weary of the holy calling. But, in the midst of my trouble, I heard a voice saying unto me, “Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more: for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them," Ezek. xxxiv. 10. And he added, " And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding," Jer. iii. 15. This voice did not seem to come with a reproof to me, but to some others, whom the Lord had not sent; and was, as I conceived, to stir me up to find out the cause of this confusion among the sheep, through these that had strayed; and yet I thought there were three days' journey between me and any other shepherd. However I was led in search after these false shepherds; for so I understood the vi. sion to signify; and, while I was wandering about, I heard a voice, saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel," Ezek. xxxiv. 2. This fully convinced me that I had rightly understood the vision; and shortly it appeared true; for I came to a man that was leading a flock to the back side of the desert, and went to the mountain, even to Horeb, Exodus iii. 1. I stood awhile in ambush, to observe his flock, and the shepherd also, and perceived that some of my strayed ones were among them; and no wonder; for he had endeavoured to mimic my voice, and to counterfeit the

shrill sound of my whistle. He was teaching some to butt with their horns, marking some for his own, and disfiguring others, that nobody might know them. I got as nigh to him as possible, that I might take notice of his visage; he soon looked up and saw me, and I began to prophesy against him, but he immediately set off round the mount. And some of my own charge, that he had taught to run at people, came with full force at me, and butted me with their horns, and then run after him as soon as he had blown the whistle.

This is what I have to say against the prisoner at the bar, my Lord. He enticed my sheep away from my care; some he crippled, and sent them home with the foot-rot; others he fleeced; others became pautherish; others he taught to butt; and some he stole and kept. This is true, my Lord; and the prisoner at the bar, Charity by name, is the man; and what I have said is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, my Lord.

Judge. Then said the judge, Sheep-stealing is death by the laws of the land; but to fleece, cripple, and scatter sheep is cruel. Indeed he acts in every sense contrary to the name and nature of Charity, for "a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

Charity. My Lord, be so good as to hear me. My accuser was feeding the sheep in the vallies, where the pastures were too rank and strong for them; I therefore enticed them to the mountains,

where the pasture is shorter and sweeter, which every shepherd will allow is best for sheep.

Judge. Let me hear no more of your equivocations, sirrah! we know that there is no green pasture at all on the mount of Horeb; it is a part of the desert, waste and wild; what it affords is intended for wild asses, as it is written, "who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings; the range of the mountains is his pasture," Job xxxix. 5, 6, 8. God says the sheep shall feed in large pastures, Isaiah xxx. 23, that they may be fat and flourishing; but you drive them into the barren desert, until they are nothing but what is vulgarly called heath-croppers.

Crier, tell Mr. Predestination to stand forth, and give his evidence against the prisoner at the bar.

Mr. Predestination, the King's witness, do you know the prisoner at the bar?

Predestination. Yes, my Lord.

Judge. You have heard his indictment; What say you; is he guilty of the things charged against him, or not?

Predestination. I shall give your Lordship my knowledge of him, how I first became acquainted with him, and afterwards my evidence, and hope your Lordship will hear me patiently. Be it known, therefore, to your Lordship that my ancestors were people belonging to the seas, and had been for

many years. They were natives of Paradise, a land not far from Mesopotamia; the first trading voyage they made, was from the cape of Goodhope to the city of Destruction, in the land of Shinar; but they met with a contrary wind, and were cast away, not far from the Fair-havens, Acts xxvii. 8. Many of the family on board were irrecoverably lost, 2 Cor. iv. 3; and I found the waters to overflow me, insomuch that all hope of ever being saved was entirely taken away. But a kind Providence put it suddenly into my mind to try to swim; I then spread forth my hands, and found I could swim, though I had never learnt, Isaiah xxv. 11; and I soon got my head above water, and drew near to the land, where I espied a very lofty mountain, or hill, called the ancient mountain; upon the top of it I thought I saw a rock overhang; I looked at it, and perceived there were private stairs to ascend by, Song ii. 14: so I got one foot on the first, and stood awhile to look about me; and on the left hand I saw some hundreds of our family standing, partly in the water and partly out, in a most forlorn condition; they had no covering, but a kind of net, Isaiah lix. 6, and an old veil on their faces, 2 Cor. iii. 14: They appeared to stand in a sort of chaos, part earth and part water; and, above all the rest, stood Universal Charity, the prisoner at the bar, with a fleece of sheep's wool upon his back; he saw me stand on the crag of the rock, Job xxxix. 28, and beckoned to me to come to him, which caused me to halt

between two opinions; and, indeed, my mind was as badly tossed as my body had been on the turbulent billows I had just escaped.

I stood for some time in jeopardy, not knowing which course to take; if I fell back, I should sink in the deep; if I turned to the left hand I expected to stick in the mire; and if I went forward I had this apparently insurmountable hill to climb; finding my foot that had hold of the stair wax weak, and that knee to stagger, I heard a voice, saying, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God follow him: but if Baal, then follow him," 1 Kings xviii. 21. I looked up, to see if I could discover the person from whom the voice came; and, on the top of the mountain, I saw a beautiful man with a cord in his hand; which he let down to me, saying, I have drawn thee with the cords of love, as with the bands of a man, Hos. xi. 4. I saw, but could not take hold of it; nor could I keep my eyes from looking at those who stuck in the mire; and, amongst the rest, I saw my wife and poor children: I cried, "Up, get you out of this place;" but I seemed as a mocker to them, Gen. xix. 14: Then I pointed to the cord, but they could not see it.

My case appeared now quite desperate; my knees were weak through fasting, and on my eyelids sat the shadow of death, Job xvi. 16. Presently I heard a voice, saying, Come up hither; but I was so feeble and sore broken, that I could not speak. It came to me the second time, saying,