The state of her health during the next three months was a source of
constant and severe suffering, but could not quench her joy in the
wonders of nature around her. "My drives about this lovely place," she
wrote in June, "have begun to give me an _immense_ amount of pleasure;
indeed, my faculty for enjoyment is so great, that I sometimes think one
day's felicity pays for weeks of misery, and that if it hadn't been
for my poor health, I should have been _too_ happy here." Nor did her
suffering weaken in the least her sympathy with the troubles of her
friends at home. While for the most part silent as to her own peculiar
trials, her letters were full of cheering words about theirs. To one of
these she wrote at this time:

God has taken care that we should not enjoy so much of this world's
comfort since we left home as to _rest_ in it. Your letters are so sad,
that I have fancied you perhaps overestimated our situation, feeling
that you and your feeble husband were bearing the burden and heat of
the day while we were standing idle. My dear ----, there are trials
everywhere and in every sphere, and every heart knoweth its own
bitterness, or else physical burdens are sent to take the place of
mental depression. After all, it will not need more than _an hour_ in
heaven to make us ashamed of our want of faith and courage here on
earth. Do cheer up, dear child, and "look aloft!" Poor Mr. ----! I know
his work is hard and up the hill, but it will not be _lost_ work and can
not last forever. It seems to me God might accept with special favor
the services of those who "_toil_ in rowing." After all, it is not the
_amount_ of work He regards, but the spirit with which it is done.

Early in July she was made glad by the birth of her sixth child--her
"Swiss boy," as she liked to call him. Her gladness was not a little
increased by a visit soon after from Professor Henry B. Smith, of the
Union Theological Seminary. This visit was one of the memorable events
of her life abroad. Professor Smith was not merely a great theologian
and scholar; he was also a man of most attractive personal qualities.
And, when unbending among friends from his exacting literary labors,
the charm of his presence and conversation was perfect. His spirits ran
high, and he entered with equal zest into the amusements of young or
old. His laugh was as merry as that of the merriest girl; no boy took
part more eagerly in any innocent sport; nobody could beat him