Page:The Pilgrims Progress (1890).djvu/13



was born in Elstow, Bedfordshire, England, in 1628. Bunyan&rsquo;s father was a tinker, or mender of pots and kettles. Bunyan himself, was brought up to the same trade. He says, &ldquo;My descent was of a low and inconsiderable generation, my father&rsquo;s house being of that rank that is meanest and most despised of all the families of the land.&rdquo;

Bunyan learned reading and writing &ldquo;according,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;to the rate of other poor men&rsquo;s children.&rdquo; That little he soon lost &ldquo;almost utterly.&rdquo;

When he reached the age of sixteen he appears to have served in one of the armies of the Civil War then raging in England between King Charles I. and the forces raised by Parliament; but it is impossible to say with certainty whether he fought for or against the crown. At the close of the war Bunyan went back to Elstow and resumed his tinker's trade.

He married when about twenty, and he tells us that he and his wife were &ldquo;as poor as poor might be, without so much household stuff as a dish or spoon between them.&rdquo;

In 1655 Bunyan moved to Bedford, a little more than a mile from Elstow. He had been converted, and now began to speak in public on matters of religion. Crowds came to hear the once blaspheming tinker who had turned preacher. But though the &ldquo;common people heard him gladly,&rdquo; yet the country parsons and doctors