came January 19, and on the 22d died in the drawing-room in an instant!
It was an awful visitation, and never to be forgotten."

The following letter, written immediately after the calamity, is from
the Marquis of Dalhousie, from various circumstances an object of great
affection to the Dean, who consented to take charge of his daughters
when he went as Governor-General to India, bestowing on them the care
and anxious watchfulness which the young ladies returned with hearty
affection:--

The MARQUIS OF DALHOUSIE to DEAN RAMSAY.

Dalhousie Castle, 25th January 1839.

My dear Mr. Ramsay--I have sent John in, partly because I am
anxious that you should let me know how Mrs. Ramsay is
to-day, and partly because I cannot rest till another evening
without endeavouring to express to you some portion of the
very, very deep gratitude which I feel for all your
kindness--for the kindness of your every act and word, and--I
am just as confident--of your every thought towards us all in
this sad time. _God knows how truly I feel it_: and with that
one expression I stop; for it makes me sick to think how slow
and how coldly words come to clothe the feeling which I wish
to convey to you. Believe only this, that to my own dying day
I never can forget your goodness. Believe this too--that
since it has pleased Almighty God that my poor mother's eyes
should not he closed under my roof, and by my hand, I would
not have wished any other place for her departure than among
friends so kindly, loving, and so well loved.