Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1868-02-04
TIE HERALD.
Sketch of John Bunyan.

Bunyan had been bred tinker, and
had served as private soldier in the
Parliamentary army. Early in his
life he bad been feartulIy tortured by
re.aorse for his youthful sins, the
worst OF which seems, however, to
nav, lecn such as the world thinks
veni;.L His keen sensibility and his
pow .rfal imagination made his ia
ternal conflicts singularly terrible
He fanciei he was under sentence
of reprobltion-that he had commit.
| ted blasphemy against the Holy
Ghost-that he had sold Christ-that
nc was actually possessed by a de-
mon. Sometimes loud voices from
Heaven cried out to warn him.
sometimes fends whispered impius
suggestions in his ear. ! He saw Wis.
ions of distant mountain tops, on
which the sun shone brightly, but
from which he was separated by a
waste OF snow. He felt the devil be
hind him pulling his clothes. he
thought that the brand of Cain had
been set upon him. He feared he
was about to break assunder like
Judas. His mental agony disorder
ed his health. One day be shook
like man IN the palsy It's difficult
to understand how he survived suf-
toring 50 intense aud 50 long con-
iuacd
AZ length the clouds broke. From
the depths Of despair the penitent
i passed O. a state Of serene felicity
Ala Irresistible impulse now urged
him to impart to others the blessings
1T which he was himself possessed
lie Joined the Baptists and become a
preacher and writer. His education
nad been that OF mechanic. He
knew no language but the English,
as It was spoken by the common PEG
pie. lie had studied no great model
oI composition, with the exception
an important exception undoubtedly
of our translation Of the Bible
| His spelling was bad. lie frequently
transgressed the rules of grammar
Yet the native force of genius, and
his experimental knowledge of all
the religious passions, from despair
to ecstacy, amply supplied in him
the want Of learning His rude ora
tory reused and melted hearers who
listened without interest to the labor.
ed discourses of great logicians and
Hebraists. His works were widely
circulated among the humber classes
One OF them, the Pilgrims Progress
was in his own time translated
into several foreign languages. II
was, however scarcely known to the
learned and polite, and had been foi
near century the delight OF piou'
cottagers and artzans before it was
publicly commended by any man o
high literary emineace.
At length critics condescended tC
inquire where the secret of so wide
and durable popularity lay. They
were compelled to own that The
ignorant multitude had judged more
correctly than the learned, and tina
the despised little book was really {
masterpiece. Bunyan Is indeed al
decidedly the first of alIegorists
Shakespeare is the first of dramatists
f Other allegorists have shown equa
ingenuity, but no other has ever beer
I able to touch the heart, and to max,
distractions objects of terror, ofpity
and of love.
1t may be doubted whether any
English dissenter had suffered more
severely under the penal laws thar
John Bunyan. Of the twenty>sever
ears which bad elapsed since th'
restoration, he bad passed twelve il
confinement. He still persisted il
preaching, but that he might preach
he was under the necessity of DISCUS
ing himself like a carter. He wa
enintroduced into meeting through
back doors, with whip in his hand
! 4Ndcaulay.