_Urging a Son to relinquish the Naval Profession._
Upton, June 12th, 187-
DEAR FREDERICK,
Your letter of the 1st, informing me that you had determined to remain in your present profession, caused me great distress. If you wish to add some little portion of comfort to the last years of a father"s life, which your headstrong pa.s.sions have already greatly embittered, you will immediately relinquish it. Remember you are the only representative of our family. Why then persist in remaining in a profession wherein you are exposed to constant and imminent danger?
I wish you to marry, and hope to see you settle down and discharge the duties of your position in society as a country gentleman; you have ample means at your disposal now, as the whole of your late uncle"s property is yours. Concede a little to your father, whose only desire is to see his name honourably upheld, his family perpetuated, in the county in which we are now so much respected.
Age is creeping on me, Frederick, I am widowed and alone. I trust this appeal will not be made in vain. You know my deep and lasting affection for you; do not wound it by a refusal. Awaiting with great anxiety your determination,
Believe me,
Your affectionate father,
_Reply._
H.M.S. Psyche, June 19th.
MY DEAR FATHER,
Dearly as I love my n.o.ble profession, I am unable to resist your last earnest appeal, and agree therefore to give up my commission, and return to a life on land. The pang this resolution costs me is softened by the remembrance that I may thus hope to ensure the happiness of so good a father.
I shall shortly return to you, and will endeavour in all things to prove
Your most dutiful and affectionate son,
_A Letter from a Father to a Son at School, on the necessity of attention to his Studies._
Mudiford, January 28th, 187-
MY DEAR BOY,
Now you have returned to school it is my duty to point out to you how absolutely necessary it is for your future success that you should persevere in your studies, more especially if you wish to leave college (for which you are destined) with honour. Do not be carried away with the natural love of ease and pleasure, but accustom yourself at once to really hard work. If you cannot reconcile yourself to do so in your youth you will be unable to do so as you grow older, and you will become incapable of achieving anything great. Application may be difficult at first, but when once you have accustomed yourself to it you will find study pleasant, easy, and agreeable, and in years to come you will be well repaid for the toil and trouble you now undergo. What can be pleasanter than to find yourself at the head of your school, leaving all compet.i.tors behind? what more gratifying than to give pleasure to your father and mother, and to obtain the admiration and approval of your teachers? That, dear boy, will be your reward if you study constantly and patiently; but if you neglect the opportunities offered to you now, your future life will be nothing but disquietude, and you will grow up ignorant, and be despised. Pay attention to my advice, and work in the morning of your days. With your mother"s best love and mine,
Believe me,
Your ever affectionate father,
R. R.
_Reply to a Letter from a young Man informing his Uncle he had contracted Debts._
Soltney, March 4th, 187-
MY DEAR NEPHEW,
I was indeed deeply grieved on the receipt of your letter to find you had forgotten, or at least not acted up to the advice I gave you--to pay for everything you purchased at once, and not to go into debt on any account. I must put things before you now in a plain unvarnished manner, and give you my opinion, formed after many years" experience. The man who contracts debts which he is unable to pay, more especially for articles of useless luxury, is much more culpable than the poor creature who, distracted by all the miseries of his starving family at home, rushes into the first shop he sees and steals something to relieve their necessities.
When men find themselves enc.u.mbered with debts which they are unable to pay, mean subterfuges are resorted to; applications for delay of payment are made--and granted, without any good result; the final crash comes at last: the patience and temper of the tradesmen become exhausted, they have recourse to their legal remedy, and wretchedness and beggary are the result.
It may be that you have been endeavouring to keep pace with some young man of greater fortune than your own. Be not led away by such absurd vanity. The largest income will be and has been squandered, unknown as it were to its possessor, solely from the crime (and a great one too it is) of running into debt. I regret that I cannot a.s.sist you at present with the loan you request, and remain
Your affectionate uncle,
T. H. P.
_Acknowledging a Letter of Congratulation on the Birth of a Child._
Duke Street, St. James"s, Dec. 24th, 187-
DEAR ----,
Thanks for your kind letter and good wishes. I am happy to say that my wife and the baby are going on well. I have told Mrs. Compton about Mr. Denville; she is glad to hear so good an account of him.
Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year,
Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
D. W.
_From a Child, acknowledging the receipt of the Present of a Book._
Ramsden Hall, January 18th, 187-