night; yet I rejoice with trembling lips, and
am afraid to indulge hopes. She is very low. The stomach is so weak
it will scarce bear to receive the slightest nourishment; in short,
if I were to tell you all her complaints you would not wonder at my
fears. The child, though a puny one, is well. I have got a
wet-nurse for it. The packet does not sail till the latter end of
next week, and I send this by a ship. I shall write by every
opportunity. We arrived last Monday. We were only thirteen days at
sea. The wind was so high and the sea so boisterous the water came
in at the cabin windows; and the ship rolled about in such a
manner, it was dangerous to stir. The women were sea-sick the whole
time, and the poor invalid so oppressed by his complaints, I never
expected he would live to see Lisbon. I have supported him for
hours together gasping for breath, and at night, if I had been
inclined to sleep, his dreadful cough would have kept me awake. You
may suppose that I have not rested much since I came here, yet I am
tolerably well, and calmer than I could expect to be. Could I not
look for comfort where only 'tis to be found, I should have been
mad before this, but I feel that I am supported by that Being who
alone can heal a wounded spirit. May He bless you both.

Yours,
MARY.

Her state of uncertainty about poor Fanny did not last long. Shortly
after the above letter was written, the invalid died. Just as life was
beginning to smile upon her, she was called from it. She had worked so
long that when happiness at length came, she had no strength left to bear
it. The blessing her wrestling had wrought was but of short duration.

Godwin, in his Memoirs, says that Mary's trip to Portugal probably
enlarged her understanding. "She was admitted," he writes, "to the very
best company the English colony afforded. She made many profound
observations on the character of the natives and the baleful effects of
superstition." But it seems doubtful whether she really saw many people
in Lisbon, or gave great heed to what was going on around her. Arrived
there just in time to see her friend die, she remained but a short time
after all was over. There was no inducement for her to make a longer
stay. Her feelings for Mr. Skeys were not friendly. She could not forget
that had he but treated Fanny as she, for example, would have done