iliation, of the
encounter with Apollyon, of the wares of Vanity Fair, "kept all the
year long," of my lord Time-server, of Mr. Anything, of imprisonment
in Doubting Castle by Giant Despair, of the flowery land of Beulah,
lying beyond the valley of the Shadow of Death, through which a deep,
cold river runs, and of the city of All Delight on the other side.
This story still has absorbing interest for human beings, for the
child and the old man, the learned and the ignorant.

Bunyan wrote many other works, but none of them equals the _Pilgrim's
Progress_. His _Holy War_ is a powerful allegory, which has been
called a prose _Paradise Lost_. Bunyan also produced a strong piece of
realistic fiction, the _Life and Death of Mr. Badman_. This shows the
descent of a soul along the broad road. The story is the counterpart
of his great masterpiece, and ranks second to it in point of merit.

[Illustration: BUNYAN'S DREAM. _From Fourth Edition Pilgrim's
Progress, 1680_.]

General Characteristics.--Since the _Pilgrim's Progress_ has been
more widely read in England than any other book except the _Bible_, it
is well to investigate the secret of Bunyan's power.

In the first place, his style is simple. In the second place, rare
earnestness is coupled with this simplicity. He had something to say,
which in his inmost soul he felt to be of supreme importance for all
time. Only a great man can tell such truths without a flourish of
language, or without straining after effect. At the most critical part
of the journey of the Pilgrims, when they approach the river of death,
note that Bunyan avoids the tendency to indulge in fine writing, that
he is content to rely on the power of the subject matter, simply
presented, to make us feel the terrible ordeal:--

"Now I further saw that betwixt
them and the gate was a river; but
there was no bridge to go over, and the
river was very deep... The Pilgrims
then, especially Christian, began
to despond in their minds, and looked
this way and that, but no way could
be found by them by which they might
escape the river... They then addressed
themselves to the water, and
entering, Christian began to sink...
And with that, a great darkness and
horror fell upon Christian, so that he
could not see before him..."

"Now, upon the bank of the river, on the other side, they saw the
two shining men again, who there waited for them... Now you
must note that the city st