this happiness he had all his life long, not so much minding this world
as knowing he was here as a pilgrim and stranger, and had no tarrying
city, but looking for one not made with hands, eternal in the highest
heavens; but at length, worn out with sufferings, age, and often
teaching, the day of his dissolution drew near, and death, that unlocks
the prison of the soul, to enlarge it for a more glorious mansion, put
a stop to his acting his part on the stage of mortality; heaven, like
earthly princes when it threatens war, being always so kind as to call
home its ambassadors before it be denounced; and even the last act or
undertaking of his was a labour of love and charity; for it so falling
out, that a young gentleman, a neighbour of Mr. Bunyan, happening into
the displeasure of his father, and being much troubled in mind upon
that account, as also for that he had heard his father purposed to
disinherit him, or otherwise deprive him of what he had to leave, he
pitched upon Mr. Bunyan as a fit man to make way for his submission,
and prepare his father’s mind to receive him; and he, as willing to do
any good office as it could be requested, as readily undertook it; and
so, riding to Reading, in Berkshire, he then there used such pressing
arguments and reasons against anger and passion, as also for love and
reconciliation, that the father was mollified, and his bowels yearned
towards his returning son.
But Mr. Bunyan, after he had disposed all things to the best for
accommodation, returning to London, and being overtaken with excessive
rains, coming to his lodging extreme wet, fell sick of a violent fever,
which he bore with much constancy and patience; and expressed himself
as if he desired nothing more than to be dissolved, and to be with
Christ, in that case esteeming death as gain, and life only a tedious
delaying of felicity expected; and finding his vital strength decay,
having settled his mind and affairs, as well as the shortness of his
time and the violence of his disease would admit, with a constant and
Christian patience, he resigned his soul into the hands of his most
merciful Redeemer, following his pilgrim from the City of Destruction
to the New Jerusalem; his better part having been all along there, in
holy contemplation, pantings, and breathings after the hidden manna,
and water of life; as by many holy and humble consolations expressed in
his letters to several persons, in prison and out of prison, too many
to be here inserted at present.[22] He died at the house of one Mr.
Straddocks, a grocer, at the Star on Snowhill, in the parish of St.
Sepulchre, London, on the 12th of August 1688, and in the sixtieth year
of his age, after ten days’ sickness; and was buried in the new burying
place near the Artillery Ground; where he sleeps to the morning of the
resurrection, in hopes of a glorious rising to an incorruptible
immortality of joy and happiness; where no more trouble and sorrow
shall afflict him, but all tears be wiped away; when the just shall be
incorrupted, as members of Christ their head, and reign with him as
kings and priests for ever.[23]
A BRIEF CHARACTER OF MR. JOHN BUNYAN.
He appeared in countenance to be of a stern and rough temper; but in
his conversation mild and affable, not given to loquacity or much
discourse in company, unless some urgent occasion required it;
observing never to boast of himself, or his parts, but rather seem low
in his own eyes, and submit himself to the judgment of others;
abhorring lying and swearing, being just in all that lay in his power
to his word, not seeming to revenge injuries, loving to reconcile
differences, and make friendship with all; he had a sharp quick eye,
accomplished with an excellent discerning of persons, being of good
judgment and quick wit. As for his person, he was tall of stature,
strong-boned, though not corpulent, somewhat of a ruddy face, with
sparkling eyes, wearing his hair on his upper lip, after the old
British fashion; his hair reddish, but in his latter days, time had
sprinkled it with grey; his nose well-set, but not declining or
bending, and his mouth moderate large; his forehead something high, and
his habit always plain and modest. And thus have we impartially
described the internal and external parts of a person, whose death hath
been much regretted; a person who had tried the smiles and frowns of
time; not puffed up in prosperity, nor shaken in adversity, always
holding the golden mean.
In him at once did three great worthies shine,
Historian, poet, and a choice divine;
Then let him rest in undisturbed dust,
Until the resurrection of the just.
POSTSCRIPT.
In this his pilgrimage, God blessed him with four children, one of
which, named Mary, was blind, and died some years before; his other
children are Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah; and his wife Elizabeth, having
lived to see him overcome his labour and sorrow, and pass from this
life to receive the reward of his works, long survived him not, but in
1692 she died; to follow her faithful pilgrim from this world to the
other, whither he was gone before her; while his works, which consist
of sixty books, remain for the edifying of the reader, and the praise
of the author. _Vale_.
***
MR. JOHN BUNYAN’S DYING SAYINGS.
OF SIN.
Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the procurer of all
miseries to man, both here and hereafter: take away sin and nothing can
hurt us: for death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is the wages of
it.
Sin, and man for sin, is the object of the wrath of God. How dreadful,
therefore, must his case be who continues in sin! For who can bear or
grapple with the wrath of God?
No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God
of heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find out a little God, it
may be easy to find out little sins.
Sin turns all God’s grace into wantonness; it is the dare of his
justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of
his power, and the contempt of his love.[24]
Take heed of giving thyself liberty of committing one sin, for that
will lead thee to another; till, by an ill custom, it become natural.
To begin a sin, is to lay a foundation for a continuance; this
continuance is the mother of custom, and impudence at last the issue.
The death of Christ giveth us the best discovery of ourselves, in what
condition we were, in that nothing could help us but that; and the most
clear discovery of the dreadful nature of our sins. For if sin be so
dreadful a thing as to wring the heart of the Son of God, how shall a
poor wretched sinner be able to bear it?
OF AFFLICTION.
Nothing can render affliction so insupportable as the load of sin:
would you, therefore, be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the
burden of your sins laid aside, and then what afflictions soever you
may meet with will be very easy to you.
If thou canst hear and bear the rod of affliction which God shall lay
upon thee, remember this lesson—thou art beaten that thou mayest be
better.
The Lord useth his flail of tribulation to separate the chaff from the
wheat.
The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the
world’s vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God’s
mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light.
In times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences
of the love of God.
Did we heartily renounce the pleasures of this world, we should be very
little troubled for our afflictions; that which renders an afflicted
state so insupportable to many is because they are too much addicted to
the pleasures of this life, and so cannot endure that which makes a
separation between them.
OF REPENTANCE AND COMING TO CHRIST.
The end of affliction is the discovery of sin, and of that to bring us
to a Saviour. Let us therefore, with the prodigal, return unto him, and
we shall find ease and rest.
A repenting penitent, though formerly as bad as the worst of men, may,
by grace, become as good as the best.
To be truly sensible of sin is to sorrow for displeasing of God; to be
afflicted that he is displeased by us more than that he is displeased
with us.
Your intentions to repentance, and the neglect of that soul-saving
duty, will rise up in judgment against you.
Repentance carries with it a Divine rhetoric, and persuades Christ to
forgive multitudes of sins committed against him.
Say not with thyself, To-morrow I will repent; for it is thy duty to do
it daily.
The gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrines the most
dangerous, if it be received in word only by graceless men; if it be
not attended with a sensible need of a Saviour, and bring them to him.
For such men as have only the notion of it, are of all men most
miserable; for by reason of their knowing more than heathens, this
shall only be their final portion, that they shall have greater
stripes.
OF PRAYER.
Before you enter into prayer, ask thy soul these questions—1. To what
end, O my soul, art thou retired into this place? Art thou not come to
discourse the Lord in prayer? Is he present; will he hear thee? Is he
merciful; will he help thee? Is thy business slight; is it not
concerning the welfare of thy soul? What words wilt thou use to move
him to compassion?
To make thy preparation complete, consider that thou art but dust and
ashes, and he the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
clothes himself with light as with a garment; that thou art a vile
sinner, he a holy God; that thou art but a poor crawling worm, he the
omnipotent Creator.
In all your prayers forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.
When thou prayest, rather let thy hearts be without words, than thy
words without a heart.
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to
cease from prayer.
The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and
silver.
Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and
a scourge for Satan.
OF THE LORD’S DAY, SERMONS, AND WEEK DAYS.
Have a special care to sanctify the Lord’s day; for as thou keepest it,
so it will be with thee all the week long.
Make the Lord’s day the market for thy soul; let the whole day be spent
in prayer, repetitions, or meditations; lay aside the affairs of the
other part of the week; let thy sermon thou hast heard be converted
into prayer: Shall God allow thee six days, and wilt not thou afford
him one?
In the church, be careful to serve God; for thou art in his eyes, and
not in man’s.
Thou mayest hear sermons often, and do well in practicing what thou
hearest; but thou must not expect to be told thee in a pulpit all that
thou oughtest to do, but be studious in searching the Scriptures, and
reading good books; what thou hearest may be forgotten, but what thou
readest may better be retained.
Forsake not the public worship of God, lest God forsake thee, not only
in public, but in private.
In the week days, when thou risest in the morning, consider, 1. Thou
must die. 2. Thou mayest die that minute. 3. What will become of thy
soul. Pray often. At night consider, 1. What sins thou hast committed.
2. How often thou hast prayed. 3. What hath thy mind been bent upon. 4.
What hath been thy dealing. 5. What thy conversation. 6. If thou
callest to mind the errors of the day, sleep not without a confession
to God, and a hope of pardon. Thus every morning and evening make up
thy accounts with Almighty God, and thy reckoning will be the less at
last.
OF THE LOVE OF THE WORLD.
Nothing more hinders a soul from coming to Christ, than a vain love of
the world; and till a soul is freed from it, it can never have a true
love for God.
What are the honours and riches of this world, when compared to the
glories of a crown of life?
Love not the world; for it [the love of the world] is a moth in a
Christian’s life.
To despise the world is the way to enjoy heaven; and blessed are they
who delight to converse with God by prayer.
What folly can be greater than to labour for the meat that perisheth,
and neglect the food of eternal life?
God or the world must be neglected at parting time, for then is the
time of trial.
To seek yourself in this world is to be lost; and to be humble is to be
exalted.
The epicure that delighteth in the dainties of this world, little
thinketh that those very creatures will one day witness against him.
OF SUFFERING.
It is not every suffering that makes a martyr, but suffering for the
Word of God after a right manner; that is, not only for righteousness,
but for righteousness’ sake; not only for truth, but out of love to
truth; not only for God’s Word, but according to it: to wit, in that
holy, humble, meek manner, as the Word of God requireth.
It is a rare thing to suffer aright, and to have my spirit in suffering
bent only against God’s enemy, sin; sin in doctrine, sin in worship,
sin in life, and sin in conversation.
The devil, nor men of the world, can kill thy righteousness, or love to
it but by thy own hand; or separate that and thee asunder without thy
own act. Nor will he that doth indeed suffer for the sake of it, or out
of love he bears thereto, be tempted to exchange it, for the good will
of all the world.
I have often thought that the best of Christians are found in the worst
of times. And I have thought again that one reason why we are no
better, is because God purges us no more. Noah and Lot, who so holy as
they in the time of their afflictions? And yet who so idle as they in
the time of their prosperity?
OF DEATH AND JUDGMENT.
As the devil labours by all means to keep out other things that are
good, so to keep out of the heart as much as in him lies, the thoughts
of passing from this life into another world; for he knows if he can
but keep them from the serious thoughts of death, he shall the more
easily keep them in their sins.
Nothing will make us more earnest in working out the work of our
salvation, than a frequent meditation of mortality; nothing hath
greater influence for the taking off our hearts from vanities, and for
the begetting in us desires after holiness.
O sinner, what a condition wilt thou fall into when thou departest this
world; if thou depart unconverted, thou hadst better have been
smothered the first hour thou wast born; thou hadst better have been
plucked one limb from another; thou hadst better have been made a dog,
a toad, a serpent, than to die unconverted, and this thou wilt find
true if thou repent not.
A man would be counted a fool to slight a judge, before whom he is to
have a trial of his whole estate.[25] The trial we have before God is
of otherguise importance,[26] it concerns our eternal happiness or
misery; and yet dare we affront him?
The only way for us to escape that terrible judgment, is to be often
passing a sentence of condemnation upon ourselves here. When the sound
of the trumpet shall be heard, which shall summon the dead to appear
before the tribunal of God, the righteous shall hasten out of their
graves with joy to meet their Redeemer in the clouds; others shall call
to the hills and mountains to fall upon them, to cover them from the
sight of their Judge; let us therefore in time be posing[27] ourselves
which of the two we shall be.
OF THE JOYS OF HEAVEN.
There is no good in this life but what is mingled with some evil;
honours perplex, riches disquiet, and pleasures ruin health. But in
heaven we shall find blessings in their purity, without any ingredient
to embitter, with everything to sweeten them.
O! who is able to conceive the inexpressible, inconceivable joys that
are there? None but they who have tasted of them. Lord, help us to put
such a value upon them here, that in order to prepare ourselves for
them, we may be willing to forego the loss of all those deluding
pleasures here.
How will the heavens echo of joy, when the Bride, the Lamb’s wife,
shall come to dwell with her husband for ever?
Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the
Father; what solace then must that soul be filled with, that hath the
possession of him to all eternity?
O! what acclamations of joy will there be, when all the children of God
shall meet together, without fear of being disturbed by the
antichristian and Cainish brood!
Is there not a time coming when the godly may ask the wicked what
profit they have in their pleasure? what comfort in their greatness?
and what fruits in all their labour?
If you would be better satisfied what the beatifical vision means, my
request is that you would live holily, and go and see.
OF THE TORMENTS OF HELL.
Heaven and salvation is not surely more promised to the godly than hell
and damnation is threatened to, and shall be executed on, the wicked.
When once a man is damned, he may bid adieu to all pleasures.
Oh! who knows the power of God’s wrath? none but damned ones.
Sinners’ company are the devil and his angels, tormented in everlasting
fire with a curse.
Hell would be a kind of paradise if it were not worse than the worst of
this world.
As different as grief is from joy, as torment from rest, as terror from
peace; so different is the state of sinners from that of saints in the
world to come.
[Licensed, September 10, 1688.]
FOOTNOTES:
1. The text from which he intended to preach was ‘Dost thou believe on
the Son of God?’ (John 9:35). From this he intended to show the
absolute need of faith in Jesus Christ; and that it was also a thing of
the highest concern for men to inquire into, and to ask their own
hearts, whether they had it or no. See Preface to his Confession of
Faith.—Ed.
2. Justice Wingate.
3. ‘Chafe.’ See 2 Sam 17:8.—Ed.
4. A right Judas.—Ed.
5. ‘How little could Bunyan dream, that from the narrow cell in which
he was incarcerated, and cut off apparently from all usefulness, a
glory would shine out, illustrating the government and grace of God,
and doing more good to man, than all the prelates of the kingdom put
together had accomplished.’—Dr. Cheever.
6. It is easy to say a prayer, but difficult truly to pray. It is not
length, not eloquence, that makes prayer. Though there be no more than
‘My Father!’ if the heart rise with it, that is prayer. ‘Prayer is an
offering up of our DESIRES unto God.’—Ed.
7. It is not the spirit of a Christian to persecute any for their
religion, but to pity them; and if they will turn, to instruct
them.—Ed.
8. The statute under which Bunyan suffered is the 35th Eliz., cap. 1,
re-enacted with all its rigour in the 16th Charles II, cap. 4, 1662;
‘That if any person, above sixteen years of age, shall forbear coming
to church for one month, or persuade any other person to abstain from
hearing Divine service, or receiving the communion according to law, or
come to any unlawful assembly, conventicle, or meeting—every such
person shall be imprisoned, without bail, until he conform, and do in
some church make this open submission following:—I do humbly confess
and acknowledge that I have grievously offended God in contemning his
Majesty’s godly and lawful government and authority, by absenting
myself from church, and from hearing Divine service, contrary to the
godly laws and statutes of this realm. And in using and frequenting
disordered and unlawful conventicles and assemblies, under pretence and
colour of exercise of religion; and I am heartily sorry for the same.
And I do promise and protest, that from henceforth I will, from time to
time, obey and perform his Majesty’s laws and statutes, in repairing to
the church and Divine services, and do my uttermost endeavour to
maintain and defend the same. And for the third offence he shall be
sent to the jail or house of correction, there to remain until the next
sessions or assizes, and then to be indicted; and being thereupon found
guilty, the court shall enter judgment of transportation against such
offenders, to some of the foreign plantations (Virginia and New England
only excepted), there to remain seven years; and warrants shall issue
to sequester the profits of their lands, and to distrain and sell their
goods to defray the charges of their transportation; and for want of
such charges being paid, the sheriff may contract with any master of a
ship, or merchant, to transport them; and then such prisoner shall be a
servant to the transporter or his assigns; that is, whoever he will
sell him or her to, for five years. And if any under such judgment of
transportation shall escape, or being transported, return into any part
of England, shall SUFFER DEATH as felons, without benefit of clergy.’
Notwithstanding this edict, mark well his words on the next leaf,
‘Exhorting the people of God to take heed, and touch not the Common
Prayer.’ Englishmen, blush! This is now the law of the land we live in.
Roman Catholics alone are legally exempted from its cruel operations,
by an Act passed in 1844. The overruling hand of God alone saved the
pious and holy Bunyan from having been legally murdered.—Ed.
9. The contemptible and mad insurrection to which Mr. Cobb refers, was
the pretext for fearful sufferings to the Dissenters throughout the
kingdom. It is thus narrated by Bishop Burnet, 1660:—‘The king had not
been many days at Whitehall, when one Venner, a violent fifth-monarchy
man, who thought it was not enough to believe that Christ was to reign
on earth, and to put the saints in possession of the kingdom, but added
to this that the saints were to take the kingdom themselves. He
gathered some of the most furious of the party to a meeting in Coleman
Street. There they concerted the day and the manner of their rising, to
set Christ on his throne, as they called it. But withal they meant to
manage the government in his name, and were so formal that they had
prepared standards and colours, with their devices on them, and
furnished themselves with very good arms. But when the day came, there
was but a small appearance, not exceeding twenty. However, they
resolved to venture out into the streets, and cry out, No king but
Christ. Some of them seemed persuaded that Christ would come down and
head them. They scoured the streets before them, and made a great
progress. Some were afraid, and all were amazed at this piece of
extravagance. They killed a great many, but were at last mastered by
numbers; and were all either killed or taken and executed.—(Burnet’s
Own Times, 1660, vol. i. p. 160).—Ed.
10. The third section of 16th Charles II, cap. 4, also enacts, ‘That
any person above sixteen years old, present at any meeting under
pretence of exercise of religion, in other manner than is allowed by
the liturgy or practice of the Church of England, where there shall be
present five persons or more above those of the household, upon proof
thereof made, either by confession of the party, or oath of witness, or
notorious evidence of the fact; the offence shall be recorded under the
hands of two justices, or the chief magistrate of the place, which
shall be a perfect conviction.’—Ed.
11. As Wicliffe wrote in Latin, and his words were of great rarity, it
may excite inquiry how poor Bunyan was conversant with is opinions.
This is easily solved. Foxe gives a translation of Wicliffe’s doctrines
in his Martyrology, the favourite book of Bunyan.—Ed.
12. April 23, 1661.
13. See page 56, and note there.
14. It is very probable that his persecutors knew the heroic spirit of
this young woman, and were afraid to proceed to extremities, lest their
blood-guiltiness should be known throughout the kingdom, and public
execration be excited against them. Such a martyr’s blood would
indelibly and most foully have stained both them and their families to
the latest generation.—Ed.
15. ‘Smayed,’ an obsolete contraction of ‘dismayed.’—Ed.
16. Bunyan is silent upon the death of his first wife and marriage to
the second; in fact he forgets his own domestic affairs in his desire
to record the Lord’s gracious dealings with his soul. It is not his
autobiography, but his religious feelings and experience, that he
records.—Ed.
17. ‘Chafed,’ excited, inflamed, angry.—Ed.
18. This is a beautiful specimen of real Christian feeling; nothing
vindictive, although such cruel wrongs had been perpetrated against her
beloved husband.—Ed.
19. Nothing daunted by the cruel Statute which was then in force,
Bunyan acted exactly as Peter and John did under similar circumstances,
“We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts
4:20). If I suffer death for it, I am bound to speak the warning words
of truth, “Touch not the unclean thing.”—Ed.
20. Application was made to Bishop Barlow, through Dr. Owen, to use his
powerful influence in obtaining liberty for this Christian captive; but
he absolutely refused to interfere. See Preface to Owen’s Sermons,
1721. Bunyan, upon his petition, heard by the king in council, was
included in the pardon to the imprisoned and cruelly-treated Quakers.
Whitehead, the Quaker, was the honoured instrument in releasing
him.—Introduction to Pilgrim’s Progress, Hanserd Knollys Edition.—Ed.
21. See an authentic copy of this Royal Declaration, and observations
upon it, in the Introduction to the Pilgrim’s Progress, published by
the Hanserd Knollys Society, 1847.—Ed.
22. All these letters, and nearly all his autographs, have disappeared.
Of his numerous manuscripts, books, and letters, not a line is now
known to exist. If discovered, they would be invaluable.—Ed.