I have received through the Engineer Department, the “conduct Report,” in your case, for the last month,1 and am glad to perceive that the number of your Demerit marks, has been reduced from 12. in July to 3. in August. This is certainly a commendable improvement, and I hope soon to find no Demerit in “conduct” charged against you. I am happy to find that your cousin Cadet L. Marshall Walker had no Demerit mark for August. Can you not do as well?

I observe on examining the last annual Report of the “conduct Roll,” that there were Nine cadets who had not a single Demerit charged against them during the whole year. Eight of these stood very high in their studies in their respective classes, and the ninth held a respectable rank. These facts justify the remark, that as a general rule, those cadets who are regular in their conduct and avoid Demerit marks, are more attentive to their studies and stand highest in their classes. I do not make these remarks in the spirit of complaint, but to impress upon you the great importance of regularity in all your conduct, and of close application to all your studies and duties.

You are now approaching manhood. Th[e]2 present is a most important period of you[r] life, and much will depend upon the mann[er] in which you may improve the great advantages you possess at the Military Academy, what your future standing as an officer of the army, should you continue in military service, may be. Should you pass through your course at the Academy, with reputation and afterwards desire to resign and engage in civil pursuits, the profitable improvement of your time, will be equally important to you. You should remember that no other opportunity, for acquiring the knowledge which you may now obtain, will ever occur, and that if neglected, the loss can never be repaired.

I shall look with anxieety for the Report of your standing in studies in your class, at the January examination, and hope it may be a favourable one.

Tell your cousin Cadet L. M. Walker , that I would be pleased to receive a letter from him.

Your Uncle