  “It has rarely, if ever, fallen to my lot to trace the gracious dealing of God with greater advantage or delight, than in the narrative of the Dairyman’s Daughter: and as the Isle of Wight had evidently furnished the author with the scenery he has so finely touched, I concluded that the pious subject of the little memoir had resided there, and determined that, when I next visited that delightful spot, I would make inquiry respecting her. At the close of April last year, I had occasion to go there. At the village of B--- I had the good fortune to learn her name, and the situation of the cottage that had been honoured with her residence and death; and being told that the old man, her father, whose name is W---, still lived there, I determined to find out his humble dwelling, and obtain an interview with the aged Dairyman. “It was with feelings not to be described that I visited the spot which had been so peculiarly honoured by the gracious presence of the Most High. On inquiry, I found that Elizabeth W--- died about eleven years ago; that her mother followed her in the same year; that one of her brothers (whom I did not see) lived in the same cottage; and that her father was about eighty years of age. The venerable old man appeared to wonder at the feelings of a stranger, but seemed thankful for my visit, and wept as I made past scenes again pass before his view. I was happy to find that his hopes were built upon the Rock of Ages; that his sure trust was in the Redeemer of sinners. We talked of the kind attentions of the Rev. Mr ---, of the happy death of Elizabeth, of the wondrous grace of God; and when I bade him farewell, and reminded him how soon he would again see his daughter, not, indeed, encompassed with infirmity, and depressed with disease, but “shining as the sun in the firmament,” the poor old man wept plentifully, and little would he be to be envied who could have refrained. I looked back on the cottage until it could no longer be seen, and then went on my way rejoicing. “On the third of November last, being again in that district, I had the pleasure of repeating my visit to the good old Dairyman, who immediately recollected me. He told me many persons had been to see him since my former call, but he believed they were strangers, not inhabitants of the island. He appeared much weaker than before, and evidently drawing nearer to his rest. Whether he is still living, I know not; but it is probable I shall see him no more.”—The pious old Dairyman lived three years after this visit: he departed in the hope of meeting his gracious Redeemer. * * * * * Schenck & M‘Farlane, Printers, Edinburgh. |
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