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church , and desist from preaching , to be banished the realm ; and in case of not leaving the realm on an appointed day , or of returning to it without a special licence from the king , to be hanged . _ . .
. , . His wife , to whom , at the time of his co mmitment , he had been marr ied almost two years , on the followingassizes addressed herself to the judges ; but the justices had prejudiced them ,
to the utmost they could , against him . Sir Matthew tjale who was one of them , and appeared to know nothing of his history indeed , had the matter come judicially before him , seemed desirous to afford him relief ; and
advised his wife to procure a writ of error ; but Bunyan and his friends were either too poor , or too little acquainted with such matters , to take the necessary steps to obtain his enlargement . The sentence of banishment was never executed against him ; but he was detained in prison from
sessions to sessions , from assizes to assizes , without being brought before the judges , and obtaining permission to plead his cause , till his imprisonment lasted twelve years . He endured the evils of this long confinement with perfect resignation and patience ; learnt
to make long-tagged thread-laces , and supported himself by it ; and wrote many of his tracts , though his library is said to have consisted only of his Bible and the Book of Martyrs . His enlargement at last is ascribed to the compassion and interest oftte worthy
prelate Dr . Barlow * bishop of Lincoln , and to the interference of Dr . Owen . There was an existing law , which invested a bishop with the power to release a prisoner , situated as was Mr . Bunyan , if any two persons would join in a cautionary bond that he should
conform in half a year . Dr . Owen readily consented , on being requested , to give his bond . The bishop , on application oeing made to him , declined availing himself of liis episcopal prerogative 5 but as the law provided that , in case of a bishop ' s refusal , application should be made to the Lord Chancellor to
^ sue out an order to take the
cau-* Biographia Britannica , by Kippis and « W « , vol . iii . article Bunyan ^ page 1 £ , * » * ^ Was * ' * S € com * » fe . , British Biography , vol . vi . p . 1 Q 0 .
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tionary bond and release the prisoner , the bishop proposed this mode of proceeding as more safe for himself at that critical * time ,- as he had many enemies , and promised a compliance with the order of the chancellor . This
measure , though it was not so direct as the other , and was more expensive , was adopted , and Mr . Bunyan was released . In the last year of his imprisonment , 1671 , on the death of Mr . Gifford , he had been unanimously chosen to succeed him in the pastoral office .
After his enlargement , he employed himself in preaching and writing- ; and made journies into various parts of the kingdom to visit pious persons of his own religious views , which visitations fixed on him the title of " Bishop
Bunyan . " When James II . published his declaration for the liberty of conscience in 1687 , though he saw it proceeded not from kindness to Protestant Dissenters , and his piercing judgment anticipated the black cloud of slavery which the sunshine of transient liberty
was intended to introduce , yet he thought it right to improve the present day ; and by the contributions of his followers built a public meeting ' - house at Bedford , in which he constantly preached to large congregations . It was his constant practice
also , after his liberty , to visit . London once a year ; where he preached in several places , particularly n \ Southwark , to numerous auditors , with great acceptance . At last he fell , not a victim to the malignant spirit of persecution , but a sacrifice , in the event , to
the pacific kindness of his own heart . A young gentleman having fallen under the resentment of his father , requested Mr . Bunyan ' s reconciliatory offices to make up the breach . He undertook and happily effected this benevolent office . On his return to London ,
from the journey which it occasioned , he was overtaken with excessive rains , and contracted a cold from being very wet , which brought on a violent fever , that in ten days put a period to his life at the house of Mr . Straddocks , a
grocer , on Snow-hill , on the 12 th of August , in the 60 th year of his age . According to the description of his person and the delineation of his character , drawn by the continuator of his lif e , " he appeared in countenance to be of a stern and rough temper ,
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Memoir of Jofm Bimyan . IS I
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1815, page 131, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1758/page/3/
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