,
and their reunion at the solemn hour of resurrection--these are subjects
for their meditation, which call for serious earnestness of soul.
Whatever consolations from the Spirit of God they may have enjoyed
heretofore, they become now doubly anxious to examine and prove
themselves, "whether they be indeed in the faith." In doing this, they
sometimes pass through hidden conflicts of a dark and distressing nature;
from which, however, they come forth, like gold tried in the furnace.
Awhile they may sow in tears, but soon they reap in joy.

Their religious feelings have then, perhaps, less of ecstasy, but more of
serenity.

As the ears of corn ripen for the harvest, they bow their heads nearer to
the ground. So it is with believers; they then see more than ever of
their own imperfection, and often express their sense of it in strong
language; yet they repose with a growing confidence on the love of God
through Christ Jesus. The nearer they advance to their eternal rest, the
more humble they become, but not the less useful in their sphere. They
feel anxiously desirous of improving every talent they possess to the
glory of God, knowing that the time is short.

I thought I observed the truth of these remarks fulfilled in the
progressive state of mind of the Dairyman's daughter.

Declining health seemed to indicate the will of God concerning her. But
her character, conduct, and experience of the Divine favour increased in
brightness as the setting sun of her mortal life approached its horizon.
The last letter which, with the exception of a very short note, I ever
received from her, I shall now transcribe. It appeared to me to bear the
marks of a still deeper acquaintance with the workings of her own heart,
and a more entire reliance upon the free mercy of God.

The original, while I copy it, strongly revives the image of the
deceased, and the many profitable conversations which I once enjoyed in
her company and that of her parents. It again endears to me the
recollections of cottage piety; and helps me to anticipate the joys of
that day when the spirits of the glorified saints shall be reunited to
their bodies, and be for ever with the Lord.

The writer of this and the preceding letters herself little imagined,
when they were penned, that they would ever be submitted to the public
eye. That they now are so, results from a conviction that the friends of
the pious poor will estimate them according to their value,