AND THE DUKES OF RICHMOND. 67 



Her daughter, Blanche Arthur Georgiana, the Duke 

 of Wellington's goddaughter, who married, in 1865, 

 the late J. K. Swinton, Esq., received a letter from 

 Bishop Wilkinson, which gives a true picture of her 

 mother's character, and a copy of which must not 

 be omitted here. 



" 34, Cadogan Gardens, S.W., Christmas, 1892. 



"My dear Mrs. Swinton, 



" I am glad you are preparing a memoir of Lady de Ros ; 

 many besides myself will value it. It was a great privilege from 

 time to time to visit her during those later years of her life. 



" I was specially struck with three things : 



" First, her thankfulness to God and man. However weak 

 or lonely she might seem to others, she was never tired of refer- 

 ring to the goodness of her heavenly Father, the results of the 

 Saviour's Atonement, the unvarying kindness which she received 

 from her many relations and friends. 



" Secondly, her activity. To the last she worked for others — for 

 friends, for comparative strangers, for the distressed Irish ladies. 

 Her mind and hands were never idle. As I write I have before 

 me a beautiful ivory marker, with the most delicate illuminations, 

 made only a few years before her death. Whenever 1 visited her 

 she was, with hardly, I think, an exception, doing something 

 which would give pleasure to others. 



- " Thirdly, as the result of this thankful spirit and active eflfort, 

 she was, so far as I saw, always bright and cheerful. Even in 

 the time of great trial and anxiety there seemed to be hidden, 

 deep down in her heart, a well of happiness springing up into 

 everlasting life. It was, I repeat, a privilege to know her, and 

 it is a real pleasure to recall our many happy hours together. 

 " Believe me, my dear Mrs. Swinton, 

 " Yours very sincerely, 



•'George H. Wilkinson (Bishop)." 



