He is liberated after twelve years' Imprisonment.

of my being in prison; where I lie waiting the good will of God, to do with me as he pleaseth; knowing that not one hair of my head can fall to the ground without the will of my Father which is in heaven. Let the rage and malice of men be never so great, they can do no more, nor go any farther than God permits them; but when they have done their worst, "We know all things shall work together for good to them that love God." Farewell.

Mr. Bunyan after remaining in prison till the following January, took his trial at Bedford: the indictment ran thus; "That John Bunyan, of the town of Bedford, labourer, being a person of such and such conditions, he hath (since such a time) devilishly and perniciously abstained from coming to church to hear divine service, and is a common upholder of several unlawful meetings and conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good subjects of this kingdom, contrary to the laws of our sovereign lord the king," &c.

On this occasion he would not dissemble to save himself, especially in his Master's cause, and therefore frankly owned his having been at a meeting, and preaching to the people, and that he was a dissenter from the established worship; acknowledging, as the apostle Paul had done before him, "that after the way which they called heresy, so worshipped he the God of his fathers." The justices took his open and plain dealing with them for a confession of the indictment, and sentenced him to perpetual banishment, because he refused to conform, in pursuance of an act made by the parliament. Mr. Bunyan upon this was again committed to prison; where, though his sentence of banishment was never executed upon him, yet he was kept in prison for twelve years together, bearing that tedious imprisonment, in an uncomfortable and close prison, and sometimes under cruel and oppressive jailors, with the Christian patience and presence of mind which became a minister of Jesus Christ, and the cause in which he was engaged.

After he had remained a little time under confinemert he

His Sickness and Death.

was joined by above sixty of his fellow sufferers, dissenters likewise, who were taken at a meeting at Kaistoe, in Bedfordshire, besides two eminent dissenting ministers, namely, Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Dun; by which means the prison was much crowded. But even here he did not spend his time in a supine and careless manner, nor eat the bread of idleness; for, to contribute to the support of himself and family, he employed his time in making many hundred gross of long-tagged laces, which occupation he had learned for that laudable purpose. His library consisted only of two books, a Bible and the Book of Martyrs. During his imprisonment he wrote the first part of the Pilgrim's Progress, besides several other excellent treatises, particularly, The Holy City, Christian Behaviour, The Resurrection of the Dead, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, with several others. At this period he declared he never had so great an insight into the word of God as then. But notwithstanding this, he found that a concern for his wife and children would now and then disturb his mind, especially for his daughter who was blind; and the thought of her enduring hardship was almost ready to break his heart, for he was an indulgent father, as well as an affectionate husband.

After enduring twelve years' imprisonment for the testimony of a good conscience, he was discharged it is said by the influence of Dr. Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln. As soon as he was at liberty, he made it a great part of his business to visit his Christian friends, paying his acknowledgments to them, especially such whose hearts God had drawn forth to support him under his sufferings, preaching the gospel wherever he came, and exhorting all not to be afraid or ashamed of taking up the cross of Christ, nor to forsake the assembling of themselves together, though the laws were against it, knowing that God ought to be obeyed rather than man. As for such as were under sufferings on account of religion, he made it his particular care to procure and send them relief. He also took care to visit the sick, ana to support them, both internally and externally, according to

His Character.

their wants, and his ability. After his restoration to liberty God so blessed his ministry, and accompanied it with his special presence, that many souls were brought to the ac knowledgment of the truth as it is in Jesus.

He was also very ready and successful in reconciling the differences that were among God's people, wherever he found them; and by that means often saved many families from ruin, being an ambassador of peace in every respect.

It was his constant practice, when he had his liberty, to come up once a year to London, and to preach in several places there, but more particularly in Southwark, near the Falcon; and his labours met with a general acceptance from all his auditors. From London he used to ride his circuit in the country, visiting the people of God, and strengthening their hands in the ways of religion.

The last act of his life was a labour of love and charity. A young gentleman, who was Mr. Bunyan's neighbour, having fallen under the displeasure of his father, he desired Mr. Bunyan to be the instrument of making up the breach; which he undertook, and happily effected. But on his return to London, being overtaken with excessive rains, and coming to his lodgings, at Snow Hill, very wet, he was seized with a violent fever; which he bore with much constancy and patience, resigning himself to the will of God, and desiring to be dissolved that he might be with Christ. He looked upon life as a delay of that blessedness after which his soul was daily aspiring. In this holy and longing frame of spirit, after a sickness of ten days, he breathed out his soul into the hands of his blessed Redeemer, following his happy Pilgrim from the City of Destruction to the heavenly Jerusalem, on the 31st of August, 1688, in the 60th year of his age.

Mr. Bunyan was a man of a piercing judgment, and sound understanding. This evidently appeared, when in the reign of James II. liberty of conscience was so unexpectedly given to dissenters of all persuasions. He saw it was not out of kindness to dissenters that they were so

His character.

suddenly set at liberty, and freed from the hard persecutions that had so long lain heavily upon them. He acknowedged that liberty of conscience was good, and was every man's birth-right, by a divine charter: but he could not believe it was then given for a good end; and he feared that the bright sunshine of the present liberty was but to introduce a black cloud of slavery, when once the designs then forming were ripe for execution. He therefore exhorted his congregation at Bedford, and others also, to make use of the Ninevite's remedy to avert the impending

storm.

In his family he kept up a daily and constant course of prayer, reading, and exhortation, instructing his children, and exhorting them to walk in the ways of God. He had the blessing that Agur prayed for, neither poverty nor riches; but God always gave him food convenient. He was once told, that a gentleman in London, a very worthy citizen, would take his son Joseph apprentice without any money, which might be a great means to advance him: but he replied, "God did not send him to advance his family, but to preach the gospel."

The works of Mr. Bunyan, considered either in a doctritrinal, experimental, or practical point of view, exhibit strength of intellect, and a devotional mind; a regard to the divine honour, and a love to the souls of men.

THE END