ostrich doth of her eggs, not caring what becomes of them. What do these but throw them into the devil's mouth, by sending them ovxt into a sinful world without the knowledge of God and his word, to become a prey to every lust ! To hell they must needs go, if God shews no more pity to them than their parents have done. But shall thy parents' negligence be a plea for thy ignorance? Wilt not thou be merciful to thyself, because they were cruel? In the fear of God, be persuaded to supply their defect by thy diligence. I hope thou dost not think it a shame to learn that, now thou art old, which thou shouldst have been taught when thou wert young. Had not thy parents learned thee a trade to get thy temporal living, wouldst thou therefore have lived a beggar rather than have applied thyself, though late, to some calling? There are many, for thy encouragement, who have begun late, and, by God's blessing on their dili- gence, have conquered the difRculty of the work. If thou wert in prison, thou hadst rather learn to read a verse than lose thy life for want thereof. Now, though ability to read the word be not of absolute necessity for the salvation of thy soul, yet knowledge of its saving truths is, and there are few better private means to obtain this than reading : but if thou be not capable of this, thou hast not by it an excuse for thy ignorance so long as thou hast an ear to receive instruction from others. As God sometimes recompenses the defect of one sense wi h the quickness of another, so may be thou shalt find thy inability to read supplied by a retentive memory to hold what thou hearest read or preached \mto thee. Some martyrs we find mighty in the Scriptures, able to defend the truth against learned doctors, and yet not book-learned. One who could not read, yet carried always some part of the Scripture about him, and when he met any Christian that could, he would get him to read some portion or other thereof unto him, whereby he attained to such a measure of knowledge and faith as made him wiser than his enemies, and a stout champion for the truth, even to resist to blood.
Section III. — Oh, but, saith a third, though I can read, yet I am of so weak an understanding that I fear I shall make no work with such deep mysteries as are there contained. Take heed this objection comes not from thy sluggish heart, which gets this fair pretence to ease thee of a duty thou fearest will be troublesome imto thee. Didst thou ever make a trial, and set about the work, conscientiously using all means that might conduce towards thy instruction in the mind of God ? If not, lay not the blame on thy weak head, but wicked heart. When thou went fii'st to be an apprentice, what skill hadst thou in thy trade ? Didst thou therefore despair and run away ? No, but by thy diligence learnt the mystery of it in a few years, so as to maintain thyself comfortably ; and will not thy industry to leai-n that condemn thy sloth in not studying the word, which is able to bring in a better livelihood to thy soul than thy trade for thy body ? But, poor soul, if what thou sayest indeed ariseth from the deep sense thou hast of thy ov/n weakness, then ponder upon this twofold encou- ragement. First, God is able to interpret his own word unto thee : indeed, none can enter into the knowledge thereof without being beholden unto his Spirit to unlock the door. If thou hadst a riper head and higher parts than thou canst now pretend to, thou wouldst, without his help, be but like the blind Sodomites about Lot's house, groping, but not able to find the way into the true saving knowledge thereof. He that hath not the right key is as far from entering the house as he that hath none, yea, in some sense, farther off; for he that hath none will call to him that is within, while the other, trusting to his false key, endeavours to get in, but to no purpose. The Pharisees, who were so conversant in the Scriptures, and obtained the name for the admired doctors of the chair, called, 1 Cor. ii. 8, ' the princes of the world,' because so renowned and adored among the people ; yet even these missed that truth which lay before them almost in every leaf of Moses and the prophets, whom they were in their every-day's study tumbling over ; I mean that grand truth concerning Christ, of whom both Moses and the prophets speak. And at the same time the people, whom they counted so base, yea, accursed as those that imderstood not the law, could see him whom they missed. There are none so knowing that God cannot blind ; none so blind and ignorant whose eyes his Spirit cannot open. He who, by his incubation upon the waters at the creation, hatched that rude mass into the beautiful form we now see, and out of that
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