She received me first with a very sweet smile, and then instantly burst into a flood of tears, just sobbing out,-- "I am so glad to see you, sir!" "I am very much concerned at your being so ill, my child, and grieved that I was not sooner aware of your state.

But I hope the Lord designs it for your good." Her eye, not her tongue, powerfully expressed, "I hope and think he does." "Well, my poor child, since you can no longer come to see me, I will come and see you, and we will talk over the subjects which I have been used to explain to you." "Indeed, sir, I shall be so glad!" "That I believe she will," said the woman; "for she loves to talk of nothing so much as what she has heard you say in your sermons, and in the books you have given her." "Are you really desirous, my dear child, to be a true Christian ?" "Oh, yes, yes, sir; I am sure I desire that above all things." I was astonished and delighted at the earnestness and simplicity with which she spoke these words.
"Sir," added she, "I have been thinking, as I lay on my bed for many weeks past, how good you are to instruct us poor children; what must become of us without it!" "I am truly glad to perceive that my instructions have not been lost upon you, and pray God that this your present sickness may be an instrument of blessing in his hands to prove, humble, and sanctify you.

My dear child, you have a soul, an immortal soul to think of; you remember what I have often said to you about the value of a soul: 'What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?'" "Yes, sir, I remember well you told us, that when our bodies are put into the grave, our souls will then go either to the good or the bad place." "And to which of these places do you think that, as a sinner in the sight of God, you deserve to go ?" "To the bad one, sir." "What! to everlasting destruction!" "Yes, sir." "Why so ?" "Because I am a great sinner." "And must all great sinners go to hell ?" "They all deserve it; and I am sure I do." "But is there no way of escape?
Is there no way for a great sinner to be saved ?" "Yes, sir, Christ is the Saviour." "And whom does he save ?" "All believers." "And do you believe in Christ yourself ?" "I do not know, sir; I wish I did; but I feel that I love him." "What do you love him for ?" "Because he is good to poor children's souls like mine." "What has he done for you ?" "He died for me, sir; and what could he do more ?" "And what do you hope to gain by his death ?" "A good place when I die, if I believe in him, and love him." "Have you felt any uneasiness on account of your soul ?" "Oh, yes, sir, a great deal.

When you used to talk to us children on Saturdays, I often felt as if I could hardly bear it, and wondered that others could seem so careless.

I thought I was not fit to die.