PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Bunyan Characters (3rd Series)
Whyte, Alexander, 1836-1921 · 83,958 words · 102 reading sections
Chapter Xvii--Five Pickt Men
5. 'And then the fifth was that truly royal and well-beloved captain, the Captain Patience. His standard-bearer was Mr. Suffer-long, and for a scutcheon he had three arrows through a golden heart.' Three arrows through a golden heart! Most eloquent, most impressive, and most instructive of emblems! First, a heart of go…
291 wordsSECTION 62Chapter Xviii--Mr. Desires-Awake
'One thing have I desired.'--_David_. Mr. Desires-awake dwelt in a very mean cottage in Mansoul. There were two very mean cottages in Mansoul, and those two cottages stood beside one another and leaned upon one another and held one another up. Mr. Desires-awake dwelt in the one of those cottages and Mr. Wet-eyes in th…
1,021 wordsSECTION 63Chapter Xviii--Mr. Desires-Awake
2. But, with all that, Mr. Desires-awake never went out to his Prince's pavilion till he had again put his rope upon his head. And, however laden with royal presents he ever returned to his mean cottage, he never laid aside his rope. He ate in his rope, he slept in his rope, he visited his next-door neighbour in his ro…
885 wordsSECTION 64Chapter Xviii--Mr. Desires-Awake
4. 'The Prince to whom I went,' said Mr. Desires-awake, 'is such a one for beauty and for glory that whoso sees Him must ever after both love and fear Him. I, for my part,' he said, 'can do no less; but I know not what the end will be of all these things.' What made Mr. Desires-awake say that last thing was that when h…
747 wordsSECTION 65Chapter Xviii--Mr. Desires-Awake
'As for me,' says the great-hearted, the hungry-hearted Psalmist, 'I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.' One would have said that David had all that heart could desire even before he fell asleep. For he had a throne, the throne of Israel, and a son, a son like Solomon to sit upon it. A long life also,…
291 wordsSECTION 66Chapter Xix--Mr. Wet-Eyes
'Oh that my head were waters!'--_Jeremiah_. 'Tears gain everything.'--_Teresa_. Now Mr. Desires-awake, when he saw that he must go on this errand, besought that they would grant that Mr. Wet-eyes might go with him. Now this Mr. Wet-eyes was a near neighbour of Mr. Desires-awake, a poor man, and a man of a broken spir…
956 wordsSECTION 67Chapter Xix--Mr. Wet-Eyes
2. 'A poor-man,' said Mr. Desires-awake, about his associate. 'Mr. Wet- eyes is a poor man, and a man of a broken spirit.' 'Let Oliver take comfort in his dark sorrows and melancholies. The quantity of sorrow he has, does it not mean withal the quantity of sympathy he has, and the quantity of faculty and of victory he …
844 wordsSECTION 68Chapter Xix--Mr. Wet-Eyes
4. 'Clear as tears' is a Persian proverb when they would praise their purest spring water. But Mr. Wet-eyes has from henceforth spoiled the point of that proverb for us. 'I see,' he said, 'dirt in mine own tears, and filthiness in the bottom of my prayers.' Mr. Wet-eyes is hopeless. Mr. Wet-eyes is intolerable. Mr. Wet…
802 wordsSECTION 69Chapter Xix--Mr. Wet-Eyes
Spiritual preaching; real face to face, inward, verifiable, experimental, spiritual preaching; preaching to a heart in the agony of its sanctification; preaching to men whose whole life is given over to making them a new heart--that kind of preaching is scarcely ever heard in our day. There is great intellectual abilit…
326 wordsSECTION 70Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
'Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.'--_Our Lord_. 'Be clothed with humility.'--_Peter_. 'God's chiefest saints are the least in their own eyes.'--_A Kempis_. 'Without humility all our other virtues are but vices.'--_Pascal_. 'Humility does not consist in having a worse opinion of ourselves than we dese…
697 wordsSECTION 71Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
2. And then Miss Humble-mind, his only daughter, was a servant-maid. There is no office so humble but that a humble mind will not put on still more humility in it. What a lesson in humility, not Peter only got that night in the upper room, but that happy servant-maid also who brought in the bason and the towel. Would s…
849 wordsSECTION 72Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
4. But of all the men in the whole world it is ministers who should simply, as Peter says, be clothed with humility, and that from head to foot. And, first as divinity students, and then as pastors and preachers, we who are ministers have advantages and opportunities in this respect quite peculiar and private to oursel…
1,057 wordsSECTION 73Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
Come, then, O high-minded man, be sane, be wise. If you were up on a giddy height, and began to see that certain death was straight and soon before you, what would you do? You know what you would do. You would look with all your eyes for such steps as would take you safest down to the solid ground. You would welcome an…
668 wordsSECTION 74Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
'And once I said, As I remember, looking round upon those rocks And hills on which we all of us were born, That God who made the Great Book of the world Would bless such piety;-- Never did worthier lads break English bread: The finest Sunday that the autumn saw, With all its mealy clusters of ripe nuts, Could n…
1,082 wordsSECTION 75Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
A great authority has said--two great authorities have said in their enigmatic way, that a 'dry light is ever the best.' That may be so in some cases and to some uses, but nothing can be more sure than this, that the light that little Think-well got from his father's head was excellently drenched in his mother's heart.…
1,169 wordsSECTION 76Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
CHAPTER XXII--MR. GOD'S-PEACE, A GOODLY PERSON, AND A SWEET-NATURED GENTLEMAN 'Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,--the peace of God that passeth all understanding.'--_Paul_. John Bunyan is always at his very best in allegory. In some other departments of work John Bunyan has had many superiors; but when he la…
839 wordsSECTION 77Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
2. 'Now Mr. God's-peace, the new Governor of Mansoul, was not a native of the town; he came down with his Prince from the court above.' 'He was not a native'--let that attribute of his be written in letters of gold on every gate and door and wall within his jurisdiction. When you need the governor and would seek him at…
657 wordsSECTION 78Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
3. Governor God's-peace had not many in the town of Mansoul to whom he could confide all his thoughts and with whom he could consult. But there were two officer friends of his stationed in the town with whom he was every day in close correspondence, viz., the Captain Credence and the Captain Good-hope. Their so close i…
921 wordsSECTION 79Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
CHAPTER XXIII--THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF MANSOUL, AND MR. CONSCIENCE ONE OF HER PARISH MINISTERS 'The Highest Himself shall establish her.'--_David_. The princes of this world establish churches sometimes out of piety and sometimes out of policy. Sometimes their motive is the good of their people and the glory of God…
969 wordsSECTION 80Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
2. Both Boston and the minister of Mansoul were well-read men also; so, indeed, in as many words, their fine biographies assure us. But that is just another way of saying what has been said about those two ministers over and over again already. William Law never was a parish minister. The English Crown of that day woul…
963 wordsSECTION 81Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
4. But there was one thing about the parish pulpit of Mansoul that always overpowered the people. They could not always explain it even to themselves what it was that sometimes so terrified them, and, sometimes, again, so enthralled them. They would say sometimes that their minister was more than a mere man; that he wa…
672 wordsSECTION 82Chapter Xx--Mr. Humble The Juryman, And Miss Humble-Mind The Servant-Maid
6. The standing ministry in Mansoul was endowed also; but I cannot imagine what the court of teinds would make of the instrument of endowment. As it has been handed down to us, that old ecclesiastical instrument reads more like a lesson in the parish minister's class for the study of Mysticism than a writing for a lear…
749 wordsSECTION 83Chapter Xxiv--A Fast-Day In Mansoul
(3) There is a third lesson here, but it is a lesson for ministers, and I shall take it home to myself. 'Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God.'--_Joel_. In our soft and self-indulgent day the very word 'to fast' has become…
744 wordsSECTION 84Chapter Xxiv--A Fast-Day In Mansoul
'His office and his name agree; A shepherd that and Shepard he.' And many such entries as these occur in Thomas Boston's golden journal: 'I preached in Ps. xlii. 5, and mostly on my own account.' Again: 'Meditating my sermon next day, I found advantage to my own soul, as also in delivering it on the Sabbath.' And aga…
1,074 wordsSECTION 85Chapter Xxiv--A Fast-Day In Mansoul
But what about the fasting all this time? Was it all preaching, and was there no fasting? Well, we do not know much about the fasting of the prophets and the apostles, but the Puritans sometimes made their people almost forget about fasting, and about eating and drinking too, they so took possession of their people wit…
730 wordsSECTION 86Chapter Xxiv--A Fast-Day In Mansoul
The short is this. The one real substance and true essence of all fasting is self-denial. And we can never get past either the supreme and absolute duty of that, or the daily and hourly call to that, as long as we continue to read the New Testament, to live in this life, and to listen to the voice of conscience, and to…
753 wordsSECTION 87Chapter Xxv--A Feast-Day In Mansoul
'He brought me into his banqueting house.'--_The Song_. Emmanuel's feast-day in the Holy War excels in beauty and in eloquence everything I know in any other author on the Lord's Supper. The Song of Solomon stands alone when we sing that song mystically--that is to say, when we pour into it all the love of God to His …
912 wordsSECTION 88Chapter Xxv--A Feast-Day In Mansoul
2. All that Mansoul did in connection with that great feast was to prepare the place where Diabolus at one time had held his orgies and carried on his excesses. Her Prince, Emmanuel, did all the rest; but He left it to Mansoul to make the banqueting-room ready. When our Lord would keep His last passover with His discip…
990 wordsSECTION 89Chapter Xxv--A Feast-Day In Mansoul
4. There was music also all the while at the table, and the musicians were not those of the country of Mansoul, but they were the masters of song come down from the court of the King. 'I love the Lord,' they sang in the supper room over the paschal lamb--'I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplicati…
765 wordsSECTION 90Chapter Xxv--A Feast-Day In Mansoul
6. In one of his finest chapters, Thomas A Kempis tells us in what way we are to communicate mystically: that is to say, how we are to keep on communicating at all times, and in all places, without the intervention of the consecrated sacramental elements. And John Bunyan, the sweetest and most spiritual of mystics, has…
329 wordsSECTION 91Chapter Xxvi--Emmanuel'S Livery
'And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.'--_John_. The Plantagenet kings of ancient England had white and scarlet for their livery; white and green was the livery of the Tudors; the Stuarts wore red and yellow; while blue an…
650 wordsSECTION 92Chapter Xxvi--Emmanuel'S Livery
'I also saw Mansoul clad all in white, And heard her Prince call her His heart's delight, I saw Him put upon her chains of gold, And rings and bracelets goodly to behold. 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; T…
1,405 wordsSECTION 93Chapter Xxvi--Emmanuel'S Livery
2. 'Secondly, keep your garments always white; for if they be soiled, it is a dishonour to Me. I have a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.' Even in Sardis, with every street and every house full of soil and dishonour to the name of …
882 wordsSECTION 94Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
5. But the Prince Emmanuel is persuaded better things of all His livery- men, though He thus speaks to them to put them on their guard. Yes, sternly and severely and threateningly as He sometimes speaks, yet, in spite of Himself, His real grace always breaks through at the last. And, accordingly, his fifth command runs…
765 wordsSECTION 95Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
Our constitutional authors and commentators are wont to take Magna Charta clause by clause, and word by word, and letter by letter. They linger lovingly and proudly over every jot and tittle of that splendid instrument. And you will indulge me this Communion night of all nights of the year if I expatiate still more lov…
680 wordsSECTION 96Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
'Free and full.' I could imagine a free forgiveness which was not also full. I could imagine a charter that would have run somehow thus: Free forgiveness and full, up to a firmly fixed limit. Free and full forgiveness for sins of ignorance and even of infirmity and frailty; for small sins and for great sins, too, up to…
713 wordsSECTION 97Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
3. 'I give also My holy law and testament, and all that therein is contained, for their everlasting comfort and consolation.' This is not the manner of men, O my God. Kind-hearted men comfort and console those who have suffered injuries and wrongs at our hands, but the kindest-hearted of men harden their hearts and set…
887 wordsSECTION 98Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
6. 'And till the glory breaks suddenly upon you, and as long as you yet live in this life of free grace I shall give and grant you leave and free access to Me in My palace at all seasons, there to make known all your wants to Me; and I give you, moreover, a promise that I will hear and redress all your grievances.' At …
866 wordsSECTION 99Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
1. Dost thou ask at Me why I and My Father have seen it good to allow the dregs of thy sinfulness still to corrupt and to rot in thine heart? Dost thou ask why, amid so much in thee that is regenerate, there is still so much more that is unregenerate? Why, while thou art, without controversy, under grace, indwelling si…
1,009 wordsSECTION 100Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
2. It is also, the still tarrying Prince proceeded--it is also to keep thee wakeful and to make thee watchful. Now, what conceivable estate could any man be put into even by his Maker and Redeemer more calculated to call forth wakefulness and watchfulness than to have one half of his heart new and the other half old? T…
811 wordsSECTION 101Chapter Xxvii--Mansoul'S Magna Charta
4. And dost thou know, O Mansoul, that it is all to try thy love also? Now, how, just how, do the remainders of sin in the regenerate try their love? Why, surely, in this way. If we really loved sin at the deepest bottom of our hearts, and only loved holiness on the surface, would we not in our deepest hearts close wit…
1,201 wordsSECTION 102*** End Of The Project Gutenberg Ebook Bunyan Characters (3Rd Series) ***
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.