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EXERCICES DE COMPOSITION. 123
Exercices de composition.
JOHN BUNYAN.
1, Bunyan had been [bred a] tinker, 1 and had served as a private soldier
in the parliamentary army. Early [in his life] he had been fearfully
tortured by remorse for his youthful sins, 2 the worst of which 8 seem,
however, to have been such* as the world thinks venial. His keen sen-
sibility and his powerful imagination made his internal conflicts singularly
terrible. He fancied that he was under 5 sentence of reprobation,
that he had committed blasphemy against the Holy Ghost , that he had
sold Christ, that he was actually possessed by a (the) demon. Sometimes
voices from heaven cried out to warn him. 6 Sometimes 7 fiends
whispered impious suggestions in his ear. He saw 8 visions of distant
mountain tops, on which the sun shone 9
brightly, but from which he
a waste of snow. He felt the Devil behind him
was separated by
( 119. Obs.) pulling 10 his clothes. He thought that the brand of Cain
had been set upon him. 11 He feared that he was about to burst asunder 12
he shook
like Judas. His mental agony disordered his health. One day
like a man in the palsy. On another day he felt a fire within his
breast.
2. It is difficult to understand how he survived sufferings so intense and
so long continued. At length the clouds broke. From the depths of
despair , the penitent passed to a state of serene felicity. An irresistible
impulse now urged him to impart to others the blessing of which he
was himself 13
possessed. He joined the Baptists, and became a preacher
( 168. b) and writer. His education had been that of a mechanic.
He knew no 1* language but 15 the English, as it was spoken by the com-
mon people. 16 He had studied no great model 17 of composition, with the
exception, an ( 168. a) important exception undoubtedly, of our noble
translation of the Bible. His spelling was bad. He frequently transgressed
the rules of grammar. Yet his native force of genius, 18 and his
1 Tinker of his trade. a Sins of youth.
8 Of which the worst
4 Of those. 6 Sous le coup d'une ... 6 Gave him warnings.
At other times. 8 Had. 9 Threw a brilliant light.
10 Pulled him by his ... His forehead.
18 He feared to see his bowels burst.
Which he possessed. " Ne . . . d'autre. Que. 9
18 Such as the low people spoke it. " None of the great literary modelsJ
18 The native force of his genius.