to delude others, and most effectually to delude themselves with a
notion that they might be found in the right way at last. In this
dreadful delusion they went on to the end, and till they were
finally plunged in the dark valley, never discovered the horrors
which awaited them on the dismal shore. It was remarkable that while
these Pharisees were often boasting how bright their light burned,
in order to get the praise of men, the humble travelers, whose
steady light showed their good works to others, refused all
commendation, and the brighter their light shined before men, so
much the more they insisted that they ought to glorify not
themselves, but their Father which is in heaven.

I now set myself to observe what was the particular lot, molestation
and hinderance which obstructed particular travelers in their
endeavors to enter in at the _Strait Gate_. I remarked a huge portly
man who seemed desirous of getting in, but he carried about him such
a vast provision of bags full of gold, and had on so many rich
garments, which stuffed him out so wide, that though he pushed and
squeezed, like one who had really a mind to get in, yet he could not
possibly do so. Then I heard a voice crying, "Woe to him who loadeth
himself with thick clay." The poor man felt something was wrong, and
even went so far as to change some of his more cumbersome vanities
into others which seemed less bulky, but still he and his pack were
much too wide for the gate. He would not, however, give up the
matter so easily, but began to throw away a little of the coarser
part of his baggage, but still I remarked that he threw away none of
the vanities which lay near his heart. He tried again, but it would
not do; still his dimensions were too large. He now looked up and
read these words, "How hardly shall those who have riches enter into
the kingdom of God." The poor man sighed to find that it was
impossible to enjoy his fill of both worlds, and "went away
sorrowing." If he ever afterward cast a thought toward the _Happy
Land_, it was only to regret that the road which led to it was too
narrow to admit any but the meager children of want, who were not so
incumbered by wealth as to be too big for the passage. Had he read
on, he would have seen that "with God all things are possible."

Another advanced with much confidence of success, for having little
worldly riches or honor, the gate did not seem so strait to him. He
got to the threshold triumphantly,