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22 MERCY AT LENGTH ADMITTED AND ENCOURAGED.

and was afraid that no gate would be opened to her.

Then he took her by the hand, and said, "Damsel, "I bid thee arise."

'O sir,' said she, I am faint; there is scarce life left in me'. But he answered, that one said, "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered "the Lord, and my prayer came unto thee, into thy holy temple'." Fear not, but stand upon thy feet, • and tell me wherefore thou art come.'

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MER. I am come for that unto which I was never invited, as my friend CHRISTIANA was.

from the King, and mine was but from her.

fore I presume.

Her's was

Where

GOOD. Did she desire thee to come with her to this place?

MER. Yes; and, as my Lord sees, I am come; and, if there is any grace and forgiveness of sins to spare, I beseech that thy poor handmaid may be partaker thereof.

Then he took her again by the hand, and led her gently in, and said, • I pray for all them that believe

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on me, by what means soever they come unto me.' Then said he to those that stood by, Fetch something, ⚫ and give it MERCY to smell on, thereby to stay her faintings.' So they fetched her a bundle of myrrh. A while after she was revived,

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And now was CHRISTIANA, and her boys, and MERCY, received of the Lord at the head of the way, and spoke kindly unto by him. Then said they yet

Jonah, ii. 7.

THE PILGRIMS CONVERSE TOGETHER.

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further unto him,

We are sorry for our sins, and beg of our Lord his pardon, and further information what we must do.'

I grant pardon, said he, by word and deed; by word in the promise of forgiveness; by deed in the I obtained it. Take the first from my lips with a kiss, and the other as it shall be revealed'.

way

Now I saw in my dream, that he spake many good words unto them, whereby they were greatly gladded. He also had them up to the top of the gate, and showed them by what deed they were saved; and told them withal, that that sight they would have again as they went along in the way, to their comfort.

So he left them awhile in a summer parlour below, where they entered into talk by themselves: and thus CHRISTIANA began: O Lord, how glad am I that we are got in hither!'

MER. So you well may: but I of all have cause to leap for joy.

CHR. I thought one time as I stood at the gate, (because I had knocked and none did answer,) that all our labour had been lost, especially when that ugly cur made such a heavy barking at us.

MER. But my worst fear was, after I saw that you was taken into his favour, and that I was left behind. Now, thought I, it is fulfilled which is written, "Two women shall be grinding together, the one shall be taken and the other left." I had much ado to forbear crying out, Undone! And afraid I was to knock any more: but, when I looked up to what

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Sol. Song, i. 2. John, xx. 19.

2 Matt. xxiv. 41,

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FEAR CAUSED MERCY TO KNOCK THE LOUDER.

was written over the gate', I took courage. I also thought, that I must either knock again or die: so I knocked, but I cannot tell how; for my spirit now struggled between life and death.

CHR. Can you not tell how you knocked? I am sure your knocks were so earnest, that the very sound made me start: I thought I never heard such knocking in all my life: I thought you would come in by a violent hand, or take the kingdom by storm.

MER. Alas, to be in my case! who that so was could but a done so? You saw that the door was shut upon me, and that there was a most cruel dog thereabout. Who, I say, that was so faint-hearted as I, would not have knocked with all their might?-But pray, What said my Lord unto my rudeness? Was he not angry with me?

CHR. When he heard your lumbering noise, he gave a wonderful innocent smile: I believe what you did pleased him well, for he showed no sign to the contrary. But I marvel in my heart why he keeps such a dog: had I known that before, I should not have had heart enough to have ventured myself in this manner. now we are in, we are in, and I am glad with all my heart.

But

MER. I will ask, if you please, next time he comes down, why he keeps such a filthy cur in his yard: I hope he will not take it amiss.

Do so, said the children, and persuade him to hang him, for we are afraid he will bite us when we go hence.

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SHE ASKS GOODWILL ABOUT THE DOG: HIS REPLY.

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So at last he came down to them again, and MERCY fell to the ground on her face, before him, and worshipped, and said, Let my Lord accept the sacrifice of praise which I now offer unto him with the calves ' of my lips.'

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So he said unto her, Peace be to thee; stand up.' But she continued upon her face, and said, "Righteous "art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, yet "let me talk with thee of thy judgements':" wherefore dost thou keep so cruel a dog in thy yard, at the sight of which such women and children as we are ready to flee from the gate for fear?

He answered and said, That dog has another owner: he is also kept close in another man's ground, only my pilgrims hear his barking: he belongs to the castle which you see there at a distance', but can come up to the walls of this place. He has frighted many an honest pilgrim from worse to better, by the great voice of his roaring. Indeed, he that owneth him doth not keep him out of any good-will to me or mine, but with intent to keep the pilgrims from coming to me, and that they may be afraid to come and knock at this gate for entrance. Sometimes also he has broken out, and has worried some that I loved; but I take all at present patiently. I also give my pilgrims timely help, so that they are not delivered up to his power, to do them what his doggish nature would prompt him to. But what! my purchased one, I trow, hadst thou known never so much before-hand, thou wouldest not have been afraid of a dog. The beggars that go from 1 Jer. xii, 1, 2.

2 P. i. p. 22.

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THEY GO ON THEIR WAY REJOICING.

door to door, will, rather than they will lose a supposed alms, run the hazard of the bawling, barking, and biting too of a dog: and shall a dog in another man's yard, a dog whose barking I turn to the profit of pilgrims, keep any from coming to me? I deliver them from the lions, and "my darling from the power of "the dog."

Then said MERCY, I confess my ignorance: I speak what I understand not: I acknowledge that thou doest all things well.

Then CHRISTIANA began to talk of their journey, and to enquire after the way'. So he fed them and washed their feet, and set them in the way of his steps, according as he had dealt with her husband before. So I saw in my dream, that they went on their way; and the weather was comfortable to them.

Then CHRISTIANA began to sing, saying,

• Bless'd be the day that I began

A pilgrim for to be;

And blessed also be that man

That thereunto mov'd me.
'Tis true, 'twas long ere I began
To seek to live for ever2:
But now I run fast as I can;

'Tis better late, than never.

Our tears to joy, our fears to faith,

Are turned, as we see;

That our beginning (as one saith,)

Shows what our end will be.'

Now there was on the other side of the wall, that fenced in the way, up which CHRISTIANA and her

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