As I purposed to make a considerable
stay here, it gratified me to learn that there is no longer the want
of harmony between the townspeople and pilgrims, which impelled the
former to such lamentably mistaken measures as the persecution of
Christian, and the fiery martyrdom of Faithful. On the contrary, as
the new railroad brings with it great trade and a constant influx of
strangers, the lord of Vanity Fair is its chief patron, and the
capitalists of the city are among the largest stockholders. Many
passengers stop to take their pleasure or make their profit in the
Fair, instead of going onward to the Celestial City. Indeed, such
are the charms of the place, that people often affirm it to be the
true and only heaven; stoutly contending that there is no other,
that those who seek further are mere dreamers, and that, if the fabled
brightness of the Celestial City lay but a bare mile beyond the
gates of Vanity, they would not be fools enough to go thither. Without
subscribing to these, perhaps, exaggerated encomiums, I can truly say,
that my abode in the city was mainly agreeable, and my intercourse
with the inhabitants productive of much amusement and instruction.
Being naturally of a serious turn, my attention was directed to the
solid advantages derivable from a residence here, rather than to the
effervescent pleasures, which are the grand object with too many
visitants.
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