They probably knew that he
had written in praise of the indulgence of 1672, and therefore hoped
that he might be equally pleased with the indulgence of 1687. But
fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had
made him wiser. Nor were the cases exactly parallel. Charles was a
professed Protestant; James was a professed papist. The object of
Charles's indulgence was disguised; the object of James's indulgence was
patent. Bunyan was not deceived. He exhorted his hearers to prepare
themselves by fasting and prayer for the danger which menaced their
civil and religious liberties, and refused even to speak to the courtier
who came down to remodel the corporation of Bedford, and who, as was
supposed, had it in charge to offer some municipal dignity to the bishop
of the Baptists.
Bunyan did not live to see the Revolution. In the Summer of 1688 he
undertook to plead the cause of a son with an angry father, and at
length prevailed on the old man not to disinherit the young one. This
good work cost the benevolent intercessor his life. He had to ride
through heavy rain. He came drenched to his lodgings on Snow Hill, was
seized with a violent fever, and died in a few days. He was buried in
Bunhill Fields; and the spot where he lies is still regarded by the
Non-conformists with a feeling which seems scarcely in harmony with the
stern spirit of their theology. Many Puritans, to whom the respect paid
by Roman Catholics to the relics and tombs of saints seemed childish or
sinful, are said to have begged with their dying breath that their
coffins might be placed as near as possible to the coffin of the author
of the "Pilgrim's Progress.
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