Madrid 30th January 1848
My Dear Friend,
I arrived safely in this city yesterday, but alas! not at home, for my wife was my home, but I found that she had left this earthly abode a few hours before I arrived. She had been rather ailing for some time, and on the 22nd was seized with the disease now prevailing here,[1] and which has carried off many. I cannot write more present. Pray for me, and believe me to be,
Affectionately Yours,
James Thomson.
[1] Influenza epidemic. (BM)