have been tried, and Bunyan is found to have been present, and to
have taken a part in the affairs of the church, until the 25th day
of the 2d Month, 1660 (April), when 'it was ordered, according to
our agreement, that our brother, John Bunyan, do prepare to speak
a word at the next church meeting and that our brother Whiteman
fail not to speak to him of it.'[194]

This invitation was very probably intended to introduce him to the
congregation, with a view to his becoming an assistant pastor, but
before it took place, he again appeared before the public as an
author. The second production of his pen is a solemn and most searching
work, founded upon the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, under
the title of A Few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned
Soul; by that poor and contemptible Servant of Jesus Christ, John
Bunyan, 1658. His humility led him to seek the patronage of his
pastor; and Mr. Gifford, under the initials of J. G., wrote a
preface of thirty-eight pages, but he dying before it reached the
second edition, that preface was discontinued, and the title somewhat
altered. The only copy of this first edition yet discovered is in
the royal library at the British Museum. It appears to have belonged
to Charles II, who, with more wit than decorum, has bound it up,
as a supplement, to an extremely licentious book, as if it was
intended to say, 'Her house is the way to hell, going down to the
chamber of death'; or that a licentious life endeth in 'sighs from
hell.'

Mr. Gifford, in this preface, after strongly recommending the work,
speaks of the author in the most respectful and affectionate terms,
showing that his zeal, and energy, and great usefulness had excited
the envy of many who ought to have encouraged him as one taught