had always been delicate, and she was very nervous about herself; an attack of bronchitis brought on fever, which rapidly consumed her strength, and brought her, fully conscious, within sight of death; that consummation, which at a distance she had always dreaded, she saw arrive with perfect calmness and resignation, and all the virtues and qualities for which the smallest credit was given her seem to have shone forth with unexpected lustre on her deathbed. Her faculties were bright and unclouded to the last, her courage and presence of mind were unshaken, she evinced a tender consideration for the feelings of those who were lamenting around her bed, and she complied with the religious obligations prescribed by the Church of which she was a member with a devotion the sincerity of which we have no right to question. She made her son Paul and Guizot leave her room a few hours before she died, that they might be spared the agony of witnessing her actual dissolution, and only three or four hours before the supreme moment, she mustered strength to write a note in pencil to Guizot with these words: _'Merci pour vingt années d'amitié et de bonheur. Ne m'oubliez pas, adieu, adieu!'_ It was given to him after her death. Footnote 1: [Differences had arisen in the spring of 1856 between Great Britain and the Court of Persia, in consequence of which the British Minister was withdrawn from Teheran. In October 1856 Herat was attacked and taken by the Persians, which led to war. A detachment of British troops under General Outram landed at Bushire on January 27, 1857, and the Persians were defeated at Kooshab on February 8. Peace was signed in Paris between Her Majesty and the Shah on March 4, the Persians engaging to abstain from all interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, and to respect the independence of Herat. If these dates are correct, as given in Irving's _Annals of our Time_, the intelligence of the peace cannot have reached London so soon as Mr. Greville supposed, and rumour anticipated the event.] [Sidenote: A SERMON BY MR. SPURGEON.]