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220 Amid all this tumult of applause, so calculated to unsettle the mind, Grace Darling never for a moment swerved from the modest dignity which belonged to her character. She continued, notwithstanding the improvement in her circumstances, to reside at the lighthouse with her parents, content to dwell in the secluded and humble sphere in which her lot had been cast, proving by her conduct that the liberality of the public had not been unworthily bestowed. Grace Darling, as is too often the case with the noble and good, was 'not destined to long life. She survived only a few years to enjoy her well-earned fame. In 1841, symptoms of declining health exhibited themselves; and, on the 20th of October 1842, she died of consumption.

Grace Darling is described as a woman of the middle size, comely, though not handsome, but with an expression of mildness and benevolence most winning. Her disposition was always retiring and reserved, the effect, no doubt, of her solitary mode of life, a life which unquestionably fostered and concentrated the quiet enthusiasm of her character, and made her the heroine of one of the most beautiful episodes that ever adorned the history of woman.