Soon after the Lord had begun his work in my heart, persecution began, hell raged, satan roared; but, through mercy, the ass did not regard the crying of that driver, but was kept in search after life and truth.—_Job_, xxxix. 5, 6, 7, 8. This having no effect to deter, satan resorted to another method. This was about the time that the wretched Tom Paine published his book against the Bible; I never bought it, though thousands did; but, one day, at a friend’s house, I saw it lay, and when I was left alone I read a part of it—this produced no bad effect on my mind at that time; but, shortly afterwards, the infamous passage I had read was hurled into my mind with strange powers. It came like a dart, a fiery dart, nor could I get rid of it for some time; it came very often, and sorely distressed me. I begged of the Lord to remove it, which he did; this cured me for ever of meddling with edged tools. The Lord gave me secret power to rise superior to it; established me more than ever in the truth, and created in my mind an everlasting hatred to erroneous books. I was often entreated to read such books; but no—“A burnt child dreads the fire:” and I am always sorry to see professors so eager to read deistical publications, with a view to see the objections made to Holy Writ. “Let him that _thinketh_ he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.” This temptation was, of course, soon followed up with another, such as this—“How do you know the Bible is true?” This came from the devil, and is in the mouth of his own children to this day; and to such I seldom give an answer, except in few words. This reminds me of an infidel in a stage coach, who was letting his tongue run against God and truth, bidding defiance to any man to prove the Bible to be the Word of God: an aged plain country woman replied, “Why, I thinks as how it is the Word of God, because it says, that ‘in the last days there shall come mockers,’ and I am sure thou beest one of them.”