Works of John Bunyan Volume III Part 56

[329] The view of the peaceful and joyful death of the pilgrims, cannot but affect every reader; and many, perhaps, may be ready to say, 'Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his'; but, except they make it their princ.i.p.al concern to live the life of the righteous, such a wish will be frustrated. If any man, therefore, doubt whether this allegory do indeed describe the rise and progress of religion in the soul--the beginning, continuance, and termination of the G.o.dly man's course to Heaven, let him diligently search the Scriptures, and fervently pray to G.o.d, from whom alone 'cometh every good and perfect gift,' to enable him to determine this question. But let such as own themselves to be satisfied that it does, beware lest they rest in the pleasure of reading an ingenious work on the subject, or in the ability of developing many of the author's emblems. Let them beware lest they be fascinated, as it were, into a persuasion that they actually accompany the pilgrims in the life of faith and walking with G.o.d, in the same measure as they keep pace with the author in discovering and approving the grand outlines of His plan. And let everyone carefully examine his state, sentiments, experience, motives, tempers, affections, and conduct, by the various characters, incidents, and observations, that pa.s.s under his review--a.s.sured that this is a matter of the greatest consequence. We ought not, indeed, to call any man master, or subscribe absolutely to all his sentiments; yet the diligent practical student of Scripture can scarcely doubt that the warnings, counsels, and instructions of this singular work agree with that sacred touchstone, or that characters and actions will at last be approved or condemned by the Judge of the world, in a great degree according to the sentence pa.s.sed on them in this wise and faithful book. The Lord grant that both the writer and readers of these observations 'may find mercy in that day,' and be addressed in these gracious words, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'--(Scott).

THE HOLY WAR,

MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD;

OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL.

THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.'

'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10.

London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682.

ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nT BY THE EDITOR.

Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual knowledge, exceeding even that displayed in the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' To use the words of Mr. J. Montgomery, 'It is a work of that master intelligence, which was privileged to arouse kindred spirits from torpor and inactivity, to zeal, diligence, and success.'

It was first published in 1682, in a small octavo volume, and, like the first edition of the Pilgrim, it was printed in a very superior manner to all the subsequent editions, to a recent period.

The portrait of the author, by White, which faced the t.i.tle-page, is without doubt the best likeness that has ever appeared of our great allegorist.[1] In addition to this is a whole length figure of the author, with a representation of Heart-castle on his left breast; the town of Mansoul, behind, being partly seen through him; Emmanuel and his army on the heart side, and Diabolus with his dragons on his right. From the publication of this popular book in 1682, it has been constantly kept in print, so that it is impossible to calculate the numbers that have been circulated. As time rolls on, the 'Holy War,' allegorized by John Bunyan, becomes more and more popular; nor can there be a doubt, but that so long as the internal conflict and spiritual warfare between the renewed soul and its deadly enemies are maintained, this book will become increasingly popular.

The 'Holy War,' although so very extraordinary an allegory, has not been translated into so many languages, nor has it been so much read in English, as the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' This would naturally arise from the Pilgrimage being a more simple narrative. It is a journey full of the most striking scenery and incidents, which is read with the deepest interest by all cla.s.ses, from the children in a work-house to the profoundest Christian philosopher. The facts which are intended to be impressed upon the mind by the force of the allegory, are seen and appreciated by the Christian without requiring much investigation; while the 'Holy War' is carried on under an allegorical representation by no means so transparent.

Man's soul is figured under the simile of a town, which having surrendered to an insidious and mortal enemy, is besieged by its lawful Sovereign with all the 'pomp and circ.u.mstances' of war; the arch-enemy is driven out, the town retaken, new-modelled, and garrisoned by Emmanuel.

To the Christian, whose aim and end is peace, war presents a most forbidding aspect. He loves not to see the garments rolled in blood, nor to hear the dying groans of the wounded, nor the heart-rending cries of the bereaved, especially those of the widow and the orphan.

Spoliation and robbery are not the pastimes of the child of G.o.d, nor is cruelty the element of his happiness or peace. To read of such scenes, produces painfully interesting sensations; but even these are not so strong or intense as those delightful feelings which pervade the mind while watching the poor pilgrim in his struggles to get through the Slough of Despond, his terror under the flames of Mount Sinai, his pa.s.sing unhurt the darts from Beelzebub's castle, and his finding refuge at the Wicket Gate. It is true, that the most delicate Christian must become a stern warrior--the most sensitive ear must be alarmed with the sound of Diabolus' drum, and at times feel those inward groanings which cannot be uttered--pa.s.s through 'the fiery trial,' and 'endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ'; while at other periods of his experience, flushed with victory, he will cry out, 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' We must fight the good fight of faith, or we can never lay hold on eternal life. We must be engaged in this holy war, and FIGHT or PERISH. There is no neutrality, no excuse that can be awaiting at the day of judgment. The servant of Christ is therefore found trusting in the Captain of salvation, furnished with the whole armour of G.o.d, with which his soul is clothed by the Holy Spirit--having the shield of faith, the helmet, the breastplate, the two-edged sword. It was being thus mysteriously, invulnerably armed, that gave the delicate, learned, pious Lady Anne Askew strength to triumph over her agonies, when the Papists disjointed every bone and sinew of her body on the rack. Her spiritual armour enabled her with patience to bless G.o.d at the stake, when, for refusing to worship Antichrist, she was burned in Smithfield, and her soul ascended to heaven in a flaming fiery chariot. It is the same spiritual armour, the same Captain to guide, the same Spirit to sanctify, the same Father to bless us, by which alone we can become more than conquerors over our vigilant and powerful enemies. The Holy War is in this volume presented to us by an old, experienced, faithful warrior; it is an allegorical narrative, written by a master hand, guided by deeply penetrating, searching powers of mind. It is his own severe brunts with the great enemy, who is aided by his army of pomps, vanities, l.u.s.ts, and allurements, many lurking within, disguised to appear like angels, while under their masquerade dress they are very devils.

It is written by one who possessed almost boundless resources of imagination. It is more profound, more deeply spiritual than the pilgrimage from Destruction to the Celestial City; and to understand its hidden meaning, requires the close and mature application of the renewed mind. There are, alas! comparatively few that are blessed with spiritual discernment; and even of these, there are but few inclined to mental investigation and research. These are reasons why it has not been so popular a book as the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' To aid those whose time for reading is limited, notes are given, by which obsolete words and customs are explained, and the reader a.s.sisted to appreciate the beauties, and to understand the meaning of this allegory. It is earnestly hoped that many will richly enjoy the comforts, instructions, consolations, and strength which the author ardently wished to convey to Zion's warriors, by the study of this important subject.

I have already, in my long Introduction to the 'Pilgrim's Progress,'

noticed the peculiar genius and originality which are conspicuous in all Bunyan's works, and which most resplendently appear in his allegorical writings. That genius became hallowed and sanctified by prison discipline, by an intense study of the Sacred Scriptures, and by his controversies with great men of various sects and parties. In the 'Holy War' Bunyan's peculiar genius shines forth in its most beauteous l.u.s.tre; the whole is new, genuine, flowing forth from his own deep and rich experience. It is, in fact, the same narrative that he had published under the t.i.tle of 'Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, or a brief and faithful relation of the exceeding mercy of G.o.d, in Christ, to his poor servant John Bunyan.' This simple, heart-affecting narrative, is here related under the allegorical representation of the 'Holy War.' In this, all the circ.u.mstances of his conviction of sin, and his conversion to G.o.d, are narrated with startling interest from the first alarm--his being roused from a state of death-like lethargy, his opposition to the grace of G.o.d, his refusals of the invitations of Emmanuel, and his being at length conquered to become a monument of divine mercy--a temple of the Holy Ghost. Then came his declension by carnal security, and his misery in that state, until he was finally reconquered; and his heart is permanently occupied by Emmanuel. The 'Grace Abounding,' aided by the marginal notes of the author to the 'Holy War,' forms a very valuable key to the mysteries of this allegory; without their aid some pa.s.sages would be found deeply mysterious, and hard to be understood. Nor can this be considered extraordinary, when it is recollected that the whole of the allegory is a revelation of scenes, feelings, hopes, fears, and enjoyments, which are unknown, unfelt, and invisible to all except to those whose minds are enlightened by Divine truth; and even of these, very few have had the deep and trying experience with which the author was exercised.

That the 'Holy War' allegorically represents Bunyan's personal feelings, is clearly declared by him in the poetical Introduction or Address to the Reader, prefixed to the book. He adverts to books of fiction, and solemnly declares--

'I have somewhat else to do, Than with vain stories thus to trouble you, For my part, I (myself) was in the town, Both when 'twas set up, and when pulling down; I saw Diabolus in his possession,-- Yea, I was there when she own'd him for Lord.'

A remarkable verse describes his state before conversion--

'When Mansoul trampled upon things divine, And wallowed in filth as doth a swine; When she betook herself unto her arms, Fought her Emmanuel, despis'd his charms, Then I was there, and did rejoice to see Diabolus and Mansoul so agree.'

Some editor, imagining that Bunyan could never have so rejoiced, forgetting his own words in the fourth section of his 'Grace Abounding'--'It was my delight to be taken captive by the devil, at his will'--altered these words to--

'Then I was there, and grieved for to see Diabolus and Mansoul so agree.'

This alteration, which perverts the author's meaning, appears in a London edition, 1752, and has been copied into many modern editions, even into those by Mason and Burder.[2]

The author having in the above lines described his unconverted state, goes on to delineate his convictions in these words:--

'What is here in view, Of mine own knowledge, I dare say is true.

I saw the Prince's armed men come down, I saw the captains, heard the trumpets sound; Yea, how they set themselves in battle-ray, I shall remember to my dying day.'

The whole of this address is descriptive of what the author saw, felt, or heard--

'What shall I say? I heard the people's cries, And saw the Prince wipe tears from Mansoul's eyes; I heard the groans, and saw the joy of many, Tell you of all, I neither will, nor can I; But by what here I say, you well may see That Mansoul's matchless wars no fables be.'

The narrative of this eventful war is authenticated by his personal feelings while under the chastising, correcting, hand of his heavenly Father; in his new birth and subsequent experience; in bringing his soul from darkness to marvellous light, and from the wretched bondage of sin to the glorious liberty of the gospel. This address is closed with a very important notice, which all our readers should keep constantly in mind--it is to attend to the author's key to the allegory, and that is his marginal notes--

'Nor do thou go to work without my key, (In mysteries men soon do lose their way), And also turn it right, if thou would'st know My riddle, and would'st with my heifer plough, It lies there in the window, fare thee well, My next may be to ring thy pa.s.sing-bell.'

The last line strongly reminds us of the author's difficulty to quit the gin and beer-drinking practice of bell-ringing, to which in his youth he was so much addicted. It is recorded in his 'Grace Abounding,' Nos. 33 and 34.[3]

The form and order of the narrative is exceedingly beautiful, and deeply interesting to those who have been engaged in a similar warfare. Pa.s.sing over the short and vivid narration of the fall of man, our personal feelings are excited by witnessing the methods of grace, adapted by a covenant-keeping G.o.d and Father, to rescue his people from their natural state of Diabolonian slavery. Many of the incidents will bring, to the enlightened reader's recollection, the solemn and powerful impressions under which he struggled, when opposing the invitations of Emmanuel. His holy joy, when a sense of pardoning love and mercy came over his soul; and his anxieties, when in conflict with doubts, and fears, and bloodmen.

Our young readers must be cautioned not to give way to doubts and fears for their soul's safety, because they have never pa.s.sed through the same feelings which fitted Bunyan for a sphere of extraordinary usefulness. G.o.d brings his lambs and sheep into the fold by such means as are agreeable to his infinite wisdom and grace. Some surrender at the first summons; others hold out during a long and distressing siege. 'G.o.d's ways are not our ways.' All our anxious inquiries should be, Is Emmanuel in Heart-castle? is he 'formed in me the hope of glory?' do I live and believe in him who has immutably decreed that 'whosoever'--be he rich or poor, learned or unlearned--if he 'liveth and believeth in me, shall never die?' It matters not, as to my salvation, whether the siege was long or short. The vital question is, Has my heart been conquered; do I love Emmanuel? If I do, it is because he first loved me, and he changeth not. In proportion to the trouble that I gave to my Conqueror, so should be my zealous, holy, happy obedience to his commands. Much is expected from those to whom much as been forgiven.

The Conqueror, by his victory, fits us for those peculiar duties to which he intends to devote us in extending his kingdom. In the history of this war, the reader's attention will be naturally arrested by the fact that Mansoul, having voluntarily surrendered to the dominion of Satan, made no effort to relieve herself. No spiritual feelings lurked in the walls to disturb the reign of Diabolus; not even a prayer or a sigh breaks forth from her heart for deliverance; she felt not her degradation nor her danger; she was dead while she yet lived--dead in sin; and from this state would have sunk, as thousands have, from spiritual and temporal death into eternal and irretrievable ruin. The first conception of a scheme for her deliverance from such awful danger, arises in the celestial court of her Creator; grace lays the foundation, and raises the top-stone. All the redeemed of G.o.d will unite in one song, 'Not unto us, O Lord; not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.' A covenant is made, ordered in all things and sure, to save Mansoul; and from this emanates the vast, the costly design of her deliverance. To effect this great object, the Mosaic dispensation--the Law, with all its terrors, is sent, in fearful array, to conquer or destroy. This is allegorically represented under the similitude of an army of forty thousand warriors, 'stout, rough-hewn men, fit to break the ice, and make their way by dint of sword.' They are under the command of four captains, each with his ensign--Boanerges and Thunder, Conviction and Sorrow, Judgment and Terror, Execution and Justice. To resist this force, Diabolus arms the town, hardens the conscience, and darkens the understanding.

He places at Eargate a guard of DEAF MEN, under old Mr. Prejudice, and plants over that important gate two great guns, Highmind and Heady. He arms Mansoul with the whole armour of Satan, which is very graphically described. Summons after summons is unheeded.

The death of friends, sickness, and troubles, pa.s.s by apparently without any good result. They 'will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.' At length, the town is a.s.saulted, conscience becomes alarmed, but the will remains stubborn. The beleaguering of the town--planting the ensigns--throwing up batteries--the slings casting, with irresistible force, portions of the Word into the mind--the battering-rams beating upon the gates, especially Eargate--exciting alarm under the fear of the just and awful punishment due to sin--all are described with an extraordinary knowledge of military terms and tactics. The episode of the three volunteers who enlisted under Shaddai, into Captain Boanerges' company--Tradition, Human-wisdom, and Man's-invention--are inimitably beautiful. When they were aught in the rear, and taken prisoners--'as they did not live so much by religion as by the fates of fortune'--they offer their services to Diabolus, and are joined to Captain Anything's company. After a few sharp a.s.saults, convictions of sin alarm the conscience, and six of Diabolus' new Aldermen are slain with one shot. Their names are well worthy an attentive consideration, showing what open vices are abandoned upon the soul being first terrified with the fear of retribution--Swearing, Whoring, Fury, Stand-to-lies, Drunkenness, and Cheating.

Alarms are continued by day and night, until it is said to Mansoul, 'Upon all her pleasant things there was a blast, and burning instead of beauty; with shows of the shadow of death.' Thus was it with David--'My soul is cast down within me: deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me' (Psa 42:6,7).

All the a.s.saults of Moses and the Law are ineffectual; the gates remain closed against her King and G.o.d. The thunders of Sinai and the voice of the prophets may alarm, but cannot conquer Mansoul.

The thundering, terrifying captains appeal to the celestial court, and Emmanuel--G.o.d with us--condescends to fight the battle, and secure the victory. The angelic hosts desire to look into these things--they are the peers of the heavenly realm--the news 'flew like lightning round about the court'--and the greatest peers did covet to have commissions under Emmanuel. The captains that accompany him in this grand expedition are Faith, Hope, Charity, Innocence, and Patience. Mansoul is to be won by persuasion to receive her Saviour. The cost of the enterprise is vast indeed; the army is numerous as our thoughts, and who can number 'the mult.i.tude of his thoughts?' The battering rams and slings, we are told by the margin, mean the books of Sacred Scripture, sent to us by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Emmanuel is irresistible--Mansoul is taken--Diabolus is dragged out, stripped of his armour, and sent to the parched places in a salt land, 'seeking rest, but finding none.'

The heart at first trembles lest punishment should be justly poured out upon her for treason, but it becomes the throne of its lawful King; and instead of G.o.d's anger, his pardon and blessings are proclaimed, and Mansoul is filled with joy, happiness, and glory.

Reader, can you call to mind the peace and holy enjoyment which took possession of your soul, when--having pa.s.sed through the fears and hopes, the terrors and alarms, of the new birth--you sat down, for the first time, at the table of the Lord, to celebrate the wonders of his grace? Then you rejoiced in hope full of immortality; then you could exclaim, 'O tidings! glad tidings! good tidings of good, and of great joy to my soul!' 'Then they leaped and skipped upon the walls for joy, and shouted, Let Emmanuel live for ever!' And then you fondly thought that happiness was secure for the rest of your pilgrimage, until your glorified spirit should enter into the celestial city.

Alas! your enemies were not dead. They insidiously seized an unguarded moment. Remiss in watchfulness, and formal in prayer, Carnal-security invade the mind. Your ardent love is cooled--intercourse with heaven is slight--and by slow degrees, and almost unperceived, Emmanuel leaves Heart-castle; and the prince of the power of the air promotes the treason, and foments rebellion, by the introduction of loose thoughts, under the name of harmless mirth. The news soon reach Diabolus, and an infernal conference, or dialogue of devils, is revealed by our author; who had watched the course and causes of spiritual declension, and was not 'ignorant of Satan's devices.'

The malignant craft and subtilty displayed in Satan's counsel, are described in a manner far beyond an ordinary imagination. They display the almost unbounded resources of genius and invention so richly possessed by the prince of allegorists, John Bunyan. It reminds us of the dialogue between Lucifer and Beelzebub, in that rare work by Barnardine Ochine, a reformer, published in 1549, called, A Tragedy or Dialogue of the unjust usurped Primacy of the Bishop of Rome.[4] In this is represented, in very popular language, the designs of Lucifer to ruin Christianity by the establishment of Popery. Lucifer thus addresses his diabolical conclave--'I have devised to make a certain new kingdom, replenished with idolatry, superst.i.tion, ignorance, error, falsehoods, deceit, compulsion, extortion, treason, contention, discord, tyranny, and cruelty; with spoiling, murder, ambition, filthiness, injuries, factions, sects, wickedness, and mischief; in the which kingdom all kinds of abomination shall be committed. And notwithstanding that it shall be heaped up with all kinds of wickedness, yet shall the [professed] Christian men think it to be a spiritual kingdom, most holy and most G.o.dly. The supreme head of this kingdom shall be a man which is not only sinful, and an abominable robber and thief, but he shall be sin and abomination itself; and yet, for all that, shall be thought of Christian men a G.o.d in earth, and his members, being most wicked, shall be called of men most holy.

G.o.d sent his Son into the world, who, for the salvation of mankind, hath humbled himself even to the death of the cross. I will send my son into the world, who, for the destruction and condemnation of mankind, shall so advance himself that he shall take upon him to be made equal with G.o.d.' 'I will, by craft and diligence, shadow and cover superst.i.tion and idolatry with a fair face, and beauty of holy ceremonies, that men shall be made so drunken and so amazed with this outward pomp and show, that they shall not be able to discern truth from falsehood, when they be drowned in the flood of idolatry and superst.i.tion.' 'I will cause them to be most cruel tyrants and butchers of Christ and his members, under a pretence of zeal to the house of G.o.d. They shall hide their uncleanness and filthy behaviour with an exceeding wide cloak of hypocrisy, and with glorious shining t.i.tles.' Thus this intrepid reformer opened up the origin, the development, the desolations, of Popery; and, with a similar knowledge of Satan's devices, the Nonconformist Bunyan shows the means by which Diabolus urges the young Christian into a backsliding state. 'Let our Diabolonian friends in Mansoul draw it into sin, for there is nothing like sin to devour Mansoul; while we will send against it an army of twenty or thirty thousand st.u.r.dy terrible doubters. Sin renders Mansoul sick and faint, while doubts are by it made fierce and strong.' At length Diabolus and his army of doubts march from h.e.l.lgate Hill to Mansoul: the order in which they are placed, and the names of the officers, are very instructive, as well as curious. Election-doubteres, under Captain Rage--Vocation-doubters, commanded by Captain Fury--Grace-doubters, led by Captain d.a.m.nation--Faith-doubters, under Captain led by Captain Brimstone--Resurrection-doubters, by Captain Torment--Salvation-doubters, under Captain Noease--Glory-doubters, commanded by Captain Sepulchre--Felicity-doubters, led by Captain Pasthope. Incredulity was Lord-general, and Diabolus was King and Commander-in-chief. The roaring of the drum--their alarming outcries, h.e.l.l-fire! h.e.l.l-fire!--their furious a.s.saults--the mult.i.tude of doubts--and the perplexity of poor distracted Mansoul, are admirably and truly narrated. The town makes a sortie in the night, but Diabolus and his legions, experienced in night work, drive them back, and severely wound Captains Faith, Hope, and Experience. Again the gates are a.s.saulted, and Diabolus and his doubters gain an entrance, by the senses, into the town, but cannot force the heart; and Mansoul is reduced to the greatest straits and sadness. In this extremity, prayers are incessantly offered up to Emmanuel; but, for a long time, they can obtain no satisfactory answers. Both parties are on the alert; but Diabolus finds it impossible, either by treachery or by storming with his legion of doubts, to gain possession of Heart-castle. Being worsted in a general engagement, the doubters are slain, and are buried with their armour; yea, all that did but smell of a Diabolonian Doubter.

The arch-fiend now enters upon a new mode of a.s.sault--he sends for a reinforcement, to try the effect of persecution; and obtains an army of fifteen thousand Bloodmen, from the province of Loathgood. To these were added ten thousand new Doubters, under their commander old Incredulity. These Bloodmen were 'rugged villains, and had done feats heretofore'; 'they were mastiffs, and would fasten upon father, mother, brother, yea, upon the Prince of princes. Among their officers is Captain Pope, whose colours were the stake, the flame, and the good man in it.' To these I would humbly suggest the propriety of adding one more--it is Captain State-religion, upon whose standard should be represented the Nonconformist John Bunyan in a damp, dreary dungeon, writing his 'Pilgrim's Progress,' with his poor blind child at his feet. O persecutor, whether you burn or imprison a Nonconformist, or hara.s.s him in Ecclesiastical courts, or seize his goods to support forms or ceremonies which he believes to be Antichristian, your commander is old Incredulity--your king is Diabolus! The Bloodmen send a summons to Mansoul 'as hot as a red hot iron,' threatening fire and sword, and utter destruction; but the G.o.d who visited our pious author in prison, and cherished and comforted him in his twelve years' sufferings under persecution, came to the relief of Mansoul. The Diabolonian army is routed--the Doubters are slain, excepting a few who escaped--the Bloodmen or persecutors were not to be slain, but to be taken alive. The prisoners are brought to trial, with all the forms and solemnities of law; and the narrative concludes with a most admirable charge from Emmanuel to keep Mansoul in a state of the most prayerful vigilance. Enemies still lurk within, to keep her humble; that she may feel her dependence upon G.o.d, and be found much in communion with him. 'Believe that my love,' says Emmanuel, 'is constant to thee. Watch, hold fast, till I come.'

In the whole detail of this war, very singular skill is manifested.

A keen observer of all that pa.s.sed before him, aided by a most retentive memory, and a fertile imagination, enabled our pilgrim forefather to gain much knowledge in a short time. He had been engaged, as a private soldier, in the Civil war; and was at the siege of Leicester, when it was taken by Prince Rupert. This gave him a knowledge of the meaning of trumpet or bugle sounds; so that, when the trumpeters made their best music, in the expectation of Emmanuel's speedy a.s.sistance to help Mansoul, Diabolus exclaims, 'What do these madmen mean? they neither sound to boot and saddle, nor horse and away, nor a charge.'

Bunyan had been released from his tedious and cruel imprisonment for conscience sake about ten years, when he published the 'Holy War.' In this interval of time, although labouring incessantly to win souls to Christ, being a very popular preacher, yet he must have found time to gratify his incessant thirst for knowledge; gaining that he might communicate, and in imparting it, receiving into his own mind a rich increase. This would doubtless lead him to read the best of our Puritan and Nonconformists' works, so that we find him using the Latin words primum mobile, carefully noting in the margin that he meant 'the soul'; and from hence he must have sc.r.a.ped acquaintance with Python, Cerberus, and the furies of mythology, whom he uses in this war, describing accurately their names and qualities.