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FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.

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March 5, 1811.

YOUR letter of November 19, contains this sentiment: "A collegiate course is not very necessary to eminence in a profession." Contrast this with the following extract from a letter, dated

Willington, June 30, 1807.

"I WOULD not omit going to college upon any consideration, for I believe it is very difficult for a young man, who has not had a collegiate education, to get into an extensive practice of any profession." Contrast "the necessity of spending much money in order to maintain as genteel a standing in college as is necessary to be respected," with " dear mother, I am now a very reputable member of society, I am made' very much of by Dr. Waddel, and am beloved and respected by all the good boys in the school." You stated some time ago, that had four

hundred dollars a-year; we know that from his mother, who said this covered every expense; you have received money in the same proportion, and rather more. You now talk of spending one hundred dollars for clothes. Your wardrobe must be unnecessarily costly or miserably laid in; and you know that you have no pretensions to waste, from the idea that it will not be

felt by your parents; you are well aware, that it is with much exertion we provide what is com-fortable, and have no money to throw away. What a weak mind you must have, and how much have I been deceived in its texture, if you suppose that foppish clothes and foolish expenses, or what you call "a genteel appearance," will make you respectable.

I feel more pride, more consciousness of being a lady, by having every thing about my person, the persons of my children, my household, in the plainest style of decency, than I possibly could by endeavouring to cover our moderate circumstances by a tinsel veil of finery, which would deceive no one, and only show the shallowness of my understanding.

With prudence, one hundred dollars will go a great way; without it, ten times the sum will be. like water put into a seive. A gentleman lately returned a graduate from Cambridge, informs me, he never spent three hundred dollars a-year at college. A lad, son to perhaps the richest parents in Carolina, with only one brother to divide the inheritance, wrote to request his mother, that let him solicit ever so earnestly, his parents would never furnish him with more than five hundred dollars: for that sum would enable him to do many foolish and many generous things, and all beyond it, would be shameful dissipation, to which he knew he was too much dis

posed, and therefore requested temptation might not be administered to him.

Mr. T. S. Grimke assured me, that with four hundred dollars one might live well at New Haven, and purchase many books; but why multiply examples? The real expense of boarding and tuition in colleges is a matter well known from printed statements: it is easy, therefore, to calculate what beyond it is necessary for the clothing, pocket money, and conveniences of a young man, who does not go to college to be a fashionist, to sport various changes of apparel, to drink, to smoke, to game, but to lay in a sufficient stock of knowledge, and to attain such literary honours, as may be the foundation of future usefulness, a fortune to him. With regard to your spending a couple of succeeding years in Charleston, I will oppose all my influence to so mad a scheme. You should rather spend them in the Indian country, and learn the rugged virtues of savages, than in the desultory, dissipated habits of Charleston. I flatter myself, your last letter was written under the transient impression of some juvenile folly, which is already dissipated, and that your next letter will be more judicious, better reasoned, and in every respect more worthy yourself. I feel deeply anxious about you: your long silence, the silence of Dr. Smith, after having been my correspondent for so many years, all perplex me. I

east you, and all my cares, on God; praying him to give you wisdom, and to grant me support in every event. Pause, and consider what you are about; a few wrong steps are easier trodden back than many. May God take care of you. Your affectionate mother.

M. L. RAMSAY.

FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.

March 11, 1811.

DEAR CHILD,

YOUR last letter was written in a strain of affection and good resolution, which gave me great pleasure; and I hoped would have been followed up by more such. I have been confined for upwards of a month, by indisposition, and have only left my house within ten days to attend your uncle's sick room.

It has been almost impossible to collect money, and with great difficulty your father has procured such a fifty-dollar bill as will pass in the northern states, which I now send. For the present, I avoid all remark, advice, or other matter, for it is so near closing of the post that I fear losing the opportunity. May God bless you, my dear son, and make you a son of comfort and honour

to your dear father, and your most affectionate. mother and friend,

MARTHA LAURENS RAMSAY.

If any should object to the propriety of publishing these private confidential domestic letters, the editor apologizes, by observing, that the importance of their contents, as cautions to youth, remote from their parents, at seminaries of learning; and also to parents, as models for corresponding with their absent sons, and discountenancing their juvenile follies; outweighs, in his opinion, all minor considerations.

In justice to the youth, to whom these letters were addressed, it is declared, that he has never incurred any college censure, nor has he ever been charged with any immoraral conduct; that his standing in his class was always, and now is reputable, and his prospect fair for obtaining the degree of A.B. before his eighteenth year is completed; and that the friendly monitions of his mother were not so much reproofs for what had taken place, as provisional guards against what might take place in future; and that there is good reason to believe that these letters, in concurrence with other moral causes, have had the desired effect of confirming him in the steady pursuit of knowledge and virtue.

The letters were, at the request of the editor, to whom their contents were unknown, promptly sent to him from Princeton, in July, 1811, though the intention of publishing them was communicated in the same letter which asked for their transmission. EDITOR.

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