prised at; and at this time I found it an hard matter to get food for them, and yet it was a time when food was most wanting. I therefore went home, and besought my chief shepherd not to let them perish for hunger.

That night I dreamed that I saw my Lord with a long cloak on, Isaiah lix. 17, girt about the paps with a golden girdle, Rev. i. 13; and his bosom was wide open, where there seemed to be a deal of room; his right hand hung down, as if it was intended to help any that should stand in need of help. When I awoke I knew not what it meant; but, in answer to an humble petition, I had the whole of it applied to me, " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young," Isaiah

xl. 11.

I went to the flock, and explained as well as I could the whole of this vision; and surely the sheep fed on it, for they flocked round about me, as if they would really butt me with their horns if I did not feed them.

I perceived also that many of the dams were pregnant, and that there were several which had brought forth that were rather weakly, which I endeavoured to strengthen, by putting them into the tenderest pastures; but, alas! as there began to be a number of lambs, I had more work on my hands than ever; for the wolves and dogs were perpetually after them.

VOL. II.

But in my trouble I went to my kind interpreter, and informed him of the difficulties I had met with. He told me that God had crowned me with knowledge, Prov. xiv. 18, and had committed to my trust the true riches, Luke xvi. 11, which I must carefully communicate, and that with all possible expedition; and he confirmed it by a certain clause. "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds; for riches are not for ever and doth the crown endure to every generation?" He added, moreover, Be not dismayed, fodder shall surely be given; "The hay “The_hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered,” Prov. xxvii.

23-25.

This gave me great encouragement, and fired my zeal in the work, and I believed what my interpreter had said, for his word had never fallen to the ground.

With respect to myself, I watched over my flock narrowly, and opposed every evil beast that came among them as much as possible. One day came into my mind the strange phenomenon of women's longing when they are pregnant; when, having a desire to try the experiment, I took rods of green poplar, and of hazel, and chesnut-tree, Gen. xxx. 37, and placed them before the dams; when I had so done I told my interpreter of it, and asked his opinion about it, for we are commanded to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. I told him I thought there could be no harm in it, as

others that feared God had done the same, under an anxiety of increase.

My kind interpreter smiled at the simplicity of the thing, and said that God had often approved of the most simple means to accomplish the greatest designs; and asked what wood I had made choice of for the rods, and what number I had set. I told him the number was three, and that the wood was green poplar, hazel, and chesnut. He smiled, and said the three rods would appear soon enough. The church, he said, was compared to a garden of nuts, and I might expect a rod from that hazel; the poplar was the shade of idolatry, as God complains, "They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars," Hosea iv. 13: and no doubt, said my friend, but you will find rods from them. The chesnut is an emblem of a vile persecutor; as it is written, "The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir-trees were not like his boughs: nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him,” Ezek. xxxi. 8, 9. This is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that noted persecutor; and you may depend upon it that you will find a rod from the true church, from idolaters, and from persecutors also; but remember, the rods are in God's hand, and every sheep under thy care shall surely feel these rods more or less; yea, not one shall ever enter into the true fold without the rod; for Truth hath said, "And

I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant."

you

'But I must tell you that have not exactly copied after good old Jacob, though you have tried to imitate him; for it is said, that he “ pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods; and he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks, in the gutters in the watering troughs, when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.”

Remember, it is your business to draw water to refresh as well as to feed the flock: Ye shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation, Isaiah xii. 3. And And you have a most comfortable promise belonging to this part of your work: "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself," Prov. xi. 25.

'Now I advise you, when you are watering the flock, to set the rods always before them, that they may expect them, and not be dismayed when they come; for God has promised that he will visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes, Psalm lxxxix. 32. There is a needsbe for this; for "the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame," Prov. xxix. 15. Indeed it is one grand mark of their election; for, if they are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then are they bastards, and not sons, Heb. xii. 8.'

I thanked my kind tutor for his instructions, and was convinced, as usual, of the truth of them by

the visible effects that followed; for sheep are not only exposed to every beast of prey, but have a natural appetite to stray from the good shepherd, from the green pastures, and from the best of folds. I therefore set the rods before them, and found that it had the desired effect, for several brought forth ring-straked, spotted, and spangled; and these indeed were my hire; others would not look or set their faces toward the rods; others seemed to bring forth all white, some all brown, and others all black; so that there appeared but very few of the spotted sort among them, which alone were to be for my hire. That night I went home very heavy and dejected from my labour, and much surprised at some of the sheep seeming so backward to turn their faces to the rods. In my trouble I went to bed, but could not get much rest the first part of the night; but towards the morning I had a comfortable blessing of beloved sleep; and in my sleep had a vision, which was, as I thought, that I had pitched my fold as usual, and had watered the flocks, and placed my rods in the gutters according to custom; and, having opened the gate of the fold, I turned back and saw several lions, bears, wolves, and leopards, standing at a distance, as if they intended to stop the entrance of the flock, or to leap into the fold after I had left them. I was greatly surprised at this, and not a little terrified at the sight of so voracious an army. However, I turned my face around, as I thought, and attempted to drive the sheep into the fold;