MR THOMAS BOSTON. 283, my little child Thomas, about the ftate of his foul, and prayed yvith him. Being rifen from prayer, and his mother come 'in, he burn out a-weeping. Taking him afide, and afking what was the matter, he faid, He knew not how to get an intereft in Chrift. I faid, he was to feek it, and believe the gofpel. He faid, he knew, not how to feek it. He went into the weftern room thereafter, I being abroad, and being afked, faid, He went in to feek an intereft in Chrift, and to tell Chrift he would be his. I note this for an encouragement to holdon to teach and flir them up. I am forry I have not kept an account of the early movings that were in the reft. . Jan. 1. 1719. I had refolved to keep my time for prayer, the week following, and not to feparate my.felf any manner of ohway this day'. But Providence laid a neceffity on me to do it or this day. Treafiarer Wightman, having glanced the MS. on the Fourfold State, wrote to me, that he found a vein of true Chrif- tianity in it, and therefore would contribute to the publication ofit and this requiring an aufwer, gave me an unlooked-for errand to the throne of grace at this time. He intimated withal, that the ftyle would be naufeous to the polite world, and that no book had yet been written on the depraved ftate of man, with true fpirit and elegancy of expreffion. This didrnot much move me ; for I do not think, that way of writing he is fo fond of, is the way the Lord has ufed much to countenance for the advancing of true Chr,,iftianity. Mean while it left me much undetermined what to do with the MS. 'Three things efpecially I had in view in this exercife : I. My manageriient as to that MS ; 1. The ftudy of the accents; 3. Divine affiftance in revif- ing the,larger overtures for difcipline in this church, laid on me by the fynod, and on fbme other brethren. In the beginning of this fecret exercife, the Lord was pleafed to countenance me : but after that I drove very heavily, till towards the end wherein he was pleafed to help to freedom and confidence. in himfelf. The aforefaid overtures having been long, in print, the Gene- ral Affembly had committed them to fynodsand prefbyteries, to be confidered by them, in order, thatbeing ripely advifed, they might be turned into {landing rules. The fynod had ap- pointed fome few of their number to confider them accordingly ; of whom I was one. And, having been almo{t ever lince my entering into the miniftry, difïatisfied with feveral things in our conftitution, efpecially lre man,eF^of(admitting.to the Lord's table, and plantingof chi ch: s ; I ernbrl:ced that opportunity to endeavour to get filch 'and accordingly I did, forne time after, apply myfelf clofely 'toÌconiìder of thefe over- tures ; and wrote funeral remarks on them, together with new overtures for adrnilliou to the Lord'tsable, and debarring from it ; the which are to be found among my papers, App. No. 3. Howbeit, the fynod did not call for them. Neverthelefs, by order of our prefbytery, they were laid before the con :million,
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