The
Pilgrim's Progress
By JOHN BUNYAN
EVERY CHILD CAN READ
EDITED BY
REV. JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT, D.D.
ILLUSTRATED
EVERY
CHILD'S
LIBRARY
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.
PHILADELPHIA
Copyright, 1909, by
The John C. Winston Co.
PREFACE
It may seem a very bold undertaking to changeeven a word of the book which, next to theBible, has been read by more people, oldand young, than any other book in the Englishlanguage.
But, it must be remembered that, although thePilgrim's Progress has come to be a children'sbook, and is read more often by young peoplethan by those who are older, it was not in thepurpose of John Bunyan to write a book forchildren or even for the young.
The Pilgrim's Progress was a book for men andwomen; and it was aimed to teach the greattruths of the gospel. Hence while most of it iswritten in a simple style,—as all books should bewritten,—it contains much that a child cannotunderstand; not often in the story, but in theconversations and discussions between the differentpersons. Some of these conversations arein reality short sermons on doctrines and teachingswhich Bunyan believed to be of great importance.But these are beyond the minds of childrenand give them great trouble when the book isread. They do not like to have them left out ofthe reading, thinking that they may lose somethinginteresting. Many a young person has[6]stumbled through the dull, doctrinal parts of thebook, without understanding them; and evengrown people find them in our time somewhat ofa blemish upon the wonderful story, valuable asthey were supposed to be in Bunyan's own time.
For many years it has been in my mind, not tore-write the Pilgrim's Progress, for that woulddestroy its greatest charm, but to change the wordshere and there to simpler ones, and to omit allthe conversations and arguments concerning subjectsbelonging to the field of doctrine; in otherwords to place the story of the Pilgrim's Progressin such a form that every child ten years old canunderstand it. My purpose is to make it plainand interesting to children, leaving the older formof the book to be read by them when they becomeolder.
Perhaps a short account of Bunyan's own lifemay add to the interest of his book. John Bunyanwas born in 1628 at Elstow, a small villagenear Bedford, which is in the heart of England.His father was a poor man, traveling on foot fromplace to place mending pots and pans and thesimple furniture of country kitchens, and the sonfollowed the same trade, and was known as a"tinker." He tells us that he lived a wild life,and was especially known as one of the worstswearers in the region.
When the great Civil War broke out in England,in 1642, between King Charles the First and theP