him that I could not stand. He answered, "Let the weak say, I am strong," Joel iii. 10. But I replied, I cannot see. He answered, I bring the blind by a way that they know not, Isaiah xlii. 16. I fell into a kind of a gloomy trance, and was insensibly conveyed to a fountain which my mind had some glimmering views of: and I found myself, in three days after, before Mount Calvary, clothed, becalmed, cleansed, in perfect peace, and in my right mind: but what I saw there, and what I felt, I shall never be able to describe; nor how this amazing change was wrought, shall I ever be able rightly to relate; for I soon found that all my eloquence, and sublime style, were entirely insufficient to relate or represent so divine an operation, and so glorious a change.

Cushi. But did you not run to some of the king's messengers, and tell them the vision?

Ahimaaz. Yes; and in this I acted like Daniel, "I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it."

Cushi. But did none laugh at, nor rail against it? Ahimaaz. Yes; some called me a mystic, some a Sadducee, some an enthusiast, some a fanatic, some a Pythagorean, and others an Antinomian; but I knew no more what they meant by these names, than they did of my vision.

Cushi. It is very well you did not; for they only called you by these names, being provoked to jealousy by your happiness: they will take care not to explain the meaning of these reproachful

names, lest they should appear applicable to themselves.

Ahimaaz. They seemed to me to be quite strangers to the mount on which I fell, and indeed so was I, till I tumbled upon it; for I have often gone over it without feeling its dreadful effects.

Cushi. Yes; and so have many more; but the great Messiah, when he stood at the foot of the Mount of Olives, took particular notice of the Mount of Corruption. "And, in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance, saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering, saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain [pointing to the Mount of Corruption, which was parted from the Mount of Olives by only a valley,] Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith," Mark xi. 20-23.

Ahimaaz. If you see any thing in the Messiah's words, my brother, I wish you would explain them to me, as I am concerned in their meaning, and have not the least desire of satisfying a vain curiosity.

Cushi. Depend upon it, my brother, that the Messiah never spake or did any thing in vain.

You say you know what the Mount of Corruption means, by woful experience; if so, when the Saviour pointed to that mount in the singular number, doubtless he meant the sins of men, and the guilt which they have contracted, both which go by the name of corruption; and when he says, faith shall remove it into the sea, he means, that those who really believe in a reconciled God, through himself, shall find the guilt, and destroying power of their sins, and at last the whole body of corruption removed for ever; agreeable to this text, "he will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the sea," Micah vii. 19.

If we had faith enough to remove the Mount of Corruption, no mountain of difficulties would discourage us, nor would mount Sinai itself terrify us.

Ahimaaz. I believe you, my brother; for a man's worst enemies are the corruptions of his own heart; and I believe the main root of all is unbelief. If I had faith enough to pluck up unbelief, I could say to the sycamine-tree, mentioned by the Messiah, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey me, Luke xvii. 6.

Cushi. It was that kind of tree that Zaccheus climbed up into, in order to see the Saviour, Luke xix. 4. If he had climbed up into Ezekiel's cedar, I believe the Messiah would never have called him

down, for that is to be a refuge for all fowls of every wing, Ezek. xvii. 22, 23. But pray how did you fare among the messengers of the king, after they had heard your vision?

Ahimaaz. Why, after all of them had treated me and my vision with contempt, I began to think lightly of it myself, and so gradually lost all the comfort of it. That which gave the greatest disgust to them was, my saying it was a sovereign and discriminating act of God to bring me that way: and such an act it was 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 the remembrance of it, nor the effects of it, will ever be lost; but the word, sovereign, seemed to give great offence among them, as if I would feign myself to be a singular man; when I only told them the dealings of God with myself, that they might pass their judgment on it, not doubting but they all had experienced the same; but as none of them had experienced the like, nor understood 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 that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown," Rev. iii. 11.

Ahimaaz. I bless God, the impression and the

witness is still left, though the joys of it are much abated, and the light of it much obscured.

For you must know that I dropped into the old way of Jewish worship again; and as I could find no man that understood the vision, but that all condemned it, I soon got cold, until a late fit of sickness fell to my lot, to which I reluctantly submitted: but 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 farthest journey that I have taken since my recovery. This is the reason that you see me look so poorly; and I think that God sent you to me 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 do believe that God has suffered me to meet with hard treatment, both from the world and from his own people also, 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 with him, 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