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last week --he said nothing about my last to him which being a long letter in a strain of advice and moralizing I think he must have failed to receive it or he would have mentioned it. I feel gratified with his present disposition of himself but hope he will not spend most of his time in Mathematics- as that is quite his forte; the temptation will be strong with him to pursue them in order to show himself to good advantage while intellectual studies, & the higher departments of grammar and Rhetoric, the Belles Letters and of natural History it seems to me will better furnish, cultivate, enlarge and polish the mind. I am glad he is learning French- hope he will persevere and make thorough business of it. I think he is now, compare with other, both intelligent and cultivated and that he has the elements of a true manly character, but he has labored under the same disadvantage as myself- while his character was forming, placed where his defeats of character might be noticed but not watchfully and lovingly amended; I think too he and I have not really the same fault, an overweening desire of approbation from others in some form or other. Frid. Morn. It is a warm, pleasant day, that is for winter, the streets very quiet, yesterday bells were jingling at a merry note. it would amuse you to see the variety of

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Mother do write soon.   Lucy do write soon. Samuel do write me a letter.