pilgrims, which impelled the former to such lamentably mistaken
measures as the persecution of Christian and the fiery martyrdom
of Faithful. On the contrary, as the new railroad brings with it
great trade and a constant influx of strangers, the lord of
Vanity Fair is its chief patron, and the capitalists of the city
are among the largest stockholders. Many passengers stop to take
their pleasure or make their profit in the Fair, instead of going
onward to the Celestial City. Indeed, such are the charms of the
place that people often affirm it to be the true and only heaven;
stoutly contending that there is no other, that those who seek
further are mere dreamers, and that, if the fabled brightness of
the Celestial City lay but a bare mile beyond the gates of
Vanity, they would not be fools enough to go thither. Without
subscribing to these perhaps exaggerated encomiums, I can truly
say that my abode in the city was mainly agreeable, and my
intercourse with the inhabitants productive of much amusement and
instruction.

Being naturally of a serious turn, my attention was directed to
the solid advantages derivable from a residence here, rather than
to the effervescent pleasures which are the grand object with too
many visitants. The Christian reader, if he have had no accounts
of the city later than Bunyan's time, will be surprised to hear
that almost every street has its church, and that the reverend
clergy are nowhere held in higher respect than at Vanity Fair.
And well do they deserve such honorable estimation; for the
maxims of wisdom and virtue which fall from their lips come from
as deep a spiritual source, and tend to as lofty a religious aim,
as those of the sagest philosophers of old. In justification of
this high praise I need only mention the names of the Rev. Mr.