teachings of men before the truth of God's Word, are twice over determined to perish.

The King's ship did now, day by day, make good progress, and the light came down upon the sea in such glory, and the waves far off before them shone. with such brilliancy, where the sea melted into the heavens, that sometimes they could not look steadfastly towards that quarter, because the glory was so great, and the flood of light so intense. And they seemed to be nearing it continually, so that sometimes they felt as if they were very near heaven, and as if it would be an easy thing, a few leagues farther on, to sail straight into it.

Now and then also there were birds that appeared flying, of a strange celestial beauty, with plumage such as they had never seen before; and they would dart down from the sky, and then shoot up again, till the eye lost sight of them, because it could not follow them so far. But where these lovely creatures could have their resting-places, the whole ship's company were at a loss to know; but they were very beautiful, and when they fled away, took the men's hearts with them.

While in the midst of these seas, they were exceedingly surprised one day, by coming in sight of an open boat, with a man in it, reclining in the stern, and quietly reading a book, at the same time that he

was steering. Then Peter and John hailed him, and asked what he would be at, out there in mid-ocean, or how in the world he got there, seeing that they themselves had encountered such storms, that it did not seem possible that under any circumstances an open boat could have lived through them. So he told them that the country from whence he came was not so far off as they imagined, for that he came from the land of FLESHLY WISDOM, a very wide land, and was bound for the Celestial Country; but never having been satisfied with any proposed views of religion, and being sure that he had himself formed a theory, which would with all posterity take the place of all other systems, he was resolved to set out on his own hook.

Accordingly, he had laid in a stock of the concentrated essence of provisions, and with a portable steam-engine, which he intended to use whenever occasion called for it, he had come thus far by dint of sails and rowing, and occupied most of his leisure time in perusing and re-perusing a volume of his own works.

But where, cried Peter and John, are your chart and compass?

The man answered that they were all safe in a little binnacle, but that in truth he did not really want any; the interior light was so great, that he went by

the Spirit, not the letter, of which indeed he was in no need, having himself risen to a personal inspiration. He said, moreover, that to make all sure, he had gathered the creeds of all nations, ages, and sects, and carried them with him. He knew that there was truth in all, and by accepting of them all, he was perfectly sure that he had got all the truth in the world at any rate. As to any creed of his own, he held it yet in reserve, and was ready for new manifestations of light any where.

He likewise let Peter and John know that he was now engaged in demonstrating that all forms of language were incapable of conveying any true record of the Spirit, and that consequently men must leave off relying on any written form of inspiration, and throw themselves confidently on intuition and the soul. He said, also, that his own works, though so extremely eloquent, proved that language was no adequate exponent of thought, for that with all his great powers he had never been able to make half a dozen persons understand either what he believed, or what he was driving at; and if this were the case with his own writings, he argued, how much more must it be with a volume like that of the Holy Scriptures.

Then Peter and John looked upon the man with mingled amazement and compassion, for they per

ceived plainly that he was not in his right mind, and they concluded he must have broken loose from some lunatic aslyum, so they invited him to come on board the King's ship, entreating him to seize the opportunity of salvation afforded him, for if he went on in this way, he must perish. But he answered with much indignation and contempt, that they need not suppose that all the wisdom in the world was on board their ship, and that he pitied their delusions more than they could his, and indeed if they would consent to follow him, he said that he would cheerfully take them in tow, and give them the benefit of a mind that otherwise might have to wait for posterity before it could be appreciated.

Then Peter and John could not help smiling, much as they pitied the man, at such a droll conceit as that of seeing the King's ship moored to the stern of a sail-boat. But while they stood looking at him, he shifted his sails, bade them good morning, and scud ded off before the wind on a tack some five points different from the course of the vessel, and they soon lost sight of him.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE CAPE OF STORMS, AND THE ISLAND OF PEACE.

Now for some days after these encounters, things went smoothly enough, and they seemed to be making fair and rapid progress on their heavenly But no good frame of mind in this world is permanent, neither will fine wind and weather last always, nor can anything be relied upon but God.

course.

After those days of bright and pleasant sailing there began to be an unexpected change. It seemed as if there were some mighty obstacle before them, they knew not what. The air grew heavy, and at a distance there were heavy, dark, threatening forms looming up like great mountains, and a great shadowy ridge seemed to be resting on the sea, forbidding them to pass beyond it. Also there was a great gloom upon their own spirits, so that, though they