Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/36

Rh I have also seen at Mrs. Le V.'s a great number of the grandees of Mobile, and more lovely young ladies I have never met with. Some of these were from the Northern States, and exhibited that intelligence and life which especially belongs to these states. And again I am compelled to feel that anything more agreeable than a lovely, refined American woman is scarcely to be found on the face of the earth.

Nor can I remember otherwise than with pleasure some elderly gentlemen, men of office in the States, who were wise and clear on all questions, with the exception of slavery. And among the young men I must have the pleasure of introducing to you, as my especial good friend, the young gifted poet and dramatic author, Mr. Reynolds, who has accompanied me on many of my rambles, and who has afforded me many an agreeable hour by his excellent heart and genuine conversation. He has prepared for the stage some national historical pieces, and one of his dramas, “Alfred and Inez, or the Siege of St. Augustine,” I shall take with me to read on my journey.

Lastly, I must tell you something of my little friend, Mrs. Le V. I mention her last because she has nestled into the inmost of my heart.

How pleasant it is to be fond of, and to love some one! That you know, my Agatha! And it is so strange that that little worldly lady, whom I had heard spoken of as a “belle,” and as the most splendid ornament of society wherever she went, has yet become almost as dear to me as a young sister! But she has become so from being so very excellent, because she has suffered much, and because under a worldly exterior there is an unusually sound and pure intellect, and a heart full of affection, which can cast aside all the vanities of the world for the power of gratifying those whom she loves. And with this young lady have I conversed of Trancendentalists and practical