especial care of the castle during the night.' But it was not now the time for Mr. Fitz- Adam to be breeding dissensions and exciting angry feelings among the guard; so he soothed and commended them, and ddressed them much to the following effect,

My worthy and excellent guards and defenders,' inasmuch as 6 we find it written in the Lord's letters (mind he could call the Master Lord to serve his turn 2) that in the latter days many shall come in his name, and shew signs and wonders if possible to deceive his most faithful servants, it behoves us who dwell in his house, and are the stewards of his property, and

"Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him but he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me."-Ezek. xxxiii. 2—7.

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2" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."-Matt. vii. 21.

3" For false christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." -Mark xiii. 22.

the guardians of his beloved people, to act with the utmost caution, and to keep our house as strong men armed, lest we should admit an enemy instead of our rightful Prince; therefore whilst this alarm continues, I command that every door and window shall be closed, and that arms be prepared, and every means of defence provided, and moreover, should any one appear before the castle gates and demand admittance, that no door shall be opened until I, Adam Fitz-Adam, shall give permission.'

So the watchmen were commanded to their posts, and every entrance barred; and we who were known, or even suspected to be on the Lord's side, were driven to our places, being bid to hold our peace, and keep our own thoughts to ourselves. So when all was shut up, there was a dread silence in the house, and no voice heard but that of the owl in the turret. So Theophilus and I withdrew to our apartments, and there to our joy and delight, whom should we find but my uncle, just come in; for the watchmen had let him pass at the moment of the closing of the doors.I never was better pleased in my life than in seeing this my valued friend and protector, and I ran to him, and fell into his arms, confessing all the offences of which I had been guilty since he had left us. The good old man embraced me with tears in his eyes, crying, "This my son was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found.”

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Nevertheless, when I said, 'Now, uncle, that you are returned, I feel assured that all will be well with me,' he reproved me, saying,

'What! Nicodemus, do you embrace one error as soon as you have been brought to forsake another? Whence has arisen all the infidelity of the Master's servants in this house, but because they "hew unto them broken cisterns, and forsake the fountain of living waters," because they make unto themselves masters of their fellow-servants, and thus bring clouds between themselves and the Sun of Righteousness. What! I ask you, in this hour of terror, what have availed the counsels and support of one fellow-servant to another? What, I ask you, were the Doctor or Father Peter able to do for their followers this night? Who was able this night to lift up his head, and look towards the hills with hope and joy, besides those whose trust was in the Master only, and who built their confidence on his merits only, to the utter rejection of their own pretensions.'1

We then sat down, and fell into discourse on the prodigies observed that night, and we would know of my uncle what they meant, for we had listened attentively, and it had seemed to us that the noise in the mountains had ceased.

'Do you believe,' I asked, 'that the Master is really coming?'

1 "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord."-Jer. xvii. 5.

'Of that day, and of that hour in which he will actually come, no man knows,' replied my uncle; his coming is compared in his letters to that of a thief in the night; nevertheless, there will be certain signs given to his servants, which will forerun his appearance, and this which we have witnessed this night, is one of these.'

We then asked my uncle respecting these signs, and forthwith he took down a volume of the letters, and pointed them out to us, which, because the quotations are somewhat large, they shall be given in a note; so when he had recited these at large, he fell into a sort of discourse which soothed my mind in a manner I cannot describe; this discourse ran chiefly on the character of the Master, and of the King his father, (for the Master is a prince, and the chief of princes) and of the Interpreter; and I would know of him something respecting the king-and because my uncle was

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days shall be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth, behold he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."-Matt. xxiv, 21-28.

always cautious of not speaking his own words when treating of these high matters, he referred me to those passages of the letters which explain them, and behold whilst he was yet speaking, one entered whose entrance I did not understand,2 nor whose manner of speaking I could not describe, but he, viz. this person whom I presume not to speak of, blessed me and Theophilus in a most solemn manner, pouring on our heads a most fragrant ointment, which filled the whole room with its odour; and behold, whilst we yet wondered, it seemed that my uncle only was present with us, but we were so filled with joy, that we were almost ready to cry, let us arise, and be gone to meet the Lord in the hills,' forgetting that for the present we were as prisoners in the house;

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."-1 John v. 7.

"I and my Father are one."-John x. 30.

"And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne wit. ness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.”—John v. 37.

"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."-2 Thess. ii. 13.

"Elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."-1 Peter i. 2.

2 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit."-John iii. 8.

3.Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee."-Zech. ix. 12.