falling into some love and liking to what he said, I betook me to my Bible, and began to take great pleasure in reading, but especially with the historical part thereof.

"I fell to some outward reformation, and did set the commandments before me for my way to heaven: our neighbours did marvel much to see such a great alteration in my life and manners; but yet I knew not Christ, nor grace, nor faith, nor hope. I was proud of my godliness. I did all to be well spoken of by men; and thus I continued for a twelvemonth or

more.

"Before this I had taken much delight in ringing, but now I thought such practice was vain, yet my mind hankered; wherefore I would go to the steeple-house and look on, though I durst not ring. But I began to

think, How if one of the bells should fall? Then I chose to stand under a

main beam that lay athwart the steeple, thinking here I might stand sure; but then I thought again, should the bell fall with a swing, it might first hit the wall, and then rebounding, kill me. This made me stand in the steeple door; but then it came into my mind, How if the steeple itself should fall? And this thought, as I looked on, did so shake my mind that I durst not stand at the steeple door any longer, but was forced to flee.

"Another thing was my dancing. I was full a year before I could quite leave that; but all this while, when I did anything that I thought was good, I had great peace with my conscience. But, poor wretch as I was, I was ignorant of Jesus Christ, and going about to establish my own righteousness.

BELFRY-GATEWAY.

"But upon a day the good providence of God called me to Bedford to work in my calling, and in one of the streets I came where there were three or four poor women sitting at a door in the sun, talking about the things of God. Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts, as also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature; they talked how God had visited their souls with His love in the Lord Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported against the temptations of the devil. They also discoursed of their own wretchedness of heart, of their unbelief, and did slight and abhor their own righteousness as filthy, and insufficient to do them any good. There was such appearance of grace in all they said, they were to me as it they had found a new world. My own heart began to shake and mistrust my condition as naught; for I saw that in all my thoughts about religion and salvation the new birth did never enter into my mind, neither knew I the comfort of the word and promise, nor the treachery of my own wicked heart. As for secret thoughts, I took no notice of them; neither did I understand what Satan's temptations were, nor how they were to be resisted.

"I left the women, and went about my employment, but their discourse went with me; I was greatly affected with their words. So I often made it my business to be going again and again into the company of these poor people. My mind was now so turned, so fixed on eternity, that neither pleasures, nor profits, nor persuasions, nor threats could loose it; and it would then have been as difficult for me to have taken my mind from heaven to earth, as I have found it often since to get it from earth to heaven.

"I began to look into the Bible with new eyes, and especially the epistles of St. Paul were sweet and pleasant to me, and I was still crying out to God that I might know the truth and the way to heaven.

"As I went on and read, I lighted on that passage, To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith (1 Cor. xii. 9); on me it did then fasten that I wanted the understanding and wisdom that other Christians had. I questioned whether I had any faith or no. One day as I was between Elstow and Bedford the temptation was hot upon me to try if I had faith, by doing some miracle; which miracle at this time was this: I must say to the puddles that were in the horse-pads, 'Be dry,' and to the dry places, 'Be you puddles.' But just as I was going to speak, this thought came into my mind, Go under yonder hedge and pray first that God would make you able.' But when I had concluded to pray, this thought came hot upon me, that it I prayed, and tried to do it, and yet did nothing, then surely I had no faith, but was lost. Nay, thought I, I will not try yet. Thus I was tossed betwixt the devil and my own ignorance.

"About this time the state and happiness of these poor people at Bedford was thus, in a kind of vision, presented to me. I saw as if they were on the sunny side of some high mountain, while I was shivering in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow, and dark clouds. Methought also betwixt me and them I saw a wall that did compass about this mountain, and through this wall my soul did greatly desire to pass. About this wall I thought myself to go again and again, still prying as I went, to see if I could find some passage, but none could I find for some time. At the last I saw as it were a narrow gap, through which I attempted to pass, but the passage being very strait I made many offers, but all in vain. At last with great striving I at first did get in my head, and after that, by a sideling striving, my shoulders and my whole body. Then was I exceeding glad, and went and sat down in the midst of them, and so was comforted with the light and heat of their sun.

"Neither as yet could I attain to any comfortable persuasion that I had faith in Christ. But one day after I had been for many weeks oppressed, that sentence fell with weight upon my spirit, Look at the generations of old, and see; did ever any trust in God and were confounded?

"At which I was greatly enlightened and encouraged in my soul. I went to my Bible, to see if I could find that saying. I looked, but I found it not. Then I did ask first this good man, and then another, if they knew where it was, but they knew no such place. Thus I continued above a year, but at the last, casting my eye upon the Apocrypha books, I found it in Ecclesiasticus ii. 10. This at the first did somewhat daunt me; but because at this time I had got more experience of the love and kindness of God, it troubled me the less, especially when I considered that though it was not in those texts that we call holy and canonical, yet forasmuch as this sentence was the sum and substance of many of the promises, it was my duty to take the comfort of it; and I bless God for that word-that word doth still ofttimes shine before my face.

"After this, another doubt came upon me. How if the day of grace be passed. To aggravate my trouble the tempter presented to my mind these good people of Bedford, and suggested, That these, being converted already, were all that God would save in those parts; and that I came too late, for these had got the blessing before I came. But when I had been long vexed with this fear, those words broke in upon my mind, Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. . . and yet there is room (Luke xiv. 22. 23). These words were sweet words to me, for I thought that the Lord Jesus, knowing that the time should come that I should be afflicted with fear that there was no place left for me in His bosom, did leave this word upon record that I might find help thereby against this temptation.

"After this I found by reading the word that those that must be glorified with Christ in another world must be called by Him here; now again I was at a very great stand, fearing I was not called. Oh! how I now loved those words that spake of a Christian's calling! as when the Lord said, 'Follow me.' Oh! thought I, that he would say so to me, how gladly would I run after him!

"I cannot express with what longings I cried to Christ to call me. I saw such glory in a converted state that I could not be contented without a share therein. Had I had a whole world, it had all gone ten thousand times over for this, that my soul might have been in a converted state.

"At last, after much time spent, and many groans to God, that word came in upon me, 'I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.' (Joel iii. 21.)

"At times, however, I found my heart to shut itself up against the Lord; I found unbelief to set as it were the shoulder to the door, and that too even when I have cried, with many a bitter sigh, Good Lord, break it open; Lord, break these gates of brass, and cut these bars of iron asunder. (Ps. cvii. 16.)

"But all this while, as to the act of sinning, I never was more tender than now; I durst not take a pin or a stick, though but so big as a straw. Oh! how gingerly did I then go, in all I did or said! I found myself as on a miry bog, that shook if I did but stir.

"Yet God never much charged the guilt of my sins of ignorance upon me; only He showed me I was lost if I had not Christ, because I had been a sinner. I saw that I wanted a perfect righteousness to present me without fault before God; and this righteousness was nowhere to be found but in .the person of Jesus Christ.

"But my original and inward pollution, that, that was my plague and affliction. When comforting time was come, I heard one preach a sermon on these words in the Song (iv. 1), 'Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.' He said "If it be so, that the saved soul is Christ's love when under temptation and destruction, then poor tempted soul, when thou art assaulted and afflicted with temptations, and the hiding of God's face, yet think on these two words, My Love, still.'

"So as I was going home, these words came again into my thoughts: they began to kindle in my spirit, 'Thou art my love, thou art my dove,' twenty times together; and still as they ran in my mind they waxed stronger

and warmer, and began to make me look up. Being as yet between hope and fear, I still replied in my heart, 'But it is true, but it is true,' Acts xii. 9. Then I began to give place to the word; which with power did over and over make this joyful sound within my soul: "Thou art my love, thou art my love, and nothing shall separate thee from my love.' And with that my heart was filled full of comfort and hope, and now I could believe that my sins should be forgiven me yea, I was now so taken with the love and mercy of God, that I remember I could not tell how to contain till I got home: I thought I could have spoken of His love and told of His mercy to me, even to the very crows that sat upon the ploughed lands before me.

Bunyan had, after this, many grievous temptations, but he found support in Rom. viii. 38; 2 Cor. v. 21; John xiv. 19; Col. i. 20; Heb. ii. 14, 15. Bunyan also was greatly helped, by God's grace, under the teaching of Mr.