Hath this extent--no more.'[23]


The meaning of the epithet is admirably explained; but what could
Dr. Southey imagine possible to render such a character more vile
in the sight of God, or a greater pest to society? Is there any
vicious propensity, the gratification of which is not included in
that character? Bunyan's estimate of his immorality and profaneness
prior to his conversion, was not made by comparing himself with
the infinitely Holy One, but he measured his conduct by that of
his more moral neighbours. In his Jerusalem Sinner Saved, he pleads
with great sinners, the outwardly and violently profane and vicious,
that if HE had received mercy, and had become regenerated, they
surely ought not to despair, but to seek earnestly for the same
grace. He thus describes himself:--'I speak by experience; I was
one of those great sin-breeders; I infected all the youth of the
town where I was born; the neighbours counted me so, my practice
proved me so: wherefore, Christ Jesus took me first; and, taking
me first, the contagion was much allayed all the town over. When
God made me sigh, they would hearken, and inquiringly say, What's
the matter with John? When I went out to seek the bread of life,
some of them would follow, and the rest be put into a muse at home.
Some of them, perceiving that God had mercy upon me, came crying to
him for mercy too.'[24] Can any one, in the face of such language,
doubt that he was most eminently 'a brand snatched from the fire';
a pitchy burning brand, known and seen as such by all who witnessed
his conduct? He pointedly exemplified the character set forth by
James, 'the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, set on fire of
hell' (James 3:6). This was as publicly known before his conversion,
as the effects of the wondrous change were openly seen in his