My zeide recounted in the name of Reb Aizel:
The Alter Rebbe once went to his daughter Freidka’s home on Shabbos to recite Chassidus.⁷ Her constitution was weak. Trees surrounded the house and the chassidim were milling around. Reb Aizel said, “I was also privileged to be there in her home. The Alter Rebbe spoke to his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, ‘ Newspapers? They want newspapers?!’⁸ And he took hold of the Mitteler Rebbe’s lapel and said, ‘Why aren’t they learning Tanya? Why aren’t they learning Tanya?! I tell you…I tell you — through Tanya one can become a chossid like Avraham Avinu.”
7. The Alter Rebbe's daughter Freidka was knowledgeable in Chassidus and her father would often recite Chassidus privately for her. 8. The Alter Rebbe berated the chassidim's desire for fresh Chassidus instead of applying themselves to the Chassidus they already had.
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 33-34, no. 8