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bounds of the King's husbandry, but not beyond their limits, have perceived him come within a few feet of them, and that with such violence, that when he had run out the last link of his chain, he has bounded back the full distance of a bowshot, only by the check of his chain; and has left the poor sheep affrighted, bewildered, and trembling, so that they could neither eat nor drink at quiet for many days together.

Steward. Why don't you petition the King to confine him?

Shepherd. Many have wished it, and longed for it; and the King says he will shut him up by and by, confine him for a thousand years, and set a seal upon him, Rev. xx. 2, 3, but not yet.

Steward. It is, doubtless, to answer some wise purpose that he is permitted to range as he does; for certain it is the King doth nothing in vain.

But, when they

Shepherd. I have sometimes thought that, if it were not for Smut, the sheep would prowl and stray away more than they do. have heard his terrible, roaring bark, and felt the force of his teeth, they are sure to remember the battle, Job xli. 8.

Steward. I suppose there is no fear of him, or of danger from him, while the sheep keep upon the King's walks; but, if they creep through the hedge, the serpent will bite them, Eccles. x. 8, if Smut don't. A hedge-creeper cannot stand before Smut, much less before the Chief Shepherd.

"None is so fierce that dare stir him up: Who, then, is able to stand before me?" Job xli. 10.

Shepherd. They are sure to prize the King's clemency who have had a conspicuous deliverance from Smut, and who have escaped with the skin of their teeth, Job xix. 20. Some have been so twisted in their bowels, cramped in their muscles, strangled in their throat, and confused in their brain, that their heads have appeared for a while to spin like a top. Smut can gripe them, Luke ix. 42; cramp them, Luke xiii. 16; throttle them, Job vii. 19; and distract them, Psalm lxxxviii. 15. Such, when properly clothed, and in their right mind, are sure to cleave close to the Chief Shepherd's feet. Pray, how does Little Faith do? Is he like the pig? Is he still hung in the gate?

Steward. No; Little Faith hath been permitted lately to have an interview, and a comfortable sight of the King's face. The last time that he was pressed at the gate, he was so bad with the belly-ache and the heart-burning, that he could not perform his usual tasks; and so confused and confounded, that his highly-favoured ceremonies became both loathsome and useless to him; insomuch, that he threw the whole of them to the moles and to the bats; and ventured to petition without his papers, and to walk without his crutches, crying out, 'My hope is perished from the King! I am cut off for my part! O that I could but see the King's face!'

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Shepherd. That is the best step that ever Little Faith took yet. They never hang long in the gate who go that way to work. The King lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, and sets him among princes, 1 Sam. ii. 8; and none beg with fervour but those who are pierced with the evil arrow of famine; nor do any plead with more eloquence than those who are driven to it by the heart-burn. In this sense "the heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips." In desperate cases, Little Faith's human rules and legal rolls, stated modes, and carnal compositions, ancient court-forms and threadbare ceremonies, get out of favour, out of use, and out of fashion.

Steward. True; there is no getting into the King's presence till these spiders' webs are brushed off. And so Little Faith found it; for, as soon as his petition was heard, his strait waistcoat dropped off, and the gate that led from the place of confinement opened to him of his own accord, Acts xii. 10.

Shepherd. He must have cut a strange figure in the levee-room, supposing he could have got in with his fig-leafed apron, and his head covered with dust, like the head of a dusty miller, by tossing and tumbling about so long in the sandbank!

Steward. A strange figure, indeed! but such figures shall never appear in the King's presence. They who appear there must awake, awake, out of

their pleasing dreams, put on their beautiful garments, shake themselves from the dust, loose the bands of their neck, and come forth from captivity, Isa. lii. 2, before they can see the King's face with joy.

Shepherd. And did Little Faith find admittance to the levee-room? Did the usher of the black rod conduct him so as to find nearness of access to the King's presence?

Steward. Yes; and never was one of the Seed royal favoured with a more delightful interview; nor with a more cordial reception by his Majesty; nor with more endearing embraces of affection, tenderness, and love; than poor halting, hobbling, wavering, doubting, and fearing, Little Faith, saying, 'Is Little Faith my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? Is he the son of my love, and the son of my vows? "Give not thy strength unto women [my son], nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings," Prov. xxxi. 3. Which was a gentle reproof for his adherence to Hagar, and to the demure intrigues of the Hagarene ladies; and a plain intimation of his delegated right to the throne of celestial Majesty; which may be easily gathered from the latter part of the King's most gracious speech, "Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth Kings." It is plain that the way of the Hagarenes is sure to destroy: but, if Little Faith had not been an heir apparent, though it might have de

stroyed him as a man, yet it could not have destroyed him as a king.

Shepherd. True. But, are there no statutes, or ancient records of the realm, read at such leveetimes, to convince an ignorant subject, a disaffected child, or a misled loyalist, of his errors, in order to caution, undeceive, or direct him in his future conduct?

Steward. There are. An ancient record was proclaimed aloud at the interview of Little Faith, and that by one of the kings at arms, sufficient to convince him of his error: as it is written, "They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance for they have consulted together with one consent; they are confederate against thee: the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre. Assur also is joined with them; they have holpen the children of Lot. Do unto them as unto the Midianites, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison, which perished at En-dor. They became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna; who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. O my King! make them like

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