fore he either cut them off by death, or drowned them all together; and saved none but the preacher of righteousness, and his family, who had long strove with them in opposing their unlawful connexions. Thus God saved the reprover; and those who were hardened by repeated reproofs were destroyed, and that without remedy.

Steward. And no wonder; for, if a child of God marries a child of the devil, he aims at an affinity between God and Satan. Judah hath married the daughter of a strange god. This strange god is the god of this world: as it is written, "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not [to strange gods], to new gods, that came newly up," Deut. xxxii. 17.

Shepherd. Marriage is an ordinance of God, who himself joined the first couple together in paradise: but, to use this ordinance in coupling the temple of God with the palace of the strong man armed, and make them one flesh, must be a most God-provoking sin; as bad as the sin of Israel, of which God speaks thus; "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring." God has forbidden fellowship with devils, and by the same word hath he forbidden matrimonial union with believers and infidels. Pray, what is the name of Little Faith's intended? and how came he acquainted with her at first?

Steward. Her name is Mara Duplicity. Little Faith saw her the last time that he went to Hagar's

astle, to hear that pompous herald's harangue that drew him from his first love, as was mentioned to you soon after. She came then, and sat down by him; and, when they sung, she held her hymnbook before him. When prayers were made, she fell on her face, sighed and sobbed, as if, like Hannah, she was one of a sorrowful spirit; and, at every sentence of the inconsistent harangue, she groaned till her hands sprang from the seat, and dropped again with their own weight. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and her very eyeballs floated in devotion. The zealous Papist, when he pommels his ribs, never discovered more energy than she did. Little Faith eyed her, and left a fourth part of his heart with her that night.

Shepherd. Did Little Faith speak to her after the human service was performed at the castle?

Steward. When the service was performed, she shook him by the hand, spoke to him, asked him how he liked the discourse, and if it had not been a word in due season, and a precious opportunity to his soul. For my own part,' said she, 'it has been a time of love to me. The whole discourse suited my case, and was wonderfully applied, for I could see eye to eye with the preacher, and my experience tallied exactly with all that he delivered.' And, upon his telling her that he generally attended the Chapel Royal, she replied that she thought she had seen him there, for she also often attended the Chapel Royal herself; and extolled the King's chaplains to the very skies.

This quite charmed Little Faith; and she has come constantly to the Chapel Royal ever since.

Shepherd. Well, perhaps she has seen her errors; and such have a promise; "They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine."

Steward. True: but I believe that she is a hypocrite in grain, in warp, and in woof, and as deep as nine-times dyed flannel; a double-refined and treble-distilled Hagarene. She is as keen as the mistress of witchcrafts, and as profound in the depths of artifice and deception as Cleopatra. However, Little Faith came home delighted with her company; and told one of the young princesses that he had found an excellent young woman, a most precious soul! In knowledge and experience,' said he, she is a mother in Israel; in simplicity, like Jephtha's daughter; in contrition, like Mary; in devotion, like Hannah; in modesty, like Tamar; in beauty, like Rachel; and for plainness of dress, like Sarah, the mother of the faithful.'

Shepherd. Then Miss Duplicity has acted like the whore in the Proverbs: she has charmed Little Faith with her religion, as she did the young man, when "she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows." Who brought him at last like an ox to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, Prov. vii. 13, 14, 22. Pray, did Little Faith ever speak to you about her?

Steward. Once he did, but never but once; and then he asked me if I had seen the young lady who had lately come to the Chapel Royal? She is,' said he, 'a second Ruth: she has left her own people, her gods, and her mother's house; and is come to put her trust under the shadow of the King's wings.' I told him, that I believed the King's wings were quite out of her thoughts; and that she would never imitate Ruth but in one thing, namely, in getting under the skirt of Boaz. 'She wants,' said I, 'the lappet of Little Faith's coat, not the King's wings. For my own part, I believe Orpah, who took her leave of Naomi, was ten times more honest than Miss Duplicity; for she went back to her own people, and to her own gods: she neither compassed her Maker about with lies, nor mocked him, to get a husband by deceit.' At this he knit his brows, turned upon his heel, and off he went; nor has he ever mentioned the matter to me since.

Shepherd. You told me, at a former interview, that Little Faith, though near-sighted, was very discerning and penetrating into persons and things, if they came near to him.

Steward. So he is: but love, as well as justice, ought to be pictured blind; for sure I am it has awfully blinded the eyes of Little Faith; for he is as much deceived in that woman as ever David was in Ahithophel, or Jehonadab in Jehu; both of whom were masked with religion, but possessed by Satan. She is constantly at our

chapel now: and I am informed that she never goes to hear any of Hagar's heralds, and that she will not so much as put her foot over the threshold of the workhouse; and that she suffers a deal of persecution from her friends on the account; and, the more they oppose her, the more earnest she is. This Little Faith admires. She tells him all her sufferings, and he sympathises with her; she opens her heart to him, and he pours all his affection into it; she steals his love from God, and he wants to marry the thief. Little Faith begs her as a present from the King, but never asks him to discover to him what she really is; for he is sure of her covenant interest, and rejoices in hope of espousing his own convert.

Shepherd. If she has forsaken the castle, and turned her back upon their errors, it looks well; and the work may be of the King, who can tell? There is nothing impossible with him. Besides, it is his prerogative, and his alone, to search the heart, and try the reins.

Steward. All this is true: but this is not the case here; I wish it was. I have watched her narrowly when at the chapel, and she sits as if she heard with attention, but every minute or two gives Little Faith a glance; and, if his eye catches hers, they are immediately turned up to heaven; and, if the King's herald is in a rapturous frame, every now and then a smile is sent to Little Faith. So that it is the magnetism of his charms that gives life and spring to all Mara's devotion.