lish and
afterwards in Latin, with a large and an elaborate preface in Latin
also to it; I spent a great part of the day at that work, &c.

"Saturday, December 1, 1627, I devoted to my usual course of _secret
fasting_, and drew divers _signs of my assurance of a better life_
from the _grace_ of repentance, having before gone through the
_graces_ of knowledge, faith, hope, love, zeal, patience, humility,
and joy; and drawing several marks from them on like days of
humiliation for the greater part. My dear wife beginning also to draw
_most certain signs_ of her own future happiness after death from
_several graces_.

"January 19, 1628.--Saturday I spent in secret humiliation and
fastings, and finished _my whole assurance to a better life_,
consisting of THREE SCORE and FOUR SIGNS, or marks drawn from
_several graces_. I made some small alterations in the signs
afterwards; and when I turned them into the Latin tongue, I enriched
the margent with further _proofs and authorities_. I found much
comfort and reposedness of spirit from them, which shows the devilish
sophisms of the papists, anabaptists, and pseudo-Lutherans, and
profane atheistical men, who say that _assurance_ brings forth
presumption, and a careless wicked life. True, when men pretend to
the end, and not use the means.

"My wife joined with me in a private day of _fasting_, and drew
_several signs and marks by_ MY _help and assistance, for her
assurance to a better life_."

This was an era of religious diaries, particularly among the
nonconformists; but they were, as we see, used by others. Of the
Countess of Warwick, who died in 1678, we are told that "she kept a
diary, and took counsel with two persons, whom she called her _soul's
friends_." She called prayers _heart's ease_, for such she found them.
"Her own lord, knowing her _hours of prayers_, once conveyed a godly
minister into _a secret place_ within hearing, who, being a man very
able to judge, much admired her humble fervency; for in praying she
prayed aloud; but when she did not with an audible voice, her sighs and
groans might be heard at a good distance from the closet." We are not
surprised to discover this practice of religious diaries among the more
puritanic sort: what they were we may gather from this description of
one. Mr. John Janeway "kept a diary, in which he wrote down _every
evening_ what the _frame of his spir