AUTHOR'S WAY OF SENDING FORTH
SECOND PART OF THE PILGRIM.
Go now, my little Book, to every place,
Where my First Pilgrim has but shown his face:
Call at their door: if any say, Who's there?
Then answer thou, CHRISTIANA is here.
If they bid thee come in, then enter thou,
With all thy boys; and then, as thou knowest how,
Tell who they are, also from whence they came;
Perhaps they'll know them by their looks, or name:
But if they should not, ask them yet again,
If formerly they did not entertain
One CHRISTIAN, a pilgrim? If they say,
They did, and were delighted in his way;
Then let them know that these related were
Unto him; yea, his wife and children are.
Tell them, that they have left their house and home;
Are turned Pilgrims; seek a world to come;
That they have met with hardships in the way;
That they do meet with troubles night and day;
That they have trod on serpents; fought with devils;
Have also overcome a many evils.
Yea, tell them also of the next who have,
Of love to Pilgrimage, been stout and brave
Defenders of that way; and how they still
Refuse this world to do their Father's will.
Go tell them also of those dainty things
That Pilgrimage unto the Pilgrim brings.
Let them acquainted be, too, how they are
Beloved of their King, under his care;
What goodly mansions for them he provides;
Though they meet with rough winds and swelling tides,
How brave a calm they will enjoy at last,
Who to their Lord, and by his ways hold fast.
Perhaps, with heart and hand, they will embrace
Thee, as they did my Firstling; and will grace
Thee and thy fellows with such cheer and fare,
As show will, they of Pilgrims lovers are.
But how, if they will not believe of me;
That I am truly thine? 'cause some there be
That counterfeit my Pilgrim and his name,
Seek, by disguise, to seem the very same;
And by that means have wrought themselves into
The hands and houses of I know not who.
'Tis true, some have, of late, to counterfeit
My Pilgrim, to their own my title set;
Yea, others half my name, and title too,
Have stitched to their books, to make them do.
But yet they, by their features do declare
Themselves not mine to be, whose e'er they are.
If such thou meet'st with, then thine only way,
Before them all, is to say out thy say,
In thine own native language, which no man
Now useth, nor with ease dissemble can.
If, after all, they still of you shall doubt,
Thinking that you, like Gypsies, go about
In naughty-wise the country to defile:
Or that you seek good people to beguile
With things unwarrantable; send for me,
And I will testify you Pilgrims be;
Yea, I will testify that only you
My Pilgrims are; and that alone will do.
But yet, perhaps I may inquire for him
Of those who wish him damned life and limb.
What shall I do, when I at such a door
For Pilgrims ask, and they shall rage the more?
Fright not thyself, my Book, for such bugbears
Are nothing else but ground for groundless fears.
My Pilgrim's book has travell'd sea and land,
Yet could I never come to understand
That it was slighted or turn'd out of door,
By any kingdom, were they rich or poor.
In France and Flanders, where men kill each other,
My Pilgrim is esteem'd a friend, a brother.
In Holland too, 'tis said, as I am told,
My Pilgrim is, with some, worth more than gold.
Highlanders, and wild Irish can agree,
My Pilgrim should familiar with them be.
'Tis in New England under such advance,
Receives there so much loving countenance,
As to be trimm'd, new cloth'd, and deck'd with
That it might show its features, and its limbs.
Yet more; so comely doth my pilgrim walk,
That of him thousands daily sing and talk.
If you draw nearer home, it will appear,
My Pilgrim knows no ground of shame or fear:
City and country will him entertain,
With welcome Pilgrim; yea, they can't refrain
From smiling, if my Pilgrim be but by,
Or shows his head in any company.
Brave gallants do my Pilgrim hug and love,
Esteem it much, yea value it above
Things of a greater bulk; yea, with delight,
Say, my lark's leg is better than a kite.
Young ladies, and young gentlewomen too,
Do no small kindness to my Pilgrim shew:
Their cabinets, their bosoms, and their hearts,
My Pilgrim has; 'cause he to them imparts
His pretty riddles in such wholesome strains,
As yield them profit double to their pains
Of reading; yea, I think I may be bold
To say some prize him far above their gold.
The very children that do walk the street,
If they do but my holy Pilgrim meet,
Salute him will; will wish him well, and say,
He is the only stripling of the day.
They that have never seen him, yet admire
What they have heard of him, and much desire
To have his company, and hear him tell
Those pilgrim stories which he knows so well.
Yea, some who did not love him at the first,
But call'd him fool and noddy, say they must,
Now they have seen and heard him, him commend,
And to those whom they love they do him send.
Wherefore, my SECOND PART, thou needst not be
Afraid to show thy head: none can hurt thee,
That wish but well to him that went before;
'Cause thou com'st after with a second store
Of things as good, as rich, as profitable,
For young or old, for staggering, and for stable.
But some there be that say, He laughs too loud;
And some do say, His head is in a cloud.
Some say, His words and stories are so dark,
They know not how, by them, to find his mark.
One may, I think, say, both his laughs and cries
May well be guess'd at by his watery eyes.
Some things are of that nature, as to make
One's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache;
When Jacob saw his Rachel with the sheep,
He did at the same time both kiss and weep.
Whereas some say, A cloud is in his head;
That doth but show his wisdom's covered
With its own mantle. And to stir the mind
To a search after what it fain would find,
Things that seem to be hid in words obscure,
Do but the godly mind the more allure
To study what those sayings should contain,
That speak to us in such a cloudy strain.
I also know a dark similitude
Will on the fancy more itself intrude,
And will stick faster in the heart and head,
Than things from similes not borrowed.
Wherefore, my Book, let no discouragement
Hinder thy travels. Behold! thou art sent
To friends, not foes; to friends that will give place
To thee, thy Pilgrims, and thy words embrace.
Besides, what my first Pilgrim left conceal'd
Thou, my brave second Pilgrim, hast revealed;
What Christian left lock'd up, and went his way,
Sweet Christiana opens with her key.
But some love not the method of your first: Romance they count it; throw't away as dust. If I should meet with such, what should I say? Must I slight them as they slight me, or nay?
My Christiana, if with such thou meet,
By all means, in all loving wise, them greet;
Render them not reviling for revile;
But, if they frown, I pr'ythee on them smile:
Perhaps 'tis nature, or some ill report,
Has made them thus despise; or thus retort.
Some love no fish, some love no cheese, and some
Love not their friends, nor their own house or home;
Some start at pig, slight chicken, love not fowl,
More than they love a cuckoo, or an owl.
Leave such, my Christiana, to their choice,
And seek those who to find thee will rejoice:
By no means strive, but in most humble wise,
Present thee to them in thy Pilgrim's guise.
Go then, my little Book, and show to all
That entertain, and bid thee welcome shall,
What thou shalt keep close shut up from the rest;
And wish what thou shalt show them, may be blest
To them for good, may make them choose to be
Pilgrims better by far than thee or me.
Go then, I say, tell all men who thou art;
Say, I am Christiana; and my part
Is now, with my four sons, to tell you what
It is for men to take a Pilgrim's lot.
Go, also, tell them who and what they be
That now do go on pilgrimage with thee;
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