Indeed how else should it be? While he was yet unthought of; at least unapplied to, who alone could help him; even Jesus, whose name is salvation: and beside which, in heaven or in earth, there is none other, by which a sinner can be saved. He it is that invites, and he only can, and doth, give the _weary_ and the _heavy laden_, to find rest to their souls, and who at length did “allay his fever of desire, by sprinkling him with his blood.” Hearing the priest preach one Lord’s day, and declaim vehemently against a variety of gross sins, the discourse, tho’ (as his words are) “mixed with many falsities,” so deeply affected him, that in the anguish of his spirit, he resolved never more to return to house or home, till God should shew him mercy. This precipitate and unadvised resolution was however of short continuance. In fact, the commotion and disordered state of his soul ill admitted of any thing uniformly steady whether right or wrong, either by purpose or in practice: it therefore soon vanished away, and he again sought by various ways to procure some alleviation of his distress. “I strove (says he) to divert myself in the best manner I could, seeking rest and peace in the miserable comforts of this world. But my conscience was still restless, and a hell opened in my breast. Not knowing what to do, nor which way to turn for rest, I at length attempted to quiet the clamours of my troubled mind, by solemnly resolving how soberly, righteously, and godly I would live the residue of my life. Full of these good purposes, and strengthened as I thought by vows and promises, I hoped all would be well; having all this while no idea of the satisfaction by Christ and the all-sufficiency ♦of his merits; and therefore, resolving only in my own strength, my resolutions proved as broken cisterns, which could hold no comfort; and as broken reeds, which afforded no strength!” ♦ duplicate word “of” removed Struggling on still in the dark, he added fasting to his prayers and resolutions. But all this did not do. He still found himself bound as in _affliction and iron_. He remained in sore bondage, doing the evil he would not, and not doing the good, which he would have done, (Romans ♦vii.) His convictions became still sharper and his fear of hell more deeply distressing. Endeavouring therefore by some means or other to procure rest for his soul, he had recourse to his former shifts, and says, “I repeated my resolutions and vows against sin; but especially whenever I fell into any outward wickedness; and above all, the _sin that did so easily beset me_. Then I was as on the rack, and thro’ extremity of anguish, have frequently struck myself against the ground, tearing the hairs from off my head.” ♦ “7” replaced with “vii” for consistency