ings of a similar character were held in the three following years.
In one or more of these the number reached 10,000. About the last of the
great assemblies, the duchess wrote--"_ August_, 1863. I cannot but
wonder to see these meetings increasing in numbers and interest every
year; not as a rendezvous for a pleasant day in the country, but really
very solemn meetings, where the presence of the Lord is felt, and the
power of His Spirit manifested. I trust that I have been somewhat
awakened by the preaching of our own minister, which has been very
striking indeed."

X.

THE END IS PEACE.

At the beginning of 1861 the duchess was brought almost to death's door.
To use the words of her biographer, "She was visited with a severe and
all but fatal illness, which was inscribed by the Lord's own hand with
all the characters of the believer's death-bed, except that He brought
her up again from the gates of the grave, and prolonged her precious
life for three years more." So alarming was the illness that she made
all arrangements for her departure hence. Various remembrances were set
aside for her relatives and friends, and directions were given that
certain letters should be written for the promotion of the welfare of
some whose interest she had at heart.

On the evening of her attack she asked her friend to repeat the hymn

"One there is above all others,
Oh, how He loves!"

She then observed that she had been depressed for some time with a sense
of her many sins, but that the Lord was now giving her tranquil and
joyful rest. She often spoke of the manner in which her soul was
comforted, and that never-forgotten night. It is thus described by Dr.
Moody Stuart, who was for many years her close friend: "There was
nothing of the nature of a dream or trance; but as she lay sleepless,
there appeared as if really before her eyes a white scroll unrolled,
glistening with unearthly brightness, and with floods of vivid light
ever flowing over it. Written at the head of the scroll, in large bright
letters of gold, she read this inscription:--'THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS.' All her darkness was dispelled in a moment; with the
glorious words, the Spirit imprinted on her heart and conscience the
fresh seal of the pardon of all her sins; she believed and knew that the
Lord Jesus Christ was of God made unto her 'righteousness,' and that His
blood had made her whiter than snow. Her soul entered in a moment into
pe