THE ROCKY ISLAND, ANDOTHER SIMILITUDES. 

BY SAMUEL WILBERFORCE, D. D. LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD. 

"Fed my lambs. "--S. JOHN xxi. 15. 

TENTH EDITION

LONDON:FRANCIS & JOHN RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE. 1849. 

{The Rocky Island: p0. Jpg}

PREFACE. 

The advertisement to a work of similar character to the present expressesthe author's principle and wishes as to this little volume. It isconstructed on the same plan, and, like the former, has had the test ofthe observations of his own children before it was given to the public. The reception of "Agathos" has shewn that many parents have felt the wantwhich these little volumes are intended to supply, and leads the authorto hope that he has in some measure been able to meet it. 

It is a peculiar gratification to him to be able thus to enter many aChristian household, and fulfil, in some measure, his Master's charge, "Feed my lambs. "

May it please God to give His blessing to this new attempt. 

S. W

_Winchester_, _Sept. _ 29, 1840. 

The Rocky Island. 

I saw in my dream a rough rocky island rising straight out of the midstof a roaring sea. In the midst of the island rose a black steepmountain; dark clouds rested gloomily upon its top; and into the midst ofthe clouds it cast forth ever and anon red flames, which lit them up likethe thick curling smoke at the top of a furnace-chimney. Peals of loudthunder sounded constantly from these thick clouds; and now and thenangry lightning shot its forked tongue, white, and red, and blue, fromthe midst of them, and fell upon the rocks, or the few trees which justclung to their sides, splitting them violently down, and scattering thebroken and shivered pieces on all sides. It was a sad, dreary-lookingisland at the first view, and I thought that no one could dwell in it;but as I looked closer at its shores, I saw that they were covered withchildren at play. A soft white sand formed its beach, and there thesechildren played. I saw no grown people among them; but the children wereall busy--some picking up shells; some playing with the bright-colouredberries of a prickly dwarf-plant which grew upon those sands; somewatching the waves as they ran up and then fell back again on that shore;some running after the sea-birds, which ran with quick light feet alongthe wet sand, and ever flew off, skimming just along the wave-top, anduttering a quick sharp note as the children came close upon them:--sosome sported in one way, and some in another, but all were busily atplay. Now I wondered in my dream to see these children thus busy whilstthe burning mountain lay close behind them, and the thunder made the airring. 

Sometimes, indeed, when it shone out redder and fiercer than usual, orwhen the thunder seemed close over their heads, the children would bestartled for a little while, and run together, and cry, and scream; butvery soon it was all forgotten, and they were as full of their sports asever. 

While I was musing upon this, I saw a man appear suddenly amongst thechildren. He was of a noble and kingly countenance, and yet so gentlewithal that there was not a child of them all who seemed afraid to lookin his face, or to listen to his kind voice when he opened his mouth, forsoon I found that he was speaking to them. "My dear children, " I heardhim say, "you will all be certainly killed, if you stay upon this rockyisland. Here no one ever grows up happily. Here all play turns intodeath--the burning mountain, and the forked lightning, and the dreadfulbreath of the hill-storm, --these sweep down over all that stay here, andslay them all; and if you stay here, for these childish pleasures ofyours, you will all perish. "

Then the children grew very grave, and they gazed one upon another, andall looked up into the face of the man, to see if he spoke in earnest. They saw directly that he did, for that kind face looked full of care aswell as of love: so from him they looked out upon the waves of the sea, and one whispered to another, "Where shall we go? how shall we ever getover that sea? we can never swim across it: had we not better go back, and play and be happy, until the time comes for us to die?"

"No, " said the man, looking round kindly upon them all; "you cannot swimover; you never could get over of yourselves: but you need not stay hereand die; for I have found a way of escape for you. Follow me, and youshall see it. "

So I saw that he led them round a high rough rock, to where the calmwaves of the sea ran up into a little bay, upon the white sand of whichonly a gentle ripple broke with a very pleasant sound. This bay was fullof boats, small painted boats, with just room in each for one person, with a small rudder to guide them at the stern, and a little sail aswhite as snow, and over all a flag, on which a bright red cross wasflapping in the gentle sea-breeze. 

Then when the children saw these beautiful boats, they clapped theirlittle hands together for very joy of heart. But the man spoke to themagain and said, "You will all have a deep, and dangerous, and stormy seato pass over in these little boats. They will carry you quite safely, ifyou are careful to do just as I bid you, for then neither are wind northe sea can harm them; but they will bear you safely over the foamingwaves to a bright and beautiful land--to a country where there is noburning mountain, and no angry lightning, and no bare rocks, and noblasting hill-storm; but where there are trees bearing golden fruits bythe side of beautiful rivers, into which they sweep their green boughs. There the trees are always green, and the leaves ever fresh. There thefruit ripens every month, {6} and the very leaves upon the trees arehealing. There is always glad and joyful light. There are happychildren who have passed this sea; and there are others who have grownold full of happiness; there are some of your fathers, and mothers, andbrothers, and sisters; and there am I ever present to keep and to comfortyou. " Now when they heard this, all the children wished to jump into theboats, and he was kindly ready to help them, only he put each one incarefully and slowly; and as he put him in, he gave him his charge. Hetold them that they must never look round to this island they wereleaving, but must be always setting their faces towards the happy landthey sought for. He told them that they must leave behind them all theshells and the berries which had pleased them here, for if they tried totake these with them in their boats, some accident would certainly befallthem. Then some of the children, when they heard all this, drew secretlyaway, and ran round the point, and gave up the boats and the sea, andbegan their old idle play again. And some of them, I thought, hid theshells and the berries they had got, and then jumped into the boat, pretending they had left all behind them. 

Then I saw that the man gave different presents to each of them, as theyseated themselves in the boat. One was a little compass in a wooden box. "This, " he said, "will always shew you which way to steer; you are tofollow me, for I shall always be before you on the waters; but often whenthe darkness of the night comes on, or the thick mist seethes up from thewave's brim, or the calm has fallen upon you so that your boat has stoodstill, --often at such times as these you may not be able even to mark mytrack before you: then you must look at the compass, and its finger willalways point true and straight to where I am; and if you will follow methere, you will be safe. " He gave them, too, a musical instrument, whichmade a soft murmuring sound when they breathed earnestly into it; "andthis, " he said, "you must use when you are becalmed and so cannot get on, or when the waves swell into a storm around you and threaten to swallowyou up. " He gave them, too, bread and water for many days. 

So I saw that they all set out upon their voyage, and a beautiful sightit was to look upon. Their snow-white sails upon the deep sea shone likestars upon the blue of the firmament; and now they all followed closeupon the leader's ship, and their little boats danced lightly andjoyfully over the trackless waves, which lifted up their breasts to waftthem over: and so they started. But I looked again in a little while, and they were beginning to be scattered very widely asunder: here andthere three or four of the boats kept well together, and followedsteadily in the track of the leader's vessel; then there was a long spaceof the sea with no boat upon it at all; then came a straggler or two, andthen another company; and then, far off on the right and on the left, were other boats, which seemed to be wandering quite away from theleader's path. 

Now, as I watched them closer, I saw that there were many differentthings which drew them away: one I saw, soon after they started, whoturned back to look at the rocky island, forgetting the man's command. Hesaw the other children playing on the beach; he heard their merry voices;and then looking round again towards the sea, it looked rough and darkbefore him; and he forgot the burning mountain, and the terrible thunder, and the bright happy land for which he was bound, and the goodly companyhe was in, and the kind face of the kingly man; and he was like one in adream, before whose eyes all sorts of shapes and colours fly, and inwhose ears all sounds are ringing; and he thought no more of the helm, nor watched the sails; and so the driving swell carried his boat idlyalong with its long roll; and in a few minutes more I saw it at the topof a white foaming breaker, and then he and it were dashed down upon therocks which girdled the sandy beach, and he was seen again no more. 

Then I turned my eyes to two other boats, which were going fast away fromthe true course, for no reason which I could see; but when I looked atthem more closely, I saw that they were in a sort of angry race; eachwished to get to the wind-side of the other; and they were so busythinking about this, and looking at one another with angry glances, andcalling out to one another with angry words, that they forgot to look forthe leader's ship, or to watch the finger of the compass; and so theywere going altogether wide of the track along which they should havepassed. 

Then I looked closely at another, which was shooting quite away inanother direction; and I saw that the poor child had left the rudder, andwas playing with something in the bottom of the boat; and as I lookednearer in it, I saw that it was with some of the bright berries of therocky island which he had brought with him that he was so foolishly busy. 

Foolish, indeed, he was; and kind had been the warning of the man whobade them leave all these behind: for whilst I was watching him, andwondering what would be the end of such a careless voyage, I saw hislittle boat strike suddenly upon a hidden rock, which broke a hole in itswooden sides, and the water rushed in, and the boat began to sink, andthere was no help near, and the poor boy was soon drowned in the midst ofthe waves. 

Then I turned sadly away to watch the boats which were following theirleader; and here, too, I saw strange things; for though the sea whenlooked at from afar seemed just alike to all, yet when I watched any one, I saw that he had some difficulties, and some frights, and some helps ofhis own, which I did not see the others have. 

Sometimes it would fall all at once quite dark, like a thick night, allround a boat; and if he that was in it could hear the voice of acompanion near him for a little while, that gladdened him greatly; andthen oftentimes all sound of voices died away, and all was dark, still, deep night, and he knew not where to steer. Now if, when this fell uponhim, the child went straight to his compass, and looked close upon it, inspite of the darkness, there came always a faint flashing light out ofthe darkness, which played just over the compass, so as to shew him itsstraight blue finger, if he saw no more; and then, if he took up hismusical instrument, and blew into it, though the thickness of the heavyair seemed at first to drown its sound, yet, after awhile, if he was butearnest, I could hear its sweet murmuring sound begin; and then directlythe child lost his fears, and did not want company; sweet echoes of hismusic talked with his spirit out of the darkness, and within a littletime the gloom would lift itself quite up again, or melt away into thesoftest light: and lo! he had got on far on his voyage even in this timeof darkness, so that sometimes he could see the beloved form just beforehim; and at times even the wooded shore of the happy land would liftitself up, and shine on his glad eyes, over the level brim of the silversea. 

From another boat it would seem that the very air of the heaven diedaway. There it lay, like a painted sail in a picture--the snow-whitecanvass drooping lazily, or flapping to and fro, as the long dull swellheaved up the boat, and let it sink again into the trough of the waves:other boats, but a little way off, would sail by with a full breeze; buthe could not move; his very flag shewed no sign of life. Now if thelittle sailor began to amuse himself when this happened, it seemed to methat there he lay, and would lie, till the dark night overtook him, andparted him from all his company. But if, instead of this, he took up hismusical instrument, and played upon it with all his earnestness, its softbreath, as it whispered to the wind, soon woke up its gentle sighing; thelong flag lifted itself on high; the blood-red cross waved over thewater; the snowy sails swelled out, and the little boat danced on alongits joyful way. 

I noticed also that before those boats which were passing on the fastest, the sea would every now and then look very dark and threatening. Greatwaves would seem to lift their white heads just before them; whilst everywhere else the sea looked calm and enticing. Then the little sailorwould strain his eye after his master's course, or look down at thefaithful compass; and by both of these sure signs he saw that his way laystraight through these threatening waves. Well was it for him, if, witha bold heart and a faithful hand, he steered right into them. For alwaysdid I see, that just as he got where it seemed to be most dangerous, thetossing waves sank, as if to yield him an easy passage; the wind favouredhim more than at any part of his voyage; and he got on in the right wayfaster than ever before. Especially was this so, if at first he wassomewhat tossed, and yet held straight on; for then he shot into a glassycalm, where tide and wind bore him steadily along unto the desired haven. But sad was it for him, if, instead of then trusting to the compass, hesteered for the smoother water. One or two such trembling sailors Iespecially observed. One of them had long been sailing with the foremostboats; he had met with less darkness, fewer mists or troubled places, than the boats around him; and when he saw the white crests of thethreatening waves lift up their strength before him, his heart began tosink; and after wavering for a moment, he turned his little boat aside toseek the calmer water. Through it he seemed to be gliding on mosthappily, when all at once his little boat struck upon a hidden sandbank, and was fixed so firmly on its side, that it could not get afloat again. I saw not his end; but I sadly feared that when next the sea wrought witha troubled motion, and the surf broke upon that bank, his little boatmust soon be shivered, and he perish in the waves. 

The other who turned aside followed closely after him; for this was onething which I noted through all the voyage. Whenever one boat wentastray, some thoughtless follower or other would forget his compass, tosail after the unhappy wanderer; and it often happened that thesefollowers of others went the farthest wrong of any. So it was in thiscase; for when the first boat struck upon the sandbank, the other, thinking to escape it, bore still farther off; and so chancing to passjust where the shoal ended, and an unruly current swept by its farthestedge, the boat was upset in a moment, and the poor child in it drowned. 

And now I turned to three or four boats which had kept together from thetime they left the harbour. Few were forwarder than they; few hadsmoother water or more prosperous gales. I could see, when I lookedclose into their faces, that they were all children of one family; andthat all the voyage through they were helping, cheering, and directingone another. As I watched their ways, I noticed this, too, which seemedwonderful. If one of them had got into some trouble with its tackle, andthe others stayed awhile to help it, and to bring it on its way, insteadof losing ground by this their kindness, they seemed all to make thegreater progress, and press on the further in their course. 

And now I longed to see the ending of this voyage; and so looking on tothose which were most forward, I resolved to trace them to the end. 

Then I found that all, without exception, came into a belt of storms anddarkness before they reached the happy land. True, it was much rougherand more dark with some than others; but to every one there was a deepnight and a troubled sea. I saw, too, that when they reached this place, they were always parted one from another. Even those which had kept mostclose together all the voyage before, until just upon the edge of thisdark part, they, like the rest, were scattered here, and toiled on awhilesingly and alone. 

They seemed to me to fare the best who entered on it with the fullestsails, and had kept hitherto the straightest course. Indeed, as a commonrule I found this always true--that those who had watched the compass, and held the rudder, and cheered themselves with the appointed music, andeaten the master's bread, and steered straight after him, they passedthrough this cloud and darkness easily and swiftly. 

Next to these were those who sought most earnestly to cheer its gloomwith the sound of their appointed music. The Lord of these seas, indeed, had many ways of cheering His followers. Even in the thickest of thatdarkness His face of beaming love would look out upon them; and He seemednearer to them then than He had done heretofore through all their voyage. 

Then, moreover, it was never long; and bright light lay beyond it. Forthey passed straight out of it into "the haven where they would be. "Sweet sounds broke upon their glad ears even as they left that darkness. A great crowd of happy children--parents who had gone before them--friendswhom they had loved, and holy persons whose names they had longknown--these all lined the banks, waiting to receive and welcome them. Amidst these moved up and down shining forms of beautiful beings, such asthe children's eyes had seen only in some happy dream; and they, too, were their friends; they, too, waited for them on the bank; they, too, welcomed them with singing, and bore the happy new-comer with songs oftriumph into the shining presence of the merciful King. Then, on thethrone royal, and with the glorious crown upon His head, they saw thesame kind face of gentle majesty which had looked upon them when theyplayed on the shores of that far rocky isle. They heard again the voicewhich had bid them fly the burning mountain. They saw Him who had takenthem into His convoy; who had given them their boats; who had been nearthem in the storm; who had given them light in the darkness; who hadhelped them in the dull calm; who had never left them; but who had keptand guided them across the ocean; and who now received them to His never-ending rest. 

* * * * *

_Father_. Who are the children playing on the shores of the rockyisland?

_Child_. The fallen children of fallen parents, born into this sinfulworld. 

F. What does the burning mountain, and the lightning, and thehill-storm, represent?

C. The wrath of God ever burning against sinners. 

F. Who is He who warned these thoughtless children?

C. The Lord Jesus, who, by His ministers, warns men to "flee from thewrath to come. "

F. What are the boats by which they are to escape?

C. The "ark of Christ's Church, " into which we are admitted by baptism. 

F. Many of the children who embarked in the boats were lost, --what isshewn by this?

C. That it is not enough to be received into the congregation ofChrist's flock; but that we must always "manfully fight under His banneragainst the world, the flesh, and the devil, and continue Christ'sfaithful soldiers and servants unto our lives' end. "

F. What is the compass, and the musical instrument, and the bread, andthe water?

C. God's word, and the privilege of prayer and holy sacraments, and theother gifts of God to His Church. 

F. What is the gentle wind which the musical instrument awoke?

C. The grace of God's Holy Spirit, promised to the members of HisChurch, to be sought by earnest prayer, and in all the means of grace. 

F. What means the boy playing with the berries, and so striking on therock?

C. One who having been given up to Christ in baptism follows worldlypleasures, and so "makes shipwreck of the faith. "

F. What are the dark places and calms into which different boats enter?

C. The different temptations and dangers of the Christian life. 

F. What are the threatening waves which seemed to be right ahead of theboat?

C. The dangers and self-denials which they must meet with who willfollow Christ. 

F. What is meant by the boat which turned aside, and ran upon the shoal?

C. That they who will turn aside from following Christ because dangerand self-denials meet them cannot reach heaven. 

F. What is shewn in the boat which followed this one?

C. How ready we are to follow a bad example, and go beyond it. 

F. What was the little company of boats which kept together?

C. A Christian family earnestly serving God. 

F. Why did those who helped others find that they got on the fastest?

C. Because God, who has bid us "bear one another's burdens, and sofulfil the law of Christ, " will greatly help and bless all such. 

F. What is the belt of storm and darkness which all must pass through?

C. Death. 

F. Why were all separated in it?

C. Because we must die alone. 

F. Who are those that generally passed through it most easily?

C. Those whose life had been most holy and obedient. "Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right; for that shall bring a manpeace at the last" (Ps. Xxxvii. 38). 

F. Who were the next?

C. Those who entered on it with much prayer. 

F. What was their great support in it?

C. The presence of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

F. What declaration have we on this subject in God's word?

C. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. " "I amthe resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me shall never die. "

F. What lies beyond this to the faithful Christian?

C. The blessed rest of paradise and the bright glories of heaven. 

The Vision of the Three States. 

I saw, in my vision, two glorious creatures walking together through abeautiful garden. I thought at first they must be angels, so bright andhappy did they seem. The garden, also, in which they were, seemed toobeautiful for earth. Every flower which I had ever seen, and numberswhich my eye had never looked upon, grew in abundance round them. Theywalked, as it were, upon a carpet of flowers. The breeze was quite fullof the rich scent which arose from them. The sun shone upon them with abrightness such as I had never seen before; whilst the air sparkled withmyriads of winged things, which flew here and there, as if to shew howhappy they were. 

All through the garden, too, I saw every sort of beast, in all itsnatural grace and beauty; and all at peace. Great lions moved aboutamongst tender sheep; and striped tigers lay down quietly to sleepamongst the dappled fawns which sported around them. But, amidst allthese beautiful sights, my eyes followed more than all, the two gloriousforms which were walking together with such a kingly majesty through thehappy garden: they were, truly, I could see, beings of this earth; theywere talking to each other; they were speaking of ONE who had made themout of the dust of the earth; who had given to them living souls: who wastheir Father and their Friend; who had planted for them this beautifulgarden, and made them the rulers of all that was in it. 

Now I marked them as they talked, and I could see that their eyes wereoften turned from all the beauty round them towards one far end of thegarden; and as I watched them, I saw that they were still passing ontowards it. Then I also fixed my eyes there, and in a while I could seethat, at the end of the garden to which they were moving, there was abright light, brighter and purer than the light of the sun; and I thoughtthat in it I could see here and there heavenly forms moving up and down, flying upon silver wings, or borne along upon the light breath of thesunny air. But as I strained my eyes to pierce into it, it seemed todazzle and confound them by its great lustre. Then, again, I heard thewords of the two; and they spake of what was before them; of the brightlight, and the heavenly forms: and I found that they were only travellersthrough this beautiful garden; that the King who had placed them in itdwelt in that light, the brightness of which had so confounded my gaze;that they were on their way to His presence, and that when they reachedit, they should be happy for ever; even as those shining spirits werealready, whose golden figures I had been just able to discover. 

Now, whilst I was pondering upon these things, and casting my eyes roundand round this beautiful garden, I heard all at once a most terriblesound, as of thunder, such as man's ears had never heard. I looked up, and the bright light at the end of the garden seemed to turn itself intoangry fire, and to flash red and threatening through thick black clouds, which were forming themselves into terrible shapes all over the garden. Then I looked for the two that I had seen before: I could just see them;sorrow sat upon their faces, and fear made them deadly pale; a serpentwas gliding from them into the bushes; and their eyes were fixed upon theair, as though voices, which I heard not, were speaking terrible thingsto their inner ears. Then, as I looked, it grew darker and darker--thethunder pealed all round me--cries came forth from every hill, as offierce and deadly beasts in wild dreadful fight. The flowers round mewere withering up, as if a burning blight had passed over them; and soonit was all dark, and dreary, and desolate. 

Then when my heart was very heavy within me, methought there stood by meone of the forms of light whom I had seen at the garden's end; and myknees smote together through fear of his glory; but he looked upon mekindly, and spoke to me in a voice of pity, and he said, "Wouldst thousee the end of this sight?" Then my heart gathered courage, and I toldhim, that if it were lawful, I would indeed fain look upon it. 

With that he lifted me, and we flew through the air, and I knew not wherehe had borne me; but in a while he set me on my feet, and bade me lookright down beneath me. Then I looked down at his word, but could seenothing. My eyes seemed to rest upon the thick mantle of the night, andthey could not pierce through it. Now, while I was striving to piercethrough the darkness, strange noises rose from it to my ears. All soundsthat ever were, came up from it, so mingled together that I could not saywhat they were. Whether it were a groan, or a cry, or a roaring, ormusic, or shouting, or the voice of anger or of sorrow; for all of theseseemed joined together into one; but the groaning was louder than thelaughing, and the voice of crying well nigh drowned the music. Then Iasked my guide what was this strange noise; and he told me that it wasthe voice of all THE WORLD, as it rose up to the ears of those that wereon high. Then I begged of him, if it might be, to let me see those fromwhom it came. With that he touched my eyes; and now methought, thoughthe darkness remained, that I could see in the midst of its thickness, even as in the brightness of the day. 

It was a strange place into which I looked. Instead of the beautifulgarden I had seen before, and two glorious creatures passing through it;now I saw a multitude of men, women, and children, passing on through awaste and desolate wilderness. Here and there, indeed, there were stillflowery spots, but they were soon trodden down by the feet of those whopassed along. Strange too were their steps. Now, instead of passingstraight on, they moved round and round, for they were all in the blackdarkness. The ground was full of pitfalls, in the low bottoms of which Icould see red fire burning fierce and hot, and one after another fellover into these pitfalls, and I saw them no more. Evil beasts, too, moved amongst them, slaying one, and tearing another; and as if this wasnot enough, oftentimes they would quarrel and fight with one another, until the ground all around was covered with their bodies strewed uponit. 

Yet for all this, some would sing, and dance, and frolic; and this seemedto me the saddest of all, for they were like mad men; and mad in truththey were, for in the midst of their dancing and their singing, one andanother would get near the side of some great pitfall, and step over intoits flames, even with the song upon their lips. 

In vain did I strain my eyes to see any light at the end, as I had seenit in the garden. If it was there, the black clouds had rolled over itso thick and dark that not a ray of it was left. 

Yet I heard one and another offering to lead those that would followthem, safely through this terrible wilderness; and such men never wantedfollowers: so I watched many of these leaders, to see what they would dofor those that trusted them. Little help could any of them render. Someput their followers on a path which led straight down into the deepestand most frightful pitfalls; some set them on a path which wandered roundand round, and brought them at the end back to the same place from whichthey started; some led them into thorny places, where the poor pilgrimspierced their bleeding feet with many a wound: but not one did I see whobrought them into any better place, or took them any nearer to theirjourney's end. 

How they found their way at all, was at first my wonder. But as I lookedmore closely, I saw in all their hands little lanterns, which just threwa feeble light upon the darkness round them. These were always brightestin the young, for they soon grew very dim; and the falls and blows theymet with, bruised and shattered them so much, that some had hardly anyglimmering left, even of the feeble light which they had seemed to castof old. 

I looked at them until my heart was very sad, for there was no peace, nosafety, no hope; but all went heavily and sadly, groaning and weeping, orlaughing like madmen, until, sooner or later, they seemed all to perishin the fearful pitfalls!

Then my angel-guide spoke to me again, marking my sadness, and he said, "Hast thou well observed this sight?" and I answered, "Yes. " Then hesaid, "And wouldst thou see more?" So when I had said "yes, " methoughtwe were once more flying through the air, until again he set me on myfeet, and bid me look down. Now here, too, strange noises reached myears; but as I listened to them, I found that there were mixed with themsuch sounds as I had not heard before. Sweet clear voices came up nowfrom the din, speaking, as it were from one close by me, words of faith, and of hope, and of love; and they sounded to me like the happy talkingwhich I had heard at the first between the glorious beings in the garden. 

So when my guide touched my eyes, I bent them eagerly down into thedarkness below me. 

At first I thought that it was the same place I had seen last, for therewas a busy multitude passing to and fro; and there was music and dancing, and sobbing and crying; there were pitfalls, too, and wild beasts. Butas I looked closer, I saw that, in spite of all this, it was not theplace that I had seen before. Even at a glance I could see that therewere many more flowers here than there; and that many amongst thepilgrims were going straight on, with happy faces, by a road which passedsafely by all the pitfalls. I could see, too, that at the end of theroad was a dim shining of that happy light which had been so bright inthe beautiful garden. 

Now, as I looked, I saw that there were but a few who kept to thisstraight safe road, and that many were scattered all over the plain. Isaw many leave this path even as I looked upon it; and very few did I seecome back to it: those who did, seemed to me to find it very hard to getinto it again; whether it was that its sides were slippery, or its banksso steep, many fainted and gave up, after trying to climb into it again. But it seemed quite easy to leave it; for every one who left it went onat first lightly and pleasantly. Sometimes, indeed, they seemed greatlystartled after taking their first step out of it, and some of them turnedstraight back, and after a few struggles, more or less, such always gotinto it again. But if once after this first check they set out for theplain, they seemed to go easily along, until their path lay straight bythe den of some destroying beast, or led them into the midst of thepitfalls, where they wholly lost their reckoning, and knew not how to geton, or how to get back. 

I saw, too, after a while, that they had got lanterns in their hands, some of which gave a great deal of light. Those which were carried alongthe narrow path shot out bright rays on all sides, until towards the endthey quite blazed with light. I could see, too, that these travellershad some way of trimming and dressing their lamps; and that much of theirlight seemed to come from an open book which they carried in their hands, from the leaves of which there flashed out continually streams of light, which made their lamps burn so brightly that all their road shone withit. But as they got further and further from the path, their lamps beganto burn dim. All these travellers, too, had the book of light closed; orif they now and then opened it, they shut it up again, some carelessly, and some as if its light frightened them; and not one could I see whostopped to trim his light: so that just when they got amongst thepitfalls, and wanted light the most, they were all the most nearly indarkness. 

Now, when I had looked at them for a space, and wondered, my guide saidto me, "Wouldst thou see how they enter on this plain?" Then he took meto a fair porch, which came from the wilderness I had looked upon before;and there I saw a man standing in white robes, and speaking good words, and giving good gifts to each one as he came in. There were personscoming in of all nations and people, and some, too, of all ages, thoughthe greatest number were little children, so small that their littlehands would not hold the man's gifts, and so he hung them round theirnecks, for them to use as soon as they were able. 

Then I joined myself to the group, to hear and see the better what waspassing. The man in white was speaking with a grave kind voice as I cameup. He told the pilgrims that the great Lord of the land had built thatporch, and set him there to help the poor travellers, who were beforewithout hope or help amongst the beasts, and snares, and pitfalls of theterrible wilderness; he told them that the blood of the King's own Sonhad been shed, that that porch might be built; that the King had preparedthem a narrow way to walk in, which led straight from that porch to Hisown blessed presence, and that they might all pass along it safely ifthey would; he told them that if they left that path, they would surelyget again amongst the pitfalls which they had left in the wilderness;nay, that they would be worse off than they had been even there, for thatthere was no other porch where they could again be set right, and noother place where the gifts that he was giving them now, could ever begot any more, if they were once thrown quite away. 

Then I looked to see what these gifts were. I saw the man bring forthclear and sparkling water, which shone as if with living light; and withthis he washed from them the dirt and the bruises of the terriblewilderness: with this, too, he touched their little lamps, and as ittouched them, they grew so bright and clear, that the light within pouredfreely forth on all around them. Then he looked in their faces, and gavethem a name, which he wrote down in the King's book; and he told them, that by this name they should be known, not only by theirfellow-travellers, but that this would remain written in the King's bookhere, unless they wholly left His path; and that every name whichremained written here, they would find written in another book in lettersof gold and of fire, when they reached the other end of the path; andthat for every pilgrim, whose name was written there, the golden gatewould open of itself, and he would find a place and a crown in thepresence of the King. 

Then, as he spoke all these glorious words, my heart burned within me tosee how the travellers sped. 

But he had not yet done with them; for he brought out of his stores agolden vial for each one; and he told them that in it the King had storedthe oil of light and beauty for the dressing of their lamps. 

Then he shewed them how to use it: not carelessly or lightly, for thenthe oil would not flow; but earnestly, and with great care; and thensweet odours issued from the vial, and the flame of the lamp burnedbrightly and high. He gave them, too, the precious light-book, which Ihad seen; and he bade them read in it when it was dark, or the way wasslippery; and that they should ever find that it was a "lantern untotheir feet, and a light unto their paths. " He put, too, into the hand ofeach a trusty staff, suited to their age; and then he told them, whilethey leant upon it, it would bear them up at many a pinch, and ever growwith their growth, and strengthen with their strength. "Church-truth" hecalled these staffs; and they were made after a marvellous fashion, forthey were as if many wands had been woven together to make one; and as Ilooked, I could see "example, " and "experience, " and "discipline, " and"creeds, " written upon some of these wands, which grew together into"Church-truth. "

Then I longed greatly to follow forth some of these whom I had seen underthe porch; and as I gazed, I saw the man look earnestly into the face ofa fair boy, who stood before him: he gave him the name of "Gottlieb, "{45a} and entered it in the book, and put the staff in his hand, andwashed him with living water, and hung the vial at his side, and put thebanded staff into his hands; and, bidding him God-speed, set him out uponhis journey. 

Then he looked steadily into the face of another, and it, too, was fairto look upon; but it had not the quiet happy peace of the last. The manwrote it down as "Irrgeist;" {45b} and I thought a shade of sadness sweptover his brow as he gave to him the King's goodly gifts. 

Then he sent forth a third, whose timid eye seemed hardly firm enough forso long a journey; and I heard the name that was given him, and it was"Furchtsam. " {45c} Close to him went another, with a firm step, and aneye of steady gentleness; and I saw, by the King's book, that he bore thename of "Gehulfe. " {46}

So these four set out upon their journey; and I followed them to see howthey should fare. Now, I saw that at first, when they started, they wereso small that they could not read in the goodly book, neither could theyuse the golden vials; and their little banded sticks would have fallenfrom their hands, if they had not been small and thin, like the firstgreen shoots of the spring. Their lamps, too, cast no light outwardly, yet still they made some way upon the path; and whilst I wondered howthis might be, I saw that a loving hand was stretched out of the darknessround them, which held them up and guided them on their way. 

But, anon, in a while they were grown larger; and I could see Gottliebwalking on the first, and his book of light was open in his hand, and hislamp burned bright, for he often refreshed it with oil, and he leant uponhis good staff, and strode along the road. 

Then, as he walked on, I saw that there stood upon his path a shadowyfigure, as of one in flowing robes, and on her head she seemed to wear achaplet of many flowers; in her hands was a cup of what seemed to becrystal water, and a basket of what looked like cool and refreshingfruit. A beautiful light played all round her, and half shewed her andher gifts to the boy. She bid him welcome, as he came up to her; so heraised his eyes from his book, and looked to see who spoke to him. Thenshe spoke kindly to him; and she held forth the cup towards him, andasked him if he would not drink. Now, the boy was hot with walking, forthe air was close, so he stretched out his hand to take the cup; butthough it seemed so near to him, he could not reach it. And at the samemoment she spake to him again, and asked him to come where these fruitsgrew, and where the breeze whispered amongst the boughs of yondertrees, --and there to drink and rest, and then go on his way again. ThenI saw that she had power to call out of the darkness the likeness of allshe spoke of. So he looked at the trees to which she pointed; and thesun seemed to shine around them, and the shade looked cool and temptingunder them, and the pleasant breeze rustled amongst their fresh leaves;and he thought the road upon which he was travelling was hotter anddarker, and more tiring than ever; and he put up his hand to his burningbrow, and she said to him, as he lingered, "come. " Now, the trees towhich she pointed him lay off his road, or he would gladly have restedunder them; and whilst he doubted what to do, he looked down to the bookthat was open in his hand; and the light shot out upon it bright andclear, and the words which he read were these, "None that go unto herreturn again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. " {49a} And ashe read it, he looked again at the stranger; and now he could see moreclearly through the wild light which played around her, and he knew thatit was the evil enemy who stood before him; the sparkling cup, too, andthe fruit, turned into bitter ashes; and the pleasant shady grass becamea thorny and a troublesome brake: so, pushing by her with the help of hisstaff, he began to mend his pace; and looking down into the book oflight, there shone out, as in letters of fire, "Wherewithal shall a youngman cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word. " {49b}

Then I saw that he was feeding his lamp, which had begun to grow dim ashe parleyed with the tempter, and that he ceased not till it streamed outas bright and as clear as ever. 

But still the air was hot and sultry, and no cool breath blew upon him;and if he looked off for a moment from his book, the fair form of thetempter stood again beside him in silver light; the cold water sparkledclose to his lips; and trees with shady boughs waving backward andforward over fresh green grass, and full, in every spray, ofsinging-birds, seemed to spring up around him. For a little moment hisstep faltered; but as his lamp streamed out its light, all the vainshadows passed away: and I heard him say, as he struck his staff upon theground, "I have made a covenant with my eyes;" and even as she heard it, the tempter passed away, and left him to himself. Scarcely was she gone, before he passed by the door of a beautiful arbour. It was strewn withthe softest moss; roses and honeysuckle hung down over its porch; light, as from a living diamond, gleamed from its roof; and in the midst of itsfloor, a clear, cool, sparkling stream of the purest water bubbled everup from the deep fountain below it. Now, as this lay on the road, Gottlieb halted for a moment to look at it; and the light of his lampwaxed not dim, though he thus stayed to see it; the book of fire, too, spoke to him of rest, and of halting by "palm-trees and wells of water;"and as he looked, he read in letters of light over the door-way--

 Faithful pilgrim, banish fear, Thou mayst enter safely here: Rest for thee thy Lord did win; Faithful pilgrim, enter in. 

Then Gottlieb rejoiced greatly, and cast himself gladly upon the mossyfloor, and bent down his parched lips to drink of the cool spring whichbubbled up before him. 

Now, whilst he was resting safely here, I turned to see how it fared withthe others who had set out with him from the porch, for they had not gotas far as Gottlieb. 

The first of them was Irrgeist; and when I looked upon him, he wasdrawing near to the place where Gottlieb had fallen in with the tempter. Irrgeist was walking quickly on--so quickly that, at the first glance, Ithought he would soon be by the side of Gottlieb. But, upon looking moreclosely, I saw that Gottlieb's steps had been far more steady and eventhan those with which Irrgeist was pressing on; for Irrgeist's lampburned but dimly, and gave him no sure light to walk in. Very near tothe place where Gottlieb had met with her, the tempter stood besideIrrgeist. He was not looking at his book, as the other had been; and hedid not wait to be spoken to; for as soon as he saw the light whichplayed round her figure, he began to speak to her, and asked who she was. She told him that her name was "Pleasure;" and forthwith she shewed tohim her crystal cup and fruits; and she brought before the charmed eyesof the wanderer all the gay show with which she had tried before tomislead the faithful Gottlieb. There was the bright sunshine, and thegreen path, and the waving trees, and the rustling of the wind, and thesong of birds, and the sweet resting-shade. Irrgeist looked eagerly atall she shewed him, and in his haste to reach out his hand for the cup, he dropped altogether the trusty staff of "Church-truth. " Then the cupseemed to draw away from him, just as it had done from Gottlieb; but hefollowed thoughtlessly after it. And soon I saw that he left the pathupon which he had been set; and though he started suddenly as soon as hewas off it, yet it was but a moment's start, --the cup was close beforehim, the shadowy form led him on, the grass was green, and the trees andthe sunlight but a little farther. 

And now I saw him drink some of the enchanted water; and as he drank it, his look grew wild, and his cheek burnt like the cheek of one in a fever;and he walked after the deceitful figure with a quicker step than ever:but I saw that his lamp was almost out, that the book of living light hadfallen from his hands, and the golden vial hung down, ready, as itseemed, to fall from him altogether. 

Still he walked on; and a strange flitting light, from the form which wasbefore him, lightened the darkness of the valley, so that he could passon quickly; the meadow, also, was smooth and even, and there was arustling breeze, which played around him: so that he got on faster thanhe had ever done upon the narrow path, and thought that he was gettingwell on to his journey's end. Many times did he put forth his hand forthe sparkling cup, and drank of it again and again. 

But now I saw, as I thought, a strange change which was coming over him;for he drank oftener of the bowl, but appeared each time to find it lessrefreshing. Sometimes it seemed almost bitter, and yet he could not buttake it the very moment he had thrust it from him. The shadowy form, also, before him seemed altogether altering; he looked again, and herbeautiful features and pleasant countenance had changed into a sharp, stern, and reproachful frown. His own voice, which had been heretoforealmost like one singing, grew sad and angry. The very figure of hisguide seemed vanishing from his eyes; the light which floated round hergrew wilder and more uncertain, and his own lamp was almost out. He feltpuzzled and bewildered, and hardly knew which way to go: he had got intoa broad beaten path, and he found that many besides himself were goinghere and there along it. Sometimes they sang; and, in very bitterness ofheart, he tried to sing too, that he might not think: but every now andthen, when a flashing light came, and he saw the look of the travellersamongst whom he was, it made his very heart shiver--they looked so sadand so wretched. Now, none went straight on: some turned into this path, some into that; and then he soon lost sight of them altogether. Sometimeshe heard fearful cries, as if wild beasts had seized them; sometimes adreadful burst of flame from the horrid pits which I had seen, made himfear that they had fallen over into them: for poor Irrgeist had got nowinto the midst of the deep pits and the ravenous beasts. And soon hefound how terrible was his danger. He had been following one who hadmade him believe that he had light to guide his steps; he had gone withhim out of the beaten path; and they were pressing on together, whenIrrgeist suddenly lost sight of him in the darkness; and whether it wasthat he had fallen into a pit, or become the prey of some evil beast, Irrgeist knew not; only, he found that he was more alone than ever, andnear to some great peril. Poor Irrgeist sprang aside with all his force, thinking only of the danger which he feared; but, feeling his feetslipping under him, he turned, and saw that he had got upon thetreacherous brink of a fearful pit; down which, at the very moment, another pilgrim fell. The fierce red flames rose out of it with a roarlike thunder, and a blaze like the mouth of a furnace; and the wind blewthe flames into the face of Irrgeist, so that he was singed and almostblinded. Then the poor boy called in the bitterness of his heart uponPleasure, who had led him out of the way, and now had forsaken him; butshe came no more--only terrible thoughts troubled him; and he heard thehissing of serpents as they slid along in the bushes near him, and allevil noises sounded in his ears, till he scarcely knew where he wasstanding. Then he thought of his staff, which he had dropped whenPleasure had first tempted him, and he grieved that it was gone; and hefelt in the folds of his mantle, hoping that he might still have the bookof light within it; for he had too often thrust it there at the beginningof his journey; but he could not find it. Then he strove to get somelight from his little lamp; for, hurt as it was, he had it still in hishand, and he thought there was just a little blue light playing mostfaintly within it; but this was not enough to direct him on his way, rather did it make his way more dark. Then at last he bethought him ofthe golden vial. Few were there of those near him but had lost theirsaltogether, and his hung only by a single thread. But it was not gone;and when he had striven long, he just drew from it a single drop of oil, and he trimmed his lamp, and it yielded forth a little trembling light, just enough to shew that it was not altogether dead. With the help ofthis light he saw that when he had dropped his book of fire, one singleleaf had been torn from it, and stuck to his mantle; so he seized iteagerly, and strove to draw light from it; but all that it would yieldwas red and angry-looking light, and all that he could read was, "the wayof transgressors is hard. "

Poor Irrgeist! he sat down almost in despair, and wept as if his heartwould break. "O, that I had never trusted Pleasure;" "O, that I hadnever left the path;" "O, that I had my book of light, and my lamp'sformer brightness, and my goodly stick;" "O, that one would lighten mydarkness. "

Then did it seem to me as if in the murmur of the air around him twovoices were speaking to the boy. One was like the gentle voice of theman whom I had seen at the porch of the valley; and it seemed to whisper, "return, " "return;" "mercy, " and "forgiveness. " And as he listened, something like hope mixed with the bitter tears which ran down the faceof the wanderer. But then would sound the other voice, harsh, and loud, and threatening; and it said, "too late, " "too late, " "despair, ""despair. "

So the poor boy was sadly torn and scattered in his thoughts by these twodifferent voices; but methought, as he guarded his golden vial, andstrove to trim his dying lamp, that the gentle voice became moreconstant, and the voice of terror more dull and distant. 

Then, as I was watching him, all at once the boy sprang up, and he seemedto see a light before him, so straight on did he walk: many crossed hispath and jostled against him, but he cared not; he heard the sweet voiceplainer and plainer, like the soft murmuring of the cushat dove in theearly summer, and he would follow where it led. Hitherto his pathway hadbeen smooth, and he had hastened along it; but this did not last, for nowit narrowed almost to a line, and ran straight between two horriblepitfalls; so he paused for a moment; but the roaring of a lion was behindhim, and forward he pressed. It was a sore passage for Irrgeist, for thewhole ground was strewed with thorns, which pierced his feet at everystep, and the sparks from the fire-pits flew ever round him, and now andthen fell in showers over him. Neither did he hear now the pleasantsound of the voice of kindness; whether it were that it had died away, heknew not, or whether it were that the crackling and roaring of the fierceflames, and the voice of the beasts behind, and his own groans andcrying, drowned its soft music, so that he heard it not. 

I had looked at him until I could bear it no more; for the path seemed togrow narrower and narrower; the flames from the two pits already almosttouched; and I could not endure to see, as I feared I should, the littleone, whom I had watched, become the prey of their devouring fierceness. So, with a bitter groan for Irrgeist, I turned me back to the road to seehow it fared with Furchtsam and Gehulfe. 

They had fallen far behind the others from the first. Poor littleFurchtsam had a trembling tottering gait; and as he walked, he looked onthis side and on that, as if every step was dangerous. This led himoften to look off his book of light, and then it would shut up itsleaves, and then his little lamp grew dimmer and dimmer, and his feetstumbled, and he trembled so, that he almost dropped his staff out of hishands. Yet still he kept the right path, only he got along it veryslowly and with pain. 

Whether it was that Gehulfe was too tender spirited to leave him, or whyelse, I know not, but he kept close by the little trembler, and seemedever waiting to help him. Many a time did he catch him by the hand whenhe was ready to fall, and speak to him a word of comfort, when without ithe would have sunk down through fear. So they got on together, and nowthey came to the part of the pathway which the evil enchantress haunted. She used all her skill upon them, and brought up before their eyes allthe visions she could raise; sunshine, and singing-birds, and wavingboughs, and green grass, and sparkling water, they all passed beforetheir eyes, --but they heeded them not: once, indeed, poor Furchtsam for amoment looked with a longing eye at the painted sunshine, as if its warmlight would have driven off some of his fears; but it was but for amoment. And as for Gehulfe, whether it was that he was reading his bookof light too closely, or trimming too carefully his lamp, or helping tooconstantly his trembling friend, for some cause or other he scarcelyseemed to see the visions which the sorceress had spread around him. Sowhen she had tried all her skill for a season, and found it in vain, shevanished altogether from them, and they saw her no more. But theirdangers were not over yet. When Gottlieb passed along this road, he hadgone on so boldly, that I had not noticed how fearful it was in parts toany giddy head or fainting heart. But now I saw well how it terrifiedFurchtsam. For here it seemed to rise straight up to a dangerous height, and to become so narrow at the same time, and to be so bare of any side-wall or parapet, that it was indeed a giddy thing to pass along it. Yetwhen one walked over it, as Gottlieb did, leaning on his staff of Church-truth, reading diligently in his book, and trimming ever and anon hislamp, such a light fell upon the narrow path, and the darkness so veiledthe precipice, that the pilgrim did not know that there was any thing tofear. But not so when you stopped to look--then it became terribleindeed; you soon lost all sight of the path before you; for the brightestlamp only lighted the road just by your feet, and that seemed risingalmost to an edge, whilst the flash of distant lights here and thereshewed that a fearful precipice was on each side. 

Furchtsam trembled exceedingly when he looked at it; and even Gehulfe, when, instead of marching on, he stopped to talk about it, began to betroubled with fears. Now, as they looked here and there, Furchtsam sawan easy safe-looking path, which promised to lead them in the samedirection, but along the bottom of the cliffs. Right glad was he to seeit; and so taking the lead for once, he let fall his staff, that bycatching hold of the bushes on the bank, he might drop down more easilyupon the lower path; and there he got with very little trouble. 

It was all done in a moment; and when he was out of the path, Gehulfeturned round and saw where he was gone. Then he tried to follow afterhim; but he could not draw his staff with him through the gap, or climbdown the bank without letting it go. And, happily for him, he held it sofirmly, that after one or two trials he stopped. Then, indeed, was heglad, as soon as he had time to think; and he held his good stick firmerin his hand than ever, for now he saw plainly that Furchtsam was quiteout of the road, and that he had himself well-nigh followed him. Soleaning over the side, he began to call to his poor timid companion, andencourage him to mount up again, by the bank which he had slipped down, and venture along the right way with him. At first Furchtsam shook hishead mournfully, and would not hear of it. But when Gehulfe reminded himthat they had a true promise from the King, that nothing should harm themwhilst they kept to the high way of holiness, and that the way upon whichhe had now entered was full of pitfalls, and wild beasts, and every sortof danger, and that in it he must be alone, --then his reason began tocome back to him, and Furchtsam saw into what an evil state he hadbrought himself; and with all his heart he wished himself back again bythe side of Gehulfe. But it was no such easy matter to get back. Hislamp was so bruised and shaken as he slid down, that it threw scarcelyany light at all; while it had never seemed, he thought, so dark as itdid now: he could not see the bushes to which he had clung just before, or the half path which had brought him down. Gehulfe's voice from abovewas some guide to him, and shewed him in which direction to turn; butwhen he tried to mount the bank, it was so steep and so slippery, hecould scarcely cling to it; and he had no staff to lean upon, and nofriendly hand to help him. Surely if it had not been for the kindencouraging voice of Gehulfe, the weak and trembling heart of Furchtsamwould have failed utterly, and he would have given up altogether. 

Now, just at this time, whilst he was reaching out to Furchtsam, andurging him to strive more earnestly, he heard a noise as of one runningupon the path behind him; and he looked round and saw one of the King'sown messengers coming fast upon it: so when he came up to Gehulfe, hestopped and asked him what made him tarry thus upon the King's path. ThenGehulfe answered very humbly, that he was striving to help back poorFurchtsam into the right way, from which he had been driven by his fears. Then the messenger of the King looked upon him kindly, and bid him "fearnot. " "Rightly, " he said, "art thou named Gehulfe, for thou hast beenready to help the weak; and the Lord, who has bidden his children 'tobear one another's burdens, ' has watched thee all alone thy way, andlooked upon thee with an eye of love; and forasmuch as thou seemest tohave been hindered in thy own course by helping thy brother, the King hassent me to carry thee on up this steep place, and over this dangerousroad. " With that, I saw that he lifted up the boy, and was about to flywith him through the air. Then, seeing that he cast a longing looktowards the steep bank, down which Furchtsam had slipped, and that thesound of his sad voice was still ringing in his ear; the King's messengersaid to him, "'Cast thy burden upon the Lord. ' 'The Lord careth forthee. ' 'For the very hairs of your head are numbered, ' and 'the Lord isfull of compassion, pitiful, and of great mercy. '" So the heart ofGehulfe was soothed, and with a happy mind he gave himself to themessenger, and he bore him speedily along the dangerous path, as if hisfeet never touched the ground, but refreshing airs breathed upon hisforehead as he swept along, and silver voices chanted holy words to hisglad heart. "He shall gather the lambs in his arms, " said one; andanother and a sweeter took up the strain and sang, "and he shall carrythem in his bosom. " And so he passed along the way swiftly and mosthappily. 

Then I saw that he bore him to the mouth of the arbour into whichGottlieb had turned to rest. And now as he came up to it, Gottlieb wasjust coming forth again to renew his journey. Right glad was Gottlieb ofthe company of such a comrade; so they joined their hands together, andwalked along the road speaking to one another of the kindness of theKing, and telling one to the other all that had befallen them hitherto. Apleasant thing it was to see them marching along that road, their goodstaffs in their hands, their lamps burning brightly, and their bookssending forth streams of light, to shew them the way that they should go. But now I saw they got into a part of the road which was rough and fullof stones; and unless they kept the lights they bore with them everturned towards the road, and looked, too, most carefully to theirfooting, they were in constant danger of falling. The air, also, seemedto have some power here of sending them to sleep, for I saw thatGottlieb's steps were not as steady and active as they had been; and helooked often from this side to that, to see if there were any otherresting-place provided for him; but none could he see: and thenmethought, as he walked on, his eyes would close as he bent them downover his book, like one falling asleep from exceeding weariness. 

Gehulfe saw the danger of his friend; and though he felt the air heavy, his fear for Gottlieb kept him wide awake. "What are those words, " heasked his drowsy friend, "which burn so brightly in your book?" When heheard the voice, Gottlieb roused himself, and read; and it was written, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation; the spirit truly iswilling, but the flesh is weak. " Then, for a little while, Gottlieb waswarned, and he walked like one awake; but, after a time, such power hadthis sleepy air, he was again almost as drowsy as ever, and his eyes werenearly closed. Then, before Gehulfe could give him a second warning, heplaced his foot in a hole, which he would have easily passed by, if hehad been watching; and, falling suddenly down, he would have rolled quiteout of the road (for it was raised here with a steep bank on eitherside), if Gehulfe had not been nigh to catch him again by the hand, andkeep him in the path. He was sorely bruised and shaken by the fall, andhis lamp, too, was dusted and hurt; so that he could not, at first, presson the way as he wished to do. But now his drowsiness was gone; and, with many bitter tears, he lamented that he had given way to it before. One strange thing I noted, too: he had dropped his staff in his fall, andhe could not rise till he had taken it again in his hand; but now, whenhe tried to take it, it pricked and hurt his hand, as if it had beenrough and sharp with thorns. Then I looked at it, and saw that one ofthe stems which were twined together, and which bore the name of"discipline, " was very rough and thorny; and this, which had turnedinwardly before, was now, by his fall, forced to the outside of thestaff, so that he must hold that or none. Now I heard the boy groan ashe laid hold of it; but lay hold of it he did, and that boldly, for hecould not rise or travel without it, and to rise and travel he wasdetermined. Then he looked into his book of light, and he read out of itthese words, "Make the bones which Thou hast broken to rejoice. " And ashe read them, he gathered courage, and made a great effort, and stoodupon his feet, and pressed on beside Gehulfe. 

Then I saw that the road changed again, and became smoother than they hadever known it. Gottlieb's staff, too, was now smooth and easy in hishand, as it had been at first. Soon also a pleasant air sprung up, andblew softly and yet cool upon their foreheads. And now they heard thesong of birds, as if the sunshine was very near them, though they saw itnot yet. There were, too, every now and then, sounds sweeter than thesongs of birds, as if blessed angels were near them, and they were let tohear their heavenly voices. A little further, and the day began to dawnupon them--bright light shone out some way before them, and its gladreflection was already cast upon their path. But still there was onemore trial before them; for when they had enjoyed this light for aseason, and I thought they must be close upon the sunshine, I saw thatthey had got into greater darkness than ever. Here, also, they lostsight of one another; for it was a part of the King's appointment, thateach one must pass that dark part alone--it was called "the shadow ofdeath. " Gehulfe, I saw, walked through it easily; his feet were nimbleand active, his lamp was bright, his golden vial ever in his hand, hisstaff firm to lean upon, and the book of light close before his eyes: hewas still reading it aloud, and I heard him speak of his King as giving"songs in the night, "--and so, with a glad heart, he passed through thedarkness. The brightest sunshine lay close upon the other side of it;and there he was waited for by messengers in robes of light, and theyclad him in the same, and carried him with songs and music into thepresence of the King. 

But Gottlieb did not pass through so easily. It seemed as if thatdarkness had power to bring out any weakness with which past accidentshad at the time affected the pilgrim: for so it was, that when Gottliebwas in it, he felt all the stunning of his fall come back again upon him, and, for a moment, he seemed well-nigh lost. But his heart was sound, and there was One who was faithful holding him up: so he grasped his goodstaff tighter than ever, though its roughness had come out again andsorely pricked his hand; but this seemed only to quicken his steps; andwhen he had gone on a little while thus firmly, as he looked into hisbook he saw written on its open page, "I will make darkness light beforethee. " {76} And as he read them, the words seemed to be fulfilled, forhe stepped joyfully out of the darkness into the clear sunlight. And forhim too the messengers were waiting; for him too were garments readywoven of the light; around him were songs, and music, and rejoicing; andso they bare him into the presence of the King. 

Now, when I had seen these two pass so happily through their journey intorest, I thought again of the poor trembling Furchtsam, and longed to knowthat he had got again into the road. But upon looking back to where Ihad lost sight of him, I saw that he was still lying at the foot of thesteep bank, down whose side he had stepped so easily. He had toiled andlaboured, and striven to climb up, but it had been all in vain. Still hewould not cease his labour; and now he was but waiting to recover hisbreath to begin to strive again. He was, too, continually calling on theKing for aid. Then I saw a figure approaching him in the midst of hiscries. And poor Furchtsam trembled exceedingly, for he was of a verytimorous heart, and he scarcely dared to look up to him who stood by him. After a while I heard the man speak to him, and he asked him in a grave, pitying voice, "What doest thou here?" Then the poor boy sobbed out inbroken words the confession of his folly, and told how he had feared andleft the road, and how he had laboured to get back into it, and how healmost thought that he should never reach it. Then I saw the man lookdown upon him with a face of tenderness and love; and he stretched forthhis hand towards him; and Furchtsam saw that it was the hand which hadbeen pierced for him: so he raised the boy up, and set him on his feet;and he led him straight up the steepest bank. And now it seemed easy tohis steps; and he put him back again in the road, and gave the staff intohis hand, and bid him "redeem the time, because the days are evil;" andthen he added, "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feebleknees. " "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, 'be strong:' 'fearnot. '" {79a} Such strength had his touch, his words, and his kind look, given to the heart of the timid boy, that he seized the staff, though itsmost prickly "discipline" sorely hurt his tender flesh; and leaning onit, he set bravely out without a moment's delay. And I heard him readingin his book of light as he climbed up the steep path which had affrightedhim; and what he read was this: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray;but now have I kept Thy word. " {79b}

When he had almost reached the arbour, another danger awaited him; for inthe dim light round him he saw, as he thought, the form of an evil beastlying in the pathway before him. Then did some of his old terrors beginto trouble him; and he had turned aside, perhaps, out of the way, butthat the wholesome roughness of his staff still pricked his hand andforced him to recall his former fall. Instead, therefore, of turningaside, he looked into his book of light, and there he read in fieryletters, "Thou shalt go upon the lion and the adder; the young lion andthe dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet:" and this gave him comfort. So, on he went, determining still to read in his book, and not to look atall at that which affrighted him: and so it was, that when he came to theplace, he saw that it was only a bush, which his fears had turned intothe figure of a beast of prey; and at the same moment he found where itwas written in his book, "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beastshall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shallwalk there. " {80}

And now he stood beside the arbour, where he rested a while, and thenpursued his journey. Now I noticed, that as he got further on the road, and read more in his book, and leant upon his staff, that he grew bolderand firmer in his gait: and I thought that I could see why Gehulfe, whohad been needful to him in his first weakness, had afterwards beencarried away from him: for surely he had leant more upon him, and lessupon his book and his good staff, unless he had walked there alone. 

However this might be, he grew continually bolder. As he drew near thelast sad darkness, I began again to tremble for him; but I need not havedone so; for he walked on so straight through it, that it seemed scarcelyto make any difference to him at all. In the best part of the road hisfeebleness had taught him to lean altogether upon Him who had somercifully helped him on the bank, and who had held up his fainting stepshitherto; and this strength could hold him up as well even in thisextreme darkness. I heard him, as he parsed along, say, "When I am weak, then am I strong;" and with that he broke out into singing:

 "Through death's dark valley without fear My feeble steps have trod, Because I know my God is near; I feel His staff and rod. "

With that he too passed out of the shade and darkness into the joyfulsunshine. And oh, it was indeed a happy time! It made my heart boundwhen I saw his face, which had so often turned pale and drooped withterror, now lighted up with the glow of the heavenly light; when, insteadof the evil things which his fears had summoned up, I saw around him thebands of holy ones, and the children of the day: and so they passedalong. And soon, I thought, he would see again the hand which had beenstretched out to save him on the bank, and hear the kind and mercifulvoice which had soothed his terror and despair, and live in the presentsunshine of that gracious countenance. 

And now methought I heard an earnest and sorrowful voice, as of onecrying aloud for help; so I turned me round to see where he was thatuttered it, and by the side of the King's path I could see one strivingto mount the bank, and slipping back again as often as he tried. He wastrying in right earnest: his cries were piteous to hear, and he labouredas if he would carry his point by storm. But it was all in vain; themore he struggled, the worse his case grew; for the bank, and all thepath up to it, got so quagged and miry with his eager striving, that heseemed farther and farther from getting safely up. At last, as he wasonce more struggling violently up, his feet quite slipped from under him, and he fell upon his side: and so he lay sobbing and struggling forbreath, but still crying out to the King, who had helped him before, anddelivered him from the flames of the pit, to help him once more, and lifthim again into the right way. My heart pitied the poor boy, and I lookedmore closely into his face, and saw that it was Irrgeist--not Irrgeist ashe had been when he had walked at first with Gottlieb along the road, oras he had been when he had first followed the deceitful phantom"Pleasure" out of it, --but Irrgeist still, though brought by hiswanderings and his trouble to paleness, and weariness, and sorrow. Now, whilst I was looking at him, as he lay in this misery, and longing forsome helper to come to him, lo, his cries stopped for a moment, and I sawthat it was because One stood by him and spoke to him. Then I could seeunder the mantle, which almost hid Him, that it was the same form whichhad visited Furchtsam, and delivered him when he had cried. Now, too, Isaw the hand held out, and I saw Irrgeist seize it; and it raised him up, and he stood upon his feet: and the staff was given to him, --exceedingrough, but needful and trusty; and his lamp shone out, and the book oflight was his; and his feet were again in the road. 

But I marked well that Irrgeist trod it not as the others had done. Trulydid he go along it weeping. Whether it was that the thought of what hehad gone through amongst the pitfalls dwelt ever on his mind; or whetherit were shame of having wandered, I know not, --but his road seemedevermore one of toil and sorrow. Still, in the midst of tears, a songwas often put into his mouth, and his tongue was ever speaking of thegreat kindness of Him who had restored the wanderer: his head, too, wasso bowed down, that he marked every stone upon the road, and thereforenever stumbled; but still his speed was little, and his troubles weremany. When he got to the dark part, he had a sore trial: his feet seemedtoo weak and trembling to bear him; and more than once I heard him cryout, as if he thought that he were again between the pitfalls, and thefire were ready to break out upon him. But then did it seem as if therewere some sweet hopes given him, and his face brightened up; and in afaint, feeble voice, he would break out again into his song andthanksgiving. As he drew towards the end, things somewhat mended withhim; and when he was just upon the sunlight, and began to see itsbrightness through the haze, and to hear the voices of the heavenly ones, methought his heart would have burst, so did it beat with joy: and withalhe smote upon his breast, and said, --"And this for me! And this for thewanderer! O mercy, choicest mercy! Who is a God like unto Thee, thatpardonest iniquity?" And so saying, he entered on the heavenly light, and left for ever behind him the darkness and the danger of the pitfalls, and the face of shame, and the besetting weakness; for he too was clothedin raiment of light, and borne with joy before the Lord the King. 

* * * * *

_Father_. Who were those who were walking in the beautiful garden as itslords?

_Child_. Man in Paradise before the fall. 

F. What was the dreadful change that came upon them?

C. Their fall into sin and misery. 

F. What was the second estate seen in the vision?

C. Their fallen children in this sinful world, without the knowledge ofGod; wandering in the darkness of heathenism amongst the pitfalls oferror. 

F. What was the porch which let them into a better way?

C. The entrance into the Church of the redeemed by baptism. 

F. What does our Catechism say about this?

C. That it is our being "called to a state of salvation. "

F. What are the gifts bestowed upon them?

C. God's word is the book of light; conscience enlightened by God is thelittle lamp of each; the oil in the golden vial is the help and teachingof God's grace; and the staff is the help and assistance of the Church. 

F. Why was it so easy to get out of the path, and so hard to get back?

C. Because it is easy to go wrong, and very hard to return into the wayof righteousness. 

F. What were the baits which the phantom offered to the youths?

C. The pleasures of sin, which are but for a season. 

F. Why was the staff rough to those that were coming back fromwandering?

C. Because the discipline of the Church, which is easy to the obedient, is often galling to those who offend. 

F. Why was Irrgeist, after he was brought back, still so sad a pilgrim?

C. Because, though he was accepted and forgiven, the effects of hisformer sins still weakened and grieved him: as says the Lord, by themouth of the Prophet Ezekiel (chap. Xvi. Ver. 63), "That thou mayestremember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because ofthy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God. "

The Little Wanderers. 

In a miserable little hovel, built on the edge of a wide and desolatecommon, lived a poor widow woman, who had two sons. The eldest of themwas quite young, and the least was scarcely more than an infant. Theywere dressed in torn and dirty rags, for the widow had no better clothesto put upon them; and often they were very hungry and very cold, for shehad not food or fire with which to feed and warm them. No one taught thebiggest boy any thing; and as for the poor mother, she did not know aletter. She had no friends; and the only playfellows the little onesever knew were other children as poor, and as dirty, and as untaught asthey were themselves, from whom they learnt nothing but to say bad wordsand do naughty tricks. Poor children! it was a sad life, you would say, which lay before them. 

Just at this time the widow was taken very ill with a fever. Long shelay in that desolate hut, groaning and suffering, and no one knew how illshe was but the little children. They would sit and cry by her miserablebed all day, for they were very hungry and very sad. When she had lainin this state for more than a week, she grew light-headed, and after awhile died. The youngest child thought she was asleep, and that he couldnot waken her; but the elder boy rushed weeping out of the house, knowingthat she was really dead, and that they were left alone in the wideworld. 

Just at that very moment a man passed by, who looked into the pale, thin, hungry face of the sobbing child, with a kind, gentle look, and lethimself be led into the wretched hut, where the poor dead mother lay. Hisheart bled for the poor orphans, for he was one who was full oftenderness: so he spake kind words to them; and when his servants came upafter a while, he gave orders that their dead mother should be buried, and that the children should be taken from the miserable hut, to dwell inhis own beautiful castle. 

To it the children were removed. The servants of the Lord of the castleput on them clean fresh clothes--washed their old dirt from them; and asno one knew what were their names, they gave them two new names, whichshewed they belonged to this family; and they were cared for, and givenall they wanted. 

Happy was now their lot. They had all they wanted: good food in plenty, instead of hunger and thirst; clean raiment, instead of rags andnakedness; and kind teachers, who instructed them day by day as they wereable to bear it. There were a multitude of other happy children too inthe castle, with whom they lived, and learned, and spent their glad days. Sometimes they played in the castle, and sometimes they ran about in thegrounds that were round it, where were all sorts of flowers, andbeautiful trees full of singing birds, and green grass, and paintedbutterflies; and they were as happy as children could be. 

All over these grounds they might play about as they would: only on oneside of them they were forbidden to go. There the garden ended in a widewaste plain, and there seemed to be nothing to tempt children to leavethe happy garden to walk in it, especially as the kind Lord of the castlebid them never set foot on it: and yet it was said that some children hadwandered into it, and that of these, many had never come back again. Forin that desert dwelt the enemies of the Lord of the castle; and there wasnothing they loved better than to pounce down upon any children whom hehad taken as his own, and carry them off, to be their slaves in the midstof the waste and dreary sands. 

Many ways too had these enemies by which they enticed children to come onthe plain; for as long as they stayed within the boundary, and playedonly in the happy garden, the evil one could not touch them. Sometimesthey would drop gay and shining flowers all about the beginning of thewaste, hoping that the children would come across the border to pick themup: and so it was, that if once a child went over, as soon as he had gotinto his hands the flower for which he had gone, it seemed to fade andwither away; but just beyond him he thought he saw another, brighter andmore beautiful; and so, too, often it happened that, throwing down thefirst, he went on to take the second; and then throwing down the second, he went on to reach a third; until, suddenly, the enemy dashed upon him, and whirled him away with them in a moment. 

Often and often had little Kuhn {95a}--for so the eldest boy had beennamed--looked out over this desert, and longed, as he saw the gay flowersdropped here and there, to run over the border and pick them up. Hislittle brother, who was now old enough to run about with him, would standand tremble by him as he got close to the desert; but little Zart {95b}would never leave him: and sometimes, I am afraid, they would have bothbeen lost, if it had not been for a dear little girl, who was almostalways with them, and who never would go even near to the line. WhenKuhn was looking into it, as if he longed for the painted flowers, thegentle Glaube {96} would grow quite sad, and bending her dark sorrowfuleyes upon him, their long lashes would become wet with tears, and shewould whisper in a voice almost too solemn for a child, "O Kuhn, remember. " Then Kuhn, who could not bear to see her sad, would tearhimself away; and the flowers seemed directly to lose their brightness, and the desert looked dry and hot, and the garden cool and delicious, andthey played happily together, and forgot their sorrow. 

But it was very dangerous for Kuhn to go so near. The servants of theLord of the castle often told the children this; and seeing a bold anddaring spirit in Kuhn, they had spoken to him over and over again. Whatmade it so dangerous was this, --that the flowers of the wilderness neverlooked gay until you got near to its border; afar off it seemed dusty, dry, and hot; but the nearer you got to it, the brighter shone theflowers; they seemed also to grow in number, until you could hardly seeits dry hot sands, for the flowery carpet that was drawn over them. 

Poor Kuhn! he was often in danger. Never yet had he crossed the border;but it is a sad thing to go near temptation; and so this unhappy childfound to his cost. 

One day he was sauntering close to the forbidden border, when the hoopwhich he was trundling slipped from him and ran into the desert. In amoment he was over after it; and just as he stooped to pick it up, hesaw, right before him, a beautiful and sparkling flower. He wouldcertainly have gone after it, but that at the instant he caught the eyeof Glaube looking sadly after him, and it struck upon his heart, and hehastened back, and was safe. For a while his legs trembled under him, and Zart looked up quite frightened into his pale face; Glaube too couldscarcely speak to him; and it was long before they were laughing merrilyagain under the tall palm-trees of the garden. But by the next day allKuhn's fears had flown away, and he went with a bolder foot than ever tothe very edge of the desert. 

{The Little Wanderers: p98. Jpg}

Glaube was further off than usual; and just as Kuhn and Zart were in thisgreat danger, a beautiful bird started up under their feet. The boys hadnever seen such a bird. All the colours of the rainbow shone upon hisfeathers, and his black and scarlet head seemed quite to sparkle in thesunshine. It tried to fly; but whether its wing was hurt, or what, Iknow not, but it could not rise, and ran before them flapping its paintedwings, screaming with a harsh voice, and keeping only just before them. The boys were soon in full chase, and every thing else was forgotten;when, just as they thought the bird was their own, he fluttered acrossthe border, and both the boys followed him, --Kuhn boldly and withoutthought, for he had been across it before; but poor little Zart trembledand turned pale, and clung to his bolder brother, as if he never wouldhave crossed it alone. 

Once over, however, on they went, and the bird still seemed to keep closebefore them; and they never noticed how far they were getting from thegarden, until suddenly they heard a dreadful noise; the air looked thickbefore them, as if whole clouds of dust were sweeping on; shining spear-heads were all they could see in the midst of the dust; and they heardthe trampling of a multitude of horses. The boys were too muchfrightened to shriek, but they clung to one another, pale and trembling, and ready to sink into the earth. In a minute rude hands seized them;they heard rough voices round them; and they could see that they were inthe midst of the enemies of the Lord of the castle. In another minutethey were torn asunder, they were snatched up on horseback, and weregalloping off towards the sad abode in which the evil men of the desertdwelt. In vain the boys cried, and begged to be taken home; awaygalloped the horses; whilst no one thought of heeding their cries andprayers. They had gone on long in this way, and the dark-frowning towersof the desert castle were in sight. The little boys looked sadly at oneanother; for here there was no flowering garden, there were no shelteringtrees, but all looked bare, and dry, and wretched; and they could seelittle narrow windows covered with iron bars, which seemed to be dungeon-rooms, where they thought they should be barred in, and never more playtogether amongst the flowers and in the sunlight. 

Just at this moment the little Zart felt that, by some means or other, the strap which bound him to the horse had grown loose, and in anothermoment he had slipped down its side, and fallen upon his head on theground. No one noticed his fall; and there he lay upon the sand for awhile stunned and insensible. When he woke up, the trampling of horseshad died away in the distance; the light sand of the desert, which theirfeet had stirred, had settled down again like the heavy night-dew, sothat he could see no trace of their footmarks. The frowning castle-wallswere out of sight; look which way he would, he could see nothing but thehot flat sand below, and the hot bright sun in the clear sky above him. He called for his brother, but no voice answered him; he started up, andbegan to run he knew not where: but the sun beat on his head, the hotsand scorched his weary feet; his parched tongue began to cleave to hismouth; and he sunk down upon the desert again to die. 

As he lay there he thought upon the castle-garden and its kind Lord; uponthe sorrowful face with which Glaube was used to look on them, when heand Kuhn drew near to the forbidden border; and his tears broke outafresh when he thought of his brother in the enemies' dungeon, andhimself dying in the desolate wilderness. Then he called upon the Lordof the castle, for he remembered to have heard how He had pitiedwandering children, and heard their cry from afar, and had brought themback again to His own happy castle. And as he lay upon the sand, cryingout to the Lord of the castle, he thought that he heard a footstep, as ofone walking towards him. Then there came a shade between the sun and hisburning head, and looking languidly up he saw the kind face of the Lordof the castle turned towards him. He was looking on the poor child as Hehad looked on him when He had pitied him by the side of the hut; and thatkind face seemed to speak comfort. Then He stretched out to him Hishand, and He bade him rise; and He lifted up the child, and bore him inHis bosom over that waste and scorching wilderness, nor ever set him downuntil He had brought him again into the pleasant garden. Once as he layin that bosom, Zart thought that he heard in the distance the tramping ofhorse-hoofs; and he saw the dusty cloud lifting itself up: but he feltthat he was safe; and so he was, for the enemy did not dare to approachthat Mighty One who was bearing him. 

When he reached the garden again, the gentle Glaube met him, and welcomedhim back again to their peaceful home. But he hung down his head withshame and with sorrow; and as he looked up into the face of the Lord ofthe garden, he saw in it such kindness and love, that his tears rolleddown his cheeks to think how he had broken His command, and wandered intothe wilderness of His enemies. Then he tried to speak for his brother, for his heart was sore and heavy with thinking of him; but the Lord ofthe castle answered not. Many, many days did Glaube and Zart pray forhim; but they heard nothing of him: whether he died in the enemies'dungeon; or whether, as they still dared to hope, he might even yet oneday find his way back to the garden of peace; or whether, as theysometimes trembled to think, he had grown up amongst the enemies of theirLord, and become one of them, --they knew not, and they dared not to ask. But they never thought of him without trembling and tears, and Zart moreeven than Glaube: for he had crossed that terrible border; he had beenseized by the fierce enemy; he had lain alone in the wide scorchingdesert; and had only been brought back again from death by the great loveof the mighty and merciful Lord of that most happy garden. 

* * * * *

_Father_. Who are meant by these children born in the wretched hovel?

_Child_. All the children of fallen parents. 

F. Who are such?

C. All who are born. For we were "by nature born in sin, and thechildren of wrath. "

F. Who is the kind Lord of the castle who takes pity on them?

C. Jesus Christ our Lord. 

F. What is meant by His taking them to His castle?

C. His receiving us when children into His Church. 

F. When was this done?

C. At our baptism. For "being by nature children of wrath, we werehereby made the children of grace. "

F. What is meant by the clean raiment and the new name He gave them?

C. The "forgiveness of all our sins" (see Collect inConfirmation-Service), and the giving us our Christian name. 

F. Why is it called your Christian name?

C. To mark its difference from our natural, or parents' name. 

F. Why was it given you at that time?

C. Because then I was taken into God's family, and "made a member ofChrist, child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. "

F. What was the food with which they were fed?

C. All the means of grace of the Church of Christ. 

F. What was the desert, and who those who dwelt in it who were enemiesto the Lord?

C. The ways of sin, and the devil and his angels. 

F. What were the bright flowers and the bird?

C. The baits and temptations of sin. 

F. Why did Kuhn, or "bold, " cross the border more easily the secondtime?

C. Because one sin makes another easier. 

F. Why did Zart, or "tender, " follow him?

C. Because bold sinners lead weaker sinners after them. 

F. What were the dry sands into which Kuhn and Zart were carried?

C. The evil ways of sin. 

F. Who came to Zart's rescue when he prayed?

C. The gracious Lord who had at first received him into His Church bybaptism. 

F. Why was he still sad and ashamed after he was brought back?

C. Because he had wandered. 

F. Did he then doubt whether he was forgiven?

C. No: but he "remembered and was confounded, and never opened his mouthany more, when the Lord was pacified toward him for all his iniquity. "

F. What was the end of Kuhn, or the "bold?"

C. We know not; but they who "draw back unto perdition" are punishedabove all others. 

F. What are we to learn from the whole?

C. The blessedness of being taken into the Church in our infancy; andour need of prayer and watching, lest we turn it into a curse. 

The King and his Servants. 

A great king once called his servants to him, and said to them, --"Youhave all often professed to love me, and to wish to serve me; and I havenever yet made trial of you. But now I am about to try you all, that itmay be known who does in truth desire to serve me, and who is a servantonly in name. To morrow your trial will begin; so meet me here in themorning, and be ready to set out upon a journey on which I shall sendyou. "

When the king had so spoken, he left them; and there was a great deal ofbustle and talking amongst these servants. Not that they were all alike. Some were very busy, and said a great deal of the services they shouldrender; and that they hoped it would be some really hard trial on whichthe king would set them. Others were quiet and thoughtful, saying littleor nothing, but, as it seemed, thinking silently of the words the kinghad spoken, as if they feared lest they should fail in their trial. Forthey loved that king greatly; he had been as a father to them all. Oncethey had been slaves, and cruelly treated by a wicked tyrant who hadtaken them prisoners, and cast some of them into dungeons, and madeothers work in dark mines, and dealt evil with them all. But the kinghad triumphed over this their enemy, and rescued them from his hands. Hisown son had sought them in the dungeons and dark pits into which they hadbeen cast, and had brought them out; and now he had given them places inhis service, and fed them from his own kingly table; and he promised tosuch as were faithful, that he would raise them yet higher; that he wouldeven set them upon thrones, and put crowns upon their heads; and thatthey should remain always in his presence, and rule and dwell with him. Now, when the time of their trial was come, these faithful servants weregrave and thoughtful, fearing lest they should fail, and be led to forgethim their kind and gracious king. But one thought held them up. He hadsaid unto them all, "As your day, so shall your strength be. " They knew, therefore, that he would put on them no task beyond their strength. Theyremembered his kindness and his love in taking them out of the dungeonsof the enemy. They desired greatly to serve him; and so they rejoicedthat their trial was come, even while they feared it; and they trusted inhim to help them, even whilst they trembled for themselves. 

These servants spent much of the night in preparing for their journey; inthinking over all the directions the king had ever given them; for manytimes had he spoken to them of this coming trial; and even written downplain rules for them, which should teach them always how he would havethem act. All these they gathered together, lest in the hurry of settingout, they should forget any one of them; and so they went into the courtof the palace to meet the king. 

Then he came forth from his palace-door, and gave them all their charge. 

From the great treasure-chambers of that palace he brought out manydifferent gifts, and laid them before these his servants. One had goldand silver, and another had precious stuffs; but all had something goodand costly: and as he gave them these gifts, he told them that this wasto be their trial. He was about to send them with these gifts into anexceeding great and rich city, which lay afar off from his palace; and inthat city they were all to trade for him. They were to take his giftsand use them wisely, so that each one of them might bring something backto him. He gave them also very close and particular instructions. Hetold them that there were many in that city who would try to rob them ofthese his gifts; and he told them how to keep them safely. He told themthat many would seek to make them waste what he had given to them onpleasing themselves. But that they must remember always, that what theyhad belonged to him; that they would have to give him an account of theirway of using all his gifts; and that of his mere mercy he, who hadredeemed them from the dungeon and made them able to serve him, wouldgraciously reward hereafter all their efforts to use his gifts for him. He told them also to set about trading for him as early as they could;for that all the merchants' goods were freshest in the morning; that thenthe precious stones were the finest and the truest; but that those whowaited till the evening would find all the best goods sold; and that, perhaps, before they had any thing ready, the trumpet would sound whichwas to call them all out of the city, and then they would have to comeback to him empty-handed and disgraced. 

When he had given them these charges, he sent them from his presence tobegin their journey to the great city. All that day they travelled withhorses and camels over plains and hills, and fruitful fields and deserts, until, just as the sun went down, they came to the walls of a great city;and they knew that it was here they were to traffic for their king uponthe morrow. 

Then the thoughtful servants began carefully to unpack their goods; theylooked into their bales of precious stuffs to see that they had got noinjury from the dust and sand of the desert; they counted over their bagsof money to see that all was right; and began to lay them all in order, that they might enter the town as soon as the gates were open, and tradefor their king in the morning hours, which he had told them were thebest. 

{The King and His Servants: p115. Jpg}

But some of the other servants laughed at them for taking all this careand trouble. "Surely it will be time enough, " they said, "to get everything ready when the markets are open to-morrow. We have had a long, hot, weary journey, and we must rest and refresh ourselves before wethink of trading. " So they spread the tables, and began to feast in ariotous way, quite forgetting the king's service, and putting the morrowout of their thoughts. 

Now as soon as the sun was up, in the morning, there was a great stiramongst the servants. Those who had been careful and watchful in theevening were ready with all their bales; and as soon as ever the city-gates were open, they marched in through them with their goods. It was agreat wide city into which they entered, and must hold, they thought, avast multitude of men. Houses and streets of all sizes met their eyeshere and there; but they passed easily along, because it was still soearly in the morning, that few persons were in the streets, and those fewwere all bent upon business, as they were themselves. So they passed onto the great market where the merchants bought and sold, and here theyset out all their goods; and the merchants came round them to look overtheir wares, and to shew them what they had to sell in return. Now theyfound it true as the king had foretold them. For they had the firstchoice of all that the merchants could offer. One of them opened hisstores, and shewed them rubies, and diamonds, and pearls, such as theyhad never seen before for size and beauty. So they chose a pearl ofgreat price, and they bought it for their prince, and they trafficked intheir other wares, and gained for him more than as many bags of treasureas he had given them at first. Thus they traded according to theirskill, and every one had now secured something for his lord. The pearlof great price was stored by some; others had rich dresses adorned withgold and precious stones; others had bags of the most refined gold;others had the spices of Arabia and the frankincense of the islands ofthe East. 

One there was amongst them who seemed to have got nothing to carry homewith him; and yet he, as well as the rest, had laid out his master'sgifts. Then some of the other servants asked him, what he had stored upfor the king? and he said that he had no riches which he could shew tothem, but that he had an offering which he knew that the merciful heartof the king would make him love and value. Then they asked him to tellthem his story; so he said that, as he was walking through the market, hehad seen a poor woman weeping and wringing her hands, as if her heartwould break: he stopped, and asked her the cause of her sorrow; and shetold him that she was a widow, and that some merchants, to whom herhusband had owed large sums of money, had come that morning to her houseand taken all that she had, and seized her children too; and that theywere dragging them away to the slave-market to sell them for slaves in afar land, that they might pay themselves the debt which her husband hadowed them. So when he heard her sad tale, he opened his bag of treasure, and found that all the gold which he had got in it would just pay thewidow's debt and set her children free. Then he went with her to themerchants, and he told out to them all that sum, and set the children ofthe widow free, and gave them back to their mother; "and I am taking, " hesaid, "to our merciful king the offering of the widow's tears andgratitude; and I know well that this is an offering which will be well-pleasing in his sight. "

So it fared with these faithful servants in their trading; and all thewhile they were cheerful and light-hearted, because they rememberedconstantly the love and kindness which their king had shewed to them; andthey rejoiced that they were able to serve him and to trade for him withhis gifts. They thought also of the goodness of the king's son towardsthem; they remembered how he had sought them when they were prisoners inthe dark dungeons of their tyrant enemy; and they were full of joy whenthey thought that they should be able to offer to him the goodly pearl, and the other curious gifts, which they had bought. They thought ofthese things until they longed to hear the trumpet sound, which was tocall them out of the town and gather them together for their journeyhome. When that trumpet might sound, they knew not; but the sun was nowpassed its noon, and the town, which had been so quiet when they came inthe early morning along its empty streets, was now full of noise, andbustle, and confusion, as great towns are wont to be, when all themultitude of sleepers awaken and pour out for pleasure, or business, oridleness, into the streets, and squares, and market-places. 

Heartily glad were they now that they had been so early at their traffic. Now the merchants had shut up all their richest stores; and the marketswere full of others who brought false pearls and mock diamonds, insteadof the costly gems for which they had traded in the morning. Thereseemed to be hardly any true traders left. Idlers were there in numbers, and shows and noisy revels were passing up and down the streets; and theycould see thieves and bad men lurking about at all the corners, seekingwhom they could catch, and rob, and plunder. 

On all these things the servants looked; sometimes they saw beautifulsights pass by them, which gladdened their eyes; and sometimes sweetmusic would fill their ears, as bands of merry harpers and singers walkedup and down through the market; and they rejoiced in all of these, butstill their hearts were full of thoughts of their kind king, andrecollections of his son their prince; and they longed to be at home withthem, even when the sights round them were the gayest, and the sounds intheir ears were the sweetest; and they were ever watching for the voiceof the trumpet, which was to call them again homeward. 

But this happy case was not that of all the servants. When thesewatchful men had been entering the gates of the city in the morning, thethoughtless servants were not yet awake. They had sat up late at theirfeasting and rejoicings, and when the morning sun rose upon them, theywere still in their first deep sleep. The stirring of theirfellow-servants moved them a little, and for a while they seemed ready torise and join them. But their goods were not ready, so they could not gowith them; and they might as well, therefore, they thought, wait a littlelonger and rest themselves, and then follow them to the market. They didnot mean to be late, but they saw no reason why they should be so veryearly. 

They slept, therefore, till the sun was high, and then they rose in someconfusion, because it was now so late; and they had all their goods tounpack, their stuffs to smooth out, and the dust to shake off from them. Soon they began about every little thing to find fault with one another, because they were secretly angry with themselves. Each one thought thatif his neighbour had not persuaded him to stay, he should have been up, and have entered the city with the earliest: so high words arose betweenthem; and instead of helping one another, and making the best they couldof the time which remained, they only hindered one another, and made itlater and later before they were ready to begin their trading. 

At length, after many hard words and much bad temper, one by one they gotaway; each as soon as he was ready, and often with his goods all inconfusion; every one following his own path, and wandering by himself upthe crowded streets of the full town. 

Hard work they had to get at all along it when they had passed the gates. All the stream of people seemed now to be setting against them. Theidlers jested upon their strange dress; and if they did but try totraffic for their lord, the rude children of the town would gather roundthem, and hoot, and cry: so that they could not manage to carry on anytrade at all. 

Then, as I watched them, I saw that some who had been the loudest intalking of what they should do when they were tried, were now the firstto give up altogether making any head at all against the crowd of thatcity. They packed up what goods they might have, and began to think onlyof looking about them, and following the crowd, and pleasing themselves, like any of the men around them. Then I looked after some of these, andI saw that one of them was led on by the crowd to a place in the townwhere there was a great show. Outside of it were men in many-coloureddresses, who blew with trumpets, and jested, and cried aloud, and beggedall to come in and see the strange sights which were stored within. 

Now when the servant came to this place, he watched one and another goin, until at last he also longed to go in and see the sights which wereto be gazed on within. So he went to the door, and the porter asked himfor money; but when he drew out his purse, and the porter saw that hismoney belonged to some strange place, and was quite unlike the coin usedin that town, he only laughed at it, and said it was good for nothingthere, and bid him "stand back. " So as he turned away, the porter sawthe rich bundle on his back, and then he spoke to him in another tone, and he said, "I will let you in, if you like to give me that bundle ofgoods. " Then for a moment the servant was checked. He thought of hislord and of the reckoning, and he remembered the words, "As good stewardsof the manifold grace of God;" and he had almost determined to turn back, and to fight his way to the market-place, and to trade for his lord, letit cost him what it might;--but just at the moment there was a greatburst of the showman's trumpets; and he heard the people shouting for joywithin; and so he forgot all but his great desire, and slipping off thebundle from his shoulders, he put it into the hands of the porter, andpassed in, and I saw him no more. 

Then I saw another, who was standing at the corner of a street gating atsome strange antics which were being played by a company of the townsmen. And as he gazed upon them, he forgot all about his trading for hismaster, and thought only of seeing more of this strange sight. Then Isaw that whilst he was thinking only of these follies, some evil-mindedmen gathered round him, and before he was aware of it, they secretlystole from him all the gold which his lord had given him to lay out forhim. The servant did not even know when it was gone, so much was hethinking of staring at the sight before him. But it made me very sad tothink that when he went to buy for his master, he would find out, toolate, his loss; and that when the trumpet sounded, he would have nothingto carry back with him on the day of reckoning. 

Some of these loiterers, too, were treated even worse than this. One ofthem I saw whom the shows and lights of that town led on from street tostreet, until he came quite to its farther end; and then he thought thathe saw before him, beyond some lonely palings, still finer sights thanany he had left; and so he set out to cross over those fields, and seethose sights. And when he was half over, some wicked robbers, who laidwait in those desolate places, rushed out upon him from their lurking-place, and ill used him sorely, and robbed him of all his goods andmoney, and left him upon the ground hardly able to get back to the townwhich he had left. 

Then I saw one of these loiterers who, as he was looking idly at thesights round him, grew very grave, and began to tremble from head tofoot. One of his fellows, who stood by and saw him, quickly asked himwhat made him tremble. At first he could not answer; but after a whilehe said, that the sound of the trumpet which they had just heard had madehim think of the great trumpet-sound of their master, which was to callthem all back to his presence, and that he trembled because the eveningwas coming on, and he had not yet traded for his lord. And "How, " hesaid in great fear, "how shall we ever stand that reckoning with ourhands empty?" Then some of his companions in idleness laughed and jeeredgreatly, and mocked the poor trembler. But his fears were wiser thantheir mockings; and so, it seemed, he knew, for he cared nothing forthem; but only said to them, very sadly and gravely, "You are in the samedanger, how then can you jeer at me?" And with that he pointed theireyes up to the sky, and shewed them how low the sun had got already, andthat it wanted but an hour at the most to his setting, and then that thetrumpet might sound at any moment, and they have nothing to bear home totheir lord. 

Now, as he spoke, one listened eagerly to him; and whilst the othersjeered, he said very gravely, "What can we do? Is it quite too late?""It is never too late, " said the other, "till the trumpet sounds; andthough we have lost so much of the day, perchance we can yet dosomething: come with me to the market-place, and we will try. " So theother joined him, and off they set, passing through their companions, whoshouted after them all the way they went, until the townsmen who stoodround began to jeer and shout after them also: so that all the town wasmoved. A hard time those two had now, and much they wished that they hadgone to the market-place in the early morning, when the streets wereempty, and the busy servants had passed so easily along. Many were therough words they had now to bear; many the angry, or ill-natured, crowdthrough which they had to push; and if any where they met one of theirlate and idle companions, he was sure to stir up all the street againstthem, when he saw them pushing on to the market-place. 

"Do you think that we shall ever get there?" said he who had been movedby the other's words to him, who led the way, and buffeted with thecrowd, like a man swimming through many rough waves in the strong streamof some swift river. "Do you think that we shall ever get there?" "Yes, yes, " said the other; "we shall get there still, if we do but persevere. ""But it is so hard to make any way, and the streets seem to grow fullerand fuller; I am afraid that I shall never get through. "

Just as he spoke, a great band of the townspeople, with music, andtrumpets, and dancing, met them like a mighty wave of the sea, and seemedsure to drive them back: one of their old companions was dancing amongstthe rest; and as I looked hard at him, I saw that it was the same who hadgiven away his precious burden in order to go into the show. Now, assoon as he saw these his former fellows, he called to them by theirnames, and bid them join him and the townsmen round him. But he that wasleading the way shook his head, and said boldly: "No: we will not joinwith you; we are going to the market-place to traffic for our lord. " "Itis too late for that, " said he; "you lost the morning, and now you cannottrade. " Then I saw that he who before had trembled exceedingly grew verypale; but still he held on his way; and he said, --"Yes, we have lost themorning, and a sore thing it is for us; but our good lord will help useven yet; and we WILL serve him, 'redeeming the time, because the daysare evil. '" Then he turned to the other and said to him, --

"And will not you stop either? Do not be fooled by this madman: what useis it to go to buy when the shops are all shut, and the market empty?"Then he hung down his head, and looked as though he would have turnedback, and fallen into the throng; but his fellow seized him by the hand, and bid him take courage, and think upon his kind master, and upon theking's son, whose very blood had been shed for them; and with that heseemed to gather a little confidence, and held for a while on in his waywith the other. 

Then their old companion turned all his seeming love into hatred, and hecalled upon the crowd round him to lay hands on them and stop them; andthis the rabble would fain have done, but that, as it seemed to me, apower greater than their own was with those servants, and strengthenedthem; until they pushed the rude people aside on the right and on theleft, and passed safely through them into another street. 

Here there were fewer persons, and they had a breathing-time for a while;and as they heard the sound of music and of the crowd passing by at somelittle distance from them, they began to gather heart, and to talk to oneanother. "I never thought, " said the one, "that I could have held onthrough that crowd; and I never could, if you had not stretched out yourhand to help me. " "Say, rather, if our master's strength had not beenwith us, " said the other. "But do you think, " said he that was fearful, "that he will accept any thing we can bring him now, when the best partof the day is over?" "Yes, I do, " he replied. "I have a good hope thathe will; for I remember how he said, 'Return, ye backsliding children, return ye even unto me. '" "But how can one who is so trembling andfearful as I am ever traffic for him?" "You can, if you will but holdon; for he has once spoken of his servants 'as faint yet pursuing. '""Well, " said the other, "I wish that I had your courage; but I do believethat I should not dare to meet such another crowd as that we have justpassed through; I really thought that they would tear us in pieces. " "Ourking will never let that be, " said the other, "if only we trust in him. ""But are you sure, " replied he, "that our king does see us in this town?"

Just as he said this, and before his companion had time to answer himagain, they heard a louder noise than ever, of men dancing, and singing, and crowding, and music playing, and horns blowing, as if all the madsports of the city were coming upon them in one burst. At the front ofall they could see their old companion; for the band had turned round bya different street, and now were just beginning to come down that one upwhich they were passing. Then he who had been affrighted before, turnedwhite as snow; and he looked this way and that, to see what he could do. 

Now it so happened, that just by where they stood was a great shop, andin its windows there seemed to shine precious stones and jewels, and finecrystals, and gold and ivory. And, as he looked, his eyes fell full uponthe shop, and he said to his fellow, --"Look here; surely here is what wewant: let us turn in here and traffic for our master, and then we shallescape all this rout which is coming upon us. " "No, no!" said the other;"we must push on to the market; that is our appointed place; there ourlord bids us trade: we must not turn aside from the trouble which ourlateness has brought upon us--we must not offer to our master that whichcosts us nothing. Play the man, and we shall soon be in the market. "

"But we shall be torn in pieces, " said the other. "Look at the greatcrowd: and even now it seems that our old companion sees me, and isbeginning to lead the rabble upon us. " "Never fear, " said he who led theway; "our king will keep us. 'I will not be afraid for ten thousands ofthe people who have set themselves against us round about. '"

Then I saw that he to whom he spoke did not seem to hear these lastwords, for the master of the shop had noticed how he cast his eyes uponthe goods that were in the window, and was ready in a moment to invitehim in. "Come in, come in, " he said, "before the crowd sweep you away;come in and buy my pearls, and my diamonds, and my precious stones; comein, come in. " And while he halted for a moment to parley with the man, the crowd came upon them, and he was parted from his friend, who had heldup his fainting steps; and so he sprung trembling into the shop, scarcelythinking himself safe even there. 

Now the man into whose house he had turned, though he was a fair-spokenman, and one who knew well how to seem honest and true, was altogether adeceiver. All his seeming jewels, and diamonds, and pearls, were butshining and painted glass, which was worth nothing at all to him who wasso foolish as to buy it: but this the servant knew not. If it had beenin the bright clear light of the morning, he would easily have seen thatthe diamonds and the pearls were only sparkling and painted glass, andthe gold nothing but tinsel; but the bright light of the morning hadpassed away, and in the red slanting light of the evening sun he couldnot see clearly; and so the false man persuaded him, and he parted withall the rich treasures which his king had given him, and got nothing forthem in exchange which was worth the having, for he filled his bag withbits of painted glass, which his lord would never accept. 

However, he knew not how he had been cheated; or if, perhaps, a thoughtcrossed his mind that all was not right, it was followed by another, which said that it was now too late to alter, and that if he had chosenwrongly, still he must abide by it; and so he waited for the trumpet. Buthe was not altogether happy; and often and often he wished that he hadfaced the strife of the multitude, and pressed on with his trustingcompanion to the market. 

A hard struggle had been his before he had reached it. It seemed indeedat times as if the words of his fearful companion were coming true, andhe would be torn altogether in pieces, so fiercely did the crowd pressupon him and throng him. But as I watched him in the thickest part ofit, I saw that always, just at his last need, something seemed to favourhim, and the crowd broke off and left room for him to struggle by. Icould hear him chanting, as it were, to himself, when the crowd lookedupon him the most fiercely, "I will not be afraid for ten thousands ofthe people that have set themselves against me round about. " And even ashe chanted the words, the crowd divided itself in two parts, like arushing stream glancing by some black rock; and on he passed, as thoughthey saw him not. 

So it continued, even till he reached the market-place. Right glad washe to find himself there: but even now all his trials were not over. Manyof the stalls were empty, and from many more the fair and true traderswere gone away; and instead of them were come false and deceitful men, who tried to put off any who dealt with them with pretended jewels andbad goods. 

Then did he look anxiously round and round the market, fearing everymoment lest the trumpet should sound before he had purchased any thingfor his lord. Never, perhaps, all along the way, did he so bitterlyregret his early sloth as now, for he wrung his hands together, and saidin great bitterness, "What shall I do?" and, "How shall I, a loiterer, traffic for my lord?"

Then his eyes fell upon a shop where were no jewels, nor gold, nor costlysilks, nor pearls of great price; but all that was in it was coarsesackcloth, and rough and hairy garments, and heaps of ashes, and here andthere a loaf of bitter bread, and bitter herbs, and bottles wherein tearswere stored. As he gazed on this shop something seemed to whisper to hisheart, "Go and buy. " So he went with his sorrowful heart, as one notworthy to traffic for his master, and he bought the coarsest sackcloth, and the ashes of affliction, and many bitter tears: and so he waited forthe sounding of the trumpet. 

Then suddenly, as some loud noise breaks upon the slumbers of men whosleep, that great trumpet sounded. All through the air came its voice, still waxing louder and louder; and even as it pealed across the sky, allthat great city, and its multitudes, and its lofty palaces, and its show, and its noise, and its revels, all melted away, and were not. And in amoment all the servants were gathered together, and their lord and kingstood amongst them. All else was gone, and they and their works werealone with him. 

Then was there a fearful trial of every man's work. Then were theycrowned with light and gladness who had risen early and tradeddiligently, and who now brought before their master the fruit of thattoil, and labour, and pain. Each one had his own reward; and amongst therichest and the best--as though he brought what the king greatlyloved--was his reward who brought unto his master the offering ofgratitude from the broken-hearted widow. 

Then drew near the servant who had wasted the morning, but had repentedof his sloth, and had fought his way through the crowds, and had at lastbought the sackcloth. Now he came bringing it with him; and it lookedpoor, and mean, and coarse, as he bore it amongst the heaps of gold, andjewels, and silks, which lay piled up all around; yet did he draw nearunto the king; and as he came, he spoke, and said, "A broken and acontrite heart wilt thou not despise. " And as he spake, the king lookedgraciously upon him: a mild and an approving smile sat upon hiscountenance, and he spoke to him also the blessed words, "Well done, thougood and faithful servant. " Then did the coarse sackcloth shine as themost rich cloth of gold; then did the ashes of the furnace sparkle as amonarch's jewels; whilst every bitter tear which was stored in the bottlechanged into pearls and rubies which were above all price. 

Then the king turned to the careless servants, and his voice was terribleto hear, and from his face they fled away. I dared not to look uponthem; but I heard their just and most terrible sentence, and I knew thatthey were driven away for ever from the presence of the king, in which islife and peace; and that they were bound under chains and darkness, deeper and more dreadful than those from which the king's son hadgraciously delivered them. 

* * * * *

_Father_. In what part of God's word do we read such a parable as this?

_Child_. In the 25th chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, and at the 15thverse. 

F. Who is the King who called his servants thus together?

C. Almighty God. 

F. Who are meant by these servants trading in the town?

C. All of us Christians. 

F. How do you know that they were Christians?

C. Because they had been delivered from slavery and dungeons by theKing's own Son. 

F. What is the great town to which they were sent?

C. This world. 

F. What are the goods which God gave them to lay out for him?

C. Every thing which we have in this life: our strength, and health, andreason, and money, and time. 

F. How may we trade with these for the King?

C. By trying to use them all so as to please Him and set forth Hisglory. 

F. Who are those who rose up early to go into the town?

C. Those who begin to serve the Lord even from their youth. 

F. What is shewn by their finding the streets easy to pass, and themarkets full of rich goods?

C. That this service of God is far easier to such as begin to serve Himin youth; and that such are able to offer to Him the best gifts of earlydevotion, and their first love, and the zeal of youth, and tender hearts, and unclouded consciences. 

F. What is taught us by their seeing the beautiful things of the city attheir ease, after their diligent trading?

C. That those who serve God truly in a youthful piety commonly find morethan others, that "godliness has promise of the life which now is, aswell as of that which is to come. "

F. Why were those who were late ready to quarrel with one another?

C. Because companions in sin have no real love for each other, but arealways ready to fall out; being all selfish and separate from God. 

F. What were the full streets they met with when they entered the town?

C. The many difficulties and hindrances which beset those who set aboutserving God late in life. 

F. What were the shows, and the thieves, and the robbers, which troubledthem?

C. The different temptations which come from the devil, the world, andthe flesh. 

F. Who were the crowds who withstood them?

C. Those who love this present world, and who therefore withstand thosewho seek to live for God's glory. 

F. Who was he who sold the false jewels?

C. One of those who often make a prey of persons beginning, after anegligent youth, to feel earnest about religion, and of whom we read, Rom. Xvi. 17, 18, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which causedivisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned;and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive thehearts of the simple. "

F. Who was he who held on through all difficulties to the market-place?

C. A truly humble penitent, who having turned to God with all his heart, leans not to his own understanding, but follows God's leading in allthings; cleaving close to Christ's Church. 

F. What were the sackcloth and ashes which he bought?

C. The true contrition of heart and deep sense of sin, which God givesto those who seek earnestly to turn away from all iniquity. 

F. What was the sound of the trumpet?

C. The call of men to the general judgment. 

F. Who were those whose trading the master was pleased to reward?

C. Those who had served God early; those who had given to Him the bestof their youth; those who had been kind to others and helped the needyfor His sake; those who had turned to Him in truth, and clave to Him witha humble penitence. 

F. What was the end of the careless servants?

C. It is an awful end, which our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ speaks ofthus: "Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shallbe weeping and gnashing of teeth. " {148a} And, again, "These shall goaway into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal. "{148b}

The Prophet's Guard. 

It was the very earliest morning. The day was not breaking as it does inthis land of England, with a dewy twilight and a gradual dawning--first adull glow all over the east, then blood-red rays, catching any fleecycloud which is stealing over the sky, and turning all its misty whitenessinto gold and fire;--but day was breaking as it does in those easterncountries--sudden, and bright, and hot. Darkness flew away as at a word;the thick shadows were all at once gone, and the broad glaring sun roseproudly in the sky, rejoicing in his strength. The people of the townwoke up again to life and business. Doors were flung wide open, and somewere passing through them; the flat roofs of the houses began to bepeopled--on one was a man praying, on others two or three standingtogether; but most of the people were hastening here and there to getthrough their necessary work before the full heat of the day came on;numbers were passing and repassing to the clear dancing fountain, thecool waters of which bubbled up in the midst of a broad square withinthat city. 

And now, what is it which one suddenly sees, and, after gazing at it fora while, points out to another, and he to a third? As each hears, theylook eagerly up to the hill, which rises high above their town, untilthey gather into a knot; and then, as one and another are added to theircompany, grow into almost a crowd. Still it is in the same quarter thatall eyes are fixed; their water-vessels are set idly down, as if theycould not think of them. Those which were set under the fountain havebeen quite full this long time, but no one stooped to remove them; andthe water has been running over their brimming sides, while its liquidsilver flew all round in a shower of sparkling drops. But no one thinksof them. What is it which so chains all eyes and fixes the attention ofall?

The hill is quite full of armed men. There were none there overnight:they have come up from the vale silently and stealthily during thedarkness, while men slept, like some great mist rising in stillness fromthe waters, and they seem to be hemming in the town on every side. Lookwhich way you will, the sun lights upon the burnished points of spears, or falls on strong shields, or flashes like lightning from polished andcutting swords, or is thrown a thousand ways by the rolling wheels ofthose war-chariots. "Who are they?" is the question of all; and no onelikes to say what all have felt for a long time--"they are our enemies, and we are their prey. "

But there is no use in shutting the eyes any longer to the truth. Themorning breeze has just floated off in its airy waves that flag whichbefore hung down lifelessly by the side of its staff. It has shewn all. They are enemies; they are fierce and bitter enemies; they are theSyrians, and they are at war with Israel. 

But why are they come against this little town? When they have licked upit and its people like the dust from the face of the earth, they will bescarcely further on in their war against Israel. Why did not they beginwith some of the great and royal cities? Why was it not againstJerusalem, or Jezreel, or even against the newly rebuilt Jericho? Whyshould they come against this little town?

Then one, an evil-looking man of a dark countenance, one who feared notGod and loved not His servants, whispered to those around him, and said, "Have you not heard how Elisha the prophet, who dwells amongst us, hasdiscovered to the king of Israel the secrets of the army of the king ofSyria? No doubt it is because Elisha is dwelling here that the king ofSyria has come upon us. And now shall we, and our wives, and our sweetbabes, and our houses, and our treasures, become the prey of the king ofSyria, for the sake of this Elisha. I never thought that good would comefrom his dwelling here. "

Now, fear makes men cruel and suspicious, and fills their minds with hardthoughts; and many of these men were full of fear: and so, when theyheard these words, they began to have hard bad thoughts of God's prophet, and to hate him, as the cause of all the evils which they were afraidwould very soon come upon them. 

Just then the door of another house opened: it was the prophet's house, and his servant came forth with the water-vessels to fill them at thefountain. He wondered to see the crowd of men gathered together, and hedrew near to ask them what was stirring. He could read upon their darkscowling faces that something moved them exceedingly; but what it was hecould not gather. He could not tell why they would scarcely speak tohim, but looked on him with angry faces, and spoke under their breath, and said, "This is one of them. " "'Twere best to give them up. " "Theywill destroy us all. " Then the man was altogether astonished; for hismaster had been ever humble, and kind, and gentle; no poor man had everturned away without help when he had come in his sorrows to the prophetof the Lord. And yet, why were they thus angry with him, if it were notfor his master's sake?

Broken sentences were all that he could gather; but, by little andlittle, he learned what they feared and what they threatened; he saw, also, the hosts of armed men gathered all around the city; and his heart, also, was filled with fear. He believed that it was for his master'ssake that they were there; he saw that all around him were turned againsthis master, and he trembled exceedingly. For some time he stood amongstthe rest, scarce knowing what to do, neither liking to remain nor daringto go; until at last, as some more stragglers joined themselves to thecompany, he slunk away like one ashamed, without stopping even to fillthe water-vessels he had brought. 

And so he entered his own door, heavy-hearted and trembling; and he wentto the prophet's chamber, for he deemed that he still slept. But the manof God was risen; and he knew, therefore, where he should find him--thathe would be upon the flat roof of his house, calling upon the name of theLord his God, who had made another morning's sun to rise in its glory. 

{The Prophet's Guard: p156. Jpg}

So he followed his master to the housetop; and there, even as he hadsupposed, he found the holy man. It was a striking sight, could any onehave seen the difference between these two men. The one pale andtrembling and affrighted, like a man out of himself, and with no stay onwhich to rest his mind; the other calm and earnest, as, in deep andsolemn prayer, with his head bowed and his hands clasped together, hislow voice poured forth his thanksgiving, or spake of his needs; he also, as it seemed, was out of himself, but going out of himself that he mightrest upon One who was near to him though his eye saw Him not, and whospake to him though his outward ear heard no voice of words. 

Thus he continued for a season, as if he knew not that any man was nighunto him; as if he knew not that there were, in the great world aroundhim, any one besides his God with whom he communed, and his own soulwhich spake unto his God. All this time his servant stood by him, paleand trembling, but not daring to break in upon that hour of prayer; untilat length the prophet paused, and his eye fell upon the trembler; and heturned towards him, and said kindly, "What ails thee, my son?" Then theservant answered, "O my father, look unto the hill. " And he stood gazingin the prophet's face, as though he expected to see paleness and terroroverspread it when his eyes gathered in the sight of those angry hosts. But it was not so. No change passed over his countenance; his brow wasopen as it was before; the colour never left his cheeks; and, with almosta smile, he turned unto the servant, and said, "And why does thisaffright thee?" "It is for thee they seek, my father--it is for theethey seek; and the wicked men of the town are ready to fall upon thee anddeliver thee into their hands. Even now, as I walked along the street, they looked on me with fierce and cruel eyes; and they breathed threatswhich these lips may not utter, and said, that thou hadst brought thistrouble upon them, and their wives, and their little ones; and I fearedthat they would curse thee and thy God. " But the prophet was not movedby his words, for he only answered, "Fear them not; they that are with usare more than they that are against us. " Then did the servant cast hiseyes to the ground, and he spake not, yet his lips moved; and if any onehad heard the words which he whispered, they might perhaps have heard himask how this could be, when they were but two, and their enemies were somany and so mighty. 

Now the prophet's eye rested upon him, and he read all his secretthoughts; and he pitied his weakness, for that holy man was full of pityfor the weak: so he chid him not; but, bowing his knees again on thatflat roof, he prayed unto his God to open the eyes of his affrightedservant. His prayer was heard. For there fell from them as it werefilms; and now, when he looked out, he saw a glorious sight. All themountain was full; and they were a wonderful company which filled it. Thedark hosts of the Syrians, and their glancing swords and clashingchariots, now looked but as a mere handful; for the whole mountain roundthem was full of that heavenly army. Chariots of fire and horsemen offire thronged it in every part. High up into the viewless air mountedtheir wheeling bands: rank beyond rank, and army beyond army, they seemedto stretch on into the vastness of space, until the gazer's wearied eyewas unable to gaze on them. And all of these were gathered round hismaster. They were God's host, keeping guard over God's servant. Andthey who would injure him must first turn aside those flashing swords, must break up that strong and serried array, and be able to do battlewith God's mighty angels. 

Then was the weak heart strong. Then did the poor trembler see that hewas safe; and know that he who is on God's side can never want companionsand defenders. 

The Brothers' Meeting;OR, The Sins of Youth. 

A large company was winding its way slowly out of the vale in which theriver Jordan runs. The sun was just beginning to strike hotly upon them, and make them long for rest and shelter, as they toiled up the open sandyhills and amongst the great masses of rock with which that country wasstrewn. 

It was a striking sight to see those travellers. First went three troopsof kine, lowing as they went; camels with their arched necks, stoopingshoulders, and forward ears; asses with their foals; ewes and lambs; andgoats with their kids, which mounted idly upon every rock that lay bytheir road-side, and then jumped as idly down again; and before and afterthese, drivers in stately turbans and long flowing robes, keeping theflocks and herds to their appointed way. Then came large droves ofcattle, and sheep, and goats, and asses, stirring up with their many feetthe dust of the sandy plain, till it fell like a gentle shower powderingwith its small grains all the rough and prickly plants which grew intufts over the waste. Then was there a space; and after that were seentwo bands of camels, --the best they seemed to be of all the flock, thosewhich came last especially, --and on them were children and women riding, over whom hung long veils to shelter their faces from the hot breath ofthe sandy desert through which they had travelled. And after all thesecame one man, with his staff in his hand and a turban on his head, walking slowly, as one who walked in pain and yet walked on, followingthose who went before. 

If you had stood near to that man, you might, perhaps, have heard himspeaking to God in prayer and thanksgiving; you might have heard himsaying to himself, "with my staff passed I over this Jordan, and now I ambecome two bands:" or you might have heard him earnestly calling upon theGod of Abraham, and the God of Isaac his father, to keep him safe in thegreat danger which now lay close before him. His mind was certainly veryfull of that danger; for he kept looking up from the sand on which hiseyes were often fixed, and gazing as far as he could see over the hillsbefore him, as if he expected to see some great danger suddenly meet himon his way, and as if, therefore, he wished to be quite ready for it. 

If you looked into his face, you could see at once that he was not acommon man. He was not a very old man; his hair was not yet grey uponhis head; and yet it seemed, at the first glance, as if he was very old. But as you looked closer, you saw that it was not so; but that many, manythoughts had passed through his mind, and left those deep marks stampedeven on his face. It was not only sorrow, though there was much of that;nor care, though he was now full of care; but besides these, it seemed asif he had seen, and done, and felt great things--things in which all aman's soul is called up, and so, which leave their impress behind them, even when they have passed away. 

He HAD seen great things, and felt great things. He had seen God's mostholy angels going up to heaven, and coming down to earth upon theirmessages of mercy. He had heard the voice of the Lord of all, promisingto be his Father and his Friend. And only the night before, the Angel ofthe covenant had made himself known to him in the stillness of his lonelytent, and made him strong to wrestle with him for a blessing, until thebreaking of the day. So that it was no wonder, that when you looked intohis face, it was not like the face of a common man, but one which wasfull of thought, which bore almost outwardly the stamp of greatmysteries. 

But what was it which now filled this man with care? He was returninghome from a far land where he had been staying twenty years, to the landwhere his father dwelt. He had gone out a poor man; he was coming home arich man. He was bringing back with him his wives, and his children, andhis servants, and his flocks, and his herds; and of what was he afraid?Surely he could trust the God who had kept him and blessed him all thesetwenty years, and who had led him now so far on his journey?

Why should he fear now, when he was almost at his father's tent?

It was because he heard that HIS BROTHER was coming to meet him. But whyshould this fill him with such fear? Surely it would be a happy meeting;brothers born of the same father and of the same mother, who had dwelttogether in one tent, kneeled before one father's knees in prayer, andjoined together in the common plays of childhood, --surely their meetingmust be happy, now that they have been twenty years asunder, and God hasblessed them both, and they are about to see each other again in peaceand safety, and to shew to each other the children whom God had giventhem, and who must remind them of their days of common childhood. Andwhy then is the man afraid? Because when he left his father's house thisbrother was very angry with him, and he fears that he may have rememberedhis anger all these twenty years, and be ready now to revenge himself forthat old quarrel. 

And yet, why should this make such an one to fear? Even if his brotherbe still angry with him, and have cruel and evil thoughts against him, cannot God deliver him?--cannot the same God who has kept him safely allthese twenty years of toil and labour, help and save him now? Why thendoes he fear so greatly? He has not forgotten that this God can savehim--he has not for a moment forgotten it; for see how earnestly he makeshis prayer unto Him: hear his vows that if God will again deliver him, heand all of his shall ever praise and serve him for this mercy. Yet stillhe is in fear; and he seems like a man who thought that there was somereason why the God who had heard him in other cases should not hear himin this. 

What was it, then, which pressed so heavily upon this man's mind? It wasthe remembrance of an old sin. He feared that God would leave him now toEsau's wrath, because he knew that Esau's wrath was God's punishment ofhis sin. He feared that Esau's hand would slay his children, as God'schastisement for the sins of his childhood. He remembered that he hadlied to Isaac his father, and mocked the dimness of his aged eyes by afalse appearance; now he trembled lest his father's God should leave thedeceiver and the mocker to eat the bitter fruit of his old sin. It wasnot so much Esau's wrath, and Esau's company, and Esau's arms, which hefeared--though all these were very terrible to this peaceful man, --as itwas his own sin in days long past, which now met him again, and seemed tofrown upon him from the darkness before him. In vain did he strive tolook on and see whether God would guide him there, for his sin cloudedover the light of God's countenance. It was as when he strained his eyesinto the great sand-drifts of the desert through which he had passed:they danced and whirled fearfully before him, and baffled all thestrivings of his earnest gaze. 

But the time of trial was drawing very near. And how did it end? Insteadof falling upon him and slaying him and his; instead of making a spoil ofthe oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and giving the young children tothe sword, Esau's heart melted as soon as they met; he fell upon hisbrother's neck and kissed him; he looked lovingly upon the children whohad been born to him in the far land; he spake kindly of the old days oftheir remembered childhood, of the grey-haired man at home; and he wouldnot take even the present which his brother had set apart for him. 

Jacob knew who it was that had turned his brother's heart, and he feltmore than ever what a strong and blessed thing prayer and supplicationwas. Nor did he forget his childhood's sin against his God. It hadlooked out again upon him in manhood, and reminded him of God's holiness, of his many past misdeeds, and made him pray more earnestly not to bemade to "possess the iniquities of his youth. "

* * * * *

_Father_. What should we learn from this account of Jacob's meetingEsau?

_Child_. That God remembers and often visits long afterwards the sins ofour childhood. 

F. Does not God, then, forgive the sins of children?

C. Yes, He does forgive them, and blot them out for Christ's sake. 

F. Why, then, do we say that He visits them?

C. Because He often allows the effects of past sins to be still theirpunishment, even when He has forgiven them. 

F. Why does He do so?

C. To shew us how He hates sin. 

F. What should we learn from this?

C. To watch against every sin most carefully, because we never can knowwhat may be its effects; to remember how God has punished it, often foryears, in His true servants; to pray against sin; to think no sin little. 

F. What should we do, if we find the consequences of past sin comingupon us?

C. Take our chastisement meekly; humble ourselves under God's hand; prayfor deliverance, as, "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor mytransgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness'sake, O Lord" (Ps. Xxv. 7). 

F. What should be the effect on us when God hears our prayer, anddelivers us?

C. It should make us more humbly remember our sins and unworthiness, andstrive to shew forth our thankfulness, "not with our lips only, but inour lives. "

{Finis: p172. Jpg}

LONDON:PRINTED BY GILBERT & RIVINGTON, St. John's Square. 

Footnotes:

{6} Rev. Xxii. 2. 

{45a} Lover of God. 

{45b} Wanderer. 

{45c} Timid. 

{46} Help. 

{49a} Prov. Ii. 19. 

{49b} Ps. Cxix. 9. 

{76} Isaiah xlii. 16. 

{79a} Isaiah xxxv. 3, 4. 

{79b} Ps. Cxix. 67. 

{80} Isaiah xxxv. 9. 

{95a} Bold, or Rash. 

{95b} Tender. 

{96} Faith. 

{148a} Matt. Xxv. 30. 

{148b} Ib. Xxv. 46.