r. But the change
did not avail; he was seized with a violent cold at Brussels, which,
after an illness of six weeks, proved fatal. He died in that city on the
7th of December 1837. Deprived both of her husband and her only child, a
young nobleman of so much promise, and of singular Christian worth, Lady
Nairn, though submitting to the mysterious dispensations with becoming
resignation, did not regain her wonted buoyancy of spirit. Old age was
rapidly approaching,--those years in which the words of the inspired
sage, "I have no pleasure in them," are too frequently called forth by
the pressure of human infirmities. But this amiable lady did not sink
under the load of affliction and of years: she mourned in hope, and wept
in faith. While the afflictions which had mingled with her cup of
blessings tended to prevent her lingering too intently on the past,[45]
the remembrance of a life devoted to deeds of piety and virtue was a
solace greater than any other earthly object could impart, leading her
to hail the future with sentiments of joyful anticipation. During the
last years of her life, unfettered by worldly ties, she devoted all her
energies to the service of Heaven, and to the advancement of Christian
truth. Her beautiful ode, "Would you be young again?" was composed in
1842, and enclosed in a letter to a friend; it is signally expressive of
the pious resignation and Christian hope of the author.

After the important era of her marriage, she seems to have relinquished
her literary ardour. But in the year 1821, Mr Robert Purdie, an
enterprising music-seller in Edinburgh, having resolved to publish a
series of the more approved national songs, made application to several
ladies celebrated for their musical skill, with the view of obtaining
their assistance in the arrangement of the melodies. To these ladies was
known the secret of Lady Nairn's devotedness to Scottish song, enjoying
as they did her literary correspondence and private intimacy; and in
consenting to aid the publisher in his undertaking, they calculated on
contributions from their accomplished friend. They had formed a correct
estimate: Lady Nairn, whose extreme diffidence had hitherto proved a
barrier to the fulfilment of the best wishes of her heart, in effecting
the reformation of the national minstrelsy, consented to transmit
pieces for insertion, on the express condition that her name and rank,
and every circumstance connected with her history, should be