“This place” was the Mt. Vernon Street home of former Governor and Mrs. Claflin, where the poet was always so cordially welcomed and so tactfully entertained that he frequently visited there. Mrs. Claflin appreciated the privilege of the presence of the “old saint,” as she rightly named the poet, in her home. Her “Personal Recollections” of Whittier give a just estimate of his character and many interesting reminiscences. * * * * * “I really think this pleasant day is the beginning of the end of our long winter,” wrote the poet from Oak Knoll to the writer in the February of 1887. “I for one am glad to think so. My cousins, Mrs. W----, Miss J----, and Phebe have been for some weeks in Bermuda where they only complained of too much warmth. They expect to return the latter part of this month. I have been shut in in the cold and snow, but am freer now from pain than I was at the outset of winter. The want of exercise in the open air I feel of course very much. “I scarcely know what is going on in the literary, political, or theological world. I feel sometimes that I have a word to say that is needed, but I have not felt strong enough to write. So, the world must get on without my shoulder to the wheel, and I guess it will.... I wish I could look in upon you and see you all together as formerly. I am glad to think of you in health, which after all is the main thing.” The poet with his usual thought of giving pleasure enclosed jasmine blossoms from Bermuda in his letter. A portion of this letter Mr. Pickard quotes in his biography of the poet. XXVII “More than clouds of purple trail In the gold of setting day; More than gleams of wing or sail Beckon from the sea-mist gray. “Glimpses of immortal youth, Gleams and glories seen and flown, Far-heard voices sweet with truth, Airs from viewless Eden blown,-- “Gentle eyes we closed below, Tender voices heard once more, Smile and call us as they go On and onward still before.” So sings Whittier in “The Vanishers.” Yet while most spiritual, his judgment of spiritualism in its accepted meaning is given in a letter which after the death of his mother he wrote to the dear friend of his sister and himself. She was an ardent spiritualist and, evidently, had been endeavoring to console the poet and his sister through this faith. “Thy sympathy and tender solicitude have been fully appreciated by us,” he wrote of himself and Elizabeth. “But at this time our sorrow can find little alleviation even in the words of affection and friendship. It must wait for time and trust and Christian faith to do their offices for it.