this Bunyan said, that God suffered him to lay so long at Sinai, to see the fire, and the cloud, and the darkness, "that I might fear the Lord all the days of my life upon earth, and tell of his wondrous works to my children."

It was in the calm, clear light of heaven, in the iight of Divine Mercy to his rescued soul, that Bunyan remembered his ways, his journeyings, the desert and the wilderness, the Rock that followed him, and the Manna that fed him. "Thou shalt remember all the ways which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and prove thee, and to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no." The grace of God was above Bunyan's sins, and Satau's temptations too; he could remember his fears and doubts and sad months with comfort; they were" as the head of Goliah in his hand." He sang of God's grace as the children of Israel, with the Red Sea between them and the land of their enemies.

It is not to be supposed that the temptations of Satan departed entirely from Bunyan when he was thrown into prison. On the contrary, he was for a time assailed through the same spirit of unbelief, of which his Adversary had made such fearful use, when he was passing through the Valley of Humiliation, and of the Shadow of Death. It was in the early part of his imprisonment, when he was in a sad and low condition for many weeks. A pretty business, he says it was; for he thought his imprisonment might end at the gallows, and if it did, and he should be so afraid to die when the time

came, and so destitute of all evidence of preparation for a better state hereafter, what could he do! These thoughts, revolved in his mind in various shapes, greatly distressed him. He was afraid of dishonoring his Saviour, and though he prayed earnestly for strength, yet no comfort came; and the only encouragement he could get was this; that he should doubtless have an opportunity to speak to the great multitudes that would come to see him die, and if God would but use his last words for the conversion of one single soul, he would not count his life thrown away nor lost. How delightful is the evidence of Bunyan's disinterestedness, forgetfulness of self, and love to souls, even in the darkness and distress of his sore spiritual

conflicts!

But still the things of God were kept out of his sight, and still the Tempter followed hard upon him; a desperate foe, and able still at times to overwhelm Bunyan's soul with anguish, although there remained only the hinder part of the tempest, and the thunder was gone beyond him. "Whither must you go when you die?" was the gloomy, moody, sullen question of unbelief in Bunyan's soul beneath his temptation. What will become of you? Where will you be found in another world? What evidence have you for heaven and glory, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified? For many weeks poor Bunyan knew not what to do; till at length it came to him with great power, that at all events, it being for the word and way of God that he was in this condition of danger, perhaps in the path of death, he was engaged not to

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flinch an hair's breadth from it. Bunyan thought, furthermore, that it was for God to choose whether he would give him comfort then, or in the hour of death, or whether he would or would not give him comfort in either, comfort at all; but it was not for Bunyan to choose whether to serve God or not, whether to hold fast his profession or not, for to this he was bound. He was bound, but God was free; Yea," says he, "it was my duty to stand to his word, whether he would ever look upon me, or save me at the last, or not; wherefore, thought I, the point being thus, I am for going on, and venturing my eternal state with Christ, whether I have comfort here or no. If God doth not come in, thought I, I will leap off the ladder even blindfold into eternity; sink or swim, come heaven, come hell. Lord Jesus, if thou wilt catch me, do; if not, I will venture for thy name !"

Well done, noble Bunyan! Faithful even unto death, and faithful even in darkness! Here was no imaginary temptation to sell thy Saviour, but a real inducement, by relinquishing thy confession of the truth, to escape from prison and from death; a temptation accompanied by dreadful darkness in thy soul. And yet, amidst it all, he ventured every thing upon Christ, yea, determined to die for him, even though rejected by him! Was not this a noble triumph over the Tempter? One would think that from this hour he would have left Bunyan in utter despair, yea, that he would have spread his dragonwings, and Bunyan have seen him no more forever! And this indeed I believe that he did; for so soon as Bunyan had come to this noble and steadfast re

solution, the word of the Tempter flashed across his soul, Doth Job serve God for nought? Hast thou not made an hedge about him. He serves God for benefits. Ah, thought Bunyan, then, even in the opinion of Satan, a man who will serve God when there is nothing to keep or to gain by it, is a renewed man, an upright man. Now, Satan, thou givest me a weapon against thyself. "Is this the sign of a renewed soul, to desire to serve God, when all is taken from him? Is he a godly man that will serve God for nothing, rather than give out? Blessed be God, then, I hope I have an upright heart; for I am resolved, God giving me strength, never to deny my profession, though I had nothing at all for my pains."

Here was a second fight with Apollyon, and a conquest of him forever. Bunyan's perplexities, after this, were but as drops from the trees after a thunder-shower. He greatly rejoiced in this trial. It made his heart to be full of comfort, because he hoped it proved his heart sincere. And indeed it did; a man that resolves to serve Christ, come heaven, come hell, shows, whatever be his darkness, that God is with him; and Bunyan's noble resolution, amidst such deep gloom over his soul, was a remarkable instance of obedience to that word of God by the prophet, "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." Bunyan could now say, in a passage in the forty-fourth Psalm, brought powerfully to remembrance, "Though

thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death, yet our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way." This indeed, is the truest sign of conversion, to venture all on Christ, and resolve to serve him come what may.

When a soul comes to this determination, it always finds light. And so it was with Bunyan; and he says himself, "I would not have been without this trial for much. I am comforted every time I think of it; and I hope I shall bless God forever for the teaching I have had by it." In this trial, Bunyan may in truth be said to have been added to the number of the witnesses in the Revelations, who overcame the Tempter by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. For Bunyan was as if he had been brought to the scaffold, and there taken the leap into eternity in the dark. This passage in Bunyan's prison experience reminds us powerfully of Christian's woful confinement in the dungeon of Giant Despair's castle from Wednesday morning till Saturday night, and of his sudden and joyful deliverance; nor can there be any doubt that some of the lights and shades in that beautiful passage grew out of those melancholy weeks, when Bunyan's soul as well as his body, was in prison. Afterwards, his soul was unfettered, and then what cared he for the confinement of his body? He could say, in an infinitely higher sense than some of his enemies in the celebrated song of his times.

"Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take

That for a hermitage."