You were pleased to desire me to send you the result of my observation and experience on the deeply interesting subject of endeavoring to promote the spiritual welfare of the sick committed to your care. I cheerfully accede to your wish, although I can scarcely hope to offer any suggestions which have not already occurred to your own reflective mind. If the soul of man be immortal, and if the state of the soul, at the moment of its separation from the body, determine its happiness or misery through endless ages, with what deep solicitude should every Christian approach the bed of a fellow creature, who, to all appearance, is about to undergo the momentous change, yet unprepared “to meet his God!” If we saw a human being proceeding blindfold towards a tremendous precipice, even already at its brink, how eagerly should we try to snatch him from the threatening destruction! And can we, my friend, remain insensible to the spiritual danger of the dying man, who seems about to “take a leap in the dark” into the gulf of inconceivable—irretrievable ruin? How often, alas! are we called to witness the appalling scene, unalleviated by the presence of a Christian minister, or any pious relative, who might direct the helpless sufferer to Him, “who is able to save to the uttermost!” I am aware, indeed, that those alone who, like ourselves, have felt the weight of medical responsibility, can fully estimate the difficulties to be encountered in attempting to advance the _highest_ interest of a patient, while conscientiously discharging our primary duty, in the exertion of our utmost efforts for the restoration or relief of his bodily frame. Even to those, who, by habits of early rising, punctuality, systematic arrangement, and calm despatch, have been able to allot a sufficient portion of time to each appointment of the day,—how often does it happen that some unexpected emergency, some sudden complication of disease, the alarming sickness of another member of the family, some anxious inquiries of the patient or his friends, or other unforeseen circumstances, have more than consumed the allotted time, and in justice to the indispensable claims of other cases, rendered an immediate departure necessary: thus affording no opportunity of even alluding to “things unseen and eternal.”