“I know that I have at most but a few months to live, and I want to spend them in making preparation to die.  You will oblige me by advising me what books to read.  I want to get clear views of what I am to do, and then do it.”

It need scarcely be said that I most readily complied with his request, and that first and chiefly I advised him to consult the Bible, as the light to his path and the lamp to his feet.  Other books were suggested, and a word with regard to prayerful reading was given, and kindly received.

One day I went over to see my friend.  Entering his room, I found him sitting by the fire with it table by his side, on which was lying a Bible.  There was an unusual flush in his face, and his eye burned with unusual brightness.

“How are you today?” I asked.

“I am annoyed, sir—­I am indignant,” he said.

“What is the matter?”

“Mr. ——­, the—­preacher, has just left me.  He told me that my soul cannot be saved unless I perform two miracles:  I must, he said, think of nothing but religion, and be baptized by immersion.  I am very weak, and cannot fully control my mental action—­my thoughts will wander in spite of myself.  As to being put under the water, that would be immediate death; it would bring on a hemorrhage of the lungs, and kill me.”

He leaned his head on the table and panted for breath, his thin chest heaving.  I answered: 

“Mr.—­is a good man, but narrow.  He meant kindly in the foolish words he spoke to you.  No man, sick or well, can so control the action of his mind as to force his thoughts wholly into one channel.  I cannot do it, neither can any other man.  God requires no such absurdity of you or anybody else.  As to being immersed, that seems to be a physical impossibility, and he surely does not demand what is impossible.  My friend, it really makes little difference what Mr.—­says,or what I say, concerning this matter.  What does God say?  Let us see.”

I took up the Bible, and he turned a face upon me expressing the most eager interest.  The blessed Book seemed to open of itself to the very words that were wanted.  “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.”  “He knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are dust.”  “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come to the waters.”

Glancing at him as I read, I was struck with the intensity of his look as he drank in every word.  A traveler dying of thirst in the desert could not clutch a cup of cold water more eagerly than he grasped these tender words of the pitying Father in heaven.

I read the words of Jesus:  “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise east out.”

“This is what God says to you, and these are the only conditions of acceptance.  Nothing is said about any thing but the desire of your heart and the purpose of your soul.  O my friend, these words are for you!”