first alarming indications of his illness. By this time
the disorder had declared itself in such a form as to cause the most
serious apprehensions to others, as well as to himself the most distressing
sufferings. There had been a momentary rally, during which the fact of his
illness had been communicated to England. But this passed away; and on the
6th of November Dr. Macrae came to the conclusion that the illness was
mortal. This intelligence, which he communicated at once to Lord Elgin, was
received with a calmness and fortitude which never deserted him through all
the scenes which followed. It was impossible not to be struck by the
courage and presence of mind with which, in the presence of a death
unusually terrible, and accompanied by circumstances unusually trying, he
showed, in equal degrees and with the most unvarying constancy, two of the
grandest elements of human character--unselfish resignation of himself to
the will of God, and thoughtful consideration, down to the smallest
particulars, for the interests and feelings of others, both public and
private.

'When once he had satisfied himself, by minute inquiries from Dr. Macrae,
of the true state of the case, after one deep, earnest, heartfelt regret
that he should thus suddenly be parted from those nearest and dearest, to
whom his life was of such inestimable importance, and that he should be
removed just as he had prepared himself to benefit the people committed to
his charge, he steadily set his face heavenward. He was startled, he was
awed; he felt it "hard, hard, to believe that his life was condemned;" but
there was no looking backward. Of the officers of his staff he took an
affectionate leave on that day. "It is well," he said to one of them, "that
I should die in harness." And thenceforth he saw no one habitually, except
Dr. Macrae, who combined with his medical skill the tenderness and devotion
at once of a friend and of a pastor; his attached secretary, Mr. Thurlow,
who had rendered him the most faithful services, not only through the
period of his Indian Vice-royalty, but during his last mission to China;
and Her who had shared his every thought, and whose courageous spirit now
rose above the weakness of the fragile frame, equal to the greatness of the
calamity, and worthy of him to whom, by night and day, she constantly
ministered.

'On the following day, the clergyman whom he had ordered to be summoned,
and for whose arrival he waited with much