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tion in the celestial regions as Mount Zion herself, that can never be moved: yea, he says she will lie, cheat, peep, mutter, curse and swear, like a Lapland witch; and then go to the workhouse to hear Hagar's heralds; and there sit, and sigh, and sob, hear, and weep, and put on such a garb of sanctity, that he would defy all the fiends in the gloomy regions, let them all transform themselves into the likeness of the angels of light, ever to equal her deception.

Shepherd. Pray, did Little Faith never mention the conduct of Mara, and his troubles, to old Uzzah, to the pensioners, placemen, and other tools of the court, who were so forward for the match?

Steward. He told me he had; and that they counselled him to cast a mantle of love over her infirmities, and to consider that she was not, as yet, a member of the select, nor of the perfect band; and, upon Little Faith's telling them, that he thought she was, 'For if there be,' said he, 'any mortals on the terraqueous globe that are in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity, Mara is, most certainly, complete and perfect in that bond:' they rebuked him; enforced candour and moderation; and told him to judge charitably, lest, for judging others, himself should be judged.

Shepherd. Such candour and moderation have sent legions, blind, benumbed, seared, and swaddled in carnal security, to lift up their eyes in hell. To judge charitably of persons manifestly

wicked and hypocritical, is acting a most base, uncharitable, unmerciful, and cruel part, with their souls; and those blind watchmen entail the blood of such sinners upon their own head. I have sometimes thought that the rich man in hell had been dealt with in this candid way; of which he appeared to be conscious, when he said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they come also unto this place of torment, Luke xvi. 28. Pray, are Little Faith's affections as violent as ever?

Steward. He says that, now and then, he has felt such a flood of godly sorrow flow into his heart, as he never felt before. At such times, he says, he is as light as a bird; and his affections are so weaned from the creature, that neither Doeg nor Mara can move him. 'But these,' said he, are but of short duration; and then that cruel spirit of jealousy comes on me again; the very thought of which makes me tremble, for it drives me, for a while, quite out of my mind; but I trust that, as soon as this godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, that I shall be saved and delivered out of this dreadful, unutterable labyrinth of wo!' And I believe he will: and therefore told him to come to the Steward's room three times a week, and that we should spread the case before the King together. And I advised him to do the same three times a day constantly, and mentioned the particular hours; at which times, I told him,

though I could not join him, yet I would meet him at the throne at those times; and I bid him watch, and told him that he should soon see what united faith and prayer can do.

Shepherd. That is the only way to prevail. If two of you on earth shall agree touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."

Steward. It shall; and Little Faith seems as sure of it as if it was already accomplished; and you know that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Shepherd. The new sheep are coming: I Tender my kind love to Little Faith; and tell him that my poor petitions shall be mingled with his in his present calamity.

must be off.

Steward. I thank you, my dear friend, for your offer; for, indeed, your assistance is much needed. I know that two shall withstand an enemy, but a threefold cord is stronger still. Mercy and peace be with thee!

Shepherd. Grace and truth go with thee!

DIALOGUE THE FIFTEENTH.

Shepherd. Long looked for is come at last! I have been expecting you every day for these six weeks. Pray, where have you hid yourself all this time?

Steward. Poor Little Faith is sick: he has a violent cough, and a fever; and it is thought that he is going into a decline. The Physician gave orders for a lodging to be procured for him in the valley of Esdralen, at the foot of Mount Tabor, for the benefit of the air. Little Faith sent for me, and begged it as a peculiar favour that I would ride in the chariot with him. And, as I was going to the house, I met Doeg the Edomite on the road. He knew me, and I was determined to have a full look at him. He hung down his head, then tried to look up, looked this way and that way, then coloured up, then waxed pale, and seemed quite agitated. At last he gave a kind of an awkward wave with his hand, made a feeling for his hat, and darted by me, mumbling something of the compliments of the day, which I neither noticed nor returned.

Shepherd. Pray, did you see Mara when you was at the house?

Steward. Yes. As the two servants were

bringing Little Faith down stairs, she came out of the parlour, and stood at the stair-foot, weeping, ready to take her leave of him. When he saw her, he bid the servants stop, seemed much flurried, ordered her into the parlour, and bid his servant lock the door. When the Physician saw how he was agitated, he ordered that she might not be admitted into his presence on any account, unless by his own desire.

Shepherd. And what conversation had you in the way with him?

Steward. He told me that his spirit was very unsettled. Sometimes he felt the sweetness of godly sorrow, and anon a kind of stupor seized him; frequently a joyful beam darted through his soul, and, soon after, a heavy gloom would overhang his mind; that he was full of tossing and changes. To be short, he told me that he repented of his folly in dust and ashes; that from his heart he justified his Majesty, and owned him just in all the heavy afflictions that he has laboured under, for I procured them to myself.' He added, 'I have, through undeserved clemency, something in my heart, which tells me that I shall be delivered out of my present distress of soul, and be restored to the King's favour; and from the dreadful entanglement of that wretched woman.' And, moreover, he said, he was greatly deceived if the King did not leave him to himself, as a just requital for his folly, to take that strictly forbidden, that rebellious step: that the report of her singu

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