God," continued the shepherd, "when they have received forgiveness of sins, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God enters into their hearts, Inbred-Sin no longer rules over them with absolute power; because the Spirit opposeth him, and counteracts his devices. Nevertheless, this our enemy, which is within our hearts, ceaseth not still to strive for the mastery, though he be sensibly weakened by the prevailing power of the Spirit of God. And since he cannot domineer, and lord it, and carry it so high as in times past, he has recourse to all manner of stratagems and contrivances to regain his lost power, and to check the workings of the Holy Spirit. In these circumstances he promises all kinds of pleasures and rewards to such as will obey him, in like manner as he promised you the fruit of yonder orchard; he withdraws men from their duties, especially from prayer and holy thoughts of God; he puffs pilgrims up with high thoughts of themselves, or persuades them to rest contented with outward forms and shows of religion.

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"But," added the shepherd, "time would fail to enumerate all the frauds and artifices of this Inbred-Sin. Remember, my children, what we have suffered this day, and intreat your heavenly Father for grace to watch against the dreadful enemy which lurks within you: and fight not with him, my children, in your own strength, but in the strength of the Lord; for 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.'" James iv. 6—8. Then the shepherd

you.

kissed Humble Mind and his sisters, and brought them back unto his fold.

Now I saw, in my dream, that the three little pilgrims remained many days with the shepherd, under whose fatherly care they grew in wisdom and in stature; and the blessing of God was upon them. At length it was signified to the shepherd, by the almighty Ruler of all things, that Humble Mind and his sisters should proceed on their pilgrimage. So they bade adieu, with many tears, to their little companions, and their pleasant bower, and the sweet pastures in which they had been so delightfully entertained. After which the good shepherd, tenderly bidding them farewell, and giving them a note to the Interpreter, whose house was not far distant, set them forward on their journey.

CHAPTER VIII.

THEN I looked after the children, and saw them wipe away the tears which were running down their cheeks. So they walked on their way, even the Way of Salvation; and Inbred-Sin was with them. But for awhile they took no notice of him, not even making the least reply, good or bad, to any of his suggestions. At length, coming to a rising ground, towards evening, they saw before them two houses at a little distance, one to the right hand, and the other to the left; and behold, the way parted in this place, one path leading to the house on the right, and the other to that on the left. Now the children knew that one of these houses must be Mr. In

terpreter's; but whose the other was, they could

not tell.

I saw then, in my dream, that, while they were at a stand, knowing not which way to take, they saw a man, with two little boys, coming over the fields on the left hand; upon whom when Humble Mind had looked for awhile, he knew them to be Mr. Lover-of-Novelty and his sons. "Here," said Humble Mind, "is one coming whom I have seen before, but we shall get no good of him. He set me wrong once before; and if we hearken to him he will do so again."

Then spake Inbred-Sin, "Nevertheless, as you are now at a loss, it would be as well to hear what this gentleman can say upon the subject: perhaps he may know this part of the country better than you do, and may be able to point out which of these two houses is the one belonging to Mr. Interpreter.

"No, no," said Humble Mind, "I have had enough of his counsels; I will have no more of them."

Inbred-Sin therefore finding that he could not persuade Humble Mind to do as he would have him, fell to whispering in Playful's ear; and so greatly did he gain upon her, that she said to her brother, "Do as you please, Humble Mind; but, for my part, I shall stay in this place till the good gentleman comes up, and I will ask his advice. For I do not see, although you are older than I am, that I should always be entirely governed by you."

"That's right," said Inbred-Sin; "that is well said; that is showing a right spirit." Then stepping over to Humble Mind, he whispered in his ear, "Do you stand like a tame fool, and hear your sister, who is younger than you are, speak

to you after this fashion? Have you no courage? -no spirit in you ?"

In this manner he went on for awhile: but Humble Mind being inwardly assisted by the Spirit of God, would by no means hearken to him. So the tempter faced about again, and put Playful upon provoking her brother more, to the intent that he might be urged to speak harshly to her.

So she went on challenging him to answer, saying, "Why, this gentleman must be a foolish person indeed, if he is not fit to give advice to such little children as we are. Surely you do not think yourself wiser than all the world beside, brother! I am sure you are not much of a pilgrim, if you hold so high an opinion of yourself as that comes to.' And in this manner, being put upon it by Inbred-Sin, she went on provoking her brother till Mr. Lover-of-Novelty and his sons

came up.

Then spake Mr. Lover-of-Novelty, "Well met once again, brother pilgrim! and where have you been since we parted company? and who are these little ones with you?"

When Humble Mind had answered these questions, Mr. Lover-of-Novelty further inquired whither he was going? "If," said he, " you are going to the house of the Interpreter, I shall have great pleasure in accompanying you; for I am going thither myself to place these my little boys for awhile under his care, being informed that he has many curious and profitable things to exhibit."

"But, sir," said Playful, "we see before us two houses, and two ways both straight and even, and we are quite at a loss to know which way

to take. Can you, sir, inform us which of those two is the house of the Interpreter?"

"I am very glad," said Mr. Lover-of-Novelty, "that I happened to come up just at this time, to help you out of your trouble. If you will hearken to me, I will inform you why you see two houses here, instead of only one, as you expected; and I will direct you to which of these houses it will be adviseable for you to go. You must know that yonder house which is on the right hand, is the house of the old Interpreter. It was built by the Lord of pilgrims for the refreshment of his people; and the task allotted to the master of the house, to wit, the Interpreter, was to expound the Bible to pilgrims: for which he was allowed to take similes and examples from all the creatures under heaven. That house has stood where it now stands from the time of the apostles: and in his younger days the Interpreter was a man of rare and excellent speech; so that it was delightful to hear him converse. But of late he is become quite old and full of wild fantasies; insomuch, that he talks of a hidden as well as a plain meaning in the Bible, and pretends to see more in it than ever was intended. On this account few pilgrims go to his house; suspecting that he is either mad, or sunk into a state of hopeless dotage. So that now travellers, for the most part, frequent the house of the new Interpreter, which is that to the left; where they not only find good board and lodging, but receive wholesome instruction: for the new Interpreter very properly maintains, like a man of sound judgment, that the Bible has no meaning but the plain straight-forward one. To this last house, therefore, my little children, I am anxious to lead