Sin appeared to me just then to be more than ever "exceeding sinful." Inward and inbred corruptions made me tremble.

The danger of self-deception in so great a matter alarmed me.

I was a teacher of others; but was I indeed spiritually taught myself?
A spirit of anxious inquiry ran through every thought: I looked at the manifold works of creation around me; I perceived the greatest marks of regularity and order; but _within_ I felt confusion and disorder.
"The waves of the sea," thought I, "ebb and flow in exact obedience to the law of their Creator.

Thus far they come, and no further--they retire again to their accustomed bounds; and so maintain a regulated succession of effects.
"But, alas! the waves of passion and affection in the human breast manifest more of the wild confusion of a storm, than the orderly regularity of a tide.

Grace only can subdue them.
"What peaceful harmony subsists throughout all this lovely landscape! These majestic cliffs, some clothed with trees and shrubs; others bare and unadorned with herbage, yet variegated with many-coloured earths; these are not only sublime and delightful to behold, but they are answering the end of their creation, and serve as a barrier to stop the progress of the waves.
"But how little peace and harmony can I comparatively see in my own heart! The landscape _within_ is marred by dreary, barren wilds, and wants that engaging character which the various parts of this prospect before me so happily preserve.