foul, in order to eternal life: but ignorantly live in the works of the law, by which a man can by no means obain the kingdom. of heaven.

Faith. But, by your leave heavenly knowledge of these is the gift of God; no man attaineth to them by human industry, or only by talk of them.

Talk. All this I know very well: For a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven; all is of grace, not of works: I could give you an hundred fcripgures for the confirmation of this;

Faub. Well then, faid Faithful, what is that one thing that we fhall at this time found our difcourfe upon ??

Talk. What you will: I will talk of things heavenly, or things earthly; things moral, or things evangelical; ahings facred, or things prophane; things paft, or things to come; things foreign, or things at home; things more effential, or things circumftantial; provided that all be done to our profit.

i

Faithful begui Faith. Now did faithful begin to wonled by talkative. der; and stepping to Chriftian (for he walked all this while by himself), he faid to him, but foftly, What a brave companion have we got Surely this man will make a very excellent pilgrim!

Chr. At this Christian modeftly fmiled,
Chriftian makes and faio, This man with whom you are fo
a difcovery of taken, will beguile with this tongue of his,
Talkative. twenty of them that know him not.
Faith. Do you know him then?

Chr. Know him! yea, better than he knows himself.
Faith. Pray, what is he

.2.

Chr. His name is.Talkative; he dwelleth in our town I wonder that you should be a stranger to him, only I confider that our town is large

Faith Whose son is he? and whereabout does he dwell? Chr. He is the fon of one Say-well, he dwelt in PratingRow; and he is known of all that are acquainted with him by the name of Talkative in Prating-Row: and notwith-flancing his fine tongue, he is but a forry fellow.

Faith. Well, he seems to be a very pretty man. Chr. That is to them that have not a thorough acquaint ance with him ; for he is best abroad, near home he is ugly" caough: Your faying that he is a pretty man, brings to

my mind what I have observed in the work of the painter, whofe pictures fhew beft at a diftance; but very near, more unpleafing,

Faith But I am ready to think you do but jest, because you fmiled:

Chr. God forbid that I fhould jeft (tho' I fmiled) in this matter, or that I should accufe any falfly; I will give you a further difcovery of him: This man is for any company, and for any talk; as he talketh now. with you; fo will he talk when he is on the ale-bench and more drink he in his crown, the more of these things he hath in his mouth. Religion hath no place in his heart, all he hath lieth in his tongue,

Or house, or converfate noile therewith,

and his religion is to make

Faith, Say you fo! then am in this man greatly deceived

Cor. Deceived! you may be fure of it: Remember the Proverb, They Lay, and do not: But the king

dom of God is not in word, but in powder. Matth. 23. He talketh of prayer, of repentance, of 1 Cor. 4. 28 faith, and of the new birth; but he knows

but only to talk of them. I have been in his family, and of them.me and abroad; and I know

what I fay of him is the truth.

His houfe is as empty of religion, as the His boufe is white of an egg is of favour. There is empty of reli➡ there neither prayer, nor fign of repentance gion!

for fin: Yea, the

er in his kind,

ferves God far better than he. He is the very flain, reproach, and name of religion, to all that know him; it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the town where he dwells, through him. Thus, fay the commen people that know him, Jathi abroad, and

a devil at home. His poor family finds it The proverb thas fo, be is fuch a charl, fuch a railer at, and goes of bim. · fo unreafonable with his fervants, that they

neither know how to do for or fpeak to him. Men that have any dealings with him, Tays Tis better to deal with a Turk than with him, for fairer dealing they fail have at their hands. This Talkative (if puffiole) will go beyond them, defraud, beguil and over-reach them, Béfices he brings up his fons to follow his fteps; and if he finds in

any

any of them a foolish timoroufnefs, (for fo he calls the firft appearance of a tender confcience) he calls them' fools and blockheads, and by no means will employ them in much, or fpeak to their commendation before others. For my part, I am of opinion that he has, by his wicked life, caufed many to ftumble and fall; and will be, if God prevents not, the ruin of many more.

Faith. Well, my brother, I am bound to believe you; not only because you fay you know him, but alfo because, like a Chriftian, you, make your repo of men. For 1 cannot think that you speak these things of ill-will, but because it is even fo as you fay.

Chr. Had I known him no more than you, I might perhaps have thought of him as at firft, you did: Yea, had he received this report at their hands only, that are enemies to religion, I fhould have thought it had been a flander (a lot that often falls from bad men's mouths upon good men's names and profeffions): But all these things, yea, and a of my own knowledge, I

great many more → Befides, good men are alhamed of

him Shim; they can neither call him brother nor friend: The very naming of him among them makes them blush, il they know him.

Faith. Well, I fee that faying and doing are two things, and hereafter I fhall better obferve this diftinétion.

religion,

now
James 1. 27.

Chr. There are two things indeed, and are as diverfe as are the foul and body; for as the body without the foul is but a dead carcafs, fo faying, if it be a The carcass of lone, is but a dead carcafs alfo. The foul of religion is the practical part: Pare religion, and undefiled, before God and the fa ther, in this, To vifit the fatherless and wi· Seover, 2, 3, 24. dows in their affliction, and to keep himself un 25, 26.00 Spotted from the world. This Talkative is not aware of; he thinks that hearing and :faying will make a good Chriftian, and thus he deceiveth his own foul. Hearing is but as the fowing of the feed; talking is not fufficient to prove that fruit is indeed in the hears and life and let us affure curselves, that at the day of doom, men fhall be judged according to their fruit: D will not be faid then, Did you believe? But Matth. 13. 23. were your doers or talkers only? And ac cordingly

it.

cordingly fhall they be judged. The end of the world is compared to our harvest and you know men at harvest re gard nothing but fruit! Not that any thing can be accepted that is not of faith; but I speak this to fhew you how infignificant the profeffion of Talkative will be at that day. Faith. This brings to my mind that of

Mofes, by which he defcribed the beaft that Lev. 11. is clean. He is fuch an one that parteth the Deut. 14. hoof only, or that cheweth the cud only.

The hare that cheweth the cud, but yet is unclean, because he parteth not the hoof. And this truly refembleth Talkative; he cheweth the cud, he feeketh knowledge, he cheweth upon the word; but he divideth not the hoof, he parteth not with the way of finners; but, as the hare he retaineth the foot of a dog, or bear, and therefore he is unclean.

Chr. You have fpoken, for ought I know, the true gofpel-fenfe of thele texts. And I will add another thing, Paul calleth fome men, yea, and those great ^

talkers too, founding brass, and tinkling 1 Cor. 13, 1, 2. ymbals; that is, as he expounds them in 3, chap. 14. 7. another place, things without life, giving

found. Things without life, that is, with- Talkative like out the true faith and grace of the gospel; to things that and, 'confequently, things that fhall never found without be placed in the kingdom of heaven among life. thofe that are the children of life, through

their found, by their talk, be as it were the tongue or voice of an angel.

10

Faith. Well, I was not fo fond of his company at first, but I am as fick of it now. What fhall we do to be rid of him?

Chr. Take my advice, and do as I bid you, and you shall find that he will foon be fick of your company too, except God fhall touch his heart and turn it, 2 olla al Faith. What would you have me to do?

Chr. Why, go to him, and enter into fome ferious difcourfe about the power of religion; and afk him plainly (when he has approved of it, for that he will) whether this thing be fet up in his heart, houfe, or converfation.) Faith. Then faithful ftept forward again, and said to Talkative, Come, what cheer? How is it now?

Talk's

:

Talk: Thank you, well I thought we should have ha a great deal of talk, by this time.

Faith Well, if you will, we will fall to it now; an fince you left it with me to ftate the question, let it be this How doth the faving grace of God discover itself, when is in the heart of man?

Talk I perceive then that our talk must be about th power of things: Well, 'tis a very good question, and fhall be willing to answer you, and tak Talkative's false my anfwer in brief thus Firit, where the discovery of a grace of God is in the heart, it cauferi work of grace. there a great outcry against fin. Secondly

onal and Faith. Nay, hold, let us confider of on sat once su think you should rather fay, it fhews itself by inclining the foul to abbor its fio.

Talk. Why, what difference is there between crying ou against and abhorring of fin?

Faith Oh! a great deal, a man may cry out against f of policy, but he cannot abhor it but by virtue of a godly antipathy against it. I have heard many cry out against fi in the pulpit, who yet can abide it well enough in the heart, houfe, and converfation. Jofeph's miftrefs cried out with a loud voice, as if he had been very holy; but he would, willingly, not withftanding that, have committed uncleannes with him. Some cry out again fin, even as mother cries out against her child in her lap, when the calleth it fat and naughty girl, and then falls to hugging and killing it. Chr. You lie at the catchy I perceive.

Gen. 39. 15%

1

Faith. No, nos II am only for fetting things right. But what is the fecond thing whereby you-would prove a difcovery of a work of grace in the heart ?

Talk, Great knowledge of gofpel myfteries.

་་

3

Faith. This sign should have been firft; but first or laft it is alfo falfe, for knowledge, great knowledge, may be obtained in the mysteries of the gospel, • Great knowledge and yet no work of grace in the foul. Yea, no fign of grace, if a man have all knowledge, he may yet be nothing, and fo confequently be no child of God. When Christ faid, Do you know all these things? and the difciples had answered, Yes: He added, Blessed art ges if ye dolibem. - He doth not lay the bleffing in the

knowledge