Christ, appointed to feed and keep his flock on these mountains, precious, holy men, named Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere, who took the Pilgrims by the hand, instructed them by their conversation, and led them about to show them the wonders of these mountains, just as the good Interpreter had shown them the rarities in his house. They were shown where many men were dashed in pieces by carelessly climbing the Hill of Error, and falling in the midst of its speculations. They were shown from the top of another mountain, called Caution, a number of blind men wandering and stumbling across tombs; and the Shepherds, little knowing or imagining the late fearful experience of the Pilgrims in Doubting Castle, informed them that these were men, who had had their eyes put out by Giant Despair, and were there by him thrown among these dark tombs; according to the saying of Scripture, He that wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the Congregation of the Dead.

Oh, thought Christian and Hopeful, why were not we also left to such a dreadful fate! Who hath made us to differ? What mercy of God that he did not leave us also to be blinded and destroyed! They said not a word to the Shepherds, but looked on one another with a look that spoke volumes, and the tears gushed out. So, how many hairbreadth escapes have we all had amidst our sins, where others have stumbled and fallen to rise no more! What thankfulness should the remembrance of these mercies excite in us.

The good Shepherds also took the Pilgrims to

the top of the Hill Clear, from whence they could, in a fine day, see the Celestial City, through the telescope which the Shepherds kept by them. This perspective glass is Faith, but the Pilgrims have not always equal skill in using it. However, they managed to see something of the glory of the City, and that vision, imperfect though it was, was very ravishing to their spirits.

We journey in a vale of tears;

But often from on high

The glorious bow of God appears,

And lights up all our sky.

Then through the breaking clouds of heaven

Far distant visions come,

And sweetest words of grace are given,

To cheer the Pilgrim home.

Then doubt and darkness flee away,
And shadows all are gone :-
Oh! if such moments would but stay,
This earth and heaven were one.
'Too soon the vision is withdrawn ;

There's only left, "He saith;"
And I, a lonely Pilgrim, turn,
To live and walk by Faith.

Yet e'en for glimpses such as these
My soul would cheerful bear
All that in darkest days it sees,

The toil, the pain, the care.

For through the conflict and the race,
Whatever grief my lot,

If Jesus shows his lovely face,
All troubles are forgot.

My quickened soul, in faith and love,

Mounts up on eagles' wings,

And at the City Gates above

Exulting sits and sings!

"Tis through thy sufferings, O my Lord,

I hope that world to see,

And through those gates, at thy sweet word,

To enter in to Thee!

After going through the conflict with Apollyon, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, the scenes in Vanity Fair, and the dread experience of the Pilgrims in Giant Despair's Castle, it is well to note what a Gallery of solemn REALITIES is here, what a system of Divine Truth, commending itself to all men's consciences. It is not so much the richness of imagination, nor the tenderness of feeling here exhibited, nor the sweetness and beauty of the imagery, with which this book is filled, as it is the presence of these REALITIES, that constitutes the secret of its unbounded power over the soul.

Walk up and down in this rich and solemn Gallery. How simple are its ornaments! How grave, Amidst all this yet beautiful, its architecture! deep, serene beauty to the imagination, by how much deeper a tone do these pictures speak to the inner spiritual being of the soul! When you have admired the visible beauty of the paintings, turn again to seek their meaning in that light from Eternity by which the Artist painted them, and by which he would have all men examine their lessons, and receive and feel the full power of their coloring. In this light the walls of this Gallery seem moving with celestial figures speaking to the soul. They are acting the Drama of a Life, which by most men is only dreamed of; but the Drama is the Reality, and it is the spectators only, who are walking in a vain show.

The Pilgrim's Progress shows an immortal being journeying in the light, and under the transforming power of these Realities. They are such everpresent truths, that you cannot read this work,

without discovering them, any more than you could read aloud the pages of a book, without pronouncing its words; any more than one could travel through a magnificent city, and not behold its streets and palaces; any more than one could look at the rainbow without seeing its colors, or at the sun without beholding its light. It is by the power of these truths that the Pilgrim's Progress, like the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, proves itself a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The whole foundation on which the author of this work, which of all other books stands the nearest after the Bible to the overpowering light of Eternity, has built the structure of its Realities, is his view, (taken from the Bible and the Spirit of God,) of sin, of God, of Christ, of the Eternal World, and of the relations of man, as a fallen being, to that world and to his Maker. The gloom in this book, if gloom it can be called, where the light of the Cross so irradiates it, arises from the immutable dread nature of sin, and not from any dark views of the Gospel. It is not a gloomy book; no man ever thought of bringing against it such an accusation ; it is one of the most cheerful books in the language. And yet it is a solemn array of the Realities of spiritual Truth. The way of our pilgrimage is from gloom to grace and glory; gloom at first, but afterwards glory everlasting; but they who will reject the element of gloom from their theology in this world are not likely to have the element of glory spring from it hereafter.

THE

DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS,

AND

ENCHANTED GROUND,

WITH THE

CHARACTERS OF IGNORANCE AND LITTLE-FAITH

View of the Celestial City.-The importance of such visions on our pilgrimage.Character of Ignorance.-False views of justification.-Denial of the doctrine of Justification by Faith.-Salvation by our own merits in any way impossible.Christ, a whole Saviour or none at all. To say that a man is saved by his works is just the same as to say that he is saved by his sins.-Character of Little-Faith.The Enchanted Ground and the Flatterer.-The delusions of self-righteousness.— The religious experience of Hopeful.-The renewed heart a mirror of Divine Truth

On the Delectable Mountains, the Pilgrims had a sight of the Celestial City. No matter if it was but a glimpse, still they saw it, they really saw it, and the remembrance of that sight never left them. There it was in glory! Their hands trembled, their eyes were dim with tears, but still that vision was not to be mistaken. There, through the rifted clouds for a moment, the gates of pearl were shining, the jasper walls, the endless domes, the jewelled battlements! The splendor of the city seemed to pour, like a river of light, down upon