old wives' fables; and heard their fabulous stories of ghosts, phantoms, apparitions, and spirits; of Jack the giant-killer, of raising the devil, of Jacko'-lanterns, fairies, hags, and nightmares; together with stories of witches, wizards, dreamers, necromancers, fortunetellers, conjurors, enchanters, stargazers, sorcerers, soothsayers, diviners, magicians, and astrologers; who pretend to calculate nativities, and, by the aspects of the planets, to fix the state or doom of mortals; which has driven many into careless, loose, and desperate living. Three such characters I have known, and God requited them for adhering to such things, which is wickedness, devilism, vanity, and lies. These things begirt Little Faith with legions of imaginary fears and terrors; so that he is often afraid to look behind him, or even to put his hand out of the bed: and, being haunted with these ideal vanities, he is often a terror to himself. We are commanded by the King not to hearken to such prophets, nor diviners, nor dreamers, nor enchanters, nor sorcerers, which speak to us, for they prophesy lies, Jer. xxvii. 9, 10. And again, "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them; for the customs of the people are vain," Jer. x. 2, 3. He took also to reading some novels published by the Hagarenes, till he was more like an Athenian than a prince; and would often get into disputes with them; and loved secretly to hear and to tell some new thing,

Shepherd. If once a child is habituated to these things, they will stick by him, more or less, as long as he lives. Besides, they debase the mind, and keep it low and mean; and there is, for a time, a secret regard to the bastard race, which is commonly called a charitable opinion or judgment of them. So that Little Faith did not keep them at their proper distance, when he saw through them; nor consider his own dignity, nor live up to it; which is dishonourable to the King: and therefore, though an heir, he is justly kept under tutors and governors, that he may, for a season, differ nothing from a servant; because he debased his sonship to the mean level of servitude.

Steward. Yea, and since he has known better, and felt the displeasure of the King for his former folly, he has not long since gone, when there hath been a report spread of any herald, bellman, town corporal, or common crier, being sent with a proclamation from Sinai: so that he gets out of the reach of the promise, which runs thus; "Blessed is the man that heareth me; watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." But he was not daily at the King's gates; for he was sometimes at the gates of fools, if not at the gates of hell; and often at Hagar's castle, instead of waiting at the posts of Wisdom's doors.

Shepherd. If he affects Hagar and her boys, it is a strong tie. Such zealously affect children,

but not well: yea, they would exclude them from the King's favour, that they might affect them, Gal. iv. 17; which is no better than the practice of those beggars who steal children in London, and put out their eyes, in order to furnish themselves with a lamentable cry in begging for a blind child, that they may get their bread, and live in idleness. However, Little Faith suffers for this now, and, I dare say, he often reads the long scroll of his folly under the rod that lies on him; for, as you before observed, he can credit the report of the King's displeasure, if not the report of his mercy.

Steward. Certain it is, that the whole lineage of Hagar, who often swarm and skulk about the walls of Zion, come for no other purpose than to spy out the liberty of the King's children, that they may deceive, delude, seduce, and bring them into bondage, Gal. ii. 4. And certain it is also that Little Faith labours under the bondage that he contracted among them, and that to this day: but they will not easily deceive him again; for, as was before observed, he has a strong faith in the justice, the truth, the holiness, the immutability, and the terrible majesty, of the King; he never staggers at these: but at his love, mercy, compassion, slowness to anger, the abundance of his goodness, and the plenteousness of his redemption, he often staggers. He trembles at the word of truth, Isa. lxvi. 5; and staggers at the promise of mercy through unbelief, Rom. iv. 20.

Shepherd. Pray, does Little Faith privately indulge a rebellious spirit? Does he oppose the sovereignty, the decrees, the counsel and purposes, of his sovereign Father? Does he ever dispute obstinately against the discriminating acts of the King, which daily appear in reducing some rebels to obedience, and in the administration of strict justice to others?

Steward. He that does so, is not Little Faith, but a little fox, Cant. ii. 15. He is not a child of truth, but a seed of falsehood; not a saint, but a sophist; not a child of God, but a child of the devil. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God," 2 John 9. And, if God be not his father, the devil is; and so it will appear, sooner or later. The characteristic of the King's seed is, that they shall be both teachable and tractable, whatever they might have been in times past: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, together; and a little child shall lead them,” Isa. xi. 6.

Shepherd. Pray, have you the care of Little Faith's education? or, who is his tutor?

Steward. His Majesty himself superintends the tuition of them all; they are all taught of him but he keeps several under teachers, whom he calls, qualifies, and commissions to teach; and these receive their lessons daily from the King, who bids them go and speak thus. And they

who carry his messages, and teach according to his lessons, are his established teachers, and no other.

Shepherd. But, is it not surprising that his Majesty should suffer his servants, or those who feign themselves to be so, to permit such nurses and teachers to injure his children, especially such as poor Little Faith?

Steward. It is suffered so to be, that they may gather together those who are rebels to his government, that they may ripen for the day of vengeance; and that themselves also, by their presumption and hypocrisy, may fulfil his purposes, who calls them ungodly men, before of old ordained to this condemnation, Jude 4. But, as to his select seed, they shall never be deceived finally, nor be finally led astray. Little Faith is a living witness of this, that not one little one can perish. It is a rare thing now to find him at the castle of the Hagarenes; and if one of them come to the palace, he is ready to stop his ears if he opens his mouth. Little Faith is very tender, and takes his learning pretty well, and has tolerable discernment; and his judgment is sounder than could be expected, but his knees and hands are very weak.

Shepherd. Did you never try to bathe him in the river of life? The prophet went in up to his ancles, knees, and loins; and might have swam if he had pleased, Ezek. xlvii. 4, 5. And I have sometimes thought that the prophet, at