Steward. He is void of all fear and feeling, indeed; and is a most desperate enemy to every one that favours the King. But I must withdraw, otherwise I shall bring myself into trouble. My interviews with you are somewhat like Jacob's apprenticeship, when he served seven years for a wife; which, according to the ancient records, seemed but a day, for the love that he had unto her.

Shepherd. I did not think that it was so late as it really is. I do not like to overstay my time: for, when I am obliged to hurry back to my business, and can hardly get there in time, it is apt to make me fretful and peevish; and, when that is the case, I am sure to be stripped of all comfort, and unfitted for meditation.

Steward. Very true. Well, the first opportunity I have, I will call on you at your little hut. Shepherd. At which place I shall be glad to see you. You know my leisure hours.

Steward. O yes. Till then, peace and prosperity be with you.

Shepherd. The same be with you.

DIALOGUE THE ELEVENTH,

Steward. So, I have found you in your little rural hut. You have been perusing the mother of all good books, I perceive.

Shepherd. I have: and a blessed mother she is for she hath afforded me many a choice dish of meat, many a sweet morsel of bread, many a drop of honey, many a flagon of wine, and many a draught of milk. Indeed, I have often got entertainment there, when I could get it no where else.

Steward. But that choice mother has got a mysterious way of concealing her rich dainties at times.

Shepherd. True. The Master keeps the seal of all her secrets, and the key of all her stores. Nor are any admitted to her cellar, breasts, springs, or stores, but real friends: "Eat, O friends! drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved!"

Steward. No:" the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends [saith the King], for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." Hence it appears, that none but friends are in the secret, and they that are in the secret are sure to be friends.

Shepherd. I have sometimes thought, that a nation must be truly blessed, if it were governed by no other laws than those of that blessed book. It is so complete a system, that nothing can be added to it or taken from it. It contains every thing needful to be known and done. It affords a copy for a king, Deut. xvii. 18; and a rule for a subject. It gives instruction and counsel to a senate, authority and direction for a magistrate. It cautions a witness, requires an impartial verdict of a jury, and furnishes the judge with his sentence. It sets the husband as lord of the household, and the wife as mistress of the table; tells him how to rule, and her how to manage. It entails honour to parents, and enjoins obedience to children. It prescribes and limits the sway of the sovereign, the rule of the ruler, and the authority of the master; commands the subject to honour, and the servant to obey; and promises the blessing and protection of its Author to all who walk by its rules. It gives direction for weddings, and for burials; regulates feasts and fasts, mournings and rejoicings; and orders labour for the day, and rest for the night. It promises food and raiment, and limits the use of both. It points out a faithful and an eternal Guardian to the departing husband and father; tells him with whom to leave his fatherless children, and in whom his widow is to trust, Jer. xlix. 11; and promises a father to the former, and a husband to the latter. It teaches a man how to set his house in order, and

how to make his will. It appoints a dowry for the wife, entails the right of the first-born, and shews how the younger branches shall be left: it defends the rights of all; and reveals vengeance to every defrauder, over-reacher, or oppressor. It is the first book, the best book, and the oldest book, in all the world. It contains the choicest matter, gives the best instruction, and affords the greatest pleasure and satisfaction that ever was revealed. It contains the best laws and profoundest mysteries that ever were penned. It brings the best of tidings, and affords the best of comfort, to the inquiring and disconsolate. It exhibits life and immortality from everlasting, and shews the way to eternal glory. It is a brief recital of all that is past, and a certain prediction of all that's to come. It settles all matters in debate, resolves all doubts, and eases the mind and conscience of all their scruples. It reveals the only living and true God, and shews the way to him: it sets aside all other gods, and describes the vanity of them, and of all that trust in them. In short, it is a book of law, to shew right and wrong; a book of wisdom, that condemns all folly, and makes the foolish wise; a book of truth, that detects all lies, and confutes all errors; and a book of life, that gives life, and shews the way from everlasting death. It is the most compendious book in all the world; the most ancient, authentic, and the most entertaining history, that ever was published. It contains the most ancient antiquities, strange

events, wonderful occurrences, heroic deeds, and unparalleled wars. It describes the celestial, terrestrial, and infernal worlds; and the origin of the angelic myriads, human tribes, and devilish legions. It will instruct the most accomplished mechanic, and the profoundest artist; it will teach the best rhetorician, and exercise every power of the most skilful arithmetician, Rev. xiii. 18; puzzle the wisest anatomist, and exercise the nicest critic, It corrects the vain philosopher, and confutes the wise astronomer; it exposes the subtle sophist, and makes diviners mad. It is a complete code of laws, a perfect body of divinity, an unequalled narrative, a book of lives, a book of travels, and a book of voyages. It is the best covenant that ever was agreed on, the best deed that ever was sealed, the best evidence that ever was produced, the best will that ever was made, and the best testament that ever was signed. To understand it, is to be wise indeed; to be ignorant of it, is to be destitute of wisdom. It is the king's best copy, the magistrate's best rule, the housewife's best guide, the servant's best directory, and the young man's best companion. It is the schoolboy's spellingbook, and the learned man's masterpiece. It contains a choice grammar for a novice, and a profound mystery for a sage. It is the ignorant man's dictionary, and the wise man's directory. It affords knowledge of witty inventions for the humorous, and dark sayings for the grave; and is its own interpreter. It encourages