to judgment!"
—that I could not endure the thought of them in my heart."
CHRISTIAN: "Then, as it seems, sometimes you got rid of your convictions of sin?"
HOPEFUL: "Yes, truly—but they would come into my mind again, and then I would be as bad—nay, worse than I was before."
CHRISTIAN: "Why, what was it that brought your sins to mind again?"
HOPEFUL: "Many things, such as,
1. If I did but meet a godly man in the streets; or,
2. If I heard anyone read in the Bible; or,
3. If my head began to ache; or,
4. If I was told that some of my neighbors were sick; or,
5. If I heard the death-bell toll for someone who had died; or,
6. If I thought of dying myself; or,
7. If I heard that another had died by sudden death.
8. But especially, when I thought of myself—that I must quickly come to judgment!"
CHRISTIAN: "And could you easily at any time, get off the guilt of sin— when, by any of these ways, conviction came upon you?"
HOPEFUL: "No, not I—for then they got a tighter hold on my conscience. And then, if I did but think of going back to sin—though my mind was turned against it—it would be double torment to me."
CHRISTIAN: "And what did you do then?"
HOPEFUL: "I reckoned that I must endeavor to mend my life—for I thought that otherwise, I was sure to be damned."