natural resources that you possess, and acquire that knowledge of
yourself which enlightens the mind without troubling the heart; I do
not wish to discourage nor flatter you, I only wish to instruct and
fortify you.

Do not think that the river of life will always flow for you as it
does at present, broad, deep, calm and limpid, between two flowery
banks. Age will diminish those waters and deprive their banks of
their charm and freshness. The flame of passion, like a burning wind,
will rise, and more than once perhaps will bring to the surface the
mud that rankles in the bottom, and thus destroy its limpidity.

A day will come, and before long, when, stripped of all those
exterior advantages which please the senses, you will possess only
those qualities, less striking, but more solid, which satisfy the
mind and heart and attract the complaisant regard of God and the
angels. Youth will quickly pass, more quickly than you think, and the
subsequent period of life will last much longer, hence, in all
justice to yourself, let its preparation absorb your attention.

If you had a long sojourn to make in a place close by, would it be
reasonable on your part to pay less attention to the place of your
destination than to the few fleeting moments it would require to go
thither. Youth is not a stopping-place, it is a passage, a time of
preparation; it is to the whole life what the florid period is to the
gardener, or seed-time to the farmer.

Oh! if you did but fully comprehend the value of each hour during
this most important period of life, the value of each thought of your
mind, of each sentiment of your heart, with what extreme care you