oy is, alas! very--his father says--very unmanageable.
Still, notwithstanding all this wildness, he is possessed of a deep and
restless fund of sentiment, which makes me often tremble for his future
happiness. God defend my darling, my summer child, my only son! Oh, how
dear he is to me! Ernst warns me often of too partial an affection for
this child; and on that very account will I now pass on from portrait
No. 1 to

No. 2.--Behold then the little Queen-bee, our eldest daughter, just
turned ten years; and you will see a grave, fair girl, not handsome, but
with a round, sensible face; from which I hope, by degrees, to remove a
certain ill-tempered expression. She is uncommonly industrious, silent
and orderly, and kind towards her younger sisters, although very much
disposed to lecture them; nor will she allow any opportunity to pass in
which her importance as "eldest sister" is not observed; on which
account the little ones give her the titles of "Your Majesty" and "Mrs.
Judge." The little Louise appears to me one of those who will always be
still and sure; and who, on this account, will go fortunately though the
world.

No. 3.--People say that my little nine-years-old Eva will be very like
her mother. I hope it will prove a really splendid fac-simile. See,
then, a little, soft, round-about figure, which, amid laughter and
merriment, rolls hither and thither lightly and nimbly, with an
ever-varying physiognomy, which is rather plain than handsome, although
lit up by a pair of beautiful, kind, dark-blue eyes. Quickly moved to
sorrow, quickly excited to joy; good-hearted, flattering,
confection-loving, pleased with new and handsome clothes, and with dolls
and play; greatly beloved too by brothers and sisters, as well as by all
the servants; the best friend and playfellow, too, of her brother. Such
is little Eva.

No. 4.--Nos. 3 and 4 ought not properly to come together. Poor Leonore
had a sickly childhood, and this rather, I believe, than nature, has
given to her an unsteady and violent temper, and has unhappily sown the
seeds of envy towards her more fortunate sisters. She is not deficient
in deep feeling, but the understanding is sluggish, and it is extremely
difficult for her to learn anything. All this promises no pleasure;
rather the very opposite. The expression of her mouth, even in the
uncomfortable time of teething, seemed to speak, "Let me be quiet!" It
is hardly possible that she can be other than plain, but