that had been a dancing-saloon
in his parish; and (referring to a young man formerly in her service,
but then studying for the ministry) the third is John's College
examination."

At the end of 1863 the duchess expressed a strong wish that the
ministerial conference at Huntly Lodge should be resumed. A meeting was
held on the 13th of the following January. As she heard what had
transpired she remarked, "I liked the meeting, and had only one thing to
find fault with: some of the gentlemen prayed for me as if I was
something, and I am nothing. I must speak about that before the next
meeting." She invited all to meet again on the 10th of the following
month. She little thought that they would indeed meet on that day, but
only to lay her remains to rest. The 10th of February was to be her
funeral day.

The fatal illness was of very short duration, and gave her little
opportunity of thought. She was sorrowing over her inability to think
when the words were given to her: "I am poor and needy yet the Lord
thinketh upon me." "Yes, that's it," was her reply; "In Thy strong arms
I lay me down." She was quoting from the following hymn, which she
frequently repeated to her friends, and which she said more than any
other expressed the present state of her feelings:--

"I only enter on the rest,
Obtained by labour done;
I only claim the victory
By Him so dearly won.

And, Lord, I seek a _holy_ rest,
A victory over sin;
I seek that Thou alone should'st reign
O'er all, without, within.

In quietness then, and confidence,
Saviour, my strength shall be,
And '_take_ me, for I cannot _come_,'
Is still my cry to Thee.

In Thy strong hand I lay me down,
So shall the work be done;
For who can work so wondrously
As an Almighty One?

Work on, then, Lord, till on my soul
Eternal Light shall break;
And in Thy likeness perfected,
I 'satisfied' shall wake."

On the evening of the 29th of January the duchess attempted to ask for
something. Miss Sandilands repeated the words, "My Beloved is mine, and
I am His." "Yes," she answered. This emphatic token of assent to a truth
which was essentially her own by appropriation was the last attempt she
made to speak. She fell asleep at half-past seven on the Sabbath
evening, the 31st of January, 1864. She went to the land where time is
no more, in her sev