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194 LETTERS.
learn to know one’s real powers. I believe that I have
found out mine, and I am of opinion that my literary activ-
ity ought to confine itself to the delineation of family life,
which is the nurse of the State, of eternal life, and of the
individual man. To portray that which makes the family
tie delightful and secure; which, in all changes of life,
makes the individual man safe and good; this, and the de-
lineation of original characters and of peculiar events and
circumstances, I consider to be my task, — that in which I
ought to try to improve. myself: Solitude, reflection, and
good books will, I believe, guide me to the goal, although
certainly conversations with enlightened people, and a
more extensive knowledge of the world, would be of im-
mense value to me; but one cannot have every thing at
once, and for my present purpose the first-mentioned means
are the most important.
I may perchance not be able to see you again for many
years, and I wish therefore that you, who have been so kind
to me, and whom I value so highly and so sincerely, should
rightly understand me. Take, therefore, here this hasty
sketch of the plan of a work which, above all others, I have
in view; one to which all my other works are mere pre-
ludes; one which is never out of my thoughts, and for
which I wish to mature and to labor for several years to
come. It is closely connected with my views of life. But
remember, that I do not here propound any axioms for
others, but merely state my own opinion.
To man, his religious views are of paramount impor-
tance. Consciously or unconsciously, he regulates his life,
his morality, in accordance with them. Man’s happiness
and virtue depend entirely upon the idea which he forms
of God, of His will and His Providence, of His relation
to mankind, man’s own mission in the world, and his belief
in a future life. The best police regulations cannot supply
what is wanting in society, when this life-giving longing for
all that is good, for the knowledge of God and love of His
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