This important, historical book was actually written simply as a private letter to a personal friend of Henry Scougal's. It was not penned with any intention of seeing it published, but God has been pleased to use it in a way that made it quickly a classic Puritan text and one of the most widely read and influential treatises ever put into print. It has served faithfully as a comfort to the saints of God for hundreds of years. Just before his death, at 27 years old, Scougal allowed this private correspondence to be published. Nearly 70 years later, a young George Whitefield would be brought to a true knowledge of God by reading it.