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Righteousness, Psalm cxviii. 19; this delivereth from the curse of the law: and then through another, called Praise, Isaiah lx. 18; this gate delivereth from enmity against God, and from legal bondage: and, as I was weeping and rejoicing, she said, He that you saw on the cross is the foundation of your hope, 1 Cor. iii. 11; God's foundation is in this holy mountain, and he loveth these gates of Zion better than all the dwellings of Jacob, Psalm lxxxvii. 1, 2. And now look through this glass, and you shall see, though but darkly, the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. And, while I looked through the glass, though but darkly, I thought my face shone again, Psalm cxix. 135; or, as Paul says, I was changed into the image which I saw, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of our God, 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Then said the woman, You saw Christ crucified evidently set forth before you; but you saw no similitude, you only saw a fire, Deut. iv. 36, lest you should set up idols in your imagination, as the Arians do, and then cannot tell which of these idols to address; so they make Christ a creature, the Spirit a phantom, and address God out of Christ, and without the Spirit, as an object of worship; which is nothing but a vain imagination, exalted against an experimental knowledge of the everblessed Trinity.

Then she turned my face about, and I saw a woman richly clad in gold of Ophir, Psalm xlv. 9.

She told me that woman was Zion, or Hephzibah the queen; she stands at the right hand of the King. So I went and made my obedience to her. Then said my tutoress, Him whom thou sawest through the glass is thy father: Call no man father, for one is your father, even God; and call no man master, for one is your master, even Christ, Matt. xxiii. 9, 10; and that lady is thy mother. Thou must never despise the law of thy mother, Prov. i. 8, nor forsake her when she is old, Prov. xxiii. 22. Thou must "honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land," or that thou mayest live for ever; and that is the ultimate latitude of the law's spiritual meaning, for the law is spiritual; and a spiritual man has a spiritual father and mother, brethren and sisters.

Then said I, pray what may I call thy name? She said, I am Understanding; and Solomon tells thee to call Understanding thy kinswoman, Prov. vii. 4; and, if thou communicate these things to others, all that partake of them will be thy spiritual children; "Though ye have ten thousand instructors, yet have ye not many fathers; I have begotten you," saith Paul; and that fulfils the promise given you as you came up, that you should receive father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and kinsfolk, in this world, and in the world to come life eternal.

Thou art now a subject of the kingdom esta

blished on this mountain, which is a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, Matt. v. 14; and a citizen of mount Zion, Heb. xii. 22: And all that I have said in the dark proclaim thou on the house-top, and let your light shine before men. Be faithful in the covenant, and thou shalt be ruler over many · things; and, in declaring this vision, diminish not a word, Jer. xxvi. 2. But, before thou depart, take this anchor, and cast it into the unfathomable depth of eternal love, which thou sawest shine in the marred visage of him that hung upon the cross; cast it within the vail, and then it will be sure and stedfast, Heb. vi. 19; it will hold thy soul in a storm; and thou must make fast the cord, which drew thee up to this mount, and which is love, to thy heart: Keep thyself in the love of God. An experience of this love shed abroad in thy heart worketh an hope within thee; so thou hast an hope set before thee to employ thy expectation, and an hope within thee of the glory of God. This hope is an anchor in deep waters, but in a field-fight it is an helmet. Hope wrought in the heart by experience is an helmet to the head, to screen the judgment against errors.

A man will soon give up all his knowledge, if it lies only in his head, to a forcible argument; but the devil himself cannot dispute him wholly out of his experience or feelings. A heart furnished with a dry stock of superficial knowledge is one thing; but a heart changed and fixed in the love of God is another.

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But, before you depart, let me shew you something else. Do not you see a company of men at the foot of the mount, some of whom dwell in those little booths, and others in those holes in the earth; and some standing at the mouth of the caves with bows in their hands; They are archers; a sect of superfine pharisees, with a few conditional promises from Moses's law in their heads, but nothing but the principles of fallen nature in their hearts. They are ensnared in holes, have made lies their refuge, and under falsehood have hid themselves, Isaiah xxviii. 15. There are various troops of them, but each carries a bow: the Antinomian levels his arrow at the experience of the heart; the Arminian at the judgment; others at the reputation; and all will be bending their bows at those who ascend the mount. They shoot at the upright in heart, I must now take my leave of thee, but shall visit thee again shortly. All that thou hast heard in secret proclaim upon the house-top; and I wish you good luck in the name of the Lord.

As soon as my kinswoman had left me I saw a very heavy fog come up from the sea, which darkened the top of the mount, so that I could not discern where I was; the sun seemed to go down over my head, the evening came on apace, and there met me a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart: In the twilight, in the black and dark night, she caught hold of me, and said, I have peace-offerings with me; this day I

have paid my vows. So with her much fair speech she forced me, Prov. vii. 9-14; and I went into the booth, and told her company all the glorious vision of the mount, and shewed them all the ornaments and favours which I had received, and mentioned my joys to them, and spake of the wine which I had drank: I also told them of all my new relations, and of my being united to the angels, and all the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. These words offended many in the company: they opened their mouths against the founder of the mount, and the mount itself; and then they stripped me, wounded me, robbed me, and took away my vail from me; and one drew a bow at a venture, and shot me in the head: they then cast me into a pit, and I stuck fast in the mire, with several others, who had no anchor at all.

In this miserable condition I heard a voice, saying, The mouth of a spiritual whore is a deep pit, and he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein, Prov. xxii. 14. O! the terror which this word brought to my soul was such as but few know! O, said I, how unlike the inhabitants of the mount is this dark company! Then I thought I heard a voice, saying, Her congregations are in the depths of hell; her ways are the ways to hell, going down to the chambers of death. These words caused me for some weeks to lose my senses; and, when my rationality a little returned, I bemoaned my hard fate, and said, "Wherefore is light given

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