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July 25.—­As I sit in my study, with the windows open, the occasional incident of the visit of some winged creature,—­wasp, hornet, or bee,—­entering out of the warm, sunny atmosphere, soaring round the room with large sweeps, then buzzing against the glass, as not satisfied with the place, and desirous of getting out.  Finally, the joyous uprising curve with which, coming to the open part of the window, it emerges into the cheerful glow outside.

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August 4.—­Dined at hotel with J.T.  Fields.  Afternoon drove with him to Pittsfield, and called on Dr. Holmes.

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August 5.—­Drove with Fields to Stockbridge, being thereto invited by Mr. Field of Stockbridge, in order to ascend Monument Mountain.  Found at Mr. Field’s, Dr. Holmes, Mr. Duyckink of New York; also Mr. Cornelius Matthews and Herman Melville.  Ascended the mountain,—­that is to say, Mrs. Fields and Miss Jenny Field, Mr. Field and Mr. J.T.  Fields, Dr. Holmes, Mr. Duyckink, Matthews, Melville, Mr. Harry Sedgwick, and I,—­and were caught in a shower.  Dined at Mr. Field’s.  Afternoon, under guidance of J.F.  Headley, the party scrambled through the Ice Glen.  Left Stockbridge and arrived at home about eight P.M.

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August 7.—­Messrs. Duyckink, Matthews, and Melville called in the forenoon.  Gave them a couple of bottles of Mr. Mansfield’s champagne, and walked down to the lake with them.  At twilight Mr. Edwin P. Whipple and wife called from Lenox.

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August 19.—­Monument Mountain, in the early sunshine; its base enveloped in mist, parts of which are floating in the sky; so that the great hill looks really as if it were founded on a cloud.  Just emerging from the mist is seen a yellow field of rye, and above that, forest.

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August 24.—­In the afternoons, this valley in which I dwell seems like a vast basin filled with golden sunshine, as with wine.

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August 31.—­J.R.  Lowell called in the evening.  September 1st, he called with Mrs. Lowell in the forenoon, on their way to Stockbridge or Lebanon, to meet Miss Bremer.

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September 2.—­“When I grow up,” quoth J——­, in illustration of the might to which he means to attain,—­“when I grow up, I shall be two men!”

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September 3.—­Foliage of maples begins to change.

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