him in White and shineing Garments placed a Crown of Glory on his head and palms of Triumph in his hands he then lead him towards and according to the promise he had formerly made him in the day when he entered into Covenant with him he presented him to his Father without any kind of spot or Defilement being blameless in Love before him for ever in the Beatifick Vision of whose blessed face and the familfar Injoyment and full fruition of whose Glory and Love he is to live and Reign for ever and ever World without end Amen And now methoughts when I saw the Gates opened to give admittance to this happy Pilgrim I took that opportunity to look in and take a delightful view of that blest and glorious place which is so much famed in sacred Story and I found the Prospect of it to afford such an abundance of Pleasure and Satisfaction I think I shall never forget it And I hope I shall never sit down satisfied until I also have obtained the Possession thereof This sight being so Pleasant and the Prospect of its Glory being so ravishing and Delightful to me I would willingly give you a Description of the Country in hopes thereby to make you in Love with it But yet I must do it with a caution and beg that you would not expect I should give you an exact and perfect description of a place which I only know my self by report or at best by that short and transient Glimpse at a vast and incredible distance which I then obtained especially since its extent and largeness its glory and sweetness c. is not only more then can be any way expressed by the Tongue of men or Angels or described by the most florid and ingenious Pen but even above and infinitely beyond all possibility of Conception too when the Soul most expatiates and inlarges it Thoughts and Contemplations thereon however assure thy self that what I do say of it is really true and infinitely more than I can either write or think The full Prospect and Knowledge whereof thou must be content to stay for till thy self shall be admitted as an Inhabitant thereof Celestial Paradice is a place admirably scituated in a most incomparably sweet Serene and delectable Air infinitly exceeding the fairest and the best scituated place which this World wherein we now live can possibly produce for being advanced by the Almighty Jehovah who contrived and formed it by his Wisdom and fixed and established it by his Power far above the heavy Earth whereon we walk and the thick foggy Air wherein we breathe it aspires into the purer Sky where the Eternal Jehovah himself ever shines and is that Glorious Sun whose Bright and Illustrious Rays fill those happy Regions with a perpetual Confluence of Light and thereby maintains an Eternal day by the help whereof and the Advantage of its Scituation the whole Universe presents it self at once to the admiring view of its blessed Inhabitants And the whole Circumference thereof seems to make their prying Souls the happy Center wherein all its Beauty and Glory Conspires to meet no noysom or offensive scents can possibly penetrate or infect that sweet and Blissful Place for there is nothing affects that Air but what is pure and Odoriferous and serves only to perfume the Heavenly Mansions with the more exhilerating Fragrancy and moreover a perpetual Calm and Quietude reigns in that happy Region and therewith Eternally crowns all its other Felicities For there you shall hear nothing but what will infinitely delight and charm thy ravished Soul into sweet and delightful contemplations And when thou shalt hear the infinite praises of thy great Creator sung forth by all his works of wonder and every Creature thou beholdest with Chearful Hyms and Seraphick Songs Celebrate the Admirable Wisdom and the Infinite Goodness of him that Created it The Harmony thereof will be so ravishing and their imploment so pleasing that thou thy self wilt joâ— and dance in company and rejoyce and sing together with them And as the Situation of Paradice is delightful and pleasant so are its Dimension large and extensive its Buildings stately and glorious and all those varieties wherewith it is beautified and adorned are splendid and rich every where becoming the Majesty and Glory of that Palace which is the Royal City and Palace of the Great King The Metropolis of the Universe and the Residence and Seat where the Imperial Majesty of Heaven and Earth whose Dominion is an everlasting Dominion and who extends his Reign throughout all Generations keeps his Court and whlther his happy subjects repair to behold the Majesty of his Glory stand before him as his devoted Servants and worship and adore the Soveraign of the World to view and admire the Wisdom and Righteousness of his Government the Goodness and Equity of his Laws the strange and wonderful methods of his Grace the admirable continuance of his works and the universal care he takes of every Creature the Infinite extent of his Providence the greatness of his Power and his absolute and unaccountable Authority whereby he unites those things which were in themselves at the greatest distances and dissolves the combinations and confederacys of those who are enemies to his interest and people when they are most strongly and closely united and renders all the Matchiavillian designs of Rome and Antichrist barren unfruitful or else makes them prove abortive jnst when they are ready to bring forth and the disappointing the devices of the crafty and confounding the subtilty of the wise makes the adversaries of his Church become the instruments of their own ruine and overthrow And there likewise his blessed subjects satiate their Ravisht Souls with the delightful and satisfying views of the Beauty of his Holiness the brightness and extent of his Understanding the riches and the freeness of his Love Righteousness and equity of his Justice the inexhaustibleness of his Goodness and the Immutability of his Faithfulness and Truth Then next to the King himself there sits the Kings Son the Blessed Redeemer and the Mediator of the new Covenant upon a Throne of Glory at the Right hand of the Father whose Glorified Body being now in the Meridian of his Glory Exaltation and Triumph is filled with greater light shines with infinitely more brightness and splendor then the Sun vvhen shiningin its strength And there the eternal Spirit performs his Divine Operations in the Souls of the Redeemed more fully and perfectly constantly more sensibly feelingly and therefore more Comfortably to them and vvith a perpetual constancy that admits of no intermission but he is ever inlarging and disposing fitting and capacitating their happy souls to drink in those eternal pleasures and everlasting delights whereinto they are plunged and wherein they bathe themselves And is ever conveying into and more absolutely then when they vvere in their imperfect state filling them vvith the joys of the Holy Ghost and the peace of God vvhich passes all understanding Then you have the holy Angels vvhose brightness and splendor likevvise very much conduces to beautify adorn the place And there also dwell the Redeemed every one being placed upon a Throne of Majesty vvith Imperial Crovvns on their heads and Palms in their hands shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father in vvhich station they ever behold the face of God in Righteousness and obtain such an understanding and knowledge of him as perfectly turns them also into the nature of him that they behold and transforms them into the likeness of that holy and pure Being which they eternally delight to be viewing of and the Reflections of whose Glory and Goodness doth as it were overshadow their inamoured souls and by living animates them into the same Disposition with its self And that Divine Beauty whereon they everlastingly feed and feast their eyes imprints its own form upon their souls and renders them fair and Beauteous with the very same lovely Excellencies which they delight to behold in him And now methought when I had taken this view of the Caelestial Paradice I wished that I might have been permitted to enter into it likewise But whilst I was thus wishing with my self the place began to appear more bright than before and the Glory and Splendor of it increased to such a degree that my eyes were too weak to behold it nor could my Mortality longer endure the sight of its Glory which now so ovewhelmed me that methoughts I sunk down and fainted away Whereupon I awoke and found my self still grovling on the earth in the same wicked and prophane and carnal hardened and secure World wherein I lived before I fell asleep and dreamed this Dream FINIS
of thy Gospel as the Peaceful Way and Pleasant and Delightful Path in and through which I must by thy Assistance walk to thy kingdom I do here willingly submit my Neck to thy Yoke and acknowledging all thy Laws to be Holy Just and Good I do Solemnly take them as a considerable part of my Happiness and the Rule of my Thoughts my Words and my Actions promising that although thou knowest and I find by dreadful experience that my Flesh will Contradict and Rebel yet I will indeavour to order my whole life according to thy direction therein and will not knowingly allow my self in the neglect of any thing which is my Duty Only in regard that through the frailty of my Flesh I am subject to many failings I humbly presume to protest before thee that unallowed miscarriages contrary to the settled bent and inclination of my Heart shall not annul this Covenant which I am the more bold to assert because thou thy self hast promised and assured me that it shall be so And now my sweet Redeemer thou who penetratest into the Heart and hast all things open and naked before thee knowest that I make this Solemn Contract of accepting and imbracing of thee and dedicating and giving up my self to thee freely without hesitation fully without reservation and sincerely without Hypocrisie to the best of my knowledge humbly imploring that if thou espiest any kind of flaw or falshood herein thou wouldst discover it to me and help me to do it with more uprightness and sincerity And now Glory and Honour Adoration and Praise be ascribed by my Soul to the great Creator and Conserver of all things whom I shall be bold from this Day forward to look upon as my God and Father and shall account it my Happiness as well as my Duty that I may sweeten my Pilgrimage through the Wilderness of this World by Contemplating the admirable Effects of thy Infinite Wisdom and Love in finding out such a way for the recovery of undone Sinners And Glory be to thee O thou Compassionate and Indulgent Mediator who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own Blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer And Glory Adoration and Praise be given likewise unto thee O thou Eternal Spirit who hast by thy Powerful and Gracious Operations apply'd to me the Precious Merits of my Sweet Redeemer and by the Finger of thine Almighty Power Effectually Changed and Converted my Soul from the World to God from self to Christ and from a Course of Sin to the Practice of Holiness And now O thou Infinite Eternal and Alsufficient Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Spirit who art a Fountain of Mercy and Pardon and an Ocean of Goodness and Love Thou art now become my Covenant Friend and hast through thy wonderful Grace and Goodness permitted me to become thy Covenant Servant Amen Amen And let the Contract which I have this day made on Earth be Ratified by thee in Heaven As soon as he had thus expressed himself I saw him pluck a Paper out of his Bosom wherein I supposed the substance of what he had said was written and having opened it he spread it before the Son of the Blessed Subscribed his Name to it and then presented it as his Act and Deed to him who received it with such a readiness and Complacency that plainly declared the greatness of that delight he took therein and stretching forth his Hand he lifted him up from the Earth and imbraced him with the greatest love and tenderness imaginable spake Comfortably unto him kist him and promised to love him with an everlasting love which is better than life it self assuring him likewise that he would present him before his Father without spot and blameless in love and that he would send him a perpetual supply of all things necessary for his Pilgrimage at the end whereof he would receive him into the Eternal Mansions of Bliss and place a Crown of Glory upon his Head And as for your Old Companions said he who would not that I should Reign over you I will now slay them before me Now therefore Gird up the Loins of thy Mind watch and be sober and hope to the end run without weariness and walk without fainting be thou faithful to the death and then I will give thee a Crown of life I will likewise write your Name in the Book of Life and therefore tell me said he what is your Name Ah Lord said the Man my Name is so bad wretched and scandalous that I am ashamed to tell it I would said he have you be ashamed of it and never own it more but yet you must tell it me for I intend to change it and give you a New Name a precious and an honourable Name for I will give you in my House and within my Walls a Place and a Name far better than that of Sons and Daughters I will give you an everlasting Name which shall not be cut off Lord said the Man thou knowest that I have always hitherto been known by the Name of Reprobate It s true said he but thou shalt be called so no more but Believer shall be now thy Name by which Name I will enter thee in the Book of Life And I will give thee a White Stone with this New Name inclosed in it which shall not be so legible and easy to be read by any other Person as thy self who receivest it and that thou mayest have Life and have it more abundantly thou shalt receive of my fulness and have Grace for Grace I will give thee to Eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God whereby thou shalt be put out of all possibility of being hurt by the Second Death I will feed thee with the Food of Angels and give thee hidden Manna to eat I will shut the Door of Hell against thee so that no Man shall be able to open it and open the Gate of Heaven to thee so that no man shall be able to shut it against thee and when thou art cast out of the Synagogue by those who call themselves Believers and are not and art by them Excommunicated and delivered over to the Prince of Darkness with an express Command to him to take thee and when he will not or rather cannot for because I give unto you Eternal Life you shall never Perish nor shall Men or Devils Earth or Hell pluck you out of my Hands my Father which gave you to me is greater than all and no Man is able to pluck you out of my Fathers Hand I and my Father are one and as such we ingage our selves for thy Defence then it may be the Gaol shall but if so yet be not dismayed for I ingage to make that and all things else to Work together for thy good and assure thy self that although those things may not at present be pleasant but grievous yet they shall
he could not steal away or force the Seed out of his Heart which the Eternal had Sown there he would Beleaguer and Besiege it so close as to prevent the Eternals sending any relief or succour to it and thereby starve it out or force it to a Surrender And in this sad kind of Condition the Man continued for a long time hanging as it were between Heaven and Hell and halting between two Opinions until at last he came to a place where one of those Temples stood which the Eternal had placed in the Road for Pilgrims to do their Homage and Worship and Adore him in Now when he came to the Door I could easily perceive him to be indifferent whether he went in or passed by but being entred he there met with an Embassador from the King who assured the Pilgrims which came there to Worship that if any of them sinned wilfully after the receiving the knowledge of the Truth there remains no more sacrifice for Sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment and Fiery Indignation which shall devour those Adversaries for if those who despised Moses Law died without Mercy of how much sorer punishment shall you be thought worthy who have trodden under Foot the Son of God and accounted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith you were sanctified an unholy thing and done despite to the Spirit of Grace And I will assure you said he you will find it a dreadful thing to fall thus into the Hands of the living God for our God is a consuming Fire to all of you who are Workers of Iniquity Now Believer looking back and reflecting upon what he had done found that if it were not his very case which had been Treated of yet at least it came somewhat near it looked like it and led directly towards it whereupon he presently applied all that had been said to himself affirming it was all directed at and intended for him and that which made him the more confident it was so was this he fancied that the Embassadour looked on him and pointed at him all the time he was delivering his Embassy whereupon he roared in the bitterness of his Soul and cried out O wo wo and ten thousand woes unto me wretched me deluded and deceived me for I am now lost and undone my hope is cut off from the Lord and the everlasting God hath forsaken me the Blessed Redeemer hath now ceased to interceed for me and the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from me After this manner he lamented and bewailed his backsliding nor were his fellow Pilgrims divers of whom attempted it able to fix any Comfort upon him they told him of the Mercy of the Eternal the Merits of the Redemer the certainty and firmness of those Promises and the unalterableness of the Covenant wherein they had made over and given themselves unto him They told him that the everlasting Jehovah was not as a Man that he should Repent nor as the Son of Man that he should Change all which he acknowledged to be good Plaisters for a wounded Soul But O said he they will not stick upon me And thus he went mourning from them and I saw him retire into a secret place all alone by himself where prostrating himself on the Earth before the Eternal with a dejected Countenance a sad Heart a weeping Eye and a doubting Spirit having his Face covered over with shame and blushing not daring to look up to Heaven as unworthy to behold that place he only laid his Hand upon his Guilty Breast and sighed out Lord be merciful to me a Sinner He would have proceeded further but was not able so that he was forced to sigh out the rest in silent Groanes which he was not able to utter or form into Words Now after he had lain thus grovelling on the Ground for some time I saw him a rise and taking the Records of the Sacred Law into his Hand he opened it just about the middle and the very first thing that he fixt his Eyes upon was the following Promise He that confesseth and forsaketh his Sins shall find Mercy His Eyes were so dim and blared with weeping that he could not see to read it plain at first so that he was forced to look on it again and again before he could read it plainly then turning towards the latter end of it he found another which was not only more full and sweet in it self but also directed him how to make use and improve the other viz. If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the Righteous from which two places of the Divine Law he Extracted abundance of Comfort and Hope and resolved presently to put them in practice Wherefore Addressing himself in the most humble manner imaginable upon his Knees to the Eternal he uttered himself after this manner Lord said he I have sinned against Heaven and before Thee and am not worthy to be called thy Son wherefore Thou hast almost consumed me in thine Anger because of my Backsliding And thy wrath hath troubled me because of my sin Mine iniquities are ever before Thee and Thou hast set my secret sins in the Light of thy Countenance Thou makest me to spend my daies in sorrow and pass away my nights in despair Lord who knows the power of thy Anger according to thy fear so is thy wrath the sense wereof lyeth so heavy upon me That I am like one going down into the pit and like a man that hath no strength thy fierce wrath goeth over me and thy Terrors have cut me off so that my daies are consumed as smoke and my bones are burned and consumed within me My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to take my bread and yet all this I freely acknowledge to be Just because I have sinned against Thee I am destroyed indeed but it is by my self I am wounded but is by my own weapon of my own forming and an arrow out of my own Quiver I am Poisoned but it is by a draught of my own Composing I am Robbed and stripped of all my enjoyments but it was not without my own consent And therefore thou maist justly refuse to Heal or Relieve me Pardon and forgive me But Lord didst not thou tell me that thou wert an Everlasting God that thy Love was unchangeable I have indeed slighted thy Love abused thy Patience trampled upon thy Son despised thy Grace and greived thy Spirit And have not only sinned against and broken and violated all those obligations which thou hast been perpetually laying upon me by the infinite and uncontroulable instances of thy Love and thy Bounty But likewise against all those obligations that I have been laying upon my self too I have violated all my Covenants my promises and my vows and sinned against my own prayers lamentations and Tears And wilt thou therefore O Lord prove as changeable as my self Wilt thou take an advantage against me Wilt thou cut me off
acted upon my self and the rest who are spectators hereof by the King of Terrors now calls to us and we must all of us ere long in the self same manner call to others to mind their latter End and consider that the Remembring to prepare their great and last Change is or ought to be the chief bufiness of our Lives Lord my breath is as liable to end will be as certainly stoped as his and I find that my body likewise is compounded and made up of the same mouldering and decaying principles which incline me and render me subject to crumble into dust and fall into the Grave to which I am now following him but Lord I know not how suddenly my self may be followed thither Lord here 's his Body but where 's his Soul His departure is a sad occasion of mourning and Grief to his sorrowful Relations but Lord what is it to himself He is now got beyond the Grave and hath a clearer sight of and is thereby able to Judge more truly of unseen and invisible things than when he was here he hath other thoughts of Sin and Hell of Holiness and Heaven than us poor mortals who are yet Groveling in the dark in these lower Regions Lord Sin was the great the cruel and barbarous Murtherer that first brought Death into the World and furnished him both with the Dart and the sting wherewith he wounds O that Thou wouldst therefore affect my Soul with that Sermon which thou art novv preaching ot me by him and O let not that Lecture of Mortality which he is now reading to me ever be forgotten by me Lord give me an interest in thy Son whereby I may escape the sting and despise the Dart and Triumph over the fear of Death Amongst those few who haved practiced this abundance of good hath been observed to have been done by that means and who knows were it more generally used and become a custome amongst us at our Burials what good might be effected thereby And now that the reading this small Tract may promote thy present piety and future happiness by making thee more sensible of thy lost and undone condition by nature and by bringing thy soul morâ— out of love with sin and more and more into love with God with Christ and holiness is the desire of him who is thy cordial friend and hartily wishes the Eternal wellfare of thy immortal Soul T. S. THE PILGRIMS PROGRESS PART II. THE Spring being far advanced the Meadows being Covered with a Curious Carpet of delightful Green and the Earth Cloathed in Rich and Glorious Attire to Rejoyce and Triumph for the Return of her Shining Bridegroom The Healthful Air rendred more Pleasing and Delightful by the gentle Winds then breathed from the South impregnated with the Exhilerating Fragrancy of the Variety of Flowers and odoriferous Plants over which they had passed and every Blooming Bush and Flourishing Grove plentifully stored with Winged Inhabitants who with a delightful Harmony sweetly Sing forth their Makers Praise and Warble out their Joyful Welcomes to the Gaudy Spring I one Day took a Walk in the Fields to Feast my Eyes with the variety of Delightful Objects which that Season of the Year wherein the Universe bears the nearest resemblance to the happy state wherein the Immortal God at first created it liberally offers to the view of the Admiring Beholders and thereby lays an Irresistible Obligation upon Heavenly Minds to Spiritualize the several Obiects they bâ—hold and satiate their happy Souls with Heavenly Meditations by affording them such innumerable occasions of Contemplating the Divine Goodness And as I walked the various Objects represented to my View afforded divers occasions of and furnished me with matter for different Meditations Sometimes I would Contemplate the Divine Wisdom in the curious Frame and Fabrick of the World stretching the North over the Empty Place and hanging the Circle of the Earth upon nothing when by the irresistable Power of his Almighty Word he spake a Confused Chaos into Form and Beauty Commanding some part of the Earth to raise it self into lofty Hills and aspiring Mountains forming their Concave Heads for Springs and ordaining their Bowels for the Production of the Usefullest and the Richest Minerals and appointing other Parts of it to subside into Humble Valleys and be Formed into Champain Plains whose Surface he Clothed with a Carpet curiously interwoven with various and delightful Flowers and Adorned with a Natural Landscape of stately Cedars Shady Palms and Spreading Pines Fruitful Groves Aromatick Plants and Balsamick Shrubs Invironing the whole with the Liquid Ocean Commanding the Sea to Compass and Imbrace the Habitation of Man reserving it as a perpetual store to Administer Rain to the Bottels of Heaven and Convey Liquor to the Bubling Fountains supply Mankind with the variety of Useful and Delectable Creatures wherewith the Almighty hath stored it and serve him for the use of Navigation and Commerce Replenishing the Earth likewise with innumerable Rarities and almost Infinite Variety of Living Creatures and furnishing the Air with the most admirable and Ravishing Musick Establishing a Glittering Cannopy admirably Beautified with Spangling Stars to cover all his Sublunary Works Ordaining it to be a Tabernacle for the Sun whose Influence and Motion Conveys Heat and Vegitation and Measures Light and Darkness to all things beneath his Sphere And having thus finished and Beautified the World and prevented the very Wishes of Man by those admirable Preparations for him at last he Formed him also and from a Clod of Earth exalted him to be the Head of the Universe and the Perfection of all the Visible Creation advanced him into the Throne and gave him Dominion over all the rest of the Creatures appointing him to be their High Priest to Offer up their Tribute to their Great Creator whereby the Divine Goodness antedated his most Ample Desires rarified his Inlarged Heart and filled his Capacious Soul with Sacred Wonder Sometimes I would Expatiate in my Thoughts upon the Reasonableness and Easiness of that Law which God gave to Man in the Primitive state of Innocency and Happiness as the Rule of his Obedience and the Condition upon which he should remain in the perpetual Possession of all those Glorious Felicities wherewith he was then Crowned And then upon the Folly and Madness of Man that notwithstanding the Reasonableness of the Homage he was Obliged to pay to the Great Monarch of Heaven and Earth he should so easily permit himself to be puffed up with so much Pride and Arrogancy as to aspire after an Equality to and be prevailed upon and wheadled by the very first Temptation to fall into flat Rebellion against and Commence open War with his Soveraign whereby he lost at once the Divine Favour and all the Happiness and Felicity which was the Consequence thereof Expelled himself out of Eden and Barocado'd the enterance into the Celestial Paradise against him and his Posterity for ever Precipitated himself into a Gulf of
therefore unless you intend go through a by way to Tophet and Perish as certainly as if you had never set a step or moved a foot towards Paradise look beyond us and flee to the only Refuge that can secure you from the Avenger of Blood who is still in pursuit of thee and will certainly and suddenly overtake thee if thou stayest here Oh therefore be advised before he lay hold of thee and Sheath the Sword of Justice thy Bowels You may well imagine that the hearing those terrible unpleasing and unexpected Lectures where he expected to find nothing but Peace and Tranquility and a perpetual safety from that Desolation and Wo which he found himself notwithstanding still subject to and was threatned and denounced against him with as much terror and fiereeness as ever filled his very Soul with trouble and grief and almost overwhelmed his Spirits with sorrow the Arrows of the Almighty stuck fast within him and the Poison thereof had almost drank up his Spirits all which brought him into such inconceivable and inexpressible perplexities that I can far better conceive of them my self than I can relate them to you the truth is the poor Man knew not what to do being almost at his Wits Ends and upon the very Brink and Border of Despair whereupon I saw him rouse himself and fall more roundly to Work with Prayer and fasting keeping the Sabbath and hearing of Sermons frequenting of Lectures and Christian Conferences and like the Marriners in a Storm and ready to Perish he cast away and abandoned many of those things which hitherto had been pleasant and delightful but now he found them to be burdensome and dangerous to him notwithstanding all which no Peace Comfort or Consolation could he obtain for although he followed hard after them they fled so fast from him that he could not possibly overtake them whereupon he began to expostulate with himself after this manner Unhappy Man that I am while I remained in my Course of Sin and Wickedness I could not be at quiet for Conscience who harrased me continually to leave my danceing about the Pit which was as he affirmed and as I am apt to believe Bottomless and now I have complyed with his Advice I cannot as yet obtain any Peace in my Soul what can possibly be the reason or occasion thereof I wish I have not mistaken the Way which I was directed to take and am got into some other Path which leads not to Celestial Paradise but to some other place but I certainly think it cannot be so for I remember that I have always been told by those who have been well acquainted with the Way and are appointed by the King of the Countrey to be Guides to those who Travel thither that Praying Hearing the Word and other such like Holy Exercises wherein I now Employ my self lead directly towards Paradise and yet my Heart misgives me that this cannot be the Way because I remember also that they used to describe the Ways of Paradise to be Ways of Pleasantness and all the Paths therein to be Paths of Peace But to the trouble and disquiet of my Soul I can find no such thing by those ways wherein I now am And then directing himself to the Eternal he said O Lord rebuke me not in thine Anger neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure for thine Arrows stick fast in me and thy Hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my Flesh because of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my Bones because of my Sin for thou hast brought all mine Iniquities upon my Head as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me to bear my Wounds stink and are corrupt because of my Foolishness I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go Mourning all the day long my Loins are filled with a loathsome Disease and there is no soundness in my Flesh I am feeble and sore broken I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my Soul but thou O Lord knowest all my desires and my groanings are not hid from thee my Heart panteth and my Strength faileth me as for the light of my Eyes also it is gone from me I am ready to halt and my sorrow is ever before me wherefore I will declare my Iniquities and be sorry for my Sin and I will hope in thy Mercy O Lord the sorrows of Hell hath compassed me about and the floods of desolation make me afraid the sorrows of Hell hath invironed me and the snares of Death prevented me but in my distress I will call upon thee O Lord and cry unto thee O God thou God of my Salvation to whom alone is all my desire and in whom alone is all my relief and succour direct me O God my strength guide me into the way of Holiness and lead me into the Path wherein thou wouldest have me to walk I am feeble do thou uphold me my Feet are ready to slip but do thou establish me for thou O Lord art my Rock upon which I lean and stay my self thou art my Strength and my Redeemer I am O Lord like a weaned Child aukward and unskilful to tread in these Paths which are altogether new and unusual to me but do thou graciously condescend according to thy promise to lead me by the Hand and teach me to go Oh leave me not until thou hast conducted me into the way of Life which leads to the Heavenly Paradise and lest there should be any thing in me that may peradventure occasion my falling short of that blessed place do thou enter into me and search my Heart and try my Reins O God and if thou findest any evil way in me purge it away with the Blood of thy Son and guide me into the way everlasting After this I saw that he was somewhat more chearful than before but it lasted not long for as he afterwards told one of his Friends in my hearing he had something within him which continually cry'd unto him Away Man and flee for thy life for thou art not yet safe from the Avenger who is yet in pursuit after thee and if thou escape not quickly he will certainly lay hold on thee and thou shalt Perish as surely and much more fatally than if thou hadst never made any one step towards an escape which did terrifie him exceedingly and made him rore out and cry for help to him who has stiled himself the God of help and promised to be a present help in time of trouble saying In the day of trouble call upon me and I will deliver thee so shalt thou glorifie me Cast thy Burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee commit thy way unto to the Lord and he shall direct thy Paths Trust thou in him and rely on him only and he also will bring it to pass Here Conscience interrupted him somewhat abruptly and said I cannot but wonder at thy desperate madness and folly in that thou still abusest the Divine
Patience and by continuing in thy Obstinacy darest the Almighty to do his worst fancying to thy self that thou hast by thy Repentings and thy Tears thy Fastings and thy Prayers and a little forced partial and imperfect amendment stopped all his proceedings against thee and so tied up his Hands that he cannot hurt thee when alas thou art still in the High Way to ruine thou now endeavourest to set thy self to keep the Law but I must still pronounce thee Accursed because thou continuest not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do them nor indeed art thou able to do so but admit thou wert yet that will not make satisfaction to Justice for the wrong thou hast already done it the keeping the Law now will not compensate or atone for thy former Breaches of it nor must thou expect to put God off with good Words or fair Promises plausible Pretences and faint Resolutions nor will he admit that thou shouldest have any other Saviour than his Son nor that thou joyn any thing with him for he will have the whole Honour of saving thee or else he will leave thee still to Perish in thy Sins At this I could perceive him to be exceedingly troubled and terrified which was much increased by his espying the Avenger Marching against him Cloathed with Vengeance and Armed with Fury Brandishing a Flaming Sword in his Al-conquering Hand wherefore he fuddenly cried out to Heaven for help looking every way as if he would run but knew not whither for he could discover no place which promised him more security than that wherein he then was and seeing the Avenger was then almost got up to him and ready to lay hold of him he fainted and even despaired of escaping but just as he was in the very depth of extreamest danger I looked to see what would become of the poor thing and loe suddenly one stept to him and with a brisk and cheerful Voice cried to him Oh Sir why ly you here and perish within view of the remedy you have but a little way further to the City of Refuge where the Son of the Blessed stands waiting for you and ready to receive you if you will but go to him This welcome and unexpected Message in the very Minute of the lowest extremity strangely revived his desponding Soul and made so great and sudden an alteration in him that I can compare it to nothing so well as to the Prophets Vision of dry Bones for as one dead he revived and his Spirits came into him again when looking up upon him he cried Sir that which you say hath a little revived my Spirits and I find a strange kind of sweetness and delight therein but pray whereabouts stands this City of Refuge which you spake of I have heard much of it and have been advised to repair thither as the only place where I could be safe and to tell you the truth I did think I had been got into it and although Mr. Conscience and several others indeavoured to convince me of it yet I could not be perswaded but now I see by woful experience that I am more than a Mile short of it and in as much danger of Perishing as before I came hither Why said the Gentleman it stands a little further there right before you in that middle Path between that wherein you now are and that from which you lately came whereupon he looked that Way with great eagerness but could not discover it I have said the Gentleman a Box of Eye Salve which I received from our Lord himself wherewith if you please I will Anoint your Eyes to make you see the more clearly Ah with all my Heart Sir said he And when he had so done he bid him look towards the place which he pointed to Do you not see said he a litle Narrow Ruged Path that goes up there Yes said he I can see it now although before I could not discern it so well Why that Path is called by divers Names but they all signifie the same thing some call it by the Name Repent and be Converted that your Sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord others call it by the Name Believe and ye shall be saved with many more as Turn and Live the way of Rigtheousness and the way of Peace the Heavenly Path c. Now therefore do you look streight through it and you will see a very small and narrow Gate that Gate goes directly to the City of Refuge the Man could not see it at first but having fixed his Eyes very steadily and looked earnestly for some time he espied it which I could perceive by his Countenance and the Joy he discovered thereat to be the Pleasantest and most Blessed sight that ever his Eyes saw for there he beheld the Glorious Sun of Righteousness begin to arise upon him with healing under his Wings discovering the Son of the Blessed to stand there with extended Arms and a smiling Countenance Clothed with Goodness and Love and droping Mercy and Pardon from his Divine Lips ready to receive and embrace him and calling to him O poor Soul who art weary and heavy laden come unto me and I will give thee rest and ease this sight presently convinced him that he was yet really far short of the City of Refuge cured him of all his unwillingness to go further than those Mountains where he then was and effectually removed all that aukwardness which was upon his Soul and set his feet at Liberty to walk towards this place of safety Upon which I saw him presently throw away several of those things he had about him Gird up his Loins and run towards it and being arrived there attempted to enter but could not for by reason of the straitness of the Gate he could not possibly croud in by reason of many things he had yet about him which never pass that Gate and are of such a Nature that any Person who has any of them about him cannot enter there nor go through it to Celestial Paradise neither is there any other way to go to it than through that Gate He attempted to enter divers times but all in vain until looking behind him he saw the Avenger just at his Heels ready to lay hold on him and Sheath his destroying Sword in his Guilty Bowels whereupon he gave a very great start threw off those things which impeded his getting in at the Gate striping himself of his very Garments which were all torn ragged and defiled so that they were not capable of covering the shame of his Nakedness and he appeared a very filthy and loathsome kind of Creature whilst he had them on being thus stript he entred resolutely into the Gate striving with all his might to go through it and finding much difficulty in the Passage the Gentleman who had shewn him the Gate whose Name I think was Faith and was a Stranger to the
and Would be Happy turned into the other on the Left-hand which Believer who looked back to see which of the Ways they would take beholding he said thus to himself Lord what a strange Creature is Mankind How willing is he to be Miserable How unwilling to be Happy How easily Wheedled into the Path of Danger and how hardly perswaded to enter into or when entred to continue in the Way of Life And now O Lord what is thy Servant that thou shouldest be so loving and indulgent to me and bring me into the Way of Life when thou hast left so many others to Perish in the Paths of Death and be so unwearied in thy care to preserve and keep me therein when thou permittest so many others to be Wheedled by the Prince of Darkness and a deceitful yielding Heart foolishly to turn out of it into the Ways of Sin and Death again Lord let the consideration hereof inflame my Heart with more love to thee teach me to be more Faithful and Obedient and lead my Soul to a nearer and a more universal Compliance with the Divine Will Now methoughts seeing the three Pilgrims thus parted I became strangely concerned thereat and it created in me an extraordinary desire to know what became of them all and whither the two By-Paths led to which end I would get upon the Walls sometimes on one Wall and sometimes on the other and look after them yet so as not to lose the sight of my Pilgrim who continued still in the Narrow Way And I saw that the Way on the Left-hand which Would be Happy took was a Road of so much Business that the Imploy and Management thereof ingrossed so much of his Time and kept him in such a perpetual hurry that he not only lost his Way to the Celestial Paradise but he quite forgot also that there was any such place or at leastwise that ever he had been Travelling toward it or had any kind of Business there and at length it brought him into the Broad Way again where he returned without any Reluctancy or Notice being not at all concerned thereat Well thought I I may now say of thee Farewell for ever for there is now an end of thy Pilgrimage unless the Eternal who is the Father of Mercies should by a Miracle of Mercy revive thy Convictions again And as for Desire to be Good I saw that not long after his entrance into the Path he overtook one whose Name was Intend well who was got over into the Path not long before him fancying as the other that now they had nothing to do but to mind and follow their General Vocation vainly Imagining that the Eternals commanding them to forsake the World not suffering themselves to be Carnal but Spiritually minded have their Conversation in Heaven and that they should set their Affections not on the things which are seen but on the things which are not seen because the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal I say they thought that those Commands warranted their so doing but as I afterwards learned they were grosly mistaken therein and that this mistake was almost as mischievous and as fatal as the other into which Would be Happy fell Now I saw them walk together a long time in that Way every Day frequenting of Sermons and Lectures and Christian Conferrences or else keeping of Days of Fasting and Humiliation in all which they seemed to take a great deal of Delight and Pleasure and manifested abundance of Heat Warmth and Zeal Well thought I I hope better things of these two Pilgrims than I did of the other that took the Left-hand Way but at length I perceived them to be perfectly glutted and clogged with their Injoyments and by the Constancy of their Attendance thereon their fervour began to flag and by degrees they grew exceedingly weary and tired thereof and afterwards I understood that was the Design of the subtle Serpent in perswading and drawing them into that Path that so by being Righteous over much they might be surfeited with the Duties and Ordinances of Religion and turn from them with loathing and thereupon return again to his Service or at least put them to the trouble of going back again as far as the Strait Gate in order to their getting into the Way of Life again and so it fell out in those two Pilgrims for I saw Intend well at length fall into a certain Path which led back again into the Broad Way and I never heard that there was ever any farther Enquiry made by him after the Celestial Paradise And Desire to be Good beginning now to be sensible of the Error he had been Guilty of in turning out of the Way wherein the King had appointed him to go on Pilgrimage to the Celestial Paradise and being thereupon overwhelmed with sorrow he returned with Grief and Shame to the Strait Gate whereat Believer had entered which he was not able to pass without much difficulty and Striving nor was he favoured with those Sweet Soul-Affecting and Heart-Ravishing Intimations and Assurances of the Redeemers Love wherewith Believer was blest nor did the Son of Righteousness arise upon him with so much Brightness and Splendor as upon the other but instead thereof he was forced through a long tract of time to Walk alone in a mournful and disconsolate manner bitterly exclaiming against his former folly and ever and anon lamenting the absence and declaring how vehemently he longed for the presence of the Beloved of his Soul who did at last graciously Condescend to Visit him with his Salvation and refresh his Spirits with his loving kindness and his tender Compassions which have been ever of Old And now I think it is time to return to our Pilgrim again who by this time was got a great way on his Journey and had joyned him in Company with a great many Pilgrims who were going likewise the same way and intending for the same place with himself having all of them their Faces set Sion-ward And lo I beheld an Ambassador come from the King of Kings and inviting them in his Name to a Royal and Plentiful Feast where they all sate down at a well spread Table Richly furnished with all manner of Varieties and plentifully stored with all the Delicacies of the Gospel all which were served up in several Dishes and the first which I saw set on the Table was a Representation of a Broken a Bleeding and a Dying Jesus whose Face although it were fairer than the Children of Men was defiled with Spittle bruised with Blows and Buffetings and covered over with a Purple Gore whose Head which was white as Snow and like the purest Wool was Crowned with Thorns the points whereof wear beaten down into his Head with Reeds and thereby both Head and Hair Died in a Sanguine Red whose Eyes which used to be Infinitely brighter than the Flames of Fire and sparkle more than the Richest Diamonds
now swam in Tears were dim with Blood and darkened at the approach of Cruel Death whose Mouth and Lips although they were wont to speak as never Man spake were now grown Pale and Wan with strokes grim with Death and imbittered by the Gall and Vinegar which he Drank whose Arms wherewith he used to Fathom the World and Imbrace all the Powers of the Universe were now distrained and stretched on the Cross and his Shoulders by the strength whereof he upheld the tottering Creation was beaten and lashed with Knotty Cords and Whips and when so Bruised and Wounded thereby that it would have drawn Tears from the Dryest Eyes and have moved the Hardest and most Obdurate Heart to Pity and Commiseration to behold it he was inforced notwithstanding to bear a Heavy Cross whereon himself was to be Crucified whose Hands whereby the Worlds were made and with which he formed the curious Frames and Fabricks of Heaven and Earth and his Feet which used to move so swiftly to bring Pardon and Relief to the Condemned and the Miserable were now Bored and Pierced through and by Inhumane and Salvage Traytors Cruelly Nailed and Tenter'd on the Cross whose Heart which was never polluted nor defiled and was the very Spring and Fountain of Mercy and Love was now pierced and wounded with a Spear and those Bowels which Yearned with Pity and Rouled with Compassion towards others when in Distress and Misery were now dried up for want of Moisture and Pained and Tortured with straining pulls and the extrremity of his Torments and even broken and rent a sunder by his dying pangs So that from Head to Foot there was no part free but methoughts he appeared covered all over with Blood his Face was sadly Mortified and numerous streams of Blood flowed from the several Wounds the Crown of Thorns had made in his Guiltless Head his Eyes looked Watery and Red his Mouth Wan and Pale his Arms were Distorted and his Flesh beat and torn from his Shoulders his Hands and his Feet were Boared his Heart-strings broken and his Bowels dried up and clung together his Wounded Side ran like a Fountain of Blood the Sacred Streams whereof was indued with such a Cleansing Virtue that being sprinkled on the Pilgrims they were presently washed thereby from all their Pollutions and adorned with a wonderful Beautie and Comliness and withal so Powerful and Perswasive that upon the very sight thereof the Eternal forgave them their Iniquities The Wound in his Side from whence this Fountain of Blood issued was so large and open that as some of the Guests afterwards told me they could through it look into his Breast and see the pantings of his Heart the whole whereof they assured me was Composed of Love The next Course I saw served up was a Dish of Gospel Mysteries every one whereof contained and had inclosed in it a Sacred Wonder the number whereof was so great that my Memory was not able to contain them and having forgotten many of them my self I cannot relate them to you but such of them whereof I took a more particular notice and wherewith I found my Heart more than ordinarily affected were as follow The First Mystery I remember which offered it self to view was God manifested in the Flesh which being opened by the Steward of the Feast the Sacred Wonders inclosed therein for there was more than one contained in this Mystery plainly offered themselves to the view of the Beholders And it contained first as Wonder of Righteousness Justice and Severity in that the Eternal would not spare but punish Sin although upon his own and only Son notwithstanding the Guilt thereof was not contracted by him but only imputed to him The Second Wonder was a Wonder of Wisdom whereby the Eternal had made Light to spring out of Darkness Life out of Death Gain out of Loss Blessing out of a Curse and Victory out of an Overthrow and brought about many other glorious and incredible things by absolute Contrarieties As the rising of the World by the fall of its Upholder The riches of his People by the poverty of their Inricher and the fulness and glory of the Saints by the emptiness and shame of the King of Saints The Third Wonder was a Wonder of Mercy in that the Eternal notwithstanding he shut his Ears and hardened his Heart against the Cries and Intreaties of his own Son when he submissively begged of him Father if it be thy Will let this Cup pass from me should yet open his Ear to and receive the Cries of Sinners who had Conspired and Rebelled against him The Fourth Wonder was a Wonder of Love A Wonder of Love Ah that was a Wonder indeed and there was more Wealth and Sweetness contained therein and the sight of it afforded more satisfaction and delight than the Bluntness of my Pen will permit me to Describe First The wonderful Love of the Eternal the Everlasting Father of the Prince of Peace in providing such an admirable way for the Saving of Sinners and the making them who were by Nature Children of his Everlasting Wrath Children of his Dearest Love by Grace and the parting with and giving up his own Eternal Son who had never offended him to become a Sacrifice and a Ransome for lost and undone Mankind who were Strangers and Enemies and had ever Rebelled against him Secondly the Wonderful Love of the Blessed Redeemer in consenting to give himself his Blood his Life his Soul a Ransom for his People to Ransom them from Everlasting Misery buy them out of the Hand of Justice purchase for them an Eternal weight of Glory and an Everlasting Inheritance with the Saints in Light but that which added to and increased the Wonder beyond all expression nay beyond conception it self was that all this should be done for Worms and rottenness for Dust and Ashes for the most filthy and polluted for the most worthless and despicable Creatures who were not capable of meriting or any way deserving this Redeeming Love before or answering and Compensating of it after it was beâ—â—â—â—ed upon them The Fifth Wonder was a Wonder of Divine Patience Long-suffering and Forbearance in that the Eternal did not speedily Execute Vengeance upon those Ungrateful Wretches who had slighted his Mercy abused his Love and scornfully refused and trampled upon his Son affronting him for the kindness he offered them and spitting in his Face for the Reward of his Love in tendering them Pardon and Forgiveness Now although those Dishes which were already placed on the Table were Admirable and Splendid yet those which followed far exceeded them in Sweetness and afforded infinitely more delight and satisfaction to those who fed thereon and the First of them was A particular and Effectual Application of Electing Redeeming and Converting Love to the Souls of the Redeemed by the Hand of the Spirit in the preaching of the Gospel which Mystery likewise contained in it several Wonders as that Divine Goodness should chuse them