surroundings in Africa. Being of a very delicate constitution, and having applied herself rigidly to study, along with the effects of a severe northern climate, all combined told very much upon her physical strength.
It is, however, pleasant to note that her mother, by adoption, Mrs. Wheatley, from whom she derived her name, was very prompt in securing for her the best medical aid. After all it was thought advisable for Phillis to take a trip over the ocean, and having been previously made free by her owner at the age of twenty, she could easily determine her own course of action. Subsequently she accompanied the son of Mrs. Wheatley to Europe. Phillis had already had some correspondence with prominent parties in England and had become quite well known there, as a poet, by reputation.
She was well received and greatly honored by the nobility and moved in the highest social life. To her the doors of some of the best families were opened and tables spread. The newspapers told the story of her excellence in glowing language, describing her as a poet of African birth, the most remarkable upon the continent. She swayed England as by magic. At the earnest solicitations of many friends she allowed her poems to be published to the world in 1773, appearing in London in a volume of about 120 pages, consisting of thirty-nine pieces. So excellent were these poems in all respects that the publishers, suspecting that some critic would doubt that Phillis was the real author, prepared a certificate and obtained the underwriting of the names of the Governor and Lieutenent-Governor along with the
