68 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



this journal, and whether he advised me to con- 

 tinue it. 



" Certainly I do, Bertha, because I am sure 

 it is highly satisfactory to your mother, not only 

 to know what ^ou are doing, but to trace the 

 progress of your mind. Besides, though I sus- 

 pect that no young lady can write a great deal 

 "without introducing a little desultory matter, yet, 

 from the pages you have occasionally shewn me, 

 I am sure there is much in your journal that may 

 be advantageous to Marianne. Indeed I am 

 glad you mentioned it, for I think it forms no 

 bad illustration of the unconnected manner in 

 which knowledge presents itself in every-day 

 life; and if our present conversation finds a place 

 in it, tell your sister, from me, to attend to what 

 I have said about discrimination, and to try her 

 skill in selecting, and classifying in her memory, 

 the many useful topics on which you have 

 touched. 



" The benefit to yourself of committing to 

 paper the detailed knowledge that you acquire, 

 is quite another question. As a help to which 

 the memory may refer I am inclined to think 

 that it is injurious; except in so far as the time 

 occupied in writing forces one to dwell suf- 

 ficiently on the ideas, to perceive their analogy 

 with others. But you may, I think, make a 

 common-place book really useful, by stating 

 your general impressions of the books you read, 



