy love impart     
,in silence meek1 or converse sweet4    
,oh then the glory and the bliss        
,when all that pained or seemed amiss   
,shall melt with earth and sin away6    
,when saints beneath their ,saviour's   
eye1     ,filled with each other's      
company1     ,shall spend in love the   
eternal day6    #f4  ,then said         
,greatheart to ,mr4 ,valiant-for-truth1 
,thou hast worthily  behaved thyself2   
let me see thy sword4  ,so he showed it 

him4  ,when he  had taken it in his hand
 and had looked thereon a while1 the    
guide said3  ,ha6 it is a right         
,jerusalem blade6  ,it is so1 replied   
its owner4  ,let  a man have one of     
these blades with a hand to wield it1   
and skill to use  it1 and he may venture
 upon an angel with it4  ,its edges will
 never  blunt4  ,it will cut flesh1 and 
bones1 and soul1 and spirit1 and all4   
,both ,damascus and ,toledo blades were 
famous in former days for their         
tenacity and flexibility1 and for the   
beauty and the edge of their steel4     
,but even a ,damascus blade would be    
worthless in a weak1 cowardly1 or       
unskilled hand2 while even a poor sword 
in the hand of a good swordsman  will do
 excellent execution4  ,and much more so
 when you have both a first-  rate sword
 and a first-rate swordsman1 such as    
both ,valiant and his  ,jerusalem blade 
were4  ,ha6 yes4  ,this is a right      
wonderful blade we have  now in our     
hand4  ,for this sword was forged in no 

earthly fire2 and it  was whetted to its
 unapproachable sharpness on no earthly 
whetstone4  ,but1  best of all for us1  
when a good soldier of ,jesus ,christ   
has this sword  girt on his thigh he is 
able then to go forth against himself   
with it2  against his own only and worst
 enemy--that is1 against himself4  ,as  
here1  against his own wildness of head 
and pride of heart4  ,against his own   
want of consideration also4  ,my people 
do not consider4  ,as also  against     
himself as a lawless invader of other   
men's freedom of judgment1  following of
 truth1 public honour1 and good name4   
,as the ,arabian  warriors see          
themselves and dress themselves in their
 swords as in a  glass1 so did          
,valiant-for-truth see the thoughts and 
intents1 the joints  and the marrow of  
his own disordered soul in his          
,jerusalem blade4  ,in the  sheen of it 
he could see himself even when the      
darkness covered him2 and  with its two 
edges all his after-life he slew both   

all real error in  other men and all    
real evil in himself4  ,thou hast done  
well1 said  ,greatheart the guide4      
,thou hast resisted unto blood1 striving
 against  sin4  ,thou shalt abide by us1
 come in and go out with us1 for we are 
thy  companions4    #g4  ,sir1 said the 
widow indeed to ,valiant-for-truth1 sir1
 you have in  all places shown yourself 
true-hearted4  ,the first time she ever 
saw  this man that she is now seeing for
 the last time on this side the river1  
his own mother would not have known him1
 he was so hacked to pieces with  the   
swords of his three assailants4  ,but as
 she washed the blood off the  mangled  
man's head and face and hands1 she soon 
saw beneath all his  bloody wounds a    
true1 a brave1 and a generous-hearted   
soldier of the  ,cross4  ,the heart is  
always the man4  ,and this woman had    
lived long  enough with men to have     
discovered that4  ,and with all his     
sears she saw  that it was at bottom the
 truth of his heart that had cast him   

into so  many bloody encounters4  ,there
 were men in that company1 and men near 
the  river too1 with far fewer marks of 
battle1 and even of defeat1 upon them1  
who did not get this noble certificate  
and its accompanying charge and  trust  
from this clear-eyed widow4  ,and1 then1
 she had never forgot--how  could       
she8--his exclamation1 and almost       
embrace of her as of his own  mother1   
when he burst out with his eyes full of 
blood1 ,why1 is this  ,christian's wife8
  ,what6 and going on pilgrimage too8   
,it glads my heart6  ,good man6  ,how   
joyful will he be when he shall see her 
and her children  enter after him in at 
the gates into the city6  ,he would have
 been  hacked a hundred times worse than
 he was before the widow of ,christian1 
and the mother of his children1 would   
have seen anything but the manliest     
beauty in a young soldier who could     
salute an old woman in that way4  ,it   
gladdened her heart to hear him1 you may
 be sure1 as much as it gladdened  his  

heart to see her4  ,and that was the    
reason that she actually set            
,greatheart himself aside1 and left her 
children under this young man's  sword  
and shield4  ,i would also entreat you  
to have an eye to my  children1 she     
said4  ,young men1 has any dying mother 
committed her  children1 if you at any  
time see them faint1 to you8  ,have you 
ever  spoken so comfortably to any poor 
widow about her sainted husband that    
she has passed by some of our foremost  
citizens1 and has astonished and        
offended her lawyers by putting a       
stripling like you into the             
trusteeship8  ,did ever any dying mother
 say to you that she had seen you  to be
 so true-hearted at all times that she  
entreated you to have an eye  to her    
children8  ,speaking at this point for  
myself1 ,i would rather see  my son so  
trusted at such an hour by such a woman 
than ,i would see him  the ,chancellor  
of ,her ,majesty's ,exchequer1 or the   
,governor of the ,bank of  ,england4    

,and so to-night would you4             
,,standfast         ,so stand fast in   
the ,lord1 my dearly beloved4--,paul4   
,in his supplementary picture of        
,standfast ,john ,bunyan is seen at his 
very  best1 both as a religious teacher 
and as an ,english author4  ,on the     
,enchanted ,ground ,standfast is set    
before us with extraordinary insight1   
sagacity1 and wisdom2 and then in the   
terrible river he is set before us  with
 an equally extraordinary rapture and   
transport2 while1 in all that1  ,bunyan 
composes in ,english of a strength and a
 beauty and a music in  which he        
positively surpasses himself4  ,just    
before he closes his great  book ,john  
,bunyan rises up and once more puts     
forth his very fullest  strength1 both  
as a minister of religion and as a      
classical writer1 when  he takes        
,standfast down into that river which   
that pilgrim tells us has  been such a  
terror to so many1 and the thought of   
which has so often  affrighted himself4 

,when ,greatheart and his charge were   
almost at the end of the ,enchanted     
,ground1 so we read1 they perceived that
 a little before them was a solemn      
noise as of one that was much concerned4
  ,so they went on and looked  before   
them4  ,and behold1 they saw1 as they   
thought1 a man upon his  knees1 with    
hands and eyes lift up1 and speaking1 as
 they thought1  earnestly to one that   
was above4  ,they drew nigh1 but could  
not tell what  he said2 so they went    
softly till he had done4  ,when he had  
done1 he got  up and began to run       
towards the ,celestial ,city4  ,so-ho1  
friend1 let us  have your company1      
called out the guide4  ,at that the man 
stopped1 and  they came up to him4  ,i  
know this man1 said ,mr4 ,honest2 his   
name1 ,i  know1 is ,standfast1 and he is
 certainly a right good pilgrim4  ,then 
follows a conversation between ,mr4     
,honest and ,mr4 ,standfast1 in which   
some compliments and courtesies are     
exchanged1 such as are worthy of such   

men1 met at such a time and in such a   
place4  ,well1 but1 brother1 said       
,valiant-for-truth1 tell us1 ,i pray    
thee1 what was it that was the cause  of
 thy being upon thy knees even now8     
,was it for that some special mercy     
laid obligations upon thee1 or how8     
,and then ,standfast tells how as he    
was coming along musing with himself1   
,madam ,bubble presented herself to  him
 and offered him three things4  ,i was  
both aweary and sleepy and also  as poor
 as a howlet1 and all that the wicked   
witch knew4  ,and still she  followed me
 with her enticements4  ,then ,i betook 
me1 as you saw1 to my  knees1 and with  
hands lift up and cries1 ,i prayed to   
,him who had said  that ,he would help4 
,so just as you came up the gentlewoman 
went her way4  ,then ,i continued to    
give thanks for my great deliverance2   
for ,i verify  believe she intended me  
no good1 but rather sought to make stop 
of me in  my journey4  ,what a mercy is 
it that ,i did resist her1 for whither  

might  she not have drawn me8  ,and     
then1 after all this discourse1 there   
was a  mixture of joy and trembling     
among the pilgrims1 but at last they    
broke  out and sang3       ,what danger 
is the pilgrim in1     ,how many are his
 foes1     ,how many ways there are to  
sin1     ,no living mortal knows6    #a4
  ,well1 as ,i was coming along ,i was  
musing with myself1 said  ,standfast4   
,you understand what it is to come along
 musing with yourself1  do you not1 my  
brethren8  ,i will muse on the work of  
,thy hands1 says  the ,psalmist4  ,and  
again1 ,while ,i was musing the fire    
burned4  ,well1  ,standfast was much    
given to musing1 just as ,david was4    
,each several  pilgrim has his own way  
of occupying himself on the road2 but   
,standfast  could never get his fill    
just of musing4  ,standfast loved       
solitude4  ,standfast liked nothing     
better than to walk long stretches at a 
time all  by himself alone4  ,standfast 
was like the apostle when he preferred  

to  take the twenty miles from ,troas to
 ,assos on foot and alone1 rather than  
to round the cape on shipboard in a     
crowd4  ,minding himself to go  afoot1  
says the apostle's companion4  ,it would
 have made a precious  chapter in the   
,acts of the ,apostles had the author of
 that book been able  to give his       
readers some of ,paul's musings as he   
crossed the ,troad on  foot that day4   
,but in the absence of ,paul's musings  
we have here the  musings of a man whom 
,paul would not have shaken off had he  
foregathered  with him on that lonely   
road4  ,for ,standfast was in a deep and
 serious  muse mile after mile1 when1   
who should step into the middle of his  
path  right before him but ,madam       
,bubble with her body and her purse and 
her  bed8  ,now1 had this hungry howlet 
of a pilgrim been at that moment in any 
other but a musing mood of mind1 he had 
to a certainty sold himself1 soul  and  
body1 ,celestial ,city and all1 to that 
impudent slut4  ,but1 as ,he  would have

 it who overrules ,madam ,bubble's      
descents1 and all things1  ,standfast   
was at that moment in one of his most   
musing moods1 and all her  smiles and   
all her offers fell flat and poor upon  
him4  ,cultivate  ,standfast's mood of  
mind1 my brethren4  ,walk a good deal   
alone4  ,strike  across country from    
time to time alone and have good long   
walks and talks  with yourself4  ,and   
when you know that you are passing      
places of  temptation see that your     
thoughts1 and even your imaginations1   
are well  occupied with solemn          
considerations about the certain issue  
of such and  such temptations2 and then1
 to you1 as to ,standfast1       ,the   
arrow seen beforehand slacks its flight4
    #b4  ,but1 musing alone1 the arrow  
seen beforehand1 and all1 ,standfast    
would have been a lost man on that      
lonely road that day had he not         
instantly betaken himself to his knees4 
,and it was while ,standfast was  still 
on his knees that the ascending pilgrims

 heard that concerned and  solemn noise 
a little ahead of them4  ,did you ever  
suddenly come across a  man on his      
knees8  ,did you ever surprise a man at 
prayer as ,greatheart  and his          
companions surprised ,standfast8  ,i do 
not ask1 ,did you ever enter  a room and
 find a family around their morning or  
evening altar8  ,we have  all done that4
  ,and it left its own impression upon  
us4  ,but did you ever  spring a        
surprise upon a man on his knees alone  
and in broad daylight8  ,i  did the     
other day4  ,it was between eleven and  
twelve o'clock in the  forenoon when ,i 
asked a clerk if his master was in4     
,yes1 he said1 and  opened his master's 
door4  ,when1 before ,i was aware1 ,i   
had almost fallen  over a man on his    
knees and with his face in his hands4   
,i pray thee1  said ,valiant-for-truth1 
tell us what it was that drew thee to   
thy knees  even now4  ,was it that some 
special mercy laid its obligations on   
thee1  or how8  ,i did not say that     

exactly to my kneeling friend1 though it
 was  on the point of my tongue to say  
it4  ,my dear friend1 ,i knew1 had his  
own  difficulties1 though he was not    
exactly as poor as a howlet4  ,and it   
might have been about some of his       
investments that had gone out of joint  
that he went that forenoon to ,him who  
had said that ,he would help4  ,or1     
like the author of the ,christian       
,perfection and ,the ,spirit of ,prayer1
  it was the sixth hour of the day1 and 
he may have gone to his knees for  his  
clerks1 or for his boys at school1 or   
for himself and for the man in  the same
 business with himself right across the 
street4  ,i knew that my  friend had the
 charming book at home in which such    
counsels as these  occur3 ,if masters   
were thus to remember their servants1   
beseeching ,god  to bless them1 letting 
no day pass without a full performance  
of this  devotion1 the benefit would be 
as great to themselves as to their      
servants4  ,and perhaps my friend1 after

 setting his clerks their several  tasks
 for the day1 was now asking grace of   
,god for each one of them that  they    
might not be eye-servants and           
men-pleasers1 but the servants of       
,christ doing the will of ,god from the 
heart4  ,or1 again1 he may have read  in
 that noble book this passage3 ,if a    
father were daily to make some          
particular prayer to ,god that ,he would
 please to inspire his children  with   
true piety1 great humility1 and strict  
temperance1 what could be  more likely  
to make the father himself become       
exemplary in these  virtues8  ,now1 my  
friend 7who can tell87 may just that    
morning have lost  his temper with his  
son2 or he may last night have indulged 
himself too  much in eating1 or in      
drinking1 or in debate1 or in           
detraction2 and that  may have made it  
impossible for him to fix his whole mind
 on his office  work that morning4  ,or1
 just to make another guess1 when he    
opened the  book ,i had asked him to buy

 and read1 he may have lighted on this  
heavenly passage3 ,lastly1 if all people
 when they feel the first  approaches of
 resentment or envy or contempt towards 
others2 or if in all  little            
disagreements and misunderstandings     
whatever they should have  recourse at  
such times to a more particular and     
extraordinary  intercession with ,god   
for such persons as had roused their    
envy1  resentment1 or discontent--this  
would be a certain way to prevent the   
growth of all uncharitable tempers4     
,you may think that ,i am taking a      
roundabout way of accounting for my     
friend's so concerned attitude at       
twelve o'clock that business day2 but   
the whole thing seemed to me so  unusual
 at such a time and in such a place that
 ,i was led to such guesses  as these to
 account for it4  ,in so guessing ,i see
 now that ,i was  intruding myself into 
matters ,i had no business with2 but all
 that day ,i  could not keep my mind off
 my blushing friend4  ,for1 like ,mr4   

,standfast1  my dear friend blushed as  
he stood up and offered me the chair he 
had  been kneeling at4  ,but1 why1 did  
you see me8 said ,mr4 ,standfast4  ,yes1
  ,i did1 quoth the other1 and with all 
my heart ,i was glad at the sight4  ,and
 what did you think8 said ,mr4          
,standfast4    #c4  ,was it1 asked      
,valiant-for-truth1 in a holy curiosity1
 was it some  special mercy that brought
 thee to thy knees even now8  ,yes2     
,valiant-for-  truth had exactly hit it4
  ,gracious wits1 like great wits1 jump 
together4  ,yes1 confessed ,standfast1  
,i continue to give thanks for my great 
deliverance4  ,my brethren1 you all pray
 importunately in your time of  sore    
trouble4  ,everybody does that4  ,but do
 you feel an obligation1 like           
,standfast1 to abide still on your knees
 long after your trouble is past8       
,nature herself will teach us to pray2  
but it needs grace1 and great grace     
continually renewed1 to teach us to     
praise1 and to continue all our days  to

 praise4  ,how we once prayed1 ay1 as   
earnestly1 and as concernedly1 and  as  
careless as to who should see or hear us
 as ,standfast himself6  ,how  some of  
us here to-night used to walk across a  
whole country all the time  praying6    
,how we hoodwinked people in order to   
get away from them to pray  for twenty  
miles at a time all by ourselves6       
,under that bush--it still  stands to   
mark the spot2 in that wood1 long since 
cut down into ploughed  land--we could  
show our children the spot to this day  
where we prayed1  till a miracle was    
wrought in our behalf4  ,yes1 till ,god 
sent from above  and took us as ,he     
never took a psalmist1 and set our feet 
upon a still  more wonderful rock4  ,how
 ,he1 yes1 ,,he1 with ,his own hand cut 
the cords1  broke the net1 and set us   
free6  ,come1 all ye that fear ,god6 we 
then  said1 and said it with all        
sincerity too4  ,and yet1 how have we   
forgotten  what ,he did for our soul8   
,we start like a guilty thing surprised 

when we  think how long it is since we  
had a spell of thanksgiving4  ,shame on 
us6  ,what treacherous hearts we have6  
,what short memories we have6  ,how soon
  we forgive ourselves1 and so forget   
the forgiveness of our ,god6  ,brethren1
  let us still lay plans for praise as  
we used to do for prayer4  ,if our      
friends will go out with us1 let us at  
least insist on walking home  alone4    
,let us say with ,paul that we get sick 
at sea2 and1 besides1 that  we have some
 calls to make and some small accounts  
to settle before we  leave the country4 
,tell them not to wait dinner for us4   
,and then let us  take plenty of time4  
,let us stop at all our old stations and
 call back  all our old terrors2 let us 
repeat aloud our old psalms--the        
twenty-fifth1 the fifty-first1 the      
hundred and third1 and the hundred and  
thirtieth4  ,we used to terrify people  
with our prayers as ,standfast          
terrified the young pilgrims that day2  
let us surprise and delight them  now   

with our psalms of thanksgiving4  ,for1 
with all our disgraceful  ingratitude in
 the past1 if ,william ,law is right1 we
 are even yet not far  from being great 
saints1 if he is not wrong when he asks3
 ,would you know  who is the greatest   
saint in the world8  ,it is not he who  
prays most or  fasts most2 it is not he 
who gives most alms1 or is most eminent 
for  temperance1 chastity1 or justice4  
,but it is he who is most thankful to   
,god1 and who has a heart always ready  
to praise ,god4  ,this is the           
perfection of all virtues4  ,joy in ,god
 and thankfulness to ,god is the        
highest perfection of a divine and holy 
life4  ,well1 then1 what an  endless    
cause of joy and thankfulness have we6  
,let us acknowledge it1  and henceforth 
employ it2 and we shall1 please ,god1   
even yet be counted  as not low down but
 high up among the saints and the       
servants of ,god4    #d4  ,christiana   
said many kind and wise and beautiful   
things to all the  other pilgrims before

 she entered the river1 but it was      
observed that  though she sent for ,mr4 
,standfast1 she said not one word to him
 when he  came2 she just gave him her   
ring4  ,the touch is human and          
affecting1  says ,mr4 ,louis ,stevenson1
 in his delightful paper on ,bagster's  
,bunyan1  in the ,magazine of ,art4  ,by
 the way1 do you who are lovers of      
,bunyan  literature know that remarkable
 and delicious paper8  ,the ,messrs4    
,bagster  should secure that paper and  
should issue an edition de luxe of their
  neglected ,bunyan1 with ,mr4          
,stevenson's paper for a preface and    
introduction4  ,bagster's ,illustrated  
,bunyan1 with an introduction on  the   
illustrations by ,mr4 ,louis ,stevenson1
 if ,i am not much mistaken1  would sell
 by the thousand4    #e4  ,lord         
,rosebery knows books and loves books1  
and he has called  attention to the     
surpassing beauty of the ,english in the
 deathbed scenes  of the ,pilgrim's     
,progress4  ,and every lover of pure1   

tender1 and noble  ,english must1 like  
the ,foreign ,secretary1 have all those 
precious pages  by heart4  ,were it not 
that we all have a cowardly fear at     
death  ourselves1 and think it wicked   
and cruel even to hint at his           
approaching  death even to a fast-dying 
man1 we would never let any of our      
friends lie  down on his sick-bed       
without having a reassuring and         
victorious page of  the ,pilgrim read to
 him every day4  ,if the doctors would  
allow me1 ,i  would have these heavenly 
pages reprinted in sick-bed type for all
 my  people4  ,but ,i am afraid at the  
doctors4  ,and thus one after another of
  my people passes away without the     
fortification and the foretaste that    
the deathbeds of ,christian1 and        
,christiana1 and ,hopeful1 and ,mr4     
,fearing1  and ,mr4 ,feeble-mind1 and   
,mr4 ,honest1 and ,mr4 ,standfast would 
most surely  have given to them4        
,especially the deathbed1 if ,i must so 
call it1 of  ,mr4 ,standfast4  ,but as  

,christiana said nothing that could be  
heard to ,mr4  ,standfast about his or  
her latter end1 but just looked into his
 eyes and  gave him her ring1 so ,i may 
not be able to say all that is in my    
heart  when your doctor is standing     
close by4  ,but you will understand what
 ,i  would fain say1 will you not8  ,you
 will remember1 and will have this      
heavenly book read to you alternately   
with your ,bible1 will you not8  ,even  
the most godless doctor will give way to
 you when you tell him that you  know as
 well as he does just how it is with    
you1 and that you are to have  your own 
way for the last time4  ,i know a doctor
 who first forbade her  minister and her
 family to tell his patient that she was
 dying1 and at  the same time told them 
to take away from her bedside all such  
alarming  books as the ,pilgrim's       
,progress and the ,saint's ,rest1 and to
 read to  her a reassuring chapter out  
of ,old ,mortality and ,pickwick4    ,it
 will1 no doubt1 put the best-prepared  

of us into a deep muse1 as it  put      
,standfast1 when we are first told that 
we must at once prepare  ourselves for a
 change of life4  ,but ,i for one would 
not for worlds miss  that solemn        
warning1 and that last musing-time4  ,it
 will all be just as  my ,master        
pleases2 but if it is within ,his will  
,i shall till then  continue to petition
 ,him that ,i may have a passage over   
the river like  the passage of          
,standfast4  ,or1 if that may not now   
be1 then1 at least1 a  musing-time like 
his4  ,the post from the ,celestial     
,city brought ,mr4  ,standfast's summons
 open in his hand4  ,and thus it was    
that ,standfast's  translation did not  
take him by surprise4  ,standfast was   
not plunged  suddenly and without       
warning into the terrible river4  ,he   
took the open  summons into big own hand
 and read it out like a man4  ,after    
which he  went1 as his manner was1 for a
 good while into a deep and undisturbed 
muse4  ,as soon as he came out of his   

muse he would have ,greatheart to be    
sent for4  ,and then their last         
conversation together proceeded4  ,and  
no  one interfered with the two         
brave-hearted men4  ,no one interposed1 
or  said that ,greatheart would exhaust 
or alarm ,standfast1 or would           
injuriously hasten his end4  ,not only  
so1 but all the way till he was  half   
over the river1 ,standfast kept up his  
own side of the noble  conversation4    
,and it is his side of that             
half-earthly1 whole-heavenly            
conversation that ,i would like to have 
put into suitable type and  scattered   
broadcast over all our sick-beds4    #f4
  ,tell me1 says ,valdes to ,julia in   
his ,christian ,alphabet1 have  you ever
 crossed a deep river by a ford8  ,yes1 
says ,julia1 ,i have1  many times4  ,and
 have you remarked how that by looking  
upon the water  it seemed as though your
 head swam1 so that1 if you had not     
assisted  yourself1 either by closing   
your eyes1 or by fixing them on the     

opposite  shore1 you would have fallen  
into the water in great danger of       
drowning8  ,yes1 ,i have noticed that4  
,and have you seen how by keeping always
 for  your object the view of the land  
that lies on the other side1 you have   
not felt that swimming of the head1 and 
so have suffered no danger of  drowning8
  ,i have noticed that too1 replied     
,julia4  ,now1 it was  exactly this same
 way of looking1 not at the black and   
swirling river1  but at the angelic     
conduct waiting for him at the further  
bank1 and then  at the open gate of the 
,celestial ,city1--it was this that kept
  ,standfast's head so steady and his   
heart like a glowing coal while he      
stood and talked in the middle of the   
giddy stream4  ,you would have  thought 
it was ,paul himself talking to himself 
on the road to ,assos4  ,for  ,i defy   
even the apostle himself to have talked 
better or more boldly to  himself even  
on the solid midday road than ,standfast
 talked to himself in  the bridgeless   

river4  ,i see myself1 he said1 at the  
end of my journey  now4  ,my toilsome   
days are all ended4  ,i am going now to 
see that head  that was crowned with    
thorns1 and that face that was spat upon
 for me4  ,i  loved to hear my ,lord    
spoken of1 and wherever ,i have seen the
 print of  ,his shoe in the earth ,i    
have coveted to set my foot also4  ,his 
name has  been to me as a civet-box2    
yea1 sweeter than all perfumes4  ,his   
word ,i  did use to gather for my food1 
and for antidotes against my faintings4 
,he  has held me1 and ,i have kept me   
from my iniquities4  ,yea1 my steps ,he 
has  strengthened in my way4  ,now1     
while ,standfast was thus in discourse  
his  countenance changed1 his strong man
 bowed down under him1 and after he  had
 said ,take me6 he ceased to be seen of 
them4  ,but how glorious it  was to see 
how the open region was now filled with 
horses and chariots1  with trumpeters   
and pipers1 and with singers and players
 on stringed  instruments1 all to       

welcome the pilgrims as they went up and
 followed one  another in at the        
beautiful gate of the city6             
,,madam ,,bubble         ,vanity of     
vanities1 all is vanity4--,solomon4     
,i have overcome the world4--,our ,lord4
       ,love not the world1 neither the 
things that are in the world4  ,for     
all that is in the world1 the lust of   
the flesh1 the lust of the eyes1     and
 the pride of life1 is not of the       
,father1 but is of the world4  ,and     
the world passeth away1 and the lust    
thereof4--,john4       ,this bubble     
world4--,quarles4    ,madam ,bubble's   
portrait was first painted by the       
,preacher4  ,and he  painted her        
portrait with extraordinary insight1    
boldness1 and  truthfulness4  ,there is 
that in the ,preacher's portrait of     
,madam ,bubble  which only comes of the 
artist having mixed his colours1 as     
,milman says  that ,tacitus mixed his   
ink1 with resentment and with remorse4  
,out of ,his  reading of ,solomon and   

,moses and the ,prophets on this same   
subject1 as  well as out of ,his own    
observation and experience1 conflict and
 conquest1  our ,lord added some strong 
and deep and inward touches of ,his own 
to that  well-known picture1 and then   
named it by the ,new ,testament name of 
the  ,world4  ,and then1 after ,him1    
,his longest-lived disciple set forth   
the  same mother and her three daughters
 under the three names that still  stick
 to them to this day1--the lust of the  
flesh1 the lust of the eyes1  and the   
pride of life4  ,but it was reserved for
 ,john ,bunyan to fill up  and to finish
 those outlines of ,scripture and to    
pour over the whole work  his own depth 
and strength of colour1 till1           
altogether1 ,madam ,bubble  stands out  
as yet another masterpiece of our       
dreamer's astonishing  genius4  ,let us 
take our stand before this heaving      
canvas1 then1 till we  have taken       
attentive note of some of ,john         
,bunyan's inimitable touches and        

strokes and triumphs of truth and art4  
,one in very pleasant attire1 but  old 4
 4 4 ,this woman is a witch 4 4 4 ,i am 
the mistress of the world1 she  said1   
and men are made happy by me 4 4 4 ,a   
tall1 comely dame1 something  of a      
swarthy complexion4  ,in the newly      
discovered portrait of a woman1  by     
,albert ,durer1 one of the marks of its 
genuineness is the way that the  great  
artist's initials ,a4 ,d4 are pencilled 
in on the embroidery of the  lady's     
bodice4  ,and you will note in this     
gentlewoman's open dress also  how ,j4  
,b4 is inextricably woven in4  ,she     
wears a great purse by her side  also1  
and her hand is often in her purse      
fingering her money4  ,yea1 this  is she
 that has bought off many a man from a  
pilgrim's life after he had  fairly     
begun it4  ,she is a bold and an        
impudent slut also1 for she will  talk  
with any man4  ,if there be one cunning 
to make money in any place1  she will   
speak well of him from house to house 4 

4 4 ,she has given it out  in some      
places also that she is a goddess1 and  
therefore some do actually  worship her 
4 4 4 ,she has her times and open places
 of cheating1 and she  will say and avow
 it that none can show a good comparable
 to hers4  ,and  thus she has brought   
many to the halter1 and ten thousand    
times more to  hell4  ,none can tell of 
the mischief that she does4  ,she makes 
variance  betwixt rulers and subjects1  
betwixt parents and children1 'twixt    
neighbour and neighbour1 'twixt a man   
and his wife1 'twixt a man and  himself1
 'twixt the flesh and the heart4  ,and  
so on in the great  original4  ,had she 
stood by all this while1 said           
,standfast1 whose eyes  were still full 
of her1 you could not have set ,madam   
,bubble more amply  before me1 nor have 
better described her features4  ,he that
 drew her  picture was a good limner1   
said ,mr4 ,honest1 and he that so wrote 
of her  said true4    #a4  ,i am the    
mistress of this world1 says ,madam     

,bubble4  ,and though all  the time she 
is a bold and impudent slut1 yet it is  
the simple truth that  she does sit as a
 queen over this world and over the men 
of this world4  ,for ,madam ,bubble has 
a royal family like all other           
sovereigns4  ,she has a  court of her   
own1 too1 with its ball-room            
presentations and its birthday  honours4
  ,she has a cabinet council also1 and a
 bar and a bench with  their pleadings  
and their decisions4  ,far more than all
 that1 she has a  church which she has  
established and of which she is the     
head2 and a  faith also of which she is 
the defender4  ,she has a standing army 
also  for the extension and the         
protection of her dominions4  ,she      
levies taxes1  too1 and sends out       
ambassadors1 and makes treaties1 and    
forms offensive  and defensive          
alliances4  ,but what a bubble all this 
,world is to him  whose eyes have at    
last been opened to see the hollowness  
and the  heartlessness of it all6  ,for 

all its pursuits and all its            
possessions1  from a child's rattle to a
 king's sceptre1 all is one great       
bubble4  ,wealth1 fame1 place1 power2   
art1 science1 letters2 politics1        
churches1  sacraments1 and              
scriptures--all are so many bubbles in  
,madam ,bubble's  ,world4  ,this wicked 
enchantress1 if she does not find all   
these things  bubbles already1 by one   
touch of her evil wand she makes them   
so4  ,she  turns gold into dross1 ,god  
into an idle name1 and ,his ,word into  
words  only2 unless when in her malice  
she turns it into a fruitful ground of  
debate and contention2 a ground of      
malice and hatred and ill-will4  ,vanity
  of vanities2 all is vanity and        
vexation of spirit4  ,still1 she sits a 
queen and a goddess to a great          
multitude3 to all men1 to begin with4   
,and1  like a goddess1 she sheds abroad 
her spirit in her people's hearts and   
lifts up upon them for a time the light 
of her countenance4    #b4  ,i am the   

mistress of the world1 she says1 and men
 are made happy  by me4--,i would like  
to see one of them4  ,i have seen many  
men to whom  ,madam ,bubble had said    
that if they would be ruled by her she  
would make  them great and happy4  ,but 
though ,i have seen not a few who have  
believed  her and let themselves be     
ruled by her1 ,i have never yet seen one
 happy  man among them4--,the truth is1 
,madam ,bubble is not able to make men  
happy  even if she wished to do it4     
,she is not happy herself1 and she      
cannot  dispense to others what she does
 not possess4  ,and1 yet1 such are her  
sorceries that1 while her old dupes die 
in thousands every day1 new dupes  are  
born to her every day in still greater  
numbers4  ,new dupes who run to  the    
same excess of folly with her that their
 fathers ran2 new dupes led  in the same
 mad dance after ,madam ,bubble and her 
three daughters4  ,but1  always1 and to 
all men1 what a bubble both the mother  
and all her  daughters are6  ,how they  

all make promises like their lying      
mother1 and  how1 like her1 they all    
lead men1 if not to the halter and to   
hell1 as  ,greatheart said1 yet to a    
life of vanity and to a death of        
disappointment  and despair6  ,what     
bubbles of empty hopes both she and her 
three children  blow up in the brains of
 men6  ,what pictures of untold         
happiness they  paint in the            
imaginations of men6  ,what pleasures1  
what successes in  life1 what honours   
and what rewards she pledges herself to 
see bestowed6  ,she has her times and   
open places of cheating1 said one who   
knew her  and all her ways well4  ,and  
when men and women are still young and  
inexperienced1 that is one of her great 
cheating times4  ,at some seasons  of   
the year1 and in some waters1 to the    
fisherman's surprise and  confusion1 the
 fish will sometimes take his bare hook2
 a bit of a red rag  is a deadly bait4  
,and ,madam ,bubble's poorest and most  
perfunctory  busking is quite enough for

 the foolish fish she angles for4  ,and 
not in  our salad days only1 when we are
 still green in judgment1 but even to   
grey hairs1 this wicked witch continues 
to entrap us to our ruin4  ,love1  in   
all its phases and in all its mixtures1 
first deludes the very young2  and then 
place1 and power1 and fame1 and money   
are the bait she busks for  the         
middle-aged and the old2 and always with
 the same bubble end4  ,the  whole truth
 is that without ,god1 the living and   
ever-present ,god1 in all  ages of it   
and in all parts and experiences of it1 
our human life is one  huge bubble4  ,a 
far-shining1 high-soaring bubble2 but   
sooner or later  seen and tasted to be a
 bubble--a deceit-filled1 poison-filled 
bubble4--,happy by her6  ,all men happy 
by her6  ,the impudent slut6    #c4     
,another thing about this slut is this1 
that she will talk with any  man4  ,she 
makes up to us and makes eyes at us just
 as if we were free to  accept and      
return her three offers4  ,and still she

 talks to us and offers  us the same    
things she offered to ,standfast till1  
to escape her and her  offers1 he betook
 himself to his knees4  ,nay1 truth to  
tell1 after she  had deceived us and    
ensnared us till we lay in her net      
cursing both her  and ourselves1 so bold
 and so impudent and so persistent is   
this  temptress slut1 and such fools and
 idiots are we1 that we soon lay our    
eyes on her painted beauty again and our
 heads in her loathsome lap2 our  heads 
on that block over which the axe hangs  
by an angry hair4  ,she will  talk with 
any man4  ,no doubt2 but1 then1 it takes
 two to make a talk1  and the sad thing 
is that there are few men among us so   
wise1 so  steadfast1 and so experienced 
in her ways that they will not on       
occasion  let ,madam ,bubble talk her   
talk to them1 and talk back again to    
her4  ,the  oldest saint1 the oftenest  
sold and most dearly redeemed sinner1   
needs to  suspect himself to the end1   
till he is clear out of ,madam ,bubble's

  enchanted ground and for ever over    
that river of deliverance which shall   
sweep ,madam ,bubble and all her        
daughters into the dead sea for ever4   
,the grey-haired saint may fail at last1
        ,the surest guide a wanderer    
prove2     ,death only binds us fast    
,to the bright shore of love4    #d4    
,she highly commends the rich1 the guide
 goes on about ,madam ,bubble1  and if  
there be one cunning to get money in any
 place she will speak  well of him from 
house to house4  ,the world1 says       
,faber1 is not  altogether matter1 nor  
yet altogether spirit4  ,it is not man  
only1 nor  ,satan only1 nor is it       
exactly sin4  ,it is an infection1 an   
inspiration1  an atmosphere1 a life1 a  
colouring matter1 a pageantry1 a        
fashion1 a  taste1 a witchery4  ,none of
 all these names suit it1 and all of    
them suit  it4  ,meanwhile its power    
over the human creation is terrific1 its
  presence ubiquitous1 its deceitfulness
 incredible4  ,it can find a home  under

 every heart beneath the poles4  ,it is 
wider than the catholic  church1 and it 
is masterful1 lawless1 and intrusive    
within it4  ,we are  all living in it1  
breathing it1 acting under its          
influence1 being cheated  by its        
appearances1 and unwarily admitting its 
principles4  ,let young  ministers who  
wish to preach to their people on the   
,world--after studying  what the        
,preacher1 and the ,saviour1 and ,john1 
and ,john ,bunyan say about  the        
,world1--still read ,faber's powerful   
chapter in his ,creator and  ,creature4 
,yes2 ,madam ,bubble finds a home for   
herself in every heart  beneath the     
poles4  ,the truth is ,madam ,bubble has
 no home1 as she has no  existence1 but 
in human hearts4  ,and all that         
,solomon1 and our ,saviour1  and ,john1 
and ,john ,bunyan1 and ,frederick ,faber
 say about the world and  about ,madam  
,bubble they really say about the heart 
of man4  ,it is we1 you  and ,i1 my     
brethren1 who so highly commend the     

rich4  ,it is we ourselves  here who    
speak well from house to house of him   
whose father or whose self  has been    
cunning to get money4  ,we either speak 
well or ill of them4  ,we  either are   
sick with envy at them1 or we fawn upon 
them and fall down  before them4  ,how  
men rise in our esteem in the degree    
that their money  increases6  ,with what
 reverence and holy awe we look up at   
them as if  they were gods and the sons 
of gods6  ,they become more than mortal 
men to  our reverent imaginations4  ,how
 happy1 how all but blessed they must   
be6  we say to ourselves4  ,within those
 park gates1 under those high towers1   
in that silver-mounted carriage1        
surrounded with all those liveried      
servants1 and loved and honoured by all 
those arriving and leaving  guests--what
 happiness that rich man must have6  ,we
 are either eaten up  of lean-eyed envy 
of this and that rich man1 or we        
positively worship  them as other men   
worship ,god and ,his saints4  ,yes2    

,madam ,bubble is our  very mother4     
,she conceived us and she suckled us4   
,we were brought up in  her nurture and 
admonition4  ,we learned her ,catechism1
 and her shrine is  in our heart        
to-night4  ,like her1 if only a pilgrim 
is poor1 we scorn  him4  ,we will not   
know him4  ,but if there be any one1    
pilgrim or no1  cunning to get money1 we
 honour him1 and we claim him as our    
kindred and  relation1 our acquaintance 
and our friend4  ,we will speak often of
 him as  such from house to house4      
,just see if we will not4  ,there is    
room in our  hearts1 ,madam ,bubble1    
there is room in our hearts for thee6   
#e4  ,she loves them most that think    
best of her4  ,but1 surely1 surely1  the
 guide goes quite too far in blaming and
 being hard upon poor ,madam  ,bubble   
for that8  ,for1 to give her fair play1 
she is not at all alone in  that4  ,is  
the guide himself wholly above that8    
,do we not all do that8  ,is  there one 
in ten1 is there one in a thousand1 who 

hates and humiliates  himself because   
his love of men and women goes up or    
down just as they  think of him8  ,yes2 
,greatheart is true to his great name in
 his whole  portrait of ,madam ,bubble  
also1 and nowhere more true than in this
 present  feature4  ,for when any man   
comes to have any true greatness in his 
heart--how he despises and detests      
himself as he finds himself out in not  
only claiming kindred and acquaintance  
with the rich and despising and  denying
 the poor2 but1 still more1 in loving or
 hating other men just as  they love or 
hate him6  ,the world loves her own4    
,yes2 but he who has  been taken out of 
the world1 and who has had the world    
taken out of him1  he loves--he strives 
to love1 he goes to his knees every day 
he lives to  love--those who not only do
 not think well of him1 but who both    
think ill  of him and speak ill of him4 
,humility1 says ,william ,law1 does not 
consist in having a worse opinion of    
ourselves than we deserve1 or in        

abasing ourselves lower than we really  
are4  ,but as all virtue is founded  in 
truth1 so humility is founded in a true 
and just sense of our  weakness1 misery1
 and sin4  ,he who rightly feels and    
lives in this sense  of his condition   
lives in humility4  ,and1 it may be     
added1 when our  hearts are wholly      
clothed with humility we shall be prompt
 to approve the  judgment and to endorse
 the sentence of those who think and    
speak the  least good of us and the most
 evil4    #f4  ',twas she1 so the guide 
at last wound up1 that set ,absalom     
against  his father1 and ,jeroboam      
against his master4  ',twas she that    
persuaded  ,judas to sell his ,lord1 and
 that prevailed with ,demas to forsake  
the  godly pilgrim's life4  ,none can   
tell all the mischief that ,madam       
,bubble  does4  ,she makes variance     
between rulers and subjects1 between    
parents  and children1 'twixt neighbour 
and neighbour1 'twixt a man and his     
wife1  'twixt a man and himself1 'twixt 

the flesh and the heart4  ,now1 ,i shall
  leave that last indictment and its    
lessons and its applications to         
yourselves1 my brethren4  ,you will get 
far more good out of this  accumulated  
count against ,madam ,bubble if you     
explain it1 and open it up1  and prove  
it1 and illustrate it to yourselves4    
,explain1 then1 in what  way this       
sorceress set ,absalom against his      
father and ,jeroboam against  his       
master4  ,point out in what way she     
makes variance between a ruler and  his 
subjects1 and give illustrations4  ,put 
your finger on a parent and on  a child 
between whom there is variance at this  
moment on her account4  ,and1 if you are
 that parent or that child1 what have   
you done to remove  that variance8      
,name two neighbours that to your       
knowledge ,madam ,bubble  has come      
between2 and say what you have done to  
be a peacemaker there4  ,set down what  
you would say to a man and his wife so  
as to put them on  their guard against  

,madam ,bubble ever coming in between   
them4  ,and1 last  and best of all1     
point out to yourself at what times and 
in what ways  this wicked witch tries to
 make variance between ,god's ,holy     
,spirit  striving within you and your   
own evil heart still strong within you4 
,when  you are weary and sleepy and     
hungry as a howlet1 and1 ,madam ,bubble 
and  her three daughters make a ring    
round you1 what do you do8  ,do you ever
  take to your knees8  ,really and      
honestly1 do you8  ,when you find       
yourself  out looking with holy fear on 
a rich and lofty relation1 and with     
insufferable contempt on a poor and     
intrusive relation1 by what name do  you
 call yourself8  ,write it down4  ,and  
when she would fain put variance        
between you and those who do not think  
well of you1 what steps do you  take to 
foil her8  ,where and how do you get    
strength at that supreme  moment to     
think of others as you would have them  
think of you8  ,oh1  said ,standfast1   

what a mercy it is that ,i did resist   
her6 for to what  might she not have    
drawn me8          ,,gaius              
,gaius1 mine host4--,paul4    ,goodman  
,gaius was the head of a hostel that    
stood on the side of the  highway well  
on to the ,celestial ,city4  ,the       
hostess of the hostel was no  more1 and 
the old hostel-keeper did all her once  
well-done work and his  own proper work 
into the bargain4  ,every day he        
inspected the whole house  with his own 
eyes1 down even to the kitchen and the  
scullery4  ,the good  woman had left our
 host an only daughter2 but1 ,keep her  
as much out of  sight as is possible1   
she said1 and so fell asleep4  ,and     
,gaius  remembered his wife's last      
testament every day1 till none of the   
hostel  customers knew that there was so
 much as a young hostess in all the     
house4  ,yes1 gentlemen1 replied the old
 innkeeper4  ,yes1 come in4  ,it  is    
late1 but ,i take you for true men1 for 
you must know that my house is  kept    

open only for such4  ,so he took the    
large pilgrim party to their  several   
apartments with his own eyes1 and then  
set about a supper for  those so late   
arrivals4  ,stamping with his foot1 he  
brought up the cook  with the euphonious
 and eupeptic name1 and that            
quick-witted domestic  soon had a supper
 on the table that would have made a    
full man's mouth  water4  ,the sight of 
all this1 said ,matthew1 as the         
under-cook laid the  cloth and the      
trenchers1 and set the salt and the     
bread in order--the  sight of this cloth
 and of this forerunner of a supper     
begetteth in me a  greater appetite to  
my food than ,i thought ,i had before4  
,so supper came  up2 and first a        
heave-shoulder and a wave-breast were   
set on the table  before them1 in order 
to show that they must begin their meal 
with prayer  and praise to ,god4  ,these
 two dishes were very fresh and good1   
and all  the travellers did eat heartily
 well thereof4  ,the next was a bottle  

of  wine red as blood4  ,so ,gaius said 
to them1 ,drink freely2 this is the     
juice of the true vine that makes glad  
the heart of ,god and man4  ,and  they  
did drink and were very merry4  ,the    
next was a dish of milk well  crumbed4  
,at the sight of which ,gaius said1 ,let
 the boys have that1 that  they may grow
 thereby4  ,and so on1 dish after dish1 
till the nuts came  with the recitations
 and the riddles and the saws and the   
stories over  the nuts4  ,thus the happy
 party sat talking till the break of    
day4    #a4  ,now1 it is natural to     
remark that the first thing about a host
 is his  hospitality4  ,and that1 too1  
whether our host is but the head of a   
hostel  like ,goodman ,gaius1 or the    
head of a well-appointed private house  
like  ,gaius's neighbour1 ,mr4 ,mnason4 
,the first and the last thing about a   
host  is his hospitality4  ,say little  
and do much is the example and the      
injunction to all our housekeepers that 
,rabban ,shammai draws out of the       

eighteenth of ,genesis4  ,be like your  
father ,abraham1 he says1 on the  plains
 of ,mamre1 who only promised bread and 
water1 but straightway set  ,sarah to   
knead three measures of her finest meal1
 while he ran to the  herd and fetched a
 calf tender and good1 and stood by the 
three men while  they did eat butter and
 milk under the tree4  ,make thy ,thorah
 an  ordinance3 say little and do much3 
and receive every man with a pleasant   
expression of countenance4  ,now1 this  
was exactly what ,gaius our goodman  did
 that night1 with one exception1 which  
we shall be constrained to  attend to   
afterwards4  ,it is late1 he said1 so we
 cannot conveniently  go out to seek    
food2 but such as we have you shall be  
welcome to1 if that  will content4  ,at 
the same time ,taste-that-which-is-good 
soon had a  supper sent up to the table 
fit for a prince3 a supper of six       
courses at  that time in the morning1 so
 that the sun was already in the sky    
when ,old  ,honest closed his casement4 

,dining in company is a divine          
institution1 says ,mr4 ,edward ,white1  
in  his delightful ,minor ,moralities of
 ,life4  ,let ,soyer's art be honoured  
among all men1 he goes on4  ,cookery    
distinguishes mankind from the  beasts  
that perish4  ,happy is the woman whose 
daily table is the result  of           
forethought4  ,her husband shall rise up
 and call her blessed4  ,it is  piteous 
when the culinary art is neglected in   
our young women's  education4  ,let     
them1 as ,st4 ,peter says1 imitate      
,sarah4  ,let them see how  that        
venerable princess went quickly to her  
kneading-trough and oven and  prepared  
an extempore collation of cakes and     
pilau for the angels4  ,how  few ladies1
 whether ,gentiles or ,jewesses1 could  
do the like in the  present day6    #b4 
,the wistful and punctilious attention  
that ,goodman ,gaius paid to each       
individual guest of his was a fine      
feature in his munificent hospitality4  
,he made every one who crossed his      

doorstep1 down even to ,mr4 ,fearing1   
feel at once at home1 such was his      
exquisite as well as his munificent     
hospitality4  ,come1 sir1 he said1      
clapping that white-faced and  trembling
 pilgrim on the shoulder1 come1 sir1 be 
of good cheer1 you are  welcome to me   
and to my house2 and what thou hast a   
mind to1 that call  for freely3 for what
 thou wouldst have my servants will do  
for thee1 and  they will do it for thee 
with a ready mind4  ,all the same1 for a
 long  time ,mr4 ,fearing was mortally  
afraid of the servants4  ,he would as   
soon  have thought of stamping his foot 
for a duchess to come up as for any of  
,gaius's serving-maids4  ,he was afraid 
to make any noise in his room lest  all 
the house should hear it4  ,he was      
afraid to touch anything in the  room   
lest it should fall and be broken4  ,we 
ourselves1 with all our  assumed ease   
and elaborate abandon1 are often afraid 
to ring our bell  even in an inn4  ,mr4 
,fearing would as soon have pulled the  

tail of a  rattlesnake4  ,but before    
their sojourn was over1 the ,guide was  
amazed at  ,mr4 ,fearing1 for that      
hare-hearted pilgrim would be doing     
things in the  house that he himself    
would scarcely do who had been in the   
house a  thousand times4  ,it was       
,gaius's exuberant heartiness that had  
demoralised  ,mr4 ,fearing and made him 
almost too forward even for a wayside   
inn4  ,in  little things also ,gaius1   
mine host1 showed his sensitive and     
solicitous  hospitality4  ,we all know  
housekeepers1 not to say innkeepers1 and
 not  otherwise ungenerous housekeepers 
either who will grudge us a             
sixpennyworth of sticks and coals in a  
cold night1 and that1 too1 in a  room   
furnished to overflowing by ,morton     
,brothers or the ,messrs4 ,maple4  ,we  
take a candlestick and a dozen candles  
with us in the boot of the  carriage    
when we wish to read or write late into 
the night in that great  house4         
,another housekeeper1 who would give you

 her only daughter with  her wealthy    
dowry1 will sometimes be seen by all in 
her house to grudge  you a fresh cup of 
afternoon tea when you drop in to see   
her and her  daughter4  ,she says to    
herself that it is to spare the servants
 the  stairs2 but1 all the time1 under  
the stairs1 the servants are blushing   
for the sometimes unaccountable         
stinginess of their unusually munificent
  mistress4  ,i shall give you line upon
 line1 precept upon precept1 here a     
little and there a little of ,aristotle 
upon munificence in little things  till 
you come up to his pagan standard4      
,there is a real greatness1 he  says1   
even in the way that some men will buy a
 toy to a child4  ,even in  the smallest
 matters the munificent man will act    
munificently6  ,as  ,gaius1 mine host1  
munificently did4    #c4  ,speaking of  
children1 what a night of entertainment 
good old ,gaius  gave the children of   
the pilgrim party6  ,let the boys have  
the crumbed  milk1 he gave orders4      

,butter and honey shall they eat1 he    
exclaimed  over them as that brimming   
dish came up4  ,this was our ,lord's    
dish when  ,he was a child1 he said to  
the mother of the boys1 that ,he might  
know  to refuse the evil and to choose  
the good4  ,then they brought up a dish 
of apples1 and they were very           
good-tasted fruit4  ,then said ,matthew1
 ,may  we eat apples1 since they were   
such by and with which the serpent      
beguiled our first mother8  ,then said  
,gaius1       ,apples were they by which
 we were beguiled1     ,yet sin1 not    
apples1 hath our souls defiled4         
,apples forbid1 if eat1 corrupt the     
blood4     ,to eat such1 when commanded1
 does us good4     ,drink of ,his       
flagons then1 thou ,church1 ,his ,dove1 
,and eat ,his apples who are sick of    
love4    ,then said ,matthew1 ,i make   
the scruple because ,i awhile since was 
sick  with eating of fruit4  ,forbidden 
fruit1 said the host1 will make you     
sick1 but not what our ,lord hath       

tolerated4  ,while they were thus       
talking they were presented with another
 dish1 and it was a dish of nuts4  ,then
 said some at the table1 ,nuts spoil    
tender teeth1 especially the  teeth of  
children1 which when ,gaius heard1 he   
said1       ,hard texts are nuts 7,i    
will not call them cheaters7     ,whose 
shells do keep their kernels from the   
eaters2     ,ope then the shells and you
 shall have the meat2     ,they here are
 brought for you to crack and eat4      
,then ,samuel whispered to his mother   
and said1 ,mother1 this is a very  good 
man's house2 let us stay here a good    
while before we go any  farther4  ,the  
which ,gaius the host overhearing1 said1
 ,with a very good  will1 my child4     
#d4  ,widower as old ,gaius was1 and    
never for a single hour forgot that he  
was1 there was a certain sweet and      
stately gallantry awakened in his       
withered old heart at the sight of      
,christiana and ,mercy1 and especially  
at the sight of ,matthew and ,mercy when

 they were seen together4  ,he seems  to
 have fallen almost in love with that   
aged matron1 as he called her1  and the 
days of his youth came back to him as he
 studied the young  damsel1 who was to  
her as a daughter4  ,and this set the   
loquacious old  innkeeper upon that     
famous oration about women which every  
man who has a  mother1 or a wife1 or a  
sister1 or a daughter has by heart4     
,and from  that he went on to discourse 
on the great advantages of an early     
marriage4  ,he was not the man1 nor was 
he speaking to a mother who was  the    
woman1 ever to become a vulgar and      
coarse-minded matchmaker2 at the  same  
time1 he liked to see ,matthew and      
,mercy sent out on a message  together1 
leaving it to nature and to grace to do 
the rest4  ,the pros and  cons of early 
marriage were often up at his hearty    
table1 but he always  debated1 and      
,gaius was a great debater1 that true   
hospitality largely  consisted in       
throwing open the family circle to let  

young people get well  acquainted with  
one another in its peace and sweetness4 
,and ,gaius both  practised what he     
preached1 and at the same time endorsed 
his watchful  wife's last testament1    
when he gave his daughter ,phebe to     
,james1  ,christiana's second son1 and  
thus was left alone1 poor old ,gaius1   
when  the happy honeymoon party started 
upward from his hostel door4    #e4     
,their next host was one ,mr4 ,mnason1 a
 ,cyprusian by nation1 and an old       
disciple4  ,how far have you come       
to-day8 he asked4  ,from the house of   
,gaius our friend1 they said4  ,i       
promise you1 said he1 you have gone a   
good stitch2 you may well be weary2 sit 
down4  ,so they sat down4  ,our  great  
want a while since1 said ,old ,honest1  
was harbour and good  company1 and now  
,i hope we have both4  ,for harbour1    
said the host1  you see what it is1 but 
for good company that will appear in the
 trial4  ,after they were a little      
rested ,old ,honest again asked his host

 if there  were any store of good people
 in that town2 and1 ,how1 he said1 shall
  we do to see some of them8  ,for the  
sight of good men to them that are      
going on pilgrimage is like to the      
appearing of the moon and stars to  them
 that are sailing upon the seas4  ,then 
,mr4 ,mnason stamped with his  foot and 
his daughter ,grace came up1 when he    
sent her out for five of his  friends in
 the town1 saying that he had a guest or
 two in his house at  present to whom he
 would like to introduce them4    ,now1 
this is another of the good qualities of
 a good host1 to know the  best and the 
most suitable people in the town1 and to
 be on such terms  with them that on    
short notice they will step across to   
help to entertain  such travellers as   
had come to ,mr4 ,mnason's table4  ,and 
it is an  excellent thing to be sure    
that when we are so invited we shall not
 only  get a good dinner1 but also1 as  
good kitchen with our dinner1 good      
company and good conversation4  ,it is  

nothing short of a fine art to  gather  
together and to seat suitably beside one
 another good and suitable  people as   
,mr4 and ,miss ,mnason did in their     
hospitable house that  afternoon4  ,and 
then1 as to the talk3 let the host and  
the hostess  introduce the guests1 and  
then let the guests introduce their own 
topics4  ,and as far as possible1 in a  
city and a day like this1 let our topics
 be  books rather than people4  ,and let
 the books be the books that the guests 
have read rather than those that the    
host and the hostess have read4  ,books 
are a fine subject for a talk at table4 
,only1 let great readers  order their   
learned and literary talk so as not to  
lead the less learned  into temptation4 
,there is no finer exercise of fine     
feeling than to be  able to carry on a  
conversation about matters that other   
people present  are ignorant of1 and at 
the same time to interest them1 to set  
them at  ease1 and to make them forget  
both you and themselves4  ,i had a      

letter  the other day from an ,english  
,church clergyman1 in which he tells me 
that  his bishop is coming this month to
 his vicarage for a kind of visitation  
and retreat1 and that they are to have  
,william ,law's ,characters and         
,characteristics read aloud to them when
 the bishop and the assembled  clergy   
are at their meals4  ,for my part1 ,i   
would rather hear a good all-  round    
talk on that book by the bishop and his 
clergy after they had all  read the book
 over and over again at home4  ,but such
 readings at  assembled meals have all  
along been a feature of the best        
fraternal life  in the ,church of       
,england and in some of the sister      
churches4    #f4  ,now1 after dining and
 supping repeatedly with garrulous old  
,gaius1  and with the all-but-silent    
,mr4 ,mnason1 ,i have come home         
ruminating again  and again on          
this--that a good host1 the best host1  
lets his guests talk  while he attends  
to the table4  ,if the truth may even be

 whispered to  one's-self about a table 
that one has just left1 ,gaius did his  
best to  spoil his good supper by his   
own over-garrulity4  ,it was good talk  
that  he entertained his waiting guests 
with1 but we may have too much of a     
good thing4  ,his oration in praise of  
women was an excellent oration1 had  it 
been delivered in another house than his
 own2 and1 say1 when he was  asked to   
give the health of ,christiana1 or of   
,matthew the bridegroom and  ,mercy the 
bride1 it would then have been perfect2 
but not in his own  house1 and not when 
his guests were waiting for their       
supper4  ,on the  other hand1 you should
 have seen that perfect gentleman1 ,mr4 
,mnason4  ,for  that true old ,christian
 and old ,english gentleman never once  
opened his  mouth after he had set his  
guests a-talking4  ,he was too busy     
watching  when any man's dish was again 
empty4  ,he was too much delighted to   
see  that every one of his guests was   
having his punctual share of the supper1

  and at the same time his full share of
 the talk4  ,mr4 ,fearing's small  voice
 was far more pleasant to ,mr4 ,mnason  
than his own voice was in his  own best 
story4  ,as ,i opened my own door the   
other night after supping  with ,mr4 and
 ,miss ,mnason1 ,i said to myself--,one 
thing ,i have again seen  and learned   
to-night1 and that is1 that a host1 and 
still more a hostess1  should talk less 
at their own table than their most      
silent1 most bashful1  and most backward
 guest4  ,make this an ordinance for    
thee1 said ,rabban  ,shammai to his sons
 in the law2 receive all thy guests with
 a pleasant  expression of countenance1 
and then say little and do much4        
,,christian         ,the disciples were 
called ,christians first at             
,antioch4--,luke4       ,almost thou    
persuadest me to be a ,christian4--,king
 ,agrippa4       ,let every one that    
nameth the name of ,christ depart from  
iniquity4--,paul4    ,all the other     
personages in the ,pilgrim's ,progress  

come and go2 they all  ascend the stage 
for a longer or shorter time1 and then  
pass off the  stage and so pass out of  
our sight2 but ,christian in the ,first 
,part1 and  ,christiana in the ,second  
,part1 are never for a single moment out
 of our  sight4  ,and1 accordingly1 we  
have had repeated occasion and          
opportunity  to learn many excellent    
lessons from the chief pilgrim's upward 
walk and  heavenly conversation4  ,but  
so full and so rich are his life and his
  character1 that some very important   
things still remain to be collected     
before we finally close his history4    
,gather up the fragments that  nothing  
be lost1 said our ,lord1 after ,his     
miraculous meal of multiplied  loaves   
and fishes with ,his disciples4  ,and in
 like manner ,i shall now  proceed to   
gather up some of the remaining         
fragments of ,christian's life  and     
character and experience4  ,and ,i shall
 collect these fragments into  the three
 baskets of his book1 his burden1 and   

his sealed roll and  certificate4    #a4
  ,and first1 a few things as to his    
book4  ,as ,i slept ,i dreamed1 and     
behold ,i saw a man clothed in rags     
standing in a certain place1 with his   
face from his own house1 a book in his  
hand1 and a great burden upon his  back4
  ,i looked and saw him open the book   
and read therein2 and as he  read he    
wept and trembled2 and not being able   
longer to contain he broke  out with a  
lamentable cry1 saying1 ,what shall ,i  
do8  ,we hear a great  deal in these    
advertising days1 and not one word too  
much1 about the  books that have        
influenced and gone largely to the      
making of our great  men2 but           
,graceless1 like ,john ,bunyan1 his     
biographer1 was a man of but  one book4 
,but1 then1 that book was the most      
influential of all books2 it  was the   
,book of books2 it was ,god's very own  
and peculiar ,book4  ,and  those of us  
who1 like this man1 have passed out of a
 graceless into a  gracious state will  

for ever remember how that same ,book at
 that time  influenced us till it made  
us what we are and shall yet be4  ,we   
read many  other good books at that     
epoch in our life1 but it was the pure  
,bible  that we read and prayed over out
 of sight the most4  ,we needed no      
commentators or exegetes on our simple  
,bible in those days4  ,the great  texts
 stood out to our eyes in those days as 
if they had been written  with a        
sunbeam2 while all other books 7and we  
read nothing but the best  books in     
those days7 looked like twilight and    
rushlight beside our ,bible4  ,in those 
immediate1 direct1 and intense days we  
would have satisfied  ,wordsworth and   
,matthew ,arnold themselves in the way  
we read our ,bible  with our eye never  
off the object4  ,the ,four ,last       
,things were ever before  us--death and 
judgment1 heaven and hell4  ,o my dear  
wife1 said  ,graceless1 and you the     
children of my bowels1 ,i your dear     
friend am in  myself undone by reason of

 a burden that lieth hard upon me2      
moreover1 ,i  am for certain informed   
that this our city will be burned with  
fire from  heaven1 in which fearful     
overthrow both myself1 with thee my     
wife1 and  you my sweet babes1 shall    
miserably come to ruin1 except 7the     
which yet ,i  see not7 some way of      
escape can be found whereby we may be   
delivered4  ,he  would walk also        
solitarily in the fields1 sometimes     
reading and sometimes  praying2 and thus
 for some days he spent his time4       
,graceless at that  time and at that    
stage would have satisfied the exigent  
author of the  ,practical ,treatise upon
 ,christian ,perfection where he says   
that we are  too apt also to think that 
we have sufficiently read a book when we
 have  so read it as to know what it    
contains4  ,this reading may be quite   
sufficient as to many books2 but as to  
the ,bible we are not to think that  we 
have read it enough because we have     
often read and heard what it  teaches4  

,we must read our ,bible1 not to know   
what it contains1 but to  fill our      
hearts with the spirit of it4  ,and1    
again1 and on this same  point1 ,there  
is this unerring key to the right use of
 the ,bible4  ,the  ,bible has only one 
intent1 and that is to make a man know1 
resist1 and  abhor the working of his   
fallen earthly nature1 and to turn the  
faith1  hope1 and longing desire of his 
heart to ,god2 and therefore we are only
  to read our ,bibles with this view and
 to learn this one lesson from it 4  4 4
 ,the critic looks into his books to see
 how ,latin and ,greek authors  have    
used the words 'stranger' and 'pilgrim1'
 but the ,christian1 who  knows that man
 lives in labour and toil1 in sickness  
and pain1 in hunger  and thirst1 in heat
 and cold among the beasts of the field1
 where evil  spirits like roaring lions 
seek to devour him--he only knows in    
what  truth and reality man is a poor   
stranger and a distressed pilgrim upon  
the earth4  ,john ,bunyan read neither  

,plato nor ,aristotle1 but he read      
,david and ,paul till he was the chief  
of sinners1 and till he was first  the  
,graceless and then the ,christian of   
his own next-to-the-,bible book4    #b4 
,in the second place1 and as to his     
burden4  ,we are supplied with no       
particulars as to the first beginnings1 
the gradual make-up1 and at last  the   
terrible size of ,christian's burden4   
,what this pilgrim's youthful  life must
 have been in such a city as his native 
city was1 and while he  was still a     
young man of such a name and such a     
character in such a city1  we are left  
to ourselves to think and consider4     
,graceless was his name  by nature1 and 
his life was as his name and his nature 
were4  ,still1 as ,i  have said1 we have
 no detailed and particular account of  
his early life  when his burden was     
still day and night in the making up4   
,how long into  your life were you      
graceless1 my brother8  ,and what kind  
of life did you  lead day and night     

before you were persuaded or alarmed1 as
 the case may  have been with you1 into 
being a ,christian8  ,what burdens do   
you carry on  your broken back to this  
day that were made up in the daylight or
 in the  darkness by your own hands in  
your early days8  ,were you early or    
were  you too late in your conversion8  
,or are you truly converted to ,god and 
to salvation even yet8  ,and are you at 
this moment still binding a burden  on  
your back that you shall never lay down 
on this side your grave--it  may be1 not
 on this side your burning bed in hell8 
,ask yourselves all  that before ,god   
and before your own conscience1 and make
 yourselves  absolutely sure that ,god  
at any rate is not mocked2 and1         
therefore that  you1 too1 shall in the  
end reap exactly as you from the        
beginning have  sown4  ,how camest thou 
by thy burden at first8 asked ,mr4      
,worldly-,wiseman at the trembling      
pilgrim4  ,by reading this book in my   
hand1 he answered4  ,and1 in the long   

run1 it is always the ,bible that  best 
creates a sinner's burden1 binds it on  
his back1 and makes it so  terribly     
heavy to bear4  ,fear of death and      
judgment will sometimes make  up and    
bind on a sinner's burden2 and sometimes
 the fear of man's  judgment on this    
side of death will do it4  ,fear of     
being found out in  some cases will make
 a man's secret sin far too heavy for   
him to bear4  ,the throne of public     
opinion is not a very white throne2 at  
the same  time1 it is a coarse forecast 
and a rough foretaste of the last       
judgment2  and the fear of it not seldom
 makes a man's burden simply intolerable
 to  him4  ,sometimes a great sinner's  
burden leads him to flight and outlawry2
  sometimes to madness and self-murder2 
and sometimes1 by the timeous and       
sufficient grace of ,god1 to the way of 
escape that our pilgrim took4           
,tenderness of conscience1 also1 simple 
softness of heart and conscience1  will 
sometimes make a terrible burden out of 

what other men would call a  very light 
matter4  ,bind a burden on that iron    
pillar standing there1 and  it will feel
 nothing and say nothing4  ,but1 bind   
the same burden on that  man in whose   
seat that dead pillar takes up a        
sitter's room1 and he will  make all    
that are in the house hear his sighs and
 his groans4  ,and lay an  act of       
sin--an evil word or evil work or evil  
thought--on one man among  us1 and he   
will walk about the streets with as     
erect a head and as  smiling a          
countenance and as light a step as if he
 were an innocent  child2 while1 lay    
half as much on his neighbour1 and it   
will so bruise  him to the earth that   
all men will take knowledge of him that 
he is a  miserable man4  ,our ,lord     
could no doubt have carried ,his cross  
from the  hall of judgment to the       
hill-top without help had ,his back not 
been wet  with blood4  ,what with a     
whole and an unwealed body1 a           
well-rested and  well-nourished body1   

,he could easily have carried1 with ,his
 broken body  and broken heart ,he quite
 sank under4  ,and so it is with ,his   
people4  ,one  of ,his heart-broken1    
heart-bleeding people will sink down to 
death and  hell under a burden of sin   
and corruption that another of them will
  scarcely feel or know or believe that 
it is there4  ,some sins again in       
themselves1 and by reason of several    
aggravations1 are far more heavy to     
bear than others1 and by some sinners   
than others4  ,i was reading ,bishop    
,andrewes to myself last night and came 
upon this pertinent passage4  ,sin3  its
 measure1 its harm1 its scandal4  ,its  
quality3 how often--how long4  ,the     
person by whom3 his age1 condition1     
state1 enlightenment4  ,its  manner1    
motive1 time1 and place4  ,the folly of 
it1 the ingratitude of it1  the hardness
 of it1 the presumptuousness of it4  ,by
 heart1 by mouth1 by  deed4  ,against   
,god1 my neighbours1 my own body4  ,by  
knowledge1 by  ignorance4  ,willingly   

and unwillingly4  ,of old and of late4  
,in boyhood  and youth1 in mature and   
old age4  ,things done once1 repeated   
often1  hidden and open4  ,things done  
in anger1 and from the lust of the flesh
  and of the world4  ,before and after  
my call4  ,asleep by night and awake  by
 day4  ,things remembered and things    
forgotten4  ,through the fiery darts  of
 the enemy1 through the unclean desires 
of the flesh--,i have sinned  against   
,thee4  ,have mercy on me1 ,o ,god1 and 
forgive me6  ,that is the way  some     
men's burdens are made up to such       
gigantic proportions and then  bound on 
by such acute cords4  ,that is the way  
that ,lancelot ,andrewes and  ,john     
,bunyan walked solitarily in the fields1
 sometimes reading and  sometimes       
praying1 till the one of them put       
himself into his immortal  ,devotions1  
and the other into his immortal ,grace  
,abounding and  ,pilgrim's ,progress4   
,then ,i saw in my dream that ,christian
 asked the ,gatekeeper further if he    

could not help him off with his burden  
that was upon his back1 for as yet  he  
had not got rid of it1 nor could he by  
any means get it off without  help4  ,he
 told him1 ',as to thy burden1 be       
content to bear it until thou  comest to
 the place of deliverance1 for there it 
will fall from off thy  back itself4'   
,now ,i saw in my dream that the highway
 up which ,christian  was to go was     
fenced on either side with a wall1 and  
that wall is  ,salvation4  ,up this way1
 therefore1 did burdened ,christian run1
 but not  without great difficulty1     
because of the load on his back4  ,he   
ran thus  till he came to a place       
somewhat ascending1 and upon that place 
stood a  cross1 and a little below in   
the bottom a sepulchre4  ,so ,i saw in  
my  dream that just as ,christian came  
up with the cross his burden loosed     
from off his back1 and began to tumble  
and so continued to do till it  came to 
the mouth of the sepulchre1 where it    
fell in and ,i saw it no  more4  ,then  

was ,christian glad and lightsome1 and  
said with a merry  heart1 ',he hath     
given me rest by ,his sorrow1 and life  
by ,his death6'       ,blest ,cross6    
blest ,sepulchre6  ,blest rather be     
,the ,man that there was put to shame   
for me4    ,but1 then1 how it could be  
that this so happy man was scarcely a   
stone-  cast past the cross when he had 
begun again to burden himself with fresh
  sin1 and thus to disinter all his     
former sin8  ,how a true pilgrim comes  
to have so many burdens to bear1 and    
that till he ceases to be any longer  a 
pilgrim1--a burden of guilt1 a burden of
 corruption1 and a burden of  bare      
creaturehood1--,i must leave all that1  
and all the questions  connected with   
all that1 for you all to think out and  
work out for  yourselves2 and you will  
not say any morning on this earth1 like 
,mrs4  ,timorous1 that you have little  
to do4    #c4  ,the third of the three  
,shining ,ones who saluted ,christian at
 the  cross set a mark on his forehead1 

and put a roll with a seal set upon it  
into his hand4  ,a roll and a seal which
 he bid him look on as he ran1 and  that
 he should give that roll in at the     
,celestial ,gate4  ,bunyan does not  in 
all places come up to his usual         
clearness in what he says about the     
sealed roll4  ,we must believe that he  
understood his own meaning and          
intention in all that he says1 first and
 last1 about the roll1 but he has  not  
always made his meaning clear1 at least 
to one of his readers4  ,theological    
students1 and1 indeed1 all thoughtful   
,christian men1 are  invited to read    
,dr4 ,cunningham's powerful paper on    
,assurance in his  ,reformers4  ,the    
whole literature of ,assurance is there 
taken up and  weighed and sifted with   
all that great writer's incomparable    
learning and  power and judgment4  ,our 
,larger ,catechism1 also1 is excellent  
on this  subject2 and this subject is a 
favourite commonplace with all our best 
,calvinistic1 ,puritan1 and ,evangelical

 authors4  ,let us take two or three    
passages out of those authors just as a 
specimen1 and so close4    ,can true    
believers--,larger ,catechism1 ,question
 #hj--;,can true believers  be          
infallibly assured that they are in an  
estate of grace1 and that they  shall   
persevere therein to the end8  ,answer3 
,such as truly believe in  ,christ1 and 
endeavour to walk in all good conscience
 before ,him may1  without extraordinary
 revelation1 by faith grounded upon the 
truth of  ,god's promise1 and by the    
,spirit enabling them to discern in     
themselves  those graces to which the   
promises of eternal life are made1 and  
bearing  witness with their spirits that
 they are the children of ,god1 they may
 be  infallibly assured that they are in
 the estate of grace1 and shall         
persevere therein unto salvation4       
,question #ha3 ,are all true believers  
at all times assured of their present   
being in a state of grace1 and that     
they shall be saved8  ,answer3          

,assurance of grace and salvation not   
being of the essence of faith1 true     
believers may wait long before they     
obtain it1 and1 after the enjoyment     
thereof1 may have it weakened and       
intermitted through manifold distempers1
 sins1 temptations1 and  desertions2 yet
 are they never left without such a     
presence and support  of the ,spirit of 
,god as keeps them from sinking into    
utter despair4  ,a  ,christian's        
assurance1 says ,fraser of ,brea1 though
 it does not firstly  flow from his     
holiness1 yet is ever after             
proportionable to his holy  walking4    
,faith is kept in a pure conscience4    
,sin is like a blot of ink  fallen upon 
our evidence4  ,this ,i found to be a   
truth4  ,it was the  speech of one to   
me1 says ,thomas ,shepard of ,new       
,england1 next to the  donation of      
,christ1 no mercy like this1 to deny    
assurance long2 and why8  ,for if the   
,lord had not1 ,i should have given way 
to a loose heart and  life4  ,and this  

is a rule ,i have long held--long denial
 of assurance is  like fire to burn out 
some sin and then the ,lord will speak  
peace4  ,serve your ,god day and night  
faithfully1 says ,dr4 ,goodwin4  ,walk  
humbly2 and there is a promise of the   
,holy ,ghost to come and fill your      
hearts with joy unspeakable and glorious
 to rear you up to the day of           
redemption4  ,sue this promise out1 wait
 for it1 rest not in believing  only1   
rest not in assurance by graces only2   
there is a further assurance  to be had4
  ,i would not give a straw for that    
assurance1 says ,john  ,newton1 which   
sin will not damp4  ,if ,david had come 
from his adultery  and still have talked
 of his assurance1 ,i should have       
despised his  speech4  ,when we want the
 faith of assurance1 says ,matthew      
,henry1 let  us live by the faith of    
adherence4  ,and then the whole truth is
 in a  nutshell in ,isaiah and in ,john3
 ,the effect of righteousness shall be  
quietness and assurance for ever1 and   

,my little children1 let us not  love in
 word1 neither in tongue1 but in deed   
and in truth4  ,and hereby we  shall    
know that we are of the truth1 and so   
shall assure our hearts  before ,him4   
,,christiana         ,honour widows that
 are widows indeed4--,paul4    ,we know 
next to nothing of ,christiana till     
after she is a widow indeed4  ,the names
 of her parents1 and what kind of       
parents they were1 the schools  and the 
boarding-schools to which they sent     
their daughter1 her school  companions1 
the books she read1 if she ever read any
 books at all1 the  amusements she was  
indulged in and indulged herself in--on 
all that her  otherwise full and minute 
biographer is wholly silent4  ,he does  
not go  back beyond her married life2 he
 does not even go back to the beginning 
of that4  ,the only thing we are sure of
 about ,christiana's early days is  that
 she was an utterly ungodly woman and   
that she married an utterly  ungodly    
man4  ,have you a family8  ,are you a   

married man8 asked ,charity  of         
,christian in the ,house ,beautiful4  ,i
 have a wife and four small  children1  
he replied4  ,and why did you not bring 
them along with you8  ,then ,christian  
wept1 and said3 ,oh1 how willingly would
 ,i have done it2  but they were all    
utterly averse to my going on           
pilgrimage4  ,but you  should have      
talked to them1 said ,charity1 and have 
endeavoured to have  shown them the     
danger of being behind4  ,so ,i did1    
answered ,christian4  ,and did you pray 
to ,god that ,he would bless your       
counsel to them8  ,yes1  and with much  
affection2 for you must think that my   
wife and poor  children were very dear  
unto me4  ,but what could they say for  
themselves why they came not8  ,why1 my 
wife was afraid of losing the  world1   
and my children were given over to the  
foolish delights of youth2  so what with
 one thing and what with another1 they  
left me to wander in  this manner alone4
    ,but what her husband's conversion1 

good example1 and most earnest          
entreaties could not all do for his     
worldly wife1 that his sudden death     
speedily did4  ,and thus it is that both
 ,christiana's best life1 all our       
interest in her1 and all our information
 about her1 dates1 sad to say1  not from
 her espousal1 nor from her marriage    
day1 nor from any part of  her married  
life1 but from her husband's death4     
,her maidenhood has no  interest for us2
 all our interest is fixed on her       
widowhood4  ,this work  of fiction now  
in our hands begins where all other     
works of fiction end2  for in the life  
of religion1 you must know1 our best is 
always before us4  ,well1 scarcely was  
her husband dead when ,christiana began 
to accuse  herself of having killed him4
  ,to take her own bitter words for it1 
the  most agonising and remorseful      
thoughts about her conduct to her       
husband  stung her heart like so many   
wasps4  ,ah yes6  ,a wasp's sting is but
 a  blade of innocent grass compared    

with the thoughts that have stung us all
  as we recalled what we said and did to
 those who are now no more4  ,there  are
 graves in the churchyard we dare not go
 near4  ,i have sinned away  your       
father6 she cried1 as she threw herself 
on the earth at the feet of  her        
astounded children4  ,i have sinned away
 your father and he is gone6  ,and yet  
there was no mark of a bullet and no    
gash of a knife on his dead  body1 and  
no chemistry could have extracted one   
grain of arsenic or of  strychnine out  
of his blood4  ,but there are many ways 
of taking a man's  life besides those of
 poison or a knife or a gunshot4        
,constant fault-  finding1 constant     
correction and studied contempt before  
strangers1 total  want of sympathy and  
encouragement1 gloomy looks1 rough      
remarks1 all  blame and never a word of 
praise1 things like these between man   
and wife  will kill as silently and as  
surely as poison or suffocation4  ,look 
at  home1 my brethren1 and ask          

yourselves what you will think of much  
of your  present conduct when it has    
borne its proper fruit4  ,upon this came
 into  her mind by swarms all her       
unkind1 unnatural1 and ungodly carriages
 to  her dear friend1 which also clogged
 her conscience and did load her with   
guilt4  ,it all returned upon her like a
 flash of lightning1 and rent the  caul 
of her heart asunder4  ,that which      
troubleth me most1 she would  cry out1  
is my churlish carriages to him when he 
was under distress4  ,i  am that woman1 
she would cry out and would not be      
appeased--,i am that  woman that was so 
hardhearted as to slight my husband's   
troubles1 and  that left him to go on   
his journey alone4  ,how like a churl ,i
 carried  myself to him in all that6    
,and so guilt took hold of my mind1 she 
said  to the ,interpreter1 and would    
have drawn me to the pond6    ,a        
minister's widow once told me that she  
had gone home after hearing a  sermon of
 mine on the text1 ,what profit is there

 in my blood8 and had  destroyed a paper
 of poison she had purchased in her     
despair on the  previous ,saturday      
night4  ,it was not a sermon from her   
unconscious  minister1 but it was far   
better2 it was a conversation that      
,christiana  held with her four boys    
that fairly and for ever put all thought
 of the  pond out of their mother's     
remorseful mind4  ,so ,christiana1 as we
 read  in the opening of her history--so
 ,christiana called her sons together   
and began thus to address herself unto  
them3 ,my sons1 ,i have1 as you may     
perceive1 been of late under much       
exercise in my soul about the death of  
your father4  ,my carriages to your     
father in his distress are a great  load
 on my conscience4  ,come1 my children1 
let us pack up and be gone to  the gate1
 that we may see your father and be with
 him1 according to the  laws of that    
land4  ,i like that passage1 ,i think1  
the best in all  ,christiana's          
delightful history--that passage which  

begins with these  words3 ,so she called
 her children together4  ,for when she  
called her  children together she opened
 to them both her heart and her         
conscience2  and from that day there was
 but one heart and one conscience in all
 that  happy house4  ,i was walking     
alone on a country road the other day1  
and as  ,i was walking ,i was thinking  
about my pastoral work and about my     
people  and their children1 when all at 
once ,i met one of my people4  ,my      
second  sentence to him was3 ,this very 
moment ,i was thinking about your sons4 
,how are they getting on8  ,he quite    
well understood me4  ,he knew that ,i   
was not indifferent as to how they were 
getting on in business1 but he  knew    
that ,i was alluding more to the life of
 godliness and virtue in  their hearts  
and in their characters4  ,o sir1 he    
said1 you may give  your sons the skin  
off your back1 but they will not give   
you their  confidence6  ,so had it been 
with ,christian and his sons4  ,he had  

never  managed1 even in his religion1 to
 get into the confidence of his sons2   
but when their mother took them into her
 agonised confidence1 from that  day she
 was in all their confidences1 good and 
bad4  ,you who are in your  children's  
confidences will pray in secret for my  
lonely friend with the  skin off his    
back1 will you not8 that he may soon be 
able to call his  sons together so as to
 start together on a new life of family 
love1 and  family trust1 and family     
religion4  ,that was a fine sight4  ,who
 will make  a picture of it8  ,this     
widow indeed at the head of her family  
council-  table1 and ,matthew at the    
foot1 and ,james and ,joseph and ,samuel
 all in  their places4  ,come1 my       
children1 let us pack up that we may see
 your  father6  ,then did her children  
burst into tears for joy that the heart 
of their mother was so inclined4        
,from that first family council let us  
pass on to ,christiana's last  interview
 with her family and her other friends4 

,her biographer  introduces her         
triumphant translation with this happy  
comment on the  margin3 ,how welcome is 
death to them that have nothing to do   
but die6  ,well1 that was exactly       
,christiana's case4  ,she had so packed 
up at the  beginning of her journey2 she
 had so got and had so kept the         
confidences  of all her sons2 she had   
seen them all so married in the ,lord1  
and thus  so settled in a life of       
godliness and virtue2 she had1 in short1
 lived  the life of a widow indeed1     
till1 when the post came for her1 she   
had  nothing left to do but just to rise
 up and follow him4  ,his token to her  
was an arrow with a point sharpened with
 love1 let easily into her heart1  which
 by degrees wrought so effectually with 
her that at the time  appointed she must
 be gone4  ,we have read of arrows of   
death sharpened  sometimes with steel   
and sometimes with poison2 but this     
arrow1 shot from  heaven1 was sharpened 
to a point with love4  ,indeed1 that    

arrow1 or the  very fellow of it1 had   
been shot into ,christiana's heart long 
ago when  she stood at that spot        
somewhat ascending where was a cross and
 a  sepulchre2 and1 especially1 ever    
since the close of ,greatheart's great  
discourse on pardon by deed4  ,for the  
hearing of that famous discourse  had   
made her exclaim3 ,oh6  ,thou loving    
,one1 it makes my heart bleed to  think 
that ,thou shouldest bleed for me6  ,oh6
  ,thou blessed ,one1 ,thou  deservest  
to have me1 for ,thou hast bought me6   
,thou deservest to have me  all1 for    
,thou hast paid for me ten thousand     
times more than ,i am worth6  ,now it   
was with all that love working          
effectually in her heart that           
,christiana called for her children to  
give them her blessing4  ,and what a    
comfort it was to her to see them all   
around her with the mark of the  kingdom
 on their foreheads1 and with their     
garments white4  ,my sons and  my       
daughters1 she said1 be you all ready   

against the time ,his post  calls for   
you4  ,then she called for ,mr4         
,valiant-for-truth1 and entreated  him  
to have an eye on her children1 and to  
speak comfortably to them if  at any    
time he saw them faint4  ,and then she  
gave ,mr4 ,standfast her ring4  ,behold1
 she said1 as ,mr4 ,honest came         
in--,behold an ,israelite indeed1  in   
whom is no guile6  ,then ,mr4           
,ready-to-halt came in1 and then ,mr4   
,despondency and his daughter           
,much-afraid1 and then ,mr4             
,feeble-mind4  ,now  the day drew on    
that ,christiana must be gone4  ,so the 
road was full of  people to see her take
 her journey4  ,but1 behold6 all the    
banks beyond  the river were full of    
horses and chariots which were come down
 from  above to accompany her to the    
,city gates1 so she came forth and      
entered  the river with a beckon of     
farewell to those that followed her to  
the  river-side4  ,the last word she was
 heard to say here was1 ,i come1 ,lord1 

to be with ,thee1 and to bless ,thee4   
,but with all this1 you must not suppose
 that this good woman1 this mother  in  
,israel1 had forgotten her              
grandchildren4  ,she would sooner have  
forgotten her own children4  ,but she   
was too good a woman to forget  either4 
,for long ago1 away back at the river on
 this side the ,delectable  ,mountains1 
she had said to her four daughters--,i  
must tell you exactly  what she has     
said3 ,here1 she said1 in this meadow   
there are cotes and  folds for sheep1   
and an house is built here also for the 
nourishing and  bringing up of those    
lambs1 even the babes of those women    
that go on  pilgrimage4  ,also there is 
,one here who can have compassion and   
that can  gather these lambs with ,his  
arm and carry them in ,his bosom4  ,this
 ,man1  she said1 will house and harbour
 and succour the little ones1 so that   
none of them shall be lacking in time to
 come4  ,this ,man1 if any of them  go  
astray or be lost1 ,he will bring them  

again1 ,he will bind up that  which was 
broken1 and will strengthen them that   
are sick4  ,so they were  content to    
commit their little ones to that ,man1  
and all this was to be  at the charge of
 the ,king1 and so it was as a hospital 
to young children  and orphans4    ,and 
now ,i shall sum up my chief impressions
 of ,christiana under the three  heads  
of her mind1 her heart1 and her         
widowhood indeed4    #a4  ,the mother of
 ,christian's four sons was a woman of  
real mind1 as so  many of the maidens1  
and wives1 and widows of ,puritan       
,england and  ,covenanting ,scotland    
were4  ,you gradually gather that       
impression just  from being beside her  
as the journey goes on4  ,she does not  
speak much2  but1 then1 there is always 
something individual1 remarkable1 and   
memorable in what she says4  ,i have a  
notion of my own that ,christiana  must 
have been a reader of that princely     
,puritan1 ,john ,milton4  ,and if  that 
was so1 that of itself would be         

certificate enough as to her  possession
 of mind4  ,there is always a dignity   
and a strength about her  utterances    
that make us feel sure that she had     
always had a mind far  above her        
neighbours1 ,mrs4 ,bat's-eyes1 ,mrs4    
,light-mind1 and ,mrs4 ,know-  nothing4 
,the first time she opens her mouth in  
our hearing she lets fall  an expression
 that ,milton had just made famous in   
his ,samson--       ,ease to the body   
some1 none to the mind     ,from        
restless thoughts1 that like a deadly   
swarm     ,of hornets armed no sooner   
found alone1     ,but rush upon me      
thronging1 and present     ,times past1 
what once ,i was1 and what am now4      
,nor can ,i leave this point without    
asserting it to you that no church and  
no school of theology has ever developed
 the mind as well as sanctified  the    
heart of the common people like the     
preaching of the ,puritan pulpit4       
,matthew ,arnold was not likely to      
over-estimate the good that ,puritanism 

had done to ,england4  ,indeed1 in his  
earlier writings he sometimes went  out 
of his way to lament the hurt that the  
,puritan spirit had done to  liberality 
of life and mind in his native land4    
,but in his riper years  we find him    
saying3 ,certainly1 he says1 ,i am not  
blind to the faults  of the ,puritan    
discipline1 but it has been an          
invaluable discipline for  that poor1   
inattentive1 and immoral creature1 man4 
,and the more ,i read  history and the  
more ,i see of mankind1 the more ,i     
recognise the value of  the ,puritan    
discipline4  ,and in that same ,address 
he founded his best  hopes for that so  
enviable and unbounded country in which 
he was  speaking1 ,america1 on the fact 
that so many of its millions had passed 
through the ,puritan discipline4  ,john 
,milton was a product of that           
discipline on the one hand1 as ,john    
,bunyan was on the other4  ,christiana  
was another of its products in the      
sphere of the family1 just as ,matthew  

,arnold himself had some of his best    
qualities out of the same fruitful      
school4    #b4  ,her heart1 her deep1   
strong1 tender heart1 is present on     
every page  of ,christiana's noble      
history4  ,her heart keeps her often    
silent when the  water in her eyes      
becomes all the more eloquent4  ,when   
she does let her  heart utter itself in 
words1 her words are fine and memorable4
  ,as1 for  one instance1 after         
,greatheart's discourse on redemption4  
,o ,mercy1 that  thy father and mother  
were here2 yea1 and ,mrs4 ,timorous     
also4  ,nay1 ,i  wish with all my heart 
now that here was ,madam ,wanton1 too4  
,surely1  surely1 their hearts would be 
affected1 nor could the fear of the one1
  nor the powerful lusts of the other1  
prevail with them to go home again1  and
 to refuse to become good pilgrims4     
,but it was not so much what she  said  
herself that brought out the depth and  
tenderness of ,christiana's  heart1 it  
was rather the way her heart loosened   

other people's tongues4  ,you must all  
have felt how some people's presence    
straitens your heart  and sews up your  
mouth4  ,while there are other people1  
again1 whose  simple presence unseals   
your heart and makes you eloquent4  ,we 
ministers  keenly feel that both in our 
public and in our private ministrations4
  ,there are people in whose hard and   
chilling presence we cannot even say    
grace as we should say it4  ,whereas1 we
 all know other people1 people of  a    
heart1 that is1 whose presence somehow  
so touches our lips that we  always when
 near them rise far above ourselves4    
,christiana did not speak  much to her  
guides and instructors and companions1  
but they always spoke  their best to    
her1 and it was her heart that did it4  
#c4  ,and then a widow indeed is just a 
true and genuine widow2 a widow not  in 
her name and in her weeds only1 but     
still more in her deep heart1 in  her   
whole life1 and in her garnered         
experience4  ,honour widows that are    

widows indeed4  ,now1 she that is a     
widow indeed and desolate1 trusteth in  
,god1 and continueth in supplications   
and in prayers night and day4  ,well    
reported of for good works2 if she have 
brought up children1 if she have  lodged
 strangers1 if she have washed the      
saints' feet1 if she have  relieved the 
afflicted1 if she have diligently       
followed every good work4  ,these are   
the true marks and seals and occupations
 of a widow indeed4  ,and  if she has   
had unparalleled trials and irreparable 
losses1 she has her  corresponding      
consolations and compensations4  ,for   
she has a freedom to  go about and do   
good1 a liberty and an experience that  
neither the  unmarried maiden nor the   
married wife can possibly have4  ,she   
can do  multitudes of things that in the
 nature of things neither of them can   
attempt to do4  ,things that would be   
both unseemly and impossible for  other 
women to say or to do are both perfectly
 seemly and wholly open for  her to say 

and to do4  ,her widowhood is a sacred  
shield to her4  ,her  sorrow is a crown 
of honour and a sceptre of authority to 
her4  ,she is  consulted by the young   
and the inexperienced1 by the forsaken  
and by the  forlorn1 as no other human  
being ever is4  ,she has come through   
this  life1 and by a long experience she
 knows this world and the hearts that   
fill it and make it what it is4  ,a     
widow indeed can show a sympathy1 and   
give a counsel1 and speak with a weight 
of wisdom that one's own mother  cannot 
always do4  ,all you who by ,god's sad  
dispensation are now clothed  in the    
white and wimpled folds of widowhood1   
let your prayer and your  endeavour day 
and night be that ,god would guide and  
enable you to be  widows indeed4  ,and1 
if you do1 you shall want neither your  
occupation  nor your honour4            
,,the ,,enchanted ,,ground              
,surely there is no enchantment against 
,jacob1 neither is there any            
divination against ,israel4--,balaam4   

,i saw then in my dream that they went  
till they came into a certain  country  
whose air naturally tended to make one  
drowsy if he came a  stranger to it4    
,and here ,hopeful began to be very dull
 and heavy of  sleep1 wherefore he said 
unto ,christian1 ,i do now begin to grow
 so drowsy  that ,i can scarcely hold up
 mine eyes2 let us lie down here and    
take one  nap4  ,and then when we turn  
to the same place in the ,second ,part  
we read  thus3 ,by this time they were  
got to the ,enchanted ,ground1 where the
 air  naturally tended to make one      
drowsy4  ,and that place was all grown  
over  with briars and thorns1 excepting 
here and there1 where was an enchanted  
arbour1 upon which1 if a man sits1 or in
 which if a man sleeps1 'tis a          
question1 say some1 whether they shall  
ever rise or wake again in this  world4 
,now1 they had not gone far1 but a great
 mist and darkness fell  upon them all1 
so that they could scarce1 for a great  
while1 see the one  the other4          

,wherefore they were forced for some    
time to feel for one  another by words1 
for they walked not by sight4  ,nor was 
there on all  this ground so much as one
 inn or victualling-house wherein to    
refresh  the feebler sort4  ,then they  
came to an arbour1 warm1 and promising  
much  refreshing to the pilgrims1 for it
 was finely wrought above head1         
beautified with greens1 and furnished   
with couches and settles4  ,it also  had
 a soft couch on which the weary might  
lean4  ,this arbour was called  ,the    
,slothful ,man's ,friend1 on purpose to 
allure1 if it might be1 some of  the    
pilgrims there to take up their rest    
when weary4  ,this1 you must  think1 all
 things considered1 was tempting4  ,i   
saw in my dream also that  they went on 
in this their solitary way till they    
came to a place at  which a man is very 
apt to lose his way4  ,now1 though when 
it was light1  their guide could well   
enough tell how to miss those ways that 
led wrong1  yet in the dark he was put  

to a stand4  ,but he had in his pocket a
 map of  all ways leading to or from the
 ,celestial ,city1 wherefore he struck a
  light 7for he never goes also without 
his tinder-box71 and takes a view  of   
his book or map1 which bids him be      
careful in that place to turn to  the   
right-hand way4  ,then ,i thought with  
myself1 who that goeth on  pilgrimage   
but would have one of those maps about  
him1 that he may look  when he is at a  
stand1 which is the way to take8    #a4 
,but what is the meaning of all this8   
asked ,christiana of the guide4  ,this  
,enchanted ,ground1--her able and       
experienced friend answered her1  this  
is one of the last refuges that the     
enemy to pilgrims has2  wherefore it is1
 as you see1 placed almost at the end of
 the way1 and so  it standeth against us
 with the more advantage4  ,for when1   
thinks the  enemy1 will these fools be  
so desirous to sit down as when they are
  weary1 and when so like to be weary as
 when almost at their journey's  end8   

,therefore it is1 ,i say1 that the      
,enchanted ,ground is placed so nigh  to
 the land ,beulah and so near the end of
 their race2 wherefore let  pilgrims    
look to themselves lest they fall asleep
 till none can waken  them4  ,that      
masterpiece of ,bunyan's insight into   
life1 the ,enchanted  ,ground1 says ,mr4
 ,louis ,stevenson1 where his allegory  
cuts so deep to  people looking         
seriously on life4  ,yes1 indeed1       
,bunyan's insight into  life6  ,and his 
allegory that cuts so deep6  ,for a     
neophyte1 and one with  little insight  
into life1 or into himself1 would go to 
look for this land  of darkness and     
thorns and pitfalls1 alternated with    
arbours and settles  and soft           
couches--one new to life and to himself1
 ,i say1 would naturally  expect to see 
all that confined to the region between 
the ,city of  ,destruction and the      
,slough of ,despond2 or1 at the worst1  
long before1 and  never after1 the      
,house ,beautiful4  ,but ,bunyan looked 

too straight at life  and too           
unflinchingly into his own heart to lay 
down his sub-,celestial  lands in that  
way2 and when we begin to look with a   
like seriousness on  the religious life1
 and especially when we begin to look   
bold enough and  deep enough into our   
own heart1 then we too shall freely     
acknowledge the  splendid master-stroke 
of ,bunyan in the ,enchanted ,ground4   
,that this so  terrible experience is   
laid down almost at the end of the      
,celestial  way--the blaze of light that
 pours upon our heads fairly startles   
us1  while at the same time it comforts 
us and assures us4  ,that this          
,enchanted ,ground1 which has proved so 
fatal to so many false pilgrims1  and so
 all but fatal to so many true pilgrims1
 should lie around the very  borders of 
,beulah1 and should be within all but   
eye-shot of the ,celestial  ,city       
itself1--that is something to be        
thankful for1 and something to lay  up  
in the deepest and the most secret place

 in our heart4  ,that these  pilgrims1  
after all their feastings and           
entertainments--after the  ,delectable  
,mountains and the ,house               
,beautiful--should all be plunged upon  
a land where there was not so much as a 
roadside inn1 where the ways were  so   
dark and so long that the pilgrims had  
to shout aloud in order to keep         
together1 where1 instead of moon or     
stars1 they had to walk in the spark  of
 a small tinder-box--what an            
encouragement and assurance to us is all
  that6  ,that is no strange thing1     
then1 that is now happening to us1 when1
  after our fine communion season1 we   
have suddenly fallen back into this     
deep darkness1 and are cast into these  
terrible temptations1 and feel as  if   
all our past experiences and attainments
 and enjoyments had been but a          
self-delusion and a snare4  ,that we    
should all but have fallen fast  asleep1
 and all but have ceased both from      
watching against sin and from  waiting  

upon ,god--well1 that is nothing more   
than ,hopeful himself would  have done  
had he not had a wary old companion to  
watch over him1 and to  hold his eyes   
open4  ,let all ,god's people present   
who feel that they are  nothing better  
of all they have enjoyed of ,scriptures 
and sacraments1 but  rather worse2 let  
all those who feel sure that they have  
wandered into a  castaway land1 so dark1
 so thorny1 so miry1 and so lonely is   
their  life--let them read this         
masterpiece of ,john ,bunyan again and  
again and  take heart of hope4          
,when ,saints do sleepy grow1 let them  
come hither     ,and hear how these two 
pilgrims talk together2     ,yea1 let   
them hear of them1 in any wise1         
,thus to keep ope their drowsy          
slumb'ring eyes2     ,saints'           
fellowship1 if it be managed well1      
,keeps them awake1 and that in spite of 
hell4    #b4  ,but far worse than all   
its briars and thorns1 far more fatal   
than all  its ditches and pitfalls1 were

 the enchanted arbours they came on here
  and there planted up and down that    
evil land4  ,for those arbours are all  
of this fatal nature1 that if a man     
falls asleep in any of them it arises  a
 question whether he shall ever come to 
himself again in this world4  ,now1     
where there are no inns nor             
victualling-houses1 no ,gaius and no    
,mr4  ,mnason1 what a danger all those  
ill-intended arbours scattered all up   
and  down that country become6  ,well1  
then1 the first enchanted arbour that   
the pilgrims came to was built just     
inside the borders of the land1 and  it 
was called ,the ,stranger's ,arbour--so 
many new-comers had lain down in  it    
never to rise again4  ,the young and the
 inexperienced1 with those who  were    
naturally of a believing1 buoyant1 easy 
mind1 lay down in hundreds  here4       
,hopeful's mind was naturally a mind of 
a soft and easy and self-  indulgent    
cast2 and had he been alone that day1 or
 had he had for a  companion a man of a 

less wary1 less anxious1 and less urgent
 mind than  ,christian was1 ,hopeful had
 taken a nap1 as he so confidingly      
called it--a  fatal nap in that arbour  
built by the enemy of pilgrims1 just on 
purpose  for the young and the ignorant1
 the inexperienced and the              
self-indulgent4    #c4  ,the ,slothful  
,man's ,arbour has been already         
described4  ,it was a warm  arbour1 and 
it promised much refreshing to the      
pilgrims4  ,it also had in  it a soft   
couch on which the weary might lean4    
,let us lie down here and  take just one
 nap2 we shall be refreshed if we take a
 nap6  ,do you not  remember1 said the  
other1 that one of the shepherds bid us 
beware of  the ,enchanted ,ground8  ,and
 he meant by that that we should beware 
of  sleeping2 wherefore let us not sleep
 as do others1 but let us watch and  be 
sober4  ,now1 what is a nap8  ,and what 
is it to take a nap in our  religion8   
,the ,new ,testament is full of warnings
 to those who read it and  go by        

it--most solemn and most fearful        
warnings--against sleep4  ,now1  have   
you any clear idea in your minds as to  
what this divinely denounced  sleep is8 
,sleep is good and necessary in our     
bodily life4  ,we would not  live long  
if we did not sleep2 we would soon go   
out of our mind2 we would  soon lose our
 senses if we did not sleep4  ,insomnia 
is one of the worst  symptoms of our    
eager1 restless1 over-worked age4  ,he  
giveth ,his beloved  sleep2 and while   
they sleep their corn grows they know   
not how4  ,but  sleep in the great      
exhortation-passages of the ,holy       
,scriptures does not  mean rest and     
restoration2 it means in all those      
passages insensibility1  stupidity1     
danger1 and death4  ,in our nightly     
sleep1 and in the measure  of its       
soundness1 we are utterly dead to the   
world around us4  ,men may  come into   
our house and rob us of our most        
precious possessions2 they may  even    
come up to our bed and murder us2 our   

whole house may be in a blaze  about us2
 we may only awaken to leap out of sleep
 into eternity4  ,now1 we  are all in a 
sleep like that in our souls4  ,there is
 above us1 and around  us1 and beneath  
us1 and within us the eternal world1 and
 we are all sound  asleep2 we are all   
stone-dead in the midst of it4  ,devils 
and wicked men  are stealing our        
treasures for eternity1 and we are sound
 asleep2 hell is  already kindling our  
bed beneath us1 but we smell not its    
flames1 or we  only catch the first gasp
 of them before we make our everlasting 
bed  among them4  ,therefore let us not 
sleep as do others1 but let us watch    
and be sober4  ,what meanest thou1 ,o   
sleeper8 arise and call upon thy ,god6  
,when the guide shook ,heedless and     
,too-bold off their settles in that     
slothful arbour1 the one of them said   
with his eyes still shut1 ,i will  pay  
you when ,i take my money1 and the other
 said1 ,i will fight so long  as ,i can 
hold my sword in my hand4  ,at that one 

of the children laughed4  ,what is the  
meaning of that8 asked ,christiana4     
,the guide said3 ,they  talk in their   
sleep4  ,so they did1 and so do all men4
  ,for this whole  world is full of     
settles on which men sleep and talk in  
their sleep4  ,the  newspapers to-morrow
 morning will all be full to overflowing
 of what men  have said and written     
to-day and yesterday in their sleep4    
,the shops and  the banks and the       
exchanges will all be full of men making
 promises and  settling accounts in     
their sleep4  ,they will finger their   
purses1 and  grasp their swords1 and all
 in their sleep4  ,and not children but 
devils  will laugh as they hear the     
folly that falls from men's lips who are
  besotted with spiritual sleep and     
drugged with spiritual and fleshly sin4 
,a dream cometh through the multitude of
 business4  ,i had just got this  length
 in this lecture the other night when ,i
 went to sleep4  ,and in my  sleep one  
of my people came to me and asked me if 

,i could make it quite  clear and plain 
to him what it would be for a man like  
him after a  communion-time to begin to 
walk with ,god4  ,and ,i just wish ,i   
could make  the things of the ,enchanted
 ,ground as plain to myself and to you  
to-night  as ,i was able to make a walk 
with ,god plain to myself and to my     
visitor  that night in my ministerial   
dream4  ,i often wish that my business  
mind  worked as well in my study chair  
and in my pulpit as it sometimes does in
  my bed and in my sleep4  ,now1 ,i     
beheld in my dream that they talked more
  in their sleep at this time than ever 
they did in all their journey4  ,and    
being in a muse thereabout1 the gardener
 said even to me3 ,wherefore  musest    
thou at the matter8  ,it is the nature  
of the fruit of the grapes  of those    
vineyards to go down so sweetly as to   
cause the lips of them  that are asleep 
to speak4  ,the reason my poor lips     
spake so sweetly  about a walk with ,god
 that night most have been because ,i   

spent all the  summer evening before    
walking with ,god and with you in the   
vineyards of  ,beulah4    #d4  ,listen  
to ,samson1 shorn of his locks1 as he   
shakes himself off a soft  and          
sweetly-worked couch in ,the ,sensual   
,man's ,arbour3             ,no1 no2    
,it fits not2 thou and ,i long since are
 twain2     ,nor think me so unwary or  
accurst     ,to bring my feet again into
 the snare     ,where once ,i have been 
caught2 ,i know thy trains1     ,though 
dearly to my cost1 thy gins1 and toils2 
,thy fair enchanted cup and warbling    
charms     ,no more on me have power1   
their force is null'd2     ,so much of  
adder's wisdom have ,i learnt     ,to   
fence my ear against thy sorceries4     
,if in my flower of youth and strength1 
when all men     ,loved1 honour'd1      
fear'd me1 thou alone couldst hate me1  
,thy husband1 slight me1 sell me1 and   
forego me2     ,how wouldst thou use me 
now1 blind1 and thereby     ,deceivable1
 in most things as a child1             

,helpless1 thence easily contemn'd1 and 
scorn'd1     ,and last neglected8  ,how 
wouldst thou insult1     ,when ,i must  
live uxorious to thy will     ,in       
perfect thraldom6  ,how again betray me1
     ,bearing my words and doings to the
 lords     ,to gloss upon1 and          
censuring1 frown or smile6     ,this    
jail ,i count the house of liberty      
,to thine1 whose doors my feet shall    
never enter4    #e4  ,the love of money 
to some men is the root of all evil4    
,there came  once a youth to ,st4       
,philip ,neri and1 flushed with joy1    
told him that his  parents after much   
entreaty had at length allowed him to   
study law4  ,st4  ,philip was not a man 
of many words4  ,what then8 the saint   
simply asked  the shining youth4  ,then 
,i shall become a lawyer6  ,and then8   
pursued  ,philip4  ,then1 said the young
 man1 ,i shall earn a nice sum of money1
  and ,i shall purchase a fine country  
house1 procure a carriage and horses1   
marry a handsome and rich wife1 and lead

 a delightful life6  ,and then8         
,then1--the youth reflected as death and
 eternity arose before his eyes1  and   
from that day he began to take care of  
his immortal soul4  ,philip  with one   
word snatched that young man's soul off 
,the ,rich ,man's ,settle4    #f4  ,the 
,vain ,man's ,settle draws down many men
 to shame and everlasting  contempt4    
,praise a vain man or a vain woman      
aright and enough and you  will get them
 to do anything you like4  ,give a vain 
man sufficient  publicity in your paper 
or on your platform and he will become a
 spy1 a  traitor1 and cut-throat in your
 service4  ,the sorcerer's cup of       
praise--keep it full enough in a vain   
man's hand1 and he will sleep in  the   
arbour of vanity till he wakens in hell4
  ,madam ,bubble1 the  arch-enchantress1
 knows her own1 and she has1 with her   
purse1 her  promotion1 and her praise1  
bought off many a promising pilgrim4    
#g4  ,and then she1 by virtue of whose  
sorceries this whole land is drugged    

and enchanted1 is such a bold slut that 
she will build a ,sacred ,arbour  even1 
and will fill it full of religious      
enchantment for you rather than  lose   
hold of you4  ,she will consecrate      
places and persons and periods for  you 
if your taste lies that way2 she will   
build costly and stately  churches for  
you2 she will weave rich vestments and  
carve rich vessels2  she will employ all
 the arts2 she will even sanctify and   
set apart and  seat aloft her holy      
men--what will she not do to please you1
 to take you1  to intoxicate and enchant
 you8  ,she will juggle for your soul   
equally  well whether you are a country 
clown in a feeing-market or a fine lady 
of  aesthetic tastes and religious      
sensibilities in the capital and the    
court4  ,but ,i shall let ,father ,faber
 speak1 who can speak on this subject   
both with authority and with attraction4
  ,she can open churches1 and  light    
candles on the altar1 and intone ,te    
,deums to the ,majesty on high4  ,she   

can pass into the beauty of art1 into   
the splendour of dress1 and  into the   
magnificence of furniture4  ,she can sit
 with high principles on  her lips      
discussing a religious vocation and     
praising ,god and sanctity4  ,on the    
benches of bishops and in the pages of  
good books you will find  her1 and yet  
she is all the while the same huge evil 
creature4  ,yes2 she  is all the time   
the same ,madam ,bubble who offered to  
,standfast her body1  her purse1 and her
 bed4    ,now1 would you know for       
yourself1 like the communicant who came 
to me in  my sleep1 how you are ever to 
get past all those arbours1 and settles1
  and seats1 and couches1 with all their
 sweet sorceries and intoxicating       
enchantments--would you in earnest know 
that8  ,then study well the case  of one
 ,standfast4  ,especially the time when 
she who enchants this whole  ground     
hereabouts set so upon that pilgrim4    
,in one word1 it was this3 he           
remembered his ,lord2 and1 like his     

,lord1 he fell on his face2 and as his  
,lord would have it1 ,his servant's lips
 as they touched the ground touched     
also the healing plant harmony and he   
was saved4             ,a small         
unsightly root1     ,but of divine      
effect4     ,unknown1 and like esteem'd1
 and the dull swain     ,treads on it   
daily with his clouted shoon2     ,and  
yet more med'cinal is it than that moly 
,that ,hermes once to wise ,ulysses     
gave2     ,he call'd it haemony1 and    
gave it me1     ,and bade me keep it as 
of sovran use     ',gainst all          
enchantments1 mildew1 blast1 or damp1   
,or ghastly furies' apparition4     ,and
 now ,i find it true2 for by this means 
,i knew the foul enchantress1 though    
disguised1     ,enter'd the very        
lime-twigs of her spells1     ,and yet  
came off4  ,if you have this about you  
7,as ,i will give you when you go7 you  
may     ,boldly assault the             
necromancer's hall3     ,where if she   
be1 with dauntless hardihood1     ,and  

brandished blade1 rush on her1 break her
 glass1     ,and shed her luscious      
liquor on the ground1     ,and seize her
 wand4    ,prayer1 my sin-beset         
brethren1 standfast prayer1 is the      
otherwise  unidentified haemony whose   
best habitat was the ,garden of         
,gethsemane2 and  with that holy root in
 your heart and in your mouth1 there is 
no  enchantment against ,jacob1 neither 
is there any divination against         
,israel4          ,,the ,,land ,,of     
,,beulah         ,thou shalt be called  
,hephzibah1 and thy land                
,beulah4--,isaiah4    ,the first thing  
that ,john ,bunyan tells us about the   
land of ,beulah is  this--that the      
shortest and the best way to the        
,celestial ,city lies  directly through 
that land4  ,the land of ,beulah has its
 own indigenous  inhabitants indeed4    
,old men dwell in the streets of        
,beulah1 and every  man with his staff  
in his hand for very age4  ,the streets 
of the city  also are full of boys and  

girls playing in the streets thereof4   
,the land  of ,beulah has its frequent  
visitors also1 and its welcome guests   
from the  regions above4  ,some of the  
shining ones come down from time to time
 and  make a short sojourn in ,beulah4  
,the angels in heaven have such a desire
  to see the lands from which ,god's    
saints come up that at certain seasons  
all the suburbs of the ,celestial ,city 
are full of those shining servants  of  
,god and of the ,lamb4    ,but what made
 the dreamer to smile and to talk so in 
his sleep was when  he saw that all the 
upward ways to the ,celestial ,city ran 
through the  land of ,beulah4  ,he saw  
also in his dream how all the pilgrims  
blamed  themselves so bitterly now      
because they had misspent so much of    
their  time and strength in the ways    
below1 and so had not come sooner to see
  and to taste this blessed land4  ,but1
 at the same time1 as it was1 they  all 
rejoiced with a great joy because that1 
after all their delays and  all their   

wanderings1 their way still led them    
through the borders of  ,beulah4  ,now1 
my dear fellow-communicants1 how shall  
we find our way at  once1 and without   
any more wanderings1 into that so       
desirable land8  ,how  shall we attain  
to walk its streets all the rest of our 
days with our  staff in our hand8  ,how 
shall we hope to see our boys and our   
girls  playing in the streets of        
,beulah1 and eating all their days of   
its sweet  and its healing fruits8  ,how
 shall we and our children with us      
henceforth  escape the ,slough of       
,despond1 and ,giant ,despair's dungeon1
 and the ,valley  of the ,shadow of     
,death8  ,the word1 my brethren1 the    
answer to all that1  is nigh unto us1   
even in our mouth and in our heart4     
,for faith1 simple  faith1 will do all  
that both for us and for our children   
beside us4  ,a  heart-feeding faith in  
,god1 in the word of ,god1 and in the   
,son of ,god1  will do it4  ,faith1 and 
then obedience4  ,for obedience1 my     

brethren1 is  ,beulah4  ,all obedience  
is already ,beulah4  ,holy obedience    
will bring the  whole of ,beulah into   
your heart and into mine at any moment4 
,it is  disobedience that makes so many 
of those who otherwise are true pilgrims
  to miss so much of the land of        
,beulah4  ,ask any affable old man with 
his  staff in his hand for very age1 and
 he will tell you that it was his       
disobedience that kept him so long out  
of the land of ,beulah4  ,while1 let    
any man1 and above all1 let any young   
man1 begin early to live a life of      
believing obedience1 and he will grow up
 and grow old and see his  children's   
children playing around his staff in the
 streets of ,beulah4  ,let any young man
 make the experiment for himself upon   
obedience and upon  ,beulah4  ,let him  
not too easily believe any dreamer or   
even any seer  about obedience and about
 the land of ,beulah4  ,it is his own   
matter and  not theirs2 and let him make
 experiment upon it all for his own     

satisfaction and assurance4  ,let any   
young man1 then1 try prayer as his      
first step into obedience1 and          
especially secret prayer4  ,let him shut
  his door to-night1 and let him see if 
he is not already inside one of the     
gates of ,beulah4  ,let him deny himself
 every day also1 if it is only in a     
very little thing4  ,let him say sternly
 to his own heart every hour of         
temptation1 ,no6 never6 and on the spot 
a sweet waft of ,beulah's finest  spices
 will fall upon his face4  ,the         
ineffable joy of renouncing joy  will   
every day make the lonely wilderness of 
this world a constant ,beulah  to such a
 man4  ,for1 to live at all times1 in   
all places1 and in all  things for other
 men1 and never and in nothing for      
yourself--that is the  deepest secret of
 ,beulah4  ,to say it1 if need be1 three
 times to-night on  your face and in a  
sweat of blood1 ,not my will1 but ,thine
 be done6--that  will to-night turn the 
garden of ,gethsemane itself into the   

very garden  of ,glory4  ,do you doubt  
it8  ,are you not yet able to believe   
it8  ,then  hear about it from ,one who 
has ,himself come through it4  ,hear    
,his word  upon the whole matter who is 
the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life4    
,come  unto ,me1 says the ,king of      
,beulah1 all ye that labour and are     
heavy  laden1 and ,i will give you rest4
  ,take ,my yoke upon you and learn of  
,me1  for ,i am meek and lowly in heart1
 and ye shall find rest unto your souls4
  ,for ,my yoke is easy and ,my burden  
is light4  ,so after ,he had washed     
their feet1 and had taken ,his garments 
and was set down again1 ,he said  unto  
them1 ,know ye what ,i have done to you8
  ,for ,i have given you an  example1   
that ye should do as ,i have done to    
you4  ,if ye know these  things1 happy  
are ye if ye do them4  ,if ye love ,me1 
keep ,my commandments4  ,and ,i will    
pray the ,father1 and ,he shall give you
 another ,comforter1 that  ,he may abide
 with you for ever4  ,if a man love ,me1

 he will keep ,my words2  and ,my       
,father will love him1 and ,we will come
 unto him and will make ,our  abode with
 him4  ,peace ,i leave with you1 ,my    
peace ,i give unto you3 not as  the     
world giveth1 give ,i unto you4  ,these 
things have ,i spoken unto you  that ,my
 joy might remain in you1 and that your 
joy might be full4  ,hitherto ye have   
asked nothing in ,my name2 ask1 and ye  
shall receive1  that your joy may be    
full4  ,father1 ,i will that they also1 
whom ,thou hast  given ,me1 be with ,me 
where ,i am4  ,and thus ,i saw in my    
dream that their  way lay right through 
the land of ,beulah1 in which land they 
solaced  themselves for a season4    #b4
  ,they solaced themselves4  ,now1      
solace is just the ,latin solatium1     
which1 again1 is just a soothing1 an    
assuaging1 a compensation1 an           
indemnification4  ,well1 that land into 
which the pilgrims had now come  was    
very soothing to their ruffled spirits  
and to their weary hearts4  ,it         

assuaged their many and sore griefs     
also4  ,it more than compensated them   
for all their labours and all their     
afflictions4  ,and it was a full        
indemnification to them for all that    
they had forsaken and lost both in      
beginning to be pilgrims and in enduring
 to the end4  ,the children of  ,israel 
had their first solace in their         
pilgrimage at ,elim1 where there  were  
twelve wells of water and threescore and
 ten palm-trees2 and they  encamped     
there by the waters4  ,and then they had
 their last and crowning  solace when   
the spies came back from ,eshcol with a 
cluster of grapes that  they bare       
between two upon a staff1 with          
pomegranates and figs4  ,and  ,moses    
kept solacing his charge all the way    
through the weary wilderness  with such 
strong consolations as these3 ,for the  
,lord thy ,god bringeth  thee into a    
good land1 a land of brooks of water1 of
 fountains and depths  that spring out  
of valleys and hills2 a land of wheat1  

and barley1 and  vines1 and fig-trees2 a
 land of oil-olive and honey2 a land    
wherein thou  shalt eat bread without   
scarceness1 thou shalt not lack anything
 in it2 a  land whose stones are iron1  
and out of whose hills thou mayest dig  
brass4  ,our ,lord spake solace to ,his 
doubting and fainting disciples  also in
 many such words as these3 ,verily1 ,i  
say unto you1 there is no  man that hath
 left house1 or parents1 or brethren1 or
 wife1 or children  for the kingdom of  
,god's sake1 who shall not receive      
manifold more in  this present time1 and
 in the world to come life everlasting4 
,the ,mount  of ,transfiguration also   
was ,his own ,beulah-solace2 and the    
,last ,supper  and the prayer with which
 it wound up were given to our ,lord and
 to ,his  disciples as a very           
,eshcol-cluster from the ,paradise      
above4  ,now1 ,i saw  in my dream that  
they solaced themselves in the land of  
,beulah for a  season4  ,yea1 here they 
heard continually the singing of birds4 

7,the  ,latin poets called the birds    
solatia ruris1 because they refreshed   
and  cheered the rustic labourers with  
their sweet singing47  ,and every day   
the flowers appeared in the earth1 and  
the voice of the turtle was heard  in   
the land4  ,in this country the sun     
shineth night and day1 for there is  no 
night there4    #c4  ,in this country   
the sun shineth night and day4  ,how    
much ,standfast  must have enjoyed that 
land of light you may guess when you    
recollect  that he came from ,darkland1 
which lies in the hemisphere right      
opposite  to the land of ,beulah4  ,in  
,darkland the sun never shines to be    
called  sunshine at all4  ,all the days 
of his youth1 ,standfast told his       
companions1 he had sat beside his father
 and his mother in that obscure  land   
where to his sorrow his father and his  
mother still sat4  ,but in  ,beulah the 
rose of evening becomes silently and    
suddenly the rose of  dawn4  ,this land 
lies beyond the ,valley of the ,shadow  

of ,death1 neither  could they from this
 place so much as see ,doubting ,castle4
  ,now1 ,doubting  ,castle is a dismal  
place for any soul of man to be shut up 
into4  ,and in  that dark hold there are
 dungeons dug for all kinds of doubting 
souls4  ,there are dungeons dug for the 
souls of men whose doubts are in their  
intellects1 as well as for those also   
whose doubts arise out of their  hearts4
  ,some men read themselves into        
,doubting ,castle1 and some men sin  and
 sell themselves to its giant4  ,god    
casts some of ,his own children all     
their days into those dungeons as a     
punishment for their life of            
disobedience2 ,he casts others down into
 chains of darkness because of  their   
idleness and unfruitfulness4  ,but      
,beulah is far away from ,doubting      
,castle4  ,beulah is a splendid spot for
 a studious man to lodge in4  ,for  what
 a clear light shines night and day in  
,beulah6  ,to what far horizons  a man's
 eye will carry him in ,beulah6  ,what  

large speculations rise  before him who 
walks abroad in ,beulah6  ,how clear the
 air is in ,beulah1  how clean the heart
 and how unclouded the eye of its       
inhabitants6  ,the  ,king's walks are in
 ,beulah1 and the arbours where ,he     
delighteth to be4  ,blessed are the pure
 in heart1 for they shall be admitted to
 see ,god in  the land of ,beulah4  ,in 
the land of ,beulah the sun shall no    
more be thy  light by day1 neither for  
brightness shall the moon give light    
unto thee2  but the ,lord shall be thine
 everlasting light1 and thy ,god thy    
glory6    #d4  ,in this land also the   
contract between the bride and the      
bridegroom  is renewed4  ,now1 there is 
no other day so bitter in any man's life
 as  that day is on which his bridal    
contract is broken off4  ,and it is the 
very perfection and last extremity of   
bitterness when his contract is  broken 
off because of his own past life4  ,let 
all those1 then1 who would  fain enter  
into that sweet contract think well     

about it beforehand4  ,let  them look   
back into all their past life4  ,for all
 their past life will be  sure to find  
them out on the day of their espousals4 
,if they have their  enemies--as all    
espoused men have--this is the hour and 
the power of  their enemies4  ,the day  
on which any man's espousals are        
published is a  small and local         
judgment-day to him4  ,for all the men1 
and1 especially1  all the women1 who    
have ever been injured by him1 or who   
have injured  themselves upon him2 all  
the men and all the women who for any   
reason1  and for no reason1 hate both   
him and his happiness1--their tongues   
and  their pens will take no sleep till 
they have got his contract if they  can1
 broken off4  ,and even when the        
bridegroom is too innocent1 or the      
bride too true1 or ,god too good to let 
the contract continue long to be  broken
 off1 that great goodness of ,god and   
that great trust of his  contracted     
bride will only make the bridegroom walk

 henceforth more  softly and rejoice    
with more trembling4  ,and that is a    
most excellent  mind4  ,i know no better
 mind in which any man1 guilty or       
innocent1 can  enter on a married life4 
,i sometimes tell the bridegrooms that  
,i can  take a liberty with to keep     
saying to themselves all the way up to  
the  marriage altar the tenth verse of  
the #ajcrd psalm2 as well as when they  
come up afterwards to the baptismal     
font3 ,he hath not dealt with us  after 
our sins nor rewarded us after our      
iniquities4  ,and it is surely  ,beulah 
itself1 at its very best1 it is surely  
,beulah above itself1 when a  happy     
bridegroom is full of that humble and   
happy mind1 and when he is in  one and  
the same moment reconciled both to his  
bride on earth and to his  ,god and     
,father in heaven4  ,in this land1      
therefore1 in the land of  ,beulah1 the 
contract between the bride and the      
bridegroom is renewed2  yea1 as the     
bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride1 so 

shall thy ,god rejoice  over thee4      
#e4  ,the salaams and salutations also  
that they were met with as often as     
they went out to walk in the streets    
thereof were a constant surprise1       
satisfaction1 and sweetness to the      
fearful pilgrims4  ,no passer-by ever   
once frowned or scowled upon them       
because their faces were ,zionward1 as  
they do in our cities4  ,no one ever    
treated them with scorn or contempt     
because they were poor or unlettered4   
,no man's face either turned dark  at   
them or was turned away from them as    
they passed up the street4  ,they       
never1 all the time they abode in       
,beulah1 took to the lanes of the city  
to escape the unkind looks of any of its
 citizens4  ,greatheart's hand was      
never away from his helmet4  ,his helmet
 was never well on his head4  ,his      
always bare and unhelmeted head said to 
all the men of ,beulah1 ,i love and     
honour and trust you4  ,you would not   
hurt a hair of my head4  ,and so on1    

till all the streets of ,beulah were one
 buzz of salutation1  congratulation1   
and benediction4  ,here they heard      
voices from out of the  city1 loud      
voices1 saying1 ,say ye to the daughter 
of ,zion1 ,behold1 thy  salvation       
cometh2 behold1 his reward is with him4 
,here all the  inhabitants of the       
country called them the holy people1 the
 redeemed of  the ,lord1 sought out1 a  
city not forsaken4    #f4  ,now1 as they
 walked in this land they had more      
rejoicing than in  parts more remote    
from the kingdom to which they were     
bound4  ,and still  drawing nigh to that
 city they had yet a more perfect view  
thereof4  ,it  was builded of pearls and
 precious stones1 also the street       
thereof was  paved with gold1 so that by
 reason of the natural glory of the city
 and  the reflection of the sunbeams    
upon it1 ,christian with desire fell    
sick4  ,hopeful also had a fit or two of
 the same disease4  ,wherefore here they
  lay by it awhile1 crying out because  

of their pangs1 ,if you see my  beloved1
 tell him that ,i am sick of love4      
,there are in all good cases of         
recovery three successive stages of     
soul-sickness4  ,true1 soul-sickness    
always runs its own course1 and it      
always runs its own course in its own   
order4  ,this special sickness first    
shows itself when the soul becomes  sick
 with sin4  ,we have that sickness set  
forth in many a psalm1 notably  in the  
thirty-eighth psalm2 and in a multitude 
of other scriptures1 both  old and new1 
this evil disease is dealt with if we   
had only the eyes and  the heart to read
 such scriptures4  ,the second stage of 
this sickness is  when a sinner is not  
so much sick with the sin that dwelleth 
in him as  sick of himself4  ,sinfulness
 in its second stage becomes so         
incorporate  with the sinner's whole    
life--sin so becomes the sinner's very  
nature1  and1 indeed1 himself1--that all
 his former loathing of sin passes over 
henceforth into loathing of himself4    

,this is the most desperate stage in    
any man's sickness2 but1 bad as it is1  
incurable as it is1 it must be  passed  
into before the third stage of the      
healing process can either be           
experienced or understood4  ,in the case
 in hand1 by the time the pilgrims  had 
come to ,beulah they had all had their  
full share of sin and of  themselves    
till they here entered on an altogether 
new experience4  ,christian with desire 
fell sick1 we read1 and ,hopeful also   
had a fit  or two of the same disease4  
,wherefore here they lay by it a while1 
crying out because of their pangs1 ,if  
you see my beloved1 tell him that ,i  am
 sick of love4  ,david1 ,paul1 ,bernard1
 ,bunyan himself1 ,rutherford1          
,brainerd1 ,m',cheyne1 and many others  
crowd in upon the mind4  ,i shall but   
instance ,john ,flavel and ,mrs4        
,jonathan ,edwards1 and so close4  ,john
  ,flavel being once on a journey set   
himself to improve the time by          
meditation1 when his mind grew intent1  

till at length he had such  ravishing   
tastes of heavenly joys1 and such a full
 assurance of his  interest therein1    
that he utterly lost the sight and sense
 of this world  and all its concerns1 so
 that for hours he knew not where he    
was4  ,at  last1 perceiving himself to  
be faint1 he sat down at a spring1 where
 he  refreshed himself1 earnestly       
desiring1 if it were the will of ,god1  
that  he might there leave the world4   
,his spirit reviving1 he finished his   
journey in the same delightful frame1   
and all that night the joy of the  ,lord
 still overflowed him so that he seemed 
an inhabitant of the other  world4  ,the
 only other case of love-sickness ,i    
shall touch on to-night ,i  take from   
under the pen of a sin-sick and         
love-sick author1 who has been          
truthfully described as one of the      
first1 if not the very first1 of the    
masters of human reason1 and1 again1 as 
one of the greatest of the sons  of men4
  ,there is a young lady in ,new-haven1 

says ,edwards1 who is so  loved of that 
,great ,being who made and rules the    
world1 that there are  certain seasons  
in which this ,great ,being in some way 
or other invisible  comes to her and    
fills her mind with exceeding sweet     
delight1 so that she  hardly cares for  
anything but to meditate upon ,him4     
,she looks soon to  dwell wholly with   
,him1 and to be ravished with ,his love 
and delight for  ever4  ,therefore1 if  
you present all this world before her1  
with the  richest of its treasures1 she 
disregards it and cares not for it1 and 
is  unmindful of any pain or affliction4
  ,she has a strange sweetness in her   
mind1 and a singular piety in her       
affections2 is most just and            
conscientious in all her conduct2 and   
you could not persuade her to do        
anything wrong or sinful1 if you would  
give her the whole world4  ,she  loves  
to be alone1 walking in the fields and  
groves1 and seems to have  some one     
invisible always communing with her4    

,and so on1 all through  her seraphic   
history4  ,now1 if such things are too  
enthusiastic1 says  the author of ,a    
,careful and a ,strict ,enquiry into the
 ,freedom of the  ,will1 if such things 
are the offspring of a distempered      
brain1 let my  brain be possessed       
evermore of that blessed distemper6  ,if
 this be  distraction1 ,i pray ,god that
 the whole world of mankind may all be  
seized  with this benign1 meek1         
beneficent1 beatific1 glorious          
distraction6  ,the  peace of ,god that  
passeth all understanding2 rejoicing    
with joy  unspeakable and full of glory2
 ,god shining in our hearts1 to give the
  light of the knowledge of ,god in the 
face of ,jesus ,christ2 with open face  
beholding as in a glass the glory of    
,god1 and being changed into the same   
image from glory to glory1 even as by   
the spirit of the ,lord2 being  called  
out of darkness into marvellous light1  
and having the day-star  arise in our   
hearts6  ,what a sweet distraction is   

that6  ,and out of what  a heavenly     
distemper and out of what a sane        
enthusiasm has all that come  to us6    
,more ,i would speak3 but all my words  
are faint2     ,celestial ,love1 what   
eloquence can paint8     ,no more1 by   
mortal words1 can be expressed1     ,but
 all ,eternity shall tell the rest4     
,,the ,,swelling ,,of ,,jordan          
,the swelling of ,jordan4--,jeremiah4   
,fore-fancy your deathbed1 says ,samuel 
,rutherford4  ,take an essay1 he  says  
in his greatest book1 that perfect mine 
of gold and jewels1 ,christ  ,dying and 
,drawing ,sinners to ,himself--,take an 
essay and a lift at your  death1 and    
look at it before it actually comes to  
your door4  ,and so we  shall4  ,since  
it is appointed to all men once to die1 
and after death the  judgment2 and since
 our death and our judgment are the only
 two things  that we are absolutely sure
 about in our whole future1 we shall    
henceforth fore-fancy those two events  
much more than we have done in the      

past4  ,and to assist us in that2 to    
quicken our fancy1 to kindle it1 to     
captivate it1 and to turn our fancy     
wholly to our salvation1 we have all    
the entrancing river-scenes in the      
,pilgrim's ,progress set before us2 a   
succession of scenes in which ,bunyan   
positively revels in his exquisite      
fancies1 clothing them as he does1 all  
the time1 in language of the  utmost    
beauty1 tenderness1 pathos1 power1 and  
dignity4  ,let us take our  stand1 then1
 on the bank of the river and watch how 
pilgrim after pilgrim  behaves himself  
in those terrible waters4  ,we are all  
voluntary  spectators to-night1 but we  
shall all be compulsory performers      
before we  know where we are4    #a4    
,on entering the river even ,christian  
suddenly began to sink4  ,fore-  fancy  
that4  ,all the words he spake still    
tended to discover that he had  great   
horror of mind and hearty fears that he 
would die in that river2  here also he  
was much in the troublesome thoughts of 

the sins he had  committed both since   
and before he began to be a pilgrim4    
,fore-fancy  that also1 all you         
converted young men4  ,hopeful1         
therefore1 had much to  do to keep his  
brother's head above water2 yea1        
sometimes he would be  quite gone down1 
and then in a while he would rise up    
again half-dead4  ,then ,i saw in my    
dream that ,christian was in a muse a   
while2 to whom also  ,hopeful added this
 word1 ,be of good cheer2 ,jesus ,christ
 maketh thee  whole4  ,and with that    
,christian broke out with a loud voice1 
,when thou  passest through the waters  
,i will be with thee1 and through the   
rivers  they shall not overflow thee4   
,then they both took courage and the    
enemy  was after that as still as a     
stone till they were gone over4         
,fore-fancy  that also4  ,there is one  
other thing out of that crossing that ,i
 hope ,i  shall remember when ,i am in  
the river3 ,be of good cheer1 said      
,hopeful  to his sinking fellow--,be of 

good cheer1 my brother1 ,i feel the     
bottom1  and it is good4  ,hold ,his    
hand fast1 wrote ,samuel ,rutherford to 
,lady  ,kenmure4  ,he knows all the     
fords4  ,you may be ducked in ,his      
company but  never drowned4  ,put in    
your foot1 then1 and wade after ,him4   
,and be sure  you set your feet always  
upon the stepping-stones4  ,yes2        
fore-fancy  those stepping-stones1 and  
often practise your feet upon them      
before the  time4    #b4  ,good woman1  
said the post to ,christiana1 the wife  
of ,christian the  pilgrim2 ,hail1 good 
woman1 ,i bring thee tidings that the   
,master calleth  for thee1 and expecteth
 thee to stand in ,his presence in      
clothes of  immortality within this ten 
days4  ,fore-fancy that also4  ,now the 
day  was come that she must be gone4    
,and so the road was full of people to  
see her take her journey4  ,but1 behold1
 all the banks beyond the river  were   
full of horses and chariots which were  
come down from above to  accompany her  

to the city gate4  ,so she came forth   
and entered the river  with a beckon of 
farewell to those that followed her to  
the river-side4  ,and thus she went and 
entered in at the gate with all the     
ceremonies of  joy that her husband had 
done before her4  ,fore-fancy1 if you   
can1 some  of those ceremonies of joy4  
#c4  ,when ,mr4 ,fearing came to the    
river where was no bridge1 there again  
he was in a heavy case4  ,now1 he said1 
he should be drowned for ever and  never
 see that ,face with comfort he had come
 so many miles to behold4  ,and  here   
also ,i took notice of what was very    
remarkable2 the water of that  river was
 lower at this time than ever ,i saw it 
in all my life4  ,so he  went over at   
last not much above wet-shod4           
,fore-fancy and fore-arrange1  if it be 
possible1 for a passage like that4      
,when he was going tip to the  gate ,mr4
 ,greatheart began to take his leave of 
him1 and to wish him a  good reception  
above4  ,i shall1 he said1 ,i shall4    

,be fore-assured1  also1 of a reception 
like that4    #d4  ,in process of time  
there came a post to the town again1 and
 his  business was this time with ,mr4  
,ready-to-halt4  ,so he inquired him out
  and said to him1 ,i am come to thee in
 the name of ,him whom thou hast  loved 
and followed1 though upon crutches4     
,and my message is to tell thee  that   
,he expects thee at ,his table to sup   
with ,him in ,his kingdom the next  day 
after ,easter4  ,after this ,mr4        
,ready-to-halt called for his fellow-   
pilgrims and told them1 saying1 ,i am   
sent for1 and ,god shall surely  visit  
you also4  ,these crutches1 he said1 ,i 
bequeath to my son that he  may tread in
 my steps1 with a hundred warm wishes   
that he may prove  better than ,i have  
done4  ,when he came to the brink of the
 river1 he  said1 ,now ,i shall have no 
more need of these crutches1 since      
yonder are  horses and chariots for me  
to ride on4  ,the last words he was     
heard to  say were1 ,welcome life6  ,let

 all ready-to-halt hearts fore-fancy all
  that4    #e4  ,then ,mr4 ,feeble-mind 
called for his friends and told them    
what errand  had been brought to him1   
and what token he had received of the   
truth of  the message4  ,as for my      
feeble mind1 he said1 that ,i shall     
leave  behind me1 for ,i shall have no  
need of that in the place whither ,i go4
  ,when ,i am gone1 ,mr4 ,valiant1 ,i   
desire that you would bury it in a dung-
  hill4  ,this done1 and the day being  
come in which he was to depart1 he      
entered the river as the rest4  ,his    
last words were1 ,hold out faith and    
patience4  ,fore-fancy such an end as   
that to your feeble mind also4    #f4   
,did you ever know a family1 or1 rather1
 the relics of a family1 where  there   
was just a decrepit old father and a    
lone daughter left to nurse  him through
 his second childhood8  ,all his other  
children are either  married or dead2   
but both marriage and death have spared 
,miss ,much-afraid  to watch over the   

dotage-days of ,mr4 ,despondency2 till  
one summer  afternoon the old man fell  
asleep in his chair to waken where old  
men are  for ever young4  ,and in a day 
or two there were two new graves side by
  side in the old churchyard4  ,even    
death could not divide this old father  
and his trusty child4  ,and so when the 
time was come for them to depart1  they 
went down together to the brink of the  
river4  ,the last words of ,mr4         
,despondency were1 ,farewell night and  
welcome day4  ,his daughter went        
through the river singing1 but none     
could understand what it was she  said4 
,fore-fancy that1 all you godly old men1
 with a daughter who has  made a husband
 and children to herself of her old     
father4    #g4  ,as ,i hear ,old ,honest
 shouting ,grace reigns6 ,i always      
remember what  a lady told me about a   
saying of her poor ,irish scullery-girl4
  ,the  mistress and the servant were   
reading ,george ,eliot's ,life together 
in the  kitchen1 and when they came to  

her deathbed1 on the pillow of which    
,thomas ,a',kempis lay open1 ,mem1 said 
the girl1 ,i used to read that old  book
 in the convent2 but it is a better book
 to live upon than to die  upon4  ,now1 
that was exactly ,old ,honest's mind4   
,he lived upon one book1  and then he   
died upon another4  ,he lived according 
to the commandments of  ,god1 but he    
died according to the comforts of the   
,gospel4  ,now1 we read  in his history 
how that the river at that time         
overflowed its banks in  some places4   
,but ,mr4 ,honest had in his lifetime   
spoken to one  ,good-conscience to meet 
him at the river1 the which he also did1
 and lent  him his hand1 and so helped  
him over4  ,all the same1 the last words
 of  ,mr4 ,honest still were1 ,grace    
reigns6  ,and so he left the world4     
,fore-  fancy whether or no you are     
making1 as one has said1 an assignation 
with  terror at that same river-side4   
#h4  ,standfast was the last of the     
pilgrims to go over the river4          

,standfast was left longest on this side
 the river because his ,master  could   
best trust him here4  ,his ,master had  
to take away many of ,his other         
servants from the evil to come1 but ,he 
could trust ,standfast4  ,you can       
safely trust a man who takes to his     
knees in every hour of temptation1 as   
,standfast was wont to do4  ,this river1
 he said1 has been a terror to  many4   
,yea1 the thoughts of it have often     
frighted me also4  ,the waters1  indeed1
 are to the palate bitter1 and to the   
stomach cold2 yet the  thoughts of what 
,i am going to1 and of the conduct that 
awaits me on the  other side1 doth lie  
as a glowing coal at my heart4  ,i see  
myself now at  the end of my journey1   
and my toilsome days are all ended4  ,i 
am going  now to see that head that was 
crowned with thorns1 and that face that 
was  spit upon for me4  ,his name has   
been to me as a civet-box1 yea1 sweeter 
than all perfumes4  ,his word ,i did use
 to gather for my food1 and for         

antidotes against my faintings4  ,he has
 held me up1 and ,i have kept  myself   
from mine iniquities4  ,yea1 my steps   
hath ,he strengthened in the  way4      
,now1 while he was thus in discourse his
 countenance changed1 his  strong man   
bowed down under him1 and after he had  
said1 ,take me1 for ,i  come to ,thee1  
he ceased to be seen of them4           
,fore-fancy1 if you have the  face1 an  
end like that for yourself4    ,this1   
then1 is how ,christian and ,hopeful and
 ,christiana and ,old ,honest  and all  
the rest did in the swelling river4     
,but the important point is1  ,,how     
,,will ,,you ,,do8  ,have you ever      
fore-fancied how you will do8  ,have you
  ever1 among all your many imaginings1 
imagined yourself on your deathbed8     
,have you ever thought you heard the    
doctor whisper1 ,to-night8  ,have you   
ever lain low in your bed and listened  
to the death-rattle in your own  throat8
  ,and have you still listened to the   
awful silence in the house  after all   

was over8  ,have you ever shot in       
imagination the dreadful gulf  that     
stands fixed between life and death1 and
 between time and eternity8  ,have you  
ever tried to get a glimpse beforehand  
of your own place where  you will be an 
hour after your death1 when they are    
putting the grave-  clothes on your     
still warm body1 and when they are      
measuring your corpse  for your coffin8 
,where will you be by that time8  ,have 
you any idea8  ,can  you fancy it8  ,did
 you ever try8  ,and if not1 why not8   
,my lord1 wrote  ,jeremy ,taylor to the 
,earl of ,carbery1 when sending him the 
first copy of  the ,holy ,dying1--,my   
lord1 it is a great art to die well1 and
 that art  is to be learnt by men in    
health2 for he that prepares not for    
death  before his last sickness is like 
him that begins to study philosophy when
  he is going to dispute publicly in the
 faculty4  ,the precepts of dying  well 
must be part of the studies of them that
 live in health1 because in  other      

notices an imperfect study may be       
supplied by a frequent exercise  and a  
renewed experience2 but here1 if we     
practise imperfectly once1 we  shall    
never recover the error1 for we die but 
once2 and therefore it is  necessary    
that our skill be more exact since it   
cannot be mended by  another trial4     
,how wise1 then1 how far-seeing1 how    
practical1 and how  urgent is the       
prophet's challenge and demand4  ,how   
wilt thou do in the  swelling of        
,jordan8    #a4  ,well1 then1 let us be 
practical before we close1 and let us   
descend  to particulars4  ,let us take  
the prophet's question and run it       
through  some parts and some practices  
of our daily life as already dying men4 
,and1 to begin with1 ,i have such a     
great faith in good books1 whether we   
are to live or die1 that ,i am impelled 
to ask you all at this point1 and  under
 shelter of this plain-spoken prophet1  
,what books have you laid in  for your  
deathbed1 and for the weeks and months  

and even years before  your death bed8  
,what do you look forward to be reading 
when ,jordan is  beginning to swell and 
roll for you and to leap up toward your 
doorstep8  ,if you get good from good   
books--everybody does not--but supposing
 you  are one of those who do1 what     
books can you absolutely count upon1    
without fail1 to put you in the best    
possible frame for the river1 and  for  
the convoy across1 and for the          
ceremonies of joy on the other side8    
,what special ,scriptures will you have 
read every day to you8  ,read1  said    
,john ,knox to his weeping wife1 read   
where ,i first cast my anchor4  ,an old 
lady ,i once knew used to say to me at  
every visit1 ,the  ,fifty-first ,psalm4 
,she was the daughter of a ,highland    
minister1 and the  wife of a ,highland  
minister1 and the mother of a ,highland 
minister1 and  of an elder to boot4     
,the ,fifty-first ,psalm1 she said1 and 
sometimes1  ,one of ,hart's hymns also4 
,what is your favourite psalm and hymn8 

,mr4  ,james ,taylor of ,castle ,street 
has several large-type libraries in his 
catalogue4  ,mr4 ,taylor might start a  
much worse paying speculation than a    
large-type library for the river-side2  
or1 some select booklets for  deathbeds4
  ,the series might well open with ,the 
,ninetieth ,psalm in  letters an inch   
deep4  ,scholars die as well as         
illiterates1 and there  might be        
provided for them1 among other things1  
,the ,phaedo in two  languages1 ,plato's
 and ,jowett's4  ,then ,the ,seven      
,sayings from the  ,cross4              
,bellarmine's ,art of ,dying ,well would
 stand well beside ,john  ,bunyan's     
,dying ,sayings4  ,and1 were ,i the     
editor1 ,i would put in ,bishop         
,andrewes' ,private ,devotions1 if only 
for my own last use4  ,then ,richard    
,baxter's ,saint's ,rest1 and ,john     
,howe's ,platonico-,puritan book1       
,blessedness of the ,righteous4  ,then  
,bernard's ,new ,jerusalem1 ,the  ,sands
 of ,time are sinking1 ,rock of ,ages1  

and such like4  ,these are  some of the 
little books ,i have within reach of my 
bed against the hour  when the post     
blows his first horn for me4  ,you might
 tell me some of  your deathbed         
favourites4    #b4  ,who will be your   
most welcome minister during your last  
days on  earth8  ,for whom would you    
send to-night if the post were suddenly 
to  sound his horn at your side on your 
way home from church8  ,i can well      
believe it would not be your own        
minister4  ,i have known fathers and    
mothers in this congregation to send for
 other ministers than their own         
minister when terrible trouble came upon
 them1 and both my conscience and  my   
common sense absolutely approved of the 
step they took4  ,five students  were   
once sitting and talking together in a  
city in which there was to be  an       
execution to-morrow morning4  ,they were
 talking about the murderer who  was to 
be executed in the morning1 and about   
the minister he had sent for  to come to

 see him4  ,and1 like students1 they    
began to put it to one                  
another--,suppose you were to be        
executed to-morrow1 for what minister in
  the city1 or even in the whole land1  
would you send8  ,and1 like students    
again1 they said--,let each one write   
down on a piece of paper the name of    
the minister he would choose to be      
beside him at the last1 and we shall    
see each man's last choice4  ,they did  
so1 when to their astonishment it  was  
discovered that they had all written the
 same minister's name6  ,i do  not know 
that they all went to his church every  
,sabbath while they were  young and1    
well1 and not yet under sentence of     
death4  ,i do not think  they did4  ,for
 when ,i was in his church there was    
only a handful of old  and              
decayed-looking people in it4  ,the     
chief part of the congregation  seemed  
to me to be a charity school4  ,and ,i  
gathered from all that a                
lesson--several lessons1 and this among 

the rest--that crowded passages  do not 
always wait upon the best pastors2 and  
this also1 that a waft of  death soon   
discovers to us a true minister from an 
incompetent and a  counterfeit minister4
    #c4  ,writing to one of his         
correspondents about his correspondent's
 long-  drawn-out deathbed1 ,samuel     
,rutherford said to him1 ,it is         
long-drawn-out  that you may have ample 
time to go over all your old letters and
 all your  still unsettled accounts     
before you take ship4  ,have you any    
such old  letters lying still           
unanswered8  ,have you any such old     
accounts lying  still unsettled8  ,have 
you made full reparation and restitution
 for all  that you and yours have done  
amiss8  ,fore-fancy that you will soon  
be  summoned into ,his presence who has 
said3 herefore1 if thou bring thy  gift 
before the altar1 and there rememberest 
that thy brother hath aught  against    
thee1 leave there thy gift before the   
altar1 and go thy way2  first be        

reconciled to thy brother1 and then come
 and offer thy gift4  ,agree with thine 
adversary quickly1 whiles thou art in   
the way with him4  ,you know all about  
,zacchaeus4  ,i need not tell his story 
over again4  ,but  as ,i write these    
lines ,i take up a ,london newspaper and
 my eyes light on  these lines3 ,william
 ,avary was a man of remarkable gifts1  
both of mind  and character4  ,he       
dedicated the residue of his strength   
wholly to works  of piety4  ,in middle  
age he failed in business1 and in his   
old age1 when  better days came1 he     
looked up such of his old creditors as  
could be  found and divided among them a
 sum of several thousand pounds4  ,look 
up  such of your old creditors as you   
can find1 and that not in matters of    
money alone4  ,and1 be sure you begin to
 do it now1 before the horn blows4      
,for1 as sure as you take your keys and 
open your old repositories1 you  will   
come on things you had completely       
forgotten that will take more time  and 

more strength1 ay1 and more resources1  
than will then be at your  disposal4    
,even after you have begun at once and  
done all that you can  do1 you will have
 to do at last as ,samuel ,rutherford   
told ,george  ,gillespie to do3 ,hand   
over all your bills1 paid and unpaid1 to
 your  ,surety4  ,give ,him the keys of 
the drawer1 and let ,him clear it out   
for  ,himself after you are gone4    #d4
  ,and then1 pray often to ,god for a   
clear mind between ,him and you1 and    
for a quick1 warm1 and heaven-hungry    
heart at the last4  ,and take a  promise
 from those who watch beside your bed   
that they will not drug and  stupefy you
 even though you should ask for it4     
,whatever your pain1 and  it is all in  
,god's hand1 make up your mind1 if it be
 possible1 to bear  it4  ,it cannot be  
greater than the pain of the cross1 and 
your ,saviour  would not touch their    
drugs1 however well-intended4  ,he      
determined to  face the swelling of     
,jordan and to enter ,his ,father's     

house with an  unclouded mind4  ,try    
your very uttermost to do the same4  ,i 
cannot  believe that the thief even     
would have let the gall so much as touch
 his  lips after ,christ had said to    
him1 ,to-day thou shalt be with ,me in  
,paradise6  ,well1 if your mind was ever
 clear and keen1 let it be at its       
clearest and its keenest at the last4   
,let your mind and your heart be  full  
of repentance1 and faith1 and love1 and 
hope1 and all such saying  graces1 and  
let them all be at their fullest and    
brightest exercise1 at  that moment4    
,be on the very tip-toe of expectation  
as the end draws  near4  ,another pang1 
another gasp1 one more unutterable      
sinking of heart  and flesh as if you   
were going down into the dreadful       
pit--and then the  abundant entrance1   
and the beatific vision6  ,what wilt    
thou do then8  ,what  wilt thou say     
then8  ,hast thou thy salutation and thy
 song ready8  ,and  what will it be8    
,,footnotes      #a  ,delivered         

,november #bgth1 #ahib4    #b  ,january 
#ast1 #ahic4