breast were set on the table before them, to show that they must begin their meal with prayer and praise to God. The heave-shoulder David lifted up his heart to God with; and with the wavebreast, where his heart lay, with that he used to lean upon his heart when he played. These two dishes were very fresh and good, and they all ate heartily thereof.*

The next they brought up was a bottle of wine as red as blood ;† so Gaius said to them, Drink freely; this is the true juice of the vine, that makes glad the heart of God and man.

and were merry.

The next was a dish of milk well crumbed; but Gaius said, Let the boys have that, that they may grow thereby.‡

So they drank

A dish of milk.

Of honey and but

ter.

Then they brought up in course a dish of buttér and honey. Then said Gaius, Eat freely of this, for this is good to cheer up and strengthen your judgments and understandings. This was our Lord's dish when he was a child: "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good."§ Then they brought them up a dish of apples, and they were very good tasted fruit. Then said Matthew, May we eat apples, since they were such, by and with which, the serpent beguiled our first mother ?

Then said Gaius:

Apples were they with which we were beguiled;

Yet Sin, not apples, hath our souls defiled.

Apples forbid, if eat, corrupt the blood:

To eat such, when commanded, does us good.

Drink of his flagons then, thou Church! his dove;

And eat his apples, who art sick of love.

A dish of apples.

Then said Matthew, I made the scruple, because I, a while since, was sick with eating of fruit.

Gaius. Forbidden fruit will make you sick, but not what our Lord has tolerated.

While they were thus talking, they were pre- A dish of nuts. sented with another dish, and it was a dish of nuts.||

Then said some at the table, Nuts spoil tender teeth, specially the teeth of children: which when Gaius heard, he said :—

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

⚫ Lev, vii. 32-34.-x. 14, 15. Psalm xxv. 1. Heb. xiii. 15. ↑ John xv. 5.
1 Pet. ii. 1, 2. § Isaiah vii 15.

I Song vi. 11,

Then they were very merry, and sat at the table a long time, talking of many things. Then said the old gentleman, My good landlord, while we are cracking your nuts, if you please, do you open this riddle:

A riddle put forth by old Honest.

A man there was, though some did count him mad,
The more he cast away, the more he had.

Then they all gave good heed, wondering what good Gaius would say so he sat still a while, and then thus replied:

Gaius opens it.

Joseph wonders.

He who thus bestows his goods upon the poor,

Shall have as much again, and ten times more.

Then said Joseph, I dare say, sir, I did not think you could have found it out.

O! said 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, and 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 himself poor, yet hath great riches.”*

Then Samuel whispered to Christiana his mother, and said, 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 further.

The which, Gaius, the host, overhearing, said, With a very good will, my child.

Matthew and Mer

So they stayed there more than a month, and cy are married. Mercy was given to Matthew to wife.

While they stayed 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.

the rest sit up.

But to return again to our story. After supper, The boys go to bed, the lads desired a bed for they were weary with travelling. Then Gaius called to show them to their chamber; but, said Mercy, I will have them to bed. So she had them to bed, and they slept well; but the rest sat up all night; for Gaius and they were such suitable company, that they could not tell how to part. Then after much talk of their Lord, themselves, and their journey, old Mr. Honest, he that put forth the riddle to Gaius, began to nod. Then said Great-heart, Why, sir, you begin to be drowsy: come rub up

Old Honest nods.

Prov. xi. 24.-xiii. 7.

now; here is a riddle for you. Then said Mr. Honest, Let us hear it.

Then said Mr. Great-heart :

He that would kill, must first be overcome

Who live abroad would, first must die at home.

A riddle.

Ha! said Mr. Honest, it is a hard one; hard to expound, and harder to practice. 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 say.

No, said Gaius; 't was put to you, and 't is expected you should answer it.

Then said the old gentleman

He first by grace must conquered be,

That sin would mortify:

Who, that he lives, would convince me,
Unto himself must die.

The riddle opened.

It is right, said Gaius; good doctrine and experience teach this: For, first, until grace displays itself, and overcomes the soul with its glory, it is altogether without heart to oppose sin. Besides, if sin is Satan's cords, by which the soul lies bound, how should it make resistance, before it is loosed from that infirmity ?

Secondly. Nor will any that knows either reason or grace believe that such a man can be a living monument of grace, that is a slave to his own corruptions.

the

A question worth the minding.

And now it comes to my mind, I will tell you a story worth the hearing: There were two men that went on Pilgrimage; the one began when he was young, 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 steps as even as did the old one, and was every way as light as he. Who, now, or which of them, had their graces shining clearest, since both seemed to be alike ?

A comparison.

Hon. The young man's doubtless; for that which heads it against the greatest opposition gives best demonstration that it is strongest; specially when it also holdeth pace with that which meets not with half so much; as, to be sure, old age does not.

Besides, I have observed that old men have blessed themselves with this mistake; namely,

A mistake.

taking the decays of nature for a gracious conquest over corruptions, and so have been apt to beguile themselves. Indeed, old

men that are gracious are best able to give advice to them that are young, because they have seen most of the emptiness of things; but yet, for an old man and a young 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 sat talking till break of day. Now, when the family was up, Christiana bid her son James that he should read a chapter; so he read the 53d of Isaiah. When he had Another question. done, Mr. Honest asked, Why it was said that the Saviour is said to "come out of a dry ground?" and also, that he had no form nor comeliness in him?”

Then said Mr. Great-heart, To the first I answer, Because the church of the Jews, of which Christ came, had then almost lost all the sap and spirit of religion. To the second I say, The words are spoken in the person of Unbelievers, who, because they want the eye that can see into our Prince's heart, therefore they judge of him by the meanness of his outside. Just like those that know not that precious stones are covered over with a homely crust; who, when they have found one, because they know not what they have found, cast it away again, as men do a common stone.

Well, said Gaius, now you are here, and since, as I know, Mr. Great-heart is good at his weapons, if you please, after we have refreshed ourselves, we will walk into the fields to see if we can do any good. About a mile from hence, there is one Slay-good, a giant, that doth much annoy the King's highway in these parts; and I know whereabout his haunt is; he is master of a number of thieves. 'T would be well if we could clear these parts of him. So they consented and went; Mr. Great-heart with his sword, helmet, and shield, and the rest with spears and staves.

When they came to the place where he was, Giant Slay-good found with one they found him with one Feeble-mind in his hand, Feeble-mind in his whom his servants had brought unto him, having taken him in the way. Now the Giant was rifling him, with a purpose, after that, to pick his bones; for he was of the nature of flesh-eaters.

hand.

Well, so soon as he saw Mr. Great-heart and his friends at the mouth of his cave with their weapons, he demanded what they wanted?

Great-heart. We want thee; for we are come to revenge the quarrels of the many that thou hast slain of the Pilgrims, when thou hast dragged them out of the King's highway; wherefore come out of thy cave! So he armed himself, and came out; and to a

[Great-heart daring Giant Slay-good to combat.]

battle they went, and fought for above an hour, and then stood still to take wind.

4

before.

So they went to it again, and the Giant made Mr. Great-heart give back; but he came up again, and, in the greatness of his mind, he let fly with such stoutness at the Giant's The Giant assaulthead and sides, that he made him let his weapon ed and slain. fall out of his hand; so he smote him, and slew him, and cut off his head, and brought it away to the inn. He also took Feeblemind, the Pilgrim, and brought him with him to his lodgings. When they were come home, they showed his head to the family, and set it up, as they had done others before, for a terror to those that shall attempt to do as he, hereafter.

Then they asked Mr. Feeble-mind, how he fell into his hands? Then said the poor man, I am a sickly man, as you see; and because Death did usually once a day knock at my door, I thought I should never be well at home; so I betook myself to a Pilgrim's life, and have travelled hither from the town of How Feeble-mind Uncertain, where I and my father were born. I came to be a Pilam a man of no strength at all of body, nor yet of grim.

mind; but would, if I could, though I can but crawl, spend my