20
Extract from a Letter dated Oct. 10, 1800.
In my Mental Improvement, I have read that the wood of the beech-tree is useful to the turner for dishes, trays, &c. and that the upholsterer forms it into stools, &c. and I have not forgotten that yet. I read that in the second volume. My father has told me, that the Romans used to oil their bodies, and make them active, and I have not forgotten that yet, neither. In the Latin language, thousands more are of the feminine gender, than I know. Some are masculine, some neuter. I know a good deal of geography, and I shall be very glad, too, when I know a great deal more; for geography, I find, is a very clever thing for me to know. I know a deal of Latin. I think I know a little French, but no Welch. I know no Greek, neither. God bless you, my dearest mother and father, and I hope
