ns, with
their eternal "Henrik, sit still!"--"Hold the pen properly,
Louise!"--"Look at the copy, Leonore!"--"Don't forget the points and
strokes, Eva!"--"Little Petrea, don't wipe out the letters with your
nose!" Besides this, my first-born begins to have less and less esteem
for my Latin knowledge; and Ernst is sadly discontented with his wild
pranks. Jacobi will give him instruction, together with Nils Gabriel,
the son of the District-Governor, Stjernhoek, a most industrious and
remarkably sensible boy, from whose influence on my Henrik I hope for
much good.

The Candidate is warmly recommended to us by a friend of my husband, the
excellent Bishop B.; yet, notwithstanding this, his actions at the
University did not particularly redound to his honour. Through credulity
and folly he has run through a nice little property which had been left
him by three old aunts, who had brought him up and spoiled him into the
bargain. Indeed, his career has hitherto not been quite a correct one.
Bishop B. conceals nothing of all this, but says that he is much
attached to the young man; praises his heart, and his excellent gifts as
a preceptor, and prays us to receive him cordially, with all parental
tenderness, into our family. We shall soon see whether he be deserving
of such hearty sympathy. For my part, I must confess that my motherly
tenderness for him is as yet fast asleep.

Yet, after all, this inmate does not terrify me half as much as a visit
with which I am shortly threatened. Of course you have heard of the lady
of the late Colonel S., the beautiful Emilie, my husband's "old flame,"
as I call her, out of a little malice for all the vexation her
perfections, which are so very opposite to mine, have occasioned me. She
has been now for several years a widow, has lived long abroad, and now
will pay us a visit on her return to her native land. Ernst and she have
always kept up the most friendly understanding with each other, although
she refused his hand; and it is a noble characteristic of my Ernst, and
one which, in his sex, is not often found, that this rejection did not
make him indifferent to the person who gave it. On the contrary, he
professes the most warm admiration of this Emilie, and has not ceased to
correspond with her; and I, for I read all their letters, cannot but
confess her extraordinary knowledge and acuteness. But to know all this
near is what I would indeed be very gladly excused, since I cannot help
think