THE LIFE OF JOHN BUNYAN, AUTHOR OF THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. BY STEPHEN B. WICKENS. Behold, this DREAMER cometh.-GENESIS Xxxvii, 19. TWELFTH THOUSAND. New-York: PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 MULBERRY-STREET. 1853. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by G. LANE & P. P. SANDFORD, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York. ON 26 192 Howard Greene. W6 PREFACE. THE name of John Bunyan is one which reflects lustre, not only on the religious denomination of which he was a member, and at whose altars he ministered, but also on the age of the church in which he lived, adorned though that age was with such luminaries as Baxter, Owen, Howe, Hall, and Taylor. His remarkable conversion and subsequent history furnish a striking display of the transforming power of divine grace. In burning zeal and deep piety, in ardour of expression and fertility of imagination, he was equalled by few. As an author he has attained a popularity almost unparalleled, and which increases rather than diminishes with the lapse of years. "His works praise him in the gates," and in the day of eternity thousands will "rise up and call him blessed." One of his most remarkable productions is his autobiographical narrative, entitled, |