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The Life of John Bunyan by Edmund Venables
page 138 of 149 (92%)
intellect remains, and gives this book a unique distinction. "I have,"
says Dr. Arnold, when reading it after a long interval, "always been
struck by its piety. I am now struck equally or even more by its
profound wisdom. It seems to be a complete reflexion of Scripture." And
to turn to a critic of very different character, Dean Swift: "I have been
better entertained and more improved," writes that cynical pessimist, "by
a few pages of this book than by a long discourse on the will and
intellect." The favourite of our childhood, as "the most perfect and
complex of fairy tales, so human and intelligible," read, as Hallam says,
"at an age when the spiritual meaning is either little perceived or
little regarded," the "Pilgrim's Progress" becomes the chosen companion
of our later years, perused with ever fresh appreciation of its teaching,
and enjoyment of its native genius; "the interpreter of life to all who
are perplexed with its problems, and the practical guide and solace of
all who need counsel and sympathy."

The secret of this universal acceptableness of "The Pilgrim's Progress"
lies in the breadth of its religious sympathies. Rigid Puritan as Bunyan
was, no book is more completely free from sectarian narrowness. Its
reach is as wide as Christianity itself, and it takes hold of every human
heart because it is so intensely human. No apology is needed for
presenting Mr. Froude's eloquent panegyric: "The Pilgrim, though in
Puritan dress, is a genuine man. His experience is so truly human
experience that Christians of every persuasion can identify themselves
with him; and even those who regard Christianity itself as but a natural
outgrowth of the conscience and intellect, and yet desire to live nobly
and make the best of themselves, can recognize familiar footprints in
every step of Christian's journey. Thus 'The Pilgrim's Progress' is a
book which when once read can never be forgotten. We too, every one of
us, are pilgrims on the same road; and images and illustrations come back
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