adorns the earth, and makes the heavens above it
bright; and even on this uninteresting place, the flush of rosy bloom
down in the apple-orchard, the tender green halo above, the golden green
atmosphere beneath the trees of the avenue, the smell of the blossoms,
the songs of the birds, awaken impressions of delight; and while the
senses rejoice, the soul worships. Tulips, and hyacinths, and lilacs,
and monthly roses shake about in the soft wind, and scatter their
colored petals like jewels among the young vivid verdure. Delicate
shadows of delicate leaves lie drawn in quivering tracery on the smooth
emerald grass. My garden is a source of pleasure and perpetual
occupation to me. Here, where ornamental cultivation is so little
attended to, my small improvements of our small pleasure-ground are
repaid, not only by my own enjoyment, but by the admiring commendation
of all who knew the place before we came to it; and as within the last
two years I have planted upwards of two hundred trees, I begin to feel
as if I had really done something in my generation. Good-bye, dear.

I remain ever yours,
F. A. B.

BUTLER PLACE, June 7th, 1840.

Thank you, my dear Mrs. Jameson, for your letter of April 4th. It was
interesting and amusing enough to have been written by one whose
thoughts and feelings were far otherwise free and cheerful than yours
could have been when you indited it. I lament the protraction of your
father's illness very much, for your mother's sake, and all your sakes.
A serious illness at his period of life is not a circumstance to cause
surprise; but its long continuance is to be deprecated, no less for the
sufferer than those whose health and strength, expended in anxious
watching, can leave them but little fortitude to meet the result should
it prove fatal. I hope to hear in your next that your mother is relieved
from her present painful position, and that your own spirits are more
cheerful.

I have not seen even as much as an extract from Leigh Hunt's play [I
think called a "Legend of Florence," and founded upon the incident that
gave its name to the Via della Morte in the fair city]; but I am very
glad he has written one, and hope he will write others: certain elements
of his genius are essentially those of an effective dramatist, and
surely, if the public can swallow a play of ----'s, it might be broug