The end came on January 10th and was in accordance with her sweet life. As she lay with her hand in that of her dear friend Lady Russell she expired so quietly that the actual moment of her departure was not realized. “The features of her face in death,” we are told, “undisturbed by any trace of the cares and trials she had endured, were overspread by an expression of intense repose and peace and charity such as no living face had ever known.” In the introduction to her _Dramatic Works_ Miss Mitford remarks that she “hopes the plays will be as mercifully dealt with as if they were published by her executor, and that the hand that wrote them were laid in peaceful rest where the sun glances through the great elms in the beautiful churchyard of Swallowfield.” And there she lies in the heart of the country she so dearly loved and amidst the sights and sounds that she most cherished. We would close this book with the words of a friend and contemporary author who knew Miss Mitford well. “Pleasant is the memory because happy was the life, kindly the nature and genial the heart of Mary Russell Mitford. She had her trials and she bore them well; trusting and ever faithful to the _Nature_ she loved; sending forth from her poor cottage at Three Mile Cross—from its leaden casement and narrow door—floods of light and sunshine that have cheered and brightened the uttermost parts of the earth.” [Illustration] INDEX A Abbey School, Reading, its interesting associations, 63-65 Alresford, Hants, birthplace of Mary Russell Mitford, description of, 1-2; Broad Street, Dr. Mitford’s house in, 5 Andersen, Hans, his visit to England, his words in an album, 349 Anning, Mary, an inhabitant of Lyme Regis, discovers the gigantic fossil bones of the Ichthyosaurus, receives a visit from the King of Saxony, Kenyon’s verses upon her, 44-46 Athol, Dowager Duchess of, M. R. M. visits her at Alnwick Castle, 1806, description of, 104-7 Austen, Jane, M. R. M.’s admiration of, 253-255, 368-369 Aynsley, Lord Charles Murray, son of the Dowager Duchess of Athol, visited by M. R. M. in Northumberland in 1806, 103-105; receives visit from Louis XVIII, in Bocking Deanery, 111-118 Aynsley, Lady, wife of the above, first cousin of Dr. Mitford, is visited by M. R. M. in Northumberland in 1806, at Little Harle Tower, takes her to Alnwick Castle, 103-107; describes visit from Louis XVIII in Bocking Deanery in letter to Mrs. Mitford, 111-118 B Baillie, Joanna, meets M. R. M. in society, 329 Barrett, Miss Elizabeth. See under Mrs. Barrett Browning Bath, M. R. M.’s visit to, 252-255 _Belford Regis_, by M. R. M., published 1835, 339 Bonar, Charles, translator of Hans Andersen’s’ works, friend of M. R. M., 349 Browning, Robert, meets M. R. M., 329; his marriage, 348 Browning, Mrs. Barrett, first meets M. R. M. before her marriage, 1836, their interesting correspondence, 330-334; her marriage, her correspondence with M. R. M., 348 C