DIALOGUE THE FOURTH.

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Steward. Good morning to you, Shepherd! Shepherd. Good morning to you, sir! Did find your way pretty easy?

Steward. I should have come over the summit of the hill, I perceive; but, instead of that, I turned to the left; and coming round the declivity, I came about; nor could I see your booth, or hut, until I came quite upon it.

Shepherd. You should have gone over the hill. Many have gone round about, and lost their way too, rather than venture up, and come over the summit. Pray, how is the family? And how does Little Faith come on? Have you seen him?

Steward. The family, blessed be God! are well; and Little Faith seemed last night in tolerable spirits for one of the servants, rather noted for credence; one that Little Faith has a very high opinion of, and whose happiness he hath often observed with a wishful and longing eye, has been sick lately; and in his affliction his faith was sorely tried; and he, too, staggered greatly, and said, "My heart and my flesh both fail." Little Faith heard of this, and rather wondered at it, and seemed to take a little encouragement

from it. The servant is now up, but very weak and feeble. Last night Little Faith and him were together in the lobby; and, I believe, they were comparing notes together, for I thought Little Faith seemed to have the brighter countenance of the two.

Shepherd. Times of sickness, and times of trial, prove what is genuine credence, and what is self-confidence. He is a stanch believer who, by faith, can perform, in days of adversity, all that he has spoken in the days of prosperity.

Steward. True; but this is not always the case: a servant, who is for a time exempt from trials, finds such an one as Little Faith to sound a very discordant string to his merry heart. However, the King will not break the bruised reed. This servant has now and then given Little Faith a sharp lash with the scourge of the tongue; but, now, he can condescend to one of low degree, But none use Little Faith with so much violence as those who have either no faith at all, or a faith that never was tried. These use the word, faith, only to banter others with; for, if you ask them to describe the nature, workings, or prevailing feats of it, they talk nonsense.

Shepherd. Faith is better found out by what it does, than by what it is. It is given for a man to live by, not to boast of, much less to plague others with. "Hast thou faith?" said an ancient herald: "have it to thyself before God." And if poor Little Faith's mother had been in better hands,

and he properly taken care of at first, he might now, perhaps, have been as stanch a believer as any in the household.

Steward. It is true: for, as ladies who use proverbs observe, 'An after-relapse is worse than a lying-in.' Or, sometimes, it is worded thus: 'A second lying-in is worse than the first.' Which is true in this case. Faithful dealings, fervent prayers, and sound words of truth, from an unctuous heart, are what Heaven has ordained to be used at Zion's groanings. This appears in the ancient records: "The children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left," 2 Kings xix. 3, 4. They sent to the evangelical prophet for a message of truth, and expected it to be delivered in faithfulness; and that his prayers should be lifted up, and that for this feeble remnant that was then come to the birth. But these means were not used at the birth of Little Faith, which was the cause of his tarrying so long in the place of the breaking forth of children, Hos. xiii. 13.

Shepherd. The more the pity! A proper use of the means is the only way to obtain the blessing. The faithful midwives in Egypt declared to the king, that the Hebrew women were much stronger than the Egyptian women; for they were lively, and were delivered before the midwives came in unto them, Exod. i. 19. If the Hebrew women were thus lively, what must Zion be, if

properly attended, and due nourishment administered! It is said of her, as never was said of any Hebrew matron, "As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. Before she travailed she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child! Who hath heard such a thing? Shall a nation be born at once? or, shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?"

Steward. Neglect of the proper means, and unfaithful dealing, was the cause of the mother's lingering labour, and of Little Faith's feebleness and unsightliness; for the King's image consists of knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness: and if ignorant, unjustified, and unsanctified persons, are allowed to mingle themselves among the King's servants and children at such times, it cannot be expected that her deliverance should be quick, or clear; or that the image of the King should be express on the offspring; or that the child's language, in his youth, should be either pure or genuine; seeing he was put into such hands to be nursed, and permitted to herd with all the bondchildren in the town. However, those feeble members are necessary, 1 Cor. xii. 22. And, though some think them less honourable, upon such we ought to shew more abundant honour. For the King has pronounced a wo to the world because of offences; and charges all to take heed that they offend not one of these little ones that believe in him; yea, and that whosoever receives

such a little one in his name, receives him. Therefore it appears, that upon these we should put the more abundant honour.

Shepherd. Pray, what sort of a man is Little Faith in person? Is he robust, or slim? tall in stature, or a dwarf? comely, or unsightly? proportionable in his features, or irregular? well, or ill favoured?

Steward. With respect to his stature, he is a dwarf. It is a rare thing to see his head above the clouds, above the fog, or above the smoke; much less above the moon. They must be clothed with the Sun who get the new-moon feasts, and all Jewish and popish ceremonies, with their fulls and changes, waxings and wanings, under their feet, Rev. xii. 1. With respect to his stature, he has given an account of it himself: "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly," Psalm cxxxviii. 6. His gait is somewhat declining; or, rather, he is inclining to stoop in the shoulders which is easily accounted for, for two reasons. First, his being so habituated to the low cloisters and cells of the Hagarene castle; and of his habituating himself to his perpetual retreats in the sand bank, which never exalts any man. Secondly, his accustoming himself to the old legal yoke, which has a natural tendency to bow the head: nor can any man walk upright till this be taken off; as it is written, "I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and