to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul?" I often reflected on the words of my kinswoman on the mount, and saw how she had foretold of these concubines; but that only added to my misery, for I was answered by these soulpiercing words; "The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead," Prov. xxi. 16. This cut my cable asunder, as I thought; and my anchor, removed as a tree torn up by the roots, Job xix. 10. My soul longed to lay hold of the cord by which I had been drawn up the mount, but my feelings were gone from me.

Being at my wits end, I bid adieu to all hope; but yet, in desperate malice, I said I would mention the vision of the mount even in hell, and that to the dishonour of him whose faithfulness had, to my wicked and deluded heart, appeared to fail. This is coming boldly to a throne of grace indeed; and God knows it was a desperate case that drove me to it; and very soon this sweet promise came to my mind; My loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." I then caught hold of the cord again, came up out of the pit, ascended the mount where I had been before, and looked at the painted mystical harlot with indignation; and meditated and well understood those words of Solomon; "She hath cast down many wounded; yea, many strong men have been slain by her."

And thus, my Lord, I have told you how I was

robbed and almost killed; which, that my evidence might appear the plainer, I thought good to relate in full; especially as most in the court are spiritual men, and capable of judging whether I am a proper witness upon so important and essential a trial or not. And I would further add, that wisdom, virtue, knowledge, my father, and new mother, brethren, and sisters, together with all the inhabitants of the mount, and my sister Understanding also, have put forth their voices against the prisoner at the bar. And for what I have said, my Lord, I have given mine oath in confirmation; and it is all consistent with the unalterable mandates of the celestial realm. The judge replied, he knew that.

Then said Predestination, here are above an hundred more witnesses in the court.

Judge. Crier, tell Mr. Valiant to stand forth. Mr. Valiant, do you know the prisoner at the bar? Valiant. Yes, my Lord.

Judge. You are sure you know him?

him.

Valiant. Yes, my Lord, I have cause to know

Judge. Well said. You have heard his indictment, what say you? Is he guilty or not? Valiant. By your Lordship's leave I will relate the way in which I was led to a knowledge of him, and the aggravating crimes he has been guilty of. Be it known to your Lordship that I am a natural son, a native of Babylon. My mother, with sorrow I speak it, is noted for lewdness, and universally

known by the name of the Whore of Babylon. My father was an ecclesiastic, and is called Peter's Successor; and indeed he really is in one sense, for no man upon earth has ever cursed and sworn and denied the master, since Peter, like him. My ecclesiastical father put me into business in a toyshop, and favoured me with a place of considerable profit besides; it was to shew the curiosities, I being a member of the Antiquarian Society. My toys consisted of beads, dead-men's bones, crosses, little dolls for children to carry in their pockets, wafers to stick on the tip of their tongues, and gods of all sorts and sizes, the work of the craftsmen. I likewise dealt in stationery; I sold pardons, indulgencies, and bulls; a name fit enough for such calf-headed customers. My curiosities consisted of some splinters of the Saviour's cross, the tail of the ass that he rode on, and some relics of the dead, with many more valuables, too great to be described, and too many to be enumerated. All these things brought me in very considerable profits; but my wild and extravagant way of life was such that I outlived my income, and got deeply into debt; insomuch that I feared a statute of bankruptcy.

Judge. But I am surprised that your father did not assist you in money, as he is allowed to be very rich; and, if he be Peter's successor in grace, he cares but very little for money; this is plain by his answer to Simon: "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought the gift of God may be

purchased with money: thou hast neither part nor

lot in this matter."

Valiant. Yes, my Lord; but in this my father is the successor of Judas, for he has made more money of the Saviour's blood than ever Judas did. Indeed my father gains by every thing. He has founded a new hell since he has been in office, called purgatory; a place that none ever heard of till he appeared in the world. Indeed he has been a considerable gainer by heaven, earth, and hell, for he pretends to sell all; and is such an admirer of money, that his eye is very descriptive of the purgatory he has founded. Hell and destruction 'are never full, so the eyes of that man are never satisfied, Prov. xxvii. 20.

I informed my father of my being deeply in debt, and of my distress on the account of it. He told me that repeating a few pater-nosters, and the sprinkling a little holy water, would be sufficient to cancel the whole sum; or, to speak in modern terms, it would whitewash me. I tried it, but to no purpose; my immense debts were still before me, and my grief was intolerable on the account thereof. Having suffered for several months under the impressions of fear and horror, I took a walk into the fields, and entertained an opinion of leaving the country, as many had done before. But then the thought of leaving many friends, that I dearly loved, behind me, was a cutting consideration; but, my circumstances being so wretchedly involved, I was desperate in my resolutions. In

deed I envied the birds of the air; and often repeated the words of one in similar circumstances; "O that I had wings like a dove, then would I flee away and be at rest." But a second thought convinced me that I could not get the rest of the dove, even if I had her wings; for, as one said, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit; or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" Indeed I knew not which way to steer. I sometimes thought of going for a soldier, and of quitting the country, at other times not knowing what to do; and secretly wept, and earnestly wished that some hand would guide me,

After many tears and petitions put up to an unknown being, I heard an articulate voice that sweetly decided the matter; namely, that I should go for a soldier. The words spoken to me were these; "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them," 1 Sam. xxii, 2. From this I resolved to go and serve my king and country; and, as there were no soldiers at Rome, I was determined to go in search after some, with a comfortable persuasion in my mind that I should be guided by an unerring Providence, who I believed had undertook my case. And so indeed it proved in the issue, for I was guided into a town where lay a recruiting party; but I did not go immediately to them, for I intended to hear the officer's oration, being resolved to serve if pos