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THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1928 Ee EE -- : HE [IMMORTAL TINKER . John Bunyan 1628-1688 By E. Burnham Wyllie a REE husdred years ago this T ams, Cottle Sen | oe pro Pug in Jono ia was hy on withe "immoral 2 N spired narrative of Curing pil image irom Whe Rw re to the Celestial oy and loved as long as © ge lasts, a wit in an teenth Century. The royalist circles were flippant and smart but common-place; the puritan had hardened in ta a sot of usterities that a Sental revival sweep away was not inhe and decéney arrayed at St sect } COMPIOM! \] find it hard to understand, even though it is reproduced in the me- Sern jangle of some sects and fas- ns today. But the Seventeenth Century did leave us two a of ita worth: Paradise Lost and Pilgrim's Progress re two of the few hooks of man's journey, the kn { which is the essential every educated person. wih Ly ye hat Ro every class and to every age an ce. It is as much a part of the urnishings of our childhood as the ursery rhymes of famed Old Mother se; it just belongs, as much and as vitally, as does the paper on the walls of our playsraoms of the fur- nishings of the most humble hu where children are font An no hat there are few who lek up this strange and wondrous tale when jants and monsters have long ceas- ed to interest us, a less to give ws the old thrills, e are all pils ims, more or less, and we all love o find in Bunyan's story the days journey; to meet the le we ave met and to see them ahd our- selves as others ses us, ble, my Pros readers than any her book; it is translated into more tongues and dialects than any other hook; it has had more imitas tors and fewer equals than any other ook and after three hundred years, is still the best seller in every type of issue and binding, fro the gheap- ot and mast erude, to the handsome ¢ luxe editions replete with the art of the most modern illustrator and at a guinea a copy, Wie + And also, How? John nya was not learned in the ools, he was not A teat genius the Mind, nor did he catch a Ki truths that other An Next to the ess has had more se | 8 of ¢ of mpae of any wy ad missed or lost, ok at im, as he sits in Bedford gaol, He s a strong man, a kindly man, from his Ld) but there is not 8 thing in that fagt that would cause the shy te ook, the second time, apart from figriavs rogress, would have lived and died as one of the strong, wellsmeaning and ndly souls of his diy, one of very many who resisted jate-sraft and stood in the dock of liberty of conse cience, He would have died and his name would have ben on in the very county where his genia rns or hon {ttow-men ad been spent, And yet his three hundredth anniversary will be remembered by More people, preached about frem more pulpits and written about in more papers and magasines all over he world than that of any fan whe as lived since su of Nazareth, aul and that splendid band that ushered into the world a new Faith, A Humble Beginning John Banyan was born in Novem: ¢r 1628 at Elstow, a small hamlet n Bedfordsliire and near the county seat of Bedford, His family is re- torded in the parishes about the tounty of Buignon, Bunion, onyon or Binyan f 8 fatly as Dé be. ginn "4 of the century as small frecholders and lattefly "brasiers" or tinkers who plied t homely art of mending kettles, They seem to have been a shift above the Jravellin mendicant-tinkers who were amous for their wanderings dogs gerel and evil living, for Tho! F his own confessions, the ohn dii not profit over "good manners," for he rom youthful puch Enectise are token with & lerpe wrain of sali: to fim the ipherest evil in his a: ture v5 prefoindly seul in an sl stract $ace boa wien he das accused by ns eiemies of esil #hastity he Ao ly ood ciurdily de- Pies all charges and demands that his enfmies Ling farn beir prt Is evil cops ifsacions. "Ui i ey Were ibable to do, any in reality lus e stems to have bzen sinoulacly ving and ua- | nd ours. He did hate a penchant anity, but this he was able to though for years there was a strong inclination to outbursts imprecation of things ed, so he tells us, to the elements of the Eucharist, the Preachers and the very Church re he worshipped. This is quite easily understood, as a peculiar mani- festation of that almost abnormal inative mind that he possessed: religious emotionalism is of a type of impiety and holy. He v. [LR (LINN W Wi WA WN RR INURE \ fighting saints of the civil wars of England at that time. Marvied at Age of Nineteen At about the age of mineteen he married a simple hearted peasant girl who brought as her dowry twe or three pious books much' in vogue among the puritans. At her sugges- tion Bunyan read these and his mind became only the more diseased and almost over-turned by the spiritual agony that possessed him. He be- turn to hate and revolution again. The acts against the non-conformists houses were closed, while preachers who would not "conform" were cast into prison. Bunyan was warned, as he was about to go to his meeting place, but the "tinker preacher" was not of the stuff to refuse the dangers of worshipping according to his cons» cience. He went 10 the Bedford meeting place; was arrested and came intrigued with curiousity to AND HIS BLIND DAUGHTER brought before Magistrate Wingate. BC tin NE A i" Wan ly Ww with all emotional effervescence, ex- cept as it is disciplined and directed. St. Paul found the same thing in Corinth, where some of the new con- verts would break forth in cursing, under the profound stimulus of the worship of that church, and Paul had to severely check many similar manifestations of emotionalism, Tormented By Visions In Bunyan's case there was added to his hot nature and sturdy mind a nature that hecame increasingly calm and sane as the passions of a sick-soml were diverted by persecu- tion from without. Bunyan seems to have been one of those men, of whom there are not a few, who thrive un- der the forced growth of hardness. The prison cell was for him, with all its attendant denials and suffer- ings, a better fidwering bed than populatity and freedom, Bunyen went through a most un- usual youth. His days and nights were filled with dismal visions of de- Is, fires and torments, He ranged e entire valley of humiliation and spair and every experience that hed into his soul was so intensely feal that they all live in the agonies of "Christian," The religious world of the puritan was dark, and no cor- r was so dark and evil as that in hie this high minded and passion- ate youth lived. Yet his life seems to have been clean and free from the evils of camp and town. His sins were creatures of his mind: at one time he thought he belonged to the ewish race, but his father appar- thy had no inclination to be num- red among the Chosen People and that notion received little encourage- ment, At another time he thought the faith of Tofam was better than that of Christianity; He felt he had power todry up the water pools that lay in the roads; he felt the impulse +] ray to the tiles on the roofs; h aged to be a devil in hell and he would go lothe church tower to wateh Jiis companions "ri the bells" even though he felt that the tower ight fall on him fof his evil deeds. It is not profitable,to dwell on the experiences through' which Bunyan liged through his boyhood apd early manhood. He brogded over evils) bad existence' biily in his mind, | wegh he had no smal oupor-| the :pental scupges- | > Parliament-ar ier-ife vas not yery cani, oxcent that it gove Lim a k for + vomy 20d ccumstancrs of sear: he was perfectly at home in the | language if not » Colds of the ge and armies; hi Gres deart, Captain Beaneruges, C io ree from thie coarse evils of lis day probably dizwa from some of hel i {to hie med in tain Credence, Valiant for Truth are | tio the "unpardonable sin," and had a great passion to commit it. He was tempted to "sell Christ" and at last he yielded: "Let Him go, if He will" were the words that swept through his mind. Dur- ing this time he was a pharisee of the pharisces and regarded as a peculiar object of "grace" and had. joined the Baptist Society under a Mr. Gif- ford and had begun, at the earnest solicitation of his fellow Baptists, to preach, His deadly sins of playing at tip- cat, dancing on the village green an bell-ringing after the good folk had returned to their homes from wor- ship, had been sternly put aside and he stood forth as a "brand plucked from the burning." His homely wit, strong, if imaginative cxpericnces, ready command of homely Anglo- Saxon enabled him to preach to people with convincing power. Iis fame spread and the "preaching tinker" brought many of his fellows up with 8 sharp turn. He cven won the respect of the half-contemptuous. i as in 1655 ,that he removed to edford and in '57 he was recog- nized as a preacher of the Baptist sect, His wife died soon after his re- moval to Bedford, leaving him with four little children, onc of which, Mary, was born blind. He married again, to a woman eof strong and sweet nature and much the superiors intellectually, to his first wife. In this dawning of his "religious life" Bunyan was a strbug opponent of other sects, such as 'the Quakers, and was very bitter against the Ipisco- pacy, though he did not hold very strongly to the chief tenet of the Bapust society and did not disdain to commune with Presbyterians and Independents. He shows himself to have hcen an affectionate husband and father, much to the distrust of his sterner fellow-religionists, who looked upon parental love and ten- derness with suspicion, as something to be rigorously checked. The really permanent development of his nature had not yet been made; the nature of the dross was still amply mixed with | | the gold; John Bunyan was but one of many rather intolerant, pharisai- cal, vehement and controversial pr achers thrown up by the religious upheavals of the seventeenth cep- tury. Already he did show the rarer will meyer seemed to Jead | streak of gold in a deeply affectionate | ing long-tagged laces an re and some tolerance that lifted 1 above some of the narrowness s. The rest was afts of deep sorrow and leng dmprisonnient. Days of Persecution The deat! i Cron and the f d brought a! of the * Restora~ nat his ceutempo + a3 acc amid much rejoicing that would sovn wed fact] The Prisoner on the Bridee Over the Ouse Wher ¢ The Progress Was Written | There was no persecution, by the court, for Bunyan was held ih high repute and. known to be free from the taint of rebellion , , he did not mix religion and politics But the law was there, and Bunyan was there two irreconcilables, met and neither could yield, so Mr. Wingate was forced to hold him over for the assizes. Bunyan was in great dis- tress for he did not seck to pose as a martyr, and he was forced to leave his wife with the four little children; especially did his heart yearn for his blind daughter. The quarter ses- sions came in due time and there was no other result, the law being what it was, and Bunyan being what he was, but that he be committed to prison in the county gaol. Every effort was made hy his judges to win him oyer from his course; he was coaxed, threatened, flattered and ridi- culed; he was told that it was right for him to use his talents, but that these were to mend kettles and not to usurp the office of the regular clergy. So to prison he went and for twelve years he remained in' more or less close confinement, At first his. imprisonment was strict and harsh, as was all imprisonment in the unspeakable gaols of the period. But as the bitterness of the political feuds died down, there is evidence that Bunyan was often allowed some liberty, even to visit his family and on such occasions he kept in touch with his flock and preached in season and out of season. There is no doubt but this period was fraught with deep pain and sor» row for his wife and children, des prived as they were of his support. His wife sought the judges and im- plored their leniency ; Tusfice Hale was kindly disposed to her and her brood, but his associate on the [bench was a typically brutal chur | and taunted the poor woman and acs | cused her bushapd of fraud charged that she was concealin ¢ real condition. Through it all she stood Joyal to Jobn Bunyan and holdly defended his determination not to renounce his faith and his call to preach to his flock. He was a man who would not desert in the heat of battle, and she was a staunch and loyal mate for such a map. The Birth of Pilgrim's Pro During his imprisonment unyan turned to support his family by mak- { hawkers {carried his wares through the coun- | try and so won some scanty support { for the loved ones who were in dire | need. But during thi; time came a | greater work through the ample leis sure of enforced idleness. The Bible and Foxe's k of Martyrs were his chief «x anions and he wrote wach 2s his ghier, Mary, would | sit by side, as she loved to do nd hold his nk-horn. From his pen came much stuff of a purely con- his 12 ' were revived and chapels and meeting | Chri | he tells us | parts of the country. | the esteem of his country | rulers that he was not thrown into ! prison troversial nature, and some of highly practical kind: The Holy City, Christian Behaviour, Grace Abound- ing," The Resurrection of the Dead and other books, less well known. Here the idea came to him of an al- of the Christian life; and so swiftly did the ideas flood in upon him that they bid fair to spoil the work that he was writing. So, as the Apology for the Progress, " vi then, thought I. if that you breed so fast I'll put you by yourselves, lest you at last should ove ad infinitum, and eat out The ook that 1 already am about." Thus was born one of the greatest works in the English la e. When it was completed he showed it to his friends and some were shocked at it as a frivolous thing about giants and gobblins and rapturous damsels; others commended it and decided to issue it to the world. From the very beginning it was an immense success and within the time from 1678 to eleven editions were issued. During the time between the issue of the book in '78 and his death in '88, he continued to write in the same vein, not always with so Sr success, but acceptably; the Holy War, described by Macaulay as the greatest allegory next to the Progress, appeared in '82; in '8 the second part of the Progress, dealin with the pilgrimage of Christian's wife and family; in '80 came the "Life and Death of Mr. Badman." These, except The Holy War, are much inferior to Pilgrim's Progress and indicate that the vein of genius was not inexhaustible. It is worth while to explore the mother- lode for the sake of the one nugget of surpassing richness. appier Days In 1672 Charles 11 made a gesture to establish the Papal connection again and to that end he annulled the laws against non-comformists; Bunyan was released and received a royal licence to preach. From now onward his station was very different from what it had been, and he was re- ceived with marks of affection every- where. His material condition also changed and his family was able to live in some small comfort. But through all his popularity, and lat- terly his fame, Bunyan never lost his head, nor did he ever presume to leave his chosen calling of minister ing to the flock of Bedford Baptists. ! Frequently he was called to London and elsewhere on preaching missions and to visit the Churches in all Wherever he went he was listened to by immense crowds and his good offices as medi- ator were in constant demand. His deep piety, keen wit and wholesome "sanity made him a man of mark and his services to humanity were un- stinted. The abortive attempt of Monmouth in 1685 revived the hos- tility of the authorities against "non- conformity" and many suffered for that fool-hardy attempt. But it is a signal tribute to Buyan's place in and its when many less prominent men suffered even death. Bunyan was courted by the party of James, hut he had grown wiser and foresaw that evil days were ahead. He re- fused even to meet the royal com- missioner who came down to Bed- ford in 1687 to secure his acceptance of a royal appointment, and bravely warned his people to prepare by fasting and prayer for the coming menace against their .civil and re- ligious liberties. He died before the Bloodless Revolution of '88. While still ministering to his flock in Bedford, he was unofficially chap- lain to Sir John Shorter, Lord Mayor of London, in '87-'88 and while in London was besought to intercede on hehalf of a young man whose father had threatened to dis- inherit him for some misdemeanor. Bunyan was ever ready to use his A offices, and set out for Reading on horseback. His mission was suc- cessful, hut the ride in the pelting rain was too much for the "tinker- preacher." He reached London with a heavy chill, developed a severe fever and died in his lodgings at Snow Hill on August 31, 1688. He was buried in Bunhill Fields bufying grounds, where a handsome tomb marks the resting place of one of the most remarkable men of his cen- TOMB OF JOHN BUNYAN tury, and of one who has left a more enduring monument in the simple story of Pilgrim's Progress. The first edn of this Book 'were almost solely for the readin, of the down-stairs; the servants ax easants found their literature in jt. senerally the educated classes looked upon it as a piece of vulgar comedy and for many years no first-rate author or critic pays any tribute to Bunyan. But as years have passed the erudite few have swung over to the approval of the vulgar, but hu- man many, and now this Story is the common treasure of all classes, bringing delight and fearful tremours to the children of the rich as well as to those of the poor. Milton and Dante, who have writ- ten great epics of Life, were men of such vast learning that their works astound us; but they lacked the one indispensable of a great writer-- humour. This quality was possessed by Bunyan and relieves the Progress from the deadly weariness of a homily, You never think he is preaching ; the tale of the dialogue between By Ends, IHold-the-World- 1685 | moment; we know the grip o Fast and Christian is a classical ex- ample; Should a minister, or any an ume religion to better his : he may become more pi- ous, more studious, and more lenient in sone of his views in order to marry a rich wife, to secure better cus- tomers, 10 enjoy greater goods-- these are all | and the new spurt ol is £4. 30 reason Ends and Hold-Fast: it is right that a man may assume § or gain. It sounds just like a modern speech 8lin Rotary, and it bore directly on the clergy of Bunyan's time--there is keen humour in list to the entous arguments of these fel- ws--and there is a sting in that humour. So thru the Book; every situation is relieved by these touches that never cease to bring a whimsical wile to the reader. wie . unyan is so mig uman ; fellows we meet in the Pilgrimage are just o isles, and others we have met all thru the day. Everyone knows the Slough of Despond; there is always a Mr, Help; there are so many Mr. Pliables and \t id urch and club has a flock of Mr. tin. ates. We are a ray going in and out the Interpréter's House; we are always meeting fellows who pay ne admission, but come in over the wall; there are many Hills of Difficulty and many a time we have slept here we should have just rest ws spair and we are always accompanied by the jolly optimism of Hope, that is not always too secure; Hope de: ferred sickens very readily as we all know. It is the rare man who has not a Faithful by his side as wife, mother or friend--and sometimes we kill Faith by staying everlong in Vanity Fair. We've met the Shep- herds, Watchful, Sincere, ete. ~plain and homely fellows who are not a bit inclined to flatter, but whe are mighty dependable when we're in a pinch, as we often are. We are al- ways taking a peep at the Delectable Mountains long before we get there, and the sight does us good--=it bucks the pilgrim up to look ahead; and many a time we have lain if the Valley of Humiliation. e have all met the fellows who seem So very cocky but who drop out of sight before long, many start but few finish in the Marathon of life=that's there too. In himself, John Bunyan was a genial soul, great-hearted and kind; far greater than his age in some very humane respects, and very much the child of his age in some other things. But the one flash in the pan that threw out Pilgrim's Progress was a flash in the night for which we are deeply grateful. We miss the night less, because of that one flash of Light--Pilgrim's Progress. U.S, 70 SAFEGUARD RIGHTS AT SEA Col, E, M, House Says U.S, Will Not Enter Into a Building Rivalry isn Press) Bos Sn Sanndign | 10.--DBoston Lloyd George once told Col. E. M. House that Great Britain "would spend her last guinea to keep a navy superior to that of the United States or any other power," House wrote in his diary. : Lloyd George, then British prime minister, is reported to have added that "no cabinet oficial could con- tinue in the government in England who took a different position." House countered with the assertion it was not the purpose of the United States to go into naval building riv- alry with Great Britain, but to have its rights at sea "adequately safe- guarded." The incident is recorded in the last two volumes of "The Intimate Papers of Colonel House," just pub: lished. The central theme of the new volumes is American participa- tion in the war and the peace eon- ference, Several times in the peace nego- tiations there were disagreements, particularly between Clemenceau, ve- presenting France, and President Wilson, whose "assistant" House was called by Lord Northcliffe, In June, 1919, after the conference, Colonel House told Wilson that if the president treated the senate with the "same consideration he had used with his foreign colleagues" all would be well. "House," replied Wilson, "I have found one can never get anything in this life that is worth while without fighting for it." LADY HEATH TO TRY FOR HEIGHT RECORD Sails for America to Cor Operate With Miss Cahir Noy 10, -- Lady eath sailed Friday tor the United tes, where 8 Hl make an at- tempt forthe light plane sititvde record. Lady Heath, who flew from Cape Town to London several months ago, recently established w claimed to be & world AT re- cord for womep. Also sailing on the Leviathap were Clarence D. Chamberlin and Mrs. Ruth Knowles. Lady Heath said she hoped lo co-operate with Miss Amela r- bart and Miss Ruth Nichols, Am- erican fliers in popularizing flying clubs and civilian flying in the United States. SEVENTY BAGS OF MAIL BAIVAGED FROM VESSEL St. Pierre, Miquelon, Noy. 7.-- Seventy bags of mail out of the 137 eafried by the Halifax steamer Skipper, which went ashore op the north coast of St. Plerre, near the entrance to the harbor jast might. had been salvaged' when dirty weather put an end to the opera- Southampton, tions temporarily tonight Suffered Many Years with Rheumatism She then Found Relief in Dodd's Kidney Pills ITUNY KIDNEY New York, N.Y. Nov. 10.--Ten years ago the servants and super- intendants of New York's large apartment houses dwelt on the roofs, among the ventilating shafts, water tanks and laundry lines, None but they could live there, for a clause in the tenement cade for- bade the rental of such quarters. Somre of the roof-dwelling men- fals proceeded to set out flowers and potted shrubs, and managed ta give their environs the appearanca of a suburban development. Tenants noticed the escape from four walls and coveted such abodes for them- selves, There was no ordinance against construction of living quarters above office buildings, and several men of means bullt bungalows on top of their places of business, Pre- sently apartment dwellers who could afford it were moving to roof villas, keeping within the spirit of the law by having themselves ap- pointed superintendents at $1 a year. The real superintendents be- Roof Gardens Become Popular as Abodes of Business Men came assistant superintendents, moved to basements, got their old wages and continued to do all the work. Only three years ago was the leg- al ban raised. Since then no mew apartment of any size or pretense has been reared without its pent- house. The laundry lines and water tanks are gone. The ventilating shafts are disguised. Tarpager roofing has been replaced by turf and flagstones. In the midst of hedges and lawns and gardens, 20 stories above the street rise cottag- es, pagodas and studios. With the discovery of roofs has * come greater use of them for rec- reational lpurposes. Many a roof contains a miniature golf course, tennis and handbail courts, cro- quet grounds or children's play- grounds. with swings and sandpiles. And builders agree that the city of to-morrow will be as colorful frony the air as a verdant country- side with greenery on its roofs vie- | Ine for brilliance with its golden spires. . SOVIET RUSSIA T CULTIVATE COTTON Pest Control is to Be Em. ployed--2 000,000 Acres to Be Planted (By Canadian Press) Florence, S C., Nov. 10--Methods of cotton cultivation and cotton pest control employed in the south are soon to he tried in Soviet Rus: sia, where 2,000,000 acres are said now to be planted yearly to the fleecy staple. Two representatives of the Soviet goverhiment are on a special trip to America to study southern methods of cotton production, especially those having to do with control of pests. They are Prof. Phillip Zat- zey, Tiflis, Transcaucasia, and Prof. V. V. Nikolsky, Mescow Tropical In- stitute and colton committee. The first place visited was the Pee Dee experiment station at Florence, with visits to Florida, Texas, and other cotton states scheduled. The Pee Dee station is maintained by Clemson College and the State Ag- ricultural College, together with the United States Government. The Rus- slans are interested chiefly in insect control. They say they are eager to make a close study of American methods of producing cotton with a view to in- troducing these methods in Russia. The visitors say that Russia has not had to contend with the boll weevil, most of the trouble so far having been with the red spider and plant lice. Nevertheless, they wish to be prepared for any emergency. BRITISH COLLIERIES ANNOUNCE MERGER London, Nov. [--Tt is officially con- firmed that the colliery combine, the Manchester Collieries, Limited, is ac- quiring the Astley and Tyldesley Col- lieries Limited, thus completing the merger of six of the largest colleries in Lancashire with a combined capi- tal of between £4,000,000 and £5,000,- 000. (Approximately $20,000,000 and $25,000,000.) According to official statistics, 14 amalpgesitn hac Teen carried out under the terms of the Mining Industry Act, 1926, covering nearly 200 pits, employing 140,000 miners. The most notable of these, the South Wales anthracite amalga- mation, completely unified the own- ership and control of 75 per cent, of the production of anthracite. bhobogd 4 REDROSE TE A 'isgood ted' If you want the very best, ask for Red Rose Orange Pekoe 7 clean, bright Aluminum x, If the name Bayer appears, it is fot! Headaches are dispelied the pai with them ; even Physicians it does well tions, the Tablets will be stamped with affect Aspirin Js the trade mark (registered in Canada PIRIN The whole world knows Aspirin as an effective antidote for pain. But it's just as important to know that there is only one going Aspirin. The name Bayer is on every tablet, and on the it's genuine; and if it doesn't, by Aspigin. So are colds, and neuralgia, neuritis, and rheuma- in that tism nt, Get Aspirin--at any drugstore--with ru cA ug Aspirin; the heart ) ind While it Bayer wn that Aspirip means Bayer manufacture, to assure public agains it mits thelr "'Bayer Gross" ol Ay