work. As you have drawn it forth, I may claim a sort of right to the ornament and protection of your name, and to the privi lege of publicly professing myself, with the highest esteem, MADAM, Your much obliged friend, and most obedient humble servant, HESTER CHAPONE LETTERS ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND. LETTER I. ON THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF RELIGION. My dearest Niece; THOUGH you are so happy as to have parents, who are both capable and desirous of giving you all proper instruction, yet I, who love you so tenderly, cannot help fondly wishing to contribute something, if possible, to your improvement and welfare: And, as I am so far separated from you, that it is only by pen and ink I can offer you my sentiments, I will hope that your attention may be engaged, by seeing on paper, from the hand of one of your warmest friends, Truths of the highest importance, which, though you may not find new, can never be too deeply engraven on your mind. Some of them, perhaps, may make no great impression at present, and yet may so far gain a place in your memory, as readily to return to your thoughts when occasion recalls them. And if you pay me the compliment of preserving my letters, you may possibly re-peruse them at some future period, when B |