The Life of John Bunyan [29]
accursed thing, the
badge and token of a persecuting party, a relic of popery which he
exhorted his adherents to "take heed that they touched not" if they
would be "steadfast in the faith of Jesus Christ." Nothing could
be further from his thoughts than to give any heed to the
magistrates' order to go to church and pray "after the form of
men's inventions."
The time for testing Bunyan's resolution was now near at hand.
Within six months of the king's landing, within little more than a
month of the issue of the magistrate's order for the use of the
Common Prayer Book, his sturdy determination to yield obedience to
no authority in spiritual matters but that of his own conscience
was put to the proof. Bunyan may safely be regarded as at that
time the most conspicuous of the Nonconformists of the
neighbourhood. He had now preached for five or six years with
ever-growing popularity. No name was so rife in men's mouths as
his. At him, therefore, as the representative of his brother
sectaries, the first blow was levelled. It is no cause of surprise
that in the measures taken against him he recognized the direct
agency of Satan to stop the course of the truth: "That old enemy
of man's salvation," he says, "took his opportunity to inflame the
hearts of his vassals against me, insomuch that at the last I was
laid out for the warrant of a justice." The circumstances were
these, on November 12, 1660, Bunyan had engaged to go to the little
hamlet of Lower Samsell near Harlington, to hold a religious
service. His purpose becoming known, a neighbouring magistrate,
Mr. Francis Wingate, of Harlington House, was instructed to issue a
warrant for his apprehension under the Act of Elizabeth. The
meeting being represented to him as one of seditious persons
bringing arms, with a view to the disturbance of the public peace,
he ordered that a strong watch should be kept about the house, "as
if," Bunyan says, "we did intend to do some fearful business to the
destruction of the country." The intention to arrest him oozed
out, and on Bunyan's arrival the whisperings of his friends warned
him of his danger. He might have easily escaped if he "had been
minded to play the coward." Some advised it, especially the
brother at whose house the meeting was to take place. He, "living
by them," knew "what spirit" the magistrates "were of," before whom
Bunyan would be taken if arrested, and the small hope there would
be of his avoiding being committed to gaol. The man himself, as a
"harbourer of a conventicle," would also run no small danger of the
same fate, but Bunyan generously acquits him of any selfish object
in his warning: "he was, I think, more afraid of (for) me, than of
(for) himself." The matter was clear enough to Bunyan. At the
same time it was not to be decided in a hurry. The time fixed for
the service not being yet come, Bunyan went into the meadow by the
house, and pacing up and down thought the question well out. "If
he who had up to this time showed himself hearty and courageous in
his preaching, and had made it his business to encourage others,
were now to run and make an escape, it would be of an ill savour in
the country. If he were now to flee because there was a warrant
out for him, would not the weak and newly-converted brethren be
afraid to stand when great words only were spoken to them. God
had, in His mercy, chosen him to go on the forlorn hope; to be the
first to be opposed for the gospel; what a discouragement it must
be to the whole body if he were to fly. No, he would never by any
cowardliness of his give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme the
gospel." So back to the house he came with his mind made up. He
had come to hold the meeting, and hold the meeting he would. He
was not conscious of saying or doing any evil. If he had to suffer
it was the Lord's will, and he was prepared for it. He had a full
hour before him
badge and token of a persecuting party, a relic of popery which he
exhorted his adherents to "take heed that they touched not" if they
would be "steadfast in the faith of Jesus Christ." Nothing could
be further from his thoughts than to give any heed to the
magistrates' order to go to church and pray "after the form of
men's inventions."
The time for testing Bunyan's resolution was now near at hand.
Within six months of the king's landing, within little more than a
month of the issue of the magistrate's order for the use of the
Common Prayer Book, his sturdy determination to yield obedience to
no authority in spiritual matters but that of his own conscience
was put to the proof. Bunyan may safely be regarded as at that
time the most conspicuous of the Nonconformists of the
neighbourhood. He had now preached for five or six years with
ever-growing popularity. No name was so rife in men's mouths as
his. At him, therefore, as the representative of his brother
sectaries, the first blow was levelled. It is no cause of surprise
that in the measures taken against him he recognized the direct
agency of Satan to stop the course of the truth: "That old enemy
of man's salvation," he says, "took his opportunity to inflame the
hearts of his vassals against me, insomuch that at the last I was
laid out for the warrant of a justice." The circumstances were
these, on November 12, 1660, Bunyan had engaged to go to the little
hamlet of Lower Samsell near Harlington, to hold a religious
service. His purpose becoming known, a neighbouring magistrate,
Mr. Francis Wingate, of Harlington House, was instructed to issue a
warrant for his apprehension under the Act of Elizabeth. The
meeting being represented to him as one of seditious persons
bringing arms, with a view to the disturbance of the public peace,
he ordered that a strong watch should be kept about the house, "as
if," Bunyan says, "we did intend to do some fearful business to the
destruction of the country." The intention to arrest him oozed
out, and on Bunyan's arrival the whisperings of his friends warned
him of his danger. He might have easily escaped if he "had been
minded to play the coward." Some advised it, especially the
brother at whose house the meeting was to take place. He, "living
by them," knew "what spirit" the magistrates "were of," before whom
Bunyan would be taken if arrested, and the small hope there would
be of his avoiding being committed to gaol. The man himself, as a
"harbourer of a conventicle," would also run no small danger of the
same fate, but Bunyan generously acquits him of any selfish object
in his warning: "he was, I think, more afraid of (for) me, than of
(for) himself." The matter was clear enough to Bunyan. At the
same time it was not to be decided in a hurry. The time fixed for
the service not being yet come, Bunyan went into the meadow by the
house, and pacing up and down thought the question well out. "If
he who had up to this time showed himself hearty and courageous in
his preaching, and had made it his business to encourage others,
were now to run and make an escape, it would be of an ill savour in
the country. If he were now to flee because there was a warrant
out for him, would not the weak and newly-converted brethren be
afraid to stand when great words only were spoken to them. God
had, in His mercy, chosen him to go on the forlorn hope; to be the
first to be opposed for the gospel; what a discouragement it must
be to the whole body if he were to fly. No, he would never by any
cowardliness of his give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme the
gospel." So back to the house he came with his mind made up. He
had come to hold the meeting, and hold the meeting he would. He
was not conscious of saying or doing any evil. If he had to suffer
it was the Lord's will, and he was prepared for it. He had a full
hour before him