"Bower of Bliss"
Quality Alley, May 18 /81
My Dear Father;
I have just come up from listening to a lecture by Dr. Lord [history lecturer at Mount Holyoke], on Dante, I wish I could have had him sitting beside me and heard him. He is now an old man of seventy, but the fire and vigor of youth still remain. Dante is the third lecture he has given us, the other two were on Carlyle and Napolean. He uses words in the most powerful way, there is something Carlylean about him, in the grim sarcastic way he hurls out the finely rounded sentence after sentence.
I think he was rather prejudiced against Carlyle, being a contemporary of his own I don't think he could judge him fairly. He says Sarlir Kerantus is one of the most original books written during this century, he says "its a fiery vivid sarcasm into which he found his best powers and maturity,["] but thinks his essay in Burnskill will probably live longest and be the most read, what a beautiful tender tribute it is to the memory of his dead friend, and touches us all the more because of coming from that strong man, that mighty genius that spares none in his truthfulness, I am going to read it to you, want very much to hear your opinion of it. His estimate of Napolean was the finest and most just I ever heard or read, he marches straight through his subject vivifying and realizing it before us, in a way we cannot forget.
He says Napolean stayed the march of civilization in France fifty years.
I don't think any human being could ever stand the list of all the power Napolean had and be true to himself, its one of my doctrines and I've had arguments of indefinite length with the teachers on the subject, only one of them agrees with me. I had the audacity to brave a short interview with Dr. Lord, he smiled grimly at my enthusiasm and told me that in all Christendom since the world began, there has been but one example of a man endowed with un[...] power, who did not become intoxicated and remained true to himself, he told me to go on he guessed I could fight it out on that line.
I am going to investigate the life of this miracle of a Marcus Aurelius. I am glad if mankind hashed one representative who could do it, but to me it seems impossible.
Todays lecture I think was the finest, he grew eloquent, over the wonderful genius of that exiled poet.
He calls "The Inferno" ["]that marvelous nuptic [?] unfathomable song in which he sang his sorrows. A vivid graphic picture of the Middle Ages idea of retribution in the Infernal Regions, that his writings were the explanation of dogmas his age accepted, Revelation of glories only a lofty-soul could utter."
Only five more weeks untill [sic] I come home, we girls have been talking over the route we're going to take, we think of going down the Sound to N.Y. by steamer, then by way of Washington on the B. & Q. R. R. Several of the Ohio girls will come through that way and perhaps Belle McElvine will stop a day with me and go over to Washington Commencement as she has acquaintances there.
As usual we have some missionaries haunting these classic halls, two of them are Spanish, I have been assisting to array one of my friends - a tall brunette in the costume of Spanish butter woman, which is very pretty and simple [?]. She is going to take part in a Spa[n]ish play our missionary friends are getting up for our amusement and instruction.
I have been studying with a good deal of success this series, have succeeded in making up the lessens [sic] I lost during my time off duty with the measles. Two weeks ago we had three or four days of intensly [sic] warm weather, then it began to rain and has continued ever since and now every thing is green and beautiful, the fresh morning air comes in my window heavy laden with the fragrance of apple blossoms, we are walled in on one side by the pink orchards of bloom and on the other by the fresh green mountains.
As it is such a short time untill [sic] school closes, it is very necessary I should hear from you soon, I know you are very busy and pressed for time, even if you do think I can afford a new dress, it will soon be too late to get it made.
I would like very much to have you write me a few lines and answer what I asked you in my last letter. Do you think there is any possibility of having the express train stop at Robbins Station?
Doubtless Brother has told you of the honors his class has conferred on him as speaker before the Society, also before the Fraternity and at the class Supper, his standing too is very good and I think he deserves commendation.
Your aff. daughter - Gertrude.
With much love to all.