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KEEL. Justice KEELIN said that that was a truth.

BUN. And I say further, as to your saying that one man may
convince another of sin, and that faith comes by hearing, and that

one man may tell another how he should pray, etc., I say men may
tell each other of their sins, but it is the Spirit that must

convince them.
And though it be said that FAITH COMES BY HEARING: yet it is the

Spirit that worketh faith in the heart through hearing, or else
THEY ARE NOT PROFITED BY HEARING. Heb. iv. 12.

And that though one man may tell another how he should pray: yet,
as I said before, he cannot pray, nor make his condition known to

God, except the Spirit help. It is not the Common Prayer-Book that
can do this. It is the SPIRIT THAT SHOWETH US OUR SINS, and the

SPIRIT THAT SHOWETH US A SAVIOUR, Jn. xvi. 16, and the Spirit that
stirreth up in our hearts desires to come to God, for such things

as we stand in need of, Matt. xi. 27, even sighing out our souls
unto Him for them with GROANS WHICH CANNOT BE UTTERED. With other

words to the same purpose. At this they were set.
KEEL. But says Justice KEELIN, What have you against the Common

Prayer-Book?
BUN. I said, Sir, if you will hear me, I shall lay down my reasons

against it.
KEEL. He said I should have liberty; but first, said he, let me

give you one caution; take heed of speaking irreverently of the
Common Prayer-Book; for if you do so, you will bring great damage

upon yourself.
BUN. So I proceeded, and said, My first reason was, because it was

not commanded in the Word of God, and therefore I could not use it.
ANOTHER. One of them said, Where do you find it commanded in the

Scripture, that you should go to ELSTOW, or BEDFORD, and yet it is
lawful to go to either of them, is it not?

BUN. I said, To go to ELSTOW, or BEDFORD, was a civil thing, and
not material, though not commanded, and yet God's Word allowed me

to go about my calling, and therefore if it lay there, then to go
thither, etc. But to pray, was a great part of the Divine worship

of God, and therefore it ought to be done according to the rule of
God's Word.

ANOTHER. One of them said, He will do harm; let him speak no
further.

KEEL. Justice KEELIN said, No, no, never fear him, we are better
established than so; he can do no harm; we know the Common Prayer-

Book hath been ever since the apostles' time, and it is lawful for
it to be used in the church.

BUN. I said, Show me the place in the epistles, where the Common
Prayer-Book is written, or one text of Scripture, that commands me

to read it, and I will use it. But yet, notwithstanding, said I,
they that have a mind to use it, they have their liberty; that is,

I would not keep them from it; but for our parts, we can pray to
God without it. Blessed be His name!

With that, one of them said, Who is your God? Beelzebub?
Moreover, they often said, that I was possessed with the spirit of

delusion, and of the devil. All which sayings I passed over; the
Lord forgive them! And further, I said, Blessed be the Lord for

it; we are encouraged to meet together, and to pray, and exhort one
another; for, we have had the comfortable presence of God among us.

For ever blessed be His holy name!
KEEL. Justice KEELIN called this pedler's French, saying, that I

must leave off my canting. The Lord open his eyes!
BUN. I said that we ought to exhort one another daily, while it is

called to-day, etc.
KEEL. Justice KEELIN said that I ought not to preach; and asked me

where I had my authority? with other such like words.
BUN. I said that I would prove that it was lawful for me, and such

as I am, to preach the Word of God.
KEEL. He said unto me, By what Scripture?

BUN. I said, By that in the first epistle of Peter, chap. iv. 10,
11, and Acts xviii., with other Scriptures, which he would not

suffer me to mention. But said, Hold; not so many, which is the
first?

BUN. I said this: AS EVERY MAN HATH RECEIVED THE GIFT, EVEN SO
LET HIM MINISTER THE SAME UNTO ANOTHER, AS GOOD STEWARDS OF THE

MANIFOLD GRACE OF GOD. IF ANY MAN SPEAK, LET HIM SPEAK AS THE
ORACLES OF GOD, ETC.

KEEL. He said, Let me a little open that Scripture to you: AS
EVERY MAN HATH RECEIVED THE GIFT; that is, said he, as every one

hath received a trade, so let him follow it. If any man have
received a gift of tinkering, as thou hast done, let him follow his

tinkering. And so other men their trades. And the divine his
calling, etc.

BUN. Nay, sir, said I, but it is most clear, that the apostle
speaks here of preaching the Word; if you do but compare both the

verses together, the next verse explains this gift what it is,
saying, IF ANY MAN SPEAK, LET HIM SPEAK AS THE ORACLES OF GOD. So

that it is plain, that the Holy Ghost doth not so much in this
place exhort to civil callings, as to the exercising of those gifts

that we have received from God. I would have gone on, but he would
not give me leave.

KEEL. He said, We might do it in our families, but not otherways.
BUN. I said, If it was lawful to do good to some, it was lawful to

do good to more. If it was a good duty to exhort our families, it
was good to exhort others; but if they held it a sin to meet

together to seek the face of God, and exhort one another to follow
Christ, I should sin still; for so we should do.

KEEL. He said he was not so well versed in Scripture as to
dispute, or words to that purpose. And said, moreover, that they

could not wait upon me any longer; but said to me, Then you confess
the indictment, do you not? Now, and not till now, I saw I was

indicted.
BUN. I said, This I confess, we have had many meetings together,

both to pray to God, and to exhort one another, and that we had the
sweet comforting presence of the Lord among us for our

encouragement; blessed be His name therefore. I confessed myself
guilty no otherwise.

KEEL. Then, said he, bear your judgment. You must be had back
again to prison, and there lie for three months following; and at

three months' end, if you do not submit to go to church to hear
Divine service, and leave your preaching, you must be banished the

realm: and if, after such a day as shall be appointed you to be
gone, you shall be found in this realm, etc., or be found to come

over again without special licence from the king, etc., you must
stretch by the neck for it, I tell you plainly: and so he bid my

jailor have me away.
BUN. I told him, as to this matter, I was at a point with him; for

if I were out of prison to-day, I would preach the Gospel again to-
morrow, by the help of God.

ANOTHER. To which one made me some answer: but my jailor pulling
me away to be gone, I could not tell what he said.

Thus I departed from them; and I can truly say, I bless the Lord
JESUS CHRIST for it, that my heart was sweetly refreshed in the

time of my examination, and also afterwards, at my returning to the
prison. So that I found Christ's words more than bare trifles,

where He saith, I WILL GIVE YOU A MOUTH AND WISDOM, WHICH ALL YOUR
ADVERSARIES SHALL NOT BE ABLE TO GAINSAY, NOR RESIST. Luke xxi.

15. And that His peace no man can take from us.
Thus have I given you the substance of my examination. The Lord

make this profitable to all that shall read or hear it. Farewell.
THE SUBSTANCE OF SOME DISCOURSE HAD BETWEEN THE CLERK OF THE PEACE

AND MYSELF; WHEN HE CAME TO ADMONISH ME, ACCORDING TO THE TENOR OF
THAT LAW, BY WHICH I WAS IN PRISON.

WHEN I had lain in prison other twelve weeks, and now not knowing
what they intended to do with me, upon the third of April 1661,

comes Mr Cobb unto me (as he told me), being sent by the justices
to admonish me; and demand of me submittance to the church of

England, etc. The extent of our discourse was as followeth.
COBB. When he was come into the house he sent for me out of my

chamber; who, when I was come unto him, he said, Neighbour BUNYAN,
how do you do?

BUN. I thank you, Sir, said I, very well, blessed be the Lord.
COBB. Saith he, I come to tell you, that it is desired you would

submit yourself to the laws of the land, or else at the next
sessions it will go worse with you, even to be sent away out of the

nation, or else worse than that.
BUN. I said that I did desire to demean myself in the world, both

as becometh a man and a Christian.
COBB. But, saith he, you must submit to the laws of the land, and

leave off those meetings which you was wont to have; for the
statute-law is directly against it; and I am sent to you by the

justices to tell you that they do intend to prosecute the law
against you if you submit not.

BUN. I said, Sir, I conceive that that law by which I am in prison
at this time, doth not reach or condemn either me, or the meetings

which I do frequent; that law was made against those, that being
designed to do evil in their meetings, making the exercise of

religion their pretence, to cover their wickedness. It doth not
forbid the private meetings of those that plainly and simply make

it their only end to worship the Lord, and to exhort one another to
edification. My end in meeting with others is simply to do as much

good as I can, by exhortation and counsel, according to that small
measure of light which God hath given me, and not to disturb the

peace of the nation.
COBB. Every one will say the same, said he; you see the late

insurrection at LONDON, under what gloriouspretences they went;
and yet, indeed, they intended no less than the ruin of the kingdom

and commonwealth.
BUN. That practice of theirs, I abhor, said I; yet it doth not

follow that, because they did so, therefore all others will do so.
I look upon it as my duty to behave myself under the King's

government, both as becomes a man and a Christian, and if an
occasion were offered me, I should willinglymanifest my loyalty to

my Prince, both by word and deed.
COBB. Well, said he, I do not profess myself to be a man that can

dispute; but this I say, truly, neighbour BUNYAN, I would have you
consider this matter seriously, and submit yourself; you may have

your liberty to exhort your neighbour in private discourse, so be
you do not call together an assembly of people; and, truly, you may

do much good to the church of Christ, if you would go this way; and
this you may do, and the law not abridge you of it. It is your

private meetings that the law is against.
BUN. Sir, said I, if I may do good to one by my discourse? why may

I not do good to two? And if to two, why not to four, and so to
eight? etc.

COBB. Ay, saith he, and to a hundred, I warrant you.
BUN. Yes, Sir, said I, I think I should not be forbid to do as

much good as I can.
COBB. But, saith he, you may but pretend to do good, and instead,

notwithstanding, do harm, by seducing the people; you are,
therefore, denied your meeting so many together, lest you should do

harm.
BUN. And yet, said I, you say the law tolerates me to discourse

with my neighbour; surely there is no law tolerates me seduce any
one; therefore if I may by the law discourse with one, surely it is

to do him good; and if I by discoursing may do good to one, surely,
by the same law, I may do good to many.

COBB. The law, saith he, doth expresslyforbid your private
meetings; therefore they are not to be tolerated.

BUN. I told him that I would not entertain so much
uncharitableness of that Parliament in the 35th of ELIZABETH, or of

the Queen herself, as to think they did, by that law, intend the
oppressing of any of God's ordinances, or the interrupting any in

way of God; but men may, in the wresting of it, turn it against the
way of God; but take the law in itself, and it only fighteth



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