letter was as follows:

OXBOW VILLAGE, June 13, 1859.

MY DEAREST CLEMENT,--You was so good to write me such a sweet little bit
of a letter,--only, dear, you never seem to be in quite so good spirits
as you used to be. I wish your Susie was with you to cheer you up; but
no, she must be patient, and you must be patient too, for you are so
ambitious! I have heard you say so many times that nobody could be a
great artist without passing years and years at work, and growing pale
and lean with thinking so hard. You won't grow pale and lean, I hope;
for I do so love to see that pretty color in your cheeks you have always
had ever since I have known you; and besides, I do not believe you will
have to work so very hard to do something great,--you have so much
genius, and people of genius do such beautiful things with so little
trouble. You remember those beautiful lines out of our newspaper I sent
you? Well, Mr. Hopkins told me he wrote those lines in one evening
without stopping! I wish you could see Mr. Hopkins,--he is a very
talented person. I cut out this little piece about him from the paper on
purpose to show you,--for genius loves genius,--and you would like to
hear him read his own poetry,--he reads it beautifully. Please send this
piece from the paper back, as I want to put it in my scrapbook, under his
autograph:--

"Our young townsman, Mr. Gifted Hopkins, has proved himself worthy of the
name he bears. His poetical effusions are equally creditable to his head
and his heart, displaying the highest order of genius and powers of
imagination and fancy hardly second to any writer of the age. He is
destined to make a great sensation in the world of letters."