Spencer, Esq., and the granddaughter of Sir William Beechey, R.A., painter to George III. and Queen Charlotte." Macready now lived in complete retirement, his visits to his friends in London being confined to the most intimate, and his life was remote for many years from public concerns of all kinds. Censure may be applied to the morbidness, the temper, and other unhappy traits of character that were glaring faults in the active career of Macready, but he was chastened in his old age as few men have been. His second daughter, Catherine, who had been helpful in this life of charity and instruction to the poor, had developed a sprightly mind, and had written a book or so of verse. He was devoted to her. In 1869 Macready and his wife made the journey to Plymouth to welcome her home from a voyage to Madeira. They awaited her arrival for twelve days, only to be stricken down by the intelligence that she had died and been buried at sea. His eldest son, William, employed in the India service, died suddenly at Ceylon in 1872. In 1840, little Joan, just past her third year, had been taken from him, and amid occasional false pathos on other concerns, to be read in the Diary, there are true touches of feeling in his regret for this tender child. Two children survived, Jonathan Forster, and the son of his second marriage, Cecil Frederick Neville. Macready reached the age of eighty, and his peaceful end was only hastened by a slight bronchial attack. He died April 27, 1873, and was buried by the side of those he loved at Kensal Green, "Ci rivedremo." THE END. |