Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1890-02-22
BuNYANS FORGOTTEN BOOB.
Il Turns Up After Disappearance OF Tws
Hundred YnnrH.

Probably lew readers OF the -P1lgr1m'S
Progress" know that Bunyan wrote "A
Book for Boys and Girls; or, Country
Rhymes for Children" Parts of the
book, published in 1886, has till now
been as much lost as the missing por-
tons of Livy or the comedies of Me-
handler. That a printed work only 200
years old should thus have persisted
makes it less remarkable that so many
classics have been absolutely lost. Mr..
Offor hunted vainly during thirty years
for Bunyan's Country Rhymes" Now,
at length, a copy has been recovered,
and secured for the British Museum.
A "fac smile" has been published by
Elliott Stock, and the Rev. DR.. Brown,
author of an admirable biography of
Bunyan, supplies an introduction. The
tiny volume now in the Museum was
once, it is believed, the property of
Narcissus Luttrell, the noted diarist.
The Museum already possessed rare
broadsheet of the Pilgrims, marked in
Luttrell's hand with the date and price
of purchase. The Country Poems"
are marked In the same way, and in the
same hand. Luttrell's books went into
the collection of the Duke of Bucking-
ham, probably; and when that library
was broken up, went on unrecorded
wanderings. Six or seven years ago
collector in New York bought "The
Country Poems" (for e4O) from dealer
in London.
The New York amateur sold it again
to Mr.. Stevens, son of the humorous
expert who wrote the history of the
Lennox Library. From him the
Museum bought it, and it will not be
surprising if several other copies are
now discovered. That usually happens
when book suddenly becomes notori-
Gus.
This quaint and most interesting tract
opens with poem to "The Courteous
Reader" Here Bunyan admits that he
writes for children of all ages, for "our
bearded men do act like beardless
boys" Therefore, Il now with them
the very Dottrill play" and my very
Beard 1 cast behind the bush," which
was difficult. as Bunyen, at least when
Robert White drew his portrait on
vellum, did not wear any beard.
After the poem comes "an help to
children to learn to read English, y
that is, set of alphabets, few easy
words, and list of Christian names,
that children may learn how to spell
their own. The rhymes begin with ten
Ten Commandments in verse, followed
by very severe course of theology,
showing how bad child can be, and
what his proper path is towards saliva
ton. The rhymes were more clever
and catching than is usual with Bun
yam. The rest of the pieces are mainly
"Emblems" or parallels on number of
familiar objects bees, candles,
clouds edged with silver as fine gar
ments be-" Had Bunyan read in
"Comus" of the cloud that did turn
forth her silver lining on the night" ?
It is clear that he knew Shakspeares
song in GAS You Like It." before he
wrote,
Who would true valor see
Let him come hither.
The cuckoo is compared to the form
alist:
The Journalist we may compare her to,
For he doth suck our eggs and cry cuckoo.
Before Mr.. Ruskin, Bunyan had ex-
claimed:
A comedy sight indeed it is to see
A world OF blossoms on an apple tree.
The poem of "The Child with the
Bird at the Bush" is charming little
ditty, not unworthy of Blake:
Nv fathers palace shall be thine,
Yea in it thou shalt sit and sing,
NV little Bird, if thoult be mine,
The whole year round shall be thy spring.
This is very natural of the "Boy and
the Matchmaker"
This watch my father did on me bestow,
A golden one it is. but will not go.
"a common failing with the GIRO
nometers of boyhood. Bunyan's opinion
of the natural man is unkind, Phonane
est I'm nlechH71t animal, but it is anus
ingly expressed:
From God he Is backslider,
OF ways he loves the wilder,
With wickedness a slider,
More venom than & spider.
In sin he's con1der,
make-hate and divider;
Blind Reason is his guider,
The Devil is his rider.
The poems will not raise Bunyan into
the company of poets; his claim to be
on the English Parnassus must rest on
the poetical elements in his prose. But
the verses can only add to the universal
liking and affection which all readers
entertain for this humorous and good
humored, this brave and most imagina-
tive writer. We knew before how fond
he was of children, especially of his
own blind child.
1t is not impossible that other lost or
half-Iost works of Bunyan may come to
light in time. His first book written in
prison, Profitable Meditations" in
verse, was lost so far as the first edition
went, till Mr. Hotten, the bookseller,
found copy bound up with a set of
pamphlets, rare piece of luck. His
extreme popularity caused his books to
be thumbed to tatters.
There are only five known examples
of the Pilgrims Progress" in the
original edition, yet 100, 900 are said to
have been sold in his lifetime. Great
popularity also accrued to work now
forgotten, Demands isle of Man"
1627, wherein Worldly Wise appears
long before Bunyan's Mr.. Worldly
Wiseman. Having no circulating libra
ries, our ancestors, in proportion to the
population, were very much more free
buyers of books than ourselves. Bun
vans allegory outsold Robert Els