In bitterness, and, I may almost say, in agony of soul have I spread before him some of those circumstances which have been a cause of unspeakable distress to me for many months past, and rendered me unfit for almost every service, temporal or spiritual.
Thou knowest, O gracious Father, I long to have my ways and steps regulated by thy holy will.

Therefore I beseech thee, have mercy on my faults, and blot out from thy remembrance all my sins, and everything wherein I have in weakness offended thee; and be pleased to give me strength to become more perfectly and lastingly thine.

O how sensibly do I feel my own weakness, and that without thee I can do nothing, not for a moment preserve my own steps.
In the midst of his discouragement his mind was directed towards the accomplishment of another part of the commission which had been entrusted to him before he left England .-- viz., to sojourn for a time amongst the Friends in the South of France.

Accordingly, early in the Third Month he went to Minden, and laid before the Two-months' Meeting, his intention of going to Congenies for this purpose, and also of seeking a religious interview with some serious people in the neighborhood of Cologne.
This information, he says, was received by my friends with much sympathy and, I trust, weightiness of spirit, and I felt a little strengthened by the expression of their feelings and unity with me in this concern.

A certificate of their approbation was ordered to be drawn up.