, is in your own hands. Like Hercules, every young man has his choice between pleasure, falsely so called, and infamy, or laborious virtue and a fair fame. In old age, indeed long before, we begin to feel the folly, or wisdom, of our selection. I confidently trust that you, my son, will choose wisely. In seven years from this time, you will repent, or rejoice, at the disposition which you make of the present hour. Your affectionate uncle,

p. S.— We don't say " I only go there of post-days," but on post-days.

My dear Theodore,

Your letter (the first that I have received for three posts) has relieved me from very great concern and uneasiness on your account. Your reason for failing to write, was altogether insufficient. Compare, I beseech you, my son, the trouble which it would give you to send me a few short lines, with my suspense and anxiety lest you should be ill, or some disastrous accident have befallen you, and I am sure you will confess, that the loss, or miscarriage, of one of your letters, or the trouble of composing it, is nothing in comparison. Send your next by the New ©rleans mail, or write by the Genito post, and I shall receive an early answer to this. Attend, I beg of you, my son, to your books. In a short time, I hope to see you; but let not this expectation stop your pen.

Believe me, most truly,

kinsman and friend,

T. B. Dudley.

P. S. — I am sorry for the loss of Miniken's foal. How are the others? — and every thing, and every body? How and where is Dr. Robinson? and Mr. Dillon? and Mr. Johnston.

House of Representatives, April 5, 1806. My dear Theodore,

Last night I was again denied the pleasure of hearing from you. I was not, indeed, without hopes that the New Orleans mail, which came in this morning, would bring me a letter from you, but in this expectation I have been disappointed. By this time I hope your cousins and sisters are at home, and your solitary, uncomfortable situation much changed for the better.

God bless you, my son. I hope soon to see you once

My dear Boys,

By this time, I trust, you have become familiarized, in some degree, to your new situation, and to its restraints; which, I hope, you will bear without murmuring, in the reflection that your present self-denial will essentially contribute to your future and permanent benefit. I have often regretted, since I parted from you, that it was not my good fortune, at your time of life, to be placed in a situation equally eligible with what I conceive yours to be. You have both, unless I am much deceived in you, a laudable ambition to become learned and respectable men. Whether such is to be your future character, respected and esteemed by all good men, or whether you shall become mere vulgar beings, whose only business is "fruges con-mmcre" will

altogether depend upon your present exertions. You, my dear Theodore, are too much straitened for time, to lose a moment that can be profitably employed; and you, my dear Buona, although younger by five years, must not conceive that you have any to lose. Recollect that, two years ago, you could master Caesar, and that if you had continued to progress, instead of falling back, which, from ill health and the want of an instructer, you were compelled to do, you might now be a finished Latin scholar, and somewhat of a Grecian into the bargain. The man who thinks himself so rich that he can afford to neglect his affairs and throw away his money, is not far from want, however great his estate may be. But time is, at once, the most valuable and most perishable of all our possessions; when lost it never can be retrieved.

I hope to hear from you both, very soon, and to learn what you are doing, and how you like your situation. Your mother, my dear Tudor, is not very well, but Sally is quite so. Tom and Archibald Harrison have been with us, ever since Friday evening. Beverley has not returned from Mr. Randolph's. Dr. Robinson has, at last, brought his lady home. We dined with them to-day.

Present me, very respectfully, to Dr. Haller. I write by candle-light, and the moths are swarming around my pen, and on the paper, so that you will have some difficulty, I fear, to make out my writing.

God bless you, my dear boys! I am your affectionate uncle and friend,

P. S. — I was sorry to find, on coming home, that D'Anville had been left behind. Theodore should apprize Dr. Haller of his never having had the small-pox, and embrace the first opportunity of being vaccinated.

My dear Theodore,

I am very glad to find that you and Buona are pleased with your situation, and that you have begun to learn French. At the same time, my son, if it is not incompatible with Dr. Haller's plan of instruction, I wish you both to resume your Latin. Present my respects to the Doctor, and communicate this circumstance to him.

The following errors in your letter, a little care and reflection would, 1 am persuaded, have led you to avoid. " Have began" is not grammatical: began is the imperfect tense of the verb begin; have begun is the perfect. " None ■of us ever go in the street:" it should be into the street. The preposition " by," instead of the verb buy, to purchase. " Mellons" for melons. " I am dictated by the corrections, &c," is not good English: it should be, I am directed by, &c. There can be no excuse for false orthography: and what but inattention could have caused the errors I have noted, or occasioned Buona to spell watch, thus — " wacth ?" God bless you both, my children.

Your fond uncle,

My dear Theodore,

I thank you for your letter, which I received by the post before last. Present my respects to Dr. Haller, and

The appellation by which he called his younger nephew. — D.

tell him that I will be obliged to him to procure you shirts, handkerchiefs, and such other things as you may stand in need of.

We do not say " scarcely nothing," but any thing. Give my love to Buona, and tell him that I shall forward his letter to his brother immediately; but, tell him, also, that "a tolerable long letter" is intolerable English. He should have used the adverb [tolerably) instead of the adjective. I wish that, instead of a fictitious correspondent, you would address your letters, I mean those which Dr. H. requires you to write, weekly, to some one of your friends, or acquaintance. It would take off from them the air of stiffness which now characterizes them. If Buona had been describing Richmond to his mother, or myself, he would never have introduced it with, " I beg leave to wait upon you;" an awkward exordium, which even Mr. Expectation, of Norfolk, would not approve. You see, my sons, that I make very free with your performances, but do not let this discourage you. Write your letters, just as you think them, and they will be easy; and any inaccuracy, which creeps in, may be afterwards corrected.

The partridges arc so forward, that we have begun to shoot nearly a month earlier than usual. Carlo is an excellent dog for bringing birds, after they are shot, but not so good for finding game. I wish you were with me, my sons, to enjoy the sport. Your skill, my dear Theodore, would make amends for my clumsiness, and dear Buona would hold Miniken, who now runs away from uncle whenever she has an opportunity. But, thank God, my children, you are more profitably engaged. This, alone, reconciles me to the loss of your society. I hope to see you both, about the last of this month.

Mother has had an ague, and Sally very sore fingers. Your friend and kinsman,

P. S. — Do not make a flourish under my name, on the superscription of your letters. It is not customary to do so.

I got a letter to-night from Mr. Bryan: he and my little god-son are well, but Mrs. B. has the fever.

My dear Buona, this is your birth-day; you are now entering on your twelfth year: may you see many happy returns of this anniversary. The success of my wish will materially depend, my child, on the use which you make of the present time.

My dear Theodore,

I am extremely glad that you and Buona are once more in a situation to prosecute your studies, which, I suppose, engross your whole time, since I do not hear from you as often as when I was at Bizarre, although you now have a daily conveyance for your letters. My dear Tudor has not written once to his uncle; nor have I received any letter from him, for his brother — to whom I wrote, by the Leonidas, soon after my arrival here. You would gratify me very much, my sous, by letting me hear from you two or three times a week, even if it were but a single line. My dear boys, I have no objection to your engaging in any manly and athletic exercise whatever; on the contrary, would encourage you to such innocent and invigorating sports. I have some books of amusement, as well as instruction, which I shall send you in a few days. God bless you both.

Your fond uncle,

My dear Theodore,

I have just received your letter of the 4th, and wait, with great anxiety, for one from Dr. Haller, on the same subject.

Let me recommend to you another perusal of Lord Chatham's letters to his nephew. Attend to his precepts respecting deportment to inferiors, equals, and superiors. Let these words, also, be engraven on your mind — "Whatever you take from pleasure, amusement, or indolence, for these first few years of your life, will repay you a hundred fold in the pleasures, honours, and advantages, of all your remaining days." The candour with which you confess your indiscretion towards Dr. H., and your determination to avoid giving him future cause of displeasure, prevent my saying any thing on that subject, except to caution you against any indulgence of sudden suggestions of your feelings. Some impulse of this kind, I must persuade myself, and not boyish conceit, would have impelled you to lay down a regular exercise of your school. Remember that labour is necessary to excellence. This is an eternal truth, although vanity cannot be brought to believe, or indolence to heed it. I am deeply interested in seeing you turn out a respectable man, in every point of view; and, as far as I could, have endeavoured to furnish you with the means of acquiring knowledge and correct principles, and manners, at the same time. Self-conceit and indifference are unfriendly, in an equal degree, to the attainment of knowledge, or the forming of an amiable character. The first is more offensive, but does not more completely mar all excellence than the last; and it is truly deplorable that both flourish in Virginia, as if it were their native soil. A petulant arrogance, or supine, listless indifference, marks the character of too many of our young men. They early assume airs of manhood; and these premature men

remain children for the rest of their lives. Upon the credit of a smattering of Latin, drinking grog, and chewing tobacco, these striplings set up for legislators and statesmen; and seem to deem it derogatory from their manhood to treat age and experience with any degree of deference. They are loud, boisterous, overbearing, and dictatorial: profane in speech, low and obscene in their pleasures. In the tavern, the stable, or the gaming-house, they are at home; but, placed in the society of real gentlemen, and men of letters, they are awkward and uneasy: in all situations, they are contemptible.