eagle-eye detected the easier path, and he made it the business of
his benevolent ministry to guide others into it. Though not the
truth, an illustration is a stepping-stone towards it; an indentation
in the rock which makes it easier to climb. No man had a happier
knack in hewing out these notches in the cliff, and no one knew
better where to place them, than this pilgrim's pioneer. Besides, he
rightly judged that the value of these suggestive similes--these
illustrative stepping-stones--depends very much on their breadth and
frequency. But Bunyan appeals not only to the intellect and
imagination, but to the hearts of men. There was no bitterness in
Bunyan. He was a man of kindness and compassion. How sorry he is
for Mr Badman! and how he makes you sympathize with Christian and Mr
Ready-to-halt and Mr Feeble-mind, and all the other interesting
companions of that eventful journey! And in his sermons how
piteously he pleads with sinners for their own souls! and how
impressive is the undisguised vehemency of his yearning affections!
In the same sentence Bunyan has a word for the man of sense, and
another for the man of fancy, and a third for the man of feeling; and
by thus blending the intellectual, the imaginative, and the
affectionate, he speaks home to the whole of man, and has made his
works a lesson-book for all mankind.

Another secret of Bunyan's popularity is the felicity of his style.
His English is vernacular, idiomatic, universal; varying with the
subject; homely in the continuous narrative; racy and pungent in his
lively and often rapid discourse; and, when occasion requires, "a
model of unaffected dignity and rhythmical flow;" but always plain,
strong, and natural. However, in speaking of his style, we do not so
much intend his words as his entire mode of expression. A thought is
like a gem; but like a gem it may be spoiled in the setting. A