Account of Grandmother's last illness, continuation through Sunday 31st (page 6)
Book 1, Page 52 ·1858
Transcription
A single sheet of lined paper closely written in faded brown ink, in cursive.
he prayed joined in the Lord’s prayer he spoke to her of her happy state of perfect preparation, death being a short & dark entrance into a glorious Life an Eternity of happiness — She thanked him in her simple cordial manner, saying “do come again” “do come often” — for some days after this she seemed to sleep a great deal & when roused not so collected as
before— when asked if she could see Mr Drayton again she assented — this seemed to rouse her. Cousin Esther asked her if the bright light was still on the Hills beyond the dark river? her reply was “I have not been thinking muchfor the there hasbeen ^in a great confusion for some days past.”During Mr Drayton’s visit he spoke of her life of piety being a sure pledge of her acceptance as an heir of Christ’s kingdom — even though clouds & spirits sometimes darken the view while still on earth — After he had gone she said, (lying with her eyes closed —) “That was the consolation” —
Sunday 31st. Since then she has only been roused for a few moments — at times very wandering — suffering a great deal of pain — but
alwaysknowing those about her and always seeming comforted by Mr Drayton’s visits when able to receive them. Father once read to her a chapter to which
AI Notes
Sixth page of the seven-page eyewitness account of Henrietta Catherine Gaillard Barker’s last illness, written by her granddaughter Ellen Milliken Barker (later Mrs. Thomas Porcher). Records the close of the Rev. Mr. Drayton’s first visit, Grandmother’s quiet thanks (‘do come again’, ‘do come often’), her subsequent days of drowsiness and confusion, Cousin Esther’s question about the bright light beyond the dark river of her earlier dream-vision, a second Drayton visit (his theme: her ‘life of piety being a sure pledge of her acceptance as an heir of Christ’s kingdom’), and the writer’s dated entry for Sunday 31st (probably an error for Aug 1, 1858 — the next Sunday between Sunday July 25 on p051 and Sunday Aug 8 on p053). ‘Father’ = Samuel Gaillard Barker. The page reads ‘life of piety’ (and ‘true religion’ on p053); the strikethrough/caret apparatus around ‘I have not been thinking much … in a great confusion for some days past’ is preserved; the date reads ‘Sunday 31st’.
Account continues on next page. The dated “Sunday 31st” is anomalous — Sunday July 25 was the previous entry (p051), Sunday Aug 8 is the next (p053). The intervening Sunday was Aug 1, 1858; “31st” is most plausibly a writer’s slip for “1st”, though preserved here as written.