I was very sorry to hear of that "D" and "E." I was probably quite as
much cut up as you were. I have been melancholy ever since I heard of
it. But you will feel better by and by.... One thing you are greatly
lacking in, as I suppose most boys are--self-knowledge. You do not seem
to know what you can or cannot do, or when you have failed or succeeded.
You have always been fond of trying things beyond your powers (I the
same) as in the case of the boat. I think you over estimate yourself,
which I never did. You thought you ought to have had an "A" in English,
and were not prepared for your low mark in French and German. Do a
little self-examination and nip the bud of conceit; get a fair estimate
and make it too low rather than too high. I am sure I know my own weak
points, see if you can't find yours. That saying of the ancients, "know
thyself," is to be pondered daily. I always keep my expectations down,
so that I am not disappointed if I get a "D" or an "E." My success in
life has been far beyond my expectations. I know several authors who
think they have not had their just deserts; but it is their own fault.
I have just read this in Macaulay: "If a man brings away from Cambridge
{where he graduated in eighteen hundred and twenty-two} self-knowledge,
accuracy of mind and habits of strong intellectual exertion he has got
the best the college can give him." That is what I think too.
Your loving father,