23 / 186
to the Chief
of
Sinners.
Ij
Man,
&
did _marvel much
to
fee fuch a great
. and
fan1ous alteration
in
my
Life
and
l\1an–
hers ;' and indeed
fo ·
it
was, though
yet ..
I
krtew not
Chrift, nor Grace,
nor Faith,
nor _
Hope; for,
as I have
well feen
fince,
had
I
then died,
my
State had been n1oft
fearful.
32.
But,
I fay, n1y
Neighbours were;
ama·
z~d
at this
my
great Converfion, from pro–
digious Prophanenefs,
to fomething like a ·
moral L1fe; and truly, fo
they well'
might;
for
this
my
Conver
fion
was
as
great, ,
as
for
Tom
of
Bethlem
to hecome a fober Man. Now ·
therefore they
began to
·praife,
to comn1end,
and fp.eak
well of
me,both
to
my
face and be-–
hind
my
back.Now
I
was,as
they
[aid,
become
godly ; now I was
become
a right
honeft man.
-But Oh
!
When I
underftood
that
thefe Were
their
;,ords
and
opini~ns
of
me, it
pleafe,d
me
mighty well. For though as
yeti
was
nothing
;
hut a
poor painted Hypocrite, yet
I
loved
to
l
be
talked
of,
as
one that
was
truly
godly.
:~1
·
.
\~as r,rou~
of.
my
Godlinefs
7
and
indeed,
I ·
dtd all I d1d, etther
to
be
feen
of,or
to be well
fpoken,of
by
Man:
And thus I
continued for
. about a Twelve-Month, or more.
·
.33·
Now you
n1uft
know,that ,before this,I
had taken much delight in
.Ringing,
but
my
Confcience
beginning
to
be tender; I
thought
fucp
prallice
was but vain, and therefore for–
ced
rny felf
to
leave
it, yet my
mind
hiilker-
ed ;
wherefore
I fhould go
to
the
Steeple–
Jlouf~,
and look on'tthough I duri not
ring :
· ·
Bu~
. , )·