The farmer and mechanic., 1907-03-19

least thought II adIi e~~4i'S iA''t-1' Il
lover. IT literature Ite sass
.th4 dat. may concpivably come shefl
v.- have. no Christian - march before
lis but NJ shah never lack the com
pany of Greatfltart He sass tht
great allegory i "a masterpiece anu
sunyan - everybody autnoF. dHi
that 1T l. by virtue OF his magma :
ton. 81 his romance. that ne ives
IL. mentions that he wrote sixty WORKS
in all and vas 40 reader of books
himself Ths only books he read were
nls own writings and FoXe Boo :
of Martyrs During Bunyan.s life
time il is stated that o.o"o copies -
the rich allegorN We're sold DO n7t
Bclieve that any reader of fair intei-
Iieenr.. ana reasonable culture can
fail 10 see the genius and charmInE
originality nf BunyanS great master
piece ii ranks high among the rich-
Is; treasures OF English literature.
The more il is read the better 1t seems
It possesses a great fascination Tor
the pious pilgrim who - seeking the
blessed home of the good. 1t VIII
never die.
/ recently re-read it, and found Il
more precious with age. II is 4
blessed book indeed, and il should b
read once every year. IL IS like =
great poem that the more frequently
you read the flaming pages the better
You understand and love il. | never
saw it 50 clearly ana understood is
attractions 50 much before. lt is full
Of the light and the love Of the Gospel
Of Jesus Christ, 1t breathes Of sanctity
and full conservation. and shows that
only the redeemed who are faithful
unto death can ever enter into the
Holy city whose builder and maker i
God. Any Christian may we'll thank
his Heavenly Father for giving the
world such an unique and great genius
as John Bunyan,and that he led MIN
and inspired him to write that prec-
ious, g.orious story Of redemption
III his great Parable Of the Pilgrim :
Progress
The best Of all discussions Of Bun
yam with which | am acquainted Is
that Of Lord Macaulay. 1t is now af-
ter seventy-siX years since 1t fIr5t ap-
pearcd md it is far the most inter
esting sound, catholic and just inter
pretation of the great writer he dis
cuSSes, that blesseS and glOrifies En-
glish literature. The truth is and
Macauiay has been dead nearly a half
century he is by odds the most en-
tertaining, delightful eloquent of all
the British critics and essayists. That,
| know. is not the judgment of writer's
days. They read through glasses
Of another focus and shape, and Ma
caulay, like HaZlitt, De Quincey Rus
kin and some others of the great
writer's Of the past, are showed aside
or shelved to give place to the best
now to the front among living con-
temporaries | did not turn to what
Macaulay had written of Bunyan until
had written all | purpOSed saying, !
had read his fine critical paper on
Hunyan at least three times, and the
last time in 1903, and | knew Well of
his Judgment and the fascination Of
4: hot tAck.
| wish to reproduce, only in gllmpses,
hiS judgment of John Bunyan. He Is
reviewing that capital work by
Robert Southey, the poet. essayist and
biOgrapher, on Bunyan and his very
great allegory.
Read what Macaulay thought: Bun
Van is almost the only writer who ever
gave to the abstract the interest Of
the concrete" THE characteristic pc
culiarty of the Pilgtim's Progress is
that it is the only work Of its kind
which possesses strong human in
terest." The wonderful book, while it
obtains admiration from the most faS-
tidious critics, is loved by those who
are too simple to admire it, In every
nursery the Pilgrims Progress is a
greater favorite than Jack the Giant
Killer. This is the highest miracle
or genius, that things which are not
should be as though they We're, that
the ina ginatiOn Of one mind should
become the personal recollections OF
another" OF Grace Astounding" he
writes, that it lis indeed one of the
most remarkable pieces Of autobiog-
raphy in the world" THE style Of
Bunyan is delightful to every reader
and invaluable as study to every per-
! son who wishes to obtain q wide com
| mand over the English language. The
vocabulary is the vocabulary of the
-, y7c1,, ar
| this: we are not afraid to say that
! though there were many clever men
| IN England during the latter half OF
! the seventeenth century, there We're
only two minds which possessed the
! Imaginative faculty in a very eminent
! degree. One Of those minds produced
! the Paradise Lost. the other the Pill
| Srims Progress. This is just no doubt
may mention here that if you would
! read the most splendid critical essay
| ever written upon John Milton, who
when nearly sixty years old wrote the
most sublime English poem, Paradise
| Lost" YOU must read MaCaulays essay
/ Of him that appeared in 1925, in the
i Edinburgh Review. when he was III
! his tWenty-fifth year | could copy
| with satisfaction To myself a column
| of what he says farther of Bunyan,
| but what is given above must suffice.
| Read Bunyan and learn and be wise.
4
| laN says of the value of the English
| of Bunyan: There is no book in our
literature on which we would 50 read
! ily stake the fame of the old unpol-
lGJed English lanSuage-no book
which shows so we'll how rich that
! language is in its own proper wealth
| ard how little it nes been improved by
all that it has borrowed" | must hope
| that what appears above Will both in
Stluct and interest some Of my readers
/ among the 0.000 who read the News
and Observer every day. AS said be-
| fore | write to try to do good. and i.
can induce one person ignorant oi
| Bunyan TO study carefully his most
important writings. l shall be gla I
| You can buy a capital edition of Pill
! grim'S Progress for S1.O0.
Wilmington, y. c.
Bishop HOrner and Party Arrive i'm
Naples.