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I am, thank God, well enough, which I ascribe 

 particularly to my country life, exercise, and rising 

 early in the morning. I renounced supper long ago. 

 Thrice in the week I go to town to attend to the di- 

 rection of the Institute for the poor, whose number 

 since my publication still continues to diminish. We 

 have not above 2500 poor now in Hamburgh, and 

 of them, all those that choose to be industrious 

 are comfortably situated. Our method has made 

 proselytes amongst our neighbours : at Bern and 

 at Copenhagen they are busy in founding an insti- 

 tution upon the same plan. I am called upon in 

 the latter place to take an active part, which, to a 

 certain degree, my connections with the Danish 

 Court does not permit me to decline. 



I give some time to chemistry, but the most of 

 my leisure is engrossed by farming. I have now 

 500 acres of excellent land, three miles from town 

 on the river side, in my hands, which by-and-by 

 will be in the state of the richest culture. I teach 

 my neighbours the use of marling, of oxen, and of 

 better implements of agriculture. If they learn 

 from me to do as much work, and infinitely better 

 done, with one half of the powers employed till 

 now ; if they learn to keep half the teams they 

 have now, and save one half of the seed they anna- 

 ally throw into the ground, — then the same ground 

 will nourish thrice the number now living upon it, 

 and they enjoy comforts of which they have not yet 

 an idea. 



So, my dear friend, in drawing into the circle of 

 my family all that surrounds me, I have not yet 



