In 1653 Bunyan joined the Bedford church, and two years later, "after I had been about five or six years
he began preaching at the suggestion of "some of the most able of the saints.° He was at first appalled by the gravity of his mission, but finding that he gave comfort to many he grew more confident. The secret of his success lay in the fact that °I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel; even that under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment.° So great was the sincerity and success of his mission that he raised for himself much opposition among the Anglican divines, and was much slandered. Almost simultaneously, he began his very pro lific career as author with a book of controversy directed against the Quakers,
On 12 Nov. 1660, shortly after the return of Charles II, Bunyan was arrested for preaching. Refusing to flee or to agree not to preach, be was lodged in the Bedford county jail. Failing to get his case heard, he remained here for 12 years, except for a few weeks of liberty in 1666. During his unjust imprisonment, Bun yan had some access to the outside world, fre quently visiting his church and once going as far as London. In the sense that he had much leisure to write, his confinement was of advan tage to him. He composed and had published many books of which the most famous was 'Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners' (1666). On his release, in 1672, from jail, in accordance with the Declaration of Indulgence of Charles II, he became minister of the Bed ford church. In 1675-76, Bunyan was again imprisoned, this time for six months in the small jail on Bedford bridge. The fact is im
portant because it is probable that there he wrote, among other books, at least two-thirds of the first part of (Pilgrim's Progress.' This part was first published in 1678, and a second edition with some additions, as the character of Mr. Worldly Wiseman, appeared the same year. The third came out early in 1679 and since then editions have been numberless. The second part appeared in January 1685. In the interval between the two were published the other books for which Bunyan is best known next to
grim's Progress> and
Bunyan ranks among the most popular of English authors: his 'Pilgrims Progress' is said to be read more widely than any other book in the language, except the Bible. It has been translated into over 70 foreign tongues. The reasons for its extraordinary vogue lie in the simplicity of the style, the fervor of the imagination, the universality of its spiritual ap peal; no book is more widely intelligible or freer from sectarian dogmas. In all his books he appears as an unsurpassed master of a simple, direct, vernacular style. See