dation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that daubed it with untempered mortar. And will say unto you, the wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; to wit, the prophets of Israel, which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord God." This is the act that was published in the land of the Chaldeans, entitled, An act against false prophets.' The latter part of this act is against the Jewish class-leaders, entitled, A clause for taking and exposing false prophetesses and their pillows.'

"Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Wo to the women that sew pillows to all arm-holes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls. Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley, and for pieces of bread; to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms,

and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand; and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted, and ye shall know that I am the Lord; because with lies ye have made the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” Ezek. xiii. "Gentlemen of the jury, pay particular attention to this act, as its whole force is levelled at false prophets and false class-leaders.'

The prophets are here charged with following their own spirits, instead of the spirit of truth; and of seeing vanity and divining lies, that is, exalting free-will and human power; for "men of low degree [in feigned humility] are vanity, and men of high degree [in self sufficiency] are a lie," Psalm lxii. 9; therefore whatsoever savours of men, whether they be men of high degree, or men of low, they savour of nothing but vanity and lies. They are also here charged with applying the blessed effects of justification (namely, of pardon and peace) to wrong objects; this the prisoner has been guilty of, by declaring that Christ died for all men; and, if he did, consequently he made peace for all men by the blood of his cross; but the Lord says, that he came not to send peace upon earth, but rather divisions. Further, the Lord declares that these shall not be written in the writings of the house of Israel; that is, their record shall not be found

on high: they are not written among the living; this appears plain by their being so offended at people's talking of having their names written in the Lamb's book of life, Rev. xiii. 8. The Jewish class-leaders are here charged with making the hearts of the righteous sad, whom God would not have made sad; this is done by telling a justified soul that he may fall from grace. And they are charged with saving others alive that should not live; this is done by encouraging the hypocrite, in promising, and falsely applying life and peace to him. Sewing pillows under the arm-holes, is propping up a dejected spirit with soft words and false doctrines. Spreading a kerchief over the stature, is veiling the face of fallen Adam, and giving a false sight of fallen man to the poor benighted sinner. Hunting of souls, is worrying them out of the truth, and prejudicing them against true prophets, by calling true prophets false ones, and truth itself falsehood. Their being called prophets and prophetesses shews their pride. The Lord's charging them with killing the just, and saving them that should not live, is a lash laid on them for assuming the prerogative of the Lord of life and death; and likewise a cutting throw upon their pretended infallibility and assumed authority, in telling the righteous, who really believe, that they are in errors, and shall die; and in telling the nonelect, who are in a state of death, that they shall have life and peace.

Their doing this for a handful of barley, shews

the petty profit they labour for; that for a handful of grain, or even one poor penny a week, they will make the hearts of God's elect sad, whom God has not made sad; and even pollute the sacred name of the Almighty, by telling these lies in his

name.

'Mr. Wise-Master-Builder, the King's witness, thou hast proved him a dangerous man to Mercy's building, a disturber of the household of faith, a degrader of the honest tradesman, and a deceiver of the most honourable and best community; and indeed he is culpable of felony, for he is no less than a house breaker.'

Crier. Bring in the rest of the King's witnesses. As soon as the crier began to cry, there came a chariot to the door with a lady and her daughter in it. I perceived that there was a great bustle and whispering in the court; and some said, It is Hephzibah, Isaiah lxii. 4, the queen, Isaiah xlix. 23, and a daughter of Zion with her.' So she alighted, and came into the court, in all her royal attire. Many bowed and wondered at her appearance; but she sent word to the judge, that she was come to appear in person against the prisoner at the bar. Many rejoiced at that, for he had but very few friends in the court, except Mr. Carnal Reason and Mr. Lofty Mind.

The judge desired her majesty to stand forward, and say what she knew of the prisoner.

Queen. I know him and have suffered much by him. He once appeared in the chapel royal, to

do duty in the absence of our chaplain; I did not much like his discourse; but, as he was an aged ecclesiastic, I said nothing against it, till he came to dine at the palace, when I spake freely to him of the love of my king; telling him also of my base original and mean parentage; of the love and condescension of my lord the king. I told him of a particular sweet expression of my Lord's, which he spake when he first wooed me; namely, that many daughters had done virtuously, but I excelled them all, Prov. xxxi. 29. .

Further, I told him how I had at first doubted of my King's discriminating love, and the sweet promise I met with from his precious lips, which to this day stands on record in our marriage covenant: I will betroth thee to me for ever; yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the king, Hos. ii. 19, 20; and that other sweet word, I hate putting away. Moses,' said he, allowed of divorce, because of hard hearts; but I allow of none, nor was it so from the beginning, nor ever shall be by this covenant.'

6

I also told him that my King's Father approved of the match, and made it between us, Matt xxii. 2. I shewed him my crown royal; my imputed robe, or wedding garment, Matt. xxii. 11; my stomacher, Eph. vi. 14, and girdle, Isaiah v, 27; my ring also, Luke xv. 22; my shoes, Eph.