hood into their mouths. And if nothing else could screen them from punishment, he would put them upon seeming humble and sorry for the offence they had committed; merely for the purpose of bringing themselves out of present trouble. At other times he would set them to quarrel one with another, instigating each one to set up himself in opposition to the rest.

Moreover, I saw that this Inbred-Sin never left the children; dwelling in their house, lying in their bosoms, walking out with them when they went abroad, and sitting down with them at all their meals: neither indeed was there any thing done in the family, great or small, in which this busy one did not meddle and make.

I perceived, further, that this Inbred-Sin loathed and hated all that was good, influencing the children to do the same; so that, if by chance they heard any one of their neighbours reading a good book, or speaking a word for God, they would shut their ears and run away; choosing rather to wallow with the swine in the mire of the streets, than to give their hearts to any good. And in proportion as Inbred-Sin influenced the children to hate and loathe all that was good, he caused them also to desire and eagerly long after all manner of evil; so that "they gave themselves over to work all uncleanness with greediness." Ephes. iv. 19.

Then began I to fear for these little ones, and to consider by what means they might be delivered from the power of this Inbred-Sin-" for the wages of sin is death." Rom. vi. 23.

CHAPTER II.

AFTER awhile I looked again at these three children, to wit, Humble Mind, Playful, and Peace; and behold, Evangelist again came up to the door of their dwelling, and knocked.

Then said Inbred-Sin, "Behold, Evangelist knocks at the door. Open not to him; for Evangelist is a hard master, and he will bring us to judgment for our faults."

Now I saw, in my dream, that while the children stood doubting whether they should open the door,

Evangelist put his hand in by the hole of the door, and entered the house. Cant. v. 4. Then were the hearts of the children moved towards him; and behold, InbredSin shrank back and hid himself.

I heard then that Evangelist opened his mouth and spake tenderly and comfortably to these little ones. And first he showed them, that although they were under the dominion of Inbred-Sin, and by their unholy living were prepared for eternal punishment, yet it was not the will of their heavenly Father that one of them should perish. After this he explained unto them, as his manner was, what God had done for the salvation of men; how he had sent his only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon him a human form, and to die upon the cross for the salvation of all such as believed in him. Moreover, he showed them how Christ had, by his death, procured for mankind the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God, through which every man might be enabled to war with and finally to overcome his inbred or original sin. He then pointed out to them the only path to everlasting happiness, even the narrow pass cut through the hills, which openeth into the way of salvation; after which he gave to each of them a book, even the Book of God, bidding them to read therein, and pray for the Spirit of Truth (that is, the Holy Ghost), that he might guide them into all truth. John xvi. 13. So he departed for a while.

Now I saw, in my dream, that, as soon as Evangelist was departed, Inbred-Sin came forth from his hidingplace, and behold, he was in a fearful rage.

“What,” said he, " has this man been saying? Would he have you to leave all your friends and neighbours, your playmates and companions, your sports and pleasures, in order to take up the life of a pilgrim? Would he have you to spend all your time in reading dull books, and in saying your prayers? I hate this man, and his books, and his counsels."

"But," said Humble Mind, "if we do not hearken to the words of Evangelist, and if we remain in this place until we die, shall we not go to hell?"

Upon which I heard Inbred-Sin pleading thus with the children: "Are you not very young, and will it not be many years before you become old? and when you are old, will it not be time enough to think of dying?"

"But many children die," said Humble Mind.

To which Inbred-Sin replied, "If you should happen to die while you are a child, God will not punish you for your faults as he will punish those of maturer age who know better."

"But I know that I ought to be good," answered Humble Mind, "though I am not yet a man.

"Well, then,” said Inbred-Sin, seeing that he could in no other way prevail, "if you cannot be satisfied to stay here, and live like other children, but must go on pilgrimage; why then you must needs go. It is not necessary, however, that you should set out to-day; tomorrow will be time enough: let us therefore, for the present, put away Evangelist's books, and go to our sports."

"Yes," said Playful, "do, Humble Mind, put away the books now. Let us spend this evening in play, and to-morrow we will begin our journey to the Celestial City."

So Humble Mind did as Inbred-Sin advised him. He laid down the book which Evangelist had given him; when I saw that the three children immediately went to play, and Inbred-Sin went with them.

The next day I was anxious to observe whether the children would bethink themselves of obeying the commands of Evangelist: but I found that Inbred-Sin would in nowise allow them so to do.

Now Humble Mind could read very well, having been carefully instructed by his father: neither were Playful and Peace bad readers, considering their tender years. Nevertheless, I saw that they gave no heed to the books which Evangelist had given them; for although they took them up several times, yet before they could get through a single sentence of their contents, Inbred-Sin expressed such a loathing and abhorrence of their employment, that they were glad, for the sake of quietness, to put the books aside again.

Then as to forsaking their home and going on pilgrimage, they seemed altogether to have lost all thought of such a thing. Observing this, I looked again for help for these children, crying out in a sort of unbelieving despondency, "How can these sinful little ones be saved!" But I considered not that “God is faithful, by whom they were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ. For God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise; and God hath chosen

the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Cor. i. 9, 27-29.

Now when things had remained for some time in this state, I perceived that the Lord began again to deal with Humble Mind, but after a manner somewhat different from his former dealings with him; and behold he sent another messenger unto him from on high, who appeared before him at night, and this messenger's name was Conviction-of-Sin. While Humble Mind was lying upon his bed, I saw that Conviction-of-Sin stood before him. "Fear came upon him, and trembling, which made all his bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before his face; the hair of his flesh stood up: it stood still, but he could not discern the form thereof: an image was before his eyes; there was silence, and a voice was heard, saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants: and his angels he charged with folly: how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever, without any regarding it." Job iv. 14-20. So this Conviction-of-Sin stood before Humble Mind, and laid all his iniquities in order before him; at which Humble Mind was so dreadfully alarmed that he trembled exceedingly, while the water stood in cold drops upon his forehead.

Now when this new messenger first appeared, I perIceived that Inbred-Sin hid himself in Humble Mind's bosom. But after a while he began to look up, till by degrees gathering courage, he sprang from his place, and flying at the throat of Conviction-of-Sin, griped and squeezed him after such a fashion, that I verily thought he would have utterly destroyed him-the other however exerting himself manfully, they continued struggling and fighting till sunrise; each party in his turn, as he obtained the superiority, attacking poor Humble Mind in so vehement a manner, that I feared the poor boy would be killed between them. But, as I have just intimated, when the sun arose, the contest ceased, Conviction-of-Sin then spreading his wings, and mounting

upwards; for Conviction-of-Sin is of heavenly birth, and unto him it may truly be said, Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest. Psalm xciv. 12. So Humble Mind was left lying on his bed, sorely distressed, and bitterly lamenting.

After this, I saw, in my dream, that it began to be noised abroad in those parts, that Conviction-of-Sin had visited Humble Mind; and thus the neighbours discoursed thereupon:- "What is this Conviction-of-Sin which is come unto the child? What sin can this little boy have been guilty of? But that same Evangelist, who turned the heads of his father and mother, is, it seems, frequently meddling with him; so that, unless we can hit upon some method of diverting his thoughts from the communications of that enthusiast, the boy will never be good for any thing as long as he lives."

Then one neighbour said to another, "Come, let us go and talk with this boy, and try to put other thoughts in his head for, if this Evangelist and his counsels prevail in our streets, what will become of the honour of our town; or how shall we preserve our credit among

men ?"

So the neighbours agreeing together, they came to Humble Mind's house; where, having knocked at the door, they speedily obtained entrance, and found the children preparing to be gone: for the pain and anguish which Humble Mind had suffered from the attacks of Conviction-of-Sin rendered it altogether impossible for him to rest in the place where he was.

Accordingly, on rising from his bed, he had opened his mind to his sisters, in spite of Inbred-Sin, who vehemently opposed him, declaring his determination, by God's help, to set out on pilgrimage. He had also, through the Divine blessing, obtained his dear sisters' consent, to accompany him: so that, when the neighbours arrived, they found the three children preparing to be gone.

Now I perceived that there arose a very vehement dispute between the children and the neighbours who were come to dissuade them from going on pilgrimage; and behold, Inbred-Sin very resolutely sided with the neighbours, applauding and seconding their carnal reasonings.

The neighbours represented to the little ones, that the profession of a pilgrim was a profession as despicable as it was unprofitable; since nothing could be gained