he would have
enjoyed these sights because of her knowledge and love of history.
She could have told the Bible story of every one of these great
frescoes. What a woman she would have been, could she have had the
opportunities of education and culture which her granddaughters are
having....

Tell Mrs. Lewia Smith her lovely piece of lace has been honored
with the wearing in London and Rome several times and has been
pronounced beautiful; but I prize it most of all for the giver's
sake. No one but she would have trudged through the slush and rain
to get those splendid names to that testimonial. Nothing which came
to me gave so much pleasure as those signatures of my own townsmen
and women, from President Anderson all the way to the end of the
list.... This evening Rachel has gone to a friend's to study German
so as to make our way with that nationality. What a jumble, that by
just crossing an imaginary line one finds people who can't
understand a word one says!

Last evening we heard the grand Ristori render a part of Dante's
Inferno and a selection from Joan of Arc. Of course I couldn't
understand a word she said, but her voice, her gestures, her
expression told the whole story. Then the music, vocal and
instrumental, was the softest and sweetest....

ZURICH, April 23.

MY DEAR SISTER: We spent Friday night at Milan--there took our last
look at Italian cathedrals, as we did our first, and its own still
holds highest place as to beauty. We left early next morning and
very soon were among the Alps.... The eleven hours' stretch was
tiresome and disgusting inside our compartment, with from three to
five stalwart men puffing away at their pipes all day long, and at
every station rushing out for a drink of wine or beer. Our only
chance of a free breath was to open the window, and then all the
natives were in consternation!

We reached Zurich at six and, after a splendid dinner of roast
chicken, green peas and lettuce, took a cab and called on Elizabeth
Sargent, who is studying medicine at the university, and found her
very happy and glad to see us. In the afternoon we took a
delightful drive, as it was too cold and misty for the lake
excursion we had intended. The highest Alps are still lost to