I owe much of this Chapter to a literary friend, who will not allow me to name him; although I only furnished him with Boulsvert's Pilgrim, Charles Doe's Circular, and a few desultory hints, in proof of the fact that the Pilgrim's Progress grew out of "The Strait Gate." It will be observed that nothing is said of the Third part of the Pilgrim's Progress: I cannot join in this silence. That Work may not be Bunyan's; but it is the production of a man of real genius. Mr. Newton said, that it was not like Aaron's rod which budded. It is, however, so highly wrought, and richly gemmed, that it is, in some points, very like the Ark which enshrined that rod. Accordingly, Bunyan's first Biographer claims it for him; although his first Editor does not even mention it. My chief difficulty lies in the artificial structure of the work. Parts of it are like Dr. Patrick, and some of it is worthy of Butler. The diamond cave of Contemplation is worthy even of Milton. For my own part, therefore, I should be glad to find that it was Bunyan's. It is certainly not like him; but it is any thing but unworthy of him. The Critics who despise it are no craftsmen, whatever else they may be. They forget also, that the Life of Badman is a fourth form of Pilgrimage, in Bunyan's opinion, although there is no allegory in it. Bunyan, at least, says so, and he is surely the best judge of his own designs. See the Preface to the Life and Death of Mr. Badman.

CHAPTER XLV.

BUNYAN'S LAST DAYS.

BUNYAN evidently dreaded every new crisis in public affairs. He had reason to do so. Venner's conspiracy increased the severity of his first six years' imprisonment. On the occasion of the Fire in London, he was thrown into prison again. And soon after James II. came to the throne, in 1685, Bunyan conveyed the whole of his property to his wife, by a singular Deed, which can only be accounted for by his suspicions of James and Jefferies, and by his horror at the revocation of the Edict of Nantz. The asylum which the Refugees found in England, did not prove to him that he was safe. No wonder. "KIRKE and his lambs" were abroad, and the Bedford Justices still in power.

It was under these suspicious circumstances, that he divested himself of all his property, in order to save his family from want, should he again be made a victim. These coincidences give peculiar interest to the Deed of Conveyance; a fac-simile of which, from the Original, is now presented to the public. The history of its transmission I am unable to give. There is however, not the shadow of a doubt rests upon its authenticity Bunyan's own signature is unquestionable. I have been able also to verify that by the Instrument in which Ruff head conveyed to Bunyan the ground on which his Chapel was built. The original is now indorsed on the back thus: "This Will is left by indenture hereunto subscribed, to the Rev. Samuel Hillyard, Minister of Bunyan's Meeting, to be presented to the

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Trustees of the said Meeting, to be held by them in continu-, ance. Dated this 26th day of October, 1832. Bedford. Witness, A. Brandram, Secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society; G. P. Livius; J. S. Grimshaw, Vicar of Biddenham." According to the above Statement, this writing of John Bunyan's was put into my hand at the death of Mrs. Livius, and it is my wish that it should be attached to the Church Book. Samuel Hillyard.” "Witness, Robert Philip, Author of the Life and Times of Bunyan; William White, Bookseller. Bedford, October 30th, 1838." Mrs. Livius, if not a descendant, was, I think, in some way related to the Bunyan family.

It will be seen that the Deed would not have secured the entire property to Mrs. Bunyan. It shows, however, Bunyan's solicitude for her comfort, and his confidence in her prudence. And his Elizabeth well deserved both!

Whatever Bunyan may have feared when he thus disposed of all the little property he had, nothing befell him under James II. He published "The Pharisee and Publican," in 1685; the year of the King's accession: and in 1688, Charles Doe says, "he published six Books (being the time of K. James II.'s Liberty of Conscience)." This appears from Doe's List. It throws also much light upon Bunyan's death. Such labor could not fail to sap his strength, even if he did nothing but carry the six Books through the Press; for none of them are small, except the last. The usual account of Bunyan's death is, that he caught cold, whilst returning from Reading to London on horseback. Violent fever ensued, and after an illness of ten days, he resigned his spirit. Now all this is as true as it is brief: but it is not all the truth. "He was seized with & sweating distemper," says Doe, "after he published six Books; which, after some weeks going about proved his death.”—Doe's Circular. This fact was not known even to his first Biographer. The Sketch in the British Museum states, that "taking a