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Mr. P., and immediately offered me a passage, 

 which, though much longer, was much more 

 agreeable than if made in any other way. I need 

 not tell you, Bertha, how greatly I enjoyed the 

 time we remained at Rio, and how happy I was 

 to have you for my companion during the re- 

 mainder of our voyage. 



Thank heaven, I found my dear father and 

 mother well and strong ; my children, too, had 

 just come home from school for the vacation, 

 and my happiness would have been complete 

 had my dear Edward been with me. My boys 

 have fine open generous minds, and I trust that 

 in their education I shall take warning by my 

 own early faults. 



From this little history of my past life you will 

 perceive, my dear Bertha, how much reason I 

 have to be grateful for the afflictions with which 

 Providence thought fit to correct me; and 

 though your education has fortunately been very 

 different from mine, still, this account of my 

 follies and their consequences will point out 

 numerous dangers to avoid, and new motives 

 for continual watchfulness : every page of it will 

 shew you the necessity of a vigilant self-control, 

 and will, I think, amply demonstrate the value 

 of homely virtues and of homely knowledge. 

 Do not, however, imagine that I seek to depre- 

 ciate the value of scientific or literary pursuits, 

 or that my love for them has diminished ; far 



