The only favour he therefore
begged was, that his majesty would esteem him a loyal subject;
the truer to his interests in refusing his offers than he would
be by accepting them. It is stated that Lord Danby, surprised at
so much purity in an age of corruption, furthermore tempted him
with a bag of gold, which Marvell obstinately refused to accept.
He died suddenly in the year 1678, leaving behind him a
reputation for humour and satire which has rarely been excelled.
Besides these poets and dramatists, there were other great men,
who as prose writers, helped to render the literary history of
the period remarkable for its brilliancy. Amongst these were
Lord Clarendon, High Chancellor of England, concerning whom much
has already been said; and Thomas Hobbs of Malmesbury, better
known as author of "The History of the Causes of the Civil War,"
and of "Human Nature," than as a translator of the Iliad and the
Odyssey. Dr. Gilbert Burnet, author of "The History of his Own
Times;" and Dr. Ralph Cudworth, author of "The True Intellectual
System of the Universe," were likewise men of note. But one
whose name is far more familiar than any writer of his time is
John Bunyan, author of "The Pilgrim's Progress."
He was the son of a tinker, and was born within a mile of Bedford
town in the year 1628. He imbibed at an early age the spirit of
Puritanism, fought in the civil wars, took to himself a wife, and
turned preacher. Six months after the merry monarch landed,
Bunyan was flung into Bedford gaol, where, rather than refrain
from puritanical discourses, in the utterance of which he
believed himself divinely inspired, he remained, with some short
intervals of liberty, for twelve years.
Pages:
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459