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At
the
end
of
the
valley
,
as
John
Bunyan
mentions
,
is
a
cavern
,
where
,
in
his
days
,
dwelt
two
cruel
giants
,
Pope
and
Pagan
,
who
had
strown
the
ground
about
their
residence
with
the
bones
of
slaughtered
pilgrims
.
These
vile
old
troglodytes
are
no
longer
there
;
but
into
their
deserted
cave
another
terrible
giant
has
thrust
himself
,
and
makes
it
his
business
to
seize
upon
honest
travellers
and
fatten
them
for
his
table
with
plentiful
meals
of
smoke
,
mist
,
moonshine
,
raw
potatoes
,
and
sawdust
.
He
is
a
German
by
birth
,
and
is
called
Giant
Transcendentalist
;
but
as
to
his
form
,
his
features
,
his
substance
,
and
his
nature
generally
,
it
is
the
chief
peculiarity
of
this
huge
miscreant
that
neither
he
for
himself
,
nor
anybody
for
him
,
has
ever
been
able
to
describe
them
.
As
we
rushed
by
the
cavern
’
s
mouth
we
caught
a
hasty
glimpse
of
him
,
looking
somewhat
like
an
ill
-
proportioned
figure
,
but
considerably
more
like
a
heap
of
fog
and
duskiness
.
He
shouted
after
us
,
but
in
so
strange
a
phraseology
that
we
knew
not
what
he
meant
,
nor
whether
to
be
encouraged
or
affrighted
.
It
was
late
in
the
day
when
the
train
thundered
into
the
ancient
city
of
Vanity
,
where
Vanity
Fair
is
still
at
the
height
of
prosperity
,
and
exhibits
an
epitome
of
whatever
is
brilliant
,
gay
,
and
fascinating
beneath
the
sun
.
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
town
’
s
-
people
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
.
The
Christian
reader
,
if
he
have
had
no
accounts
of
the
city
later
than
Bunyan
’
s
time
,
will
be
surprised
to
hear
that
almost
every
street
has
its
church
,
and
that
the
reverend
clergy
are
nowhere
held
in
higher
respect
than
at
Vanity
Fair
.
And
well
do
they
deserve
such
honorable
estimation
;
for
the
maxims
of
wisdom
and
virtue
which
fall
from
their
lips
come
from
as
deep
a
spiritual
source
,
and
tend
to
as
lofty
a
religious
aim
,
as
those
of
the
sagest
philosophers
of
old
.
In
justification
of
this
high
praise
I
need
only
mention
the
names
of
the
Rev
.
Mr
.
Shallow
-
deep
,
the
Rev
.
Mr
.
Stumble
-
at
-
truth
,
that
fine
old
clerical
character
the
Rev
.
Mr
.
This
-
today
,
who
expects
shortly
to
resign
his
pulpit
to
the
Rev
.
Mr
.
That
-
tomorrow
;
together
with
the
Rev
.
Mr
.
Bewilderment
,
the
Rev
.
Mr
.
Clog
-
the
-
spirit
,
and
,
last
and
greatest
,
the
Rev
.
Dr
.
Wind
-
of
-
doctrine
.
The
labors
of
these
eminent
divines
are
aided
by
those
of
innumerable
lecturers
,
who
diffuse
such
a
various
profundity
,
in
all
subjects
of
human
or
celestial
science
,
that
any
man
may
acquire
an
omnigenous
erudition
without
the
trouble
of
even
learning
to
read
.
Thus
literature
is
etherealized
by
assuming
for
its
medium
the
human
voice
;
and
knowledge
,
depositing
all
its
heavier
particles
,
except
,
doubtless
,
its
gold
becomes
exhaled
into
a
sound
,
which
forthwith
steals
into
the
ever
-
open
ear
of
the
community
.
These
ingenious
methods
constitute
a
sort
of
machinery
,
by
which
thought
and
study
are
done
to
every
person
’
s
hand
without
his
putting
himself
to
the
slightest
inconvenience
in
the
matter
.
There
is
another
species
of
machine
for
the
wholesale
manufacture
of
individual
morality
.
This
excellent
result
is
effected
by
societies
for
all
manner
of
virtuous
purposes
,
with
which
a
man
has
merely
to
connect
himself
,
throwing
,
as
it
were
,
his
quota
of
virtue
into
the
common
stock
,
and
the
president
and
directors
will
take
care
that
the
aggregate
amount
be
well
applied
.
All
these
,
and
other
wonderful
improvements
in
ethics
,
religion
,
and
literature
,
being
made
plain
to
my
comprehension
by
the
ingenious
Mr
.
Smooth
-
it
-
away
,
inspired
me
with
a
vast
admiration
of
Vanity
Fair
.
It
would
fill
a
volume
,
in
an
age
of
pamphlets
,
were
I
to
record
all
my
observations
in
this
great
capital
of
human
business
and
pleasure
.
There
was
an
unlimited
range
of
society
—
the
powerful
,
the
wise
,
the
witty
,
and
the
famous
in
every
walk
of
life
;
princes
,
presidents
,
poets
,
generals
,
artists
,
actors
,
and
philanthropists
,
—
all
making
their
own
market
at
the
fair
,
and
deeming
no
price
too
exorbitant
for
such
commodities
as
hit
their
fancy
.
It
was
well
worth
one
’
s
while
,
even
if
he
had
no
idea
of
buying
or
selling
,
to
loiter
through
the
bazaars
and
observe
the
various
sorts
of
traffic
that
were
going
forward
.
Some
of
the
purchasers
,
I
thought
,
made
very
foolish
bargains
.
For
instance
,
a
young
man
having
inherited
a
splendid
fortune
,
laid
out
a
considerable
portion
of
it
in
the
purchase
of
diseases
,
and
finally
spent
all
the
rest
for
a
heavy
lot
of
repentance
and
a
suit
of
rags
.
A
very
pretty
girl
bartered
a
heart
as
clear
as
crystal
,
and
which
seemed
her
most
valuable
possession
,
for
another
jewel
of
the
same
kind
,
but
so
worn
and
defaced
as
to
be
utterly
worthless
.
In
one
shop
there
were
a
great
many
crowns
of
laurel
and
myrtle
,
which
soldiers
,
authors
,
statesmen
,
and
various
other
people
pressed
eagerly
to
buy
;
some
purchased
these
paltry
wreaths
with
their
lives
,
others
by
a
toilsome
servitude
of
years
,
and
many
sacrificed
whatever
was
most
valuable
,
yet
finally
slunk
away
without
the
crown
.
There
was
a
sort
of
stock
or
scrip
,
called
Conscience
,
which
seemed
to
be
in
great
demand
,
and
would
purchase
almost
anything
.
Indeed
,
few
rich
commodities
were
to
be
obtained
without
paying
a
heavy
sum
in
this
particular
stock
,
and
a
man
’
s
business
was
seldom
very
lucrative
unless
he
knew
precisely
when
and
how
to
throw
his
hoard
of
conscience
into
the
market
.
Yet
as
this
stock
was
the
only
thing
of
permanent
value
,
whoever
parted
with
it
was
sure
to
find
himself
a
loser
in
the
long
run
.
Several
of
the
speculations
were
of
a
questionable
character
.
Occasionally
a
member
of
Congress
recruited
his
pocket
by
the
sale
of
his
constituents
;
and
I
was
assured
that
public
officers
have
often
sold
their
country
at
very
moderate
prices
.
Thousands
sold
their
happiness
for
a
whim
.
Gilded
chains
were
in
great
demand
,
and
purchased
with
almost
any
sacrifice
.
In
truth
,
those
who
desired
,
according
to
the
old
adage
,
to
sell
anything
valuable
for
a
song
,
might
find
customers
all
over
the
Fair
;
and
there
were
innumerable
messes
of
pottage
,
piping
hot
,
for
such
as
chose
to
buy
them
with
their
birthrights
.
A
few
articles
,
however
,
could
not
be
found
genuine
at
Vanity
Fair
.
If
a
customer
wished
to
renew
his
stock
of
youth
the
dealers
offered
him
a
set
of
false
teeth
and
an
auburn
wig
;
if
he
demanded
peace
of
mind
,
they
recommended
opium
or
a
brandy
bottle
.
Tracts
of
land
and
golden
mansions
,
situate
in
the
Celestial
City
,
were
often
exchanged
,
at
very
disadvantageous
rates
,
for
a
few
years
’
lease
of
small
,
dismal
,
inconvenient
tenements
in
Vanity
Fair
.
Prince
Beelzebub
himself
took
great
interest
in
this
sort
of
traffic
,
and
sometimes
condescended
to
meddle
with
smaller
matters
.
I
once
had
the
pleasure
to
see
him
bargaining
with
a
miser
for
his
soul
,
which
,
after
much
ingenious
skirmishing
on
both
sides
,
his
highness
succeeded
in
obtaining
at
about
the
value
of
sixpence
.
The
prince
remarked
with
a
smile
,
that
he
was
a
loser
by
the
transaction
.
