returned again by the same way by which he came in ; and he ran as fast as he could, till he got clear back again out of the wood, and then he slackened his pace by degrees, till at length he came to the spring at the bottom of the hill Difficulty, and there he sat down again to consider which way he should go, or what course to take. At length, with much musing, he called to mind that saying "Narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it :" and again, "Broad is the way that leadeth to death, and many there be that enter in thereat." So he viewed the path that led directly up the hill, and it was exceeding narrow, and the other two paths that went round by the bottom were very broad; upon which he presently concluded that he must take the steep and narrow path, how difficult soever it seemed to flesh and blood. So he went up panting and gasping for breath, so tiresome was that way; and by the time he got half way up the hill, he was very much spent, and grew so faint and giddy by reason of the great height, and steepness of the ascent, that he was ready to tumble down backwards again. At length he came up to a place where was a cave in the side of the hill, and at the mouth of the cave sat a man, whose name was Good-resolution. Now, he seeing Tender-conscience coming up the hill, panting and gasping, and almost beat off his legs, saluted him in this manner:

Good-res. Brother, I see that thou art weary and faint; therefore I pray thee, turn in here with me into this cave, and rest thyself a while; and when thou hast refreshed thyself, and gathered thy strength, then go forward in the name of the Lord. I am placed here by the King's order, to administer relief to poor tired pilgrims.

Then said Tender-conscience, Sir, I thank you for your kind invitation, which I gladly accept of, for indeed I am quite spent, and my heart fails me.

So he went along with the man into the cave, and they sat down together on seats cut out of the solid rock. Now I saw in my dream, that the room where they sat was pure alabaster, and did let in certain sky-lights at the top, which gave Tender-conscience a view of many rare pieces of antiquity cut out of the rock. There were

the figures and representations of many famous worthies, and renowned men of old, who through faith had done many marvellous things. There was the representation of Abel offering a greater and more acceptable sacrifice than Cain; and of Enoch, who walked with God, and was translated without seeing death; and of Noah, who was an hundred and twenty years in building the ark, to the saving of his household, and the kinds of all living creatures. There was also the representation of Abraham, who, when he was called, obeyed God, to go out into a place which he should afterwards receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. There was also represented, how, by faith, he abode in the land of promise, as in a strange country, as one that dwelt in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise: for " they looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. All these men lived in faith, believing the promises," and receiving them thankfully, "confessed they were pilgrims and strangers on the earth: for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek another country. For if they had been mindful of their own country from whence they came out, they had leisure to have returned; but they desired a better, that is, an heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, and hath prepared for them a city."

Now Tender-conscience was greatly pleased, and muchcomforted with the sight and consideration of these things; so he looked farther, and there he saw the representation of Abraham offering up Isaac (to whom it was said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called,") and of Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau; and of Jacob blessing his sons, the twelve patriarchs.. Then he looked on that side of the room which was opposite to the entrance of the cave, and there was presented, in alabaster work, how Moses, “when he came to age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction. with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;" and how he forsook Egypt, not fearing the king's wrath, but regarding him who is invisible

1 Heb. xi. 4, 5, 7,.8.

and how he led the people of Israel through the Red Sea as on dry land, which the Egyptians attempting to do, were all drowned; and how the walls of Jericho fell down at the sound of their rams' horns. Many more. things were represented, as the famous acts of Joshua, Gideon, Barak, Sampson, and Jephtha; also of David, Samuel, and the prophets, "who, through faith, subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained the promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword; out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens: And of others who had been tried by mockings and scourgings, by bonds and imprisonments, who were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted. and slain, wandering up and down in sheep's skins and goats' skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy; they wandered in wildernesses and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth: and. these all, through faith, obtained a good report, and received the promises."

The whole room where they sat was adorned with such kind of figures as these, which Tender-conscienceviewed with a great deal of delight, and he took courage from those glorious patterns. His spirits, which before languished, now began to revive and flourish in him, so that he burst out a singing in this manner:

Ah, puny soul! faint-hearted mind!

Weak as the chaff before the wind!
Long have I waver'd to and fro,
But forward now I'll boldly go !
Since me such noble patterns move,
I'll mount the hill on wings of love.
Methinks my heart within me burns,
And all inflam'd, to God-ward turns.
What tho' in the seraphic fire,
My ravish'd spirit should expire?
Yet, Phenix like, it will revive,
And in immortal glory live.

Then Good-resolution, seeing Tender-conscience so mightily refreshed with the things he had seen, told him that he had yet greater things than these to shew him, such as would even ravish his soul with joy to behold; so he had him out of that room, by a long entry or pas

sage, cut out of the rock, and full of sky-lights, that were let in at the top, and brought him to another cave, where dwelt a man named Contemplation. The man sat still in a chair of pure diamond, musing and silent; neither said they any thing to him, or he to them; but just as he saw them enter, he drew back a curtain, which hung before the farthest part of the room, and veiled half the room, so that when any one came in first, he could not see what was in the farthest part of the room: but so soon as the man Contemplation had, with a string which he held in his hand, drawn back the curtain, what a goodly and glorious sight was there! for that part of the room was so contrived, that, by letting in a certain sky-light from the . roof of the cave, your eyes are immediately surprised with a thousand splendors; and that part of the cave, though an entire rock of diamond, was so artfully polished, that, by the reflection of the sun-beams, it represented to you a most glorious city, whose streets were " 'paved with pure gold, and the walls of precious stones," the inhabitants walking up and down in long robes, and glittering like the stars. Also it represented the King of that place sitting on a throne of glory, a fiery stream issuing from. before him; thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;” whose faces were like the lightning, and their eyes like lamps of fire; their arms and their feet were like to polished brass: In short, the whole appear-ance was full of lustre and magnificence.

Tender-conscience was astonished above measure at the sight of these glorious things, and ravished with an inex-pressible delight, insomuch that he wished to live and die in that place, for he had never yet seen such a goodly sight in all his life; he continued gazing on the lovely objects, neither could he take his eyes off from looking, till such time as Good-resolution drew the curtain again, and so veiled them from his sight; for he was afraid, lest by too long gazing on so much brightness, his eyes might receive some damage; remembering that saying of the wise man, "He that gazeth upon majesty shall be op-pressed with glory." So he had him back again through the passage that led to his own cave; and when they

were come to the cave, he desired Tender-conscience to sit down and meditate on what he had seen: so Tenderconscience sat down to meditate, while Good-resolution got ready a small collation of fruits, of herbs, and of wine, to refresh him, and make him more vigorous and active in going up the rest of the hill.

Oh, sir, said Tender-conscience, trouble not yourself for me, nor take any care about meat or drink; for what I have seen since my coming into this place is both meat and drink to me; I feel myself strengthened by it, and my spirits enlivened, so that methinks I could even fly up the rest of the hill.

Then Good-resolution made answer, 'If the bare sight of these glorious things has wrought such wonderful effects upon you, how much greater influence may be expected from the mature consideration and application of them! If the bare view of the landscape be so pleasant, how much more delightful will it be to think the city there represented is the place whither you are going, and that you shall live there for ever, and be clothed and crowned with robes and crown of endless glory! But I must warn you of one thing that will happen to you, a little after your departure from this place, as it does usually happen to all pilgrims who have seen the glorious things of this cave; for "lest they should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of revelations," there is generally given unto them "a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet them," because they should not be "exalted above measure;" and thus it is like to befal you when you are gone from this place.Now, to the end you may not be disheartened when this thing comes to pass, I tell you of it now, that, being forewarned, you may also be forearmed; and I exhort you to have always in your mind the famous examples of these worthies whom you saw represented before your eyes, who stemmed the tide of worldly crosses and persecutions, stood the brunt of all manner of temptations, till, having at last weathered the point, and got the start of the world, the flesh, and the devil, they entered into the joy of their Lord, and took possession of an everlasting inheritance. These things you ought always to have