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Geneva June 27th 1868

My dear friend Phebe

Yours of May 19 did not reach me till June 24th and this is my first quiet day- when I can sit down and thank you for your most magnificent present- yours are always thoughtful for my happiness- in everything and I already owe to you.- You know a larger part of my pleasure abroad but this immense reinforcement of my resources is almost overwhelming- even from such a dear old friend as you are for in friendship as in everything else- There should be a mutual giving and receiving- and I can not help feeling saddened that the obligations must always run on my side- What is there I can ever render to you? nothing- I am afraid  but the pleasure of bestowing- which I will try to enhance- by telling you how great is the services you render me now- not only putting within my grasp a thousand pleasures and advantages - the golden opportunity for which will soon be past- but lifting from my mind a weight of anxiety- which almost unfitted me for enjoying what was already attained. The cares and responsibilities of travelling alone- become almost insupportable- when uncertainty of resources is added to them. I feel


market day in any European town- I find charming- for there the veritable peasants come in- with their quaint characteristic dress and manners- and the beautiful bright colored awnings they spread over their wares- have a most picturesque effect. beside a thousand pretty devices they have for making things look attractive. There is one thing however- that Geneva can boast more than other smart cities. Its Lake of heavenly blue. and its river Rhone of scarcely less wonderful color- which issues thence a much more [[?]] than it enters at Villeneuve - its walks along the Quays are charming- even Mt Blanc is seen towering above the nearer line of mountains- when the atmosphere is sufficiently clear- but I have not been blessed with that opportunity- the little boats that are moored all along these Quays rock temptingly on the [[?amethyst]] waves- but I need a companion to enjoy a row- and I past them by with only a thought of how pleasant it would be with a friend to take that cushioned seat in the stern.
Can you imagine how I contrived to enjoy so much at Venice- all by myself- as it was I was so enthusiastic then if I had had moon-light and a pleasant companion. I think any extasy would have passed all bounds- there is a very pretty sight