crept. For, going over in heart to the Hagarenes, bondage laid hold of him; and the old veil so gathered over his mind, that he lost sight of the Rock and such are sure to go to building upon the sand again, for they are said to build again that which they destroyed.

Shepherd. Pray how long did he continue in his old retreat?

Steward. Upwards of two months.

Shepherd. And what drove him out at last?

Steward. I can hardly tell you for laughing! But, one day, as I was walking past his old haunt, I took no notice of him as I passed: for I think it is best for such to bear the yoke in their youth; and likewise to let them alone, that they may try what hopes and expectations may be raised on the sand; and therefore I kept Little Faith at a distance, and took little or no notice of him. But, as soon as I passed by, he saw me; and out he ran, steaming with dust, like a fowl that shakes its feathers after it has rolled in an ash-heap, crying out, Hornets! hornets!' and looked like a wild or distracted man.

Shepherd. What did he mean by Hornets, hornets?'

Steward. I knew what he meant, and I was glad to hear his outcry; for, when once the hornet's nest is stirred up, it is sufficient, under the management of divine Wisdom, to make a child sick of seeking rest in the sand bank for ever.

Shepherd. The King promised in ancient records, saying, "And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.”

Steward. It is said also, that the hornet should come among them, until they that were left, and those that had hid themselves from Israel, were destroyed, Deut. vii. 20. And I think that the old inhabitants of Canaan never fled with more precipitate haste before the hornets than Little Faith did from his old habitation; yea, Smut never made a sheep of your flock run with more violence than the hornets made Little Faith run.

Shepherd. But pray, sir, what are these hornets? Are they of the same nature of the locusts? Have they stings in their tails? Rev. ix. 10. I readily suppose that Little Faith was stung, otherwise he would never have left his highly favoured retreat. Do inform me concerning this mystery.

Steward. Little Faith would tell you, if you were to ask him, that every hornet had his sting; and that there was not one of those insects in all the bank but what stung him, and that was enough to make him fly. A nest of hornets would put a troop of horse to flight sooner than any other army whatsoever. The best riders in the world would never be able to keep rank and file if engaged by these; for they are armed by Jehovah, and pay no regard to the rattling of a spear nor the mouth of a cannon.

Shepherd. True, sir. But, pray, what are those hornets that put Little Faith to flight?

Steward. It is common for the King's children, when they lose sight of his Majesty's face, to creep into self. If they feel not his arm, they lean on their own; if the Rock be hid, the sand bank is sure to be in view; if the former appear far off, the latter is always at hand; and, if they are not building on the Rock, they are sure to build on the sand. And, when any of them have been admitted to the King's presence, and favoured with the glorious visions of the mount, they have then expected nothing less than perfection within, and jubilee days without. Therefore, if the King withdraws, into the old bank they go, suspecting no danger from that quarter; for they conclude that the visions of the mount and the King's face have dispersed and dispelled every adversary; never once dreaming of a nest of hornets in ambush. The King, seeing this, sends his flying roll into the bank, Zech. v. 1. This occasions a surprising stir, Rom. vii. 8. Swarms of rebellious, unclean, lascivious, and desperately vile thoughts, rise within; and such legions of corruptions appear in motion, that no Canaanite ever had a greater swarm of hornets about his head, or could be more crawling alive with them, than Little Faith's old man of sin was with these corruptions and evil thoughts. And he, poor little fellow! not knowing what they were, never feeling the like before, and expecting

nothing in future but purity of heart, cried out in his fright, 'Hornets! hornets' for he wist not what to call them.

Shepherd. Then the hornets are more terrible to the King's children than the flies are to the sheep. The former make the heart appear nothing but corruption, and the latter make the flock alive with maggots.

Steward. They are both bad enough; but poor Little Faith, running out into the palaceyard in the dead of the night, and uttering that lamentable cry, the dog Lion, 1 Pet. v. 8, seized him, and tore him sadly; which made him utter this earnest petition, Deliver me from the power of the dog, save me from the lion's mouth,' Psalm xxii. 20, 21.

Shepherd. And, pray, did the King hear his prayer?

Steward. The King is always sure to hear prayer, if it goes from the heart: but he doth not always answer prayer immediately; nor did Little Faith obtain an immediate answer to his.

Shepherd. It is a terrible thing to have such a dog loose about the yard.

Steward. He is not loose, but bound; but Little Faith, as well as many more, goes within reach of his chain. Had he fled to the Rock, or made the Most High his habitation, no evil had befallen him, Psalm xci. 9, 10. But he made the sand bank his retreat; and, when driven out of that, he fled within reach of Lion's chain. He

VOL. IX.

that believes is not to make haste; but infidelity is always in a hurry.

Shepherd. I think Lion is as savage, and as voracious, as Smut, if possible.

Steward. They were both bred by one and the same bitch. Folly was the mother of them both, Job iv. 18; and of legions more as well as they.

Shepherd. Did Little Faith go into one of his fits?

Steward. For a while he despaired of ever seeing the King's face with joy; and concluded that it was impossible for any of the seed royal to be beset with such evils; and uttered another dying speech; "As a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me."

Shepherd. And, pray, where is the poor little fellow now? I suppose he hangs about the steward's room, or the pantry; does he not? And no doubt but you have sympathised with him in his afflictions, as you seem to have a great regard for him: and, indeed, the strong are expressly commanded to bear the infirmities of the weak.

Steward. I was glad at my heart when I heard the outcry, and that the hornets were upon him, because he is so fond of cleaving to self: this will cure him of that epidemical disease; he will never be able to build his nest, nor take ease in the bank again. These things will drive the word, candour, from his mouth; will cure him of