1820 November 6, [to Eleanor Cope Tyson], Trenton Boarding School

              Philada. 11 mo 6 1820While her Mothers heart is overflowing with feeling solicited on her dear account, cannot my Ellen find one short hour to bestow, wherein, by a few brief expressions which I could mention, the maternal ear might drink in more pure, more soul-satisfying delight, than all the power & pathos of music can bestow; infusing a charm more exquisite & durable than the whole combination of harmonious melodies of sound can boast?In that little hour could she but sincerely say- "My Mother I am now striving in earnest to regulate my conduct & discipline my heart with all its inclinations & affections, by that divine principle & law of rectitude, which was prophecies of old, should be written in the heart & inscribed upon the inward parts of every created being on Earth- and which promise I have often felt to be fulfilled in my own experience, thro' the secret reproofs & checks perceived within, when I have been tempted to deviate from its virtuous & wise requisitions- while at such times of unwatchfulness I have also been tempted to turn away from it & slight it; but now as years roll over my yet youthful head, I begin to see it is dangerous to trifle thus with our mercies, of which this inward Monitor is chief, not knowing, if I despise it, at what moment it may withdraw.Ah should I indeed recieve this welcome information how should I bless the day- the hour- and above all the great & good Shepherd, who had drawn thee, thro' thy willingness to follow, thus far from the thorny paths of error with which the Wilderness of this World abounds; & thus near to his own paternal fold!.... But I well know it is not in my power to hasten this time; at the same time I am equally persuaded it is in thine.... Far be it from me to harbor a doubt that my beloved Daughter has lived thus long in the world with powers of mind strong & capable of discerning between good & evil like hers; & has left this work [...page damage...] But the new-fledged bird makes many a new attempt, & many an unsuccessful trial, e'er strength & skill are