ELIZABETH BUNYAN, result injurious to him followed. He was regarded with reverence and admiration by the honest country folks, who flocked to hear "Mr. Bunyan; " and he returned the feeling by a kindly sympathy. A favourite place for him to preach was a charming romantic dell, overgrown with Underwood and a profusion of hyacinths and primroses, in Wainwood, which crowns a hill about three miles fromHitchin, Hertfordshire. A natural little eminence formed the pulpit where Bunyan would stand, while the dell would shelter at least one thousand persons. "Here, under the canopy of heaven, with the rigour of winter's nipping frost, while the clouds, obscuring the moon, have discharged their flaky treasures, they often assembled while the highly-gifted and heavenly-minded Bunyan has broken to them the bread of life. The Word of the Lord was precious in those days. And here over his devoted head, while uncovered in prayer, the pious matrons warded off the driving ' hail and snow, by holding a shawl over him by its four corners. In this devoted dell these plain unpolished husbandmen, like the ancient Waldenses, in the values of Piedmont, proved them- selves firm defenders of the faith in its primitive purity, and of Divine worship in its primitive style." But the merry, rollicking Charles had been restored, and evil times were coming for the con- scientious Nonconformists, who advocated liberty of thought and action. Those who would not shape their words and teachings by the Rubric were 12
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=