The radiance of H.'s visit has not faded yet, and I come upon
gleams of it three or four times a day in my farings to and fro,
but it has never a bit diminished the lustre of far-off shining
Newport, all silver and blue, and of this heavenly group
below[5]--all being more or less failures, especially the two
outside ones. The more so as the above-mentioned H. could in no
wise satisfy my craving for knowledge of family and friends--he
didn't seem to have been on speaking terms with anyone for some
time past, and could tell me nothing of what they did, said or
thought, about any given subject. Never did I see a so-much
uninterested creature in the affairs of those about him. He is a
good soul, though, in his way, too; and less fatal than the light
fantastic and ever-sociable Wilky, who has wrought little but
disaster during his stay with me; breaking down my good resolutions
about food, keeping me from all intellectual exercise, working
havoc on my best hat by wearing it while dressing, while in his
nightgown, while washing his face, and all but going to bed with
it. He occupied my comfortable arm-chair all the morning in the
position represented in the fine plate that accompanies this
letter--but one more night though, and he will have gone, and no
thorn shall pierce the side of the serene and hallowed felicity of
expectation in which I shall revel till the time comes for
returning home, home to the hearth of my infancy and budding youth.
As Wilky has submitted to you a resume of his future history for
the next few years, so will I of mine, hoping it will meet your
approval. Thus: one year Chemistry, then one term at home. Then one
year with Wyman, followed by a medical education. Then five or six
years with Agassiz; after which probably death, death, death from
inflation and plethora of knowledge. This you had better seriously
consider. So farewell till 8.45 some Sunday evening soon. Your
bold, your beautiful, your blossom!
"I lead, as ever," he meanwhile elsewhere records, "the monotonous life
of the scholar, with few variations."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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