The spring has come at last; we have had a few days the most celestial: the gentlest temperature, the purest air, sunshine without burning & breezes without chilliness, skies cloudless but soft. The mountains have taken their pearly hue & the streams leap & glitter as though some crystal mountain thawed beneath the sun; the bosomy hills heaving amid white & rosy blossoms blush in the light of day. The air is full of fragrance & music. O that this could endure & no poison of the mind fall into the cup! 1