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[Says he found his recent letters thought-provoking and pithy; comments on violets and how flowers affected the temperaments of Oliver Wendell Holmesand John Keats; compliments him on his critical and intellectual abilities; discusses his life at Copse Hill; feels he has benefited greatly from his withdrawal from society; comments on his daily observation of nature; thanks Spencer for criticism of his work; considers Southern Magazinethe only "trustworthy" critical magazine; feel The Atlanticand The New York Nationare imperfect; responds in detail to Spencer's evaluation of his poems, including " Daphles: An Argative Story, " " Renewed, " " The Wife of Brittany, " " Krishna and his Three Handmaidens, " " Under the Pine (To the Memory of Henry Timrod), " and " The Dream of the South Winds, " " The Bonny Brown Hand, " and " Fire Picture"; discusses the creation of " The Wife of Brittany" which involved a modernization of Chaucer mixed with the influence of Dryden and Keats.]

[Says the violets he sent to Spencer have been a great success; talks about the strange spiritual delight he gets from this flower; remarks how different temperaments are affected by certain plants, Oliver Wendell Holmesby the box-tree, Keats by jissamine; quotes part of a Keats poem; Says he is happy to have found a friend to whom he can turn; says he is very alone; praises Spencer's work at length and in detail; responds to Spencer's critical evaluation, upon his request, of his poems; says The Southern Magazineis the only trustworthy one; thinks little of The Atlantic Monthlyand The Nation; expresses gratitude to William Hand Brownefor introducing him.]

[Thanks him for criticism of his poems in Legends and Lyrics; finds the criticism stimulating; wishes him to become his "Father Confessor"; disagrees with editor from Atlantic Monthlyin regard to the poem; feels some of his own poetry mirrors Dryden, Marlowe, Keats, and Morris; gives criticism of Spencer's " A Bow and an Arrow"; mentions William Hand Browne's urging him to take the initiative in a Southern Literary Guildwhich he gladly will, out of respect for Browne; discusses possibilities for the guild; hopes to bring out another book of poems.]

[Says he is happy to do what he can for new book; mentions ironically that, although he is an extreme southerner, he has one literary friend in the South and three in New England; praises Sydney Lanierfor his brilliance and literary gifts.]

[Expresses thanks to Sargent for being the first man to greet him during his visit to Boston. ]

[Expresses admiration for the new St. Nicholas magazine; offers for possible publication a prose sketch of Southern country life as it was 40 or 50 years ago, written by his mother, a lady of 68, "but bright- minded and alert"; says that the story describes, among other things, the mingling of white children with plantation Negroes.]

[Discusses business; acknowledges receipt of a check for 10 dollars and explains, at great length, the mystery of a lost check for 15 dollars.]

[Promises to do all he can, as editor of several Southern papers, to circulate, and help to prosper, Baldwin's Monthlyin the South; hopes to be able to sell some of his own prose pieces on Southern life to the publication.]

[Says he will let him have the poems for $6, less than he usually gets; accepts this price, as he is poor; offers short prose articles, maybe an article on Percy Bysshe Shelley, which should interest all intelligent readers.]

[Says he is pleased to know the identity of their valued contributor "Publicata"; discusses business matters as well as essays and poems by Crouch; asks for another copy of Crouch's poem, " Give me a Drink of Water, Rebel, " as the greater part of it was accidentally destroyed.]