Nahant, near Boston, August 10, 1857.
"My Dear Sir,
"Before leaving Cambridge to come down here to the sea-side, I had the pleasure of receiving your precious volume of 'Mysteries of Corpus Christi'; and should have thanked you sooner for your kindness in sending it to me, had I not been very busy at the time in getting out my last volume of Dante.
"I at once read your work, with eagerness and delight—that peculiar and strange delight which Calderon gives his admirers, as peculiar and distinct as the flavour of an olive from that of all other fruits.
"You are doing this work admirably, and seem to gain new strength and sweetness as you go on. It seems as if Calderon himself were behind you whispering and suggesting. And what better work could you do in your bright hours or in your dark hours than just this, which seems to have been put providentially into your hands!
"The extracts from the 'Sacred Parnassus' in the Chronicle, which reached me yesterday, are also excellent.
"For this and all, many and many thanks.
"Yours faithfully,
"Henry W. Longfellow.
"Denis Florence Mac-Carthy, Esq.".