The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-16
NEWS AND NOTES.

been one Of ChTiStendom's fountains OF
delight and instruction There was writ
ten, By the humble tinker Imprisoned for
eonseience's sake, one Of the worlds few
immortal books In MS quaint rhymea
preface, John Bunyan tells Us taat he
did not intend 70 write Pilgrims Prog
ressi the famous ailegory was but the
by-produet Of another work, and. also
result Of his enforced idleness.
Neither did I BIT vacant seasons spend
n THIS my SClboie; nor G'd ] intend
But % divert myself 81 dong this
Eron 1so-ser thoughts. which make ne do arisz
Yet for more than two hundred years
this book has been the romance Of child
hood and the wisdom OF age. Not 70
know Il IS reflection upon ones liter
airy taste The story Is told that a
gushing literary woman once asked
President Roosevelt who IS his favorite
character in literature. When he p-ompt-
y replied, mir. Greatheart," she was
put 70 confusion by not recognizing the
allusion- And anybody who has not
reasonable familiarity with Pilgrims
Progress deserves 70 be ashamed.
The literature that lives must be a it,
erature Of life. touching the deeper emo
tons Of human nature.
The fashion much commented UPON
nowadays, OF writing a story with a Dur
pose, Is not modern. John Bunyzn Tins
avows his object
his book L ehaIksst cut before thine eves
Tie nan that sssks that Everlasting prize.
" saeWs yo1 whence be CONES whether Re goes
what he caves unGc1e; also what he does.
Il also shows yoU how be rzns and rurs
IN Re unto the gate q: sioTy cones
This Book VII make Traveller q thes.
II b is counsel thou Wit r.Isd BE;
Il vin direct thea u the Holy Lard,
u thou Wit its DtTscsi0us understand
Yea. It VII make the slo.hfl5l. sc1ire be.
The Blind, also, delightful things to see.
The idea Of a city Of destruction has
been awfully impressed upon the worlds
mind Of late days BY the havoc which the
earthquake has made OF Reggie and Mes
sina, in Italy. The horror Of this instap-
taneOus demolition Of e whole city an
pals even the most unimaginative. We
shUdder as We read the cumulative news
paper reports OF this incredible devasta-
ton Would that we had the imagfpa-
ton TO shudcer also over the cities Of
destruction that threaten the souls OF
men, Only the concrete seems to appeal
70 Us. We cannot visualize, as cid Bun
yan, the spiritual forces that imperiI
mankind.
The first step toward any progress in
life is an emancipation. an escape. from
old conditions
Unlovely as the subject IS, We nav
contemplate for moment the forces Of
destruction which inhabit every large
city. They attack a person In the form
OF idleness, greed, love Of luxury, vanity
and ostentatIon, appetite, the gaming In
stinct. emulation. and passion. An ugly
and mighty host they are, and all com
bind their other name is sin. This IS the
great escape-from the power Of environ
ment and indwelling sin. All high souls
have az some time shared Bunyan's
dream CT race which has effected the
great deliveranee from the City of De-
struction, which is. after all. only a per-
soniheetIon Of sin.
Methods Of freeing mankind from 4be
destruction which threatens it are vari-
Gus and ingenious. OF late years the
widespread social impulse has beeotten
innumera5le theories OF q UtoDia from,
which these OMNIBUS Ills will be 6e5arrAa
But AFTER al have been expounded and
experimented with, It remains true that
the only safety for society and Tor the
individual is 20 be found in Jesus Chrisf
The great defect in Bunyar's ailegorv
land It is merely defect Of the times in
which he lived Is that his Pilgrim Is
made TO fee from the City Of Destruc-
ton alone. leaving all behind him. even
his family. The way more in accord
with the example OF Abraham and Jesus
and with the modern Interpretation Of the
New Testament, would have been 10 t~v
10 save the whole city. No man is worthy
OF heaven who wants 20 win there alone. /
Jesus oraved death, to save those who
were Indifferent to their own peril.
There is universal human sentiment,
not by any means always srucuIata.