All the political parties of the times in which Bunyan lived,
imprisoned their opponents when they had the opportunity and the
power. Bunyan's prison experiences were principally in the time
of Charles II. But in the preceding reign of Charles I., as well
as during the Commonwealth, illustrious prisoners were very
numerous. The prisoners of the former included Sir John Eliot,
Hampden, Selden, Prynne (8) (a most voluminous prison-writer), and
many more. It was while under strict confinement in the Tower,
that Eliot composed his noble treatise, 'The Monarchy of Man.'
George Wither, the poet, was another prisoner of Charles the
First, and it was while confined in the Marshalsea that he wrote
his famous 'Satire to the King.' At the Restoration he was again
imprisoned in Newgate, from which he was transferred to the Tower,
and he is supposed by some to have died there.
The Commonwealth also had its prisoners. Sir William Davenant,
because of his loyalty, was for some time confined a prisoner in
Cowes Castle, where he wrote the greater part of his poem of
'Gondibert': and it is said that his life was saved principally
through the generous intercession of Milton. He lived to repay
the debt, and to save Milton's life when "Charles enjoyed his own
again." Lovelace, the poet and cavalier, was also imprisoned by
the Roundheads, and was only liberated from the Gatehouse on
giving an enormous bail.
Pages:
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468