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were very good tafted fruit.

What, faid Matthew,

may we eat apples, by and with which the ferpent beguiled our first mother? Then faid Gaius:

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Apples were they with which we were beguiled,
Yet fin, not apples, hath our fouls defiled:
Apples forbid, if eat, corrupt the blood;

To eat fuch, when commanded, does us good:

Drink of his flaggons then, thou church, his dove,
And eat his apples, who are fick of love.

Then faid Matthew, I made the fcruple, because, a while fince, I was fick with eating fruit.

Gaius. Forbidden fruit will make you fick, but not that which our Lord has tolerated.

While they were thus talking, they were presented with another dish; it was a difh of nuts. Then faid fome at the table, Nuts fpoil tender teeth, especially the teeth of children; which when Gaius heard, he faid:

Hard texts are nuts (I will not call them cheaters)
Whose shells do keep their kernels from the eaters;
Open then the fhells, and you fhall have the meat,
They are brought here for you to crack and eat.

Then were they very merry, and fat at the table a long time, talking of many things: then faid the old gentleman, My good landlord, while ye are here cracking your nuts, if you please, do you open this riddle. So this riddle was put forth by old Honeft.

A man there was, though fome do count him mad,
The more he caft away, the more he had.

Then they all gave good heed, wondering what good Gaius would fay: he fat ftill a while, and then replied thus:

He who beftows his goods upon the poor,

Shall have as much again, and ten times more”.

Then faid Jofeph, I did not think, Sir, you could have found it out.

Oh! faid Gaius, I have been trained up in this way a great while; nothing teaches like experience: I have learned of my Lord to be kind, and have found by experience that I have gained thereby. "There is that scattereth, yet increaseth; and there "is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it "tendeth to poverty: there is that maketh himself "rich, yet hath nothing; there is that maketh him"felf poor, yet hath great riches."

Then Samuel whispered to Chriftiana, his mo ther, and faid, Mother, this is a very good man's house, let us stay here a good while, and let my brother Matthew be married here to Mercy, before we go any farther. Gaius the host overhearing this, faid, With a very good will, my child.

b According to St. Paul, a man may give his body to be burnt, and his goods to feed the poor, and yet be nothing. That is true; if he does not fell all, and part with thofe goods which he has in ftore, i. e. all his own works, which he once fo highly valued and esteemed, and give the whole honour of falvation to him who, though rich, for our fakes became poor. Our Lord told the young Pharifee, not only to fell what he had, but to give it to the poor, and follow him.

So

So they ftaid here more than a month, and Mercy was given to Matthew to wife.

While they ftaid here, Mercy, as her custom was, would be making coats and garments to give to the poor, by which she brought a very good report upon pilgrims.

But to return to our ftory: After fupper the lads defired a bed, for they were weary with travelling: then Gaius called to fhew them their chamber; but, faid Mercy, I will have them to bed: fo fhe had them to bed, and they flept well; but the rest fat up all night: for Gaius and they were fuch suitable com pany, that they could not tell how to part. After much talk of their Lord, themselves, and their journey, old Mr. Honeft, who did put forth the riddle to Gaius, began to nod: then faid Great-heart, What, Sir, begin to be drowsy! Come, rub up, here is a riddle for you Then faid Mr. Honeft, Let us hear it. Then faid Mr. Great

now.

heart,

He who will kill, muft firft be overcome :

He who would live abroad, firft dies at home.

Ha! faid Mr. Honeft, this is a hard one; hard to expound, but harder to practife. But come, Landlord, said he, I will, if you please, leave my part to you; do you expound it, and I will hear what you fay.

No, faid Gaius, it was put to you, and it is expected

B b

pected you should anfwer it. Then faid the old gentleman,

He firft by grace must conquer'd be

Who fin would mortify:

Who, that he lives would convince me,

Unto himself must die.

This is right, faid Gaius; good doctrine and experience teach this. For, firft, until grace displays itself, and overcomes the foul with its glory, it is altogether an heartless task to oppose fin; besides, if fin is Satan's cord, by which the foul lies bound, how then fhould it make refiftance, before it is loofed from that infirmity? Secondly, none who know either reafon or grace, will believe that fuch a man can be a living monument of grace who is a flave to his own corruption. And now it comes in my mind, I will tell you a ftory worth the hearing.

There were two men who went on pilgrimage; one began when he was young, the other when he was old: the young man had strong corruptions to grapple with; the old man's were weak with the decays of nature: the young man trod his fteps as even as the old one, and was every way as light as he: who now, or which of these had their graces fhining cleareft, fince both feemed to be alike?

Hon. The young man's, doubtlefs: for that which makes head against the greatest oppofition, gives the best demonstration that it is strongest; especially when it holdeth pace with that which meets not

with

with half so much; as to be fure old age does not. Befides, I have obferved, that old men have bleffed themselves from this mistake; namely, from taking the decays of nature for a gracious conqueft over corruptions; and thus have been apt to beguile themselves. Indeed old men who are gracious, are beft able to give advice to them who are young, because they have seen most of the emptiness of things; but yet, for an old and a young man to set out both together, the young one has the advantage of the fairest discovery of a work of grace within him, though the old man's corruptions are naturally the weakest.

Thus they fat talking till break of day. Now when the family was up, Chriftiana bid her fon James read a chapter; fo he read the 53d of Ifaiah: when he had done, Mr. Honeft asked why it was faid, "That the Saviour was to come out of a dry ground, and also that he had no form or comeliness " in him?"

Then faid Mr. Great-heart, To the firft I anfwer, Because the church of the Jews, of which Christ came, had then almoft loft all the fap and fpirit of religion. To the fecond I fay, The words are spoken in the person of the unbeliever, who, because he wants the eye which can fee into our Prince's heart, therefore judges of him by the meannefs of his outfide: juft like thofe who know not that precious stones are covered over with a homely cruft; who, when they have found one, becaufe they

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