The Life of John Bunyan [57]
But the bishop would not budge from the position he had
taken up. They had his ultimatum; with that they must be content.
If Bunyan was to be liberated, his friends must accept Barlow's
terms. "This at last was done, and the poor man was released. But
little thanks to the bishop."
This short six months' imprisonment assumes additional importance
from the probability, first suggested by Dr. Brown, which the
recovery of its date renders almost a certainty, that it was during
this period that Bunyan began, if he did not complete, the first
part of "The Pilgrim's Progress." We know from Bunyan's own words
that the book was begun in gaol, and its composition has been
hitherto unhesitatingly assigned to his twelve years' confinement.
Dr. Brown was, we believe, the first to call this in question.
Bunyan's imprisonment, we know, ended in 1672. The first edition
of "The Pilgrim's Progress" did not appear till 1678. If written
during his earlier imprisonment, six years must have elapsed
between its writing and its publication. But it was not Bunyan's
way to keep his works in manuscript so long after their completion.
His books were commonly put in the printers' hands as soon as they
were finished. There are no sufficient reasons - though some have
been suggested - for his making an exception to this general habit
in the case of "The Pilgrim's Progress." Besides we should
certainly conclude, from the poetical introduction, that there was
little delay between the finishing of the book and its being given
to the world. After having written the book, he tells us, simply
to gratify himself, spending only "vacant seasons" in his
"scribble," to "divert" himself "from worser thoughts," he showed
it to his friends to get their opinion whether it should be
published or not. But as they were not all of one mind, but some
counselled one thing and some another, after some perplexity, he
took the matter into his own hands.
"Now was I in a strait, and did not see
Which was the best thing to be done by me;
At last I thought, Since you are so divided,
I print it will, and so the case decided."
We must agree with Dr. Brown that "there is a briskness about this
which, to say the least, is not suggestive of a six years' interval
before publication." The break which occurs in the narrative after
the visit of the Pilgrims to the Delectable Mountains, which so
unnecessarily interrupts the course of the story - "So I awoke from
my dream; and I slept and dreamed again" - has been not
unreasonably thought by Dr. Brown to indicate the point Bunyan had
reached when his six months' imprisonment ended, and from which he
continued the book after his release.
The First Part of "The Pilgrim's Progress" issued from the press in
1678. A second edition followed in the same year, and a third with
large and important additions in 1679. The Second Part, after an
interval of seven years, followed early in 1685. Between the two
parts appeared two of his most celebrated works - the "Life and
Death of Mr. Badman," published in 1680, originally intended to
supply a contrast and a foil to "The Pilgrim's Progress," by
depicting a life which was scandalously bad; and, in 1682, that
which Macaulay, with perhaps exaggerated eulogy, has said, "would
have been our greatest allegory if the earlier allegory had never
been written," the "Holy War made by Shaddai upon Diabolus."
Superior to "The Pilgrim's Progress" as a literary composition,
this last work must be pronounced decidedly inferior to it in
attractive power. For one who reads the "Holy War," five hundred
read the "Pilgrim." And those who read it once return to it again
and again, with ever fresh delight. It is a book that never tires.
One or two perusals of the "Holy War" satisfy: and even these are
not without weariness. As Mr. Froude has said, "The 'Holy War'
would have entitled Bunyan to a place
taken up. They had his ultimatum; with that they must be content.
If Bunyan was to be liberated, his friends must accept Barlow's
terms. "This at last was done, and the poor man was released. But
little thanks to the bishop."
This short six months' imprisonment assumes additional importance
from the probability, first suggested by Dr. Brown, which the
recovery of its date renders almost a certainty, that it was during
this period that Bunyan began, if he did not complete, the first
part of "The Pilgrim's Progress." We know from Bunyan's own words
that the book was begun in gaol, and its composition has been
hitherto unhesitatingly assigned to his twelve years' confinement.
Dr. Brown was, we believe, the first to call this in question.
Bunyan's imprisonment, we know, ended in 1672. The first edition
of "The Pilgrim's Progress" did not appear till 1678. If written
during his earlier imprisonment, six years must have elapsed
between its writing and its publication. But it was not Bunyan's
way to keep his works in manuscript so long after their completion.
His books were commonly put in the printers' hands as soon as they
were finished. There are no sufficient reasons - though some have
been suggested - for his making an exception to this general habit
in the case of "The Pilgrim's Progress." Besides we should
certainly conclude, from the poetical introduction, that there was
little delay between the finishing of the book and its being given
to the world. After having written the book, he tells us, simply
to gratify himself, spending only "vacant seasons" in his
"scribble," to "divert" himself "from worser thoughts," he showed
it to his friends to get their opinion whether it should be
published or not. But as they were not all of one mind, but some
counselled one thing and some another, after some perplexity, he
took the matter into his own hands.
"Now was I in a strait, and did not see
Which was the best thing to be done by me;
At last I thought, Since you are so divided,
I print it will, and so the case decided."
We must agree with Dr. Brown that "there is a briskness about this
which, to say the least, is not suggestive of a six years' interval
before publication." The break which occurs in the narrative after
the visit of the Pilgrims to the Delectable Mountains, which so
unnecessarily interrupts the course of the story - "So I awoke from
my dream; and I slept and dreamed again" - has been not
unreasonably thought by Dr. Brown to indicate the point Bunyan had
reached when his six months' imprisonment ended, and from which he
continued the book after his release.
The First Part of "The Pilgrim's Progress" issued from the press in
1678. A second edition followed in the same year, and a third with
large and important additions in 1679. The Second Part, after an
interval of seven years, followed early in 1685. Between the two
parts appeared two of his most celebrated works - the "Life and
Death of Mr. Badman," published in 1680, originally intended to
supply a contrast and a foil to "The Pilgrim's Progress," by
depicting a life which was scandalously bad; and, in 1682, that
which Macaulay, with perhaps exaggerated eulogy, has said, "would
have been our greatest allegory if the earlier allegory had never
been written," the "Holy War made by Shaddai upon Diabolus."
Superior to "The Pilgrim's Progress" as a literary composition,
this last work must be pronounced decidedly inferior to it in
attractive power. For one who reads the "Holy War," five hundred
read the "Pilgrim." And those who read it once return to it again
and again, with ever fresh delight. It is a book that never tires.
One or two perusals of the "Holy War" satisfy: and even these are
not without weariness. As Mr. Froude has said, "The 'Holy War'
would have entitled Bunyan to a place