PART VI.

HERE my guide addressed me, and said: Now Novitio, you have seen something of Death transformed into life, and it is glorious in your essteem; but if you will follow me, we may yet make farther discoveries relating to the departure of the sanctified. By this time my curiosity was stretched to the utmost pitch, therefore I needed but little persuasion to attend to farther discoveries; seeing the departure of Humillius and Stabilius was so very agreeable, at least to myself; therefore I said to my guide-Lead, Veratio, lead wherever you will, and I will follow you.

Are you sure of that? replied Veratio perhaps you may be mistaken; a much stronger person than Novitio appears to be, hath deserted me before now; and the strongest have found it difficult enough to adhere to me at certain times. Pardon me, sir, replied I, I mean whilst you unfold such agreeable scenes; for I perceive, sir, their influence is attractive. Well, Novitio, replied he, I agree with you in that, for when you are strongly drawn, I do not doubt but you will run apace. However, at present let us attend to the matter in hand.

Accordingly he led me away from this to another, but mean apartment, and as we entered, he saidNow, Novitio, prepare yourself for seeing the wondrous works of the Almighty. I admired what miracle I was now to behold, bur ere long I beheld a miracle of grace: a poor woman and three small children were the humble inhabitants of this despicable hut. As I learned from my guide, the poor,

but tender mother, whose name was Fidelia, had been confined to her bed by a deathly disorder for the space of six weeks or upwards, and by this time she seemed almost conquered by the fatal enemy to nature, though she still retained the perfect use of her reason, and still was capable of speaking to her visitants. At the time of our going into her mean apartment, some few of her friendly acquaintance, some of them meanly, others of them better attired, were come to visit her, desirous to perform the best offices of Christian friendship, expecting that her departure from earth was at hand. One of them who stood by her bed-side spoke to her thus; "My dear friend, Fidelia, I see your body is very low, and in all appearance the hour of your departure is approaching near; but if strength will permit, I should be glad to know how it is with you in your soul; for I have sometimes known the soul to be most healthful and vigorous when the outward man has been in the very arms of Death." To whom I thought Fidelia replied: O my friend! we have a kind and compassionate Lord; his comforts to me, a poor unworthy creature, are neither few nor small. I well say he feedeth me with his grace, and all his paths drop fatness to me. O my friends! my root is in the best soil, and the dew lies all night upon my branches. O let me ever be thankful for that sweet and transporting day, on which I found freedom of soul to rely upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is held forth in the gospel! Blessed be God for freedom to call the Redeemer my own, and to look up to him in an appropriating way! O the sweetness of the remembrance of it! It bears me down with the delightful weight of humbling love; electing, redeeming, and regenerated love commended itself by the sweetest and most persuasive eloquence unto my heart, and still it is the more endearing, because of its discriminating nature. O it is unspeakable! O the heights and depths! O divine love! Why is it that I, a poor unworthy hell-deserving sinner, should be found thy

may

favoured object? Amazing and miraculous grace that ever the great salvation of the adorable Jesus hath laid hold on me, and preached itself into my very heart, notwithstanding I am the basest of all the human creation. Behold I see the wise, the moral, the rich, and the noble, standing at a distance from the great salvation, and strangers to the pardoning mercy of God, whilst I, the most unworthy of all, am fed with the comforts of his love. It is thy doing, O thou omnipotent Saviour, and it is marvelous in my eyes; Thou lovest merely because thou wilt love, and pardonest only because such is thy good pleasure.

After some time her friend addressed himself to her as follows: I perceive, Fidelia, and I am glad to see it, that you do not quarrel with the providence of God, because he hath given you but a scanty measure of worldly substance; you do not seem offended because you are poor, and have not fortunes to leave your children.

No, my friend, replied she, I am not angry, for the Lord doth all things well, and my lot hath been rightly and wisely determined; I would not on any account that it had been otherwise than it has been. Whatever beauty others may think there is in growing riches; I must tell you for my own part, that I would not for the world I had been born to be rich, for wherever they come, "riches are sure to be a burden to the possessor:" therefore, he who well understood the nature of things, says, "he that increaseth in them doth also increase in sorrow." always found my own corruptions to be burden enough for me, to bear up the hill towards Mount Zion, with a weight of thick clay, however brilliant, on my shoulders.

I have

Here my guide gently jogged me, and said, "This is most excellently judged of Fidelia, for as weights of lead are to the courser, when he runs for the plate, so is gold to the follower of Christ." It is very difficult to possess gold without loving of it, and you may know that the love of money, "is the root of all

evil:" insomuch that it is next to impossible for a rich. man to be a true and humble Christian *.

In the mean while, Fidelia continued, and said, Had I been full, I might with many others have forgotten my God; but my narrow circumstances have furnished me with many precious opportunities of beholding the goodness of his providence and faithfulness to his promise; which opportunities I had certainly lost had I been rich. I think I see such beauty in the unerring dispensations of providence towards me, that no way so suitable could have been chosen, as the very way which my gracious God hath taken to bring me to himself and his glory. Well may I cry out with the apostle, "O the depth and riches both of his wisdom and knowledge!"

હૈદ

Filled with admiration at the goodness of God, Fidelia stopped here, and Veratio said to me, it has been, Novitio, the error of many writers, and still more of readers, to suppose, that small entertainment, and but few profitable hints, are to be drawn from a state of low life; but if we will make true religion, our theme, were must we go to find it? If we enquire at the palace of his grace Elatus, there we see all the pomp of magnificent pride driving on in its Jofty career; or if we call at the seat of my lord Ganeo, we are immediately confronted by drunkenness and revelling, and the delicate board, though covered with the most tasteful viands, is altogether destitute of that religion which would prevent it be

*Within the few years that I have been a professor, I have known many useful members of gospel churches utterly spoiled by getting rich. From spiritual, favoury, and sociable brethren, they have dwindled into mere formalists and muck worms, baren fig-trees in the garden of God, and such they are likely to continue, till it is the pleasure of God to revive them again. Many you will find convinced of this doctrine, in their judgment, whose affections are altogether unmoved; therefore they compass sea and land to get money, notwithstanding they have the greatest reason to believe, that it will add to their trouble. Yea, although they have many stings of conscience on this account, still they will do what they can to increase it. How absurd is man ?

coming a snare to the owner. It is much more likely, that if in quest of real religion you will find her with wretched Lazarus at the gate, rather than within the hotel of Dives; for not many wise men after the flesh, not many noble, are called to the possession of true religion, but the poor have the gospel preached to them; and amongst the lower class of the people, religion dwells in its greatest power, as you may see in the case of Fidelia, whose mind is overwhelmed with holy joy, even in the midst of her extreme sufferings.

It was now, I thought, that one of her friends asked her, how it was with her as to the comforts of life? To which she replied, O my friends, I have all things and abound: our gracious God hath promised, that our bread shall be given and our water shall be sure, and to the praise of his providence I can say that I have always found the promise verified, for he is a God keeping covenant, and full of faithfulness. This I have always had reason to note, but more especially been sensible of it since the death of my dear Fidelia; since then I have been necessitated to live by faith on the promises of a provident God. I have been enabled to trust, and never knew the promises to fail, nor the Lord to fall short of any word he hath spoken. How shall I praise thee, thou God of infinite fulness, who from thine own inexhaustible stores hath richly supplied all my wants! I long to appear before thee, O thou immaculate Redeemer, that I may see thee in the effulgence of thy glory, for here I see darkly as in a glass. Many are the refreshing gales of sweet consolation which I have had in the ordinances of thy grace: but now, when I compare them with that unfathomable depth of undecaying comfort, which I see immediately before me, they are like the small dust of the balance, when compared to the world; or like to the drop of water which hangs at the bucket, when compared to the vast ocean. O the divine blaze of heavenly glory, which already begins to beam upon my soul, even on this wilderness side of Jordan! O thou new and hea