THE
PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
Part
II
Section
6
Discourse
with Old Honest - character and history of Mr Fearing - Mr Self-will and
some professors - Gaius' house - conversation - the supper - Old Honest and
Great-Heart's riddles and discourse - Giant Slay-good killed -
Mr
Feeble-mind's history - Mr Ready-to-halt - Vanity Fair - Mr Mnason's house
- cheering entertainment and converse - a Monster
DISCOURSE
WITH OLD HONEST
Now
I saw that they went
to the ascent that was a little way off, cast up to be a prospect for
pilgrims (that was the place from whence CHRISTIAN had the first sight of
FAITHFUL, his brother). Wherefore here they sat down, and rested; they also
here did eat and drink and make merry, for that they had gotten deliverance
from this so dangerous an enemy. As they sat thus and did eat, CHRISTIANA
asked the guide, "If he had caught no hurt in the battle?" Then
said Mr. GREAT-HEART, "No, save a little on my flesh; yet that also
shall be so far from being to my determent, that it is, at present, a proof
of my love to my Master and you, and shall be a means, by grace, to increase
my reward at last."
"But
were you not afraid, good sir, when you saw him come out with his
club?"
"It
is my duty," said he, "to distrust mine own ability, that I may
have reliance on him that is stronger than all."
"But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus'
sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal
flesh.
So
then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of
faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken;
we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the
Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with
you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God." 2
Corinthians 4:7-15
"But
what did you think when he fetched you down to the ground at the first
blow?"
"Why,
I thought," quoth he, "that so my Master himself was served; and
yet he it was that conquered at the last."
Matt.
When you all have thought what you please, I think God has been wonderful
good unto us, both in bringing us out of this valley, and in delivering us
out of the hand of this enemy; for my part I see no reason why we should
distrust our God any more, since he has now, and in such a place as this,
given us such testimony of his love as this.
They
then got up and went forward. Now a little before them stood an oak; and
under it, when they came to it, they found an old pilgrim, fast asleep; they
knew that he was a pilgrim by his clothes, and his staff, and his girdle.
So
the guide, Mr. GREAT-HEART, awakened him; and the old gentleman as he lift
up his eyes, cried out, "What's the matter? who are you? and what is
your business here?"
Great-heart.
"Come, man, be not so hot; here are none but friends." Yet the old
man gets up and stands upon his guard, and will know of them what they were.
Then said the guide, "My name is GREAT-HEART; I am the guide of these
pilgrims, which are going to the celestial country."
Honest.
Then said Mr. HONEST, "I cry you mercy; I feared that you had been of
the company of those that some time ago did rob LITTLE-FAITH of his money;
but now I look better about me, I perceive you are honester people."
Great-heart.
Why, what would or could you have done, to have helped yourself, if we
indeed had been of that company?
Honest.
Done! why I would have fought as long as breath had been in me; and had I so
done, I am sure you could never have given me the worst on't; for a
Christian can never be overcome, unless he shall yield of himself.
Great-heart.
"Well said, father HONEST," quoth the guide; "for by this I
know thou art a cock of the right kind, for thou hast said the truth."
Honest.
And by this also I know that thou knowest what true pilgrimage is; for all
others do think that we are the soonest overcome of any.
Great-heart.
Well, now we are so happily met, pray let me crave your name and the name of
the place you came from?
Honest.
My name I cannot; but I came from the town of Stupidity: it lies about four
degrees beyond the city of Destruction.
Great-heart.
Oh, are you that countryman, then? I deem I have half a guess of you; your
name is OLD HONESTY, is it not?
Honest.
So the old gentleman blushed, and said, "Not Honesty in the abstract,
but HONEST is my name; and I wish that my nature shall agree to what I am
called. But, sir," said the old gentleman, "how could you guess
that I am such a man, since I came from such a place?"
Great-heart.
I had heard of you before by my Master; for he knows all things that are
done on the earth. But I have often wondered that any should come from your
place; for your town is worse than is the City of Destruction itself.
Honest.
Yes, we lie more off from the sun, and so are more cold and senseless; but
were a man in a mountain of ice, yet if the Sun of Righteousness will arise
upon him, his frozen heart shall feel a thaw; and thus it hath been with me.
Great-heart.
I believe it, father HONEST, I believe it; for I know the thing is true.
Then
the old gentleman saluted all the pilgrims with a holy kiss of charity, and
asked them of their names, and how they had fared since they set out on
their pilgrimage.
Chris.
Then said CHRISTIANA, "My name I suppose you have heard of; good
CHRISTIAN was my husband, and these four were his children." But can
you think how the old gentleman was taken when she told him who she was! He
skipped; he smiled; and blessed them with a thousand good wishes, saying:
Honest.
"I have heard much of your husband, and of his travels and wars which
he underwent in his days. Be it spoken to your comfort, the name of your
husband rings all over these parts of the world: his faith, his courage, his
enduring, and his sincerity under all, has made his name famous." Then
he turned to the boys, and asked them of their names; which they told him:
and then he said unto them, "MATTHEW, be thou like Matthew the
publican--not in vice, but in virtue. SAMUEL," said he, "be thou
like Samuel the prophet, a man of faith and prayer. JOSEPH," said he,
"be thou like Joseph in Potiphar's house, chaste, and one that flies
from temptation. And JAMES, be thou like James the Just, and like James the
brother of our Lord."
"Philip,
and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of
Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;" Matthew 10:3
"Moses
and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name;
they called upon the LORD, and he answered them." Psalms 99:6
"And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the
Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with
Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master
the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that
the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace
in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house,
and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from
the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all
that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake;
and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in
the field.
And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had,
save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person,
and well favoured. And it came to pass after these things, that his master's
wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused,
and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is
with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There
is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any
thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God? And it came to pass, as she
spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or
to be with her. And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went
into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of
the house there within.
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his
garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when
she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, That
she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he
hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with
me, and I cried with a loud voice: And it came to pass, when he heard that I
lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled,
and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came
home. And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew
servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: And it
came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment
with me, and fled out." Genesis 39:1-18
Then
they told him of MERCY; and how she had left her town and her kindred, to
come along with CHRISTIANA and with her sons. At that the old honest man
said, "MERCY is thy name? by mercy shalt thou be sustained, and carried
through all those difficulties that shall assault thee in thy way; till thou
shall come thither, where thou shalt look the fountain of mercy in the face
with comfort."
All
this while the guide, Mr. GREAT-HEART, was very much pleased, and smiled
upon his companion.
The Story of Mr Fearing
Now
as they walked along together, the guide asked the old gentleman, if he did not know one Mr.
FEARING that came on pilgrimage out of his parts.
Honest.
"Yes, very well," said he; "he was a man that had the root of
the matter in him, but he was one of the most troublesome pilgrims that I
ever met with in all my days."
Great-heart.
I perceive you knew him; for you have given a very right character of him.
Honest.
Knew him! I was a great companion of his, I was with him when he first began
to think of what would come upon us hereafter.
Great-heart.
I was his guide from my master's house to the gates of the Celestial City.
Honest.
Then you knew him to be a troublesome one.
Great-heart.
I did so; but I could very well bear it: for men of my calling are
oftentimes entrusted with the conduct of such as he was.
Honest.
Well then, pray let us hear a little of him, and how he managed himself
under your conduct.
Great-heart. "Why, he was always afraid that he should come
short of whither he had a desire to go. Everything frightened him that he
heard anybody speak of, that had but the least appearance of opposition in
it. I hear that he lay roaring at the Slough of Despond for above a month
together; nor durst he, for all he saw several go over before him, venture,
though they, many of them, offered to lend him their hand. He would not go
back again neither. The Celestial City, he said, he should die if he came
not to it; and yet was dejected at every difficulty, and stumbled at every
straw that anybody cast in his way. Well, after he had lain at the Slough of
Despond a great while, as I have told you, one sunshiny morning, I do not
know how, he ventured, and so got over. But when he was over, he would
scarce believe it. He had, I think, a Slough of Despond in his mind, a
slough that he carried everywhere with him; or else he could never have been
as he was. So he came up to the gate--you know what I mean--that stands at
the head of this way; and there also he stood a good while before he would
adventure to knock. When the gate was opened, he would give back; and give
place to others, and say that he was not worthy. For, for all he got before
some to the gate, yet many of them went in before him. There the poor man
would stand shaking and shrinking; I dare say it would have pitied one's
heart to have seen him; nor would he go back again. At last he took the
hammer that hanged on the gate in his hand, and gave a small rap or two;
then one opened to him, but he shrunk back as before. He that opened stept
out after him, and said, "Thou trembling one, what wantest thou?"
With that he fell down to the ground. He that spoke to him wondered to see
him so faint. So he said to him, 'Peace be to thee; up, for I have set open
the door to thee; come in, for thou art blest.' With that he got up, and
went in trembling; and when he was in, he was ashamed to show his face.
"Well,
after he had been entertained there awhile, as you know how the manner is,
he was bid go on his way, and also told the way he should take. So he came
till he came to our house; but as he behaved himself at the gate, so he did
at my master the INTERPRETER'S door. He lay thereabout in the cold a good
while before he would adventure to call; yet he would not go back. And the
nights were long and cold then. Nay, he had a note of necessity in his bosom
to my Master, to receive him, and grant him the comfort of his house; and
also to allow him a stout and valiant conductor, because he was himself so
chicken hearted a man; and yet for all that he was afraid to call at the
door. So he lay up and down thereabouts till, poor man, he was almost
starved; yea, so great was his dejection, that though he saw several others
for knocking get in, yet he was afraid to venture.
"At last, I think I looked out of the window; and perceiving a man to
be up and down about the door, I went out to him, and asked what he was;
but, poor man, the water stood in his eyes. So I perceived what he wanted. I
went therefore in, and told it in the house; and we showed the thing to our
Lord. So he sent me out again to entreat him to come in; but I dare say I
had hard work to do it. At last he came in; and I will say that for my Lord,
he carried it wonderful lovingly to him. There were but a few good bits at
the table; but some of it was laid upon his trencher. Then he presented the
note; and my Lord looked thereon, and said his desire should be granted. So
when he had been there a good while, he seemed to get some heart, and to be
a little more comfortable; for my Master, you must know, is one of very
tender bowels, especially to them that are afraid: wherefore he carried it
so towards him, as might tend most to his encouragement. Well, when he had
had a sight of the things of the place, and was ready to take his journey to
go to the city, my Lord, as he did to CHRISTIAN before, gave him a bottle of
spirits, and some comfortable things to eat. Thus we set forward, and I went
before him; but the man was but of few words, only he would sigh aloud.
"When
we were come to where the three fellows were hanged, he said that he doubted
that that would be his end also. Only he seemed glad when he saw the cross
and the sepulchre. There I confess he desired to stay a little to look; and
he seemed for awhile after to be a little cheery. When we came at the Hill
Difficulty, he made no stick at that, nor did he much fear the lions; for
you must know that his trouble was not about such things as those, his fear
was about his acceptance at last.
"I
got him in at the house Beautiful I think before he was willing; also when
he was in, I brought him acquainted with the damsels that were of the place;
but he was ashamed to make himself much for company. He desired much to be
alone; yet he always loved good talk, and often would get behind the screen
to hear it. He also loved much to see ancient things, and to be pondering
them in his mind. He told me afterwards that he loved to be in those two
houses from which he came last; to wit, at the Gate, and that of the
INTERPRETER'S, but that he durst not be so bold as to ask.
When
we went also from the house Beautiful down the hill, into the Valley of
Humiliation, he went down as well as ever I saw a man in my life; for he
cared not how mean he was, so he might be happy at last. Yea, I think there
was a kind of a sympathy betwixt that valley and him; for I never saw him
better in all his pilgrimage than when he was in that valley.
Here he would lie down, embrace the ground, and kiss the very flowers that
grew in this valley.
"It
is
good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and
keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his
mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope." Lamentations 3:27-29
He
would now be up every morning by break of day, tracing, and walking to and
fro in this valley.
But when he was come to the entrance of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I
thought I should have lost my man; not for that he had any inclination to go
back--that he always abhorred,--but he was ready to die for fear. 'Oh, the
hobgoblins will have me, the hobgoblins will have me!' cried he; and I could
not beat him out on't. He made such a noise and such an outcry here, that,
had they but heard him, 't was enough to encourage them to come and fall
upon us.
"But
this I took very great notice of: that this valley was as quiet while he
went through it, as ever I knew it before or since. I suppose those enemies
here had now a special check from our Lord; and a command not to meddle
until Mr. FEARING was passed over it.
"It
would be too tedious to tell you of all, we will therefore only mention a
passage or two more. When he was come at Vanity Fair, I thought he would
have fought with all the men in the fair; I feared there we should both have
been knocked o' the head, so hot was he against their fooleries. Upon the
enchanted ground he was also very wakeful. But when he was come at the river
where was no bridge, there again he was in a heavy case; now, now, he said,
he should be drowned for ever, and so never see that face with comfort that
he had come so many miles to behold.
"And
here also I took notice of what was very remarkable: the water of that river
was lower at this time than ever I saw it in all my life; so he went over at
last not much above wetshod. When he was going up to the gate, Mr.
GREAT-HEART began to take his leave of him, and to wish him a good reception
above; so he said, 'I shall, I shall.' Then parted we asunder, and I saw him
no more."
Honest.
Then it seems he was well at last.
Great-heart.
Yes, yes; I never had a doubt about him. He was a man of a choice spirit,
only he was always kept very low; and that made his life so burdensome to
himself, and so troublesome to others.
"O
LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: Let
my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is
full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with
them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou
rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me
in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,
and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
Thou
hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an
abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. Mine
eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I
have stretched out my hands unto thee. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?
shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. Shall thy lovingkindness
be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall
thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of
forgetfulness? But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall
my prayer prevent thee.
LORD,
why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? I am
afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer
thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors
have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water; they compassed
me about together. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and
mine acquaintance into darkness." Psalms 88:1-18
He
was, above many, tender of sin; he was so afraid of doing injuries to
others, that he often would deny himself of that which was lawful because he
would not offend.
"It
is
good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby
thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." Romans 14:21
"Wherefore,
if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world
standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." 1 Corinthians 8:13
Honest.
But what should be the reason that such a good man should be all his days so
much in the dark?
Great-heart.
There are two sorts of reasons for it: one is, the wise God will have it so;
some must pipe, and some must weep:
"But
whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in
the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto
you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not
lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a
devil." Matthew 11:16-18
now
Mr. FEARING was one that played upon the bass. He and his fellows sound the
sackbut, whose notes are more doleful than the notes of other music are.
Though, indeed, some say, the bass is the ground of music. And for my part,
I care not at all for that profession that begins not in heaviness of mind.
The first string that the musician usually touches is the bass, when he
intends to put all in tune; God also plays upon this string first when he
sets the soul in tune for himself. Only here was the imperfection of Mr.
FEARING: he could play upon no other music but this till towards his latter
end.
I
make bold to talk thus metaphorically for the ripening of the wits of young
readers; and because, in the book of the Revelation, the saved are compared
to a company of musicians that play upon their trumpets and harps, and sing
their songs before the throne.
"And
I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven
trumpets." Revelation 8:2
"And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as
the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with
their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and
before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but
the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth." Revelation 14:2, 3
Honest.
He was a very zealous man, as one may see by what relation you have given of
him. Difficulties, lions, or Vanity Fair, he feared not at all; 't was only
sin, death, and hell that were to him a terror, because he had some doubts
about his interest in that celestial country.
Great-heart. You say right: those were the things that were his
troublers, and they, as you have well observed, arose from the weakness of
his mind thereabout; not from weakness of spirit as to the practical part of
a pilgrim's life. I dare believe, that, as the proverb is, he could have bit
a firebrand, had it stood in his way; but the things with which he was
oppressed, no man ever yet could shake off with ease.
Chris.
Then said CHRISTIANA, "This relation of Mr. FEARING has done me good. I
thought nobody had been like me; but I see there was some semblance 'twixt
this good man and I, only we differed in two things: his troubles were so
great they brake out; but mine I kept within. His also lay so hard upon him,
they made him that he could not knock at the houses provided for
entertainment; but my trouble was always such as made me knock the
louder."
Mercy.
If I might also speak my heart, I must say, that something of him has also
dwelt in me. For I have ever been more afraid of the lake and the loss of a
place in paradise, than I have been of the loss of other things. Oh, thought
I, may I have the happiness to have a habitation there, 't is enough, though
I part with all the world to win it!
Matt.
Then said MATTHEW, "Fear was one thing that made me think that I was
far from having that within me that accompanies salvation; but if it was so
with such a good man as he, why may it not also go well with me?"
James.
"No fears, no grace," said JAMES. "Though there is not always
grace where there is the fear of hell, yet to be sure, there is no grace
where there is no fear of God."
Great-heart.
Well said, JAMES, thou hast hit the mark: for the "fear of God is the
beginning of wisdom"; and, to be sure, they that want the beginning
have neither middle nor end. But we will here conclude our discourse of Mr.
FEARING after we have sent after him this farewell:
"Well, Master FEARING, thou didst fear
Thy God; and wast afraid
Of doing anything, while here,
That would have thee betrayed.
And thou didst fear the Lake and Pit--
Would others did so too!
For, as for them that want thy wit,
They do themselves undo."
The
Pilgrim's Progress - Mr Self-will and
some professors
The
Pilgrim's Progress - Contents
