Whether
they will be as readily received at the gate of the Celestial City,
I decline giving an opinion.
A large number of passengers were already at the Station-house,
awaiting the departure of the cars. By the aspect and demeanor of
these persons, it was easy to judge that the feelings of the community
had undergone a very favorable change, in reference to the celestial
pilgrimage. It would have done Bunyan's heart good to see it.
Instead of a lonely and ragged man, with a huge burthen on his back,
plodding along sorrowfully on foot, while the whole city hooted
after him, here were parties of the first gentry and most
respectable people in the neighborhood, setting forth towards the
Celestial City, as cheerfully as if the pilgrimage were merely a
summer tour. Among the gentlemen were characters of deserved eminence,
magistrates, politicians, and men of wealth, by whose example religion
could not but be greatly recommended to their meaner brethren. In
the ladies' apartment, too, I rejoiced to distinguish some of those
flowers of fashionable society, who are so well fitted to adorn the
most elevated circles of the Celestial City. There was much pleasant
conversation about the news of the day, topics of business,
politics, or the lighter matters of amusement; while religion,
though indubitably the main thing at heart, was thrown tastefully into
the back-ground.
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