I hear you are now in Boston [he said], gay and lovely as usual. Let me give you some fatherly Advice. Kill no more Pigeons than you can eat--Be a good Girl and don't forget your Catechism.--Go constantly to Meeting--or church--till you get a good Husband,--then stay at home, & nurse the Children, and live like a Christian--Spend your spare Hours, in sober Whisk, Prayers, or learning to cypher--You must practise _addition_ to your Husband's Estate, by Industry & Frugality; _subtraction_ of all unnecessary Expenses; _Multiplication_ (I would gladly have taught you that myself, but you thought it was time enough, & wou'dn't learn) he will soon make you a Mistress of it. As to _Division_, I say with Brother Paul, _Let there be no Division among ye_. But as your good Sister Hubbard (my love to her) is well acquainted with _The Rule of Two_, I hope you will become an expert in the _Rule of Three_; that when I have again the pleasure of seeing you, I may find you like my Grape Vine, surrounded with Clusters, plump, juicy, blushing, pretty little rogues, like their Mama. Adieu. The Bell rings, and I must go among the Grave ones, and talk Politics. Passages like these are among the things which really tarnish the reputation of Franklin, and make us feel at times that, essentially admirable as he was, in some respects he was compounded of pipe, and not of porcelain, clay. The postscript to this letter, too, is flavored with the rude gallantry of the husking-bee. "The Plums," it said, "came safe, and were so sweet from the Cause you mentioned, that I could scarce taste the Sugar." But when Deputy-Postmaster Franklin next writes to Miss Ray it is with the light, playful grace of his best hours. Your Apology [he said] for being in Boston, "_that you must visit that Sister once a year_" makes me suspect you are here for some other Reason; for why should you think your being there would need an Excuse to me when you knew that I knew how dearly you lov'd that Sister? Don't offer to hide your Heart from me. You know I can conjure.--Give my best respects, to yr Sister, & tell her and all your other Sisters and Brothers, that they must behave very kindly to you, & love you dearly; or else I'll send a young Gentleman to steal & run away with you, who shall bring you to a Country from whence they shall never hear a word of you, without paying Postage. Mrs. Franklin joins in Love to you & sincere wishes for your welfare, with dear good Girl, your affectionate Friend. Some six months later, when Franklin is on the eve of leaving America on his first mission to England, he writes briefly to Miss Ray again, and tells her he cannot go without taking leave of his dear friend, and is ashamed of having allowed her last letter to remain unanswered so long.