"Twice," says her daughter, "during those few anxious
days, while I was standing by her bed-side, she looked at me tenderly,
and said, 'The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make His face
to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His
countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.' On telling her I was
going to write to my brother John, she replied, 'Give my kindest love
to him and Susie, and tell them to keep the _one point_ in view. To
one who was ministering to her wants she said, with great earnestness,
'Oh! when one comes to the verge of another world, of what avail are
all things else, if we are not on the sure foundation? My whole care
is to be ready--quite ready.'"
The rapid decay of her strength seemed to produce no corresponding
impression upon her mind, which, up to within a few hours of her
departure, retained its wonted vigour and clearness of perception. Her
utterances were carefully weighed, and she grasped the full force of
the words which were spoken to her; hence, when her daughter asked if
she could say
"Not a cloud doth arise
To darken the skies,
And hide for _one moment_ the Lord from my eyes;"
she replied, "I can't say _that_." "But," mother, "you can trust Him
in the dark?" Her ready answer was, "I _can_ do that."
On Tuesday morning, July 3rd, the day preceding her removal, for some
hours she appeared rather better, and on being lifted up in bed, she
asked for her spectacles, the Bible, and also the hymn-book, from
which she read the hymn beginning
"How do Thy mercies close me round,"
which was one of her favourites.
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