By-ends comes from the wealthy town of Fair-speech and is going to the Celestial City. Christian and Hopeful encounter him after they leave Vanity Fair. Christian recognizes By-ends and warns Hopeful that he’s a hypocrite. By-ends says that he never goes against the tide of the world in religious matters, setting him apart from stricter Christians, and that he likes religion best in fancy trappings instead of in poor ones. After By-ends parts ways from Christian and Hopeful (whom he accuses of being overly rigid), he gathers a small group of pilgrims who agree with him that religion and worldly goods are compatible. He and his friends disappear after visiting Demas’s silver-mine.