[41]To prick—to incite—to spur—to dress oneself for show; thus it was commonly used in Bunyan's time, but in this sense has become obsolete.—Ed.
[42]To resent—to consider as an injury or affront—to take ill.—Ed.
[43]How dreadfully was this exemplified in the cruelties perpetrated on the dissenters in the valleys of Piedmont, and on the English dissenters in the reign of Mary, of Elizabeth, and of the Stuarts.—Ed.
[44] "The hunting tribes of air and earth, Respect the brethren of their birth; The eagle pounces on the lamb; The wolf devours the fleecy dam; Even tiger fell, and sullen bear, Their likeness and their lineage spare. Man only mars this household plan, And turns the fierce pursuit on man; Since Nimrod, Cush's mighty son, At first the bloody game begun." Scott's Rokeby
[45]Great allowances might be made for Bunyan's severe language with respect to state interference in matters of faith and worship, because he so cruelly suffered by it in his own person. But had he escaped persecution, the same awful reflections are just and true. If a Christian monarchy robs, imprisons, and murders dissenters, surely a Mohammedan state may do the same to all those who refuse to curse Christ and bless Mahomet. Bunyan appears to consider that the great wickedness of man which caused the flood arose from the state interfering with faith and worship. This is certainly a fruitful source of those dreadful crimes, hypocrisy and persecution, but whether it was the cause of that awful event, the flood, or of that splendid absurdity, the tower of Babel, the reader must judge for himself.—Ed.
[46]First Rome, then the Greek and Russian church; then Henry the VIII and the church over which that lascivious monster was the supreme head; then the Lutheran church of Germany and Holland; and then…How admirably true is the genealogy of Antichrist as drawn out by Bunyan.—Ed.
[47] "That monstrous work," the attempting to build the tower of Babel.—Ed.
[48] "Language or lip." A lip, is also used for speech. In the figurative language, "of one lip," means that they all spoke one language; so in Job 11:2, literally, "a man of lips," is translated "a man full of talk."—Ed.
[49]That Bunyan intended to have continued this commentary there can be no doubt, not only from the abrupt termination of his labours, and the blank paper following the manuscript, but from an observation he makes on the sabbath—the sabbath of years, the jubilee, &c., "of all which, more in their place, IF GOD PERMIT." See Genesis 2:3.—Ed.
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