. The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come, delivered under the similitude of a dream . ould neither en-dure it himselfnor bear to seeothers enjoyingit. And yet, withall this delight insin, and abandon-ment to it, therewas never a doubtin his mind of thereality of religion,nor any want attimes of convic-tion in regard toit. And it was asingular point inthis experience,that even then,while he could notendure either aman or a book oftrue piety, and while neither the ideas of heaven nor hell, savingnor damning, were admitted into his mind, and while he took delight,not only
. The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come, delivered under the similitude of a dream . ould neither en-dure it himselfnor bear to seeothers enjoyingit. And yet, withall this delight insin, and abandon-ment to it, therewas never a doubtin his mind of thereality of religion,nor any want attimes of convic-tion in regard toit. And it was asingular point inthis experience,that even then,while he could notendure either aman or a book oftrue piety, and while neither the ideas of heaven nor hell, savingnor damning, were admitted into his mind, and while he took delight,not only in his own sins, but in the vileness of his companions, hehad such a clear and delicate perception of the sacredness and awful-ness of the Christian profession, that the conviction of his own guiltwould come more especially upon his soul, and would grow into aflame within Mm, if at any time he saw a professor of religiondipping into sin to hear a man swear profanely who was ac-counted a religious man, was as a sword in his soul; it filled himwith awe, and made Ms heart tremble. And vet all tliis while he. author of the pilgrim s progress. ix hiinself was becoming more and more profane, careless, and irre-ligious. This is almost an anomaly; we know of no other instancelike it on record. It seemed as if there were a citadel of convictionin Bunyans soul, into which the evil spirit had not been permittedto penetrate, and into which Christ would first come by His grace,and from that point drive out the strong man armed, and take pos-session. In all this account of Bunyans youthful wickedness, it is plainthat there is no exaggeration; the boys profaneness, for example,was so exceedingly intense and dreadful, that profane and irreligiouspersons themselves were shocked by it. He stood thus one day,cursing and swearing, and playing the madman beneath a neighboursshop window. The woman of the house, who overheard him,Bunyan says, was herself a very loose and ungodly wretch; yetshe decla
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