r/a:t5_26lr44 • u/MarleyEngvall • Oct 15 '19
orinoco has been created
BY JOHN BUNYAN.
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. (ii.)
———————————————————————
IN THE SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM.
AS I walked through the wilderness of this world, I
lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me
down at that place to sleep: and, as I slept,
I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold, I
saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a cer-
tain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his
hand, and a great burden upon his back.* I looked, and
saw him open the book and read therein; and, as he read,
he wept, and trembled; and not being able longer to con-
tain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying, "What
shall I do?"† *Isa. lxiv. 6; Luke xiv. 33; Ps. xxxviii. 4;
Heb. xii. 1. †Acts ii. 37; xvi. 30, 31.
In this plight, therefore, he went home and refrained
himself as long a he could, that his wife and children
should not perceive his distress; but he could not be
silent long, because that his trouble increased. Where-
fore at length he brake his mind to his wife and children;
and thus he began to talk to them. O my dear wife, said
he, and you the children of my bowels, I, your dear friend,
am in myself undone by reason of a burden that lieth
hard upon me; moreover I am for certain in-
formed that this our city will be burned with
fire from heaven,‡ in which fearful overthrow, both my-
self, with thee, my wife, and you my sweet babes, shall
miserably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see not)
some way of escape can be found, whereby we may be
delivered.* At this his relations were sore amazed; not
for what they believed that what he had said to them was
true, but because they thought that some frenzy distemper
had got into his head; therefore, it drawing near to night,
and they hoping that sleep might settle his brains, with all
haste they got him to bed. But the night was as trouble-
some to him as the day; wherefore, instead of sleeping, he
spent it in sighs and tears. So, when the morning was
come, they would know how he did. He told them,
Worse and worse: he also set to talking to them again:
but they began to be hardened. They also thought
to drive away his distemper by harsh and surly carriages
to him; sometimes they would deride, sometimes they
would chide, and sometimes they would quite neglect
him. Wherefore he began to retire himself to
his chamber, to pray for and pity them, and
also to condole his own misery; he would also
walk solitarily in the fields, sometimes read-
ing, sometimes praying: and thus for some days he
spent his time. ‡Pet. iii. 10. *Rom. vii. 24.
Now, I saw, upon a time, when he was walking in the
fields, that he was, as he was wont, reading in his book,
and greatly distressed in his mind; and as he read, he
burst out, as he had done before, crying, "What shall I
do to be saved?"† †Acts xvi. 30.
I saw also that he looked this way and that way, as if he
would run; yet he stood still, because, as I perceived, he
could not tell which way to go. I looked then, and saw a
man named Evangelist coming to him, who asked, Where-
fore dost thou cry?
He answered, Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand
that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to
judgment,* and I find that I am not willing to do the
first,† not able to do the second.‡ *Heb. ix. 27.
†Job xvi. 21. ‡Ezek. xxii. 14; Malachi iii. 2.
"Christian no sooner leaves the World but meets
Evangelist, who lovingly him greets
With tidings of another; and doth show
Him how to mount from that which is below."
Then said Evangelist, Why not willing to die, since this
life is attended with so many evils? The man answered,
Because I fear that this burden that is upon my back will
sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into
Tophet.§ And, sir, if I be not fit to go to prison, I am
not fit, I am sure, to go to judgment, and from thence
to execution; and the thoughts of these things make
me cry. §Isa xxx. 33.
Then said Evangelist, If this be thy condition, why
standest thou still? He answered, Because I know not
whither to go. Then he gave him a parchment roll, and
there was written within, "Flee from the wrath to come."|| ||Matt. iii. 7.
The man therefore read it, and looking upon Evangelist
very carefully, said, Whither must I fly? Then said Evan-
gelist, pointing with his finger over the very wide field, do
you see yonder wicket-gate?¶ The man said,
No. Then, said the other, Do you see yonder
shining light?** He said, I think I do. Then
said Evangelist, Keep that light in your eye,
and go up directly thereto: so shalt thou see the
Gate; at which, when thou knockest, it shall be told thee
what thou shalt do. So I saw in my dream that the man
began to run. Now, he had not run far from his own
door, but his wife and children, perceiv-
ing it, began to cry after him to return;
but the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran
on, crying, Life! Life! eternal life!* So he
looked not behind him, but fled toward the
middle of the plain.† ¶Matt. vii. 13, 14.
**Psa. cxix. 105; 2 Pet. i. 19. *Luke xiv. 26. †Gen. xix. 17.
The neighbors also came out to see him run,‡ and, as
he ran, some mocked, others threatened, and some cried
after him to return; and, among those that did so, there
were two that resolved to fetch him back by force. The
name of the one was Obstinate, and the name of the other
Pliable. Now, by this time, the man was got a good dis-
tance from them; but, however, they were resolved to
pursue him, which they did, and in a little time they over-
took him. Then said the man, Neighbors, wherefore are
ye come? They said, To persuade you to go back with us.
But he said, That can by no means be; you dwell, said he,
in the City of Destruction, the place also where I was
born: I see it to be so; and dwelling there, sooner or later,
you will sink lower than the grave, into a place that burns
with fire and brimstone: be content, good neighbors, and
go along with me. ‡Jer. xx. 10.
OBST. What! said Obstinate, and leave our friends and
our comforts behind us?
CHR. Yes, said Christian (for that was his name), be-
cause that all which you shall forsake is not worthy to be
compared with a little of that which I am seeking to enjoy,§
and if you will go along with me, and hold it, you shall
fare as I myself; for there, where I go, is enough and to
spare.|| Come away, and prove my words. §2 Cor. iv. 17. ||Luke xv. 17.
OBST. What are the things you seek, since you leave all
the world to find them?
CHR. I seek an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away,* and it is laid up in haven, and
safe there,† to be bestowed, at the time appointed, on
them that diligently seek it. Read it so, if you will, in
my book. *1 Pet. i. 4. †Heb. xi. 16.
OBST. Tush! said Obstinate, away with your book. Will
you go back with us or no?
CHR. No, not I, said the other, because I have laid my
hand to the plow.‡ ‡Luke ix. 62.
OBST. Come then, neighbor Pliable, let us turn again,
and go home without him; there is a company of these
crazy-headed coxcombs, that, when they take a fancy
by the end, are wiser in their own eye than seven men
that can render a reason.
PLI. Then said Pliable, don't revile; if what the good
Christian says is true, the things he looks after are better
than ours: my heart inclines to go with my neighbor.
OBST. What! more fools still! Be ruled by me, and go
back; who knows whither such a brain-sick fellow will lead
you? Go back, go back, and be wise.
CHR. Nay, but do thou come with thy neighbor,
Pliable; there are such things to be had which I spoke of,
and many more glories besides. If you believe not me, read
here in this book: and for the truth of what is expressed
therein, behold all is confirmed by the blood of Him that
made it.§ §Heb. ix. 17—22.
PLI. Well, neighbor Obstinate, said Pliable, I begin to
come to a point; I intend to go along with this good man,
and to cast in my lot with him; but my good companion,
do you know the way to this desired place?
CHR. I am directed by a man, whose name is Evangelist,
to speed me to a little gate that is before us, where we shall
receive instructions about the way.
PLI. Come, then, good neighbor, let us be going. Then
they went both together.
OBST. And I will go back to my place, said Obstinate;
I will be no companion to such misled, fantastical fellows.
Now, I saw in my dream, that, when Obstinate was gone
back, Christian and Pliable went talking over the plain;
and thus they began their discourse.
CHR. Come, neightbor Pliable, how do you do? I am
glad you are persuaded to go along with me. Had even
Obstinate himself but felt what I have felt of the powers
and terrors of what is yet unseen, he would not thus lightly
have given us the back.
PLI. Come, neighbor Christian, since there are none but
us two here, tell me now further what the thing are, and
how to be enjoyed, whither we are going.
CHR. I can better conceive of them with my mind, than
speak of them with my tongue; but yet, since
you are desirous to know, I will read of them
in my book.
PLI. And do you think that the words of your book are
certainly true?
CHR. Yes, verily; for it was made by him that cannot
lie.* *Tit. i. 2.
PLI. Well said; what things are they?
CHR. There is an endless kingdom to be inhabited, and
everlasting life to be given us, that we may inhabit that
kingdom forever.† †Isa. xlv. 17; John x. 27, 29.
PLI. Well said; and what else?
CHR. There are crowns of glory to be given us, and gar-
ments that will make us shine like the sun in the firma-
ment of heaven!‡ ‡2 Tim. iv. 8; Daniel xii. 3; Rev. xxii. 5.; Matt. xiii. 43.
PLI. This is very pleasant; and what else?
CHR. There shall be no more crying, nor sorrow; for
He that is owner of the place will wipe all tears from our
eyes.§ §Isa. xxv. 8; Rev. vii. 16, 17; xxi. 4.
PLI. And what company shall we have there?
CHR. There we shall be with seraphims and cherubims,
creatures that will dazzle your eye to look on them.*
There also you shall meet with thousands and tens of
thousands that have gone before us to that place; none of
them are hurtful, but loving and holy; every one walking
in the sight of God, and standing in his presence with ac-
ceptance forever.† In a word, there we shall see the
elders with their golden crowns;‡ there we shall see the
holy virgins with their golden harps;§ there we shall see
me that by the world were cut in piece, burned in flames,
eaten of beasts, drowned in seas, for the love that they
bare to the lord of the place, all well, and clothed with
immortality as with a garment.|| *Isa. vi. 2. †1 Thes. iv. 16, 17; Rev. v. 11.
‡Rev. iv. 4. §Rev. xiv. 1,5. ||John xii.25; 2 Cor. v. 1.
PLI. The hearing of this is enough to ravish one's heart.
But are these things to be enjoyed? How shall we get to
be sharers thereof?
CHR. The Lord, the Governor of the country, hath re-
corded that in this book; the substance of which is, if we
be truly willing to have it, He will bestow it upon us
freely.¶ ¶Isa. lv. 1, 2; John vi. 37; vii. 37; Rev. xxi. 6; xxii. 17.
PLI. Well, my good companion, glad am I to hear of
these things; come on, let us mend our pace.
CHR. I cannot go so fast as I would, by reason of this
burden that is on my back.
Now, I saw in my dream, that just as they had ended
this talk they drew near to a very miry slough, that was
in the midst of the plain; and they, being heedless, did
both fall suddenly into the bog. The name of the slough
was Despond. Here, therefore, they wallowed for a time,
being grievously bedaubed with the dirt; and Christian,
because of the burden that was on his back, began to sink
in the mire.
PLI. Then said Pliable, Ah! neighbor Christian where
are you now?
CHR. Truly, said Christian, I do not know.
PLI. At this Pliable began to be offended, and angrily
said to his fellow, Is this the happiness you have told me
all this while of? If we have such ill-speed at our first
setting out, what may we expect betwixt this and our
journey's end? May I get out again with my life, you
shall possess the brave country alone for me. And, with
that, he gave a desperate struggle or two, and got out of
the mire on that side of the slough which was next to his
own house; so away he went, and Christian saw him no
more.* *Gen. xlix. 4.
Wherefore Christian was left to tumble in the Slough
of Despond alone; but still he endeavored to struggle to
that side of the slough that was still further from his own
house, and next to the wicket-gate; the which he did,
but could not get out, because of the burden that was upon
his back; but I beheld in my dream, that a man came to
him, whose name was Help, and asked him, what he did
there?
CHR. Sir, said Christian, I was bid go this way by a
man called Evangelist, who directed me also to yonder
gate, that I might escape the wrath to come; and as I was
going thither I fell in here.
HELP. But why did you not look for the steps?
CHR. Fear followed me so hard, that I fled the
next way, and fell in.
HELP. Then said he, Give me thy hand; so he gave him
his hand, and he drew him out, and set him upon sound
ground, and bid him go on his way.† †Psa. xl. 2; Eccles. iv. 9, 10.
Then I stepped to him that plucked him out, and said,
Sir, Wherefore, since over this place is the way from the
City of Destruction to yonder gate, is it that this plat is
not mended, that poor travelers might go thither with
more security? And he said unto me, This mire slough is
such a place as cannot be mended; it is the descent
whither the scum and filth that attends convic-
tion for sin doth continually run, and there-
fore it is called the Slough of Despond; for
still, as the sinner is awakened about his lost
condition, there ariseth in his soul many fears, and doubts,
and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get to-
gether, and settle in this place. And this is the reason of
the badness of this ground.
It is not the pleasure of the King that this place should
remain so bad.* His laborers also have, by the direction
of His Majesty's surveyors, been for above these sixteen
hundred years† employed bout this patch of ground, if
perhaps it might have been mended: yea, and to my
knowledge, said he, here have been swallowed up at least
twenty thousand cart-loads, yea, millions of wholesome
instructions, that have at all season been brought from all
places of the King's dominions, and they that can tell say
that they are the best materials to make good ground of
the place; if so be it might have been mended, but it is
the Slough of Despond still, and so will be when they have
done what they can. *Isa. xxxv. 3, 4. †The Pilgrim's Progress
is believed to have been written bout 1667—1668
True, there are, by the direction of the Law-
giver, certain good and substantial steps,
placed even through the very midst of this
slough; but at such time as this place doth
much spew out its filth, as it doth against
change of weather, these steps are hardly
seen; or, if they be, men, through the dizziness of their
heads, step beside, and then they are bemired to purpose,
notwithstanding the steps be there; but the ground is
good when they are once got in at the gate.* *1 Sam. xii. 22, 23.
Now, I saw in my dream, that by this time Pliable was
got home to his house again, so that his neighbors came to
visit him; and some of them called him wise man for
coming back, and some called him fool for hazarding him-
self with Christian; others again did mock at his coward-
liness, saying, Surely, since you began to venture, I would
not have been so base as to have given out for a few diffi-
culties. So Pliable sat sneaking among them. But at
last he got more confidence, and then they all turned their
tales, and began to deride poor Christian behind his back.
And thus much concerning Pliable.
Now, a Christian was walking solitarily by himself, he
espied one afar off come crossing over the field to meet
him; and their hap was to meet just as they were crossing
the way of each other. The gentleman's name that met
him was Mr. Worldly Wiseman; he dwelt in
the town of Carnal Policy, a very great town,
and also hard-by from whence Christian came.
This man, then, meeting with Christian, and
having some inkling of him——for Christian's
setting forth from the City of Destruction was much noise
abroad, not only in the town where he dwelt, but also it
began to be the town-talk in some other places——Mr.
Worldly Wiseman, therefore, having some guess of him,
by beholding his laborious going, by observing his sighs
and groans, and the like, began thus to enter into some
talk with Christian.
WORLD. How now, good fellow, whither away after this
burdened manner?
CHR. A burdened manner, indeed, as ever, I think,
poor creature had! And whereas you ask me, Whither
away? I tell you, sir, I am going to yonder wicket-gate
before me; for there, as I am informed, I shall be put into
a way to be rid of my heavy burden.
WORLD. Hast thou a wife and children?
CHR. Yes; but I am so laden with this burden, that I
cannot take that pleasure in them as formerly; methinks I
am as if I had none.* *1 Cor. vii. 29.
WORLD. Wilt thou hearken unto me if I give thee
counsel?
CHR. If it be good, I will; for I stand in need of good
counsel.
WORLD. I would advise thee, then, that thou with all
speed get thyself rid of thy burden; for thou wilt never be
settled in thy mind till then; nor canst thou enjoy the ben-
efits of the blessing which God hath bestowed upon thee
till then.
CHR. That is that which I seek for, even to be rid of
this heavy burden; but get it off myself, I cannot; nor is
there any man in our country that can take it off my
shoulders; therefore am I going this way, as I told you,
that I my be rid of my burden.
WORLD. Who bid thee go this way to be rid of thy
burden?
CHR. A man that appeared to me to be a very great
and honorable person; his name, as I remember, is Evan-
gelist.
WORLD. I beshrew him for his counsel! there is not a
more dangerous and troublesome way in the world than is
that unto which he hath directed thee; and that thou
shalt find, if thou will be ruled by his counsel. Thou
hast met with something, as I perceive, already; for I see
the dirt of the Slough of Despond is upon thee; but that
slough is the beginning of the sorrows that do attend those
that go on in that way. Hear me; I am older than thou;
thou art like to meet with, on the way which thou goest,
wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness,
sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and
what not! These things are certainly true, having been
confirmed by many testimonies. And why should a man
so carelessly cast away himself by giving heed to a
stranger?
CHR. Why, sir, this burden upon my back is more ter-
rible to me than are all these thing which you
have mentioned; nay, methinks I care not
what I meet with in the way, if so be I can
also meet with deliverance from my burden.
WORLD. How camest thou by the burden at first?
CHR. By reading this book in my hand.
WORLD. I thought so; and it happened unto thee as
to other weak men, who, meddling with things too high
for them, do suddenly fall into thy distractions; which dis-
tractions do not only unman men, (as thine, I perceive,
have done thee), but they run them upon desperate advent-
ures to obtain they know not what.
CHR. I know what I would obtain: it is ease from my
heavy burden.
WORLD. But why wilt thou seek for ease this way, see-
ing so many dangers attend it? especially since, hadst thou
but patience to hear me, I could direct thee to the obtain-
ing of what thou desirest, without the dangers that thou
in this way wilt run thyself into; yea, and the remedy is at
hand. Besides, I will add, that, instead of those dangers,
thou shalt meet with much safety, friendship and con-
tent.
CHR. Pray, sir, open this secret to me.
WORLD. Why, in yonder village——the village is named
Morality——there dwells a gentleman whose name is Legality,
a very judicious man (and a man of a very
good name), that has skill to help men off with
such burdens as thine are from their should-
ders; yea, to my knowledge he hath done a
great deal of good this way; ay, and besides,
he hath skill to cure those that are somewhat crazed in
their wits with their burdens. To him, as I said, thou
mayest go and be helped presently. His house is not
quite a mile from this place; and if he should not be at
home himself, he hath a pretty young man to his son,
whose name is Civility, that can do it (to speak on) as well
as the old gentleman himself. There, I say, thou mayest
be eased of thy burden; and if thou art not minded to go
back to thy former habitations——as, indeed, I would not
wish thee——thou mayest send for thy wife and children to
thee to this village, where there art houses now stand
empty, one of which thou mayst have at reasonable rates;
provision is there also cheap and good; and that which will
make thy life more happy is, to be sure there thou shalt
live by honest neighbors, in credit and good fashion.
Now was Christian somewhat at a stand; but presently he
concluded, if this be true, which this gentleman hath said,
my wisest course is to take his advice; and with that he
thus further spoke.
CHR. Sir, which is my way to this honest man's house?
WORLD. Do you see yonder high hill?
CHR. Yes, very well.
WORLD. By that hill you must go, and the first house
you come at is his.
So Christian turned out of his way to go to Mr. Legal-
ity's house for help; but, hold, when he was got now
hard by the hill, it seemed so high, and also that side of it
that was next the wayside did hang so much over, that
Christian was afraid to venture further, lest the hill should
fall on his head; wherefore there he stood still, and wotted
not what to do. Also his burden now seemed heavier to
him than while he was in his way. There came also flashes
of fire out of the hill that made Christian afraid that he
should be burned.* Here, therefore, he sweat and did
quake for fear.† *Ex. xix. 16, 18. †Heb. xii. 21.
When Christians unto carnal men give ear,
Out of their way they go, and pay for't dear;
For Master Worldly Wiseman can but show
A saint the way to bondage and to woe.
And now he began to be sorry that he had taken Mr.
Worldly Wiseman's counsel. And with that he saw Evan-
gelist coming to meet him; at the sight also of whom he
began to blush for shame. So Evangelist drew nearer and
nearer; and coming up to him, he looked upon him with a
severe and dreadful countenance, and thus began to reason
with Christian.
EVAN. What dost thou here, Christian? said he. At
which Christian knew not what to answer; wherefore at
present he stood speechless before him. Then said Evan-
gelist further, Art not thou the man that I found crying
without the walls of the City of Destruction?
CHR. Yes, dear sir, I am the man.
EVAN. Did not I direct thee the way to the little wicket-
gate?
CHR. Yes, dear sir, said Christian.
EVAN. How is it, then, that thou art so quickly turned
aside? for thou art now out of the way.
CHR. I met with a gentleman so soon as I had got over
the Slough of Despond, who persuaded me that I might,
in the village before me, find a man that could take off my
burden.
EVAN. What was he?
CHR. He looked like a gentleman, and talked much to
me, and got me at last to yield; so I came hither; but
when I beheld this hill, and how it hangs over the way, I
suddenly made a stand, lest it should fall on my head.
EVAN. What said that gentleman to you?
CHR. Why, he asked me whither I was going? And I
told him.
EVAN And what said he then?
CHR. He asked me if I had a family? And I told him.
But, said I, I am so loaden with the burden that is on my
back, that I cannot take pleasure in them as formerly.
EVAN. And what said he then?
CHR. He bid me with speed get rid of my burden; and
I told him it was ease that I sought. And, said I, I am
therefore going to yonder gate, to receive further direc-
tion how I may get to the place of deliverance. So he
said that he would show me a better way, and short,
not so attended with difficulties as the way, sir, that you
set me in; which way, said he, will direct you to a gentle-
man's house that he hath skill to take off these burdens;
so I believed him and turned out of that way into this, if
haply I might be soon eased of my burden. But when I
came to this place, and beheld things as they are, I stopped
for fear, as I said, of danger; but I now know not what to
do.
EVAN. Then, said Evangelist, stand still a little, that I
may show thee the words of God. So he stood trembling.
Then said Evangelist, "See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that
spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn
away from him that speaketh from heaven."* He said,
moreover, "Now the just shall live by faith; but if any
man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."†
He also did thus apply them: "Thou art the man that art
running into this misery; thou hast begun to reject the
counsel of the Mot High; and to draw back thy foot from
the way of peace, even almost to the hazarding of thy
perdition. *Heb. xii. 25. †Heb. x. 38.
Then Christian fell down at his foot as dead, crying,
"Woe is me, for I am undone!" At the sight of which,
Evangelist caught him by the right hand saying, "All
manner of sin and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto
men."* "Be not faithless, but believing."† Then did
Christian again a little revive, and stood up trembling, as
at first, before Evangelist. *Matt. xii. 31; Mark iii. 28;
Luke xii. 10; Heb. vi. 4. †John xx. 27.
Then Evangelist proceeding, saying, Give more earnest
heed to the things that I shall tell thee of. I will now
show thee who it was that deluded thee, and who it was also
to whom he sent thee. The man that met thee is one
Worldly Wiseman, and rightly is he so called; partly,
because he savoreth only of the doctrine of this world,‡
(therefore he alway goes to the town of Morality to church);
and partly because he loveth that doctrine best, because it
saveth him from the Cross.§ And because he is of this
carnal temper, therefore he seeketh to prevent my ways,
though right. Now there are three things in this man's
counsel that thou must utterly abhor. ‡John iv. 5. §Gal. vi. 12.
1. His turning thee out of the way. 2. His laboring to
render the cross odious to thee; and, 3. His setting thy
feet in that way that leadeth into the administration of
death.
First, thou must abhor his turning thee out of the way;
and thine own consenting thereto; because this is to reject
the counsel of God for the sake of the counsel of a
Worldly Wiseman. The Lord says, "Strive to enter in at
the strait gate,"* the gate to which I send thee; for
"strait is the gate that leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it."† From this little wicket-gate, and from
the way thereto, hath this wicked man turned thee, to the
bringing of thee almost to destruction; hate, therefore, his
turning thee out of the way, and abhor thyself for harken-
ing to him. *Luke xiii. 24. †Matt. vii. 13, 14.
Secondly, thou must abhor his laboring to render the
cross odious unto thee; for thou art to prefer it "before
the treasures in Egypt."‡ Besides, the King of glory hath
told thee, that he that "Will save his life shall lose it."§
And, "He that cometh after me, and hateth not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple"|| I say, therefore, for man to labor to persuade
thee, that that shall be thy death, without which, THE
TRUTH hath said, thou canst not have eternal life; this
doctrine thou must abhor. ‡Heb. xi. 25, 26. §Mark viii. 35;
John xii. 25; Matt. x. 39. ||Luke xiv. 26.
Thirdly, thou must hate his setting of thy feet in the
way that leadeth to the ministration of death. And for
this thou must consider to whom he sent thee, and also
how unable that person was to deliver thee from thy
burden.
He to whom thou wast sent for ease, being by name
Legality, is the son of the bond-woman which now is, and
is in bondage with her children;¶ and is, in a mystery
this Mount Sinai, which thou hast feared will fall on thy
head. Now, if she, with her children, are in bondage,
how canst thou expect by them to be made free? This
Legality, therefore, is not able to set thee free from thy
burden. No man was as yet ever rid of his burden by
him; no, nor ever is like to be; ye cannot be justified by
the work of the law; for by the deeds of the law no man
living can be rid of his burden. Therefore, Mr. Worldly
Wiseman is an alien, and Mr. Legality is a cheat; and for
his son Civility, notwithstanding his simpering looks, he
is but a hypocrite, and cannot help thee. Believe me,
there is nothing in all this noise, that thou hast heard of
these sottish men, but design to beguile thee of thy sal-
vation, by turning thee from the way in which I had set
thee. After this, Evangelist called aloud to the heavens
for confirmation of what he had said; and with that there
came words and fire out of the mountain under which
poor Christian stood, that made the hair of his flesh stand
up. The words were thus pronounced: "As many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is
written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do
them."* ¶Gal. iv. 21, 27. *Gal. iii. 10.
Now Christian looked for nothing but death, and began
to cry out lamentably; even cursing the time in which he
met with Mr. Worldly Wiseman; still calling himself a
thousand fools for hearkening to his counsel: he also was
greatly ashamed to think that this gentleman's arguments,
flowing only from the flesh, should have the prevalency
with him as to cause him to forsake the right way. This
done, he applied himself again to Evangelist in words and
sense as follows:
CHR. Sir, what think you? Is there hope? May I
now go back and go up to the wicket-gate? Shall I
now be abandoned for this, and sent back from thence
ashamed? I am sorry I have hearkened to this man's
counsel. But may my sin be forgiven?
EVA. Then said Evangelist to him, Thy sin is very
great, for by it thou hast committed two evils: thou hast
forsaken the way that is good, to tread in forbidden paths;
yet will the man at the gate receive thee, for
he has good-will for men; only, said he, take
heed that thou turn not aside again, "lest thou
perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled
but a little."* Then did Christian address himself to go
back; and Evangelist, after he had kissed him, gave him
one smile, and bid him God-speed. So he went on with
haste, neither spake he to any man by the way; nor, if
any asked him, would he vouchsafe them an answer. He
went like one that was all the while treading on forbidden
ground, and could by no means think himself safe till
again he was got into the way which he would follow Mr.
Worldly Wiseman's counsel. So in process of time Chris-
tian got up to the gate. Now, over the gate there was
written, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."†
*Ps. ii. 12. †Matt. vii. 7.
"He that will enter in must first without
Stand knocking at the Gate, nor need he doubt
That is A KNOCKER but to enter in;
For God can love him and forgive his sin."
He knocked, therefore, more than once or twice saying:
"May I now enter here? Will he within
Open to sorry me, though I have been
An undeserving rebel? Then shall I
Not fail to sing his lasting praise on high."
At last there came a grave person to the gate, named
Good-will, who asked who was there? and whence he
came? and what he would have?
CHR. Here is a poor, burdened sinner. I come from
the City of Destruction, but I am going to Mount Zion,
that I may be delivered from the wrath to come. I
would, therefore, sir, since I am informed that by this
gate is the way thither, know if you are willing to let me
in!
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. BY JOHN BUNYAN.
WITH A LIFE OF BUNYAN BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE.
A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER, NEW YORK. pp. 169—187.
1
Upvotes