Grace, which GOD the HOLY GHOST can alone reveal to the sons of the children of men."(a)

We all arose, and walking out into the gardens between Deborah and Michal, the latter said, "Don't you see that lovely green mountain yonder? it is only a few steps and you are at its foot."

66 O yes, I see it, I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help." So saying, they bid me GOD speed, and I was shortly afterwards on the ascent of this beautiful verdant hill.

The sun was shining forth in all his grandeur, the cool air of the morning was most refreshing; the birds and "the turtle" were singing their lovely songs and warblings through the land; the ground was covered all the way up the mount with " fig trees, putting forth their green figs, and vines with their tender grapes," whilst the spice trees in the gardens perfumed the air with a most odoriferous sweetness; then a still small voice seemed to whisper in my heart, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away; be thou like a roe, or a young hart, upon the mountains of Bether." My soul responded instantly, "The voice of my Beloved, behold, He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills."(") "Until the day break and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense."(c)

I felt such an indescribable softness and inward joy of heart, that I could not take another step, I was scarcely able to say whether I was "in the body or out of the body;" I fell down on my knees, and really thought that my soul was mounting the air to Glory, or that a guard of angels were in the act of transporting my precious soul out of its frail tenement to the very portals of the gates of the heavenly Kingdom. The only words that I could utter were, "O LORD! O my Gracious, Lovely, Sweet JESUS! O stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love," and thus crying and sobbing, I fell all along on the green plat, and was lost to every object around me.

CHAPTER X.

Magdalena falls down sick of love, and is unable to proceed up the MountMichal's Conversation upon God's Perfect Patterns and Precepts, &c.The Golden Chair for Zion's Travellers-Vision of a Kingdom within a Kingdom; a World within a World.-The Mysterious Guest again presents herself and vanishes from Magdalena's sight-She returns to the Inn.

I KNOW not what length of time I was thus on the ground, but when I came to myself, I felt such an unearthly joy in my soul that no tongue of angel, or pen of mortal, could speak of or indite. But the sun was high in the heavens, and the day appeared to be half gone, when, turning my head, I espied Michal a few yards behind me, watching my movements with intense interest, and with a smile on her face, she came towards me, saying, "Are you no further on your travels than this, Magdalena ?”

"O, my dearest creature," said I, how can I go on whilst my LORD does so marvellously shine into my poor soul here? What I have seen, what I have felt, and what I have known since I left you, no being can express, and words are feeble, empty sounds, to express one thousandth part of that joy which I have experienced in these mountains already."

"Ah, I know your real meaning, by what I have also enjoyed amongst these heavenly mountains," said Michal. When a soul visits these parts of the Kingdom, he does not want any one to tell him that he is to set his affections on things above, and not on things of the earth.””

"No, indeed, no, Michal, he does not. Ono," said I, “then it is heaven within and without too."

"Truly," said she. "These are the perfect copies set us in the writing school of our Beloved and Gracious LORD. We do not even see them, much less try to read them; much less try to copy these divine rules without the power of GOD the HOLY GHOST put forth in our spirits, to strengthen us for the work; and, at best, what a poor copy is ours! If a soul was to be filled with power, it would care for nothing on earth, but would, as Luther said, be unfit to live, swallowed up of GOD, if that state

were to continue on him. So Stephen was filled with the HOLY GHOST, and was only fit to die. So Mary and Elizabeth, filled with the HOLY GHOST, were more in heaven than on earth when they met."

66

Ah, truly, that has been so with me this very morning. I seem now, however, to have returned, like Abraham, to my own place." "(a)

"Well," observed Michal, "next door to the family in which I reside as governess, as I mentioned before, in the Town of Morality, there is a deeply taught, spiritually minded child of Grace, who was here a short time ago on a visit ; and this lady, in the sense the inhabitants of the world understand a lady, is married to a churlish, discontented, ungodly man, who is always upbraiding her for their scanty means and poverty of circumstances, for he is most covetous, and is never satisfied with a moderate allowance of God's mercies, and urges her to lay up gold and silver, as he terms it, against a rainy day; to which she always replies, No, God says, 'Take no thought for the morrow ;' the money comes to me through the LORD, and I must not take thought for the morrow, 'sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,' is my LORD's perfect copy set before the eye of my soul, and He condescends to grant me faith to keep my eye continually upon the copy, and I will attempt, in His strength, to adhere to it, so long as I have breath. This enrages him, and he frets and torments this sweet christian at a woeful rate; saying, God does not mean you are to take no thought at all; it is your awful delusion and your pride," &c., &c.

"Surely, Michal,” replied I, "this is heavenly wisdom and heavenly power: the one dictates the precept, and the other enables us to copy it."

"Yes, truly," observed Michal. "What GOD says, He means. GOD is not a man that says one thing and means another; but He is the Eternal LORD GOD, unchangeable, holy, faithful and true. CHRIST, as Jehovah, methinks, could give no other than perfect precepts. If I were a writing master, and I do teach the children writing in my poor way, and had but to give a pupil his first lesson of straight strokes, those strokes would be done in my best style; my duty is to put before my scholar a perfect copy.

(a) Gen xviii. 33.

It might be said, ' O, it is impossible the child can copy that beautiful writing, or that beautiful elementary drawing.' But that matters not; I must put before his eye the very best patterns, and accustom that eye to the very best specimens. Suppose I gave a child crooked lines to copy because he is ignorant, would he not be trying to copy every flaw and fault?"

"Surely he would, Michal, but pray go on with the similitude." "Well, then, CHRIST JESUS the LORD is perfect in all His ways; perfect in all His doctrines; perfect in all His perfect precepts. The best of patterns and precepts are set before our poor, stupid, ignorant, sinful, mean, grovelling self-willed minds. And is it because of our grovelling meanness, so that we cannot rise to the full comprehension of the Majesty of the precept, that the Majesty of the precept must be marred, tainted, adulterated, and injured for us? So this sweet saint often comes to me, and shews me what she has written down before the LORD concerning this trial of her faith. She has told me that her cry often is O LORD increase my faith. Let me view Thy Godhead in all Thy high precepts. I cannot indeed attain unto such wisdom, but at a great distance, in the power of GOD the HOLY GHOST, I can try after the precepts, and where I fail let me see the sin mine, not lay the blame on Thy perfect law, but on my own paltry, sinful, grovelling self.""

"how

"What a sweet creature that must be," observed I; exactly it accords with the mind of God in His own holy truth. Is she likely to pay another visit here?"

"I don't know; that must depend on her LORD and Master's sovereign will and grace."

"But what do you say when she thus discourses upon these heavenly mysteries?" inquired I.

"I cannot but fully agree with her; for by GoD's rich mercy I can say, this is the view He has given to the eye of my soul, in the light of God's candle. Are not all Gop's precepts perfect?" "Surely, Michal, they must be," I replied.

66

'Love

Certainly," said she; "they are like Himself. It is impossible they can be otherwise, to proceed from Himself. Thus, the LORD with ALL thy heart.' We ought to do so, it is our duty as Christians. GOD desires it of us. Yet, who among the poor sons of men, converted and born again, could do so? None; no

not one.

But CHRIST did; the obedience is placed to our account. your enemies." "

Man CHRIST JESUS; His
GOD Incarnate says 'Love

"Ah, Michal, but who loves his enemy as he, or she, loves her only son?"

"None," answered Michal. "None, indeed. "The LORD says," she continued, "As ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.' Did any human being ever act out this precept, day by day, hour by hour, year by year? No, never," cried Michal emphatically.

"By fits and starts we may do this and that," I observed.

She now cast her sweet eyes up to heaven, and clasping her hands, she continued, "O my soul! Alas! Alas! Well is it for thee that there is no condemnation to those who are in CHRIST JESUS, who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh, in the measure of the gift of CHRIST."

But," said I, "the LORD's precepts also say, 'Husbands love your wives as your own bodies.'

"What husband ever did so?" enquired Michal, "none. By fits and starts perhaps; but, moment by moment; day by day; year by year! Alas! alas! Every idle thought !"

"Yes," I said, "a look of lust even."

"Alas!" continued Michal, "Every precept is pure; holy; perfect; and CHRIST ends a sermon with these remarkable words: 'Be ye perfect.' Perfect! What, I, a worm, perfect? Yes; so says the pattern," exclaimed Michal, as she lifted her eyes heavenwards. "Be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

"What! perfect as GOD," I asked.

"The LORD says it. The pattern is perfect. LORD increase my faith, and let me feel that 'Thus saith the LORD,' is my guide, not 'Thus saith man,' in explanation of God's eternal Word; thus saith this tried saint, and thus say I," observed Michal.

"It may be said, too," I remarked, "that when He gives a rule, precept, or law, for the guidance of His people, and I may say, for a looking glass for the impenitent to see their flaws by in eternity, He speaks plainly, positively, absolutely, and uses no