Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, by HUNTER, ROSE & Co., in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.

PRINTED AND BOUND BY HUNTER, ROSE AND CO.,

TORONTO,

To the memory of those who watched my infancy, whose love gladdened my childhood, whose prayers strengthened my better purposes, whose holy example I would emulate, and the precious memories of whom I would not relinquish for aught terrestrial—to the memory of my sainted Parents the following pages are inscribed.

H. A. W.

PREFACE.

T is now eighteen years since I became acquainted with Miss Wilkins. I had already seen a small volume of her poems, with many of which poems I was favourably impressed. When I met her, therefore, I was solicitous to know somewhat of her history and circumstances. I found that she was the daughter of a deceased minister, that her mother was in infirm health, and that the care of two younger members of the family devolved largely upon herself. I also found that, to eke out a precarious subsistence for mother, self and family, she was teaching a small private school, and giving lessons in music. From that time to the present I have felt a deep interest in what she has attempted and achieved. With that sympathy which is always found in company with goodness, she has sought and found many spheres of useful Christian labour, viz., visiting the sick, seeking out "the neglected and the forgotten," conducting Bible Classes in our gaol, and ministering, by her counsels and