little son....Oh, what pleasure I lose in being separated from my
children! Nothing can compensate me for that...."

In another letter of about the same time:

"You do not know how much I have missed you and the children, my dear
Mary. To be alone in a crowd is very solitary. In the woods, I feel
sympathy with the trees and birds, in whose company I take delight,
but experience no pleasure in a strange crowd. I hope you are all
well and will continue so, and, therefore, must again urge you to be
very prudent and careful of those dear children. If I could only get
a squeeze at that little fellow, turning up his sweet mouth to 'keese
baba!' You must not let him run wild in my absence, and will have to
exercise firm authority over all of them. This will not require
severity or even strictness, but constant attention and an unwavering
course. Mildness and forbearance will strengthen their affection for
you, while it will maintain your control over them."

In a letter to one of his sons he writes as follows:

"I cannot go to bed, my dear son, without writing you a few lines, to
thank you for your letter, which gave me great pleasure....You and
Custis must take great care of your kind mother and dear sisters when
your father is dead. To do that you must learn to be good. Be true,
kind and generous, and pray earnestly to God to enable you to keep
His Commandments 'and walk in the same all the days of your life.' I
hope to come on soon to see that little baby you have got to show me.
You must give her a kiss for me, and one to all the children, to your
mother, and grandmother"