The following letter, which I addressed to-day to a clergyman of the
Church of England, applies so well to the Rev. John Brown of Bunyan
Church, Bedford, that it may be considered as the first part of my reply
to his letter in the _Daily News_ of the 22d August. The remainder will
follow soon.
I have to thank you for your letter of the 22d August containing a
newspaper slip. You say that the idea of Bunyan having been of the Gipsy
race; “from absolute want of evidence is totally incapable of proof,” and
“from beginning to end is no better than a conjecture”; and that as proof
to the contrary is “the fact that before the birth of Bunyan his
ancestors are known to have resided in Bedfordshire for many generations,
some of them having been landed proprietors.” Now read what Bunyan said
of himself:—
“For my descent, it was, as is well known to many, of a low and
inconsiderable generation, my father’s house being of that rank that
is meanest and most despised of all the families in the land.”
This _descent_, he said, was “well known to _many_.” Was not that a
fact? If it was _then_ “well known to many,” how has the knowledge of it
died out in his _Church_ and neighbourhood? A fact like that could not
have been _forgotten_ within two centuries, during which time Banyan’s
memory, with all relating to it, has been cherished more and more, unless
it had been, at some time, wilfully or tacitly _suppressed_; and an
attempt made to connect him even with the aristocracy of the country! I
have never seen or heard of an allusion to any of his relations, although
the great probability is that there was an “extensive ramification” of
them. The reason I have assigned for that is that “very probably his
being a tinker was, with friends and enemies, a circumstance so
altogether discreditable as to render any investigation of the kind
perfectly superfluous” (Dis. p. 517). {11c} “A low and inconsiderable
generation.” What did that phrase mean? And as if that were not
sufficient, he added that “his father’s house” was “of that _rank_ that
is _meanest_ and _most despised_ of _all_ the families in land”; and
still not satisfied with that, he continued:—
“Another thought came into my mind, and that was, whether we [his
family and relations] were of the Israelites or no? For finding in
the Scriptures that they were once the peculiar people of God,
thought I, if I were one of this race [how significant is the
expression!] my soul must needs be happy. Now again, I found within
me a great longing to be resolved about this question, but could not
tell how I should. At last I asked my father of it, who told me, No,
we [his father included] were not.”