THE XIX BUNYAN1 (From The Academy for Feb. 20, 1875) 'HE Pilgrim's Progress is one of the strangest phenomena of literature; perhaps, indeed, the strangest. That a man of Bunyan's position, with all its crushing disadvantages, should have produced a work that was at once welcomed and loved by the class out of which its author sprang, and eventually won the admiration of the best judgments of the nation, is an achievement without a parallel. The case of Burns is quite different. As compared with the Bedford tinker, the Ayrshire ploughman was born in favourable circumstances, and in his very youth acquired no mean culture. Bunyan's high success makes one half doubt the existence of 'mute inglorious Miltons.' His genius was absolutely irrepressible. He was 'man and master of his fate.' At no time of his life did he breathe a truly genial atmosphere. Even in the society into which he was happily raised, there were many influences that might have proved fatal to a less hardy and sovereign spirit. One may see from his 'Apology' for his book that among his co-religion 1 The Pilgrim's Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan, being a Facsimile Reproduction of the First Edition. (London: Elliot Stock.) ists there were many who considered his 'feigning' to be of the world worldly. But all lets and hindrances-the blows of circumstance,' the narrowness of sect, the indifference or contempt of the powers that were-all these 'invidious bars' he broke through, and in some sort found for himself freedom and power. So did 'the foolish things of the world''confound the wise.' To many persons it is a distinct pleasure and a valuable help to peruse a man's writings in the very shape in which he sent them forth; to know his very orthography seems to bring the author nearer. And of course there are cases where the orthography may cast light upon the thought. But it is not only for such reasons that a facsimile reprint of The Pilgrim's Progress deserves notice. As we know so little of the growth of Bunyan's genius, a facsimile has special interest from the possibility that it may aid to elucidate that remarkable problem. The assistance may be inconsiderable; but certainly in the instance of Bunyan no assistance, however feeble and meagre, is to be rejected. Only one copy of the first edition of the First Part of The Pilgrim's Progress is extant, so far as is known; and this is a comparatively recent find. It is in the library of H. S. Holford, Esq., of Weston-Birt House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire. It is a significant sign of the popularity of the work that the second edition was issued in the same year as the first, viz. 1678, the date of the Third Part of Hudibras, four years after the death of Milton, three years before the publication of Absalom and Achitophel. It seems fairly certain that it had been written some years before. One may well accept the common belief that 'the den' was Bedford Gaol; and it was in June, 1672, that Bunyan was released therefrom. Moreover, we may gather from the Apology above mentioned that there was an appreciable interval be tween the production and the publication. He was busy, he says, when he Writing of the Way And Race of Saints in this our Gospel Day, Fell suddenly into an Allegory About their journey and the way to Glory. His ideas 'breed so fast' that he resolved to 'put them by themselves.' Well, so I did; but yet I did not think To shew to all the World my Pen and Ink In such a mode; I only thought to make I knew not what: nor did I undertake Thereby to please my neighbour; no, not I; I did it mine own self to gratifie. When 'mine ends' were thus put together, he consulted others about them, and it is evident the very life of the precious MS. was not altogether secure— Some said Let them live; some, Let them die; Thus his book, 'in wors condition than a peccant soul,' had 'to stand before a Jury ere it' could be born to the world, and undergo yet in darkness the judgment of Rhadamanth and his colleagues ere it' could 'pass the ferry backward into light.' In these deliberations probably some time was spent. So that at the time of the publication of his pilgrimage, Christian had probably been created at least some six years The Second Part of the work was certainly not written till the wide popularity of the First suggested it. In this case there could be no hesitation as to printing and publishing; so that we may believe it was not written, or finished, till 1683 or 1684. In the latter year it was given to the world. There was then an interval of at least some twelve years between the composition of the two parts. Something may certainly be gathered as to Bunyan's development by comparing these representatives of two periods of his life. The difference is in many respects very striking. But obviously what the volume before us suggests, is not so much this contrast between the First and Second Parts, as the difference between the early editions of the First Part. Messrs Unwin, the printers of the volume, inform us that the following are additions that appear in the second issue of 1678: The paragraph descriptive of Bunyan's revealing his distress to his family, and of their bearing towards him; the interruption and turning aside of Christian by Mr Worldly Wiseman (the former being represented in the first edition as going direct to the Wicket-gate from the Slough of Despond), and all the references to this incident; the interview between Charity and Christian at the Palace Beautiful; the meeting of Christian and Faithful with Evangelist, just previous to their entering Vanity Fair; the list of quaint names, descriptive of the relatives of Byends; the narrative relating to Lot's wife; and the conversation between Giant Despair and his wife Diffidence.'1 6 Seven noticeable additions. Messrs Unwin further inform us that the characters designated Mr Hold-the-world, Mr Money-love, and Mr Save-all, appear for the first time in the third edition.' All subsequent-eight editions were published before Bunyan's death, in 1638-changes are 'confined to orthography, grammar, and idiom, and the addition of fresh notes.' Thus we learn that The Pilgrim's Progress, in the shape in which we have it, was no rapidly improvised production, 1 For a more minute account of the additions see Godwin and Pocock's edition of The Pilgrim's Progress, illustrated by H. C. Selous (London, 1844). but beyond doubt the fruit of 'poetic pains' prolonged and incessant. Like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, it is a growth-an inspiration slowly ripened and perfected so far as might be a thing whose beauty and joy are no mere accidents, however divine, but the immortal results not only of an overflowing spontaneity but of a faithful loving toil, and a perpetual considerate cherishing. We see that Bunyan was a true artist, not a mere creature of impulse; that he too, with all his ignorances, had in him a fine sense of perfection; that he ever saw before him an ideal towards which he still stretched with devotion his rude-seeming hands, and the light of whose face broke and dispersed the shadows that threatened to close in upon his much-tried soul. To learn so much about him-to see that he was ever docile as well as ever aspiring, and conscious that his work might be bettered and amended-is indeed something. But it was known, even before the copy of the first edition was discovered, that in the second edition the work was not as we have it. It did not contain, for instance, the Byends passage. What we can now see for ourselves are differences between the first and second editions. In the Second Part no changes at all were made in the narrative. It was first published in 1684, a second time two years later, and in 1688 Bunyan died. We have no space now to speak of other matters concerning the author of The Pilgrim's Progress. We will only just say, with regard to his sources, that we think his indebtedness to old romances circulating in popular shapes has not yet been sufficiently recognised. It is especially noticeable in the Second Part. What is Mr Greatheart but one of the old knights sans peur et sans reproche-a Sir Guy or Sir Bevis-in new surroundings? One thing more. Many who discuss Bunyan's material write as if the idea of pil |