place for the use of such as did not conform to the Church of England, who were of the persuasion commonly called Congregational; and, on the same day, license was given to "John Bunyon" to be a teacher of the congregation allowed in that house, or in any other place licensed according to the Royal Declaration. And these, not improbably, were the very first instances in which such licenses had been given.

In places where no building sufficiently large could be obtained, Bunyan occasionally preached in the open air. One of the spots thus consecrated in the estimation of his admirers, is a Dell in Wainwood, near Hitchin, which the inhabitants of that town take delight in pointing out to strangers.

and, in the original place, as enlarged, he continued to preach, without interruption, except from voluntary absence, till death.1

It is an evidence of his extensive knowledge of the Scriptures, as well as of his candour and courage, that, in the course of his ministry, he did not shrink from argument with learned divines, who sometimes presented themselves as opponents, supposing him to be an ignorant because a self-educated man; yet, whenever he met with a difficulty which he could not solve, he frankly admitted it, simply observing on one occasion when other men were giving confident expositions of Rom. viii. 19-22, "The Scriptures are wiser than I."5

He paid frequent visits to London, where his popularity was so

4 During the greater part of his permitted ministry, Bunyan lived at Bedford, in the street opposite to the meeting-house, in a lowly cottage since taken down. 5 The following is related by one of his editors as an instance of his prompt. ness in retort. A Quaker came to him in gaol, and said: "Friend Bunyan, the Lord hath sent me to seek for thee; and I have been through several counties in search of thee: and now, I am glad I have found thee." Friend," replied Bunyan, "thou dost not speak truth, in saying the Lord sent thee to seek me; for the Lord well knows that I have been in this gaol for some years; and, if he had sent thee, he would have sent thee here directly."

great, that, on the shortest notice, Zoar Chapel, in Southwark,-an unsightly structure, which, in 1822, was converted into a workshop,would be filled to overflowing, and crowded congregations came to hear him even on dark week-day mornings at an early hour. He also made preaching tours in different parts of the Kingdom, relieving, as the almoner of other persons, the wants of sufferers for conscience' sake, reconciling differences, preventing litigation, and thus meriting a title, first given him in derision-Bishop Bunyan.

When, by the Act of Indulgence in 1687, James II. professed to give liberty of conscience to all Dissenters, Bunyan did not hesitate to avail himself of it, though he declined to be made subservient to the royal designs. The real benefit, he saw, was intended for the Papists; but neither that consideration nor the suggestion that to accept the measure involved an admission of the King's claim to govern without a parliament, prevented him from availing himself, so

long as might be, of its advantages. The storm which he was among the foremost to apprehend, hung darkly over the land; but, though imminent, it was providentially averted, and the hypocritical indulgence of the fugitive King was followed by that Magna Charta of religious rights, the Toleration Act. He, however, had not the consolation of living to see the glorious calm which succeeded. On the 5th of November, 1688, William of Orange landed at Torbay ; but, by that time, the greatest man in England, John Milton alone excepted, had been translated from earth to heaven.

The last act of Bunyan's life was one of charity. A young man under his father's displeasure, implored his intercession; for which purpose, he journeyed to Reading in Berkshire. Having succeeded in his errand, he was on his way back through London, when a heavy rain overtook him, and he arrived at the house of his friend Strudwick on Snow Hill, wet through. Symptoms of fever supervened; and, after ten days' illness, he died in peace, on the last day of August, although his tomb, in Bunhill Fields, bears this inscription:-" Mr. John Bunyan, Author of the Pilgrim's Progress, ob. 12 Aug. 1688, Æt. 60."7

Of the maiden names of his two wives there is no account; nor of the death of the first, or of his marriage to the second, Elizabeth, except that it must have been contracted about 1658. His blind daughter, Mary, died some years before him; the other three children, Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah, surviving him.8 His widow died in 1692. Thomas (for whom he had declined to accept apprenticeship to a wealthy citizen of London9 without a premium, saying, “God did not send me to advance the honour of my family, but to preach the Gospel")

6 Not long after the accession of James II., Bunyan conveyed his little property by deed of gift to his wife, not knowing what might befall him.

7 Mrs. S. C. Hall, in her charming "Pilgrimages to English Shrines," (among which she gives precedence to "The Birth-place of John Bunyan,") states, upon the authority of an old lady who remembers the fact perfectly, that Bunyan's grave "was a decayed-looking grave, some brickwork fallen down, and a sort of headstone, green and mouldering, upon which was what she called faintly carved, Here lies John Bunyan.'" Mrs. Hall's informant is positive as to the inscription, as she frequently visited the grave, and speaks of it to this day. 8 Doe, his contemporary and first editor, gives him five surviving children; three sons, John, Thomas, and Joseph; and two daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah. 9 Southey, from Ellis's Correspondence, deduces it as a fact, that Bunyan, at the time of his death, stood in the relation of pastor, or “teacher," to the then Lord Mayor of London.

joined his father's church June 6, 1673, and became a "preacher" in 1692, but attained to no eminence, although upwards of forty-five years a member. Other persons of the name of Bunyan are mentioned in the church-book. The last of his descendants of whom any record has been found, is Hannah Bunyan, his great granddaughter, who died February 15, 1770, aged seventy-six years; but Mr. Offor, as well as Mrs. Hall, relates a conversation with Mrs. Senegar, a lineal descendant from John Bunyan by his son Joseph. She was living in Islington in 1847, aged eighty-four; and there is still living, at Lincoln, an aged farmer, Robert Bunyan, also a lineal descendant through the same parentage.

Bunyan is described by Mr. Charles Doe, one of his contemporaries, as appearing stern and rough, but as being mild and affable, though rather taciturn than loquacious. He was tall, strong-boned, not corpulent, of a ruddy complexion, with sparkling eyes. His hair, originally reddish, was sprinkled with gray; and he wore a moustache, after the old British fashion. His nose was well set, but not declining nor bending; his mouth moderately large, and his forehead rather high. His raiment was always plain and modest.