In the third paragraph of her letter, Abigail Addams highlights a specific metaphor from an author she met. She writes that “compare a judicious traveler to a river... improve their quality as they pass along” (16-20). By using this metaphor, she is comparing her son to a river or a spring. The metaphor highlights how the stream moves more swiftly as it moves from its sources and how the spring gets more minerals as it moves along. Abigail Addams wants her son to emulate these qualities. She wants this journey to make him stronger in character, knowledge and well-being. She wants this time away from home and seeing the world to strengthen him as a person and that as he learns he will come home with a new and better understanding of himself.