the heavenly guardian.

By this time we had come in sight of a building superlatively beautiful.
O, how glorious it was! No one in the city of Perdition--neither the
Turk nor the Mogul, nor any of the others, possessed any thing equal to
it. "Behold the _Catholic Church_!" said the angel. "Is it here that
Emmanuel keeps his court?" said I. "Yes," he replied, "this is his only
terrestrial palace." "Has he any crowned heads under him?" said I. "A
few," was the answer. "There are your good queen Anne, and some princes
of Denmark and Germany, and a few of the other small princes." "What are
they," said I, "compared with those who are under Belial the Great? He
has emperors and kings without number." "Notwithstanding all this;" said
the angel, "not one of them can move a finger without the permission of
Emmanuel, nor Belial himself either, because Emmanuel is his lawful king;
Belial rebelled, and for his rebellion was made a captive, with
permission however to visit for a little time the city of Perdition, and
delude any one he could into his own rebellion and a share of his
punishment. So great is his malice, that he is continually using this
permission, though aware that by so doing he will only add to his own
misery; and so great is his love of wickedness, that he takes advantage
of his half liberty, to seek to destroy this city and this edifice,
though he has long known that their guardian is invincible."

"Pray, my lord," said I, "may we approach and take a more minute view of
this magnificent palace?" for my heart had warmed towards the place at
the first sight. "Certainly you may," said the angel, "because there I
have my place, charge, and employment." The nearer we went to it, the
more I wondered, seeing how lofty, strong, beautiful, pure, and lovely
every part of it was; how accurate was the workmanship, and how fair were
its materials. A rock wrought with immense labour, and of prodigious
strength was the foundation stone; living stones were placed upon this
rock, and were cemented in so admirable a manner, that it was impossible
for one stone to be so beautiful in another place, as it was in its own.
I could see one part of the _church_ which cast out a very fair and
remarkable cross, and the angel perceiving me gazing upon it asked me "if
I knew that part." I did not know what to answer. "That is the _Church
of England_," said he. These words made me observe it with more
attention than before, a