BakerOliver18220905_001

Cambridge, Sept. 5. 1822.
Dear Oliver, I am sorry to have delayed answering your letter so long, but is has been impossible for me to write sooner. I am sensible of the anxiety you must feel on entering a new course of life when termination is so uncertain; the best directed human exertions may fail, but the end of all things is with God; & I trust you will begin with so much resolution & perserverence, as, with the Divine blessing, will carry will carry you triumphantly through every difficulty. The recommendations you have obtained of the Wellington & the select men of the town are sufficent. I have already written to Mr. Adams respecting you, & he has promised me that you shall be admitted to the Academy. Recommendations however are of little importance, the only effectual one will be your own good conduct & good scholarship. As you are about to enter a path which I have trod before you I shall say a few words, in relation to your conduct at Andover. You will find many things, that will appear strange some that may seem absurd or unreasonable, say nothing