.NTI.MTM2OA

I have slept an hour, in my old Easy Chair, by the fire, & feel the better for it. John Davis is harnessing the horse to go to the Depot for Mr. & Mrs. [McKee?] in expectation that they will arrive in this afternoon train. [Tanie?] has taken a shine [underline] to [Persis?] Seaver, & sits with her at table. Melinda Harlow corresponds with [start underline] West Point [end underline], as I heard some body say. I don't think much of [start underline] such correspondences. [end underline] Do you [underline]? I have know more evil than good to result from them. Be on your guard, my son. Persons of temperament like yours, warm, impulsive, subject to extremes, in their intercourse with female [underline] friends, are always in danger of saying or doing things from which [start underline] too strong a meaning [end underline] will be inferred, although there may be things, with you [underline], that spring from a momentary & evanescent excitement of feeling: I think, as George does, that the society of virtuous & well educated ladies, not exclusively [underline] young, or unmarried, la-dies who know how to keep within the limits of a [start underline] proper reserve [end underline] on the one hand, & a harmless familiarity, on the other, improves the manner & adds much to the enjoyment of young [underline] men, & men of all ages. To deny this would pay a poor compliment to the merits of our mothers [underline] & sisters [underline], to say nothing of other relations. But I look upon the advantages of such society as something very different [underline] from a particular & private correspondence with inexperienced young girls. You should be on your guard in respect to such correspondences [underline], because [underline]