Porteus, Margaret

To Lady Olivia Sparrow, 25 March [1815]

Death has again been thinning the ranks of my beloved friends. Mrs. Porteus has followed , I trust to the land of everlasting rest. She was to me a faithful and attached friend for 35 Years, and one of that sure and steady character that, in that long period, I never experienced from her a wry word; /or a cold look. I always spent June with them./ She had been thro life the healthiest Woman I ever knew, and her fine person and sound health gave you no idea of age. She taken, and I spared! Such is the dispensation of infinite wisdom!