At length his sorrows and troubles began to wear off, and tears of joy dropped from him, so that he could have wept night and day with tears of joy, in brokenness of heart. And to give an account of his condition to those that are able to comprehend it, I will use his own words: ’I saw,‘ saith he, ‘into that which was without end, and things which cannot be uttered; and of the greatness and infiniteness of the love of God, which cannot be expressed by words: for I had been brought through the very ocean of darkness and death, and through and over the power of Satan, by the eternal glorious power of Christ: even through that darkness was I brought which covered all the world, and which chained down all, and shut up all in the death. And the same eternal power of God, which brought me through those things, was that which afterwards shook the nation, priests, professors, and people. Then could I say, I had been in spiritual Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, and the grave; but by the Eternal power of God I was come out of it, and was brought over it, and the power of it, into the power of Christ. And I saw the harvest white, and the seed of God lying thick in the ground, as ever did wheat, that was sown outwardly, and none to gather it; and for this I mourned with tears.’ Thus far George Fox’s own words, of whom now a report went abroad, that he was a young man that had a discerning spirit: whereupon many professors, priests, and people came to him, and his ministry increased; for he having received great openings, spoke to them of the things of God, and was heard with attention by many, who going away, spread the fame thereof. Then came the tempter, and set upon him again, charging him that he had sinned against the Holy Ghost; but he could not tell in what; and then Paul’s condition came before him, how after he had been taken up into the third heavens, and seen things not lawful to be uttered, a messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him, that he might not exalt himself. Thus George Fox, by the assistance of the Lord, got also over that temptation. Now the 47th year of that century drew to an end, and state affairs in England grew more and more clouded and intricate; for the King not thinking himself any longer safe at Hampton Court, whither he had been brought from the army; he withdrew to the Isle of Wight, whilst the Parliament still insisted on the abrogation of Episcopacy, and would be master of the military forces: which the King not being willing to yield to, was now kept in closer custody, and no more regarded as a Sovereign, to whom obedience was due from the Parliament. 1648.