people shall be willing in the day of Thy power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth:"(a) and I pondered over CHRIST's answer to the FATHER: "Thou hast made me the head of the heathen; a people whom I have not known, shall serve Me; as soon as they hear of Me, they shall obey Me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto Me."() "Behold I and the children whom the LORD hath given me !”()

"Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath done it; shout ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, Q forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel."(a) "That men may know that Thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the Most High over all the earth."()

CHAPTER IX.

Magdalena's peep through the telescope-The Ox, the Ass and the Stork, are seen to condemn the ploughing of the wicked-Departure from the Palace -Fifteen-hundred steps from the Roof to the middle story-Eighteenhundred more to the Basement Chamber-The two first builders of this wonderful staircase, Thirty-three hundred years since-Built on the site of the Palace of Divine Tradition-The builders of the latter-Visit to the Palace Gardens-The Cedars; The Spice Trees; The Flowers, and Fruits, &c-The Terrace of Sculptures-The seven principal Groups— Their dazzling beauty and perfection-Departure from Robe TownMagdalena joins the company at the public breakfast-Deborah and Michal point out the different guests-The Visitors Book; and its great antiquity, and Magdalena's prayer of praise-Excursion to the Mountain of Faith; and conversation on the way thereto.

I WAS lost amidst the wonders of redemption, as thus effected by the glorious Trinity. "I communed with my own heart, and was still."

But after awhile I again put my eyes to the glass, and saw what made me tremble. I saw that the ploughing of the wicked, or ungodly, was sin ;() every thing they do, even their prayers,

(a) Psalm. xc. 3.

(b) Psalm xviii. 43. (e) Psalm lxxxiii. 18.

(c) Isaiah viii. 18. (d) Isaiah xliv. 23.

(f) Prov. xxi. 4.

according to these words: "the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind!"(a) that they utter lies, and with their tongues utter perverseness; that they plead not for the truth; that they trust in vanity, and speak lies; that they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity; that sin is the bar which separates man from GOD :) that man's duty is to "break off his known sins,() and to lay hold on CHRIST, as offered to him in the Word; that if he is lost, he will have himself only to blame. "Ye would not come unto Me that ye might have life;" and therefore in hell, to all eternity, he will have to blame himself alone, in some such words as these: "O fool that I was, cursedly blind to the one only thing needful, my soul's salvation; while I was eagle-eyed, and activity itself, to the affairs of sense, of interest, of intellect, and of time. I heard the full and free offers of mercy tendered to me, over and over, in the gospel, yet I stretched forth no hand to lay hold on salvation. I was told of heaven, yet I made no effort to obtain that blessed place: I heard hell described to me, yet I treated that dreary pit of destruction with indifference or ridicule. CHRIST, the LORD, visited me with affliction, with trial, with sickness, with reverses, to bring my soul to thought of what that discipline was for, and yet I thought not; I became no wiser. The LORD poured abundance, and riches, and children, and friends on me, to soften my rocky heart by blessings, till my cup ran over; but them I took and enjoyed, but never thought of the source from whence they sprang. The LORD, by His word and His providence, piped unto me, and I did not dance; He mourned unto me, yet I did not weep. I sympathized in no sorrow of the REDEEMER; I participate now in none of His triumphs. There was no bond of union between us on earth. Alas! woe is me! there is a gulf of separation for ever stretched out, to sever me from Him and from heaven, to all eternity! O vile wretch that I was! and worse than the beast I looked on as so far beneath me! The ox knew his master's crib, and the ass remembered her owner: the stork knew her appointed time, and the swallow her young; but I! O! cursed be my folly, cursed be my

(a) Prov. xxi. 27.

(b) Isaiah lix. 2, 3, 4.

(c) Deut. iv. 27.

sloth, cursed be my pride, cursed be my blindness, cursed be my sin; I neither knew my CREATOR rightly, nor did I wish or desire to know Him, either as my lawful King, or my Saviour, though I heard from the pulpit, when I went to church, that He was a Saviour to all who would receive Him as such into their hearts by faith; and I never opened the Bible which I possessed, without seeing the full and free invitation to all men, to whom the gospel was sent, to repent. O fool that I was; worthy the name of fool in its utmost meaning. I read, but I heeded not; I heard, but I turned a deaf ear; I saw, but I minded not the meaning of anything I saw: and more than this, I ridiculed, and mocked, and derided those who, pursuing a conduct totally opposite to mine, searched the Bible to find hidden wisdom; the only true wisdom of GOD; and endeavoured, by every effort of soul, body, and spirit, to grasp at a SAVIOUR's atonement and perfect merits, for their salvation and righteousness before a holy GOD. O such beings are now in glory, who were wise in time ! Such are now with GOD for ever, who sought to be unclothed of their own sins, and paltry good works, and to be wholly clothed upon with CHRIST JESUS the LORD, in their mortal life. They are in glory, and I am in shame; they are in light of joy, and I am in blackness of despair; they are with CHRIST and his angels in heaven, but Q, cursed 1, am with Satan and devils in hell!"

Much more I saw of death and hell, but the fright was awful; I dwell not upon it. May the recollection of what the scriptures of truth do reveal of the state of the unbelieving sinner, be presented to my mind whenever I may be disposed to trifle with sin, or to treat with lightness or levity the sacred things of Thy holy religion. O may I for ever bear in my mind, and in my heart that the eye of GoD is ever upon us; that the darkness, however dark to us, is no darkness with Him; that my thoughts, though buried in the depths of my own bosom, are naked and bare, and entirely exposed to GOD's piercing sight; that if I fly to heaven He is there; that if I go to the bottom of the sea, He is there; that if I dive into the very bed of the concave earth He is there; nay, that if I go down to hell He is still there by His severe Majesty and power, over-awing, and confounding every evil one in that place. (a) O whither shall I flee, and He

(a) Psalm cxxxix.

find me not? What shall I do, and He not discover it? Yea, do what I may, think what I list, my GoD saw it, knew it, observed it, and noted it down before I had breath; yea, before time was! I may hide then, O my LORD, but I cannot hide from Thee! I may dissemble, but I cannot dissemble to Thee! I may act a part on earth, but there is nothing but reality before Thee in heaven. O GOD, therefore, because Thou art a God beholding iniquity, Thou art to be feared! Because Thou art a GOD of Love, O make my soul to love Thee above all, and at all times! O let my obedience be a joyful obedience, offered up to my compassionate and tender GOD, and let me love every one of Thy blessed commandments, because every one is the expression of Thy Divine and Glorious Will!

The company assembled in the Palace of Visions now quitted it with silent awe and reverence. The keepers of the lofty doors shut them, while the echoes rang through the building up to the roof. The winding stair-case, which was built in the time of Job by Moses' superintendance, contained nearly fifteen hundred steps, from the skylight on the roof down to the middle story; and from that vast and wonderful structure to the basement story, were eighteen hundred more steps, so that a small idea may be formed of the vast dimensions of the whole edifice, which had stood for three thousand three hundred ages. (a) It was built, they said, upon the site of a small Palace, called DIVINE TRADITION, the first stone of which, was laid by Adam before he died, and the building was completed in time, by the Patriarchs and people of GOD; but the present most stupendous edifice was begun by Moses, and added to, and perfected by the Prophets and Apostles ; not in their own strength and wisdom, for the design and execution of such a wonder of age is beyond the contrivance and art of man, but in the power and wisdom of Him, who doeth all things well, and who will work and none can hinder Him. And to shew that this palace is agreeable to His will and pleasure, there is at one end written up an injunction with a most heavy penalty attached, to any person who shall dare to add one tittle to the building, or take the smallest stone therefrom. (")

(a) See the Biblical Chronology from Moses to the Crucifixion of our Lord.
(b) Revelations xxii. 18, 19.

We stepped forward now into the Palace Gardens, and from hence we surveyed the majestic object before us. I observed the massive stones, of which it was composed, were not the least injured by time; their edges were as perfect and square, as if but just brought from the quarry. In short, it was as fresh and new to the eye as if just completed; and the more we examined any single stone the more lovely, smooth, polished and perfect it appeared. One could not take in much of this stupendous structure with the naked eye, the mind became dazzled with its beauty, and awed by its grandeur, ever forced to recollect who was its Divine Founder and Architect. But I threw a glance to the highest point I could reach with my mortal sight, and then by way of drawing a comparison, I looked at the men and women of our company, and they did indeed appear like crawling earth worms, or the grub one finds on a leaf. O Thou mighty GoD, Thy greatness is unsearchable! O let me meditate on all Thy works, and muse on the works of Thine hands; for all Thy works shall praise Thee, O LORD, and Thy saints shall bless Thee. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

The Gardens belonging to this Palace are amazingly extensive and beautiful; filled with fountains, cascades, flowers, spices, fruits, and cedars of immense height and width. But we were requested by the guides to visit the TERRACE OF SCULPTURES, which is the grand rarity of these lovely gardens, and we went forward to the centre of the walks in which they are. We came to the marble steps leading to it, and having ascended about a hundred of them we reached the terrace, which is parallel with the building; it is one thousand feet long, fifty wide, and as I have said before, it has above one hundred steps of half a foot deep, it is raised on a platform, supported by veined marble columns two and two, and is covered with fine red gravel, enclosed in a balustrade of white marble; on either side of which, the whole length of the terrace, are large red porphyry vases, filled with ever blooming balsams, of every colour under the sun; the perfume of which, is so great that one can hardly bear it. The Groups of Sculpture are ranged all the way down this noble terrace at equi-distant positions; but the seven principal ones are towards the centre, immediately opposite the Palace.