The Emperor Napoleon
III. had a great regard for this young man, and the doctor wanted to
save him. He examined the young man, and saw there was something on his
mind. "Have you lost any property? What is troubling you? You have
something weighing upon your mind," said the doctor. "Oh, there is
nothing particular." "I know better; have you lost any relations?" asked
the doctor. "No, none within the last three years." "Have you lost any
reputation in your country?" "No." The doctor studied for a few minutes,
and then said, "I must know what is on your mind; I must know what is
troubling you." And the young man said, "My father was an infidel; my
grandfather was an infidel, and I was brought up an infidel, and for the
last three years these words have haunted me, 'Eternity, and where shall
it find me?'" "Ah," said the doctor, "you have come to the wrong
physician." "Is there no hope for me?" cried the young man. "I walk
about in the day time; I lie down at night, and it comes upon me
continually: 'Eternity, and where shall I spend it?' Tell me, is there
any hope for me?" The doctor said: "Now just sit down and be quiet. A
few years ago I was an infidel. I did not believe in God, and was in the
same condition in which you are in.
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