Reader, if thou be one of these unhappy souls; Whether thy brain be so sick as really to think that there is no life to come for man, or that there needs no such care and diligence to prepare for it; or whether thy heart be so corrupt and bad as to be against the things which thou confessest to be Good and Necessary; or whether thy Reason be cast so fast asleep, as never soberly to consider of the only thing of everlasting consequence and concernment to thy self; or whether thy Heart be grown so dead and stupid, as to be past feeling, and never moved and affected with the things which thou hearest, and knowest, and considerest to be so great and necessary; which ever of these be thy sad condition, I have now this one request to thee, as a friend that truly desireth thy salvation; and I tender it to thee with as earnest a desire, as if thou sawest me upon my knees entreating thee for the Lords sake, and for thy souls sake, and as ever thou hopest for the comfort of a dying man, and as ever thou carest what becomes of thy soul for ever, and as ever thou wilt answer it to Christ and thy own conscience with peace at last, that thou neither deny me, nor put me off with a careless reading, nor with contempt or disregard: My request to thee is but this reasonable thing; [That thou wilt so long make a stand in thy way, and grant me so much of thy time, as once to read throughout this Treatise, and SERIOUSLY to CONSIDER of what thou Readest, and heartily to beg of God upon thy knees, to teach thee and lead thee into the truth, and then to be true to God and to thy Conscience, and Resolvedly to do that which thou art convinced is Right, and Best, and Necessary.] This is all my request to thee at the present: Put me not off with a denial or neglect, as thou wilt answer it to God, and as th•• wilt not be a wilful self-condemner: Hast thou spent so many ⟨p. 4⟩hours and days in vain, and cannot I beg a few hours of thee, to Read and Think of thy Everlasting state? If thou darest not Read and Think of what can be said about such things as these, it is a sign thy case is indeed so bad, that thou hast more need then others to Read and Think of them. I know the Devil dare not give thee leave to do it, if he can binder thee;
Reader, if thou be one of these unhappy souls; Whether thy brain be so sick as really to think that there is no life to come for man, or that there needs no such care and diligence to prepare for it; or whether thy heart be so corrupt and bad as to be against the things which thou confessest to be Good and Necessary; or whether thy Reason be cast so fast asleep, as never soberly to consider of the only thing of everlasting consequence and concernment to thy self; or whether thy Heart be grown so dead and stupid, as to be past feeling, and never moved and affected with the things which thou hearest, and knowest, and considerest to be so great and necessary; which ever of these be thy sad condition, I have now this one request to thee, as a friend that truly desireth thy salvation; and I tender it to thee with as earnest a desire, as if thou sawest me upon my knees intreating thee for the Lords sake, and for thy souls sake, and as ever thou hopest for the comfort of a dying man, and as ever thou carest what becomes of thy soul for ever, and as ever thou wilt answer it to Christ and thy own conscience with peace at last, that thou neither deny me, nor put me off with a careless reading, nor with contempt or disregard: My request to thee is but this reasonable thing; [That thou wilt so long make a stand in thy way, and grant me so much of thy time, as once to read throughout this Treatise, and S••IOUSLY to CONSIDER of what thou Readest, and heartily to beg of God upon thy knees, to teach thee and lead thee into the truth, and then to be true to God and to thy Conscience, and Resolvedly to do that which thou art convinced is Right, and Best, and Necessary.] This is all my request to thee at the present: Put me not off with a denyall or neglect, as thou wilt answer it to God, and as th•• wilt not be a wilful self-condemner: Hast thou spent so many ⟨p. 4⟩hours and dayes in vain, and cannot I beg a few hours of thee, to Read and Think of thy Everlasting state? If thou darest not Read and Think of what can be said about such things as these, it is a sign thy case is indeed so bad, that thou hast more need then others to Read and Think of them. I know the Devil dare not give thee leave to do it, if he can binder thee;
