to a demonstration, because I could find none that understood it: but, blessed be God, I felt the comforts of it; nor do I believe that the remembrance or the effects of it will ever be lost; but the word 'sovereign' seemed to give them great offence, as if I would feign myself to be a singular man; whereas I only told them the dealings of God with me, that they might pass their judgment thereon, not doubting but they all had experienced the same; however, as none of them had, nor did they understand the vision, I took it for granted that there was something singular in it.

Cushi. Every man must stand by his own testimony; that is yours, and you must abide by it: he that would deprive you of it, without convincing you that you are wrong, is both a thief and a robber, and you are no better than Esau if you give it up: "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown," Rev. iii. 11.

Ahimaaz. I bless God that the impression and the witness are still left, though the joys of it are much abated, and the light of it much obscured. For you must know that I dropt into the old way of Jewish worship again; and, as I could find no man that understood the vision, but all condemned it, I soon got cold, until a late fit of sickness fell to my lot, to which I reluctantly submitted: and before I recovered I found something of that sacred and delightful fire, which is so despised, glow again in my heart; and, since I have been able to go abroad, I have spent the chief of my time in private, and enjoyed my comforts alone; and this is the furthest journey that I have taken since my recovery. This is the reason why you see me look so poorly; and I

think that God sent you to cast a fresh light on this good work upon my soul, and I hope I shall ever bless God for thee, and for this happy season with thee.

Cushi. Indeed, my brother, it is my delightful element to be of use to the souls of my poor fellow sinners; and I believe that God has suffered me to meet with hard treatment, both from the world and from his own people, that I might, as an instrument in his hand, drop a word in season to others who may meet with the same. And I would advise thee to aim chiefly at a private communion with the great Messiah; there is no fellowship but his that will enable thee to die happy; and I hope thou wilt never find happiness short of that whilst thou livest.

Ahimaaz. Indeed, if a Christian has no access to his God, let him cut what figure he may in the world, his own soul is barren; nor does joy and peace in believing operate upon him. Those that called me a Pythagorean, because I talked of a change wrought on my soul, seemed to be as far from enjoying God's presence as those who made no profession at all.

Cushi. Let men make what stir they may about religion, if they have not the love of God in their hearts, they are dead; the Spirit says, "If a man hath all knowledge, and understands all mysteries, and speaks with the tongue of men and of angels, and hath not charity, it profiteth him nothing," 1 Cor. xiii. 2, 3. And, if ever a man be brought to love God, it will be because God hath pardoned his sin: "This woman's sins, which are many, are forgiven her, and she loveth much; but where little is forgiven the same loveth little," Luke vii. 47. Love is therefore the blessed effect of pardon, or the consequence of it.

Ahimaaz. How wonderful is the enlarging, inflaming, and attracting power of divine love on the soul! It swallows up all, and God is all in all to such a happy soul. But, alas, this love is little insisted upon in our days; indeed, it is rather opposed.

Cushi. He that labours only at the letter is not a minister of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 6; nor does he exalt the kingdom of God, for that "stands not in word, but in power," 1 Cor. iv. 20.

Ahimaaz. Pray what do you think of David's strong affection for Absalom? David knew that he was not a good man; nay, he was a rebel against his father, and against God who anointed him; and he that opposed David's kingdom opposed the kingdom of the Messiah, for that was included in it, and prefigured by it. Absalom could be no type of the Messiah, who is called the fruit of David's body.

Cushi. The great Messiah is the father of all flesh by creation, as David was of his own family, which consisted of bad and good; "Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us?" Mal. ii. 10. But in an especial manner he is the everlasting. father of all his spiritual children, Isaiah ix. 6. Absalom was David's son after the flesh, though not a partaker of his father's grace; but Solomon, the beloved of the Lord, (2 Sam. xii. 24) was a partaker of his father's grace as well as of his nature. And David's weeping over Absalom, and crying out, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son," (2 Sam. xviii. 33) may prefigure the sympathetic feelings of the Messiah's humanity for Israel after the flesh, when he wept over Jerusalem, and said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," Matt. xxiii. 37; Luke xix. 41.

Ahimaaz. Poor David was much perplexed with hypocritical professors in his days: Joab was a bitter plague to him through all his reign, as well as Ahithophel.

Cushi. I believe that Joab prefigured every false leader of the Lord's saints, and Ahithophel represented Judas; one you know hung himself, as Judas did; and the other was killed at the foot of the altar, as many are, by the sword of justice, in a false profession.

Ahimaaz. I have often wondered that Joab should fly for refuge to the horns of the altar.

Cushi. The altar typified the Saviour, who is a refuge for the distressed; and Joab might falsely construe the privileges that God granted to the manslayer; but Joab's crime was not manslaughter, for he killed Amasa with his sword while he was kissing him, (2 Sam. xx. 9, 10) and so "shed the blood of war in peace," 1 Kings ii. 5. A wilful murderer has no benefit from the laws granted to the manslayer. God says of such, "Thou shalt take him from my altar," Exod. xxi. 14. Pray, my brother, have you ever heard of a man that goes by the name of Prodigality?

Ahimaaz. Yes, I think I have; he is one of a singular character, if he be the person that I mean.

Cushi. Indeed he is; and it is a name that he has assumed, because its wretched signification is so applicable to himself; for, as he says, he has been a prodigal from his childhood, and a desperate rebel against Christ under it.

Ahimaaz. Then he has acted as Naomi did, who in a fit of unbelief fled from Bethlehem to Moab, in

order to secure her property, a famine then reigning in Israel; but, instead of saving it, she lost all; for she came home childless, in widowhood and beggary, having lost both her sons, her husband, and her property; and then she calls herself Mara, and desires them to call her Naomi no more; hinting thereby that what she had taken pleasure in was gone, and bitterness had succeeded: "For the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty; why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me?" Ruth i. 20, 21.

Cushi. She could see that the hand of the Lord was gone out against her, but she could not see that her feet went out against him. If there was no protection for her in Israel, she had no right to expect it in Moab. Thus "the foolishness of man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord," Prov. xix. 3.

Ahimaaz. Pray of what country is this Prodigalis? I think that the Lord has called him by grace, if he be the man that I have heard of.

Cushi. I believe he was born within the walls of salvation, and is, as you have heard, called to the knowledge of the truth; he came of religious parents, but he was a most wretched despiser of religion; indeed, he is a singular monument of mercy; he had a strong memory to contain what he heard, was a man of good understanding in the scriptures, and he had pious parents to copy after. But all these will not produce grace. Repentance unto life is the gift of God; it is in no man's power to repent of himself, nor can a true penitent infuse repentance into ano