You wish, my very dear daughter, to have in writing my desires in your regard. Here they are.[A] The strongest longing I have is that you should live as a true Christian widow, modest in dress, reserved in action, and above all in conversation. On this account you must avoid having to do with vain and worldly young men. If you do otherwise, my dearest daughter, although by the grace of God I hold your virtue to be unapproachable and feel surer of it than of my own, it might easily be sullied, and your conduct would surely be criticised when it became known that you receive such persons and take pleasure in their society. I beseech of you, trust me in this. Your honour and my own and my peace of mind are involved. I know well that there is no living in this world without some sharing in the pleasures it offers, but, believe me, you will never find stable enjoyment save in God, in virtue, and in a just and reasonable attention to the education of your children, to the management of their affairs, and to the care of your household. If you seek it elsewhere you will have a thousand tribulations of heart and mind. Well do I know this. I would not have you refuse the lawful pleasure that is to be found in the upright conversation of the virtuous and in their visits, although in the circumstances in which God has placed you it would be desirable to receive visitors but rarely. In a word, dearest child, for God's glory, for the love and reverence you owe to the memory of your dear husband, for the preservation of your good name, and the edification of your daughter, who, without doubt, models herself upon you, you must keep your inclinations a little in check, submitting them to God, to reason, to your own well-being and to that of your children. You must also bear in mind what is due and becoming to your birth and your condition and to the comfort of your neighbours. You will be greatly helped in this by faithfully following the little practices of devotion of which I have spoken to you, and which I will now again set down.