n return she loves him
with her whole heart. Towards the others she is very often somewhat
ungracious; and our good friend the Assessor calls her frequently "the
little gracious one," and frequently also "the little ungracious one,"
but then he has for her especially so many names; my wish is that in the
end she may deserve the surname of "the amiable."

Peace be with my young ones! There is not one of them which is not
possessed of the material of peculiar virtue and excellence, and yet not
also at the same time of the seed of some dangerous vice, which may ruin
the good growth of God in them. May the endeavours both of their father
and me be blessed in training these plants of heaven aright! But ah! the
education of children is no easy thing, and all the many works on that
subject which I have studied appear to me, whether the fault be in me
or in them I cannot tell, but small helps. Ah! I often find no other
means than to clasp the child tenderly in my arms, and to weep bitterly
over it, or else to kiss it in the fulness of my joy; and it often has
appeared to me that such moments are not without their influence.

I endeavour as much as possible not to scold. I know how perpetually
scolding crushes the free spirit and the innocent joyousness of
childhood; and I sincerely believe that if one will only sedulously
cultivate what is good in character, and make in all instances what is
good visible and attractive, the bad will by degrees fall away of
itself.

I sing a great deal to my children. They are brought up with songs; for
I wished early, as it were, to bathe their souls in harmony. Several of
them, especially my first-born and Eva, are regular little enthusiasts
in music; and every evening, as soon as twilight comes on, the children
throng about me, and then I sit down to the piano, and either accompany
myself, or play to little songs which they themselves sing. It is my
Henrik's reward, when he has been very good for the whole day, that I
should sit by his bed, and sing to him till he sleeps. He says that he
then has such beautiful dreams. We often sit and talk for an hour
instead, and I delight myself sincerely in his active and pure soul.
When he lays out his great plans for his future life, he ends
thus:--"And when I am grown up a man, and have my own house, then,
mother, thou shalt come and live with me, and I will keep so many maids
to wait on thee, and thou shalt have so many flowers, and everything
that