affections and desires of the heart coming in with external allurements, tempt the soul away from God; and it is against entering into such temptation that our Lord bids us to watch and pray. For the Apostle saith, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any man; but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.1

Now against such temptation every man must earnestly watch and pray, and against entering into it. There may be temptations to sin, which a man does not enter into, because, by the grace of God, being on his watch, he rejects them at once, and cries to God instantly for help against them, and God giveth him grace to help in time of need. But if a man plays with temptation, if he dallies with it, if he parleys with it, if he shakes hands with it, and enters into pleasant conversation, all the while considering and questioning whether he shall do it or not, then he is entering into temptation. Entering into a thing is a very different matter from standing without and watching against it. You know that entering into a fog is a very different thing from spying a fog bank afar off, and trying to keep clear of it. As long as you can keep outside of it, and clear of it, it can do you no harm, and you are in no danger; but the moment you begin to enter into it, then it closes round you on every side, and you can no more see your course, and sometimes can hardly see your hand before your face, and so may run upon a reef of rocks, without even knowing that you were near them. Fogs are exceedingly hazardous, especially if the King's Chart and the reckoning have been neglected, and no correct observation gained.

Here Peter and John looked hard one upon another, and it was easy to know by the sorrow and solemnity of their countenances that they were thinking of past dangers. But oh, they thought within themselves, what tender mercy of the Lord was it that we were not ourselves wrecked for ever!

Then the man looked lovingly upon them, and went on. 1 James, i, 13, 14.

A man

He said that just so a careless soul enters into temptation. There be temptations sudden, and temptations gradual, and a careless soul may be overcome of either; but the gradual temptations begin by little and little, and are like a fog, which the vessel enters into before you are aware. parleys with them, advances towards them, and his heart all the while grows tender to them, and then at length the fog of sinful inclination is all around him, and every thing grows dark. He no longer sees the Word of God clear shining, nor feels its power; his faith diminishes, and the love of God declines, and the face of the Lord is no longer seen by him. And when a man thus enters into temptation, then temptations enter into him. The fog not only surrounds him, but gets within his very soul, making every thing cold, listless, and desolate. And if at such a time Satan come upon the soul, what chance is there of escape? O beware, beware, lest you enter into temptation.

The Man said, moreover, that there was once a great house committed by the King to the charge of his servants, with instructions to the Porter to watch. Now there was a garden round about the house, hedged round on all sides with a strong, high, protecting hedge, which nobody could break down from the outside, nor get over. Beyond this hedge was a waste howling wilderness, and in the thick of the forest a terrible band of robbers, whose aim was, if they could by any means do it, to surprise and get possession of the King's garden and house. For this they watched their opportunities at the hedge, hoping they might get into a friendly conversation with some of the servants, and so make a beginning.

Now the name of the Porter was Parley, and he was a man given to talk, and as he walked about the garden, he heard his own name whispered on the other side of the hedge, and drew near to see what it was. Then the robber entered into a conversation with him, and this was done several days, till quite a fellow feeling was begotten between them, and

robber went so far as to tell Parley the Porter that it was a shame to be kept cooped up in that little garden under such close restraints, and not permitted to know any thing

of the world, and its pleasant amusements, and its grand old woods, and its pleasant men and women. These things made an impression, you may be sure, upon Parley's mind, and he was now entering into temptation, and so the thing worked, till Parley the Porter was taken with such a desire to see something more, and also to see the man that had been talking with him, that one day while they were conversing he began to pull away the hedge on his side the enclosure, so as to make a little space for easier communication.

As soon as Parley began this work, then the robber could begin also, for the King had made the hedge in such a manner, that it could be broken through only by beginning from within, but if it were begun there, then alas, it was easy; so they soon had a place broken, by little and little, big enough for a man to crawl through. The robber entered, but very carefully at first, and entirely alone, and in a plain, simple, peaceable garb, and without any weapons, so as neither to disturb any one, nor terrify the Porter. And Parley for his part was astonished to see such a perfect gentleman, so amiable, so pleasant, so affable, so kind. He seemed to take a great interest in Parley's affairs, and Parley showed him the house, with its doors and its fastenings, though he could not let him in, because of the other

servants.

But at length, by little and little, Parley was persuaded one night, though he would not himself open the door to him, to leave a window unfastened, so that he could open it himself and get in. That very night the man came in armour with all his gang, and they took the house by storm, and though some of the servants escaped, yet Parley was the first one murdered. Such is the course of sin; therefore watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.1

And,

Furthermore, said he, never despair, but look to Christ and trust him, in the lowest and most hopeless state. remember, that he causes the sins of his people to chastise them, and their very backslidings to correct them.2 Many of the changes that God suffers his people to pass through are 1 1 Mark, xiv, 38. 2 Jer. ii, 19.

directly for their good; so that, though they may be the result of instability within, or of carelessness or prayerlessness, or running into needless temptations, yet God makes them the actual means of growth and permanence in grace. Any thing that makes us feel our own weakness, guilt, and misery, and our need of Christ, is good for us, though it may be very painful, mortifying, and perplexing for the present. Discipline and trial now, and the discovery of our own wretchedness, are the way to lasting peace.

Though painful at present, 'twill cease before long,
And then, O how pleasant the Conqueror's song.

So the man bade them good by, and returned with his officers on board their own ship, where Peter and John and all the men followed them with their eyes, and kept gazing at the vessel afar off, till she went out of sight, just as they had first caught the vision, like an angel's wing or a fleecy cloud in the horizon. The sun set that night more soft and beautiful than ever, and they saw no more of the Pirate, but with a fair breeze sailed steadily away.

Then they set up a sweet song, recounting their dangers, a part of which ran thus:

Believers now are toss'd about

On life's tempestuous main;
But grace assures beyond a doubt,,
They shall their port attain.

They must, they shall appear one day,
Before their Saviour's throne;
The storms they meet with by the way,
But make his glory known.

Their passage lies across the brink
Of many a threat'ning wave;

The world expects to see them sink,
But Jesus lives to save.

Lord, though we are but feeble worms,

Yet since thy word is past,

We'll venture through a thousand storms,
To see thy face at last.

CHAPTER IX.

A NAVAL BATTLE IN THE HALF-WAY HARBOUR TO ROME,

THERE was a place formerly laid down in the King's Chart as the Shifting Sands, where of old time a beacon had been established upon two great reefs, one of them called the Rudiments of the World, and another called, The Traditions of Men.1 Now in the course of ages, what by shipwrecks, and the flight of birds, and the increasing of the Sands to islands, these reefs were all grown over with soil and trees, and at length the whole region became covered with vegetation, grew into a great commercial resort, and at this time had become a famous country. Peter and John knew by their observations that they were in the region of those Shifting Sands, but they did by no means expect to see a continent. It was therefore with extreme surprise, that they found themselves one day beyond all question nearing the solid land. The man at the mast-head reported land early in the morning, but at first they thought it must be a mistake of a low bank of cloud, or some other deception, but they soon found that in very truth it was a country, though not one of God's original continents, but composed from first to last of what is called made land.

Now as they drew near to this country, it became manifest that there was an open Harbour near where they were sailing, and beyond what seemed to be the entrance they could see a grand city rising, the domes thereof, and many 1 Col. ii, 8.