able to hide my opinions from those whom I love and honour.'

'But for peace sake, my noble Theophilus,' said the doctor, 'I call you noble indeed, as it regards your conduct towards me last night; but for peace sake ought we not to risk something? What does our master say in his letters?" If ye love them that love you, what reward have ye?" And again, “Do good, seek peace, and pursue it:" and in another passage, "Blessed are the

peace-makers:-"

'But,' returned Theophilus, 'does he not also say, "The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable." He does not say, first peaceable and then pure :—and again, do we not find this passage in his letters, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate;

'But you know the object which I have in view, Theophilus,' returned the doctor, which is that I hope and trust, with the assistance of some others of the faithful servants of the master, to establish a new order of things, and one which I trust will be altogether agreeable in the eyes of our blessed Lord.' In reply to this, Theophilus took up the argument almost in the way which I thought my uncle would have done, had he been present; showing how it was stated in the Lord's letters, that his people would be as wandering and scattered sheep till his return; and that he, "And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd:

when he came, would search them out,' and establish his dominion over them, and be their prince,2 and be unto them a source of unnumbered blessings, and a sure protection from every evil; adding, that he will then break his enemies to pieces with a rod of iron; with many

3

and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them." Ezekiel xxxiv. 5, 6.

1 "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the coun try. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God."-Ezekiel xxxiv. 12-14.

2 "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats."-Ezekiel xxxiv. 16, 17.

3 "And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more."-Ezekiel xxxiv. 27–29.

other promises of the same description,' all of which tend to show that the deliverance of the people is not to be effected by any other hand than his own. Neither the doctor nor I were at that time prepared to admit what Theophilus said, we were therefore more disposed to be irritated than influenced by his reasonings; and I verily believe, that, had not the chaplain felt himself in some degree under obligations to him for his admirable conduct during the riot, he would have told him in so many words, that he thought it very arrogant in such a young man as he was, to be arguing with a person of his experience and dignity in the family on subjects of this kind. However, he restrained himself, although evidently disconcerted, and soon afterwards took his leave, having appointed to meet me at the hour fixed in the note, in the apartment of Madame le Monde, finishing his address in these words; and there, my dear Mr. Nicodemus, I trust that we shall have strength given us to stand up for the honour of our Lord, in the presence of his enemies. When the doctor had shut the door, Shall I tell you, Mr. Nicodemus,' said Theophilus, where the error of the doctor lies?'

6

'I think you have hitherto been forward enough,' I replied somewhat peevishly, 'in endeavouring to make both me and the chaplain

"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."-Psalm ii. 9.

acquainted with our mistakes, and your own superior knowledge and wisdom; but you may say what you please, only be brief, for I have much to do before evening.'

Well then,' replied Theophilus calmly, his error lies in this, as I have often heard your uncle say, that he believes that he is to do something towards building up his master's authority in the estate; whereas, the master has said repeatedly in his letters, that things will remain as they are, until he himself comes to set all right, and that until then, his people will be as sheep, wandering on the dark hills of this earth, among wolves and wild beasts, and again that we are to be as the beautiful stones of a temple scattered in the dust, till he shall come to put us together. Nevertheless, the good doctor is persuaded that he, and others of his own way of thinking, are to be chief shepherds and master builders.'

'Well, Theophilus,' I replied, 'I am not altogether assured, after all, that the chaplain may not be quite as right as those who say that the lord is to come himself to settle his own affairs. In the first place, as my uncle tells me, and as I find in my lord's letters, the present state of the

"Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is in vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so he giveth his beloved sleep." Psalm cxxvii. 1, 2.

master, that is his present situation being in the royal court, of which they say he occupies the principal seat it would be indulging low thoughts of him, to suppose that he should condescend to come into such a place as this, and to dwell with such as we; although I can well understand how, after a time, he should so far bethink himself of his own, as to give them power and authority to rule in his name, to redress all grievances, and to set all things in the right order. All this I can understand, and see the reason of, but I cannot at all comprehend wherefore you should expect a consummation so far above all experience, or all rational hope, as that of the return of the Lord, to live with us.'

'Merely,' replied Theophilus, because the Lord has said it.' The young man then turned to a portion of the letters which he had before him for the purpose of copying them, and showed me various passages, which, because I think they might be somewhat long to bring forwards in this place, I shall introduce at full length in a note.

Well, it

1 "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." Ephesians i. 21, 22.

2 "In all the places wherein I have walked with all the chil dren of Israel spake J a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee