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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:08 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:08 -0700 |
| commit | 65e24ef5e3607c581e35991ac6a02868efac2fe4 (patch) | |
| tree | e1d8cb85256ee4ee21dcb903e4f3de04cea9ba6b /3361-h/3361-h.htm | |
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diff --git a/3361-h/3361-h.htm b/3361-h/3361-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a82d81 --- /dev/null +++ b/3361-h/3361-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,32632 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg Letters to his Son, by The Earl of Chesterfield + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + <h1> + Chesterfield's Letters to His Son + </h1> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The PG Edition of Chesterfield's Letters to +His Son, by The Earl of Chesterfield + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The PG Edition of Chesterfield's Letters to His Son + +Author: The Earl of Chesterfield + +Release Date: October 12, 2004 [EBook #3361] +Last Updated: August 8, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO HIS SON *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + LETTERS TO HIS SON + </h1> + <h2> + By the EARL OF CHESTERFIELD + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + on the Fine Art of becoming a <br /> MAN OF THE WORLD <br /> and a <br /> + GENTLEMAN + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> SPECIAL INTRODUCTION </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>1746-1747</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> LETTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> LETTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> LETTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> LETTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> LETTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> LETTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> LETTER VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> LETTER IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> LETTER X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> LETTER XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> LETTER XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> LETTER XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> LETTER XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> LETTER XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> LETTER XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> LETTER XVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> LETTER XVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> LETTER XIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> LETTER XX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> LETTER XXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> LETTER XXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> LETTER XXIII </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> <b>1748</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> LETTER XXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> LETTER XXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> LETTER XXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> LETTER XXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> LETTER XXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> LETTER XXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> LETTER XXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> LETTER XXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> LETTER XXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> LETTER XXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> LETTER XXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> LETTER XXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> LETTER XXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> LETTER XXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> LETTER XXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> LETTER XL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> LETTER XLI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> LETTER XLII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> LETTER XLIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> LETTER XLIV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> LETTER XLV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> LETTER XLVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> LETTER XLVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> LETTER XLVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> LETTER XLIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> LETTER L </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0053"> LETTER LI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> LETTER LII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> LETTER LIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> LETTER LIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> LETTER LV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> LETTER LVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0059"> LETTER LVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0060"> LETTER LVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> LETTER LIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0062"> LETTER LX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0063"> LETTER LXI </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0064"> <b>1749</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0065"> LETTER LXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0066"> LETTER LXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0067"> LETTER LXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0068"> LETTER LXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0069"> LETTER LXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0070"> LETTER LXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0071"> LETTER LXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0072"> LETTER LXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0073"> LETTER LXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0074"> LETTER LXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0075"> LETTER LXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0076"> LETTER LXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0077"> LETTER LXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0078"> LETTER LXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0079"> LETTER LXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0080"> LETTER LXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0081"> LETTER LXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0082"> LETTER LXXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0083"> LETTER LXXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0084"> LETTER LXXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0085"> LETTER LXXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0086"> LETTER LXXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0087"> LETTER LXXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0088"> LETTER LXXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0089"> LETTER LXXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0090"> LETTER LXXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0091"> LETTER LXXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0092"> LETTER XC </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0093"> LETTER XCI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0094"> LETTER XCII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0095"> LETTER XCIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0096"> LETTER XCIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0097"> LETTER XCV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0098"> LETTER XCVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0099"> LETTER XCVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0100"> LETTER XCVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0101"> LETTER XCIX </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0102"> <b>1750</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0103"> LETTER CI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0104"> LETTER CII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0105"> LETTER CIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0106"> LETTER CIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0107"> LETTER CV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0108"> LETTER CVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0109"> LETTER CVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0110"> LETTER CVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0111"> LETTER CIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0112"> LETTER CX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0113"> LETTER CXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0114"> LETTER CXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0115"> LETTER CXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0116"> LETTER CXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0117"> LETTER CXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0118"> LETTER CXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0119"> LETTER CXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0120"> LETTER CXVIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0121"> LETTER CXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0122"> LETTER CXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0123"> LETTER CXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0124"> LETTER CXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0125"> LETTER CXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0126"> LETTER CXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0127"> LETTER CXXV </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0128"> <b>1751</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0129"> LETTER CXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0130"> LETTER CXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0131"> LETTER CXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0132"> LETTER CXXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0133"> LETTER CXXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0134"> LETTER CXXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0135"> LETTER CXXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0136"> LETTER CXXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0137"> LETTER CXXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0138"> LETTER CXXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0139"> LETTER CXXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0140"> LETTER CXXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0141"> LETTER CXXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0142"> LETTER CXL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0143"> LETTER CXLI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0144"> LETTER CXLII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0145"> LETTER CXLIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0146"> LETTER CXLIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0147"> LETTER CXLV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0148"> LETTER CXLVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0149"> LETTER CXLVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0150"> LETTER CXLVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0151"> LETTER CXLIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0152"> LETTER CL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0153"> LETTER CLI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0154"> LETTER CLII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0155"> LETTER CLIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0156"> LETTER CLIV </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0157"> <b>1752</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0158"> LETTER CLVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0159"> LETTER CLVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0160"> LETTER CLVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0161"> LETTER CLIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0162"> LETTER CLX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0163"> LETTER CLXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0164"> LETTER CLXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0165"> LETTER CLXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0166"> LETTER CLXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0167"> LETTER CLXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0168"> LETTER CLXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0169"> LETTER CLXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0170"> LETTER CLXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0171"> LETTER CLXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0172"> LETTER CLXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0173"> LETTER CLXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0174"> LETTER CLXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0175"> LETTER CLXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0176"> LETTER CLXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0177"> LETTER CLXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0178"> LETTER CLXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0179"> LETTER CLXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0180"> LETTER CLXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0181"> LETTER CLXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0182"> LETTER CLXXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0183"> LETTER CLXXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0184"> LETTER CLXXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0185"> LETTER CLXXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0186"> LETTER CLXXXIV </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0187"> <b>1753-1754</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0188"> LETTER CLXXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0189"> LETTER CLXXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0190"> LETTER CLXXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0191"> LETTER CLXXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0192"> LETTER CXC </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0193"> LETTER CXCI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0194"> LETTER CXCII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0195"> LETTER CXCIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0196"> LETTER CXCIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0197"> LETTER CXCV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0198"> LETTER CXCVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0199"> LETTER CXCVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0200"> LETTER CXCVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0201"> LETTER CXCIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0202"> LETTER CC </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0203"> LETTER CCI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0204"> LETTER CCII </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0205"> <b>1756-1758</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0206"> LETTER CCIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0207"> LETTER CCV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0208"> LETTER CCVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0209"> LETTER CCVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0210"> LETTER CCVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0211"> LETTER CCIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0212"> LETTER CCX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0213"> LETTER CCXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0214"> LETTER CCXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0215"> LETTER CCXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0216"> LETTER CCXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0217"> LETTER CCXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0218"> LETTER CCXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0219"> LETTER CCXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0220"> LETTER CCXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0221"> LETTER CCXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0222"> LETTER CCXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0223"> LETTER CCXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0224"> LETTER CCXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0225"> LETTER CCXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0226"> LETTER CCXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0227"> LETTER CCXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0228"> LETTER CCXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0229"> LETTER CCXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0230"> LETTER CCXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0231"> LETTER CCXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0232"> LETTER CCXXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0233"> LETTER CCXXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0234"> LETTER CCXXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0235"> LETTER CCXXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0236"> LETTER CCXXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0237"> LETTER CCXXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0238"> LETTER CCXXXVI </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0239"> <b>1759-1765</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0240"> LETTER CCXXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0241"> LETTER CCXXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0242"> LETTER CCXL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0243"> LETTER CCXLI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0244"> LETTER CCXLII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0245"> LETTER CCXLIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0246"> LETTER CCXLIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0247"> LETTER CCXLV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0248"> LETTER CCXLVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0249"> LETTER CCXLVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0250"> LETTER CCXLIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0251"> LETTER CCL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0252"> LETTER CCLI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0253"> LETTER CCLII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0254"> LETTER CCLIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0255"> LETTER CCLIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0256"> LETTER CCLV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0257"> LETTER CCLVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0258"> LETTER CCLVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0259"> LETTER CCLVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0260"> LETTER CCLIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0261"> LETTER CCLX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0262"> LETTER CCLXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0263"> LETTER CCLXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0264"> LETTER CCLXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0265"> LETTER CCLXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0266"> LETTER CCLXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0267"> LETTER CCLXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0268"> LETTER CCLXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0269"> LETTER CCLXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0270"> LETTER CCLXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0271"> LETTER CCLXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0272"> LETTER CCLXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0273"> LETTER CCLXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0274"> LETTER CCLXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0275"> LETTER CCLXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0276"> LETTER CCLXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0277"> LETTER CCLXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0278"> LETTER CCLXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0279"> LETTER CCLXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0280"> LETTER CCLXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0281"> LETTER CCLXXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0282"> LETTER CCLXXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0283"> LETTER CCLXXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0284"> LETTER CCLXXXIII </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0285"> <b>1766-1771</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0286"> LETTER CCLXXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0287"> LETTER CCLXXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0288"> LETTER CCLXXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0289"> LETTER CCLXXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0290"> LETTER CCLXXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0291"> LETTER CCXC </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0292"> LETTER CCXCI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0293"> LETTER CCXCII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0294"> LETTER CCXCIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0295"> LETTER CCXCIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0296"> LETTER CCXCV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0297"> LETTER CCXCVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0298"> LETTER CCXCVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0299"> LETTER CCXCVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0300"> LETTER CCXCIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0301"> LETTER CCC </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0302"> LETTER CCCI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0303"> LETTER CCCII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0304"> LETTER CCCIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0305"> LETTER CCCIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0306"> LETTER CC </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0307"> LETTER CCCVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0308"> LETTER CCCVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0309"> LETTER CCCVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0310"> LETTER CCCIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0311"> LETTER CCCX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0312"> LETTER CCCXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0313"> LETTER CCCXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0314"> LETTER CCCXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0315"> LETTER CCCXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0316"> LETTER CCCXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0317"> LETTER CCCXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0318"> LETTER CCCXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0319"> LETTER CCCXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0320"> LETTER CCCXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0321"> LETTER CCCXX </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <b> PG Editor’s Notes: </b> + </p> + <p> + O. S. and N. S.: On consultation with several specialists I have learned + that the abbreviations O. S. and N. S. relate to the difference between + the old Julian calender used in England and the Gregorian calender which + was the standard in Europe. In the mid 18th century it is said that this + once amounted to a difference of eleven days. To keep track of the + chronology of letters back and forth from England to France or other + countries in mainland Europe, Chesterfield inserted in dates the + designation O. S. (old style) and N. S. (new style). + </p> + <p> + Chesterfield demonstrates his classical education by frequent words and + sometimes entire paragraphs in various languages. In the 1901 text these + were in italics; in this etext edition I have substituted single quotation + marks around these, as in ‘bon mot’, and not attempted to include the + various accent marks of all the languages. + </p> + <p> + Only obvious typographical errors have been corrected. The original and + occasionally variable spelling is retained throughout. D.W. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SPECIAL INTRODUCTION + </h2> + <p> + The proud Lord Chesterfield would have turned in his grave had he known + that he was to go down to posterity as a teacher and preacher of the + gospel of not grace, but—“the graces, the graces, the graces.” + Natural gifts, social status, open opportunities, and his ambition, all + conspired to destine him for high statesmanship. If anything was lacking + in his qualifications, he had the pluck and good sense to work hard and + persistently until the deficiency was made up. Something remained lacking, + and not all his consummate mastery of arts could conceal that conspicuous + want,—the want of heart. + </p> + <p> + Teacher and preacher he assuredly is, and long will be, yet no thanks are + his due from a posterity of the common people whom he so sublimely + despised. His pious mission was not to raise the level of the multitude, + but to lift a single individual upon a pedestal so high that his lowly + origin should not betray itself. That individual was his, Lord + Chesterfield’s, illegitimate son, whose inferior blood should be given the + true blue hue by concentrating upon him all the externals of aristocratic + education. + </p> + <p> + Never had pupil so devoted, persistent, lavish, and brilliant a guide, + philosopher, and friend, for the parental relation was shrewdly merged in + these. Never were devotion and uphill struggle against doubts of success + more bitterly repaid. Philip Stanhope was born in 1732, when his father + was thirty-eight. He absorbed readily enough the solids of the ideal + education supplied him, but, by perversity of fate, he cared not a fig for + “the graces, the graces, the graces,” which his father so wisely deemed by + far the superior qualities to be cultivated by the budding courtier and + statesman. A few years of minor services to his country were rendered, + though Chesterfield was breaking his substitute for a heart because his + son could not or would not play the superfine gentleman—on the + paternal model, and then came the news of his death, when only thirty-six. + What was a still greater shock to the lordly father, now deaf, gouty, + fretful, and at outs with the world, his informant reported that she had + been secretly married for several years to Young Hopeful, and was left + penniless with two boys. Lord Chesterfield was above all things a + practical philosopher, as hard and as exquisitely rounded and polished as + a granite column. He accepted the vanishing of his lifelong dream with the + admirable stolidity of a fatalist, and in those last days of his radically + artificial life he disclosed a welcome tenderness, a touch of the divine, + none the less so for being common duty, shown in the few brief letters to + his son’s widow and to “our boys.” This, and his enviable gift of being + able to view the downs as well as the ups of life in the consoling + humorous light, must modify the sterner judgment so easily passed upon his + characteristic inculcation, if not practice, of heartlessness. + </p> + <p> + The thirteenth-century mother church in the town from which Lord + Chesterfield’s title came has a peculiar steeple, graceful in its lines, + but it points askew, from whatever quarter it is seen. The writer of these + Letters, which he never dreamed would be published, is the best + self-portrayed Gentleman in literature. In everything he was naturally a + stylist, perfected by assiduous art, yet the graceful steeple is somehow + warped out of the beauty of the perpendicular. His ideal Gentleman is the + frigid product of a rigid mechanical drill, with the mien of a posture + master, the skin-deep graciousness of a French Marechal, the calculating + adventurer who cuts unpretentious worthies to toady to society magnates, + who affects the supercilious air of a shallow dandy and cherishes the + heart of a frog. True, he repeatedly insists on the obligation of + truthfulness in all things, and of, honor in dealing with the world. His + Gentleman may; nay, he must, sail with the stream, gamble in moderation if + it is the fashion, must stoop to wear ridiculous clothes and ornaments if + they are the mode, though despising his weakness all to himself, and no + true Gentleman could afford to keep out of the little gallantries which so + effectively advertised him as a man of spirit sad charm. Those repeated + injunctions of honor are to be the rule, subject to these exceptions, + which transcend the common proprieties when the subject is the rising + young gentleman of the period and his goal social success. If an + undercurrent of shady morality is traceable in this Chesterfieldian + philosophy it must, of course, be explained away by the less perfect moral + standard of his period as compared with that of our day. Whether this + holds strictly true of men may be open to discussion, but his lordship’s + worldly instructions as to the utility of women as stepping-stones to + favor in high places are equally at variance with the principles he so + impressively inculcates and with modern conceptions of social honor. The + externals of good breeding cannot be over-estimated, if honestly come by, + nor is it necessary to examine too deeply into the prime motives of those + who urge them upon a generation in whose eyes matter is more important + than manner. Superficial refinement is better than none, but the + Chesterfield pulpit cannot afford to shirk the duty of proclaiming loud + and far that the only courtesy worthy of respect is that ‘politesse de + coeur,’ the politeness of the heart, which finds expression in + consideration for others as the ruling principle of conduct. This + militates to some extent against the assumption of fine airs without the + backing of fine behavior, and if it tends to discourage the effort to use + others for selfish ends, it nevertheless pays better in the long run. + </p> + <p> + Chesterfield’s frankness in so many confessions of sharp practice almost + merits his canonization as a minor saint of society. Dr. Johnson has + indeed placed him on a Simeon Stylites pillar, an immortality of penance + from which no good member of the writers’ guild is likely to pray his + deliverance. He commends the fine art and high science of dissimulation + with the gusto of an apostle and the authority of an expert. Dissimulate, + but do not simulate, disguise your real sentiments, but do not falsify + them. Go through the world with your eyes and ears open and mouth mostly + shut. When new or stale gossip is brought to you, never let on that you + know it already, nor that it really interests you. The reading of these + Letters is better than hearing the average comedy, in which the wit of a + single sentence of Chesterfield suffices to carry an act. His + man-of-the-world philosophy is as old as the Proverbs of Solomon, but will + always be fresh and true, and enjoyable at any age, thanks to his pithy + expression, his unfailing common sense, his sparkling wit and charming + humor. This latter gift shows in the seeming lapses from his rigid rule + requiring absolute elegance of expression at all times, when an unexpected + coarseness, in some provincial colloquialism, crops out with picturesque + force. The beau ideal of superfineness occasionally enjoys the bliss of + harking back to mother English. + </p> + <p> + Above all the defects that can be charged against the Letters, there rises + the substantial merit of an honest effort to exalt the gentle in woman and + man—above the merely genteel. “He that is gentil doeth gentil + deeds,” runs the mediaeval saying which marks the distinction between the + genuine and the sham in behavior. A later age had it thus: “Handsome is as + handsome does,” and in this larger sense we have agreed to accept the + motto of William of Wykeham, which declares that “Manners maketh Man."<br /><br /> + OLIVER H. G. LEIGH + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1746-1747 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER I + </p> + <p> + BATH, October 9, O. S. 1746 + </p> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Your distresses in your journey from Heidelberg to Schaffhausen, + your lying upon straw, your black bread, and your broken ‘berline,’ are + proper seasonings for the greater fatigues and distresses which you must + expect in the course of your travels; and, if one had a mind to moralize, + one might call them the samples of the accidents, rubs, and difficulties, + which every man meets with in his journey through life. In this journey, + the understanding is the ‘voiture’ that must carry you through; and in + proportion as that is stronger or weaker, more or less in repair, your + journey will be better or worse; though at best you will now and then find + some bad roads, and some bad inns. Take care, therefore, to keep that + necessary ‘voiture’ in perfect good repair; examine, improve, and + strengthen it every day: it is in the power, and ought to be the care, of + every man to do it; he that neglects it, deserves to feel, and certainly + will feel, the fatal effects of that negligence. + </p> + <p> + ‘A propos’ of negligence: I must say something to you upon that subject. + You know I have often told you, that my affection for you was not a weak, + womanish one; and, far from blinding me, it makes me but more + quick-sighted as to your faults; those it is not only my right, but my + duty to tell you of; and it is your duty and your interest to correct + them. In the strict scrutiny which I have made into you, I have (thank + God) hitherto not discovered any vice of the heart, or any peculiar + weakness of the head: but I have discovered laziness, inattention, and + indifference; faults which are only pardonable in old men, who, in the + decline of life, when health and spirits fail, have a kind of claim to + that sort of tranquillity. But a young man should be ambitious to shine, + and excel; alert, active, and indefatigable in the means of doing it; and, + like Caesar, ‘Nil actum reputans, si quid superesset agendum.’ You seem to + want that ‘vivida vis animi,’ which spurs and excites most young men to + please, to shine, to excel. Without the desire and the pains necessary to + be considerable, depend upon it, you never can be so; as, without the + desire and attention necessary to please, you never can please. ‘Nullum + numen abest, si sit prudentia,’ is unquestionably true, with regard to + everything except poetry; and I am very sure that any man of common + understanding may, by proper culture, care, attention, and labor, make + himself whatever he pleases, except a good poet. Your destination is the + great and busy world; your immediate object is the affairs, the interests, + and the history, the constitutions, the customs, and the manners of the + several parts of Europe. In this, any man of common sense may, by common + application, be sure to excel. Ancient and modern history are, by + attention, easily attainable. Geography and chronology the same, none of + them requiring any uncommon share of genius or invention. Speaking and + Writing, clearly, correctly, and with ease and grace, are certainly to be + acquired, by reading the best authors with care, and by attention to the + best living models. These are the qualifications more particularly + necessary for you, in your department, which you may be possessed of, if + you please; and which, I tell you fairly, I shall be very angry at you, if + you are not; because, as you have the means in your hands, it will be your + own fault only. + </p> + <p> + If care and application are necessary to the acquiring of those + qualifications, without which you can never be considerable, nor make a + figure in the world, they are not less necessary with regard to the lesser + accomplishments, which are requisite to make you agreeable and pleasing in + society. In truth, whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well; + and nothing can be done well without attention: I therefore carry the + necessity of attention down to the lowest things, even to dancing and + dress. Custom has made dancing sometimes necessary for a young man; + therefore mind it while you learn it that you may learn to do it well, and + not be ridiculous, though in a ridiculous act. Dress is of the same + nature; you must dress; therefore attend to it; not in order to rival or + to excel a fop in it, but in order to avoid singularity, and consequently + ridicule. Take great care always to be dressed like the reasonable people + of your own age, in the place where you are; whose dress is never spoken + of one way or another, as either too negligent or too much studied. + </p> + <p> + What is commonly called an absent man, is commonly either a very weak, or + a very affected man; but be he which he will, he is, I am sure, a very + disagreeable man in company. He fails in all the common offices of + civility; he seems not to know those people to-day, whom yesterday he + appeared to live in intimacy with. He takes no part in the general + conversation; but, on the contrary, breaks into it from time to time, with + some start of his own, as if he waked from a dream. This (as I said + before) is a sure indication, either of a mind so weak that it is not able + to bear above one object at a time; or so affected, that it would be + supposed to be wholly engrossed by, and directed to, some very great and + important objects. Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Locke, and (it may be) five or + six more, since the creation of the world, may have had a right to + absence, from that intense thought which the things they were + investigating required. But if a young man, and a man of the world, who + has no such avocations to plead, will claim and exercise that right of + absence in company, his pretended right should, in my mind, be turned into + an involuntary absence, by his perpetual exclusion out of company. However + frivolous a company may be, still, while you are among them, do not show + them, by your inattention, that you think them so; but rather take their + tone, and conform in some degree to their weakness, instead of manifesting + your contempt for them. There is nothing that people bear more + impatiently, or forgive less, than contempt; and an injury is much sooner + forgotten than an insult. If, therefore, you would rather please than + offend, rather be well than ill spoken of, rather be loved than hated; + remember to have that constant attention about you which flatters every + man’s little vanity; and the want of which, by mortifying his pride, never + fails to excite his resentment, or at least his ill will. For instance, + most people (I might say all people) have their weaknesses; they have + their aversions and their likings, to such or such things; so that, if you + were to laugh at a man for his aversion to a cat, or cheese (which are + common antipathies), or, by inattention and negligence, to let them come + in his way, where you could prevent it, he would, in the first case, think + himself insulted, and, in the second, slighted, and would remember both. + Whereas your care to procure for him what he likes, and to remove from him + what he hates, shows him that he is at least an object of your attention; + flatters his vanity, and makes him possibly more your friend, than a more + important service would have done. With regard to women, attentions still + below these are necessary, and, by the custom of the world, in some + measure due, according to the laws of good-breeding. + </p> + <p> + My long and frequent letters, which I send you, in great doubt of their + success, put me in mind of certain papers, which you have very lately, and + I formerly, sent up to kites, along the string, which we called + messengers; some of them the wind used to blow away, others were torn by + the string, and but few of them got up and stuck to the kite. But I will + content myself now, as I did then, if some of my present messengers do but + stick to you. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER II + </h2> + <p> + DEAR BOY: You are by this time (I suppose) quite settled and at home at + Lausanne; therefore pray let me know how you pass your time there, and + what your studies, your amusements, and your acquaintances are. I take it + for granted, that you inform yourself daily of the nature of the + government and constitution of the Thirteen Cantons; and as I am ignorant + of them myself, must apply to you for information. I know the names, but I + do not know the nature of some of the most considerable offices there; + such as the Avoyers, the Seizeniers, the Banderets, and the Gros Sautier. + I desire, therefore, that you will let me know what is the particular + business, department, or province of these several magistrates. But as I + imagine that there may be some, though, I believe, no essential + difference, in the governments of the several Cantons, I would not give + you the trouble of informing yourself of each of them; but confine my + inquiries, as you may your informations, to the Canton you reside in, that + of Berne, which I take to be the principal one. I am not sure whether the + Pays de Vaud, where you are, being a conquered country, and taken from the + Dukes of Savoy, in the year 1536, has the same share in the government of + the Canton, as the German part of it has. Pray inform yourself and me + about it. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment received yours from Berne, of the 2d October, N. S. and + also one from Mr. Harte, of the same date, under Mr. Burnaby’s cover. I + find by the latter, and indeed I thought so before, that some of your + letters and some of Mr. Harte’s have not reached me. Wherefore, for the + future, I desire, that both he and you will direct your letters for me, to + be left ches Monsieur Wolters, Agent de S. M. Britanique, a Rotterdam, who + will take care to send them to me safe. The reason why you have not + received letters either from me or from Grevenkop was that we directed + them to Lausanne, where we thought you long ago: and we thought it to no + purpose to direct to you upon your ROUTE, where it was little likely that + our letters would meet with you. But you have, since your arrival at + Lausanne, I believe, found letters enough from me; and it may be more than + you have read, at least with attention. + </p> + <p> + I am glad that you like Switzerland so well; and am impatient to hear how + other matters go, after your settlement at Lausanne. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER III + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 2, O.S. 1746. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have not, in my present situation,—[His Lordship was, in + the year 1746, appointed one of his Majesty’s secretaries of state.]—time + to write to you, either so much or so often as I used, while I was in a + place of much more leisure and profit; but my affection for you must not + be judged of by the number of my letters; and, though the one lessens, the + other, I assure you, does not. + </p> + <p> + I have just now received your letter of the 25th past, N. S., and, by the + former post, one from Mr. Harte; with both which I am very well pleased: + with Mr. Harte’s, for the good account which he gives me of you; with + yours, for the good account which you gave me of what I desired to be + informed of. Pray continue to give me further information of the form of + government of the country you are now in; which I hope you will know most + minutely before you leave it. The inequality of the town of Lausanne seems + to be very convenient in this cold weather; because going up hill and down + will keep you warm. You say there is a good deal of good company; pray, + are you got into it? Have you made acquaintances, and with whom? Let me + know some of their names. Do you learn German yet, to read, write, and + speak it? + </p> + <p> + Yesterday, I saw a letter from Monsieur Bochat to a friend of mine; which + gave me the greatest pleasure that I have felt this great while; because + it gives so very good an account of you. Among other things which Monsieur + Bochat says to your advantage, he mentions the tender uneasiness and + concern that you showed during my illness, for which (though I will say + that you owe it to me) I am obliged to you: sentiments of gratitude not + being universal, nor even common. As your affection for me can only + proceed from your experience and conviction of my fondness for you (for to + talk of natural affection is talking nonsense), the only return I desire + is, what it is chiefly your interest to make me; I mean your invariable + practice of virtue, and your indefatigable pursuit of knowledge. Adieu! + and be persuaded that I shall love you extremely, while you deserve it; + but not one moment longer. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER IV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 9, O. S. 1746. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Though I have very little time, and though I write by this post + to Mr. Harte, yet I cannot send a packet to Lausanne without a word or two + to yourself. I thank you for your letter of congratulation which you wrote + me, notwithstanding the pain it gave you. The accident that caused the + pain was, I presume, owing to that degree of giddiness, of which I have + sometimes taken the liberty to speak to you. The post I am now in, though + the object of most people’s views and desires, was in some degree + inflicted upon me; and a certain concurrence of circumstances obliged me + to engage in it. But I feel that to go through with it requires more + strength of body and mind than I have: were you three or four years older; + you should share in my trouble, and I would have taken you into my office; + but I hope you will employ these three or four years so well as to make + yourself capable of being of use to me, if I should continue in it so + long. The reading, writing, and speaking the modern languages correctly; + the knowledge of the laws of nations, and the particular constitution of + the empire; of history, geography, and chronology, are absolutely + necessary to this business, for which I have always intended you. With + these qualifications you may very possibly be my successor, though not my + immediate one. + </p> + <p> + I hope you employ your whole time, which few people do; and that you put + every moment to, profit of some kind or other. I call company, walking, + riding, etc., employing one’s time, and, upon proper occasions, very + usefully; but what I cannot forgive in anybody is sauntering, and doing + nothing at all, with a thing so precious as time, and so irrecoverable + when lost. + </p> + <p> + Are you acquainted with any ladies at Lausanne? and do you behave yourself + with politeness enough to make them desire your company? + </p> + <p> + I must finish: God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER V + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 24, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + SIR: In order that we may, reciprocally, keep up our French, which, for + want of practice, we might forget; you will permit me to have the honor of + assuring you of my respects in that language: and be so good to answer me + in the same. Not that I am apprehensive of your forgetting to speak + French: since it is probable that two-thirds of our daily prattle is in + that language; and because, if you leave off writing French, you may + perhaps neglect that grammatical purity, and accurate orthography, which, + in other languages, you excel in; and really, even in French, it is better + to write well than ill. However, as this is a language very proper for + sprightly, gay subjects, I shall conform to that, and reserve those which + are serious for English. I shall not therefore mention to you, at present, + your Greek or Latin, your study of the Law of Nature, or the Law of + Nations, the Rights of People, or of Individuals; but rather discuss the + subject of your Amusements and Pleasures; for, to say the truth, one must + have some. May I be permitted to inquire of what nature yours are? Do they + consist in little commercial play at cards in good company? are they + little agreeable suppers, at which cheerfulness and decency are united? + or, do you pay court to some fair one, who requires such attentions as may + be of use in contributing to polish you? Make me your confidant upon this + subject; you shall not find a severe censor: on the contrary, I wish to + obtain the employment of minister to your pleasures: I will point them + out, and even contribute to them. + </p> + <p> + Many young people adopt pleasures, for which they have not the least + taste, only because they are called by that name. They often mistake so + totally, as to imagine that debauchery is pleasure. You must allow that + drunkenness, which is equally destructive to body and mind, is a fine + pleasure. Gaming, that draws you into a thousand scrapes, leaves you + penniless, and gives you the air and manners of an outrageous madman, is + another most exquisite pleasure; is it not? As to running after women, the + consequences of that vice are only the loss of one’s nose, the total + destruction of health, and, not unfrequently, the being run through the + body. + </p> + <p> + These, you see, are all trifles; yet this is the catalogue of pleasures of + most of those young people, who never reflecting themselves, adopt, + indiscriminately, what others choose to call by the seducing name of + pleasure. I am thoroughly persuaded you will not fall into such errors; + and that, in the choice of your amusements, you will be directed by + reason, and a discerning taste. The true pleasures of a gentleman are + those of the table, but within the bound of moderation; good company, that + is to say, people of merit; moderate play, which amuses, without any + interested views; and sprightly gallant conversations with women of + fashion and sense. + </p> + <p> + These are the real pleasures of a gentleman; which occasion neither + sickness, shame, nor repentance. Whatever exceeds them, becomes low vice, + brutal passion, debauchery, and insanity of, mind; all of which, far from + giving satisfaction, bring on dishonor and disgrace. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER VI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 6, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Whatever you do, will always affect me, very sensibly, one way + or another; and I am now most agreeably affected, by two letters, which I + have lately seen from Lausanne, upon your subject; the one from Madame St. + Germain, the other from Monsieur Pampigny: they both give so good an + account of you, that I thought myself obliged, in justice both to them + and, to you, to let you know it. Those who deserve a good character, ought + to have the satisfaction of knowing that they have it, both as a reward + and as an encouragement. They write, that you are not only ‘decrotte,’ but + tolerably well-bred; and that the English crust of awkward bashfulness, + shyness, and roughness (of which, by the bye, you had your share) is + pretty well rubbed off. I am most heartily glad of it; for, as I have + often told you, those lesser talents, of an engaging, insinuating manner, + an easy good-breeding, a genteel behavior and address, are of infinitely + more advantage than they are generally thought to be, especially here in + England. Virtue and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value but if + they are not polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their luster; + and even polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold. What a + number of sins does the cheerful, easy good-breeding of the French + frequently cover? Many of them want common sense, many more common + learning; but in general, they make up so much by their manner, for those + defects, that frequently they pass undiscovered: I have often said, and do + think, that a Frenchman, who, with a fund of virtue, learning and good + sense, has the manners and good-breeding of his country, is the perfection + of human nature. This perfection you may, if you please, and I hope you + will, arrive at. You know what virtue is: you may have it if you will; it + is in every man’s power; and miserable is the man who has it not. Good + sense God has given you. Learning you already possess enough of, to have, + in a reasonable time, all that a man need have. With this, you are thrown + out early into the world, where it will be your own fault if you do not + acquire all, the other accomplishments necessary to complete and adorn + your character. You will do well to make your compliments to Madame St. + Germain and Monsieur Pampigny; and tell them, how sensible you are of + their partiality to you, in the advantageous testimonies which, you are + informed, they have given of you here. + </p> + <p> + Adieu. Continue to deserve such testimonies; and then you will not only + deserve, but enjoy my truest affection. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER VII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 27, O. S. 1747. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Pleasure is the rock which most young people split upon: they + launch out with crowded sails in quest of it, but without a compass to + direct their course, or reason sufficient to steer the vessel; for want of + which, pain and shame, instead of pleasure, are the returns of their + voyage. Do not think that I mean to snarl at pleasure, like a Stoic, or to + preach against it, like a parson; no, I mean to point it out, and + recommend it to you, like an Epicurean: I wish you a great deal; and my + only view is to hinder you from mistaking it. + </p> + <p> + The character which most young men first aim at, is that of a man of + pleasure; but they generally take it upon trust; and instead of consulting + their own taste and inclinations, they blindly adopt whatever those with + whom they chiefly converse, are pleased to call by the name of pleasure; + and a man of pleasure in the vulgar acceptation of that phrase, means + only, a beastly drunkard, an abandoned whoremaster, and a profligate + swearer and curser. As it may be of use to you. I am not unwilling, though + at the same time ashamed to own, that the vices of my youth proceeded much + more from my silly resolution of being, what I heard called a man of + pleasure, than from my own inclinations. I always naturally hated + drinking; and yet I have often drunk; with disgust at the time, attended + by great sickness the next day, only because I then considered drinking as + a necessary qualification for a fine gentleman, and a man of pleasure. + </p> + <p> + The same as to gaming. I did not want money, and consequently had no + occasion to play for it; but I thought play another necessary ingredient + in the composition of a man of pleasure, and accordingly I plunged into it + without desire, at first; sacrificed a thousand real pleasures to it; and + made myself solidly uneasy by it, for thirty the best years of my life. + </p> + <p> + I was even absurd enough, for a little while, to swear, by way of adorning + and completing the shining character which I affected; but this folly I + soon laid aside, upon finding berth the guilt and the indecency of it. + </p> + <p> + Thus seduced by fashion, and blindly adopting nominal pleasures, I lost + real ones; and my fortune impaired, and my constitution shattered, are, I + must confess, the just punishment of my errors. + </p> + <p> + Take warning then by them: choose your pleasures for yourself, and do not + let them be imposed upon you. Follow nature and not fashion: weigh the + present enjoyment of your pleasures against the necessary consequences of + them, and then let your own common sense determine your choice. + </p> + <p> + Were I to begin the world again, with the experience which I now have of + it, I would lead a life of real, not of imaginary pleasures. I would enjoy + the pleasures of the table, and of wine; but stop short of the pains + inseparably annexed to an excess of either. I would not, at twenty years, + be a preaching missionary of abstemiousness and sobriety; and I should let + other people do as they would, without formally and sententiously rebuking + them for it; but I would be most firmly resolved not to destroy my own + faculties and constitution; in complaisance to those who have no regard to + their own. I would play to give me pleasure, but not to give me pain; that + is, I would play for trifles, in mixed companies, to amuse myself, and + conform to custom; but I would take care not to venture for sums; which, + if I won, I should not be the better for; but, if I lost, should be under + a difficulty to pay: and when paid, would oblige me to retrench in several + other articles. Not to mention the quarrels which deep play commonly + occasions. + </p> + <p> + I would pass some of my time in reading, and the rest in the company of + people of sense and learning, and chiefly those above me; and I would + frequent the mixed companies of men and women of fashion, which, though + often frivolous, yet they unbend and refresh the mind, not uselessly, + because they certainly polish and soften the manners. + </p> + <p> + These would be my pleasures and amusements, if I were to live the last + thirty years over again; they are rational ones; and, moreover, I will + tell you, they are really the fashionable ones; for the others are not, in + truth, the pleasures of what I call people of fashion, but of those who + only call themselves so. Does good company care to have a man reeling + drunk among them? Or to see another tearing his hair, and blaspheming, for + having lost, at play, more than he is able to pay? Or a whoremaster with + half a nose, and crippled by coarse and infamous debauchery? No; those who + practice, and much more those who brag of them, make no part of good + company; and are most unwillingly, if ever, admitted into it. A real man + of fashion and pleasures observes decency: at least neither borrows nor + affects vices: and if he unfortunately has any, he gratifies them with + choice, delicacy, and secrecy. + </p> + <p> + I have not mentioned the pleasures of the mind (which are the solid and + permanent ones); because they do not come under the head of what people + commonly call pleasures; which they seem to confine to the senses. The + pleasure of virtue, of charity, and of learning is true and lasting + pleasure; with which I hope you will be well and long acquainted. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER VIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 3, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: If I am rightly informed, I am now writing to a fine gentleman, + in a scarlet coat laced with gold, a brocade waistcoat, and all other + suitable ornaments. The natural partiality of every author for his own + works makes me very glad to hear that Mr. Harte has thought this last + edition of mine worth so fine a binding; and, as he has bound it in red, + and gilt it upon the back, I hope he will take care that it shall be + LETTERED too. A showish binding attracts the eyes, and engages the + attention of everybody; but with this difference, that women, and men who + are like women, mind the binding more than the book; whereas men of sense + and learning immediately examine the inside; and if they find that it does + not answer the finery on the outside, they throw it by with the greater + indignation and contempt. I hope that, when this edition of my works shall + be opened and read, the best judges will find connection, consistency, + solidity, and spirit in it. Mr. Harte may ‘recensere’ and ‘emendare,’ as + much as he pleases; but it will be to little purpose, if you do not + cooperate with him. The work will be imperfect. + </p> + <p> + I thank you for your last information of our success in the Mediterranean, + and you say very rightly that a secretary of state ought to be well + informed. I hope, therefore, you will take care that I shall. You are near + the busy scene in Italy; and I doubt not but that, by frequently looking + at the map, you have all that theatre of the war very perfect in your + mind. + </p> + <p> + I like your account of the salt works; which shows that you gave some + attention while you were seeing them. But notwithstanding that, by your + account, the Swiss salt is (I dare say) very good, yet I am apt to suspect + that it falls a little short of the true Attic salt in which there was a + peculiar quickness and delicacy. That same Attic salt seasoned almost all + Greece, except Boeotia, and a great deal of it was exported afterward to + Rome, where it was counterfeited by a composition called Urbanity, which + in some time was brought to very near the perfection of the original Attic + salt. The more you are powdered with these two kinds of salt, the better + you will keep, and the more you will be relished. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! My compliments to Mr. Harte and Mr. Eliot. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER IX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 14, O. S. 1747. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: If you feel half the pleasure from the consciousness of doing + well, that I do from the informations I have lately received in your favor + from Mr. Harte, I shall have little occasion to exhort or admonish you any + more to do what your own satisfaction and self love will sufficiently + prompt you to. Mr. Harte tells me that you attend, that you apply to your + studies; and that beginning to understand, you begin to taste them. This + pleasure will increase, and keep pace with your attention; so that the + balance will be greatly to your advantage. You may remember, that I have + always earnestly recommended to you, to do what you are about, be that + what it will; and to do nothing else at the same time. Do not imagine that + I mean by this, that you should attend to and plod at your book all day + long; far from it; I mean that you should have your pleasures too; and + that you should attend to them for the time; as much as to your studies; + and, if you do not attend equally to both, you will neither have + improvement nor satisfaction from either. A man is fit for neither + business nor pleasure, who either cannot, or does not, command and direct + his attention to the present object, and, in some degree, banish for that + time all other objects from his thoughts. If at a ball, a supper, or a + party of pleasure, a man were to be solving, in his own mind, a problem in + Euclid, he would be a very bad companion, and make a very poor figure in + that company; or if, in studying a problem in his closet, he were to think + of a minuet, I am apt to believe that he would make a very poor + mathematician. There is time enough for everything, in the course of the + day, if you do but one thing at once; but there is not time enough in the + year, if you will do two things at a time. The Pensionary de Witt, who was + torn to pieces in the year 1672, did the whole business of the Republic, + and yet had time left to go to assemblies in the evening, and sup in + company. Being asked how he could possibly find time to go through so much + business, and yet amuse himself in the evenings as he did, he answered, + there was nothing so easy; for that it was only doing one thing at a time, + and never putting off anything till to-morrow that could be done to-day. + This steady and undissipated attention to one object is a sure mark of a + superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation are the never-failing + symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind. When you read Horace, attend to the + justness of his thoughts, the happiness of his diction, and the beauty of + his poetry; and do not think of Puffendorf de Homine el Cive; and, when + you are reading Puffendorf, do not think of Madame de St. Germain; nor of + Puffendorf, when you are talking to Madame de St. Germain. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte informs me, that he has reimbursed you of part of your losses in + Germany; and I consent to his reimbursing you of the whole, now that I + know you deserve it. I shall grudge you nothing, nor shall you want + anything that you desire, provided you deserve it; so that you see, it is + in your own power to have whatever you please. + </p> + <p> + There is a little book which you read here with Monsieur Codere entitled, + ‘Maniere de bien penser dans les Ouvrages d’Esprit,’ written by Pyre + Bonhours. I wish you would read this book again at your leisure hours, for + it will not only divert you, but likewise form your taste, and give you a + just manner of thinking. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER X + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 30, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I was extremely pleased with the account which you gave me in + your last, of the civilities that you received in your Swiss progress; and + I have written, by this post, to Mr. Burnaby, and to the ‘Avoyer,’ to + thank them for their parts. If the attention you met with pleased you, as + I dare say it did, you will, I hope, draw this general conclusion from it, + that attention and civility please all those to whom they are paid; and + that you will please others in proportion as you are attentive and civil + to them. + </p> + <p> + Bishop Burnet has wrote his travels through Switzerland; and Mr. Stanyan, + from a long residence there, has written the best account, yet extant, of + the Thirteen Cantons; but those books will be read no more, I presume, + after you shall have published your account of that country. I hope you + will favor me with one of the first copies. To be serious; though I do not + desire that you should immediately turn author, and oblige the world with + your travels; yet, wherever you go, I would have you as curious and + inquisitive as if you did intend to write them. I do not mean that you + should give yourself so much trouble, to know the number of houses, + inhabitants, signposts, and tombstones, of every town that you go through; + but that you should inform yourself, as well as your stay will permit you, + whether the town is free, or to whom it belongs, or in what manner: + whether it has any peculiar privileges or customs; what trade or + manufactures; and such other particulars as people of sense desire to + know. And there would be no manner of harm if you were to take memorandums + of such things in a paper book to help your memory. The only way of + knowing all these things is to keep the best company, who can best inform + you of them. I am just now called away; so good night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 20, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: In your Mamma’s letter, which goes here inclosed, you will find + one from my sister, to thank you for the Arquebusade water which you sent + her; and which she takes very kindly. She would not show me her letter to + you; but told me that it contained good wishes and good advice; and, as I + know she will show your letter in answer to hers, I send you here inclosed + the draught of the letter which I would have you write to her. I hope you + will not be offended at my offering you my assistance upon this occasion; + because, I presume, that as yet, you are not much used to write to ladies. + ‘A propos’ of letter-writing, the best models that you can form yourself + upon are, Cicero, Cardinal d’Ossat, Madame Sevigne, and Comte Bussy + Rebutin. Cicero’s Epistles to Atticus, and to his familiar friends, are + the best examples that you can imitate, in the friendly and the familiar + style. The simplicity and the clearness of Cardinal d’Ossat’s letters show + how letters of business ought to be written; no affected turns, no + attempts at wit, obscure or perplex his matter; which is always plainly + and clearly stated, as business always should be. For gay and amusing + letters, for ‘enjouement and badinage,’ there are none that equal Comte + Bussy’s and Madame Sevigne’s. They are so natural, that they seem to be + the extempore conversations of two people of wit, rather, than letters + which are commonly studied, though they ought not to be so. I would advise + you to let that book be one in your itinerant library; it will both amuse + and inform you. + </p> + <p> + I have not time to add any more now; so good night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 30, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: It is now four posts since I have received any letter, either + from you or from Mr. Harte. I impute this to the rapidity of your travels + through Switzerland; which I suppose are by this time finished. + </p> + <p> + You will have found by my late letters, both to you and Mr. Harte, that + you are to be at Leipsig by next Michaelmas; where you will be lodged in + the house of Professor Mascow, and boarded in the neighborhood of it, with + some young men of fashion. The professor will read you lectures upon + ‘Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis,’ the ‘Institutes of Justinian’ and the + ‘Jus Publicum Imperii;’ which I expect that you shall not only hear, but + attend to, and retain. I also expect that you make yourself perfectly + master of the German language; which you may very soon do there, if you + please. I give you fair warning, that at Leipsig I shall have an hundred + invisible spies about you; and shall be exactly informed of everything + that you do, and of almost everything that you say. I hope that, in + consequence of those minute informations, I may be able to say of you, + what Velleius Paterculus says of Scipio; that in his whole life, ‘nihil + non laudandum aut dixit, aut fecit, aut sensit.’ There is a great deal of + good company in Leipsig, which I would have you frequent in the evenings, + when the studies of the day are over. There is likewise a kind of court + kept there, by a Duchess Dowager of Courland; at which you should get + introduced. The King of Poland and his Court go likewise to the fair at + Leipsig twice a year; and I shall write to Sir Charles Williams, the + king’s minister there, to have you presented, and introduced into good + company. But I must remind you, at the same time, that it will be to a + very little purpose for you to frequent good company, if you do not + conform to, and learn their manners; if you are not attentive to please, + and well bred, with the easiness of a man of fashion. As you must attend + to your manners, so you must not neglect your person; but take care to be + very clean, well dressed, and genteel; to have no disagreeable attitudes, + nor awkward tricks; which many people use themselves to, and then cannot + leave them off. Do you take care to keep your teeth very clean, by washing + them constantly every morning, and after every meal? This is very + necessary, both to preserve your teeth a great while, and to save you a + great deal of pain. Mine have plagued me long, and are now falling out, + merely from want of care when I was your age. Do you dress well, and not + too well? Do you consider your air and manner of presenting yourself + enough, and not too much? Neither negligent nor stiff? All these things + deserve a degree of care, a second-rate attention; they give an additional + lustre to real merit. My Lord Bacon says, that a pleasing figure is a + perpetual letter of recommendation. It is certainly an agreeable + forerunner of merit, and smoothes the way for it. + </p> + <p> + Remember that I shall see you at Hanover next summer, and shall expect + perfection; which if I do not meet with, or at least something very near + it, you and I shall, not be very well together. I shall dissect and + analyze you with a microscope; so that I shall discover the least speck or + blemish. This is fair warning; therefore take your measures accordingly. + Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 21, O. S. 1747. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I reckon that this letter has but a bare chance of finding you + at Lausanne; but I was resolved to risk it, as it is the last that I shall + write to you till you are settled at Leipsig. I sent you by the last post, + under cover to Mr. Harte, a letter of recommendation to one of the first + people at Munich; which you will take care to present to him in the + politest manner; he will certainly have you presented to the electoral + family; and I hope you will go through that ceremony with great respect, + good breeding, and ease. As this is the first court that ever you will + have been at, take care to inform yourself if there be any particular, + customs or forms to be observed, that you may not commit any mistake. At + Vienna men always make courtesies, instead of bows, to the emperor; in + France nobody bows at all to the king, nor kisses his hand; but in Spain + and England, bows are made, and hands are kissed. Thus every court has + some peculiarity or other, of which those who go to them ought previously + to inform themselves, to avoid blunders and awkwardnesses. + </p> + <p> + I have not time to say any more now, than to wish you good journey to + Leipsig; and great attention, both there and in going there. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 21, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I received, by the last post, your letter of the 8th, N. S., and + I do not wonder that you are surprised at the credulity and superstition + of the Papists at Einsiedlen, and at their absurd stories of their chapel. + But remember, at the same time, that errors and mistakes, however gross, + in matters of opinion, if they are sincere, are to be pitied, but not + punished nor laughed at. The blindness of the understanding is as much to + be pitied as the blindness of the eye; and there is neither jest nor guilt + in a man’s losing his way in either case. Charity bids us set him right if + we can, by arguments and persuasions; but charity, at the same time, + forbids, either to punish or ridicule his misfortune. Every man’s reason + is, and must be, his guide; and I may as well expect that every man should + be of my size and complexion, as that he should reason just as I do. Every + man seeks for truth; but God only knows who has found it. It is, + therefore, as unjust to persecute, as it is absurd to ridicule, people for + those several opinions, which they cannot help entertaining upon the + conviction of their reason. It is the man who tells, or who acts a lie, + that is guilty, and not he who honestly and sincerely believes the lie. I + really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than + lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and + generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are + always detected sooner or later. If I tell a malicious lie, in order to + affect any man’s fortune or character, I may indeed injure him for some + time; but I shall be sure to be the greatest sufferer myself at last; for + as soon as ever I am detected (and detected I most certainly shall be), I + am blasted for the infamous attempt; and whatever is said afterward, to + the disadvantage of that person, however true, passes for calumny. If I + lie, or equivocate (for it is the same thing), in order to excuse myself + for something that I have said or done, and to avoid the danger and the + shame that I apprehend from it, I discover at once my fear as well as my + falsehood; and only increase, instead of avoiding, the danger and the + shame; I show myself to be the lowest and the meanest of mankind, and am + sure to be always treated as such. Fear, instead of avoiding, invites + danger; for concealed cowards will insult known ones. If one has had the + misfortune to be in the wrong, there is something noble in frankly owning + it; it is the only way of atoning for it, and the only way of being + forgiven. Equivocating, evading, shuffling, in order to remove a present + danger or inconveniency, is something so mean, and betrays so much fear, + that whoever practices them always deserves to be, and often will be + kicked. There is another sort of lies, inoffensive enough in themselves, + but wonderfully ridiculous; I mean those lies which a mistaken vanity + suggests, that defeat the very end for which they are calculated, and + terminate in the humiliation and confusion of their author, who is sure to + be detected. These are chiefly narrative and historical lies, all intended + to do infinite honor to their author. He is always the hero of his own + romances; he has been in dangers from which nobody but himself ever + escaped; he has seen with his own eyes, whatever other people have heard + or read of: he has had more ‘bonnes fortunes’ than ever he knew women; and + has ridden more miles post in one day, than ever courier went in two. He + is soon discovered, and as soon becomes the object of universal contempt + and ridicule. Remember, then, as long as you live, that nothing but strict + truth can carry you through the world, with either your conscience or your + honor unwounded. It is not only your duty, but your interest; as a proof + of which you may always observe, that the greatest fools are the greatest + liars. For my own part, I judge of every man’s truth by his degree of + understanding. + </p> + <p> + This letter will, I suppose, find you at Leipsig; where I expect and + require from you attention and accuracy, in both which you have hitherto + been very deficient. Remember that I shall see you in the summer; shall + examine you most narrowly; and will never forget nor forgive those faults, + which it has been in your own power to prevent or cure; and be assured + that I have many eyes upon you at Leipsig, besides Mr. Harte’s. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 2, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: By your letter of the 18th past, N. S., I find that you are a + tolerably good landscape painter, and can present the several views of + Switzerland to the curious. I am very glad of it, as it is a proof of some + attention; but I hope you will be as good a portrait painter, which is a + much more noble science. By portraits, you will easily judge, that I do + not mean the outlines and the coloring of the human figure; but the inside + of the heart and mind of man. This science requires more attention, + observation, and penetration, than the other; as indeed it is infinitely + more useful. Search, therefore, with the greatest care, into the + characters of those whom you converse with; endeavor to discover their + predominant passions, their prevailing weaknesses, their vanities, their + follies, and their humors, with all the right and wrong, wise and silly + springs of human actions, which make such inconsistent and whimsical + beings of us rational creatures. A moderate share of penetration, with + great attention, will infallibly make these necessary discoveries. This is + the true knowledge of the world; and the world is a country which nobody + ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one’s self to be + acquainted with it. The scholar, who in the dust of his closet talks or + writes of the world, knows no more of it, than that orator did of war, who + judiciously endeavored to instruct Hannibal in it. Courts and camps are + the only places to learn the world in. There alone all kinds of characters + resort, and human nature is seen in all the various shapes and modes, + which education, custom, and habit give it; whereas, in all other places, + one local mode generally prevails, and producing a seeming though not a + real sameness of character. For example, one general mode distinguishes an + university, another a trading town, a third a seaport town, and so on; + whereas, at a capital, where the Prince or the Supreme Power resides, some + of all these various modes are to be seen and seen in action too, exerting + their utmost skill in pursuit of their several objects. Human nature is + the same all over the world; but its operations are so varied by education + and habit, that one must see it in all its dresses in order to be + intimately acquainted with it. The passion of ambition, for instance, is + the same in a courtier, a soldier, or an ecclesiastic; but, from their + different educations and habits, they will take very different methods to + gratify it. Civility, which is a disposition to accommodate and oblige + others, is essentially the same in every country; but good-breeding, as it + is called, which is the manner of exerting that disposition, is different + in almost every country, and merely local; and every man of sense imitates + and conforms to that local good-breeding of the place which he is at. A + conformity and flexibility of manners is necessary in the course of the + world; that is, with regard to all things which are not wrong in + themselves. The ‘versatile ingenium’ is the most useful of all. It can + turn itself instantly from one object to another, assuming the proper + manner for each. It can be serious with the grave, cheerful with the gay, + and trifling with the frivolous. Endeavor by all means, to acquire this + talent, for it is a very great one. + </p> + <p> + As I hardly know anything more useful, than to see, from time to time, + pictures of one’s self drawn by different hands, I send you here a sketch + of yourself, drawn at Lausanne, while you were there, and sent over here + by a person who little thought that it would ever fall into my hands: and + indeed it was by the greatest accident in the world that it did. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 9, O. S. 1747. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: People of your age have, commonly, an unguarded frankness about + them; which makes them the easy prey and bubbles of the artful and the + experienced; they look upon every knave or fool, who tells them that he is + their friend, to be really so; and pay that profession of simulated + friendship, with an indiscreet and unbounded confidence, always to their + loss, often to their ruin. Beware, therefore, now that you are coming into + the world, of these preferred friendships. Receive them with great + civility, but with great incredulity too; and pay them with compliments, + but not with confidence. Do not let your vanity and self-love make you + suppose that people become your friends at first sight, or even upon a + short acquaintance. Real friendship is a slow grower and never thrives + unless engrafted upon a stock of known and reciprocal merit. There is + another kind of nominal friendship among young people, which is warm for + the time, but by good luck, of short duration. This friendship is hastily + produced, by their being accidentally thrown together, and pursuing the + course of riot and debauchery. A fine friendship, truly; and well cemented + by drunkenness and lewdness. It should rather be called a conspiracy + against morals and good manners, and be punished as such by the civil + magistrate. However, they have the impudence and folly to call this + confederacy a friendship. They lend one another money, for bad purposes; + they engage in quarrels, offensive and defensive for their accomplices; + they tell one another all they know, and often more too, when, of a + sudden, some accident disperses them, and they think no more of each + other, unless it be to betray and laugh, at their imprudent confidence. + Remember to make a great difference between companions and friends; for a + very complaisant and agreeable companion may, and often does, prove a very + improper and a very dangerous friend. People will, in a great degree, and + not without reason, form their opinion of you, upon that which they have + of your friends; and there is a Spanish proverb, which says very justly, + TELL ME WHO YOU LIVE WITH AND I WILL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE. One may fairly + suppose, that the man who makes a knave or a fool his friend, has + something very bad to do or to conceal. But, at the same time that you + carefully decline the friendship of knaves and fools, if it can be called + friendship, there is no occasion to make either of them your enemies, + wantonly and unprovoked; for they are numerous bodies: and I, would rather + choose a secure neutrality, than alliance, or war with either of them. You + may be a declared enemy to their vices and follies, without being marked + out by them as a personal one. Their enmity is the next dangerous thing to + their friendship. Have a real reserve with almost everybody; and have a + seeming reserve with almost nobody; for it is very disagreeable to seem + reserved, and very dangerous not to be so. Few people find the true + medium; many are ridiculously mysterious and reserved upon trifles; and + many imprudently communicative of all they know. + </p> + <p> + The next thing to the choice of your friends, is the choice of your + company. Endeavor, as much as you can, to keep company with people above + you: there you rise, as much as you sink with people below you; for (as I + have mentioned before) you are whatever the company you keep is. Do not + mistake, when I say company above you, and think that I mean with regard + to, their birth: that is the least consideration; but I mean with regard + to their merit, and the light in which the world considers them. + </p> + <p> + There are two sorts of good company; one, which is called the beau monde, + and consists of the people who have the lead in courts, and in the gay + parts of life; the other consists of those who are distinguished by some + peculiar merit, or who excel in some particular and valuable art or + science. For my own part, I used to think myself in company as, much above + me, when I was with Mr. Addison and Mr. Pope, as if I had been with all + the princes in Europe. What I mean by low company, which should by all + means be avoided, is the company of those, who, absolutely insignificant + and contemptible in themselves, think they are honored by being in your + company; and who flatter every vice and every folly you have, in order to + engage you to converse with them. The pride of being the first of the + company is but too common; but it is very silly, and very prejudicial. + Nothing in the world lets down a character quicker than that wrong turn. + </p> + <p> + You may possibly ask me, whether a man has it always in his power to get + the best company? and how? I say, Yes, he has, by deserving it; providing + he is but in circumstances which enable him to appear upon the footing of + a gentleman. Merit and good-breeding will make their way everywhere. + Knowledge will introduce him, and good-breeding will endear him to the + best companies: for, as I have often told you, politeness and + good-breeding are absolutely necessary to adorn any, or all other good + qualities or talents. Without them, no knowledge, no perfection whatever, + is seen in its best light. The scholar, without good-breeding, is a + pedant; the philosopher, a cynic; the soldier, a brute; and every man + disagreeable. + </p> + <p> + I long to hear, from my several correspondents at Leipsig, of your arrival + there, and what impression you make on them at first; for I have Arguses, + with an hundred eyes each, who will watch you narrowly, and relate to me + faithfully. My accounts will certainly be true; it depends upon you, + entirely, of what kind they shall be. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 16, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a + very difficult one to acquire. It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your + own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can. Do as + you would be done by, is the surest method that I know of pleasing. + Observe carefully what pleases you in others, and probably the same thing + in you will please others. If you are pleased with the complaisance and + attention of others to your humors, your tastes, or your weaknesses, + depend upon it the same complaisance and attention, on your part to + theirs, will equally please them. Take the tone of the company that you + are in, and do not pretend to give it; be serious, gay, or even trifling, + as you find the present humor of the company; this is an attention due + from every individual to the majority. Do not tell stories in company; + there is nothing more tedious and disagreeable; if by chance you know a + very short story, and exceedingly applicable to the present subject of + conversation, tell it in as few words as possible; and even then, throw + out that you do not love to tell stories; but that the shortness of it + tempted you. Of all things, banish the egotism out of your conversation, + and never think of entertaining people with your own personal concerns, or + private, affairs; though they are interesting to you, they are tedious and + impertinent to everybody else; besides that, one cannot keep one’s own + private affairs too secret. Whatever you think your own excellencies may + be, do not affectedly display them in company; nor labor, as many people + do, to give that turn to the conversation, which may supply you with an + opportunity of exhibiting them. If they are real, they will infallibly be + discovered, without your pointing them out yourself, and with much more + advantage. Never maintain an argument with heat and clamor, though you + think or know yourself to be in the right: but give your opinion modestly + and coolly, which is the only way to convince; and, if that does not do, + try to change the conversation, by saying, with good humor, “We shall + hardly convince one another, nor is it necessary that we should, so let us + talk of something else.” + </p> + <p> + Remember that there is a local propriety to be observed in all companies; + and that what is extremely proper in one company, may be, and often is, + highly improper in another. + </p> + <p> + The jokes, the ‘bonmots,’ the little adventures, which may do very well in + one company, will seem flat and tedious, when related in another. The + particular characters, the habits, the cant of one company, may give merit + to a word, or a gesture, which would have none at all if divested of those + accidental circumstances. Here people very commonly err; and fond of + something that has entertained them in one company, and in certain + circumstances, repeat it with emphasis in another, where it is either + insipid, or, it may be, offensive, by being ill-timed or misplaced. Nay, + they often do it with this silly preamble; “I will tell you an excellent + thing”; or, “I will tell you the best thing in the world.” This raises + expectations, which, when absolutely disappointed, make the relater of + this excellent thing look, very deservedly, like a fool. + </p> + <p> + If you would particularly gain the affection and friendship of particular + people, whether men or women, endeavor to find out the predominant + excellency, if they have one, and their prevailing weakness, which + everybody has; and do justice to the one, and something more than justice + to the other. Men have various objects in which they may excel, or at + least would be thought to excel; and, though they love to hear justice + done to them, where they know that they excel, yet they are most and best + flattered upon those points where they wish to excel, and yet are doubtful + whether they do or not. As, for example, Cardinal Richelieu, who was + undoubtedly the ablest statesman of his time, or perhaps of any other, had + the idle vanity of being thought the best poet too; he envied the great + Corneille his reputation, and ordered a criticism to be written upon the + “Cid.” Those, therefore, who flattered skillfully, said little to him of + his abilities in state affairs, or at least but ‘en passant,’ and as it + might naturally occur. But the incense which they gave him, the smoke of + which they knew would turn his head in their favor, was as a ‘bel esprit’ + and a poet. Why? Because he was sure of one excellency, and distrustful as + to the other. You will easily discover every man’s prevailing vanity, by + observing his favorite topic of conversation; for every man talks most of + what he has most a mind to be thought to excel in. Touch him but there, + and you touch him to the quick. The late Sir Robert Walpole (who was + certainly an able man) was little open to flattery upon that head; for he + was in no doubt himself about it; but his prevailing weakness was, to be + thought to have a polite and happy turn to gallantry; of which he had + undoubtedly less than any man living: it was his favorite and frequent + subject of conversation: which proved, to those who had any penetration, + that it was his prevailing weakness. And they applied to it with success. + </p> + <p> + Women have, in general, but one object, which is their beauty; upon which, + scarce any flattery is too gross for them to swallow. Nature has hardly + formed a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person; + if her face is so shocking, that she must in some degree, be conscious of + it, her figure and her air, she trusts, make ample amends for it. If her + figure is deformed, her face, she thinks, counterbalances it. If they are + both bad, she comforts herself that she has graces; a certain manner; a + ‘je ne sais quoi,’ still more engaging than beauty. This truth is evident, + from the studied and elaborate dress of the ugliest women in the world. An + undoubted, uncontested, conscious beauty, is of all women, the least + sensible of flattery upon that head; she knows that it is her due, and is + therefore obliged to nobody for giving it her. She must be flattered upon + her understanding; which, though she may possibly not doubt of herself, + yet she suspects that men may distrust. + </p> + <p> + Do not mistake me, and think that I mean to recommend to you abject and + criminal flattery: no; flatter nobody’s vices or crimes: on the contrary, + abhor and discourage them. But there is no living in the world without a + complaisant indulgence for people’s weaknesses, and innocent, though + ridiculous vanities. If a man has a mind to be thought wiser, and a woman + handsomer than they really are, their error is a comfortable one to + themselves, and an innocent one with regard to other people; and I would + rather make them my friends, by indulging them in it, than my enemies, by + endeavoring (and that to no purpose) to undeceive them. + </p> + <p> + There are little attentions likewise, which are infinitely engaging, and + which sensibly affect that degree of pride and self-love, which is + inseparable from human nature; as they are unquestionable proofs of the + regard and consideration which we have for the person to whom we pay them. + As, for example, to observe the little habits, the likings, the + antipathies, and the tastes of those whom we would gain; and then take + care to provide them with the one, and to secure them from the other; + giving them, genteelly, to understand, that you had observed that they + liked such a dish, or such a room; for which reason you had prepared it: + or, on the contrary, that having observed they had an aversion to such a + dish, a dislike to such a person, etc., you had taken care to avoid + presenting them. Such attention to such trifles flatters self-love much + more than greater things, as it makes people think themselves almost the + only objects of your thoughts and care. + </p> + <p> + These are some of the arcana necessary for your initiation in the great + society of the world. I wish I had known them better at your age; I have + paid the price of three-and-fifty years for them, and shall not grudge it, + if you reap the advantage. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 30, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I am very well pleased with your ‘Itinerarium,’ which you sent + me from Ratisbon. It shows me that you observe and inquire as you go, + which is the true end of traveling. Those who travel heedlessly from place + to place, observing only their distance from each other, and attending + only to their accommodation at the inn at night, set out fools, and will + certainly return so. Those who only mind the raree-shows of the places + which they go through, such as steeples, clocks, town-houses, etc., get so + little by their travels, that they might as well stay at home. But those + who observe, and inquire into the situations, the strength, the weakness, + the trade, the manufactures, the government, and constitution of every + place they go to; who frequent the best companies, and attend to their + several manners and characters; those alone travel with advantage; and as + they set out wise, return wiser. + </p> + <p> + I would advise you always to get the shortest description or history of + every place where you make any stay; and such a book, however imperfect, + will still suggest to you matter for inquiry; upon which you may get + better informations from the people of the place. For example; while you + are at Leipsig, get some short account (and to be sure there are many + such) of the present state of the town, with regard to its magistrates, + its police, its privileges, etc., and then inform yourself more minutely + upon all those heads in, conversation with the most intelligent people. Do + the same thing afterward with regard to the Electorate of Saxony: you will + find a short history of it in Puffendorf’s Introduction, which will give + you a general idea of it, and point out to you the proper objects of a + more minute inquiry. In short, be curious, attentive, inquisitive, as to + everything; listlessness and indolence are always blameable, but, at your + age, they are unpardonable. Consider how precious, and how important for + all the rest of your life, are your moments for these next three or four + years; and do not lose one of them. Do not think I mean that you should + study all day long; I am far from advising or desiring it: but I desire + that you would be doing something or other all day long; and not neglect + half hours and quarters of hours, which, at the year’s end, amount to a + great sum. For instance, there are many short intervals during the day, + between studies and pleasures: instead of sitting idle and yawning, in + those intervals, take up any book, though ever so trifling a one, even + down to a jest-book; it is still better than doing nothing. + </p> + <p> + Nor do I call pleasures idleness, or time lost, provided they are the + pleasures of a rational being; on the contrary, a certain portion of your + time, employed in those pleasures, is very usefully employed. Such are + public spectacles, assemblies of good company, cheerful suppers, and even + balls; but then, these require attention, or else your time is quite lost. + </p> + <p> + There are a great many people, who think themselves employed all day, and + who, if they were to cast up their accounts at night, would find that they + had done just nothing. They have read two or three hours mechanically, + without attending to what they read, and consequently without either + retaining it, or reasoning upon it. From thence they saunter into company, + without taking any part in it, and without observing the characters of the + persons, or the subjects of the conversation; but are either thinking of + some trifle, foreign to the present purpose, or often not thinking at all; + which silly and idle suspension of thought they would dignify with the + name of ABSENCE and DISTRACTION. They go afterward, it may be, to the + play, where they gape at the company and the lights; but without minding + the very thing they went to, the play. + </p> + <p> + Pray do you be as attentive to your pleasures as to your studies. In the + latter, observe and reflect upon all you read; and, in the former, be + watchful and attentive to all that you see and hear; and never have it to + say, as a thousand fools do, of things that were said and done before + their faces, that, truly, they did not mind them, because they were + thinking of something else. Why were they thinking of something else? and + if they were, why did they come there? The truth is, that the fools were + thinking of nothing. Remember the ‘hoc age,’ do what you are about, be + what it will; it is either worth doing well, or not at all. Wherever you + are, have (as the low vulgar expression is) your ears and your eyes about + you. Listen to everything that is said, and see everything that is done. + Observe the looks and countenances of those who speak, which is often a + surer way of discovering the truth than from what they say. But then keep + all those observations to yourself, for your own private use, and rarely + communicate them to others. Observe, without being thought an observer, + for otherwise people will be upon their guard before you. + </p> + <p> + Consider seriously, and follow carefully, I beseech you, my dear child, + the advice which from time to time I have given, and shall continue to + give you; it is at once the result of my long experience, and the effect + of my tenderness for you. I can have no interest in it but yours. You are + not yet capable of wishing yourself half so well as I wish you; follow + therefore, for a time at least, implicitly, advice which you cannot + suspect, though possibly you may not yet see the particular advantages of + it; but you will one day feel them. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 6, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Three mails are now due from Holland, so that I have no letter + from you to acknowledge; I write to you, therefore, now, as usual, by way + of flapper, to put you in mind of yourself. Doctor Swift, in his account + of the island of Laputa, describes some philosophers there who were so + wrapped up and absorbed in their abstruse speculations, that they would + have forgotten all the common and necessary duties of life, if they had + not been reminded of them by persons who flapped them, whenever they + observed them continue too long in any of those learned trances. I do not + indeed suspect you of being absorbed in abstruse speculations; but, with + great submission to you, may I not suspect that levity, inattention, and + too little thinking, require a flapper, as well as too deep thinking? If + my letters should happen to get to you when you are sitting by the fire + and doing nothing, or when you are gaping at the window, may they not be + very proper flaps, to put you in mind that you might employ your time much + better? I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow, who used frequently to + say, “Take care of the pence; for the pounds will take care of + themselves.” This was a just and sensible reflection in a miser. I + recommend to you to take care of the minutes; for hours will take care of + themselves. I am very sure, that many people lose two or three hours every + day, by not taking care of the minutes. Never think any portion of time + whatsoever too short to be employed; something or other may always be done + in it. + </p> + <p> + While you are in Germany, let all your historical studies be relative to + Germany; not only the general history of the empire as a collective body; + but the respective electorates, principalities, and towns; and also the + genealogy of the most considerable families. A genealogy is no trifle in + Germany; and they would rather prove their two-and-thirty quarters, than + two-and-thirty cardinal virtues, if there were so many. They are not of + Ulysses’ opinion, who says very truly, + </p> + <p> + ——Genus et proavos, et qua non fecimus ipsi; Vix ea nostra + voco. <br /> Good night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 24, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: As often as I write to you (and that you know is pretty often), + so often I am in doubt whether it is to any purpose, and whether it is not + labor and paper lost. This entirely depends upon the degree of reason and + reflection which you are master of, or think proper to exert. If you give + yourself time to think, and have sense enough to think right, two + reflections must necessarily occur to you; the one is, that I have a great + deal of experience, and that you have none: the other is, that I am the + only man living who cannot have, directly or indirectly, any interest + concerning you, but your own. From which two undeniable principles, the + obvious and necessary conclusion is, that you ought, for your own sake, to + attend to and follow my advice. + </p> + <p> + If, by the application which I recommend to you, you acquire great + knowledge, you alone are the gainer; I pay for it. If you should deserve + either a good or a bad character, mine will be exactly what it is now, and + will neither be the better in the first case, nor worse in the latter. You + alone will be the gainer or the loser. + </p> + <p> + Whatever your pleasures may be, I neither can nor shall envy you them, as + old people are sometimes suspected by young people to do; and I shall only + lament, if they should prove such as are unbecoming a man of honor, or + below a man of sense. But you will be the real sufferer, if they are such. + As therefore, it is plain that I can have no other motive than that of + affection in whatever I say to you, you ought to look upon me as your + best, and, for some years to come, your only friend. + </p> + <p> + True friendship requires certain proportions of age and manners, and can + never subsist where they are extremely different, except in the relations + of parent and child, where affection on one side, and regard on the other, + make up the difference. The friendship which you may contract with people + of your own age may be sincere, may be warm; but must be, for some time, + reciprocally unprofitable, as there can be no experience on either side. + The young leading the young, is like the blind leading the blind; (they + will both fall into the ditch.) The only sure guide is, he who has often + gone the road which you want to go. Let me be that guide; who have gone + all roads, and who can consequently point out to you the best. If you ask + me why I went any of the bad roads myself, I will answer you very truly, + That it was for want of a good guide: ill example invited me one way, and + a good guide was wanting to show me a better. But if anybody, capable of + advising me, had taken the same pains with me, which I have taken, and + will continue to take with you, I should have avoided many follies and + inconveniences, which undirected youth run me into. My father was neither + desirous nor able to advise me; which is what, I hope, you cannot say of + yours. You see that I make use, only of the word advice; because I would + much rather have the assent of your reason to my advice, than the + submission of your will to my authority. This, I persuade myself, will + happen, from that degree of sense which I think you have; and therefore I + will go on advising, and with hopes of success. + </p> + <p> + You are now settled for some time at Leipsig; the principal object of your + stay there is the knowledge of books and sciences; which if you do not, by + attention and application, make yourself master of while you are there, + you will be ignorant of them all the rest of your life; and, take my word + for it, a life of ignorance is not only a very contemptible, but a very + tiresome one. Redouble your attention, then, to Mr. Harte, in your private + studies of the ‘Literae Humaniores,’ especially Greek. State your + difficulties, whenever you have any; and do not suppress them, either from + mistaken shame, lazy indifference, or in order to have done the sooner. Do + the same when you are at lectures with Professor Mascow, or any other + professor; let nothing pass till you are sure that you understand it + thoroughly; and accustom yourself to write down the capital points of what + you learn. When you have thus usefully employed your mornings, you may, + with a safe conscience, divert yourself in the evenings, and make those + evenings very useful too, by passing them in good company, and, by + observation and attention, learning as much of the world as Leipsig can + teach you. You will observe and imitate the manners of the people of the + best fashion there; not that they are (it may be) the best manners in the + world; but because they are the best manners of the place where you are, + to which a man of sense always conforms. The nature of things (as I have + often told you) is always and everywhere the same; but the modes of them + vary more or less, in every country; and an easy and genteel conformity to + them, or rather the assuming of them at proper times, and in proper + places, is what particularly constitutes a man of the world, and a + well-bred man. + </p> + <p> + Here is advice enough, I think, and too much, it may be, you will think, + for one letter; if you follow it, you will get knowledge, character, and + pleasure by it; if you do not, I only lose ‘operam et oleum,’ which, in + all events, I do not grudge you. + </p> + <p> + I send you, by a person who sets out this day for Leipsig, a small packet + from your Mamma, containing some valuable things which you left behind, to + which I have added, by way of new-year’s gift, a very pretty tooth-pick + case; and, by the way, pray take great care of your teeth, and keep them + extremely clean. I have likewise sent you the Greek roots, lately + translated into English from the French of the Port Royal. Inform yourself + what the Port Royal is. To conclude with a quibble: I hope you will not + only feed upon these Greek roots, but likewise digest them perfectly. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 15, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR Boy: There is nothing which I more wish that you should know, and + which fewer people do know, than the true use and value of time. It is in + everybody’s mouth; but in few people’s practice. Every fool, who slatterns + away his whole time in nothings, utters, however, some trite commonplace + sentence, of which there are millions, to prove, at once, the value and + the fleetness of time. The sun-dials, likewise all over Europe, have some + ingenious inscription to that effect; so that nobody squanders away their + time, without hearing and seeing, daily, how necessary it is to employ it + well, and how irrecoverable it is if lost. But all these admonitions are + useless, where there is not a fund of good sense and reason to suggest + them, rather than receive them. By the manner in which you now tell me + that you employ your time, I flatter myself that you have that fund; that + is the fund which will make you rich indeed. I do not, therefore, mean to + give you a critical essay upon the use and abuse of time; but I will only + give you some hints with regard to the use of one particular period of + that long time which, I hope, you have before you; I mean, the next two + years. Remember, then, that whatever knowledge you do not solidly lay the + foundation of before you are eighteen, you will never be the master of + while you breathe. Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and + shelter for us in an advanced age; and if we do not plant it while young, + it will give us no shade when we grow old. I neither require nor expect + from you great application to books, after you are once thrown out into + the great world. I know it is impossible; and it may even, in some cases, + be improper; this, therefore, is your time, and your only time, for + unwearied and uninterrupted application. If you should sometimes think it + a little laborious, consider that labor is the unavoidable fatigue of a + necessary journey. The more hours a day you travel, the sooner you will be + at your journey’s end. The sooner you are qualified for your liberty, the + sooner you shall have it; and your manumission will entirely depend upon + the manner in which you employ the intermediate time. I think I offer you + a very good bargain, when I promise you, upon my word, that if you will do + everything that I would have you do, till you are eighteen, I will do + everything that you would have me do ever afterward. + </p> + <p> + I knew a gentleman, who was so good a manager of his time, that he would + not even lose that small portion of it, which the calls of nature obliged + him to pass in the necessary-house; but gradually went through all the + Latin poets, in those moments. He bought, for example, a common edition of + Horace, of which he tore off gradually a couple of pages, carried them + with him to that necessary place, read them first, and then sent them down + as a sacrifice to Cloacina: this was so much time fairly gained; and I + recommend you to follow his example. It is better than only doing what you + cannot help doing at those moments; and it will made any book, which you + shall read in that manner, very present in your mind. Books of science, + and of a grave sort, must be read with continuity; but there are very + many, and even very useful ones, which may be read with advantage by + snatches, and unconnectedly; such are all the good Latin poets, except + Virgil in his “AEneid”: and such are most of the modern poets, in which + you will find many pieces worth reading, that will not take up above seven + or eight minutes. Bayle’s, Moreri’s, and other dictionaries, are proper + books to take and shut up for the little intervals of (otherwise) idle + time, that everybody has in the course of the day, between either their + studies or their pleasures. Good night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 18, O. S. 1747. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR Boy: As two mails are now due from Holland, + </p> + <p> + I have no letters of yours, or Mr. Harte’s to acknowledge; so that this + letter is the effect of that ‘scribendi cacoethes,’ which my fears, my + hopes, and my doubts, concerning you give me. When I have wrote you a very + long letter upon any subject, it is no sooner gone, but I think I have + omitted something in it, which might be of use to you; and then I prepare + the supplement for the next post: or else some new subject occurs to me, + upon which I fancy I can give you some informations, or point out some + rules which may be advantageous to you. This sets me to writing again, + though God knows whether to any purpose or not; a few years more can only + ascertain that. But, whatever my success may be, my anxiety and my care + can only be the effects of that tender affection which I have for you; and + which you cannot represent to yourself greater than it really is. But do + not mistake the nature of that affection, and think it of a kind that you + may with impunity abuse. It is not natural affection, there being in + reality no such thing; for, if there were, some inward sentiment must + necessarily and reciprocally discover the parent to the child, and the + child to the parent, without any exterior indications, knowledge, or + acquaintance whatsoever; which never happened since the creation of the + world, whatever poets, romance, and novel writers, and such + sentiment-mongers, may be pleased to say to the contrary. Neither is my + affection for you that of a mother, of which the only, or at least the + chief objects, are health and life: I wish you them both most heartily; + but, at the same time, I confess they are by no means my principal care. + </p> + <p> + My object is to have you fit to live; which, if you are not, I do not + desire that you should live at all. My affection for you then is, and only + will be, proportioned to your merit; which is the only affection that one + rational being ought to have for another. Hitherto I have discovered + nothing wrong in your heart, or your head: on the contrary I think I see + sense in the one, and sentiments in the other. This persuasion is the only + motive of my present affection; which will either increase or diminish, + according to your merit or demerit. If you have the knowledge, the honor, + and probity, which you may have, the marks and warmth of my affection + shall amply reward them; but if you have them not, my aversion and + indignation will rise in the same proportion; and, in that case, remember, + that I am under no further obligation, than to give you the necessary + means of subsisting. If ever we quarrel, do not expect or depend upon any + weakness in my nature, for a reconciliation, as children frequently do, + and often meet with, from silly parents; I have no such weakness about me: + and, as I will never quarrel with you but upon some essential point; if + once we quarrel, I will never forgive. But I hope and believe, that this + declaration (for it is no threat) will prove unnecessary. You are no + stranger to the principles of virtue; and, surely, whoever knows virtue + must love it. As for knowledge, you have already enough of it, to engage + you to acquire more. The ignorant only, either despise it, or think that + they have enough: those who have the most are always the most desirous to + have more, and know that the most they can have is, alas! but too little. + </p> + <p> + Reconsider, from time to time, and retain the friendly advice which I send + you. The advantage will be all your own. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 29, O. S. 1747 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received two letters from you of the 17th and 22d, N. S., + by the last of which I find that some of mine to you must have miscarried; + for I have never been above two posts without writing to you or to Mr. + Harte, and even very long letters. I have also received a letter from Mr. + Harte, which gives me great satisfaction: it is full of your praises; and + he answers for you, that, in two years more, you will deserve your + manumission, and be fit to go into the world, upon a footing that will do + you honor, and give me pleasure. + </p> + <p> + I thank you for your offer of the new edition of ‘Adamus Adami,’ but I do + not want it, having a good edition of it at present. When you have read + that, you will do well to follow it with Pere Bougeant’s ‘Histoire du + Traite de Munster,’ in two volumes quarto; which contains many important + anecdotes concerning that famous treaty, that are not in Adamus Adami. + </p> + <p> + You tell me that your lectures upon the ‘Jus Publicum’ will be ended at + Easter; but then I hope that Monsieur Mascow will begin them again; for I + would not have you discontinue that study one day while you are at + Leipsig. I suppose that Monsieur Mascow will likewise give you lectures + upon the ‘Instrumentum Pacis,’ and upon the capitulations of the late + emperors. Your German will go on of course; and I take it for granted that + your stay at Leipsig will make you a perfect master of that language, both + as to speaking and writing; for remember, that knowing any language + imperfectly, is very little better than not knowing it at all: people + being as unwilling to speak in a language which they do not possess + thoroughly, as others are to hear them. Your thoughts are cramped, and + appear to great disadvantage, in any language of which you are not perfect + master. Let modern history share part of your time, and that always + accompanied with the maps of the places in question; geography and history + are very imperfect separately, and, to be useful, must be joined. + </p> + <p> + Go to the Duchess of Courland’s as often as she and your leisure will + permit. The company of women of fashion will improve your manners, though + not your understanding; and that complaisance and politeness, which are so + useful in men’s company, can only be acquired in women’s. + </p> + <p> + Remember always, what I have told you a thousand times, that all the + talents in the world will want all their lustre, and some part of their + use too, if they are not adorned with that easy good-breeding, that + engaging manner, and those graces, which seduce and prepossess people in + your favor at first sight. A proper care of your person is by no means to + be neglected; always extremely clean; upon proper occasions fine. Your + carriage genteel, and your motions graceful. Take particular care of your + manner and address, when you present yourself in company. Let them be + respectful without meanness, easy without too much familiarity, genteel + without affectation, and insinuating without any seeming art or design. + </p> + <p> + You need not send me any more extracts of the German constitution; which, + by the course of your present studies, I know you must soon be acquainted + with; but I would now rather that your letters should be a sort of journal + of your own life. As, for instance, what company you keep, what new + acquaintances you make, what your pleasures are; with your own reflections + upon the whole: likewise what Greek and Latin books you read and + understand. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1748 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER XXIV + </p> + <p> + January 2, O. S. 1748. + </p> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I am edified with the allotment of your time at Leipsig; which + is so well employed from morning till night, that a fool would say you had + none left for yourself; whereas, I am sure you have sense enough to know, + that such a right use of your time is having it all to yourself; nay, it + is even more, for it is laying it out to immense interest, which, in a + very few years, will amount to a prodigious capital. + </p> + <p> + Though twelve of your fourteen ‘Commensaux’ may not be the liveliest + people in the world, and may want (as I easily conceive that they do) ‘le + ton de la bonne campagnie, et les graces’, which I wish you, yet pray take + care not to express any contempt, or throw out any ridicule; which I can + assure you, is not more contrary to good manners than to good sense: but + endeavor rather to get all the good you can out of them; and something or + other is to be got out of everybody. They will, at least, improve you in + the German language; and, as they come from different countries, you may + put them upon subjects, concerning which they must necessarily be able to + give you some useful informations, let them be ever so dull or + disagreeable in general: they will know something, at least, of the laws, + customs, government, and considerable families of their respective + countries; all which are better known than not, and consequently worth + inquiring into. There is hardly any body good for every thing, and there + is scarcely any body who is absolutely good for nothing. A good chemist + will extract some spirit or other out of every substance; and a man of + parts will, by his dexterity and management, elicit something worth + knowing out of every being he converses with. + </p> + <p> + As you have been introduced to the Duchess of Courland, pray go there as + often as ever your more necessary occupations will allow you. I am told + she is extremely well bred, and has parts. Now, though I would not + recommend to you, to go into women’s company in search of solid knowledge, + or judgment, yet it has its use in other respects; for it certainly + polishes the manners, and gives ‘une certaine tournure’, which is very + necessary in the course of the world; and which Englishmen have generally + less of than any people in the world. + </p> + <p> + I cannot say that your suppers are luxurious, but you must own they are + solid; and a quart of soup, and two pounds of potatoes, will enable you to + pass the night without great impatience for your breakfast next morning. + One part of your supper (the potatoes) is the constant diet of my old + friends and countrymen,—[Lord Chesterfield, from the time he was + appointed Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, 1775, used always to call the Irish + his countrymen.]—the Irish, who are the healthiest and the strongest + bodies of men that I know in Europe. + </p> + <p> + As I believe that many of my letters to you and to Mr. Harte have + miscarried, as well as some of yours and his to me; particularly one of + his from Leipsig, to which he refers in a subsequent one, and which I + never received; I would have you, for the future, acknowledge the dates of + all the letters which either of you shall receive from me; and I will do + the same on my part. + </p> + <p> + That which I received by the last mail, from you, was of the 25th + November, N. S.; the mail before that brought me yours, of which I have + forgot the date, but which inclosed one to Lady Chesterfield: she will + answer it soon, and, in the mean time, thanks you for it. + </p> + <p> + My disorder was only a very great cold, of which I am entirely recovered. + You shall not complain for want of accounts from Mr. Grevenkop, who will + frequently write you whatever passes here, in the German language and + character; which will improve you in both. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 15, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I willingly accept the new-year’s gift which you promise me for + next year; and the more valuable you make it, the more thankful I shall + be. That depends entirely upon you; and therefore I hope to be presented, + every year, with a new edition of you, more correct than the former, and + considerably enlarged and amended. + </p> + <p> + Since you do not care to be an assessor of the imperial chamber, and that + you desire an establishment in England; what do you think of being Greek + Professor at one of our universities? It is a very pretty sinecure, and + requires very little knowledge (much less than, I hope, you have already) + of that language. If you do not approve of this, I am at a loss to know + what else to propose to you; and therefore desire that you will inform me + what sort of destination you propose for yourself; for it is now time to + fix it, and to take our measures accordingly. Mr. Harte tells me that you + set up for a—————; if so, I presume it is in + the view of succeeding me in my office;—[A secretary of state.]—which + I will very willingly resign to you, whenever you shall call upon me for + it. But, if you intend to be the————, or the—————-, + there are some trifling circumstances upon which you should previously + take your resolution. The first of which is, to be fit for it: and then, + in order to be so, make yourself master of ancient and, modern history, + and languages. To know perfectly the constitution, and form of government + of every nation; the growth and the decline of ancient and modern empires; + and to trace out and reflect upon the causes of both. To know the + strength, the riches, and the commerce of every country. These little + things, trifling as they may seem, are yet very necessary for a politician + to know; and which therefore, I presume, you will condescend to apply + yourself to. There are some additional qualifications necessary, in the + practical part of business, which may deserve some consideration in your + leisure moments; such as, an absolute command of your temper, so as not to + be provoked to passion, upon any account; patience, to hear frivolous, + impertinent, and unreasonable applications; with address enough to refuse, + without offending, or, by your manner of granting, to double the + obligation; dexterity enough to conceal a truth without telling a lie; + sagacity enough to read other people’s countenances; and serenity enough + not to let them discover anything by yours; a seeming frankness with a + real reserve. These are the rudiments of a politician; the world must be + your grammar. + </p> + <p> + Three mails are now due from Holland; so that I have no letters from you + to acknowledge. I therefore conclude with recommending myself to your + favor and protection when you succeed. Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 29, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I find, by Mr. Harte’s last letter, that many of my letters to + you and him, have been frozen up on their way to Leipsig; the thaw has, I + suppose, by this time, set them at liberty to pursue their journey to you, + and you will receive a glut of them at once. Hudibras alludes, in this + verse, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Like words congealed in northern air,” + </pre> + <p> + to a vulgar notion, that in Greenland words were frozen in their + utterance; and that upon a thaw, a very mixed conversation was heard in + the air, of all those words set at liberty. This conversation was, I + presume, too various and extensive to be much attended to: and may not + that be the case of half a dozen of my long letters, when you receive them + all at once? I think that I can, eventually, answer that question, thus: + If you consider my letters in their true light, as conveying to you the + advice of a friend, who sincerely wishes your happiness, and desires to + promote your pleasure, you will both read and attend to them; but, if you + consider them in their opposite, and very false light, as the dictates of + a morose and sermonizing father, I am sure they will be not only + unattended to, but unread. Which is the case, you can best tell me. Advice + is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the + least. I hope that your want of experience, of which you must be + conscious, will convince you, that you want advice; and that your good + sense will incline you to follow it. + </p> + <p> + Tell me how you pass your leisure hours at Leipsig; I know you have not + many; and I have too good an opinion of you to think, that, at this age, + you would desire more. Have you assemblies, or public spectacles? and of + what kind are they? Whatever they are, see them all; seeing everything, is + the only way not to admire anything too much. + </p> + <p> + If you ever take up little tale-books, to amuse you by snatches, I will + recommend two French books, which I have already mentioned; they will + entertain you, and not without some use to your mind and your manners. One + is, ‘La Maniere de bien penser dans les Ouvrages d’Esprit’, written by + Pere Bouhours; I believe you read it once in England, with Monsieur + Coderc; but I think that you will do well to read it again, as I know of + no book that will form your taste better. The other is, ‘L’Art de plaire + dans la Conversation’, by the Abbe de Bellegarde, and is by no means + useless, though I will not pretend to say, that the art of pleasing can be + reduced to a receipt; if it could, I am sure that receipt would be worth + purchasing at any price. Good sense, and good nature, are the principal + ingredients; and your own observation, and the good advice of others, must + give the right color and taste to it. Adieu! I shall always love you as + you shall deserve. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 9, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: You will receive this letter, not from a Secretary of State but + from a private man; for whom, at his time of life, quiet was as fit, and + as necessary, as labor and activity are for you at your age, and for many + years yet to come. I resigned the seals, last Saturday, to the King; who + parted with me most graciously, and (I may add, for he said so himself) + with regret. As I retire from hurry to quiet, and to enjoy, at my ease, + the comforts of private and social life, you will easily imagine that I + have no thoughts of opposition, or meddling with business. ‘Otium cum + dignitate’ is my object. The former I now enjoy; and I hope that my + conduct and character entitle me to some share of the latter. In short, I + am now happy: and I found that I could not be so in my former public + situation. + </p> + <p> + As I like your correspondence better than that of all the kings, princes, + and ministers, in Europe, I shall now have leisure to carry it on more + regularly. My letters to you will be written, I am sure, by me, and, I + hope, read by you, with pleasure; which, I believe, seldom happens, + reciprocally, to letters written from and to a secretary’s office. + </p> + <p> + Do not apprehend that my retirement from business may be a hindrance to + your advancement in it, at a proper time: on the contrary, it will promote + it; for, having nothing to ask for myself, I shall have the better title + to ask for you. But you have still a surer way than this of rising, and + which is wholly in your own power. Make yourself necessary; which, with + your natural parts, you may, by application, do. We are in general, in + England, ignorant of foreign affairs: and of the interests, views, + pretensions, and policy of other courts. That part of knowledge never + enters into our thoughts, nor makes part of our education; for which + reason, we have fewer proper subjects for foreign commissions, than any + other country in Europe; and, when foreign affairs happen to be debated in + Parliament, it is incredible with how much ignorance. The harvest of + foreign affairs being then so great, and the laborers so few, if you make + yourself master of them, you will make yourself necessary; first as a + foreign, and then as a domestic minister for that department. + </p> + <p> + I am extremely well pleased with the account which you give me of the + allotment of your time. Do but go on so, for two years longer, and I will + ask no more of you. Your labors will be their own reward; but if you + desire any other, that I can add, you may depend upon it. + </p> + <p> + I am glad that you perceive the indecency and turpitude of those of your + ‘Commensaux’, who disgrace and foul themselves with dirty w——s + and scoundrel gamesters. And the light in which, I am sure, you see all + reasonable and decent people consider them, will be a good warning to you. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 13, O. S. 1748 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: your last letter gave me a very satisfactory account of your + manner of employing your time at Leipsig. Go on so but for two years more, + and, I promise you, that you will outgo all the people of your age and + time. I thank you for your explanation of the ‘Schriftsassen’, and + ‘Amptsassen’; and pray let me know the meaning of the ‘Landsassen’. I am + very willing that you should take a Saxon servant, who speaks nothing but + German, which will be a sure way of keeping up your German, after you + leave Germany. But then, I would neither have that man, nor him whom you + have already, put out of livery; which makes them both impertinent and + useless. I am sure, that as soon as you shall have taken the other + servant, your present man will press extremely to be out of livery, and + valet de chambre; which is as much as to say, that he will curl your hair + and shave you, but not condescend to do anything else. I therefore advise + you, never to have a servant out of livery; and, though you may not always + think proper to carry the servant who dresses you abroad in the rain and + dirt, behind a coach or before a chair, yet keep it in your power to do + so, if you please, by keeping him in livery. + </p> + <p> + I have seen Monsieur and Madame Flemming, who gave me a very good account + of you, and of your manners, which to tell you the plain truth, were what + I doubted of the most. She told me, that you were easy, and not ashamed: + which is a great deal for an Englishman at your age. + </p> + <p> + I set out for Bath to-morrow, for a month; only to be better than well, + and enjoy, in, quiet, the liberty which I have acquired by the resignation + of the seals. You shall hear from me more at large from thence; and now + good night to you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, February 18, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: The first use that I made of my liberty was to come here, where + I arrived yesterday. My health, though not fundamentally bad yet, for want + of proper attention of late, wanted some repairs, which these waters never + fail giving it. I shall drink them a month, and return to London, there to + enjoy the comforts of social life, instead of groaning under the load of + business. I have given the description of the life that I propose to lead + for the future, in this motto, which I have put up in the frize of my + library in my new house:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno, et inertibus horis + Ducere sollicitae jucunda oblivia vitas. +</pre> + <p> + I must observe to you upon this occasion, that the uninterrupted + satisfaction which I expect to find in that library, will be chiefly owing + to my having employed some part of my life well at your age. I wish I had + employed it better, and my satisfaction would now be complete; but, + however, I planted while young, that degree of knowledge which is now my + refuge and my shelter. Make your plantations still more extensive; they + will more than pay you for your trouble. I do not regret the time that I + passed in pleasures; they were seasonable; they were the pleasures of + youth, and I enjoyed them while young. If I had not, I should probably + have overvalued them now, as we are very apt to do what we do not know; + but, knowing them as I do, I know their real value, and how much they are + generally overrated. Nor do I regret the time that I have passed in + business, for the same reason; those who see only the outside of it, + imagine it has hidden charms, which they pant after; and nothing but + acquaintance can undeceive them. I, who have been behind the scenes, both + of pleasure and business, and have seen all the springs and pullies of + those decorations which astonish and dazzle the audience, retire, not only + without regret, but with contentment and satisfaction. But what I do, and + ever shall regret, is the time which, while young, I lost in mere + idleness, and in doing nothing. This is the common effect of the + inconsideracy of youth, against which I beg you will be most carefully + upon your guard. The value of moments, when cast up, is immense, if well + employed; if thrown away, their loss is irrecoverable. Every moment may be + put to some use, and that with much more pleasure, than if unemployed. Do + not imagine, that by the employment of time, I mean an uninterrupted + application to serious studies. No; pleasures are, at proper times, both + as necessary and as useful; they fashion and form you for the world; they + teach you characters, and show you the human heart in its unguarded + minutes. But then remember to make that use of them. I have known many + people, from laziness of mind, go through both pleasure and business with + equal inattention; neither enjoying the one, nor doing the other; thinking + themselves men of pleasure, because they were mingled with those who were, + and men of business, because they had business to do, though they did not + do it. Whatever you do, do it to the purpose; do it thoroughly, not + superficially. ‘Approfondissez’: go to the bottom of things. Any thing + half done or half known, is, in my mind, neither done nor known at all. + Nay worse, it often misleads. There is hardly any place or any company, + where you may not gain knowledge, if you please; almost everybody knows + some one thing, and is glad to talk upon that one thing. Seek and you will + find, in this world as well as in the next. See everything; inquire into + everything; and you may excuse your curiosity, and the questions you ask + which otherwise might be thought impertinent, by your manner of asking + them; for most things depend a great deal upon the manner. As, for + example, I AM AFRAID THAT I AM VERY TROUBLESOME WITH MY QUESTIONS; BUT + NOBODY CAN INFORM ME SO WELL AS YOU; or something of that kind. + </p> + <p> + Now that you are in a Lutheran country, go to their churches, and observe + the manner of their public worship; attend to their ceremonies, and + inquire the meaning and intention of everyone of them. And, as you will + soon understand German well enough, attend to their sermons, and observe + their manner of preaching. Inform yourself of their church government: + whether it resides in the sovereign, or in consistories and synods. Whence + arises the maintenance of their clergy; whether from tithes, as in + England, or from voluntary contributions, or from pensions from the state. + Do the same thing when you are in Roman Catholic countries; go to their + churches, see all their ceremonies: ask the meaning of them, get the terms + explained to you. As, for instance, Prime, Tierce, Sexte, Nones, Matins, + Angelus, High Mass, Vespers, Complines, etc. Inform yourself of their + several religious orders, their founders, their rules, their vows, their + habits, their revenues, etc. But, when you frequent places of public + worship, as I would have you go to all the different ones you meet with, + remember, that however erroneous, they are none of them objects of + laughter and ridicule. Honest error is to be pitied, not ridiculed. The + object of all the public worships in the world is the same; it is that + great eternal Being who created everything. The different manners of + worship are by no means subjects of ridicule. Each sect thinks its own is + the best; and I know no infallible judge in this world, to decide which is + the best. Make the same inquiries, wherever you are, concerning the + revenues, the military establishment, the trade, the commerce, and the + police of every country. And you would do well to keep a blank paper book, + which the Germans call an ALBUM; and there, instead of desiring, as they + do, every fool they meet with to scribble something, write down all these + things as soon as they come to your knowledge from good authorities. + </p> + <p> + I had almost forgotten one thing, which I would recommend as an object for + your curiosity and information, that is, the administration of justice; + which, as it is always carried on in open court, you may, and I would have + you, go and see it with attention and inquiry. + </p> + <p> + I have now but one anxiety left, which is concerning you. I would have you + be, what I know nobody is—perfect. As that is impossible, I would + have you as near perfection as possible. I know nobody in a fairer way + toward it than yourself, if you please. Never were so much pains taken for + anybody’s education as for yours; and never had anybody those + opportunities of knowledge and improvement which you, have had, and still + have, I hope, I wish, I doubt, and fear alternately. This only I am sure + of, that you will prove either the greatest pain or the greatest pleasure + of, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, February 22, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR Boy: Every excellency, and every virtue, has its kindred vice or + weakness; and if carried beyond certain bounds, sinks into one or the + other. Generosity often runs into profusion, economy into avarice, courage + into rashness, caution into timidity, and so on:—insomuch that, I + believe, there is more judgment required, for the proper conduct of our + virtues, than for avoiding their opposite vices. Vice, in its true light, + is so deformed, that it shocks us at first sight, and would hardly ever + seduce us, if it did not, at first, wear the mask of some virtue. But + virtue is, in itself, so beautiful, that it charms us at first sight; + engages us more and more upon further acquaintance; and, as with other + beauties, we think excess impossible; it is here that judgment is + necessary, to moderate and direct the effects of an excellent cause. I + shall apply this reasoning, at present, not to any particular virtue, but + to an excellency, which, for want of judgment, is often the cause of + ridiculous and blamable effects; I mean, great learning; which, if not + accompanied with sound judgment, frequently carries us into error, pride, + and pedantry. As, I hope, you will possess that excellency in its utmost + extent, and yet without its too common failings, the hints, which my + experience can suggest, may probably not be useless to you. + </p> + <p> + Some learned men, proud of their knowledge, only speak to decide, and give + judgment without appeal; the consequence of which is, that mankind, + provoked by the insult, and injured by the oppression, revolt; and, in + order to shake off the tyranny, even call the lawful authority in + question. The more you know, the modester you should be: and (by the bye) + that modesty is the surest way of gratifying your vanity. Even where you + are sure, seem rather doubtful; represent, but do not pronounce, and, if + you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself. + </p> + <p> + Others, to show their learning, or often from the prejudices of a school + education, where they hear of nothing else, are always talking of the + ancients, as something more than men, and of the moderns, as something + less. They are never without a classic or two in their pockets; they stick + to the old good sense; they read none of the modern trash; and will show + you, plainly, that no improvement has been made, in any one art or + science, these last seventeen hundred years. I would by no means have you + disown your acquaintance with the ancients: but still less would I have + you brag of an exclusive intimacy with them. Speak of the moderns without + contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry; judge them all by their + merits, but not by their ages; and if you happen to have an Elzevir + classic in your pocket neither show it nor mention it. + </p> + <p> + Some great scholars, most absurdly, draw all their maxims, both for public + and private life, from what they call parallel cases in the ancient + authors; without considering, that, in the first place, there never were, + since the creation of the world, two cases exactly parallel; and, in the + next place, that there never was a case stated, or even known, by any + historian, with every one of its circumstances; which, however, ought to + be known, in order to be reasoned from. Reason upon the case itself, and + the several circumstances that attend it, and act accordingly; but not + from the authority of ancient poets, or historians. Take into your + consideration, if you please, cases seemingly analogous; but take them as + helps only, not as guides. We are really so prejudiced by our education, + that, as the ancients deified their heroes, we deify their madmen; of + which, with all due regard for antiquity, I take Leonidas and Curtius to + have been two distinguished ones. And yet a solid pedant would, in a + speech in parliament, relative to a tax of two pence in the pound upon + some community or other, quote those two heroes, as examples of what we + ought to do and suffer for our country. I have known these absurdities + carried so far by people of injudicious learning, that I should not be + surprised, if some of them were to propose, while we are at war with the + Gauls, that a number of geese should be kept in the Tower, upon account of + the infinite advantage which Rome received IN A PARALLEL CASE, from a + certain number of geese in the Capitol. This way of reasoning, and this + way of speaking, will always form a poor politician, and a puerile + declaimer. + </p> + <p> + There is another species of learned men, who, though less dogmatical and + supercilious, are not less impertinent. These are the communicative and + shining pedants, who adorn their conversation, even with women, by happy + quotations of Greek and Latin; and who have contracted such a familiarity + with the Greek and Roman authors, that they, call them by certain names or + epithets denoting intimacy. As OLD Homer; that SLY ROGUE Horace; MARO, + instead of Virgil; and Naso, Instead of Ovid. These are often imitated by + coxcombs, who have no learning at all; but who have got some names and + some scraps of ancient authors by heart, which they improperly and + impertinently retail in all companies, in hopes of passing for scholars. + If, therefore, you would avoid the accusation of pedantry on one hand, or + the suspicion of ignorance on the other, abstain from learned ostentation. + Speak the language of the company that you are in; speak it purely, and + unlarded with any other. Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the + people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private + pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have + one. If you are asked what o’clock it is, tell it; but do not proclaim it + hourly and unasked, like the watchman. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, remember that learning (I mean Greek and Roman learning) + is a most useful and necessary ornament, which it is shameful not to be + master of; but, at the same time most carefully avoid those errors and + abuses which I have mentioned, and which too often attend it. Remember, + too, that great modern knowledge is still more necessary than ancient; and + that you had better know perfectly the present, than the old state of + Europe; though I would have you well acquainted with both. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment received your letter of the 17th, N. S. Though, I + confess, there is no great variety in your present manner of life, yet + materials can never be wanting for a letter; you see, you hear, or you + read something new every day; a short account of which, with your own + reflections thereupon, will make out a letter very well. But, since you + desire a subject, pray send me an account of the Lutheran establishment in + Germany; their religious tenets, their church government, the maintenance, + authority, and titles of their clergy. + </p> + <p> + ‘Vittorio Siri’, complete, is a very scarce and very dear book here; but I + do not want it. If your own library grows too voluminous, you will not + know what to do with it, when you leave Leipsig. Your best way will be, + when you go away from thence, to send to England, by Hamburg, all the + books that you do not absolutely want. + </p> + <p> + Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXI + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, March 1, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: By Mr. Harte’s letter to Mr. Grevenkop, of the 21st February, N. + S., I find that you had been a great while without receiving any letters + from me; but by this time, I daresay you think you have received enough, + and possibly more than you have read; for I am not only a frequent, but a + prolix correspondent. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte says, in that letter, that he looks upon Professor Mascow to be + one of the ablest men in Europe, in treaty and political knowledge. I am + extremely glad of it; for that is what I would have you particularly apply + to, and make yourself perfect master of. The treaty part you must chiefly + acquire by reading the treaties themselves, and the histories and memoirs + relative to them; not but that inquiries and conversations upon those + treaties will help you greatly, and imprint them better in your mind. In + this course of reading, do not perplex yourself, at first, by the + multitude of insignificant treaties which are to be found in the Corps + Diplomatique; but stick to the material ones, which altered the state of + Europe, and made a new arrangement among the great powers; such as the + treaties of Munster, Nimeguen, Ryswick, and Utrecht. + </p> + <p> + But there is one part of political knowledge, which is only to be had by + inquiry and conversation; that is, the present state of every power in + Europe, with regard to the three important points, of strength, revenue, + and commerce. You will, therefore, do well, while you are in Germany, to + inform yourself carefully of the military force, the revenues, and the + commerce of every prince and state of the empire; and to write down those + informations in a little book, for that particular purpose. To give you a + specimen of what I mean:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + THE ELECTORATE OF HANOVER + + The revenue is about L500,000 a year. + + The military establishment, in time of war, may be about 25,000 men; + but that is the utmost. + + The trade is chiefly linens, exported from Stade. + + There are coarse woolen manufactures for home-consumption. + + The mines of Hartz produce about L100,000 in silver, annually. +</pre> + <p> + Such informations you may very easily get, by proper inquiries, of every + state in Germany if you will but prefer useful to frivolous conversations. + </p> + <p> + There are many princes in Germany, who keep very few or no troops, unless + upon the approach of danger, or for the sake of profit, by letting them + out for subsidies, to great powers: In that case, you will inform yourself + what number of troops they could raise, either for their own defense, or + furnish to other powers for subsidies. + </p> + <p> + There is very little trouble, and an infinite use, in acquiring of this + knowledge. It seems to me even to be a more entertaining subject to talk + upon, than ‘la pluie et le beau tens’. + </p> + <p> + Though I am sensible that these things cannot be known with the utmost + exactness, at least by you yet, you may, however, get so near the truth, + that the difference will be very immaterial. + </p> + <p> + Pray let me know if the Roman Catholic worship is tolerated in Saxony, + anywhere but at Court; and if public mass-houses are allowed anywhere else + in the electorate. Are the regular Romish clergy allowed; and have they + any convents? + </p> + <p> + Are there any military orders in Saxony, and what? Is the White Eagle a + Saxon or a Polish order? Upon what occasion, and when was it founded? What + number of knights? + </p> + <p> + Adieu! God bless you; and may you turn out what I wish! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, March 9, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I must from time to time, remind you of what I have often + recommended to you, and of what you cannot attend to too much; SACRIFICE + TO THE GRACES. The different effects of the same things, said or done, + when accompanied or abandoned by them, is almost inconceivable. They + prepare the way to the heart; and the heart has such an influence over the + understanding, that it is worth while to engage it in our interest. It is + the whole of women, who are guided by nothing else: and it has so much to + say, even with men, and the ablest men too, that it commonly triumphs in + every struggle with the understanding. Monsieur de Rochefoucault, in his + “Maxims,” says, that ‘l’esprit est souvent la dupe du coeur.’ If he had + said, instead of ‘souvent, tresque toujours’, I fear he would have been + nearer the truth. This being the case, aim at the heart. Intrinsic merit + alone will not do; it will gain you the general esteem of all; but not the + particular affection, that is, the heart of any. To engage the affections + of any particular person, you must, over and above your general merit, + have some particular merit to that person by services done, or offered; by + expressions of regard and esteem; by complaisance, attentions, etc., for + him. And the graceful manner of doing all these things opens the way to + the heart, and facilitates, or rather insures, their effects. From your + own observation, reflect what a disagreeable impression an awkward + address, a slovenly figure, an ungraceful manner of speaking, whether + stuttering, muttering, monotony, or drawling, an unattentive behavior, + etc., make upon you, at first sight, in a stranger, and how they prejudice + you against him, though for aught you know, he may have great intrinsic + sense and merit. And reflect, on the other hand, how much the opposites of + all these things prepossess you, at first sight, in favor of those who + enjoy them. You wish to find all good qualities in them, and are in some + degree disappointed if you do not. A thousand little things, not + separately to be defined, conspire to form these graces, this je ne sais + quoi, that always please. A pretty person, genteel motions, a proper + degree of dress, an harmonious voice, something open and cheerful in the + countenance, but without laughing; a distinct and properly varied manner + of speaking: All these things, and many others, are necessary ingredients + in the composition of the pleasing je ne sais quoi, which everybody feels, + though nobody can describe. Observe carefully, then, what displeases or + pleases you in others, and be persuaded, that in general; the same things + will please or displease them in you. Having mentioned laughing, I must + particularly warn you against it: and I could heartily wish, that you may + often be seen to smile, but never heard to laugh while you live. Frequent + and loud laughter is the characteristic of folly and in manners; it is the + manner in which the mob express their silly joy at silly things; and they + call it being merry. In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal, and so + ill-bred, as audible laughter. True wit, or sense, never yet made anybody + laugh; they are above it: They please the mind, and give a cheerfulness to + the countenance. But it is low buffoonery, or silly accidents, that always + excite laughter; and that is what people of sense and breeding should show + themselves above. A man’s going to sit down, in the supposition that he + has a chair behind him, and falling down upon his breech for want of one, + sets a whole company a laughing, when all the wit in the world would not + do it; a plain proof, in my mind, how low and unbecoming a thing laughter + is: not to mention the disagreeable noise that it makes, and the shocking + distortion of the face that it occasions. Laughter is easily restrained, + by a very little reflection; but as it is generally connected with the + idea of gaiety, people do not enough attend to its absurdity. I am neither + of a melancholy nor a cynical disposition, and am as willing and as apt to + be pleased as anybody; but I am sure that, since I have had the full use + of my reason, nobody has ever heard me laugh. Many people, at first, from + awkwardness and ‘mauvaise honte’, have got a very disagreeable and silly + trick of laughing whenever they speak; and I know a man of very good + parts, Mr. Waller, who cannot say the commonest thing without laughing; + which makes those, who do not know him, take him at first for a natural + fool. This, and many other very disagreeable habits, are owing to mauvaise + honte at their first setting out in the world. They are ashamed in + company, and so disconcerted, that they do not know what they do, and try + a thousand tricks to keep themselves in countenance; which tricks + afterward grow habitual to them. Some put their fingers in their nose, + others scratch their heads, others twirl their hats; in short, every + awkward, ill-bred body has his trick. But the frequency does not justify + the thing, and all these vulgar habits and awkwardnesses, though not + criminal indeed, are most carefully to be guarded against, as they are + great bars in the way of the art of pleasing. Remember, that to please is + almost to prevail, or at least a necessary previous step to it. You, who + have your fortune to make, should more particularly study this art. You + had not, I must tell you, when you left England, ‘les manieres + prevenantes’; and I must confess they are not very common in England; but + I hope that your good sense will make you acquire them abroad. If you + desire to make yourself considerable in the world (as, if you have any + spirit, you do), it must be entirely your own doing; for I may very + possibly be out of the world at the time you come into it. Your own rank + and fortune will not assist you; your merit and your manners can alone + raise you to figure and fortune. I have laid the foundations of them, by + the education which I have given you; but you must build the + superstructure yourself. + </p> + <p> + I must now apply to you for some informations, which I dare say you can, + and which I desire you will give me. + </p> + <p> + Can the Elector of Saxony put any of his subjects to death for high + treason, without bringing them first to their trial in some public court + of justice? + </p> + <p> + Can he, by his own authority, confine any subject in prison as long as he + pleases, without trial? + </p> + <p> + Can he banish any subject out of his dominions by his own authority? + </p> + <p> + Can he lay any tax whatsoever upon his subjects, without the consent of + the states of Saxony? and what are those states? how are they elected? + what orders do they consist of? Do the clergy make part of them? and when, + and how often do they meet? + </p> + <p> + If two subjects of the elector’s are at law, for an estate situated in the + electorate, in what court must this suit be tried? and will the decision + of that court be final, or does there lie an appeal to the imperial + chamber at Wetzlaer? + </p> + <p> + What do you call the two chief courts, or two chief magistrates, of civil + and criminal justice? + </p> + <p> + What is the common revenue of the electorate, one year with another? + </p> + <p> + What number of troops does the elector now maintain? and what is the + greatest number that the electorate is able to maintain? + </p> + <p> + I do not expect to have all these questions answered at once; but you will + answer them, in proportion as you get the necessary and authentic + informations. + </p> + <p> + You are, you see, my German oracle; and I consult you with so much faith, + that you need not, like the oracles of old, return ambiguous answers; + especially as you have this advantage over them, too, that I only consult + you about past end present, but not about what is to come. + </p> + <p> + I wish you a good Easter-fair at Leipsig. See, with attention all the + shops, drolls, tumblers, rope-dancers, and ‘hoc genus omne’: but inform + yourself more particularly of the several parts of trade there. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 25, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I am in great joy at the written and the verbal accounts which I + have received lately of you. + </p> + <p> + The former, from Mr. Harte; the latter, from Mr. Trevanion, who is arrived + here: they conspire to convince me that you employ your time well at + Leipsig. I am glad to find you consult your own interest and your own + pleasure so much; for the knowledge which you will acquire in these two + years is equally necessary for both. I am likewise particularly pleased to + find that you turn yourself to that sort of knowledge which is more + peculiarly necessary for your destination: for Mr. Harte tells me you have + read, with attention, Caillieres, Pequet, and Richelieu’s “Letters.” The + “Memoirs” of the Cardinal de Retz will both entertain and instruct you; + they relate to a very interesting period of the French history, the + ministry of Cardinal Mazarin, during the minority of Lewis XIV. The + characters of all the considerable people of that time are drawn, in a + short, strong, and masterly manner; and the political reflections, which + are most of them printed in italics, are the justest that ever I met with: + they are not the labored reflections of a systematical closet politician, + who, without the least experience of business, sits at home and writes + maxims; but they are the reflections which a great and able man formed + from long experience and practice in great business. They are true + conclusions, drawn from facts, not from speculations. + </p> + <p> + As modern history is particularly your business, I will give you some + rules to direct your study of it. It begins, properly with Charlemagne, in + the year 800. But as, in those times of ignorance, the priests and monks + were almost the only people that could or did write, we have scarcely any + histories of those times but such as they have been pleased to give us, + which are compounds of ignorance, superstition, and party zeal. So that a + general notion of what is rather supposed, than really known to be, the + history of the five or six following centuries, seems to be sufficient; + and much time would be but ill employed in a minute attention to those + legends. But reserve your utmost care, and most diligent inquiries, from + the fifteenth century, and downward. Then learning began to revive, and + credible histories to be written; Europe began to take the form, which, to + some degree, it still retains: at least the foundations of the present + great powers of Europe were then laid. Lewis the Eleventh made France, in + truth, a monarchy, or, as he used to say himself, ‘la mit hors de Page’. + Before his time, there were independent provinces in France, as the Duchy + of Brittany, etc., whose princes tore it to pieces, and kept it in + constant domestic confusion. Lewis the Eleventh reduced all these petty + states, by fraud, force, or marriage; for he scrupled no means to obtain + his ends. + </p> + <p> + About that time, Ferdinand King of Aragon, and Isabella his wife, Queen of + Castile, united the whole Spanish monarchy, and drove the Moors out of + Spain, who had till then kept position of Granada. About that time, too, + the house of Austria laid the great foundations of its subsequent power; + first, by the marriage of Maximilian with the heiress of Burgundy; and + then, by the marriage of his son Philip, Archduke of Austria, with Jane, + the daughter of Isabella, Queen of Spain, and heiress of that whole + kingdom, and of the West Indies. By the first of these marriages, the + house of Austria acquired the seventeen provinces, and by the latter, + Spain and America; all which centered in the person of Charles the Fifth, + son of the above-mentioned Archduke Philip, the son of Maximilian. It was + upon account of these two marriages, that the following Latin distich was + made: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bella gerant alii, Tu felix Austria nube; + Nam qua, Mars aliis; dat tibi regna Venus. +</pre> + <p> + This immense power, which the Emperor Charles the Fifth found himself + possessed of, gave him a desire for universal power (for people never + desire all till they have gotten a great deal), and alarmed France; this + sowed the seeds of that jealousy and enmity, which have flourished ever + since between those two great powers. Afterward the House of Austria was + weakened by the division made by Charles the Fifth of his dominions, + between his son, Philip the Second of Spain, and his brother Ferdinand; + and has ever since been dwindling to the weak condition in which it now + is. This is a most interesting part of the history of Europe, of which it + is absolutely necessary that you should be exactly and minutely informed. + </p> + <p> + There are in the history of most countries, certain very remarkable eras, + which deserve more particular inquiry and attention than the common run of + history. Such is the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces, in the reign of + Philip the Second of Spain, which ended in forming the present republic of + the Seven United Provinces, whose independency was first allowed by Spain + at the treaty of Munster. Such was the extraordinary revolution of + Portugal, in the year 1640, in favor of the present House of Braganza. + Such is the famous revolution of Sweden, when Christian the Second of + Denmark, who was also king of Sweden, was driven out by Gustavus Vasa. And + such also is that memorable era in Denmark, of 1660; when the states of + that kingdom made a voluntary surrender of all their rights and liberties + to the Crown, and changed that free state into the most absolute monarchy + now in Europe. The Acta Regis, upon that occasion, are worth your + perusing. These remarkable periods of modern history deserve your + particular attention, and most of them have been treated singly by good + historians, which are worth your reading. The revolutions of Sweden, and + of Portugal, are most admirably well written by L’Abbe de Vertot; they are + short, and will not take twelve hours’ reading. There is another book + which very well deserves your looking into, but not worth your buying at + present, because it is not portable; if you can borrow or hire it, you + should; and that is, ‘L’ Histoire des Traits de Paix, in two volumes, + folio, which make part of the ‘Corps Diplomatique’. You will there find a + short and clear history, and the substance of every treaty made in Europe, + during the last century, from the treaty of Vervins. Three parts in four + of this book are not worth your reading, as they relate to treaties of + very little importance; but if you select the most considerable ones, read + them with attention, and take some notes, it will be of great use to you. + Attend chiefly to those in which the great powers of Europe are the + parties; such as the treaty of the Pyrenees, between France and Spain; the + treaties of Nimeguen and Ryswick; but, above all, the treaty of Munster + should be most circumstantially and minutely known to you, as almost every + treaty made since has some reference to it. For this, Pere Bougeant is the + best book you can read, as it takes in the thirty years’ war, which + preceded that treaty. The treaty itself, which is made a perpetual law of + the empire, comes in the course of your lectures upon the ‘Jus Publicum + Imperii’. + </p> + <p> + In order to furnish you with materials for a letter, and at the same time + to inform both you and myself of what it is right that we should know, + pray answer me the following questions: + </p> + <p> + How many companies are there in the Saxon regiments of foot? How many men + in each company? + </p> + <p> + How many troops in the regiments of horse and dragoons; and how many men + in each? + </p> + <p> + What number of commissioned and non-commissioned officers in a company of + foot, or in a troop of horse or dragoons? N. B. Noncommissioned officers + are all those below ensigns and cornets. + </p> + <p> + What is the daily pay of a Saxon foot soldier, dragoon, and trooper? + </p> + <p> + What are the several ranks of the ‘Etat Major-general’? N. B. The Etat + Major-general is everything above colonel. The Austrians have no + brigadiers, and the French have no major-generals in their Etat Major. + What have the Saxons? Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 27, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: This little packet will be delivered to you by one Monsieur + Duval, who is going to the fair at Leipsig. He is a jeweler, originally of + Geneva, but who has been settled here these eight or ten years, and a very + sensible fellow: pray do be very civil to him. + </p> + <p> + As I advised you, some time ago, to inform yourself of the civil and + military establishments of as many of the kingdoms and states of Europe, + as you should either be in yourself, or be able to get authentic accounts + of, I send you here a little book, in which, upon the article of Hanover, + I have pointed out the short method of putting down these informations, by + way of helping your memory. The book being lettered, you can immediately + turn to whatever article you want; and, by adding interleaves to each + letter, may extend your minutes to what particulars you please. You may + get such books made anywhere; and appropriate each, if you please, to a + particular object. I have myself found great utility in this method. If I + had known what to have sent you by this opportunity I would have done it. + The French say, ‘Que les petits presens entretiennent l’amite et que les + grande l’augmentent’; but I could not recollect that you wanted anything, + or at least anything that you cannot get as well at Leipsig as here. Do + but continue to deserve, and, I assure you, that you shall never want + anything I can give. + </p> + <p> + Do not apprehend that my being out of employment may be any prejudice to + you. Many things will happen before you can be fit for business; and when + you are fit, whatever my situation may be, it will always be in my power + to help you in your first steps; afterward you must help yourself by your + own abilities. Make yourself necessary, and, instead of soliciting, you + will be solicited. The thorough knowledge of foreign affairs, the + interests, the views, and the manners of the several courts in Europe, are + not the common growth of this country. It is in your power to acquire + them; you have all the means. Adieu! Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 1, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have not received any letter, either from you or from Mr. + Harte, these three posts, which I impute wholly to accidents between this + place and Leipsig; and they are distant enough to admit of many. I always + take it for granted that you are well, when I do not hear to the contrary; + besides, as I have often told you, I am much more anxious about your doing + well, than about your being well; and, when you do not write, I will + suppose that you are doing something more useful. Your health will + continue, while your temperance continues; and at your age nature takes + sufficient care of the body, provided she is left to herself, and that + intemperance on one hand, or medicines on the other, do not break in upon + her. But it is by no means so with the mind, which, at your age + particularly, requires great and constant care, and some physic. Every + quarter of an hour, well or ill employed, will do it essential and lasting + good or harm. It requires also a great deal of exercise, to bring it to a + state of health and vigor. Observe the difference there is between minds + cultivated, and minds uncultivated, and you will, I am sure, think that + you cannot take too much pains, nor employ too much of your time in the + culture of your own. A drayman is probably born with as good organs as + Milton, Locke, or Newton; but, by culture, they are as much more above him + as he is above his horse. Sometimes, indeed, extraordinary geniuses have + broken out by the force of nature, without the assistance of education; + but those instances are too rare for anybody to trust to; and even they + would make a much greater figure, if they had the advantage of education + into the bargain. If Shakespeare’s genius had been cultivated, those + beauties, which we so justly admire in him, would have been undisgraced by + those extravagancies, and that nonsense, with which they are frequently + accompanied. People are, in general, what they are made, by education and + company, from fifteen to five-and-twenty; consider well, therefore, the + importance of your next eight or nine years; your whole depends upon them. + I will tell you sincerely, my hopes and my fears concerning you. I think + you will be a good scholar; and that you will acquire a considerable stock + of knowledge of various kinds; but I fear that you neglect what are called + little, though, in truth, they are very material things; I mean, a + gentleness of manners, an engaging address, and an insinuating behavior; + they are real and solid advantages, and none but those who do not know the + world, treat them as trifles. I am told that you speak very quick, and not + distinctly; this is a most ungraceful and disagreeable trick, which you + know I have told you of a thousand times; pray attend carefully to the + correction of it. An agreeable and, distinct manner of speaking adds + greatly to the matter; and I have known many a very good speech + unregarded, upon account of the disagreeable manner in which it has been + delivered, and many an indifferent one applauded, from the contrary + reason. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 15, O. S. 1748 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Though I have no letters from you to acknowledge since my last + to you, I will not let three posts go from hence without a letter from me. + My affection always prompts me to write to you; and I am encouraged to do + it, by the hopes that my letters are not quite useless. You will probably + receive this in the midst of the diversions of Leipsig fair; at which, Mr. + Harte tells me, that you are to shine in fine clothes, among fine folks. I + am very glad of it, as it is time that you should begin to be formed to + the manners of the world in higher life. Courts are the best schools for + that sort of learning. You are beginning now with the outside of a court; + and there is not a more gaudy one than that of Saxony. Attend to it, and + make your observations upon the turn and manners of it, that you may + hereafter compare it with other courts which you will see; And, though you + are not yet able to be informed, or to judge of the political conduct and + maxims of that court, yet you may remark the forms, the ceremonies, and + the exterior state of it. At least see everything that you can see, and + know everything that you can know of it, by asking questions. See likewise + everything at the fair, from operas and plays, down to the Savoyard’s + raree-shows. + </p> + <p> + Everything is worth seeing once; and the more one sees, the less one + either wonders or admires. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, and tell him that I have just now + received his letter, for which I thank him. I am called away, and my + letter is therefore very much shortened. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + I am impatient to receive your answers to the many questions that I have + asked you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 26, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I am extremely pleased with your continuation of the history of + the Reformation; which is one of those important eras that deserves your + utmost attention, and of which you cannot be too minutely informed. You + have, doubtless, considered the causes of that great event, and observed + that disappointment and resentment had a much greater share in it, than a + religious zeal or an abhorrence of the errors and abuses of popery. + </p> + <p> + Luther, an Augustine monk, enraged that his order, and consequently + himself, had not the exclusive privilege of selling indulgences, but that + the Dominicans were let into a share of that profitable but infamous + trade, turns reformer, and exclaims against the abuses, the corruption, + and the idolatry, of the church of Rome; which were certainly gross enough + for him to have seen long before, but which he had at least acquiesced in, + till what he called the rights, that is, the profit, of his order came to + be touched. It is true, the church of Rome furnished him ample matter for + complaint and reformation, and he laid hold of it ably. + </p> + <p> + This seems to me the true cause of that great and necessary, work; but + whatever the cause was, the effect was good; and the Reformation spread + itself by its own truth and fitness; was conscientiously received by great + numbers in Germany, and other countries; and was soon afterward mixed up + with the politics of princes; and, as it always happens in religious + disputes, became the specious covering of injustice and ambition. + </p> + <p> + Under the pretense of crushing heresy, as it was called, the House of + Austria meant to extend and establish its power in the empire; as, on the + other hand, many Protestant princes, under the pretense of extirpating + idolatry, or at least of securing toleration, meant only to enlarge their + own dominions or privileges. These views respectively, among the chiefs on + both sides, much more than true religious motives, continued what were + called the religious wars in Germany, almost uninterruptedly, till the + affairs of the two religions were finally settled by the treaty of + Munster. + </p> + <p> + Were most historical events traced up to their true causes, I fear we + should not find them much more noble or disinterested than Luther’s + disappointed avarice; and therefore I look with some contempt upon those + refining and sagacious historians, who ascribe all, even the most common + events, to some deep political cause; whereas mankind is made up of + inconsistencies, and no man acts invariably up to his predominant + character. The wisest man sometimes acts weakly, and the weakest sometimes + wisely. Our jarring passions, our variable humors, nay, our greater or + lesser degree of health and spirits, produce such contradictions in our + conduct, that, I believe, those are the oftenest mistaken, who ascribe our + actions to the most seemingly obvious motives; and I am convinced, that a + light supper, a good night’s sleep, and a fine morning, have sometimes + made a hero of the same man, who, by an indigestion, a restless night, and + rainy morning, would, have proved a coward. Our best conjectures, + therefore, as to the true springs of actions, are but very uncertain; and + the actions themselves are all that we must pretend to know from history. + That Caesar was murdered by twenty-three conspirators, I make no doubt: + but I very much doubt that their love of liberty, and of their country, + was their sole, or even principal motive; and I dare say that, if the + truth were known, we should find that many other motives at least + concurred, even in the great Brutus himself; such as pride, envy, personal + pique, and disappointment. Nay, I cannot help carrying my Pyrrhonism still + further, and extending it often to historical facts themselves, at least + to most of the circumstances with which they are related; and every day’s + experience confirms me in this historical incredulity. Do we ever hear the + most recent fact related exactly in the same way, by the several people + who were at the same time eyewitnesses of it? No. One mistakes, another + misrepresents, and others warp it a little to their own, turn of mind, or + private views. A man who has been concerned in a transaction will not + write it fairly; and a man who has not, cannot. But notwithstanding all + this uncertainty, history is not the less necessary to be known, as the + best histories are taken for granted, and are the frequent subjects both + of conversation and writing. Though I am convinced that Caesar’s ghost + never appeared to Brutus, yet I should be much ashamed to be ignorant of + that fact, as related by the historians of those times. Thus the Pagan + theology is universally received as matter for writing and conversation, + though believed now by nobody; and we talk of Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, etc., + as gods, though we know, that if they ever existed at all, it was only as + mere mortal men. This historical Pyrrhonism, then, proves nothing against + the study and knowledge of history; which, of all other studies, is the + most necessary for a man who is to live in the world. It only points out + to us, not to be too decisive and peremptory; and to be cautious how we + draw inferences for our own practice from remote facts, partially or + ignorantly related; of which we can, at best, but imperfectly guess, and + certainly not know the real motives. The testimonies of ancient history + must necessarily be weaker than those of modern, as all testimony grows + weaker and weaker, as it is more and more remote from us. I would + therefore advise you to study ancient history, in general, as other + people, do; that is, not to be ignorant of any or those facts which are + universally received, upon the faith of the best historians; and whether + true or false, you have them as other people have them. But modern + history, I mean particularly that of the last three centuries, is what I + would have you apply to with the greatest attention and exactness. There + the probability of coming at the truth is much greater, as the testimonies + are much more recent; besides, anecdotes, memoirs, and original letters, + often come to the aid of modern history. The best memoirs that I know of + are those of Cardinal de Retz, which I have once before recommended to + you; and which I advise you to read more than once, with attention. There + are many political maxims in these memoirs, most of which are printed in + italics; pray attend to, and remember them. I never read them but my own + experience confirms the truth of them. Many of them seem trifling to + people who are not used to business; but those who are, feel the truth of + them. + </p> + <p> + It is time to put an end to this long rambling letter; in which if any one + thing can be of use to you, it will more than pay the trouble I have taken + to write it. Adieu! Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 10, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I reckon that this letter will find you just returned from + Dresden, where you have made your first court caravanne. What inclination + for courts this taste of them may have given you, I cannot tell; but this + I think myself sure of, from your good sense, that in leaving Dresden, you + have left dissipation too; and have resumed at Leipsig that application + which, if you like courts, can alone enable you to make a good figure at + them. A mere courtier, without parts or knowledge, is the most frivolous + and contemptible of all beings; as, on the other hand, a man of parts and + knowledge, who acquires the easy and noble manners of a court, is the most + perfect. It is a trite, commonplace observation, that courts are the seats + of falsehood and dissimulation. That, like many, I might say most, + commonplace observations, is false. Falsehood and dissimulation are + certainly to be found at courts; but where are they not to be found? + Cottages have them, as well as courts; only with worse manners. A couple + of neighboring farmers in a village will contrive and practice as many + tricks, to over-reach each other at the next market, or to supplant each + other in the favor, of the squire, as any two courtiers can do to supplant + each other in the favor of their prince. + </p> + <p> + Whatever poets may write, or fools believe, of rural innocence and truth, + and of the perfidy of courts, this is most undoubtedly true that shepherds + and ministers are both men; their nature and passions the same, the modes + of them only different. + </p> + <p> + Having mentioned commonplace observations, I will particularly caution you + against either using, believing, or approving them. They are the common + topics of witlings and coxcombs; those, who really have wit, have the + utmost contempt for them, and scorn even to laugh at the pert things that + those would-be wits say upon such subjects. + </p> + <p> + Religion is one of their favorite topics; it is all priest-craft; and an + invention contrived and carried on by priests of all religions, for their + own power and profit; from this absurd and false principle flow the + commonplace, insipid jokes, and insults upon the clergy. With these + people, every priest, of every religion, is either a public or a concealed + unbeliever, drunkard, and whoremaster; whereas, I conceive, that priests + are extremely like other men, and neither the better nor the worse for + wearing a gown or a surplice: but if they are different from other people, + probably it is rather on the side of religion and morality, or, at least, + decency, from their education and manner of life. + </p> + <p> + Another common topic for false wit, and cool raillery, is matrimony. Every + man and his wife hate each other cordially, whatever they may pretend, in + public, to the contrary. The husband certainly wishes his wife at the + devil, and the wife certainly cuckolds her husband. Whereas, I presume, + that men and their wives neither love nor hate each other the more, upon + account of the form of matrimony which has been said over them. The + cohabitation, indeed, which is the consequence of matrimony, makes them + either love or hate more, accordingly as they respectively deserve it; but + that would be exactly the same between any man and woman who lived + together without being married. + </p> + <p> + These and many other commonplace reflections upon nations or professions + in general (which are at least as often false as true), are the poor + refuge of people who have neither wit nor invention of their own, but + endeavor to shine in company by second-hand finery. I always put these + pert jackanapes out of countenance, by looking extremely grave, when they + expect that I should laugh at their pleasantries; and by saying WELL, AND + SO, as if they had not done, and that the sting were still to come. This + disconcerts them, as they have no resources in themselves, and have but + one set of jokes to live upon. Men of parts are not reduced to these + shifts, and have the utmost contempt for them, they find proper subjects + enough for either useful or lively conversations; they can be witty + without satire or commonplace, and serious without being dull. The + frequentation of courts checks this petulancy of manners; the + good-breeding and circumspection which are necessary, and only to be + learned there, correct those pertnesses. I do not doubt but that you are + improved in your manners by the short visit which you have made at + Dresden; and the other courts, which I intend that you shall be better + acquainted with, will gradually smooth you up to the highest polish. In + courts, a versatility of genius and softness of manners are absolutely + necessary; which some people mistake for abject flattery, and having no + opinion of one’s own; whereas it is only the decent and genteel manner of + maintaining your own opinion, and possibly of bringing other people to it. + The manner of doing things is often more important than the things + themselves; and the very same thing may become either pleasing or + offensive, by the manner of saying or doing it. ‘Materiam superabat opus’, + is often said of works of sculpture; where though the materials were + valuable, as silver, gold, etc., the workmanship was still more so. This + holds true, applied to manners; which adorn whatever knowledge or parts + people may have; and even make a greater impression upon nine in ten of + mankind, than the intrinsic value of the materials. On the other hand, + remember, that what Horace says of good writing is justly applicable to + those who would make a good figure in courts, and distinguish themselves + in the shining parts of life; ‘Sapere est principium et fons’. A man who, + without a good fund of knowledge and parts, adopts a court life, makes the + most ridiculous figure imaginable. He is a machine, little superior to the + court clock; and, as this points out the hours, he points out the + frivolous employment of them. He is, at most, a comment upon the clock; + and according to the hours that it strikes, tells you now it is levee, now + dinner, now supper time, etc. The end which I propose by your education, + and which (IF YOU PLEASE) I shall certainly attain, is to unite in you all + the knowledge of a scholar with the manners of a courtier; and to join, + what is seldom joined by any of my countrymen, books and the world. They + are commonly twenty years old before they have spoken to anybody above + their schoolmaster, and the fellows of their college. If they happen to + have learning, it is only Greek and Latin, but not one word of modern + history, or modern languages. Thus prepared, they go abroad, as they call + it; but, in truth, they stay at home all that while; for being very + awkward, confoundedly ashamed, and not speaking the languages, they go + into no foreign company, at least none good; but dine and sup with one + another only at the tavern. Such examples, I am sure, you will not + imitate, but even carefully avoid. You will always take care to keep the + best company in the place where you are, which is the only use of + traveling: and (by the way) the pleasures of a gentleman are only to be + found in the best company; for that not which low company, most falsely + and impudently, call pleasure, is only the sensuality of a swine. + </p> + <p> + I ask hard and uninterrupted study from you but one year more; after that, + you shall have every day more and more time for your amusements. A few + hours each day will then be sufficient for application, and the others + cannot be better employed than in the pleasures of good company. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 31, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I received yesterday your letter of the 16th, N. S., and have, + in consequence of it, written this day to Sir Charles Williams, to thank + him for all the civilities he has shown you. Your first setting out at + court has, I find, been very favorable; and his Polish Majesty has + distinguished you. I hope you received that mark of distinction with + respect and with steadiness, which is the proper behavior of a man of + fashion. People of a low, obscure education cannot stand the rays of + greatness; they are frightened out of their wits when kings and great men + speak to them; they are awkward, ashamed, and do not know what nor how to + answer; whereas, ‘les honnetes gens’ are not dazzled by superior rank: + they know, and pay all the respect that is due to it; but they do it + without being disconcerted; and can converse just as easily with a king as + with any one of his subjects. That is the great advantage of being + introduced young into good company, and being used early to converse with + one’s superiors. How many men have I seen here, who, after having had the + full benefit of an English education, first at school, and then at the + university, when they have been presented to the king, did not know + whether they stood upon their heads or their heels! If the king spoke to + them, they were annihilated; they trembled, endeavored to put their hands + in their pockets, and missed them; let their hats fall, and were ashamed + to take them up; and in short, put themselves in every attitude but the + right, that is, the easy and natural one. The characteristic of a + well-bred man, is to converse with his inferiors without insolence, and + with his superiors with respect and ease. He talks to kings without + concern; he trifles with women of the first condition with familiarity, + gayety, but respect; and converses with his equals, whether he is + acquainted with them or not, upon general common topics, that are not, + however, quite frivolous, without the least concern of mind or awkwardness + of body: neither of which can appear to advantage, but when they are + perfectly easy. + </p> + <p> + The tea-things, which Sir Charles Williams has given you, I would have you + make a present of to your Mamma, and send them to her by Duval when he + returns. You owe her not only duty, but likewise great obligations for her + care and tenderness; and, consequently, cannot take too many opportunities + of showing your gratitude. + </p> + <p> + I am impatient to receive your account of Dresden, and likewise your + answers to the many questions that I asked you. + </p> + <p> + Adieu for this time, and God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XL + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 27, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: This and the two next years make so important a period of your + life, that I cannot help repeating to you my exhortations, my commands, + and (what I hope will be still more prevailing with you than either) my + earnest entreaties, to employ them well. Every moment that you now lose, + is so much character and advantage lost; as, on the other hand, every + moment that you now employ usefully, is so much time wisely laid out, at + most prodigious interest. These two years must lay the foundations of all + the knowledge that you will ever have; you may build upon them afterward + as much as you please, but it will be too late to lay any new ones. Let me + beg of you, therefore, to grudge no labor nor pains to acquire, in time, + that stock of knowledge, without which you never can rise, but must make a + very insignificant figure in the world. Consider your own situation; you + have not the advantage of rank or fortune to bear you up; I shall, very + probably, be out of the world before you can properly be said to be in it. + What then will you have to rely on but your own merit? That alone must + raise you, and that alone will raise you, if you have but enough of it. I + have often heard and read of oppressed and unrewarded merit, but I have + oftener (I might say always) seen great merit make its way, and meet with + its reward, to a certain degree at least, in spite of all difficulties. By + merit, I mean the moral virtues, knowledge, and manners; as to the moral + virtues, I say nothing to you; they speak best for themselves, nor can I + suspect that they want any recommendation with you; I will therefore only + assure you, that without them you will be most unhappy. + </p> + <p> + As to knowledge, I have often told you, and I am persuaded you are + thoroughly convinced, how absolutely necessary it is to you, whatever your + destination may be. But as knowledge has a most extensive meaning, and as + the life of man is not long enough to acquire, nor his mind capable of + entertaining and digesting, all parts of knowledge, I will point out those + to which you should particularly apply, and which, by application, you may + make yourself perfect master of. Classical knowledge, that is, Greek and + Latin, is absolutely necessary for everybody; because everybody has agreed + to think and to call it so. And the word ILLITERATE, in its common + acceptation, means a man who is ignorant of those two languages. You are + by this time, I hope, pretty near master of both, so that a small part of + the day dedicated to them, for two years more, will make you perfect in + that study. Rhetoric, logic, a little geometry, and a general notion of + astronomy, must, in their turns, have their hours too; not that I desire + you should be deep in any one of these; but it is fit you should know + something of them all. The knowledge more particularly useful and + necessary for you, considering your destination, consists of modern + languages, modern history, chronology, and geography, the laws of nations, + and the ‘jus publicum Imperii’. You must absolutely speak all the modern + Languages, as purely and correctly as the natives of the respective + countries: for whoever does not speak a language perfectly and easily, + will never appear to advantage in conversation, nor treat with others in + it upon equal terms. As for French, you have it very well already; and + must necessarily, from the universal usage of that language, know it + better and better every day: so that I am in no pain about that: German, I + suppose, you know pretty well by this time, and will be quite master of it + before you leave Leipsig: at least, I am sure you may. Italian and Spanish + will come in their turns, and, indeed, they are both so easy, to one who + knows Latin and French, that neither of them will cost you much time or + trouble. Modern history, by which I mean particularly the history of the + last three centuries, should be the object of your greatest and constant + attention, especially those parts of it which relate more immediately to + the great powers of Europe. This study you will carefully connect with + chronology and geography; that is, you will remark and retain the dates of + every important event; and always read with the map by you, in which you + will constantly look for every place mentioned: this is the only way of + retaining geography; for, though it is soon learned by the lump, yet, when + only so learned, it is still sooner forgot. + </p> + <p> + Manners, though the last, and it may be the least ingredient of real + merit, are, however, very far from being useless in its composition; they + adorn, and give an additional force and luster to both virtue and + knowledge. They prepare and smooth the way for the progress of both; and + are, I fear, with the bulk of mankind, more engaging than either. + Remember, then, the infinite advantage of manners; cultivate and improve + your own to the utmost good sense will suggest the great rules to you, + good company will do the rest. Thus you see how much you have to do; and + how little time to do it in: for when you are thrown out into the world, + as in a couple of years you must be, the unavoidable dissipation of + company, and the necessary avocations of some kind of business or other, + will leave you no time to undertake new branches of knowledge: you may, + indeed, by a prudent allotment of your time, reserve some to complete and + finish the building; but you will never find enough to lay new + foundations. I have such an opinion of your understanding, that I am + convinced you are sensible of these truths; and that, however hard and + laborious your present uninterrupted application may seem to you, you will + rather increase than lessen it. For God’s sake, my dear boy, do not + squander away one moment of your time, for every moment may be now most + usefully employed. Your future fortune, character, and figure in the + world, entirely depend upon your use or abuse of the two next years. If + you do but employ them well, what may you not reasonably expect to be, in + time? And if you do not, what may I not reasonably fear you will be? You + are the only one I ever knew, of this country, whose education was, from + the beginning, calculated for the department of foreign affairs; in + consequence of which, if you will invariably pursue, and diligently + qualify yourself for that object, you may make yourself absolutely + necessary to the government, and, after having received orders as a + minister abroad, send orders, in your turn, as Secretary of State at home. + Most of our ministers abroad have taken up that department occasionally, + without having ever thought of foreign affairs before; many of them, + without speaking any one foreign language; and all of them without manners + which are absolutely necessary toward being well received, and making a + figure at foreign courts. They do the business accordingly, that is, very + ill: they never get into the secrets of these courts, for want of + insinuation and address: they do not guess at their views, for want of + knowing their interests: and, at last, finding themselves very unfit for, + soon grow weary of their commissions, and are impatient to return home, + where they are but too justly laid aside and neglected. Every moment’s + conversation may, if you please, be of use to you; in this view, every + public event, which is the common topic of conversation, gives you an + opportunity of getting some information. For example, the preliminaries of + peace, lately concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, will be the common subject of + most conversations; in which you will take care to ask the proper + questions: as, what is the meaning of the Assiento contract for negroes, + between England and Spain; what the annual ship; when stipulated; upon + what account suspended, etc. You will likewise inform yourself about + Guastalla, now given to Don Philip, together with Parma and Placentia; who + they belonged to before; what claim or pretensions Don Philip had to them; + what they are worth; in short, everything concerning them. The cessions + made by the Queen of Hungary to the King of Sardinia, are, by these + preliminaries, confirmed and secured to him: you will inquire, therefore, + what they are, and what they are worth. This is the kind of knowledge + which you should be most thoroughly master of, and in which conversation + will help you almost as much as books: but both are best. There are + histories of every considerable treaty, from that of Westphalia to that of + Utrecht, inclusively; all which I would advise you to read. Pore + Bougeant’s, of the treaty of Westphalia, is an excellent one; those of + Nimeguen, Ryswick, and Utrecht, are not so well written; but are, however, + very useful. ‘L’Histoire des Traites de Paix’, in two volumes, folio, + which I recommended to you some time ago, is a book that you should often + consult, when you hear mention made of any treaty concluded in the + seventeenth century. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, if you have a mind to be considerable, and to shine + hereafter, you must labor hard now. No quickness of parts, no vivacity, + will do long, or go far, without a solid fund of knowledge; and that fund + of knowledge will amply repay all the pains that you can take in acquiring + it. Reflect seriously, within yourself, upon all this, and ask yourself + whether I can have any view, but your interest, in all that I recommend to + you. It is the result of my experience, and flows from that tenderness and + affection with which, while you deserve them, I shall be, Yours. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, and tell him that I have received his + letter of the 24th, N. S. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 31, O. S. 1748 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received, with great satisfaction, your letter of the + 28th N. S., from Dresden: it finishes your short but clear account of the + Reformation which is one of those interesting periods of modern history, + that can not be too much studied nor too minutely known by you. There are + many great events in history, which, when once they are over, leave things + in the situation in which they found them. As, for instance, the late war; + which, excepting the establishment in Italy for Don Philip, leave things + pretty much in state quo; a mutual restitution of all acquisitions being + stipulated by the preliminaries of the peace. Such events undoubtedly + deserve your notice, but yet not so minutely as those, which are not only + important in themselves, but equally (or it may be more) important by + their consequences too: of this latter sort were the progress of the + Christian religion in Europe; the Invasion of the Goths; the division of + the Roman empire into Western and Eastern; the establishment and rapid + progress of Mahometanism; and, lastly, the Reformation; all which events + produced the greatest changes in the affairs of Europe, and to one or + other of which, the present situation of all the parts of it is to be + traced up. + </p> + <p> + Next to these, are those events which more immediately effect particular + states and kingdoms, and which are reckoned entirely local, though their + influence may, and indeed very often does, indirectly, extend itself + further, such as civil wars and revolutions, from which a total change in + the form of government frequently flows. The civil wars in England, in the + reign of King Charles I., produced an entire change of the government + here, from a limited monarchy to a commonwealth, at first, and afterward + to absolute power, usurped by Cromwell, under the pretense of protection, + and the title of Protector. + </p> + <p> + The Revolution in 1688, instead of changing, preserved one form of + government; which King James II. intended to subvert, and establish + absolute power in the Crown. + </p> + <p> + These are the two great epochs in our English history, which I recommend + to your particular attention. + </p> + <p> + The league formed by the House of Guise, and fomented by the artifices of + Spain, is a most material part of the history of France. The foundation of + it was laid in the reign of Henry II., but the superstructure was carried + on through the successive reigns of Francis II., Charles IX. and Henry + III., till at last it was crushed, partly, by the arms, but more by the + apostasy of Henry IV. + </p> + <p> + In Germany, great events have been frequent, by which the imperial dignity + has always either gotten or lost; and so it they have affected the + constitution of the empire. The House of Austria kept that dignity to + itself for near two hundred years, during which time it was always + attempting extend its power, by encroaching upon the rights and privileges + of the other states of the empire; till at the end of the bellum + tricennale, the treaty of Munster, of which France is guarantee, fixed the + respective claims. + </p> + <p> + Italy has been constantly torn to pieces, from the time of the Goths, by + the Popes and the Anti-popes, severally supported by other great powers of + Europe, more as their interests than as their religion led them; by the + pretensions also of France, and the House of Austria, upon Naples, Sicily, + and the Milanese; not to mention the various lesser causes of squabbles + there, for the little states, such as Ferrara, Parma, Montserrat, etc. + </p> + <p> + The Popes, till lately, have always taken a considerable part, and had + great influence in the affairs of Europe; their excommunications, bulls, + and indulgences, stood instead of armies in the time of ignorance and + bigotry; but now that mankind is better informed, the spiritual authority + of the Pope is not only less regarded, but even despised by the Catholic + princes themselves; and his Holiness is actually little more than Bishop + of Rome, with large temporalities, which he is not likely to keep longer + than till the other greater powers in Italy shall find their conveniency + in taking them from him. Among the modern Popes, Leo the Tenth, Alexander + the Sixth, and Sextus Quintus, deserve your particular notice; the first, + among other things, for his own learning and taste, and for his + encouragement of the reviving arts and sciences in Italy. Under his + protection, the Greek and Latin classics were most excellently translated + into Italian; painting flourished and arrived at its perfection; and + sculpture came so near the ancients, that the works of his time, both in + marble and bronze, are now called Antico-Moderno. + </p> + <p> + Alexander the Sixth, together with his natural son Caesar Borgia, was + famous for his wickedness, in which he, and his son too, surpassed all + imagination. Their lives are well worth your reading. They were poisoned + themselves by the poisoned wine which they had prepared for others; the + father died of it, but Caesar recovered. + </p> + <p> + Sixtus the Fifth was the son of a swineherd, and raised himself to the + popedom by his abilities: he was a great knave, but an able and singular + one. + </p> + <p> + Here is history enough for to-day: you shall have some more soon. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 21, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Your very bad enunciation runs so much in my head, and gives me + such real concern, that it will be the subject of this, and, I believe, of + many more letters. I congratulate both you and myself, that, was informed + of it (as I hope) in time to prevent it: and shall ever think myself, as + hereafter you will, I am sure think yourself, infinitely obliged to Sir + Charles Williams for informing me of it. Good God! if this ungraceful and + disagreeable manner of speaking had, either by your negligence or mine, + become habitual to you, as in a couple of years more it would have been, + what a figure would you have made in company, or in a public assembly? Who + would have liked you in the one or attended you; in the other? Read what + Cicero and Quintilian say of enunciation, and see what a stress they lay + upon the gracefulness of it; nay, Cicero goes further, and even maintains, + that a good figure is necessary for an orator; and particularly that he + must not be vastus, that is, overgrown and clumsy. He shows by it that he + knew mankind well, and knew the powers of an agreeable figure and a + graceful, manner. Men, as well as women, are much oftener led by their + hearts than by their understandings. The way to the heart is through the + senses; please their eyes and their ears and the work is half done. I have + frequently known a man’s fortune decided for ever by his first address. If + it is pleasing, people are hurried involuntarily into a persuasion that he + has a merit, which possibly he has not; as, on the other hand, if it is + ungraceful, they are immediately prejudiced against him, and unwilling to + allow him the merit which it may be he has. Nor is this sentiment so + unjust and unreasonable as at first it may seem; for if a man has parts, + he must know of what infinite consequence it is to him to have a graceful + manner of speaking, and a genteel and pleasing address; he will cultivate + and improve them to the utmost. Your figure is a good one; you have no + natural defect in the organs of speech; your address may be engaging, and + your manner of speaking graceful, if you will; so that if you are not so, + neither I nor the world can ascribe it to anything but your want of parts. + What is the constant and just observation as to all actors upon the stage? + Is it not, that those who have the best sense, always speak the best, + though they may happen not to have the best voices? They will speak + plainly, distinctly, and with the proper emphasis, be their voices ever so + bad. Had Roscius spoken QUICK, THICK, and UNGRACEFULLY, I will answer for + it, that Cicero would not have thought him worth the oration which he made + in his favor. Words were given us to communicate our ideas by: and there + must be something inconceivably absurd in uttering them in such a manner + as that either people cannot understand them, or will not desire to + understand them. I tell you, truly and sincerely, that I shall judge of + your parts by your speaking gracefully or ungracefully. If you have parts, + you will never be at rest till you have brought yourself to a habit of + speaking most gracefully; for I aver, that it is in your power —You + will desire Mr. Harte, that you may read aloud to him every day; and that + he will interrupt and correct you every time that you read too fast, do + not observe the proper stops, or lay a wrong emphasis. You will take care + to open your teeth when you speak; to articulate every word distinctly; + and to beg of Mr. Harte, Mr. Eliot, or whomsoever you speak to, to remind + and stop you, if you ever fall into the rapid and unintelligible mutter. + You will even read aloud to yourself, and time your utterance to your own + ear; and read at first much slower than you need to do, in order to + correct yourself of that shameful trick of speaking faster than you ought. + In short, if you think right, you will make it your business; your study, + and your pleasure to speak well. Therefore, what I have said in this, and + in my last, is more than sufficient, if you have sense; and ten times more + would not be sufficient, if you have not; so here I rest it. + </p> + <p> + Next to graceful speaking, a genteel carriage, and a graceful manner of + presenting yourself, are extremely necessary, for they are extremely + engaging: and carelessness in these points is much more unpardonable in a + young fellow than affectation. It shows an offensive indifference about + pleasing. I am told by one here, who has seen you lately, that you are + awkward in your motions, and negligent of your person: I am sorry for + both; and so will you be, when it will be too late, if you continue so + some time longer. Awkwardness of carriage is very alienating; and a total + negligence of dress and air is an impertinent insult upon custom and + fashion. You remember Mr.———very well, I am sure, and + you must consequently remember his, extreme awkwardness: which, I can + assure you, has been a great clog to his parts and merit, that have, with + much difficulty, but barely counterbalanced it at last. Many, to whom I + have formerly commended him, have answered me, that they were sure he + could not have parts, because he was so awkward: so much are people, as I + observed to you before, taken by the eye. Women have great influence as to + a man’s fashionable character; and an awkward man will never have their + votes; which, by the way, are very numerous, and much oftener counted than + weighed. You should therefore give some attention to your dress, and the + gracefulness of your motions. I believe, indeed, that you have no perfect + model for either at Leipsig, to form yourself upon; but, however, do not + get a habit of neglecting either; and attend properly to both, when you go + to courts, where they are very necessary, and where you will have good + masters and good models for both. Your exercises of riding, fencing, and + dancing, will civilize and fashion your body and your limbs, and give you, + if you will but take it, ‘l’air d’un honnete homme’. + </p> + <p> + I will now conclude with suggesting one reflection to you; which is, that + you should be sensible of your good fortune, in having one who interests + himself enough in you, to inquire into your faults, in order to inform you + of them. Nobody but myself would be so solicitous, either to know or + correct them; so that you might consequently be ignorant of them yourself; + for our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults. But + when you hear yours from me, you may be sure that you hear them from one + who for your sake only desires to correct them; from one whom you cannot + suspect of any, partiality but in your favor; and from one who heartily + wishes that his care of you, as a father, may, in a little time, render + every care unnecessary but that of a friend. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + P. S. I condole with you for the untimely and violent death of the tuneful + Matzel. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 1, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR Boy: I am extremely well pleased with the course of studies which Mr. + Harte informs me you are now in, and with the degree of application which + he assures me you have to them. It is your interest to do so, as the + advantage will be all your own. My affection for you makes me both wish + and endeavor that you may turn out well; and, according as you do turn + out, I shall either be proud or ashamed of you. But as to mere interest, + in the common acceptation of that word, it would be mine that you should + turn out ill; for you may depend upon it, that whatever you have from me + shall be most exactly proportioned to your desert. Deserve a great deal, + and you shall have a great deal; deserve a little, and you shall have but + a little; and be good for nothing at all, and, I assure you, you shall + have nothing at all. + </p> + <p> + Solid knowledge, as I have often told you, is the first and great + foundation of your future fortune and character; for I never mention to + you the two much greater points of Religion and Morality, because I cannot + possibly suspect you as to either of them. This solid knowledge you are in + a fair way of acquiring; you may, if you please; and I will add, that + nobody ever had the means of acquiring it more in their power than you + have. But remember, that manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way + through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a + closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but it will + never be worn or shine if it is not polished. It is upon this article, I + confess, that I suspect you the most, which makes me recur to it so often; + for I fear that you are apt to show too little attention to everybody, and + too much contempt to many. Be convinced, that there are no persons so + insignificant and inconsiderable, but may, some time or other, have it in + their power to be of use to you; which they certainly will not, if you + have once shown them contempt. Wrongs are often forgiven; but contempt + never is. Our pride remembers it forever. It implies a discovery of + weaknesses, which we are much more careful to conceal than crimes. Many a + man will confess his crimes to a common friend, but I never knew a man who + would tell his silly weaknesses to his most intimate one—as many a + friend will tell us our faults without reserve, who will not so much as + hint at our follies; that discovery is too mortifying to our self-love, + either to tell another, or to be told of one’s self. You must, therefore, + never expect to hear of your weaknesses, or your follies, from anybody but + me; those I will take pains to discover, and whenever I do, shall tell you + of them. + </p> + <p> + Next to manners are exterior graces of person and address, which adorn + manners, as manners adorn knowledge. To say that they please, engage, and + charm, as they most indisputably do, is saying that one should do + everything possible to acquire them. The graceful manner of speaking is, + particularly, what I shall always holloa in your ears, as Hotspur holloaed + MORTIMER to Henry IV., and, like him too, I have aimed to have a starling + taught to say, SPEAK DISTINCTLY AND GRACEFULLY, and send him you, to + replace your loss of the unfortunate Matzel, who, by the way, I am told, + spoke his language very distinctly and gracefully. + </p> + <p> + As by this time you must be able to write German tolerably well, I desire + that you will not fail to write a German letter, in the German character, + once every fortnight, to Mr. Grevenkop: which will make it more familiar + to you, and enable me to judge how you improve in it. + </p> + <p> + Do not forget to answer me the questions, which I asked you a great while + ago, in relation to the constitution of Saxony; and also the meaning of + the words ‘Landsassii and Amptsassii’. + </p> + <p> + I hope you do not forget to inquire into the affairs of trade and + commerce, nor to get the best accounts you can of the commodities and + manufactures, exports and imports of the several countries where you may + be, and their gross value. + </p> + <p> + I would likewise have you attend to the respective coins, gold, silver, + copper, etc., and their value, compared with our coin’s; for which purpose + I would advise you to put up, in a separate piece of paper, one piece of + every kind, wherever you shall be, writing upon it the name and the value. + Such a collection will be curious enough in itself; and that sort of + knowledge will be very useful to you in your way of business, where the + different value of money often comes in question. + </p> + <p> + I am doing to Cheltenham to-morrow, less for my health; which is pretty + good, than for the dissipation and amusement of the journey. I shall stay + about a fortnight. + </p> + <p> + L’Abbe Mably’s ‘Droit de l’Europe’, which Mr. Harte is so kind as to send + me, is worth your reading. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLIV. + </h2> + <h3> + CHELTENHAM, July 6, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Your school-fellow, Lord Pulteney,—[Only child of the + Right Hon. William Pulteney, Earl of Bath. He died before his father.]—set + out last week for Holland, and will, I believe, be at Leipsig soon after + this letter: you will take care to be extremely civil to him, and to do + him any service that you can while you stay there; let him know that I + wrote to you to do so. As being older, he should know more than you; in + that case, take pains to get up to him; but if he does not, take care not + to let him feel his inferiority. He will find it out of himself without + your endeavors; and that cannot be helped: but nothing is more insulting, + more mortifying and less forgiven, than avowedly to take pains to make a + man feel a mortifying inferiority in knowledge, rank, fortune, etc. In the + two last articles, it is unjust, they not being in his power: and in the + first it is both ill-bred and ill-natured. Good-breeding, and good-nature, + do incline us rather to raise and help people up to ourselves, than to + mortify and depress them, and, in truth, our own private interest concurs + in it, as it is making ourselves so many friends, instead of so many + enemies. The constant practice of what the French call ‘les Attentions’, + is a most necessary ingredient in the art of pleasing; they flatter the + self-love of those to whom they are shown; they engage, they captivate, + more than things of much greater importance. The duties of social life + every man is obliged to discharge; but these attentions are voluntary + acts, the free-will offerings of good-breeding and good nature; they are + received, remembered, and returned as such. Women, particularly, have a + right to them; and any omission in that respect is downright ill-breeding. + </p> + <p> + Do you employ your whole time in the most useful manner? I do not mean, do + you study all day long? nor do I require it. But I mean, do you make the + most of the respective allotments of your time? While you study, is it + with attention? When you divert yourself, is it with spirit? Your + diversions may, if you please, employ some part of your time very + usefully. It depends entirely upon the nature of them. If they are futile + and frivolous it is time worse than lost, for they will give you an habit + of futility. All gaming, field-sports, and such sort of amusements, where + neither the understanding nor the senses have the least share, I look upon + as frivolous, and as the resources of little minds, who either do not + think, or do not love to think. But the pleasures of a man of parts either + flatter the senses or improve the mind; I hope at least, that there is not + one minute of the day in which you do nothing at all. Inaction at your age + is unpardonable. + </p> + <p> + Tell me what Greek and Latin books you can now read with ease. Can you + open Demosthenes at a venture, and understand him? Can you get through an + “Oration” of Cicero, or a “Satire” of Horace, without difficulty? What + German books do you read, to make yourself master of that language? And + what French books do you read for your amusement? Pray give me a + particular and true account of all this; for I am not indifferent as to + any one thing that relates to you. As, for example, I hope you take great + care to keep your whole person, particularly your mouth, very clean; + common decency requires it, besides that great cleanliness is very + conducive to health. But if you do not keep your mouth excessively clean, + by washing it carefully every morning, and after every meal, it will not + only be apt to smell, which is very disgusting and indecent, but your + teeth will decay and ache, which is both a great loss and a great pain. A + spruceness of dress is also very proper and becoming at your age; as the + negligence of it implies an indifference about pleasing, which does not + become a young fellow. To do whatever you do at all to the utmost + perfection, ought to be your aim at this time of your life; if you can + reach perfection, so much the better; but at least, by attempting it, you + will get much nearer than if you never attempted it at all. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! SPEAK GRACEFULLY AND DISTINCTLY if you intend to converse ever + with, Yours. + </p> + <p> + P. S. As I was making up my letter, I received yours of the 6th, O. S. I + like your dissertation upon Preliminary Articles and Truces. Your + definitions of both are true. Those are matters which I would have you be + master of; they belong to your future department, But remember too, that + they are matters upon which you will much oftener have occasion to speak + than to write; and that, consequently, it is full as necessary to speak + gracefully and distinctly upon them as to write clearly and elegantly. I + find no authority among the ancients, nor indeed among the moderns, for + indistinct and unintelligible utterance. The Oracles indeed meant to be + obscure; but then it was by the ambiguity of the expression, and not by + the inarticulation of the words. For if people had not thought, at least, + they understood them, they would neither have frequented nor presented + them as they did. There was likewise among the ancients, and is still + among the moderns, a sort of people called Ventriloqui, who speak from + their bellies, on make the voice seem to come from some other part of the + room than that where they are. But these Ventriloqui speak very distinctly + and intelligibly. The only thing, then, that I can find like a precedent + for your way of speaking (and I would willingly help you to one if I + could) is the modern art ‘de persifler’, practiced with great success by + the ‘Petits maitres’ at Paris. This noble art consists in picking out some + grave, serious man, who neither understands nor expects, raillery, and + talking to him very quick, and inarticulate sounds; while the man, who + thinks that he did not hear well; or attend sufficiently, says, ‘Monsieur? + or ‘Plait-il’? a hundred times; which affords matter of much mirth to + those ingenious gentlemen. Whether you would follow, this precedent, I + submit to you. + </p> + <p> + Have you carried no English or French comedies of tragedies with you to + Leipsig? If you have, I insist upon your reciting some passages of them + every day to Mr. Harte in the most distinct and graceful manner, as if you + were acting them upon a stage. + </p> + <p> + The first part of my letter is more than an answer to your questions + concerning Lord Pulteney. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July, 20, O. S. 1748 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: There are two sorts of understandings; one of which hinders a + man from ever being considerable, and the other commonly makes him + ridiculous; I mean the lazy mind, and the trifling, frivolous mind: Yours, + I hope, is neither. The lazy mind will not take the trouble of going to + the bottom of anything; but, discouraged by the first difficulties (and + everything worth knowing or having is attained with some), stops short, + contents, itself with easy, and consequently superficial knowledge, and + prefers a great degree of ignorance to a small degree of trouble. These + people either think, or represent most things as impossible; whereas, few + things are so to industry and activity. But difficulties seem to them, + impossibilities, or at least they pretend to think them so—by way of + excuse for their laziness. An hour’s attention to the same subject is too + laborious for them; they take everything in the light in which it first + presents itself; never consider, it in all its different views; and, in + short, never think it through. The consequence of this is that when they + come to speak upon these subjects, before people who have considered them + with attention; they only discover their own ignorance and laziness, and + lay themselves open to answers that put them in confusion. Do not then be + discouraged by the first difficulties, but ‘contra audentior ito’; and + resolve to go to the bottom of all those things which every gentleman + ought to know well. Those arts or sciences which are peculiar to certain + professions, need not be deeply known by those who are not intended for + those professions. As, for instance; fortification and navigation; of both + which, a superficial and general knowledge, such as the common course of + conversation, with a very little inquiry on your part, will give you, is + sufficient. Though, by the way, a little more knowledge of fortification + may be of some use to you; as the events of war, in sieges, make many of + the terms, of that science occur frequently in common conversation; and + one would be sorry to say, like the Marquis de Mascarille in Moliere’s + ‘Precieuses Ridicules’, when he hears of ‘une demie lune, Ma foi! c’etoit + bien une lune toute entiere’. But those things which every gentleman, + independently of profession, should know, he ought to know well, and dive + into all the depth of them. Such are languages, history, and geography + ancient and modern, philosophy, rational logic; rhetoric; and, for you + particularly, the constitutions and the civil and military state of every + country in Europe: This, I confess; is a pretty large circle of knowledge, + attended with some difficulties, and requiring some trouble; which, + however; an active and industrious mind will overcome; and be amply + repaid. The trifling and frivolous mind is always busied, but to little + purpose; it takes little objects for great ones, and throws away upon + trifles that time and attention which only important things deserve. + Knick-knacks; butterflies; shells, insects, etc., are the subjects of + their most serious researches. They contemplate the dress, not the + characters of the company they keep. They attend more to the decorations + of a play than the sense of it; and to the ceremonies of a court more than + to its politics. Such an employment of time is an absolute loss of it. You + have now, at most, three years to employ either well or ill; for, as I + have often told you, you will be all your life what you shall be three + years hence. For God’s sake then reflect. Will you throw this time away + either in laziness, or in trifles? Or will you not rather employ every + moment of it in a manner that must so soon reward you with so much + pleasure, figure, and character? I cannot, I will not doubt of your + choice. Read only useful books; and never quit a subject till you are + thoroughly master of it, but read and inquire on till then. When you are + in company, bring the conversation to some useful subject, but ‘a portee’ + of that company. Points of history, matters of literature, the customs of + particular countries, the several orders of knighthood, as Teutonic, + Maltese, etc., are surely better subjects of conversation, than the + weather, dress, or fiddle-faddle stories, that carry no information along + with them. The characters of kings and great men are only to be learned in + conversation; for they are never fairly written during their lives. This, + therefore, is an entertaining and instructive subject of conversation, and + will likewise give you an opportunity of observing how very differently + characters are given, from the different passions and views of those who + give them. Never be ashamed nor afraid of asking questions: for if they + lead to information, and if you accompany them with some excuse, you will + never be reckoned an impertinent or rude questioner. All those things, in + the common course of life, depend entirely upon the manner; and, in that + respect, the vulgar saying is true, ‘That one man can better steal a + horse, than another look over the hedge.’ There are few things that may + not be said, in some manner or other; either in a seeming confidence, or a + genteel irony, or introduced with wit; and one great part of the knowledge + of the world consists in knowing when and where to make use of these + different manners. The graces of the person, the countenance, and the way + of speaking, contribute so much to this, that I am convinced, the very + same thing, said by a genteel person in an engaging way, and GRACEFULLY + and distinctly spoken, would please, which would shock, if MUTTERED out by + an awkward figure, with a sullen, serious countenance. The poets always + represent Venus as attended by the three Graces, to intimate that even + beauty will not do without: I think they should have given Minerva three + also; for without them, I am sure learning is very unattractive. Invoke + them, then, DISTINCTLY, to accompany all your words and motions. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Since I wrote what goes before, I have received your letter, OF NO + DATE, with the inclosed state of the Prussian forces: of which, I hope, + you have kept a copy; this you should lay in a ‘portefeuille’, and add to + it all the military establishments that you can get of other states and + kingdoms: the Saxon establishment you may, doubtless, easily find. By the + way, do not forget to send me answers to the questions which I sent you + some time ago, concerning both the civil and the ecclesiastical affairs of + Saxony. + </p> + <p> + Do not mistake me, and think I only mean that you should speak elegantly + with regard to style, and the purity of language; but I mean, that you + should deliver and pronounce what you say gracefully and distinctly; for + which purpose I will have you frequently read very loud, to Mr. Harte, + recite parts of orations, and speak passages of plays; for, without a + graceful and pleasing enunciation, all your elegancy of style, in + speaking, is not worth one farthing. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that Mr. Lyttelton approves of my new house, and + particularly of my CANONICAL—[James Brydges, duke of Chandos, built + a most magnificent and elegant house at CANNONS, about eight miles from + London. It was superbly furnished with fine pictures, statues, etc., + which, after his death, were sold, by auction. Lord Chesterfield purchased + the hall-pillars, the floor; and staircase with double flights; which are + now in Chesterfield House, London.]—pillars. My bust of Cicero is a + very fine one, and well preserved; it will have the best place in my + library, unless at your return you bring me over as good a modern head of + your own, which I should like still better. I can tell you, that I shall + examine it as attentively as ever antiquary did an old one. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, at whose recovery I rejoice. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 2, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Duval the jeweler, is arrived, and was with me three or four + days ago. You will easily imagine that I asked him a few questions + concerning you; and I will give you the satisfaction of knowing that, upon + the whole, I was very well pleased with the account he gave me. But, + though he seemed to be much in your interest, yet he fairly owned to me + that your utterance was rapid, thick, and ungraceful. I can add nothing to + what I have already said upon this subject; but I can and do repeat the + absolute necessity of speaking distinctly and gracefully, or else of not + speaking at all, and having recourse to signs. He tells me that you are + pretty fat for one of your age: this you should attend to in a proper way; + for if, while very young; you should grow fat, it would be troublesome, + unwholesome, and ungraceful; you should therefore, when you have time, + take very strong exercise, and in your diet avoid fattening things. All + malt liquors fatten, or at least bloat; and I hope you do not deal much in + them. I look upon wine and water to be, in every respect; much wholesomer. + </p> + <p> + Duval says there is a great deal of very good company at Madame Valentin’s + and at another lady’s, I think one Madame Ponce’s, at Leipsig. Do you ever + go to either of those houses, at leisure times? It would not, in my mind, + be amiss if you did, and would give you a habit of ATTENTIONS; they are a + tribute which all women expect; and which all men, who would be well + received by them; must pay. And, whatever the mind may be, manners at + least are certainly improved by the company of women of fashion. + </p> + <p> + I have formerly told you, that you should inform yourself of the several + orders, whether military or religious, of the respective countries where + you may be. The Teutonic Order is the great Order of Germany, of which I + send you inclosed a short account. It may serve to suggest questions to + you for more particular inquiries as to the present state of it, of which + you ought to be minutely informed. The knights, at present, make vows, of + which they observe none, except it be that of not marrying; and their only + object now is, to arrive, by seniority, at the Commanderies in their + respective provinces; which are, many of them, very lucrative. The Order + of Malta is, by a very few years, prior to the Teutonic, and owes its + foundation to the same causes. These’ knights were first called Knights + Hospitaliers of St. John of Jerusalem, then Knights of Rhodes; and in the + year 1530, Knights of Malta, the Emperor Charles V. having granted them + that island, upon condition of their defending his island of Sicily + against the Turks, which they effectually did. L’Abbe de Vertot has + written the history of Malta, but it is the least valuable of all his + works; and moreover, too long for you to read. But there is a short + history, of all the military orders whatsoever, which I would advise you + to get, as there is also of all the religious orders; both which are worth + your having and consulting, whenever you meet with any of them in your + way; as, you will very frequently in Catholic countries. For my own part, + I find that I remember things much better, when I recur, to my books for + them, upon some particular occasion, than by reading them ‘tout de suite’. + As, for example, if I were to read the history of all the military or + religious orders, regularly one after another, the latter puts the former + out of my head; but when I read the history of any one, upon account, of + its having been the object of conversation or dispute, I remember it much + better. It is the same in geography, where, looking for any particular + place in the map, upon some particular account, fixes it in one’s memory + forever. I hope you have worn out your maps by frequent, use of that sort. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <b> A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER </b> + </p> + <p> + In the ages of ignorance, which is always the mother of superstition, it + was thought not only just, but meritorious, to propagate religion by fire + and sword, and to take away the lives and properties of unbelievers. This + enthusiasm produced the several crusades, in the 11th, 12th, and following + centuries, the object of which was, to recover the Holy Land out of, the + hands of the Infidels, who, by the way, were the lawful possessors. Many + honest enthusiasts engaged in those crusades, from a mistaken principle of + religion, and from the pardons granted by the Popes for all the sins of + those pious adventurers; but many more knaves adopted these holy wars, in + hopes of conquest and plunder. After Godfrey of Bouillon, at the head of + these knaves and fools, had taken Jerusalem, in the year 1099, Christians + of various nations remained in that city; among the rest, one good honest + German, that took particular care of his countrymen who came thither in + pilgrimages. He built a house for their reception, and an hospital + dedicated to the Virgin. This little establishment soon became a great + one, by the enthusiasm of many considerable people who engaged in it, in + order to drive the Saracens out of the Holy Land. This society then began + to take its first form; and its members were called Marian Teutonic + Knights. Marian, from their chapel sacred to the Virgin Mary; Teutonic, + from the German, or Teuton, who was the author of it, and Knights from the + wars which they were to carry on against the Infidels. + </p> + <p> + These knights behaved themselves so bravely, at first; that Duke Frederick + of Swabia, who was general of the German army in the Holy Land, sent, in + the year 1191, to the Emperor Henry VI. and Pope Celestine III. to desire + that this brave and charitable fraternity might be incorporated into a + regular order of knighthood; which was accordingly done, and rules and a + particular habit were given them. Forty knights, all of noble families, + were at first created by the King of Jerusalem and other princes then in + the army. The first grand master of this order was Henry Wallpot, of a + noble family upon the Rhine. This order soon began to operate in Europe; + drove all the Pagans out of Prussia, and took possession of it. Soon + after, they got Livonia and Courland, and invaded even Russia, where they + introduced the Christian religion. In 1510, they elected Albert, Marquis + of Bradenburg, for their grand master, who, turning Protestant, soon + afterward took Prussia from the order, and kept it for himself, with the + consent of Sigismund, King of Poland, of whom it was to hold. He then + quitted his grand mastership and made himself hereditary Duke of that + country, which is thence called Ducal Prussia. This order now consists of + twelve provinces; viz., Alsatia, Austria, Coblentz, and Etsch, which are + the four under the Prussian jurisdiction; Franconia, Hesse, Biessen, + Westphalia, Lorraine, Thuringia, Saxony, and Utrecht, which eight are of + the German jurisdiction. The Dutch now possess all that the order had in + Utrecht. Every one of the provinces have their particular Commanderies; + and the most ancient of these Commandeurs is called the Commandeur + Provincial. These twelve Commandeurs are all subordinate to the Grand + Master of Germany as their chief, and have the right of electing the grand + master. The elector of Cologne is at present ‘Grand Maitre’. + </p> + <p> + This order, founded by mistaken Christian zeal, upon the anti-Christian + principles of violence and persecution, soon grew strong by the weakness + and ignorance of the time; acquired unjustly great possessions, of which + they justly lost the greatest part by their ambition and cruelty, which + made them feared and hated by all their neighbors. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment received your letter of the 4th, N. S., and have only + time to tell you that I can by no means agree to your cutting off your + hair. I am very sure that your headaches cannot proceed from thence. And + as for the pimples upon your head, they are only owing to the heat of the + season, and consequently will not last long. But your own hair is, at your + age, such an ornament, and a wig, however well made, such a disguise, that + I will upon no account whatsoever have you cut off your hair. Nature did + not give it to you for nothing, still less to cause you the headache. Mr. + Eliot’s hair grew so ill and bushy, that he was in the right to cut it + off. But you have not the same reason. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 23, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Your friend, Mr. Eliot, has dined with me twice since I returned + here, and I can say with truth that while I had the seals, I never + examined or sifted a state prisoner with so much care and curiosity as I + did him. Nay, I did more; for, contrary to the laws of this country, I + gave him in some manner, the QUESTION ordinary and extraordinary; and I + have infinite pleasure in telling you that the rack which I put him to, + did not extort from him one single word that was not such as I wished to + hear of you. I heartily congratulate you upon such an advantageous + testimony, from so creditable a witness. ‘Laudati a laudato viro’, is one + of the greatest pleasures and honors a rational being can have; may you + long continue to deserve it! Your aversion to drinking and your dislike to + gaming, which Mr. Eliot assures me are both very strong, give me, the + greatest joy imaginable, for your sake: as the former would ruin both your + constitution and understanding, and the latter your fortune and character. + Mr. Harte wrote me word some time ago, and Mr. Eliot confirms it now, that + you employ your pin money in a very different manner, from that in which + pin money is commonly lavished: not in gew-gaws and baubles, but in buying + good and useful books. This is an excellent symptom, and gives me very + good hopes. Go on thus, my dear boy, but for these next two years, and I + ask no more. You must then make such a figure and such a fortune in the + world as I wish you, and as I have taken all these pains to enable you to + do. After that time I allow you to be as idle as ever you please; because + I am sure that you will not then please to be so at all. The ignorant and + the weak are only idle; but those who have once acquired a good stock of + knowledge, always desire to increase it. Knowledge is like power in this + respect, that those who have the most, are most desirous of having more. + It does not clog, by possession, but increases desire; which is the case + of very few pleasures. + </p> + <p> + Upon receiving this congratulatory letter, and reading your own praises, I + am sure that it must naturally occur to you, how great a share of them you + owe to Mr. Harte’s care and attention; and, consequently, that your regard + and affection for him must increase, if there be room for it, in + proportion as you reap, which you do daily, the fruits of his labors. + </p> + <p> + I must not, however, conceal from you that there was one article in which + your own witness, Mr. Eliot, faltered; for, upon my questioning him home + as to your manner of speaking, he could not say that your utterance was + either distinct or graceful. I have already said so much to you upon this + point that I can add nothing. I will therefore only repeat this truth, + which is, that if you will not speak distinctly and graceful, nobody will + desire to hear you. I am glad to learn that Abbe Mably’s ‘Droit Public de + l’Europe’ makes a part of your evening amusements. It is a very useful + book, and gives a clear deduction of the affairs of Europe, from the + treaty of Munster to this time. Pray read it with attention, and with the + proper maps; always recurring to them for the several countries or towns + yielded, taken, or restored. Pyre Bougeant’s third volume will give you + the best idea of the treaty of Munster, and open to you the several views + of the belligerent’ and contracting parties, and there never were greater + than at that time. The House of Austria, in the war immediately preceding + that treaty, intended to make itself absolute in the empire, and to + overthrow the rights of the respective states of it. The view of France + was to weaken and dismember the House of Austria to such a degree, as that + it should no longer be a counterbalance to that of Bourbon. Sweden wanted + possessions on the continent of Germany, not only to supply the + necessities of its own poor and barren country, but likewise to hold the + balance in the empire between the House of Austria and the States. The + House of Brandenburg wanted to aggrandize itself by pilfering in the fire; + changed sides occasionally, and made a good bargain at last; for I think + it got, at the peace, nine or ten bishoprics secularized. So that we may + date, from the treaty of Munster, the decline of the House of Austria, the + great power of the House of Bourbon, and the aggrandizement of that of + Bradenburg: which, I am much mistaken, if it stops where it is now. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Lord Pulteney, to whom I would have you be not only + attentive, but useful, by setting him (in case he wants it) a good example + of application and temperance. I begin to believe that, as I shall be + proud of you, others will be proud too of imitating you: Those + expectations of mine seem now so well grounded, that my disappointment, + and consequently my anger, will be so much the greater if they fail; but + as things stand now, I am most affectionately and tenderly, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 30, O. S. 1748 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Your reflections upon the conduct of France, from the treaty of + Munster to this time, are very just; and I am very glad to find, by them, + that you not only read, but that you think and reflect upon what you read. + Many great readers load their memories, without exercising their + judgments; and make lumber-rooms of their heads instead of furnishing them + usefully; facts are heaped upon facts without order or distinction, and + may justly be said to compose that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘——-Rudis indigestaque moles + Quem dixere chaos’. +</pre> + <p> + Go on, then, in the way of reading that you are in; take nothing for + granted, upon the bare authority of the author; but weigh and consider, in + your own mind, the probability of the facts and the justness of the + reflections. Consult different authors upon the same facts, and form your + opinion upon the greater or lesser degree of probability arising from the + whole, which, in my mind, is the utmost stretch of historical faith; + certainty (I fear) not being to be found. When a historian pretends to + give you the causes and motives of events, compare those causes and + motives with the characters and interests of the parties concerned, and + judge for yourself whether they correspond or not. Consider whether you + cannot assign others more probable; and in that examination, do not + despise some very mean and trifling causes of the actions of great men; + for so various and inconsistent is human nature, so strong and changeable + are our passions, so fluctuating are our wills, and so much are our minds + influenced by the accidents of our bodies that every man is more the man + of the day, than a regular consequential character. The best have + something bad, and something little; the worst have something good, and + sometimes something great; for I do not believe what Velleius Paterculus + (for the sake of saying a pretty thing) says of Scipio, ‘Qui nihil non + laudandum aut fecit, aut dixit, aut sensit’. As for the reflections of + historians, with which they think it necessary to interlard their + histories, or at least to conclude their chapters (and which, in the + French histories, are always introduced with a ‘tant il est vrai’, and in + the English, SO TRUE IT IS), do not adopt them implicitly upon the credit + of the author, but analyze them yourself, and judge whether they are true + or not. + </p> + <p> + But to return to the politics of France, from which I have digressed. You + have certainly made one further reflection, of an advantage which France + has, over and above its abilities in the cabinet and the skill of its + negotiators, which is (if I may use the expression) its SOLENESS, + continuity of riches and power within itself, and the nature of its + government. Near twenty millions of people, and the ordinary revenue of + above thirteen millions sterling a year, are at the absolute disposal of + the Crown. This is what no other power in Europe can say; so that + different powers must now unite to make a balance against France; which + union, though formed upon the principle of their common interest, can + never be so intimate as to compose a machine so compact and simple as that + of one great kingdom, directed by one will, and moved by one interest. The + Allied Powers (as we have constantly seen) have, besides the common and + declared object of their alliance, some separate and concealed view to + which they often sacrifice the general one; which makes them, either + directly or indirectly, pull different ways. Thus, the design upon Toulon + failed in the year 1706, only from the secret view of the House of Austria + upon Naples: which made the Court of Vienna, notwithstanding the + representations of the other allies to the contrary, send to Naples the + 12,000 men that would have done the business at Toulon. In this last war + too, the same causes had the same effects: the Queen of Hungary in secret + thought of nothing but recovering of Silesia, and what she had lost in + Italy; and, therefore, never sent half that quota which she promised, and + we paid for, into Flanders; but left that country to the maritime powers + to defend as they could. The King of Sardinia’s real object was Savona and + all the Riviera di Ponente; for which reason he concurred so lamely in the + invasion of Provence, where the Queen of Hungary, likewise, did not send + one-third of the force stipulated, engrossed as she was by her oblique + views upon the plunder of Genoa, and the recovery of Naples. Insomuch that + the expedition into Provence, which would have distressed France to the + greatest degree, and have caused a great detachment from their army in + Flanders, failed shamefully, for want of every one thing necessary for its + success. Suppose, therefore, any four or five powers who, all together, + shall be equal, or even a little superior, in riches and strength to that + one power against which they are united; the advantage will still be + greatly on the side of that single power, because it is but one. The power + and riches of Charles V. were, in themselves, certainly superior to those + of Frances I., and yet, upon the whole, he was not an overmatch for him. + Charles V.‘s dominions, great as they were, were scattered and remote from + each other; their constitutions different; wherever he did not reside, + disturbances arose; whereas the compactness of France made up the + difference in the strength. This obvious reflection convinced me of the + absurdity of the treaty of Hanover, in 1725, between France and England, + to which the Dutch afterward acceded; for it was made upon the + apprehensions, either real or pretended, that the marriage of Don Carlos + with the eldest archduchess, now Queen of Hungary, was settled in the + treaty of Vienna, of the same year, between Spain and the late Emperor + Charles VI., which marriage, those consummate politicians said would + revive in Europe the exorbitant power of Charles V. I am sure, I heartily + wish it had; as, in that case, there had been, what there certainly is not + now, one power in Europe to counterbalance that of France; and then the + maritime powers would, in reality, have held the balance of Europe in + their hands. Even supposing that the Austrian power would then have been + an overmatch for that of France (which, by the way, is not clear), the + weight of the maritime powers, then thrown into the scale of France, would + infallibly have made the balance at least even. In which case too, the + moderate efforts of the maritime powers on the side of France would have + been sufficient; whereas now, they are obliged to exhaust and beggar + themselves; and that too ineffectually, in hopes to support the shattered; + beggared, and insufficient House of Austria. + </p> + <p> + This has been a long political dissertation; but I am informed that + political subjects are your favorite ones; which I am glad of, considering + your destination. You do well to get your materials all ready, before you + begin your work. As you buy and (I am told) read books of this kind, I + will point out two or three for your purchase and perusal; I am not sure + that I have not mentioned them before, but that is no matter, if you have + not got them. ‘Memoires pour servir a l’Histoire du 17ieme Siecle’, is a + most useful book for you to recur to for all the facts and chronology of + that country: it is in four volumes octavo, and very correct and exact. If + I do not mistake, I have formerly recommended to you, ‘Les Memoires du + Cardinal de Retz’; however, if you have not yet read them, pray do, and + with the attention which they deserve. You will there find the best + account of a very interesting period of the minority of Lewis XIV. The + characters are drawn short, but in a strong and masterly manner; and the + political reflections are the only just and practical ones that I ever saw + in print: they are well worth your transcribing. ‘Le Commerce des Anciens, + par Monsieur Huet. Eveque d’Avranche’, in one little volume octavo, is + worth your perusal, as commerce is a very considerable part of political + knowledge. I need not, I am sure, suggest to you, when you read the course + of commerce, either of the ancients or of the moderns, to follow it upon + your map; for there is no other way of remembering geography correctly, + but by looking perpetually in the map for the places one reads of, even + though one knows before, pretty near, where they are. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! As all the accounts which I receive of you grow better and better, + so I grow more and more affectionately, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XLIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 5, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received yours, with the inclosed German letter to Mr. + Gravenkop, which he assures me is extremely well written, considering the + little time that you have applied yourself to that language. As you have + now got over the most difficult part, pray go on diligently, and make + yourself absolutely master of the rest. Whoever does not entirely possess + a language, will never appear to advantage, or even equal to himself, + either in speaking or writing it. His ideas are fettered, and seem + imperfect or confused, if he is not master of all the words and phrases + necessary to express them. I therefore desire, that you will not fail + writing a German letter once every fortnight to Mr. Gravenkop; which will + make the writing of that language familiar to you; and moreover, when you + shall have left Germany and be arrived at Turin, I shall require you to + write even to me in German; that you may not forget with ease what you + have with difficulty learned. I likewise desire, that while you are in + Germany, you will take all opportunities of conversing in German, which is + the only way of knowing that, or any other language, accurately. You will + also desire your German master to teach you the proper titles and + superscriptions to be used to people of all ranks; which is a point so + material, in Germany, that I have known many a letter returned unopened, + because one title in twenty has been omitted in the direction. + </p> + <p> + St. Thomas’s day now draws near, when you are to leave Saxony and go to + Berlin; and I take it for granted, that if anything is yet wanting to + complete your knowledge of the state of that electorate, you will not fail + to procure it before you go away. I do not mean, as you will easily + believe, the number of churches, parishes, or towns; but I mean the + constitution, the revenues, the troops, and the trade of that electorate. + A few questions, sensibly asked, of sensible people, will produce you the + necessary informations; which I desire you will enter in your little book, + Berlin will be entirely a new scene to you, and I look upon it, in a + manner, as your first step into the great world; take care that step be + not a false one, and that you do not stumble at the threshold. You will + there be in more company than you have yet been; manners and attentions + will therefore be more necessary. Pleasing in company is the only way of + being pleased in it yourself. Sense and knowledge are the first and + necessary foundations for pleasing in company; but they will by no means + do alone, and they will never be perfectly welcome if they are not + accompanied with manners and attentions. You will best acquire these by + frequenting the companies of people of fashion; but then you must resolve + to acquire them, in those companies, by proper care and observation; for I + have known people, who, though they have frequented good company all their + lifetime, have done it in so inattentive and unobserving a manner, as to + be never the better for it, and to remain as disagreeable, as awkward, and + as vulgar, as if they had never seen any person of fashion. When you go + into good company (by good company is meant the people of the first + fashion of the place) observe carefully their turn, their manners, their + address; and conform your own to them. But this is not all neither; go + deeper still; observe their characters, and pray, as far as you can, into + both their hearts and their heads. Seek for their particular merit, their + predominant passion, or their prevailing weakness; and you will then know + what to bait your hook with to catch them. Man is a composition of so + many, and such various ingredients, that it requires both time and care to + analyze him: for though we have all the same ingredients in our general + composition, as reason, will, passions, and appetites; yet the different + proportions and combinations of them in each individual, produce that + infinite variety of characters, which, in some particular or other, + distinguishes every individual from another. Reason ought to direct the + whole, but seldom does. And he who addresses himself singly to another + man’s reason, without endeavoring to engage his heart in his interest + also, is no more likely to succeed, than a man who should apply only to a + king’s nominal minister, and neglect his favorite. I will recommend to + your attentive perusal, now that you are going into the world, two books, + which will let you as much into the characters of men, as books can do. I + mean, ‘Les Reflections Morales de Monsieur de la Rochefoucault, and Les + Caracteres de la Bruyere’: but remember, at the same time, that I only + recommend them to you as the best general maps to assist you in your + journey, and not as marking out every particular turning and winding that + you will meet with. There your own sagacity and observation must come to + their aid. La Rochefoucault, is, I know, blamed, but I think without + reason, for deriving all our actions from the source of self-love. For my + own part, I see a great deal of truth, and no harm at all, in that + opinion. It is certain that we seek our own happiness in everything we do; + and it is as certain, that we can only find it in doing well, and in + conforming all our actions to the rule of right reason, which is the great + law of nature. It is only a mistaken self-love that is a blamable motive, + when we take the immediate and indiscriminate gratification of a passion, + or appetite, for real happiness. But am I blamable if I do a good action, + upon account of the happiness which that honest consciousness will give + me? Surely not. On the contrary, that pleasing consciousness is a proof of + my virtue. The reflection which is the most censured in Monsieur de la + Rochefoucault’s book as a very ill-natured one, is this, ‘On trouve dans + le malheur de son meilleur ami, quelque chose qui ne des plait pas’. And + why not? Why may I not feel a very tender and real concern for the + misfortune of my friend, and yet at the same time feel a pleasing + consciousness at having discharged my duty to him, by comforting and + assisting him to the utmost of my power in that misfortune? Give me but + virtuous actions, and I will not quibble and chicane about the motives. + And I will give anybody their choice of these two truths, which amount to + the same thing: He who loves himself best is the honestest man; or, The + honestest man loves himself best. + </p> + <p> + The characters of La Bruyere are pictures from the life; most of them + finely drawn, and highly colored. Furnish your mind with them first, and + when you meet with their likeness, as you will every day, they will strike + you the more. You will compare every feature with the original; and both + will reciprocally help you to discover the beauties and the blemishes. + </p> + <p> + As women are a considerable, or, at least a pretty numerous part of + company; and as their suffrages go a great way toward establishing a man’s + character in the fashionable part of the world (which is of great + importance to the fortune and figure he proposes to make in it), it is + necessary to please them. I will therefore, upon this subject, let you + into certain Arcana that will be very useful for you to know, but which + you must, with the utmost care, conceal and never seem to know. Women, + then, are only children of a larger growth; they have an entertaining + tattle, and sometimes wit; but for solid reasoning, good sense, I never + knew in my life one that had it, or who reasoned or acted consequentially + for four-and-twenty hours together. Some little passion or humor always + breaks upon their best resolutions. Their beauty neglected or + controverted, their age increased, or their supposed understandings + depreciated, instantly kindles their little passions, and overturns any + system of consequential conduct, that in their most reasonable moments + they might have been capable of forming. A man of sense only trifles with + them, plays with them, humors and flatters them, as he does with a + sprightly forward child; but he neither consults them about, nor trusts + them with serious matters; though he often makes them believe that he does + both; which is the thing in the world that they are proud of; for they + love mightily to be dabbling in business (which by the way they always + spoil); and being justly distrustful that men in general look upon them in + a trifling light, they almost adore that man who talks more seriously to + them, and who seems to consult and trust them; I say, who seems; for weak + men really do, but wise ones only seem to do it. No flattery is either too + high or too low for them. They will greedily swallow the highest, and + gratefully accept of the lowest; and you may safely flatter any woman from + her understanding down to the exquisite taste of her fan. Women who are + either indisputably beautiful, or indisputably ugly, are best flattered, + upon the score of their understandings; but those who are in a state of + mediocrity, are best flattered upon their beauty, or at least their + graces; for every woman who is not absolutely ugly thinks herself + handsome; but not hearing often that she is so, is the more grateful and + the more obliged to the few who tell her so; whereas a decided and + conscious beauty looks upon every tribute paid to her beauty only as her + due; but wants to shine, and to be considered on the side of her + understanding; and a woman who is ugly enough to know that she is so, + knows that she has nothing left for it but her understanding, which is + consequently and probably (in more senses than one) her weak side. But + these are secrets which you must keep inviolably, if you would not, like + Orpheus, be torn to pieces by the whole sex; on the contrary, a man who + thinks of living in the great world, must be gallant, polite, and + attentive to please the women. They have, from the weakness of men, more + or less influence in all courts; they absolutely stamp every man’s + character in the beau monde, and make it either current, or cry it down, + and stop it in payments. It is, therefore; absolutely necessary to manage, + please, and flatter them and never to discover the least marks of + contempt, which is what they never forgive; but in this they are not + singular, for it is the same with men; who will much sooner forgive an + injustice than an insult. Every man is not ambitious, or courteous, or + passionate; but every man has pride enough in his composition to feel and + resent the least slight and contempt. Remember, therefore, most carefully + to conceal your contempt, however just, wherever you would not make an + implacable enemy. Men are much more unwilling to have their weaknesses and + their imperfections known than their crimes; and if you hint to a man that + you think him silly, ignorant, or even ill-bred, or awkward, he will hate + you more and longer, than if you tell him plainly, that you think him a + rogue. Never yield to that temptation, which to most young men is very + strong; of exposing other people’s weaknesses and infirmities, for the + sake either of diverting the company, or showing your own superiority. You + may get the laugh on your side by it for the present; but you will make + enemies by it forever; and even those who laugh with you then, will, upon + reflection, fear; and consequently hate you; besides that it is + ill-natured, and a good heart desires rather to conceal than expose other + people’s weaknesses or misfortunes. If you have wit, use it to please, and + not to hurt: you may shine, like the sun in the temperate zones, without + scorching. Here it is wished for; under the Line it is dreaded. + </p> + <p> + These are some of the hints which my long experience in the great world + enables me to give you; and which, if you attend to them, may prove useful + to you in your journey through it. I wish it may be a prosperous one; at + least, I am sure that it must be your own fault if it is not. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, who, I am very sorry to hear, is not + well. I hope by this time he is recovered. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER L + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 13, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have more than once recommended to you the “Memoirs” of the + Cardinal de Retz, and to attend particularly to the political reflections + interspersed in that excellent work. I will now preach a little upon two + or three of those texts. + </p> + <p> + In the disturbances at Paris, Monsieur de Beaufort, who was a very + popular, though a very weak man, was the Cardinal’s tool with the + populace. + </p> + <p> + Proud of his popularity, he was always for assembling the people of Paris + together, thinking that he made a great figure at the head of them. The + Cardinal, who was factious enough, was wise enough at the same time to + avoid gathering the people together, except when there was occasion, and + when he had something particular for them to do. However, he could not + always check Monsieur de Beaufort; who having assembled them once very + unnecessarily, and without any determined object, they ran riot, would not + be kept within bounds by their leaders, and did their cause a great deal + of harm: upon which the Cardinal observes most judiciously, ‘Que Monsieur + de Beaufort me savoit pas, que qui assemble le peuple, l’emeut’. It is + certain, that great numbers of people met together, animate each other, + and will do something, either good or bad, but oftener bad; and the + respective individuals, who were separately very quiet, when met together + in numbers, grow tumultuous as a body, and ripe for any mischief that may + be pointed out to them by the leaders; and, if their leaders have no + business for them, they will find some for themselves. The demagogues, or + leaders of popular factions, should therefore be very careful not to + assemble the people unnecessarily, and without a settled and + well-considered object. Besides that, by making those popular assemblies + too frequent, they make them likewise too familiar, and consequently less + respected by their enemies. Observe any meetings of people, and you will + always find their eagerness and impetuosity rise or fall in proportion to + their numbers: when the numbers are very great, all sense and reason seem + to subside, and one sudden frenzy to seize on all, even the coolest of + them. + </p> + <p> + Another very just observation of the Cardinal’s is, That, the things which + happen in our own times, and which we see ourselves, do not surprise us + near so much as the things which we read of in times past, though not in + the least more extraordinary; and adds, that he is persuaded that when + Caligula made his horse a Consul, the people of Rome, at that time, were + not greatly surprised at it, having necessarily been in some degree + prepared for it, by an insensible gradation of extravagances from the same + quarter. This is so true that we read every day, with astonishment, things + which we see every day without surprise. We wonder at the intrepidity of a + Leonidas, a Codrus, and a Curtius; and are not the least surprised to hear + of a sea-captain, who has blown up his ship, his crew, and himself, that + they might not fall into the hands of the enemies of his country. I cannot + help reading of Porsenna and Regulus, with surprise and reverence, and yet + I remember that I saw, without either, the execution of Shepherd,—[James + Shepherd, a coach-painter’s apprentice, was executed at Tyburn for high + treason, March 17, 1718, in the reign of George I.]—a boy of + eighteen years old, who intended to shoot the late king, and who would + have been pardoned, if he would have expressed the least sorrow for his + intended crime; but, on the contrary, he declared that if he was pardoned + he would attempt it again; that he thought it a duty which he owed to his + country, and that he died with pleasure for having endeavored to perform + it. Reason equals Shepherd to Regulus; but prejudice, and the recency of + the fact, make Shepherd a common malefactor and Regulus a hero. + </p> + <p> + Examine carefully, and reconsider all your notions of things; analyze + them, and discover their component parts, and see if habit and prejudice + are not the principal ones; weigh the matter upon which you are to form + your opinion, in the equal and impartial scales of reason. It is not to be + conceived how many people, capable of reasoning, if they would, live and + die in a thousand errors, from laziness; they will rather adopt the + prejudices of others, than give themselves the trouble of forming opinions + of their own. They say things, at first, because other people have said + them, and then they persist in them, because they have said them + themselves. + </p> + <p> + The last observation that I shall now mention of the Cardinal’s is, “That + a secret is more easily kept by a good many people, than one commonly + imagines.” By this he means a secret of importance, among people + interested in the keeping of it. And it is certain that people of business + know the importance of secrecy, and will observe it, where they are + concerned in the event. To go and tell any friend, wife, or mistress, any + secret with which they have nothing to do, is discovering to them such an + unretentive weakness, as must convince them that you will tell it to + twenty others, and consequently that they may reveal it without the risk + of being discovered. But a secret properly communicated only to those who + are to be concerned in the thing in question, will probably be kept by + them though they should be a good many. Little secrets are commonly told + again, but great ones are generally kept. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0053" id="link2H_4_0053"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 20, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I wait with impatience for your accurate history of the + ‘Chevaliers Forte Epees’, which you promised me in your last, and which I + take to be the forerunner of a larger work that you intend to give the + public, containing a general account of all the religious and military + orders of Europe. Seriously, you will do well to have a general notion of + all those orders, ancient and modern; both as they are frequently the + subjects of conversation, and as they are more or less interwoven with the + histories of those times. Witness the Teutonic Order, which, as soon as it + gained strength, began its unjust depredations in Germany, and acquired + such considerable possessions there; and the Order of Malta also, which + continues to this day its piracies upon the Infidels. Besides one can go + into no company in Germany, without running against Monsieur le Chevalier, + or Monsieur le Commandeur de l’ Ordre Teutonique. It is the same in all + the other parts of Europe with regard to the Order of Malta, where you + never go into company without meeting two or three Chevaliers or + Commandeurs, who talk of their ‘Preuves’, their ‘Langues’, their + ‘Caravanes’, etc., of all which things I am sure you would not willingly + be ignorant. On the other hand, I do not mean that you should have a + profound and minute knowledge of these matters, which are of a nature that + a general knowledge of them is fully sufficient. I would not recommend you + to read Abbe Vertot’s “History of the Order of Malta,” in four quarto + volumes; that would be employing a great deal of good time very ill. But I + would have you know the foundations, the objects, the INSIGNIA, and the + short general history of them all. + </p> + <p> + As for the ancient religious military orders, which were chiefly founded + in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, such as Malta, the Teutonic, the + Knights Templars, etc., the injustice and the wickedness of those + establishments cannot, I am sure, have escaped your observation. Their + pious object was, to take away by force other people’s property, and to + massacre the proprietors themselves if they refused to give up that + property, and adopt the opinions of these invaders. What right or pretense + had these confederated Christians of Europe to the Holy Land? Let them + produce their grant of it in the Bible. Will they say, that the Saracens + had possessed themselves of it by force, and that, consequently, they had + the same right? Is it lawful then to steal goods because they were stolen + before? Surely not. The truth is, that the wickedness of many, and the + weakness of more, in those ages of ignorance and superstition, concurred + to form those flagitious conspiracies against the lives and properties of + unoffending people. The Pope sanctified the villany, and annexed the + pardon of sins to the perpetration of it. This gave rise to the Crusaders, + and carried such swarms of people from Europe to the conquests of the Holy + Land. Peter the Hermit, an active and ambitious priest, by his + indefatigable pains, was the immediate author of the first crusade; kings, + princes, all professions and characters united, from different motives, in + this great undertaking, as every sentiment, except true religion and + morality, invited to it. The ambitious hoped for kingdoms; the greedy and + the necessitous for plunder; and some were enthusiasts enough to hope for + salvation, by the destruction of a considerable number of their fellow + creatures, who had done them no injury. I cannot omit, upon this occasion, + telling you that the Eastern emperors at Constantinople (who, as + Christians, were obliged at least to seem to favor these expeditions), + seeing the immense numbers of the ‘Croisez’, and fearing that the Western + Empire might have some mind to the Eastern Empire too, if it succeeded + against the Infidels, as ‘l’appetit vient en mangeant’; these Eastern + emperors, very honestly, poisoned the waters where the ‘Croisez’ were to + pass, and so destroyed infinite numbers of them. + </p> + <p> + The later orders of knighthood, such as the Garter in England; the + Elephant in Denmark; the Golden Fleece in Burgundy; the St. Esprit, St. + Michel, St. Louis, and St. Lazare, in France etc., are of a very different + nature and were either the invitations to, or the rewards of; brave + actions in fair war; and are now rather the decorations of the favor of + the prince, than the proofs of the merit of the subject. However, they are + worth your inquiries to a certain degree, and conversation will give you + frequent opportunities for them. Wherever you are, I would advise you to + inquire into the respective orders of that country, and to write down a + short account of them. For example, while you are in Saxony, get an + account of l’Aigle Blanc and of what other orders there may be, either + Polish or Saxon; and, when you shall be at Berlin, inform yourself of + three orders, l’Aigle Noir, la Generosite et le Vrai Merite, which are the + only ones that I know of there. But whenever you meet with straggling + ribands and stars, as you will with a thousand in Germany, do not fail to + inquire what they are, and to take a minute of them in your memorandum + book; for it is a sort of knowledge that costs little to acquire, and yet + it is of some use. Young people have frequently an incuriousness about + them, arising either from laziness, or a contempt of the object, which + deprives them of several such little parts of knowledge, that they + afterward wish they had acquired. If you will put conversation to profit, + great knowledge may be gained by it; and is it not better (since it is + full as easy) to turn it upon useful than upon useless subjects? People + always talk best upon what they know most, and it is both pleasing them + and improving one’s self, to put them upon that subject. With people of a + particular profession, or of a distinguished eminency in any branch of + learning, one is not at a loss; but with those, whether men or women, who + properly constitute what is called the beau monde, one must not choose + deep subjects, nor hope to get any knowledge above that of orders, ranks, + families, and court anecdotes; which are therefore the proper (and not + altogether useless) subjects of that kind of conversation. Women, + especially, are to be talked to as below men and above children. If you + talk to them too deep, you only confound them, and lose your own labor; if + you talk to them too frivolously, they perceive and resent the contempt. + The proper tone for them is, what the French call the ‘Entregent’, and is, + in truth, the polite jargon of good company. Thus, if you are a good + chemist, you may extract something out of everything. + </p> + <p> + A propos of the beau monde, I must again and again recommend the Graces to + you: There is no doing without them in that world; and, to make a good + figure in that world, is a great step toward making one in the world of + business, particularly that part of it for which you are destined. An + ungraceful manner of speaking, awkward motions, and a disagreeable + address, are great clogs to the ablest man of business, as the opposite + qualifications are of infinite advantage to him. I am told there is a very + good dancing-master at Leipsig. I would have you dance a minuet very well, + not so much for the sake of the minuet itself (though that, if danced at + all, ought to be danced, well), as that it will give you a habitual + genteel carriage and manner of presenting yourself. + </p> + <p> + Since I am upon little things, I must mention another, which, though + little enough in itself, yet as it occurs at, least once in every day, + deserves some attention; I mean Carving. Do you use yourself to carve + ADROITLY and genteelly, without hacking half an hour across a bone; + without bespattering the company with the sauce; and without overturning + the glasses into your neighbor’s pockets? These awkwardnesses are + extremely disagreeable; and, if often repeated, bring ridicule. They are + very easily avoided by a little attention and use. + </p> + <p> + How trifling soever these things may seem, or really be in themselves, + they are no longer so when above half the world thinks them otherwise. + And, as I would have you ‘omnibus ornatum—excellere rebus’, I think + nothing above or below my pointing out to you, or your excelling in. You + have the means of doing it, and time before you to make use of them. Take + my word for it, I ask nothing now but what you will, twenty years hence, + most heartily wish that you had done. Attention to all these things, for + the next two or three years, will save you infinite trouble and endless + regrets hereafter. May you, in the whole course of your life, have no + reason for any one just regret! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + Your Dresden china is arrived, and I have sent it to your Mamma. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 27, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received your Latin “Lecture upon War,” which though it + is not exactly the same Latin that Caesar, Cicero, Horace, Virgil, and + Ovid spoke, is, however, as good Latin as the erudite Germans speak or + write. I have always observed that the most learned people, that is, those + who have read the most Latin, write the worst; and that distinguishes the + Latin of gentleman scholar from that of a pedant. A gentleman has, + probably, read no other Latin than that of the Augustan age; and therefore + can write no other, whereas the pedant has read much more bad Latin than + good, and consequently writes so too. He looks upon the best classical + books, as books for school-boys, and consequently below him; but pores + over fragments of obscure authors, treasures up the obsolete words which + he meets with there, and uses them upon all occasions to show his reading + at the expense of his judgment. Plautus is his favorite author, not for + the sake of the wit and the vis comica of his comedies, but upon account + of the many obsolete words, and the cant of low characters, which are to + be met with nowhere else. He will rather use ‘olli’ than ‘illi’, ‘optume’ + than ‘optima’, and any bad word rather than any good one, provided he can + but prove, that strictly speaking, it is Latin; that is, that it was + written by a Roman. By this rule, I might now write to you in the language + of Chaucer or Spenser, and assert that I wrote English, because it was + English in their days; but I should be a most affected puppy if I did so, + and you would not understand three words of my letter. All these, and such + like affected peculiarities, are the characteristics of learned coxcombs + and pedants, and are carefully avoided by all men of sense. + </p> + <p> + I dipped accidentally, the other day, into Pitiscus’s preface to his + “Lexicon,” where I found a word that puzzled me, and which I did not + remember ever to have met with before. It is the adverb ‘praefiscine’, + which means, IN A GOOD HOUR; an expression which, by the superstition of + it, appears to be low and vulgar. I looked for it: and at last I found + that it is once or twice made use of in Plautus, upon the strength of + which this learned pedant thrusts it into his preface. Whenever you write + Latin, remember that every word or phrase which you make use of, but + cannot find in Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Horace, Virgil; and Ovid, is bad, + illiberal Latin, though it may have been written by a Roman. + </p> + <p> + I must now say something as to the matter of the “Lecture,” in which I + confess there is one doctrine laid down that surprises me: It is this, + ‘Quum vero hostis sit lenta citave morte omnia dira nobis minitans + quocunque bellantibus negotium est; parum sane interfuerit quo modo eum + obruere et interficere satagamus, si ferociam exuere cunctetur. Ergo + veneno quoque uti fas est’, etc., whereas I cannot conceive that the use + of poison can, upon any account, come within the lawful means of + self-defense. Force may, without doubt, be justly repelled by force, but + not by treachery and fraud; for I do not call the stratagems of war, such + as ambuscades, masked batteries, false attacks, etc., frauds or treachery: + They are mutually to be expected and guarded against; but poisoned arrows, + poisoned waters, or poison administered to your enemy (which can only be + done by treachery), I have always heard, read, and thought, to be unlawful + and infamous means of defense, be your danger ever so great: But ‘si + ferociam exuere cunctetur’; must I rather die than poison this enemy? Yes, + certainly, much rather die than do a base or criminal action; nor can I be + sure, beforehand, that this enemy may not, in the last moment, ‘ferociam + exuere’. But the public lawyers, now, seem to me rather to warp the law, + in order to authorize, than to check, those unlawful proceedings of + princes and states; which, by being become common, appear less criminal, + though custom can never alter the nature of good and ill. + </p> + <p> + Pray let no quibbles of lawyers, no refinements of casuists, break into + the plain notions of right and wrong, which every man’s right reason and + plain common sense suggest to him. To do as you would be done by, is the + plain, sure, and undisputed rule of morality and justice. Stick to that; + and be convinced that whatever breaks into it, in any degree, however + speciously it may be turned, and however puzzling it may be to answer it, + is, notwithstanding, false in itself, unjust, and criminal. I do not know + a crime in the world, which is not by the casuists among the Jesuits + (especially the twenty-four collected, I think, by Escobar) allowed, in + some, or many cases, not to be criminal. The principles first laid down by + them are often specious, the reasonings plausible, but the conclusion + always a lie: for it is contrary, to that evident and undeniable rule of + justice which I have mentioned above, of not doing to anyone what you + would not have him do to you. But, however, these refined pieces of + casuistry and sophistry, being very convenient and welcome to people’s + passions and appetites, they gladly accept the indulgence, without + desiring to detect the fallacy or the reasoning: and indeed many, I might + say most people, are not able to do it; which makes the publication of + such quibblings and refinements the more pernicious. I am no skillful + casuist nor subtle disputant; and yet I would undertake to justify and + qualify the profession of a highwayman, step by step, and so plausibly, as + to make many ignorant people embrace the profession, as an innocent, if + not even a laudable one; and puzzle people of some degree of knowledge, to + answer me point by point. I have seen a book, entitled ‘Quidlibet ex + Quolibet’, or the art of making anything out of anything; which is not so + difficult as it would seem, if once one quits certain plain truths, + obvious in gross to every understanding, in order to run after the + ingenious refinements of warm imaginations and speculative reasonings. + Doctor Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, a very worthy, ingenious, and learned + man, has written a book, to prove that there is no such thing as matter, + and that nothing exists but in idea: that you and I only fancy ourselves + eating, drinking, and sleeping; you at Leipsig, and I at London: that we + think we have flesh and blood, legs, arms, etc., but that we are only + spirit. His arguments are, strictly speaking, unanswerable; but yet I am + so far from being convinced by them, that I am determined to go on to eat + and drink, and walk and ride, in order to keep that MATTER, which I so + mistakenly imagine my body at present to consist of, in as good plight as + possible. Common sense (which, in truth, very uncommon) is the best sense + I know of: abide by it, it will counsel you best. Read and hear, for your + amusement, ingenious systems, nice questions subtilly agitated, with all + the refinements that warm imaginations suggest; but consider them only as + exercitations for the mind, and turn always to settle with common sense. + </p> + <p> + I stumbled, the other day, at a bookseller’s, upon “Comte Gabalis,” in two + very little volumes, which I had formerly read. I read it over again, and + with fresh astonishment. Most of the extravagances are taken from the + Jewish Rabbins, who broached those wild notions, and delivered them in the + unintelligible jargon which the Caballists and Rosicrucians deal in to + this day. Their number is, I believe, much lessened, but there are still + some; and I myself have known two; who studied and firmly believed in that + mystical nonsense. What extravagancy is not man capable of entertaining, + when once his shackled reason is led in triumph by fancy and prejudice! + The ancient alchemists give very much into this stuff, by which they + thought they should discover the philosopher’s stone; and some of the most + celebrated empirics employed it in the pursuit of the universal medicine. + Paracelsus, a bold empiric and wild Caballist, asserted that he had + discovered it, and called it his ‘Alkahest’. Why or wherefore, God knows; + only that those madmen call nothing by an intelligible name. You may + easily get this book from The Hague: read it, for it will both divert and + astonish you, and at the same time teach you ‘nil admirari’; a very + necessary lesson. + </p> + <p> + Your letters, except when upon a given subject, are exceedingly laconic, + and neither answer my desires nor the purpose of letters; which should be + familiar conversations, between absent friends. As I desire to live with + you upon the footing of an intimate friend, and not of a parent, I could + wish that your letters gave me more particular accounts of yourself, and + of your lesser transactions. When you write to me, suppose yourself + conversing freely with me by the fireside. In that case, you would + naturally mention the incidents of the day; as where you had been, who you + had seen, what you thought of them, etc. Do this in your letters: acquaint + me sometimes with your studies, sometimes with your diversions; tell me of + any new persons and characters that you meet with in company, and add your + own observations upon them: in short, let me see more of you in your + letters. How do you go on with Lord Pulteney, and how does he go on at + Leipsig? Has he learning, has he parts, has he application? Is he good or + ill-natured? In short, What is he? at least, what do you think him? You + may tell me without reserve, for I promise you secrecy. You are now of an + age that I am desirous to begin a confidential correspondence with you; + and as I shall, on my part, write you very freely my opinion upon men and + things, which I should often be very unwilling that anybody but you and + Mr. Harte should see, so, on your part, if you write me without reserve, + you may depend upon my inviolable secrecy. If you have ever looked into + the “Letters” of Madame de Sevigne to her daughter, Madame de Grignan, you + must have observed the ease, freedom, and friendship of that + correspondence; and yet, I hope and I believe, that they did not love one + another better than we do. Tell me what books you are now reading, either + by way of study or amusement; how you pass your evenings when at home, and + where you pass them when abroad. I know that you go sometimes to Madame + Valentin’s assembly; What do you do there? Do you play, or sup, or is it + only ‘la belle conversation?’ Do you mind your dancing while your + dancing-master is with you? As you will be often under the necessity of + dancing a minuet, I would have you dance it very well. Remember, that the + graceful motion of the arms, the giving your hand, and the putting on and + pulling off your hat genteelly, are the material parts of a gentleman’s + dancing. But the greatest advantage of dancing well is, that it + necessarily teaches you to present yourself, to sit, stand, and walk, + genteelly; all of which are of real importance to a man of fashion. + </p> + <p> + I should wish that you were polished before you go to Berlin; where, as + you will be in a great deal of good company, I would have you have the + right manners for it. It is a very considerable article to have ‘le ton de + la bonne compagnie’, in your destination particularly. The principal + business of a foreign minister is, to get into the secrets, and to know + all ‘les allures’ of the courts at which he resides; this he can never + bring about but by such a pleasing address, such engaging manners, and + such an insinuating behavior, as may make him sought for, and in some + measure domestic, in the best company and the best families of the place. + He will then, indeed, be well informed of all that passes, either by the + confidences made him, or by the carelessness of people in his company, who + are accustomed to look upon him as one of them, and consequently are not + upon their guard before him. For a minister who only goes to the court he + resides at, in form, to ask an audience of the prince or the minister upon + his last instructions, puts them upon their guard, and will never know + anything more than what they have a mind that he should know. Here women + may be put to some use. A king’s mistress, or a minister’s wife or + mistress, may give great and useful informations; and are very apt to do + it, being proud to show that they have been trusted. But then, in this + case, the height of that sort of address, which, strikes women, is + requisite; I mean that easy politeness, genteel and graceful address, and + that ‘exterieur brilliant’ which they cannot withstand. There is a sort of + men so like women, that they are to be taken just in the same way; I mean + those who are commonly called FINE MEN; who swarm at all courts; who have + little reflection, and less knowledge; but, who by their good breeding, + and ‘train-tran’ of the world, are admitted into all companies; and, by + the imprudence or carelessness of their superiors, pick up secrets worth + knowing, which are easily got out of them by proper address. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 12, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I came here three days ago upon account of a disorder in my + stomach, which affected my head and gave me vertigo. I already find myself + something better; and consequently do not doubt but that the course of + these waters will set me quite right. But however and wherever I am, your + welfare, your character, your knowledge, and your morals, employ my + thoughts more than anything that can happen to me, or that I can fear or + hope for myself. I am going off the stage, you are coming upon it; with me + what has been, has been, and reflection now would come too late; with you + everything is to come, even, in some manner, reflection itself; so that + this is the very time when my reflections, the result of experience, may + be of use to you, by supplying the want of yours. As soon as you leave + Leipsig, you will gradually be going into the great world; where the first + impressions that you shall give of yourself will be of great importance to + you; but those which you shall receive will be decisive, for they always + stick. To keep good company, especially at your first setting out, is the + way to receive good impressions. If you ask me what I mean by good + company, I will confess to you that it is pretty difficult to define; but + I will endeavor to make you understand it as well as I can. + </p> + <p> + Good company is not what respective sets of company are pleased either to + call or think themselves, but it is that company which all the people of + the place call, and acknowledge to be, good company, notwithstanding some + objections which they may form to some of the individuals who compose it. + It consists chiefly (but by no means without exception) of people of + considerable birth, rank, and character; for people of neither birth nor + rank are frequently, and very justly admitted into it, if distinguished by + any peculiar merit, or eminency in any liberal art or science. Nay, so + motly a thing is good company, that many people, without birth, rank, or + merit, intrude into it by their own forwardness, and others slide into it + by the protection of some considerable person; and some even of + indifferent characters and morals make part of it. But in the main, the + good part preponderates, and people of infamous and blasted characters are + never admitted. In this fashionable good company, the best manners and the + best language of the place are most unquestionably to be learned; for they + establish and give the tone to both, which are therefore called the + language and manners of good company: there being no legal tribunal to + ascertain either. + </p> + <p> + A company, consisting wholly of people of the first quality, cannot, for + that reason, be called good company, in the common acceptation of the + phrase, unless they are, into the bargain, the fashionable and accredited + company of the place; for people of the very first quality can be as + silly, as ill-bred, and as worthless, as people of the meanest degree. On + the other hand, a company consisting entirely of people of very low + condition, whatever their merit or parts may be, can never be called good + company; and consequently should not be much frequented, though by no + means despised. + </p> + <p> + A company wholly composed of men of learning, though greatly to be valued + and respected, is not meant by the words GOOD COMPANY; they cannot have + the easy manners and, ‘tournure’ of the world, as they do not live in it. + If you can bear your part well in such a company, it is extremely right to + be in it sometimes, and you will be but more esteemed in other companies, + for having a place in that. But then do not let it engross you; for if you + do, you will be only considered as one of the ‘literati’ by profession; + which is not the way either, to shine, or rise in the world. + </p> + <p> + The company of professed wits and pests is extremely inviting to most + young men; who if they have wit themselves, are pleased with it, and if + they have none, are sillily proud of being one of it: but it should be + frequented with moderation and judgment, and you should by no means give + yourself up to it. A wit is a very unpopular denomination, as it carries + terror along with it; and people in general are as much afraid of a live + wit, in company, as a woman is of a gun, which she thinks may go off of + itself, and do her a mischief. Their acquaintance is, however, worth + seeking, and their company worth frequenting; but not exclusively of + others, nor to such a degree as to be considered only as one of that + particular set. + </p> + <p> + But the company, which of all others you should most carefully avoid, is + that low company, which, in every sense of the word, is low indeed; low in + rank, low in parts, low in manners, and low in merit. You will, perhaps, + be surprised that I should think it necessary to warn you against such + company, but yet I do not think it wholly, unnecessary, from the many + instances which I have seen of men of sense and rank, discredited, + verified, and undone, by keeping such company. + </p> + <p> + Vanity, that source of many of our follies, and of some of our crimes, has + sunk many a man into company, in every light infinitely, below himself, + for the sake of being the first man in it. There he dictates, is + applauded, admired; and, for the sake of being the Coryphceus of that + wretched chorus, disgraces and disqualifies himself soon for any better + company. Depend upon it, you will sink or rise to the level of the company + which you commonly keep: people will judge of you, and not unreasonably, + by that. There is good sense in the Spanish saying, “Tell me whom you live + with, and I will tell you who you are.” Make it therefore your business, + wherever you are, to get into that company which everybody in the place + allows to be the best company next to their own; which is the best + definition that I can give you of good company. But here, too, one caution + is very necessary, for want of which many young men have been ruined, even + in good company. + </p> + <p> + Good company (as I have before observed) is composed of a great variety of + fashionable people, whose characters and morals are very different, though + their manners are pretty much the same. When a young man, new in the + world, first gets into that company, he very rightly determines to conform + to, and imitate it. But then he too often, and fatally, mistakes the + objects of his imitation. He has often heard that absurd term of genteel + and fashionable vices. He there sees some people who shine, and who in + general are admired and esteemed; and observes that these people are + whoremasters, drunkards, or gamesters, upon which he adopts their vices, + mistaking their defects for their perfections, and thinking that they owe + their fashions and their luster to those genteel vices. Whereas it is + exactly the reverse; for these people have acquired their reputation by + their parts, their learning, their good-breeding, and other real + accomplishments: and are only blemished and lowered, in the opinions of + all reasonable people, and of their own, in time, by these genteel and + fashionable vices. A whoremaster, in a flux, or without a nose, is a very + genteel person, indeed, and well worthy of imitation. A drunkard, vomiting + up at night the wine of the day, and stupefied by the headache all the + next, is, doubtless, a fine model to copy from. And a gamester, tearing + his hair, and blaspheming, for having lost more than he had in the world, + is surely a most amiable character. No; these are alloys, and great ones + too, which can never adorn any character, but will always debase the best. + To prove this, suppose any man, without parts and some other good + qualities, to be merely a whoremaster, a drunkard, or a gamester; how will + he be looked upon by all sorts of people? Why, as a most contemptible and + vicious animal. Therefore it is plain, that in these mixed characters, the + good part only makes people forgive, but not approve, the bad. + </p> + <p> + I will hope and believe that you will have no vices; but if, + unfortunately, you should have any, at least I beg of you to be content + with your own, and to adopt no other body’s. + </p> + <p> + The adoption of vice has, I am convinced, ruined ten times more young men + than natural inclinations. + </p> + <p> + As I make no difficulty of confessing my past errors, where I think the + confession may be of use to you, I will own that when I first went to the + university, I drank and smoked, notwithstanding the aversion I had to wine + and tobacco, only because I thought it genteel, and that it made me look + like a man. When I went abroad, I first went to The Hague, where gaming + was much in fashion, and where I observed that many people of shining rank + and character gamed too. I was then young enough, and silly enough, to + believe that gaming was one of their accomplishments; and, as I aimed at + perfection, I adopted gaming as a necessary step to it. Thus I acquired by + error the habit of a vice which, far from adorning my character, has, I am + conscious, been a great blemish in it. + </p> + <p> + Imitate then, with discernment and judgment, the real perfections of the + good company into which you may get; copy their politeness, their + carriage, their address, and the easy and well-bred turn of their + conversation; but remember that, let them shine ever so bright, their + vices, if they have any, are so many spots which you would no more + imitate, than you would make an artificial wart upon your face, because + some very handsome man had the misfortune to have a natural one upon his: + but, on the contrary, think how much handsomer he would have been without + it. + </p> + <p> + Having thus confessed some of my ‘egaremens’, I will now show you a little + of my right side. I always endeavored to get into the best company + wherever I was, and commonly succeeded. There I pleased to some degree by + showing a desire to please. I took care never to be absent or ‘distrait’; + but on the contrary, attended to everything that was said, done, or even + looked, in company; I never failed in the minutest attentions and was + never ‘journalier’. These things, and not my ‘egaremens’, made me + fashionable. Adieu! This letter is full long enough. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 19, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Having in my last pointed out what sort of company you should + keep, I will now give you some rules for your conduct in it; rules which + my own experience and observation enable me to lay down, and communicate + to you, with some degree of confidence. I have often given you hints of + this kind before, but then it has been by snatches; I will now be more + regular and methodical. I shall say nothing with regard to your bodily + carriage and address, but leave them to the care of your dancing-master, + and to your own attention to the best models; remember, however, that they + are of consequence. + </p> + <p> + Talk often, but never long: in that case, if you do not please, at least + you are sure not to tire your hearers. Pay your own reckoning, but do not + treat the whole company; this being one of the very few cases in which + people do not care to be treated, everyone being fully convinced that he + has wherewithal to pay. + </p> + <p> + Tell stories very seldom, and absolutely never but where they are very apt + and very short. Omit every circumstance that is not material, and beware + of digressions. To have frequent recourse to narrative betrays great want + of imagination. + </p> + <p> + Never hold anybody by the button or the hand, in order to be heard out; + for, if people are not willing to hear you, you had much better hold your + tongue than them. + </p> + <p> + Most long talkers single out some one unfortunate man in company (commonly + him whom they observe to be the most silent, or their next neighbor) to + whisper, or at least in a half voice, to convey a continuity of words to. + This is excessively ill-bred, and in some degree a fraud; + conversation-stock being a joint and common property. But, on the other + hand, if one of these unmerciful talkers lays hold of you, hear him with + patience (and at least seeming attention), if he is worth obliging; for + nothing will oblige him more than a patient hearing, as nothing would hurt + him more than either to leave him in the midst of his discourse, or to + discover your impatience under your affliction. + </p> + <p> + Take, rather than give, the tone of the company you are in. If you have + parts, you will show them, more or less, upon every subject; and if you + have not, you had better talk sillily upon a subject of other people’s + than of your own choosing. + </p> + <p> + Avoid as much as you can, in mixed companies, argumentative, polemical + conversations; which, though they should not, yet certainly do, indispose + for a time the contending parties toward each other; and, if the + controversy grows warm and noisy, endeavor to put an end to it by some + genteel levity or joke. I quieted such a conversation-hubbub once, by + representing to them that, though I was persuaded none there present would + repeat, out of company, what passed in it, yet I could not answer for the + discretion of the passengers in the street, who must necessarily hear all + that was said. + </p> + <p> + Above all things, and upon all occasions, avoid speaking of yourself, if + it be possible. Such is the natural pride and vanity of our hearts, that + it perpetually breaks out, even in people of the best parts, in all the + various modes and figures of the egotism. + </p> + <p> + Some, abruptly, speak advantageously of themselves, without either + pretense or provocation. They are impudent. Others proceed more artfully, + as they imagine; and forge accusations against themselves, complain of + calumnies which they never heard, in order to justify themselves, by + exhibiting a catalogue of their many virtues. They acknowledge it may, + indeed, seem odd that they should talk in that manner of themselves; it is + what they do not like, and what they never would have done; no; no + tortures should ever have forced it from them, if they had, not been thus + unjustly and monstrously accused. But, in these cases; justice is surely + due to one’s self, as well as to others; and when our character is + attacked, we may say in our own justification, what otherwise we never + would have said. This thin veil of Modesty drawn before Vanity, is much + too transparent to conceal it, even from very moderate discernment. + </p> + <p> + Others go more modestly and more slyly still (as they think) to work; but + in my mind still more ridiculously. They confess themselves (not without + some degree of shame and confusion) into all the Cardinal Virtues, by + first degrading them into weaknesses and then owning their misfortune in + being made up of those weaknesses. They cannot see people suffer without + sympathizing with, and endeavoring to help them. They cannot see people + want, without relieving them, though truly their own circumstances cannot + very well afford it. They cannot help speaking truth, though they know all + the imprudence of it. In short, they know that, with all these weaknesses, + they are not fit to live in the world, much less to thrive in it. But they + are now too old to change, and must rub on as well as they can. This + sounds too ridiculous and ‘outre’, almost, for the stage; and yet, take my + word for it, you will frequently meet with it upon the common stage of the + world. And here I will observe, by the bye, that you will often meet with + characters in nature so extravagant, that a discreet dramatist would not + venture to set them upon the stage in their true and high coloring. + </p> + <p> + This principle of vanity and pride is so strong in human nature that it + descends even to the lowest objects; and one often sees people angling for + praise, where, admitting all they say to be true (which, by the way, it + seldom is), no just praise is to be caught. One man affirms that he has + rode post an hundred miles in six hours; probably it is a lie: but + supposing it to be true, what then? Why he is a very good post-boy, that + is all. Another asserts, and probably not without oaths, that he has drunk + six or eight bottles of wine at a sitting; out of charity, I will believe + him a liar; for, if I do not, I must think him a beast. + </p> + <p> + Such, and a thousand more, are the follies and extravagances, which vanity + draws people into, and which always defeat their own purpose; and as + Waller says, upon another subject,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Make the wretch the most despised, + Where most he wishes to be prized.” + </pre> + <p> + The only sure way of avoiding these evils, is never to speak of yourself + at all. But when, historically, you are obliged to mention yourself, take + care not to drop one single word that can directly or indirectly be + construed as fishing for applause. Be your character what it will, it will + be known; and nobody will take it upon your own word. Never imagine that + anything you can say yourself will varnish your defects, or add lustre to + your perfections! but, on the contrary, it may, and nine times in ten, + will, make the former more glaring and the latter obscure. If you are + silent upon your own subject, neither envy, indignation, nor ridicule, + will obstruct or allay the applause which you may really deserve; but if + you publish your own panegyric upon any occasion, or in any shape + whatsoever, and however artfully dressed or disguised, they will all + conspire against you, and you will be disappointed of the very end you aim + at. + </p> + <p> + Take care never to seem dark and mysterious; which is not only a very + unamiable character, but a very suspicious one too; if you seem mysterious + with others, they will be really so with you, and you will know nothing. + The height of abilities is to have ‘volto sciolto’ and ‘pensieri stretti’; + that is, a frank, open, and ingenuous exterior, with a prudent interior; + to be upon your own guard, and yet, by a seeming natural openness, to put + people off theirs. Depend upon it nine in ten of every company you are in + will avail themselves of every indiscreet and unguarded expression of + yours, if they can turn it to their own advantage. A prudent reserve is + therefore as necessary as a seeming openness is prudent. Always look + people in the face when you speak to them: the not doing it is thought to + imply conscious guilt; besides that you lose the advantage of serving by + their countenances what impression your discourse makes upon them. In + order to know people’s real sentiments, I trust much more to my eyes than + to my ears: for they can say whatever they have a mind I should hear; but + they can seldom help looking, what they have no intention that I should + know. + </p> + <p> + Neither retail nor receive scandal willingly; defamation of others may for + the present gratify the malignity of the pride of our hearts; cool + reflection will draw very disadvantageous conclusions from such a + disposition; and in the case of scandal, as in that of robbery, the + receiver is always thought, as bad as the thief. + </p> + <p> + Mimicry, which is the common and favorite amusement of little low minds, + is in the utmost contempt with great ones. It is the lowest and most + illiberal of all buffoonery. Pray, neither practice it yourself, nor + applaud it in others. Besides that the person mimicked is insulted; and, + as I have often observed to you before, an insult is never forgiven. + </p> + <p> + I need not (I believe) advise you to adapt your conversation to the people + you are conversing with: for I suppose you would not, without this + caution, have talked upon the same subject, and in the same manner, to a + minister of state, a bishop, a philosopher, a captain, and a woman. A man + of the world must, like the chameleon, be able to take every different + hue; which is by no means a criminal or abject, but a necessary + complaisance; for it relates only to manners and not to morals. + </p> + <p> + One word only as to swearing, and that, I hope and believe, is more than + is necessary. You may sometimes hear some people in good company interlard + their discourse with oaths, by way of embellishment, as they think, but + you must observe, too, that those who do so are never those who + contribute, in any degree, to give that company the denomination of good + company. They are always subalterns, or people of low education; for that + practice, besides that it has no one temptation to plead, is as silly and + as illiberal as it is wicked. + </p> + <p> + Loud laughter is the mirth of the mob, who are only pleased with silly + things; for true wit or good sense never excited a laugh since the + creation of the world. A man of parts and fashion is therefore only seen + to smile; but never heard to laugh. + </p> + <p> + But to conclude this long letter; all the above-mentioned rules, however + carefully you may observe them, will lose half their effect, if + unaccompanied by the Graces. Whatever you say, if you say it with a + supercilious, cynical face, or an embarrassed countenance, or a silly, + disconcerted grin, will be ill received. If, into the bargain, YOU MUTTER + IT, OR UTTER IT INDISTINCTLY AND UNGRACEFULLY, it will be still worse + received. If your air and address are vulgar, awkward, and gauche, you may + be esteemed indeed, if you have great intrinsic merit; but you will never, + please; and without pleasing you will rise but heavily. Venus, among the + ancients, was synonymous with the Graces, who were always supposed to + accompany her; and Horace tells us that even Youth and Mercury, the god of + Arts and Eloquence, would not do without her: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘Parum comis sine to Juventas Mercuriusque.’ +</pre> + <p> + They are not inexorable Ladies, and may be had if properly, and diligently + pursued. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 29, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: My anxiety for your success increases in proportion as the time + approaches of your taking your part upon the great stage of the world. The + audience will form their opinion of you upon your first appearance (making + the proper allowance for your inexperience), and so far it will be final, + that, though it may vary as to the degrees, it will never totally change. + This consideration excites that restless attention with which I am + constantly examining how I can best contribute to the perfection of that + character, in which the least spot or blemish would give me more real + concern, than I am now capable of feeling upon any other account + whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + I have long since done mentioning your great religious and moral duties, + because I could not make your understanding so bad a compliment as to + suppose that you wanted, or could receive, any new instructions upon those + two important points. Mr. Harte, I am sure, has not neglected them; and, + besides, they are so obvious to common sense and reason, that commentators + may (as they often do) perplex, but cannot make them clearer. My province, + therefore, is to supply by my experience your hitherto inevitable + inexperience in the ways of the world. People at your age are in a state + of natural ebriety; and want rails, and ‘gardefous’, wherever they go, to + hinder them from breaking their necks. This drunkenness of youth is not + only tolerated, but even pleases, if kept within certain bounds of + discretion and decency. These bounds are the point which it is difficult + for the drunken man himself to find out; and there it is that the + experience of a friend may not only serve, but save him. + </p> + <p> + Carry with you, and welcome, into company all the gaiety and spirits, but + as little of the giddiness, of youth as you can. The former will charm; + but the latter will often, though innocently, implacably offend. Inform + yourself of the characters and situations of the company, before you give + way to what your imagination may prompt you to say. There are, in all + companies, more wrong beads than right ones, and many more who deserve, + than who like censure. Should you therefore expatiate in the praise of + some virtue, which some in company notoriously want; or declaim against + any vice, which others are notoriously infected with, your reflections, + however general and unapplied, will, by being applicable, be thought + personal and leveled at those people. This consideration points out to + you, sufficiently, not to be suspicious and captious yourself, nor to + suppose that things, because they may be, are therefore meant at you. The + manners of well-bred people secure one from those indirect and mean + attacks; but if, by chance, a flippant woman or a pert coxcomb lets off + anything of that kind, it is much better not to seem to understand, than + to reply to it. + </p> + <p> + Cautiously avoid talking of either your own or other people’s domestic + affairs. Yours are nothing to them but tedious; theirs are nothing to you. + The subject is a tender one: and it is odds but that you touch somebody or + other’s sore place: for, in this case, there is no trusting to specious + appearances; which may be, and often are, so contrary to the real + situations of things, between men and their wives, parents and their + children, seeming friends, etc., that, with the best intentions in the + world, one often blunders disagreeably. + </p> + <p> + Remember that the wit, humor, and jokes, of most mixed companies are + local. They thrive in that particular soil, but will not often bear + transplanting. Every company is differently circumstanced, has its + particular cant and jargon; which may give occasion to wit and mirth + within that circle, but would seem flat and insipid in any other, and + therefore will not bear repeating. Nothing makes a man look sillier than a + pleasantry not relished or not understood; and if he meets with a profound + silence when he expected a general applause, or, what is worse, if he is + desired to explain the bon mot, his awkward and embarrassed situation is + easier imagined’ than described. ‘A propos’ of repeating; take great care + never to repeat (I do not mean here the pleasantries) in one company what + you hear in another. Things, seemingly indifferent, may, by circulation, + have much graver consequences than you would imagine. Besides, there is a + general tacit trust in conversation, by which a man is obliged not to + report anything out of it, though he is not immediately enjoined to + secrecy. A retailer of this kind is sure to draw himself into a thousand + scrapes and discussions, and to be shyly and uncomfortably received + wherever he goes. + </p> + <p> + You will find, in most good company, some people who only keep their place + there by a contemptible title enough; these are what we call VERY + GOOD-NATURED FELLOWS, and the French, ‘bons diables’. The truth is, they + are people without any parts or fancy, and who, having no will of their + own, readily assent to, concur in, and applaud, whatever is said or done + in the company; and adopt, with the same alacrity, the most virtuous or + the most criminal, the wisest or the silliest scheme, that happens to be + entertained by the majority of the company. This foolish, and often + criminal complaisance flows from a foolish cause,—the want of any + other merit. I hope that you will hold your place in company by a nobler + tenure, and that you will hold it (you can bear a quibble, I believe, yet) + ‘in capite’. Have a will and an opinion of your own, and adhere to them + steadily; but then do it with good humor, good-breeding, and (if you have + it) with urbanity; for you have not yet heard enough either to preach or + censure. + </p> + <p> + All other kinds of complaisance are not only blameless, but necessary in + good company. Not to seem to perceive the little weaknesses, and the idle + but innocent affectations of the company, but even to flatter them, in a + certain manner, is not only very allowable, but, in truth, a sort of + polite duty. They will be pleased with you, if you do; and will certainly + not be reformed by you if you do not. + </p> + <p> + For instance: you will find, in every group of company, two principal + figures, viz., the fine lady and the fine gentleman who absolutely give + the law of wit, language, fashion, and taste, to the rest of that society. + There is always a strict, and often for the time being, a tender alliance + between these two figures. The lady looks upon her empire as founded upon + the divine right of beauty (and full as good a divine right it is as any + king, emperor, or pope, can pretend to); she requires, and commonly meets + with, unlimited passive obedience. And why should she not meet with it? + Her demands go no higher than to have her unquestioned preeminence in + beauty, wit, and fashion, firmly established. Few sovereigns (by the way) + are so reasonable. The fine gentleman’s claims of right are, ‘mutatis + mutandis’, the same; and though, indeed, he is not always a wit ‘de jure’, + yet, as he is the wit ‘de facto’ of that company, he is entitled to a + share of your allegiance, and everybody expects at least as much as they + are entitled to, if not something more. Prudence bids you make your court + to these joint sovereigns; and no duty, that I know of, forbids it. + Rebellion here is exceedingly dangerous, and inevitably punished by + banishment, and immediate forfeiture of all your wit, manners, taste, and + fashion; as, on the other hand, a cheerful submission, not without some + flattery, is sure to procure you a strong recommendation and most + effectual pass, throughout all their, and probably the neighboring, + dominions. With a moderate share of sagacity, you will, before you have + been half an hour in their company, easily discover those two principal + figures: both by the deference which you will observe the whole company + pay them, and by that easy, careless, and serene air, which their + consciousness of power gives them. As in this case, so in all others, aim + always at the highest; get always into the highest company, and address + yourself particularly to the highest in it. The search after the + unattainable philosopher’s stone has occasioned a thousand useful + discoveries, which otherwise would never have been made. + </p> + <p> + What the French justly call ‘les manieres nobles’ are only to be acquired + in the very best companies. They are the distinguishing characteristics of + men of fashion: people of low education never wear them so close, but that + some part or other of the original vulgarism appears. ‘Les manieres + nobles’ equally forbid insolent contempt, or low envy and jealousy. Low + people, in good circumstances, fine clothes, and equipages, will + insolently show contempt for all those who cannot afford as fine clothes, + as good an equipage, and who have not (as their term is) as much money in + their pockets: on the other hand, they are gnawed with envy, and cannot + help discovering it, of those who surpass them in any of these articles; + which are far from being sure criterions of merit. They are likewise + jealous of being slighted; and, consequently, suspicious and captious; + they are eager and hot about trifles because trifles were, at first, their + affairs of consequence. ‘Les manieres nobles’ imply exactly the reverse of + all this. Study them early; you cannot make them too habitual and familiar + to you. + </p> + <p> + Just as I had written what goes before, I received your letter of the + 24th, N. S., but I have not received that which you mention for Mr. Harte. + Yours is of the kind that I desire; for I want to see your private + picture, drawn by yourself, at different sittings; for though, as it is + drawn by yourself, I presume you will take the most advantageous likeness, + yet I think that I have skill enough in that kind of painting to discover + the true features, though ever so artfully colored, or thrown into + skillful lights and shades. + </p> + <p> + By your account of the German play, which I do not know whether I should + call tragedy or comedy, the only shining part of it (since I am in a way + of quibbling) seems to have been the fox’s tail. I presume, too, that the + play has had the same fate with the squib, and has gone off no more. I + remember a squib much better applied, when it was made the device of the + colors of a French regiment of grenadiers; it was represented bursting, + with this motto under it: ‘Peream dum luceam’. + </p> + <p> + I like the description of your PIC-NIC; where I take it for granted, that + your cards are only to break the formality of a circle, and your SYMPOSION + intended more to promote conversation than drinking. Such an AMICABLE + COLLISION, as Lord Shaftesbury very prettily calls it, rubs off and + smooths those rough corners which mere nature has given to the smoothest + of us. I hope some part, at least, of the conversation is in German. ‘A + propos’: tell me do you speak that language correctly, and do you write it + with ease? I have no doubt of your mastering the other modern languages, + which are much easier, and occur much oftener; for which reason, I desire + that you will apply most diligently to German, while you are in Germany, + that you may speak and write that language most correctly. + </p> + <p> + I expect to meet Mr. Eliot in London, in about three weeks, after which + you will soon see him at Leipsig. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 18, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Whatever I see or whatever I hear, my first consideration is, + whether it can in any way be useful to you. As a proof of this, I went + accidentally the other day into a print-shop, where, among many others, I + found one print from a famous design of Carlo Maratti, who died about + thirty years ago, and was the last eminent painter in Europe: the subject + is ‘il Studio del Disegno’; or “The School of Drawing.” An old man, + supposed to be the master, points to his scholars, who are variously + employed in perspective, geometry, and the observation of the statues of + antiquity. With regard to perspective, of which there are some little + specimens, he has wrote, ‘Tanto che basti’, that is, “As much as is + sufficient”; with regard to geometry, ‘Tanto che basti’ again; with regard + to the contemplation of the ancient statues, there is written, ‘Non mai a + bastanza’,—“There never can be enough.” But in the clouds, at the + top of the piece, are represented the three Graces, with this just + sentence written over them, ‘Senza di noi ogni fatica e vana’, that is, + “Without us, all labor is vain.” This everybody allows to be true in + painting; but all people do not seem to consider, as I hope you will, that + this truth is full as applicable to every other art or science; indeed to + everything that is to be said or done. I will send you the print itself by + Mr. Eliot, when he returns; and I will advise you to make the same use of + it that the Roman Catholics say they do of the pictures and images of + their saints, which is, only to remind them of those; for the adoration + they disclaim. Nay, I will go further, as the transition from Popery to + Paganism is short and easy, I will classically end poetically advise you + to invoke, and sacrifice to them every day, and all the day. It must be + owned, that the Graces do not seem to be natives of Great Britain; and, I + doubt, the best of us here have more of rough than polished diamond. + </p> + <p> + Since barbarism drove them out of Greece and Rome, they seem to have taken + refuge in France, where their temples are numerous, and their worship the + established one. Examine yourself seriously, why such and such people + please and engage you, more than such and such others, of equal merit; and + you will always find that it is because the former have the Graces and the + latter not. I have known many a woman with an exact shape, and a + symmetrical assemblage of beautiful features, please nobody; while others, + with very moderate shapes and features, have charmed everybody. Why? + because Venus will not charm so much, without her attendant Graces, as + they will without her. Among men, how often have I seen the most solid + merit and knowledge neglected, unwelcome, or even rejected, for want of + them! While flimsy parts, little knowledge, and less merit, introduced by + the Graces, have been received, cherished, and admired. Even virtue, which + is moral beauty, wants some of its charms if unaccompanied by them. + </p> + <p> + If you ask me how you shall acquire what neither you nor I can define or + ascertain, I can only answer, BY OBSERVATION. Form yourself, with regard + to others, upon what you feel pleases you in them. I can tell you the + importance, the advantage, of having the Graces; but I cannot give them + you: I heartily wish I could, and I certainly would; for I do not know a + better present that I could make you. To show you that a very wise, + philosophical, and retired man thinks upon that subject as I do, who have + always lived in the world, I send you, by Mr. Eliot, the famous Mr. + Locke’s book upon education; in which you will end the stress that he lays + upon the Graces, which he calls (and very truly) good-breeding. I have + marked all the parts of that book that are worth your attention; for as he + begins with the child, almost from its birth, the parts relative to its + infancy would be useless to you. Germany is, still less than England, the + seat of the Graces; however, you had as good not say so while you are + there. But the place which you are going to, in a great degree, is; for I + have known as many well-bred, pretty men come from Turin, as from any part + of Europe. The late King Victor Amedee took great pains to form such of + his subjects as were of any consideration, both to business and manners; + the present king, I am told, follows his example: this, however, is + certain, that in all courts and congresses, where there are various + foreign ministers, those of the King of Sardinia are generally the ablest, + the politest, and ‘les plus delies’. You will therefore, at Turin, have + very good models to form yourself upon: and remember, that with regard to + the best models, as well as to the antique Greek statues in the print, + ‘non mai a bastanza’. Observe every word, look, and motion of those who + are allowed to be the most accomplished persons there. Observe their + natural and careless, but genteel air; their unembarrassed good-breeding; + their unassuming, but yet unprostituted dignity. Mind their decent mirth, + their discreet frankness, and that ‘entregent’ which, as much above the + frivolous as below the important and the secret, is the proper medium for + conversation in mixed companies. I will observe, by the bye, that the + talent of that light ‘entregent’ is often of great use to a foreign + minister; not only as it helps him to domesticate himself in many + families, but also as it enables him to put by and parry some subjects of + conversation, which might possibly lay him under difficulties both what to + say and how to look. + </p> + <p> + Of all the men that ever I knew in my life (and I knew him extremely + well), the late Duke of Marlborough possessed the graces in the highest + degree, not to say engrossed them; and indeed he got the most by them; for + I will venture (contrary to the custom of profound historians, who always + assign deep causes for great events), to ascribe the better half of the + Duke of Marlborough’s greatness and riches to those graces. He was + eminently illiterate; wrote bad English and spelled it still worse. He had + no share of what is commonly called PARTS: that is, he had no brightness, + nothing shining in his genius. He had most undoubtedly, an excellent good + plain understanding with sound judgment. But these alone, would probably + have raised him but something higher than they found him; which was page + to King James the Second’s queen. There the Graces protected and promoted + him; for while he was an ensign of the Guards, the Duchess of Cleveland, + then favorite mistress to King Charles the Second, struck by those very + Graces, gave him five thousand pounds, with which he immediately bought an + annuity for his life of five hundred pounds a year, of my grandfather + Halifax; which was the foundation of his subsequent fortune. His figure + was beautiful; but his manner was irresistible, by either man or woman. It + was by this engaging, graceful manner, that he was enabled, during all his + war, to connect the various and jarring powers of the Grand Alliance, and + to carry them on to the main object of the war, notwithstanding their + private and separate views, jealousies, and wrongheadednesses. Whatever + court he went to (and he was often obliged to go himself to some resty and + refractory ones), he as constantly prevailed, and brought them into his + measures. The Pensionary Heinsius, a venerable old minister, grown gray in + business, and who had governed the republic of the United Provinces for + more than forty years, was absolutely governed by the Duke of Marlborough, + as that republic feels to this day. He was always cool; and nobody ever + observed the least variation in his countenance; he could refuse more + gracefully than other people could grant; and those who went away from him + the most dissatisfied as to the substance of their business, were yet + personally charmed with him and, in some degree, comforted by his manner. + With all his gentleness and gracefulness, no man living was more conscious + of his situation, nor maintained his dignity better. + </p> + <p> + With the share of knowledge which you have already gotten, and with the + much greater which I hope you will soon acquire, what may you not expect + to arrive at, if you join all these graces to it? In your destination + particularly, they are in truth half your business: for, if you once gain + the affections as well as the esteem of the prince or minister of the + court to which you are sent, I will answer for it, that will effectually + do the business of the court that sent you; otherwise it is up-hill work. + Do not mistake, and think that these graces which I so often and so + earnestly recommend to you, should only accompany important transactions, + and be worn only ‘les jours de gala’; no, they should, if possible, + accompany every, the least thing you do or say; for, if you neglect them + in little things, they will leave you in great ones. I should, for + instance, be extremely concerned to see you even drink a cup of coffee + ungracefully, and slop yourself with it, by your awkward manner of holding + it; nor should I like to see your coat buttoned, or your shoes buckled + awry. But I should be outrageous, if I heard you mutter your words + unintelligibly, stammer, in your speech, or hesitate, misplace, and + mistake in your narrations; and I should run away from you with greater + rapidity, if possible, than I should now run to embrace you, if I found + you destitute of all those graces which I have set my heart upon their + making you one day, ‘omnibus ornatum excellere rebus’. + </p> + <p> + This subject is inexhaustible, as it extends to everything that is to be + said or done: but I will leave it for the present, as this letter is + already pretty long. Such is my desire, my anxiety for your perfection, + that I never think I have said enough, though you may possibly think that + I have said too much; and though, in truth, if your own good sense is not + sufficient to direct you, in many of these plain points, all that I or + anybody else can say will be insufficient. But where you are concerned, I + am the insatiable man in Horace, who covets still a little corner more to + complete the figure of his field. I dread every little corner that may + deform mine, in which I would have (if possible) no one defect. + </p> + <p> + I this moment receive yours of the 17th, N. S., and cannot condole with + you upon the secession of your German ‘Commensaux’; who both by your and + Mr. Harte’s description, seem to be ‘des gens d’une amiable absence’; and, + if you can replace them by any other German conversation, you will be a + gainer by the bargain. I cannot conceive, if you understand German well + enough to read any German book, how the writing of the German character + can be so difficult and tedious to you, the twenty-four letters being very + soon learned; and I do not expect that you should write yet with the + utmost purity and correctness, as to the language: what I meant by your + writing once a fortnight to Grevenkop, was only to make the written + character familiar to you. However, I will be content with one in three + weeks or so. + </p> + <p> + I believe you are not likely to see Mr. Eliot again soon, he being still + in Cornwall with his father; who, I hear, is not likely to recover. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 29, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of + the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very + justly, the most friendly concern. His father and he came to town + together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family + remaining in Cornwall. His father, with difficulty, survived the journey, + and died last Saturday was seven-night. Both concern and decency confined + your friend, till two days ago, when I saw him; he has determined, and I + think very prudently, to go abroad again; but how soon, it is yet + impossible for him to know, as he must necessarily put his own private + affairs in some order first; but I conjecture that he may possibly join + you at Turin; sooner, to be sure, not. I am very sorry that you are likely + to be so long without the company and the example of so valuable a friend; + and therefore I hope that you will make it up to yourself, as well as you + can at this distance, by remembering and following his example. Imitate + that application of his, which has made him know all thoroughly, and to + the bottom. He does not content himself with the surface of knowledge; but + works in the mine for it, knowing that it lies deep. Pope says, very + truly, in his “Essay on Criticism”:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A little learning is a dangerous thing; + Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. +</pre> + <p> + I shall send you by a ship that goes to Hamburg next week (and by which + Hawkins sends Mr. Harte some things that he wrote for) all those which I + propose sending you by Mr. Eliot, together with a very little box that I + am desired to forward to Mr. Harte. There will be, likewise, two letters + of recommendation for you to Monsieur Andrie and Comte Algarotti, at + Berlin, which you will take care to deliver to them, as soon as you shall + be rigged and fitted out to appear there. They will introduce you into the + best company, and I depend upon your own good sense for your avoiding of + bad. If you fall into bad and low company there, or anywhere else, you + will be irrecoverably lost; whereas, if you keep good company, and company + above yourself, your character and your fortune will be immovably fixed. + </p> + <p> + I have not time to-day, upon account of the meeting of the parliament, to + make this letter of the usual length; and indeed, after the volumes that I + have written to you, all I can add must be unnecessary. However, I shall + probably, ‘ex abundanti’, return soon to my former prolixity; and you will + receive more and more last words from, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 6, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I am at present under very great concern for the loss of a most + affectionate brother, with whom I had always lived in the closest + friendship. My brother John died last Friday night, of a fit of the gout, + which he had had for about a month in his hands and feet, and which fell + at last upon his stomach and head. As he grew, toward the last, lethargic, + his end was not painful to himself. At the distance which you are at from + hence, you need not go into mourning upon this occasion, as the time of + your mourning would be near over, before you could put it on. + </p> + <p> + By a ship which sails this week for Hamburg, I shall send you those things + which I proposed to have sent you by Mr. Eliot, viz., a little box from + your Mamma; a less box for Mr. Harte; Mr. Locke’s book upon education; the + print of Carlo Maratti, which I mentioned to you some time ago; and two + letters of recommendation, one to Monsieur Andrie and the other to Comte + Algarotti, at Berlin. Both those gentlemen will, I am sure, be as willing + as they are able to introduce you into the best company; and I hope you + will not (as many of your countrymen are apt to do) decline it. It is in + the best companies only; that you can learn the best manners and that + ‘tournure’, and those graces, which I have so often recommended to you, as + the necessary means of making a figure in the world. + </p> + <p> + I am most extremely pleased with the account which Mr. Harte gives me of + your progress in Greek, and of your having read Hesiod almost critically. + Upon this subject I suggest but one thing to you, of many that I might + suggest; which is, that you have now got over the difficulties of that + language, and therefore it would be unpardonable not to persevere to your + journey’s end, now that all the rest of your way is down hill. + </p> + <p> + I am also very well pleased to hear that you have such a knowledge of, and + taste for curious books and scarce and valuable tracts. This is a kind of + knowledge which very well becomes a man of sound and solid learning, but + which only exposes a man of slight and superficial reading; therefore, + pray make the substance and matter of such books your first object, and + their title-pages, indexes, letter, and binding, but your second. It is + the characteristic of a man of parts and good judgment to know, and give + that degree of attention that each object deserves. Whereas little minds + mistake little objects for great ones, and lavish away upon the former + that time and attention which only the latter deserve. To such mistakes we + owe the numerous and frivolous tribes of insect-mongers, shell-mongers, + and pursuers and driers of butterflies, etc. The strong mind + distinguishes, not only between the useful and the useless, but likewise + between the useful and the curious. He applies himself intensely to the + former; he only amuses himself with the latter. Of this little sort of + knowledge, which I have just hinted at, you will find at least as much as + you need wish to know, in a superficial but pretty French book, entitled, + ‘Spectacle de la Nature’; which will amuse you while you read it, and give + you a sufficient notion of the various parts of nature. I would advise you + to read it, at leisure hours. But that part of nature, which Mr. Harte + tells me you have begun to study with the Rector magnificus, is of much + greater importance, and deserves much more attention; I mean astronomy. + The vast and immense planetary system, the astonishing order and + regularity of those innumerable worlds, will open a scene to you, which + not only deserves your attention as a matter of curiosity, or rather + astonishment; but still more, as it will give you greater, and + consequently juster, ideas of that eternal and omnipotent Being, who + contrived, made, and still preserves that universe, than all the + contemplation of this, comparatively, very little orb, which we at present + inhabit, could possibly give you. Upon this subject, Monsieur Fontenelle’s + ‘Pluralite des Mondes’, which you may read in two hours’ time, will both + inform and please you. God bless you! Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 13, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: The last four posts have brought me no letters, either from you + or from Mr. Harte, at which I am uneasy; not as a mamma would be, but as a + father should be: for I do not want your letters as bills of health; you + are young, strong, and healthy, and I am, consequently, in no pain about + that: moreover, were either you or Mr. Harte ill, the other would + doubtless write me word of it. My impatience for yours or Mr. Harte’s + letters arises from a very different cause, which is my desire to hear + frequently of the state and progress of your mind. You are now at that + critical period of life when every week ought to produce fruit or flowers + answerable to your culture, which I am sure has not been neglected; and it + is by your letters, and Mr. Harte’s accounts of you, that, at this + distance, I can only judge at your gradations to maturity; I desire, + therefore, that one of you two will not fail to write to me once a week. + The sameness of your present way of life, I easily conceive, would not + make out a very interesting letter to an indifferent bystander; but so + deeply concerned as I am in the game you are playing, even the least move + is to me of importance, and helps me to judge of the final event. + </p> + <p> + As you will be leaving Leipsig pretty soon after you shall have received + this letter, I here send you one inclosed to deliver to Mr. Mascow. It is + to thank him for his attention and civility to you, during your stay with + him: and I take it for granted, that you will not fail making him the + proper compliments at parting; for the good name that we leave behind at + one place often gets before us to another, and is of great use. As Mr. + Mascow is much known and esteemed in the republic of letters, I think it + would be of advantage to you, if you got letters of recommendation from + him to some of the learned men at Berlin. Those testimonials give a + lustre, which is not to be despised; for the most ignorant are forced to + seem, at least, to pay a regard to learning, as the most wicked are to + virtue. Such is their intrinsic worth. + </p> + <p> + Your friend Duval dined with me the other day, and complained most + grievously that he had not heard from you above a year; I bid him abuse + you for it himself; and advised him to do it in verse, which, if he was + really angry, his indignation would enable him to do. He accordingly + brought me, yesterday, the inclosed reproaches and challenge, which he + desired me to transmit to you. As this is his first essay in English + poetry, the inaccuracies in the rhymes and the numbers are very excusable. + He insists, as you will find, upon being answered in verse; which I should + imagine that you and Mr. HARTE, together, could bring about; as the late + Lady Dorchester used to say, that she and Dr. Radcliffe, together, could + cure a fever. This is however sure, that it now rests upon you; and no man + can say what methods Duval may take, if you decline his challenge. I am + sensible that you are under some disadvantages in this proffered combat. + Your climate, at this time of the year especially, delights more in the + wood fire, than in the poetic fire; and I conceive the Muses, if there are + any at Leipsig, to be rather shivering than singing; nay, I question + whether Apollo is even known there as god of Verse, or as god of Light: + perhaps a little as god of Physic. These will be fair excuses, if your + performance should fall something short; though I do not apprehend that it + will. + </p> + <p> + While you have been at Leipsig, which is a place of study more than of + pleasure or company, you have had all opportunities of pursuing your + studies uninterruptedly; and have had, I believe, very few temptations to + the contrary. But the case will be quite different at Berlin, where the + splendor and dissipation of a court and the ‘beau monde’, will present + themselves to you in gaudy shapes, attractive enough to all young people. + Do not think, now, that like an old fellow, I am going to advise you to + reject them, and shut yourself up in your closet: quite the contrary; I + advise you to take your share, and enter into them with spirit and + pleasure; but then I advise you, too, to allot your time so prudently, as + that learning may keep pace with pleasures; there is full time, in the + course of the day, for both, if you do but manage that time right and like + a good economist. The whole morning, if diligently and attentively devoted + to solid studies, will go a great way at the year’s end; and the evenings + spent in the pleasures of good company, will go as far in teaching you a + knowledge, not much less necessary than the other, I mean the knowledge of + the world. Between these two necessary studies, that of books in the + morning, and that of the world in the evening, you see that you will not + have one minute to squander or slattern away. Nobody ever lent themselves + more than I did, when I was young, to the pleasures and dissipation of + good company. I even did it too much. But then, I can assure you, that I + always found time for serious studies; and, when I could find it no other + way, I took it out of my sleep, for I resolved always to rise early in the + morning, however late I went to bed at night; and this resolution I have + kept so sacred, that, unless when I have been confined to my bed by + illness, I have not, for more than forty years, ever been in bed at nine + o’clock in the morning but commonly up before eight. + </p> + <p> + When you are at Berlin, remember to speak German as often as you can, in + company; for everybody there will speak French to you, unless you let them + know that you can speak German, which then they will choose to speak. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0062" id="link2H_4_0062"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 20, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I received last Saturday by three mails, which came in at once, + two letters from Mr. Harte, and yours of the 8th, N. S. + </p> + <p> + It was I who mistook your meaning, with regard to your German letters, and + not you who expressed it ill. I thought it was the writing of the German + character that took up so much of your time, and therefore I advised you, + by the frequent writing of that character, to make it easy and familiar to + you: But, since it is only the propriety and purity of the German language + which make your writing it so tedious and laborious, I will tell you I + shall not be nice upon that article; and did not expect that you should + yet be master of all the idioms, delicacies, and peculiarities of that + difficult language. That can only come by use, especially frequent + speaking; therefore, when you shall be at Berlin, and afterward at Turin, + where you will meet many Germans, pray take all opportunities of + conversing in German, in order not only to keep what you have got of that + language, but likewise to improve and perfect yourself in it. As to the + characters, you form them very well, and as you yourself own, better than + your English ones; but then let me ask you this question: Why do you not + form your Roman characters better? for I maintain, that it is in every + man’s power to write what hand he pleases; and, consequently, that he + ought to write a good one. You form, particularly, your ‘ee’ and your ‘ll’ + in zigzag, instead of making them straight, as thus, ‘ee’, ‘ll’; a fault + very easily mended. You will not, I believe, be angry with this little + criticism, when I tell you, that by all the accounts I have had of late + from Mr. Harte and others, this is the only criticism that you give me + occasion to make. Mr. Harte’s last letter, of the 14th, N. S., + particularly, makes me extremely happy, by assuring me that, in every + respect, you do exceedingly well. I am not afraid, by what I now say, of + making you too vain; because I do not think that a just consciousness and + an honest pride of doing well, can be called vanity; for vanity is either + the silly affectation of good qualities which one has not, or the sillier + pride of what does not deserve commendation in itself. By Mr. Harte’s + account, you are got very near the goal of Greek and Latin; and therefore + I cannot suppose that, as your sense increases, your endeavors and your + speed will slacken in finishing the small remains of your course. Consider + what lustre and ‘eclat’ it will give you, when you return here, to be + allowed to be the best scholar, for a gentleman, in England; not to + mention the real pleasure and solid comfort which such knowledge will give + you throughout your whole life. Mr. Harte tells me another thing, which, I + own, I did not expect: it is, that when you read aloud, or repeat parts of + plays, you speak very properly and distinctly. This relieves me from great + uneasiness, which I was under upon account of your former bad enunciation. + Go on, and attend most diligently to this important article. It is, of all + Graces (and they are all necessary), the most necessary one. + </p> + <p> + Comte Pertingue, who has been here about a fortnight, far from disavowing, + confirms all that Mr. Harte has said to your advantage. He thinks that he + shall be at Turin much about the time of your arrival there, and pleases + himself with the hopes of being useful to you. Though, should you get + there before him, he says that Comte du Perron, with whom you are a + favorite, will take that care. You see, by this one instance, and in the + course of your life you will see by a million of instances, of what use a + good reputation is, and how swift and advantageous a harbinger it is, + wherever one goes. Upon this point, too, Mr. Harte does you justice, and + tells me that you are desirous of praise from the praiseworthy. This is a + right and generous ambition; and without which, I fear, few people would + deserve praise. + </p> + <p> + But here let me, as an old stager upon the theatre of the world, suggest + one consideration to you; which is, to extend your desire of praise a + little beyond the strictly praiseworthy; or else you may be apt to + discover too much contempt for at least three parts in five of the world, + who will never forgive it you. In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is + too great a majority of fools and, knaves; who, singly from their number, + must to a certain degree be respected, though they are by no means + respectable. And a man who will show every knave or fool that he thinks + him such, will engage in a most ruinous war, against numbers much superior + to those that he and his allies can bring into the field. Abhor a knave, + and pity a fool in your heart; but let neither of them, unnecessarily, see + that you do so. Some complaisance and attention to fools is prudent, and + not mean; as a silent abhorrence of individual knaves is often necessary + and not criminal. + </p> + <p> + As you will now soon part with Lord Pulteney, with whom, during your stay + together at Leipsig, I suppose you have formed a connection, I imagine + that you will continue it by letters, which I would advise you to do. They + tell me that he is good-natured, and does not want parts; which are of + themselves two good reasons for keeping it up; but there is also a third + reason, which, in the course of the world, is not to be despised: His + father cannot live long, and will leave him an immense fortune; which, in + all events will make him of some consequence; and, if he has parts into + the bargain, of very great consequence; so that his friendship, may be + extremely well worth your cultivating, especially as it will not cost you + above one letter in one month. + </p> + <p> + I do not know whether this letter will find you at Leipsig: at least, it + is the last that I shall direct there. My next to either you or Mr. Harte + will be directed to Berlin; but as I do not know to what house or street + there, I suppose it will remain at the posthouse till you send for it. + Upon your arrival at Berlin you will send me your particular direction; + and also, pray be minute in your accounts of your reception there, by + those whom I recommend you to, as well as by those to whom they present + you. Remember, too, that you are going to a polite and literate court, + where the Graces will best introduce you. + </p> + <p> + Adieu. God bless you, and may you continue to deserve my love, as much as + you now enjoy it! + </p> + <p> + P. S. Lady Chesterfield bids me tell you, that she decides entirely in + your favor against Mr. Grevenkop, and even against herself; for she does + not think that she could, at this time, write either so good a character + or so good German. Pray write her a German letter upon that subject, in + which you may tell her, that, like the rest of the world, you approve of + her judgment, because it is in your favor; and that you true Germans + cannot allow Danes to be competent judges of your language, etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0063" id="link2H_4_0063"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 30, O. S. 1748. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I direct this letter to Berlin, where, I suppose, it will either + find you, or at least wait but a very little time for you. I cannot help + being anxious for your success, at this your first appearance upon the + great stage of the world; for, though the spectators are always candid + enough to give great allowances, and to show great indulgence to a new + actor; yet, from the first impressions which he makes upon them, they are + apt to decide, in their own minds, at least, whether he will ever be a + good one, or not. If he seems to understand what he says, by speaking it + properly; if he is attentive to his part, instead of staring negligently + about him; and if, upon the whole, he seems ambitious to please, they + willingly pass over little awkwardnesses and inaccuracies, which they + ascribe to a commendable modesty in a young and inexperienced actor. They + pronounce that he will be a good one in time; and, by the encouragement + which they give him, make him so the sooner. This, I hope, will be your + case: you have sense enough to understand your part; a constant attention, + and ambition to excel in it, with a careful observation of the best + actors, will inevitably qualify you, if not for the first, at least for + considerable parts. + </p> + <p> + Your dress (as insignificant a thing as dress is in itself) is now become + an object worthy of some attention; for, I confess, I cannot help forming + some opinion of a man’s sense and character from his dress; and I believe + most people do as well as myself. Any affectation whatsoever in dress + implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding. Most of our young + fellows here display some character or other by their dress; some affect + the tremendous, and wear a great and fiercely cocked hat, an enormous + sword, a short waistcoat and a black cravat; these I should be almost + tempted to swear the peace against, in my own defense, if I were not + convinced that they are but meek asses in lions’ skins. Others go in brown + frocks, leather breeches, great oaken cudgels in their hands, their hats + uncocked, and their hair unpowdered; and imitate grooms, stage-coachmen, + and country bumpkins so well in their outsides, that I do not make the + least doubt of their resembling them equally in their insides. A man of + sense carefully avoids any particular character in his dress; he is + accurately clean for his own sake; but all the rest is for other people’s. + He dresses as well, and in the same manner, as the people of sense and + fashion of the place where he is. If he dresses better, as he thinks, that + is, more than they, he is a fop; if he dresses worse, he is unpardonably + negligent. But, of the two, I would rather have a young fellow too much + than too little dressed; the excess on that side will wear off, with a + little age and reflection; but if he is negligent at twenty, he will be a + sloven at forty, and stink at fifty years old. Dress yourself fine, where + others are fine; and plain where others are plain; but take care always + that your clothes are well made, and fit you, for otherwise they will give + you a very awkward air. When you are once well dressed for the day think + no more of it afterward; and, without any stiffness for fear of + discomposing that dress, let all your motions be as easy and natural as if + you had no clothes on at all. So much for dress, which I maintain to be a + thing of consequence in the polite world. + </p> + <p> + As to manners, good-breeding, and the Graces, I have so often entertained + you upon those important subjects, that I can add nothing to what I have + formerly said. Your own good sense will suggest to you the substance of + them; and observation, experience, and good company, the several modes of + them. Your great vivacity, which I hear of from many people, will be no + hindrance to your pleasing in good company: on the contrary, will be of + use to you, if tempered by good-breeding and accompanied by the Graces. + But then, I suppose your vivacity to be a vivacity of parts, and not a + constitutional restlessness; for the most disagreeable composition that I + know in the world, is that of strong animal spirits, with a cold genius. + Such a fellow is troublesomely active, frivolously busy, foolishly lively; + talks much with little meaning, and laughs more, with less reason whereas, + in my opinion, a warm and lively genius with a cool constitution, is the + perfection of human nature. + </p> + <p> + Do what you will at Berlin, provided you do but do something all day long. + All that I desire of you is, that you will never slattern away one minute + in idleness and in doing of nothing. When you are (not) in company, learn + what either books, masters, or Mr. Harte, can teach you; and when you are + in company, learn (what company can only teach you) the characters and + manners of mankind. I really ask your pardon for giving you this advice; + because, if you are a rational creature and thinking being, as I suppose, + and verily believe you are, it must be unnecessary, and to a certain + degree injurious. If I did not know by experience, that some men pass + their whole time in doing nothing, I should not think it possible for any + being, superior to Monsieur Descartes’ automatons, to squander away, in + absolute idleness, one single minute of that small portion of time which + is allotted us in this world. + </p> + <p> + I have lately seen one Mr. Cranmer, a very sensible merchant, who told me + that he had dined with you, and seen you often at Leipsig. And yesterday I + saw an old footman of mine, whom I made a messenger, who told me that he + had seen you last August. You will easily imagine, that I was not the less + glad to see them because they had seen you; and I examined them both + narrowly, in their respective departments; the former as to your mind, the + latter, as to your body. Mr. Cranmer gave me great satisfaction, not only + by what he told me of himself concerning you, but by what he was + commissioned to tell me from Mr. Mascow. As he speaks German perfectly + himself, I asked him how you spoke it; and he assured me very well for the + time, and that a very little more practice would make you perfectly master + of it. The messenger told me that you were much grown, and, to the best of + his guess, within two inches as tall as I am; that you were plump, and + looked healthy and strong; which was all that I could expect, or hope, + from the sagacity of the person. + </p> + <p> + I send you, my dear child (and you will not doubt it), very sincerely, the + wishes of the season. May you deserve a great number of happy New-years; + and, if you deserve, may you have them. Many New-years, indeed, you may + see, but happy ones you cannot see without deserving them. These, virtue, + honor, and knowledge, alone can merit, alone can procure, ‘Dii tibi dent + annos, de te nam cetera sumes’, was a pretty piece of poetical flattery, + where it was said: I hope that, in time, it may be no flattery when said + to you. But I assure you, that wherever I cannot apply the latter part of + the line to you with truth, I shall neither say, think, or wish the + former. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0064" id="link2H_4_0064"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1749 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER LXII + </p> + <p> + LONDON, January 10, O. S. 1749. + </p> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received your letter of the 31st December, N. S. Your + thanks for my present, as you call it, exceed the value of the present; + but the use, which you assure me that you will make of it, is the thanks + which I desire to receive. Due attention to the inside of books, and due + contempt for the outside, is the proper relation between a man of sense + and his books. + </p> + <p> + Now that you are going a little more into the world; I will take this + occasion to explain my intentions as to your future expenses, that you may + know what you have to expect from me, and make your plan accordingly. I + shall neither deny nor grudge you any money, that may be necessary for + either your improvement or your pleasures: I mean the pleasures of a + rational being. Under the head of improvement, I mean the best books, and + the best masters, cost what they will; I also mean all the expense of + lodgings, coach, dress; servants, etc., which, according to the several + places where you may be, shall be respectively necessary to enable you to + keep the best company. Under the head of rational pleasures, I comprehend, + first, proper charities, to real and compassionate objects of it; + secondly, proper presents to those to whom you are obliged, or whom you + desire to oblige; thirdly, a conformity of expense to that of the company + which you keep; as in public spectacles; your share of little + entertainments; a few pistoles at games of mere commerce; and other + incidental calls of good company. The only two articles which I will never + supply, are the profusion of low riot, and the idle lavishness of + negligence and laziness. A fool squanders away, without credit or + advantage to himself, more than a man of sense spends with both. The + latter employs his money as he does his time, and never spends a shilling + of the one, nor a minute of the other, but in something that is either + useful or rationally pleasing to himself or others. The former buys + whatever he does not want, and does not pay for what he does want. He + cannot withstand the charms of a toyshop; snuff-boxes, watches, heads of + canes, etc., are his destruction. His servants and tradesmen conspire with + his own indolence to cheat him; and, in a very little time, he is + astonished, in the midst of all the ridiculous superfluities, to find + himself in want of all the real comforts and necessaries of life. Without + care and method, the largest fortune will not, and with them, almost the + smallest will, supply all necessary expenses. As far as you can possibly, + pay ready money for everything you buy and avoid bills. Pay that money, + too, yourself, and not through the hands of any servant, who always either + stipulates poundage, or requires a present for his good word, as they call + it. Where you must have bills (as for meat and drink, clothes, etc.), pay + them regularly every month, and with your own hand. Never, from a mistaken + economy, buy a thing you do not want, because it is cheap; or from a silly + pride, because it is dear. Keep an account in a book of all that you + receive, and of all that you pay; for no man who knows what he receives + and what he pays ever runs out. I do not mean that you should keep an + account of the shillings and half-crowns which you may spend in + chair-hire, operas, etc.: they are unworthy of the time, and of the ink + that they would consume; leave such minutia to dull, penny-wise fellows; + but remember, in economy, as well as in every other part of life, to have + the proper attention to proper objects, and the proper contempt for little + ones. A strong mind sees things in their true proportions; a weak one + views them through a magnifying medium, which, like the microscope, makes + an elephant of a flea: magnifies all little objects, but cannot receive + great ones. I have known many a man pass for a miser, by saving a penny + and wrangling for twopence, who was undoing himself at the same time by + living above his income, and not attending to essential articles which + were above his ‘portee’. The sure characteristic of a sound and strong + mind, is to find in everything those certain bounds, ‘quos ultra citrave + nequit consistere rectum’. These boundaries are marked out by a very fine + line, which only good sense and attention can discover; it is much too + fine for vulgar eyes. In manners, this line is good-breeding; beyond it, + is troublesome ceremony; short of it, is unbecoming negligence and + inattention. In morals, it divides ostentatious puritanism from criminal + relaxation; in religion, superstition from impiety: and, in short, every + virtue from its kindred vice or weakness. I think you have sense enough to + discover the line; keep it always in your eye, and learn to walk upon it; + rest upon Mr. Harte, and he will poise you till you are able to go alone. + By the way, there are fewer people who walk well upon that line, than upon + the slack rope; and therefore a good performer shines so much the more. + </p> + <p> + Your friend Comte Pertingue, who constantly inquires after you, has + written to Comte Salmour, the Governor of the Academy at Turin, to prepare + a room for you there immediately after the Ascension: and has recommended + you to him in a manner which I hope you will give him no reason to repent + or be ashamed of. As Comte Salmour’s son, now residing at The Hague, is my + particular acquaintance, I shall have regular and authentic accounts of + all that you do at Turin. + </p> + <p> + During your stay at Berlin, I expect that you should inform yourself + thoroughly of the present state of the civil, military, and ecclesiastical + government of the King of Prussia’s dominions; particularly of the + military, which is upon a better footing in that country than in any other + in Europe. + </p> + <p> + You will attend at the reviews, see the troops exercised, and inquire into + the numbers of troops and companies in the respective regiments of horse, + foot, and dragoons; the numbers and titles of the commissioned and + non-commissioned officers in the several troops and companies; and also + take care to learn the technical military terms in the German language; + for though you are not to be a military man, yet these military matters + are so frequently the subject of conversation, that you will look very + awkwardly if you are ignorant of them. Moreover, they are commonly the + objects of negotiation, and, as such, fall within your future profession. + You must also inform yourself of the reformation which the King of Prussia + has lately made in the law; by which he has both lessened the number, and + shortened the duration of law-suits; a great work, and worthy of so great + a prince! As he is indisputably the ablest prince in Europe, every part of + his government deserves your most diligent inquiry, and your most serious + attention. It must be owned that you set out well, as a young politician, + by beginning at Berlin, and then going to Turin, where you will see the + next ablest monarch to that of Prussia; so that, if you are capable of + making political reflections, those two princes will furnish you with + sufficient matter for them. + </p> + <p> + I would have you endeavor to get acquainted with Monsieur de Maupertuis, + who is so eminently distinguished by all kinds of learning and merit, that + one should be both sorry and ashamed of having been even a day in the same + place with him, and not to have seen him. If you should have no other way + of being introduced to him, I will send you a letter from hence. Monsieur + Cagenoni, at Berlin, to whom I know you are recommended, is a very able + man of business, thoroughly informed of every part of Europe; and his + acquaintance, if you deserve and improve it as you should do, may be of + great use to you. + </p> + <p> + Remember to take the best dancing-master at Berlin, more to teach you to + sit, stand, and walk gracefully, than to dance finely. The Graces, the + Graces; remember the Graces! Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0065" id="link2H_4_0065"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 24, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received your letter of the 12th, N. S., in which I was + surprised to find no mention of your approaching journey to Berlin, which, + according to the first plan, was to be on the 20th, N. S., and upon which + supposition I have for some time directed my letters to you, and Mr. + Harte, at Berlin. I should be glad that yours were more minute with regard + to your motions and transactions; and I desire that, for the future, they + may contain accounts of what and who you see and hear, in your several + places of residence; for I interest myself as much in the company you + keep, and the pleasures you take, as in the studies you pursue; and + therefore, equally desire to be informed of them all. Another thing I + desire, which is, that you will acknowledge my letters by their dates, + that I may know which you do, and which you do not receive. + </p> + <p> + As you found your brain considerably affected by the cold, you were very + prudent not to turn it to poetry in that situation; and not less judicious + in declining the borrowed aid of a stove, whose fumigation, instead of + inspiration, would at best have produced what Mr. Pope calls a souterkin + of wit. I will show your letter to Duval, by way of justification for not + answering his challenge; and I think he must allow the validity of it; for + a frozen brain is as unfit to answer a challenge in poetry, as a blunt + sword is for a single combat. + </p> + <p> + You may if you please, and therefore I flatter myself that you will, + profit considerably by your stay at Berlin, in the article of manners and + useful knowledge. Attention to what you will see and hear there, together + with proper inquiries, and a little care and method in taking notes of + what is more material, will procure you much useful knowledge. Many young + people are so light, so dissipated, and so incurious, that they can hardly + be said to see what they see, or hear what they hear: that is, they hear + in so superficial and inattentive a manner, that they might as well not + see nor hear at all. For instance, if they see a public building, as a + college, an hospital, an arsenal, etc., they content themselves with the + first ‘coup d’oeil’, and neither take the time nor the trouble of + informing themselves of the material parts of them; which are the + constitution, the rules, and the order and economy in the inside. You + will, I hope, go deeper, and make your way into the substance of things. + For example, should you see a regiment reviewed at Berlin or Potsdam, + instead of contenting yourself with the general glitter of the collective + corps, and saying, ‘par maniere d’acquit’, that is very fine, I hope you + will ask what number of troops or companies it consists of; what number of + officers of the Etat Major, and what number of subalternes; how many ‘bas + officiers’, or non-commissioned officers, as sergeants, corporals, + ‘anspessades, frey corporals’, etc., their pay, their clothing, and by + whom; whether by the colonels, or captains, or commissaries appointed for + that purpose; to whom they are accountable; the method of recruiting, + completing, etc. + </p> + <p> + The same in civil matters: inform yourself of the jurisdiction of a court + of justice; of the rules and numbers and endowments of a college, or an + academy, and not only of the dimensions of the respective edifices; and + let your letters to me contain these informations, in proportion as you + acquire them. + </p> + <p> + I often reflect, with the most flattering hopes, how proud I shall be of + you, if you should profit, as you may, of the opportunities which you have + had, still have, and will have, of arriving at perfection; and, on the + other hand, with dread of the grief and shame you will give me if you do + not. May the first be the case! God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0066" id="link2H_4_0066"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 7, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: You are now come to an age capable of reflection, and I hope you + will do, what, however, few people at your age do, exert it for your own + sake in the search of truth and sound knowledge. I will confess (for I am + not unwilling to discover my secrets to you) that it is not many years + since I have presumed to reflect for myself. Till sixteen or seventeen I + had no reflection; and for many years after that, I made no use of what I + had. I adopted the notions of the books I read, or the company I kept, + without examining whether they were just or not; and I rather chose to run + the risk of easy error, than to take the time and trouble of investigating + truth. Thus, partly from laziness, partly from dissipation, and partly + from the ‘mauvaise honte’ of rejecting fashionable notions, I was (as I + have since found) hurried away by prejudices, instead of being guided by + reason; and quietly cherished error, instead of seeking for truth. But + since I have taken the trouble of reasoning for myself, and have had the + courage to own that I do so, you cannot imagine how much my notions of + things are altered, and in how different a light I now see them, from that + in which I formerly viewed them, through the deceitful medium of prejudice + or authority. Nay, I may possibly still retain many errors, which, from + long habit, have perhaps grown into real opinions; for it is very + difficult to distinguish habits, early acquired and long entertained, from + the result of our reason and reflection. + </p> + <p> + My first prejudice (for I do not mention the prejudices of boys, and + women, such as hobgoblins, ghosts, dreams, spilling salt, etc.) was my + classical enthusiasm, which I received from the books I read, and the + masters who explained them to me. I was convinced there had been no common + sense nor common honesty in the world for these last fifteen hundred + years; but that they were totally extinguished with the ancient Greek and + Roman governments. Homer and Virgil could have no faults, because they + were ancient; Milton and Tasso could have no merit, because they were + modern. And I could almost have said, with regard to the ancients, what + Cicero, very absurdly and unbecomingly for a philosopher, says with regard + to Plato, ‘Cum quo errare malim quam cum aliis recte sentire’. Whereas + now, without any extraordinary effort of genius, I have discovered that + nature was the same three thousand years ago as it is at present; that men + were but men then as well as now; that modes and customs vary often, but + that human nature is always the same. And I can no more suppose that men + were better, braver, or wiser, fifteen hundred or three thousand years + ago, than I can suppose that the animals or vegetables were better then + than they are now. I dare assert too, in defiance of the favorers of the + ancients, that Homer’s hero, Achilles, was both a brute and a scoundrel, + and consequently an improper character for the hero of an epic poem; he + had so little regard for his country, that he would not act in defense of + it, because he had quarreled with Agamemnon about a w—-e; and then + afterward, animated by private resentment only, he went about killing + people basely, I will call it, because he knew himself invulnerable; and + yet, invulnerable as he was, he wore the strongest armor in the world; + which I humbly apprehend to be a blunder; for a horse-shoe clapped to his + vulnerable heel would have been sufficient. On the other hand, with + submission to the favorers of the moderns, I assert with Mr. Dryden, that + the devil is in truth the hero of Milton’s poem; his plan, which he lays, + pursues, and at last executes, being the subject of the poem. From all + which considerations I impartially conclude that the ancients had their + excellencies and their defects, their virtues and their vices, just like + the moderns; pedantry and affectation of learning decide clearly in favor + of the former; vanity and ignorance, as peremptorily in favor of the + latter. Religious prejudices kept pace with my classical ones; and there + was a time when I thought it impossible for the honestest man in the world + to be saved out of the pale of the Church of England, not considering that + matters of opinion do not depend upon the will; and that it is as natural, + and as allowable, that another man should differ in opinion from me, as + that I should differ from him; and that if we are both sincere, we are + both blameless; and should consequently have mutual indulgence for each + other. + </p> + <p> + The next prejudices that I adopted were those of the ‘beau monde’, in + which as I was determined to shine, I took what are commonly called the + genteel vices to be necessary. I had heard them reckoned so, and without + further inquiry I believed it, or at least should have been ashamed to + have denied it, for fear of exposing myself to the ridicule of those whom + I considered as the models of fine gentlemen. But I am now neither ashamed + nor afraid to assert that those genteel vices, as they are falsely called, + are only so many blemishes in the character of even a man of the world and + what is called a fine gentleman, and degrade him in the opinions of those + very people, to whom he, hopes to recommend himself by them. Nay, this + prejudice often extends so far, that I have known people pretend to vices + they had not, instead of carefully concealing those they had. + </p> + <p> + Use and assert your own reason; reflect, examine, and analyze everything, + in order to form a sound and mature judgment; let no (authority) impose + upon your understanding, mislead your actions, or dictate your + conversation. Be early what, if you are not, you will when too late wish + you had been. Consult your reason betimes: I do not say that it will + always prove an unerring guide; for human reason is not infallible; but it + will prove the least erring guide that you can follow. Books and + conversation may assist it; but adopt neither blindly and implicitly; try + both by that best rule, which God has given to direct us, reason. Of all + the troubles, do not decline, as many people do, that of thinking. The + herd of mankind can hardly be said to think; their notions are almost all + adoptive; and, in general, I believe it is better that it should be so, as + such common prejudices contribute more to order and quiet than their own + separate reasonings would do, uncultivated and unimproved as they are. We + have many of those useful prejudices in this country, which I should be + very sorry to see removed. The good Protestant conviction, that the Pope + is both Antichrist and the Whore of Babylon, is a more effectual + preservative in this country against popery, than all the solid and + unanswerable arguments of Chillingworth. + </p> + <p> + The idle story of the pretender’s having been introduced in a warming pan + into the queen’s bed, though as destitute of all probability as of all + foundation, has been much more prejudicial to the cause of Jacobitism than + all that Mr. Locke and others have written, to show the unreasonableness + and absurdity of the doctrines of indefeasible hereditary right, and + unlimited passive obedience. And that silly, sanguine notion, which is + firmly entertained here, that one Englishman can beat three Frenchmen, + encourages, and has sometimes enabled, one Englishman in reality to beat + two. + </p> + <p> + A Frenchman ventures, his life with alacrity ‘pour l’honneur du Roi’; were + you to change the object, which he has been taught to have in view, and + tell him that it was ‘pour le bien de la Patrie’, he would very probably + run away. Such gross local prejudices prevail with the herd of mankind, + and do not impose upon cultivated, informed, and reflecting minds. But + then they are notions equally false, though not so glaringly absurd, which + are entertained by people of superior and improved understandings, merely + for want of the necessary pains to investigate, the proper attention to + examine, and the penetration requisite to determine the truth. Those are + the prejudices which I would have you guard against by a manly exertion + and attention of your reasoning faculty. To mention one instance of a + thousand that I could give you: It is a general prejudice, and has been + propagated for these sixteen hundred years, that arts and sciences cannot + flourish under an absolute government; and that genius must necessarily be + cramped where freedom is restrained. This sounds plausible, but is false + in fact. Mechanic arts, as agriculture, etc., will indeed be discouraged + where the profits and property are, from the nature of the government, + insecure. But why the despotism of a government should cramp the genius of + a mathematician, an astronomer, a poet, or an orator, I confess I never + could discover. It may indeed deprive the poet or the orator of the + liberty of treating of certain subjects in the manner they would wish, but + it leaves them subjects enough to exert genius upon, if they have it. Can + an author with reason complain that he is cramped and shackled, if he is + not at liberty to publish blasphemy, bawdry, or sedition? all which are + equally prohibited in the freest governments, if they are wise and well + regulated ones. This is the present general complaint of the French + authors; but indeed chiefly of the bad ones. No wonder, say they, that + England produces so many great geniuses; people there may think as they + please, and publish what they think. Very true, but what hinders them from + thinking as they please? If indeed they think in manner destructive of all + religion, morality, or good manners, or to the disturbance of the state, + an absolute government will certainly more effectually prohibit them from, + or punish them for publishing such thoughts, than a free one could do. But + how does that cramp the genius of an epic, dramatic, or lyric poet? or how + does it corrupt the eloquence of an orator in the pulpit or at the bar? + The number of good French authors, such as Corneille, Racine, Moliere, + Boileau, and La Fontaine, who seemed to dispute it with the Augustan age, + flourished under the despotism of Lewis XIV.; and the celebrated authors + of the Augustan age did not shine till after the fetters were riveted upon + the Roman people by that cruel and worthless Emperor. The revival of + letters was not owing, neither, to any free government, but to the + encouragement and protection of Leo X. and Francis I; the one as absolute + a pope, and the other as despotic a prince, as ever reigned. Do not + mistake, and imagine that while I am only exposing a prejudice, I am + speaking in favor of arbitrary power; which from my soul I abhor, and look + upon as a gross and criminal violation of the natural rights of mankind. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0067" id="link2H_4_0067"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 28, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I was very much pleased with the account that you gave me of + your reception at Berlin; but I was still better pleased with the account + which Mr. Harte sent me of your manner of receiving that reception; for he + says that you behaved yourself to those crowned heads with all the respect + and modesty due to them; but at the same time, without being any more + embarrassed than if you had been conversing with your equals. This easy + respect is the perfection of good-breeding, which nothing but superior + good sense, or a long usage of the world, can produce, and as in your case + it could not be the latter, it is a pleasing indication to me of the + former. + </p> + <p> + You will now, in the course of a few months, have been rubbed at three of + the considerable courts of Europe,-Berlin, Dresden, and Vienna; so that I + hope you will arrive at Turin tolerably smooth and fit for the last + polish. There you may get the best, there being no court I know of that + forms more well-bred, and agreeable people. Remember now, that + good-breeding, genteel carriage, address, and even dress (to a certain + degree), are become serious objects, and deserve a part of your attention. + </p> + <p> + The day, if well employed, is long enough for them all. One half of it + bestowed upon your studies and your exercises, will finish your mind and + your body; the remaining part of it, spent in good company, will form your + manners, and complete your character. What would I not give to have you + read Demosthenes critically in the morning, and understand him better than + anybody; at noon, behave yourself better than any person at court; and in + the evenings, trifle more agreeably than anybody in mixed companies? All + this you may compass if you please; you have the means, you have the + opportunities. Employ them, for God’s sake, while you may, and make + yourself that all-accomplished man that I wish to have you. It entirely + depends upon these two years; they are the decisive ones. + </p> + <p> + I send you here inclosed a letter of recommendation to Monsieur Capello, + at Venice, which you will deliver him immediately upon your arrival, + accompanying it with compliments from me to him and Madame, both of whom + you have seen here. He will, I am sure, be both very civil and very useful + to you there, as he will also be afterward at Rome, where he is appointed + to go ambassador. By the way, wherever you are, I would advise you to + frequent, as much as you can, the Venetian Ministers; who are always + better informed of the courts they reside at than any other minister; the + strict and regular accounts, which they are obliged to give to their own + government, making them very diligent and inquisitive. + </p> + <p> + You will stay at Venice as long as the Carnival lasts; for though I am + impatient to have you at Turin, yet I would wish you to see thoroughly all + that is to be seen at so singular a place as Venice, and at so showish a + time as the Carnival. You will take also particular care to view all those + meetings of the government, which strangers are allowed to see; as the + Assembly of the Senate, etc., and also to inform yourself of that peculiar + and intricate form of government. There are books which give an account of + it, among which the best is Amelot de la Houssaye, which I would advise + you to read previously; it will not only give you a general notion of that + constitution, but also furnish you with materials for proper questions and + oral informations upon the place, which are always the best. There are + likewise many very valuable remains, in sculpture and paintings, of the + best masters, which deserve your attention. + </p> + <p> + I suppose you will be at Vienna as soon as this letter will get thither; + and I suppose, too, that I must not direct above one more to you there. + After which, my next shall be directed to you at Venice, the only place + where a letter will be likely to find you, till you are at Turin; but you + may, and I desire that you will write to me, from the several places in + your way, from whence the post goes. + </p> + <p> + I will send you some other letters for Venice, to Vienna, or to your + banker at Venice, to whom you will, upon your arrival there, send for + them: For I will take care to have you so recommended from place to place, + that you shall not run through them, as most of your countrymen do, + without the advantage of seeing and knowing what best deserves to be seen + and known; I mean the men and the manners. + </p> + <p> + God bless you, and make you answer my wishes: I will now say, my hopes! + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0068" id="link2H_4_0068"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXVI + </h2> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I direct this letter to your banker at Venice, the surest place + for you to meet with it, though I suppose that it will be there some time + before you; for, as your intermediate stay anywhere else will be short, + and as the post from hence, in this season of easterly winds is uncertain, + I direct no more letters to Vienna; where I hope both you and Mr. Harte + will have received the two letters which I sent you respectively; with a + letter of recommendation to Monsieur Capello, at Venice, which was + inclosed in mine to you. I will suppose too, that the inland post on your + side of the water has not done you justice; for I received but one single + letter from you, and one from Mr. Harte, during your whole stay at Berlin; + from whence I hoped for, and expected very particular accounts. + </p> + <p> + I persuade myself, that the time you stay at Venice will be properly + employed, in seeing all that is to be seen in that extraordinary place: + and in conversing with people who can inform you, not of the raree-shows + of the town, but of the constitution of the government; for which purpose + I send you the inclosed letters of recommendation from Sir James Grey, the + King’s Resident at Venice, but who is now in England. These, with mine to + Monsieur Capello, will carry you, if you will go, into all the best + company at Venice. + </p> + <p> + But the important point; and the important place, is Turin; for there I + propose your staying a considerable time, to pursue your studies, learn + your exercises, and form your manners. I own, I am not without my anxiety + for the consequence of your stay there, which must be either very good or + very bad. To you it will be entirely a new scene. Wherever you have + hitherto been, you have conversed, chiefly, with people wiser and + discreeter than yourself; and have been equally out of the way of bad + advice or bad example; but in the Academy at Turin you will probably meet + with both, considering the variety of young fellows about your own age; + among whom it is to be expected that some will be dissipated and idle, + others vicious and profligate. I will believe, till the contrary appears, + that you have sagacity enough to distinguish the good from the bad + characters; and both sense and virtue enough to shun the latter, and + connect yourself with the former: but however, for greater security, and + for your sake alone, I must acquaint you that I have sent positive orders + to Mr. Harte to carry you off, instantly, to a place which I have named to + him, upon the very first symptom which he shall discover in you, of + drinking, gaming, idleness, or disobedience to his orders; so that, + whether Mr. Harte informs me or not of the particulars, I shall be able to + judge of your conduct in general by the time of your stay at Turin. If it + is short, I shall know why; and I promise you, that you shall soon find + that I do; but if Mr. Harte lets you continue there, as long as I propose + that you should, I shall then be convinced that you make the proper use of + your time; which is the only thing I have to ask of you. One year is the + most that I propose you should stay at Turin; and that year, if you employ + it well, perfects you. One year more of your late application, with Mr. + Harte, will complete your classical studies. You will be likewise master + of your exercises in that time; and will have formed yourself so well at + that court, as to be fit to appear advantageously at any other. These will + be the happy effects of your year’s stay at Turin, if you behave, and + apply yourself there as you have done at Leipsig; but if either ill + advice, or ill example, affect and seduce you, you are ruined forever. I + look upon that year as your decisive year of probation; go through it + well, and you will be all accomplished, and fixed in my tenderest + affection forever; but should the contagion of vice of idleness lay hold + of you there, your character, your fortune, my hopes, and consequently my + favor are all blasted, and you are undone. The more I love you now, from + the good opinion I have of you, the greater will be my indignation if I + should have reason to change it. Hitherto you have had every possible + proof of my affection, because you have deserved it; but when you cease to + deserve it, you may expect every possible mark of my resentment. To leave + nothing doubtful upon this important point I will tell you fairly, + beforehand, by what rule I shall judge of your conduct—by Mr. + Harte’s accounts. He will not I am sure, nay, I will say more, he cannot + be in the wrong with regard to you. He can have no other view but your + good; and you will, I am sure, allow that he must be a better judge of it + than you can possibly be at your age. While he is satisfied, I shall be so + too; but whenever he is dissatisfied with you, I shall be much more so. If + he complains, you must be guilty; and I shall not have the least regard + for anything that you may allege in your own defense. + </p> + <p> + I will now tell you what I expect and insist upon from you at Turin: + First, that you pursue your classical and other studies every morning with + Mr. Harte, as long and in whatever manner Mr. Harte shall be pleased to + require; secondly, that you learn, uninterruptedly, your exercises of + riding, dancing, and fencing; thirdly, that you make yourself master of + the Italian language; and lastly, that you pass your evenings in the best + company. I also require a strict conformity to the hours and rules of the + Academy. If you will but finish your year in this manner at Turin, I have + nothing further to ask of you; and I will give you everything that you can + ask of me. You shall after that be entirely your own master; I shall think + you safe; shall lay aside all authority over you, and friendship shall be + our mutual and only tie. Weigh this, I beg of you, deliberately in your + own mind; and consider whether the application and the degree of restraint + which I require but for one year more, will not be amply repaid by all the + advantages, and the perfect liberty, which you will receive at the end of + it. Your own good sense will, I am sure, not allow you to hesitate one + moment in your choice. God bless you! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Sir James Grey’s letters not being yet sent to me, as I thought they + would, I shall inclose them in my next, which I believe will get to Venice + as soon as you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0069" id="link2H_4_0069"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 12, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I received, by the last mail, a letter from Mr. Harte, dated + Prague, April the 1st, N. S., for which I desire you will return him my + thanks, and assure him that I extremely approve of what he has done, and + proposes eventually to do, in your way to Turin. Who would have thought + you were old enough to have been so well acquainted with the heroes of the + ‘Bellum Tricennale’, as to be looking out for their great-grandsons in + Bohemia, with that affection with which, I am informed, you seek for the + Wallsteins, the Kinskis, etc. As I cannot ascribe it to your age, I must + to your consummate knowledge of history, that makes every country, and + every century, as it were, your own. Seriously, I am told, that you are + both very strong and very correct in history; of which I am extremely + glad. This is useful knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Comte du Perron and Comte Lascaris are arrived here: the former gave me a + letter from Sir Charles Williams, the latter brought me your orders. They + are very pretty men, and have both knowledge and manners; which, though + they always ought, seldom go together. I examined them, particularly Comte + Lascaris, concerning you; their report is a very favorable one, especially + on the side of knowledge; the quickness of conception which they allow you + I can easily credit; but the attention which they add to it pleases me the + more, as I own I expected it less. Go on in the pursuit and the increase + of knowledge; nay, I am sure you will, for you now know too much to stop; + and, if Mr. Harte would let you be idle, I am convinced you would not. But + now that you have left Leipsig, and are entered into the great world, + remember there is another object that must keep pace with, and accompany + knowledge; I mean manners, politeness, and the Graces; in which Sir + Charles Williams, though very much your friend, owns that you are very + deficient. The manners of Leipsig must be shook off; and in that respect + you must put on the new man. No scrambling at your meals, as at a German + ordinary; no awkward overturns of glasses, plates, and salt-cellars; no + horse play. On the contrary, a gentleness of manners, a graceful carriage, + and an insinuating address, must take their place. I repeat, and shall + never cease repeating to you, THE GRACES, THE GRACES. + </p> + <p> + I desire that as soon as ever you get to Turin you will apply yourself + diligently to the Italian language; that before you leave that place, you + may know it well enough to be able to speak tolerably when you get to + Rome; where you will soon make yourself perfectly master of Italian, from + the daily necessity you will be under of speaking it. In the mean time, I + insist upon your not neglecting, much less forgetting, the German you + already know; which you may not only continue but improve, by speaking it + constantly to your Saxon boy, and as often as you can to the several + Germans you will meet in your travels. You remember, no doubt, that you + must never write to me from Turin, but in the German language and + character. + </p> + <p> + I send you the inclosed letter of recommendation to Mr. Smith the King’s + Consul at Venice; who can, and I daresay will, be more useful to you there + than anybody. Pray make your court, and behave your best, to Monsieur and + Madame Capello, who will be of great use to you at Rome. Adieu! Yours + tenderly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0070" id="link2H_4_0070"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 19, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: This letter will, I believe, still find you at Venice in all the + dissipation of masquerades, ridottos, operas, etc. With all my heart; they + are decent evening’s amusements, and very properly succeed that serious + application to which I am sure you devote your mornings. There are liberal + and illiberal pleasures as well as liberal and illiberal arts: There are + some pleasures that degrade a gentleman as much as some trades could do. + Sottish drinking, indiscriminate gluttony, driving coaches, rustic sports, + such as fox-chases, horse-races, etc., are in my opinion infinitely below + the honest and industrious profession of a tailor and a shoemaker, which + are said to ‘deroger’. + </p> + <p> + As you are now in a musical country, where singing, fiddling, and piping, + are not only the common topics of conversation, but almost the principal + objects of attention, I cannot help cautioning you against giving in to + those (I will call them illiberal) pleasures (though music is commonly + reckoned one of the liberal arts) to the degree that most of your + countrymen do, when they travel in Italy. If you love music, hear it; go + to operas, concerts, and pay fiddlers to play to you; but I insist upon + your neither piping nor fiddling yourself. It puts a gentleman in a very + frivolous, contemptible light; brings him into a great deal of bad + company; and takes up a great deal of time, which might be much better + employed. Few things would mortify me more, than to see you bearing a part + in a concert, with a fiddle under your chin, or a pipe in your mouth. + </p> + <p> + I have had a great deal of conversation with Comte du Perron and Comte + Lascaris upon your subject: and I will tell you, very truly, what Comte du + Perron (who is, in my opinion, a very pretty man) said of you: ‘Il a de + l’esprit, un savoir peu commun a son age, une grande vivacite, et quand il + aura pris des manieres il sera parfait; car il faut avouer qu’il sent + encore le college; mars cela viendra’. I was very glad to hear, from one + whom I think so good a judge, that you wanted nothing but ‘des manieres’, + which I am convinced you will now soon acquire, in the company which + henceforward you are likely to keep. But I must add, too, that if you + should not acquire them, all the rest will be of little use to you. By + ‘manieres’, I do not mean bare common civility; everybody must have that + who would not be kicked out of company; but I mean engaging, insinuating, + shining manners; distinguished politeness, an almost irresistible address; + a superior gracefulness in all you say and do. It is this alone that can + give all your other talents their full lustre and value; and, + consequently, it is this which should now be thy principal object of your + attention. Observe minutely, wherever you go, the allowed and established + models of good-breeding, and form yourself upon them. Whatever pleases you + most in others, will infallibly please others in you. I have often + repeated this to you; now is your time of putting it in practice. + </p> + <p> + Pray make my compliments to Mr. Harte, and tell him I have received his + letter from Vienna of the 16th N. S., but that I shall not trouble him + with an answer to it till I have received the other letter which he + promises me, upon the subject of one of my last. I long to hear from him + after your settlement at Turin: the months that you are to pass there will + be very decisive ones for you. The exercises of the Academy, and the + manners of courts must be attended to and acquired; and, at the same time, + your other studies continued. I am sure you will not pass, nor desire, one + single idle hour there: for I do not foresee that you can, in any part of + your life, put out six months to greater interest, than those next six at + Turin. + </p> + <p> + We will talk hereafter about your stay at Rome and in other parts of + Italy. This only I will now recommend to you; which is, to extract the + spirit of every place you go to. In those places which are only + distinguished by classical fame, and valuable remains of antiquity, have + your classics in your hand and in your head; compare the ancient geography + and descriptions with the modern, and never fail to take notes. Rome will + furnish you with business enough of that sort; but then it furnishes you + with many other objects well deserving your attention, such as deep + ecclesiastical craft and policy. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0071" id="link2H_4_0071"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 27, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received your letter from Vienna, of the 19th N. S., + which gives me great uneasiness upon Mr. Harte’s account. You and I have + reason to interest ourselves very particularly in everything that relates + to him. I am glad, however, that no bone is broken or dislocated; which + being the case, I hope he will have been able to pursue his journey to + Venice. In that supposition I direct this letter to you at Turin; where it + will either find, or at least not wait very long for you, as I calculate + that you will be there by the end of next month, N. S. I hope you reflect + how much you have to do there, and that you are determined to employ every + moment of your time accordingly. You have your classical and severer + studies to continue with Mr. Harte; you have your exercises to learn; the + turn and manners of a court to acquire; reserving always some time for the + decent amusements and pleasures of a gentleman. You see I am never against + pleasures; I loved them myself when I was of your age, and it is as + reasonable that you should love them now. But I insist upon it that + pleasures are very combinable with both business and studies, and have a + much better relish from the mixture. The man who cannot join business and + pleasure is either a formal coxcomb in the one, or a sensual beast in the + other. Your evenings I therefore allot for company, assemblies, balls, and + such sort of amusements, as I look upon those to be the best schools for + the manners of a gentleman; which nothing can give but use, observation, + and experience. You have, besides, Italian to learn, to which I desire you + will diligently apply; for though French is, I believe, the language of + the court at Turin, yet Italian will be very necessary for you at Rome, + and in other parts of Italy; and if you are well grounded in it while you + are at Turin (as you easily may, for it is a very easy language), your + subsequent stay at Rome will make you perfect in it. I would also have you + acquire a general notion of fortification; I mean so far as not to be + ignorant of the terms, which you will often hear mentioned in company, + such as ravelin, bastion; glacis, contrescarpe, etc. In order to this, I + do not propose that you should make a study of fortification, as if you + were to be an engineer, but a very easy way of knowing as much as you need + know of them, will be to visit often the fortifications of Turin, in + company with some old officer or engineer, who will show and explain to + you the several works themselves; by which means you will get a clearer + notion of them than if you were to see them only upon paper for seven + years together. Go to originals whenever you can, and trust to copies and + descriptions as little as possible. At your idle hours, while you are at + Turin, pray read the history of the House of Savoy, which has produced a + great many very great men. The late king, Victor Amedee, was undoubtedly + one, and the present king is, in my opinion, another. In general, I + believe that little princes are more likely to be great men than those + whose more extensive dominions and superior strength flatter them with a + security, which commonly produces negligence and indolence. A little + prince, in the neighborhood of great ones, must be alert and look out + sharp, if he would secure his own dominions: much more still if he would + enlarge them. He must watch for conjunctures or endeavor to make them. No + princes have ever possessed this art better than those of the House of + Savoy; who have enlarged their dominions prodigiously within a century by + profiting of conjunctures. + </p> + <p> + I send you here inclosed a letter from Comte Lascaris, who is a warm + friend of yours: I desire that you will answer it very soon and cordially, + and remember to make your compliments in it to Comte du Perron. A young + man should never be wanting in those attentions; they cost little and + bring in a great deal, by getting you people’s good word and affection. + They gain the heart, to which I have always advised you to apply yourself + particularly; it guides ten thousand for one that, reason influences. + </p> + <p> + I cannot end this letter or (I believe) any other, without repeating my + recommendation of THE GRACES. They are to be met with at Turin: for God’s + sake, sacrifice to them, and they will be propitious. People mistake + grossly, to imagine that the least awkwardness, either in matter or + manner, mind or body, is an indifferent thing and not worthy of attention. + It may possibly be a weakness in me, but in short we are all so made: I + confess to you fairly, that when you shall come home and that I first see + you, if I find you ungraceful in your address, and awkward in your person + and dress, it will be impossible for me to love you half so well as I + should otherwise do, let your intrinsic merit and knowledge be ever so + great. If that would be your case with me, as it really would, judge how + much worse it might be with others, who have not the same affection and + partiality for you, and to whose hearts you must make your own way. + </p> + <p> + Remember to write to me constantly while you are in Italy, in the German + language and character, till you can write to me in Italian; which will + not be till you have been some time at Rome. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my dear boy: may you turn out what Mr. Harte and I wish you. I must + add that if you do not, it will be both your own fault and your own + misfortune. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0072" id="link2H_4_0072"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 15, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: This letter will, I hope, find you settled to your serious + studies, and your necessary exercises at Turin, after the hurry and the + dissipation of the Carnival at Venice. I mean that your stay at Turin + should, and I flatter myself that it will, be an useful and ornamental + period of your education; but at the same time I must tell you, that all + my affection for you has never yet given me so much anxiety, as that which + I now feel. While you are in danger, I shall be in fear; and you are in + danger at Turin. Mr. Harte will by his care arm you as well as he can + against it; but your own good sense and resolution can alone make you + invulnerable. I am informed, there are now many English at the Academy at + Turin; and I fear those are just so many dangers for you to encounter. Who + they are, I do not know; but I well know the general ill conduct, the + indecent behavior, and the illiberal views, of my young countrymen. + abroad; especially wherever they are in numbers together. Ill example is + of itself dangerous enough; but those who give it seldom stop there; they + add their infamous exhortations and invitations; and, if they fail, they + have recourse to ridicule, which is harder for one of your age and + inexperience to withstand than either of the former. Be upon your guard, + therefore, against these batteries, which will all be played upon you. You + are not sent abroad to converse with your own countrymen: among them, in + general, you will get, little knowledge, no languages, and, I am sure, no + manners. I desire that you will form no connections, nor (what they + impudently call) friendships with these people; which are, in truth, only + combinations and conspiracies against good morals and good manners. There + is commonly, in young people, a facility that makes them unwilling to + refuse anything that is asked of them; a ‘mauvaise honte’ that makes them + ashamed to refuse; and, at the same time, an ambition of pleasing and + shining in the company they keep: these several causes produce the best + effect in good company, but the very worst in bad. If people had no vices + but their own, few would have so many as they have. For my own part, I + would sooner wear other people’s clothes than their vices; and they would + sit upon me just as well. I hope you will have none; but if ever you have, + I beg, at least, they may be all your own. Vices of adoption are, of all + others, the most disgraceful and unpardonable. There are degrees in vices, + as well as in virtues; and I must do my countrymen the justice to say, + that they generally take their vices in the lower degree. Their gallantry + is the infamous mean debauchery of stews, justly attended and rewarded by + the loss of their health, as well as their character. Their pleasures of + the table end in beastly drunkenness, low riot, broken windows, and very + often (as they well deserve), broken bones. They game for the sake of the + vice, not of the amusement; and therefore carry it to excess; undo, or are + undone by their companions. By such conduct, and in such company abroad, + they come home, the unimproved, illiberal, and ungentlemanlike creatures + that one daily sees them, that is, in the park and in the streets, for one + never meets them in good company; where they have neither manners to + present themselves, nor merit to be received. But, with the manners of + footmen and grooms, they assume their dress too; for you must have + observed them in the streets here, in dirty blue frocks, with oaken sticks + in their ends, and their hair greasy and unpowdered, tucked up under their + hats of an enormous size. Thus finished and adorned by their travels, they + become the disturbers of play-houses; they break the windows, and commonly + the landlords, of the taverns where they drink; and are at once the + support, the terror, and the victims, of the bawdy-houses they frequent. + These poor mistaken people think they shine, and so they do indeed; but it + is as putrefaction shines in the dark. + </p> + <p> + I am not now preaching to you, like an old fellow, upon their religious or + moral texts; I am persuaded that you do not want the best instructions of + that kind: but I am advising you as a friend, as a man of the world, as + one who would not have you old while you are young, but would have you to + take all the pleasures that reason points out, and that decency warrants. + I will therefore suppose, for argument’s sake (for upon no other account + can it be supposed), that all the vices above mentioned were perfectly + innocent in themselves: they would still degrade, vilify, and sink those + who practiced them; would obstruct their rising in the world by debasing + their characters; and give them low turn of mind, and manners absolutely + inconsistent with their making any figure in upper life and great + business. + </p> + <p> + What I have now said, together with your own good sense, is, I hope, + sufficient to arm you against the seduction, the invitations, or the + profligate exhortations (for I cannot call them temptations) of those + unfortunate young people. On the other hand, when they would engage you in + these schemes, content yourself with a decent but steady refusal; avoid + controversy upon such plain points. You are too young to convert them; + and, I trust, too wise to be converted by them. Shun them not only in + reality, but even in appearance, if you would be well received in good + company; for people will always be shy of receiving a man who comes from a + place where the plague rages, let him look ever so healthy. There are some + expressions, both in French and English, and some characters, both in + those two and in other countries, which have, I dare say, misled many + young men to their ruin. ‘Une honnete debauche, une jolie debauche; “An + agreeable rake, a man of pleasure.” Do not think that this means + debauchery and profligacy; nothing like it. It means, at most, the + accidental and unfrequent irregularities of youth and vivacity, in + opposition to dullness, formality, and want of spirit. A ‘commerce + galant’, insensibly formed with a woman of fashion; a glass of wine or two + too much, unwarily taken in the warmth and joy of good company; or some + innocent frolic, by which nobody is injured, are the utmost bounds of that + life of pleasure, which a man of sense and decency, who has a regard for + his character, will allow himself, or be allowed by others. Those who + transgress them in the hopes of shining, miss their aim, and become + infamous, or at least, contemptible. + </p> + <p> + The length or shortness of your stay at Turin will sufficiently inform me + (even though Mr. Harte should not) of your conduct there; for, as I have + told you before, Mr. Harte has the strictest orders to carry you away + immediately from thence, upon the first and least symptom of infection + that he discovers about you; and I know him to be too conscientiously + scrupulous, and too much your friend and mine not to execute them exactly. + Moreover, I will inform you, that I shall have constant accounts of your + behavior from Comte Salmour, the Governor of the Academy, whose son is now + here, and my particular friend. I have, also, other good channels of + intelligence, of which I do not apprise you. But, supposing that all turns + out well at Turin, yet, as I propose your being at Rome for the jubilee, + at Christmas, I desire that you will apply yourself diligently to your + exercises of dancing, fencing, and riding at the Academy; as well for the + sake of your health and growth, as to fashion and supple you. You must not + neglect your dress neither, but take care to be ‘bien mis’. Pray send for + the best operator for the teeth at Turin, where I suppose there is some + famous one; and let him put yours in perfect order; and then take care to + keep them so, afterward, yourself. You had very good teeth, and I hope + they are so still; but even those who have bad ones, should keep them + clean; for a dirty mouth is, in my mind, ill manners. In short, neglect + nothing that can possibly please. A thousand nameless little things, which + nobody can describe, but which everybody feels, conspire to form that + WHOLE of pleasing; as the several pieces of a Mosaic work though, + separately, of little beauty or value, when properly joined, form those + beautiful figures which please everybody. A look, a gesture, an attitude, + a tone of voice, all bear their parts in the great work of pleasing. The + art of pleasing is more particularly necessary in your intended profession + than perhaps in any other; it is, in truth, the first half of your + business; for if you do not please the court you are sent to, you will be + of very little use to the court you are sent from. Please the eyes and the + ears, they will introduce you to the heart; and nine times in ten, the + heart governs the understanding. + </p> + <p> + Make your court particularly, and show distinguished attentions to such + men and women as are best at court, highest in the fashion, and in the + opinion of the public; speak advantageously of them behind their backs, in + companies whom you have reason to believe will tell them again. Express + your admiration of the many great men that the House of Savoy has + produced; observe that nature, instead of being exhausted by those + efforts, seems to have redoubled them, in the person of the present King, + and the Duke of Savoy; wonder, at this rate, where it will end, and + conclude that it must end in the government of all Europe. Say this, + likewise, where it will probably be repeated; but say it unaffectedly, + and, the last especially, with a kind of ‘enjouement’. These little arts + are very allowable, and must be made use of in the course of the world; + they are pleasing to one party, useful to the other, and injurious to + nobody. + </p> + <p> + What I have said with regard to my countrymen in general, does not extend + to them all without exception; there are some who have both merit and + manners. Your friend, Mr. Stevens, is among the latter; and I approve of + your connection with him. You may happen to meet with some others, whose + friendship may be of great use to you hereafter, either from their + superior talents, or their rank and fortune; cultivate them; but then I + desire that Mr. Harte may be the judge of those persons. + </p> + <p> + Adieu my dear child! Consider seriously the importance of the two next + years to your character, your figure, and your fortune. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0073" id="link2H_4_0073"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 22, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I recommended to you, in my last, an innocent piece of art; that + of flattering people behind their backs, in presence of those who, to make + their own court, much more than for your sake, will not fail to repeat and + even amplify the praise to the party concerned. This is, of all flattery, + the most pleasing, and consequently the most effectual. There are other, + and many other, inoffensive arts of this kind, which are necessary in the + course of the world, and which he who practices the earliest, will please + the most, and rise the soonest. The spirits and vivacity of youth are apt + to neglect them as useless, or reject them as troublesome. But subsequent + knowledge and experience of the world reminds us of their importance, + commonly when it is too late. The principal of these things is the mastery + of one’s temper, and that coolness of mind, and serenity of countenance, + which hinders us from discovering by words, actions, or even looks, those + passions or sentiments by which we are inwardly moved or agitated; and the + discovery of which gives cooler and abler people such infinite advantages + over us, not only in great business, but in all the most common + occurrences of life. A man who does not possess himself enough to hear + disagreeable things without visible marks of anger and change of + countenance, or agreeable ones, without sudden bursts of joy and expansion + of countenance, is at the mercy of every artful knave or pert coxcomb; the + former will provoke or please you by design, to catch unguarded words or + looks by which he will easily decipher the secrets of your heart, of which + you should keep the key yourself, and trust it with no man living. The + latter will, by his absurdity, and without intending it, produce the same + discoveries of which other people will avail themselves. You will say, + possibly, that this coolness must be constitutional, and consequently does + not depend upon the will: and I will allow that constitution has some + power over us; but I will maintain, too, that people very often, to excuse + themselves, very unjustly accuse their constitutions. Care and reflection, + if properly used, will get the better: and a man may as surely get a habit + of letting his reason prevail over his constitution, as of letting, as + most people do, the latter prevail over the former. If you find yourself + subject to sudden starts of passion or madness (for I see no difference + between them but in their duration), resolve within yourself, at least, + never to speak one word while you feel that emotion within you. Determine, + too, to keep your countenance as unmoved and unembarrassed as possible; + which steadiness you may get a habit of, by constant attention. I should + desire nothing better, in any negotiation, than to have to do with one of + those men of warm, quick passions; which I would take care to set in + motion. By artful provocations I would extort rash unguarded expressions; + and, by hinting at all the several things that I could suspect, infallibly + discover the true one, by the alteration it occasioned in the countenance + of the person. ‘Volto sciolto con pensieri stretti’, is a most useful + maxim in business. It is so necessary at some games, such as ‘Berlan + Quinze’, etc., that a man who had not the command of his temper and + countenance, would infallibly be outdone by those who had, even though + they played fair. Whereas, in business, you always play with sharpers; to + whom, at least, you should give no fair advantages. It may be objected, + that I am now recommending dissimulation to you; I both own and justify + it. It has been long said, ‘Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare’: I go + still further, and say, that without some dissimulation no business can be + carried on at all. It is SIMULATION that is false, mean, and criminal: + that is the cunning which Lord Bacon calls crooked or left-handed wisdom, + and which is never made use of but by those who have not true wisdom. And + the same great man says, that dissimulation is only to hide our own cards, + whereas simulation is put on, in order to look into other people’s. Lord + Bolingbroke, in his “Idea of a Patriot King,” which he has lately + published, and which I will send you by the first opportunity, says very + justly that simulation is a STILETTO,—not only an unjust but an + unlawful weapon, and the use of it very rarely to be excused, never + justified. Whereas dissimulation is a shield, as secrecy is armor; and it + is no more possible to preserve secrecy in business, without same degree + of dissimulation, than it is to succeed in business without secrecy. He + goes on, and says, that those two arts of dissimulation and secrecy are + like the alloy mingled with pure ore: a little is necessary, and will not + debase the coin below its proper standard; but if more than that little be + employed (that is, simulation and cunning), the coin loses its currency, + and the coiner his credit. + </p> + <p> + Make yourself absolute master, therefore, of your temper and your + countenance, so far, at least, as that no visible change do appear in + either, whatever you may feel inwardly. This may be difficult, but it is + by no means impossible; and, as a man of sense never attempts + impossibilities on one hand, on the other, he is never discouraged by + difficulties: on the contrary, he redoubles his industry and his + diligence; he perseveres, and infallibly prevails at last. In any point + which prudence bids you pursue, and which a manifest utility attends, let + difficulties only animate your industry, not deter you from the pursuit. + If one way has failed, try another; be active, persevere, and you will + conquer. Some people are to be reasoned, some flattered, some intimidated, + and some teased into a thing; but, in general, all are to be brought into + it at last, if skillfully applied to, properly managed, and indefatigably + attacked in their several weak places. The time should likewise be + judiciously chosen; every man has his ‘mollia tempora’, but that is far + from being all day long; and you would choose your time very ill, if you + applied to a man about one business, when his head was full of another, or + when his heart was full of grief, anger, or any other disagreeable + sentiment. + </p> + <p> + In order to judge of the inside of others, study your own; for men in + general are very much alike; and though one has one prevailing passion, + and another has another, yet their operations are much the same; and + whatever engages or disgusts, pleases or offends you, in others will, + ‘mutatis mutandis’, engage, disgust, please, or offend others, in you. + Observe with the utmost attention all the operations of your own mind, the + nature of your passions, and the various motives that determine your will; + and you may, in a great degree, know all mankind. For instance, do you + find yourself hurt and mortified when another makes you feel his + superiority, and your own inferiority, in knowledge, parts, rank, or + fortune? You will certainly take great care not to make a person whose + good will, good word, interest, esteem, or friendship, you would gain, + feel that superiority in you, in case you have it. If disagreeable + insinuations, sly sneers, or repeated contradictions, tease and irritate + you, would you use them where you wish to engage and please? Surely not, + and I hope you wish to engage and please, almost universally. The + temptation of saying a smart and witty thing, or ‘bon mot’; and the + malicious applause with which it is commonly received, has made people who + can say them, and, still oftener, people who think they can, but cannot, + and yet try, more enemies, and implacable ones too, than any one other + thing that I know of: When such things, then, shall happen to be said at + your expense (as sometimes they certainly will), reflect seriously upon + the sentiments of uneasiness, anger, and resentment which they excite in + you; and consider whether it can be prudent, by the same means, to excite + the same sentiments in others against you. It is a decided folly to lose a + friend for a jest; but, in my mind, it is not a much less degree of folly + to make an enemy of an indifferent and neutral person, for the sake of a + ‘bon mot’. When things of this kind happen to be said of you, the most + prudent way is to seem not to suppose that they are meant at you, but to + dissemble and conceal whatever degree of anger you may feel inwardly; but, + should they be so plain that you cannot be supposed ignorant of their + meaning, to join in the laugh of the company against yourself; acknowledge + the hit to be a fair one, and the jest a good one, and play off the whole + thing in seeming good humor; but by no means reply in the same way; which + only shows that you are hurt, and publishes the victory which you might + have concealed. Should the thing said, indeed injure your honor or moral + character, there is but one proper reply; which I hope you never will have + occasion to make. + </p> + <p> + As the female part of the world has some influence, and often too much, + over the male, your conduct with regard to women (I mean women of fashion, + for I cannot suppose you capable of conversing with any others) deserves + some share in your reflections. They are a numerous and loquacious body: + their hatred would be more prejudicial than their friendship can be + advantageous to you. A general complaisance and attention to that sex is + therefore established by custom, and certainly necessary. But where you + would particularly please anyone, whose situation, interest, or + connections, can be of use to you, you must show particular preference. + The least attentions please, the greatest charm them. The innocent but + pleasing flattery of their persons, however gross, is greedily swallowed + and kindly digested: but a seeming regard for their understandings, a + seeming desire of, and deference for, their advice, together with a + seeming confidence in their moral virtues, turns their heads entirely in + your favor. Nothing shocks them so much as the least appearance of that + contempt which they are apt to suspect men of entertaining of their + capacities; and you may be very sure of gaining their friendship if you + seem to think it worth gaining. Here dissimulation is very often + necessary, and even simulation sometimes allowable; which, as it pleases + them, may, be useful to you, and is injurious to nobody. + </p> + <p> + This torn sheet, which I did not observe when I began upon it, as it + alters the figure, shortens, too, the length of my letter. It may very + well afford it: my anxiety for you carries me insensibly to these lengths. + I am apt to flatter myself, that my experience, at the latter end of my + life, may be of use to you at the beginning of yours; and I do not grudge + the greatest trouble, if it can procure you the least advantage. I even + repeat frequently the same things, the better to imprint them on your + young, and, I suppose, yet giddy mind; and I shall think that part of my + time the best employed, that contributes to make you employ yours well. + God bless you, child! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0074" id="link2H_4_0074"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 16, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I do not guess where this letter will find you, but I hope it + will find you well: I direct it eventually to Laubach; from whence I + suppose you have taken care to have your letters sent after you. I + received no account from Mr. Harte by last post, and the mail due this day + is not yet come in; so that my informations come down no lower than the 2d + June, N. S., the date of Mr. Harte’s last letter. As I am now easy about + your health, I am only curious about your motions, which I hope have been + either to Inspruck or Verona; for I disapprove extremely of your proposed + long and troublesome journey to Switzerland. Wherever you may be, I + recommend to you to get as much Italian as you can, before you go either + to Rome or Naples: a little will be of great use to you upon the road; and + the knowledge of the grammatical part, which you can easily acquire in two + or three months, will not only facilitate your progress, but accelerate + your perfection in that language, when you go to those places where it is + generally spoken; as Naples, Rome, Florence, etc. + </p> + <p> + Should the state of your health not yet admit of your usual application to + books, you may, in a great degree, and I hope you will, repair that loss + by useful and instructive conversations with Mr. Harte: you may, for + example, desire him to give you in conversation the outlines, at least, of + Mr. Locke’s logic; a general notion of ethics, and a verbal epitome of + rhetoric; of all which Mr. Harte will give you clearer ideas in half an + hour, by word of mouth, than the books of most of the dull fellows who + have written upon those subjects would do in a week. + </p> + <p> + I have waited so long for the post, which I hoped would come, that the + post, which is just going out, obliges me to cut this letter short. God + bless you, my dear child! and restore you soon to perfect health! + </p> + <p> + My compliments to Mr. Harte; to whose care your life is the least thing + that you owe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0075" id="link2H_4_0075"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 22, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: The outside of your letter of the 7th N. S., directed by your + own hand, gave me more pleasure than the inside of any other letter ever + did. I received it yesterday at the same time with one from Mr. Harts of + the 6th. They arrived at a very proper time, for they found a consultation + of physicians in my room, upon account of a fever which I had for four or + five days, but which has now entirely left me. As Mr. Harte Says THAT YOUR + LUNGS NOW AND THEN GIVE YOU A LITTLE PAIN, and that YOUR SWELLINGS COME + AND GO VARIABLY, but as he mentions nothing of your coughing, spitting, or + sweating, the doctors take it for granted that you are entirely free from + those three bad symptoms: and from thence conclude, that, the pain which + you sometimes feel upon your lungs is only symptomatical of your rheumatic + disorder, from the pressure of the muscles which hinders the free play of + the lungs. But, however, as the lungs are a point of the utmost importance + and delicacy, they insist upon your drinking, in all events, asses’ milk + twice a day, and goats’ whey as often as you please, the oftener the + better: in your common diet, they recommend an attention to pectorals, + such as sago, barley, turnips, etc. These rules are equally good in + rheumatic as in consumptive cases; you will therefore, I hope, strictly + observe them; for I take it for granted that you are above the silly + likings or dislikings, in which silly people indulge their tastes, at the + expense of their health. + </p> + <p> + I approve of your going to Venice, as much as I disapproved of your going + to Switzerland. I suppose that you are by this time arrived; and, in that + supposition, I direct this letter there. But if you should find the heat + too great, or the water offensive, at this time of the year, I would have + you go immediately to Verona, and stay there till the great heats are + over, before you return to Venice. + </p> + <p> + The time which you will probably pass at Venice will allow you to make + yourself master of that intricate and singular form of government, of + which few of our travelers know anything. Read, ask, and see everything + that is relative to it. There are likewise many valuable remains of the + remotest antiquity, and many fine pieces of the Antico-moderno, all which + deserve a different sort of attention from that which your countrymen + commonly give them. They go to see them, as they go to see the lions, and + kings on horseback, at the Tower here, only to say that they have seen + them. You will, I am sure, view them in another light; you will consider + them as you would a poem, to which indeed they are akin. You will observe + whether the sculptor has animated his stone, or the painter his canvas, + into the just expression of those sentiments and passions which should + characterize and mark their several figures. You will examine, likewise, + whether in their groups there be a unity of action, or proper relation; a + truth of dress and manners. Sculpture and painting are very justly called + liberal arts; a lively and strong imagination, together with a just + observation, being absolutely necessary to excel in either; which, in my + opinion, is by no means the case of music, though called a liberal art, + and now in Italy placed even above the other two; a proof of the decline + of that country. The Venetian school produced many great painters, such as + Paul Veronese, Titian, Palma, etc., of whom you will see, as well in + private houses as in churches, very fine pieces. The Last Supper, of Paul + Veronese, in the church of St. George, is reckoned his capital + performance, and deserves your attention; as does also the famous picture + of the Cornaro Family, by Titian. A taste for sculpture and painting is, + in my mind, as becoming as a taste for fiddling and piping is unbecoming, + a man of fashion. The former is connected with history and poetry; the + latter, with nothing that I know of but bad company. + </p> + <p> + Learn Italian as fast as ever you can, that you may be able to understand + it tolerably, and speak it a little before you go to Rome and Naples: + There are many good historians in that language, and excellent + translations of the ancient Greek and Latin authors; which are called the + Collana; but the only two Italian poets that deserve your acquaintance are + Ariosto and Tasso; and they undoubtedly have great merit. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, and tell him that I have consulted about + his leg, and that if it was only a sprain, he ought to keep a tight + bandage about the part, for a considerable time, and do nothing else to + it. Adieu! ‘Jubeo te bene valere’. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0076" id="link2H_4_0076"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 6, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: As I am now no longer in pain about your health, which I trust + is perfectly restored; and as, by the various accounts I have had of you, + I need not be in pain about your learning, our correspondence may, for the + future, turn upon less important points, comparatively; though still very + important ones: I mean, the knowledge of the world, decorum, manners, + address, and all those (commonly called little) accomplishments, which are + absolutely necessary to give greater accomplishments their full, value and + lustre. + </p> + <p> + Had I the admirable ring of Gyges, which rendered the wearer invisible; + and had I, at the same time, those magic powers, which were very common + formerly, but are now very scarce, of transporting myself, by a wish, to + any given place, my first expedition would be to Venice, there to + RECONNOITRE you, unseen myself. I would first take you in the morning, at + breakfast with Mr. Harte, and attend to your natural and unguarded + conversation with him; from whence, I think, I could pretty well judge of + your natural turn of mind. How I should rejoice if I overheard you asking + him pertinent questions upon useful subjects! or making judicious + reflections upon the studies of that morning, or the occurrences of the + former day! Then I would follow you into the different companies of the + day, and carefully observe in what manner you presented yourself to, and + behaved yourself with, men of sense and dignity; whether your address was + respectful, and yet easy; your air modest, and yet unembarrassed; and I + would, at the same time, penetrate into their thoughts, in order to know + whether your first ‘abord’ made that advantageous impression upon their + fancies, which a certain address, air, and manners, never fail doing. I + would afterward follow you to the mixed companies of the evening; such as + assemblies, suppers, etc., and there watch if you trifled gracefully and + genteelly: if your good-breeding and politeness made way for your parts + and knowledge. With what pleasure should I hear people cry out, ‘Che + garbato cavaliere, com’ e pulito, disinvolto, spiritoso’! If all these + things turned out to my mind, I would immediately assume my own shape, + become visible, and embrace you: but if the contrary happened, I would + preserve my invisibility, make the best of my way home again, and sink my + disappointment upon you and the world. As, unfortunately, these + supernatural powers of genii, fairies, sylphs, and gnomes, have had the + fate of the oracles they succeeded, and have ceased for some time, I must + content myself (till we meet naturally, and in the common way) with Mr. + Harte’s written accounts of you, and the verbal ones which I now and then + receive from people who have seen you. However, I believe it would do you + no harm, if you would always imagine that I were present, and saw and + heard everything you did and said. + </p> + <p> + There is a certain concurrence of various little circumstances which + compose what the French call ‘l’aimable’; and which, now that you are + entering into the world, you ought to make it your particular study to + acquire. Without them, your learning will be pedantry, your conversation + often improper, always unpleasant, and your figure, however good in + itself, awkward and unengaging. A diamond, while rough, has indeed its + intrinsic value; but, till polished, is of no use, and would neither be + sought for nor worn. Its great lustre, it is true, proceeds from its + solidity and strong cohesion of parts; but without the last polish, it + would remain forever a dirty, rough mineral, in the cabinets of some few + curious collectors. You have; I hope, that solidity and cohesion of parts; + take now as much pains to get the lustre. Good company, if you make the + right use of it, will cut you into shape, and give you the true brilliant + polish. A propos of diamonds: I have sent you by Sir James Gray, the + King’s Minister, who will be at Venice about the middle of September, my + own diamond buckles; which are fitter for your young feet than for my old + ones: they will properly adorn you; they would only expose me. If Sir + James finds anybody whom he can trust, and who will be at Venice before + him, he will send them by that person; but if he should not, and that you + should be gone from Venice before he gets there, he will in that case give + them to your banker, Monsieur Cornet, to forward to you, wherever you may + then be. You are now of an age, at which the adorning your person is not + only not ridiculous, but proper and becoming. Negligence would imply + either an indifference about pleasing, or else an insolent security of + pleasing, without using those means to which others are obliged to have + recourse. A thorough cleanliness in your person is as necessary for your + own health, as it is not to be offensive to other people. Washing + yourself, and rubbing your body and limbs frequently with a fleshbrush, + will conduce as much to health as to cleanliness. A particular attention + to the cleanliness of your mouth, teeth, hands, and nails, is but common + decency, in order not to offend people’s eyes and noses. + </p> + <p> + I send you here inclosed a letter of recommendation to the Duke of + Nivernois, the French Ambassador at Rome; who is, in my opinion, one of + the prettiest men I ever knew in my life. I do not know a better model for + you to form yourself upon; pray observe and frequent him as much as you + can. He will show you what manners and graces are. I shall, by successive + posts, send you more letters, both for Rome and Naples, where it will be + your own fault entirely if you do not keep the very best company. + </p> + <p> + As you will meet swarms of Germans wherever you go, I desire that you will + constantly converse with them in their own language, which will improve + you in that language, and be, at the same time, an agreeable piece of + civility to them. + </p> + <p> + Your stay in Italy will, I do not doubt, make you critically master of + Italian; I know it may, if you please, for it is a very regular, and + consequently a very easy language. Adieu! God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0077" id="link2H_4_0077"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 20, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I wrote to Mr. Harte last Monday, the 17th, O. S., in answer to + his letter of the 20th June, N. S., which I had received but the day + before, after an interval of eight posts; during which I did not know + whether you or he existed, and indeed I began to think that you did not. + By that letter you ought at this time to be at Venice; where I hope you + are arrived in perfect health, after the baths of Tiefler, in case you + have made use of them. I hope they are not hot baths, if your lungs are + still tender. + </p> + <p> + Your friend, the Comte d’Einsiedlen, is arrived here: he has been at my + door, and I have been at his; but we have not yet met. He will dine with + me some day this week. Comte Lascaris inquires after you very frequently, + and with great affection; pray answer the letter which I forwarded to you + a great while ago from him. You may inclose your answer to me, and I will + take care to give it him. Those attentions ought never to be omitted; they + cost little, and please a great deal; but the neglect of them offends more + than you can yet imagine. Great merit, or great failings, will make you be + respected or despised; but trifles, little attentions, mere nothings, + either done, or neglected, will make you either liked or disliked, in the + general run of the world. Examine yourself why you like such and such + people, and dislike such and such others; and you will find, that those + different sentiments proceed from very slight causes. Moral virtues are + the foundation of society in general, and of friendship in particular; but + attentions, manners, and graces, both adorn and strengthen them. My heart + is so set upon your pleasing, and consequently succeeding in the world, + that possibly I have already (and probably shall again) repeat the same + things over and over to you. However, to err, if I do err, on the surer + side, I shall continue to communicate to you those observations upon the + world which long experience has enabled me to make, and which I have + generally found to hold true. Your youth and talents, armed with my + experience, may go a great way; and that armor is very much at your + service, if you please to wear it. I premise that it is not my + imagination, but my memory, that gives you these rules: I am not writing + pretty; but useful reflections. A man of sense soon discovers, because he + carefully observes, where, and how long, he is welcome; and takes care to + leave the company, at least as soon as he is wished out of it. Fools never + perceive where they are either ill-timed or illplaced. + </p> + <p> + I am this moment agreeably stopped, in the course of my reflections, by + the arrival of Mr. Harte’s letter of the 13th July, N. S., to Mr. + Grevenkop, with one inclosed for your Mamma. I find by it that many of his + and your letters to me must have miscarried; for he says that I have had + regular accounts of you: whereas all those accounts have been only his + letter of the 6th and yours of the 7th June, N. S.; his of the 20th June, + N. S., to me; and now his of the 13th July, N. S., to Mr. Grevenkop. + However, since you are so well, as Mr. Harte says you are, all is well. I + am extremely glad that you have no complaint upon your lungs; but I desire + that you will think you have, for three or four months to come. Keep in a + course of asses’ or goats’ milk, for one is as good as the other, and + possibly the latter is the best; and let your common food be as pectoral + as you can conveniently make it. Pray tell Mr. Harte that, according to + his desire, I have wrote a letter of thanks to Mr. Firmian. I hope you + write to him too, from time to time. The letters of recommendation of a + man of his merit and learning will, to be sure, be of great use to you + among the learned world in Italy; that is, provided you take care to keep + up to the character he gives you in them; otherwise they will only add to + your disgrace. + </p> + <p> + Consider that you have lost a good deal of time by your illness; fetch it + up now that you are well. At present you should be a good economist of + your moments, of which company and sights will claim a considerable share; + so that those which remain for study must be not only attentively, but + greedily employed. But indeed I do not suspect you of one single moment’s + idleness in the whole day. Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds, and + the holiday of fools. I do not call good company and liberal pleasures, + idleness; far from it: I recommend to you a good share of both. + </p> + <p> + I send you here inclosed a letter for Cardinal Alexander Albani, which you + will give him, as soon as you get to Rome, and before you deliver any + others; the Purple expects that preference; go next to the Duc de + Nivernois, to whom you are recommended by several people at Paris, as well + as by myself. Then you may carry your other letters occasionally. + </p> + <p> + Remember to pry narrowly into every part of the government of Venice: + inform yourself of the history of that republic, especially of its most + remarkable eras; such as the Ligue de eambray, in 1509, by which it had + like to have been destroyed; and the conspiracy formed by the Marquis de + Bedmar, the Spanish Ambassador, to subject it to the Crown of Spain. The + famous disputes between that republic and the Pope are worth your + knowledge; and the writings of the celebrated and learned Fra Paolo di + Sarpi, upon that occasion, worth your reading. It was once the greatest + commercial power in Europe, and in the 14th and 15th centuries made a + considerable figure; but at present its commerce is decayed, and its + riches consequently decreased; and, far from meddling now with the affairs + of the Continent, it owes its security to its neutrality and inefficiency; + and that security will last no longer than till one of the great Powers in + Europe engrosses the rest of Italy; an event which this century possibly + may, but which the next probably will see. + </p> + <p> + Your friend Comte d’Ensiedlen and his governor, have been with me this + moment, and delivered me your letter from Berlin, of February the 28th, N. + S. I like them both so well that I am glad you did; and still gladder to + hear what they say of you. Go on, and continue to deserve the praises of + those who deserve praises themselves. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + I break open this letter to acknowledge yours of the 30th June, N. S., + which I have but this instant received, though thirteen days antecedent in + date to Mr. Harte’s last. I never in my life heard of bathing four hours a + day; and I am impatient to hear of your safe arrival at Venice, after so + extraordinary an operation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0078" id="link2H_4_0078"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 30, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Mr. Harte’s letters and yours drop in upon me most irregularly; + for I received, by the last post, one from Mr. Harte, of the 9th, N. S., + and that which Mr. Grevenkop had received from him, the post before, was + of the 13th; at last, I suppose, I shall receive them all. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that my letter, with Dr. Shaw’s opinion, has lessened your + bathing; for since I was born, I never heard of bathing four hours a-day; + which would surely be too much, even in Medea’s kettle, if you wanted (as + you do not yet) new boiling. + </p> + <p> + Though, in that letter of mine, I proposed your going to Inspruck, it was + only in opposition to Lausanne, which I thought much too long and painful + a journey for you; but you will have found, by my subsequent letters, that + I entirely approved of Venice; where I hope you have now been some time, + and which is a much better place for you to reside at, till you go to + Naples, than either Tieffer or Laubach. I love capitals extremely; it is + in capitals that the best company is always to be found; and consequently, + the best manners to be learned. The very best provincial places have some + awkwardness, that distinguish their manners from those of the metropolis. + ‘A propos’ of capitals, I send you here two letters of recommendation to + Naples, from Monsieur Finochetti, the Neapolitan Minister at The Hague; + and in my next I shall send you two more, from the same person, to the + same place. + </p> + <p> + I have examined Comte d’Einsiedlen so narrowly concerning you, that I have + extorted from him a confession that you do not care to speak German, + unless to such as understand no other language. At this rate, you will + never speak it well, which I am very desirous that you should do, and of + which you would, in time, find the advantage. Whoever has not the command + of a language, and does not speak it with facility, will always appear + below himself when he converses in that language; the want of words and + phrases will cramp and lame his thoughts. As you now know German enough to + express yourself tolerably, speaking it very often will soon make you + speak it very well: and then you will appear in it whatever you are. What + with your own Saxon servant and the swarms of Germans you will meet with + wherever you go, you may have opportunities of conversing in that language + half the day; and I do very seriously desire that you will, or else all + the pains that you have already taken about it are lost. You will remember + likewise, that, till you can write in Italian, you are always to write to + me in German. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte’s conjecture concerning your distemper seems to be a very + reasonable one; it agrees entirely with mine, which is the universal rule + by which every man judges of another man’s opinion. But, whatever may have + been the cause of your rheumatic disorder, the effects are still to be + attended to; and as there must be a remaining acrimony in your blood, you + ought to have regard to that, in your common diet as well as in your + medicines; both which should be of a sweetening alkaline nature, and + promotive of perspiration. Rheumatic complaints are very apt to return, + and those returns would be very vexatious and detrimental to you; at your + age, and in your course of travels. Your time is, now particularly, + inestimable; and every hour of it, at present, worth more than a year will + be to you twenty years hence. You are now laying the foundation of your + future character and fortune; and one single stone wanting in that + foundation is of more consequence than fifty in the superstructure; which + can always be mended and embellished if the foundation is solid. To carry + on the metaphor of building: I would wish you to be a Corinthian edifice + upon a Tuscan foundation; the latter having the utmost strength and + solidity to support, and the former all possible ornaments to decorate. + The Tuscan column is coarse, clumsy, and unpleasant; nobody looks at it + twice; the Corinthian fluted column is beautiful and attractive; but + without a solid foundation, can hardly be seen twice, because it must soon + tumble down. Yours affectionately. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0079" id="link2H_4_0079"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 7, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: By Mr. Harte’s letter to me of the 18th July N. S., which I + received by the last post, I am at length informed of the particulars both + of your past distemper, and of your future motions. As to the former, I am + now convinced, and so is Dr. Shaw, that your lungs were only + symptomatically affected; and that the rheumatic tendency is what you are + chiefly now to guard against, but (for greater security) with due + attention still to your lungs, as if they had been, and still were, a + little affected. In either case, a cooling, pectoral regimen is equally + good. By cooling, I mean cooling in its consequences, not cold to the + palate; for nothing is more dangerous than very cold liquors, at the very + time that one longs for them the most; which is, when one is very hot. + Fruit, when full ripe, is very wholesome; but then it must be within + certain bounds as to quantity; for I have known many of my countrymen die + of bloody-fluxes, by indulging in too great a quantity of fruit, in those + countries where, from the goodness and ripeness of it, they thought it + could do them no harm. ‘Ne quid nimis’, is a most excellent rule in + everything; but commonly the least observed, by people of your age, in + anything. + </p> + <p> + As to your future motions, I am very well pleased with them, and greatly + prefer your intended stay at Verona to Venice, whose almost stagnating + waters must, at this time of the year, corrupt the air. Verona has a pure + and clear air, and, as I am informed, a great deal of good company. + Marquis Maffei, alone, would be worth going there for. You may, I think, + very well leave Verona about the middle of September, when the great heats + will be quite over, and then make the best of your way to Naples; where, I + own, I want to have you by way of precaution (I hope it is rather over + caution) in case of the last remains of a pulmonic disorder. The + amphitheatre at Verona is worth your attention; as are also many buildings + there and at Vicenza, of the famous Andrea Palladio, whose taste and style + of buildings were truly antique. It would not be amiss, if you employed + three or four days in learning the five orders of architecture, with their + general proportions; and you may know all that you need know of them in + that time. Palladio’s own book of architecture is the best you can make + use of for that purpose, skipping over the mechanical part of it, such as + the materials, the cement, etc. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte tells me, that your acquaintance with the classics is renewed; + the suspension of which has been so short, that I dare say it has produced + no coldness. I hope and believe, you are now so much master of them, that + two hours every day, uninterruptedly, for a year or two more, will make + you perfectly so; and I think you cannot now allot them a greater share + than that of your time, considering the many other things you have to + learn and to do. You must know how to speak and write Italian perfectly; + you must learn some logic, some geometry, and some astronomy; not to + mention your exercises, where they are to be learned; and, above all, you + must learn the world, which is not soon learned; and only to be learned by + frequenting good and various companies. + </p> + <p> + Consider, therefore, how precious every moment of time is to you now. The + more you apply to your business, the more you will taste your pleasures. + The exercise of the mind in the morning whets the appetite for the + pleasures of the evening, as much as the exercise of the body whets the + appetite for dinner. Business and pleasure, rightly understood, mutually + assist each other, instead of being enemies, as silly or dull people often + think them. No man tastes pleasures truly, who does not earn them by + previous business, and few people do business well, who do nothing else. + Remember that when I speak of pleasures, I always mean the elegant + pleasures of a rational being, and, not the brutal ones of a swine. I mean + ‘la bonne Chere’, short of gluttony; wine, infinitely short of + drunkenness; play, without the least gaming; and gallantry without + debauchery. There is a line in all these things which men of sense, for + greater security, take care to keep a good deal on the right side of; for + sickness, pain, contempt and infamy, lie immediately on the other side of + it. Men of sense and merit, in all other respects, may have had some of + these failings; but then those few examples, instead of inviting us to + imitation, should only put us the more upon our guard against such + weaknesses: and whoever thinks them fashionable, will not be so himself; I + have often known a fashionable man have some one vice; but I never in my + life knew a vicious man a fashionable man. Vice is as degrading as it is + criminal. God bless you, my dear child! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0080" id="link2H_4_0080"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 20, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Let us resume our reflections upon men, their characters, their + manners, in a word, our reflections upon the world. They may help you to + form yourself, and to know others; a knowledge very useful at all ages, + very rare at yours. It seems as if it were nobody’s business to + communicate it to young men. Their masters teach them, singly, the + languages or the sciences of their several departments; and are indeed + generally incapable of teaching them the world: their parents are often so + too, or at least neglect doing it, either from avocations, indifference, + or from an opinion that throwing them into the world (as they call it) is + the best way of teaching it them. This last notion is in a great degree + true; that is, the world can doubtless never be well known by theory: + practice is absolutely necessary; but surely it is of great use to a young + man, before he sets out for that country full of mazes, windings, and + turnings, to have at least a general map of it, made by some experienced + traveler. + </p> + <p> + There is a certain dignity of manners absolutely necessary, to make even + the most valuable character either respected or respectable.—[Meaning + worthy of respect.] + </p> + <p> + Horse-play, romping, frequent and loud fits of laughter, jokes, waggery, + and indiscriminate familiarity, will sink both merit and knowledge into a + degree of contempt. They compose at most a merry fellow; and a merry + fellow was never yet a respectable man. Indiscriminate familiarity either + offends your superiors, or else dubbs you their dependent and led captain. + It gives your inferiors just, but troublesome and improper claims of + equality. A joker is near akin to a buffoon; and neither of them is the + least related to wit. Whoever is admitted or sought for, in company, upon + any other account than that of his merit and manners, is never respected + there, but only made use of. We will have such-a-one, for he sings + prettily; we will invite such-a-one to a ball, for he dances well; we will + have such-a-one at supper, for he is always joking and laughing; we will + ask another, because he plays deep at all games, or because he can drink a + great deal. These are all vilifying distinctions, mortifying preferences, + and exclude all ideas of esteem and regard. Whoever is HAD (as it is + called) in company for the sake of any one thing singly, is singly that + thing and will never be considered in any other light; consequently never + respected, let his merits be what they will. + </p> + <p> + This dignity of manners, which I recommend so much to you, is not only as + different from pride, as true courage is from blustering, or true wit from + joking; but is absolutely inconsistent with it; for nothing vilifies and + degrades more than pride. The pretensions of the proud man are oftener + treated with sneer and contempt, than with indignation; as we offer + ridiculously too little to a tradesman, who asks ridiculously too much for + his goods; but we do not haggle with one who only asks a just and + reasonable price. + </p> + <p> + Abject flattery and indiscriminate assentation degrade as much as + indiscriminate contradiction and noisy debate disgust. But a modest + assertion of one’s own opinion, and a complaisant acquiescence to other + people’s, preserve dignity. + </p> + <p> + Vulgar, low expressions, awkward motions and address, vilify, as they + imply either a very low turn of mind, or low education and low company. + </p> + <p> + Frivolous curiosity about trifles, and a laborious attention to little + objects which neither require nor deserve a moment’s thought, lower a man; + who from thence is thought (and not unjustly) incapable of greater + matters. Cardinal de Retz, very sagaciously, marked out Cardinal Chigi for + a little mind, from the moment that he told him he had wrote three years + with the same pen, and that it was an excellent good one still. + </p> + <p> + A certain degree of exterior seriousness in looks and motions gives + dignity, without excluding wit and decent cheerfulness, which are always + serious themselves. A constant smirk upon the face, and a whifing activity + of the body, are strong indications of futility. Whoever is in a hurry, + shows that the thing he is about is too big for him. Haste and hurry are + very different things. + </p> + <p> + I have only mentioned some of those things which may, and do, in the + opinion of the world, lower and sink characters, in other respects + valuable enough,—but I have taken no notice of those that affect and + sink the moral characters. They are sufficiently obvious. A man who has + patiently been kicked may as well pretend to courage, as a man blasted by + vices and crimes may to dignity of any kind. But an exterior decency and + dignity of manners will even keep such a man longer from sinking, than + otherwise he would be: of such consequence is the [****], even though + affected and put on! Pray read frequently, and with the utmost attention, + nay, get by heart, if you can, that incomparable chapter in Cicero’s + “Offices,” upon the [****], or the Decorum. It contains whatever is + necessary for the dignity of manners. + </p> + <p> + In my next I will send you a general map of courts; a region yet + unexplored by you, but which you are one day to inhabit. The ways are + generally crooked and full of turnings, sometimes strewed with flowers, + sometimes choked up with briars; rotten ground and deep pits frequently + lie concealed under a smooth and pleasing surface; all the paths are + slippery, and every slip is dangerous. Sense and discretion must accompany + you at your first setting out; but, notwithstanding those, till experience + is your guide, you will every now and then step out of your way, or + stumble. + </p> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield has just now received your German letter, for which she + thanks you; she says the language is very correct; and I can plainly see + that the character is well formed, not to say better than your English + character. Continue to write German frequently, that it may become quite + familiar to you. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0081" id="link2H_4_0081"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 21, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: By the last letter that I received from Mr. Harte, of the 31st + July, N. S., I suppose you are now either at Venice or Verona, and + perfectly re covered of your late illness: which I am daily more and more + convinced had no consumptive tendency; however, for some time still, + ‘faites comme s’il y en avoit’, be regular, and live pectorally. + </p> + <p> + You will soon be at courts, where, though you will not be concerned, yet + reflection and observation upon what you see and hear there may be of use + to you, when hereafter you may come to be concerned in courts yourself. + Nothing in courts is exactly as it appears to be; often very different; + sometimes directly contrary. Interest, which is the real spring of + everything there, equally creates and dissolves friendship, produces and + reconciles enmities: or, rather, allows of neither real friendships nor + enmities; for, as Dryden very justly observes, POLITICIANS NEITHER LOVE + NOR HATE. This is so true, that you may think you connect yourself with + two friends to-day, and be obliged tomorrow to make your option between + them as enemies; observe, therefore, such a degree of reserve with your + friends as not to put yourself in their power, if they should become your + enemies; and such a degree of moderation with your enemies, as not to make + it impossible for them to become your friends. + </p> + <p> + Courts are, unquestionably, the seats of politeness and good-breeding; + were they not so, they would be the seats of slaughter and desolation. + Those who now smile upon and embrace, would affront and stab each other, + if manners did not interpose; but ambition and avarice, the two prevailing + passions at courts, found dissimulation more effectual than violence; and + dissimulation introduced that habit of politeness, which distinguishes the + courtier from the country gentleman. In the former case the strongest body + would prevail; in the latter, the strongest mind. + </p> + <p> + A man of parts and efficiency need not flatter everybody at court; but he + must take great care to offend nobody personally; it being in the power of + every man to hurt him, who cannot serve him. Homer supposes a chain let + down from Jupiter to the earth, to connect him with mortals. There is, at + all courts, a chain which connects the prince or the minister with the + page of the back stairs, or the chamber-maid. The king’s wife, or + mistress, has an influence over him; a lover has an influence over her; + the chambermaid, or the valet de chambre, has an influence over both, and + so ad infinitum. You must, therefore, not break a link of that chain, by + which you hope to climb up to the prince. + </p> + <p> + You must renounce courts if you will not connive at knaves, and tolerate + fools. Their number makes them considerable. You should as little quarrel + as connect yourself with either. + </p> + <p> + Whatever you say or do at court, you may depend upon it, will be known; + the business of most of those, who crowd levees and antichambers, being to + repeat all that they see or hear, and a great deal that they neither see + nor hear, according as they are inclined to the persons concerned, or + according to the wishes of those to whom they hope to make their court. + Great caution is therefore necessary; and if, to great caution, you can + join seeming frankness and openness, you will unite what Machiavel reckons + very difficult but very necessary to be united; ‘volto sciolto e pensieri + stretti’. + </p> + <p> + Women are very apt to be mingled in court intrigues; but they deserve + attention better than confidence; to hold by them is a very precarious + tenure. + </p> + <p> + I am agreeably interrupted in these reflections by a letter which I have + this moment received from Baron Firmian. It contains your panegyric, and + with the strongest protestations imaginable that he does you only justice. + I received this favorable account of you with pleasure, and I communicate + it to you with as much. While you deserve praise, it is reasonable you + should know that you meet with it; and I make no doubt, but that it will + encourage you in persevering to deserve it. This is one paragraph of the + Baron’s letter: Ses moeurs dans un age si tendre, reglees selon toutes les + loix d’une morale exacte et sensee; son application (that is what I like) + a tout ce qui s’appelle etude serieuse, et Belles Lettres,—“Notwithstanding + his great youth, his manners are regulated by the most unexceptionable + rules of sense and of morality. His application THAT IS WHAT I LIKE to + every kind of serious study, as well as to polite literature, without even + the least appearance of ostentatious pedantry, render him worthy of your + most tender affection; and I have the honor of assuring you, that everyone + cannot but be pleased with the acquisition of his acquaintance or of his + friendship. I have profited of it, both here and at Vienna; and shall + esteem myself very happy to make use of the permission he has given me of + continuing it by letter.” Reputation, like health, is preserved and + increased by the same means by which it is acquired. Continue to desire + and deserve praise, and you will certainly find it. Knowledge, adorned by + manners, will infallibly procure it. Consider, that you have but a little + way further to get to your journey’s end; therefore, for God’s sake, do + not slacken your pace; one year and a half more of sound application, Mr. + Harte assures me, will finish this work; and when this work is finished + well, your own will be very easily done afterward. ‘Les Manieres et les + Graces’ are no immaterial parts of that work; and I beg that you will give + as much of your attention to them as to your books. Everything depends + upon them; ‘senza di noi ogni fatica e vana’. The various companies you + now go into will procure them you, if you will carefully observe, and form + yourself upon those who have them. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! God bless you! and may you ever deserve that affection with which I + am now, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0082" id="link2H_4_0082"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 5, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have received yours from Laubach, of the 17th of August, N. + S., with the inclosed for Comte Lascaris; which I have given him, and with + which he is extremely pleased, as I am with your account of Carniola. I am + very glad that you attend to, and inform yourself of, the political + objects of the country you go through. Trade and manufactures are very + considerable, not to say the most important ones; for, though armies and + navies are the shining marks of the strength of countries, they would be + very ill paid, and consequently fight very ill, if manufactures and + commerce did not support them. You have certainly observed in Germany the + inefficiency of great powers, with great tracts of country and swarms of + men; which are absolutely useless, if not paid by other powers who have + the resources of manufactures and commerce. This we have lately + experienced to be the case of the two empresses of Germany and Russia: + England, France, and Spain, must pay their respective allies, or they may + as well be without them. + </p> + <p> + I have not the least objection to your taking, into the bargain, the + observation of natural curiosities; they are very welcome, provided they + do not take up the room of better things. But the forms of government, the + maxims of policy, the strength or weakness, the trade and commerce, of the + several countries you see or hear of are the important objects, which I + recommend to your most minute inquiries, and most serious attention. I + thought that the republic of Venice had by this time laid aside that silly + and frivolous piece of policy, of endeavoring to conceal their form of + government; which anybody may know, pretty nearly, by taking the pains to + read four or five books, which explain all the great parts of it; and as + for some of the little wheels of that machine, the knowledge of them would + be as little useful to others as dangerous to themselves. Their best + policy (I can tell them) is to keep quiet, and to offend no one great + power, by joining with another. Their escape, after the Ligue of Cambray, + should prove a useful lesson to them. + </p> + <p> + I am glad you frequent the assemblies at Venice. Have you seen Monsieur + and Madame Capello, and how did they receive you? Let me know who are the + ladies whose houses you frequent the most. Have you seen the Comptesse + d’Orselska, Princess of Holstein? Is Comte Algarotti, who was the TENANT + there, at Venice? + </p> + <p> + You will, in many parts of Italy, meet with numbers of the Pretender’s + people (English, Scotch, and Irish fugitives), especially at Rome; + probably the Pretender himself. It is none of your business to declare war + to these people, as little as it is your interest, or, I hope, your + inclination, to connect yourself with them; and therefore I recommend to + you a perfect neutrality. Avoid them as much as you can with decency and + good manners; but when you cannot, avoid any political conversation or + debates with them; tell them that you do not concern yourself with + political matters: that you are neither maker nor a deposer of kings; that + when you left England, you left a king in it, and have not since heard + either of his death, or of any revolution that has happened; and that you + take kings and kingdoms as you find them; but enter no further into + matters with them, which can be of no use, and might bring on heats and + quarrels. When you speak of the old Pretender, you will call him only the + Chevalier de St. George;—but mention him as seldom as possible. + Should he chance to speak to you at any assembly (as, I am told, he + sometimes does to the English), be sure that you seem not to know him; and + answer him civilly, but always either in French or in Italian; and give + him, in the former, the appellation of Monsieur, and in the latter, of + Signore. Should you meet with the Cardinal of York, you will be under no + difficulty; for he has, as Cardinal, an undoubted right to ‘Eminenza’. + Upon the whole, see any of those people as little as possible; when you do + see them, be civil to them, upon the footing of strangers; but never be + drawn into any altercations with them about the imaginary right of their + king, as they call him. + </p> + <p> + It is to no sort of purpose to talk to those people of the natural rights + of mankind, and the particular constitution of this country. Blinded by + prejudices, soured by misfortunes, and tempted by their necessities, they + are as incapable of reasoning rightly, as they have hitherto been of + acting wisely. The late Lord Pembroke never would know anything that he + had not a mind to know; and, in this case, I advise you to follow his + example. Never know either the father or the two sons, any otherwise than + as foreigners; and so, not knowing their pretensions, you have no occasion + to dispute them. + </p> + <p> + I can never help recommending to you the utmost attention and care, to + acquire ‘les Manieres, la Tournure, et les Graces, d’un galant homme, et + d’un homme de cour’. They should appear in every look, in every action; in + your address, and even in your dress, if you would either please or rise + in the world. That you may do both (and both are in your power) is most + ardently wished you, by Yours. + </p> + <p> + P. S. I made Comte Lascaris show me your letter, which I liked very well; + the style was easy and natural, and the French pretty correct. There were + so few faults in the orthography, that a little more observation of the + best French authors would make you a correct master of that necessary + language. + </p> + <p> + I will not conceal from you, that I have lately had extraordinary good + accounts of you, from an unexpected and judicious person, who promises me + that, with a little more of the world, your manners and address will equal + your knowledge. This is the more pleasing to me, as those were the two + articles of which I was the most doubtful. These commendations will not, I + am persuaded, make you vain and coxcomical, but only encourage you to go + on in the right way. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0083" id="link2H_4_0083"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 12, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: It seems extraordinary, but it is very true, that my anxiety for + you increases in proportion to the good accounts which I receive of you + from all hands. I promise myself so much from you, that I dread the least + disappointment. You are now so near the port, which I have so long wished + and labored to bring you safe into, that my concern would be doubled, + should you be shipwrecked within sight of it. The object, therefore, of + this letter is (laying aside all the authority of a parent) to conjure you + as a friend, by the affection you have for me (and surely you have reason + to have some), and by the regard you have for yourself, to go on, with + assiduity and attention, to complete that work which, of late, you have + carried on so well, and which is now so near being finished. My wishes and + my plan were to make you shine and distinguish yourself equally in the + learned and the polite world. Few have been able to do it. Deep learning + is generally tainted with pedantry, or at least unadorned by manners: as, + on the other hand, polite manners and the turn of the world are too often + unsupported by knowledge, and consequently end contemptibly, in the + frivolous dissipation of drawing-rooms and ruelles. You are now got over + the dry and difficult parts of learning; what remains requires much more + time than trouble. You have lost time by your illness; you must regain it + now or never. I therefore most earnestly desire, for your own sake, that + for these next six months, at least six hours every morning, + uninterruptedly, may be inviolably sacred to your studies with Mr. Harte. + I do not know whether he will require so much; but I know that I do, and + hope you will, and consequently prevail with him to give you that time; I + own it is a good deal: but when both you and he consider that the work + will be so much better, and so much sooner done, by such an assiduous and + continued application, you will, neither of you, think it too much, and + each will find his account in it. So much for the mornings, which from + your own good sense, and Mr. Harte’s tenderness and care of you, will, I + am sure, be thus well employed. It is not only reasonable, but useful too, + that your evenings should be devoted to amusements and pleasures: and + therefore I not only allow, but recommend, that they should be employed at + assemblies, balls, SPECTACLES, and in the best companies; with this + restriction only, that the consequences of the evening’s diversions may + not break in upon the morning’s studies, by breakfastings, visits, and + idle parties into the country. At your age, you need not be ashamed, when + any of these morning parties are proposed, to say that you must beg to be + excused, for you are obliged to devote your mornings to Mr. Harte; that I + will have it so; and that you dare not do otherwise. Lay it all upon me; + though I am persuaded it will be as much your own inclination as it is + mine. But those frivolous, idle people, whose time hangs upon their own + hands, and who desire to make others lose theirs too, are not to be + reasoned with: and indeed it would be doing them too much honor. The + shortest civil answers are the best; I CANNOT, I DARE NOT, instead of I + WILL NOT; for if you were to enter with them into the necessity of study + end the usefulness of knowledge, it would only furnish them with matter + for silly jests; which, though I would not have you mind, I would not have + you invite. I will suppose you at Rome studying six hours uninterruptedly + with Mr. Harte, every morning, and passing your evenings with the best + company of Rome, observing their manners and forming your own; and I will + suppose a number of idle, sauntering, illiterate English, as there + commonly is there, living entirely with one another, supping, drinking, + and sitting up late at each other’s lodgings; commonly in riots and + scrapes when drunk, and never in good company when sober. I will take one + of these pretty fellows, and give you the dialogue between him and + yourself; such as, I dare say, it will be on his side; and such as, I + hope, it will be on yours:— + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Will you come and breakfast with me tomorrow? there will be + four or five of our countrymen; we have provided chaises, and we will + drive somewhere out of town after breakfast. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. I am very sorry I cannot; but I am obliged to be at home all + morning. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Why, then, we will come and breakfast with you. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. I can’t do that neither; I am engaged. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Well, then, let it be the next day. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. To tell you the truth, it can be no day in the morning; for I + neither go out, nor see anybody at home before twelve. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. And what the devil do you do with yourself till twelve + o’clock? + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. I am not by myself; I am with Mr. Harte. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Then what the devil do you do with him? + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. We study different things; we read, we converse. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Very pretty amusement indeed! Are you to take orders then? + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. Yes, my father’s orders, I believe I must take. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Why hast thou no more spirit, than to mind an old fellow a + thousand miles off? + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. If I don’t mind his orders he won’t mind my draughts. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. What, does the old prig threaten then? threatened folks live + long; never mind threats. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. No, I can’t say that he has ever threatened me in his life; but + I believe I had best not provoke him. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Pooh! you would have one angry letter from the old fellow, and + there would be an end of it. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. You mistake him mightily; he always does more than he says. He + has never been angry with me yet, that I remember, in his life; but if I + were to provoke him, I am sure he would never forgive me; he would be + coolly immovable, and I might beg and pray, and write my heart out to no + purpose. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Why, then, he is an old dog, that’s all I can say; and pray + are you to obey your dry-nurse too, this same, and what’s his name—Mr. + Harte? + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. So he stuffs you all morning with Greek, and Latin, and Logic, + and all that. Egad I have a dry-nurse too, but I never looked into a book + with him in my life; I have not so much as seen the face of him this week, + and don’t care a louse if I never see it again. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. My dry-nurse never desires anything of me that is not + reasonable, and for my own good; and therefore I like to be with him. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Very sententious and edifying, upon my word! at this rate you + will be reckoned a very good young man. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. Why, that will do me no harm. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Will you be with us to-morrow in the evening, then? We shall + be ten with you; and I have got some excellent good wine; and we’ll be + very merry. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. I am very much obliged to you, but I am engaged for all the + evening, to-morrow; first at Cardinal Albani’s; and then to sup at the + Venetian Ambassadress’s. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. How the devil can you like being always with these foreigners? + I never go among them with all their formalities and ceremonies. I am + never easy in company with them, and I don’t know why, but I am ashamed. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. I am neither ashamed nor afraid; I am very, easy with them; they + are very easy with me; I get the language, and I see their characters, by + conversing with them; and that is what we are sent abroad for, is it not? + </p> + <p> + Englishman. I hate your modest women’s company; your women of fashion as + they call ‘em; I don’t know what to say to them, for my part. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. Have you ever conversed with them? + </p> + <p> + Englishman. No; I never conversed with them; but have been sometimes in + their company, though much against my will. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. But at least they have done you no hurt; which is, probably, + more than you can say of the women you do converse with. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. That’s true, I own; but for all that, I would rather keep + company with my surgeon half the year, than with your women of fashion the + year round. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. Tastes are different, you know, and every man follows his own. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. That’s true; but thine’s a devilish odd one, Stanhope. All + morning with thy dry-nurse; all the evening in formal fine company; and + all day long afraid of Old Daddy in England. Thou art a queer fellow, and + I am afraid there is nothing to be made of thee. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. I am afraid so too. + </p> + <p> + Englishman. Well, then, good night to you; you have no objection, I hope, + to my being drunk to-night, which I certainly will be. + </p> + <p> + Stanhope. Not in the least; nor to your being sick tomorrow, which you as + certainly will be; and so good night, too. + </p> + <p> + You will observe, that I have not put into your mouth those good arguments + which upon such an occasion would, I am sure, occur to you; as piety and + affection toward me; regard and friendship for Mr. Harte; respect for your + own moral character, and for all the relative duties of man, son, pupil, + and citizen. Such solid arguments would be thrown away upon such shallow + puppies. Leave them to their ignorance and to their dirty, disgraceful + vices. They will severely feel the effects of them, when it will be too + late. Without the comfortable refuge of learning, and with all the + sickness and pains of a ruined stomach, and a rotten carcass, if they + happen to arrive at old age, it is an uneasy and ignominious one. The + ridicule which such fellows endeavor to throw upon those who are not like + them, is, in the opinion of all men of sense, the most authentic + panegyric. Go on, then, my dear child, in the way you are in, only for a + year and a half more: that is all I ask of you. After that, I promise that + you shall be your own master, and that I will pretend to no other title + than that of your best and truest friend. You shall receive advice, but no + orders, from me; and in truth you will want no other advice but such as + youth and inexperience must necessarily require. You shall certainly want + nothing that is requisite, not only for your conveniency, but also for + your pleasures; which I always desire shall be gratified. You will suppose + that I mean the pleasures ‘d’un honnete homme’. + </p> + <p> + While you are learning Italian, which I hope you do with diligence, pray + take care to continue your German, which you may have frequent + opportunities of speaking. I would also have you keep up your knowledge of + the ‘Jus Publicum Imperii’, by looking over, now and then, those + INESTIMABLE MANUSCRIPTS which Sir Charles Williams, who arrived here last + week, assures me you have made upon that subject. It will be of very great + use to you, when you come to be concerned in foreign affairs; as you shall + be (if you qualify yourself for them) younger than ever any other was: I + mean before you are twenty. Sir Charles tells me, that he will answer for + your learning; and that, he believes, you will acquire that address, and + those graces, which are so necessary to give it its full lustre and value. + But he confesses, that he doubts more of the latter than of the former. + The justice which he does Mr. Harte, in his panegyrics of him, makes me + hope that there is likewise a great deal of truth in his encomiums of you. + Are you pleased with, and proud of the reputation which you have already + acquired? Surely you are, for I am sure I am. Will you do anything to + lessen or forfeit it? Surely you will not. And will you not do all you can + to extend and increase it? Surely you will. It is only going on for a year + and a half longer, as you have gone on for the two years last past, and + devoting half the day only to application; and you will be sure to make + the earliest figure and fortune in the world, that ever man made. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0084" id="link2H_4_0084"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 22, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: If I had faith in philters and love potions, I should suspect + that you had given Sir Charles Williams some, by the manner in which he + speaks of you, not only to me, but to everybody else. I will not repeat to + you what he says of the extent and correctness of your knowledge, as it + might either make you vain, or persuade you that you had already enough of + what nobody can have too much. You will easily imagine how many questions + I asked, and how narrowly I sifted him upon your subject; he answered me, + and I dare say with truth, just as I could have wished; till satisfied + entirely with his accounts of your character and learning, I inquired into + other matters, intrinsically indeed of less consequence, but still of + great consequence to every man, and of more to you than to almost any man: + I mean, your address, manners, and air. To these questions, the same truth + which he had observed before, obliged him to give me much less + satisfactory answers. And as he thought himself, in friendship both to you + and me, obliged to tell me the disagreeable as well as the agreeable + truths, upon the same principle I think myself obliged to repeat them to + you. + </p> + <p> + He told me then, that in company you were frequently most PROVOKINGLY + inattentive, absent; and distrait; that you came into a room, and + presented yourself, very awkwardly; that at table you constantly threw + down knives, forks, napkins, bread, etc., and that you neglected your + person and dress, to a degree unpardonable at any age, and much more so at + yours. + </p> + <p> + These things, howsoever immaterial they may seem to people who do not know + the world, and the nature of mankind, give me, who know them to be + exceedingly material, very great concern. I have long distrusted you, and + therefore frequently admonished you, upon these articles; and I tell you + plainly, that I shall not be easy till I hear a very different account of + them. I know no one thing more offensive to a company than that + inattention and DISTRACTION. It is showing them the utmost contempt; and + people never forgive contempt. No man is distrait with the man he fears, + or the woman he loves; which is a proof that every man can get the better + of that DISTRACTION, when he thinks it worth his while to do so; and, take + my word for it, it is always worth his while. For my own part, I would + rather be in company with a dead man, than with an absent one; for if the + dead man gives me no pleasure; at least he shows me no contempt; whereas, + the absent man, silently indeed, but very plainly, tells me that he does + not think me worth his attention. Besides, can an absent man make any + observations upon the characters customs, and manners of the company? No. + He may be in the best companies all his lifetime (if they will admit him, + which, if I were they, I would not) and never be one jot the wiser. I + never will converse with an absent man; one may as well talk to a deaf + one. It is, in truth, a practical blunder, to address ourselves to a man + who we see plainly neither hears, minds, or understands us. Moreover, I + aver that no man is, in any degree, fit for either business or + conversation, who cannot and does not direct and command his attention to + the present object, be that what it will. You know, by experience, that I + grudge no expense in your education, but I will positively not keep you a + Flapper. You may read, in Dr. Swift, the description of these flappers, + and the use they were of to your friends the Laputans; whose minds + (Gulliver says) are so taken up with intense speculations, that they + neither can speak nor attend to the discourses of others, without being + roused by some external traction upon the organs of speech and hearing; + for which reason, those people who are able to afford it, always keep a + flapper in their family, as one of their domestics; nor ever walk about, + or make visits without him. This flapper is likewise employed diligently + to attend his master in his walks; and, upon occasion, to give a soft flap + upon his eyes, because he is always so wrapped up in cogitation, that he + is in manifest danger of falling down every precipice, and bouncing his + head against every post, and, in the streets, of jostling others, or being + jostled into the kennel himself. If CHRISTIAN will undertake this province + into the bargain, with all my heart; but I will not allow him any increase + of wages upon that score. In short, I give you fair warning, that, when we + meet, if you are absent in mind, I will soon be absent in body; for it + will be impossible for me to stay in the room; and if at table you throw + down your knife, plate, bread, etc., and hack the wing of a chicken for + half an hour, without being able to cut it off, and your sleeve all the + time in another dish, I must rise from the table to escape the fever you + would certainly give me. Good God! how I should be shocked, if you came + into my room, for the first time, with two left legs, presenting yourself + with all the graces and dignity of a tailor, and your clothes hanging upon + you, like those in Monmouth street, upon tenter-hooks! whereas, I expect, + nay, require, to see you present yourself with the easy and genteel air of + a man of fashion, who has kept good company. I expect you not only well + dressed but very well dressed; I expect a gracefulness in all your + motions, and something particularly engaging in your address, All this I + expect, and all this it is in your power, by care and attention, to make + me find; but to tell you the plain truth, if I do not find it, we shall + not converse very much together; for I cannot stand inattention and + awkwardness; it would endanger my health. You have often seen, and I have + as often made you observe L——‘s distinguished inattention and + awkwardness. Wrapped up, like a Laputan, in intense thought, and possibly + sometimes in no thought at all (which, I believe, is very often the case + with absent people), he does not know his most intimate acquaintance by + sight, or answers them as if he were at cross purposes. He leaves his hat + in one room, his sword in another, and would leave his shoes in a third, + if his buckles, though awry, did not save them: his legs and arms, by his + awkward management of them, seem to have undergone the question + extraordinaire; and his head, always hanging upon one or other of his + shoulders, seems to have received the first stroke upon a block. I + sincerely value and esteem him for his parts, learning, and virtue; but, + for the soul of me, I cannot love him in company. This will be universally + the case, in common life, of every inattentive, awkward man, let his real + merit and knowledge be ever so great. When I was of your age, I desired to + shine, as far as I was able, in every part of life; and was as attentive + to my manners, my dress, and my air, in company of evenings, as to my + books and my tutor in the mornings. A young fellow should be ambitious to + shine in everything—and, of the two, always rather overdo than + underdo. These things are by no means trifles: they are of infinite + consequence to those who are to be thrown into the great world, and who + would make a figure or a fortune in it. It is not sufficient to deserve + well; one must please well too. Awkward, disagreeable merit will never + carry anybody far. Wherever you find a good dancing-master, pray let him + put you upon your haunches; not so much for the sake of dancing, as for + coming into a room, and presenting yourself genteelly and gracefully. + Women, whom you ought to endeavor to please, cannot forgive vulgar and + awkward air and gestures; ‘il leur faut du brillant’. The generality of + men are pretty like them, and are equally taken by the same exterior + graces. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that you have received the diamond buckles safe; all I + desire in return for them is, that they may be buckled even upon your + feet, and that your stockings may not hide them. I should be sorry that + you were an egregious fop; but, I protest, that of the two, I would rather + have you a fop than a sloven. I think negligence in my own dress, even at + my age, when certainly I expect no advantages from my dress, would be + indecent with regard to others. I have done with fine clothes; but I will + have my plain clothes fit me, and made like other people’s: In the + evenings, I recommend to you the company of women of fashion, who have a + right to attention and will be paid it. Their company will smooth your + manners, and give you a habit of attention and respect, of which you will + find the advantage among men. + </p> + <p> + My plan for you, from the beginning, has been to make you shine equally in + the learned and in the polite world; the former part is almost completed + to my wishes, and will, I am persuaded, in a little time more, be quite + so. The latter part is still in your power to complete; and I flatter + myself that you will do it, or else the former part will avail you very + little; especially in your department, where the exterior address and + graces do half the business; they must be the harbingers of your merit, or + your merit will be very coldly received; all can, and do judge of the + former, few of the latter. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte tells me that you have grown very much since your illness; if + you get up to five feet ten, or even nine inches, your figure will + probably be a good one; and if well dressed and genteel, will probably + please; which is a much greater advantage to a man than people commonly + think. Lord Bacon calls it a letter of recommendation. + </p> + <p> + I would wish you to be the omnis homo, ‘l’homme universel’. You are nearer + it, if you please, than ever anybody was at your age; and if you will but, + for the course of this next year only, exert your whole attention to your + studies in the morning, and to your address, manners, air and tournure in + the evenings, you will be the man I wish you, and the man that is rarely + seen. + </p> + <p> + Our letters go, at best, so irregularly, and so often miscarry totally, + that for greater security I repeat the same things. So, though I + acknowledged by last post Mr. Harte’s letter of the 8th September, N. S., + I acknowledge it again by this to you. If this should find you still at + Verona, let it inform you that I wish you would set out soon for Naples; + unless Mr. Harte should think it better for you to stay at Verona, or any + other place on this side Rome, till you go there for the Jubilee. Nay, if + he likes it better, I am very willing that you should go directly from + Verona to Rome; for you cannot have too much of Rome, whether upon account + of the language, the curiosities, or the company. My only reason for + mentioning Naples, is for the sake of the climate, upon account of your + health; but if Mr. Harte thinks that your health is now so well restored + as to be above climate, he may steer your course wherever he thinks + proper: and, for aught I know, your going directly to Rome, and + consequently staying there so much the longer, may be as well as anything + else. I think you and I cannot put our affairs in better hands than in Mr. + Harte’s; and I will stake his infallibility against the Pope’s, with some + odds on his side. Apropos of the Pope: remember to be presented to him + before you leave Rome, and go through the necessary ceremonies for it, + whether of kissing his slipper or his b—-h; for I would never + deprive myself of anything that I wanted to do or see, by refusing to + comply with an established custom. When I was in Catholic countries, I + never declined kneeling in their churches at the elevation, nor elsewhere, + when the Host went by. It is a complaisance due to the custom of the + place, and by no means, as some silly people have imagined, an implied + approbation of their doctrine. Bodily attitudes and situations are things + so very indifferent in themselves, that I would quarrel with nobody about + them. It may, indeed, be improper for Mr. Harte to pay that tribute of + complaisance, upon account of his character. + </p> + <p> + This letter is a very long, and possibly a very tedious one; but my + anxiety for your perfection is so great, and particularly at this critical + and decisive period of your life, that I am only afraid of omitting, but + never of repeating, or dwelling too long upon anything that I think may be + of the least use to you. Have the same anxiety for yourself, that I have + for you, and all will do well. Adieu! my dear child. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0085" id="link2H_4_0085"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 27, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: A vulgar, ordinary way of thinking, acting, or speaking, implies + a low education, and a habit of low company. Young people contract it at + school, or among servants, with whom they are too often used to converse; + but after they frequent good company, they must want attention and + observation very much, if they do not lay it quite aside; and, indeed, if + they do not, good company will be very apt to lay them aside. The various + kinds of vulgarisms are infinite; I cannot pretend to point them out to + you; but I will give some samples, by which you may guess at the rest. + </p> + <p> + A vulgar man is captious and jealous; eager and impetuous about trifles. + He suspects himself to be slighted, thinks everything that is said meant + at him: if the company happens to laugh, he is persuaded they laugh at + him; he grows angry and testy, says something very impertinent, and draws + himself into a scrape, by showing what he calls a proper spirit, and + asserting himself. A man of fashion does not suppose himself to be either + the sole or principal object of the thoughts, looks, or words of the + company; and never suspects that he is either slighted or laughed at, + unless he is conscious that he deserves it. And if (which very seldom + happens) the company is absurd or ill-bred enough to do either, he does + not care twopence, unless the insult be so gross and plain as to require + satisfaction of another kind. As he is above trifles, he is never vehement + and eager about them; and, wherever they are concerned, rather acquiesces + than wrangles. A vulgar man’s conversation always savors strongly of the + lowness of his education and company. It turns chiefly upon his domestic + affairs, his servants, the excellent order he keeps in his own family, and + the little anecdotes of the neighborhood; all which he relates with + emphasis, as interesting matters. He is a man gossip. + </p> + <p> + Vulgarism in language is the next and distinguishing characteristic of bad + company and a bad education. A man of fashion avoids nothing with more + care than that. Proverbial expressions and trite sayings are the flowers + of the rhetoric of a vulgar man. Would he say that men differ in their + tastes; he both supports and adorns that opinion by the good old saying, + as he respectfully calls it, that WHAT IS ONE MAN’S MEAT, IS ANOTHER MAN’S + POISON. If anybody attempts being SMART, as he calls it, upon him, he + gives them TIT FOR TAT, aye, that he does. He has always some favorite + word for the time being; which, for the sake of using often, he commonly + abuses. Such as VASTLY angry, VASTLY kind, VASTLY handsome, and VASTLY + ugly. Even his pronunciation of proper words carries the mark of the beast + along with it. He calls the earth YEARTH; he is OBLEIGED, not OBLIGED to + you. He goes TO WARDS, and not TOWARDS, such a place. He sometimes affects + hard words, by way of ornament, which he always mangles like a learned + woman. A man of fashion never has recourse to proverbs and vulgar + aphorisms; uses neither favorite words nor hard words; but takes great + care to speak very correctly and grammatically, and to pronounce properly; + that is, according to the usage of the best companies. + </p> + <p> + An awkward address, ungraceful attitudes and actions, and a certain + left-handedness (if I may use that word), loudly proclaim low education + and low company; for it is impossible to suppose that a man can have + frequented good company, without having catched something, at least, of + their air and motions. A new raised man is distinguished in a regiment by + his awkwardness; but he must be impenetrably dull, if, in a month or two’s + time, he cannot perform at least the common manual exercise, and look like + a soldier. The very accoutrements of a man of fashion are grievous + encumbrances to a vulgar man. He is at a loss what to do with his hat, + when it is not upon his head; his cane (if unfortunately he wears one) is + at perpetual war with every cup of tea or coffee he drinks; destroys them + first, and then accompanies them in their fall. His sword is formidable + only to his own legs, which would possibly carry him fast enough out of + the way of any sword but his own. His clothes fit him so ill, and + constrain him so much, that he seems rather, their prisoner than their + proprietor. He presents himself in company like a criminal in a court of + justice; his very air condemns him; and people of fashion will no more + connect themselves with the one, than people of character will with the + other. This repulse drives and sinks him into low company; a gulf from + whence no man, after a certain age, ever emerged. + </p> + <p> + ‘Les manieres nobles et aisees, la tournure d’un homme de condition, le + ton de la bonne compagnie, les graces, le jeune sais quoi, qui plait’, are + as necessary to adorn and introduce your intrinsic merit and knowledge, as + the polish is to the diamond; which, without that polish, would never be + worn, whatever it might weigh. Do not imagine that these accomplishments + are only useful with women; they are much more so with men. In a public + assembly, what an advantage has a graceful speaker, with genteel motions, + a handsome figure, and a liberal air, over one who shall speak full as + much good sense, but destitute of these ornaments? In business, how + prevalent are the graces, how detrimental is the want of them? By the help + of these I have known some men refuse favors less offensively than others + granted them. The utility of them in courts and negotiations is + inconceivable. You gain the hearts, and consequently the secrets, of nine + in ten, that you have to do with, in spite even of their prudence; which + will, nine times in ten, be the dupe of their hearts and of their senses. + Consider the importance of these things as they deserve, and you will not + lose one minute in the pursuit of them. + </p> + <p> + You are traveling now in a country once so famous both for arts and arms, + that (however degenerate at present) it still deserves your attention and + reflection. View it therefore with care, compare its former with its + present state, and examine into the causes of its rise and its decay. + Consider it classically and politically, and do not run through it, as too + many of your young countrymen do, musically, and (to use a ridiculous + word) KNICK-KNACKICALLY. No piping nor fiddling, I beseech you; no days + lost in poring upon almost imperceptible ‘intaglios and cameos’: and do + not become a virtuoso of small wares. Form a taste of painting, sculpture, + and architecture, if you please, by a careful examination of the works of + the best ancient and modern artists; those are liberal arts, and a real + taste and knowledge of them become a man of fashion very well. But, beyond + certain bounds, the man of taste ends, and the frivolous virtuoso begins. + </p> + <p> + Your friend Mendes, the good Samaritan, dined with me yesterday. He has + more good-nature and generosity than parts. However, I will show him all + the civilities that his kindness to you so justly deserves. He tells me + that you are taller than I am, which I am very glad of: I desire that you + may excel me in everything else too; and, far from repining, I shall + rejoice at your superiority. He commends your friend Mr. Stevens + extremely; of whom too I have heard so good a character from other people, + that I am very glad of your connection with him. It may prove of use to + you hereafter. When you meet with such sort of Englishmen abroad, who, + either from their parts or their rank, are likely to make a figure at + home, I would advise you to cultivate them, and get their favorable + testimony of you here, especially those who are to return to England + before you. Sir Charles Williams has puffed you (as the mob call it) here + extremely. If three or four more people of parts do the same, before you + come back, your first appearance in London will be to great advantage. + Many people do, and indeed ought, to take things upon trust; many more do, + who need not; and few dare dissent from an established opinion. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0086" id="link2H_4_0086"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 2, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I received by the last post your letter of the 22d September, N. + S., but I have not received that from Mr. Harte to which you refer, and + which you say contained your reasons for leaving Verona, and returning to + Venice; so that I am entirely ignorant of them. Indeed the irregularity + and negligence of the post provoke me, as they break the thread of the + accounts I want to receive from you, and of the instructions and orders + which I send you, almost every post. Of these last twenty posts. + </p> + <p> + I am sure that I have wrote eighteen, either to you or to Mr. Harte, and + it does not appear by your letter, that all or even any of my letters have + been received. I desire for the future, that both you and Mr. Harte will + constantly, in your letters, mention the dates of mine. Had it not been + for their miscarriage, you would not have, been in the uncertainty you + seem to be in at present, with regard to your future motions. Had you + received my letters, you would have been by this time at Naples: but we + must now take things where they are. + </p> + <p> + Upon the receipt, then, of this letter, you will as soon as conveniently + you can, set out for Rome; where you will not arrive too long before the + jubilee, considering the difficulties of getting lodgings, and other + accommodations there at this time. I leave the choice of the route to you; + but I do by no means intend that you should leave Rome after the jubilee, + as you seem to hint in your letter: on the contrary, I will have Rome your + headquarters for six months at least; till you shall have, in a manner, + acquired the ‘Jus Civitatis’ there. More things are to be seen and learned + there, than in any other town in Europe; there are the best masters to + instruct, and the best companies to polish you. In the spring you may make + (if you please) frequent excursions to Naples; but Rome must still be your + headquarters, till the heats of June drive you from thence to some other + place in Italy, which we shall think of by that time. As to the expense + which you mention, I do not regard it in the least; from your infancy to + this day, I never grudged any expense in your education, and still less do + it now, that it is become more important and decisive: I attend to the + objects of your expenses, but not to the sums. I will certainly not pay + one shilling for your losing your nose, your money, or your reason; that + is, I will not contribute to women, gaming, and drinking. But I will most + cheerfully supply, not only every necessary, but every decent expense you + can make. I do not care what the best masters cost. I would have you as + well dressed, lodged, and attended, as any reasonable man of fashion is in + his travels. I would have you have that pocket-money that should enable + you to make the proper expense ‘d’un honnete homme’. In short, I bar no + expense, that has neither vice nor folly for its object; and under those + two reasonable restrictions, draw, and welcome. + </p> + <p> + As for Turin, you may go there hereafter, as a traveler, for a month or + two; but you cannot conveniently reside there as an academician, for + reasons which I have formerly communicated to Mr. Harte, and which Mr. + Villettes, since his return here, has shown me in a still stronger light + than he had done by his letters from Turin, of which I sent copies to Mr. + Harte, though probably he never received them. + </p> + <p> + After you have left Rome, Florence is one of the places with which you + should be thoroughly acquainted. I know that there is a great deal of + gaming there; but, at the same time, there are in every place some people + whose fortunes are either too small, or whose understandings are too good + to allow them to play for anything above trifles; and with those people + you will associate yourself, if you have not (as I am assured you have + not, in the least) the spirit of gaming in you. Moreover, at suspected + places, such as Florence, Turin, and Paris, I shall be more attentive to + your draughts, and such as exceed a proper and handsome expense will not + be answered; for I can easily know whether you game or not without being + told. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte will determine your route to Rome as he shall think best; + whether along the coast of the Adriatic, or that of the Mediterranean, it + is equal to me; but you will observe to come back a different way from + that you went. + </p> + <p> + Since your health is so well restored, I am not sorry that you have + returned to Venice, for I love capitals. Everything is best at capitals; + the best masters, the best companions, and the best manners. Many other + places are worth seeing, but capitals only are worth residing at. I am + very glad that Madame Capello received you so well. Monsieur I was sure + would: pray assure them both of my respects, and of my sensibility of + their kindness to you. Their house will be a very good one for you at + Rome; and I would advise you to be domestic in it if you can. But Madame, + I can tell you, requires great attentions. Madame Micheli has written a + very favorable account of you to my friend the Abbe Grossa Testa, in a + letter which he showed me, and in which there are so many civil things to + myself, that I would wish to tell her how much I think myself obliged to + her. I approve very much of the allotment of your time at Venice; pray go + on so for a twelvemonth at least, wherever you are. You will find your own + account in it. + </p> + <p> + I like your last letter, which gives me an account of yourself, and your + own transactions; for though I do not recommend the EGOTISM to you, with + regard to anybody else, I desire that you will use it with me, and with me + only. I interest myself in all that you do; and as yet (excepting Mr. + Harte) nobody else does. He must of course know all, and I desire to know + a great deal. + </p> + <p> + I am glad you have received, and that you like the diamond buckles. I am + very willing that you should make, but very unwilling that you should CUT + a figure with them at the jubilee; the CUTTING A FIGURE being the very + lowest vulgarism in the English language; and equal in elegancy to Yes, my + Lady, and No, my Lady. The word VAST and VASTLY, you will have found by my + former letter that I had proscribed out of the diction of a gentleman, + unless in their proper signification of sizes and BULK. Not only in + language, but in everything else, take great care that the first + impressions you give of yourself may be not only favorable, but pleasing, + engaging, nay, seducing. They are often decisive; I confess they are a + good deal so with me: and I cannot wish for further acquaintance with a + man whose first ‘abord’ and address displease me. + </p> + <p> + So many of my letters have miscarried, and I know so little which, that I + am forced to repeat the same thing over and over again eventually. This is + one. I have wrote twice to Mr. Harte, to have your picture drawn in + miniature, while you were at Venice; and send it me in a letter: it is all + one to me whether in enamel or in watercolors, provided it is but very + like you. I would have you drawn exactly as you are, and in no whimsical + dress: and I lay more stress upon the likeness of the picture, than upon + the taste and skill of the painter. If this be not already done, I desire + that you will have it done forthwith before you leave Venice; and inclose + it in a letter to me, which letter, for greater security, I would have you + desire Sir James Gray to inclose in his packet to the office; as I, for + the same, reason, send this under his cover. If the picture be done upon + vellum, it will be the most portable. Send me, at the same time, a thread + of silk of your own length exactly. I am solicitous about your figure; + convinced, by a thousand instances, that a good one is a real advantage. + ‘Mens sana in corpore sano’, is the first and greatest blessing. I would + add ‘et pulchro’, to complete it. May you have that and every other! + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + Have you received my letters of recommendation to Cardinal Albani and the + Duke de Nivernois, at Rome? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0087" id="link2H_4_0087"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 9, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: If this letter finds you at all, of which I am very doubtful, it + will find you at Venice, preparing for your journey to Rome; which, by my + last letter to Mr. Harte, I advised you to make along the coast of the + Adriatic, through Rimini, Loretto, Ancona, etc., places that are all worth + seeing; but not worth staying at. And such I reckon all places where the + eyes only are employed. Remains of antiquity, public buildings, paintings, + sculptures, etc., ought to be seen, and that with a proper degree of + attention; but this is soon done, for they are only outsides. It is not so + with more important objects; the insides of which must be seen; and they + require and deserve much more attention. The characters, the heads, and + the hearts of men, are the useful science of which I would have you + perfect master. That science is best taught and best learned in capitals, + where every human passion has its object, and exerts all its force or all + its art in the pursuit. I believe there is no place in the world, where + every passion is busier, appears in more shapes, and is conducted with + more art, than at Rome. Therefore, when you are there, do not imagine that + the Capitol, the Vatican, and the Pantheon, are the principal objects of + your curiosity. But for one minute that you bestow upon those, employ ten + days in informing yourself of the nature of that government, the rise and + decay of the papal power, the politics of that court, the ‘Brigues’ of the + cardinals, the tricks of the Conclaves; and, in general, everything that + relates to the interior of that extraordinary government, founded + originally upon the ignorance and superstition of mankind, extended by the + weakness of some princes, and the ambition of others; declining of late in + proportion as knowledge has increased; and owing its present precarious + security, not to the religion, the affection, or the fear of the temporal + powers, but to the jealousy of each other. The Pope’s excommunications are + no longer dreaded; his indulgences little solicited, and sell very cheap; + and his territories formidable to no power, are coveted by many, and will, + most undoubtedly, within a century, be scantled out among the great + powers, who have now a footing in Italy, whenever they can agree upon the + division of the bear’s skin. Pray inform yourself thoroughly of the + history of the popes and the popedom; which, for many centuries, is + interwoven with the history of all Europe. Read the best authors who treat + of these matters, and especially Fra Paolo, ‘De Beneficiis’, a short, but + very material book. You will find at Rome some of all the religious orders + in the Christian world. Inform yourself carefully of their origin, their + founders, their rules, their reforms, and even their dresses: get + acquainted with some of all of them, but particularly with the Jesuits; + whose society I look upon to be the most able and best governed society in + the world. Get acquainted, if you can, with their General, who always + resides at Rome; and who, though he has no seeming power out of his own + society, has (it may be) more real influence over the whole world, than + any temporal prince in it. They have almost engrossed the education of + youth; they are, in general, confessors to most of the princes of Europe; + and they are the principal missionaries out of it; which three articles + give them a most extensive influence and solid advantages; witness their + settlement in Paraguay. The Catholics in general declaim against that + society; and yet are all governed by individuals of it. They have, by + turns, been banished, and with infamy, almost every country in Europe; and + have always found means to be restored, even with triumph. In short, I + know no government in the world that is carried on upon such deep + principles of policy, I will not add morality. Converse with them, + frequent them, court them; but know them. + </p> + <p> + Inform yourself, too, of that infernal court, the Inquisition; which, + though not so considerable at Rome as in Spain and Portugal, will, + however, be a good sample to you of what the villainy of some men can + contrive, the folly of others receive, and both together establish, in + spite of the first natural principles of reason, justice, and equity. + </p> + <p> + These are the proper and useful objects of the attention of a man of + sense, when he travels; and these are the objects for which I have sent + you abroad; and I hope you will return thoroughly informed of them. + </p> + <p> + I receive this very moment Mr. Harte’s letter of the 1st October, N. S., + but I never received his former, to which he refers in this, and you refer + in your last; in which he gave me the reasons for your leaving Verona so + soon; nor have I ever received that letter in which your case was stated + by your physicians. Letters to and from me have worse luck than other + people’s; for you have written to me, and I to you, for these last three + months, by way of Germany, with as little success as before. + </p> + <p> + I am edified with your morning applications, and your evening gallantries + at Venice, of which Mr. Harte gives me an account. Pray go on with both + there, and afterward at Rome; where, provided you arrive in the beginning + of December, you may stay at Venice as much longer as you please. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Sir James Gray and Mr. Smith, with my + acknowledgments for the great civilities they show you. + </p> + <p> + I wrote to Mr. Harte by the last post, October the 6th, O. S., and will + write to him in a post or two upon the contents of his last. Adieu! ‘Point + de distractions’; and remember the GRACES. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0088" id="link2H_4_0088"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 17, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have at last received Mr. Harte’s letter of the 19th + September, N. S., from Verona. Your reasons for leaving that place were + very good ones; and as you stayed there long enough to see what was to be + seen, Venice (as a capital) is, in my opinion, a much better place for + your residence. Capitals are always the seats of arts and sciences, and + the best companies. I have stuck to them all my lifetime, and I advise you + to do so too. + </p> + <p> + You will have received in my three or four last letters my directions for + your further motions to another capital, where I propose that your stay + shall be pretty considerable. The expense, I am well aware, will be so + too; but that, as I told you before, will have no weight when your + improvement and advantage are in the other scale. I do not care a groat + what it is, if neither vice nor folly are the objects of it, and if Mr. + Harte gives his sanction. + </p> + <p> + I am very well pleased with your account of Carniola; those are the kind + of objects worthy of your inquiries and knowledge. The produce, the taxes, + the trade, the manufactures, the strength, the weakness, the government of + the several countries which a man of sense travels through, are the + material points to which he attends; and leaves the steeples, the + market-places, and the signs, to the laborious and curious researches of + Dutch and German travelers. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte tells me, that he intends to give you, by means of Signor + Vicentini, a general notion of civil and military architecture; with which + I am very well pleased. They are frequent subjects of conversation; and it + is very right that you should have some idea of the latter, and a good + taste of the former; and you may very soon learn as much as you need know + of either. If you read about one-third of Palladio’s book of architecture + with some skillful person, and then, with that person, examine the best + buildings by those rules, you will know the different proportions of the + different orders; the several diameters of their columns; their + intercolumniations, their several uses, etc. The Corinthian Order is + chiefly used in magnificent buildings, where ornament and decoration are + the principal objects; the Doric is calculated for strength, and the Ionic + partakes of the Doric strength, and of the Corinthian ornaments. The + Composite and the Tuscan orders are more modern, and were unknown to the + Greeks; the one is too light, the other too clumsy. You may soon be + acquainted with the considerable parts of civil architecture; and for the + minute and mechanical parts of it, leave them to masons, bricklayers, and + Lord Burlington, who has, to a certain extent, lessened himself by knowing + them too well. Observe the same method as to military architecture; + understand the terms, know the general rules, and then see them in + execution with some skillful person. Go with some engineer or old officer, + and view with care the real fortifications of some strong place; and you + will get a clearer idea of bastions, half-moons, horn-works, ravelins, + glacis, etc., than all the masters in the world could give you upon paper. + And thus much I would, by all means, have you know of both civil and + military architecture. + </p> + <p> + I would also have you acquire a liberal taste of the two liberal arts of + painting and sculpture; but without descending into those minutia, which + our modern virtuosi most affectedly dwell upon. Observe the great parts + attentively; see if nature be truly represented; if the passions are + strongly expressed; if the characters are preserved; and leave the + trifling parts, with their little jargon, to affected puppies. I would + advise you also, to read the history of the painters and sculptors, and I + know none better than Felibien’s. There are many in Italian; you will + inform yourself which are the best. It is a part of history very + entertaining, curious enough, and not quite useless. All these sort of + things I would have you know, to a certain degree; but remember, that they + must only be the amusements, and not the business of a man of parts. + </p> + <p> + Since writing to me in German would take up so much of your time, of which + I would not now have one moment wasted, I will accept of your composition, + and content myself with a moderate German letter once a fortnight, to Lady + Chesterfield or Mr. Gravenkop. My meaning was only that you should not + forget what you had already learned of the German language and character; + but, on the contrary, that by frequent use it should grow more easy and + familiar. Provided you take care of that, I do not care by what means: but + I do desire that you will every day of your life speak German to somebody + or other (for you will meet with Germans enough), and write a line or two + of it every day to keep your hand in. Why should you not (for instance) + write your little memorandums and accounts in that language and character? + by which, too, you would have this advantage into the bargain, that, if + mislaid, few but yourself could read them. + </p> + <p> + I am extremely glad to hear that you like the assemblies at Venice well + enough to sacrifice some suppers to them; for I hear that you do not + dislike your suppers neither. It is therefore plain, that there is + somebody or something at those assemblies, which you like better than your + meat. And as I know that there is none but good company at those + assemblies, I am very glad to find that you like good company so well. I + already imagine that you are a little, smoothed by it; and that you have + either reasoned yourself, or that they have laughed you out of your + absences and DISTRACTIONS; for I cannot suppose that you go there to + insult them. I likewise imagine, that you wish to be welcome where you + wish to go; and consequently, that you both present and behave yourself + there ‘en galant homme, et pas in bourgeois’. + </p> + <p> + If you have vowed to anybody there one of those eternal passions which I + have sometimes known, by great accident, last three months, I can tell you + that without great attention, infinite politeness, and engaging air and + manners, the omens will be sinister, and the goddess unpropitious. Pray + tell me what are the amusements of those assemblies? Are they little + commercial play, are they music, are they ‘la belle conversation’, or are + they all three? ‘Y file-t-on le parfait amour? Y debite-t-on les beaux + sentimens? Ou est-ce yu’on y parle Epigramme? And pray which is your + department? ‘Tutis depone in auribus’. Whichever it is, endeavor to shine + and excel in it. Aim at least at the perfection of everything that is + worth doing at all; and you will come nearer it than you would imagine; + but those always crawl infinitely short of it whose aim is only + mediocrity. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + P. S. By an uncommon diligence of the post, I have this moment received + yours of the 9th, N. S. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0089" id="link2H_4_0089"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 24, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: By my last I only acknowledged, by this I answer, your letter of + the 9th October, N. S. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that you approved of my letter of September the 12th, O. + S., because it is upon that footing that I always propose living with you. + I will advise you seriously, as a friend of some experience, and I will + converse with you cheerfully as a companion; the authority of a parent + shall forever be laid aside; for, wherever it is exerted, it is useless; + since, if you have neither sense nor sentiments enough to follow my advice + as a friend, your unwilling obedience to my orders as a father will be a + very awkward and unavailing one both to yourself and me. Tacitus, speaking + of an army that awkwardly and unwillingly obeyed its generals only from + the fear of punishment, says, they obeyed indeed, ‘Sed ut qua mallent + jussa Imperatorum interpretari, quam exequi’. For my own part, I disclaim + such obedience. + </p> + <p> + You think, I find, that you do not understand Italian; but I can tell you, + that, like the ‘Bourgeois Gentilhomme’, who spoke prose without knowing + it, you understand a great deal, though you do not know that you do; for + whoever understands French and Latin so well as you do, understands at + least half the Italian language, and has very little occasion for a + dictionary. And for the idioms, the phrases, and the delicacies of it, + conversation and a little attention will teach them you, and that soon; + therefore, pray speak it in company, right or wrong, ‘a tort ou a + travers’, as soon as ever you have got words enough to ask a common + question, or give a common answer. If you can only say ‘buon giorno’, say + it, instead of saying ‘bon jour’, I mean to every Italian; the answer to + it will teach you more words, and insensibly you will be very soon master + of that easy language. You are quite right in not neglecting your German + for it, and in thinking that it will be of more use to you; it certainly + will, in the course of your business; but Italian has its use too, and is + an ornament into the bargain; there being many very polite and good + authors in that language. The reason you assign for having hitherto met + with none of my swarms of Germans in Italy, is a very solid one; and I can + easily conceive, that the expense necessary for a traveler must amount to + a number of thalers, groschen, and kreutzers, tremendous to a German + fortune. However, you will find several at Rome, either ecclesiastics, or + in the suite of the Imperial Minister; and more, when you come into the + Milanese, among the Queen of Hungary’s officers. Besides, you have a Saxon + servant, to whom I hope you speak nothing but German. + </p> + <p> + I have had the most obliging letter in the world from Monsieur Capello, in + which he speaks very advantageously of you, and promises you his + protection at Rome. I have wrote him an answer by which I hope I have + domesticated you at his hotel there; which I advise you to frequent as + much as you can. ‘Il est vrai qui’il ne paie pas beaucaup de sa figure’; + but he has sense and knowledge at bottom, with a great experience of + business, having been already Ambassador at Madrid, Vienna, and London. + And I am very sure that he will be willing to give you any informations, + in that way, that he can. + </p> + <p> + Madame was a capricious, whimsical, fine lady, till the smallpox, which + she got here, by lessening her beauty, lessened her humors too; but, as I + presume it did not change her sex, I trust to that for her having such a + share of them left, as may contribute to smooth and polish you. She, + doubtless, still thinks that she has beauty enough remaining to entitle + her to the attentions always paid to beauty; and she has certainly rank + enough to require respect. Those are the sort of women who polish a young + man the most, and who give him that habit of complaisance, and that + flexibility and versatility of manners which prove of great use to him + with men, and in the course of business. + </p> + <p> + You must always expect to hear, more or less, from me, upon that important + subject of manners, graces, address, and that undefinable ‘je ne sais + quoi’ that ever pleases. I have reason to believe that you want nothing + else; but I have reason to fear too, that you want those: and that want + will keep you poor in the midst of all the plenty of knowledge which you + may have treasured up. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0090" id="link2H_4_0090"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 3, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: From the time that you have had life, it has been the principle + and favorite object of mine, to make you as perfect as the imperfections + of human nature will allow: in this view, I have grudged no pains nor + expense in your education; convinced that education, more than nature, is + the cause of that great difference which you see in the characters of men. + While you were a child, I endeavored to form your heart habitually to + virtue and honor, before your understanding was capable of showing you + their beauty and utility. Those principles, which you then got, like your + grammar rules, only by rote, are now, I am persuaded, fixed and confirmed + by reason. And indeed they are so plain and clear, that they require but a + very moderate degree of understanding, either to comprehend or practice + them. Lord Shaftesbury says, very prettily, that he would be virtuous for + his own sake, though nobody were to know it; as he would be clean for his + own sake, though nobody were to see him. I have therefore, since you have + had the use of your reason, never written to you upon those subjects: they + speak best for themselves; and I should now just as soon think of warning + you gravely not to fall into the dirt or the fire, as into dishonor or + vice. This view of mine, I consider as fully attained. My next object was + sound and useful learning. My own care first, Mr. Harte’s afterward, and + OF LATE (I will own it to your praise) your own application, have more + than answered my expectations in that particular; and, I have reason to + believe, will answer even my wishes. All that remains for me then to wish, + to recommend, to inculcate, to order, and to insist upon, is + good-breeding; without which, all your other qualifications will be lame, + unadorned, and to a certain degree unavailing. And here I fear, and have + too much reason to believe, that you are greatly deficient. The remainder + of this letter, therefore, shall be (and it will not be the last by a + great many) upon that subject. + </p> + <p> + A friend of yours and mine has very justly defined good-breeding to be, + THE RESULT OF MUCH GOOD SENSE, SOME GOOD NATURE, AND A LITTLE SELF-DENIAL + FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS, AND WITH A VIEW TO OBTAIN THE SAME INDULGENCE FROM + THEM. Taking this for granted (as I think it cannot be disputed), it is + astonishing to me that anybody who has good sense and good nature (and I + believe you have both), can essentially fail in good-breeding. As to the + modes of it, indeed, they vary according to persons, and places, and + circumstances; and are only to be acquired by observation and experience: + but the substance of it is everywhere and eternally the same. Good manners + are, to particular societies, what good morals are to society in general; + their cement and their security. And, as laws are enacted to enforce good + morals, or at least to prevent the ill effects of bad ones; so there are + certain rules of civility, universally implied and received, to enforce + good manners and punish bad ones. And, indeed, there seems to me to be + less difference, both between the crimes and between the punishments than + at first one would imagine. The immoral man, who invades another man’s + property, is justly hanged for it; and the ill-bred man, who, by his + ill-manners, invades and disturbs the quiet and comforts of private life, + is by common consent as justly banished society. Mutual complaisances, + attentions, and sacrifices of little conveniences, are as natural an + implied compact between civilized people, as protection and obedience are + between kings and subjects; whoever, in either case, violates that + compact, justly forfeits all advantages arising from it. For my own part, + I really think, that next to the consciousness of doing a good action, + that of doing a civil one is the most pleasing; and the epithet which I + should covet the most, next to that of Aristides, would be that of + well-bred. Thus much for good-breeding in general; I will now consider + some of the various modes and degrees of it. + </p> + <p> + Very few, scarcely any, are wanting in the respect which they should show + to those whom they acknowledge to be infinitely their superiors; such as + crowned heads, princes, and public persons of distinguished and eminent + posts. It is the manner of showing that respect which is different. The + man of fashion and of the world, expresses it in its fullest extent; but + naturally, easily, and without concern: whereas a man, who is not used to + keep good company, expresses it awkwardly; one sees that he is not used to + it, and that it costs him a great deal: but I never saw the worst-bred man + living guilty of lolling, whistling, scratching his head, and such-like + indecencies, in company that he respected. In such companies, therefore, + the only point to be attended to is to show that respect, which everybody + means to show, in an easy, unembarrassed, and graceful manner. This is + what observation and experience must teach you. + </p> + <p> + In mixed companies, whoever is admitted to make part of them, is, for the + time at least, supposed to be upon a footing of equality with the rest: + and consequently, as there is no one principal object of awe and respect, + people are apt to take a greater latitude in their behavior, and to be + less upon their guard; and so they may, provided it be within certain + bounds, which are upon no occasion to be transgressed. But, upon these + occasions, though no one is entitled to distinguished marks of respect, + everyone claims, and very justly, every mark of civility and + good-breeding. Ease is allowed, but carelessness and negligence are + strictly forbidden. If a man accosts you, and talks to you ever so dully + or frivolously, it is worse than rudeness, it is brutality, to show him, + by a manifest inattention to what he says, that you think him a fool or a + blockhead, and not worth hearing. It is much more so with regard to women; + who, of whatever rank they are, are entitled, in consideration of their + sex, not only to an attentive, but an officious good-breeding from men. + Their little wants, likings, dislikes, preferences, antipathies, fancies, + whims, and even impertinencies, must be officiously attended to, + flattered, and, if possible, guessed at and anticipated by a well-bred + man. You must never usurp to yourself those conveniences and ‘agremens’ + which are of common right; such as the best places, the best dishes, etc., + but on the contrary, always decline them yourself, and offer them to + others; who, in their turns, will offer them to you; so that, upon the + whole, you will in your turn enjoy your share of the common right. It + would be endless for me to enumerate all the particular instances in which + a well-bred man shows his good-breeding in good company; and it would be + injurious to you to suppose that your own good sense will not point them + out to you; and then your own good-nature will recommend, and your + self-interest enforce the practice. + </p> + <p> + There is a third sort of good-breeding, in which people are the most apt + to fail, from a very mistaken notion that they cannot fail at all. I mean + with regard to one’s most familiar friends and acquaintances, or those who + really are our inferiors; and there, undoubtedly, a greater degree of ease + is not only allowed, but proper, and contributes much to the comforts of a + private, social life. But that ease and freedom have their bounds too, + which must by no means be violated. A certain degree of negligence and + carelessness becomes injurious and insulting, from the real or supposed + inferiority of the persons: and that delightful liberty of conversation + among a few friends is soon destroyed, as liberty often has been, by being + carried to licentiousness. But example explains things best, and I will + put a pretty strong case. Suppose you and me alone together; I believe you + will allow that I have as good a right to unlimited freedom in your + company, as either you or I can possibly have in any other; and I am apt + to believe too, that you would indulge me in that freedom as far as + anybody would. But, notwithstanding this, do you imagine that I should + think there were no bounds to that freedom? I assure you, I should not + think so; and I take myself to be as much tied down by a certain degree of + good manners to you, as by other degrees of them to other people. Were I + to show you, by a manifest inattention to what you said to me, that I was + thinking of something else the whole time; were I to yawn extremely, + snore, or break wind in your company, I should think that I behaved myself + to you like a beast, and should not expect that you would care to frequent + me. No. The most familiar and intimate habitudes, connections, and + friendships, require a degree of good-breeding, both to preserve and + cement them. If ever a man and his wife, or a man and his mistress, who + pass nights as well as days together, absolutely lay aside all + good-breeding, their intimacy will soon degenerate into a coarse + familiarity, infallibly productive of contempt or disgust. The best of us + have our bad sides, and it is as imprudent, as it is ill-bred, to exhibit + them. I shall certainly not use ceremony with you; it would be misplaced + between us: but I shall certainly observe that degree of good-breeding + with you, which is, in the first place, decent, and which I am sure is + absolutely necessary to make us like one another’s company long. + </p> + <p> + I will say no more, now, upon this important subject of good-breeding, + upon which I have already dwelt too long, it may be, for one letter; and + upon which I shall frequently refresh your memory hereafter; but I will + conclude with these axioms: + </p> + <p> + That the deepest learning, without good-breeding, is unwelcome and + tiresome pedantry, and of use nowhere but in a man’s own closet; and + consequently of little or no use at all. + </p> + <p> + That a man, Who is not perfectly well-bred, is unfit for good company and + unwelcome in it; will consequently dislike it soon, afterward renounce it; + and be reduced to solitude, or, what is worse, low and bad company. + </p> + <p> + That a man who is not well-bred, is full as unfit for business as for + company. + </p> + <p> + Make then, my dear child, I conjure you, good-breeding the great object of + your thoughts and actions, at least half the day. Observe carefully the + behavior and manners of those who are distinguished by their + good-breeding; imitate, nay, endeavor to excel, that you may at least + reach them; and be convinced that good-breeding is, to all worldly + qualifications, what charity is to all Christian virtues. Observe how it + adorns merit, and how often it covers the want of it. May you wear it to + adorn, and not to cover you! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0091" id="link2H_4_0091"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER LXXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 14, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: There is a natural good-breeding which occurs to every man of + common sense, and is practiced by every man, of common good-nature. This + good-breeding is general, independent of modes, and consists in endeavors + to please and oblige our fellow-creatures by all good offices, short of + moral duties. This will be practiced by a good-natured American savage, as + essentially as by the best-bred European. But then, I do not take it to + extend to the sacrifice of our own conveniences, for the sake of other + people’s. Utility introduced this sort of good-breeding as it introduced + commerce; and established a truck of the little ‘agremens’ and pleasures + of life. I sacrifice such a conveniency to you, you sacrifice another to + me; this commerce circulates, and every individual finds his account in it + upon the whole. The third sort of good-breeding is local, and is variously + modified, in not only different countries, but in different towns of the + same country. But it must be founded upon the two former sorts; they are + the matter to which, in this case, fashion and custom only give the + different shapes and impressions. Whoever has the two first sorts will + easily acquire this third sort of good-breeding, which depends singly upon + attention and observation. It is, properly, the polish, the lustre, the + last finishing stroke of good-breeding. It is to be found only in + capitals, and even there it varies; the good-breeding of Rome differing, + in some things, from that of Paris; that of Paris, in others, from that of + Madrid; and that of Madrid, in many things, from that of London. A man of + sense, therefore, carefully attends to the local manners of the respective + places where he is, and takes for his models those persons whom he + observes to be at the head of fashion and good-breeding. He watches how + they address themselves to their superiors, how they accost their equals, + and how they treat their inferiors; and lets none of those little niceties + escape him which are to good-breeding what the last delicate and masterly + touches are to a good picture; and of which the vulgar have no notion, but + by which good judges distinguish the master. He attends even to their air, + dress, and motions, and imitates them, liberally, and not servilely; he + copies, but does not mimic. These personal graces are of very great + consequence. They anticipate the sentiments, before merit can engage the + understanding; they captivate the heart, and give rise, I believe, to the + extravagant notions of charms and philters. Their effects were so + surprising, that they were reckoned supernatural. The most graceful and + best-bred men, and the handsomest and genteelest women, give the most + philters; and, as I verily believe, without the least assistance of the + devil. Pray be not only well dressed, but shining in your dress; let it + have ‘du brillant’. I do not mean by a clumsy load of gold and silver, but + by the taste and fashion of it. The women like and require it; they think + it an attention due to them; but, on the other hand, if your motions and + carriage are not graceful, genteel, and natural, your fine clothes will + only display your awkwardness the more. But I am unwilling to suppose you + still awkward; for surely, by this time, you must have catched a good air + in good company. When you went from hence you were naturally awkward; but + your awkwardness was adventitious and Westmonasterial. Leipsig, I + apprehend, is not the seat of the Graces; and I presume you acquired none + there. But now, if you will be pleased to observe what people of the first + fashion do with their legs and arms, heads and bodies, you will reduce + yours to certain decent laws of motion. You danced pretty well here, and + ought to dance very well before you come home; for what one is obliged to + do sometimes, one ought to be able to do well. Besides, ‘la belle danse + donne du brillant a un jeune homme’. And you should endeavor to shine. A + calm serenity, negative merit and graces, do not become your age. You + should be ‘alerte, adroit, vif’; be wanted, talked of, impatiently + expected, and unwillingly parted with in company. I should be glad to hear + half a dozen women of fashion say, ‘Ou est donc le petit Stanhope? due ne + vient-il? Il faut avouer qu’il est aimable’. All this I do not mean singly + with regard to women as the principal object; but, with regard to men, and + with a view of your making yourself considerable. For with very small + variations, the same things that please women please men; and a man whose + manners are softened and polished by women of fashion, and who is formed + by them to an habitual attention and complaisance, will please, engage, + and connect men, much easier and more than he would otherwise. You must be + sensible that you cannot rise in the world, without forming connections, + and engaging different characters to conspire in your point. You must make + them your dependents without their knowing it, and dictate to them while + you seem to be directed by them. Those necessary connections can never be + formed, or preserved, but by an uninterrupted series of complaisance, + attentions, politeness, and some constraint. You must engage their hearts, + if you would have their support; you must watch the ‘mollia tempora’, and + captivate them by the ‘agremens’ and charms of conversation. People will + not be called out to your service, only when you want them; and, if you + expect to receive strength from them, they must receive either pleasure or + advantage from you. + </p> + <p> + I received in this instant a letter from Mr. Harte, of the 2d N. S., which + I will answer soon; in the meantime, I return him my thanks for it, + through you. The constant good accounts which he gives me of you, will + make me suspect him of partiality, and think him ‘le medecin tant mieux’. + Consider, therefore, what weight any future deposition of his against you + must necessarily have with me. As, in that case, he will be a very + unwilling, he must consequently be a very important witness. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0092" id="link2H_4_0092"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XC + </h2> + <p> + DEAR Boy: My last was upon the subject of good-breeding; but I think it + rather set before you the unfitness and disadvantages of ill-breeding, + than the utility and necessity of good; it was rather negative than + positive. This, therefore, should go further, and explain to you the + necessity, which you, of all people living, lie under, not only of being + positively and actively well-bred, but of shining and distinguishing + yourself by your good-breeding. Consider your own situation in every + particular, and judge whether it is not essentially your interest, by your + own good-breeding to others, to secure theirs to you and that, let me + assure you, is the only way of doing it; for people will repay, and with + interest too, inattention with inattention, neglect with neglect, and ill + manners with worse: which may engage you in very disagreeable affairs. In + the next place, your profession requires, more than any other, the nicest + and most distinguished good-breeding. You will negotiate with very little + success, if you do not previously, by your manners, conciliate and engage + the affections of those with whom you are to negotiate. Can you ever get + into the confidence and the secrets of the courts where you may happen to + reside, if you have not those pleasing, insinuating manners, which alone + can procure them? Upon my word, I do not say too much, when I say that + superior good-breeding, insinuating manners, and genteel address, are half + your business. Your knowledge will have but very little influence upon the + mind, if your manners prejudice the heart against you; but, on the other + hand, how easily will you DUPE the understanding, where you have first + engaged the heart? and hearts are by no means to be gained by that mere + common civility which everybody practices. Bowing again to those who bow + to you, answering dryly those who speak to you, and saying nothing + offensive to anybody, is such negative good-breeding that it is only not + being a brute; as it would be but a very poor commendation of any man’s + cleanliness to say that he did not stink. It is an active, cheerful, + officious, seducing, good-breeding that must gain you the good-will and + first sentiments of men, and the affections of the women. You must + carefully watch and attend to their passions, their tastes, their little + humors and weaknesses, and ‘aller au devant’. You must do it at the same + time with alacrity and ‘empressement’, and not as if you graciously + condescended to humor their weaknesses. + </p> + <p> + For instance, suppose you invited anybody to dine or sup with you, you + ought to recollect if you had observed that they had any favorite dish, + and take care to provide it for them; and when it came you should say, You + SEEMED TO ME, AT SUCH AND SUCH A PLACE, TO GIVE THIS DISH A PREFERENCE, + AND THEREFORE I ORDERED IT; THIS IS THE WINE THAT I OBSERVED YOU LIKED, + AND THEREFORE I PROCURED SOME. The more trifling these things are, the + more they prove your attention for the person, and are consequently the + more engaging. Consult your own breast, and recollect how these little + attentions, when shown you by others, flatter that degree of self-love and + vanity from which no man living is free. Reflect how they incline and + attract you to that person, and how you are propitiated afterward to all + which that person says or does. The same causes will have the same effects + in your favor. Women, in a great degree, establish or destroy every man’s + reputation of good-breeding; you must, therefore, in a manner, overwhelm + them with these attentions: they are used to them, they expect them, and, + to do them justice, they commonly requite them. You must be sedulous, and + rather over officious than under, in procuring them their coaches, their + chairs, their conveniences in public places: not see what you should not + see; and rather assist, where you cannot help seeing. Opportunities of + showing these attentions present themselves perpetually; but if they do + not, make them. As Ovid advises his lover, when he sits in the Circus near + his mistress, to wipe the dust off her neck, even if there be none: ‘Si + nullus, tamen excute nullum’. Your conversation with women should always + be respectful; but, at the same time, enjoue, and always addressed to + their vanity. Everything you say or do should convince them of the regard + you have (whether you have it or not) for their beauty, their wit, or + their merit. Men have possibly as much vanity as women, though of another + kind; and both art and good-breeding require, that, instead of mortifying, + you should please and flatter it, by words and looks of approbation. + Suppose (which is by no means improbable) that, at your return to England, + I should place you near the person of some one of the royal family; in + that situation, good-breeding, engaging address, adorned with all the + graces that dwell at courts, would very probably make you a favorite, and, + from a favorite, a minister; but all the knowledge and learning in the + world, without them, never would. The penetration of princes seldom goes + deeper than the surface. + </p> + <p> + It is the exterior that always engages their hearts; and I would never + advise you to give yourself much trouble about their understanding. + Princes in general (I mean those ‘Porphyrogenets’ who are born and bred in + purple) are about the pitch of women; bred up like them, and are to be + addressed and gained in the same manner. They always see, they seldom + weigh. Your lustre, not your solidity, must take them; your inside will + afterward support and secure what your outside has acquired. With weak + people (and they undoubtedly are three parts in four of mankind) + good-breeding, address, and manners are everything; they can go no deeper; + but let me assure you that they are a great deal even with people of the + best understandings. Where the eyes are not pleased, and the heart is not + flattered, the mind will be apt to stand out. Be this right or wrong, I + confess I am so made myself. Awkwardness and ill-breeding shock me to that + degree, that where I meet with them, I cannot find in my heart to inquire + into the intrinsic merit of that person—I hastily decide in myself + that he can have none; and am not sure that I should not even be sorry to + know that he had any. I often paint you in my imagination, in your present + ‘lontananza’, and, while I view you in the light of ancient and modern + learning, useful and ornamental knowledge, I am charmed with the prospect; + but when I view you in another light, and represent you awkward, + ungraceful, ill-bred, with vulgar air and manners, shambling toward me + with inattention and DISTRACTIONS, I shall not pretend to describe to you + what I feel; but will do as a skillful painter did formerly—draw a + veil before the countenance of the father. + </p> + <p> + I dare say you know already enough of architecture, to know that the + Tuscan is the strongest and most solid of all the orders; but at the same + time, it is the coarsest and clumsiest of them. Its solidity does + extremely well for the foundation and base floor of a great edifice; but + if the whole building be Tuscan, it will attract no eyes, it will stop no + passengers, it will invite no interior examination; people will take it + for granted that the finishing and furnishing cannot be worth seeing, + where the front is so unadorned and clumsy. But if, upon the solid Tuscan + foundation, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian orders rise gradually + with all their beauty, proportions, and ornaments, the fabric seizes the + most incurious eye, and stops the most careless passenger; who solicits + admission as a favor, nay, often purchases it. Just so will it fare with + your little fabric, which, at present, I fear, has more of the Tuscan than + of the Corinthian order. You must absolutely change the whole front, or + nobody will knock at the door. The several parts, which must compose this + new front, are elegant, easy, natural, superior good-breeding; an engaging + address; genteel motions; an insinuating softness in your looks, words, + and actions; a spruce, lively air, fashionable dress; and all the glitter + that a young fellow should have. + </p> + <p> + I am sure you would do a great deal for my sake; and therefore consider at + your return here, what a disappointment and concern it would be to me, if + I could not safely depute you to do the honors of my house and table; and + if I should be ashamed to present you to those who frequent both. Should + you be awkward, inattentive, and distrait, and happen to meet Mr. L——-at + my table, the consequences of that meeting must be fatal; you would run + your heads against each other, cut each other’s fingers, instead of your + meat, or die by the precipitate infusion of scalding soup. + </p> + <p> + This is really so copious a subject, that there is no end of being either + serious or ludicrous upon it. It is impossible, too, to enumerate or state + to you the various cases in good-breeding; they are infinite; there is no + situation or relation in the world so remote or so intimate, that does not + require a degree of it. Your own good sense must point it out to you; your + own good-nature must incline, and your interest prompt you to practice it; + and observation and experience must give you the manner, the air and the + graces which complete the whole. + </p> + <p> + This letter will hardly overtake you, till you are at or near Rome. I + expect a great deal in every way from your six months’ stay there. My + morning hopes are justly placed in Mr. Harte, and the masters he will give + you; my evening ones, in the Roman ladies: pray be attentive to both. But + I must hint to you, that the Roman ladies are not ‘les femmes savantes, et + ne vous embrasseront point pour Pamour du Grec. They must have ‘ilgarbato, + il leggiadro, it disinvolto, il lusinghiero, quel non so che, che piace, + che alletta, che incanta’. + </p> + <p> + I have often asserted, that the profoundest learning and the politest + manners were by no means incompatible, though so seldom found united in + the same person; and I have engaged myself to exhibit you, as a proof of + the truth of this assertion. Should you, instead of that, happen to + disprove me, the concern indeed would be mine, but the loss will be yours. + Lord Bolingbroke is a strong instance on my side of the question; he joins + to the deepest erudition, the most elegant politeness and good-breeding + that ever any courtier and man of the world was adorned with. And Pope + very justly called him “All-accomplished St. John,” with regard to his + knowledge and his manners. He had, it is true, his faults; which proceeded + from unbounded ambition, and impetuous passions; but they have now + subsided by age and experience; and I can wish you nothing better than to + be, what he is now, without being what he has been formerly. His address + pre-engages, his eloquence persuades, and his knowledge informs all who + approach him. Upon the whole, I do desire, and insist, that from after + dinner till you go to bed, you make good-breeding, address, and manners, + your serious object and your only care. Without them, you will be nobody; + with them, you may be anything. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my dear child! My compliments to Mr. Harte. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0093" id="link2H_4_0093"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 24, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR Boy: Every rational being (I take it for granted) proposes to himself + some object more important than mere respiration and obscure animal + existence. He desires to distinguish himself among his fellow-creatures; + and, ‘alicui negotio intentus, prreclari facinoris, aut artis bonae, faman + quaerit’. Caesar, when embarking in a storm, said, that it was not + necessary he should live; but that it was absolutely necessary he should + get to the place to which he was going. And Pliny leaves mankind this only + alternative; either of doing what deserves to be written, or of writing + what deserves to be read. As for those who do neither, ‘eorum vitam + mortemque juxta aestumo; quoniam de utraque siletur’. You have, I am + convinced, one or both of these objects in view; but you must know and use + the necessary means, or your pursuit will be vain and frivolous. In either + case, ‘Sapere est princihium et fons’; but it is by no means all. That + knowledge must be adorned, it must have lustre as well as weight, or it + will be oftener taken, for lead than for gold. Knowledge you have, and + will have: I am easy upon that article. But my business, as your friend, + is not to compliment you upon what you have, but to tell you with freedom + what you want; and I must tell you plainly, that I fear you want + everything but knowledge. + </p> + <p> + I have written to you so often, of late, upon good-breeding, address, ‘les + manieres liantes’, the Graces, etc., that I shall confine this letter to + another subject, pretty near akin to them, and which, I am sure, you are + full as deficient in; I mean Style. + </p> + <p> + Style is the dress of thoughts; and let them be ever so just, if your + style is homely, coarse, and vulgar, they will appear to as much + disadvantage, and be as ill received as your person, though ever so well + proportioned, would, if dressed in rags, dirt, and tatters. It is not + every understanding that can judge of matter; but every ear can and does + judge, more or less, of style: and were I either to speak or write to the + public, I should prefer moderate matter, adorned with all the beauties and + elegancies of style, to the strongest matter in the world, ill-worded and + ill-delivered. Your business is negotiation abroad, and oratory in the + House of Commons at home. What figure can you make, in either case, if + your style be inelegant, I do not say bad? Imagine yourself writing an + office-letter to a secretary of state, which letter is to be read by the + whole Cabinet Council, and very possibly afterward laid before parliament; + any one barbarism, solecism, or vulgarism in it, would, in a very few + days, circulate through the whole kingdom, to your disgrace and ridicule. + For instance, I will suppose you had written the following letter from The + Hague to the Secretary of State at London; and leave you to suppose the + consequences of it: + </p> + <p> + MY LORD: I HAD, last night, the honor of your Lordship’s letter of the + 24th; and will SET ABOUT DOING the orders contained THEREIN; and IF so BE + that I can get that affair done by the next post, I will not fail FOR TO + give your Lordship an account of it by NEXT POST. I have told the French + Minister, AS HOW THAT IF that affair be not soon concluded, your Lordship + would think it ALL LONG OF HIM; and that he must have neglected FOR TO + have wrote to his court about it. I must beg leave to put your Lordship in + mind AS HOW, that I am now full three quarter in arrear; and if SO BE that + I do not very soon receive at least one half year, I shall CUT A VERY BAD + FIGURE; FOR THIS HERE place is very dear. I shall be VASTLY BEHOLDEN to + your Lordship for THAT THERE mark of your favor; and so I REST or REMAIN, + Your, etc. + </p> + <p> + You will tell me, possibly, that this is a caricatura of an illiberal and + inelegant style: I will admit it; but assure you, at the same time, that a + dispatch with less than half these faults would blow you up forever. It is + by no means sufficient to be free from faults, in speaking and writing; + but you must do both correctly and elegantly. In faults of this kind, it + is not ‘ille optimus qui minimis arguetur’; but he is unpardonable who has + any at all, because it is his own fault: he need only attend to, observe, + and imitate the best authors. + </p> + <p> + It is a very true saying, that a man must be born a poet, but that he may + make himself an orator; and the very first principle of an orator is to + speak his own language, particularly, with the utmost purity and elegance. + A man will be forgiven even great errors in a foreign language; but in his + own, even the least slips are justly laid hold of and ridiculed. + </p> + <p> + A person of the House of Commons, speaking two years ago upon naval + affairs; asserted, that we had then the finest navy UPON THE FACE OF THE + YEARTH. This happy mixture of blunder and vulgarism, you may easily + imagine, was matter of immediate ridicule; but I can assure you that it + continues so still, and will be remembered as long as he lives and speaks. + Another, speaking in defense of a gentleman, upon whom a censure was + moved, happily said that he thought that gentleman was more LIABLE to be + thanked and rewarded, than censured. You know, I presume, that LIABLE can + never be used in a good sense. + </p> + <p> + You have with you three or four of the best English authors, Dryden, + Atterbury, and Swift; read them with the utmost care, and with a + particular view to their language, and they may possibly correct that + CURIOUS INFELICITY OF DICTION, which you acquired at Westminster. Mr. + Harte excepted, I will admit that you have met with very few English + abroad, who could improve your style; and with many, I dare say, who speak + as ill as yourself, and, it may be, worse; you must, therefore, take the + more pains, and consult your authors and Mr. Harte the more. I need not + tell you how attentive the Romans and Greeks, particularly the Athenians, + were to this object. It is also a study among the Italians and the French; + witness their respective academies and dictionaries for improving and + fixing their languages. To our shame be it spoken, it is less attended to + here than in any polite country; but that is no reason why you should not + attend to it; on the contrary, it will distinguish you the more. Cicero + says, very truly, that it is glorious to excel other men in that very + article, in which men excel brutes; SPEECH. + </p> + <p> + Constant experience has shown me, that great purity and elegance of style, + with a graceful elocution, cover a multitude of faults, in either a + speaker or a writer. For my own part, I confess (and I believe most people + are of my mind) that if a speaker should ungracefully mutter or stammer + out to me the sense of an angel, deformed by barbarism and solecisms, or + larded with vulgarisms, he should never speak to me a second time, if I + could help it. Gain the heart, or you gain nothing; the eyes and the ears + are the only roads to the heart. Merit and knowledge will not gain hearts, + though they will secure them when gained. Pray, have that truth ever in + your mind. Engage the eyes by your address, air, and motions; soothe the + ears by the elegance and harmony of your diction; the heart will certainly + follow; and the whole man, or woman, will as certainly follow the heart. I + must repeat it to you, over and over again, that with all the knowledge + which you may have at present, or hereafter acquire, and with all merit + that ever man had, if you have not a graceful address, liberal and + engaging manners, a prepossessing air, and a good degree of eloquence in + speaking and writing; you will be nobody; but will have the daily + mortification of seeing people, with not one-tenth part of your merit or + knowledge, get the start of you, and disgrace you, both in company and in + business. + </p> + <p> + You have read “Quintilian,” the best book in the world to form an orator; + pray read ‘Cicero de Oratore’, the best book in the world to finish one. + Translate and retranslate from and to Latin, Greek, and English; make + yourself a pure and elegant English style: it requires nothing but + application. I do not find that God has made you a poet; and I am very + glad that he has not: therefore, for God’s sake, make yourself an orator, + which you may do. Though I still call you boy, I consider you no longer as + such; and when I reflect upon the prodigious quantity of manure that has + been laid upon you, I expect that you should produce more at eighteen, + than uncultivated soils do at eight-and-twenty. + </p> + <p> + Pray tell Mr. Harte that I have received his letter of the 13th, N. S. Mr. + Smith was much in the right not to let you go, at this time of the year, + by sea; in the summer you may navigate as much as you please; as, for + example, from Leghorn to Genoa, etc. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0094" id="link2H_4_0094"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 27, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: While the Roman Republic flourished, while glory was pursued, + and virtue practiced, and while even little irregularities and + indecencies, not cognizable by law, were, however, not thought below the + public care, censors were established, discretionally to supply, in + particular cases, the inevitable defects of the law, which must and can + only be general. This employment I assume to myself with regard to your + little republic, leaving the legislative power entirely to Mr. Harte; I + hope, and believe, that he will seldom, or rather never, have occasion to + exert his supreme authority; and I do by no means suspect you of any + faults that may require that interposition. But, to tell you the plain + truth, I am of opinion that my censorial power will not be useless to you, + nor a sinecure to me. The sooner you make it both, the better for us both. + I can now exercise this employment only upon hearsay, or, at most, written + evidence; and therefore shall exercise it with great lenity and some + diffidence; but when we meet, and that I can form my judgment upon ocular + and auricular evidence, I shall no more let the least impropriety, + indecorum, or irregularity pass uncensured, than my predecessor Cato did. + I shall read you with the attention of a critic, not with the partiality + of an author: different in this respect, indeed, from most critics, that I + shall seek for faults only to correct and not to expose them. I have often + thought, and still think, that there are few things which people in + general know less, than how to love and how to hate. They hurt those they + love by a mistaken indulgence, by a blindness, nay, often by a partiality + to their faults. Where they hate they hurt themselves, by ill-timed + passion and rage. Fortunately for you, I never loved you in that mistaken + manner. From your infancy, I made you the object of my most serious + attention, and not my plaything. I consulted your real good, not your + humors or fancies; and I shall continue to do so while you want it, which + will probably be the case during our joint lives; for, considering the + difference of our ages, in the course of nature, you will hardly have + acquired experience enough of your own, while I shall be in condition of + lending you any of mine. People in general will much better bear being, + told of their vices or crimes, than of their little failings and + weaknesses. They, in some degree, justify or excuse (as they think) the + former, by strong passions, seductions, and artifices of others, but to be + told of, or to confess, their little failings and weaknesses, implies an + inferiority of parts, too mortifying to that self-love and vanity, which + are inseparable from our natures. I have been intimate enough with several + people to tell them that they had said or done a very criminal thing; but + I never was intimate enough with any man, to tell him, very seriously, + that he had said or done a very foolish one. Nothing less than the + relation between you and me can possibly authorize that freedom; but + fortunately for you, my parental rights, joined to my censorial powers, + give it me in its fullest extent, and my concern for you will make me + exert it. Rejoice, therefore, that there is one person in the world who + can and will tell you what will be very useful to you to know, and yet + what no other man living could or would tell you. Whatever I shall tell + you of this kind, you are very sure, can have no other motive than your + interest; I can neither be jealous nor envious of your reputation or + fortune, which I must be both desirous and proud to establish and promote; + I cannot be your rival either in love or in business; on the contrary, I + want the rays of your rising to reflect new lustre upon my setting light. + In order to this, I shall analyze you minutely, and censure you freely, + that you may not (if possible) have one single spot, when in your + meridian. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing that a young fellow, at his first appearance in the + world, has more reason to dread, and consequently should take more pains + to avoid, than having any ridicule fixed upon him. It degrades him with + the most reasonable part of mankind; but it ruins him with the rest; and I + have known many a man undone by acquiring a ridiculous nickname: I would + not, for all the riches in the world, that you should acquire one when you + return to England. Vices and crimes excite hatred and reproach; failings, + weaknesses, and awkwardnesses, excite ridicule; they are laid hold of by + mimics, who, though very contemptible wretches themselves, often, by their + buffoonery, fix ridicule upon their betters. The little defects in + manners, elocution, address, and air (and even of figure, though very + unjustly), are the objects of ridicule, and the causes of nicknames. You + cannot imagine the grief it would give me, and the prejudice it would do + you, if, by way of distinguishing you from others of your name, you should + happen to be called Muttering Stanhope, Absent Stanhope, Ill-bred + Stanhope, or Awkward, Left-legged Stanhope: therefore, take great care to + put it out of the power of Ridicule itself to give you any of these + ridiculous epithets; for, if you get one, it will stick to you, like the + envenomed shirt. The very first day that I see you, I shall be able to + tell you, and certainly shall tell you, what degree of danger you are in; + and I hope that my admonitions, as censor, may prevent the censures of the + public. Admonitions are always useful; is this one or not? You are the + best judge; it is your own picture which I send you, drawn, at my request, + by a lady at Venice: pray let me know how far, in your conscience, you + think it like; for there are some parts of it which I wish may, and + others, which I should be sorry were. I send you, literally, the copy of + that part of her letter, to her friend here, which relates to you.—[In + compliance to your orders, I have examined young Stanhope carefully, and + think I have penetrated into his character. This is his portrait, which I + take to be a faithful one. His face is pleasing, his countenance sensible, + and his look clever. His figure is at present rather too square; but if he + shoots up, which he has matter and years for, he will then be of a good + size. He has, undoubtedly, a great fund of acquired knowledge; I am + assured that he is master of the learned languages. As for French, I know + he speaks it perfectly, and, I am told, German as well. The questions he + asks are judicious; and denote a thirst after knowledge. I cannot say that + he appears equally desirous of pleasing, for he seems to neglect + attentions and the graces. He does not come into a room well, nor has he + that easy, noble carriage, which would be proper for him. It is true, he + is as yet young and inexperienced; one may therefore reasonably hope that + his exercises, which he has not yet gone through, and good company, in + which he is still a novice, will polish, and give all that is wanting to + complete him. What seems necessary for that purpose, would, be an + attachment to some woman of fashion, and who knows the world. Some Madame + de l’Ursay would be the proper person. In short, I can assure you, that he + has everything which Lord Chesterfield can wish him, excepting that + carriage, those graces, and the style used in the best company; which he + will certainly acquire in time, and by frequenting the polite world. If he + should not, it would be great pity, since he so well deserves to possess + them. You know their importance. My Lord, his father, knows it too, he + being master of them all. To conclude, if little Stanhope acquires the + graces, I promise you he will make his way; if not, he will be stopped in + a course, the goal of which he might attain with honor.] + </p> + <p> + Tell Mr. Harte that I have this moment received his letter of the 22d, N. + S., and that I approve extremely of the long stay you have made at Venice. + I love long residences at capitals; running post through different places + is a most unprofitable way of traveling, and admits of no application. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + You see, by this extract, of what consequence other people think these + things. Therefore, I hope you will no longer look upon them as trifles. It + is the character of an able man to despise little things in great + business: but then he knows what things are little, and what not. He does + not suppose things are little, because they are commonly called so: but by + the consequences that may or may not attend them. If gaining people’s + affections, and interesting their hearts in your favor, be of consequence, + as it undoubtedly is, he knows very well that a happy concurrence of all + those, commonly called little things, manners, air, address, graces, etc., + is of the utmost consequence, and will never be at rest till he has + acquired them. The world is taken by the outside of things, and we must + take the world as it is; you nor I cannot set it right. I know, at this + time, a man of great quality and station, who has not the parts of a + porter; but raised himself to the station he is in, singly by having a + graceful figure, polite manners, and an engaging address; which, by the + way, he only acquired by habit; for he had not sense enough to get them by + reflection. Parts and habit should conspire to complete you. You will have + the habit of good company, and you have reflection in your power. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0095" id="link2H_4_0095"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 5, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Those who suppose that men in general act rationally, because + they are called rational creatures, know very little of the world, and if + they act themselves upon that supposition, will nine times in ten find + themselves grossly mistaken. That man is, ‘animal bipes, implume, + risibile’, I entirely agree; but for the ‘rationale’, I can only allow it + him ‘in actu primo’ (to talk logic) and seldom in ‘actu secundo’. Thus, + the speculative, cloistered pedant, in his solitary cell, forms systems of + things as they should be, not as they are; and writes as decisively and + absurdly upon war, politics, manners, and characters, as that pedant + talked, who was so kind as to instruct Hannibal in the art of war. Such + closet politicians never fail to assign the deepest motives for the most + trifling actions; instead of often ascribing the greatest actions to the + most trifling causes, in which they would be much seldomer mistaken. They + read and write of kings, heroes, and statesmen, as never doing anything + but upon the deepest principles of sound policy. But those who see and + observe kings, heroes, and statesmen, discover that they have headaches, + indigestions, humors, and passions, just like other people; everyone of + which, in their turns, determine their wills, in defiance of their reason. + Had we only read in the “Life of Alexander,” that he burned Persepolis, it + would doubtless have been accounted for from deep policy: we should have + been told, that his new conquest could not have been secured without the + destruction of that capital, which would have been the constant seat of + cabals, conspiracies, and revolts. But, luckily, we are informed at the + same time, that this hero, this demi-god, this son and heir of Jupiter + Ammon, happened to get extremely drunk with his w—-e; and, by way of + frolic, destroyed one of the finest cities in the world. Read men, + therefore, yourself, not in books but in nature. Adopt no systems, but + study them yourself. Observe their weaknesses, their passions, their + humors, of all which their understandings are, nine times in ten, the + dupes. You will then know that they are to be gained, influenced, or led, + much oftener by little things than by great ones; and, consequently, you + will no longer think those things little, which tend to such great + purposes. + </p> + <p> + Let us apply this now to the particular object of this letter; I mean, + speaking in, and influencing public assemblies. The nature of our + constitution makes eloquence more useful, and more necessary, in this + country than in any other in Europe. A certain degree of good sense and + knowledge is requisite for that, as well as for everything else; but + beyond that, the purity of diction, the elegance of style, the harmony of + periods, a pleasing elocution, and a graceful action, are the things which + a public speaker should attend to the most; because his audience certainly + does, and understands them the best; or rather indeed understands little + else. The late Lord Chancellor Cowper’s strength as an orator lay by no + means in his reasonings, for he often hazarded very weak ones. But such + was the purity and elegance of his style, such the propriety and charms of + his elocution, and such the gracefulness of his action, that he never + spoke without universal applause; the ears and the eyes gave him up the + hearts and the understandings of the audience. On the contrary, the late + Lord Townshend always spoke materially, with argument and knowledge, but + never pleased. Why? His diction was not only inelegant, but frequently + ungrammatical, always vulgar; his cadences false, his voice unharmonious, + and his action ungraceful. Nobody heard him with patience; and the young + fellows used to joke upon him, and repeat his inaccuracies. The late Duke + of Argyle, though the weakest reasoner, was the most pleasing speaker I + ever knew in my life. He charmed, he warmed, he forcibly ravished the + audience; not by his matter certainly, but by his manner of delivering it. + A most genteel figure, a graceful, noble air, an harmonious voice, an + elegance of style, and a strength of emphasis, conspired to make him the + most affecting, persuasive, and applauded speaker I ever saw. I was + captivated like others; but when I came home, and coolly considered what + he had said, stripped of all those ornaments in which he had dressed it, I + often found the matter flimsy, the arguments weak, and I was convinced of + the power of those adventitious concurring circumstances, which ignorance + of mankind only calls trifling ones. Cicero, in his book ‘De Oratore’, in + order to raise the dignity of that profession which he well knew himself + to be at the head of, asserts that a complete orator must be a complete + everything, lawyer, philosopher, divine, etc. That would be extremely + well, if it were possible: but man’s life is not long enough; and I hold + him to be the completest orator, who speaks the best upon that subject + which occurs; whose happy choice of words, whose lively imagination, whose + elocution and action adorn and grace his matter, at the same time that + they excite the attention and engage the passions of his audience. + </p> + <p> + You will be of the House of Commons as soon as you are of age; and you + must first make a figure there, if you would make a figure, or a fortune, + in your country. This you can never do without that correctness and + elegance in your own language, which you now seem to neglect, and which + you have entirely to learn. Fortunately for you, it is to be learned. Care + and observation will do it; but do not flatter yourself, that all the + knowledge, sense, and reasoning in the world will ever make you a popular + and applauded speaker, without the ornaments and the graces of style, + elocution, and action. Sense and argument, though coarsely delivered, will + have their weight in a private conversation, with two or three people of + sense; but in a public assembly they will have none, if naked and + destitute of the advantages I have mentioned. Cardinal de Retz observes, + very justly, that every numerous assembly is a mob, influenced by their + passions, humors, and affections, which nothing but eloquence ever did or + ever can engage. This is so important a consideration for everybody in + this country, and more particularly for you, that I earnestly recommend it + to your most serious care and attention. Mind your diction, in whatever + language you either write or speak; contract a habit of correctness and + elegance. Consider your style, even in the freest conversation and most + familiar letters. After, at least, if not before, you have said a thing, + reflect if you could not have said it better. Where you doubt of the + propriety or elegance of a word or a phrase, consult some good dead or + living authority in that language. Use yourself to translate, from various + languages into English; correct those translations till they satisfy your + ear, as well as your understanding. And be convinced of this truth, that + the best sense and reason in the world will be as unwelcome in a public + assembly, without these ornaments, as they will in public companies, + without the assistance of manners and politeness. If you will please + people, you must please them in their own way; and, as you cannot make + them what they should be, you must take them as they are. I repeat it + again, they are only to be taken by ‘agremens’, and by what flatters their + senses and their hearts. Rabelais first wrote a most excellent book, which + nobody liked; then, determined to conform to the public taste, he wrote + Gargantua and Pantagruel, which everybody liked, extravagant as it was. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0096" id="link2H_4_0096"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 9, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: It is now above forty years since I have never spoken nor + written one single word, without giving myself at least one moment’s time + to consider whether it was a good or a bad one, and whether I could not + find out a better in its place. An unharmonious and rugged period, at this + time, shocks my ears; and I, like all the rest of the world, will + willingly exchange and give up some degree of rough sense, for a good + degree of pleasing sound. I will freely and truly own to you, without + either vanity or false modesty, that whatever reputation I have acquired + as a speaker, is more owing to my constant attention to my diction than to + my matter, which was necessarily just the same as other people’s. When you + come into parliament, your reputation as a speaker will depend much more + upon your words, and your periods, than upon the subject. The same matter + occurs equally to everybody of common sense, upon the same question; the + dressing it well, is what excites the attention and admiration of the + audience. + </p> + <p> + It is in parliament that I have set my heart upon your making a figure; it + is there that I want to have you justly proud of yourself, and to make me + justly proud of you. This means that you must be a good speaker there; I + use the word MUST, because I know you may if you will. The vulgar, who are + always mistaken, look upon a speaker and a comet with the same + astonishment and admiration, taking them both for preternatural phenomena. + This error discourages many young men from attempting that character; and + good speakers are willing to have their talent considered as something + very extraordinary, if not, a peculiar gift of God to his elect. But let + you and me analyze and simplify this good speaker; let us strip him of + those adventitious plumes with which his own pride, and the ignorance of + others, have decked him, and we shall find the true definition of him to + be no more than this: A man of good common sense who reasons justly and + expresses himself elegantly on that subject upon which he speaks. There + is, surely, no witchcraft in this. A man of sense, without a superior and + astonishing degree of parts, will not talk nonsense upon any subject; nor + will he, if he has the least taste or application, talk inelegantly. What + then does all this mighty art and mystery of speaking in parliament amount + to? Why, no more than this: that the man who speaks in the House of + Commons, speaks in that House, and to four hundred people, that opinion + upon a given subject which he would make no difficulty of speaking in any + house in England, round the fire, or at table, to any fourteen people + whatsoever; better judges, perhaps, and severer critics of what he says, + than any fourteen gentlemen of the House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + I have spoken frequently in parliament, and not always without some + applause; and therefore I can assure you, from my experience, that there + is very little in it. The elegance of the style, and the turn of the + periods, make the chief impression upon the hearers. Give them but one or + two round and harmonious periods in a speech, which they will retain and + repeat; and they will go home as well satisfied as people do from an + opera, humming all the way one or two favorite tunes that have struck + their ears, and were easily caught. Most people have ears, but few have + judgment; tickle those ears, and depend upon it, you will catch their + judgments, such as they are. + </p> + <p> + Cicero, conscious that he was at the top of his profession (for in his + time eloquence was a profession), in order to set himself off, defines in + his treatise ‘De Oratore’, an orator to be such a man as never was, nor + never will be; and, by his fallacious argument, says that he must know + every art and science whatsoever, or how shall he speak upon them? But, + with submission to so great an authority, my definition of an orator is + extremely different from, and I believe much truer than his. I call that + man an orator, who reasons justly, and expresses himself elegantly, upon + whatever subject he treats. Problems in geometry, equations in algebra, + processes in chemistry, and experiments in anatomy, are never, that I have + heard of, the object of eloquence; and therefore I humbly conceive, that a + man may be a very fine speaker, and yet know nothing of geometry, algebra, + chemistry, or anatomy. The subjects of all parliamentary debates are + subjects of common sense singly. + </p> + <p> + Thus I write whatever occurs to me, that I think may contribute either to + form or inform you. May my labor not be in vain! and it will not, if you + will but have half the concern for yourself that I have for you. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0097" id="link2H_4_0097"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON; December 12, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Lord Clarendon in his history says of Mr. John Hampden THAT HE + HAD A HEAD TO CONTRIVE, A TONGUE TO PERSUADE, AND A HAND TO EXECUTE ANY + MISCHIEF. I shall not now enter into the justness of this character of Mr. + Hampden, to whose brave stand against the illegal demand of ship-money we + owe our present liberties; but I mention it to you as the character, which + with the alteration of one single word, GOOD, instead of MISCHIEF, I would + have you aspire to, and use your utmost endeavors to deserve. The head to + contrive, God must to a certain degree have given you; but it is in your + own power greatly to improve it, by study, observation, and reflection. As + for the TONGUE TO PERSUADE, it wholly depends upon yourself; and without + it the best head will contrive to very little purpose. The hand to execute + depends likewise, in my opinion, in a great measure upon yourself. Serious + reflection will always give courage in a good cause; and the courage + arising from reflection is of a much superior nature to the animal and + constitutional courage of a foot soldier. The former is steady and + unshaken, where the ‘nodus’ is ‘dignus vindice’; the latter is oftener + improperly than properly exerted, but always brutally. + </p> + <p> + The second member of my text (to speak ecclesiastically) shall be the + subject of my following discourse; THE TONGUE TO PERSUADE—as + judicious, preachers recommend those virtues, which they think their + several audiences want the most; such as truth and continence, at court; + disinterestedness, in the city; and sobriety, in the country. + </p> + <p> + You must certainly, in the course of your little experience, have felt the + different effects of elegant and inelegant speaking. Do you not suffer, + when people accost you in a stammering or hesitating manner, in an + untuneful voice, with false accents and cadences; puzzling and blundering + through solecisms, barbarisms, and vulgarisms; misplacing even their bad + words, and inverting all method? Does not this prejudice you against their + matter, be it what it will; nay, even against their persons? I am sure it + does me. On the other hand, do you not feel yourself inclined, + prepossessed, nay, even engaged in favor of those who address you in the + direct contrary manner? The effects of a correct and adorned style of + method and perspicuity, are incredible toward persuasion; they often + supply the want of reason and argument, but, when used in the support of + reason and argument, they are irresistible. The French attend very much to + the purity and elegance of their style, even in common conversation; + insomuch that it is a character to say of a man ‘qu’il narre bien’. Their + conversations frequently turn upon the delicacies of their language, and + an academy is employed in fixing it. The ‘Crusca’, in Italy, has the same + object; and I have met with very few Italians, who did not speak their own + language correctly and elegantly. How much more necessary is it for an + Englishman to do so, who is to speak it in a public assembly, where the + laws and liberties of his country are the subjects of his deliberation? + The tongue that would persuade there, must not content itself with mere + articulation. You know what pains Demosthenes took to correct his + naturally bad elocution; you know that he declaimed by the seaside in + storms, to prepare himself for the noise of the tumultuous assemblies he + was to speak to; and you can now judge of the correctness and elegance of + his style. He thought all these things of consequence, and he thought + right; pray do you think so too? It is of the utmost consequence to you to + be of that opinion. If you have the least defect in your elocution, take + the utmost care and pains to correct it. Do not neglect your style, + whatever language you speak in, or whoever you speak to, were it your + footman. Seek always for the best words and the happiest expressions you + can find. Do not content yourself with being barely understood; but adorn + your thoughts, and dress them as you would your person; which, however + well proportioned it might be, it would be very improper and indecent to + exhibit naked, or even worse dressed than people of your sort are. + </p> + <p> + I have sent you in a packet which your Leipsig acquaintance, Duval, sends + to his correspondent at Rome, Lord Bolingbroke’s book,—[“Letters on + the Spirit of Patriotism,” on the Idea of a Patriot King which he + published about a year ago.]—I desire that you will read it over and + over again, with particular attention to the style, and to all those + beauties of oratory with which it is adorned. Till I read that book, I + confess I did not know all the extent and powers of the English language. + Lord Bolingbroke has both a tongue and a pen to persuade; his manner of + speaking in private conversation is full as elegant as his writings; + whatever subject he either speaks or writes upon, he adorns with the most + splendid eloquence; not a studied or labored eloquence, but such a flowing + happiness of diction, which (from care perhaps at first) is become so + habitual to him, that even his most familiar conversations, if taken down + in writing, would bear the press, without the least correction either as + to method or style. If his conduct, in the former part of his life, had + been equal to all his natural and acquired talents, he would most justly + have merited the epithet of all-accomplished. He is himself sensible of + his past errors: those violent passions which seduced him in his youth, + have now subsided by age; and take him as he is now, the character of + all-accomplished is more his due than any man’s I ever knew in my life. + </p> + <p> + But he has been a most mortifying instance of the violence of human + passions and of the weakness of the most exalted human reason. His virtues + and his vices, his reason and his passions, did not blend themselves by a + gradation of tints, but formed a shining and sudden contrast. Here the + darkest, there the most splendid colors; and both rendered more shining + from their proximity. Impetuosity, excess, and almost extravagance, + characterized not only his passions, but even his senses. His youth was + distinguished by all the tumult and storm of pleasures, in which he most + licentiously triumphed, disdaining all decorum. His fine imagination has + often been heated and exhausted, with his body, in celebrating and + deifying the prostitute of the night; and his convivial joys were pushed + to all the extravagance of frantic Bacchanals. Those passions were + interrupted but by a stronger ambition. The former impaired both his + constitution and his character, but the latter destroyed both his fortune + and his reputation. + </p> + <p> + He has noble and generous sentiments, rather than fixed reflected + principles of good nature and friendship; but they are more violent than + lasting, and suddenly and often varied to their opposite extremes, with + regard to the same persons. He receives the common attentions of civility + as obligations, which he returns with interest; and resents with passion + the little inadvertencies of human nature, which he repays with interest + too. Even a difference of opinion upon a philosophical subject would + provoke, and prove him no practical philosopher at least. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the dissipation of his youth, and the tumultuous agitation + of his middle age, he has an infinite fund of various and almost universal + knowledge, which, from the clearest and quickest conception, and happiest + memory, that ever man was blessed with, he always carries about him. It is + his pocket-money, and he never has occasion to draw upon a book for any + sum. He excels more particularly in history, as his historical works + plainly prove. The relative political and commercial interests of every + country in Europe, particularly of his own, are better known to him, than + perhaps to any man in it; but how steadily he has pursued the latter, in + his public conduct, his enemies, of all parties and denominations, tell + with joy. + </p> + <p> + He engaged young, and distinguished himself in business; and his + penetration was almost intuition. I am old enough to have heard him speak + in parliament. And I remember that, though prejudiced against him by + party, I felt all the force and charms of his eloquence. Like Belial in + Milton, “he made the worse appear the better cause.” All the internal and + external advantages and talents of an orator are undoubtedly his. Figure, + voice, elocution, knowledge, and, above all, the purest and most florid + diction, with the justest metaphors and happiest images, had raised him to + the post of Secretary at War, at four-and-twenty years old, an age at + which others are hardly thought fit for the smallest employments. + </p> + <p> + During his long exile in France, he applied himself to study with his + characteristical ardor; and there he formed and chiefly executed the plan + of a great philosophical work. The common bounds of human knowledge are + too narrow for his warm and aspiring imagination. He must go ‘extra + flammantia maenia Mundi’, and explore the unknown and unknowable regions + of metaphysics; which open an unbounded field for the excursion of an + ardent imagination; where endless conjectures supply the defect of + unattainable knowledge, and too often usurp both its name and its + influence. + </p> + <p> + He has had a very handsome person, with a most engaging address in his air + and manners; he has all the dignity and good-breeding which a man of + quality should or can have, and which so few, in this country at least, + really have. + </p> + <p> + He professes himself a deist; believing in a general Providence, but + doubting of, though by no means rejecting (as is commonly supposed) the + immortality of the soul and a future state. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, of this extraordinary man, what can we say, but, alas, + poor human nature! + </p> + <p> + In your destination, you will have frequent occasions to speak in public; + to princes and states abroad; to the House of Commons at home; judge, + then, whether eloquence is necessary for you or not; not only common + eloquence, which is rather free from faults than adorned by beauties; but + the highest, the most shining degree of eloquence. For God’s sake, have + this object always in your view and in your thoughts. Tune your tongue + early to persuasion; and let no jarring, dissonant accents ever fall from + it, Contract a habit of speaking well upon every occasion, and neglect + yourself in no one. Eloquence and good-breeding, alone, with an exceeding + small degree of parts and knowledge, will carry a man a great way; with + your parts and knowledge, then, how far will they not carry you? Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0098" id="link2H_4_0098"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 16, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR Boy: This letter will, I hope, find you safely arrived and well + settled at Rome, after the usual distresses and accidents of a winter + journey; which are very proper to teach you patience. Your stay there I + look upon as a very important period of your life; and I do believe that + you will fill it up well. I hope you will employ the mornings diligently + with Mr. Harte, in acquiring weight; and the evenings in the best + companies at Rome, in acquiring lustre. A formal, dull father, would + recommend to you to plod out the evenings, too, at home, over a book by a + dim taper; but I recommend to you the evenings for your pleasures, which + are as much a part of your education, and almost as necessary a one, as + your morning studies. Go to whatever assemblies or SPECTACLES people of + fashion go to, and when you are there do as they do. Endeavor to outshine + those who shine there the most, get the ‘Garbo’, the ‘Gentilezza’, the + ‘Leggeadria’ of the Italians; make love to the most impertinent beauty of + condition that you meet with, and be gallant with all the rest. Speak + Italian, right or wrong, to everybody; and if you do but laugh at yourself + first for your bad Italian, nobody else will laugh at you for it. That is + the only way to speak it perfectly; which I expect you will do, because I + am sure you may, before you leave Rome. View the most curious remains of + antiquity with a classical spirit; and they will clear up to you many + passages of the classical authors; particularly the Trajan and Antonine + Columns; where you find the warlike instruments, the dresses, and the + triumphal ornaments of the Romans. Buy also the prints and explanations of + all those respectable remains of Roman grandeur, and compare them with the + originals. Most young travelers are contented with a general view of those + things, say they are very fine, and then go about their business. I hope + you will examine them in a very different way. ‘Approfondissez’ everything + you see or hear; and learn, if you can, the WHY and the WHEREFORE. Inquire + into the meaning and the objects of the innumerable processions, which you + will see at Rome at this time. Assist at all the ceremonies, and know the + reason, or at least the pretenses of them, and however absurd they may be, + see and speak of them with great decency. Of all things, I beg of you not + to herd with your own countrymen, but to be always either with the Romans, + or with the foreign ministers residing at Rome. You are sent abroad to see + the manners and characters, and learn the languages of foreign countries; + and not to converse with English, in English; which would defeat all those + ends. Among your graver company, I recommend (as I have done before) the + Jesuits to you; whose learning and address will both please and improve + you; inform yourself, as much as you can, of the history, policy, and + practice of that society, from the time of its founder, Ignatius of + Loyola, who was himself a madman. If you would know their morality, you + will find it fully and admirably stated in ‘Les Lettres d’un Provincial’, + by the famous Monsieur Pascal; and it is a book very well worth your + reading. Few people see what they see, or hear what they hear; that is, + they see and hear so inattentively and superficially, that they are very + little the better for what they do see and hear. This, I dare say, neither + is, nor will be your case. You will understand, reflect upon, and + consequently retain, what you see and hear. You have still two years good, + but no more, to form your character in the world decisively; for, within + two months after your arrival in England, it will be finally and + irrevocably determined, one way or another, in the opinion of the public. + Devote, therefore, these two years to the pursuit of perfection; which + ought to be everybody’s object, though in some particulars unattainable; + those who strive and labor the most, will come the nearest to it. But, + above all things, aim at it in the two important arts of speaking and + pleasing; without them all your other talents are maimed and crippled. + They are the wings upon which you must soar above other people; without + them you will only crawl with the dull mass of mankind. Prepossess by your + air, address, and manners; persuade by your tongue; and you will easily + execute what your head has contrived. I desire that you will send me very + minute accounts from Rome, not of what you see, but, of who you see; of + your pleasures and entertainments. Tell me what companies you frequent + most, and how you are received. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0099" id="link2H_4_0099"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 19, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR BOY: The knowledge of mankind is a very use ful knowledge for + everybody; a most necessary one for you, who are destined to an active, + public life. You will have to do with all sorts of characters; you should, + therefore, know them thoroughly, in order to manage them ably. This + knowledge is not to be gotten systematically; you must acquire it yourself + by your own observation and sagacity; I will give you such hints as I + think may be useful land-marks in your intended progress. + </p> + <p> + I have often told you (and it is most true) that, with regard to mankind, + we must not draw general conclusions from certain particular principles, + though, in the main, true ones. We must not suppose that, because a man is + a rational animal, he will therefore always act rationally; or, because he + has such or such a predominant passion, that he will act invariably and + consequentially in the pursuit of it. No. We are complicated machines: and + though we have one main-spring, that gives motion to the whole, we have an + infinity of little wheels, which, in their turns, retard, precipitate, and + sometimes stop that motion. Let us exemplify. I will suppose ambition to + be (as it commonly is) the predominant passion of a minister of state; and + I will suppose that minister to be an able one. Will he, therefore, + invariably pursue the object of that predominant passion? May I be sure + that he will do so and so, because he ought? Nothing less. Sickness or low + spirits, may damp this predominant passion; humor and peevishness may + triumph over it; inferior passions may, at times, surprise it and prevail. + Is this ambitious statesman amorous? Indiscreet and unguarded confidences, + made in tender moments, to his wife or his mistress, may defeat all his + schemes. Is he avaricious? Some great lucrative object, suddenly + presenting itself, may unravel all the work of his ambition. Is he + passionate? Contradiction and provocation (sometimes, it may be, too, + artfully intended) may extort rash and inconsiderate expressions, or + actions destructive of his main object. Is he vain, and open to flattery? + An artful, flattering favorite may mislead him; and even laziness may, at + certain moments, make him neglect or omit the necessary steps to that + height at which he wants to arrive. Seek first, then, for the predominant + passion of the character which you mean to engage and influence, and + address yourself to it; but without defying or despising the inferior + passions; get them in your interest too, for now and then they will have + their turns. In many cases, you may not have it in your power to + contribute to the gratification of the prevailing passion; then take the + next best to your aid. There are many avenues to every man; and when you + cannot get at him through the great one, try the serpentine ones, and you + will arrive at last. + </p> + <p> + There are two inconsistent passions, which, however, frequently accompany + each other, like man and wife; and which, like man and wife too, are + commonly clogs upon each other. I mean ambition and avarice: the latter is + often the true cause of the former, and then is the predominant passion. + It seems to have been so in Cardinal Mazarin, who did anything, submitted + to anything, and forgave anything, for the sake of plunder. He loved and + courted power, like a usurer, because it carried profit along with it. + Whoever should have formed his opinion, or taken his measures, singly, + from the ambitious part of Cardinal Mazarin’s character, would have found + himself often mistaken. Some who had found this out, made their fortunes + by letting him cheat them at play. On the contrary, Cardinal Richelieu’s + prevailing passion seems to have been ambition, and his immense riches + only the natural consequences of that ambition gratified; and yet, I make + no doubt, but that ambition had now and then its turn with the former, and + avarice with the latter. Richelieu (by the way) is so strong a proof of + the inconsistency of human nature, that I cannot help observing to you, + that while he absolutely governed both his king and his country, and was, + in a great degree, the arbiter of the fate of all Europe, he was more + jealous of the great reputation of Corneille than of the power of Spain; + and more flattered with being thought (what he was not) the best poet, + than with being thought (what he certainly was) the greatest statesman in + Europe; and affairs stood still while he was concerting the criticism upon + the Cid. Could one think this possible, if one did not know it to be true? + Though men are all of one composition, the several ingredients are so + differently proportioned in each individual, that no two are exactly + alike; and no one at all times like himself. The ablest man will sometimes + do weak things; the proudest man, mean things; the honestest man, ill + things; and the wickedest man, good ones. Study individuals then, and if + you take (as you ought to do,) their outlines from their prevailing + passion, suspend your last finishing strokes till you have attended to, + and discovered the operations of their inferior passions, appetites, and + humors. A man’s general character may be that of the honestest man of the + world: do not dispute it; you might be thought envious or ill-natured; + but, at the same time, do not take this probity upon trust to such a + degree as to put your life, fortune, or reputation in his power. This + honest man may happen to be your rival in power, in interest, or in love; + three passions that often put honesty to most severe trials, in which it + is too often cast; but first analyze this honest man yourself; and then + only you will be able to judge how far you may, or may not, with safety + trust him. + </p> + <p> + Women are much more like each other than men: they have, in truth, but two + passions, vanity and love; these are their universal characteristics. An + Agrippina may sacrifice them to ambition, or a Messalina to lust; but + those instances are rare; and, in general, all they say, and all they do, + tends to the gratification of their vanity or their love. He who flatters + them most, pleases them best; and they are the most in love with him, who + they think is the most in love with them. No adulation is too strong for + them; no assiduity too great; no simulation of passion too gross; as, on + the other hand, the least word or action that can possibly be construed + into a slight or contempt, is unpardonable, and never forgotten. Men are + in this respect tender too, and will sooner forgive an injury than an + insult. Some men are more captious than others; some are always + wrongheaded; but every man living has such a share of vanity, as to be + hurt by marks of slight and contempt. Every man does not pretend to be a + poet, a mathematician, or a statesman, and considered as such; but every + man pretends to common sense, and to fill his place in the world with + common decency; and, consequently, does not easily forgive those + negligences, inattentions and slights which seem to call in question, or + utterly deny him both these pretensions. + </p> + <p> + Suspect, in general, those who remarkably affect any one virtue; who raise + it above all others, and who, in a manner, intimate that they possess it + exclusively. I say suspect them, for they are commonly impostors; but do + not be sure that they are always so; for I have sometimes known saints + really religious, blusterers really brave, reformers of manners really + honest, and prudes really chaste. Pry into the recesses of their hearts + yourself, as far as you are able, and never implicitly adopt a character + upon common fame; which, though generally right as to the great outlines + of characters, is always wrong in some particulars. + </p> + <p> + Be upon your guard against those who upon very slight acquaintance, + obtrude their unasked and unmerited friendship and confidence upon you; + for they probably cram you with them only for their own eating; but, at + the same time, do not roughly reject them upon that general supposition. + Examine further, and see whether those unexpected offers flow from a warm + heart and a silly head, or from a designing head and a cold heart; for + knavery and folly have often the same symptoms. In the first case, there + is no danger in accepting them, ‘valeant quantum valere possunt’. In the + latter case, it may be useful to seem to accept them, and artfully to turn + the battery upon him who raised it. + </p> + <p> + There is an incontinency of friendship among young fellows, who are + associated by their mutual pleasures only, which has, very frequently, bad + consequences. A parcel of warm hearts and inexperienced heads, heated by + convivial mirth, and possibly a little too much wine, vow, and really mean + at the time, eternal friendships to each other, and indiscreetly pour out + their whole souls in common, and without the least reserve. These + confidences are as indiscreetly repealed as they were made; for new + pleasures and new places soon dissolve this ill-cemented connection; and + then very ill uses are made of these rash confidences. Bear your part, + however, in young companies; nay, excel, if you can, in all the social and + convivial joy and festivity that become youth. Trust them with your love + tales, if you please; but keep your serious views secret. Trust those only + to some tried friend, more experienced than yourself, and who, being in a + different walk of life from you, is not likely to become your rival; for I + would not advise you to depend so much upon the heroic virtue of mankind, + as to hope or believe that your competitor will ever be your friend, as to + the object of that competition. + </p> + <p> + These are reserves and cautions very necessary to have, but very imprudent + to show; the ‘volto sciolto’ should accompany them. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0100" id="link2H_4_0100"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCVIII + </h2> + <p> + DEAR BOY: Great talents and great virtues (if you should have them) will + procure you the respect and the admiration of mankind; but it is the + lesser talents, the ‘leniores virtutes’, which must procure you their love + and affection. The former, unassisted and unadorned by the latter, will + extort praise; but will, at the same time, excite both fear and envy; two + sentiments absolutely incompatible with love and affection. + </p> + <p> + Caesar had all the great vices, and Cato all the great virtues, that men + could have. But Caesar had the ‘leniores virtutes’ which Cato wanted, and + which made him beloved, even by his enemies, and gained him the hearts of + mankind, in spite of their reason: while Cato was not even beloved by his + friends, notwithstanding the esteem and respect which they could not + refuse to his virtues; and I am apt to think, that if Caesar had wanted, + and Cato possessed, those ‘leniores virtutes’, the former would not have + attempted (at least with success), and the latter could have protected, + the liberties of Rome. Mr. Addison, in his “Cato,” says of Caesar (and I + believe with truth), + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Curse on his virtues, they’ve undone his country.” + </pre> + <p> + By which he means those lesser, but engaging virtues of gentleness, + affability, complaisance, and good humor. The knowledge of a scholar, the + courage of a hero, and the virtue of a Stoic, will be admired; but if the + knowledge be accompanied with arrogance, the courage with ferocity, and + the virtue with inflexible severity, the man will never be loved. The + heroism of Charles XII. of Sweden (if his brutal courage deserves that + name) was universally admired, but the man nowhere beloved. Whereas Henry + IV. of France, who had full as much courage, and was much longer engaged + in wars, was generally beloved upon account of his lesser and social + virtues. We are all so formed, that our understandings are generally the + DUPES of our hearts, that is, of our passions; and the surest way to the + former is through the latter, which must be engaged by the ‘leniores + virtutes’ alone, and the manner of exerting them. The insolent civility of + a proud man is (for example) if possible, more shocking than his rudeness + could be; because he shows you by his manner that he thinks it mere + condescension in him; and that his goodness alone bestows upon you what + you have no pretense to claim. He intimates his protection, instead of his + friendship, by a gracious nod, instead of a usual bow; and rather + signifies his consent that you may, than his invitation that you should + sit, walk, eat, or drink with him. + </p> + <p> + The costive liberality of a purse-proud man insults the distresses it + sometimes relieves; he takes care to make you feel your own misfortunes, + and the difference between your situation and his; both which he + insinuates to be justly merited: yours, by your folly; his, by his wisdom. + The arrogant pedant does not communicate, but promulgates his knowledge. + He does not give it you, but he inflicts it upon you; and is (if possible) + more desirous to show you your own ignorance than his own learning. Such + manners as these, not only in the particular instances which I have + mentioned, but likewise in all others, shock and revolt that little pride + and vanity which every man has in his heart; and obliterate in us the + obligation for the favor conferred, by reminding us of the motive which + produced, and the manner which accompanied it. + </p> + <p> + These faults point out their opposite perfections, and your own good sense + will naturally suggest them to you. + </p> + <p> + But besides these lesser virtues, there are what may be called the lesser + talents, or accomplishments, which are of great use to adorn and recommend + all the greater; and the more so, as all people are judges of the one, and + but few are of the other. Everybody feels the impression, which an + engaging address, an agreeable manner of speaking, and an easy politeness, + makes upon them; and they prepare the way for the favorable reception of + their betters. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0101" id="link2H_4_0101"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER XCIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 26, O. S. 1749. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The new year is the season in which custom seems more + particularly to authorize civil and harmless lies, under the name of + compliments. People reciprocally profess wishes which they seldom form; + and concern, which they seldom feel. This is not the case between you and + me, where truth leaves no room for compliments. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dii tibi dent annos, de to nam caetera sumes’, was said formerly to one + by a man who certainly did not think it. With the variation of one word + only, I will with great truth say it to you. I will make the first part + conditional by changing, in the second, the ‘nam’ into ‘si’. May you live + as long as you are fit to live, but no longer! or may you rather die + before you cease to be fit to live, than after! My true tenderness for you + makes me think more of the manner than of the length of your life, and + forbids me to wish it prolonged, by a single day, that should bring guilt, + reproach, and shame upon you. I have not malice enough in my nature, to + wish that to my greatest enemy. You are the principal object of all my + cares, the only object of all my hopes; I have now reason to believe, that + you will reward the former, and answer the latter; in that case, may you + live long, for you must live happy; ‘de te nam caetera sumes’. Conscious + virtue is the only solid foundation of all happiness; for riches, power, + rank, or whatever, in the common acceptation of the word, is supposed to + constitute happiness, will never quiet, much less cure, the inward pangs + of guilt. To that main wish, I will add those of the good old nurse of + Horace, in his epistle to Tibullus: ‘Sapere’, you have it in a good degree + already. ‘Et fari ut possit quae sentiat’. Have you that? More, much more + is meant by it, than common speech or mere articulation. I fear that still + remains to be wished for, and I earnestly wish it to you. ‘Gratia and + Fama’ will inevitably accompany the above-mentioned qualifications. The + ‘Valetudo’ is the only one that is not in your own power; Heaven alone can + grant it you, and may it do so abundantly! As for the ‘mundus victus, non + deficiente crumena’, do you deserve, and I will provide them. + </p> + <p> + It is with the greatest pleasure that I consider the fair prospect which + you have before you. You have seen, read, and learned more, at your age, + than most young fellows have done at two or three-and-twenty. Your + destination is a shining one, and leads to rank, fortune, and distinction. + Your education has been calculated for it; and, to do you justice, that + education has not been thrown away upon you. You want but two things, + which do not want conjuration, but only care, to acquire: eloquence and + manners; that is, the graces of speech, and the graces of behavior. You + may have them; they are as much in your power as powdering your hair is; + and will you let the want of them obscure (as it certainly will do) that + shining prospect which presents itself to you. I am sure you will not. + They are the sharp end, the point of the nail that you are driving, which + must make way first for the larger and more solid parts to enter. + Supposing your moral character as pure, and your knowledge as sound, as I + really believe them both to be; you want nothing for that perfection, + which I have so constantly wished you, and taken so much pains to give + you, but eloquence and politeness. A man who is not born with a poetical + genius, can never be a poet, or at best an extremely bad one; but every + man, who can speak at all, can speak elegantly and correctly if he + pleases, by attending to the best authors and orators; and, indeed, I + would advise those who do not speak elegantly, not to speak at all; for I + am sure they will get more by their silence than by their speech. As for + politeness: whoever keeps good company, and is not polite, must have + formed a resolution, and take some pains not to be so; otherwise he would + naturally and insensibly take the air, the address, and the turn of those + he converses with. You will, probably, in the course of this year, see as + great a variety of good company in the several capitals you will be at, as + in any one year of your life; and consequently must (I should hope) catch + some of their manners, almost whether you will or not; but, as I dare say + you will endeavor to do it, I am convinced you will succeed, and that I + shall have pleasure of finding you, at your return here, one of the + best-bred men in Europe. + </p> + <p> + I imagine, that when you receive my letters, and come to those parts of + them which relate to eloquence and politeness, you say, or at least think, + What, will he never have done upon those two subjects? Has he not said all + he can say upon them? Why the same thing over and over again? If you do + think or say so, it must proceed from your not yet knowing the infinite + importance of these two accomplishments, which I cannot recommend to you + too often, nor inculcate too strongly. But if, on the contrary, you are + convinced of the utility, or rather the necessity of those two + accomplishments, and are determined to acquire them, my repeated + admonitions are only unnecessary; and I grudge no trouble which can + possibly be of the least use to you. + </p> + <p> + I flatter myself, that your stay at Rome will go a great way toward + answering all my views: I am sure it will, if you employ your time, and + your whole time, as you should. Your first morning hours, I would have you + devote to your graver studies with Mr. Harte; the middle part of the day I + would have employed in seeing things; and the evenings in seeing people. + You are not, I hope, of a lazy, inactive turn, in either body or mind; + and, in that case, the day is full long enough for everything; especially + at Rome, where it is not the fashion, as it is here and at Paris, to + embezzle at least half of it at table. But if, by accident, two or three + hours are sometimes wanting for some useful purpose, borrow them from your + sleep. Six, or at most seven hours sleep is, for a constancy, as much as + you or anybody can want; more is only laziness and dozing; and is, I am + persuaded, both unwholesome and stupefying. If, by chance, your business, + or your pleasures, should keep you up till four or five o’clock in the + morning, I would advise you, however, to rise exactly at your usual time, + that you may not lose the precious morning hours; and that the want of + sleep may force you to go to bed earlier the next night. This is what I + was advised to do when very young, by a very wise man; and what, I assure + you, I always did in the most dissipated part of my life. I have very + often gone to bed at six in the morning and rose, notwithstanding, at + eight; by which means I got many hours in the morning that my companions + lost; and the want of sleep obliged me to keep good hours the next, or at + least the third night. To this method I owe the greatest part of my + reading: for, from twenty to forty, I should certainly have read very + little, if I had not been up while my acquaintances were in bed. Know the + true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No + idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow + what you can do today. That was the rule of the famous and unfortunate + Pensionary De Witt; who, by strictly following it, found time, not only to + do the whole business of the republic, but to pass his evenings at + assemblies and suppers, as if he had had nothing else to do or think of. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my dear friend, for such I shall call you, and as such I shall, for + the future, live with you; for I disclaim all titles which imply an + authority, that I am persuaded you will never give me occasion to + exercise. + </p> + <p> + ‘Multos et felices’, most sincerely, to Mr. Harte. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0102" id="link2H_4_0102"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1750 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER C + </p> + <p> + LONDON, January 8, O. S. 1750 + </p> + <p> + DEAR BOY: I have seldom or never written to you upon the subject of + religion and morality; your own reason, I am persuaded, has given you true + notions of both; they speak best for themselves; but if they wanted + assistance, you have Mr. Harte at hand, both for precept and example; to + your own reason, therefore, and to Mr. Harte, shall I refer you for the + reality of both, and confine myself in this letter to the decency, the + utility, and the necessity of scrupulously preserving the appearances of + both. When I say the appearances of religion, I do not mean that you + should talk or act like a missionary or an enthusiast, nor that you should + take up a controversial cudgel against whoever attacks the sect you are + of; this would be both useless and unbecoming your age; but I mean that + you should by no means seem to approve, encourage, or applaud, those + libertine notions, which strike at religions equally, and which are the + poor threadbare topics of halfwits and minute philosophers. Even those who + are silly enough to laugh at their jokes, are still wise enough to + distrust and detest their characters; for putting moral virtues at the + highest, and religion at the lowest, religion must still be allowed to be + a collateral security, at least, to virtue, and every prudent man will + sooner trust to two securities than to one. Whenever, therefore, you + happen to be in company with those pretended ‘Esprits forts’, or with + thoughtless libertines, who laugh at all religion to show their wit, or + disclaim it, to complete their riot, let no word or look of yours intimate + the least approbation; on the contrary, let a silent gravity express your + dislike: but enter not into the subject and decline such unprofitable and + indecent controversies. Depend upon this truth, that every man is the + worse looked upon, and the less trusted for being thought to have no + religion; in spite of all the pompous and specious epithets he may assume, + of ‘Esprit fort’, freethinker, or moral philosopher; and a wise atheist + (if such a thing there is) would, for his own interest and character in + this world, pretend to some religion. + </p> + <p> + Your moral character must be not only pure, but, like Caesar’s wife, + unsuspected. The least speck or blemish upon it is fatal. Nothing degrades + and vilifies more, for it excites and unites detestation and contempt. + There are, however, wretches in the world profligate enough to explode all + notions of moral good and evil; to maintain that they are merely local, + and depend entirely upon the customs and fashions of different countries; + nay, there are still, if possible, more unaccountable wretches; I mean + those who affect to preach and propagate such absurd and infamous notions + without believing them themselves. These are the devil’s hypocrites. + Avoid, as much as possible, the company of such people; who reflect a + degree of discredit and infamy upon all who converse with them. But as you + may, sometimes, by accident, fall into such company, take great care that + no complaisance, no good-humor, no warmth of festal mirth, ever make you + seem even to acquiesce, much less to approve or applaud, such infamous + doctrines. On the other hand, do not debate nor enter into serious + argument upon a subject so much below it: but content yourself with + telling these APOSTLES that you know they are not, serious; that you have + a much better opinion of them than they would have you have; and that, you + are very sure, they would not practice the doctrine they preach. But put + your private mark upon them, and shun them forever afterward. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing so delicate as your moral character, and nothing which it + is your interest so much to preserve pure. Should you be suspected of + injustice, malignity, perfidy, lying, etc., all the parts and knowledge in + the world will never procure you esteem, friendship, or respect. A strange + concurrence of circumstances has sometimes raised very bad men to high + stations, but they have been raised like criminals to a pillory, where + their persons and their crimes, by being more conspicuous, are only the + more known, the more detested, and the more pelted and insulted. If, in + any case whatsoever, affectation and ostentation are pardonable, it is in + the case of morality; though even there, I would not advise you to a + pharisaical pomp of virtue. But I will recommend to you a most scrupulous + tenderness for your moral character, and the utmost care not to say or do + the least thing that may ever so slightly taint it. Show yourself, upon + all occasions, the advocate, the friend, but not the bully of virtue. + Colonel Chartres, whom you have certainly heard of (who was, I believe, + the most notorious blasted rascal in the world, and who had, by all sorts + of crimes, amassed immense wealth), was so sensible of the disadvantage of + a bad character, that I heard him once say, in his impudent, profligate + manner, that though he would not give one farthing for virtue, he would + give ten thousand pounds for a character; because he should get a hundred + thousand pounds by it; whereas, he was so blasted, that he had no longer + an opportunity of cheating people. Is it possible, then, that an honest + man can neglect what a wise rogue would purchase so dear? + </p> + <p> + There is one of the vices above mentioned, into which people of good + education, and, in the main, of good principles, sometimes fall, from + mistaken notions of skill, dexterity, and self-defense, I mean lying; + though it is inseparably attended with more infamy and loss than any + other. The prudence and necessity of often concealing the truth, + insensibly seduces people to violate it. It is the only art of mean + capacities, and the only refuge of mean spirits. Whereas, concealing the + truth, upon proper occasions, is as prudent and as innocent, as telling a + lie, upon any occasion, is infamous and foolish. I will state you a case + in your own department. Suppose you are employed at a foreign court, and + that the minister of that court is absurd or impertinent enough to ask you + what your instructions are? will you tell him a lie, which as soon as + found out (and found out it certainly will be) must destroy your credit, + blast your character, and render you useless there? No. Will you tell him + the truth then, and betray your trust? As certainly, No. But you will + answer with firmness, That you are surprised at such a question, that you + are persuaded he does not expect an answer to it; but that, at all events, + he certainly will not have one. Such an answer will give him confidence in + you; he will conceive an opinion of your veracity, of which opinion you + may afterward make very honest and fair advantages. But if, in + negotiations, you are looked upon as a liar and a trickster, no confidence + will be placed in you, nothing will be communicated to you, and you will + be in the situation of a man who has been burned in the cheek; and who, + from that mark, cannot afterward get an honest livelihood if he would, but + must continue a thief. + </p> + <p> + Lord Bacon, very justly, makes a distinction between simulation and + dissimulation; and allows the latter rather than the former; but still + observes, that they are the weaker sort of politicians who have recourse + to either. A man who has strength of mind and strength of parts, wants + neither of them. Certainly (says he) the ablest men that ever were, have + all had an openness and frankness of dealing, and a name of certainty and + veracity; but then, they were like horses well managed; for they could + tell, passing well, when to stop or turn; and at such times, when they + thought the case indeed required some dissimulation, if then they used it, + it came to pass that the former opinion spread abroad of their good faith + and clearness of dealing, made them almost invisible. + </p> + <p> + There are people who indulge themselves in a sort of lying, which they + reckon innocent, and which in one sense is so; for it hurts nobody but + themselves. This sort of lying is the spurious offspring of vanity, + begotten upon folly: these people deal in the marvelous; they have seen + some things that never existed; they have seen other things which they + never really saw, though they did exist, only because they were thought + worth seeing. Has anything remarkable been said or done in any place, or + in any company? they immediately present and declare themselves eye or ear + witnesses of it. They have done feats themselves, unattempted, or at least + unperformed by others. They are always the heroes of their own fables; and + think that they gain consideration, or at least present attention, by it. + Whereas, in truth, all that they get is ridicule and contempt, not without + a good degree of distrust; for one must naturally conclude, that he who + will tell any lie from idle vanity, will not scruple telling a greater for + interest. Had I really seen anything so very extraordinary as to be almost + incredible I would keep it to myself, rather than by telling it give + anybody room to doubt, for one minute, of my veracity. It is most certain, + that the reputation of chastity is not so necessary for a women, as that + of veracity is for a man; and with reason; for it is possible for a woman + to be virtuous, though not strictly chaste, but it is not possible for a + man to be virtuous without strict veracity. The slips of the poor women + are sometimes mere bodily frailties; but a lie in a man is a vice of the + mind and of the heart. For God’s sake be scrupulously jealous of the + purity of your moral character; keep it immaculate, unblemished, + unsullied; and it will be unsuspected. Defamation and calumny never + attack, where there is no weak place; they magnify, but they do not + create. + </p> + <p> + There is a very great difference between the purity of character, which I + so earnestly recommend to you, and the stoical gravity and austerity of + character, which I do by no means recommend to you. At your age, I would + no more wish you to be a Cato than a Clodius. Be, and be reckoned, a man + of pleasure as well as a man of business. Enjoy this happy and giddy time + of your life; shine in the pleasures, and in the company of people of your + own age. This is all to be done, and indeed only can be done, without the + least taint to the purity of your moral character; for those mistaken + young fellows, who think to shine by an impious or immoral licentiousness, + shine only from their stinking, like corrupted flesh, in the dark. Without + this purity, you can have no dignity of character; and without dignity of + character it is impossible to rise in the world. You must be respectable, + if you will be respected. I have known people slattern away their + character, without really polluting it; the consequence of which has been, + that they have become innocently contemptible; their merit has been + dimmed, their pretensions unregarded, and all their views defeated. + Character must be kept bright, as well as clean. Content yourself with + mediocrity in nothing. In purity of character and in politeness of manners + labor to excel all, if you wish to equal many. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0103" id="link2H_4_0103"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 11, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received a letter from Mr. Harte, of the 31st + December, N. S., which I will answer soon; and for which I desire you to + return him my thanks now. He tells me two things that give me great + satisfaction: one is that there are very few English at Rome; the other + is, that you frequent the best foreign companies. This last is a very good + symptom; for a man of sense is never desirous to frequent those companies, + where he is not desirous to please, or where he finds that he displeases; + it will not be expected in those companies, that, at your age, you should + have the ‘Garbo’, the ‘Disinvoltura’, and the ‘Leggiadria’ of a man of + five-and-twenty, who has been long used to keep the best companies; and + therefore do not be discouraged, and think yourself either slighted or + laughed at, because you see others, older and more used to the world, + easier, more familiar, and consequently rather better received in those + companies than yourself. In time your turn will come; and if you do but + show an inclination, a desire to please, though you should be embarrassed + or even err in the means, which must necessarily happen to you at first, + yet the will (to use a vulgar expression) will be taken for the deed; and + people, instead of laughing at you, will be glad to instruct you. Good + sense can only give you the great outlines of good-breeding; but + observation and usage can alone give you the delicate touches, and the + fine coloring. You will naturally endeavor to show the utmost respect to + people of certain ranks and characters, and consequently you will show it; + but the proper, the delicate manner of showing that respect, nothing but + observation and time can give. + </p> + <p> + I remember that when, with all the awkwardness and rust of Cambridge about + me, I was first introduced into good company, I was frightened out of my + wits. I was determined to be, what I thought, civil; I made fine low bows, + and placed myself below everybody; but when I was spoken to, or attempted + to speak myself, ‘obstupui, steteruntque comae, et vox faucibus haesit’. + If I saw people whisper, I was sure it was at me; and I thought myself the + sole object of either the ridicule or the censure of the whole company, + who, God knows, did not trouble their heads about me. In this way I + suffered, for some time, like a criminal at the bar; and should certainly + have renounced all polite company forever, if I had not been so convinced + of the absolute necessity of forming my manners upon those of the best + companies, that I determined to persevere and suffer anything, or + everything, rather than not compass that point. Insensibly it grew easier + to me; and I began not to bow so ridiculously low, and to answer questions + without great hesitation or stammering: if, now and then, some charitable + people, seeing my embarrassment, and being ‘desoevre’ themselves, came and + spoke to me, I considered them as angels sent to comfort me, and that gave + me a little courage. I got more soon afterward, and was intrepid enough to + go up to a fine woman, and tell her that I thought it a warm day; she + answered me, very civilly, that she thought so too; upon which the + conversation ceased, on my part, for some time, till she, good-naturedly + resuming it, spoke to me thus: “I see your embarrassment, and I am sure + that the few words you said to me cost you a great deal; but do not be + discouraged for that reason, and avoid good company. We see that you + desire to please, and that is the main point; you want only the manner, + and you think that you want it still more than you do. You must go through + your noviciate before you can profess good-breeding: and, if you will be + my novice, I will present you my acquaintance as such.” + </p> + <p> + You will easily imagine how much this speech pleased me, and how awkwardly + I answered it; I hemmed once or twice (for it gave me a bur in my throat) + before I could tell her that I was very much obliged to her; that it was + true, that I had a great deal of reason to distrust my own behavior, not + being used to fine company; and that I should be proud of being her + novice, and receiving her instructions. + </p> + <p> + As soon as I had fumbled out this answer, she called up three or four + people to her, and said: Savez-vous (for she was a foreigner, and I was + abroad) que j’ai entrepris ce jeune homme, et qu’il le faut rassurer? Pour + moi, je crois en avoir fait——[Do you know that I have + undertaken this young man, and he must be encouraged? As for me, I think I + have made a conquest of him; for he just now ventured to tell me, although + tremblingly, that it is warm. You will assist me in polishing him. He must + necessarily have a passion for somebody; if he does not think me worthy of + being the object, he will seek out some other. However, my novice, do not + disgrace yourself by frequenting opera girls and actresses; who will not + require of you sentiments and politeness, but will be your ruin in every + respect. I repeat it to you, my friend, if you should get into low, mean + company, you will be undone. Those creatures will destroy your fortune and + your health, corrupt your morals, and you will never acquire the style of + good company.] + </p> + <p> + The company laughed at this lecture, and I was stunned with it. I did not + know whether she was serious or in jest. By turns I was pleased, ashamed, + encouraged, and dejected. But when I found afterward, that both she, and + those to whom she had presented me, countenanced and protected me in + company, I gradually got more assurance, and began not to be ashamed of + endeavoring to be civil. I copied the best masters, at first servilely, + afterward more freely, and at last I joined habit and invention. + </p> + <p> + All this will happen to you, if you persevere in the desire of pleasing + and shining as a man of the world; that part of your character is the only + one about which I have at present the least doubt. I cannot entertain the + least suspicion of your moral character; your learned character is out of + question. Your polite character is now the only remaining object that + gives me the least anxiety; and you are now in the right way of finishing + it. Your constant collision with good company will, of course, smooth and + polish you. I could wish that you would say, to the five or six men or + women with whom you are the most acquainted, that you are sensible that, + from youth and inexperience, you must make many mistakes in good-breeding; + that you beg of them to correct you, without reserve, wherever they see + you fail; and that you shall take such admonition as the strongest proofs + of their friendship. Such a confession and application will be very + engaging to those to whom you make them. They will tell others of them, + who will be pleased with that disposition, and, in a friendly manner, tell + you of any little slip or error. The Duke de Nivernois—[At that time + Ambassador from the Court of France to Rome.]—would, I am sure, be + charmed, if you dropped such a thing to him; adding, that you loved to + address yourself always to the best masters. Observe also the different + modes of good-breeding of several nations, and conform yourself to them + respectively. Use an easy civility with the French, more ceremony with the + Italians, and still more with the Germans; but let it be without + embarrassment and with ease. Bring it by use to be habitual to you; for, + if it seems unwilling and forced; it will never please. ‘Omnis Aristippum + decuit color, et res’. Acquire an easiness and versatility of manners, as + well as of mind; and, like the chameleon, take the hue of the company you + are with. + </p> + <p> + There is a sort of veteran women of condition, who having lived always in + the ‘grande monde’, and having possibly had some gallantries, together + with the experience of five-and-twenty, or thirty years, form a young + fellow better than all the rules that can be given him. These women, being + past their bloom, are extremely flattered by the least attention from a + young fellow; and they will point out to him those manners and ATTENTIONS + that pleased and engaged them, when they were in the pride of their youth + and beauty. Wherever you go, make some of those women your friends; which + a very little matter will do. Ask their advice, tell them your doubts or + difficulties as to your behavior; but take great care not to drop one word + of their experience; for experience implies age; and the suspicion of age, + no woman, let her be ever so old, ever forgives. I long for your picture, + which Mr. Harte tells me is now drawing. I want to see your countenance, + your air, and even your dress; the better they all three are, the better I + am not wise enough to despise any one of them. Your dress, at least, is in + your own power, and I hope that you mind it to a proper degree. Yours, + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0104" id="link2H_4_0104"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 18, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I consider the solid part of your little edifice as so + near being finished and completed, that my only remaining care is about + the embellishments; and that must now be your principal care too. Adorn + yourself with all those graces and accomplishments, which, without + solidity, are frivolous; but without which solidity is, to a great degree, + useless. Take one man, with a very moderate degree of knowledge, but with + a pleasing figure, a prepossessing address, graceful in all that he says + and does, polite, ‘liant’, and, in short, adorned with all the lesser + talents: and take another man, with sound sense and profound knowledge, + but without the above-mentioned advantages; the former will not only get + the better of the latter, in every pursuit of every KIND, but in truth + there will be no sort of competition between them. But can every man + acquire these advantages? I say, Yes, if he please, suppose he is in a + situation and in circumstances to frequent good company. Attention, + observation, and imitation, will most infallibly do it. + </p> + <p> + When you see a man whose first ‘abord’ strikes you, prepossesses you in + his favor, and makes you entertain a good opinion of him, you do not know + why, analyze that ‘abord’, and examine, within yourself, the several parts + that composed it; and you will generally find it to be the result, the + happy assemblage of modesty unembarrassed, respect without timidity, a + genteel, but unaffected attitude of body and limbs, an open, cheerful, but + unsmirking countenance, and a dress, by no means negligent, and yet not + foppish. Copy him, then, not servilely, but as some of the greatest + masters of painting have copied others; insomuch that their copies have + been equal to the originals, both as to beauty and freedom. When you see a + man who is universally allowed to shine as an agreeable, well-bred man, + and a fine gentleman (as, for example, the Duke de Nivernois), attend to + him, watch him carefully; observe in what manner he addresses himself to + his superiors, how he lives with his equals, and how he treats his + inferiors. Mind his turn of conversation in the several situations of + morning visits, the table, and the evening amusements. Imitate, without + mimicking him; and be his duplicate, but not his ape. You will find that + he takes care never to say or do any thing that can be construed into a + slight, or a negligence; or that can, in any degree, mortify people’s + vanity and self-love; on the contrary, you will perceive that he makes + people pleased with him, by making them first pleased with themselves: he + shows respect, regard, esteem and attention, where they are severally + proper: he sows them with care, and he reaps them in plenty. + </p> + <p> + These amiable accomplishments are all to be acquired by use and imitation; + for we are, in truth, more than half what we are by imitation. The great + point is, to choose good models and to study them with care. People + insensibly contract, not only the air, the manners, and the vices, of + those with whom they commonly converse, but their virtues too, and even + their way of thinking. This is so true, that I have known very plain + understandings catch a certain degree of wit, by constantly conversing + with those who had a great deal. Persist, therefore, in keeping the best + company, and you will insensibly become like them; but if you add + attention and observation, you will very soon become one of them. The + inevitable contagion of company shows you the necessity of keeping the + best, and avoiding all other; for in everyone, something will stick. You + have hitherto, I confess, had very few opportunities of keeping polite + company. Westminster school is, undoubtedly, the seat of illiberal manners + and brutal behavior. Leipsig, I suppose, is not the seat of refined and + elegant manners. Venice, I believe, has done something; Rome, I hope, will + do a great deal more; and Paris will, I dare say, do all that you want; + always supposing that you frequent the best companies, and in the + intention of improving and forming yourself; for without that intention + nothing will do. + </p> + <p> + I here subjoin a list of all those necessary, ornamental accomplishments + (without which, no man living can either please, or rise in the world) + which hitherto I fear you want, and which only require your care and + attention to possess. + </p> + <p> + To speak elegantly, whatever language you speak in; without which nobody + will hear you with pleasure, and consequently you will speak to very + little purpose. + </p> + <p> + An agreeable and distinct elocution; without which nobody will hear you + with patience: this everybody may acquire, who is not born with some + imperfection in the organs of speech. You are not; and therefore it is + wholly in your power. You need take much less pains for it than + Demosthenes did. + </p> + <p> + A distinguished politeness of manners and address; which common sense, + observation, good company, and imitation, will infallibly give you if you + will accept it. + </p> + <p> + A genteel carriage and graceful motions, with the air of a man of fashion: + a good dancing-master, with some care on your part, and some imitation of + those who excel, will soon bring this about. + </p> + <p> + To be extremely clean in your person, and perfectly well dressed, + according to the fashion, be that what it will: Your negligence of your + dress while you were a schoolboy was pardonable, but would not be so now. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, take it for granted, that without these accomplishments, + all you know, and all you can do, will avail you very little. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0105" id="link2H_4_0105"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 25, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: It is so long since I have heard from you, that I suppose + Rome engrosses every moment of your time; and if it engrosses it in the + manner I could wish, I willingly give up my share of it. I would rather + ‘prodesse quam conspici’. Put out your time, but to good interest; and I + do not desire to borrow much of it. Your studies, the respectable remains + of antiquity, and your evening amusements cannot, and indeed ought not, to + leave you much time to write. You will, probably, never see Rome again; + and therefore you ought to see it well now; by seeing it well, I do not + mean only the buildings, statues, and paintings, though they undoubtedly + deserve your attention: but I mean seeing into the constitution and + government of it. But these things certainly occur to your own common + sense. + </p> + <p> + How go, your pleasures at Rome? Are you in fashion there? that is, do you + live with the people who are?—the only way of being so yourself, in + time. Are you domestic enough in any considerable house to be called ‘le + petit Stanhope’? Has any woman of fashion and good-breeding taken the + trouble of abusing and laughing at you amicably to your face? Have you + found a good ‘decrotteuse’. For those are the steps by which you must rise + to politeness. I do not presume to ask if you have any attachment, because + I believe you will not make me your confident; but this I will say, + eventually, that if you have one, ‘il faut bien payer d’attentions et de + petits soin’, if you would have your sacrifice propitiously received. + Women are not so much taken by beauty as men are, but prefer those men who + show them the most attention. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Would you engage the lovely fair? + With gentlest manners treat her; + With tender looks and graceful air, + In softest accents greet her. + + Verse were but vain, the Muses fail, + Without the Graces’ aid; + The God of Verse could not prevail + To stop the flying maid. + + Attention by attentions gain, + And merit care by cares; + So shall the nymph reward your pain; + And Venus crown your prayers. + Probatum est. +</pre> + <p> + A man’s address and manner weigh much more with them than his beauty; and, + without them, the Abbati and Monsignori will get the better of you. This + address and manner should be exceedingly respectful, but at the same time + easy and unembarrassed. Your chit-chat or ‘entregent’ with them neither + can, nor ought to be very solid; but you should take care to turn and + dress up your trifles prettily, and make them every now and then convey + indirectly some little piece of flattery. A fan, a riband, or a + head-dress, are great materials for gallant dissertations, to one who has + got ‘le ton leger et aimable de la bonne compagnie’. At all events, a man + had better talk too much to women, than too little; they take silence for + dullness, unless where they think that the passion they have inspired + occasions it; and in that case they adopt the notion, that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Silence in love betrays more woe + Than words, though ne’er so witty; + The beggar that is dumb, we know, + Deserves a double pity. +</pre> + <p> + ‘A propos’ of this subject: what progress do you make in that language, in + which Charles the Fifth said that he would choose to speak to his + mistress? Have you got all the tender diminutives, in ‘etta, ina’, and + ‘ettina’, which, I presume, he alluded to? You already possess, and, I + hope, take care not to forget, that language which he reserved for his + horse. You are absolutely master, too, of that language in which he said + he would converse with men; French. But, in every language, pray attend + carefully to the choice of your words, and to the turn of your expression. + Indeed, it is a point of very great consequence. To be heard with success, + you must be heard with pleasure: words are the dress of thoughts; which + should no more be presented in rags, tatters, and dirt, than your person + should. By the way, do you mind your person and your dress sufficiently? + Do you take great care of your teeth? Pray have them put in order by the + best operator at Rome. Are you be-laced, bepowdered, and be-feathered, as + other young fellows are, and should be? At your age, ‘il faut du brillant, + et meme un peu de fracas, mais point de mediocre; il faut un air vif, aise + et noble. Avec les hommes, un maintien respectueux et en meme tems + respectable; avec les femmes, un caquet leger, enjoue, et badin, mais + toujours fort poli’. + </p> + <p> + To give you an opportunity of exerting your talents, I send you, here + inclosed, a letter of recommendation from Monsieur Villettes to Madame de + Simonetti at Milan; a woman of the first fashion and consideration there; + and I shall in my next send you another from the same person to Madame + Clerici, at the same place. As these two ladies’ houses are the resort of + all the people of fashion at Milan, those two recommendations will + introduce you to them all. Let me know, in due time, if you have received + these two letters, that I may have them renewed, in case of accidents. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my dear friend! Study hard; divert yourself heartily; distinguish + carefully between the pleasures of a man of fashion, and the vices of a + scoundrel; pursue the former, and abhor the latter, like a man of sense. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0106" id="link2H_4_0106"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 5, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Very few people are good economists of their fortune, and + still fewer of their time; and yet of the two, the latter is the most + precious. I heartily wish you to be a good economist of both: and you are + now of an age to begin to think seriously of those two important articles. + Young people are apt to think that they have so much time before them, + that they may squander what they please of it, and yet have enough left; + as very great fortunes have frequently seduced people to a ruinous + profusion. Fatal mistakes, always repented of, but always too late! Old + Mr. Lowndes, the famous Secretary of the Treasury in the reigns of King + William, Queen Anne, and King George the First, used to say,—TAKE + CARE OF THE PENCE, AND THE POUNDS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES. To this + maxim, which he not only preached but practiced, his two grandsons at this + time owe the very considerable fortunes that he left them. + </p> + <p> + This holds equally true as to time; and I most earnestly recommend to you + the care of those minutes and quarters of hours, in the course of the day, + which people think too short to deserve their attention; and yet, if + summed up at the end of the year, would amount to a very considerable + portion of time. For example: you are to be at such a place at twelve, by + appointment; you go out at eleven, to make two or three visits first; + those persons are not at home, instead of sauntering away that + intermediate time at a coffeehouse, and possibly alone, return home, write + a letter, beforehand, for the ensuing post, or take up a good book, I do + not mean Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, or Newton, by way of dipping; but + some book of rational amusement and detached pieces, as Horace, Boileau, + Waller, La Bruyere, etc. This will be so much time saved, and by no means + ill employed. Many people lose a great deal of time by reading: for they + read frivolous and idle books, such as the absurd romances of the two last + centuries; where characters, that never existed, are insipidly displayed, + and sentiments that were never felt, pompously described: the Oriental + ravings and extravagances of the “Arabian Nights,” and Mogul tales; or, + the new flimsy brochures that now swarm in France, of fairy tales, + ‘Reflections sur le coeur et l’esprit, metaphysique de l’amour, analyse + des beaux sentimens’, and such sort of idle frivolous stuff, that + nourishes and improves the mind just as much as whipped cream would the + body. Stick to the best established books in every language; the + celebrated poets, historians, orators, or philosophers. By these means (to + use a city metaphor) you will make fifty PER CENT. Of that time, of which + others do not make above three or four, or probably nothing at all. + </p> + <p> + Many people lose a great deal of their time by laziness; they loll and + yawn in a great chair, tell themselves that they have not time to begin + anything then, and that it will do as well another time. This is a most + unfortunate disposition, and the greatest obstruction to both knowledge + and business. At your age, you have no right nor claim to laziness; I + have, if I please, being emeritus. You are but just listed in the world, + and must be active, diligent, indefatigable. If ever you propose + commanding with dignity, you must serve up to it with diligence. Never put + off till tomorrow what you can do to-day. + </p> + <p> + Dispatch is the soul of business; and nothing contributes more to dispatch + than method. Lay down a method for everything, and stick to it inviolably, + as far as unexpected incidents may allow. Fix one certain hour and day in + the week for your accounts, and keep them together in their proper order; + by which means they will require very little time, and you can never be + much cheated. Whatever letters and papers you keep, docket and tie them up + in their respective classes, so that you may instantly have recourse to + any one. Lay down a method also for your reading, for which you allot a + certain share of your mornings; let it be in a consistent and consecutive + course, and not in that desultory and unmethodical manner, in which many + people read scraps of different authors, upon different subjects. Keep a + useful and short commonplace book of what you read, to help your memory + only, and not for pedantic quotations. Never read history without having + maps and a chronological book, or tables, lying by you, and constantly + recurred to; without which history is only a confused heap of facts. One + method more I recommend to you, by which I have found great benefit, even + in the most dissipated part of my life; that is, to rise early, and at the + same hour every morning, how late soever you may have sat up the night + before. This secures you an hour or two, at least, of reading or + reflection before the common interruptions of the morning begin; and it + will save your constitution, by forcing you to go to bed early, at least + one night in three. + </p> + <p> + You will say, it may be, as many young people would, that all this order + and method is very troublesome, only fit for dull people, and a + disagreeable restraint upon the noble spirit and fire of youth. I deny it; + and assert, on the contrary, that it will procure you both more time and + more taste for your pleasures; and, so far from being troublesome to you, + that after you have pursued it a month, it would be troublesome to you to + lay it aside. Business whets the appetite, and gives a taste to pleasure, + as exercise does to food; and business can never be done without method; + it raises the spirits for pleasures; and a SPECTACLE, a ball, an assembly, + will much more sensibly affect a man who has employed, than a man who has + lost, the preceding part of the day; nay, I will venture to say, that a + fine lady will seem to have more charms to a man of study or business, + than to a saunterer. The same listlessness runs through his whole conduct, + and he is as insipid in his pleasures, as inefficient in everything else. + </p> + <p> + I hope you earn your pleasures, and consequently taste them; for, by the + way, I know a great many men, who call themselves men of pleasure, but + who, in truth, have none. They adopt other people’s indiscriminately, but + without any taste of their own. I have known them often inflict excesses + upon themselves because they thought them genteel; though they sat as + awkwardly upon them as other people’s clothes would have done. Have no + pleasures but your own, and then you will shine in them. What are yours? + Give me a short history of them. ‘Tenez-vous votre coin a table, et dans + les bonnes compagnies? y brillez-vous du cote de la politesse, de + d’enjouement, du badinage? Etes-vous galant? Filex-vous le parfait amour? + Est-il question de flechir par vos soins et par vos attentions les + rigueurs de quelque fiere Princesse’? You may safely trust me; for though + I am a severe censor of vice and folly, I am a friend and advocate for + pleasures, and will contribute all in my power to yours. + </p> + <p> + There is a certain dignity to be kept up in pleasures, as well as in + business. In love, a man may lose his heart with dignity; but if he loses + his nose, he loses his character into the bargain. At table, a man may + with decency have a distinguishing palate; but indiscriminate + voraciousness degrades him to a glutton. A man may play with decency; but + if he games, he is disgraced. Vivacity and wit make a man shine in + company; but trite jokes and loud laughter reduce him to a buffoon. [see + Mark Twain’s identical advice in his ‘Speeches’ D.W.] Every virtue, they + say, has its kindred vice; every pleasure, I am sure, has its neighboring + disgrace. Mark carefully, therefore, the line that separates them, and + rather stop a yard short, than step an inch beyond it. + </p> + <p> + I wish to God that you had as much pleasure in following my advice, as I + have in giving it you! and you may the more easily have it, as I give you + none that is inconsistent with your pleasure. In all that I say to you, it + is your interest alone that I consider: trust to my experience; you know + you may to my affection. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + I have received no letter yet from you or Mr. Harte. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0107" id="link2H_4_0107"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 8, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You have, by this time, I hope and believe, made such a + progress in the Italian language, that you can read it with ease; I mean, + the easy books in it; and indeed, in that, as well as in every other + language, the easiest books are generally the best; for, whatever author + is obscure and difficult in his own language, certainly does not think + clearly. This is, in my opinion, the case of a celebrated Italian author; + to whom the Italians, from the admiration they have of him, have given the + epithet of il divino; I mean Dante. Though I formerly knew Italian + extremely well, I could never understand him; for which reason I had done + with him, fully convinced that he was not worth the pains necessary to + understand him. + </p> + <p> + The good Italian authors are, in my mind, but few; I mean, authors of + invention; for there are, undoubtedly, very good historians and excellent + translators. The two poets worth your reading, and, I was going to say, + the only two, are Tasso and Ariosto. Tasso’s ‘Gierusalemme Liberata’ is + altogether unquestionably a fine poem, though—it has some low, and + many false thoughts in it: and Boileau very justly makes it the mark of a + bad taste, to compare ‘le Clinquant Tasse a l’ Or de Virgile’. The image, + with which he adorns the introduction of his epic poem, is low and + disgusting; it is that of a froward, sick, puking child, who is deceived + into a dose of necessary physic by ‘du bon-bon’. These verses are these: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cosi all’egro fanciul porgiamo aspersi + Di soavi licor gli orli del vaso: + Succhi amari ingannato intanto ei beve, + E dall’ inganno suo vita riceve.” + </pre> + <p> + However, the poem, with all its faults about it, may justly be called a + fine one. + </p> + <p> + If fancy, imagination, invention, description, etc., constitute a poet, + Ariosto is, unquestionably, a great one. His “Orlando,” it is true, is a + medley of lies and truths—sacred and profane—wars, loves, + enchantments, giants, madheroes, and adventurous damsels, but then, he + gives it you very fairly for what it is, and does not pretend to put it + upon you for the true ‘epopee’, or epic poem. He says: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Le Donne, i Cavalier, l’arme, gli amori + Le cortesie, l’audaci imprese, io canto.” + </pre> + <p> + The connections of his stories are admirable, his reflections just, his + sneers and ironies incomparable, and his painting excellent. When + Angelica, after having wandered over half the world alone with Orlando, + pretends, notwithstanding, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “—-ch’el fior virginal cosi avea salvo, + Come selo porto dal matern’ alvo.” + </pre> + <p> + The author adds, very gravely,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Forse era ver, ma non pero credibile + A chi del senso suo fosse Signore.” + </pre> + <p> + Astolpho’s being carried to the moon by St. John, in order to look for + Orlando’s lost wits, at the end of the 34th book, and the many lost things + that he finds there, is a most happy extravagancy, and contains, at the + same time, a great deal of sense. I would advise you to read this poem + with attention. It is, also, the source of half the tales, novels, and + plays, that have been written since. + </p> + <p> + The ‘Pastor Fido’ of Guarini is so celebrated, that you should read it; + but in reading it, you will judge of the great propriety of the + characters. A parcel of shepherds and shepherdesses, with the TRUE + PASTORAL’ SIMPLICITY, talk metaphysics, epigrams, ‘concetti’, and + quibbles, by the hour to each other. + </p> + <p> + The Aminto del Tasso, is much more what it is intended to be, a pastoral: + the shepherds, indeed, have their ‘concetti’ and their antitheses; but are + not quite so sublime and abstracted as those in Pastor Fido. I think that + you will like it much the best of the two. + </p> + <p> + Petrarca is, in my mind, a sing-song, love-sick poet; much admired, + however, by the Italians: but an Italian who should think no better of him + than I do, would certainly say that he deserved his ‘Laura’ better than + his ‘Lauro’; and that wretched quibble would be reckoned an excellent + piece of Italian wit. + </p> + <p> + The Italian prose-writers (of invention I mean) which I would recommend to + your acquaintance, are Machiavello and Boccacio; the former, for the + established reputation which he has acquired, of a consummate politician + (whatever my own private sentiments may be of either his politics or his + morality): the latter, for his great invention, and for his natural and + agreeable manner of telling his stories. + </p> + <p> + Guicciardini, Bentivoglio, Davila, etc., are excellent historians, and + deserved being read with attention. The nature of history checks, a + little, the flights of Italian imaginations; which, in works of invention, + are very high indeed. Translations curb them still more: and their + translations of the classics are incomparable; particularly the first ten, + translated in the time of Leo the Tenth, and inscribed to him, under the + title of Collana. That original Collana has been lengthened since; and if + I mistake not, consist now of one hundred and ten volumes. + </p> + <p> + From what I have said, you will easily guess that I meant to put you upon + your guard; and not let your fancy be dazzled and your taste corrupted by + the concetti, the quaintnesses, and false thoughts, which are too much the + characteristics of the Italian and Spanish authors. I think you are in no + great danger, as your taste has been formed upon the best ancient models, + the Greek and Latin authors of the best ages, who indulge themselves in + none of the puerilities I have hinted at. I think I may say, with truth; + that true wit, sound taste, and good sense, are now, as it were, engrossed + by France and England. Your old acquaintances, the Germans, I fear, are a + little below them; and your new acquaintances, the Italians, are a great + deal too much above them. The former, I doubt, crawl a little; the latter, + I am sure, very often fly out of sight. + </p> + <p> + I recommended to you a good many years ago, and I believe you then read, + La maniere de bien penser dans les ouvrages d’esprit par le Pere Bouhours; + and I think it is very well worth your reading again, now that you can + judge of it better. I do not know any book that contributes more to form a + true taste; and you find there, into the bargain, the most celebrated + passages, both of the ancients and the moderns, which refresh your memory + with what you have formerly read in them separately. It is followed by a + book much of the same size, by the same author, entitled, ‘Suite des + Pensees ingenieuses’. + </p> + <p> + To do justice to the best English and French authors, they have not given + into that false taste; they allow no thoughts to be good, that are not + just and founded upon truth. The age of Lewis XIV. was very like the + Augustan; Boileau, Moliere, La Fontaine, Racine, etc., established the + true, and exposed the false taste. The reign of King Charles II. + (meritorious in no other respect) banished false taste out of England, and + proscribed puns, quibbles, acrostics, etc. Since that, false wit has + renewed its attacks, and endeavored to recover its lost empire, both in + England and France; but without success; though, I must say, with more + success in France than in England. Addison, Pope, and Swift, have + vigorously defended the rights of good sense, which is more than can be + said of their contemporary French authors, who have of late had a great + tendency to ‘le faux brillant’, ‘le raffinement, et l’entortillement’. And + Lord Roscommon would be more in the right now, than he was then, in saying + that, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The English bullion of one sterling line, + Drawn to French wire, would through whole pages shine.” + </pre> + <p> + Lose no time, my dear child, I conjure you, in forming your taste, your + manners, your mind, your everything; you have but two years’ time to do it + in; for whatever you are, to a certain degree, at twenty, you will be, + more or less, all the rest of your life. May it be a long and happy one. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0108" id="link2H_4_0108"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 22, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: If the Italian of your letter to Lady Chesterfield was all + your own, I am very well satisfied with the progress which you have made + in that language in so short a time; according to that gradation, you + will, in a very little time more, be master of it. Except at the French + Ambassador’s, I believe you hear only Italian spoke; for the Italians + speak very little French, and that little generally very ill. The French + are even with them, and generally speak Italian as ill; for I never knew a + Frenchman in my life who could pronounce the Italian ce, ci, or ge, gi. + Your desire of pleasing the Roman ladies will of course give you not only + the desire, but the means of speaking to them elegantly in their own + language. The Princess Borghese, I am told, speaks French both ill and + unwillingly; and therefore you should make a merit to her of your + application to her language. She is, by a kind of prescription (longer + than she would probably wish), at the head of the ‘beau monde’ at Rome; + and can, consequently, establish or destroy a young fellow’s fashionable + character. If she declares him ‘amabile e leggiadro’, others will think + him so, or at least those who do not will not dare to say so. There are in + every great town some such women, whose rank, beauty, and fortune have + conspired to place them at the head of the fashion. They have generally + been gallant, but within certain decent bounds. Their gallantries have + taught, both them and their admirers, good-breeding; without which they + could keep up no dignity, but would be vilified by those very gallantries + which put them in vogue. It is with these women, as with ministers and + favorites at court; they decide upon fashion and characters, as these do + of fortunes and preferments. Pay particular court, therefore, wherever you + are, to these female sovereigns of the ‘beau monde’; their recommendation + is a passport through all the realms of politeness. But then, remember + that they require minute officious attentions. You should, if possible, + guess at and anticipate all their little fancies and inclinations; make + yourself familiarly and domestically useful to them, by offering yourself + for all their little commissions, and assisting in doing the honors of + their houses, and entering with seeming unction into all their little + grievances, bustles, and views; for they are always busy. If you are once + ‘ben ficcato’ at the Palazzo Borghese, you twill soon be in fashion at + Rome; and being in fashion will soon fashion you; for that is what you + must now think of very seriously. + </p> + <p> + I am sorry that there is no good dancing-master at Rome, to form your + exterior air and carriage; which, I doubt, are not yet the genteelest in + the world. But you may, and I hope you will, in the meantime, observe the + air and carriage of those who are reckoned to have the best, and form your + own upon them. Ease, gracefulness, and dignity, compose the air and + address of a man of fashion; which is as unlike the affected attitudes and + motions of a ‘petit maitre’, as it is to the awkward, negligent, clumsy, + and slouching manner of a booby. + </p> + <p> + I am extremely pleased with the account Mr. Harte has given me of the + allotment of your time at Rome. Those five hours every morning, which you + employ in serious studies with Mr. Harte, are laid out with great + interest, and will make you rich all the rest of your life. I do not look + upon the subsequent morning hours, which you pass with your Ciceroni, to + be ill-disposed of; there is a kind of connection between them; and your + evening diversions in good company are, in their way, as useful and + necessary. This is the way for you to have both weight and lustre in the + world; and this is the object which I always had in view in your + education. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my friend! go on and prosper. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Grevenkop has just received Mr. Harte’s letter of the 19th N. S. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0109" id="link2H_4_0109"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 8, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + Young as you are, I hope you are in haste to live; by living, I mean + living with lustre and honor to yourself, with utility to society; doing + what may deserve to be written, or writing what may deserve to be read; I + should wish both. Those who consider life in that light, will not idly + lavish one moment. The present moments are the only ones we are sure of, + and as such the most valuable; but yours are doubly so at your age; for + the credit, the dignity, the comfort, and the pleasure of all your future + moments, depend upon the use you make of your present ones. + </p> + <p> + I am extremely satisfied with your present manner of employing your time; + but will you always employ it as well? I am far from meaning always in the + same way; but I mean as well in proportion, in the variation of age and + circumstances. You now, study five hours every morning; I neither suppose + that you will, nor desire that you should do so for the rest of your life. + Both business and pleasure will justly and equally break in upon those + hours. But then, will you always employ the leisure they leave you in + useful studies? If you have but an hour, will you improve that hour, + instead of idling it away? While you have such a friend and monitor with + you as Mr. Harte, I am sure you will. But suppose that business and + situations should, in six or seen months, call Mr. Harte away from you; + tell me truly, what may I expect and depend upon from you, when left to + yourself? May I be sure that you will employ some part of every day, in + adding something to that stock of knowledge which he will have left you? + May I hope that you will allot one hour in the week to the care of your + own affairs, to keep them in that order and method which every prudent man + does? But, above all, may I be convinced that your pleasures, whatever + they may be, will be confined within the circle of good company, and + people of fashion? Those pleasures I recommend to you; I will promote them + I will pay for them; but I will neither pay for, nor suffer, the + unbecoming, disgraceful, and degrading pleasures (they should not be + called pleasures), of low and profligate company. I confess the pleasures + of high life are not always strictly philosophical; and I believe a Stoic + would blame, my indulgence; but I am yet no Stoic, though turned of + five-and-fifty; and I am apt to think that you are rather less so, at + eighteen. The pleasures of the table, among people of the first fashion, + may indeed sometimes, by accident, run into excesses: but they will never + sink into a continued course of gluttony and drunkenness. The gallantry of + high life, though not strictly justifiable, carries, at least, no external + marks of infamy about it. Neither the heart nor the constitution is + corrupted by it; neither nose nor character lost by it; manners, possibly, + improved. Play, in good company, is only play, and not gaming; not deep, + and consequently not dangerous nor dishonorable. It is only the interacts + of other amusements. + </p> + <p> + This, I am sure, is not talking to you like an old man, though it is + talking to you like an old friend; these are not hard conditions to ask of + you. I am certain you have sense enough to know how reasonable they are on + my part, how advantageous they are on yours: but have you resolution + enough to perform them? Can you withstand the examples, and the + invitations, of the profligate, and their infamous missionaries? For I + have known many a young fellow seduced by a ‘mauvaise honte’, that made + him ashamed to refuse. These are resolutions which you must form, and + steadily execute for yourself, whenever you lose the friendly care and + assistance of your Mentor. In the meantime, make a greedy use of him; + exhaust him, if you can, of all his knowledge; and get the prophet’s + mantle from him, before he is taken away himself. + </p> + <p> + You seem to like Rome. How do you go on there? Are you got into the inside + of that extraordinary government? Has your Abbate Foggini discovered many + of those mysteries to you? Have you made an acquaintance with some eminent + Jesuits? I know no people in the world more instructive. You would do very + well to take one or two such sort of people home with you to dinner every + day. It would be only a little ‘minestra’ and ‘macaroni’ the more; and a + three or four hours’ conversation ‘de suite’ produces a thousand useful + informations, which short meetings and snatches at third places do not + admit of; and many of those gentlemen are by no means unwilling to dine + ‘gratis’. Whenever you meet with a man eminent in any way, feed him, and + feed upon him at the same time; it will not only improve you, but give you + a reputation of knowledge, and of loving it in others. + </p> + <p> + I have been lately informed of an Italian book, which I believe may be of + use to you, and which, I dare say, you may get at Rome, written by one + Alberti, about fourscore or a hundred years ago, a thick quarto. It is a + classical description of Italy; from whence, I am assured, that Mr. + Addison, to save himself trouble, has taken most of his remarks and + classical references. I am told that it is an excellent book for a + traveler in Italy. + </p> + <p> + What Italian books have you read, or are you reading? Ariosto. I hope, is + one of them. Pray apply yourself diligently to Italian; it is so easy a + language, that speaking it constantly, and reading it often, must, in six + months more, make you perfect master of it: in which case you will never + forget it; for we only forget those things of which we know but little. + </p> + <p> + But, above all things, to all that you learn, to all that you say, and to + all that you do, remember to join the Graces. All is imperfect without + them; with them everything is at least tolerable. Nothing could hurt me + more than to find you unattended by them. How cruelly should I be shocked, + if, at our first meeting, you should present yourself to me without them! + Invoke them, and sacrifice to them every moment; they are always kind, + where they are assiduously courted. For God’s sake, aim at perfection in + everything: ‘Nil actum reputans si quid superesset agendum. Adieu. Yours + most tenderly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0110" id="link2H_4_0110"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 19, O. S. 1750. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I acknowledge your last letter of the 24th February, N. S. + In return for your earthquake, I can tell you that we have had here more + than our share of earthquakes; for we had two very strong ones in + eight-and-twenty days. They really do too much honor to our cold climate; + in your warm one, they are compensated by favors from the sun, which we do + not enjoy. + </p> + <p> + I did not think that the present Pope was a sort of man to build seven + modern little chapels at the expense of so respectable a piece of + antiquity as the Coliseum. However, let his Holiness’s taste of ‘virtu’ be + ever so bad, pray get somebody to present you to him before you leave + Rome; and without hesitation kiss his slipper, or whatever else the + etiquette of that Court requires. I would have you see all those + ceremonies; and I presume that you are, by this time, ready enough at + Italian to understand and answer ‘il Santo Padre’ in that language. I + hope, too, that you have acquired address and usage enough of the world to + be presented to anybody, without embarrassment or disapprobation. If that + is not yet quite perfect, as I cannot suppose it is entirely, custom will + improve it daily, and habit at last complete it. I have for some time told + you, that the great difficulties are pretty well conquered. You have + acquired knowledge, which is the ‘principium et fons’; but you have now a + variety of lesser things to attend to, which collectively make one great + and important object. You easily guess that I mean the graces, the air, + address, politeness, and, in short, the whole ‘tournure’ and ‘agremens’ of + a man of fashion; so many little things conspire to form that ‘tournure’, + that though separately they seem too insignificant to mention, yet + aggregately they are too material for me (who think for you down to the + very lowest things) to omit. For instance, do you use yourself to carve, + eat and drink genteelly, and with ease? Do you take care to walk, sit, + stand, and present yourself gracefully? Are you sufficiently upon your + guard against awkward attitudes, and illiberal, ill-bred, and disgusting + habits, such as scratching yourself, putting your fingers in your mouth, + nose, and ears? Tricks always acquired at schools, often too much + neglected afterward; but, however, extremely ill-bred and nauseous. For I + do not conceive that any man has a right to exhibit, in company, any one + excrement more than another. Do you dress well, and think a little of the + brillant in your person? That, too, is necessary, because it is + ‘prevenant’. Do you aim at easy, engaging, but, at the same time, civil or + respectful manners, according to the company you are in? These, and a + thousand other things, which you will observe in people of fashion better + than I can describe them, are absolutely necessary for every man; but + still more for you, than for almost any man living. The showish, the + shining, the engaging parts of the character of a fine gentleman, should + (considering your destination) be the principal objects, of your present + attention. + </p> + <p> + When you return here, I am apt to think that you will find something + better to do than to run to Mr. Osborne’s at Gray’s Inn, to pick up scarce + books. Buy good books and read them; the best books are the commonest, and + the last editions are always the best, if the editors are not blockheads, + for they may profit of the former. But take care not to understand + editions and title-pages too well. It always smells of pedantry, and not + always of learning. What curious books I have—they are indeed but + few—shall be at your service. I have some of the old Collana, and + the Machiavel of 1550. Beware of the ‘Bibliomanie’. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of either your studies or your pleasures, pray never lose + view of the object of your destination: I mean the political affairs of + Europe. Follow them politically, chronologically, and geographically, + through the newspapers, and trace up the facts which you meet with there + to their sources: as, for example, consult the treaties Neustadt and Abo, + with regard to the disputes, which you read of every day in the public + papers, between Russia and Sweden. For the affairs of Italy, which are + reported to be the objects of present negotiations, recur to the quadruple + alliance of the year 1718, and follow them down through their several + variations to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748; in which (by the bye) + you will find the very different tenures by which the Infant Don Philip, + your namesake, holds Parma and Placentia. Consult, also, the Emperor + Charles the Sixth’s Act of Cession of the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, + being a point which, upon the death of the present King of Spain, is + likely to occasion some disputes; do not lose the thread of these matters; + which is carried on with great ease, but if once broken, is resumed with + difficulty. + </p> + <p> + Pray tell Mr. Harte, that I have sent his packet to Baron Firmian by Count + Einsiedlen, who is gone from hence this day for Germany, and passes + through Vienna in his way to Italy; where he is in hopes of crossing upon + you somewhere or other. Adieu, my friend. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0111" id="link2H_4_0111"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 29, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You are now, I suppose, at Naples, in a new scene of + ‘Virtu’, examining all the curiosities of Herculaneum, watching the + eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, and surveying the magnificent churches and + public buildings, by which Naples is distinguished. + </p> + <p> + You have a court there into the bargain, which, I hope, you frequent and + attend to. Polite manners, a versatility of mind, a complaisance even to + enemies, and the ‘volto sciolto’, with the ‘pensieri stretti’, are only to + be learned at courts, and must be well learned by whoever would either + shine or thrive in them. Though they do not change the nature, they smooth + and soften the manners of mankind. Vigilance, dexterity, and flexibility + supply the place of natural force; and it is the ablest mind, not the + strongest body that prevails there. Monsieur and Madame Fogliani will, I + am sure, show you all the politeness of courts; for I know no better bred + people than they are. Domesticate yourself there while you stay at Naples, + and lay aside the English coldness and formality. You have also a letter + to Comte Mahony, whose house I hope you frequent, as it is the resort of + the best company. His sister, Madame Bulkeley, is now here; and had I + known of your going so soon to Naples, I would have got you, ‘ex + abundanti’, a letter from her to her brother. The conversation of the + moderns in the evening is full as necessary for you, as that of the + ancients in the morning. + </p> + <p> + You would do well, while you are at Naples, to read some very short + history of that kingdom. It has had great variety of masters, and has + occasioned many wars; the general history of which will enable you to ask + many proper questions, and to receive useful informations in return. + Inquire into the manner and form of that government; for constitution it + has none, being an absolute one; but the most absolute governments have + certain customs and forms, which are more or less observed by their + respective tyrants. In China it is the fashion for the emperors, absolute + as they are, to govern with justice and equity; as in the other Oriental + monarchies, it is the custom to govern by violence and cruelty. The King + of France, as absolute, in fact, as any of them, is by custom only more + gentle; for I know of no constitutional bar to his will. England is now, + the only monarchy in the world, that can properly be said to have a + constitution; for the people’s rights and liberties are secured by laws; + and I cannot reckon Sweden and Poland to be monarchies, those two kings + having little more to say than the Doge of Venice. I do not presume to say + anything of the constitution of the empire to you, who are ‘jurisperitorum + Germanicorum facile princeps’. + </p> + <p> + When you write to me, which, by the way, you do pretty seldom, tell me + rather whom you see, than what you see. Inform me of your evening + transactions and acquaintances; where, and how you pass your evenings; + what people of learning you have made acquaintance with; and, if you will + trust me with so important an affair, what belle passion inflames you. I + interest myself most in what personally concerns you most; and this is a + very critical year in your life. To talk like a virtuoso, your canvas is, + I think, a good one, and RAPHAEL HARTE has drawn the outlines admirably; + nothing is now wanting but the coloring of Titian, and the Graces, the + ‘morbidezza’ of Guido; but that is a great deal. You must get them soon, + or you will never get them at all. ‘Per la lingua Italiana, sono sicuro + ch’ella n’e adesso professore, a segno tale ch’io non ardisca dirle altra + cosa in quela lingua se non. Addio’. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0112" id="link2H_4_0112"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 26, O. S. 1756. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: As your journey to Paris approaches, and as that period + will, one way or another, be of infinite consequence to you, my letters + will henceforward be principally calculated for that meridian. You will be + left there to your own discretion, instead of Mr. Harte’s, and you will + allow me, I am sure, to distrust a little the discretion of eighteen. You + will find in the Academy a number of young fellows much less discreet than + yourself. These will all be your acquaintances; but look about you first, + and inquire into their respective characters, before you form any + connections among them; and, ‘caeteris paribus’, single out those of the + most considerable rank and family. Show them a distinguishing attention; + by which means you will get into their respective houses, and keep the + best company. All those French young fellows are excessively ‘etourdis’; + be upon your guard against scrapes and quarrels; have no corporal + pleasantries with them, no ‘jeux de mains’, no ‘coups de chambriere’, + which frequently bring on quarrels. Be as lively as they, if you please, + but at the same time be a little wiser than they. As to letters, you will + find most of them ignorant; do not reproach them with that ignorance, nor + make them feel your superiority. It is not their faults, they are all bred + up for the army; but, on the other, hand, do not allow their ignorance and + idleness to break in upon those morning hours which you may be able to + allot to your serious, studies. No breakfastings with them, which consume + a great deal of time; but tell them (not magisterially and sententiously) + that you will read two or three hours in the morning, and that for the + rest of the day you are very much at their service. Though, by the way, I + hope you will keep wiser company in the evenings. + </p> + <p> + I must insist upon your never going to what is called the English + coffee-house at Paris, which is the resort of all the scrub English, and + also of the fugitive and attainted Scotch and Irish; party quarrels and + drunken squabbles are very frequent there; and I do not know a more + degrading place in all Paris. Coffee-houses and taverns are by no means + creditable at Paris. Be cautiously upon your guard against the infinite + number of fine-dressed and fine-spoken ‘chevaliers d’industrie’ and + ‘avanturiers’ which swarm at Paris: and keep everybody civilly at arm’s + length, of whose real character or rank you are not previously informed. + Monsieur le Comte or Monsieur le Chevalier, in a handsome laced coat, ‘et + tres bien mis’, accosts you at the play, or some other public place; he + conceives at first sight an infinite regard for you: he sees that you are + a stranger of the first distinction; he offers you his services, and + wishes nothing more ardently than to contribute, as far as may be in his + little power, to procure you ‘les agremens de Paris’. He is acquainted + with some ladies of condition, ‘qui prefrent une petite societe agreable, + et des petits soupers aimables d’honnetes gens, au tumulte et a la + dissipation de Paris’; and he will with the greatest pleasure imaginable + have the honor of introducing you to those ladies of quality. Well, if you + were to accept of this kind offer, and go with him, you would find ‘au + troisieme; a handsome, painted and p——d strumpet, in a + tarnished silver or gold second-hand robe, playing a sham party at cards + for livres, with three or four sharpers well dressed enough, and dignified + by the titles of Marquis, Comte, and Chevalier. The lady receives you in + the most polite and gracious manner, and with all those ‘complimens de + routine’ which every French woman has equally. Though she loves + retirement, and shuns ‘le grande monde’, yet she confesses herself obliged + to the Marquis for having procured her so inestimable, so accomplished an + acquaintance as yourself; but her concern is how to amuse you: for she + never suffers play at her house for above a livre; if you can amuse + yourself with that low play till supper, ‘a la bonne heure’. Accordingly + you sit down to that little play, at which the good company takes care + that you shall win fifteen or sixteen livres, which gives them an + opportunity of celebrating both your good luck and your good play. Supper + comes up, and a good one it is, upon the strength of your being able to + pay for it. ‘La Marquise en fait les honneurs au mieux, talks sentiments, + ‘moeurs et morale’, interlarded with ‘enjouement’, and accompanied with + some oblique ogles, which bid you not despair in time. After supper, + pharaoh, lansquenet, or quinze, happen accidentally to be mentioned: the + Marquise exclaims against it, and vows she will not suffer it, but is at + last prevailed upon by being assured ‘que ce ne sera que pour des riens’. + Then the wished-for moment is come, the operation begins: you are cheated, + at best, of all the money in your pocket, and if you stay late, very + probably robbed of your watch and snuff-box, possibly murdered for greater + security. This I can assure you, is not an exaggerated, but a literal + description of what happens every day to some raw and inexperienced + stranger at Paris. Remember to receive all these civil gentlemen, who take + such a fancy to you at first sight, very coldly, and take care always to + be previously engaged, whatever party they propose to you. You may happen + sometimes, in very great and good companies, to meet with some dexterous + gentlemen, who may be very desirous, and also very sure, to win your + money, if they can but engage you to play with them. Therefore lay it down + as an invariable rule never to play with men, but only with women of + fashion, at low play, or with women and men mixed. But, at the same time, + whenever you are asked to play deeper than you would, do not refuse it + gravely and sententiously, alleging the folly of staking what would be + very inconvenient to one to lose, against what one does not want to win; + but parry those invitations ludicrously, ‘et en badinant’. Say that, if + you were sure to lose, you might possibly play, but that as you may as + well win, you dread ‘l’embarras des richesses’, ever since you have seen + what an encumbrance they were to poor Harlequin, and that, therefore, you + are determined never to venture the winning above two louis a-day; this + sort of light trifling way of declining invitations to vice and folly, is + more becoming your age, and at the same time more effectual, than grave + philosophical refusals. A young fellow who seems to have no will of his + own, and who does everything that is asked of him, is called a very + good-natured, but at the same time, is thought a very silly young fellow. + Act wisely, upon solid principles, and from true motives, but keep them to + yourself, and never talk sententiously. When you are invited to drink, say + that you wish you could, but that so little makes you both drunk and sick, + ‘que le jeu me vaut pas la chandelle’. + </p> + <p> + Pray show great attention, and make your court to Monsieur de la + Gueriniere; he is well with Prince Charles and many people of the first + distinction at Paris; his commendations will raise your character there, + not to mention that his favor will be of use to you in the Academy itself. + For the reasons which I mentioned to you in my last, I would have you be + interne in the Academy for the first six months; but after that, I promise + you that you shall have lodgings of your own ‘dans un hotel garni’, if in + the meantime I hear well of you, and that you frequent, and are esteemed + in the best French companies. You want nothing now, thank God, but + exterior advantages, that last polish, that ‘tournure du monde’, and those + graces, which are so necessary to adorn, and give efficacy to, the most + solid merit. They are only to be acquired in the best companies, and + better in the best French companies than in any other. You will not want + opportunities, for I shall send you letters that will establish you in the + most distinguished companies, not only of the beau monde, but of the beaux + esprits, too. Dedicate, therefore, I beg of you, that whole year to your + own advantage and final improvement, and do not be diverted from those + objects by idle dissipations, low seduction, or bad example. After that + year, do whatever you please; I will interfere no longer in your conduct; + for I am sure both you and I shall be safe then. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0113" id="link2H_4_0113"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 30, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Mr. Harte, who in all his letters gives you some dash of + panegyric, told me in his last a thing that pleases me extremely; which + was that at Rome you had constantly preferred the established Italian + assemblies to the English conventicles setup against them by dissenting + English ladies. That shows sense, and that you know what you are sent + abroad for. It is of much more consequence to know the ‘mores multorem + hominum’ than the ‘urbes’. Pray continue this judicious conduct wherever + you go, especially at Paris, where, instead of thirty, you will find above + three hundred English, herding together and conversing with no one French + body. + </p> + <p> + The life of ‘les Milords Anglois’ is regularly, or, if you will, + irregularly, this. As soon as they rise, which is very late, they + breakfast together, to the utter loss of two good morning hours. Then they + go by coachfuls to the Palais, the Invalides, and Notre-Dame; from thence + to the English coffee-house, where they make up their tavern party for + dinner. From dinner, where they drink quick, they adjourn in clusters to + the play, where they crowd up the stage, dressed up in very fine clothes, + very ill-made by a Scotch or Irish tailor. From the play to the tavern + again, where they get very drunk, and where they either quarrel among + themselves, or sally forth, commit some riot in the streets, and are taken + up by the watch. Those who do not speak French before they go, are sure to + learn none there. Their tender vows are addressed to their Irish + laundress, unless by chance some itinerant Englishwoman, eloped from her + husband, or her creditors, defrauds her of them. Thus they return home, + more petulant, but not more informed, than when they left it; and show, as + they think, their improvement by affectedly both speaking and dressing in + broken French:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hunc to Romane caveito.” + </pre> + <p> + Connect yourself, while you are in France, entirely with the French; + improve yourself with the old, divert yourself with the young; conform + cheerfully to their customs, even to their little follies, but not to + their vices. Do not, however, remonstrate or preach against them, for + remonstrances do not suit with your age. In French companies in general + you will not find much learning, therefore take care not to brandish yours + in their faces. People hate those who make them feel their own + inferiority. Conceal all your learning carefully, and reserve it for the + company of les Gens d’Eglise, or les Gens de Robe; and even then let them + rather extort it from you, than find you over-willing to draw it. Your are + then thought, from that seeming unwillingness, to have still more + knowledge than it may be you really have, and with the additional merit of + modesty into the bargain. A man who talks of, or even hints at, his + ‘bonnes fortunes’, is seldom believed, or, if believed, much blamed; + whereas a man who conceals with care is often supposed to have more than + he has, and his reputation of discretion gets him others. It is just so + with a man of learning; if he affects to show it, it is questioned, and he + is reckoned only superficial; but if afterward it appears that he really + has it, he is pronounced a pedant. Real merit of any kind, ‘ubi est non + potest diu celari’; it will be discovered, and nothing can depreciate it + but a man’s exhibiting it himself. It may not always be rewarded as it + ought, but it will always be known. You will in general find the women of + the beau monde at Paris more instructed than the men, who are bred up + singly for the army, and thrown into it at twelve or thirteen years old; + but then that sort of education, which makes them ignorant of books, gives + them a great knowledge of the world, an easy address, and polite manners. + </p> + <p> + Fashion is more tyrannical at Paris than in any other place in the world; + it governs even more absolutely than their king, which is saying a great + deal. The least revolt against it is punished by proscription. You must + observe, and conform to all the ‘minutiae’ of it, if you will be in + fashion there yourself; and if you are not in fashion, you are nobody. + Get, therefore, at all events, into the company of those men and women + ‘qui donnent le ton’; and though at first you should be admitted upon that + shining theatre only as a ‘persona muta’, persist, persevere, and you will + soon have a part given you. Take great care never to tell in one company + what you see or hear in another, much less to divert the present company + at the expense of the last; but let discretion and secrecy be known parts + of your character. They will carry you much further, and much safer than + more shining talents. Be upon your guard against quarrels at Paris; honor + is extremely nice there, though the asserting of it is exceedingly penal. + Therefore, ‘point de mauvaises plaisanteries, point de jeux de main, et + point de raillerie piquante’. + </p> + <p> + Paris is the place in the world where, if you please, you may the best + unite the ‘utile’ and the ‘dulce’. Even your pleasures will be your + improvements, if you take them with the people of the place, and in high + life. From what you have hitherto done everywhere else, I have just reason + to believe, that you will do everything that you ought at Paris. Remember + that it is your decisive moment; whatever you do there will be known to + thousands here, and your character there, whatever it is, will get before + you here. You will meet with it at London. May you and I both have reason + to rejoice at that meeting! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0114" id="link2H_4_0114"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 8, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: At your age the love of pleasures is extremely natural, + and the enjoyment of them not unbecoming: but the danger, at your age, is + mistaking the object, and setting out wrong in the pursuit. The character + of a man of pleasure dazzles young eyes; they do not see their way to it + distinctly, and fall into vice and profligacy. I remember a strong + instance of this a great many years ago. A young fellow, determined to + shine as a man of pleasure, was at the play called the “Libertine + Destroyed,” a translation of ‘Le Festin de Pierre’ of Molieire’s. He was + so struck with what he thought the fine character of the libertine, that + he swore he would be the LIBERTINE DESTROYED. Some friends asked him, + whether he had not better content himself with being only the libertine, + but without being DESTROYED? to which he answered with great warmth, “No, + for that being destroyed was the perfection of the whole.” This, + extravagant as it seems in this light, is really the case of many an + unfortunate young fellow, who, captivated by the name of pleasures, rushes + indiscriminately, and without taste, into them all, and is finally + DESTROYED. I am not stoically advising, nor parsonically preaching to you + to be a Stoic at your age; far from it: I am pointing out to you the paths + to pleasures, and am endeavoring only to quicken and heighten them for + you. Enjoy pleasures, but let them be your own, and then you will taste + them; but adopt none; trust to nature for genuine ones. The pleasures that + you would feel you must earn; the man who gives himself up to all, feels + none sensibly. Sardanapalus, I am convinced, never felt any in his life. + Those only who join serious occupations with pleasures, feel either as + they should do. Alcibiades, though addicted to the most shameful excesses, + gave some time to philosophy, and some to business. Julius Caesar joined + business with pleasure so properly, that they mutually assisted each + other; and though he was the husband of all the wives at Rome, he found + time to be one of the best scholars, almost the best orator, and + absolutely the best general there. An uninterrupted life of pleasures is + as insipid as contemptible. Some hours given every day to serious business + must whet both the mind and the senses, to enjoy those of pleasure. A + surfeited glutton, an emaciated sot, and an enervated rotten whoremaster, + never enjoy the pleasures to which they devote themselves; but they are + only so many human sacrifices to false gods. The pleasures of low life are + all of this mistaken, merely sensual, and disgraceful nature; whereas, + those of high life, and in good company (though possibly in themselves not + more moral) are more delicate, more refined, less dangerous, and less + disgraceful; and, in the common course of things, not reckoned disgraceful + at all. In short, pleasure must not, nay, cannot, be the business of a man + of sense and character; but it may be, and is, his relief, his reward. It + is particularly so with regard to the women; who have the utmost contempt + for those men, that, having no character nor consideration with their own + sex, frivolously pass their whole time in ‘ruelles’ and at ‘toilettes’. + They look upon them as their lumber, and remove them whenever they can get + better furniture. Women choose their favorites more by the ear than by any + other of their senses or even their understandings. The man whom they hear + the most commended by the men, will always be the best received by them. + Such a conquest flatters their vanity, and vanity is their universal, if + not their strongest passion. A distinguished shining character is + irresistible with them; they crowd to, nay, they even quarrel for the + danger in hopes of the triumph. Though, by the way (to use a vulgar + expression), she who conquers only catches a Tartar, and becomes the slave + of her captive. ‘Mais c’est la leur affaire’. Divide your time between + useful occupations and elegant pleasures. The morning seems to belong to + study, business, or serious conversations with men of learning and figure; + not that I exclude an occasional hour at a toilette. From sitting down to + dinner, the proper business of the day is pleasure, unless real business, + which must never be postponed for pleasure, happens accidentally to + interfere. In good company, the pleasures of the table are always carried + to a certain point of delicacy and gratification, but never to excess and + riot. Plays, operas, balls, suppers, gay conversations in polite and + cheerful companies, properly conclude the evenings; not to mention the + tender looks that you may direct and the sighs that you may offer, upon + these several occasions, to some propitious or unpropitious female deity, + whose character and manners will neither disgrace nor corrupt yours. This + is the life of a man of real sense and pleasure; and by this distribution + of your time, and choice of your pleasures, you will be equally qualified + for the busy, or the ‘beau monde’. You see I am not rigid, and do not + require that you and I should be of the same age. What I say to you, + therefore, should have the more weight, as coming from a friend, not a + father. But low company, and their low vices, their indecent riots and + profligacy, I never will bear nor forgive. + </p> + <p> + I have lately received two volumes of treaties, in German and Latin, from + Hawkins, with your orders, under your own hand, to take care of them for + you, which orders I shall most dutifully and punctually obey, and they + wait for you in my library, together with your great collection of rare + books, which your Mamma sent me upon removing from her old house. + </p> + <p> + I hope you not only keep up, but improve in your German, for it will be of + great use to you when you cone into business; and the more so, as you will + be almost the only Englishman who either can speak or understand it. Pray + speak it constantly to all Germans, wherever you meet them, and you will + meet multitudes of them at Paris. Is Italian now become easy and familiar + to you? Can you speak it with the same fluency that you can speak German? + You cannot conceive what an advantage it will give you in negotiations to + possess Italian, German, and French perfectly, so as to understand all the + force and finesse of those three languages. If two men of equal talents + negotiate together, he who best understands the language in which the + negotiation is carried on, will infallibly get the better of the other. + The signification and force of one single word is often of great + consequence in a treaty, and even in a letter. + </p> + <p> + Remember the GRACES, for without them ‘ogni fatica e vana’. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0115" id="link2H_4_0115"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 17, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your apprenticeship is near out, and you are soon to set + up for yourself; that approaching moment is a critical one for you, and an + anxious one for me. A tradesman who would succeed in his way, must begin + by establishing a character of integrity and good manners; without the + former, nobody will go to his shop at all; without the latter, nobody will + go there twice. This rule does not exclude the fair arts of trade. He may + sell his goods at the best price he can, within certain bounds. He may + avail himself of the humor, the whims, and the fantastical tastes of his + customers; but what he warrants to be good must be really so, what he + seriously asserts must be true, or his first fraudulent profits will soon + end in a bankruptcy. It is the same in higher life, and in the great + business of the world. A man who does not solidly establish, and really + deserve, a character of truth, probity, good manners, and good morals, at + his first setting out in the world, may impose, and shine like a meteor + for a very short time, but will very soon vanish, and be extinguished with + contempt. People easily pardon, in young men, the common irregularities of + the senses: but they do not forgive the least vice of the heart. The heart + never grows better by age; I fear rather worse; always harder. A young + liar will be an old one; and a young knave will only be a greater knave as + he grows older. But should a bad young heart, accompanied with a good head + (which, by the way, very seldom is the case), really reform in a more + advanced age, from a consciousness of its folly, as well as of its guilt; + such a conversion would only be thought prudential and political, but + never sincere. I hope in God, and I verily. believe, that you want no + moral virtue. But the possession of all the moral virtues, in ‘actu + primo’, as the logicians call it, is not sufficient; you must have them in + ‘actu secundo’ too; nay, that is not sufficient neither—you must + have the reputation of them also. Your character in the world must be + built upon that solid foundation, or it will soon fall, and upon your own + head. You cannot, therefore, be too careful, too nice, too scrupulous, in + establishing this character at first, upon which your whole depends. Let + no conversation, no example, no fashion, no ‘bon mot’, no silly desire of + seeming to be above, what most knaves, and many fools, call prejudices, + ever tempt you to avow, excuse, extenuate, or laugh at the least breach of + morality; but show upon all occasions, and take all occasions to show, a + detestation and abhorrence of it. There, though young, you ought to be + strict; and there only, while young, it becomes you to be strict and + severe. But there, too, spare the persons while you lash the crimes. All + this relates, as you easily judge, to the vices of the heart, such as + lying, fraud, envy, malice, detraction, etc., and I do not extend it to + the little frailties of youth, flowing from high spirits and warm blood. + It would ill become you, at your age, to declaim against them, and + sententiously censure a gallantry, an accidental excess of the table, a + frolic, an inadvertency; no, keep as free from them yourself as you can: + but say nothing against them in others. They certainly mend by time, often + by reason; and a man’s worldly character is not affected by them, provided + it be pure in all other respects. + </p> + <p> + To come now to a point of much less, but yet of very great consequence at + your first setting out. Be extremely upon your guard against vanity, the + common failing of inexperienced youth; but particularly against that kind + of vanity that dubs a man a coxcomb; a character which, once acquired, is + more indelible than that of the priesthood. It is not to be imagined by + how many different ways vanity defeats its own purposes. One man decides + peremptorily upon every subject, betrays his ignorance upon many, and + shows a disgusting presumption upon the rest. Another desires to appear + successful among the women; he hints at the encouragement he has received, + from those of the most distinguished rank and beauty, and intimates a + particular connection with some one; if it is true, it is ungenerous; if + false, it is infamous: but in either case he destroys the reputation he + wants to get. Some flatter their vanity by little extraneous objects, + which have not the least relation to themselves; such as being descended + from, related to, or acquainted with, people of distinguished merit and + eminent characters. They talk perpetually of their grandfather such-a-one, + their uncle such-a-one, and their intimate friend Mr. Such-a-one, with + whom, possibly, they are hardly acquainted. But admitting it all to be as + they would have it, what then? Have they the more merit for those + accidents? Certainly not. On the contrary, their taking up adventitious, + proves their want of intrinsic merit; a rich man never borrows. Take this + rule for granted, as a never-failing one: That you must never seem to + affect the character in which you have a mind to shine. Modesty is the + only sure bait when you angle for praise. The affectation of courage will + make even a brave man pass only for a bully; as the affectation of wit + will make a man of parts pass for a coxcomb. By this modesty I do not mean + timidity and awkward bashfulness. On the contrary, be inwardly firm and + steady, know your own value whatever it may be, and act upon that + principle; but take great care to let nobody discover that you do know + your own value. Whatever real merit you have, other people will discover, + and people always magnify their own discoveries, as they lessen those of + others. + </p> + <p> + For God’s sake, revolve all these things seriously in your thoughts, + before you launch out alone into the ocean of Paris. Recollect the + observations that you have yourself made upon mankind, compare and connect + them with my instructions, and then act systematically and consequentially + from them; not ‘au jour la journee’. Lay your little plan now, which you + will hereafter extend and improve by your own observations, and by the + advice of those who can never mean to mislead you; I mean Mr. Harte and + myself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0116" id="link2H_4_0116"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 24., O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday your letter of the 7th, N. S., from + Naples, to which place I find you have traveled, classically, critically, + and ‘da virtuoso’. You did right, for whatever is worth seeing at, all, is + worth seeing well, and better than most people see it. It is a poor and + frivolous excuse, when anything curious is talked of that one has seen, to + say, I SAW IT, BUT REALLY I DID NOT MUCH MIND IT. Why did they go to see + it, if they would not mind it? or why not mind it when they saw it? Now + that you are at Naples, you pass part of your time there ‘en honnete + homme, da garbato cavaliere’, in the court and the best companies. I am + told that strangers are received with the utmost hospitality at Prince———-’s, + ‘que lui il fait bonne chere, et que Madame la Princesse donne chere + entire; mais que sa chair est plus que hazardee ou mortifiee meme’; which + in plain English means, that she is not only tender, but rotten. If this + be true, as I am pretty sure it is, one may say to her in a little sense, + ‘juvenumque prodis, publics cura’. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte informs me that you are clothed in sumptuous apparel; a young + fellow should be so; especially abroad, where fine clothes are so + generally the fashion. Next to their being fine, they should be well made, + and worn easily for a man is only the less genteel for a fine coat, if, in + wearing it, he shows a regard for it, and is not as easy in it as if it + were a plain one. + </p> + <p> + I thank you for your drawing, which I am impatient to see, and which I + shall hang up in a new gallery that I am building at Blackheath, and very + fond of; but I am still more impatient for another copy, which I wonder I + have not yet received, I mean the copy of your countenance. I believe, + were that a whole length, it would still fall a good deal short of the + dimensions of the drawing after Dominichino, which you say is about eight + feet high; and I take you, as well as myself, to be of the family of the + Piccolomini. Mr. Bathurst tells me that he thinks you rather taller than I + am; if so, you may very possibly get up to five feet eight inches, which I + would compound for, though I would wish you five feet ten. In truth, what + do I not wish you, that has a tendency to perfection? I say a tendency + only, for absolute perfection is not in human nature, so that it would be + idle to wish it. But I am very willing to compound for your coming nearer + to perfection than the generality of your contemporaries: without a + compliment to you, I think you bid fair for that. Mr. Harte affirms (and + if it were consistent with his character would, I believe, swear) that you + have no vices of the heart; you have undoubtedly a stock of both ancient + and modern learning, which I will venture to say nobody of your age has, + and which must now daily increase, do what you will. What, then, do you + want toward that practicable degree of perfection which I wish you? + Nothing but the knowledge, the turn, and the manners of the world; I mean + the ‘beau monde’. These it is impossible that you can yet have quite + right; they are not given, they must be learned. But then, on the other + hand, it is impossible not to acquire them, if one has a mind to them; for + they are acquired insensibly, by keeping good company, if one has but the + least attention to their characters and manners. + </p> + <p> + Every man becomes, to a certain degree, what the people he generally + converses with are. He catches their air, their manners, and even their + way of thinking. If he observes with attention, he will catch them soon, + but if he does not, he will at long run contract them insensibly. I know + nothing in the world but poetry that is not to be acquired by application + and care. The sum total of this is a very comfortable one for you, as it + plainly amounts to this in your favor, that you now want nothing but what + even your pleasures, if they are liberal ones, will teach you. I + congratulate both you and myself upon your being in such a situation, + that, excepting your exercises, nothing is now wanting but pleasures to + complete you. Take them, but (as I am sure you will) with people of the + first fashion, whereever you are, and the business is done; your exercises + at Paris, which I am sure you will attend to, will supple and fashion your + body; and the company you will keep there will, with some degree of + observation on your part, soon give you their air, address, manners, in + short, ‘le ton de la bonne compagnie’. Let not these considerations, + however, make you vain: they are only between you and me but as they are + very comfortable ones, they may justly give you a manly assurance, a + firmness, a steadiness, without which a man can neither be well-bred, or + in any light appear to advantage, or really what he is. They may justly + remove all, timidity, awkward bashfulness, low diffidence of one’s self, + and mean abject complaisance to every or anybody’s opinion. La Bruyere + says, very truly, ‘on ne vaut dans ce monde, que ce que l’on veut valoir’. + It is a right principle to proceed upon in the world, taking care only to + guard against the appearances and outward symptoms of vanity. Your whole + then, you see, turns upon the company you keep for the future. I have laid + you in variety of the best at Paris, where, at your arrival you will find + a cargo of letters to very different sorts of people, as ‘beaux esprils, + savants, et belles dames’. These, if you will frequent them, will form + you, not only by their examples, advice, and admonitions in private, as I + have desired them to do; and consequently add to what you have the only + one thing now needful. + </p> + <p> + Pray tell me what Italian books you have read, and whether that language + is now become familiar to you. + </p> + <p> + Read Ariosto and Tasso through, and then you will have read all the + Italian poets who in my opinion are worth reading. In all events, when you + get to Paris, take a good Italian master to read Italian with you three + times a week; not only to keep what you have already, which you would + otherwise forget, but also to perfect you in the rest. It is a great + pleasure, as well as a great advantage, to be able to speak to people of + all nations, and well, in their own language. Aim at perfection in + everything, though in most things it is unattainable; however, they who + aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer it, than those whose + laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable. ‘Magnis + tamen excidit ausis’ is a degree of praise which will always attend a + noble and shining temerity, and a much better sign in a young fellow, than + ‘serpere humi, tutus nimium timidusque procellae’. For men as well as + women: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “————-born to be controlled, + Stoop to the forward and the bold.” + </pre> + <p> + A man who sets out in the world with real timidity and diffidence has not + an equal chance for it; he will be discouraged, put by, or trampled upon. + But to succeed, a man, especially a young one, should have inward + firmness, steadiness, and intrepidity, with exterior modesty and SEEMING + diffidence. He must modestly, but resolutely, assert his own rights and + privileges. ‘Suaviter in modo’, but ‘fortiter in re’. He should have an + apparent frankness and openness, but with inward caution and closeness. + All these things will come to you by frequenting and observing good + company. And by good company, I mean that sort of company which is called + good company by everybody of that place. When all this is over, we shall + meet; and then we will talk over, tete-a-tete, the various little + finishing strokes which conversation and, acquaintance occasionally + suggest, and which cannot be methodically written. + </p> + <p> + Tell Mr. Harte that I have received his two letters of the 2d and 8th N. + S., which, as soon as I have received a third, I will answer. Adieu, my + dear! I find you will do. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0117" id="link2H_4_0117"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 5, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have received your picture, which I have long waited for + with impatience: I wanted to see your countenance from whence I am very + apt, as I believe most people are, to form some general opinion of the + mind. If the painter has taken you as well as he has done Mr. Harte (for + his picture is by far the most like I ever saw in my life), I draw good + conclusions from your countenance, which has both spirit and finesse in + it. In bulk you are pretty well increased since I saw you; if your height + has not increased in proportion, I desire that you will make haste to, + complete it. Seriously, I believe that your exercises at Paris will make + you shoot up to a good size; your legs, by all accounts, seem to promise + it. Dancing excepted, the wholesome part is the best part of those + academical exercises. ‘Ils degraissent leur homme’. + </p> + <p> + ‘A propos’ of exercises, I have prepared everything for your reception at + Monsieur de la Gueriniere’s, and your room, etc., will be ready at your + arrival. I am sure you must be sensible how much better it will be for you + to be interne in the Academy for the first six or seven months at least, + than to be ‘en hotel garni’, at some distance from it, and obliged to go + to it every morning, let the weather be what it will, not to mention the + loss of time too; besides, by living and boarding in the Academy, you will + make an acquaintance with half the young fellows of fashion at Paris; and + in a very little while be looked upon as one of them in all French + companies: an advantage that has never yet happened to any one Englishman + that I have known. I am sure you do not suppose that the difference of the + expense, which is but a trifle, has any weight with me in this resolution. + You have the French language so perfectly, and you will acquire the French + ‘tournure’ so soon, that I do not know anybody likely to pass their time + so well at Paris as yourself. Our young countrymen have generally too + little French, and too bad address, either to present themselves, or be + well received in the best French companies; and, as a proof of it, there + is no one instance of an Englishman’s having ever been suspected of a + gallantry with a French woman of condition, though every French woman of + condition is more than suspected of having a gallantry. But they take up + with the disgraceful and dangerous commerce of prostitutes, actresses, + dancing-women, and that sort of trash; though, if they had common address, + better achievements would be extremely easy. ‘Un arrangement’, which is in + plain English a gallantry, is, at Paris, as necessary a part of a woman of + fashion’s establishment, as her house, stable, coach, etc. A young fellow + must therefore be a very awkward one, to be reduced to, or of a very + singular taste, to prefer drabs and danger to a commerce (in the course of + the world not disgraceful) with a woman of health, education, and rank. + Nothing sinks a young man into low company, both of women and men, so + surely as timidity and diffidence of himself. If he thinks that he shall + not, he may depend upon it he will not please. But with proper endeavors + to please, and a degree of persuasion that he shall, it is almost certain + that he will. How many people does one meet with everywhere, who, with + very moderate parts, and very little knowledge, push themselves pretty + far, simply by being sanguine, enterprising, and persevering? They will + take no denial from man or woman; difficulties do not discourage them; + repulsed twice or thrice, they rally, they charge again, and nine times in + ten prevail at last. The same means will much sooner, and, more certainly, + attain the same ends, with your parts and knowledge. You have a fund to be + sanguine upon, and good forces to rally. In business (talents supposed) + nothing is more effectual or successful, than a good, though concealed + opinion of one’s self, a firm resolution, and an unwearied perseverance. + None but madmen attempt impossibilities; and whatever is possible, is one + way or another to be brought about. If one method fails, try another, and + suit your methods to the characters you have to do with. At the treaty of + the Pyrenees, which Cardinal Mazarin and Don Louis de Haro concluded, + ‘dans l’Isle des Faisans’, the latter carried some very important points + by his constant and cool perseverance. + </p> + <p> + The Cardinal had all the Italian vivacity and impatience; Don Louis all + the Spanish phlegm and tenaciousness. The point which the Cardinal had + most at heart was, to hinder the re-establishment of the Prince of Conde, + his implacable enemy; but he was in haste to conclude, and impatient to + return to Court, where absence is always dangerous. Don Louis observed + this, and never failed at every conference to bring the affair of the + Prince of Conde upon the tapis. The Cardinal for some time refused even to + treat upon it. Don Louis, with the same ‘sang froid’, as constantly + persisted, till he at last prevailed: contrary to the intentions and the + interest both of the Cardinal and of his Court. Sense must distinguish + between what is impossible, and what is only difficult; and spirit and + perseverance will get the better of the latter. Every man is to be had one + way or another, and every woman almost any way. I must not omit one thing, + which is previously necessary to this, and, indeed, to everything else; + which is attention, a flexibility of attention; never to be wholly + engrossed by any past or future object, but instantly directed to the + present one, be it what it will. An absent man can make but few + observations; and those will be disjointed and imperfect ones, as half the + circumstance must necessarily escape him. He can pursue nothing steadily, + because his absences make him lose his way. They are very disagreeable, + and hardly to be tolerated in old age; but in youth they cannot be + forgiven. If you find that you have the least tendency to them, pray watch + yourself very carefully, and you may prevent them now; but if you let them + grow into habit, you will find it very difficult to cure them hereafter, + and a worse distemper I do not know. + </p> + <p> + I heard with great satisfaction the other day, from one who has been + lately at Rome, that nobody was better received in the best companies than + yourself. The same thing, I dare say, will happen to you at Paris; where + they are particularly kind to all strangers, who will be civil to them, + and show a desire of pleasing. But they must be flattered a little, not + only by words, but by a seeming preference given to their country, their + manners, and their customs; which is but a very small price to pay for a + very good reception. Were I in Africa, I would pay it to a negro for his + goodwill. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0118" id="link2H_4_0118"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 11, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The President Montesquieu (whom you will be acquainted + with at Paris), after having laid down in his book, ‘De l’Esprit des + Lois’, the nature and principles of the three different kinds of + government, viz, the democratical, the monarchical, and the despotic, + treats of the education necessary for each respective form. His chapter + upon the education proper for the monarchical I thought worth transcribing + and sending to you. You will observe that the monarchy which he has in his + eye is France:— + </p> + <p> + “In monarchies, the principal branch of education is not taught in + colleges or academies. It commences, in some measure, at our setting out + in the world; for this is the school of what we call honor, that universal + preceptor, which ought everywhere to be our guide. + </p> + <p> + “Here it is that we constantly hear three rules or maxims, viz: That we + should have a certain nobleness in our virtues, a kind of frankness in our + morals, and a particular politeness in our behavior. + </p> + <p> + “The virtues we are here taught, are less what we owe to others, than to + ourselves; they are not so much what draws us toward society, as what + distinguishes us from our fellow-citizens. + </p> + <p> + “Here the actions of men are judged, not as virtuous, but as shining; not + as just, but as great; not as reasonable, but as extraordinary. + </p> + <p> + “When honor here meets with anything noble in our actions, it is either a + judge that approves them, or a sophister by whom they are excused. + </p> + <p> + “It allows of gallantry, when united with the idea of sensible affection, + or with that of conquest; this is the reason why we never meet with so + strict a purity of morals in monarchies as in republican governments. + </p> + <p> + “It allows of cunning and craft, when joined with the notion of greatness + of soul or importance of affairs; as, for instance, in politics, with + whose finenesses it is far from being offended. + </p> + <p> + “It does not forbid adulation, but when separate from the idea of a large + fortune, and connected only with the sense of our mean condition. + </p> + <p> + “With regard to morals, I have observed, that the education of monarchies + ought to admit of a certain frankness and open carriage. Truth, therefore, + in conversation, is here a necessary point. But is it for the sake of + truth. By no means. Truth is requisite only, because a person habituated + to veracity has an air of boldness and freedom. And, indeed, a man of this + stamp seems to lay a stress only on the things themselves, not on the + manner in which they are received. + </p> + <p> + “Hence it is, that in proportion as this kind of frankness is commended, + that of the common people is despised, which has nothing but truth and + simplicity for its object. + </p> + <p> + “In fine, the education of monarchies requires a certain politeness of + behavior. Man, a sociable animal, is formed to please in society; and a + person that would break through the rules of decency, so as to shock those + he conversed with, would lose the public esteem, and become incapable of + doing any good. + </p> + <p> + “But politeness, generally speaking, does not derive its original from so + pure a source. It arises from a desire of distinguishing ourselves. It is + pride that renders us polite; we are flattered with being taken notice of + for a behavior that shows we are not of a mean condition, and that we have + not been bred up with those who in all ages are considered as the scum of + the people. + </p> + <p> + “Politeness, in monarchies, is naturalized at court. One man excessively + great renders everybody else little. Hence that regard which is paid to + our fellow-subjects; hence that politeness, equally pleasing to those by + whom, as to those toward whom, it is practiced; because it gives people to + understand that a person actually belongs, or at least deserves to belong, + to the court. + </p> + <p> + “A court air consists in quitting a real for a borrowed greatness. The + latter pleases the courtier more than the former. It inspires him with a + certain disdainful modesty, which shows itself externally, but whose pride + insensibly diminishes in proportion to his distance from the source of + this greatness. + </p> + <p> + “At court we find a delicacy of taste in everything; a delicacy arising + from the constant use of the superfluities of life; from the variety, and + especially the satiety of pleasures; from the multiplicity and even + confusion of fancies, which, if they are not agreeable, are sure of being + well received. + </p> + <p> + “These are the things which properly fall within the province of + education, in order to form what we call a man of honor, a man possessed + of all the qualities and virtues requisite in this kind of government. + </p> + <p> + “Here it is that honor interferes with everything, mixing even with + people’s manner of thinking, and directing their very principles. + </p> + <p> + “To this whimsical honor it is owing that the virtues are only just what + it pleases; it adds rules of its own invention to everything prescribed to + us; it extends or limits our duties according to its own fancy, whether + they proceed from religion, politics, or morality. + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing so strongly inculcated in monarchies, by the laws, by + religion, and honor, as submission to the Prince’s will, but this very + honor tells us, that the Prince never ought to command a dishonorable + action, because this would render us incapable of serving him. + </p> + <p> + “Crillon refused to assassinate the Duke of Guise, but offered to fight + him. After the massacre of St. Bartholomew, Charles IX., having sent + orders to the governors in the several provinces for the Huguenots to be + murdered, Viscount Dorte, who commanded at Bayonne, wrote thus to the + King: ‘Sire, Among the inhabitants of this town, and your Majesty’s + troops, I could not find so much as one executioner; they are honest + citizens and brave soldiers. We jointly, therefore, beseech your Majesty + to command our arms and lives in things that are practicable.’ This great + and generous soul looked upon a base action as a thing impossible. + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing that honor more strongly recommends to the nobility, + than to serve their Prince in a military capacity. And indeed this is + their favorite profession, because its dangers, its success, and even its + miscarriages, are the road to grandeur. Yet this very law, of its own + making, honor chooses to explain; and in case of any affront, it requires + or permits us to retire. + </p> + <p> + “It insists also, that we should be at liberty either to seek or to reject + employments; a liberty which it prefers even to an ample fortune. + </p> + <p> + “Honor, therefore, has its supreme laws, to which education is obliged to + conform. The chief of these are, that we are permitted to set a value upon + our fortune, but are absolutely forbidden to set any upon our lives. + </p> + <p> + “The second is, that when we are raised to a post or preferment, we should + never do or permit anything which may seem to imply that we look upon + ourselves as inferior to the rank we hold. + </p> + <p> + “The third is, that those things which honor forbids are more rigorously + forbidden, when the laws do not concur in the prohibition; and those it + commands are more strongly insisted upon, when they happen not to be + commanded by law.” + </p> + <p> + Though our government differs considerably from the French, inasmuch as we + have fixed laws and constitutional barriers for the security of our + liberties and properties, yet the President’s observations hold pretty + near as true in England as in France. Though monarchies may differ a good + deal, kings differ very little. Those who are absolute desire to continue + so, and those who are not, endeavor to become so; hence the same maxims + and manners almost in all courts: voluptuousness and profusion encouraged, + the one to sink the people into indolence, the other into poverty—consequently + into dependence. The court is called the world here as well as at Paris; + and nothing more is meant by saying that a man knows the world, than that + he knows courts. In all courts you must expect to meet with connections + without friendship, enmities without hatred, honor without virtue, + appearances saved, and realities sacrificed; good manners with bad morals; + and all vice and virtues so disguised, that whoever has only reasoned upon + both would know neither when he first met them at court. It is well that + you should know the map of that country, that when you come to travel in + it, you may do it with greater safety. + </p> + <p> + From all this you will of yourself draw this obvious conclusion: That you + are in truth but now going to the great and important school, the world; + to which Westminster and Leipsig were only the little preparatory schools, + as Marylebone, Windsor, etc., are to them. What you have already acquired + will only place you in the second form of this new school, instead of the + first. But if you intend, as I suppose you do, to get into the shell, you + have very different things to learn from Latin and Greek: and which + require much more sagacity and attention than those two dead languages; + the language of pure and simple nature; the language of nature variously + modified and corrupted by passions, prejudices, and habits; the language + of simulation and dissimulation: very hard, but very necessary to + decipher. Homer has not half so many, nor so difficult dialects, as the + great book of the school you are now going to. Observe, therefore, + progressively, and with the greatest attention, what the best scholars in + the form immediately above you do, and so on, until you get into the shell + yourself. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + Pray tell Mr. Harte that I have received his letter of the 27th May, N. + S., and that I advise him never to take the English newswriters literally, + who never yet inserted any one thing quite right. I have both his patent + and his mandamus, in both which he is Walter, let the newspapers call him + what they please. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0119" id="link2H_4_0119"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 9, O. S. 1750. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I should not deserve that appellation in return from you, + if I did not freely and explicitly inform you of every corrigible defect + which I may either hear of, suspect, or at any time discover in you. Those + who, in the common course of the world, will call themselves your friends; + or whom, according to the common notions of friendship, you may possibly + think such, will never tell you of your faults, still less of your + weaknesses. But, on the contrary, more desirous to make you their friend, + than to prove themselves yours, they will flatter both, and, in truth, not + be sorry for either. Interiorly, most people enjoy the inferiority of + their best friends. The useful and essential part of friendship, to you, + is reserved singly for Mr. Harte and myself: our relations to you stand + pure and unsuspected of all private views. In whatever we say to you, we + can have no interest but yours. We are therefore authorized to represent, + advise, and remonstrate; and your reason must tell you that you ought to + attend to and believe us. + </p> + <p> + I am credibly informed, that there is still a considerable hitch or hobble + in your enunciation; and that when you speak fast you sometimes speak + unintelligibly. I have formerly and frequently laid my thoughts before you + so fully upon this subject, that I can say nothing new upon it now. I must + therefore only repeat, that your whole depends upon it. Your trade is to + speak well, both in public and in private. The manner of your speaking is + full as important as the matter, as more people have ears to be tickled, + than understandings to judge. Be your productions ever so good, they will + be of no use, if you stifle and strangle them in their birth. The best + compositions of Corelli, if ill executed and played out of tune, instead + of touching, as they do when well performed, would only excite the + indignation of the hearer’s, when murdered by an unskillful performer. But + to murder your own productions, and that ‘coram Populo’, is a MEDEAN + CRUELTY, which Horace absolutely forbids. Remember of what importance + Demosthenes, and one of the Gracchi, thought ENUNCIATION; and read what + stress Cicero and Quintilian lay upon it; even the herb-women at Athens + were correct judges of it. Oratory, with all its graces, that of + enunciation in particular, is full as necessary in our government as it + ever was in Greece or Rome. No man can make a fortune or a figure in this + country, without speaking, and speaking well in public. If you will + persuade, you must first please; and if you will please, you must tune + your voice to harmony, you must articulate every syllable distinctly, your + emphasis and cadences must be strongly and properly marked; and the whole + together must be graceful and engaging: If you do not speak in that + manner, you had much better not speak at all. All the learning you have, + or ever can have, is not worth one groat without it. It may be a comfort + and an amusement to you in your closet, but can be of no use to you in the + world. Let me conjure you, therefore, to make this your only object, till + you have absolutely conquered it, for that is in your power; think of + nothing else, read and speak for nothing else. Read aloud, though alone, + and read articulately and distinctly, as if you were reading in public, + and on the most important occasion. Recite pieces of eloquence, declaim + scenes of tragedies to Mr. Harte, as if he were a numerous audience. If + there is any particular consonant which you have a difficulty in + articulating, as I think you had with the R, utter it millions and + millions of times, till you have uttered it right. Never speak quick, till + you have first learned to speak well. In short, lay aside every book, and + every thought, that does not directly tend to this great object, + absolutely decisive of your future fortune and figure. + </p> + <p> + The next thing necessary in your destination, is writing correctly, + elegantly, and in a good hand too; in which three particulars, I am sorry + to tell you, that you hitherto fail. Your handwriting is a very bad one, + and would make a scurvy figure in an office-book of letters, or even in a + lady’s pocket-book. But that fault is easily cured by care, since every + man, who has the use of his eyes and of his right hand, can write whatever + hand he pleases. As to the correctness and elegance of your writing, + attention to grammar does the one, and to the best authors the other. In + your letter to me of the 27th June, N. S., you omitted the date of the + place, so that I only conjectured from the contents that you were at Rome. + </p> + <p> + Thus I have, with the truth and freedom of the tenderest affection, told + you all your defects, at least all that I know or have heard of. Thank + God, they are all very curable; they must be cured, and I am sure, you + will cure them. That once done, nothing remains for you to acquire, or for + me to wish you, but the turn, the manners, the address, and the GRACES, of + the polite world; which experience, observation, and good company; will + insensibly give you. Few people at your age have read, seen, and known, so + much as you have; and consequently few are so near as yourself to what I + call perfection, by which I only, mean being very near as well as the + best. Far, therefore, from being discouraged by what you still want, what + you already have should encourage you to attempt, and convince you that by + attempting you will inevitably obtain it. The difficulties which you have + surmounted were much greater than any you have now to encounter. Till very + lately, your way has been only through thorns and briars; the few that now + remain are mixed with roses. Pleasure is now the principal remaining part + of your education. It will soften and polish your manners; it will make + you pursue and at last overtake the GRACES. Pleasure is necessarily + reciprocal; no one feels, who does not at the same time give it. To be + pleased one must please. What pleases you in others, will in general + please them in you. Paris is indisputably the seat of the GRACES; they + will even court you, if you are not too coy. Frequent and observe the best + companies there, and you will soon be naturalized among them; you will + soon find how particularly attentive they are to the correctness and + elegance of their language, and to the graces of their enunciation: they + would even call the understanding of a man in question, who should neglect + or not know the infinite advantages arising from them. ‘Narrer, reciter, + declamer bien’, are serious studies among them, and well deserve to be so + everywhere. The conversations, even among the women, frequently turn upon + the elegancies and minutest delicacies of the French language. An + ‘enjouement’, a gallant turn, prevails in all their companies, to women, + with whom they neither are, nor pretend to be, in love; but should you (as + may very possibly happen) fall really in love there with some woman of + fashion and sense (for I do not suppose you capable of falling in love + with a strumpet), and that your rival, without half your parts or + knowledge, should get the better of you, merely by dint of manners, + ‘enjouement, badinage’, etc., how would you regret not having sufficiently + attended to those accomplishments which you despised as superficial and + trifling, but which you would then find of real consequence in the course + of the world! And men, as well as women, are taken by those external + graces. Shut up your books, then, now as a business, and open them only as + a pleasure; but let the great book of the world be your serious study; + read it over and over, get it by heart, adopt its style, and make it your + own. + </p> + <p> + When I cast up your account as it now stands, I rejoice to see the balance + so much in your favor; and that the items per contra are so few, and of + such a nature, that they may be very easily cancelled. By way of debtor + and creditor, it stands thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Creditor. By French Debtor. To English + German Enunciation + Italian Manners + Latin + Greek + Logic + Ethics + History + |Naturae + Jus |Gentium + |Publicum +</pre> + <p> + This, my dear friend, is a very true account; and a very encouraging one + for you. A man who owes so little can clear it off in a very little time, + and, if he is a prudent man, will; whereas a man who, by long negligence, + owes a great deal, despairs of ever being able to pay; and therefore never + looks into his account at all. + </p> + <p> + When you go to Genoa, pray observe carefully all the environs of it, and + view them with somebody who can tell you all the situations and operations + of the Austrian army, during that famous siege, if it deserves to be + called one; for in reality the town never was besieged, nor had the + Austrians any one thing necessary for a siege. If Marquis Centurioni, who + was last winter in England, should happen to be there, go to him with my + compliments, and he will show you all imaginable civilities. + </p> + <p> + I could have sent you some letters to Florence, but that I knew Mr. Mann + would be of more use to you than all of them. Pray make him my + compliments. Cultivate your Italian, while you are at Florence, where it + is spoken in its utmost purity, but ill pronounced. + </p> + <p> + Pray save me the seed of some of the best melons you eat, and put it up + dry in paper. You need not send it me; but Mr. Harte will bring it in his + pocket when he comes over. I should likewise be glad of some cuttings of + the best figs, especially la Pica gentile and the Maltese; but as this is + not the season for them, Mr. Mann will, I dare say, undertake that + commission, and send them to me at the proper time by Leghorn. Adieu. + Endeavor to please others, and divert yourself as much as ever you can, in + ‘honnete et galant homme’. + </p> + <p> + P. S. I send you the inclosed to deliver to Lord Rochford, upon your + arrival at Turin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0120" id="link2H_4_0120"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXVIII. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 6, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Since your letter from Sienna, which gave me a very + imperfect account both of your illness and your recovery, I have not + received one word either from you or Mr. Harte. I impute this to the + carelessness of the post simply: and the great distance between us at + present exposes our letters to those accidents. But when you come to + Paris, from whence the letters arrive here very regularly, I shall insist + upon you writing to me constantly once a week; and that upon the same day, + for instance, every Thursday, that I may know by what mail to expect your + letter. I shall also require you to be more minute in your account of + yourself than you have hitherto been, or than I have required, because of + the informations which I receive from time to time from Mr. Harte. At + Paris you will be out of your time, and must set up for yourself; it is + then that I shall be very solicitous to know how you carry on your + business. While Mr. Harte was your partner, the care was his share, and + the profit yours. But at Paris, if you will have the latter, you must take + the former along with it. It will be quite a new world to you; very + different from the little world that you have hitherto seen; and you will + have much more to do in it. You must keep your little accounts constantly + every morning, if you would not have them run into confusion, and swell to + a bulk that would frighten you from ever looking into them at all. You + must allow some time for learning what you do not know, and some for + keeping what you do know; and you must leave a great deal of time for your + pleasures; which (I repeat it, again) are now become the most necessary + part of your education. It is by conversations, dinners, suppers, + entertainments, etc., in the best companies, that you must be formed for + the world. ‘Les manieres les agremens, les graces’ cannot be learned by + theory; they are only to be got by use among those who have them; and they + are now the main object of your life, as they are the necessary steps to + your fortune. A man of the best parts, and the greatest learning, if he + does not know the world by his own experience and observation, will be + very absurd; and consequently very unwelcome in company. He may say very + good things; but they will probably be so ill-timed, misplaced, or + improperly addressed, that he had much better hold his tongue. Full of his + own matter, and uninformed of; or inattentive to, the particular + circumstances and situations of the company, he vents it indiscriminately; + he puts some people out of countenance; he shocks others; and frightens + all, who dread what may come out next. The most general rule that I can + give you for the world, and which your experience will convince you of the + truth of, is, Never to give the tone to the company, but to take it from + them; and to labor more to put them in conceit with themselves, than to + make them admire you. Those whom you can make like themselves better, + will, I promise you, like you very well. + </p> + <p> + A system-monger, who, without knowing anything of the world by experience, + has formed a system, of it in his dusty cell, lays it down, for example, + that (from the general nature of mankind) flattery is pleasing. He will + therefore flatter. But how? Why, indiscriminately. And instead of + repairing and heightening the piece judiciously, with soft colors and a + delicate pencil,—with a coarse brush and a great deal of whitewash, + he daubs and besmears the piece he means to adorn. His flattery offends + even his patron; and is almost too gross for his mistress. A man of the + world knows the force of flattery as well as he does; but then he knows + how, when, and where to give it; he proportions his dose to the + constitution of the patient. He flatters by application, by inference, by + comparison, by hint, and seldom directly. In the course of the world, + there is the same difference in everything between system and practice. + </p> + <p> + I long to have you at Paris, which is to be your great school; you will be + then in a manner within reach of me. + </p> + <p> + Tell me, are you perfectly recovered, or do you still find any remaining + complaint upon your lungs? Your diet should be cooling, and at the same + time nourishing. Milks of all kinds are proper for you; wines of all kinds + bad. A great deal of gentle, and no violent exercise, is good for you. + Adieu. ‘Gratia, fama, et valetudo, contingat, abunde!’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0121" id="link2H_4_0121"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 22, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: This letter will, I am persuaded, find you, and I hope + safely, arrived at Montpelier; from whence I trust that Mr. Harte’s + indisposition will, by being totally removed, allow you to get to Paris + before Christmas. You will there find two people who, though both English, + I recommend in the strongest manner possible to your attention; and advise + you to form the most intimate connections with them both, in their + different ways. The one is a man whom you already know something of, but + not near enough: it is the Earl of Huntingdon; who, next to you, is the + truest object of my affection and esteem; and who (I am proud to say it) + calls me, and considers me as his adopted father. His parts are as quick + as his knowledge is extensive; and if quality were worth putting into an + account, where every other item is so much more valuable, he is the first + almost in this country: the figure he will make in it, soon after he + returns to it, will, if I am not more mistaken than ever I was in my life, + equal his birth and my hopes. Such a connection will be of infinite + advantage to you; and, I can assure you, that he is extremely disposed to + form it upon my account; and will, I hope and believe, desire to improve + and cement it upon your own. + </p> + <p> + In our parliamentary government, connections are absolutely necessary; + and, if prudently formed and ably maintained, the success of them is + infallible. There are two sorts of connections, which I would always + advise you to have in view. The first I will call equal ones; by which I + mean those, where the two connecting parties reciprocally find their + account, from pretty near an equal degree of parts and abilities. In + those, there must be a freer communication; each must see that the other + is able, and be convinced that he is willing to be of use to him. Honor + must be the principle of such connections; and there must be a mutual + dependence, that present and separate interest shall not be able to break + them. There must be a joint system of action; and, in case of different + opinions, each must recede a little, in order at last to form an unanimous + one. Such, I hope, will be your connection with Lord Huntingdon. You will + both come into parliament at the same time; and if you have an equal share + of abilities and application, you and he, with other young people, with + whom you will naturally associate, may form a band which will be respected + by any administration, and make a figure in the public. The other sort of + connections I call unequal ones; that is, where the parts are all on one + side, and the rank and fortune on the other. Here, the advantage is all on + one side; but that advantage must be ably and artfully concealed. + Complaisance, an engaging manner, and a patient toleration of certain airs + of superiority, must cement them. The weaker party must be taken by the + heart, his head giving no hold; and he must be governed by being made to + believe that he governs. These people, skillfully led, give great weight + to their leader. I have formerly pointed out to you a couple that I take + to be proper objects for your skill; and you will meet with twenty more, + for they are very rife. + </p> + <p> + The other person whom I recommended to you is a woman; not as a woman, for + that is not immediately my business; besides, I fear that she is turned of + fifty. It is Lady Hervey, whom I directed you to call upon at Dijon, but + who, to my great joy, because to your great advantage, passes all this + winter at Paris. She has been bred all her life at courts; of which she + has acquired all the easy good-breeding and politeness, without the + frivolousness. She has all the reading that a woman should have; and more + than any woman need have; for she understands Latin perfectly well, though + she wisely conceals it. As she will look upon you as her son, I desire + that you will look upon her as my delegate: trust, consult, and apply to + her without reserve. No woman ever had more than she has, ‘le ton de la + parfaitement bonne compagnie, les manieres engageantes, et le je ne sais + quoi qui plait’. Desire her to reprove and correct any, and every, the + least error and inaccuracy in your manners, air, address, etc. No woman in + Europe can do it so well; none will do it more willingly, or in a more + proper and obliging manner. In such a case she will not put you out of + countenance, by telling you of it in company; but either intimate it by + some sign, or wait for an opportunity when you are alone together. She is + also in the best French company, where she will not only introduce but + PUFF you, if I may use so low a word. And I can assure you that it is no + little help, in the ‘beau monde’, to be puffed there by a fashionable + woman. I send you the inclosed billet to carry her, only as a certificate + of the identity of your person, which I take it for granted she could not + know again. + </p> + <p> + You would be so much surprised to receive a whole letter from me without + any mention of the exterior ornaments necessary for a gentleman, as + manners, elocution, air, address, graces, etc., that, to comply with your + expectations, I will touch upon them; and tell you, that when you come to + England, I will show you some people, whom I do not now care to name, + raised to the highest stations singly by those exterior and adventitious + ornaments, whose parts would never have entitled them to the smallest + office in the excise. Are they then necessary, and worth acquiring, or + not? You will see many instances of this kind at Paris, particularly a + glaring one, of a person—[M. le Marechal de Richelieu]—raised + to the highest posts and dignities in France, as well as to be absolute + sovereign of the ‘beau monde’, simply by the graces of his person and + address; by woman’s chit-chat, accompanied with important gestures; by an + imposing air and pleasing abord. Nay, by these helps, he even passes for a + wit, though he hath certainly no uncommon share of it. I will not name + him, because it would be very imprudent in you to do it. A young fellow, + at his first entrance into the ‘beau monde’, must not offend the king ‘de + facto’ there. It is very often more necessary to conceal contempt than + resentment, the former forgiven, but the latter sometimes forgot. + </p> + <p> + There is a small quarto book entitled, ‘Histoire Chronologique de la + France’, lately published by Le President Henault, a man of parts and + learning, with whom you will probably get acquainted at Paris. I desire + that it may always lie upon your table, for your recourse as often as you + read history. The chronology, though chiefly relative to the history of + France, is not singly confined to it; but the most interesting events of + all the rest of Europe are also inserted, and many of them adorned by + short, pretty, and just reflections. The new edition of ‘Les Memoires de + Sully’, in three quarto volumes, is also extremely well worth your + reading, as it will give you a clearer, and truer notion of one of the + most interesting periods of the French history, than you can yet have + formed from all the other books you may have read upon the subject. That + prince, I mean Henry the Fourth, had all the accomplishments and virtues + of a hero, and of a king, and almost of a man. The last are the most + rarely seen. May you possess them all! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + Pray make my compliments to Mr. Harte, and let him know that I have this + moment received his letter of the 12th, N. S., from Antibes. It requires + no immediate answer; I shall therefore delay mine till I have another from + him. Give him the inclosed, which I have received from Mr. Eliot. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0122" id="link2H_4_0122"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 1, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I hope that this letter will not find you still at + Montpelier, but rather be sent after you from thence to Paris, where, I am + persuaded, that Mr. Harte could find as good advice for his leg as at + Montpelier, if not better; but if he is of a different opinion, I am sure + you ought to stay there, as long as he desires. + </p> + <p> + While you are in France, I could wish that the hours you allot for + historical amusement should be entirely devoted to the history of France. + One always reads history to most advantage in that country to which it is + relative; not only books, but persons being ever at hand to solve doubts + and clear up difficulties. I do by no means advise you to throw away your + time in ransacking, like a dull antiquarian, the minute and unimportant + parts of remote and fabulous times. Let blockheads read what blockheads + wrote. And a general notion of the history of France, from the conquest of + that country by the Franks, to the reign of Louis the Eleventh, is + sufficient for use, consequently sufficient for you. There are, however, + in those remote times, some remarkable eras that deserve more particular + attention; I mean those in which some notable alterations happened in the + constitution and form of government. As, for example, in the settlement of + Clovis in Gaul, and the form of government which he then established; for, + by the way; that form of government differed in this particular from all + the other Gothic governments, that the people, neither collectively nor by + representatives, had any share in it. It was a mixture of monarchy and + aristocracy: and what were called the States General of France consisted + only of the nobility and clergy till the time of Philip le Bel, in the + very beginning of the fourteenth century, who first called the people to + those assemblies, by no means for the good of the people, who were only + amused by this pretended honor, but, in truth, to check the nobility and + clergy, and induce them to grant the money he wanted for his profusion; + this was a scheme of Enguerrand de Marigny, his minister, who governed + both him and his kingdom to such a degree as to, be called the coadjutor + and governor of the kingdom. Charles Martel laid aside these assemblies, + and governed by open force. Pepin restored them, and attached them to him, + and with them the nation; by which means he deposed Childeric and mounted + the throne. This is a second period worth your attention. The third race + of kings, which begins with Hugues Capet, is a third period. A judicious + reader of history will save himself a great deal of time and trouble by + attending with care only to those interesting periods of history which + furnish remarkable events, and make eras, and going slightly over the + common run of events. Some people read history as others read the + “Pilgrim’s Progress”; giving equal attention to, and indiscriminately + loading their memories with every part alike. But I would have you read it + in a different manner; take the shortest general history you can find of + every country; and mark down in that history the most important periods, + such as conquests, changes of kings, and alterations of the form of + government; and then have recourse to more extensive histories or + particular treatises, relative to those great points. Consider them well, + trace up their causes, and follow their consequences. For instance, there + is a most excellent, though very short history of France, by Le Gendre. + Read that with attention, and you will know enough of the general history; + but when you find there such remarkable periods as are above mentioned, + consult Mezeray, and other of the best and minutest historians, as well as + political treatises upon those subjects. In later times, memoirs, from + those of Philip de Commines, down to the innumerble ones in the reign of + Louis the Fourteenth, have been of great use, and thrown great light upon + particular parts of history. + </p> + <p> + Conversation in France, if you have the address and dexterity to turn it + upon useful subjects, will exceedingly improve your historical knowledge; + for people there, however classically ignorant they may be, think it a + shame to be ignorant of the history of their own country: they read that, + if they read nothing else, and having often read nothing else, are proud + of having read that, and talk of it willingly; even the women are well + instructed in that sort of reading. I am far from meaning by this that you + should always be talking wisely in company, of books, history, and matters + of knowledge. There are many companies which you will, and ought to keep, + where such conversations would be misplaced and ill-timed; your own good + sense must distinguish the company and the time. You must trifle only with + triflers; and be serious only with the serious, but dance to those who + pipe. ‘Cur in theatrum Cato severs venisti?’ was justly said to an old + man: how much more so would it be to one of your age? From the moment that + you are dressed and go out, pocket all your knowledge with your watch, and + never pull it out in company unless desired: the producing of the one + unasked, implies that you are weary of the company; and the producing of + the other unrequired, will make the company weary of you. Company is a + republic too jealous of its liberties, to suffer a dictator even for a + quarter of an hour; and yet in that, as in republics, there are some few + who really govern; but then it is by seeming to disclaim, instead of + attempting to usurp the power; that is the occasion in which manners, + dexterity, address, and the undefinable ‘je ne sais quoi’ triumph; if + properly exerted, their conquest is sure, and the more lasting for not + being perceived. Remember, that this is not only your first and greatest, + but ought to be almost your only object, while you are in France. + </p> + <p> + I know that many of your countrymen are apt to call the freedom and + vivacity of the French petulancy and illbreeding; but, should you think + so, I desire upon many accounts that you will not say so; I admit that it + may be so in some instances of ‘petits maitres Etourdis’, and in some + young people unbroken to the world; but I can assure you, that you will + find it much otherwise with people of a certain rank and age, upon whose + model you will do very well to form yourself. We call their steady + assurance, impudence why? Only because what we call modesty is awkward + bashfulness and ‘mauvaise honte’. For my part, I see no impudence, but, on + the contrary, infinite utility and advantage in presenting one’s self with + the same coolness and unconcern in any and every company. Till one can do + that, I am very sure that one can never present one’s self well. Whatever + is done under concern and embarrassment, must be ill done, and, till a man + is absolutely easy and unconcerned in every company, he will never be + thought to have kept good company, nor be very welcome in it. A steady + assurance, with seeming modesty, is possibly the most useful qualification + that a man can have in every part of life. A man would certainly make a + very considerable fortune and figure in the world, whose modesty and + timidity should often, as bashfulness always does (put him in the + deplorable and lamentable situation of the pious AEneas, when ‘obstupuit, + steteruntque comae; et vox faucibus haesit!). Fortune (as well as women)— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “————-born to be controlled, + Stoops to the forward and the bold.” + </pre> + <p> + Assurance and intrepidity, under the white banner of seeming modesty, + clear the way for merit, that would otherwise be discouraged by + difficulties in its journey; whereas barefaced impudence is the noisy and + blustering harbinger of a worthless and senseless usurper. + </p> + <p> + You will think that I shall never have done recommending to you these + exterior worldly accomplishments, and you will think right, for I never + shall; they are of too great consequence to you for me to be indifferent + or negligent about them: the shining part of your future figure and + fortune depends now wholly upon them. These are the acquisitions which + must give efficacy and success to those you have already made. To have it + said and believed that you are the most learned man in England, would be + no more than was said and believed of Dr. Bentley; but to have it said, at + the same time, that you are also the best-bred, most polite, and agreeable + man in the kingdom, would be such a happy composition of a character as I + never yet knew any one man deserve; and which I will endeavor, as well as + ardently wish, that you may. Absolute perfection is, I well know, + unattainable; but I know too, that a man of parts may be unweariedly + aiming at it, and arrive pretty near it. Try, labor, persevere. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0123" id="link2H_4_0123"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 8, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Before you get to Paris, where you will soon be left to + your own discretion, if you have any, it is necessary that we should + understand one another thoroughly; which is the most probable way of + preventing disputes. Money, the cause of much mischief in the world, is + the cause of most quarrels between fathers and sons; the former commonly + thinking that they cannot give too little, and the latter, that they + cannot have enough; both equally in the wrong. You must do me the justice + to acknowledge, that I have hitherto neither stinted nor grudged any + expense that could be of use or real pleasure to you; and I can assure + you, by the way, that you have traveled at a much more considerable + expense than I did myself; but I never so much as thought of that, while + Mr. Harte was at the head of your finances; being very sure that the sums + granted were scrupulously applied to the uses for which they were + intended. But the case will soon be altered, and you will be your own + receiver and treasurer. However, I promise you, that we will not quarrel + singly upon the quantum, which shall be cheerfully and freely granted: the + application and appropriation of it will be the material point, which I am + now going to clear up and finally settle with you. I will fix, or even + name, no settled allowance; though I well know in my own mind what would + be the proper one; but I will first try your draughts, by which I can in a + good degree judge of your conduct. This only I tell you in general, that + if the channels through which my money is to go are the proper ones, the + source shall not be scanty; but should it deviate into dirty, muddy, and + obscure ones (which by the bye, it cannot do for a week without my knowing + it); I give you fair and timely notice, that the source will instantly be + dry. Mr. Harte, in establishing you at Paris, will point out to you those + proper channels; he will leave you there upon the foot of a man of + fashion, and I will continue you upon the same; you will have your coach, + your valet de chambre, your own footman, and a valet de place; which, by + the way, is one servant more than I had. I would have you very well + dressed, by which I mean dressed as the generality of people of fashion + are; that is, not to be taken notice of, for being either more or less + fine than other people: it is by being well dressed, not finely dressed, + that a gentleman should be distinguished. You must frequent ‘les + spectacles’, which expense I shall willingly supply. You must play ‘a des + petits jeux de commerce’ in mixed companies; that article is trifling; I + shall pay it cheerfully. All the other articles of pocket-money are very + inconsiderable at Paris, in comparison of what they are here, the silly + custom of giving money wherever one dines or sups, and the expensive + importunity of subscriptions, not being yet introduced there. Having thus + reckoned up all the decent expenses of a gentleman, which I will most + readily defray, I come now to those which I will neither bear nor supply. + The first of these is gaming, of which, though I have not the least reason + to suspect you, I think it necessary eventually to assure you, that no + consideration in the world shall ever make me pay your play debts; should + you ever urge to me that your honor is pawned, I should most immovably + answer you, that it was your honor, not mine, that was pawned; and that + your creditor might e’en take the pawn for the debt. + </p> + <p> + Low company, and low pleasures, are always much more costly than liberal + and elegant ones. The disgraceful riots of a tavern are much more + expensive, as well as dishonorable, than the sometimes pardonable excesses + in good company. I must absolutely hear of no tavern scrapes and + squabbles. + </p> + <p> + I come now to another and very material point; I mean women; and I will + not address myself to you upon this subject, either in a religious, a + moral, or a parental style. I will even lay aside my age, remember yours, + and speak to you as one man of pleasure, if he had parts too, would speak + to another. I will by no means pay for whores, and their never-failing + consequences, surgeons; nor will I, upon any account, keep singers, + dancers, actresses, and ‘id genus omne’; and, independently of the + expense, I must tell you, that such connections would give me, and all + sensible people, the utmost contempt for your parts and address; a young + fellow must have as little sense as address, to venture, or more properly + to sacrifice, his health and ruin his fortune, with such sort of + creatures; in such a place as Paris especially, where gallantry is both + the profession and the practice of every woman of fashion. To speak + plainly, I will not forgive your understanding c————s + and p———-s; nor will your constitution forgive them you. + These distempers, as well as their cures, fall nine times in ten upon the + lungs. This argument, I am sure, ought to have weight with you: for I + protest to you, that if you meet with any such accident, I would not give + one year’s purchase for your life. Lastly, there is another sort of + expense that I will not allow, only because it is a silly one; I mean the + fooling away your money in baubles at toy shops. Have one handsome + snuff-box (if you take snuff), and one handsome sword; but then no more + pretty and very useless things. + </p> + <p> + By what goes before, you will easily perceive that I mean to allow you + whatever is necessary, not only for the figure, but for the pleasures of a + gentleman, and not to supply the profusion of a rake. This, you must + confess, does not savor of either the severity or parsimony of old age. I + consider this agreement between us, as a subsidiary treaty on my part, for + services to be performed on yours. I promise you, that I will be as + punctual in the payment of the subsidies, as England has been during the + last war; but then I give you notice at the same time, that I require a + much more scrupulous execution of the treaty on your part, than we met + with on that of our allies; or else that payment will be stopped. I hope + all that I have now said was absolutely unnecessary, and that sentiments + more worthy and more noble than pecuniary ones, would of themselves have + pointed out to you the conduct I recommend; but, at all events, I resolved + to be once for all explicit with you, that, in the worst that can happen, + you may not plead ignorance, and complain that I had not sufficiently + explained to you my intentions. + </p> + <p> + Having mentioned the word rake, I must say a word or two more on that + subject, because young people too frequently, and always fatally, are apt + to mistake that character for that of a man of pleasure; whereas, there + are not in the world two characters more different. A rake is a + composition of all the lowest, most ignoble, degrading, and shameful + vices; they all conspire to disgrace his character, and to ruin his + fortune; while wine and the p———-s contend which shall + soonest and most effectually destroy his constitution. A dissolute, + flagitious footman, or porter, makes full as good a rake as a man of the + first quality. By the bye, let me tell you, that in the wildest part of my + youth, I never was a rake, but, on the contrary, always detested and + despised that character. + </p> + <p> + A man of pleasure, though not always so scrupulous as he should be, and as + one day he will wish he had been, refines at least his pleasures by taste, + accompanies them with decency, and enjoys them with dignity. Few men can + be men of pleasure, every man may be a rake. Remember that I shall know + everything you say or do at Paris, as exactly as if, by the force of + magic, I could follow you everywhere, like a sylph or a gnome, invisible + myself. Seneca says, very prettily, that one should ask nothing of God, + but what one should be willing that men should know; nor of men, but what + one should be willing that God should know. I advise you to say and do + nothing at Paris, but what you would be willing that I should know. I + hope, nay, I believe, that will be the case. Sense, I dare say, you do not + want; instruction, I am sure, you have never wanted: experience you are + daily gaining: all which together must inevitably (I should think) make + you both ‘respectable et aimable’, the perfection of a human character. In + that case nothing shall be wanting on my part, and you shall solidly + experience all the extent and tenderness of my affection for you; but + dread the reverse of both! Adieu! + </p> + <p> + P. S. When you get to Paris, after you have been to wait on Lord + Albemarle, go to see Mr. Yorke, whom I have particular reasons for + desiring that you should be well with, as I shall hereafter explain to + you. Let him know that my orders, and your own inclinations, conspired to + make you desire his friendship and protection. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0124" id="link2H_4_0124"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXII + </h2> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have sent you so many preparatory letters for Paris, + that this, which will meet you there, shall only be a summary of them all. + </p> + <p> + You have hitherto had more liberty than anybody of your age ever had; and + I must do you the justice to own, that you have made a better use of it + than most people of your age would have done; but then, though you had not + a jailer, you had a friend with you. At Paris, you will not only be + unconfined, but unassisted. Your own good sense must be your only guide: I + have great confidence in it, and am convinced that I shall receive just + such accounts of your conduct at Paris as I could wish; for I tell you + beforehand, that I shall be most minutely informed of all that you do, and + almost of all that you say there. Enjoy the pleasures of youth, you cannot + do better: but refine and dignify them like a man, of parts; let them + raise, and not sink; let them adorn and not vilify your character; let + them, in short, be the pleasures of a gentleman, and taken with your + equals at least, but rather with your superiors, and those chiefly French. + </p> + <p> + Inquire into the characters of the several Academicians, before you form a + connection with any of them; and be most upon your guard against those who + make the most court to you. + </p> + <p> + You cannot study much in the Academy; but you may study usefully there, if + you are an economist of your time, and bestow only upon good books those + quarters and halves of hours, which occur to everybody in the course of + almost every day; and which, at the year’s end, amount to a very + considerable sum of time. Let Greek, without fail, share some part of + every day; I do not mean the Greek poets, the catches of Anacreon, or the + tender complaints of Theocritus, or even the porter-like language of + Homer’s heroes; of whom all smatterers in Greek know a little, quote + often, and talk of always; but I mean Plato, Aristoteles, Demosthenes, and + Thucydides, whom none but adepts know. It is Greek that must distinguish + you in the learned world, Latin alone will not: and Greek must be sought + to be retained, for it never occurs like Latin. When you read history or + other books of amusement, let every language you are master of have its + turn, so that you may not only retain, but improve in everyone. I also + desire that you will converse in German and Italian, with all the Germans + and the Italians with whom you converse at all. This will be a very + agreeable and flattering thing to them, and a very useful one to you. + </p> + <p> + Pray apply yourself diligently to your exercises; for though the doing + them well is not supremely meritorious, the doing them ill is illiberal, + vulgar, and ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + I recommend theatrical representations to you; which are excellent at + Paris. The tragedies of Corneille and Racine, and the comedies of Moliere, + well attended to, are admirable lessons, both for the heart and the head. + There is not, nor ever was, any theatre comparable to the French. If the + music of the French operas does not please your Italian ear, the words of + them, at least, are sense and poetry, which is much more than I can, say + of any Italian opera that I ever read or heard in my life. + </p> + <p> + I send you the inclosed letter of recommendation to Marquis Matignon, + which I would have you deliver to him as soon as you can; you will, I am + sure, feel the good effects of his warm friendship for me and Lord + Bolingbroke, who has also wrote to him upon your subject. By that, and by + the other letters which I have sent you, you will be at once so thoroughly + introduced into the best French company, that you must take some pains if + you will keep bad; but that is what I do not suspect you of. You have, I + am sure, too much right ambition to prefer low and disgraceful company to + that of your superiors, both in rank and age. Your character, and + consequently your fortune, absolutely depends upon the company you keep, + and the turn you take at Paris. I do not in the least mean a grave turn; + on the contrary, a gay, a sprightly, but, at the same time, an elegant and + liberal one. + </p> + <p> + Keep carefully out of all scrapes and quarrels. They lower a character + extremely; and are particularly dangerous in France; where a man is + dishonored by not resenting an affront, and utterly ruined by resenting + it. The young Frenchmen are hasty, giddy, and petulant; extremely + national, and ‘avantageux’. Forbear from any national jokes or + reflections, which are always improper, and commonly unjust. The colder + northern nations generally look upon France as a whistling, singing, + dancing, frivolous nation; this notion is very far from being a true one, + though many ‘Petits maitres’ by their behavior seem to justify it; but + those very ‘petits maltres’, when mellowed by age and experience, very + often turn out very able men. The number of great generals and statesmen, + as well as excellent authors, that France has produced, is an undeniable + proof, that it is not that frivolous, unthinking, empty nation that + northern prejudices suppose it. Seem to like and approve of everything at + first, and I promise you that you will like and approve of many things + afterward. + </p> + <p> + I expect that you will write to me constantly, once every week, which I + desire may be every Thursday; and that your letters may inform me of your + personal transactions: not of what you see, but of whom you see, and what + you do. + </p> + <p> + Be your own monitor, now that you will have no other. As to enunciation, I + must repeat it to you again and again, that there is no one thing so + necessary: all other talents, without that, are absolutely useless, except + in your own closet. + </p> + <p> + It sounds ridiculously to bid you study with your dancing-master; and yet + I do. The bodily-carriage and graces are of infinite consequence to + everybody, and more particularly to you. + </p> + <p> + Adieu for this time, my dear child. Yours tenderly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0125" id="link2H_4_0125"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 12, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You will possibly think, that this letter turns upon + strange, little, trifling objects; and you will think right, if you + consider them separately; but if you take them aggregately, you will be + convinced that as parts, which conspire to form that whole, called the + exterior of a man of fashion, they are of importance. I shall not dwell + now upon these personal graces, that liberal air, and that engaging + address, which I have so often recommended to you; but descend still + lower, to your dress, cleanliness, and care of your person. + </p> + <p> + When you come to Paris, you may take care to be extremely well dressed; + that is, as the fashionable people are; this does by no means consist in + the finery, but in the taste, fitness, and manner of wearing your clothes; + a fine suit ill-made, and slatternly or stiffly worn, far from adorning, + only exposes the awkwardness of the wearer. Get the best French tailor to + make your clothes, whatever they are, in the fashion, and to fit you: and + then wear them, button them, or unbutton them, as the genteelest people + you see do. Let your man learn of the best friseur to do your hair well, + for that is a very material part of your dress. Take care to have your + stockings well gartered up, and your shoes well buckled; for nothing gives + a more slovenly air to a man than ill-dressed legs. In your person you + must be accurately clean; and your teeth, hands, and nails, should be + superlatively so; a dirty mouth has real ill consequences to the owner, + for it infallibly causes the decay, as well as the intolerable pain of the + teeth, and it is very offensive to his acquaintance, for it will most + inevitably stink. I insist, therefore, that you wash your teeth the first + thing you do every morning, with a soft sponge and swarm water, for four + or five minutes; and then wash your mouth five or six times. Mouton, whom + I desire you will send for upon your arrival at Paris, will give you an + opiate, and a liquor to be used sometimes. Nothing looks more ordinary, + vulgar, and illiberal, than dirty hands, and ugly, uneven, and ragged + nails: I do not suspect you of that shocking, awkward trick, of biting + yours; but that is not enough: you must keep the ends of them smooth and + clean, not tipped with black, as the ordinary people’s always are. The + ends of your nails should be small segments of circles, which, by a very + little care in the cutting, they are very easily brought to; every time + that you wipe your hands, rub the skin round your nails backward, that it + may not grow up, and shorten your nails too much. The cleanliness of the + rest of your person, which, by the way, will conduce greatly to your + health, I refer from time to time to the bagnio. My mentioning these + particulars arises (I freely own) from some suspicion that the hints are + not unnecessary; for, when you were a schoolboy, you were slovenly and + dirty above your fellows. I must add another caution, which is that upon + no account whatever, you put your fingers, as too many people are apt to + do, in your nose or ears. It is the most shocking, nasty, vulgar rudeness, + that can be offered to company; it disgusts one, it turns one’s stomach; + and, for my own part, I would much rather know that a man’s fingers were + actually in his breech, than see them in his nose. Wash your ears well + every morning, and blow your nose in your handkerchief whenever you have + occasion; but, by the way, without looking at it afterward. There should + be in the least, as well as in the greatest parts of a gentleman, ‘les + manieres nobles’. Sense will teach you some, observation others; attend + carefully to the manners, the diction, the motions, of people of the first + fashion, and form your own upon them. On the other hand, observe a little + those of the vulgar, in order to avoid them: for though the things which + they say or do may be the same, the manner is always totally different: + and in that, and nothing else, consists the characteristic of a man of + fashion. The lowest peasant speaks, moves, dresses, eats, and drinks, as + much as a man of the first fashion, but does them all quite differently; + so that by doing and saying most things in a manner opposite to that of + the vulgar, you have a great chance of doing and saying them right. There + are gradations in awkwardness and vulgarism, as there are in everything + else. ‘Les manieres de robe’, though not quite right, are still better + than ‘les manieres bourgeoises’; and these, though bad, are still better + than ‘les manieres de campagne’. But the language, the air, the dress, and + the manners of the court, are the only true standard ‘des manieres nobles, + et d’un honnete homme. Ex pede Herculem’ is an old and true saying, and + very applicable to our present subject; for a man of parts, who has been + bred at courts, and used to keep the best company, will distinguish + himself, and is to be known from the vulgar by every word, attitude, + gesture, and even look. I cannot leave these seeming ‘minutiae’, without + repeating to you the necessity of your carving well; which is an article, + little as it is, that is useful twice every day of one’s life; and the + doing it ill is very troublesome to one’s self, and very disagreeable, + often ridiculous, to others. + </p> + <p> + Having said all this, I cannot help reflecting, what a formal dull fellow, + or a cloistered pedant, would say, if they were to see this letter: they + would look upon it with the utmost contempt, and say that surely a father + might find much better topics for advice to a son. I would admit it, if I + had given you, or that you were capable of receiving, no better; but if + sufficient pains have been taken to form your heart and improve your mind, + and, as I hope, not without success, I will tell those solid gentlemen, + that all these trifling things, as they think them, collectively, form + that pleasing ‘je ne sais quoi’, that ensemble, which they are utter + strangers to both in themselves and others. The word aimable is not known + in their language, or the thing in their manners. Great usage of the + world, great attention, and a great desire of pleasing, can alone give it; + and it is no trifle. It is from old people’s looking upon these things as + trifles, or not thinking of them at all, that so many young people are so + awkward and so ill-bred. Their parents, often careless and unmindful of + them, give them only the common run of education, as school, university, + and then traveling; without examining, and very often without being able + to judge, if they did examine, what progress they make in any one of these + stages. Then, they carelessly comfort themselves, and say, that their sons + will do like other people’s sons; and so they do, that is, commonly very + ill. They correct none of the childish nasty tricks, which they get at + school; nor the illiberal manners which they contract at the university; + nor the frivolous and superficial pertness, which is commonly all that + they acquire by their travels. As they do not tell them of these things, + nobody else can; so they go on in the practice of them, without ever + hearing, or knowing, that they are unbecoming, indecent, and shocking. + For, as I have often formerly observed to you, nobody but a father can + take the liberty to reprove a young fellow, grown up, for those kinds of + inaccuracies and improprieties of behavior. The most intimate friendship, + unassisted by the paternal superiority, will not authorize it. I may truly + say, therefore, that you are happy in having me for a sincere, friendly, + and quick-sighted monitor. Nothing will escape me: I shall pry for your + defects, in order to correct them, as curiously as I shall seek for your + perfections, in order to applaud and reward them, with this difference + only, that I shall publicly mention the latter, and never hint at the + former, but in a letter to, or a tete-d-tete with you. I will never put + you out of countenance before company; and I hope you will never give me + reason to be out of countenance for you, as any one of the above-mentioned + defects would make me. ‘Praetor non, curat de minimis’, was a maxim in the + Roman law; for causes only of a certain value were tried by him but there + were inferior jurisdictions, that took cognizance of the smallest. Now I + shall try you, not only as ‘praetor’ in the greatest, but as ‘censor’ in + lesser, and as the lowest magistrate in the least cases. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment received Mr. Harte’s letter of the 1st November, N. S., + by which I am very glad to find that he thinks of moving toward Paris, the + end of this month, which looks as if his leg were better; besides, in my + opinion, you both of you only lose time at Montpelier; he would find + better advice, and you better company, at Paris. In the meantime, I hope + you go into the best company there is at Montpelier; and there always is + some at the Intendant’s, or the Commandant’s. You will have had full time + to learn ‘les petites chansons Languedociennes’, which are exceedingly + pretty ones, both words and tunes. I remember, when I was in those parts, + I was surprised at the difference which I found between the people on one + side, and those on the other side of the Rhone. The Provencaux were, in + general, surly, ill-bred, ugly, and swarthy; the Languedocians the very + reverse: a cheerful, well-bred, handsome people. Adieu! Yours most + affectionately. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Upon reflection, I direct this letter to Paris; I think you must + have left Montpelier before it could arrive there. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0126" id="link2H_4_0126"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 19, O. S. 1750 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I was very glad to find by your letter of the 12th, N. S., + that you had informed yourself so well of the state of the French marine + at Toulon, and of the commerce at Marseilles; they are objects that + deserve the inquiry and attention of every man who intends to be concerned + in public affairs. The French are now wisely attentive to both; their + commerce is incredibly increased within these last thirty years; they have + beaten us out of great part of our Levant trade; their East India trade + has greatly affected ours; and, in the West Indies, their Martinico + establishment supplies, not only France itself, but the greatest part of + Europe, with sugars whereas our islands, as Jamaica, Barbadoes, and the + Leeward, have now no other market for theirs but England. New France, or + Canada, has also greatly lessened our fur and skin trade. It is true (as + you say) that we have no treaty of commerce subsisting (I do not say WITH + MARSEILLES) but with France. There was a treaty of commerce made between + England and France, immediately after the treaty of Utrecht; but the whole + treaty was conditional, and to depend upon the parliament’s enacting + certain things which were stipulated in two of the articles; the + parliament, after a very famous debate, would not do it; so the treaty + fell to the ground: however, the outlines of that treaty are, by mutual + and tacit consent, the general rules of our present commerce with France. + It is true, too, that our commodities which go to France, must go in our + bottoms; the French having imitated in many respects our famous Act of + Navigation, as it is commonly called. This act was made in the year 1652, + in the parliament held by Oliver Cromwell. It forbids all foreign ships to + bring into England any merchandise or commodities whatsoever, that were + not of the growth and produce of that country to which those ships + belonged, under penalty of the forfeiture of such ships. This act was + particularly leveled at the Dutch, who were at that time the carriers of + almost all Europe, and got immensely by freight. Upon this principle, of + the advantages arising from freight, there is a provision in the same act, + that even the growth and produce of our own colonies in America shall not + be carried from thence to any other country in Europe, without first + touching in England; but this clause has lately been repealed, in the + instances of some perishable commodities, such as rice, etc., which are + allowed to be carried directly from our American colonies to other + countries. The act also provides, that two-thirds, I think, of those who + navigate the said ships shall be British subjects. There is an excellent, + and little book, written by the famous Monsieur Huet Eveque d’Avranches, + ‘Sur le Commerce des Anciens’, which is very well worth your reading, and + very soon read. It will give you a clear notion of the rise and progress + of commerce. There are many other books, which take up the history of + commerce where Monsieur d’Avranches leaves it, and bring it down to these + times. I advise you to read some of them with care; commerce being a very + essential part of political knowledge in every country; but more + particularly in that which owes all its riches and power to it. + </p> + <p> + I come now to another part of your letter, which is the orthography, if I + may call bad spelling ORTHOGRAPHY. You spell induce, ENDUCE; and grandeur, + you spell grandURE; two faults of which few of my housemaids would have + been guilty. I must tell you that orthography, in the true sense of the + word, is so absolutely necessary for a man of letters; or a gentleman, + that one false spelling may fix ridicule upon him for the rest of his + life; and I know a man of quality, who never recovered the ridicule of + having spelled WHOLESOME without the w. + </p> + <p> + Reading with care will secure everybody from false spelling; for books are + always well spelled, according to the orthography of the times. Some words + are indeed doubtful, being spelled differently by different authors of + equal authority; but those are few; and in those cases every man has his + option, because he may plead his authority either way; but where there is + but one right way, as in the two words above mentioned, it is unpardonable + and ridiculous for a gentleman to miss it; even a woman of a tolerable + education would despise and laugh, at a lover, who should send her an + ill-spelled billet-doux. I fear and suspect, that you have taken it into + your head, in most cases, that the matter is all, and the manner little or + nothing. If you have, undeceive yourself, and be convinced that, in + everything, the manner is full as important as the matter. If you speak + the sense of an angel, in bad words and with a disagreeable utterance, + nobody will hear you twice, who can help it. If you write epistles as well + as Cicero, but in a very bad hand, and very ill-spelled, whoever receives + will laugh at them; and if you had the figure of Adonis, with an awkward + air and motions, it will disgust instead of pleasing. Study manner, + therefore, in everything, if you would be anything. My principal inquiries + of my friends at Paris, concerning you, will be relative to your manner of + doing whatever you do. I shall not inquire whether you understand + Demosthenes, Tacitus, or the ‘Jus Publicum Imperii’; but I shall inquire, + whether your utterance is pleasing, your style not only pure, but elegant, + your manners noble and easy, your air and address engaging in short, + whether you are a gentleman, a man of fashion, and fit to keep good + company, or not; for, till I am satisfied in these particulars, you and I + must by no means meet; I could not possibly stand it. It is in your power + to become all this at Paris, if you please. Consult with Lady Hervey and + Madame Monconseil upon all these matters; and they will speak to you, and + advise you freely. Tell them, that ‘bisogna compatire ancora’, that you + are utterly new in the world; that you are desirous to form yourself; that + you beg they will reprove, advise, and correct you; that you know that + none can do it so well; and that you will implicitly follow their + directions. This, together with your careful observation of the manners of + the best company, will really form you. + </p> + <p> + Abbe Guasco, a friend of mine, will come to you as soon as he knows of + your arrival at Paris; he is well received in the best companies there, + and will introduce you to them. He will be desirous to do you any service + he can; he is active and curious, and can give you information upon most + things. He is a sort of ‘complaisant’ of the President Montesquieu, to + whom you have a letter. + </p> + <p> + I imagine that this letter will not wait for you very long at Paris, where + I reckon you will be in about a fortnight. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0127" id="link2H_4_0127"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 24, 1750 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: At length you are become a Parisian, and consequently must be + addressed in French; you will also answer me in the same language, that I + may be able to judge of the degree in which you possess the elegance, the + delicacy, and the orthography of that language which is, in a manner, + become the universal one of Europe. I am assured that you speak it well, + but in that well there are gradations. He, who in the provinces might be + reckoned to speak correctly, would at Paris be looked upon as an ancient + Gaul. In that country of mode, even language is subservient to fashion, + which varies almost as often as their clothes. + </p> + <p> + The AFFECTED, the REFINED, the NEOLOGICAL, OR NEW FASHIONABLE STYLE are at + present too much in vogue at Paris. Know, observe, and occasionally + converse (if you please) according to those different styles; but do not + let your taste be infected by them. Wit, too, is there subservient to + fashion; and actually, at Paris, one must have wit, even in despite of + Minerva. Everybody runs after it; although if it does not come naturally + and of itself; it never can be overtaken. But, unfortunately for those who + pursue, they seize upon what they take for wit, and endeavor to pass it + for such upon others. This is, at best, the lot of Ixion, who embraced a + cloud instead of the goddess he pursued. Fine sentiments, which never + existed, false and unnatural thoughts, obscure and far-sought expressions, + not only unintelligible, but which it is even impossible to decipher, or + to guess at, are all the consequences of this error; and two-thirds of the + new French books which now appear are made up of those ingredients. It is + the new cookery of Parnassus, in which the still is employed instead of + the pot and the spit, and where quintessences and extracts ate chiefly + used. N. B. The Attic salt is proscribed. + </p> + <p> + You will now and then be obliged to eat of this new cookery, but do not + suffer your taste to be corrupted by it. And when you, in your turn, are + desirous of treating others, take the good old cookery of Lewis XIV.‘s + reign for your rule. There were at that time admirable head cooks, such as + Corneille, Boileau, Racine, and La Fontaine. Whatever they prepared was + simple, wholesome, and solid. But laying aside all metaphors, do not + suffer yourself to be dazzled by false brilliancy, by unnatural + expressions, nor by those antitheses so much in fashion: as a protection + against such innovations, have a recourse to your own good sense, and to + the ancient authors. On the other hand, do not laugh at those who give + into such errors; you are as yet too young to act the critic, or to stand + forth a severe avenger of the violated rights of good sense. Content + yourself with not being perverted, but do not think of converting others; + let them quietly enjoy their errors in taste, as well as in religion. + Within the course of the last century and a half, taste in France has (as + well as that kingdom itself) undergone many vicissitudes. Under the reign + of I do not say Lewis XIII. but of Cardinal de Richelieu, good taste first + began to make its way. It was refined under that of Lewis XIV., a great + king, at least, if not a great man. Corneille was the restorer of true + taste, and the founder of the French theatre; although rather inclined to + the Italian ‘Concetti’ and the Spanish ‘Agudeze’. Witness those epigrams + which he makes Chimene utter in the greatest excess of grief. + </p> + <p> + Before his time, those kind of itinerant authors, called troubadours or + romanciers, were a species of madmen who attracted the admiration of + fools. Toward the end of Cardinal de Richelieu’s reign, and the beginning + of Lewis XIV.‘s, the Temple of Taste was established at the Hotel of + Rambouillet; but that taste was not judiciously refined this Temple of + Taste might more properly have been named a Laboratory of Wit, where good + sense was put to the torture, in order to extract from it the most subtile + essence. There it was that Voiture labored hard and incessantly to create + wit. At length, Boileau and Moliere fixed the standard of true taste. In + spite of the Scuderys, the Calprenedes, etc., they defeated and put to + flight ARTAMENES, JUBA, OROONDATES, and all those heroes of romance, who + were, notwithstanding (each of them), as good as a whole Army. Those + madmen then endeavored to obtain an asylum in libraries; this they could + not accomplish, but were under a necessity of taking shelter in the + chambers of some few ladies. I would have you read one volume of + “Cleopatra,” and one of “Clelia”; it will otherwise be impossible for you + to form any idea of the extravagances they contain; but God keep you from + ever persevering to the twelfth. + </p> + <p> + During almost the whole reign of Lewis XIV., true taste remained in its + purity, until it received some hurt, although undesignedly, from a very + fine genius, I mean Monsieur de Fontenelle; who, with the greatest sense + and the most solid learning, sacrificed rather too much to the Graces, + whose most favorite child and pupil he was. Admired with reason, others + tried to imitate him; but, unfortunately for us, the author of the + “Pastorals,” of the “History of Oracles,” and of the “French Theatre,” + found fewer imitators than the Chevalier d’Her did mimics. He has since + been taken off by a thousand authors: but never really imitated by anyone + that I know of. + </p> + <p> + At this time, the seat of true taste in France seems to me not well + established. It exists, but torn by factions. There is one party of petits + maitres, one of half-learned women, another of insipid authors whose works + are ‘verba et voces, et praeterea nihil’; and, in short, a numerous and + very fashionable party of writers, who, in a metaphysical jumble, + introduce their false and subtle reasonings upon the movements and the + sentiments of THE SOUL, THE HEART, and THE MIND. + </p> + <p> + Do not let yourself be overpowered by fashion, nor by particular sets of + people with whom you may be connected; but try all the different coins + before you receive any in payment. Let your own good sense and reason + judge of the value of each; and be persuaded, that NOTHING CAN BE + BEAUTIFUL UNLESS TRUE: whatever brilliancy is not the result of the + solidity and justness of a thought, it is but a false glare. The Italian + saying upon a diamond is equally just with regard to thoughts, ‘Quanto Piu + sodezza, tanto piu splendore’. + </p> + <p> + All this ought not to hinder you from conforming externally to the modes + and tones of the different companies in which you may chance to be. With + the ‘petits maitres’ speak epigrams; false sentiments, with frivolous + women; and a mixture of all these together, with professed beaux esprits. + I would have you do so; for at your age you ought not to aim at changing + the tone of the company, but conform to it. Examine well, however; weigh + all maturely within yourself; and do not mistake the tinsel of Tasso for + the gold of Virgil. + </p> + <p> + You will find at Paris good authors, and circles distinguished by the + solidity of their reasoning. You will never hear TRIFLING, AFFECTED, and + far-sought conversations, at Madame de Monconseil’s, nor at the hotels of + Matignon and Coigni, where she will introduce you. The President + Montesquieu will not speak to you in the epigrammatic style. His book, the + “Spirit of the Laws,” written in the vulgar tongue, will equally please + and instruct you. + </p> + <p> + Frequent the theatre whenever Corneille, Racine, and Moliere’s pieces are + played. They are according to nature and to truth. I do not mean by this + to give an exclusion to several admirable modern plays, particularly + “Cenie,”—[Imitated in English by Mr. Francis, in a play called + “Eugenia.”]—replete with sentiments that are true, natural, and + applicable to one’s self. If you choose to know the characters of people + now in fashion, read Crebillon the younger, and Marivaux’s works. The + former is a most excellent painter; the latter has studied, and knows the + human heart, perhaps too well. Crebillon’s ‘Egaremens du Coeur et de + l’Esprit is an excellent work in its kind; it will be of infinite + amusement to you, and not totally useless. The Japanese history of “Tanzar + and Neadarne,” by the same author, is an amiable extravagancy, + interspersed with the most just reflections. In short, provided you do not + mistake the objects of your attention, you will find matter at Paris to + form a good and true taste. + </p> + <p> + As I shall let you remain at Paris without any person to direct your + conduct, I flatter myself that you will not make a bad use of the + confidence I repose in you. I do not require that you should lead the life + of a Capuchin friar; quite the contrary: I recommend pleasures to you; but + I expect that they shall be the pleasures of a gentleman. Those add + brilliancy to a young man’s character; but debauchery vilifies and + degrades it. I shall have very true and exact accounts of your conduct; + and, according to the informations I receive, shall be more, or less, or + not at all, yours. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Do not omit writing to me once a-week; and let your answer to this + letter be in French. Connect yourself as much as possible with the foreign + ministers; which is properly traveling into different countries, without + going from one place. Speak Italian to all the Italians, and German to all + the Germans you meet, in order not to forget those two languages. + </p> + <p> + I wish you, my dear friend, as many happy new years as you deserve, and + not one more. May you deserve a great number! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0128" id="link2H_4_0128"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1751 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER CXXVI + </p> + <p> + LONDON, January 8, O.S. 1751 + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: By your letter of the 5th, N. S., I find that your ‘debut’ + at Paris has been a good one; you are entered into good company, and I + dare say you will, not sink into bad. Frequent the houses where you have + been once invited, and have none of that shyness which makes most of your + countrymen strangers, where they might be intimate and domestic if they + pleased. Wherever you have a general invitation to sup when you please, + profit of it, with decency, and go every now and then. Lord Albemarle + will, I am sure, be extremely kind to you, but his house is only a dinner + house; and, as I am informed, frequented by no French people. Should he + happen to employ you in his bureau, which I much doubt, you must write a + better hand than your common one, or you will get no credit by your + manuscripts; for your hand is at present an illiberal one; it is neither a + hand of business nor of a gentleman, but the hand of a school-boy writing + his exercise, which he hopes will never be read. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Monconseil gives me a favorable account of you; and so do + Marquis de Matignon and Madame du Boccage; they all say that you desire to + please, and consequently promise me that you will; and they judge right; + for whoever really desires to please, and has (as you now have) the means + of learning how, certainly will please and that is the great point of + life; it makes all other things easy. Whenever you are with Madame de + Monconseil, Madame du Boccage, or other women of fashion, with whom you + are tolerably free, say frankly and naturally: “I know little of the + world; I am quite a novice in it; and although very desirous of pleasing, + I am at a loss for the means. Be so good, Madame, as to let me into your + secret of pleasing everybody. I shall owe my success to it, and you will + always have more than falls to your share.” When, in consequence of this + request, they shall tell you of any little error, awkwardness, or + impropriety, you should not only feel, but express the warmest + acknowledgment. Though nature should suffer, and she will at first hearing + them, tell them, that you will look upon the most severe criticisms as the + greatest proof of their friendship. Madame du Boccage tells me, + particularly, to inform you: “I shall always, receive the honor of his + visits with pleasure; it is true, that at his age the pleasures of + conversation are cold; but I will endeavor to make him acquainted with + young people,” etc. + </p> + <p> + Make use of this invitation, and as you live, in a manner, next door to + her, step in and out there frequently. Monsieur du Boccage will go with + you, he tells me, with great pleasure, to the plays, and point out to you + whatever deserves your knowing there. This is worth your acceptance too; + he has a very good taste. I have not yet heard from Lady Hervey upon your + subject; but as you inform me that you have already supped with her once, + I look upon you as adopted by her; consult her in all your little matters; + tell her any difficulties that may occur to you; ask her what you should + do or say in such or such cases; she has ‘l’usage du monde en perfection’, + and will help you to acquire it. Madame de Berkenrode ‘est paitrie de + graces’, and your quotation is very applicable to her. You may be there, I + dare say, as often as you please, and I would advise you to sup there once + a week. + </p> + <p> + You say, very justly, that as Mr. Harte is leaving you, you shall want + advice more than ever; you shall never want mine; and as you have already + had so much of it, I must rather repeat than add to what I have already + given you; but that I will do, and add to it occasionally, as + circumstances may require. At present I shall only remind you of your two + great objects, which you should always attend to; they are parliament and + foreign affairs. With regard to the former, you can do nothing while + abroad but attend carefully to the purity, correctness, and elegance of + your diction; the clearness and gracefulness of your utterance, in + whatever language you speak. As for the parliamentary knowledge, I will + take care of that when you come home. With regard to foreign affairs, + everything you do abroad may and ought to tend that way. Your reading + should be chiefly historical; I do not mean of remote, dark, and fabulous + history, still less of jimcrack natural history of fossils, minerals, + plants, etc., but I mean the useful, political, and constitutional history + of Europe, for these last three centuries and a half. The other thing + necessary for your foreign object, and not less necessary than either + ancient or modern knowledge, is a great knowledge of the world, manners, + politeness, address, and ‘le ton de la bonne compagnie’. In that view, + keeping a great deal of good company, is the principal point to which you + are now to attend. It seems ridiculous to tell you, but it is most + certainly true, that your dancing-master is at this time the man in all + Europe of the greatest importance to you. You must dance well, in order to + sit, stand, and walk well; and you must do all these well in order to + please. What with your exercises, some reading, and a great deal of + company, your day is, I confess, extremely taken up; but the day, if well + employed, is long enough for everything; and I am sure you will not + slattern away one moment of it in inaction. At your age, people have + strong and active spirits, alacrity and vivacity in all they do; are + ‘impigri’, indefatigable, and quick. The difference is, that a young + fellow of parts exerts all those happy dispositions in the pursuit of + proper objects; endeavors to excel in the solid, and in the showish parts + of life; whereas a silly puppy, or a dull rogue, throws away all his youth + and spirit upon trifles, where he is serious or upon disgraceful vices, + while he aims at pleasures. This I am sure will not be your case; your + good sense and your good conduct hitherto are your guarantees with me for + the future. Continue only at Paris as you have begun, and your stay there + will make you, what I have always wished you to be, as near perfection as + our nature permits. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my dear; remember to write to me once a-week, not as to a father, + but, without reserve, as to a friend. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0129" id="link2H_4_0129"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 14, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Among the many good things Mr. Harte has told me of you, + two in particular gave me great pleasure. The first, that you are + exceedingly careful and jealous of the dignity of your character; that is + the sure and solid foundation upon which you must both stand and rise. A + man’s moral character is a more delicate thing than a woman’s reputation + of chastity. A slip or two may possibly be forgiven her, and her character + may be clarified by subsequent and continued good conduct: but a man’s + moral character once tainted is irreparably destroyed. The second was, + that you had acquired a most correct and extensive knowledge of foreign + affairs, such as the history, the treaties, and the forms of government of + the several countries of Europe. This sort of knowledge, little attended + to here, will make you not only useful, but necessary, in your future + destination, and carry you very far. He added that you wanted from hence + some books relative to our laws and constitution, our colonies, and our + commerce; of which you know less than of those of any other part of + Europe. I will send you what short books I can find of that sort, to give + you a general notion of those things: but you cannot have time to go into + their depths at present—you cannot now engage with new folios; you + and I will refer the constitutional part of this country to our meeting + here, when we will enter seriously into it, and read the necessary books + together. In the meantime, go on in the course you are in, of foreign + matters; converse with ministers and others of every country, watch the + transactions of every court, and endeavor to trace them up to their + source. This, with your physics, your geometry, and your exercises, will + be all that you can possibly have time for at Paris; for you must allow a + great deal for company and pleasures: it is they that must give you those + manners, that address, that ‘tournure’ of the ‘beau monde’, which will + qualify you for your future destination. You must first please, in order + to get the confidence, and consequently the secrets, of the courts and + ministers for whom and with whom you negotiate. + </p> + <p> + I will send you by the first opportunity a short book written by Lord + Bolingbroke, under the name of Sir John Oldcastle, containing remarks upon + the history of England; which will give you a clear general notion of our + constitution, and which will serve you, at the same time, like all Lord + Bolingbroke’s works, for a model of eloquence and style. I will also send + you Sir Josiah Childe’s little book upon trade, which may properly be + called the “Commercial Grammar.” He lays down the true principles of + commerce, and his conclusions from them are generally very just. + </p> + <p> + Since you turn your thoughts a little toward trade and commerce, which I + am very glad you do, I will recommend a French book to you, which you will + easily get at Paris, and which I take to be the best book in the world of + that kind: I mean the ‘Dictionnaire de Commerce de Savory’, in three + volumes in folio; where you will find every one thing that relates to + trade, commerce, specie, exchange, etc., most clearly stated; and not only + relative to France, but to the whole world. You will easily suppose, that + I do not advise you to read such a book ‘tout de suite’; but I only mean + that you should have it at hand, to have recourse to occasionally. + </p> + <p> + With this great stock of both useful and ornamental knowledge, which you + have already acquired, and which, by your application and industry, you + are daily increasing, you will lay such a solid foundation of future + figure and fortune, that if you complete it by all the accomplishments of + manners, graces, etc., I know nothing which you may not aim at, and in + time hope for. Your great point at present at Paris, to which all other + considerations must give way, is to become entirely a man of fashion: to + be well-bred without ceremony, easy without negligence, steady and + intrepid with modesty, genteel without affectation, insinuating without + meanness, cheerful without being noisy, frank without indiscretion, and + secret without mysteriousness; to know the proper time and place for + whatever you say or do, and to do it with an air of condition all this is + not so soon nor so easily learned as people imagine, but requires + observation and time. The world is an immense folio, which demands a great + deal of time and attention to be read and understood as it ought to be; + you have not yet read above four or five pages of it; and you will have + but barely time to dip now and then in other less important books. + </p> + <p> + Lord Albemarle has, I know, wrote {It is a pleasure for an ordinary mortal + to find Lord Chesterfield in gramatical error—and he did it again in + the last sentence of this paragraph—but this was 1751? D.W.} to a + friend of his here, that you do not frequent him so much as he expected + and desired; that he fears somebody or other has given you wrong + impressions of him; and that I may possibly think, from your being seldom + at his house, that he has been wanting in his attentions to you. I told + the person who told me this, that, on the contrary, you seemed, by your + letters to me, to be extremely pleased with Lord Albemarle’s behavior to + you: but that you were obliged to give up dining abroad during your course + of experimental philosophy. I guessed the true reason, which I believe + was, that, as no French people frequent his house, you rather chose to + dine at other places, where you were likely to meet with better company + than your countrymen and you were in the right of it. However, I would + have you show no shyness to Lord Albemarle, but go to him, and dine with + him oftener than it may be you would wish, for the sake of having him + speak well of you here when he returns. He is a good deal in fashion here, + and his PUFFING you (to use an awkward expression) before you return here, + will be of great use to you afterward. People in general take characters, + as they do most things, upon trust, rather than be at the trouble of + examining them themselves; and the decisions of four or five fashionable + people, in every place, are final, more particularly with regard to + characters, which all can hear, and but few judge of. Do not mention the + least of this to any mortal; and take care that Lord Albemarle do not + suspect that you know anything of the matter. + </p> + <p> + Lord Huntingdon and Lord Stormount are, I hear, arrived at Paris; you + have, doubtless, seen them. Lord Stormount is well spoken of here; + however, in your connections, if you form any with them, show rather a + preference to Lord Huntingdon, for reasons which you will easily guess. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte goes this week to Cornwall, to take possession of his living; he + has been installed at Windsor; he will return here in about a month, when + your literary correspondence with him will be regularly carried on. Your + mutual concern at parting was a good sign for both. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment received good accounts of you from Paris. Go on ‘vous + etes en bon train’. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0130" id="link2H_4_0130"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 21, O. S.. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: In all my letters from Paris, I have the pleasure of + finding, among many other good things, your docility mentioned with + emphasis; this is the sure way of improving in those things, which you + only want. It is true they are little, but it is as true too that they are + necessary things. As they are mere matters of usage and mode, it is no + disgrace for anybody of your age to be ignorant of them; and the most + compendious way of learning them is, fairly to avow your ignorance, and to + consult those who, from long usage and experience, know them best. Good + sense and good-nature suggest civility in general; but, in good-breeding + there are a thousand little delicacies, which are established only by + custom; and it is these little elegances of manners which distinguish a + courtier and a man of fashion from the vulgar. I am assured by different + people, that your air is already much improved; and one of my + correspondents makes you the true French compliment of saying, ‘F’ose vous + promettre qu’il sera bientot comme un de nos autres’. However unbecoming + this speech may be in the mouth of a Frenchman, I am very glad that they + think it applicable to you; for I would have you not only adopt, but + rival, the best manners and usages of the place you are at, be they what + they will; that is the versatility of manners which is so useful in the + course of the world. Choose your models well at Paris, and then rival them + in their own way. There are fashionable words, phrases, and even gestures, + at Paris, which are called ‘du bon ton’; not to mention ‘certaines Petites + politesses et attentions, qui ne sont rien en elle-memes’, which fashion + has rendered necessary. Make yourself master of all these things; and to + such a degree, as to make the French say, ‘qu’on diroit que c’est un + Francois’; and when hereafter you shall be at other courts, do the same + thing there; and conform to the fashionable manners and usage of the + place; that is what the French themselves are not apt to do; wherever they + go, they retain their own manners, as thinking them the best; but, + granting them to be so, they are still in the wrong not to conform to + those of the place. One would desire to please, wherever one is; and + nothing is more innocently flattering than an approbation, and an + imitation of the people one converses with. + </p> + <p> + I hope your colleges with Marcel go on prosperously. In these ridiculous, + though, at the same time, really important lectures, pray attend, and + desire your professor also to attend, more particularly to the chapter of + the arms. It is they that decide of a man’s being genteel or otherwise, + more than any other part of the body. A twist or stiffness in the wrist, + will make any man in Europe look awkward. The next thing to be attended to + is, your coming into a room, and presenting yourself to a company. This + gives the first impression; and the first impression is often a lasting + one. Therefore, pray desire Professor Marcel to make you come in and go + out of his room frequently, and in the supposition of different companies + being there; such as ministers, women, mixed companies, etc. Those who + present themselves well, have a certain dignity in their air, which, + without the least seeming mixture of pride, at once engages, and is + respected. + </p> + <p> + I should not so often repeat, nor so long dwell upon such trifles, with + anybody that had less solid and valuable knowledge than you have. + Frivolous people attend to those things, ‘par preference’; they know + nothing else; my fear with you is, that, from knowing better things, you + should despise these too much, and think them of much less consequence + than they really are; for they are of a great deal, and more especially to + you. + </p> + <p> + Pleasing and governing women may, in time, be of great service to you. + They often please and govern others. ‘A propos’, are you in love with + Madame de Berkenrode still, or has some other taken her place in your + affections? I take it for granted, that ‘qua to cumque domat Venus, non + erubescendis adurit ignibus. Un arrangement honnete sied bien a un galant + homme’. In that case I recommend to you the utmost discretion, and the + profoundest silence. Bragging of, hinting at, intimating, or even + affectedly disclaiming and denying such an arrangement will equally + discredit you among men and women. An unaffected silence upon that subject + is the only true medium. + </p> + <p> + In your commerce with women, and indeed with men too, ‘une certaine + douceur’ is particularly engaging; it is that which constitutes that + character which the French talk of so much, and so justly value, I mean + ‘l’aimable’. This ‘douceur’ is not so easily described as felt. It is the + compound result of different things; a complaisance, a flexibility, but + not a servility of manners; an air of softness in the countenance, + gesture, and expression, equally whether you concur or differ with the + person you converse with. Observe those carefully who have that ‘douceur’ + that charms you and others; and your own good sense will soon enable you + to discover the different ingredients of which it is composed. You must be + more particularly attentive to this ‘douceur’, whenever you are obliged to + refuse what is asked of you, or to say what in itself cannot be very + agreeable to those to whom you say it. It is then the necessary gilding of + a disagreeable pill. ‘L’aimable’ consists in a thousand of these little + things aggregately. It is the ‘suaviter in modo’, which I have so often + recommended to you. The respectable, Mr. Harte assures me, you do not + want, and I believe him. Study, then, carefully; and acquire perfectly, + the ‘Aimable’, and you will have everything. + </p> + <p> + Abbe Guasco, who is another of your panegyrists, writes me word that he + has taken you to dinner at Marquis de St. Germain’s; where you will be + welcome as often as you please, and the oftener the better. Profit of + that, upon the principle of traveling in different countries, without + changing places. He says, too, that he will take you to the parliament, + when any remarkable cause is to be tried. That is very well; go through + the several chambers of the parliament, and see and hear what they are + doing; join practice and observation to your theoretical knowledge of + their rights and privileges. No Englishman has the least notion of them. + </p> + <p> + I need not recommend you to go to the bottom of the constitutional and + political knowledge of countries; for Mr. Harte tells me that you have a + peculiar turn that way, and have informed yourself most correctly of them. + </p> + <p> + I must now put some queries to you, as to a ‘juris publici peritus’, which + I am sure you can answer me, and which I own I cannot answer myself; they + are upon a subject now much talked of. + </p> + <p> + 1st. Are there any particular forms requisite for the election of a King + of the Romans, different from those which are necessary for the election + of an Emperor? + </p> + <p> + 2d. Is not a King of the Romans as legally elected by the votes of a + majority of the electors, as by two-thirds, or by the unanimity of the + electors? + </p> + <p> + 3d. Is there any particular law or constitution of the empire, that + distinguishes, either in matter or in, form, the election of a King of the + Romans from that of an Emperor? And is not the golden bull of Charles the + Fourth equally the rule for both? + </p> + <p> + 4th. Were there not, at a meeting of a certain number of the electors (I + have forgotten when), some rules and limitations agreed upon concerning + the election of a King of the Romans? And were those restrictions legal, + and did they obtain the force of law? + </p> + <p> + How happy am I, my dear child, that I can apply to you for knowledge, and + with a certainty of being rightly informed! It is knowledge, more than + quick, flashy parts, that makes a man of business. A man who is master of + his matter, twill, with inferior parts, be too hard in parliament, and + indeed anywhere else, for a man of-better parts, who knows his subject but + superficially: and if to his knowledge he joins eloquence and elocution, + he must necessarily soon be at the head of that assembly; but without + those two, no knowledge is sufficient. + </p> + <p> + Lord Huntingdon writes me word that he has seen you, and that you have + renewed your old school-acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + Tell me fairly your opinion of him, and of his friend Lord Stormount: and + also of the other English people of fashion you meet with. I promise you + inviolable secrecy on my part. You and I must now write to each other + —as friends, and without the least reserve; there will for the + future be a thousand-things in my letters, which I would not have any + mortal living but yourself see or know. Those you will easily distinguish, + and neither show nor repeat; and I will do the same by you. + </p> + <p> + To come to another subject (for I have a pleasure in talking over every + subject with you): How deep are you in Italian? Do you understand Ariosto, + Tasso, Boccaccio and Machiavelli? If you do, you know enough of it and may + know all the rest, by reading, when you have time. Little or no business + is written in Italian, except in Italy; and if you know enough of it to + understand the few Italian letters that may in time come in your way, and + to speak Italian tolerably to those very few Italians who speak no French, + give yourself no further trouble about that language till you happen to + have full leisure to perfect yourself in it. It is not the same with + regard to German; your speaking and writing it well, will particularly + distinguish you from every other man in England; and is, moreover, of + great use to anyone who is, as probably you will be, employed in the + Empire. Therefore, pray cultivate them sedulously, by writing four or five + lines of German every day, and by speaking it to every German you meet + with. + </p> + <p> + You have now got a footing in a great many good houses at Paris, in which + I advise you to make yourself domestic. This is to be done by a certain + easiness of carriage, and a decent familiarity. Not by way of putting + yourself upon the frivolous footing of being ‘sans consequence’, but by + doing in some degree, the honors of the house and table, calling yourself + ‘en badinant le galopin d’ici’, saying to the masters or mistress, ‘ceci + est de mon departement; je m’en charge; avouez, que je m’en acquitte a + merveille.’ This sort of ‘badinage’ has something engaging and ‘liant’ in + it, and begets that decent familiarity, which it is both agreeable and + useful to establish in good houses and with people of fashion. Mere formal + visits, dinners, and suppers, upon formal invitations, are not the thing; + they add to no connection nor information; but it is the easy, careless + ingress and egress at all hours, that forms the pleasing and profitable + commerce of life. + </p> + <p> + The post is so negligent, that I lose some letters from Paris entirely, + and receive others much later than I should. To this I ascribe my having + received no letter from you for above a fortnight, which to my impatience + seems a long time. I expect to hear from you once a-week. Mr. Harte is + gone to Cornwall, and will be back in about three weeks. I have a packet + of books to send you by the first opportunity, which I believe will be Mr. + Yorke’s return to Paris. The Greek books come from Mr. Harte, and the + English ones from your humble servant. Read Lord Bolingbroke’s with great + attention, as well to the style as to the matter. I wish you could form + yourself such a style in every language. Style is the dress of thoughts; + and a well-dressed thought, like a well-dressed man, appears to great + advantage. Yours. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0131" id="link2H_4_0131"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 28, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: A bill for ninety pounds sterling was brought me the other + day, said to be drawn upon me by you: I scrupled paying it at first, not + upon account of the sum, but because you had sent me no letter of advice, + which is always done in those transactions; and still more, because I did + not perceive that you had signed it. The person who presented it, desired + me to look again, and that I should discover your name at the bottom: + accordingly I looked again, and, with the help of my magnifying glass, did + perceive that what I had first taken only for somebody’s mark, was, in + truth, your name, written in the worst and smallest hand I ever saw in my + life. + </p> + <p> + However, I paid it at a venture; though I would almost rather lose the + money, than that such a signature should be yours. All gentlemen, and all + men of business, write their names always in the same way, that their + signature may be so well known as not to be easily counterfeited; and they + generally sign in rather larger character than their common hand; whereas + your name was in a less, and a worse, than your common writing. This + suggested to me the various accidents which may very probably happen to + you, while you write so ill. For instance, if you were to write in such a + character to the Secretary’s office, your letter would immediately be sent + to the decipherer, as containing matters of the utmost secrecy, not fit to + be trusted to the common character. If you were to write so to an + antiquarian, he (knowing you to be a man of learning) would certainly try + it by the Runic, Celtic, or Sclavonian alphabet, never suspecting it to be + a modern character. And, if you were to send a ‘poulet’ to a fine woman, + in such a hand, she would think that it really came from the ‘poulailler’; + which, by the bye, is the etymology of the word ‘poulet’; for Henry the + Fourth of France used to send billets-doux to his mistresses by his + ‘poulailler’, under pretense of sending them chickens; which gave the name + of poulets to those short, but expressive manuscripts. I have often told + you that every man who has the use of his eyes and of his hand, can write + whatever hand he pleases; and it is plain that you can, since you write + both the Greek and German characters, which you never learned of a + writing-master, extremely well, though your common hand, which you learned + of a master, is an exceedingly bad and illiberal one; equally unfit for + business or common use. I do not desire that you should write the labored, + stiff character of a writing-master: a man of business must write quick + and well, and that depends simply upon use. I would therefore advise you + to get some very good writing-master at Paris, and apply to it for a month + only, which will be sufficient; for, upon my word, the writing of a + genteel plain hand of business is of much more importance than you think. + You will say, it may be, that when you write so very ill, it is because + you are in a hurry, to which I answer, Why are you ever in a hurry? A man + of sense may be in haste, but can never be in a hurry, because he knows + that whatever he does in a hurry, he must necessarily do very ill. He may + be in haste to dispatch an affair, but he will care not to let that haste + hinder his doing it well. Little minds are in a hurry, when the object + proves (as it commonly does) too big for them; they run, they hare, they + puzzle, confound, and perplex themselves: they want to do everything at + once, and never do it at all. But a man of sense takes the time necessary + for doing the thing he is about, well; and his haste to dispatch a + business only appears by the continuity of his application to it: he + pursues it with a cool steadiness, and finishes it before he begins any + other. I own your time is much taken up, and you have a great many + different things to do; but remember that you had much better do half of + them well and leave the other half undone, than do them all indifferently. + Moreover, the few seconds that are saved in the course of the day, by + writing ill instead of well, do not amount to an object of time by any + means equivalent to the disgrace or ridicule of writing the scrawl of a + common whore. Consider, that if your very bad writing could furnish me + with matter of ridicule, what will it not do to others who do not view you + in that partial light that I do? There was a pope, I think it was Cardinal + Chigi, who was justly ridiculed for his attention to little things, and + his inability in great ones: and therefore called maximus in minimis, and + minimus in maximis. Why? Because he attended to little things when he had + great ones to do. At this particular period of your life, and at the place + you are now in, you have only little things to do; and you should make it + habitual to you to do them well, that they may require no attention from + you when you have, as I hope you will have, greater things to mind. Make a + good handwriting familiar to you now, that you may hereafter have nothing + but your matter to think of, when you have occasion to write to kings and + ministers. Dance, dress, present yourself, habitually well now, that you + may have none of those little things to think of hereafter, and which will + be all necessary to be done well occasionally, when you will have greater + things to do. + </p> + <p> + As I am eternally thinking of everything that can be relative to you, one + thing has occurred to me, which I think necessary to mention to you, in + order to prevent the difficulties which it might otherwise lay you under; + it is this as you get more acquaintances at Paris, it will be impossible + for you to frequent your first acquaintances so much as you did, while you + had no others. As, for example, at your first ‘debut’, I suppose you were + chiefly at Madame Monconseil’s, Lady Hervey’s, and Madame du Boccage’s. + Now, that you have got so many other houses, you cannot be at theirs so + often as you used; but pray take care not to give them the least reason to + think that you neglect, or despise them, for the sake of new and more + dignified and shining acquaintances; which would be ungrateful and + imprudent on your part, and never forgiven on theirs. Call upon them + often, though you do not stay with them so long as formerly; tell them + that you are sorry you are obliged to go away, but that you have such and + such engagements, with which good-breeding obliges you to comply; and + insinuate that you would rather stay with them. In short, take care to + make as many personal friends, and as few personal enemies, as possible. I + do not mean, by personal friends, intimate and confidential friends, of + which no man can hope to have half a dozen in the whole course of his + life; but I mean friends, in the common acceptation of the word; that is, + people who speak well of you, and who would rather do you good than harm, + consistently with their own interest, and no further. Upon the whole, I + recommend to you, again and again, ‘les Graces’. Adorned by them, you may, + in a manner, do what you please; it will be approved of; without them, + your best qualities will lose half their efficacy. Endeavor to be + fashionable among the French, which will soon make you fashionable here. + Monsieur de Matignon already calls you ‘le petit Francois’. If you can get + that name generally at Paris, it will put you ‘a la mode’. Adieu, my dear + child. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0132" id="link2H_4_0132"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 4, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The accounts which I receive of you from Paris grow every + day more and more satisfactory. Lord Albemarle has wrote a sort of + panegyric of you, which has been seen by many people here, and which will + be a very useful forerunner for you. Being in fashion is an important + point for anybody anywhere; but it would be a very great one for you to be + established in the fashion here before you return. Your business will be + half done by it, as I am sure you would not give people reason to change + their favorable presentiments of you. The good that is said of you will + not, I am convinced, make you a coxcomb; and, on the other hand, the being + thought still to want some little accomplishments, will, I am persuaded, + not mortify you, but only animate you to acquire them: I will, therefore, + give you both fairly, in the following extract of a letter which I lately + received from an impartial and discerning friend:— + </p> + <p> + “Permit me to assure you, Sir, that Mr. Stanhope will succeed. He has a + great fund of knowledge, and an uncommonly good memory, although he does + not make any parade of either the one or the other. He is desirous of + pleasing, and he will please. He has an expressive countenance; his figure + is elegant, although little. He has not the least awkwardness, though he + has not as yet acquired all-the graces requisite; which Marcel and the + ladies will soon give him. In short, he wants nothing but those things, + which, at his age, must unavoidably be wanting; I mean, a certain turn and + delicacy of manners, which are to be acquired only by time, and in good + company. Ready as he is, he will soon learn them; particularly as he + frequents such companies as are the most proper to give them.” + </p> + <p> + By this extract, which I can assure you is a faithful one, you and I have + both of us the satisfaction of knowing how much you have, and how little + you want. Let what you have give you (if possible) rather more SEEMING + modesty, but at the same time more interior firmness and assurance; and + let what you want, which you see is very attainable, redouble your + attention and endeavors to acquire it. You have, in truth, but that one + thing to apply to and a very pleasing application it is, since it is + through pleasures you must arrive at it. Company, suppers, balls, + spectacles, which show you the models upon which you should form yourself, + and all the little usages, customs, and delicacies, which you must adopt + and make habitual to you, are now your only schools and universities; in + which young fellows and fine women will give you the best lectures. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur du Boccage is another of your panegyrists; and he tells me that + Madame Boccage ‘a pris avec vous le ton de mie et de bonne’; and that you + like it very well. You are in the right of it; it is the way of improving; + endeavor to be upon that footing with every woman you converse with; + excepting where there may be a tender point of connection; a point which I + have nothing to do with; but if such a one there is, I hope she has not + ‘de mauvais ni de vilains bras’, which I agree with you in thinking a very + disagreeable thing. + </p> + <p> + I have sent you, by the opportunity of Pollok the courier, who was once my + servant, two little parcels of Greek and English books; and shall send you + two more by Mr. Yorke: but I accompany them with this caution, that as you + have not much time to read, you should employ it in reading what is the + most necessary, and that is, indisputably modern historical, geographical, + chronological, and political knowledge; the present constitution, maxims, + force, riches, trade, commerce, characters, parties, and cabals of the + several courts of Europe. Many who are reckoned good scholars, though they + know pretty accurately the governments of Athens and Rome, are totally + ignorant of the constitution of any one country now in Europe, even of + their own. Read just Latin and Greek enough to keep up your classical + learning, which will be an ornament to you while young, and a comfort to + you when old. But the true useful knowledge, and especially for you, is + the modern knowledge above mentioned. It is that must qualify you both for + domestic and foreign business, and it is to that, therefore, that you + should principally direct your attention; and I know, with great pleasure, + that you do so. I would not thus commend you to yourself, if I thought + commendations would have upon you those ill effects, which they frequently + have upon weak minds. I think you are much above being a vain coxcomb, + overrating your own merit, and insulting others with the superabundance of + it. On the contrary, I am convinced that the consciousness of merit makes + a man of sense more modest, though more firm. A man who displays his own + merit is a coxcomb, and a man who does not know it is a fool. A man of + sense knows it, exerts it, avails himself of it, but never boasts of it; + and always SEEMS rather to under than over value it, though in truth, he + sets the right value upon it. It is a very true maxim of La Bruyere’s (an + author well worth your studying), ‘qu’on ne vaut dans ce monde, que ce que + l’on veut valoir’. A man who is really diffident, timid, and bashful, be + his merit what it will, never can push himself in the world; his + despondency throws him into inaction; and the forward, the bustling, and + the petulant, will always get the better of him. The manner makes the + whole difference. What would be impudence in one manner, is only a proper + and decent assurance in another. A man of sense, and of knowledge in the + world, will assert his own rights, and pursue his own objects, as steadily + and intrepidly as the most impudent man living, and commonly more so; but + then he has art enough to give an outward air of modesty to all he does. + This engages and prevails, while the very same things shock and fail, from + the overbearing or impudent manner only of doing them. I repeat my maxim, + ‘Suaviter in modo, sed fortiter in re’. Would you know the characters, + modes and manners of the latter end of the last age, which are very like + those of the present, read La Bruyere. But would you know man, + independently of modes, read La Rochefoucault, who, I am afraid, paints + him very exactly. + </p> + <p> + Give the inclosed to Abbe Guasco, of whom you make good use, to go about + with you, and see things. Between you and me, he has more knowledge than + parts. ‘Mais un habile homme sait tirer parti de tout’, and everybody is + good for something. President Montesquieu is, in every sense, a most + useful acquaintance. He has parts, joined to great reading and knowledge + of the world. ‘Puisez dans cette source tant que vous pourrez’. + </p> + <p> + Adieu. May the Graces attend you! for without them ‘ogni fatica e vana’. + If they do not come to you willingly, ravish them, and force them to + accompany you in all you think, all you say, and all you do. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0133" id="link2H_4_0133"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 11, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: When you go to the play, which I hope you do often, for it + is a very instructive amusement, you must certainly have observed the very + different effects which the several parts have upon you, according as they + are well or ill acted. The very best tragedy of, Corneille’s, if well + spoken and acted, interests, engages, agitates, and affects your passions. + Love, terror, and pity alternately possess you. But, if ill spoken and + acted, it would only excite your indignation or your laughter. Why? It is + still Corneille’s; it is the same sense, the same matter, whether well or + ill acted. It is, then, merely the manner of speaking and acting that + makes this great difference in the effects. Apply this to yourself, and + conclude from it, that if you would either please in a private company, or + persuade in a public assembly, air, looks, gestures, graces, enunciation, + proper accents, just emphasis, and tuneful cadences, are full as necessary + as the matter itself. Let awkward, ungraceful, inelegant, and dull fellows + say what they will in behalf of their solid matter and strong reasonings; + and let them despise all those graces and ornaments which engage the + senses and captivate the heart; they will find (though they will possibly + wonder why) that their rough, unpolished matter, and their unadorned, + coarse, but strong arguments, will neither please nor persuade; but, on + the contrary, will tire out attention, and excite disgust. We are so made, + we love to be pleased better than to be informed; information is, in a + certain degree, mortifying, as it implies our previous ignorance; it must + be sweetened to be palatable. + </p> + <p> + To bring this directly to you: know that no man can make a figure in this + country, but by parliament. Your fate depends upon your success there as a + speaker; and, take my word for it, that success turns much more upon + manner than matter. Mr. Pitt and Mr. Murray the solicitor-general, uncle + to Lord Stormount, are, beyond comparison, the best speakers; why? only + because they are the best orators. They alone can inflame or quiet the + House; they alone are so attended to, in that numerous and noisy assembly, + that you might hear a pin fall while either of them is speaking. Is it + that their matter is better, or their arguments stronger, than other + people’s? Does the House expect extraordinary informations from them? Not, + in the least: but the House expects pleasure from them, and therefore + attends; finds it, and therefore approves. Mr. Pitt, particularly, has + very little parliamentary knowledge; his matter is generally flimsy, and + his arguments often weak; but his eloquence is superior, his action + graceful, his enunciation just and harmonious; his periods are well + turned, and every word he makes use of is the very best, and the most + expressive, that can be used in that place. This, and not his matter, made + him Paymaster, in spite of both king and ministers. From this draw the + obvious conclusion. The same thing holds full as true in conversation; + where even trifles, elegantly expressed, well looked, and accompanied with + graceful action, will ever please, beyond all the homespun, unadorned + sense in the world. Reflect, on one side, how you feel within yourself, + while you are forced to suffer the tedious, muddy, and ill-turned + narration of some awkward fellow, even though the fact may be interesting; + and, on the other hand, with what pleasure you attend to the relation of a + much less interesting matter, when elegantly expressed, genteelly turned, + and gracefully delivered. By attending carefully to all these agremens in + your daily conversation, they will become habitual to you, before you come + into parliament; and you will have nothing then, to do, but to raise them + a little when you come there. I would wish you to be so attentive to this + object, that I, would not have you speak to your footman, but in the very + best words that the subject admits of, be the language what it will. Think + of your words, and of their arrangement, before you speak; choose the most + elegant, and place them in the best order. Consult your own ear, to avoid + cacophony, and, what is very near as bad, monotony. Think also of your + gesture and looks, when you are speaking even upon the most trifling + subjects. The same things, differently expressed, looked, and delivered, + cease to be the same things. The most passionate lover in the world cannot + make a stronger declaration of love than the ‘Bourgeois gentilhomme’ does + in this happy form of words, ‘Mourir d’amour me font belle Marquise vos + beaux yeux’. I defy anybody to say more; and yet I would advise nobody to + say that, and I would recommend to you rather to smother and conceal your + passion entirely than to reveal it in these words. Seriously, this holds + in everything, as well as in that ludicrous instance. The French, to do + them justice, attend very minutely to the purity, the correctness, and the + elegance of their style in conversation and in their letters. ‘Bien + narrer’ is an object of their study; and though they sometimes carry it to + affectation, they never sink into inelegance, which is much the worst + extreme of the two. Observe them, and form your French style upon theirs: + for elegance in one language will reproduce itself in all. I knew a young + man, who, being just elected a member of parliament, was laughed at for + being discovered, through the keyhole of his chamber-door, speaking to + himself in the glass, and forming his looks and gestures. I could not join + in that laugh; but, on the contrary, thought him much wiser than those who + laughed at him; for he knew the importance of those little graces in a + public assembly, and they did not. Your little person (which I am told, by + the way, is not ill turned), whether in a laced coat or a blanket, is + specifically the same; but yet, I believe, you choose to wear the former, + and you are in the right, for the sake of pleasing more. The worst-bred + man in Europe, if a lady let fall her fan, would certainly take it up and + give it her; the best-bred man in Europe could do no more. The difference, + however, would be considerable; the latter would please by doing it + gracefully; the former would be laughed at for doing it awkwardly. I + repeat it, and repeat it again, and shall never cease repeating it to you: + air, manners, graces, style, elegance, and all those ornaments, must now + be the only objects of your attention; it is now, or never, that you must + acquire them. Postpone, therefore, all other considerations; make them now + your serious study; you have not one moment to lose. The solid and the + ornamental united, are undoubtedly best; but were I reduced to make an + option, I should without hesitation choose the latter. + </p> + <p> + I hope you assiduously frequent Marcell—[At that time the most + celebrated dancing-master at Paris.]—and carry graces from him; + nobody had more to spare than he had formerly. Have you learned to carve? + for it is ridiculous not to carve well. A man who tells you gravely that + he cannot carve, may as well tell you that he cannot blow his nose: it is + both as necessary, and as easy. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Lord Huntingdon, whom I love and honor extremely, + as I dare say you do; I will write to him soon, though I believe he has + hardly time to read a letter; and my letters to those I love are, as you + know by experience, not very short ones: this is one proof of it, and this + would have been longer, if the paper had been so. Good night then, my dear + child. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0134" id="link2H_4_0134"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 28, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: This epigram in Martial— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare; + Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te”— + + [OR: “I do not love thee Dr. Fell + The reason why I cannot tell. + But this I know and know full well: + I do not love thee Dr. Fell.” D.W.] +</pre> + <p> + has puzzled a great many people, who cannot conceive how it is possible + not to love anybody, and yet not to know the reason why. I think I + conceive Martial’s meaning very clearly, though the nature of epigram, + which is to be short, would not allow him to explain it more fully; and I + take it to be this: O Sabidis, you are a very worthy deserving man; you + have a thousand good qualities, you have a great deal of learning; I + esteem, I respect, but for the soul of me I cannot love you, though I + cannot particularly say why. You are not aimable: you have not those + engaging manners, those pleasing attentions, those graces, and that + address, which are absolutely necessary to please, though impossible to + define. I cannot say it is this or that particular thing that hinders me + from loving you; it is the whole together; and upon the whole you are not + agreeable. + </p> + <p> + How often have I, in the course of my life, found myself in this + situation, with regard to many of my acquaintance, whom I have honored and + respected, without being able to love. I did not know why, because, when + one is young, one does not take the trouble, nor allow one’s self the + time, to analyze one’s sentiments and to trace them up to their source. + But subsequent observation and reflection have taught me why. There is a + man, whose moral character, deep learning, and superior parts, I + acknowledge, admire, and respect; but whom it is so impossible for me to + love, that I am almost in a fever whenever I am in his company. His figure + (without being deformed) seems made to disgrace or ridicule the common + structure of the human body. His legs and arms are never in the position + which, according to the situation of his body, they ought to be in, but + constantly employed in committing acts of hostility upon the Graces. He + throws anywhere, but down his throat, whatever he means to drink, and only + mangles what he means to carve. Inattentive to all the regards of social + life, he mistimes or misplaces everything. He disputes with heat, and + indiscriminately, mindless of the rank, character, and situation of those + with whom he disputes; absolutely ignorant of the several gradations of + familiarity or respect, he is exactly the same to his superiors, his + equals, and his inferiors; and therefore, by a necessary consequence, + absurd to two of the three. Is it possible to love such a man? No. The + utmost I can do for him, is to consider him as a respectable Hottentot.—[This + ‘mot’ was aimed at Dr. Johnson in retaliation for his famous letter.] + </p> + <p> + I remember, that when I came from Cambridge, I had acquired, among the + pedants of that illiberal seminary, a sauciness of literature, a turn to + satire and contempt, and a strong tendency to argumentation and + contradiction. But I had been but a very little while in the world, before + I found that this would by no means do; and I immediately adopted the + opposite character; I concealed what learning I had; I applauded often, + without approving; and I yielded commonly without conviction. ‘Suaviter in + modo’ was my law and my prophets; and if I pleased (between you and me) it + was much more owing to that, than to any superior knowledge or merit of my + own. Apropos, the word PLEASING puts one always in mind of Lady Hervey; + pray tell her, that I declare her responsible to me for your pleasing; + that I consider her as a pleasing Falstaff, who not only pleases, herself, + but is the cause of pleasing in others; that I know she can make anything + of anybody; and that, as your governess, if she does not make you please, + it must be only because she will not, and not because she cannot. I hope + you are ‘dubois don’t on en fait’; and if so, she is so good a sculptor, + that I am sure she can give you whatever form she pleases. A versatility + of manners is as necessary in social, as a versatility of parts is in + political life. One must often yield, in order to prevail; one must humble + one’s self, to be exalted; one must, like St. Paul, become all things to + all men, to gain some; and, by the way, men are taken by the same means, + ‘mutatis mutandis’, that women are gained—by gentleness, + insinuation, and submission: and these lines of Mr. Dryden will hold to a + minister as well as to a mistress: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The prostrate lover, when he lowest lies, + But stoops to conquer, and but kneels to rise.” + </pre> + <p> + In the course of the world, the qualifications of the chameleon are often + necessary; nay, they must be carried a little further, and exerted a + little sooner; for you should, to a certain degree, take the hue of either + the man or the woman that you want, and wish to be upon terms with. ‘A + propos’, have you yet found out at Paris, any friendly and hospitable + Madame de Lursay, ‘qui veut bien se charger du soin de vous eduquer’? And + have you had any occasion of representing to her, ‘qu’elle faisoit donc + des noeuds’? But I ask your pardon, Sir, for the abruptness of the + question, and acknowledge that I am meddling with matters that are out of + my department. However, in matters of less importance, I desire to be ‘de + vos secrets le fidele depositaire’. Trust me with the general turn and + color of your amusements at Paris. Is it ‘le fracas du grand monde, + comedies, bals, operas, cour,’ etc.? Or is it ‘des petites societes, moins + bruyantes, mais pas pour cela moins agreables’? Where are you the most + ‘etabli’? Where are you ‘le petit Stanhope? Voyez vous encore jour, a + quelque arrangement honnete? Have you made many acquaintances among the + young Frenchmen who ride at your Academy; and who are they? Send to me + this sort of chit-chat in your letters, which, by the bye, I wish you + would honor me with somewhat oftener. If you frequent any of the myriads + of polite Englishmen who infest Paris, who are they? Have you finished + with Abbe Nolet, and are you ‘au fait’ of all the properties and effects + of air? Were I inclined to quibble, I would say, that the effects of air, + at least, are best to be learned of Marcel. If you have quite done with + l’Abbes Nolet, ask my friend l’Abbe Sallier to recommend to you some + meagre philomath, to teach you a little geometry and astronomy; not enough + to absorb your attention and puzzle your intellects, but only enough not + to be grossly ignorant of either. I have of late been a sort of ‘astronome + malgre moi’, by bringing in last Monday into the House of Lords a bill for + reforming our present Calendar and taking the New Style. Upon which + occasion I was obliged to talk some astronomical jargon, of which I did + not understand one word, but got it by heart, and spoke it by rote from a + master. I wished that I had known a little more of it myself; and so much + I would have you know. But the great and necessary knowledge of all is, to + know, yourself and others: this knowledge requires great attention and + long experience; exert the former, and may you have the latter! Adieu! + </p> + <p> + P. S. I have this moment received your letters of the 27th February, and + the 2d March, N. S. The seal shall be done as soon as possible. I am, glad + that you are employed in Lord Albemarle’s bureau; it will teach you, at + least, the mechanical part of that business, such as folding, entering, + and docketing letters; for you must not imagine that you are let into the + ‘fin fin’ of the correspondence, nor indeed is it fit that you should, at, + your age. However, use yourself to secrecy as to the letters you either + read or write, that in time you may be trusted with SECRET, VERY SECRET, + SEPARATE, APART, etc. I am sorry that this business interferes with your + riding; I hope it is seldom; but I insist upon its not interfering with + your dancing-master, who is at this time the most useful and necessary of + all the masters you have or can have. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0135" id="link2H_4_0135"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXIII + </h2> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I mentioned to you, some time ago a sentence which I would + most earnestly wish you always to retain in your thoughts, and observe in + your conduct. It is ‘suaviter in modo, fortiter in re’ [gentleness of + manners, with firmness of mind D.W.]. I do not know any one rule so + unexceptionably useful and necessary in every part of life. I shall + therefore take it for my text to-day, and as old men love preaching, and I + have some right to preach to you, I here present you with my sermon upon + these words. To proceed, then, regularly and PULPITICALLY, I will first + show you, my beloved, the necessary connection of the two members of my + text ‘suaviter in modo: fortiter in re’. In the next place, I shall set + forth the advantages and utility resulting from a strict observance of the + precept contained in my text; and conclude with an application of the + whole. The ‘suaviter in modo’ alone would degenerate and sink into a mean, + timid complaisance and passiveness, if not supported and dignified by the + ‘fortiter in re’, which would also run into impetuosity and brutality, if + not tempered and softened by the ‘suaviter in modo’: however, they are + seldom united. + </p> + <p> + The warm, choleric man, with strong animal spirits, despises the ‘suaviter + in modo’, and thinks to, carry all before him by the ‘fortiter in re’. He + may, possibly, by great accident, now and then succeed, when he has only + weak and timid people to deal with; but his general fate will be, to shock + offend, be hated, and fail. On the other hand, the cunning, crafty man + thinks to gain all his ends by the ‘suaviter in modo’ only; HE BECOMES ALL + THINGS TO ALL MEN; he seems to have no opinion of his own, and servilely + adopts the present opinion of the present person; he insinuates himself + only into the esteem of fools, but is soon detected, and surely despised + by everybody else. The wise man (who differs as much from the cunning, as + from the choleric man) alone joins the ‘suaviter in modo’ with the + ‘fortiter in re’. Now to the advantages arising from the strict observance + of this precept: + </p> + <p> + If you are in authority, and have a right to command, your commands + delivered ‘suaviter in modo’ will be willingly, cheerfully, and + consequently well obeyed; whereas, if given only ‘fortiter’, that is + brutally, they will rather, as Tacitus says, be interrupted than executed. + For my own part, if I bid my footman bring me a glass of wine, in a rough + insulting manner, I should expect that, in obeying me, he would contrive + to spill some of it upon me: and I am sure I should deserve it. A cool, + steady resolution should show that where you have a right to command you + will be obeyed; but at the same time, a gentleness in the manner of + enforcing that obedience should make it a cheerful one, and soften as much + as possible the mortifying consciousness of inferiority. If you are to ask + a favor, or even to solicit your due, you must do it ‘suaviter in modo’, + or you will give those who have a mind to refuse you, either a pretense to + do it, by resenting the manner; but, on the other hand, you must, by a + steady perseverance and decent tenaciousness, show the ‘fortiter in re’. + The right motives are seldom the true ones of men’s actions, especially of + kings, ministers, and people in high stations; who often give to + importunity and fear, what they would refuse to justice or to merit. By + the ‘suaviter in modo’ engage their hearts, if you can; at least prevent + the pretense of offense but take care to show enough of the ‘fortiter in + re’ to extort from their love of ease, or their fear, what you might in + vain hope for from their justice or good-nature. People in high life are + hardened to the wants and distresses of mankind, as surgeons are to their + bodily pains; they see and hear of them all day long, and even of so many + simulated ones, that they do not know which are real, and which not. Other + sentiments are therefore to be applied to, than those of mere justice and + humanity; their favor must be captivated by the ‘suaviter in modo’; their + love of ease disturbed by unwearied importunity, or their fears wrought + upon by a decent intimation of implacable, cool resentment; this is the + true ‘fortiter in re’. This precept is the only way I know in the world of + being loved without being despised, and feared without being hated. It + constitutes the dignity of character which every wise man must endeavor to + establish. + </p> + <p> + Now to apply what has been said, and so conclude. + </p> + <p> + If you find that you have a hastiness in your temper, which unguardedly + breaks out into indiscreet sallies, or rough expressions, to either your + superiors, your equals, or your inferiors, watch it narrowly, check it + carefully, and call the ‘suaviter in modo’ to your assistance: at the + first impulse of passion, be silent till you can be soft. Labor even to + get the command of your countenance so well, that those emotions may not + be read in it; a most unspeakable advantage in business! On the other + hand, let no complaisance, no gentleness of temper, no weak desire of + pleasing on your part,—no wheedling, coaxing, nor flattery, on other + people’s,—make you recede one jot from any point that reason and + prudence have bid you pursue; but return to the charge, persist, + persevere, and you will find most things attainable that are possible. A + yielding, timid meekness is always abused and insulted by the unjust and + the unfeeling; but when sustained by the ‘fortiter in re’, is always + respected, commonly successful. In your friendships and connections, as + well as in your enmities, this rule is particularly useful; let your + firmness and vigor preserve and invite attachments to you; but, at the + same time, let your manner hinder the enemies of your friends and + dependents from becoming yours; let your enemies be disarmed by the + gentleness of your manner, but let them feel, at the same time, the + steadiness of your just resentment; for there is a great difference + between bearing malice, which is always ungenerous, and a resolute + self-defense, which is always prudent and justifiable. In negotiations + with foreign ministers, remember the ‘fortiter in re’; give up no point, + accept of no expedient, till the utmost necessity reduces you to it, and + even then, dispute the ground inch by inch; but then, while you are + contending with the minister ‘fortiter in re’, remember to gain the man by + the ‘suaviter in modo’. If you engage his heart, you have a fair chance + for imposing upon his understanding, and determining his will. Tell him, + in a frank, gallant manner, that your ministerial wrangles do not lessen + your personal regard for his merit; but that, on the contrary, his zeal + and ability in the service of his master, increase it; and that, of all + things, you desire to make a good friend of so good a servant. By these + means you may, and will very often be a gainer: you never can be a loser. + Some people cannot gain upon themselves to be easy and civil to those who + are either their rivals, competitors, or opposers, though, independently + of those accidental circumstances, they would like and esteem them. They + betray a shyness and an awkwardness in company with them, and catch at any + little thing to expose them; and so, from temporary and only occasional + opponents, make them their personal enemies. This is exceedingly weak and + detrimental, as indeed is all humor in business; which can only be carried + on successfully by, unadulterated good policy and right reasoning. In such + situations I would be more particularly and ‘noblement’, civil, easy, and + frank with the man whose designs I traversed: this is commonly called + generosity and magnanimity, but is, in truth, good sense and policy. The + manner is often as important as the matter, sometimes more so; a favor may + make an enemy, and an injury may make a friend, according to the different + manner in which they are severally done. The countenance, the address, the + words, the enunciation, the Graces, add great efficacy to the ‘suaviter in + modo’, and great dignity to the ‘fortiter in re’, and consequently they + deserve the utmost attention. + </p> + <p> + From what has been said, I conclude with this observation, that gentleness + of manners, with firmness of mind, is a short, but full description of + human perfection on this side of religious and moral duties. That you may + be seriously convinced of this truth, and show it in your life and + conversation, is the most sincere and ardent wish of, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0136" id="link2H_4_0136"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 11, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received by the last post a letter from Abbe Guasco, in + which he joins his representations to those of Lord Albemarle, against + your remaining any longer in your very bad lodgings at the Academy; and, + as I do not find that any advantage can arise to you from being ‘interne’ + in an academy which is full as far from the riding-house and from all your + other masters, as your lodgings will probably be, I agree to your removing + to an ‘hotel garni’; the Abbe will help you to find one, as I desire him + by the inclosed, which you will give him. I must, however, annex one + condition to your going into private lodgings, which is an absolute + exclusion of English breakfasts and suppers at them; the former consume + the whole morning, and the latter employ the evenings very ill, in + senseless toasting a l’Angloise in their infernal claret. You will be sure + to go to the riding-house as often as possible, that is, whenever your new + business at Lord Albemarle’s does not hinder you. But, at all events, I + insist upon your never missing Marcel, who is at present of more + consequence to you than all the bureaux in Europe; for this is the time + for you to acquire ‘tous ces petits riens’, which, though in an + arithmetical account, added to one another ‘ad infinitum’, they would + amount to nothing, in the account of the world amount to a great and + important sum. ‘Les agremens et les graces’, without which you will never + be anything, are absolutely made up of all those ‘riens’, which are more + easily felt than described. By the way, you may take your lodgings for one + whole year certain, by which means you may get them much cheaper; for + though I intend to see you here in less than a year, it will be but for a + little time, and you will return to Paris again, where I intend you shall + stay till the end of April twelvemonth, 1752, at which time, provided you + have got all ‘la politesse, les manieres, les attentions, et les graces du + beau monde’, I shall place you in some business suitable to your + destination. + </p> + <p> + I have received, at last, your present of the cartoon, from Dominichino, + by Planchet. It is very finely done, it is pity that he did not take in + all the figures of the original. I will hang it up, where it shall be your + own again some time or other. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte is returned in perfect health from Cornwall, and has taken + possession of his prebendal house at Windsor, which is a very pretty one. + As I dare say you will always feel, I hope you will always express, the + strongest sentiments of gratitude and friendship for him. Write to him + frequently, and attend to the letters you receive from him. He shall be + with us at Blackheath, alias BABIOLE, all the time that I propose you + shall be there, which I believe will be the month of August next. + </p> + <p> + Having thus mentioned to you the probable time of our meeting, I will + prepare you a little for it. Hatred; jealousy, or envy, make, most people + attentive to discover the least defects of those they do not love; they + rejoice at every new discovery they make of that kind, and take care to + publish it. I thank God, I do not know what those three ungenerous + passions are, having never felt them in my own breast; but love has just + the same effect upon me, except that I conceal, instead of publishing, the + defeats which my attention makes me discover in those I love. I curiously + pry into them; I analyze them; and, wishing either to find them perfect, + or to make them so, nothing escapes me, and I soon discover every the + least gradation toward or from that perfection. You must therefore expect + the most critical ‘examen’ that ever anybody underwent. I shall discover + your least, as well as your greatest defects, and I shall very freely tell + you of them, ‘Non quod odio habeam sed quod amem’. But I shall tell them + you ‘tete-a-tete’, and as MICIO not as DEMEA; and I will tell them to + nobody else. I think it but fair to inform you beforehand, where I suspect + that my criticisms are likely to fall; and that is more upon the outward, + than upon the inward man; I neither suspect your heart nor your head; but + to be plain with you, I have a strange distrust of your air, your address, + your manners, your ‘tournure’, and particularly of your ENUNCIATION and + elegance of style. These will be all put to the trial; for while you are + with me, you must do the honors of my house and table; the least + inaccuracy or inelegance will not escape me; as you will find by a LOOK at + the time, and by a remonstrance afterward when we are alone. You will see + a great deal of company of all sorts at BABIOLE, and particularly + foreigners. Make, therefore, in the meantime, all these exterior and + ornamental qualifications your peculiar care, and disappoint all my + imaginary schemes of criticism. Some authors have criticised their own + works first, in hopes of hindering others from doing it afterward: but + then they do it themselves with so much tenderness and partiality for + their own production, that not only the production itself, but the + preventive criticism is criticised. I am not one of those authors; but, on + the contrary, my severity increases with my fondness for my work; and if + you will but effectually correct all the faults I shall find, I will + insure you from all subsequent criticisms from other quarters. + </p> + <p> + Are you got a little into the interior, into the constitution of things at + Paris? Have you seen what you have seen thoroughly? For, by the way, few + people see what they see, or hear what they hear. For example, if you go + to les Invalides, do you content yourself with seeing the building, the + hall where three or four hundred cripples dine, and the galleries where + they lie? or do you inform yourself of the numbers, the conditions of + their admission, their allowance, the value and nature of the fund by + which the whole is supported? This latter I call seeing, the former is + only starting. Many people take the opportunity of ‘les vacances’, to go + and see the empty rooms where the several chambers of the parliament did + sit; which rooms are exceedingly like all other large rooms; when you go + there, let it be when they are full; see and hear what is doing in them; + learn their respective constitutions, jurisdictions, objects, and methods + of proceeding; hear some causes tried in every one of the different + chambers; ‘Approfondissez les choses’. + </p> + <p> + I am glad to hear that you are so well at Marquis de St. Germain’s, + —[At that time Ambassador from the King of Sardinia at the Court of + France.]—of whom I hear a very good character. How are you with the + other foreign ministers at Paris? Do you frequent the Dutch Ambassador or + Ambassadress? Have you any footing at the Nuncio’s, or at the Imperial and + Spanish ambassadors? It is useful. Be more particular in your letters to + me, as to your manner of passing your time, and the company you keep. + Where do you dine and sup oftenest? whose house is most your home? Adieu. + ‘Les Graces, les Graces’. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0137" id="link2H_4_0137"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 18, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I acquainted you in a former letter, that I had brought a + bill into the House of Lords for correcting and reforming our present + calendar, which is the Julian, and for adopting the Gregorian. I will now + give you a more particular account of that affair; from which reflections + will naturally occur to you that I hope may be useful, and which I fear + you have not made. It was notorious, that the Julian calendar was + erroneous, and had overcharged the solar year with eleven days. Pope + Gregory the Thirteenth corrected this error; his reformed calendar was + immediately received by all the Catholic powers of Europe, and afterward + adopted by all the Protestant ones, except Russia, Sweden, and England. It + was not, in my opinion, very honorable for England to remain, in a gross + and avowed error, especially in such company; the inconveniency of it was + likewise felt by all those who had foreign correspondences, whether + political or mercantile. I determined, therefore, to attempt the + reformation; I consulted the best lawyers and the most skillful + astronomers, and we cooked up a bill for that purpose. But then my + difficulty began: I was to bring in this bill, which was necessarily + composed of law jargon and astronomical calculations, to both which I am + an utter stranger. However, it was absolutely necessary to make the House + of Lords think that I knew something of the matter; and also to make them + believe that they knew something of it themselves, which they do not. For + my own part, I could just as soon have talked Celtic or Sclavonian to them + as astronomy, and they would have understood me full as well: so I + resolved to do better than speak to the purpose, and to please instead of + informing them. I gave them, therefore, only an historical account of + calendars, from the Egyptian down to the Gregorian, amusing them now and + then with little episodes; but I was particularly attentive to the choice + of my words, to the harmony and roundness of my periods, to my elocution, + to my action. This succeeded, and ever will succeed; they thought I + informed, because I pleased them; and many of them said that I had made + the whole very clear to them; when, God knows, I had not even attempted + it. Lord Macclesfield, who had the greatest share in forming the bill, and + who is one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers in Europe, spoke + afterward with infinite knowledge, and all the clearness that so intricate + a matter would admit of: but as his words, his periods, and his utterance, + were not near so good as mine, the preference was most unanimously, though + most unjustly, given to me. This will ever be the case; every numerous + assembly is MOB, let the individuals who compose it be what they will. + Mere reason and good sense is never to be talked to a mob; their passions, + their sentiments, their senses, and their seeming interests, are alone to + be applied to. Understanding they have collectively none, but they have + ears and eyes, which must be flattered and seduced; and this can only be + done by eloquence, tuneful periods, graceful action, and all the various + parts of oratory. + </p> + <p> + When you come into the House of Commons, if you imagine that speaking + plain and unadorned sense and reason will do your business, you will find + yourself most grossly mistaken. As a speaker, you will be ranked only + according to your eloquence, and by no means according to your matter; + everybody knows the matter almost alike, but few can adorn it. I was early + convinced of the importance and powers of eloquence; and from that moment + I applied myself to it. I resolved not to utter one word, even in common + conversation, that should not be the most expressive and the most elegant + that the language could supply me with for that purpose; by which means I + have acquired such a certain degree of habitual eloquence, that I must now + really take some pains, if, I would express myself very inelegantly. I + want to inculcate this known truth into you, which, you seem by no means + to be convinced of yet, that ornaments are at present your only objects. + Your sole business now is to shine, not to weigh. Weight without lustre is + lead. You had better talk trifles elegantly to the most trifling woman, + than coarse in elegant sense to the most solid man; you had better, return + a dropped fan genteelly, than give a thousand pounds awkwardly; and you + had better refuse a favor gracefully, than to grant it clumsily. Manner is + all, in everything: it is by manner only that you can please, and + consequently rise. All your Greek will never advance you from secretary to + envoy, or from envoy to ambassador; but your address, your manner, your + air, if good, very probably may. Marcel can be of much more use to you + than Aristotle. I would, upon my word, much rather that you had Lord + Bolingbroke’s style and eloquence in speaking and writing, than all the + learning of the Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, and the two + Universities united. + </p> + <p> + Having mentioned Lord Bolingbroke’s style, which is, undoubtedly, + infinitely superior to anybody’s, I would have you read his works, which + you have, over and-over again, with particular attention to his style. + Transcribe, imitate, emulate it, if possible: that would be of real use to + you in the House of Commons, in negotiations, in conversation; with that, + you may justly hope to please, to persuade, to seduce, to impose; and you + will fail in those articles, in proportion as you fall short of it. Upon + the whole, lay aside, during your year’s residence at Paris, all thoughts + of all that dull fellows call solid, and exert your utmost care to acquire + what people of fashion call shining. ‘Prenez l’eclat et le brillant d’un + galant homme’. + </p> + <p> + Among the commonly called little things, to which you, do not attend, your + handwriting is one, which is indeed shamefully bad and illiberal; it is + neither the hand of a man of business, nor of a gentleman, but of a truant + school-boy; as soon, therefore, as you have done with Abbe Nolet, pray get + an excellent writing-master (since you think that you cannot teach + yourself to write what hand you please), and let him teach you to write a + genteel, legible, liberal hand, and quick; not the hand of a procureur or + a writing-master, but that sort of hand in which the first ‘Commis’ in + foreign bureaus commonly write; for I tell you truly, that were I Lord + Albemarle, nothing should remain in my bureau written in your present + hand. From hand to arms the transition is natural; is the carriage and + motion of your arms so too? The motion of the arms is the most material + part of a man’s air, especially in dancing; the feet are not near so + material. If a man dances well from the waist upward, wears his hat well, + and moves his head properly, he dances well. Do the women say that you + dress well? for that is necessary too for a young fellow. Have you ‘un + gout vif’, or a passion for anybody? I do not ask for whom: an Iphigenia + would both give you the desire, and teach you the means to please. + </p> + <p> + In a fortnight or three weeks you will see Sir Charles Hotham at Paris, in + his way to Toulouse, where he is to stay a year or two. Pray be very civil + to him, but do not carry him into company, except presenting him to Lord + Albemarle; for, as he is not to stay at Paris above a week, we do not + desire that he should taste of that dissipation: you may show him a play + and an opera. Adieu, my dear child. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0138" id="link2H_4_0138"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 25, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: What a happy period of your life is this? Pleasure is now, + and ought to be, your business. While you were younger, dry rules, and + unconnected words, were the unpleasant objects of your labors. When you + grow older, the anxiety, the vexations, the disappointments inseparable + from public business, will require the greatest share of your time and + attention; your pleasures may, indeed, conduce to your business, and your + business will quicken your pleasures; but still your time must, at least, + be divided: whereas now it is wholly your own, and cannot be so well + employed as in the pleasures of a gentleman. The world is now the only + book you want, and almost the only one you ought to read: that necessary + book can only be read in company, in public places, at meals, and in + ‘ruelles’. You must be in the pleasures, in order to learn the manners of + good company. In premeditated, or in formal business, people conceal, or + at least endeavor to conceal, their characters: whereas pleasures discover + them, and the heart breaks out through the guard of the understanding. + Those are often propitious moments for skillful negotiators to improve. In + your destination particularly, the able conduct of pleasures is of + infinite use; to keep a good table, and to do the honors of it gracefully, + and ‘sur le ton de la bonne compagnie’, is absolutely necessary for a + foreign minister. There is a certain light table chit-chat, useful to keep + off improper and too serious subjects, which is only to be learned in the + pleasures of good company. In truth it may be trifling; but, trifling as + it is, a man of parts and experience of the world will give an agreeable + turn to it. ‘L’art de badiner agreablement’ is by no means to be despised. + </p> + <p> + An engaging address, and turn to gallantry, is often of very great service + to foreign ministers. Women have, directly or indirectly; a good deal to + say in most courts. The late Lord Strafford governed, for a considerable + time, the Court of Berlin and made his own fortune, by being well with + Madame de Wartenberg, the first King of Prussia’s mistress. I could name + many other instances of that kind. That sort of agreeable ‘caquet de + femmes’, the necessary fore-runners of closer conferences, is only to be + got by frequenting women of the first fashion, ‘et, qui donnent le ton’. + Let every other book then give way to this great and necessary book, the + world, of which there are so many various readings, that it requires a + great deal of time and attention to under stand it well: contrary to all + other books, you must not stay home, but go abroad to read it; and when + you seek it abroad, you will not find it in booksellers’ shops and stalls, + but in courts, in hotels, at entertainments, balls, assemblies, + spectacles, etc. Put yourself upon the footing of an easy, domestic, but + polite familiarity and intimacy in the several French houses to which you + have been introduced: Cultivate them, frequent them, and show a desire of + becoming ‘enfant de la maison’. Get acquainted as much as you can with + ‘les gens de cour’; and observe, carefully, how politely they can differ, + and how civilly they can hate; how easy and idle they can seem in the + multiplicity of their business; and how they can lay hold of the proper + moments to carry it on, in the midst of their pleasures. Courts, alone, + teach versatility and politeness; for there is no living there without + them. Lord Albermarle has, I hear, and am very glad of it, put you into + the hands of Messieurs de Bissy. Profit of that, and beg of them to let + you attend them in all the companies of Versailles and Paris. One of them, + at least, will naturally carry you to Madame de la Valiores, unless he is + discarded by this time, and Gelliot—[A famous opera-singer at Paris.]—retaken. + Tell them frankly, ‘que vous cherchez a vous former, que vous etes en + mains de maitres, s’ils veulent bien s’en donner la peine’. Your + profession has this agreeable peculiarity in it, which is, that it is + connected with, and promoted by pleasures; and it is the only one in which + a thorough knowledge of the world, polite manners, and an engaging + address, are absolutely necessary. If a lawyer knows his law, a parson his + divinity, and a financier his calculations, each may make a figure and a + fortune in his profession, without great knowledge of the world, and + without the manners of gentlemen. But your profession throws you into all + the intrigues and cabals, as well as pleasures, of courts: in those + windings and labyrinths, a knowledge of the world, a discernment of + characters, a suppleness and versatility of mind, and an elegance of + manners, must be your clue; you must know how to soothe and lull the + monsters that guard, and how to address and gain the fair that keep, the + golden fleece. These are the arts and the accomplishments absolutely + necessary for a foreign minister; in which it must be owned, to our shame, + that most other nations outdo the English; and, ‘caeteris paribus’, a + French minister will get the better of an English one at any third court + in Europe. The French have something more ‘liant’, more insinuating and + engaging in their manner, than we have. An English minister shall have + resided seven years at a court, without having made any one personal + connection there, or without being intimate and domestic in any one house. + He is always the English minister, and never naturalized. He receives his + orders, demands an audience, writes an account of it to his Court, and his + business is done. A French minister, on the contrary, has not been six + weeks at a court without having, by a thousand little attentions, + insinuated himself into some degree of favor with the Prince, his wife, + his mistress, his favorite, and his minister. He has established himself + upon a familiar and domestic footing in a dozen of the best houses of the + place, where he has accustomed the people to be not only easy, but + unguarded, before him; he makes himself at home there, and they think him + so. By these means he knows the interior of those courts, and can almost + write prophecies to his own, from the knowledge he has of the characters, + the humors, the abilities, or the weaknesses of the actors. The Cardinal + d’Ossat was looked upon at Rome as an Italian, and not as a French + cardinal; and Monsieur d’Avaux, wherever he went, was never considered as + a foreign minister, but as a native, and a personal friend. Mere plain + truth, sense, and knowledge, will by no means do alone in courts; art and + ornaments must come to their assistance. Humors must be flattered; the + ‘mollia tempora’ must be studied and known: confidence acquired by seeming + frankness, and profited of by silent skill. And, above all; you must gain + and engage the heart, to betray the understanding to you. ‘Ha tibi erunt + artes’. + </p> + <p> + The death of the Prince of Wales, who was more beloved for his affability + and good-nature than esteemed for his steadiness and conduct, has given + concern to many, and apprehensions to all. The great difference of the + ages of the King and Prince George presents the prospect of a minority; a + disagreeable prospect for any nation! But it is to be hoped, and is most + probable, that the King, who is now perfectly recovered of his late + indisposition, may live to see his grandson of age. He is, seriously, a + most hopeful boy: gentle and good-natured, with good sound sense. This + event has made all sorts of people here historians, as well as + politicians. Our histories are rummaged for all the particular + circumstances of the six minorities we have had since the Conquest, viz, + those of Henry III., Edward III., Richard II., Henry VI., Edward V., and + Edward VI.; and the reasonings, the speculations, the conjectures, and the + predictions, you will easily imagine, must be innumerable and endless, in + this nation, where every porter is a consummate politician. Dr. Swift + says, very humorously, that “Every man knows that he understands religion + and politics, though he never learned them; but that many people are + conscious that they do not understand many other sciences, from having + never learned them.” Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0139" id="link2H_4_0139"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 7, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Here you have, altogether, the pocketbooks, the compasses, + and the patterns. When your three Graces have made their option, you need + only send me, in a letter small pieces of the three mohairs they fix upon. + If I can find no way of sending them safely and directly to Paris, I will + contrive to have them left with Madame Morel, at Calais, who, being Madame + Monconseil’s agent there, may find means of furthering them to your three + ladies, who all belong to your friend Madame Monconseil. Two of the three, + I am told, are handsome; Madame Polignac, I can swear, is not so; but, + however, as the world goes, two out of three is a very good composition. + </p> + <p> + You will also find in the packet a compass ring set round with little + diamonds, which I advise you to make a present of to Abbe Guasco, who has + been useful to you, and will continue to be so; as it is a mere bauble, + you must add to the value of it by your manner of giving it him. Show it + him first, and, when he commends it, as probably he will, tell him that it + is at his service, ‘et que comme il est toujours par vole et par chemins, + il est absolument necessaire qu’il ale une boussole’. All those little + gallantries depend entirely upon the manner of doing them; as, in truth, + what does not? The greatest favors may be done so awkwardly and bunglingly + as to offend; and disagreeable things may be done so agreeably as almost + to oblige. Endeavor to acquire this great secret; it exists, it is to be + found, and is worth a great deal more than the grand secret of the + alchemists would be if it were, as it is not, to be found. This is only to + be learned in courts, where clashing views, jarring opinions, and cordial + hatreds, are softened and kept within decent bounds by politeness and + manners. Frequent, observe, and learn courts. Are you free of that of St. + Cloud? Are you often at Versailles? Insinuate and wriggle yourself into + favor at those places. L’Abbe de la Ville, my old friend, will help you at + the latter; your three ladies may establish you in the former. The + good-breeding ‘de la ville et de la cour’ [of the city and of the court] + are different; but without deciding which is intrinsically the best, that + of the court is, without doubt, the most necessary for you, who are to + live, to grow, and to rise in courts. In two years’ time, which will be as + soon as you are fit for it, I hope to be able to plant you in the soil of + a YOUNG COURT here: where, if you have all the address, the suppleness and + versatility of a good courtier, you will have a great chance of thriving + and flourishing. Young favor is easily acquired if the proper means are + employed; and, when acquired, it is warm, if not durable; and the warm + moments must be snatched and improved. ‘Quitte pour ce qui en pent arriver + apres’. Do not mention this view of mine for you to any one mortal; but + learn to keep your own secrets, which, by the way, very few people can do. + </p> + <p> + If your course of experimental philosophy with Abbe Nolot is over, I would + have you apply to Abbe Sallier, for a master to give you a general notion + of astronomy and geometry; of both of which you may know as much, as I + desire you should, in six months’ time. I only desire that you should have + a clear notion of the present planetary system, and the history of all the + former systems. Fontenelle’s ‘Pluralites des Mondes’ will almost teach you + all you need know upon that subject. As for geometry, the seven first + books of Euclid will be a sufficient portion of it for you. It is right to + have a general notion of those abstruse sciences, so as not to appear + quite ignorant of them, when they happen, as sometimes they do, to be the + topics of conversation; but a deep knowledge of them requires too much + time, and engrosses the mind too much. I repeat it again and again to you, + Let the great book of the world be your principal study. ‘Nocturna versate + manu, versate diurna’; which may be rendered thus in English: Turn Over + MEN BY DAY, AND WOMEN BY NIGHT. I mean only the best editions. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be said at Paris of my speech upon the bill for the + reformation of the present calendar, or whatever applause it may have met + with here, the whole, I can assure you, is owing to the words and to the + delivery, but by no means to the matter; which, as I told you in a former + letter, I was not master of. I mention this again, to show you the + importance of well-chosen words, harmonious periods, and good delivery; + for, between you and me, Lord Macclefield’s speech was, in truth, worth a + thousand of mine. It will soon be printed, and I will send it you. It is + very instructive. You say, that you wish to speak but half as well as I + did; you may easily speak full as well as ever I did, if you will but give + the same attention to the same objects that I did at your age, and for + many years afterward; I mean correctness, purity, and elegance of style, + harmony of periods, and gracefulness of delivery. Read over and over again + the third book of ‘Cicero de Oratore’, in which he particularly treats of + the ornamental parts of oratory; they are indeed properly oratory, for all + the rest depends only upon common sense, and some knowledge of the subject + you speak upon. But if you would please, persuade, and prevail in + speaking, it must be by the ornamental parts of oratory. Make them + therefore habitual to you; and resolve never to say the most common + things, even to your footman, but in the best words you can find, and with + the best utterance. This, with ‘les manieres, la tournure, et les usages + du beau monde’, are the only two things you want; fortunately, they are + both in your power; may you have them both! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0140" id="link2H_4_0140"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 15, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: What success with the graces, and in the accomplishments, + elegancies, and all those little nothings so indispensably necessary to + constitute an amiable man? Do you take them, do you make a progress in + them? The great secret is the art of pleasing; and that art is to be + attained by every man who has a good fund of common sense. If you are + pleased with any person, examine why; do as he does; and you will charm + others by the same things which please you in him. To be liked by women, + you must be esteemed by men; and to please men, you must be agreeable to + women. Vanity is unquestionably the ruling passion in women; and it is + much flattered by the attentions of a man who is generally esteemed by + men; when his merit has received the stamp of their approbation, women + make it current, that is to say, put him in fashion. On the other hand, if + a man has not received the last polish from women, he may be estimable + among men, but will never be amiable. The concurrence of the two sexes is + as necessary to the perfection of our being, as to the formation of it. Go + among women with the good qualities of your sex, and you will acquire from + them the softness and the graces of theirs. Men will then add affection to + the esteem which they before had for you. Women are the only refiners of + the merit of men; it is true, they cannot add weight, but they polish and + give lustre to it. ‘A propos’, I am assured, that Madame de Blot, although + she has no great regularity of features, is, notwithstanding, excessively + pretty; and that, for all that, she has as yet been scrupulously constant + to her husband, though she has now been married above a year. Surely she + does not reflect, that woman wants polishing. I would have you polish one + another reciprocally. Force, assiduities, attentions, tender looks, and + passionate declarations, on your side will produce some irresolute wishes, + at least, on hers; and when even the slightest wishes arise, the rest will + soon follow. + </p> + <p> + As I take you to be the greatest ‘juris peritus’ and politician of the + whole Germanic body, I suppose you will have read the King of Prussia’s + letter to the Elector of Mayence, upon the election of a King of the + Romans; and on the other side, a memorial entitled, IMPARTIAL + REPRESENTATION OF WHAT IS JUST WITH REGARD TO THE ELECTION OF A KING OF + THE ROMANS, etc. The first is extremely well written, but not grounded + upon the laws and customs of the empire. The second is very ill written + (at least in French), but well grounded. I fancy the author is some + German, who has taken into his head that he understands French. I am, + however, persuaded that the elegance and delicacy of the King of Prussia’s + letter will prevail with two-thirds of the public, in spite of the + solidity and truth contained in the other piece. Such is the force of an + elegant and delicate style! + </p> + <p> + I wish you would be so good as to give me a more particular and + circumstantial account of the method of passing your time at Paris. For + instance, where it is that you dine every Friday, in company with that + amiable and respectable old man, Fontenelle? Which is the house where you + think yourself at home? For one always has such a one, where one is better + established, and more at ease than anywhere else. Who are the young + Frenchmen with whom you are most intimately connected? Do you frequent the + Dutch Ambassador’s. Have you penetrated yet into Count Caunitz’s house? + Has Monsieur de Pignatelli the honor of being one of your humble servants? + And has the Pope’s nuncio included you in the jubilee? Tell me also freely + how you are with Lord Huntingdon: Do you see him often? Do you connect + yourself with him? Answer all these questions circumstantially in your + first letter. + </p> + <p> + I am told that Du Clos’s book is not in vogue at Paris, and that it is + violently criticised: I suppose that is because one understands it; and + being intelligible is now no longer the fashion. I have a very great + respect for fashion, but a much greater for this book; which is, all at + once, true, solid, and bright. It contains even epigrams; what can one + wish for more? + </p> + <p> + Mr.———will, I suppose, have left Paris by this time for + his residence at Toulouse. I hope he will acquire manners there; I am sure + he wants them. He is awkward, he is silent, and has nothing agreeable in + his address,—most necessary qualifications to distinguish one’s self + in business, as well as in the POLITE WORLD! In truth, these two things + are so connected, that a man cannot make a figure in business, who is not + qualified to shine in the great world; and to succeed perfectly in either + the one or the other, one must be in ‘utrumque paratus’. May you be that, + my dear friend! and so we wish you a good night. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Lord and Lady Blessington, with their son Lord Mountjoy, will be at + Paris next week, in their way to the south of France; I send you a little + packet of books by them. Pray go wait upon them, as soon as you hear of + their arrival, and show them all the attentions you can. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0141" id="link2H_4_0141"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 22, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I apply to you now, as to the greatest virtuoso of this, + or perhaps any other age; one whose superior judgment and distinguishing + eye hindered the King of Poland from buying a bad picture at Venice, and + whose decisions in the realms of ‘virtu’ are final, and without appeal. + Now to the point. I have had a catalogue sent me, ‘d’une Trente a + l’aimable de Tableaux des plus Grands Maitres, appartenans au Sieur + Araignon Aperen, valet de chambre de la Reine, sur le quai de la + Megisserie, au coin de Arche Marion’. There I observe two large pictures + of Titian, as described in the inclosed page of the catalogue, No. 18, + which I should be glad to purchase upon two conditions: the first is, that + they be undoubted originals of Titian, in good preservation; and the other + that they come cheap. To ascertain the first (but without disparaging your + skill), I wish you would get some undoubted connoisseurs to examine them + carefully: and if, upon such critical examination, they should be + unanimously allowed to be undisputed originals of Titian, and well + preserved, then comes the second point, the price: I will not go above two + hundred pounds sterling for the two together; but as much less as you can + get them for. I acknowledge that two hundred pounds seems to be a very + small sum for two undoubted Titians of that size; but, on the other hand, + as large Italian pictures are now out of fashion at Paris, where fashion + decides of everything, and as these pictures are too large for common + rooms, they may possibly come within the price above limited. I leave the + whole of this transaction (the price excepted, which I will not exceed) to + your consummate skill and prudence, with proper advice joined to them. + Should you happen to buy them for that price, carry them to your own + lodgings, and get a frame made to the second, which I observe has none, + exactly the same with the other frame, and have the old one new gilt; and + then get them carefully packed up, and sent me by Rouen. + </p> + <p> + I hear much of your conversing with ‘les beaux esprits’ at Paris: I am + very glad of it; it gives a degree of reputation, especially at Paris; and + their conversation is generally instructive, though sometimes affected. It + must be owned, that the polite conversation of the men and women of + fashion at Paris, though not always very deep, is much less futile and + frivolous than ours here. It turns at least upon some subject, something + of taste, some point of history, criticism, and even philosophy; which, + though probably not quite so solid as Mr. Locke’s, is, however, better, + and more becoming rational beings, than our frivolous dissertations upon + the weather, or upon whist. Monsieur du Clos observes, and I think very + justly, ‘qu’il y a a present en France une fermentation universelle de la + raison qui tend a se developper’. Whereas, I am sorry to say, that here + that fermentation seems to have been over some years ago, the spirit + evaporated, and only the dregs left. Moreover, ‘les beaux esprits’ at + Paris are commonly well-bred, which ours very frequently are not; with the + former your manners will be formed; with the latter, wit must generally be + compounded for at the expense of manners. Are you acquainted with + Marivaux, who has certainly studied, and is well acquainted with the + heart; but who refines so much upon its ‘plis et replis’, and describes + them so affectedly, that he often is unintelligible to his readers, and + sometimes so, I dare say, to himself? Do you know ‘Crebillon le fils’? He + is a fine painter and a pleasing writer; his characters are admirable and + his reflections just. Frequent these people, and be glad, but not proud of + frequenting them: never boast of it, as a proof of your own merit, nor + insult, in a manner, other companies by telling them affectedly what you, + Montesquieu and Fontenelle were talking of the other day; as I have known + many people do here, with regard to Pope and Swift, who had never been + twice in company with either; nor carry into other companies the ‘ton’ of + those meetings of ‘beaux esprits’. Talk literature, taste, philosophy, + etc., with them, ‘a la bonne heure’; but then, with the same ease, and + more ‘enjouement’, talk ‘pom-pons, moires’, etc., with Madame de Blot, if + she requires it. Almost every subject in the world has its proper time and + place; in which no one is above or below discussion. The point is, to talk + well upon the subject you talk upon; and the most trifling, frivolous + subjects will still give a man of parts an opportunity of showing them. + ‘L’usage du grand monde’ can alone teach that. That was the distinguishing + characteristic of Alcibiades, and a happy one it was, that he could + occasionally, and with so much ease, adopt the most different, and even + the most opposite habits and manners, that each seemed natural to him. + Prepare yourself for the great world, as the ‘athletae’ used to do for + their exercises: oil (if I may use that expression) your mind and your + manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility; strength + alone will not do, as young people are too apt to think. + </p> + <p> + How do your exercises go on? Can you manage a pretty vigorous ‘sauteur’ + between the pillars? Are you got into stirrups yet? ‘Faites-vous assaut + aux armes? But, above all, what does Marcel say of you? Is he satisfied? + Pray be more particular in your accounts of yourself, for though I have + frequent accounts of you from others, I desire to have your own too. + Adieu. Yours, truly and friendly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0142" id="link2H_4_0142"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXL + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 2, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: Two accounts, which I have very lately received of you, from + two good judges, have put me into great spirits, as they have given me + reasonable hopes that you will soon acquire all that I believe you want: I + mean the air, the address; the graces, and the manners of a man of + fashion. As these two pictures of you are very unlike that which I + received, and sent you some months ago, I will name the two painters: the + first is an old friend and acquaintance of mine, Monsieur d’Aillon. His + picture is, I hope, like you; for it is a very good one: Monsieur Tollot’s + is still a better, and so advantageous a one, that I will not send you a + copy of it, for fear of making you too vain. So far only I will tell you, + that there was but one BUT in either of their accounts; and it was this: I + gave d’Aillon the question ordinary and extraordinary, upon the important + article of manners; and extorted this from him: But, since you will know + it, he still wants that last beautiful varnish, which raises the colors, + and gives brilliancy to the piece. Be persuaded that he will acquire it: + he has too much sense not to know its value; and if I am not greatly + mistaken, more persons than one are now endeavoring to give it him. + Monsieur Tollot says: “In order to be exactly all that you wish him, he + only wants those little nothings, those graces in detail, and that amiable + ease, which can only be acquired by usage of the great world. I am assured + that he is, in that respect, in good hands. I do not know whether that + does not rather imply in fine arms.” Without entering into a nice + discussion of the last question, I congratulate you and myself upon your + being so near that point at which I so anxiously wish you to arrive. I am + sure that all your attention and endeavors will be exerted; and, if + exerted, they will succeed. Mr. Tollot says, that you are inclined to be + fat, but I hope you will decline it as much as you can; not by taking + anything corrosive to make you lean, but by taking as little as you can of + those things that would make you fat. Drink no chocolate; take your coffee + without cream: you cannot possibly avoid suppers at Paris, unless you + avoid company too, which I would by no means have you do; but eat as + little at supper as you can, and make even an allowance for that little at + your dinners. Take occasionally a double dose of riding and fencing; and + now that summer is come, walk a good deal in the Tuileries. It is a real + inconvenience to anybody to be fat, and besides it is ungraceful for a + young fellow. ‘A propos’, I had like to have forgot to tell you, that I + charged Tollot to attend particularly to your utterence and diction; two + points of the utmost importance. To the first he says: “His enunciation is + not bad, but it is to be wished that it were still better; and he + expresses himself with more fire than elegance. Usage of good company will + instruct him likewise in that.” These, I allow, are all little things, + separately; but aggregately, they make a most important and great article + in the account of a gentleman. In the House of Commons you can never make + a figure without elegance of style, and gracefulness of utterance; and you + can never succeed as a courtier at your own Court, or as a minister at any + other, without those innumerable ‘petite riens dans les manieres, et dans + les attentions’. Mr. Yorke is by this time at Paris; make your court to + him, but not so as to disgust, in the least, Lord Albemarle, who may + possibly dislike your considering Mr. Yorke as the man of business, and + him as only ‘pour orner la scene’. Whatever your opinion may be upon THAT + POINT, take care not to let it appear; but be well with them both by + showing no public preference to either. + </p> + <p> + Though I must necessarily fall into repetitions by treating the same + subject so often, I cannot help recommending to you again the utmost + attention to your air and address. Apply yourself now to Marcel’s + lectures, as diligently as you did formerly to Professor Mascow’s; desire + him to teach you every genteel attitude that the human body can be put + into; let him make you go in and out of his room frequently, and present + yourself to him, as if he were by turns different persons; such as a + minister, a lady, a superior, an equal, and inferior, etc. Learn to seat + genteelly in different companies; to loll genteelly, and with good + manners, in those companies where you are authorized to be free, and to + sit up respectfully where the same freedom is not allowable. Learn even to + compose your countenance occasionally to the respectful, the cheerful, and + the insinuating. Take particular care that the motions of your hands and + arms be easy and graceful; for the genteelness of a man consists more in + them than in anything else, especially in his dancing. Desire some women + to tell you of any little awkwardness that they observe in your carriage; + they are the best judges of those things; and if they are satisfied, the + men will be so too. Think now only of the decorations. Are you acquainted + with Madame Geoffrain, who has a great deal of wit; and who, I am + informed, receives only the very best company in her house? Do you know + Madame du Pin, who, I remember, had beauty, and I hear has wit and + reading? I could wish you to converse only with those who, either from + their rank, their merit, or their beauty, require constant attention; for + a young man can never improve in company where he thinks he may neglect + himself. A new bow must be constantly kept bent; when it grows older, and + has taken the right turn, it may now and then be relaxed. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment paid your draft of L89 75s.; it was signed in a very + good hand; which proves that a good hand may be written without the + assistance of magic. Nothing provokes me much more, than to hear people + indolently say that they cannot do, what is in everybody’s power to do, if + it be but in their will. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0143" id="link2H_4_0143"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 6, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The best authors are always the severest critics of their + own works; they revise, correct, file, and polish them, till they think + they have brought them to perfection. Considering you as my work, I do not + look upon myself as a bad author, and am therefore a severe critic. I + examine narrowly into the least inaccuracy or inelegance, in order to + correct, not to expose them, and that the work may be perfect at last. You + are, I know, exceedingly improved in your air, address, and manners, since + you have been at Paris; but still there is, I believe, room for further + improvement before you come to that perfection which I have set my heart + upon seeing you arrive at; and till that moment I must continue filing and + polishing. In a letter that I received by last post, from a friend of + yours at Paris, there was this paragraph: “I have the honor to assure you, + without flattery, that Mr. Stanhope succeeds beyond what might be expected + from a person of his age. He goes into very good company; and that kind of + manner, which was at first thought to be too decisive and peremptory, is + now judged otherwise; because it is acknowledged to be the effect of an + ingenuous frankness, accompanied by politeness, and by a proper deference. + He studies to please, and succeeds. Madame du Puisieux was the other day + speaking of him with complacency and friendship. You will be satisfied + with him in all respects.” This is extremely well, and I rejoice at it: + one little circumstance only may, and I hope will, be altered for the + better. Take pains to undeceive those who thought that ‘petit ton un peu + delcide et un peu brusque’; as it is not meant so, let it not appear so. + Compose your countenance to an air of gentleness and ‘douceur’, use some + expressions of diffidence of your own opinion, and deference to other + people’s; such as, “If I might be permitted to say—I should think—Is + it not rather so? At least I have the greatest reason to be diffident of + myself.” Such mitigating, engaging words do by no means weaken your + argument; but, on the contrary, make it more powerful by making it more + pleasing. If it is a quick and hasty manner of speaking that people + mistake ‘pour decide et brusque’, prevent their mistakes for the future by + speaking more deliberately, and taking a softer tone of voice; as in this + case you are free from the guilt, be free from the suspicion, too. + Mankind, as I have often told you, are more governed by appearances than + by realities; and with regard to opinion, one had better be really rough + and hard, with the appearance of gentleness and softness, than just the + reverse. Few people have penetration enough to discover, attention enough + to observe, or even concern enough to examine beyond the exterior; they + take their notions from the surface, and go no deeper: they commend, as + the gentlest and best-natured man in the world, that man who has the most + engaging exterior manner, though possibly they have been but once in his + company. An air, a tone of voice, a composure of countenance to mildness + and softness, which are all easily acquired, do the business: and without + further examination, and possibly with the contrary qualities, that man is + reckoned the gentlest, the modestest, and the best-natured man alive. + Happy the man, who, with a certain fund of parts and knowledge, gets + acquainted with the world early enough to make it his bubble, at an age + when most people are the bubbles of the world! for that is the common case + of youth. They grow wiser when it is too late; and, ashamed and vexed at + having been bubbles so long, too often turn knaves at last. Do not + therefore trust to appearances and outside yourself, but pay other people + with them; because you may be sure that nine in ten of mankind do, and + ever will trust to them. This is by no means a criminal or blamable + simulation, if not used with an ill intention. I am by no means blamable + in desiring to have other people’s good word, good-will, and affection, if + I do not mean to abuse them. Your heart, I know, is good, your sense is + sound, and your knowledge extensive. What then remains for you to do? + Nothing, but to adorn those fundamental qualifications, with such engaging + and captivating manners, softness, and gentleness, as will endear you to + those who are able to judge of your real merit, and which always stand in + the stead of merit with those who are not. I do not mean by this to + recommend to you ‘le fade doucereux’, the insipid softness of a gentle + fool; no, assert your own opinion, oppose other people’s when wrong; but + let your manner, your air, your terms, and your tone of voice, be soft and + gentle, and that easily and naturally, not affectedly. Use palliatives + when you contradict; such as I MAY BE MISTAKEN, I AM NOT SURE, BUT I + BELIEVE, I SHOULD RATHER THINK, etc. Finish any argument or dispute with + some little good-humored pleasantry, to show that you are neither hurt + yourself, nor meant to hurt your antagonist; for an argument, kept up a + good while, often occasions a temporary alienation on each side. Pray + observe particularly, in those French people who are distinguished by that + character, ‘cette douceur de moeurs et de manieres’, which they talk of so + much, and value so justly; see in what it consists; in mere trifles, and + most easy to be acquired, where the heart is really good. Imitate, copy + it, till it becomes habitual and easy to you. Without a compliment to you, + I take it to be the only thing you now want: nothing will sooner give it + you than a real passion, or, at least, ‘un gout vif’, for some woman of + fashion; and, as I suppose that you have either the one or the other by + this time, you are consequently in the best school. Besides this, if you + were to say to Lady Hervey, Madame Monconseil, or such others as you look + upon to be your friends, It is said that I have a kind of manner which is + rather too decisive and too peremptory; it is not, however, my intention + that it should be so; I entreat you to correct, and even publicly to + punish me whenever I am guilty. Do not treat me with the least indulgence, + but criticise to the utmost. So clear-sighted a judge as you has a right + to be severe; and I promise you that the criminal will endeavor to correct + himself. Yesterday I had two of your acquaintances to dine with me, Baron + B. and his companion Monsieur S. I cannot say of the former, ‘qu’il est + paitri de graces’; and I would rather advise him to go and settle quietly + at home, than to think of improving himself by further travels. ‘Ce n’est + pas le bois don’t on en fait’. His companion is much better, though he has + a strong ‘tocco di tedesco’. They both spoke well of you, and so far I + liked them both. How go you on with the amiable little Blot? Does she + listen to your Battering tale? Are you numbered among the list of her + admirers? Is Madame———your Madame de Lursay? Does she + sometimes knot, and are you her Meilcour? They say she has softness, + sense, and engaging manners; in such an apprenticeship much may be + learned.—[This whole passage, and several others, allude to + Crebillon’s ‘Egaremens du Coeur et de l’Esprit’, a sentimental novel + written about that time, and then much in vogue at Paris.] + </p> + <p> + A woman like her, who has always pleased, and often been pleased, can best + teach the art of pleasing; that art, without which, ‘ogni fatica vana’. + Marcel’s lectures are no small part of that art: they are the engaging + forerunner of all other accomplishments. Dress is also an article not to + be neglected, and I hope you do not neglect it; it helps in the ‘premier + abord’, which is often decisive. By dress, I mean your clothes being well + made, fitting you, in the fashion and not above it; your hair well done, + and a general cleanliness and spruceness in your person. I hope you take + infinite care of your teeth; the consequences of neglecting the mouth are + serious, not only to one’s self, but to others. In short, my dear child, + neglect nothing; a little more will complete the whole. Adieu. I have not + heard from you these three weeks, which I think a great while. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0144" id="link2H_4_0144"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 10, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday, at the same time, your letters of + the 4th and 11th, N. S., and being much more careful of my commissions + than you are of yours, I do not delay one moment sending you my final + instructions concerning the pictures. The man you allow to be a Titian, + and in good preservation; the woman is an indifferent and a damaged + picture; but as I want them for furniture for a particular room, + companions are necessary; and therefore I am willing to take the woman for + better for worse, upon account of the man; and if she is not too much + damaged, I can have her tolerably repaired, as many a fine woman is, by a + skillful hand here; but then I expect that the lady should be, in a + manner, thrown into the bargain with the man; and, in this state of + affairs, the woman being worth little or nothing, I will not go above + fourscore Louis for the two together. As for the Rembrandt you mention, + though it is very cheap, if good, I do not care for it. I love ‘la belle + nature’; Rembrandt paints caricatures. Now for your own commissions, which + you seem to have forgotten. You mention nothing of the patterns which you + received by Monsieur Tollot, though I told you in a former letter, which + you must have had before the date of your last, that I should stay till I + received the patterns pitched upon by your ladies; for as to the + instructions which you sent me in Madame Monconseil’s hand, I could find + no mohairs in London that exactly answered that description; I shall, + therefore, wait till you send me (which you may easily do in a letter) the + patterns chosen by your three graces. + </p> + <p> + I would, by all means, have you go now and then, for two or three days, to + Marechal Coigny’s, at Orli; it is but a proper civility to that family, + which has been particularly civil to you; and, moreover, I would have you + familiarize yourself with, and learn the interior and domestic manners of, + people of that rank and fashion. I also desire that you will frequent + Versailles and St. Cloud, at both of which courts you have been received + with distinction. Profit of that distinction, and familiarize yourself at + both. Great courts are the seats of true good-breeding; you are to live at + courts, lose no time in learning them. Go and stay sometimes at Versailles + for three or four days, where you will be domestic in the best families, + by means of your friend Madame de Puisieux; and mine, l’Abbe de la Ville. + Go to the King’s and the Dauphin’s levees, and distinguish yourself from + the rest of your countrymen, who, I dare say, never go there when they can + help it. Though the young Frenchmen of fashion may not be worth forming + intimate connections with, they are well worth making acquaintance of; and + I do not see how you can avoid it, frequenting so many good French houses + as you do, where, to be sure, many of them come. Be cautious how you + contract friendships, but be desirous, and even industrious, to obtain a + universal acquaintance. Be easy, and even forward, in making new + acquaintances; that is the only way of knowing manners and characters in + general, which is, at present, your great object. You are ‘enfant de + famille’ in three ministers’ houses; but I wish you had a footing, at + least, in thirteen and that, I should think, you might easily bring about, + by that common chain, which, to a certain degree, connects those you do + not with those you do know. + </p> + <p> + For instance, I suppose that neither Lord Albemarle, nor Marquis de St. + Germain, would make the least difficulty to present you to Comte Caunitz, + the Nuncio, etc. ‘Il faut etre rompu du monde’, which can only be done by + an extensive, various, and almost universal acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + When you have got your emaciated Philomath, I desire that his triangles, + rhomboids, etc., may not keep you one moment out of the good company you + would otherwise be in. Swallow all your learning in the morning, but + digest it in company in the evenings. The reading of ten new characters is + more your business now, than the reading of twenty old books; showish and + shining people always get the better of all others, though ever so solid. + If you would be a great man in the world when you are old, shine and be + showish in it while you are young, know everybody, and endeavor to please + everybody, I mean exteriorly; for fundamentally it is impossible. Try to + engage the heart of every woman, and the affections of almost every man + you meet with. Madame Monconseil assures me that you are most surprisingly + improved in your air, manners, and address: go on, my dear child, and + never think that you are come to a sufficient degree of perfection; ‘Nil + actum reputans, si quid superesset agendum’; and in those shining parts of + the character of a gentleman, there is always something remaining to be + acquired. Modes and manners vary in different places, and at different + times; you must keep pace with them, know them, and adopt them, wherever + you find them. The great usage of the world, the knowledge of characters, + the brillant dun ‘galant homme,’ is all that you now want. Study Marcel + and the ‘beau monde’ with great application, but read Homer and Horace + only when you have nothing else to do. Pray who is ‘la belle Madame de + Case’, whom I know you frequent? I like the epithet given her very well: + if she deserves it, she deserves your attention too. A man of fashion + should be gallant to a fine woman, though he does not make love to her, or + may be otherwise engaged. On ‘lui doit des politesses, on fait l’eloge de + ses charmes, et il n’en est ni plus ni moins pour cela’: it pleases, it + flatters; you get their good word, and you lose nothing by it. These + ‘gentillesses’ should be accompanied, as indeed everything else should, + with an air: ‘un air, un ton de douceur et de politesse’. Les graces must + be of the party, or it will never do; and they are so easily had, that it + is astonishing to me that everybody has them not; they are sooner gained + than any woman of common reputation and decency. Pursue them but with care + and attention, and you are sure to enjoy them at last: without them, I am + sure, you will never enjoy anybody else. You observe, truly, that Mr.———is + gauche; it is to be hoped that will mend with keeping company; and is yet + pardonable in him, as just come from school. But reflect what you would + think of a man, who had been any time in the world, and yet should be so + awkward. For God’s sake, therefore, now think of nothing but shining, and + even distinguishing yourself in the most polite courts, by your air, your + address, your manners, your politeness, your ‘douceur’, your graces. With + those advantages (and not without them) take my word for it, you will get + the better of all rivals, in business as well as in ‘ruelles’. Adieu. Send + me your patterns, by the next post, and also your instructions to + Grevenkop about the seal, which you seem to have forgotten. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0145" id="link2H_4_0145"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 16, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: In about three months from this day, we shall probably + meet. I look upon that moment as a young woman does upon her bridal night; + I expect the greatest pleasure, and yet cannot help fearing some little + mixture of pain. My reason bids me doubt a little, of what my imagination + makes me expect. In some articles I am very sure that my most sanguine + wishes will not be disappointed; and those are the most material ones. In + others, I fear something or other, which I can better feel than describe. + However, I will attempt it. I fear the want of that amiable and engaging + ‘je ne sais quoi’, which as some philosophers have, unintelligibly enough, + said of the soul, is all in all, and all in every part; it should shed its + influence over every word and action. I fear the want of that air, and + first ‘abord’, which suddenly lays hold of the heart, one does not know + distinctly how or why. I fear an inaccuracy, or, at least, inelegance of + diction, which will wrong, and lower, the best and justest matter. And, + lastly, I fear an ungraceful, if not an unpleasant utterance, which would + disgrace and vilify the whole. Should these fears be at present founded, + yet the objects of them are (thank God) of such a nature, that you may, if + you please, between this and our meeting, remove everyone of them. All + these engaging and endearing accomplishments are mechanical, and to be + acquired by care and observation, as easily as turning, or any mechanical + trade. A common country fellow, taken from the plow, and enlisted in an + old corps, soon lays aside his shambling gait, his slouching air, his + clumsy and awkward motions: and acquires the martial air, the regular + motions, and whole exercise of the corps, and particularly of his right + and left hand man. How so? Not from his parts; which were just the same + before as after he was enlisted; but either from a commendable ambition of + being like, and equal to those he is to live with; or else from the fear + of being punished for not being so. If then both or either of these + motives change such a fellow, in about six months’ time, to such a degree, + as that he is not to be known again, how much stronger should both these + motives be with you, to acquire, in the utmost perfection, the whole + exercise of the people of fashion, with whom you are to live all your + life? Ambition should make you resolve to be at least their equal in that + exercise, as well as the fear of punishment; which most inevitably will + attend the want of it. By that exercise, I mean the air, the manners, the + graces, and the style of people of fashion. A friend of yours, in a letter + I received from him by the last post, after some other commendations of + you, says, “It is surprising that, thinking with so much solidity as he + does, and having so true and refined a taste, he should express himself + with so little elegance and delicacy. He even totally neglects the choice + of words and turn of phrases.” + </p> + <p> + This I should not be so much surprised or concerned at, if it related only + to the English language; which hitherto you have had no opportunity of + studying, and but few of speaking, at least to those who could correct + your inaccuracies. But if you do not express yourself elegantly and + delicately in French and German, (both which languages I know you possess + perfectly and speak eternally) it can be only from an unpardonable + inattention to what you most erroneously think a little object, though, in + truth, it is one of the most important of your life. Solidity and delicacy + of thought must be given us: it cannot be acquired, though it may be + improved; but elegance and delicacy of expression may be acquired by + whoever will take the necessary care and pains. I am sure you love me so + well; that you would be very sorry when we meet, that I should be either + disappointed or mortified; and I love you so well, that I assure you I + should be both, if I should find you want any of those exterior + accomplishments which are the indispensably necessary steps to that figure + and fortune, which I so earnestly wish you may one day make in the world. + </p> + <p> + I hope you do not neglect your exercises of riding, fencing, and dancing, + but particularly the latter: for they all concur to ‘degourdir’, and to + give a certain air. To ride well, is not only a proper and graceful + accomplishment for a gentleman, but may also save you many a fall + hereafter; to fence well, may possibly save your life; and to dance well, + is absolutely necessary in order to sit, stand, and walk well. To tell you + the truth, my friend, I have some little suspicion that you now and then + neglect or omit your exercises, for more serious studies. But now ‘non est + his locus’, everything has its time; and this is yours for your exercises; + for when you return to Paris I only propose your continuing your dancing; + which you shall two years longer, if you happen to be where there is a + good dancing-master. Here I will see you take some lessons with your old + master Desnoyers, who is our Marcel. + </p> + <p> + What says Madame du Pin to you? I am told she is very handsome still; I + know she was some few years ago. She has good parts, reading, manners, and + delicacy: such an arrangement would be both creditable and advantageous to + you. She will expect to meet with all the good-breeding and delicacy that + she brings; and as she is past the glare and ‘eclat’ of youth, may be the + more willing to listen to your story, if you tell it well. For an + attachment, I should prefer her to ‘la petite Blot’; and, for a mere + gallantry, I should prefer ‘la petite Blot’ to her; so that they are + consistent, et ‘l’un n’emplche pas l’autre’. Adieu. Remember ‘la douceur + et les graces’. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0146" id="link2H_4_0146"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 23, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 25th N. S., + and being rather something more attentive to my commissions than you are + to yours, return you this immediate answer to the question you ask me + about the two pictures: I will not give one livre more than what I told + you in my last; having no sort of occasion for them, and not knowing very + well where to put them if I had them. + </p> + <p> + I wait with impatience for your final orders about the mohairs; the mercer + persecuting me every day for three pieces which I thought pretty, and + which I have kept by me eventually, to secure them in case your ladies + should pitch upon them. + </p> + <p> + If I durst! what should hinder you from daring? One always dares if there + are hopes of success; and even if there are none, one is no loser by + daring. A man of fashion knows how, and when, to dare. He begins his + approaches by distant attacks, by assiduities, and by attentions. If he is + not immediately and totally repulsed, he continues to advance. After + certain steps success is infallible; and none but very silly fellows can + then either doubt, or not attempt it. Is it the respectable character of + Madame de la Valiere which prevents your daring, or are you intimidated at + the fierce virtue of Madame du Pin? Does the invincible modesty of the + handsome Madame Case discourage, more than her beauty invites you? Fie, + for shame! Be convinced that the most virtuous woman, far from being + offended at a declaration of love, is flattered by it, if it is made in a + polite and agreeable manner. It is possible that she may not be propitious + to your vows; that is to say, if she has a liking or a passion for another + person. But, at all events, she will not be displeased with you for it; so + that, as there is no danger, this cannot even be called daring. But if she + attends, if she listens, and allows you to repeat your declaration, be + persuaded that if you do not dare all the rest, she will laugh at you. I + advise you to begin rather by Madame du Pin, who has still more than + beauty enough for such a youngster as you. She has, besides, knowledge of + the world, sense, and delicacy. As she is not so extremely young, the + choice of her lovers cannot be entirely at her option. I promise you, she + will not refuse the tender of your most humble services. Distinguish her, + then, by attentions and by tender looks. Take favorable opportunities of + whispering that you wish esteem and friendship were the only motives of + your regard for her; but that it derives from sentiments of a much more + tender nature: that you made not this declaration without pain; but that + the concealing your passion was a still greater torment. + </p> + <p> + I am sensible, that in saying this for the first time, you will look + silly, abashed, and even express yourself very ill. So much the better; + for, instead of attributing your confusion to the little usage you have of + the world, particularly in these sort of subjects, she will think that + excess of love is the occasion of it. In such a case, the lover’s best + friend is self-love. Do not then be afraid; behave gallantly. Speak well, + and you will be heard. If you are not listened to the first time, try a + second, a third, and a fourth. If the place is not already taken, depend + upon it, it may be conquered. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad you are going to Orli, and from thence to St. Cloud; go to + both, and to Versailles also, often. It is that interior domestic + familiarity with people of fashion, that alone can give you ‘l’usage du + monde, et les manieres aisees’. It is only with women one loves, or men + one respects, that the desire of pleasing exerts itself; and without the + desire of pleasing no man living can please. Let that desire be the spring + of all your words and actions. That happy talent, the art of pleasing, + which so few do, though almost all might possess, is worth all your + learning and knowledge put together. The latter can never raise you high + without the former; but the former may carry you, as it has carried + thousands, a great way without the latter. + </p> + <p> + I am glad that you dance so well, as to be reckoned by Marcel among his + best scholars; go on, and dance better still. Dancing well is pleasing + ‘pro tanto’, and makes a part of that necessary whole, which is composed + of a thousand parts, many of them of ‘les infiniment petits quoi + qu’infiniment necessaires’. + </p> + <p> + I shall never have done upon this subject which is indispensably necessary + toward your making any figure or fortune in the world; both which I have + set my heart upon, and for both which you now absolutely want no one thing + but the art of pleasing; and I must not conceal from you that you have + still a good way to go before you arrive at it. You still want a thousand + of those little attentions that imply a desire of pleasing: you want a + ‘douceur’ of air and expression that engages: you want an elegance and + delicacy of expression, necessary to adorn the best sense and most solid + matter: in short, you still want a great deal of the ‘brillant’ and the + ‘poli’. Get them at any rate: sacrifice hecatombs of books to them: seek + for them in company, and renounce your closet till you have got them. I + never received the letter you refer to, if ever you wrote it. Adieu, et + bon soir, Monseigneur. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0147" id="link2H_4_0147"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLV + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, June 6, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Solicitous and anxious as I have ever been to form your + heart, your mind, and your manners, and to bring you as near perfection as + the imperfection of our natures will allow, I have exhausted, in the + course of our correspondence, all that my own mind could suggest, and have + borrowed from others whatever I thought could be useful to you; but this + has necessarily been interruptedly and by snatches. It is now time, and + you are of an age to review and to weigh in your own mind all that you + have heard, and all that you have read, upon these subjects; and to form + your own character, your conduct, and your manners, for the rest of your + life; allowing for such improvements as a further knowledge of the world + will naturally give you. In this view I would recommend to you to read, + with the greatest attention, such books as treat particularly of those + subjects; reflecting seriously upon them, and then comparing the + speculation with the practice. + </p> + <p> + For example, if you read in the morning some of La Rochefoucault’s maxims; + consider them, examine them well, and compare them with the real + characters you meet with in the evening. Read La Bruyere in the morning, + and see in the evening whether his pictures are like. Study the heart and + the mind of man, and begin with your own. Meditation and reflection must + lay the foundation of that knowledge: but experience and practice must, + and alone can, complete it. Books, it is true, point out the operations of + the mind, the sentiments of the heart, the influence of the passions; and + so far they are of previous use: but without subsequent practice, + experience, and observation, they are as ineffectual, and would even lead + you into as many errors in fact, as a map would do, if you were to take + your notions of the towns and provinces from their delineations in it. A + man would reap very little benefit by his travels, if he made them only in + his closet upon a map of the whole world. Next to the two books that I + have already mentioned, I do not know a better for you to read, and + seriously reflect upon, than ‘Avis d’une Mere d’un Fils, par la Marquise + de Lambert’. She was a woman of a superior understanding and knowledge of + the world, had always kept the best company, was solicitous that her son + should make a figure and a fortune in the world, and knew better than + anybody how to point out the means. It is very short, and will take you + much less time to read, than you ought to employ in reflecting upon it, + after you have read it. Her son was in the army, she wished he might rise + there; but she well knew, that, in order to rise, he must first please: + she says to him, therefore, With regard to those upon whom you depend, the + chief merit is to please. And, in another place, in subaltern employments, + the art of pleasing must be your support. Masters are like mistresses: + whatever services they may be indebted to you for, they cease to love when + you cease to be agreeable. This, I can assure you, is at least as true in + courts as in camps, and possibly more so. If to your merit and knowledge + you add the art of pleasing, you may very probably come in time to be + Secretary of State; but, take my word for it, twice your merit and + knowledge, without the art of pleasing, would, at most, raise you to the + IMPORTANT POST of Resident at Hamburgh or Ratisbon. I need not tell you + now, for I often have, and your own discernment must have told you, of + what numberless little ingredients that art of pleasing is compounded, and + how the want of the least of them lowers the whole; but the principal + ingredient is, undoubtedly, ‘la douceur dans le manieres’: nothing will + give you this more than keeping company with your superiors. Madame + Lambert tells her son, Let your connections be with people above you; by + that means you will acquire a habit of respect and politeness. With one’s + equals, one is apt to become negligent, and the mind grows torpid. She + advises him, too, to frequent those people, and to see their inside; In + order to judge of men, one must be intimately connected; thus you see them + without, a veil, and with their mere every-day merit. A happy expression! + It was for this reason that I have so often advised you to establish and + domesticate yourself, wherever you can, in good houses of people above + you, that you may see their EVERY-DAY character, manners, habits, etc. One + must see people undressed to judge truly of their shape; when they are + dressed to go abroad, their clothes are contrived to conceal, or at least + palliate the defects of it: as full-bottomed wigs were contrived for the + Duke of Burgundy, to conceal his hump back. Happy those who have no faults + to disguise, nor weaknesses to conceal! there are few, if any such; but + unhappy those who know little enough of the world to judge by outward + appearances. Courts are the best keys to characters; there every passion + is busy, every art exerted, every character analyzed; jealousy, ever + watchful, not only discovers, but exposes, the mysteries of the trade, so + that even bystanders ‘y apprennent a deviner’. There too the great art of + pleasing is practiced, taught, and learned with all its graces and + delicacies. It is the first thing needful there: It is the absolutely + necessary harbinger of merit and talents, let them be ever so great. There + is no advancing a step without it. Let misanthropes and would-be + philosophers declaim as much as they please against the vices, the + simulation, and dissimulation of courts; those invectives are always the + result of ignorance, ill-humor, or envy. Let them show me a cottage, where + there are not the same vices of which they accuse courts; with this + difference only, that in a cottage they appear in their native deformity, + and that in courts, manners and good-breeding make them less shocking, and + blunt their edge. No, be convinced that the good-breeding, the ‘tournure, + la douceur dans les manieres’, which alone are to be acquired at courts, + are not the showish trifles only which some people call or think them; + they are a solid good; they prevent a great deal of real mischief; they + create, adorn, and strengthen friendships; they keep hatred within bounds; + they promote good-humor and good-will in families, where the want of + good-breeding and gentleness of manners is commonly the original cause of + discord. Get then, before it is too late, a habit of these ‘mitiores + virtutes’: practice them upon every the least occasion, that they may be + easy and familiar to you upon the greatest; for they lose a great degree + of their merit if they seem labored, and only called in upon extraordinary + occasions. I tell you truly, this is now the only doubtful part of your + character with me; and it is for that reason that I dwell upon it so much, + and inculcate it so often. I shall soon see whether this doubt of mine is + founded; or rather I hope I shall soon see that it is not. + </p> + <p> + This moment I receive your letter of the 9th N. S. I am sorry to find that + you have had, though ever so slight a return of your Carniolan disorder; + and I hope your conclusion will prove a true one, and that this will be + the last. I will send the mohairs by the first opportunity. As for the + pictures, I am already so full, that I am resolved not to buy one more, + unless by great accident I should meet with something surprisingly good, + and as surprisingly cheap. + </p> + <p> + I should have thought that Lord———-, at his age, and + with his parts and address, need not have been reduced to keep an opera w—-e, + in such a place as Paris, where so many women of fashion generously serve + as volunteers. I am still more sorry that he is in love with her; for that + will take him out of good company, and sink him into bad; such as + fiddlers, pipers, and ‘id genus omne’; most unedifying and unbecoming + company for a man of fashion! + </p> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield makes you a thousand compliments. Adieu, my dear child. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0148" id="link2H_4_0148"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLVI + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, June 10, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your ladies were so slow in giving their specific orders, + that the mohairs, of which you at last sent me the patterns, were all + sold. However, to prevent further delays (for ladies are apt to be very + impatient, when at last they know their own minds), I have taken the + quantities desired of three mohairs which come nearest to the description + you sent me some time ago, in Madame Monconseil’s own hand; and I will + send them to Calais by the first opportunity. In giving ‘la petite Blot’ + her piece, you have a fine occasion of saying fine things, if so inclined. + </p> + <p> + Lady Hervey, who is your puff and panegyrist, writes me word that she saw + you lately dance at a ball, and that you dance very genteelly. I am + extremely glad to hear it; for (by the maxim, that ‘omne majus continet in + se minus’), if you dance genteelly, I presume you walk, sit, and stand + genteelly too; things which are much more easy, though much more + necessary, than dancing well. I have known many very genteel people, who + could not dance well; but I never knew anybody dance very well, who was + not genteel in other things. You will probably often have occasion to + stand in circles, at the levees of princes and ministers, when it is very + necessary ‘de payer de sa personne, et d’etre bien plante’, with your feet + not too near nor too distant from each other. More people stand and walk, + than sit genteelly. Awkward, ill-bred people, being ashamed, commonly sit + bolt upright and stiff; others, too negligent and easy, ‘se vautrent dans + leur fauteuil’, which is ungraceful and ill-bred, unless where the + familiarity is extreme; but a man of fashion makes himself easy, and + appears so by leaning gracefully instead of lolling supinely; and by + varying those easy attitudes instead of that stiff immobility of a bashful + booby. You cannot conceive, nor can I express, how advantageous a good + air, genteel motions, and engaging address are, not only among women, but + among men, and even in the course of business; they fascinate the + affections, they steal a preference, they play about the heart till they + engage it. I know a man, and so do you, who, without a grain of merit, + knowledge, or talents, has raised himself millions of degrees above his + level, simply by a good air and engaging manners; insomuch that the very + Prince who raised him so high, calls him, ‘mon aimable vaut-rien’;—[The + Marichal de Richelieu.]—but of this do not open your lips, ‘pour + cause’. I give you this secret as the strongest proof imaginable of the + efficacy of air, address, ‘tournure, et tout ces Petits riens’. + </p> + <p> + Your other puff and panegyrist, Mr. Harte, is gone to Windsor in his way + to Cornwall, in order to be back soon enough to meet you here: I really + believe he is as impatient for that moment as I am, ‘et c’est tout dire’: + but, however, notwithstanding my impatience, if by chance you should then + be in a situation, that leaving Paris would cost your heart too many + pangs, I allow you to put off your journey, and to tell me, as Festus did + Paul, AT A MORE CONVENIENT SEASON I WILL SPEAK TO THEE. You see by this + that I eventually sacrifice my sentiments to yours, and this in a very + uncommon object of paternal complaisance. Provided always, and be it + understood (as they say in acts of Parliament), that ‘quae te cumque domat + Venus, non erubescendis adurit ignibus’. If your heart will let you come, + bring with you only your valet de chambre, Christian, and your own + footman; not your valet de place, whom you may dismiss for the time, as + also your coach; but you had best keep on your lodgings, the intermediate + expense of which will be but inconsiderable, and you will want them to + leave your books and baggage in. Bring only the clothes you travel in, one + suit of black, for the mourning for the Prince will not be quite out by + that time, and one suit of your fine clothes, two or three of your laced + shirts, and the rest plain ones; of other things, as bags, feathers, etc., + as you think proper. Bring no books, unless two or three for your’ + amusement upon the road; for we must apply simply to English, in which you + are certainly no ‘puriste’; and I will supply you sufficiently with the + proper English authors. I shall probably keep you here till about the + middle of October, and certainly not longer; it being absolutely necessary + for you to pass the next winter at Paris; so that; should any fine eyes + shed tears for your departure, you may dry them by the promise of your + return in two months. + </p> + <p> + Have you got a master for geometry? If the weather is very hot, you may + leave your riding at the ‘manege’ till you return to Paris, unless you + think the exercise does you more good than the heat can do you harm; but I + desire you will not leave off Marcel for one moment; your fencing + likewise, if you have a mind, may subside for the summer; but you will do + well to resume it in the winter and to be adroit at it, but by no means + for offense, only for defense in case of necessity. Good night. Yours. + </p> + <p> + P. S. I forgot to give you one commission, when you come here; which is, + not to fail bringing the GRACES along with you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0149" id="link2H_4_0149"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLVII + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, June 13, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: ‘Les bienseances’—[This single word implies decorum, + good-breeding, and propriety]—are a most necessary part of the + knowledge of the world. They consist in the relations of persons, things, + time, and place; good sense points them out, good company perfects them ( + supposing always an attention and a desire to please), and good policy + recommends them. + </p> + <p> + Were you to converse with a king, you ought to be as easy and + unembarrassed as with your own valet de chambre; but yet, every look, word + and action, should imply the utmost respect. What would be proper and + well-bred with others, much your superiors, would be absurd and ill-bred + with one so very much so. You must wait till you are spoken to; you must + receive, not give, the subject of conversation; and you must even take + care that the given subject of such conversation do not lead you into any + impropriety. The art would be to carry it, if possible, to some indirect + flattery; such as commending those virtues in some other person, in which + that prince either thinks he does, or at least would be thought by others + to excel. Almost the same precautions are necessary to be used with + ministers, generals, etc., who expect to be treated with very near the + same respect as their masters, and commonly deserve it better. There is, + however, this difference, that one may begin the conversation with them, + if on their side it should happen to drop, provided one does not carry it + to any subject upon which it is improper either for them to speak, or be + spoken to. In these two cases, certain attitudes and actions would be + extremely absurd, because too easy, and consequently disrespectful. As, + for instance, if you were to put your arms across in your bosom, twirl + your snuff-box, trample with your feet, scratch your head, etc., it would + be shockingly ill-bred in that company; and, indeed, not extremely + well-bred in any other. The great difficulty in those cases, though a very + surmountable one by attention and custom, is to join perfect inward ease + with perfect outward respect. + </p> + <p> + In mixed companies with your equals (for in mixed companies all people are + to a certain degree equal), greater ease and liberty are allowed; but they + too have their bounds within ‘bienseance’. There is a social respect + necessary: you may start your own subject of conversation with modesty, + taking great care, however, ‘de ne jamais parler de cordes dans la maison + d’un pendu.—[Never to mention a rope in the family of a man who has + been hanged]—Your words, gestures, and attitudes, have a greater + degree of latitude, though by no means an unbounded one. You may have your + hands in your pockets, take snuff, sit, stand, or occasionally walk, as + you like; but I believe you would not think it very ‘bienseant’ to + whistle, put on your hat, loosen your garters or your buckles, lie down + upon a couch, or go to bed, and welter in an easychair. These are + negligences and freedoms which one can only take when quite alone; they + are injurious to superiors, shocking and offensive to equals, brutal and + insulting to inferiors. That easiness of carriage and behavior, which is + exceedingly engaging, widely differs from negligence and inattention, and + by no means implies that one may do whatever one pleases; it only means + that one is not to be stiff, formal, embarrassed, disconcerted, and + ashamed, like country bumpkins, and, people who have never been in good + company; but it requires great attention to, and a scrupulous observation + of ‘les bienseances’: whatever one ought to do, is to be done with ease + and unconcern; whatever is improper must not be done at all. In mixed + companies also, different ages and sexes are to be differently addressed. + You would not talk of your pleasures to men of a certain age, gravity, and + dignity; they justly expect from young people a degree of deference and + regard. You should be full as easy with them as with people of your own + years: but your manner must be different; more respect must be implied; + and it is not amiss to insinuate that from them you expect to learn. It + flatters and comforts age for not being able to take a part in the joy and + titter of youth. To women you should always address yourself with great + outward respect and attention, whatever you feel inwardly; their sex is by + long prescription entitled to it; and it is among the duties of + ‘bienseance’; at the same time that respect is very properly and very + agreeably mixed with a degree of ‘enjouement’, if you have it; but then, + that badinage must either directly or indirectly tend to their praise, and + even not be liable to a malicious construction to their disadvantage. But + here, too, great attention must be had to the difference of age, rank, and + situation. A ‘marechale’ of fifty must not be played with like a young + coquette of fifteen; respect and serious ‘enjouement’, if I may couple + those two words, must be used with the former, and mere ‘badinage, zeste + meme d’un peu de polissonerie’, is pardonable with the latter. + </p> + <p> + Another important point of ‘les bienseances’, seldom enough attended to, + is, not to run your own present humor and disposition indiscriminately + against everybody, but to observe, conform to, and adopt them. For + example, if you happened to be in high good humor and a flow of spirits, + would you go and sing a ‘pont neuf’,—[a ballad]—or cut a + caper, to la Marechale de Coigny, the Pope’s nuncio, or Abbe Sallier, or + to any person of natural gravity and melancholy, or who at that time + should be in grief? I believe not; as, on the other hand, I suppose, that + if you were in low spirits or real grief, you would not choose to bewail + your situation with ‘la petite Blot’. If you cannot command your present + humor and disposition, single out those to converse with, who happen to be + in the humor the nearest to your own. + </p> + <p> + Loud laughter is extremely inconsistent with ‘les bienseances’, as it is + only the illiberal and noisy testimony of the joy of the mob at some very + silly thing. A gentleman is often seen, but very seldom heard to laugh. + Nothing is more contrary to ‘les bienseances’ than horse-play, or ‘jeux de + main’ of any kind whatever, and has often very serious, sometimes very + fatal consequences. Romping, struggling, throwing things at one another’s + head, are the becoming pleasantries of the mob, but degrade a gentleman: + ‘giuoco di mano, giuoco di villano’, is a very true saying, among the few + true sayings of the Italians. + </p> + <p> + Peremptoriness and decision in young people is ‘contraire aux + bienseances’, and they should seldom seem to assert, and always use some + softening mitigating expression; such as, ‘s’il m’est permis de le dire, + je croirais plutot, si j’ose m’expliquer’, which soften the manner, + without giving up or even weakening the thing. People of more age and + experience expect, and are entitled to, that degree of deference. + </p> + <p> + There is a ‘bienseance’ also with regard to people of the lowest degree: a + gentleman observes it with his footman—even with the beggar in the + street. He considers them as objects of compassion, not of insult; he + speaks to neither ‘d’un ton brusque’, but corrects the one coolly, and + refuses the other with humanity. There is one occasion in the world in + which ‘le ton brusque’ is becoming a gentleman. In short, ‘les + bienseances’ are another word for MANNERS, and extend to every part of + life. They are propriety; the Graces should attend, in order to complete + them; the Graces enable us to do, genteelly and pleasingly, what ‘les + bienseances’ require to be done at all. The latter are an obligation upon + every man; the former are an infinite advantage and ornament to any man. + May you unite both! + </p> + <p> + Though you dance well, do not think that you dance well enough, and + consequently not endeavor to dance still better. And though you should be + told that you are genteel, still aim at being genteeler. If Marcel should, + do not you be satisfied. Go on, court the Graces all your lifetime; you + will find no better friends at court: they will speak in your favor, to + the hearts of princes, ministers, and mistresses. + </p> + <p> + Now that all tumultuous passions and quick sensations have subsided with + me, and that I have no tormenting cares nor boisterous pleasures to + agitate me, my greatest joy is to consider the fair prospect you have + before you, and to hope and believe you will enjoy it. You are already in + the world, at an age when others have hardly heard of it. Your character + is hitherto not only unblemished in its mortal part, but even unsullied by + any low, dirty, and ungentleman-like vice; and will, I hope, continue so. + Your knowledge is sound, extensive and avowed, especially in everything + relative to your destination. With such materials to begin with, what then + is wanting! Not fortune, as you have found by experience. You have had, + and shall have, fortune sufficient to assist your merit and your industry; + and if I can help it, you never shall have enough to make you negligent of + either. You have, too, ‘mens sana in corpore sano’, the greatest blessing + of all. All, therefore, that you want is as much in your power to acquire, + as to eat your breakfast when set before you; it is only that knowledge of + the world, that elegance of manners, that universal politeness, and those + graces which keeping good company, and seeing variety of places and + characters, must inevitably, with the least attention on your part, give + you. Your foreign destination leads to the greatest things, and your + parliamentary situation will facilitate your progress. Consider, then, + this pleasing prospect as attentively for yourself as I consider it for + you. Labor on your part to realize it, as I will on mine to assist, and + enable you to do it. ‘Nullum numen abest, si sit prudentia’. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, my dear child! I count the days till I have the pleasure of seeing + you; I shall soon count the hours, and at last the minutes, with + increasing impatience. + </p> + <p> + P. S. The mohairs are this day gone from hence for Calais, recommended to + the care of Madame Morel, and directed, as desired, to the + Comptroller-general. The three pieces come to six hundred and eighty + French livres. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0150" id="link2H_4_0150"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLVIII + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, June 20, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: So very few people, especially young travelers, see what + they see, or hear what they hear, that though I really believe it may be + unnecessary with you, yet there can be no harm in reminding you, from time + to time, to see what you see, and to hear what you hear; that is, to see + and hear as you should do. Frivolous, futile people, who make at least + three parts in four of mankind, only desire to see and hear what their + frivolous and futile precursors have seen and heard: as St. Peter’s, the + Pope, and High Mass, at Rome; Notre Dame, Versailles, the French King, and + the French Comedy, in France. A man of parts sees and hears very + differently from these gentlemen, and a great deal more. He examines and + informs himself thoroughly of everything he sees or hears; and, more + particularly, as it is relative to his own profession or destination. Your + destination is political; the object, therefore, of your inquiries and + observations should be the political interior of things; the forms of + government, laws, regulations, customs, trade, manufactures, etc., of the + several nations of Europe. This knowledge is much better acquired by + conversation with sensible and well-informed people, than by books, the + best of which upon these subjects are always imperfect. For example, there + are “Present States” of France, as there are of England; but they are + always defective, being published by people uninformed, who only copy one + another; they are, however, worth looking into because they point out + objects for inquiry, which otherwise might possibly never have occurred to + one’s mind; but an hour’s conversation with a sensible president or + ‘conseiller’ will let you more into the true state of the parliament of + Paris, than all the books in France. In the same manner, the ‘Almanack + Militaire’ is worth your having; but two or three conversations with + officers will inform you much better of their military regulations. People + have, commonly, a partiality for their own professions, love to talk of + them, and are even flattered by being consulted upon the subject; when, + therefore, you are with any of those military gentlemen (and you can + hardly be in any company without some), ask them military questions, + inquire into their methods of discipline, quartering, and clothing their + men; inform yourself of their pay, their perquisites, ‘lours montres, + lours etapes’, etc. Do the same as to the marine, and make yourself + particularly master of that detail; which has, and always will have, a + great relation to the affairs of England; and, in proportion as you get + good informations, take minutes of them in writing. + </p> + <p> + The regulations of trade and commerce in France are excellent, as appears + but too plainly for us, by the great increase of both, within these thirty + years; for not to mention their extensive commerce in both the East and + West Indies, they have got the whole trade of the Levant from us; and now + supply all the foreign markets with their sugars, to the ruin almost of + our sugar colonies, as Jamaica, Barbadoes, and the Leeward Islands. Get, + therefore, what informations you can of these matters also. + </p> + <p> + Inquire too into their church matters; for which the present disputes + between the court and the clergy give you fair and frequent opportunities. + Know the particular rights of the Gallican church, in opposition to the + pretensions of the See of Rome. I need not recommend ecclesiastical + history to you, since I hear that you study ‘Du Pin’ very assiduously. + </p> + <p> + You cannot imagine how much this solid and useful knowledge of other + countries will distinguish you in your own (where, to say the truth, it is + very little known or cultivated), besides the great use it is of in all + foreign negotiations; not to mention that it enables a man to shine in all + companies. When kings and princes have any knowledge, it is of this sort, + and more particularly; and therefore it is the usual topic of their levee + conversations, in which it will qualify you to bear a considerable part; + it brings you more acquainted with them; and they are pleased to have + people talk to them on a subject in which they think to shine. + </p> + <p> + There is a sort of chit-chat, or SMALL TALK, which is the general run of + conversation at courts, and in most mixed companies. It is a sort of + middling conversation, neither silly nor edifying; but, however, very + necessary for you to become master of. It turns upon the public events of + Europe, and then is at its best; very often upon the number, the goodness + or badness, the discipline, or the clothing of the troops of different + princes; sometimes upon the families, the marriages, the relations of + princes, and considerable people; and sometimes ‘sur le bon chere’, the + magnificence of public entertainments, balls, masquerades, etc. I would + wish you to be able to talk upon all these things better, and with more + knowledge than other people; insomuch that upon those occasions, you + should be applied to, and that people should say, I DARE SAY MR. STANHOPE + CAN TELL US. + </p> + <p> + Second-rate knowledge and middling talents carry a man further at courts, + and in the busy part of the world, than superior knowledge and shining + parts. Tacitus very justly accounts for a man’s having always kept in + favor and enjoyed the best employments under the tyrannical reigns of + three or four of the very worst emperors, by saying that it was not + ‘propter aliquam eximiam artem, sed quia par negotiis neque supra erat’. + Discretion is the great article; all these things are to be learned, and + only learned by keeping a great deal of the best company. Frequent those + good houses where you have already a footing, and wriggle yourself somehow + or other into every other. Haunt the courts particularly in order to get + that ROUTINE. + </p> + <p> + This moment I receive yours of the 18th N. S. You will have had some time + ago my final answers concerning the pictures; and, by my last, an account + that the mohairs were gone to Madame Morel, at Calais, with the proper + directions. + </p> + <p> + I am sorry that your two sons-in-law [?? D.W.], the Princes B——, + are such boobies; however, as they have the honor of being so nearly + related to you, I will show them what civilities I can. + </p> + <p> + I confess you have not time for long absences from Paris, at present, + because of your various masters, all which I would have you apply to + closely while you are now in that capital; but when you return thither, + after the visit you intend me the honor of, I do not propose your having + any master at all, except Marcel, once or twice a week. And then the + courts will, I hope, be no longer strange countries to you; for I would + have you run down frequently to Versailles and St. Cloud, for three or + four days at a time. You know the Abbe de la Ville, who will present you + to others, so that you will soon be ‘faufile’ with the rest of the court. + Court is the soil in which you are to grow and flourish; you ought to be + well acquainted with the nature of it; like all other soil, it is in some + places deeper, in others lighter, but always capable of great improvement + by cultivation and experience. + </p> + <p> + You say that you want some hints for a letter to Lady Chesterfield; more + use and knowledge of the world will teach you occasionally to write and + talk genteelly, ‘sup des riens’, which I can tell you is a very useful + part upon worldly knowledge; for in some companies, it would be imprudent + to talk of anything else; and with very many people it is impossible to + talk of anything else; they would not understand you. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0151" id="link2H_4_0151"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXLIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 24, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Air, address, manners, and graces are of such infinite + advantage to whoever has them, and so peculiarly and essentially necessary + for you, that now, as the time of our meeting draws near, I tremble for + fear I should not find you possessed of them; and, to tell you the truth, + I doubt you are not yet sufficiently convinced for their importance. There + is, for instance, your intimate friend, Mr. H——-, who with + great merit, deep knowledge, and a thousand good qualities, will never + make a figure in the world while he lives. Why? Merely for want of those + external and showish accomplishments, which he began the world too late to + acquire; and which, with his studious and philosophical turn, I believe he + thinks are not worth his attention. He may, very probably, make a figure + in the republic of letters, but he had ten thousand times better make a + figure as a man of the world and of business in the republic of the United + Provinces, which, take my word for it, he never will. + </p> + <p> + As I open myself, without the least reserve, whenever I think that my + doing so can be of any use to you, I will give you a short account of + myself. When I first came into the world, which was at the age you are of + now, so that, by the way, you have got the start of me in that important + article by two or three years at least,—at nineteen I left the + University of Cambridge, where I was an absolute pedant; when I talked my + best, I quoted Horace; when I aimed at being facetious, I quoted Martial; + and when I had a mind to be a fine gentleman, I talked Ovid. I was + convinced that none but the ancients had common sense; that the classics + contained everything that was either necessary, useful, or ornamental to + men; and I was not without thoughts of wearing the ‘toga virilis’ of the + Romans, instead of the vulgar and illiberal dress of the moderns. With + these excellent notions I went first to The Hague, where, by the help of + several letters of recommendation, I was soon introduced into all the best + company; and where I very soon discovered that I was totally mistaken in + almost every one notion I had entertained. Fortunately, I had a strong + desire to please (the mixed result of good-nature and a vanity by no means + blamable), and was sensible that I had nothing but the desire. I therefore + resolved, if possible, to acquire the means, too. I studied attentively + and minutely the dress, the air, the manner, the address, and the turn of + conversation of all those whom I found to be the people in fashion, and + most generally allowed to please. I imitated them as well as I could; if I + heard that one man was reckoned remarkably genteel, I carefully watched + his dress, motions and attitudes, and formed my own upon them. When I + heard of another, whose conversation was agreeable and engaging, I + listened and attended to the turn of it. I addressed myself, though ‘de + tres mauvaise grace’, to all the most fashionable fine ladies; confessed, + and laughed with them at my own awkwardness and rawness, recommending + myself as an object for them to try their skill in forming. By these + means, and with a passionate desire of pleasing everybody, I came by + degrees to please some; and, I can assure you, that what little figure I + have made in the world, has been much more owing to that passionate desire + of pleasing universally than to any intrinsic merit or sound knowledge I + might ever have been master of. My passion for pleasing was so strong (and + I am very glad it was so), that I own to you fairly, I wished to make + every woman I saw in love with me, and every man I met with admire me. + Without this passion for the object, I should never have been so attentive + to the means; and I own I cannot conceive how it is possible for any man + of good-nature and good sense to be without this passion. Does not + good-nature incline us to please all those we converse with, of whatever + rank or station they may be? And does not good sense and common + observation, show of what infinite use it is to please? Oh! but one may + please by the good qualities of the heart, and the knowledge of the head, + without that fashionable air, address and manner, which is mere tinsel. I + deny it. A man may be esteemed and respected, but I defy him to please + without them. Moreover, at your age, I would not have contented myself + with barely pleasing; I wanted to shine and to distinguish myself in the + world as a man of fashion and gallantry, as well as business. And that + ambition or vanity, call it what you please, was a right one; it hurt + nobody, and made me exert whatever talents I had. It is the spring of a + thousand right and good things. + </p> + <p> + I was talking you over the other day with one very much your friend, and + who had often been with you, both at Paris and in Italy. Among the + innumerable questions which you may be sure I asked him concerning you, I + happened to mention your dress (for, to say the truth, it was the only + thing of which I thought him a competent judge) upon which he said that + you dressed tolerably well at Paris; but that in Italy you dressed so ill, + that he used to joke with you upon it, and even to tear your clothes. Now, + I must tell you, that at your age it is as ridiculous not to be very well + dressed, as at my age it would be if I were to wear a white feather and + red-heeled shoes. Dress is one of various ingredients that contribute to + the art of pleasing; it pleases the eyes at least, and more especially of + women. Address yourself to the senses, if you would please; dazzle the + eyes, soothe and flatter the ears of mankind; engage their hearts, and let + their reason do its worst against you. ‘Suaviter in modo’ is the great + secret. Whenever you find yourself engaged insensibly, in favor of anybody + of no superior merit nor distinguished talents, examine, and see what it + is that has made those impressions upon you: and you will find it to be + that ‘douceur’, that gentleness of manners, that air and address, which I + have so often recommended to you; and from thence draw this obvious + conclusion, that what pleases you in them, will please others in you; for + we are all made of the same clay, though some of the lumps are a little + finer, and some a little coarser; but in general, the surest way to judge + of others, is to examine and analyze one’s self thoroughly. When we meet I + will assist you in that analysis, in which every man wants some assistance + against his own self-love. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0152" id="link2H_4_0152"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CL + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, June 30, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Pray give the inclosed to our friend the Abbe; it is to + congratulate him upon his ‘Canonicat’, which I am really very glad of, and + I hope it will fatten him up to Boileau’s ‘Chanoine’; at present he is as + meagre as an apostle or a prophet. By the way, has he ever introduced you + to la Duchesse d’Aiguillon? If he has not, make him present you; and if he + has, frequent her, and make her many compliments from me. She has + uncommon, sense and knowledge for a woman, and her house is the resort of + one set of ‘les beaux esprits. It is a satisfaction and a sort of credit + to be acquainted with those gentlemen; and it puts a young fellow in + fashion. ‘A propos des beaux esprits’, you have ‘les entries’ at Lady + Sandwich’s; who, old as she was, when I saw her last, had the strongest + parts of any woman I ever knew in my life? If you are not acquainted with + her, either the Duchesse d’Aiguillon or Lady Hervey can, and I dare say + will; introduce you. I can assure you, it is very well worth your while, + both upon her own account, and for the sake of the people of wit and + learning who frequent her. In such companies there is always something to + be learned as well as manners; the conversation turns upon something above + trifles; some point of literature, criticism, history, etc., is discussed + with ingenuity and good manners; for I must do the French people of + learning justice; they are not bears, as most of ours are: they are + gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + Our Abbe writes me word that you were gone to Compiegne: I am very glad of + it; other courts must form you for your own. He tells me too, that you + have left off riding at the ‘manege’; I have no objection to that, it + takes up a great deal of the morning; and if you have got a genteel and + firm seat on horseback, it is enough for you, now that tilts and + tournaments are laid aside. I suppose you have hunted at Compiegne. The + King’s hunting there, I am told, is a fine sight. The French manner of + hunting is gentlemanlike; ours is only for bumpkins and boobies. The poor + beasts are here pursued and run down by much greater beasts than + themselves, and the true British fox-hunter is most undoubtedly a species + appropriated and peculiar to this country, which no other part of the + globe produces. + </p> + <p> + I hope you apply the time you have saved from the riding-house to useful + more than to learned purposes; for I can assure you they are very + different things. I would have you allow but one hour a-day for Greek; and + that more to keep what you have than to increase it: by Greek, I mean + useful Greek books, such as Demosthenes, Thucydides, etc., and not the + poets, with whom you are already enough acquainted. Your Latin will take + care of itself. Whatever more time you may have for reading, pray bestow + it upon those books which are immediately relative to your destination; + such as modern history, in the modern languages, memoirs, anecdotes, + letters, negotiations, etc. Collect also, if you can, authentically, the + present state of all the courts and countries in Europe, the characters of + the kings and princes, their wives, their ministers, and their w——s; + their several views, connections, and interests; the state of their + FINANCES, their military force, their trade, manufactures, and commerce. + That is the useful, the necessary knowledge for you, and indeed for every + gentleman. But with all this, remember, that living books are much better + than dead ones; and throw away no time (for it is thrown away) with the + latter, which you can employ well with the former; for books must now be + your only amusement, but, by no means your business. I had much rather + that you were passionately in love with some determined coquette of + condition (who would lead you a dance, fashion, supple, and polish you), + than that you knew all Plato and Aristotle by heart: an hour at + Versailles, Compiegne, or St. Cloud, is now worth more to you than three + hours in your closet, with the best books that ever were written. + </p> + <p> + I hear the dispute between the court and the clergy is made up amicably, + both parties have yielded something; the king being afraid of losing more + of his soul, and the clergy more of their revenue. Those gentlemen are + very skillful in making the most of the vices and the weaknesses of the + laity. I hope you have read and informed yourself fully of everything + relative to that affair; it is a very important question, in which the + priesthood of every country in Europe is highly concerned. If you would be + thoroughly convinced that their tithes are of divine institution, and + their property the property of God himself, not to be touched by any power + on earth, read Fra Paolo De Beneficiis, an excellent and short book; for + which, and some other treaties against the court of Rome, he was + stilettoed; which made him say afterward, upon seeing an anonymous book + written against him by order of the Pope, ‘Conosco bene to stile Romano’. + </p> + <p> + The parliament of Paris, and the states of Languedoc, will, I believe, + hardly scramble off; having only reason and justice, but no terrors on + their side. Those are political and constitutional questions that well + deserve your attention and inquiries. I hope you are thoroughly master of + them. It is also worth your while to collect and keep all the pieces + written upon those subjects. + </p> + <p> + I hope you have been thanked by your ladies, at least, if not paid in + money, for the mohairs, which I sent by a courier to Paris, some time ago, + instead of sending them to Madame Morel, at Calais, as I told you I + should. Do they like them; and do they like you the better for getting + them? ‘Le petite Blot devroit au moins payer de sa personne’. As for + Madame de Polignac, I believe you will very willingly hold her excused + from personal payment. + </p> + <p> + Before you return to England, pray go again to Orli, for two or three + days, and also to St. Cloud, in order to secure a good reception there at + your return. Ask the Marquis de Matignon too, if he has any orders for you + in England, or any letters or packets for Lord Bolingbroke. Adieu! Go on + and prosper. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0153" id="link2H_4_0153"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLI + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, July 8, O. S. 1751. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The last mail brought me your letter of the 3d July, N. S. + I am glad that you are so well with Colonel Yorke, as to be let into + secret correspondences. Lord Albemarle’s reserve to you is, I believe, + more owing to his secretary than to himself; for you seem to be much in + favor with him; and possibly too HE HAS NO VERY SECRET LETTERS to + communicate. However, take care not to discover the least dissatisfaction + upon this score: make the proper acknowledgments to Colonel Yorke, for + what he does show you; but let neither Lord Albemarle nor his people + perceive the least coldness on your part, upon account of what they do not + show you. It is very often necessary, not to manifest all one feels. Make + your court to, and connect yourself as much as possible with Colonel + Yorke; he may be of great use to you hereafter; and when you take leave, + not only offer to bring over any letters or packets, by way of security; + but even ask, as a favor, to be the carrier of a letter from him to his + father, the Chancellor. ‘A propos’ of your coming here; I confess that I + am weakly impatient for it, and think a few days worth getting; I would, + therefore, instead of the 25th of next month, N. S., which was the day + that I some time ago appointed for your leaving Paris, have you set out on + Friday the 20th of August, N. S.; in consequence of which you will be at + Calais some time on the Sunday following, and probably at Dover within + four-and-twenty hours afterward. If you land in the morning, you may, in a + postchaise, get to Sittingborne that day; if you come on shore in the + evening, you can only get to Canterbury, where you will be better lodged + than at Dover. I will not have you travel in the night, nor fatigue and + overheat yourself by running on fourscore miles the moment you land. You + will come straight to Blackheath, where I shall be ready to meet you, and + which is directly upon the Dover road to London; and we will go to town + together, after you have rested yourself a day or two here. All the other + directions, which I gave you in my former letter, hold still the same. + But, notwithstanding this regulation, should you have any particular + reasons for leaving Paris two or three days sooner or later, than the + above mentioned, ‘vous etes maitre’. Make all your arrangements at Paris + for about a six weeks stay in England at farthest. + </p> + <p> + I had a letter the other day from Lord Huntingdon, of which one-half at + least was your panegyric; it was extremely welcome to me from so good a + hand. Cultivate that friendship; it will do you honor and give you + strength. Connections, in our mixed parliamentary government, are of great + use. + </p> + <p> + I send you here inclosed the particular price of each of the mohairs; but + I do not suppose that you will receive a shilling for anyone of them. + However, if any of your ladies should take an odd fancy to pay, the + shortest way, in the course of business, is for you to keep the money, and + to take so much less from Sir John Lambert in your next draught upon him. + </p> + <p> + I am very sorry to hear that Lady Hervey is ill. Paris does not seem to + agree with her; she used to have great health here. ‘A propos’ of her; + remember, when you are with me, not to mention her but when you and I are + quite alone, for reasons which I will tell you when we meet: but this is + only between you and me; and I desire that you will not so much as hint it + to her, or to anybody else. + </p> + <p> + If old Kurzay goes to the valley of Jehoshaphat, I cannot help it; it will + be an ease to our friend Madame Montconseil, who I believe maintains her, + and a little will not satisfy her in any way. + </p> + <p> + Remember to bring your mother some little presents; they need not be of + value, but only marks of your affection and duty for one who has always + been tenderly fond of you. You may bring Lady Chesterfield a little Martin + snuffbox of about five Louis; and you need bring over no other presents; + you and I not wanting ‘les petits presens pour entretenir l’amitee’. + </p> + <p> + Since I wrote what goes before, I have talked you over minutely with Lord + Albemarle, who told me, that he could very sincerely commend you upon + every article but one; but upon that one you were often joked, both by him + and others. I desired to know what that was; he laughed and told me it was + the article of dress, in which you were exceedingly negligent. Though he + laughed, I can assure you that it is no laughing matter for you; and you + will possibly be surprised when I assert (but, upon my word, it is + literally true), that to be very well dressed is of much more importance + to you, than all the Greek you know will, be of these thirty years. + Remember that the world is now your only business; and that you must adopt + its customs and manners, be they silly or be they not. To neglect your + dress, is an affront to all the women you keep company with; as it implies + that you do not think them worth that attention which everybody else doth; + they mind dress, and you will never please them if you neglect yours; and + if you do not please the women, you will not please half the men you + otherwise might. It is the women who put a young fellow in fashion even + with the men. A young fellow ought to have a certain fund of coquetry; + which should make him try all the means of pleasing, as much as any + coquette in Europe can do. Old as I am, and little thinking of women, God + knows, I am very far from being negligent of my dress; and why? From + conformity to custom, and out of decency to men, who expect that degree of + complaisance. I do not, indeed, wear feathers and red heels, which would + ill suit my age; but I take care to have my clothes well made, my wig well + combed and powdered, my linen and person extremely clean. I even allow my + footman forty shillings a year extraordinary, that they may be spruce and + neat. Your figure especially, which from its stature cannot be very + majestic and interesting, should be the more attended to in point of dress + as it cannot be ‘imposante’, it should be ‘gentile, aimable, bien mise’. + It will not admit of negligence and carelessness. + </p> + <p> + I believe Mr. Hayes thinks that you have slighted him a little of late, + since you have got into so much other company. I do not by any means blame + you for not frequenting his house so much as you did at first, before you + had got into so many other houses more entertaining and more instructing + than his; on the contrary, you do very well; but, however, as he was + extremely civil to you, take care to be so to him, and make up in manner + what you omit in matter. See him, dine with him before you come away, and + ask his commands for England. + </p> + <p> + Your triangular seal is done, and I have given it to an English gentleman, + who sets out in a week for Paris, and who will deliver it to Sir John + Lambert for you. + </p> + <p> + I cannot conclude this letter without returning again to the showish, the + ornamental, the shining parts of your character; which, if you neglect, + upon my word you will render the solid ones absolutely useless; nay, such + is the present turn of the world, that some valuable qualities are even + ridiculous, if not accompanied by the genteeler accomplishments. + Plainness, simplicity, and quakerism, either in dress or manners, will by + no means do; they must both be laced and embroidered; speaking, or writing + sense, without elegance and turn, will be very little persuasive; and the + best figure in the world, without air and address, will be very + ineffectual. Some pedants may have told you that sound sense and learning + stand in, need of no ornaments; and, to support that assertion, elegantly + quote the vulgar proverb, that GOOD WINE NEEDS NO BUSH; but surely the + little experience you have already had of the world must have convinced + you that the contrary of that assertion is true. All those accomplishments + are now in your power; think of them, and of them only. I hope you + frequent La Foire St. Laurent, which I see is now open; you will improve + more by going there with your mistress, than by staying at home and + reading Euclid with your geometry master. Adieu. ‘Divertissez-vous, il n’y + a rien de tel’. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0154" id="link2H_4_0154"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLII + </h2> + <h3> + GREENWICH, July 15, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: As this is the last, or last letter but one, that I think + I shall write before I have the pleasure of seeing you here, it may not be + amiss to prepare you a little for our interview, and for the time we shall + pass together. Before kings and princes meet, ministers on each side + adjust the important points of precedence, arm chairs, right hand and + left, etc., so that they know previously what they are to expect, what + they have to trust to; and it is right they should; for they commonly envy + or hate, but most certainly distrust each other. We shall meet upon very + different terms; we want no such preliminaries: you know my tenderness, I + know your affection. My only object, therefore, is to make your short stay + with me as useful as I can to you; and yours, I hope, is to co-operate + with me. Whether, by making it wholesome, I shall make it pleasant to you, + I am not sure. Emetics and cathartics I shall not administer, because I am + sure you do not want them; but for alteratives you must expect a great + many; and I can tell you that I have a number of NOSTRUMS, which I shall + communicate to nobody but yourself. To speak without a metaphor, I shall + endeavor to assist your youth with all the experience that I have + purchased, at the price of seven and fifty years. In order to this, + frequent reproofs, corrections, and admonitions will be necessary; but + then, I promise you, that they shall be in a gentle, friendly, and secret + manner; they shall not put you out of countenance in company, nor out of + humor when we are alone. I do not expect that, at nineteen, you should + have that knowledge of the world, those manners, that dexterity, which few + people have at nine-and-twenty. But I will endeavor to give them you; and + I am sure you will endeavor to learn them, as far as your youth, my + experience, and the time we shall pass together, will allow. You may have + many inaccuracies (and to be sure you have, for who has not at your age?) + which few people will tell you of, and some nobody can tell you of but + myself. You may possibly have others, too, which eyes less interested, and + less vigilant than mine, do not discover; all those you shall hear of from + one whose tenderness for you will excite his curiosity and sharpen his + penetration. The smallest inattention or error in manners, the minutest + inelegance of diction, the least awkwardness in your dress and carriage, + will not escape my observation, nor pass without amicable correction. Two, + the most intimate friends in the world, can freely tell each other their + faults, and even their crimes, but cannot possibly tell each other of + certain little weaknesses; awkwardnesses, and blindnesses of self-love; to + authorize that unreserved freedom, the relation between us is absolutely + necessary. For example, I had a very worthy friend, with whom I was + intimate enough to tell him his faults; he had but few; I told him of + them; he took it kindly of me, and corrected them. But then, he had some + weaknesses that I could never tell him of directly, and which he was so + little sensible of himself, that hints of them were lost upon him. He had + a scrag neck, of about a yard long; notwithstanding which, bags being in + fashion, truly he would wear one to his wig, and did so; but never behind + him, for, upon every motion of his head, his bag came forward over one + shoulder or the other. He took it into his head too, that he must + occasionally dance minuets, because other people did; and he did so, not + only extremely ill, but so awkward, so disjointed, slim, so meagre, was + his figure, that had he danced as well as ever Marcel did, it would have + been ridiculous in him to have danced at all. I hinted these things to him + as plainly as friendship would allow, and to no purpose; but to have told + him the whole, so as to cure him, I must have been his father, which, + thank God, I am not. As fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to + be fatherless; and, considering the general run of sons, as seldom a + misfortune to be childless. You and I form, I believe, an exception to + that rule; for, I am persuaded that we would neither of us change our + relation, were it in our power. You will, I both hope and believe, be not + only the comfort, but the pride of my age; and, I am sure, I will be the + support, the friend, the guide of your youth. Trust me without reserve; I + will advise you without private interest, or secret envy. Mr. Harte will + do so too; but still there may be some little things proper for you to + know, and necessary for you to correct, which even his friendship would + not let him tell you of so freely as I should; and some, of which he may + not possibly be so good a judge of as I am, not having lived so much in + the great world. + </p> + <p> + One principal topic of our conversation will be, not only the purity but + the elegance of the English language; in both which you are very + deficient. Another will be the constitution of this country, of which, I + believe, you know less than of most other countries in Europe. Manners, + attentions, and address, will also be the frequent subjects of our + lectures; and whatever I know of that important and necessary art, the art + of pleasing. I will unreservedly communicate to you. Dress too (which, as + things are, I can logically prove, requires some attention) will not + always escape our notice. Thus, my lectures will be more various, and in + some respects more useful than Professor Mascow’s, and therefore, I can + tell you, that I expect to be paid for them; but, as possibly you would + not care to part with your ready money, and as I do not think that it + would be quite handsome in me to accept it, I will compound for the + payment, and take it in attention and practice. + </p> + <p> + Pray remember to part with all your friends, acquaintances, and + mistresses, if you have any at Paris, in such a manner as may make them + not only willing but impatient to see you there again. Assure them of your + desire of returning to them; and do it in a manner that they may think you + in earnest, that is ‘avec onction et une espece d’attendrissement’. All + people say, pretty near the same things upon those occasions; it is the + manner only that makes the difference; and that difference is great. + Avoid, however, as much as you can, charging yourself with commissions, in + your return from hence to Paris; I know, by experience, that they are + exceedingly troublesome, commonly expensive, and very seldom satisfactory + at last, to the persons who gave them; some you cannot refuse, to people + to whom you are obliged, and would oblige in your turn; but as to common + fiddle-faddle commissions, you may excuse yourself from them with truth, + by saying that you are to return to Paris through Flanders, and see all + those great towns; which I intend you shall do, and stay a week or ten + days at Brussels. Adieu! A good journey to you, if this is my last; if + not, I can repeat again what I shall wish constantly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0155" id="link2H_4_0155"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLIII + </h2> + <p> + LONDON, December 19, O. S. 1751—[Note the date, which indicates that + the sojourn with the author has ended.] + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You are now entered upon a scene of business, where I hope + you will one day make a figure. Use does a great deal, but care and + attention must be joined to it. The first thing necessary in writing + letters of business, is extreme clearness and perspicuity; every paragraph + should be so clear and unambiguous, that the dullest fellow in the world + may not be able to mistake it, nor obliged to read it twice in order to + understand it. This necessary clearness implies a correctness, without + excluding an elegance of style. Tropes, figures, antitheses, epigrams, + etc., would be as misplaced and as impertinent in letters of business, as + they are sometimes (if judiciously used) proper and pleasing in familiar + letters, upon common and trite subjects. In business, an elegant + simplicity, the result of care, not of labor, is required. Business must + be well, not affectedly dressed; but by no means negligently. Let your + first attention be to clearness, and read every paragraph after you have + written it, in the critical view of discovering whether it is possible + that any one man can mistake the true sense of it: and correct it + accordingly. + </p> + <p> + Our pronouns and relatives often create obscurity or ambiguity; be + therefore exceedingly attentive to them, and take care to mark out with + precision their particular relations. For example, Mr. Johnson acquainted + me that he had seen Mr. Smith, who had promised him to speak to Mr. + Clarke, to return him (Mr. Johnson) those papers, which he (Mr. Smith) had + left some time ago with him (Mr. Clarke): it is better to repeat a name, + though unnecessarily, ten times, than to have the person mistaken once. + WHO, you know, is singly relative to persons, and cannot be applied to + things; WHICH and THAT are chiefly relative to things, but not absolutely + exclusive of persons; for one may say, the man THAT robbed or killed + such-a-one; but it is better to say, the man WHO robbed or killed. One + never says, the man or the woman WHICH. WHICH and THAT, though chiefly + relative to things, cannot be always used indifferently as to things, and + the ‘euoovca’ must sometimes determine their place. For instance, the + letter WHICH I received from you, WHICH you referred to in your last, + WHICH came by Lord Albemarle’s messenger WHICH I showed to such-a-one; I + would change it thus—The letter THAT I received from you; WHICH you + referred to in your last, THAT came by Lord Albemarle’s messenger, and + WHICH I showed to such-a-one. + </p> + <p> + Business does not exclude (as possibly you wish it did) the usual terms of + politeness and good-breeding; but, on the contrary, strictly requires + them: such as, I HAVE THE HONOR TO ACQUAINT YOUR LORDSHIP; PERMIT ME TO + ASSURE YOU; IF I MAY BE ALLOWED TO GIVE MY OPINION, etc. For the minister + abroad, who writes to the minister at home, writes to his superior; + possibly to his patron, or at least to one who he desires should be so. + </p> + <p> + Letters of business will not only admit of, but be the better for CERTAIN + GRACES—but then, they must be scattered with a sparing and skillful + hand; they must fit their place exactly. They must decently adorn without + encumbering, and modestly shine without glaring. But as this is the utmost + degree of perfection in letters of business, I would not advise you to + attempt those embellishments, till you have first laid your foundation + well. + </p> + <p> + Cardinal d’Ossat’s letters are the true letters of business; those of + Monsieur d’Avaux are excellent; Sir William Temple’s are very pleasing, + but, I fear, too affected. Carefully avoid all Greek or Latin quotations; + and bring no precedents from the VIRTUOUS SPARTANS, THE POLITE ATHENIANS, + AND THE BRAVE ROMANS. Leave all that to futile pedants. No flourishes, no + declamation. But (I repeat it again) there is an elegant simplicity and + dignity of style absolutely necessary for good letters of business; attend + to that carefully. Let your periods be harmonious, without seeming to be + labored; and let them not be too long, for that always occasions a degree + of obscurity. I should not mention correct orthography, but that you very + often fail in that particular, which will bring ridicule upon you; for no + man is allowed to spell ill. I wish too that your handwriting were much + better; and I cannot conceive why it is not, since every man may certainly + write whatever hand he pleases. Neatness in folding up, sealing, and + directing your packets, is by no means to be neglected; though, I dare + say, you think it is. But there is something in the exterior, even of a + packet, that may please or displease; and consequently worth some + attention. + </p> + <p> + You say that your time is very well employed; and so it is, though as yet + only in the outlines, and first ROUTINE of business. They are previously + necessary to be known; they smooth the way for parts and dexterity. + Business requires no conjuration nor supernatural talents, as people + unacquainted with it are apt to think. Method, diligence, and discretion, + will carry a man, of good strong common sense, much higher than the finest + parts, without them, can do. ‘Par negotiis, neque supra’, is the true + character of a man of business; but then it implies ready attention and no + ABSENCES, and a flexibility and versatility of attention from one object + to another, without being engrossed by anyone. + </p> + <p> + Be upon your guard against the pedantry and affectation of business which + young people are apt to fall into, from the pride of being concerned in it + young. They look thoughtful, complain of the weight of business, throw out + mysterious hints, and seem big with secrets which they do not know. Do + you, on the contrary, never talk of business but to those with whom you + are to transact it; and learn to seem vacuus and idle, when you have the + most business. Of all things, the ‘volte sciollo’, and the ‘pensieri + stretti’, are necessary. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0156" id="link2H_4_0156"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 30, O. S. 1751 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The parliaments are the courts of justice of France, and + are what our courts of justice in Westminster-Hall are here. They used + anciently to follow the court, and administer justice in presence of the + King. Philip le Bel first fixed it at Paris, by an edict of 1302. It + consisted then of but one chambre, which was called ‘la Chambre des + Prelats’, most of the members being ecclesiastics; but the multiplicity of + business made it by degrees necessary to create several other chambres. It + consists now of seven chambres: + </p> + <p> + ‘La Grande Chambre’, which is the highest court of justice, and to which + appeals lie from the others. + </p> + <p> + ‘Les cinq Chambres des Enquetes’, which are like our Common Pleas, and + Court of Exchequer. + </p> + <p> + ‘La Tournelle’, which is the court for criminal justice, and answers to + our Old Bailey and King’s Bench. + </p> + <p> + There are in all twelve parliaments in France: 1. Paris 2. Toulouse 3. + Grenoble 4. Bourdeaux 5. Dijon 6. Rouen 7. Aix en Provence 8. Rennes en + Bretagne 9. Pau en Navarre 10. Metz 11. Dole en Franche Comte 12. Douay + </p> + <p> + There are three ‘Conseils Souverains’, which may almost be called + parliaments; they are those of: + </p> + <p> + Perpignan Arras Alsace + </p> + <p> + For further particulars of the French parliaments, read ‘Bernard de la + Rochefavin des Parlemens de France’, and other authors, who have treated + that subject constitutionally. But what will be still better, converse + upon it with people of sense and knowledge, who will inform you of the + particular objects of the several chambres, and the businesses of the + respective members, as, ‘les Presidens, les Presidens a Mortier’ (these + last so called from their black velvet caps laced with gold), ‘les Maitres + tres des Requetes, les Greffiers, le Procureur General, les Avocats + Generaux, les Conseillers’, etc. The great point in dispute is concerning + the powers of the parliament of Paris in matters of state, and relatively + to the Crown. They pretend to the powers of the States-General of France + when they used to be assembled (which, I think, they have not been since + the reign of Lewis the Thirteenth, in the year 1615). The Crown denies + those pretensions, and considers them only as courts of justice. Mezeray + seems to be on the side of the parliament in this question, which is very + well worth your inquiry. But, be that as it will, the parliament of Paris + is certainly a very respectable body, and much regarded by the whole + kingdom. The edicts of the Crown, especially those for levying money on + the subjects, ought to be registered in parliament; I do not say to have + their effect, for the Crown would take good care of that; but to have a + decent appearance, and to procure a willing acquiescence in the nation. + And the Crown itself, absolute as it is, does not love that strong + opposition, and those admirable remonstrances, which it sometimes meets + with from the parliaments. Many of those detached pieces are very well + worth your collecting; and I remember, a year or two ago, a remonstrance + of the parliament of Douay, upon the subject, as I think, of the + ‘Vingtieme’, which was in my mind one of the finest and most moving + compositions I ever read. They owned themselves, indeed, to be slaves, and + showed their chains: but humbly begged of his Majesty to make them a + little lighter, and less galling. + </p> + <p> + THE STATES OF FRANCE were general assemblies of the three states or orders + of the kingdom; the Clergy, the Nobility, and the ‘Tiers Etat’, that is, + the people. They used to be called together by the King, upon the most + important affairs of state, like our Lords and Commons in parliament, and + our Clergy in convocation. Our parliament is our states, and the French + parliaments are only their courts of justice. The Nobility consisted of + all those of noble extraction, whether belonging to the SWORD or to the + ROBE, excepting such as were chosen (which sometimes happened) by the + Tiers Etat as their deputies to the States-General. The Tiers Etat was + exactly our House of Commons, that is, the people, represented by deputies + of their own choosing. Those who had the most considerable places, ‘dans + la robe’, assisted at those assemblies, as commissioners on the part of + the Crown. The States met, for the first time that I can find (I mean by + the name of ‘les etats’), in the reign of Pharamond, 424, when they + confirmed the Salic law. From that time they have been very frequently + assembled, sometimes upon important occasions, as making war and peace, + reforming abuses, etc.; at other times, upon seemingly trifling ones, as + coronations, marriages, etc. Francis the First assembled them, in 1526, to + declare null and void his famous treaty of Madrid, signed and sworn to by + him during his captivity there. They grew troublesome to the kings and to + their ministers, and were but seldom called after the power of the Crown + grew strong; and they have never been heard of since the year 1615. + Richelieu came and shackled the nation, and Mazarin and Lewis the + Fourteenth riveted the shackles. + </p> + <p> + There still subsist in some provinces in France, which are called ‘pais d + etats’, an humble local imitation, or rather mimicry, of the great + ‘etats’, as in Languedoc, Bretagne, etc. They meet, they speak, they + grumble, and finally submit to whatever the King orders. + </p> + <p> + Independently of the intrinsic utility of this kind of knowledge to every + man of business, it is a shame for any man to be ignorant of it, + especially relatively to any country he has been long in. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0157" id="link2H_4_0157"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1752 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER CLV + </p> + <p> + LONDON, January 2, O. S. 1752. + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Laziness of mind, or inattention, are as great enemies to + knowledge as incapacity; for, in truth, what difference is there between a + man who will not, and a man who cannot be informed? This difference only, + that the former is justly to be blamed, the latter to be pitied. And yet + how many there are, very capable of receiving knowledge, who from + laziness, inattention, and incuriousness, will not so much as ask for it, + much less take the least pains to acquire it! + </p> + <p> + Our young English travelers generally distinguish themselves by a + voluntary privation of all that useful knowledge for which they are sent + abroad; and yet, at that age, the most useful knowledge is the most easy + to be acquired; conversation being the book, and the best book in which it + is contained. The drudgery of dry grammatical learning is over, and the + fruits of it are mixed with, and adorned by, the flowers of conversation. + How many of our young men have been a year at Rome, and as long at Paris, + without knowing the meaning and institution of the Conclave in the former, + and of the parliament in the latter? and this merely for want of asking + the first people they met with in those several places, who could at least + have given them some general notions of those matters. + </p> + <p> + You will, I hope, be wiser, and omit no opportunity (for opportunities + present themselves every hour of the day) of acquainting yourself with all + those political and constitutional particulars of the kingdom and + government of France. For instance, when you hear people mention le + Chancelier, or ‘le Garde de Sceaux’, is it any great trouble for you to + ask, or for others to tell you, what is the nature, the powers, the + objects, and the profits of those two employments, either when joined + together, as they often are, or when separate, as they are at present? + When you hear of a gouverneur, a lieutenant du Roi, a commandant, and an + intendant of the same province, is, it not natural, is it not becoming, is + it not necessary, for a stranger to inquire into their respective rights + and privileges? And yet, I dare say, there are very few Englishmen who + know the difference between the civil department of the Intendant, and the + military powers of the others. When you hear (as I am persuaded you must) + every day of the ‘Vingtieme’, which is one in twenty, and consequently + five per cent., inquire upon what that tax is laid, whether upon lands, + money, merchandise, or upon all three; how levied, and what it is supposed + to produce. When you find in books: (as you will sometimes) allusion to + particular laws and customs, do not rest till you have traced them up to + their source. To give you two examples: you will meet in some French + comedies, ‘Cri’, or ‘Clameur de Haro’; ask what it means, and you will be + told that it is a term of the law in Normandy, and means citing, + arresting, or obliging any person to appear in the courts of justice, + either upon a civil or a criminal account; and that it is derived from ‘a + Raoul’, which Raoul was anciently Duke of Normandy, and a prince eminent + for his justice; insomuch, that when any injustice was committed, the cry + immediately was, ‘Venez, a Raoul, a Raoul’, which words are now corrupted + and jumbled into ‘haro’. Another, ‘Le vol du Chapon, that is, a certain + district of ground immediately contiguous to the mansion-seat of a family, + and answers to what we call in English DEMESNES. It is in France computed + at about 1,600 feet round the house, that being supposed to be the extent + of the capon’s flight from ‘la basse cour’. This little district must go + along with the mansion-seat, however the rest of the estate may be + divided. + </p> + <p> + I do not mean that you should be a French lawyer; but I would not have you + unacquainted with the general principles of their law, in matters that + occur every day: Such is the nature of their descents, that is, the + inheritance of lands: Do they all go to the eldest son, or are they + equally divided among the children of the deceased? In England, all lands + unsettled descend to the eldest son, as heir-at-law, unless otherwise + disposed of by the father’s will, except in the county of Kent, where a + particular custom prevails, called Gavelkind; by which, if the father dies + intestate, all his children divide his lands equally among them. In + Germany, as you know, all lands that, are not fiefs are equally divided + among all the children, which ruins those families; but all male fiefs of + the empire descend unalienably to the next male heir, which preserves + those families. In France, I believe, descents vary in different + provinces. + </p> + <p> + The nature of marriage contracts deserves inquiry. In England, the general + practice is, the husband takes all the wife’s fortune; and in + consideration of it settles upon her a proper pin-money, as it is called; + that is, an annuity during his life, and a jointure after his death. In + France it is not so, particularly at Paris; where ‘la communaute des + biens’ is established. Any married woman at Paris (IF YOU ARE ACQUAINTED + WITH ONE) can inform you of all these particulars. + </p> + <p> + These and other things of the same nature, are the useful and rational + objects of the curiosity of a man of sense and business. Could they only + be attained by laborious researches in folio-books, and wormeaten + manuscripts, I should not wonder at a young fellow’s being ignorant of + them; but as they are the frequent topics of conversation, and to be known + by a very little degree of curiosity, inquiry and attention, it is + unpardonable not to know them. + </p> + <p> + Thus I have given you some hints only for your inquiries; ‘l’Etat de la + France, l’Almanach Royal’, and twenty other such superficial books, will + furnish you with a thousand more. ‘Approfondissez.’ + </p> + <p> + How often, and how justly, have I since regretted negligences of this kind + in my youth! And how often have I since been at great trouble to learn + many things which I could then have learned without any! Save yourself + now, then, I beg of you, that regret and trouble hereafter. Ask questions, + and many questions; and leave nothing till you are thoroughly informed of + it. Such pertinent questions are far from being illbred or troublesome to + those of whom you ask them; on the contrary, they are a tacit compliment + to their knowledge; and people have a better opinion of a young man, when + they see him desirous to be informed. + </p> + <p> + I have by last post received your two letters of the 1st and 5th of + January, N. S. I am very glad that you have been at all the shows at + Versailles: frequent the courts. I can conceive the murmurs of the French + at the poorness of the fireworks, by which they thought their king of + their country degraded; and, in truth, were things always as they should + be, when kings give shows they ought to be magnificent. + </p> + <p> + I thank you for the ‘These de la Sorbonne’, which you intend to send me, + and which I am impatient to receive. But pray read it carefully yourself + first; and inform yourself what the Sorbonne is by whom founded, and for + what puraoses. + </p> + <p> + Since you have time, you have done very well to take an Italian and a + German master; but pray take care to leave yourelf time enough for + company; for it is in company only that you can learn what will be much + more useful to you than either Italian or German; I mean ‘la politesse, + les manieres et les graces, without which, as I told you long ago, and I + told you true, ‘ogni fatica a vana’. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + Pray make my compliments to Lady Brown. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0158" id="link2H_4_0158"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLVI + </h2> + <p> + LONDON, January 6, O. S. 1752. MY DEAR FRIEND + </p> + <p> + I recommended to you, in my last, some inquiries into the constitution of + that famous society the Sorbonne; but as I cannot wholly trust to the + diligence of those inquiries, I will give you here the outlines of that + establishment; which may possibly excite you to inform yourself of + particulars, which you are more ‘a portee’ to know than I am. + </p> + <p> + It was founded by Robert de Sorbon, in the year 1256 for sixteen poor + scholars in divinity; four of each nation, of the university of which it + made a part; since that it hath been much extended and enriched, + especially by the liberality and pride of Cardinal Richelieu; who made it + a magnificent building for six-and-thirty doctors of that society to live + in; besides which, there are six professors and schools for divinity. This + society has long been famous for theological knowledge and exercitations. + There unintelligible points are debated with passion, though they can + never be determined by reason. Logical subtilties set common sense at + defiance; and mystical refinements disfigure and disguise the native + beauty and simplicity of true natural religion; wild imaginations form + systems, which weak minds adopt implicitly, and which sense and reason + oppose in vain; their voice is not strong enough to be heard in schools of + divinity. Political views are by no means neglected in those sacred + places; and questions are agitated and decided, according to the degree of + regard, or rather submission, which the Sovereign is pleased to show the + Church. Is the King a slave to the Church, though a tyrant to the laity? + The least resistance to his will shall be declared damnable. But if he + will not acknowledge the superiority of their spiritual over his temporal, + nor even admit their ‘imperium in imperio’, which is the least they will + compound for, it becomes meritorious not only to resist, but to depose + him. And I suppose that the bold propositions in the thesis you mention, + are a return for the valuation of ‘les biens du Clerge’. + </p> + <p> + I would advise you, by all means, to attend to two or three of their + public disputations, in order to be informed both of the manner and the + substance of those scholastic exercises. Pray remember to go to all those + kind of things. Do not put it off, as one is too apt to do those things + which one knows can be done every day, or any day; for one afterward + repents extremely, when too late, the not having done them. + </p> + <p> + But there is another (so-called) religious society, of which the minutest + circumstance deserves attention, and furnishes great matter for useful + reflections. You easily guess that I mean the society of ‘les R. R. P. P. + Jesuites’, established but in the year 1540, by a Bull of Pope Paul III. + Its progress, and I may say its victories, were more rapid than those of + the Romans; for within the same century it governed all Europe; and, in + the next, it extended its influence over the whole world. Its founder was + an abandoned profligate Spanish officer, Ignatius Loyola; who, in the year + 1521, being wounded in the leg at the ‘siege of Pampeluna, went mad from + the smart of his wound, the reproaches of his conscience, and his + confinement, during which he read the lives of the Saints. Consciousness + of guilt, a fiery temper, and a wild imagination, the common ingredients + of enthusiasm, made this madman devote himself to the particular service + of the Virgin Mary; whose knight-errant he declared himself, in the very + same form in which the old knight-errants in romances used to declare + themselves the knights and champions of certain beautiful and incomparable + princesses, whom sometimes they had, but oftener had not, seen. For + Dulcinea del Toboso was by no means the first princess whom her faithful + and valorous knight had never seen in his life. The enthusiast went to the + Holy Land, from whence he returned to Spain, where he began to learn Latin + and philosophy at three-and-thirty years old, so that no doubt but he made + great progress in both. The better to carry on his mad and wicked designs, + he chose four disciples, or rather apostles, all Spaniards, viz, Laynes, + Salmeron, Bobadilla, and Rodriguez. He then composed the rules and + constitutions of his order; which, in the year 1547, was called the order + of Jesuits, from the church of Jesus in Rome, which was given them. + Ignatius died in 1556, aged sixty-five, thirty-five years after his + conversion, and sixteen years after the establishment of his society. He + was canonized in the year 1609, and is doubtless now a saint in heaven. + </p> + <p> + If the religious and moral principles of this society are to be detested, + as they justly are, the wisdom of their political principles is as justly + to be admired. Suspected, collectively as an order, of the greatest + crimes, and convicted of many, they have either escaped punishment, or + triumphed after it; as in France, in the reign of Henry IV. They have, + directly or indirectly, governed the consciences and the councils of all + the Catholic princes in Europe; they almost governed China in the reign of + Cangghi; and they are now actually in possession of the Paraguay in + America, pretending, but paying no obedience to the Crown of Spain. As a + collective body they are detested, even by all the Catholics, not + excepting the clergy, both secular and regular, and yet, as individuals, + they are loved, respected, and they govern wherever they are. + </p> + <p> + Two things, I believe, contribute to their success. The first, that + passive, implicit, unlimited obedience to their General (who always + resides at Rome), and to the superiors of their several houses, appointed + by him. This obedience is observed by them all to a most astonishing + degree; and, I believe, there is no one society in the world, of which so + many individuals sacrifice their private interest to the general one of + the society itself. The second is the education of youth, which they have + in a manner engrossed; there they give the first, and the first are the + lasting impressions; those impressions are always calculated to be + favorable to the society. I have known many Catholics, educated by the + Jesuits, who, though they detested the society, from reason and knowledge, + have always remained attached to it, from habit and prejudice. The Jesuits + know, better than any set of people in the world, the importance of the + art of pleasing, and study it more; they become all things to all men in + order to gain, not a few, but many. In Asia, Africa, and America they + become more than half pagans, in order to convert the pagans to be less + than half Christians. In private families they begin by insinuating + themselves as friends, they grow to be favorites, and they end DIRECTORS. + Their manners are not like those of any other regulars in the world, but + gentle, polite, and engaging. They are all carefully bred up to that + particular destination, to which they seem to have a natural turn; for + which reason one sees most Jesuits excel in some particular thing. They + even breed up some for martyrdom in case of need; as the superior of a + Jesuit seminary at Rome told Lord Bolingbroke. ‘E abbiamo anche martiri + per il martirio, se bisogna’. + </p> + <p> + Inform yourself minutely of everything concerning this extraordinary + establishment; go into their houses, get acquainted with individuals, hear + some of them preach. The finest preacher I ever heard in my life is le + Pere Neufville, who, I believe, preaches still at Paris, and is so much in + the best company, that you may easily get personally acquainted with him. + </p> + <p> + If you would know their ‘morale’ read Pascal’s ‘Lettres Provinciales’, in + which it is very truly displayed from their own writings. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, this is certain, that a society of which so little good is + said, and so much ill believed, and that still not only subsists, but + flourishes, must be a very able one. It is always mentioned as a proof of + the superior abilities of the Cardinal Richelieu, that, though hated by + all the nation, and still more by his master, he kept his power in spite + of both. + </p> + <p> + I would earnestly wish you to do everything now, which I wish, that I had + done at your age, and did not do. Every country has its peculiarities, + which one can be much better informed of during one’s residence there, + than by reading all the books in the world afterward. While you are in + Catholic countries, inform yourself of all the forms and ceremonies of + that tawdry church; see their converts both of men and women, know their + several rules and orders, attend their most remarkable ceremonies; have + their terms of art explained to you, their ‘tierce, sexte, nones, matines; + vepres, complies’; their ‘breviares, rosaires, heures, chapelets, agnus’, + etc., things that many people talk of from habit, though few people know + the true meaning of anyone of them. Converse with, and study the + characters of some of those incarcerated enthusiasts. Frequent some + ‘parloirs’, and see the air and manners of those Recluse, who are a + distinct nation themselves, and like no other. + </p> + <p> + I dined yesterday with Mrs. F——d, her mother and husband. He + is an athletic Hibernian, handsome in his person, but excessively awkward + and vulgar in his air and manner. She inquired much after you, and, I + thought, with interest. I answered her as a ‘Mezzano’ should do: ‘Et je + pronai votre tendresse, vos soins, et vos soupirs’. + </p> + <p> + When you meet with any British returning to their own country, pray send + me by them any little ‘brochures, factums, theses’, etc., ‘qui font du + bruit ou du plaisir a Paris’. Adieu, child. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0159" id="link2H_4_0159"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 23, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Have you seen the new tragedy of Varon,—[Written by + the Vicomte de Grave; and at that time the general topic of conversation + at Paris.]—and what do you think of it? Let me know, for I am + determined to form my taste upon yours. I hear that the situations and + incidents are well brought on, and the catastrophe unexpected and + surprising, but the verses bad. I suppose it is the subject of all + conversations at Paris, where both women and men are judges and critics of + all such performances; such conversations, that both form and improve the + taste, and whet the judgment; are surely preferable to the conversations + of our mixed companies here; which, if they happen to rise above bragg and + whist, infallibly stop short of everything either pleasing or instructive. + </p> + <p> + I take the reason of this to be, that (as women generally give the ‘ton’ + to the conversation) our English women are not near so well informed and + cultivated as the French; besides that they are naturally more serious and + silent. + </p> + <p> + I could wish there were a treaty made between the French and English + theatres, in which both parties should make considerable concessions. The + English ought to give up their notorious violations of all the unities; + and all their massacres, racks, dead bodies, and mangled carcasses, which + they so frequently exhibit upon their stage. The French should engage to + have more action and less declamation; and not to cram and crowd things + together, to almost a degree of impossibility, from a too scrupulous + adherence to the unities. The English should restrain the licentiousness + of their poets, and the French enlarge the liberty of theirs; their poets + are the greatest slaves in their country, and that is a bold word; ours + are the most tumultuous subjects in England, and that is saying a good + deal. Under such regulations one might hope to see a play in which one + should not be lulled to sleep by the length of a monotonical declamation, + nor frightened and shocked by the barbarity of the action. The unity of + time extended occasionally to three or four days, and the unity of place + broke into, as far as the same street, or sometimes the same town; both + which, I will affirm, are as probable as four-and-twenty hours, and the + same room. + </p> + <p> + More indulgence too, in my mind, should be shown, than the French are + willing to allow, to bright thoughts, and to shining images; for though, I + confess, it is not very natural for a hero or a princess to say fine + things in all the violence of grief, love, rage, etc., yet, I can as well + suppose that, as I can that they should talk to themselves for half an + hour; which they must necessarily do, or no tragedy could be carried on, + unless they had recourse to a much greater absurdity, the choruses of the + ancients. Tragedy is of a nature, that one must see it with a degree of + self-deception; we must lend ourselves a little to the delusion; and I am + very willing to carry that complaisance a little farther than the French + do. + </p> + <p> + Tragedy must be something bigger than life, or it would not affect us. In + nature the most violent passions are silent; in tragedy they must speak, + and speak with dignity too. Hence the necessity of their being written in + verse, and unfortunately for the French, from the weakness of their + language, in rhymes. And for the same reason, Cato the Stoic, expiring at + Utica, rhymes masculine and feminine at Paris; and fetches his last breath + at London, in most harmmonious and correct blank verse. + </p> + <p> + It is quite otherwise with Comedy, which should be mere common life, and + not one jot bigger. Every character should speak upon the stage, not only + what it would utter in the situation there represented, but in the same + manner in which it would express it. For which reason I cannot allow + rhymes in comedy, unless they were put into the mouth, and came out of the + mouth of a mad poet. But it is impossible to deceive one’s self enough + (nor is it the least necessary in comedy) to suppose a dull rogue of an + usurer cheating, or ‘gross Jean’ blundering in the finest rhymes in the + world. + </p> + <p> + As for Operas, they are essentially too absurd and extravagant to mention; + I look upon them as a magic scene, contrived to please the eyes and the + ears, at the expense of the understanding; and I consider singing, + rhyming, and chiming heroes, and princesses, and philosophers, as I do the + hills, the trees, the birds, and the beasts, who amicably joined in one + common country dance, to the irresistible turn of Orpheus’s lyre. Whenever + I go to an opera, I leave my sense and reason at the door with my half + guinea, and deliver myself up to my eyes and my ears. + </p> + <p> + Thus I have made you my poetical confession; in which I have acknowledged + as many sins against the established taste in both countries, as a frank + heretic could have owned against the established church in either, but I + am now privileged by my age to taste and think for myself, and not to care + what other people think of me in those respects; an advantage which youth, + among its many advantages, hath not. It must occasionally and outwardly + conform, to a certain degree, to establish tastes, fashions, and + decisions. A young man may, with a becoming modesty, dissent, in private + companies, from public opinions and prejudices: but he must not attack + them with warmth, nor magisterially set up his own sentiments against + them. Endeavor to hear, and know all opinions; receive them with + complaisance; form your own with coolness, and give it with modesty. + </p> + <p> + I have received a letter from Sir John Lambert, in which he requests me to + use my interest to procure him the remittance of Mr. Spencer’s money, when + he goes abroad and also desires to know to whose account he is to place + the postage of my letters. I do not trouble him with a letter in answer, + since you can execute the commission. Pray make my compliments to him, and + assure him that I will do all I can to procure him Mr. Spencer’s business; + but that his most effectual way will be by Messrs. Hoare, who are Mr. + Spencer’s cashiers, and who will undoubtedly have their choice upon whom + they will give him his credit. As for the postage of the letters, your + purse and mine being pretty near the same, do you pay it, over and above + your next draught. + </p> + <p> + Your relations, the Princes B——-, will soon be with you at + Paris; for they leave London this week: whenever you converse with them, I + desire it may be in Italian; that language not being yet familiar enough + to you. + </p> + <p> + By our printed papers, there seems to be a sort of compromise between the + King and the parliament, with regard to the affairs of the hospitals, by + taking them out of the hands of the Archbishop of Paris, and placing them + in Monsieur d’Argenson’s: if this be true, that compromise, as it is + called, is clearly a victory on the side of the court, and a defeat on the + part of the parliament; for if the parliament had a right, they had it as + much to the exclusion of Monsieur d’Argenson as of the Archbishop. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0160" id="link2H_4_0160"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 6, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your criticism of Varon is strictly just; but, in truth, + severe. You French critics seek for a fault as eagerly as I do for a + beauty: you consider things in the worst light, to show your skill, at the + expense of your pleasure; I view them in the best, that I may have more + pleasure, though at the expense of my judgment. A ‘trompeur trompeur et + demi’ is prettily said; and, if you please, you may call ‘Varon, un + Normand’, and ‘Sostrate, un Manceau, qui vaut un Normand et demi’; and, + considering the ‘denouement’ in the light of trick upon trick, it would + undoubtedly be below the dignity of the buskin, and fitter for the sock. + </p> + <p> + But let us see if we cannot bring off the author. The great question upon + which all turns, is to discover and ascertain who Cleonice really is. + There are doubts concerning her ‘etat’; how shall they be cleared? Had the + truth been extorted from Varon (who alone knew) by the rack, it would have + been a true tragical ‘denouement’. But that would probably not have done + with Varon, who is represented as a bold, determined, wicked, and at that + time desperate fellow; for he was in the hands of an enemy who he knew + could not forgive him, with common prudence or safety. The rack would, + therefore, have extorted no truth from him; but he would have died + enjoying the doubts of his enemies, and the confusion that must + necessarily attend those doubts. A stratagem is therefore thought of to + discover what force and terror could not, and the stratagem such as no + king or minister would disdain, to get at an important discovery. If you + call that stratagem a TRICK, you vilify it, and make it comical; but call + that trick a STRATAGEM, or a MEASURE, and you dignify it up to tragedy: so + frequently do ridicule or dignity turn upon one single word. It is + commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is + the best test of truth; for that it will not stick where it is not just. I + deny it. A truth learned in a certain light, and attacked in certain + words, by men of wit and humor, may, and often doth, become ridiculous, at + least so far that the truth is only remembered and repeated for the sake + of the ridicule. The overturn of Mary of Medicis into a river, where she + was half-drowned, would never have been remembered if Madame de Vernuel, + who saw it, had not said ‘la Reine boit’. Pleasure or malignity often + gives ridicule a weight which it does not deserve. The versification, I + must confess, is too much neglected and too often bad: but, upon the + whole, I read the play with pleasure. + </p> + <p> + If there is but a great deal of wit and character in your new comedy, I + will readily compound for its having little or no plot. I chiefly mind + dialogue and character in comedies. Let dull critics feed upon the + carcasses of plays; give me the taste and the dressing. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad you went to Versailles to see the ceremony of creating the + Prince de Conde ‘Chevalier de l’ Ordre’; and I do not doubt but that upon + this occasion you informed yourself thoroughly of the institution and + rules of that order. If you did, you were certainly told it was instituted + by Henry III. immediately after his return, or rather his flight from + Poland; he took the hint of it at Venice, where he had seen the original + manuscript of an order of the ‘St. Esprit, ou droit desir’, which had been + instituted in 1352, by Louis d’Anjou, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, and + husband to Jane, Queen of Naples, Countess of Provence. This Order was + under the protection of St. Nicholas de Bari, whose image hung to the + collar. Henry III. found the Order of St. Michael prostituted and + degraded, during the civil wars; he therefore joined it to his new Order + of the St. Esprit, and gave them both together; for which reason every + knight of the St. Esprit is now called Chevalier des Ordres du Roi. The + number of the knights hath been different, but is now fixed to ONE + HUNDRED, exclusive of the sovereign. There, are many officers who wear the + riband of this Order, like the other knights; and what is very singular + is, that these officers frequently sell their employments, but obtain + leave to wear the blue riband still, though the purchasers of those + offices wear it also. + </p> + <p> + As you will have been a great while in France, people will expect that you + should be ‘au fait’ of all these sort of things relative to that country. + But the history of all the Orders of all countries is well worth your + knowledge; the subject occurs often, and one should not be ignorant of it, + for fear of some such accident as happened to a solid Dane at Paris, who, + upon seeing ‘L’Ordre du St. Esprit’, said, ‘Notre St. Esprit chez nous + c’est un Elephant’. Almost all the princes in Germany have their Orders + too; not dated, indeed, from any important events, or directed to any + great object, but because they will have orders, to show that they may; as + some of them, who have the ‘jus cudendae monetae’, borrow ten shillings + worth of gold to coin a ducat. However, wherever you meet with them, + inform yourself, and minute down a short account of them; they take in all + the colors of Sir Isaac Newton’s prisms. N. B: When you inquire about + them, do not seem to laugh. + </p> + <p> + I thank you for le Mandement de Monseigneur l’Archeveyue; it is very well + drawn, and becoming an archbishop. But pray do not lose sight of a much + more important object, I mean the political disputes between the King and + the parliament, and the King and the clergy; they seem both to be patching + up; but, however, get the whole clue to them, as far as they have gone. + </p> + <p> + I received a letter yesterday from Madame Monconseil, who assures me you + have gained ground ‘du cote des maniires’, and that she looks upon you to + be ‘plus qu’a moitie chemin’. I am very glad to hear this, because, if you + are got above half way of your journey, surely you will finish it, and not + faint in the course. Why do you think I have this affair so extremely at + heart, and why do I repeat it so often? Is it for your sake, or for mine? + You can immediately answer yourself that question; you certainly have—I + cannot possibly have any interest in it. If then you will allow me, as I + believe you may, to be a judge of what is useful and necessary to you, you + must, in consequence, be convinced of the infinite importance of a point + which I take so much pains to inculcate. + </p> + <p> + I hear that the new Duke of Orleans ‘a remercie Monsieur de Melfort, and I + believe, ‘pas sans raison’, having had obligations to him; ‘mais il ne l’a + pas remercie en mari poli’, but rather roughly. Il faut que ce soit un + bourru’. I am told, too, that people get bits of his father’s rags, by way + of relies; I wish them joy, they will do them a great deal of good. See + from hence what weaknesses human nature is capable of, and make allowances + for such in all your plans and reasonings. Study the characters of the + people you have to do with, and know what they are, instead of thinking + them what they should be; address yourself generally to the senses, to the + heart, and to the weaknesses of mankind, but very rarely to their reason. + </p> + <p> + Good-night or good-morrow to you, according to the time you shall receive + this letter from, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0161" id="link2H_4_0161"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 14, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: In a month’s time, I believe I shall have the pleasure of + sending you, and you will have the pleasure of reading, a work of Lord + Bolingbroke’s, in two volumes octavo, “Upon the Use of History,” in + several letters to Lord Hyde, then Lord Cornbury. It is now put into the + press. It is hard to determine whether this work will instruct or please + most: the most material historical facts, from the great era of the treaty + of Munster, are touched upon, accompanied by the most solid reflections, + and adorned by all that elegance of style which was peculiar to himself, + and in which, if Cicero equals, he certainly does not exceed him; but + every other writer falls short of him. I would advise you almost to get + this book by heart. I think you have a turn to history, you love it, and + have a memory to retain it: this book will teach you the proper use of it. + Some people load their memories indiscriminately with historical facts, as + others do their stomachs with food; and bring out the one, and bring up + the other, entirely crude and undigested. You will find in Lord + Bolingbroke’s book an infallible specific against that epidemical + complaint.—[It is important to remember that at this time Lord + Bolingbroke’s philosophical works had not appeared; which accounts for + Lord Chesterfield’s recommending to his son, in this, as well as in some + foregoing passages, the study of Lord Bolingbroke’s writings.] + </p> + <p> + I remember a gentleman who had read history in this thoughtless and + undistinguishing manner, and who, having traveled, had gone through the + Valtelline. He told me that it was a miserable poor country, and therefore + it was, surely, a great error in Cardinal Richelieu to make such a rout, + and put France to so much expense about it. Had my friend read history as + he ought to have done, he would have known that the great object of that + great minister was to reduce the power of the House of Austria; and in + order to that, to cut off as much as he could the communication between + the several parts of their then extensive dominions; which reflections + would have justified the Cardinal to him, in the affair of the Valtelline. + But it was easier to him to remember facts, than to combine and reflect. + </p> + <p> + One observation I hope you will make in reading history; for it is an + obvious and a true one. It is, that more people have made great figures + and great fortunes in courts by their exterior accomplishments, than by + their interior qualifications. Their engaging address, the politeness of + their manners, their air, their turn, hath almost always paved the way for + their superior abilities, if they have such, to exert themselves. They + have been favorites before they have been ministers. In courts, an + universal gentleness and ‘douceur dans les manieres’ is most absolutely + necessary: an offended fool, or a slighted valet de chambre, may very + possibly do you more hurt at court, than ten men of merit can do you good. + Fools, and low people, are always jealous of their dignity, and never + forget nor forgive what they reckon a slight: on the other hand, they take + civility and a little attention as a favor; remember, and acknowledge it: + this, in my mind, is buying them cheap; and therefore they are worth + buying. The prince himself, who is rarely the shining genius of his court, + esteems you only by hearsay but likes you by his senses; that is, from + your air, your politeness, and your manner of addressing him, of which + alone he is a judge. There is a court garment, as well as a wedding + garment, without which you will not be received. That garment is the + ‘volto sciolto’; an imposing air, an elegant politeness, easy and engaging + manners, universal attention, an insinuating gentleness, and all those ‘je + ne sais quoi’ that compose the GRACES. + </p> + <p> + I am this moment disagreeably interrupted by a letter; not from you, as I + expected, but from a friend of yours at Paris, who informs me that you + have a fever which confines you at home. Since you have a fever, I am glad + you have prudence enough in it to stay at home, and take care of yourself; + a little more prudence might probably have prevented it. Your blood is + young, and consequently hot; and you naturally make a great deal by your + good stomach and good digestion; you should, therefore, necessarily + attenuate and cool it, from time to time, by gentle purges, or by a very + low diet, for two or three days together, if you would avoid fevers. Lord + Bacon, who was a very great physician in both senses of the word, hath + this aphorism in his “Essay upon Health,” ‘Nihil magis ad Sanitatem + tribuit quam crebrae et domesticae purgationes’. By ‘domesticae’, he means + those simple uncompounded purgatives which everybody can administer to + themselves; such as senna-tea, stewed prunes and senria, chewing a little + rhubarb, or dissolving an ounce and a half of manna in fair water, with + the juice of a lemon to make it palatable. Such gentle and unconfining + evacuations would certainly prevent those feverish attacks to which + everybody at your age is subject. + </p> + <p> + By the way, I do desire, and insist, that whenever, from any + indisposition, you are not able to write to me upon the fixed days, that + Christian shall; and give me a TRUE account how you are. I do not expect + from him the Ciceronian epistolary style; but I will content myself with + the Swiss simplicity and truth. + </p> + <p> + I hope you extend your acquaintance at Paris, and frequent variety of + companies; the only way of knowing the world; every set of company differs + in some particulars from another; and a man of business must, in the + course of his life, have to do with all sorts. It is a very great + advantage to know the languages of the several countries one travels in; + and different companies may, in some degree, be considered as different + countries; each hath its distinctive language, customs, and manners: know + them all, and you will wonder at none. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, child. Take care of your health; there are no pleasures without it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0162" id="link2H_4_0162"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 20, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: In all systems whatsoever, whether of religion, + government, morals, etc., perfection is the object always proposed, though + possibly unattainable; hitherto, at least, certainly unattained. However, + those who aim carefully at the mark itself, will unquestionably come + nearer it, than those who from despair, negligence, or indolence, leave to + chance the work of skill. This maxim holds equally true in common life; + those who aim at perfection will come infinitely nearer it than those + desponding or indolent spirits, who foolishly say to themselves: Nobody is + perfect; perfection is unattainable; to attempt it is chimerical; I shall + do as well as others; why then should I give myself trouble to be what I + never can, and what, according to the common course of things, I need not + be, PERFECT? + </p> + <p> + I am very sure that I need not point out to you the weakness and the folly + of this reasoning, if it deserves the name of reasoning. It would + discourage and put a stop to the exertion of any one of our faculties. On + the contrary, a man of sense and spirit says to himself: Though the point + of perfection may (considering the imperfection of our nature) be + unattainable, my care, my endeavors, my attention, shall not be wanting to + get as near it as I can. I will approach it every day, possibly, I may + arrive at it at last; at least, what I am sure is in my own power, I will + not be distanced. Many fools (speaking of you) say to me: What! would you + have him perfect? I answer: Why not? What hurt would it do him or me? O, + but that is impossible, say they; I reply, I am not sure of that: + perfection in the abstract, I admit to be unattainable, but what is + commonly called perfection in a character I maintain to be attainable, and + not only that, but in every man’s power. He hath, continue they, a good + head, a good heart, a good fund of knowledge, which would increase daily: + What would you have more? Why, I would have everything more that can adorn + and complete a character. Will it do his head, his heart, or his knowledge + any harm, to have the utmost delicacy of manners, the most shining + advantages of air and address, the most endearing attentions, and the most + engaging graces? But as he is, say they, he is loved wherever he is known. + I am very glad of it, say I; but I would have him be liked before he is + known, and loved afterward. I would have him, by his first abord and + address, make people wish to know him, and inclined to love him: he will + save a great deal of time by it. Indeed, reply they, you are too nice, too + exact, and lay too much stress upon things that are of very little + consequence. Indeed, rejoin I, you know very little of the nature of + mankind, if you take those things to be of little consequence: one cannot + be too attentive to them; it is they that always engage the heart, of + which the understanding is commonly the bubble. And I would much rather + that he erred in a point of grammar, of history, of philosophy, etc., than + in point of manners and address. But consider, he is very young; all this + will come in time. I hope so; but that time must be when he is young, or + it will never be at all; the right ‘pli’ must be taken young, or it will + never be easy or seem natural. Come, come, say they (substituting, as is + frequently done, assertion instead of argument), depend upon it he will do + very well: and you have a great deal of reason to be satisfied with him. I + hope and believe he will do well, but I would have him do better than + well. I am very well pleased with him, but I would be more, I would be + proud of him. I would have him have lustre as well as weight. Did you ever + know anybody that reunited all these talents? Yes, I did; Lord Bolingbroke + joined all the politeness, the manners, and the graces of a courtier, to + the solidity of a statesman, and to the learning of a pedant. He was + ‘omnis homo’; and pray what should hinder my boy from being so too, if he + ‘hath, as I think he hath, all the other qualifications that you allow + him? Nothing can hinder him, but neglect of or inattention to, those + objects which his own good sense must tell him are, of infinite + consequence to him, and which therefore I will not suppose him capable of + either neglecting or despising. + </p> + <p> + This (to tell you the whole truth) is the result of a controversy that + passed yesterday, between Lady Hervey and myself, upon your subject, and + almost in the very words. I submit the decision of it to yourself; let + your own good sense determine it, and make you act in consequence of that + determination. The receipt to make this composition is short and + infallible; here I give it to you: + </p> + <p> + Take variety of the best company, wherever you are; be minutely attentive + to every word and action; imitate respectively those whom you observe to + be distinguished and considered for any one accomplishment; then mix all + those several accomplishments together, and serve them up yourself to + others. + </p> + <p> + I hope your fair, or rather your brown AMERICAN is well. I hear that she + makes very handsome presents, if she is not so herself. I am told there + are people at Paris who expect, from this secret connection, to see in + time a volume of letters, superior to Madame de Graffiny’s Peruvian ones; + I lay in my claim to one of the first copies. + </p> + <p> + Francis’s Genie—[Francis’s “Eugenia.”]—hath been acted twice, + with most universal applause; to-night is his third night, and I am going + to it. I did not think it would have succeeded so well, considering how + long our British audiences have been accustomed to murder, racks, and + poison, in every tragedy; but it affected the heart so much, that it + triumphed over habit and prejudice. All the women cried, and all the men + were moved. The prologue, which is a very good one, was made entirely by + Garrick. The epilogue is old Cibber’s; but corrected, though not enough, + by Francis. He will get a great deal of, money by it; and, consequently, + be better able to lend you sixpence, upon any emergency. + </p> + <p> + The parliament of Paris, I find by the newspapers, has not carried its + point concerning the hospitals, and, though the King hath given up the + Archbishop, yet as he has put them under the management and direction ‘du + Grand Conseil’, the parliament is equally out of the question. This will + naturally put you upon inquiring into the constitution of the ‘Grand + Conseil’. You will, doubtless, inform yourself who it is composed of, what + things are ‘de son ressort’, whether or not there lies an appeal from + thence to any other place; and of all other particulars, that may give you + a clear notion of this assembly. There are also three or four other + Conseils in France, of which you ought to know the constitution and the + objects; I dare say you do know them already; but if you do not, lose no + time in informing yourself. These things, as I have often told you, are + best learned in various French companies: but in no English ones, for none + of our countrymen trouble their heads about them. To use a very trite + image, collect, like the bee, your store from every quarter. In some + companies (‘parmi les fermiers generaux nommement’) you may, by proper + inquiries, get a general knowledge, at least, of ‘les affaires des + finances’. When you are with ‘des gens de robe’, suck them with regard to + the constitution, and civil government, and ‘sic de caeteris’. This shows + you the advantage of keeping a great deal of different French company; an + advantage much superior to any that you can possibly receive from + loitering and sauntering away evenings in any English company at Paris, + not even excepting Lord A———. Love of ease, and fear of + restraint (to both which I doubt you are, for a young fellow, too much + addicted) may invite you among your countrymen: but pray withstand those + mean temptations, ‘et prenez sur vous’, for the sake of being in those + assemblies, which alone can inform your mind and improve your manners. You + have not now many months to continue at Paris; make the most of them; get + into every house there, if you can; extend acquaintance, know everything + and everybody there; that when you leave it for other places, you may be + ‘au fait’, and even able to explain whatever you may hear mentioned + concerning it. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0163" id="link2H_4_0163"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 2, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Whereabouts are you in Ariosto? Or have you gone through + that most ingenious contexture of truth and lies, of serious and + extravagant, of knights-errant, magicians, and all that various matter + which he announces in the beginning of his poem: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Le Donne, I Cavalier, l’arme, gli amori, + Le cortesie, l’audaci impreso io canto. +</pre> + <p> + I am by no means sure that Homer had superior invention, or excelled more + in description than Ariosto. What can be more seducing and voluptuous, + than the description of Alcina’s person and palace? What more ingeniously + extravagant, than the search made in the moon for Orlando’s lost wits, and + the account of other people’s that were found there? The whole is worth + your attention, not only as an ingenious poem, but as the source of all + modern tales, novels, fables, and romances; as Ovid’s “Metamorphoses;” was + of the ancient ones; besides, that when you have read this work, nothing + will be difficult to you in the Italian language. You will read Tasso’s + ‘Gierusalemme’, and the ‘Decamerone di Boccacio’, with great facility + afterward; and when you have read those three authors, you will, in my + opinion, have read all the works of invention that are worth reading in + that language; though the Italians would be very angry at me for saying + so. + </p> + <p> + A gentleman should know those which I call classical works, in every + language; such as Boileau, Corneille, Racine, Moliere, etc., in French; + Milton, Dryden, Pope, Swift, etc., in English; and the three authors above + mentioned in Italian; whether you have any such in German I am not quite + sure, nor, indeed, am I inquisitive. These sort of books adorn the mind, + improve the fancy, are frequently alluded to by, and are often the + subjects of conversations of the best companies. As you have languages to + read, and memory to retain them, the knowledge of them is very well worth + the little pains it will cost you, and will enable you to shine in + company. It is not pedantic to quote and allude to them, which it would be + with regard to the ancients. + </p> + <p> + Among the many advantages which you have had in your education, I do not + consider your knowledge of several languages as the least. You need not + trust to translations; you can go to the source; you can both converse and + negotiate with people of all nations, upon equal terms; which is by no + means the case of a man, who converses or negotiates in a language which + those with whom he hath to do know much better than himself. In business, + a great deal may depend upon the force and extent of one word; and, in + conversation, a moderate thought may gain, or a good one lose, by the + propriety or impropriety, the elegance or inelegance of one single word. + As therefore you now know four modern languages well, I would have you + study (and, by the way, it will be very little trouble to you) to know + them correctly, accurately, and delicately. Read some little books that + treat of them, and ask questions concerning their delicacies, of those who + are able to answer you. As, for instance, should I say in French, ‘la + lettre que je vous ai ECRIT’, or, ‘la lettre que je vous ai ECRITE’? in + which, I think, the French differ among themselves. There is a short + French grammar by the Port Royal, and another by Pere Buffier, both which + are worth your reading; as is also a little book called ‘Les Synonymes + Francois. There are books of that kind upon the Italian language, into + some of which I would advise you to dip; possibly the German language may + have something of the same sort, and since you already speak it, the more + properly you speak it the better; one would, I think, as far as possible, + do all one does correctly and elegantly. It is extremely engaging to + people of every nation, to meet with a foreigner who hath taken pains + enough to speak their language correctly; it flatters that local and + national pride and prejudice of which everybody hath some share. + </p> + <p> + Francis’s “Eugenia,” which I will send you, pleased most people of good + taste here; the boxes were crowded till the sixth night, when the pit and + gallery were totally deserted, and it was dropped. Distress, without + death, was not sufficient to affect a true British audience, so long + accustomed to daggers, racks, and bowls of poison: contrary to Horace’s + rule, they desire to see Medea murder her children upon the stage. The + sentiments were too delicate to move them; and their hearts are to be + taken by storm, not by parley. + </p> + <p> + Have you got the things, which were taken from you at Calais, restored? + and, among them, the little packet which my sister gave you for Sir + Charles Hotham? In this case, have you forwarded it to him? If you have + not had an opportunity, you will have one soon; which I desire you will + not omit; it is by Monsieur d’Aillion, whom you will see in a few days at + Paris, in his way to Geneva, where Sir Charles now is, and will remain + some time. Adieu: + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0164" id="link2H_4_0164"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 5, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: As I have received no letter from you by the usual post, I + am uneasy upon account of your health; for, had you been well, I am sure + you would have written, according to your engagement and my requisition. + You have not the least notion of any care of your health; but though I + would not have you be a valetudinarian, I must tell you that the best and + most robust health requires some degree of attention to preserve. Young + fellows, thinking they have so much health and time before them, are very + apt to neglect or lavish both, and beggar themselves before they are + aware: whereas a prudent economy in both would make them rich indeed; and + so far from breaking in upon their pleasures, would improve, and almost + perpetuate them. Be you wiser, and, before it is too late, manage both + with care and frugality; and lay out neither, but upon good interest and + security. + </p> + <p> + I will now confine myself to the employment of your time, which, though I + have often touched upon formerly, is a subject that, from its importance, + will bear repetition. You have it is true, a great deal of time before + you; but, in this period of your life, one hour usefully employed may be + worth more than four-and-twenty hereafter; a minute is precious to you + now, whole days may possibly not be so forty years hence. Whatever time + you allow, or can snatch for serious reading (I say snatch, because + company and the knowledge of the world is now your chief object), employ + it in the reading of some one book, and that a good one, till you have + finished it: and do not distract your mind with various matters at the + same time. In this light I would recommend to you to read ‘tout de suite’ + Grotius ‘de Jure Belli et Pacis’, translated by Barbeyrac, and + Puffendorff’s ‘Jus Gentium’, translated by the same hand. For accidental + quarters of hours, read works of invention, wit and humor, of the best, + and not of trivial authors, either ancient or modern. + </p> + <p> + Whatever business you have, do it the first moment you can; never by + halves, but finish it without interruption, if possible. Business must not + be sauntered and trifled with; and you must not say to it, as Felix did to + Paul, “At a more convenient season I will speak to thee.” The most + convenient season for business is the first; but study and business in + some measure point out their own times to a man of sense; time is much + oftener squandered away in the wrong choice and improper methods of + amusement and pleasures. + </p> + <p> + Many people think that they are in pleasures, provided they are neither in + study nor in business. Nothing like it; they are doing nothing, and might + just as well be asleep. They contract habitudes from laziness, and they + only frequent those places where they are free from all restraints and + attentions. Be upon your guard against this idle profusion of time; and + let every place you go to be either the scene of quick and lively + pleasures, or the school of your own improvements; let every company you + go into either gratify your senses, extend your knowledge, or refine your + manners. Have some decent object of gallantry in view at some places; + frequent others, where people of wit and taste assemble; get into others, + where people of superior rank and dignity command respect and attention + from the rest of the company; but pray frequent no neutral places, from + mere idleness and indolence. Nothing forms a young man so much as being + used to keep respectable and superior company, where a constant regard and + attention is necessary. It is true, this is at first a disagreeable state + of restraint; but it soon grows habitual, and consequently easy; and you + are amply paid for it, by the improvement you make, and the credit it + gives you. What you said some time ago was very true, concerning ‘le + Palais Royal’; to one of your age the situation is disagreeable enough: + you cannot expect to be much taken notice of; but all that time you can + take notice of others; observe their manners, decipher their characters, + and insensibly you will become one of the company. + </p> + <p> + All this I went through myself, when I was of your age. I have sat hours + in company without being taken the least notice of; but then I took notice + of them, and learned in their company how to behave myself better in the + next, till by degrees I became part of the best companies myself. But I + took great care not to lavish away my time in those companies where there + were neither quick pleasures nor useful improvements to be expected. + </p> + <p> + Sloth, indolence, and ‘mollesse’ are pernicious and unbecoming a young + fellow; let them be your ‘ressource’ forty years hence at soonest. + Determine, at all events, and however disagreeable it may to you in some + respects, and for some time, to keep the most distinguished and + fashionable company of the place you are at, either for their rank, or for + their learning, or ‘le bel esprit et le gout’. This gives you credentials + to the best companies, wherever you go afterward. Pray, therefore, no + indolence, no laziness; but employ every minute in your life in active + pleasures, or useful employments. Address yourself to some woman of + fashion and beauty, wherever you are, and try how far that will go. If the + place be not secured beforehand, and garrisoned, nine times in ten you + will take it. By attentions and respect you may always get into the + highest company: and by some admiration and applause, whether merited or + not, you may be sure of being welcome among ‘les savans et les beaux + esprits’. There are but these three sorts of company for a young fellow; + there being neither pleasure nor profit in any other. + </p> + <p> + My uneasiness with regard to your health is this moment removed by your + letter of the 8th N. S., which, by what accident I do not know, I did not + receive before. + </p> + <p> + I long to read Voltaire’s ‘Rome Sauvee’, which, by the very faults that + your SEVERE critics find with it, I am sure I shall like; for I will at an + any time give up a good deal of regularity for a great deal of brillant; + and for the brillant surely nobody is equal to Voltaire. Catiline’s + conspiracy is an unhappy subject for a tragedy; it is too single, and + gives no opportunity to the poet to excite any of the tender passions; the + whole is one intended act of horror, Crebillon was sensible of this + defect, and to create another interest, most absurdly made Catiline in + love with Cicero’s daughter, and her with him. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that you went to Versailles, and dined with Monsieur de St. + Contest. That is company to learn ‘les bonnes manieres’ in; and it seems + you had ‘les bonnes morceaux’ into the bargain. Though you were no part of + the King of France’s conversation with the foreign ministers, and probably + not much entertained with it, do you think that it is not very useful to + you to hear it, and to observe the turn and manners of people of that + sort? It is extremely useful to know it well. The same in the next rank of + people, such as ministers of state, etc., in whose company, though you + cannot yet, at your age, bear a part, and consequently be diverted, you + will observe and learn, what hereafter it may be necessary for you to act. + </p> + <p> + Tell Sir John Lambert that I have this day fixed Mr. Spencer’s having his + credit upon him; Mr. Hoare had also recommended him. I believe Mr. Spencer + will set out next month for some place in France, but not Paris. I am sure + he wants a great deal of France, for at present he is most entirely + English: and you know very well what I think of that. And so we bid you + heartily good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0165" id="link2H_4_0165"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 16, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: How do you go on with the most useful and most necessary + of all studies, the study of the world? Do you find that you gain + knowledge? And does your daily experience at once extend and demonstrate + your improvement? You will possibly ask me how you can judge of that + yourself. I will tell you a sure way of knowing. Examine yourself, and see + whether your notions of the world are changed, by experience, from what + they were two years ago in theory; for that alone is one favorable symptom + of improvement. At that age (I remember it in myself) every notion that + one forms is erroneous; one hath seen few models, and those none of the + best, to form one’s self upon. One thinks that everything is to be carried + by spirit and vigor; that art is meanness, and that versatility and + complaisance are the refuge of pusilanimity and weakness. This most + mistaken opinion gives an indelicacy, a ‘brusquerie’, and a roughness to + the manners. Fools, who can never be undeceived, retain them as long as + they live: reflection, with a little experience, makes men of sense shake + them off soon. When they come to be a little better acquainted with + themselves, and with their own species, they discover that plain right + reason is, nine times in ten, the fettered and shackled attendant of the + triumph of the heart and the passions; and, consequently, they address + themselves nine times in ten to the conqueror, not to the conquered: and + conquerors, you know, must be applied to in the gentlest, the most + engaging, and the most insinuating manner. Have you found out that every + woman is infallibly to be gained by every sort of flattery, and every man + by one sort or other? Have you discovered what variety of little things + affect the heart, and how surely they collectively gain it? If you have, + you have made some progress. I would try a man’s knowledge of the world, + as I would a schoolboy’s knowledge of Horace: not by making him construe + ‘Maecenas atavis edite regibus’, which he could do in the first form; but + by examining him as to the delicacy and ‘curiosa felicitas’ of that poet. + A man requires very little knowledge and experience of the world, to + understand glaring, high-colored, and decided characters; they are but + few, and they strike at first: but to distinguish the almost imperceptible + shades, and the nice gradations of virtue and vice, sense and folly, + strength and weakness (of which characters are commonly composed), demands + some experience, great observation, and minute attention. In the same + cases, most people do the same things, but with this material difference, + upon which the success commonly turns: A man who hath studied the world + knows when to time, and where to place them; he hath analyzed the + characters he applies to, and adapted his address and his arguments to + them: but a man, of what is called plain good sense, who hath only + reasoned by himself, and not acted with mankind, mistimes, misplaces, runs + precipitately and bluntly at the mark, and falls upon his nose in the way. + In the common manners of social life, every man of common sense hath the + rudiments, the A B C of civility; he means not to offend, and even wishes + to please: and, if he hath any real merit, will be received and tolerated + in good company. But that is far from being enough; for, though he may be + received, he will never be desired; though he does not offend, he will + never be loved; but, like some little, insignificant, neutral power, + surrounded by great ones, he will neither be feared nor courted by any; + but, by turns, invaded by all, whenever it is their interest. A most + contemptible situation! Whereas, a man who hath carefully attended to, and + experienced, the various workings of the heart, and the artifices of the + head; and who, by one shade, can trace the progression of the whole color; + who can, at the proper times, employ all the several means of persuading + the understanding, and engaging the heart, may and will have enemies; but + will and must have friends: he may be opposed, but he will be supported + too; his talents may excite the jealousy of some, but his engaging arts + will make him beloved by many more; he will be considerable; he will be + considered. Many different qualifications must conspire to form such a + man, and to make him at once respectable and amiable; the least must be + joined to the greatest; the latter would be unavailing without the former; + and the former would be futile and frivolous, without the latter. Learning + is acquired by reading books; but the much more necessary learning, the + knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and + studying all the various editions of them. Many words in every language + are generally thought to be synonymous; but those who study the language + attentively will find, that there is no such thing; they will discover + some little difference, some distinction between all those words that are + vulgarly called synonymous; one hath always more energy, extent, or + delicacy, than another. It is the same with men; all are in general, and + yet no two in particular, exactly alike. Those who have not accurately + studied, perpetually mistake them; they do not discern the shades and + gradations that distinguish characters seemingly alike. Company, various + company, is the only school for this knowledge. You ought to be, by this + time, at least in the third form of that school, from whence the rise to + the uppermost is easy and quick; but then you must have application and + vivacity; and you must not only bear with, but even seek restraint in most + companies, instead of stagnating in one or two only, where indolence and + love of ease may be indulged. + </p> + <p> + In the plan which I gave you in my last,—[That letter is missing.]—for + your future motions, I forgot to tell you; that, if a king of the Romans + should be chosen this year, you shall certainly be at that election; and + as, upon those occasions, all strangers are excluded from the place of the + election, except such as belong to some ambassador, I have already + eventually secured you a place in the suite of the King’s Electoral + Ambassador, who will be sent upon that account to Frankfort, or wherever + else the election may be. This will not only secure you a sight of the + show, but a knowledge of the whole thing; which is likely to be a + contested one, from the opposition of some of the electors, and the + protests of some of the princes of the empire. That election, if there is + one, will, in my opinion, be a memorable era in the history of the empire; + pens at least, if not swords, will be drawn; and ink, if not blood, will + be plentifully shed by the contending parties in that dispute. During the + fray, you may securely plunder, and add to your present stock of knowledge + of the ‘jus publicum imperii’. The court of France hath, I am told, + appointed le President Ogier, a man of great abilities, to go immediately + to Ratisbon, ‘pour y souffler la discorde’. It must be owned that France + hath always profited skillfully of its having guaranteed the treaty of + Munster; which hath given it a constant pretense to thrust itself into the + affairs of the empire. When France got Alsace yielded by treaty, it was + very willing to have held it as a fief of the empire; but the empire was + then wiser. Every power should be very careful not to give the least + pretense to a neighboring power to meddle with the affairs of its + interior. Sweden hath already felt the effects of the Czarina’s calling + herself Guarantee of its present form of government, in consequence of the + treaty of Neustadt, confirmed afterward by that of Abo; though, in truth, + that guarantee was rather a provision against Russia’s attempting to alter + the then new established form of government in Sweden, than any right + given to Russia to hinder the Swedes from establishing what form of + government they pleased. Read them both, if you can get them. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0166" id="link2H_4_0166"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 73, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I receive this moment your letter of the 19th, N. S., with + the inclosed pieces relative to the present dispute between the King and + the parliament. I shall return them by Lord Huntingdon, whom you will soon + see at Paris, and who will likewise carry you the piece, which I forgot in + making up the packet I sent you by the Spanish Ambassador. The + representation of the parliament is very well drawn, ‘suaviter in modo, + fortiter in re’. They tell the King very respectfully, that, in a certain + case, WHICH THEY SHOULD THINK IT CRIMINAL To SUPPOSE, they would not obey + him. This hath a tendency to what we call here revolution principles. I do + not know what the Lord’s anointed, his vicegerent upon earth, divinely + appointed by him, and accountable to none but him for his actions, will + either think or do, upon these symptoms of reason and good sense, which + seem to be breaking out all over France: but this I foresee, that, before + the end of this century, the trade of both king and priest will not be + half so good a one as it has been. Du Clos, in his “Reflections,” hath + observed, and very truly, ‘qu’il y a un germe de raison qui commence a se + developper en France’;—a developpement that must prove fatal to + Regal and Papal pretensions. Prudence may, in many cases, recommend an + occasional submission to either; but when that ignorance, upon which an + implicit faith in both could only be founded, is once removed, God’s + Vicegerent, and Christ’s Vicar, will only be obeyed and believed, as far + as what the one orders, and the other says, is conformable to reason and + to truth. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad (to use a vulgar expression) that You MAKE AS IF YOU WERE + NOT WELL, though you really are; I am sure it is the likeliest way to keep + so. Pray leave off entirely your greasy, heavy pastry, fat creams, and + indigestible dumplings; and then you need not confine yourself to white + meats, which I do not take to be one jot wholesomer than beef, mutton, and + partridge. + </p> + <p> + Voltaire sent me, from Berlin, his ‘History du Siecle de Louis XIV. It + came at a very proper time; Lord Bolingbroke had just taught me how + history should be read; Voltaire shows me how it should be written. I am + sensible that it will meet with almost as many critics as readers. + Voltaire must be criticised; besides, every man’s favorite is attacked: + for every prejudice is exposed, and our prejudices are our mistresses; + reason is at best our wife, very often heard indeed, but seldom minded. It + is the history of the human understanding, written by a man of parts, for + the use of men of parts. Weak minds will not like it, even though they do + not understand it; which is commonly the measure of their admiration. Dull + ones will want those minute and uninteresting details with which most + other histories are encumbered. He tells me all I want to know, and + nothing more. His reflections are short, just, and produce others in his + readers. Free from religious, philosophical, political and national + prejudices, beyond any historian I ever met with, he relates all those + matters as truly and as impartially, as certain regards, which must always + be to some degree observed, will allow him; for one sees plainly that he + often says much less than he would say, if he might. He hath made me much + better acquainted with the times of Lewis XIV., than the innumerable + volumes which I had read could do; and hath suggested this reflection to + me, which I have never made before—His vanity, not his knowledge, + made him encourage all, and introduce many arts and sciences in his + country. He opened in a manner the human understanding in France, and + brought it to its utmost perfection; his age equalled in all, and greatly + exceeded in many things (pardon me, Pedants!) the Augustan. This was great + and rapid; but still it might be done, by the encouragement, the applause, + and the rewards of a vain, liberal, and magnificent prince. What is much + more surprising is, that he stopped the operations of the human mind just + where he pleased; and seemed to say, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no + farther.” For, a bigot to his religion, and jealous of his power, free and + rational thoughts upon either, never entered into a French head during his + reign; and the greatest geniuses that ever any age produced, never + entertained a doubt of the divine right of Kings, or the infallibility of + the Church. Poets, Orators, and Philosophers, ignorant of their natural + rights, cherished their chains; and blind, active faith triumphed, in + those great minds, over silent and passive reason. The reverse of this + seems now to be the case in France: reason opens itself; fancy and + invention fade and decline. + </p> + <p> + I will send you a copy of this history by Lord Huntingdon, as I think it + very probable that it is not allowed to be published and sold at Paris. + Pray read it more than once, and with attention, particularly the second + volume, which contains short, but very clear accounts of many very + interesting things, which are talked of by everybody, though fairly. + understood by very few. There are two very puerile affectations which I + wish this book had been free from; the one is, the total subversion of all + the old established French orthography; the other is, the not making use + of any one capital letter throughout the whole book, except at the + beginning of a paragraph. It offends my eyes to see rome, paris, france, + Caesar, I henry the fourth, etc., begin with small letters; and I do not + conceive that there can be any reason for doing it, half so strong as the + reason of long usage is to the contrary. This is an affectation below + Voltaire; who, I am not ashamed to say, that I admire and delight in, as + an author, equally in prose and in verse. + </p> + <p> + I had a letter a few days ago from Monsieur du Boccage, in which he says, + ‘Monsieur Stanhope s’est jete dans la politique, et je crois qu’il y + reussira’: You do very well, it is your destination; but remember that, to + succeed in great things, one must first learn to please in little ones. + Engaging manners and address must prepare the way for superior knowledge + and abilities to act with effect. The late Duke of Marlborough’s manners + and address prevailed with the first king of Prussia, to let his troops + remain in the army of the Allies, when neither their representations, nor + his own share in the common cause could do it. The Duke of Marlborough had + no new matter to urge to him; but had a manner, which he could not, nor + did not, resist. Voltaire, among a thousand little delicate strokes of + that kind, says of the Duke de la Feuillade, ‘qu’il etoit l’homme le plus + brillant et le plus aimable du royaume; et quoique gendre du General et + Ministre, il avoit pour lui la faveur publique’. Various little + circumstances of that sort will often make a man of great real merit be + hated, if he hath not address and manners to make him be loved. Consider + all your own circumstances seriously; and you will find that, of all arts, + the art of pleasing is the most necessary for you to study and possess. A + silly tyrant said, ‘oderint modo timeant’; a wise man would have said, + ‘modo ament nihil timendum est mihi’. Judge from your own daily + experience, of the efficacy of that pleasing ‘je ne sais quoi’, when you + feel, as you and everybody certainly does, that in men it is more engaging + than knowledge, in women than beauty. + </p> + <p> + I long to see Lord and Lady———-(who are not yet + arrived), because they have lately seen you; and I always fancy, that I + can fish out something new concerning you, from those who have seen you + last: not that I shall much rely upon their accounts, because I distrust + the judgment of Lord and Lady———-, in those matters + about which I am most inquisitive. They have ruined their own son by what + they called and thought loving him. They have made him believe that the + world was made for him, not he for the world; and unless he stays abroad a + great while, and falls into very good company, he will expect, what he + will never find, the attentions and complaisance from others, which he has + hitherto been used to from Papa and Mamma. This, I fear, is too much the + case of Mr. ----; who, I doubt, will be run through the body, and be near + dying, before he knows how to live. However you may turn out, you can + never make me any of these reproaches. I indulged no silly, womanish + fondness for you; instead of inflicting my tenderness upon you, I have + taken all possible methods to make you deserve it; and thank God you do; + at least, I know but one article, in which you are different from what I + could wish you; and you very well know what that is I want: That I and all + the world should like you, as well as I love you. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0167" id="link2H_4_0167"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 30, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: ‘Avoir du monde’ is, in my opinion, a very just and happy + expression for having address, manners, and for knowing how to behave + properly in all companies; and it implies very truly that a man who hath + not those accomplishments is not of the world. Without them, the best + parts are inefficient, civility is absurd, and freedom offensive. A + learned parson, rusting in his cell, at Oxford or Cambridge, will season + admirably well upon the nature of man; will profoundly analyze the head, + the heart, the reason, the will, the passions, the senses, the sentiments, + and all those subdivisions of we know not what; and yet, unfortunately, he + knows nothing of man, for he hath not lived with him; and is ignorant of + all the various modes, habits, prejudices, and tastes, that always + influence and often determine him. He views man as he does colors in Sir + Isaac Newton’s prism, where only the capital ones are seen; but an + experienced dyer knows all their various shades and gradations, together + with the result of their several mixtures. Few men are of one plain, + decided color; most are mixed, shaded, and blended; and vary as much, from + different situations, as changeable silks do form different lights. The + man ‘qui a du monde’ knows all this from his own experience and + observation: the conceited, cloistered philosopher knows nothing of it + from his own theory; his practice is absurd and improper, and he acts as + awkwardly as a man would dance, who had never seen others dance, nor + learned of a dancing-master; but who had only studied the notes by which + dances are now pricked down as well as tunes. Observe and imitate, then, + the address, the arts, and the manners of those ‘qui ont du monde’: see by + what methods they first make, and afterward improve impressions in their + favor. Those impressions are much oftener owing to little causes than to + intrinsic merit; which is less volatile, and hath not so sudden an effect. + Strong minds have undoubtedly an ascendant over weak ones, as Galigai + Marachale d’Ancre very justly observed, when, to the disgrace and reproach + of those times, she was executed for having governed Mary of Medicis by + the arts of witchcraft and magic. But then ascendant is to be gained by + degrees, and by those arts only which experience and the knowledge of the + world teaches; for few are mean enough to be bullied, though most are weak + enough to be bubbled. I have often seen people of superior, governed by + people of much inferior parts, without knowing or even suspecting that + they were so governed. This can only happen when those people of inferior + parts have more worldly dexterity and experience, than those they govern. + They see the weak and unguarded part, and apply to it they take it, and + all the rest follows. Would you gain either men or women, and every man of + sense desires to gain both, ‘il faut du monde’. You have had more + opportunities than ever any man had, at your age, of acquiring ‘ce monde’. + You have been in the best companies of most countries, at an age when + others have hardly been in any company at all. You are master of all those + languages, which John Trott seldom speaks at all, and never well; + consequently you need be a stranger nowhere. This is the way, and the only + way, of having ‘du monde’, but if you have it not, and have still any + coarse rusticity about you, may not one apply to you the ‘rusticus + expectat’ of Horace? + </p> + <p> + This knowledge of the world teaches us more particularly two things, both + which are of infinite consequence, and to neither of which nature inclines + us; I mean, the command of our temper, and of our countenance. A man who + has no ‘monde’ is inflamed with anger, or annihilated with shame, at every + disagreeable incident: the one makes him act and talk like a madman, the + other makes him look like a fool. But a man who has ‘du monde’, seems not + to understand what he cannot or ought not to resent. If he makes a slip + himself, he recovers it by his coolness, instead of plunging deeper by his + confusion like a stumbling horse. He is firm, but gentle; and practices + that most excellent maxim, ‘suaviter in modo, fortiter in re’. The other + is the ‘volto sciolto a pensieri stretti’. People unused to the world have + babbling countenances; and are unskillful enough to show what they have + sense enough not to tell. In the course of the world, a man must very + often put on an easy, frank countenance, upon very disagreeable occasions; + he must seem pleased when he is very much otherwise; he must be able to + accost and receive with smiles, those whom he would much rather meet with + swords. In courts he must not turn himself inside out. All this may, nay + must be done, without falsehood and treachery; for it must go no further + than politeness and manners, and must stop short of assurances and + professions of simulated friendship. Good manners, to those one does not + love, are no more a breach of truth, than “your humble servant” at the + bottom of a challenge is; they are universally agreed upon and understood, + to be things of course. They are necessary guards of the decency and peace + of society; they must only act defensively; and then not with arms + poisoned by perfidy. Truth, but not the whole truth, must be the + invariable principle of every man, who hath either religion, honor, or + prudence. Those who violate it may be cunning, but they are not able. Lies + and perfidy are the refuge of fools and cowards. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + P. S. I must recommend to you again, to take your leave of all your French + acquaintance, in such a manner as may make them regret your departure, and + wish to see and welcome you at Paris again, where you may possibly return + before it is very long. This must not be done in a cold, civil manner, but + with at least seeming warmth, sentiment, and concern. Acknowledge the + obligations you have to them for the kindness they have shown you during + your stay at Paris: assure them that wherever you are, you will remember + them with gratitude; wish for opportunities of giving them proofs of your + ‘plus tendre et respectueux souvenir; beg of them in case your good + fortune should carry them to any part of the world where you could be of + any the least use to them, that they would employ you without reserve. Say + all this, and a great deal more, emphatically and pathetically; for you + know ‘si vis me flere’. This can do you no harm, if you never return to + Paris; but if you do, as probably you may, it will be of infinite use to + you. Remember too, not to omit going to every house where you have ever + been once, to take leave and recommend yourself to their remembrance. The + reputation which you leave at one place, where you have been, will + circulate, and you will meet with it at twenty places where you are to go. + That is a labor never quite lost. + </p> + <p> + This letter will show you, that the accident which happened to me + yesterday, and of which Mr. Grevenkop gives you account, hath had no bad + consequences. My escape was a great one. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0168" id="link2H_4_0168"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 11, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: I break my word by writing this letter; but I break it on the + allowable side, by doing more than I promised. I have pleasure in writing + to you; and you may possibly have some profit in reading what I write; + either of the motives were sufficient for me, both for you I cannot + withstand. By your last I calculate that you will leave Paris upon this + day se’nnight; upon that supposition, this letter may still find you + there. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Perry arrived here two or three days ago, and sent me a book from + you; Cassandra abridged. I am sure it cannot be too much abridged. The + spirit of that most voluminous work, fairly extracted, may be contained in + the smallest duodecimo; and it is most astonishing, that there ever could + have been people idle enough to write or read such endless heaps of the + same stuff. It was, however, the occupation of thousands in the last + century, and is still the private, though disavowed, amusement of young + girls, and sentimental ladies. A lovesick girl finds, in the captain with + whom she is in love, all the courage and all the graces of the tender and + accomplished Oroondates: and many a grown-up, sentimental lady, talks + delicate Clelia to the hero, whom she would engage to eternal love, or + laments with her that love is not eternal. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ah! qu’il est doux d’aimer, si Pon aimoit toujours! + Mais helas! il’n’est point d’eternelles amours.” + </pre> + <p> + It is, however, very well to have read one of those extravagant works (of + all which La Calprenede’s are the best), because it is well to be able to + talk, with some degree of knowledge, upon all those subjects that other + people talk sometimes upon: and I would by no means have anything, that is + known to others, be totally unknown to you. It is a great advantage for + any man, to be able to talk or to hear, neither ignorantly nor absurdly, + upon any subject; for I have known people, who have not said one word, + hear ignorantly and absurdly; it has appeared in their inattentive and + unmeaning faces. + </p> + <p> + This, I think, is as little likely to happen to you as to anybody of your + age: and if you will but add a versatility and easy conformity of manners, + I know no company in which you are likely to be de trop. + </p> + <p> + This versatility is more particularly necessary for you at this time, now + that you are going to so many different places: for, though the manners + and customs of the several courts of Germany are in general the same, yet + everyone has its particular characteristic; some peculiarity or other, + which distinguishes it from the next. This you should carefully attend to, + and immediately adopt. Nothing flatters people more, nor makes strangers + so welcome, as such an occasional conformity. I do not mean by this, that + you should mimic the air and stiffness of every awkward German court; no, + by no means; but I mean that you should only cheerfully comply, and fall + in with certain local habits, such as ceremonies, diet, turn of + conversation, etc. People who are lately come from Paris, and who have + been a good while there, are generally suspected, and especially in + Germany, of having a degree of contempt for every other place. Take great + care that nothing of this kind appear, at least outwardly, in your + behavior; but commend whatever deserves any degree of commendation, + without comparing it with what you may have left, much better of the same + kind, at Paris. As for instance, the German kitchen is, without doubt, + execrable, and the French delicious; however, never commend the French + kitchen at a German table; but eat of what you can find tolerable there, + and commend it, without comparing it to anything better. I have known many + British Yahoos, who though while they were at Paris conformed to no one + French custom, as soon as they got anywhere else, talked of nothing but + what they did, saw, and eat at Paris. The freedom of the French is not to + be used indiscriminately at all the courts in Germany, though their + easiness may, and ought; but that, too, at some places more than others. + The courts of Manheim and Bonn, I take to be a little more unbarbarized + than some others; that of Mayence, an ecclesiastical one, as well as that + of Treves (neither of which is much frequented by foreigners), retains, I + conceive, a great deal of the Goth and Vandal still. There, more reserve + and ceremony are necessary; and not a word of the French. At Berlin, you + cannot be too French. Hanover, Brunswick, Cassel, etc., are of the mixed + kind, ‘un peu decrottes, mais pas assez’. + </p> + <p> + Another thing, which I most earnestly recommend to you, not only in + Germany, but in every part of the world where you may ever be, is not only + real, but seeming attention, to whoever you speak to, or to whoever speaks + to you. There is nothing so brutally shocking, nor so little forgiven, as + a seeming inattention to the person who is speaking to you: and I have + known many a man knocked down, for (in my opinion) a much lighter + provocation, than that shocking inattention which I mean. I have seen many + people, who, while you are speaking to them, instead of looking at, and + attending to you, fix their eyes upon the ceiling or some other part of + the room, look out of the window, play with a dog, twirl their snuff-box, + or pick their nose. Nothing discovers a little, futile, frivolous mind + more than this, and nothing is so offensively ill-bred; it is an explicit + declaration on your part, that every the most trifling object, deserves + your attention more than all that can be said by the person who is + speaking to you. Judge of the sentiments of hatred and resentment, which + such treatment must excite in every breast where any degree of self-love + dwells; and I am sure I never yet met with that breast where there was not + a great deal: I repeat it again and again (for it is highly necessary for + you to remember it), that sort of vanity and self-love is inseparable from + human nature, whatever may be its rank or condition; even your footmen + will sooner forget and forgive a beating, than any manifest mark of slight + and contempt. Be therefore, I beg of you, not only really, but seemingly + and manifestly attentive to whoever speaks to you; nay, more, take their + ‘ton’, and tune yourself to their unison. Be serious with the serious, gay + with the gay, and trifle with the triflers. In assuming these various + shapes, endeavor to make each of them seem to sit easy upon you, and even + to appear to be your own natural one. This is the true and useful + versatility, of which a thorough knowledge of the world at once teaches + the utility and the means of acquiring. + </p> + <p> + I am very sure, at least I hope, that you will never make use of a silly + expression, which is the favorite expression, and the absurd excuse of all + fools and blockheads; I CANNOT DO SUCH A THING; a thing by no means either + morally or physically impossible. I CANNOT attend long together to the + same thing, says one fool; that is, he is such a fool that he will not. I + remember a very awkward fellow, who did not know what to do with his + sword, and who always took it off before dinner, saying that he could not + possibly dine with his sword on; upon which I could not help telling him, + that I really believed he could without any probable danger either to + himself or others. It is a shame and an absurdity, for any man to say that + he cannot do all those things, which are commonly done by all the rest of + mankind. + </p> + <p> + Another thing that I must earnestly warn you against is laziness; by which + more people have lost the fruit of their travels than, perhaps, by any + other thing. Pray be always in motion. Early in the morning go and see + things; and the rest of the day go and see people. If you stay but a week + at a place, and that an insignificant one, see, however, all that is to be + seen there; know as many people, and get into as many houses, as ever you + can. + </p> + <p> + I recommend to you likewise, though probably you have thought of it + yourself, to carry in your pocket a map of Germany, in which the postroads + are marked; and also some short book of travels through Germany. The + former will help to imprint in your memory situations and distances; and + the latter will point out many things for you to see, that might otherwise + possibly escape you, and which, though they may be in themselves of little + consequence, you would regret not having seen, after having been at the + places where they were. + </p> + <p> + Thus warned and provided for your journey, God speed you; ‘Felix + faustumque sit! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0169" id="link2H_4_0169"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 27, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I send you the inclosed original from a friend of ours, + with my own commentaries upon the text; a text which I have so often + paraphrased, and commented upon already, that I believe I can hardly say + anything new upon it; but, however, I cannot give it over till I am better + convinced, than I yet am, that you feel all the utility, the importance, + and the necessity of it; nay, not only feel, but practice it. Your + panegyrist allows you, what most fathers would be more than satisified + with, in a son, and chides me for not contenting myself with + ‘l’essentiellement bon’; but I, who have been in no one respect like other + fathers, cannot neither, like them, content myself with ‘l’essentiellement + bon’; because I know that it will not do your business in the world, while + you want ‘quelques couches de vernis’. Few fathers care much for their + sons, or, at least, most of them care more for their money: and, + consequently, content themselves with giving them, at the cheapest rate, + the common run of education: that is, a school till eighteen; the + university till twenty; and a couple of years riding post through the + several towns of Europe; impatient till their boobies come home to be + married, and, as they call it, settled. Of those who really love their + sons, few know how to do it. Some spoil them by fondling them while they + are young, and then quarrel with them when they are grown up, for having + been spoiled; some love them like mothers, and attend only to the bodily + health and strength of the hopes of their family, solemnize his birthday, + and rejoice, like the subjects of the Great Mogul, at the increase of his + bulk; while others, minding, as they think, only essentials, take pains + and pleasure to see in their heir, all their favorite weaknesses and + imperfections. I hope and believe that I have kept clear of all of these + errors in the education which I have given you. No weaknesses of my own + have warped it, no parsimony has starved it, no rigor has deformed it. + Sound and extensive learning was the foundation which I meant to lay—I + have laid it; but that alone, I knew, would by no means be sufficient: the + ornamental, the showish, the pleasing superstructure was to be begun. In + that view, I threw you into the great world, entirely your own master, at + an age when others either guzzle at the university, or are sent abroad in + servitude to some awkward, pedantic Scotch governor. This was to put you + in the way, and the only way of acquiring those manners, that address, and + those graces, which exclusively distinguish people of fashion; and without + which all moral virtues, and all acquired learning, are of no sort of use + in the courts and ‘le beau monde’: on the contrary, I am not sure if they + are not an hindrance. They are feared and disliked in those places, as too + severe, if not smoothed and introduced by the graces; but of these graces, + of this necessary ‘beau vernis’, it seems there are still ‘quelque couches + qui manquent’. Now, pray let me ask you, coolly and seriously, ‘pourquoi + ces couches manquent-elles’? For you may as easily take them, as you may + wear more or less powder in your hair, more or less lace upon your coat. I + can therefore account for your wanting them no other way in the world, + than from your not being yet convinced of their full value. You have heard + some English bucks say, “Damn these finical outlandish airs, give me a + manly, resolute manner. They make a rout with their graces, and talk like + a parcel of dancing-masters, and dress like a parcel of fops: one good + Englishman will beat three of them.” But let your own observation + undeceive you of these prejudices. I will give you one instance only, + instead of an hundred that I could give you, of a very shining fortune and + figure, raised upon no other foundation whatsoever, than that of address, + manners, and graces. Between you and me (for this example must go no + further), what do you think made our friend, Lord A——e, + Colonel of a regiment of guards, Governor of Virginia, Groom of the Stole, + and Ambassador to Paris; amounting in all to sixteen or seventeen thousand + pounds a year? Was it his birth? No, a Dutch gentleman only. Was it his + estate? No, he had none. Was it his learning, his parts, his political + abilities and application? You can answer these questions as easily, and + as soon, as I can ask them. What was it then? Many people wondered, but I + do not; for I know, and will tell you. It was his air, his address, his + manners, and his graces. He pleased, and by pleasing he became a favorite; + and by becoming a favorite became all that he has been since. Show me any + one instance, where intrinsic worth and merit, unassisted by exterior + accomplishments, have raised any man so high. You know the Due de + Richelieu, now ‘Marechal, Cordon bleu, Gentilhomme de la Chambre’, twice + Ambassador, etc. By what means? Not by the purity of his character, the + depth of his knowledge, or any uncommon penetration and sagacity. Women + alone formed and raised him. The Duchess of Burgundy took a fancy to him, + and had him before he was sixteen years old; this put him in fashion among + the beau monde: and the late Regent’s oldest daughter, now Madame de + Modene, took him next, and was near marrying him. These early connections + with women of the first distinction gave him those manners, graces, and + address, which you see he has; and which, I can assure you, are all that + he has; for, strip him of them, and he will be one of the poorest men in + Europe. Man or woman cannot resist an engaging exterior; it will please, + it will make its way. You want, it seems, but ‘quelques couches’; for + God’s sake, lose no time in getting them; and now you have gone so far, + complete the work. Think of nothing else till that work is finished; + unwearied application will bring about anything: and surely your + application can never be so well employed as upon that object, which is + absolutely necessary to facilitate all others. With your knowledge and + parts, if adorned by manners and graces, what may you not hope one day to + be? But without them, you will be in the situation of a man who should be + very fleet of one leg but very lame of the other. He could not run; the + lame leg would check and clog the well one, which would be very near + useless. + </p> + <p> + From my original plan for your education, I meant to make you ‘un homme + universel’; what depends on me is executed, the little that remains undone + depends singly upon you. Do not then disappoint, when you can so easily + gratify me. It is your own interest which I am pressing you to pursue, and + it is the only return that I desire for all the care and affection of, + Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0170" id="link2H_4_0170"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 31, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The world is the book, and the only one to which, at + present, I would have you apply yourself; and the thorough knowledge of it + will be of more use to you, than all the books that ever were read. Lay + aside the best book whenever you can go into the best company; and depend + upon it, you change for the better. However, as the most tumultuous life, + whether of business or pleasure, leaves some vacant moments every day, in + which a book is the refuge of a rational being, I mean now to point out to + you the method of employing those moments (which will and ought to be but + few) in the most advantageous manner. Throw away none of your time upon + those trivial, futile books, published by idle or necessitous authors, for + the amusement of idle and ignorant readers; such sort of books swarm and + buzz about one every day; flap them away, they have no sting. ‘Certum pete + finem’, have some one object for those leisure moments, and pursue that + object invariably till you have attained it; and then take some other. For + instance, considering your destination, I would advise you to single out + the most remarkable and interesting eras of modern history, and confine + all your reading to that ERA. If you pitch upon the Treaty of Munster (and + that is the proper period to begin with, in the course which I am now + recommending), do not interrupt it by dipping and deviating into other + books, unrelative to it; but consult only the most authentic histories, + letters, memoirs, and negotiations, relative to that great transaction; + reading and comparing them, with all that caution and distrust which Lord + Bolingbroke recommends to you, in a better manner, and in better words + than I can. The next period worth your particular knowledge, is the Treaty + of the Pyrenees: which was calculated to lay, and in effect did lay, the + succession of the House of Bourbon to the crown of Spain. Pursue that in + the same manner, singling, out of the millions of volumes written upon + that occasion, the two or three most authentic ones, and particularly + letters, which are the best authorities in matters of negotiation. Next + come the Treaties of Nimeguen and Ryswick, postscripts in, a manner to + those of Munster and the Pyrenees. Those two transactions have had great + light thrown upon them by the publication of many authentic and original + letters and pieces. The concessions made at the Treaty of Ryswick, by the + then triumphant Lewis the Fourteenth, astonished all those who viewed + things only superficially; but, I should think, must have been easily + accounted for by those who knew the state of the kingdom of Spain, as well + as of the health of its King, Charles the Second, at that time. The + interval between the conclusion of the peace of Ryswick, and the breaking + out of the great war in 1702, though a short, is a most interesting one. + Every week of it almost produced some great event. Two partition treaties, + the death of the King of Spain, his unexpected will, and the acceptance of + it by Lewis the Fourteenth, in violation of the second treaty of + partition, just signed and ratified by him. Philip the Fifth quietly and + cheerfully received in Spain, and acknowledged as King of it, by most of + those powers, who afterward joined in an alliance to dethrone him. I + cannot help making this observation upon that occasion: That character has + often more to do in great transactions, than prudence and sound policy; + for Lewis the Fourteenth gratified his personal pride, by giving a Bourbon + King to Spain, at the expense of the true interest of France; which would + have acquired much more solid and permanent strength by the addition of + Naples, Sicily, and Lorraine, upon the footing of the second partition + treaty; and I think it was fortunate for Europe that he preferred the + will. It is true, he might hope to influence his Bourbon posterity in + Spain; he knew too well how weak the ties of blood are among men, and how + much weaker still they are among princes. The Memoirs of Count Harrach, + and of Las Torres, give a good deal of light into the transactions of the + Court of Spain, previous to the death of that weak King; and the Letters + of the Marachal d’Harcourt, then the French Ambassador in Spain, of which + I have authentic copies in manuscript, from the year 1698 to 1701, have + cleared up that whole affair to me. I keep that book for you. It appears + by those letters, that the impudent conduct of the House of Austria, with + regard to the King and Queen of Spain, and Madame Berlips, her favorite, + together with the knowledge of the partition treaty, which incensed all + Spain, were the true and only reasons of the will, in favor of the Duke of + Anjou. Cardinal Portocarrero, nor any of the Grandees, were bribed by + France, as was generally reported and believed at that time; which + confirms Voltaire’s anecdote upon that subject. Then opens a new scene and + a new century; Lewis the Fourteenth’s good fortune forsakes him, till the + Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene make him amends for all the mischief + they had done him, by making the allies refuse the terms of peace offered + by him at Gertruydenberg. How the disadvantageous peace of Utrecht was + afterward brought on, you have lately read; and you cannot inform yourself + too minutely of all those circumstances, that treaty ‘being the freshest + source from whence the late transactions of Europe have flowed. The + alterations that have since happened, whether by wars or treaties, are so + recent, that all the written accounts are to be helped out, proved, or + contradicted, by the oral ones of almost every informed person, of a + certain age or rank in life. For the facts, dates, and original pieces of + this century, you will find them in Lamberti, till the year 1715, and + after that time in Rousset’s ‘Recueil’. + </p> + <p> + I do not mean that you should plod hours together in researches of this + kind: no, you may employ your time more usefully: but I mean, that you + should make the most of the moments you do employ, by method, and the + pursuit of one single object at a time; nor should I call it a digression + from that object, if when you meet with clashing and jarring pretensions + of different princes to the same thing, you had immediately recourse to + other books, in which those several pretensions were clearly stated; on + the contrary, that is the only way of remembering those contested rights + and claims: for, were a man to read ‘tout de suite’, Schwederus’s + ‘Theatrum Pretensionum’, he would only be confounded by the variety, and + remember none of them; whereas, by examining them occasionally, as they + happen to occur, either in the course of your historical reading, or as + they are agitated in your own times, you will retain them, by connecting + them with those historical facts which occasioned your inquiry. For + example, had you read, in the course of two or three folios of + Pretensions, those, among others, of the two Kings of England and Prussia + to Oost Frise, it is impossible, that you should have remembered them; but + now, that they are become the debated object at the Diet at Ratisbon, and + the topic of all political conversations, if you consult both books and + persons concerning them, and inform yourself thoroughly, you will never + forget them as long as you live. You will hear a great deal of them ow one + side, at Hanover, and as much on the other side, afterward, at Berlin: + hear both sides, and form your own opinion; but dispute with neither. + </p> + <p> + Letters from foreign ministers to their courts, and from their courts to + them, are, if genuine, the best and most authentic records you can read, + as far as they go. Cardinal d’Ossat’s, President Jeanin’s, D’Estrade’s, + Sir William Temple’s, will not only inform your mind, but form your style; + which, in letters of business, should be very plain and simple, but, at + the same time, exceedingly clear, correct, and pure. + </p> + <p> + All that I have said may be reduced to these two or three plain + principles: 1st, That you should now read very little, but converse a + great deal; 2d, To read no useless, unprofitable books; and 3d, That those + which you do read, may all tend to a certain object, and be relative to, + and consequential of each other. In this method, half an hour’s reading + every day will carry you a great way. People seldom know how to employ + their time to the best advantage till they have too little left to employ; + but if, at your age, in the beginning of life, people would but consider + the value of it, and put every moment to interest, it is incredible what + an additional fund of knowledge and pleasure such an economy would bring + in. I look back with regret upon that large sum of time, which, in my + youth, I lavished away idly, without either improvement or pleasure. Take + warning betimes, and enjoy every moment; pleasures do not commonly last so + long as life, and therefore should not be neglected; and the longest life + is too short for knowledge, consequently every moment is precious. + </p> + <p> + I am surprised at having received no letter from you since you left Paris. + I still direct this to Strasburgh, as I did my two last. I shall direct my + next to the post house at Mayence, unless I receive, in the meantime, + contrary instructions from you. Adieu. Remember les attentions: they must + be your passports into good company. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0171" id="link2H_4_0171"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Very few celebrated negotiators have been eminent for + their learning. The most famous French negotiators (and I know no nation + that can boast of abler) have been military men, as Monsieur d’Harcourt, + Comte d’Estrades, Marechal d’Uxelles, and others. The late Duke of + Marlborough, who was at least as able a negotiator as a general, was + exceedingly ignorant of books, but extremely knowing in men, whereas the + learned Grotius appeared, both in Sweden and in France, to be a very + bungling minister. This is, in my opinion, very easily to be accounted + for. A man of very deep learning must have employed the greatest part of + his time in books; and a skillful negotiator must necessarily have + employed much the greater part of his time with man. The sound scholar, + when dragged out of his dusty closet into business, acts by book, and + deals with men as he has read of them; not as he has known them by + experience: he follows Spartan and Roman precedents, in what he falsely + imagines to be similar cases; whereas two cases never were, since the + beginning of the world, exactly alike; and he would be capable, where he + thought spirit and vigor necessary, to draw a circle round the persons he + treated with, and to insist upon a categorical answer before they went out + of it, because he had read, in the Roman history, that once upon a time + some Roman ambassador, did so. No; a certain degree of learning may help, + but no degree of learning will ever make a skillful minister whereas a + great knowledge of the world, of the characters, passions, and habits of + mankind, has, without one grain of learning, made a thousand. Military men + have seldom much knowledge of books; their education does not allow it; + but what makes great amends for that want is, that they generally know a + great deal of the world; they are thrown into it young; they see variety + of nations and characters; and they soon find, that to rise, which is the + aim of them all, they must first please: these concurrent causes almost + always give them manners and politeness. In consequence of which, you see + them always distinguished at courts, and favored by the women. I could + wish that you had been of an age to have made a campaign or two as a + volunteer. It would have given you an attention, a versatility, and an + alertness; all which I doubt you want; and a great want it is. + </p> + <p> + A foreign minister has not great business to transact every day; so that + his knowledge and his skill in negotiating are not frequently put to the + trial; but he has that to do every day, and every hour of the day, which + is necessary to prepare and smooth the way for his business; that is, to + insinuate himself by his manners, not only into the houses, but into the + confidence of the most considerable people of that place; to contribute to + their pleasures, and insensibly not to be looked upon as a stranger + himself. A skillful minister may very possibly be doing his master’s + business full as well, in doing the honors gracefully and genteelly of a + ball or a supper, as if he were laboriously writing a protocol in his + closet. The Marechal d’Harcourt, by his magnificence, his manners, and his + politeness, blunted the edge of the long aversion which the Spaniards had + to the French. The court and the grandees were personally fond, of him, + and frequented his house; and were at least insensibly brought to prefer a + French to a German yoke; which I am convinced would never have happened, + had Comte d’Harrach been Marechal d’Harcourt, or the Marechal d’Harcourt + Comte d’Harrach. The Comte d’Estrades had, by ‘ses manieres polies et + liantes’, formed such connections, and gained such an interest in the + republic of the United Provinces, that Monsieur De Witt, the then + Pensionary of Holland, often applied to him to use his interest with his + friend, both in Holland and the other provinces, whenever he (De Witt) had + a difficult point which he wanted to carry. This was certainly not brought + about by his knowledge of books, but of men: dancing, fencing, and riding, + with a little military architecture, were no doubt the top of his + education; and if he knew that ‘collegium’ in Latin signified college in + French, it must have been by accident. But he knew what was more useful: + from thirteen years old he had been in the great world, and had read men + and women so long, that he could then read them at sight. + </p> + <p> + Talking the other day, upon this and other subjects, all relative to you, + with one who knows and loves you very well, and expressing my anxiety and + wishes that your exterior accomplishments, as a man of fashion, might + adorn, and at least equal your intrinsic merit as a man of sense and + honor, the person interrupted me, and said: Set your heart at rest; that + never will or can happen. It is not in character; that gentleness, that + ‘douceur’, those attentions which you wish him to have, are not in his + nature; and do what you will, nay, let him do what he will, he can never + acquire them. Nature may be a little disguised and altered by care; but + can by no means whatsoever be totally forced and changed. I denied this + principle to a certain degree; but admitting, however, that in many + respects our nature was not to be changed; and asserting, at the same + time, that in others it might by care be very much altered and improved, + so as in truth to be changed; that I took those exterior accomplishments, + which we had been talking of, to be mere modes, and absolutely depending + upon the will, and upon custom; and that, therefore, I was convinced that + your good sense, which must show you the importance of them, would make + you resolve at all events to acquire them, even in spite of nature, if + nature be in the case. Our dispute, which lasted a great while, ended as + Voltaire observes that disputes in England are apt to do, in a wager of + fifty guineas; which I myself am to decide upon honor, and of which this + is a faithful copy. If you think I shall win it, you may go my halves if + you please; declare yourself in time. This I declare, that I would most + cheerfully give a thousand guineas to win those fifty; you may secure them + me if you please. + </p> + <p> + I grow very impatient for your future letters from the several courts of + Manheim, Bonn, Hanover, etc. And I desire that your letters may be to me, + what I do not desire they should be to anybody else, I mean full of + yourself. Let the egotism, a figure which upon all other occasions I + detest, be your only one to me. Trifles that concern you are not trifles + to me; and my knowledge of them may possibly be useful to you. Adieu. ‘Les + graces, les graces, les graces’. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0172" id="link2H_4_0172"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 23, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I direct this letter to Mayence, where I think it is + likely to meet you, supposing, as I do, that you stayed three weeks at + Manheim, after the date of your last from thence; but should you have + stayed longer at Manheim, to which I have no objection, it will wait for + you at Mayence. Mayence will not, I believe, have charms to detain you + above a week; so that I reckon you will be at Bonn at the end of July, N. + S. There you may stay just as little or as long as you please, and then + proceed to Hanover. + </p> + <p> + I had a letter by the last post from a relation of mine at Hanover, Mr. + Stanhope Aspinwall, who is in the Duke of Newcastle’s office, and has + lately been appointed the King’s Minister to the Dey of Algiers; a post + which, notwithstanding your views of foreign affairs, I believe you do not + envy him. He tells me in that letter, there are very good lodgings to be + had at one Mrs. Meyers’s, the next door to the Duke of Newcastle’s, which + he offers to take for you; I have desired him to do it, in case Mrs. + Meyers will wait for you till the latter end of August, or the beginning + of September, N. S., which I suppose is about the time when you will be at + Hanover. You will find this Mr. Aspinwall of great use to you there. He + will exert himself to the utmost to serve you; he has been twice or thrice + at Hanover, and knows all the allures there: he is very well with the Duke + of Newcastle, and will puff you there. Moreover, if you have a mind to + work there as a volunteer in that bureau, he will assist and inform you. + In short, he is a very honest, sensible, and informed man; ‘mais me paye + pas beaucoup de sa figure; il abuse meme du privilege qu’ont les hommes + d’etre laids; et il ne sera pas en reste avec les lions et les leopards + qu’il trouvera a Alger’. + </p> + <p> + As you are entirely master of the time when you will leave Bonn and go to + Hanover, so are you master to stay at Hanover as long as you please, and + to go from thence where you please; provided that at Christmas you are at + Berlin, for the beginning of the Carnival: this I would not have you say + at Hanover, considering the mutual disposition of those two courts; but + when anybody asks you where you are to go next, say that you propose + rambling in Germany, at Brunswick, Cassel, etc., till the next spring; + when you intend to be in Flanders, in your way to England. I take Berlin, + at this time, to be the politest, the most shining, and the most useful + court in Europe for a young fellow to be at: and therefore I would upon no + account not have you there, for at least a couple of months of the + Carnival. If you are as well received, and pass your time as well at Bonn + as I believe you will, I would advise you to remain there till about the + 20th of August, N. S., in four days you will be at Hanover. As for your + stay there, it must be shorter or longer, according to certain + circumstances WHICH YOU KNOW OF; supposing them, at the best, then, stay + within a week or ten days of the King’s return to England; but supposing + them at the worst, your stay must not be too short, for reasons which you + also know; no resentment must either appear or be suspected; therefore, at + worst, I think you must remain there a month, and at best, as long as ever + you please. But I am convinced that all will turn out very well for you + there. Everybody is engaged or inclined to help you; the ministers, + English and German, the principal ladies, and most of the foreign + ministers; so that I may apply to you, ‘nullum numen abest, si sit + prudentia’. Du Perron will, I believe, be back there from Turin much about + the time you get there: pray be very attentive to him, and connect + yourself with him as much as ever you can; for, besides that he is a very + pretty and well-informed man, he is very much in fashion at Hanover, is + personally very well with the King and certain ladies; so that a visible + intimacy and connection with him will do you credit and service. Pray + cultivate Monsieur Hop, the Dutch minister, who has always been very much + my friend, and will, I am sure, be yours; his manners, it is true, are not + very engaging; he is rough, but he is sincere. It is very useful sometimes + to see the things which one ought to avoid, as it is right to see very + often those which one ought to imitate, and my friend Hop’s manners will + frequently point out to you, what yours ought to be by the rule of + contraries. + </p> + <p> + Congreve points out a sort of critics, to whom he says that we are doubly + obliged:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rules for good writing they with pains indite, + Then show us what is bad, by what they write.” + </pre> + <p> + It is certain that Monsieur Hop, with the best heart in the world, and a + thousand good qualities, has a thousand enemies, and hardly a friend; + simply from the roughness of his manners. + </p> + <p> + N. B. I heartily wish you could have stayed long enough at Manheim to have + been seriously and desperately in love with Madame de Taxis; who, I + suppose, is a proud, insolent, fine lady, and who would consequently have + expected attentions little short of adoration: nothing would do you more + good than such a passion; and I live in hopes that somebody or other will + be able to excite such an one in you; your hour may not yet be come, but + it will come. Love has not been unaptly compared to the smallpox which + most people have sooner or later. Iphigenia had a wonderful effect upon + Cimon; I wish some Hanover Iphigenia may try her skill upon you. + </p> + <p> + I recommend to you again, though I have already done it twice or thrice, + to speak German, even affectedly, while you are at Hanover; which will + show that you prefer that language, and be of more use to you there with + SOMEBODY, than you can imagine. When you carry my letters to Monsieur + Munchausen and Monsieur Schwiegeldt, address yourself to them in German; + the latter speaks French very well, but the former extremely ill. Show + great attention to Madame, Munchausen’s daughter, who is a great favorite; + those little trifles please mothers, and sometimes fathers, extremely. + Observe, and you will find, almost universally, that the least things + either please or displease most; because they necessarily imply, either a + very strong desire of obliging, or an unpardonable indifference about it. + I will give you a ridiculous instance enough of this truth, from my own + experience. When I was Ambassador the first time in Holland, Comte de + Wassenaer and his wife, people of the first rank and consideration, had a + little boy of about three years old, of whom they were exceedingly fond; + in order to make my court to them, I was so too, and used to take the + child often upon my lap, and play with him. One day his nose was very + dirty, upon which I took out my handkerchief and wiped it for him; this + raised a loud laugh, and they called me a very, handy nurse; but the + father and mother were so pleased with it, that to this day it is an + anecdote in the family, and I never receive a letter from Comte Wassenaer, + but he makes me the compliments ‘du morveux gue j’ai mouche autrefois’; + who, by the way, I am assured, is now the prettiest young fellow in + Holland. Where one would gain people, remember that nothing is little. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0173" id="link2H_4_0173"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 26, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: As I have reason to fear, from your M last letter of the + 18th, N. S., from Manheim, that all, or at least most of my letters to + you, since you left Paris, have miscarried; I think it requisite, at all + events, to repeat in this the necessary parts of those several letters, as + far as they relate to your future motions. + </p> + <p> + I suppose that this will either find you, or be but a few days before you + at Bonn, where it is directed; and I suppose too, that you have fixed your + time for going from thence to Hanover. If things TURN OUT WELL AT HANOVER, + as in my opinion they will, ‘Chi sta bene non si muova’, stay there till a + week or ten days before the King sets out for England; but, should THEY + TURN OUT ILL, which I cannot imagine, stay, however, a month, that your + departure may not seem a step of discontent or peevishness; the very + suspicion of which is by all means to be avoided. Whenever you leave + Hanover, be it sooner or be it later, where would you go? ‘Lei Padrone’, + and I give you your choice: would you pass the months of November and + December at Brunswick, Cassel, etc.? Would you choose to go for a couple + of months to Ratisbon, where you would be very well recommended to, and + treated by the King’s Electoral Minister, the Baron de Behr, and where you + would improve your ‘Jus publicum’? or would you rather go directly to + Berlin, and stay there till the end of the Carnival? Two or three months + at Berlin are, considering all circumstances, necessary for you; and the + Carnival months are the best; ‘pour le reste decidez en dernier ressort, + et sans appel comme d’abus’. Let me know your decree, when you have formed + it. Your good or ill success at Hanover will have a very great influence + upon your subsequent character, figure, and fortune in the world; + therefore I confess that I am more anxious about it, than ever bride was + on her wedding night, when wishes, hopes, fears, and doubts, tumultuously + agitate, please, and terrify her. It is your first crisis: the character + which you will acquire there will, more or less, be that which will abide + by you for the rest of your life. You will be tried and judged there, not + as a boy, but as a man; and from that moment there is no appeal for + character; it is fixed. To form that character advantageously, you have + three objects particularly to attend to: your character as a man of + morality, truth, and honor; your knowledge in the objects of your + destination, as a man of business; and your engaging and insinuating + address, air and manners, as a courtier; the sure and only steps to favor. + </p> + <p> + Merit at courts, without favor, will do little or nothing; favor, without + merit, will do a good deal; but favor and merit together will do + everything. Favor at courts depends upon so many, such trifling, such + unexpected, and unforeseen events, that a good courtier must attend to + every circumstance, however little, that either does, or can happen; he + must have no absences, no DISTRACTIONS; he must not say, “I did not mind + it; who would have thought it?” He ought both to have minded, and to have + thought it. A chamber-maid has sometimes caused revolutions in courts + which have produced others in kingdoms. Were I to make my way to favor in + a court, I would neither willfully, nor by negligence, give a dog or a cat + there reason to dislike me. Two ‘pies grieches’, well instructed, you + know, made the fortune of De Luines with Lewis XIII. Every step a man + makes at court requires as much attention and circumspection, as those + which were made formerly between hot plowshares, in the Ordeal, or fiery + trials; which, in those times of ignorance and superstition, were looked + upon as demonstrations of innocence or guilt. Direct your principal + battery, at Hanover, at the D of N ‘s: there are many very weak places in + that citadel; where, with a very little skill, you cannot fail making a + great impression. Ask for his orders in everything you do; talk Austrian + and Anti-gallican to him; and, as soon as you are upon a foot of talking + easily to him, tell him ‘en badinant’, that his skill and success in + thirty or forty elections in England leave you no reason to doubt of his + carrying his election for Frankfort; and that you look upon the Archduke + as his Member for the Empire. In his hours of festivity and compotation, + drop that he puts you in mind of what Sir William Temple says of the + Pensionary De Witt,—who at that time governed half Europe,—that + he appeared at balls, assemblies, and public places, as if he had nothing + else to do or to think of. When he talks to you upon foreign affairs, + which he will often do, say that you really cannot presume to give any + opinion of your own upon those matters, looking upon yourself at present + only as a postscript to the corps diplomatique; but that, if his Grace + will be pleased to make you an additional volume to it, though but in + duodecimo, you will do your best that he shall neither be ashamed nor + repent of it. He loves to have a favorite, and to open himself to that + favorite. He has now no such person with him; the place is vacant, and if + you have dexterity you may fill it. In one thing alone do not humor him; I + mean drinking; for, as I believe, you have never yet been drunk, you do + not yourself know how you can bear your wine, and what a little too much + of it may make you do or say; you might possibly kick down all you had + done before. + </p> + <p> + You do not love gaming, and I thank God for it; but at Hanover I would + have you show, and profess a particular dislike to play, so as to decline + it upon all occasions, unless where one may be wanted to make a fourth at + whist or quadrille; and then take care to declare it the result of your + complaisance, not of your inclinations. Without such precaution you may + very possibly be suspected, though unjustly, of loving play, upon account + of my former passion for it; and such a suspicion would do you a great + deal of hurt, especially with the King, who detests gaming. I must end + this abruptly. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0174" id="link2H_4_0174"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXII + </h2> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Versatility as a courtier may be almost decisive to you + hereafter; that is, it may conduce to, or retard your preferment in your + own destination. The first reputation goes a great way; and if you fix a + good one at Hanover, it will operate also to your advantage in England. + The trade of a courtier is as much a trade as that of a shoemaker; and he + who applies himself the most, will work the best: the only difficulty is + to distinguish (what I am sure you have sense enough to distinguish) + between the right and proper qualifications and their kindred faults; for + there is but a line between every perfection and its neighboring + imperfection. As, for example, you must be extremely well-bred and polite, + but without the troublesome forms and stiffness of ceremony. You must be + respectful and assenting, but without being servile and abject. You must + be frank, but without indiscretion; and close, without being costive. You + must keep up dignity of character, without the least pride of birth or + rank. You must be gay within all the bounds of decency and respect; and + grave without the affectation of wisdom, which does not become the age of + twenty. You must be essentially secret, without being dark and mysterious. + You must be firm, and even bold, but with great seeming modesty. + </p> + <p> + With these qualifications, which, by the way, are all in your own power, I + will answer for your success, not only at Hanover, but at any court in + Europe. And I am not sorry that you begin your apprenticeship at a little + one; because you must be more circumspect, and more upon your guard there, + than at a great one, where every little thing is not known nor reported. + </p> + <p> + When you write to me, or to anybody else, from thence, take care that your + letters contain commendations of all that you see and hear there; for they + will most of them be opened and read; but, as frequent couriers will come + from Hanover to England, you may sometimes write to me without reserve; + and put your letters into a very little box, which you may send safely by + some of them. + </p> + <p> + I must not omit mentioning to you, that at the Duke of Newcastle’s table, + where you will frequently dine, there is a great deal of drinking; be upon + your guard against it, both upon account of your health, which would not + bear it, and of the consequences of your being flustered and heated with + wine: it might engage you in scrapes and frolics, which the King (who is a + very sober man himself) detests. On the other hand, you should not seem + too grave and too wise to drink like the rest of the company; therefore + use art: mix water with your wine; do not drink all that is in the glass; + and if detected, and pressed to drink more do not cry out sobriety; but + say that you have lately been out of order, that you are subject to + inflammatory complaints, and that you must beg to be excused for the + present. A young fellow ought to be wiser than he should seem to be; and + an old fellow ought to seem wise whether he really’ be so or not. + </p> + <p> + During your stay at Hanover I would have you make two or three excursions + to parts of that Electorate: the Hartz, where the silver mines are; + Gottingen, for the University; Stade, for what commerce there is. You + should also go to Zell. In short, see everything that is to be seen there, + and inform yourself well of all the details of that country. Go to Hamburg + for three or four days, and know the constitution of that little Hanseatic + Republic, and inform yourself well of the nature of the King of Denmark’s + pretensions to it. + </p> + <p> + If all things turn out right for you at Hanover, I would have you make it + your head-quarters, till about a week or ten days before the King leaves + it; and then go to Brunswick, which, though a little, is a very polite, + pretty court. You may stay there a fortnight or three weeks, as you like + it; and from thence go to Cassel, and stay there till you go to Berlin; + where I would have you be by Christmas. At Hanover you will very easily + get good letters of recommendation to Brunswick and to Cassel. You do not + want any to Berlin; however, I will send you one for Voltaire. ‘A propos’ + of Berlin, be very reserved and cautious while at Hanover, as to that King + and that country; both which are detested, because feared by everybody + there, from his Majesty down to the meanest peasant; but, however, they + both extremely deserve your utmost attention and you will see the arts and + wisdom of government better in that country, now, than in any other in + Europe. You may stay three months at Berlin, if you like it, as I believe + you will; and after that I hope we shall meet there again. + </p> + <p> + Of all the places in the world (I repeat it once more), establish a good + reputation at Hanover, ‘et faites vous valoir la, autant qu’il est + possible, par le brillant, les manieres, et les graces’. Indeed it is of + the greatest importance to you, and will make any future application to + the King in your behalf very easy. He is more taken by those little + things, than any man, or even woman, that I ever knew in my life: and I do + not wonder at him. In short, exert to the utmost all your means and powers + to please: and remember that he who pleases the most, will rise the + soonest and the highest. Try but once the pleasure and advantage of + pleasing, and I will answer that you will never more neglect the means. + </p> + <p> + I send you herewith two letters, the one to Monsieur Munchausen, the other + to Monsieur Schweigeldt, an old friend of mine, and a very sensible + knowing man. They will both I am sure, be extremely civil to you, and + carry you into the best company; and then it is your business to please + that company. I never was more anxious about any period of your life, than + I am about this, your Hanover expedition, it being of so much more + consequence to you than any other. If I hear from thence, that you are + liked and loved there, for your air, your manners, and address, as well as + esteemed for your knowledge, I shall be the happiest man in the world. + Judge then what I must be, if it happens otherwise. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0175" id="link2H_4_0175"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 21, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: By my calculation this letter may probably arrive at + Hanover three or four days before you; and as I am sure of its arriving + there safe, it shall contain the most material points that I have + mentioned in my several letters to you since you left Paris, as if you had + received but few of them, which may very probably be the case. + </p> + <p> + As for your stay at Hanover, it must not IN ALL EVENTS be less than a + month; but if things turn out to Your SATISFACTION, it may be just as long + as you please. From thence you may go wherever you like; for I have so + good an opinion of your judgment, that I think you will combine and weigh + all circumstances, and choose the properest places. Would you saunter at + some of the small courts, as Brunswick, Cassel, etc., till the Carnival at + Berlin? You are master. Would you pass a couple of months at Ratisbon, + which might not be ill employed? ‘A la bonne heure’. Would you go to + Brussels, stay a month or two there with Dayrolles, and from thence to Mr. + Yorke, at The Hague? With all my heart. Or, lastly, would you go to + Copenhagen and Stockholm? ‘Lei e anche Padrone’: choose entirely for + yourself, without any further instructions from me; only let me know your + determination in time, that I may settle your credit, in case you go to + places where at present you have none. Your object should be to see the + ‘mores multorum hominum et urbes’; begin and end it where you please. + </p> + <p> + By what you have already seen of the German courts, I am sure you must + have observed that they are much more nice and scrupulous, in points of + ceremony, respect and attention, than the greater courts of France and + England. You will, therefore, I am persuaded, attend to the minutest + circumstances of address and behavior, particularly during your stay at + Hanover, which (I will repeat it, though I have said it often to you + already) is the most important preliminary period of your whole life. + Nobody in the world is more exact, in all points of good-breeding, than + the King; and it is the part of every man’s character, that he informs + himself of first. The least negligence, or the slightest inattention, + reported to him, may do you infinite prejudice: as their contraries would + service. + </p> + <p> + If Lord Albemarle (as I believe he did) trusted you with the secret + affairs of his department, let the Duke of Newcastle know that he did so; + which will be an inducement to him to trust you too, and possibly to + employ you in affairs of consequence. Tell him that, though you are young, + you know the importance of secrecy in business, and can keep a secret; + that I have always inculcated this doctrine into you, and have, moreover, + strictly forbidden you ever to communicate, even to me, any matters of a + secret nature, which you may happen to be trusted with in the course of + business. + </p> + <p> + As for business, I think I can trust you to yourself; but I wish I could + say as much for you with regard to those exterior accomplishments, which + are absolutely necessary to smooth and shorten the way to it. Half the + business is done, when one has gained the heart and the affections of + those with whom one is to transact it. Air and address must begin, manners + and attention must finish that work. I will let you into one secret + concerning myself; which is, that I owe much more of the success which I + have had in the world to my manners, than to any superior degree of merit + or knowledge. I desired to please, and I neglected none of the means. + This, I can assure you, without any false modesty, is the truth: You have + more knowledge than I had at your age, but then I had much more attention + and good-breeding than you. Call it vanity, if you please, and possibly it + was so; but my great object was to make every man I met with like me, and + every woman love me. I often succeeded; but why? By taking great pains, + for otherwise I never should: my figure by no means entitled me to it; and + I had certainly an up-hill game; whereas your countenance would help you, + if you made the most of it, and proscribed for ever the guilty, gloomy, + and funereal part of it. Dress, address, and air, would become your best + countenance, and make your little figure pass very well. + </p> + <p> + If you have time to read at Hanover, pray let the books you read be all + relative to the history and constitution of that country; which I would + have you know as correctly as any Hanoverian in the whole Electorate. + Inform yourself of the powers of the States, and of the nature and extent + of the several judicatures; the particular articles of trade and commerce + of Bremen, Harburg, and Stade; the details and value of the mines of the + Hartz. Two or three short books will give you the outlines of all these + things; and conversation turned upon those subjects will do the rest, and + better than books can. + </p> + <p> + Remember of all things to speak nothing but German there; make it (to + express myself pedantically) your vernacular language; seem to prefer it + to any other; call it your favorite language, and study to speak it with + purity and elegance, if it has any. This will not only make you perfect in + it, but will please, and make your court there better than anything. A + propos of languages: Did you improve your Italian while you were at Paris, + or did you forget it? Had you a master there? and what Italian books did + you read with him? If you are master of Italian, I would have you + afterward, by the first convenient opportunity, learn Spanish, which you + may very easily, and in a very little time do; you will then, in the + course of your foreign business, never be obliged to employ, pay, or trust + any translator for any European language. + </p> + <p> + As I love to provide eventually for everything that can possibly happen, I + will suppose the worst that can befall you at Hanover. In that case I + would have you go immediately to the Duke of Newcastle, and beg his + Grace’s advice, or rather orders, what you should do; adding, that his + advice will always be orders to you. You will tell him that though you are + exceedingly mortified, you are much less so than you should otherwise be, + from the consideration that being utterly unknown to his M——-, + his objection could not be personal to you, and could only arise from + circumstances which it was not in your power either to prevent or remedy; + that if his Grace thought that your continuing any longer there would be + disagreeable, you entreated him to tell you so; and that upon the whole, + you referred yourself entirely to him, whose orders you should most + scrupulously obey. But this precaution, I dare say, is ‘ex abundanti’, and + will prove unnecessary; however, it is always right to be prepared for all + events, the worst as well as the best; it prevents hurry and surprise, two + dangerous, situations in business; for I know no one thing so useful, so + necessary in all business, as great coolness, steadiness, and sangfroid: + they give an incredible advantage over whoever one has to do with. + </p> + <p> + I have received your letter of the 15th, N. S., from Mayence, where I find + that you have diverted yourself much better than I expected. I am very + well acquainted with Comte Cobentzel’s character, both of parts and + business. He could have given you letters to Bonn, having formerly resided + there himself. You will not be so agreeably ELECTRIFIED where this letter + will find you, as you were both at Manheim and Mayence; but I hope you may + meet with a second German Mrs. F——-d, who may make you forget + the two former ones, and practice your German. Such transient passions + will do you no harm; but, on the contrary, a great deal of good; they will + refine your manners and quicken your attention; they give a young fellow + ‘du brillant’, and bring him into fashion; which last is a great article + at setting out in the world. + </p> + <p> + I have wrote, about a month ago, to Lord Albemarle, to thank him for all + his kindnesses to you; but pray have you done as much? Those are the + necessary attentions which should never be omitted, especially in the + beginning of life, when a character is to be established. + </p> + <p> + That ready wit; which you so partially allow me, and so justly Sir Charles + Williams, may create many admirers; but, take my word for it, it makes few + friends. It shines and dazzles like the noon-day sun, but, like that too, + is very apt to scorch; and therefore is always feared. The milder morning + and evening light and heat of that planet soothe and calm our minds. Good + sense, complaisance, gentleness of manners, attentions and graces are the + only things that truly engage, and durably keep the heart at long run. + Never seek for wit; if it presents itself, well and good; but, even in + that case, let your judgment interpose; and take care that it be not at + the expense of anybody. Pope says very truly: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “There are whom heaven has blest with store of wit; + Yet want as much again to govern it.” + </pre> + <p> + And in another place, I doubt with too much truth: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “For wit and judgment ever are at strife + Though meant each other’s aid, like man and wife.” + </pre> + <p> + The Germans are very seldom troubled with any extraordinary ebullitions or + effervescenses of wit, and it is not prudent to try it upon them; whoever + does, ‘ofendet solido’. + </p> + <p> + Remember to write me very minute accounts of all your transactions at + Hanover, for they excite both my impatience and anxiety. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0176" id="link2H_4_0176"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, August 4, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I am extremely concerned at the return of your old + asthmatic complaint, of which your letter from Cassel of the 28th July, N. + S., in forms me. I believe it is chiefly owing to your own negligence; + for, notwithstanding the season of the year, and the heat and agitation of + traveling, I dare swear you have not taken one single dose of gentle, + cooling physic, since that which I made you take at Bath. I hope you are + now better, and in better hands. I mean in Dr. Hugo’s at Hanover: he is + certainly a very skillful physician, and therefore I desire that you will + inform him most minutely of your own case, from your first attack in + Carniola, to this last at Marpurgh; and not only follow his prescriptions + exactly at present, but take his directions, with regard to the regimen + that he would have you observe to prevent the returns of this complaint; + and, in case of any returns, the immediate applications, whether external + or internal, that he would have you make use of. Consider, it is very + worth your while to submit at present to any course of medicine or diet, + to any restraint or confinement, for a time, in order to get rid, once for + all, of so troublesome and painful a distemper; the returns of which would + equally break in upon your business or your pleasures. Notwithstanding all + this, which is plain sense and reason, I much fear that, as soon as ever + you are got out of your present distress, you will take no preventive + care, by a proper course of medicines and regimen; but, like most people + of your age, think it impossible that you ever should be ill again. + However, if you will not be wise for your own sake, I desire you will be + so for mine, and most scrupulously observe Dr. Hugo’s present and future + directions. + </p> + <p> + Hanover, where I take it for granted you are, is at present the seat and + centre of foreign negotiations; there are ministers from almost every + court in Europe; and you have a fine opportunity of displaying with + modesty, in conversation, your knowledge of the matters now in agitation. + The chief I take to be the Election of the King of the Romans, which, + though I despair of, heartily wish were brought about for two reasons. The + first is, that I think it may prevent a war upon the death of the present + Emperor, who, though young and healthy, may possibly die, as young and + healthy people often do. The other is, the very reason that makes some + powers oppose it, and others dislike it, who do not openly oppose it; I + mean, that it may tend to make the imperial dignity hereditary in the + House of Austria; which I heartily wish, together with a very great + increase of power in the empire: till when, Germany will never be anything + near a match for France. Cardinal Richelieu showed his superior abilities + in nothing more, than in thinking no pains or expense too great to break + the power of the House of Austria in the empire. Ferdinand had certainly + made himself absolute, and the empire consequently formidable to France, + if that Cardinal had not piously adopted the Protestant cause, and put the + empire, by the treaty of Westphalia, in pretty much the same disjointed + situation in which France itself was before Lewis the Eleventh; when + princes of the blood, at the head of provinces, and Dukes of Brittany, + etc., always opposed, and often gave laws to the crown. Nothing but making + the empire hereditary in the House of Austria, can give it that strength + and efficiency, which I wish it had, for the sake of the balance of power. + For, while the princes of the empire are so independent of the emperor, so + divided among themselves, and so open to the corruption of the best + bidders, it is ridiculous to expect that Germany ever will, or can act as + a compact and well-united body against France. But as this notion of mine + would as little please SOME OF OUR FRIENDS, as many of our enemies, I + would not advise you, though you should be of the same opinion, to declare + yourself too freely so. Could the Elector Palatine be satisfied, which I + confess will be difficult, considering the nature of his pretensions, the + tenaciousness and haughtiness of the court of Vienna (and our inability to + do, as we have too often done, their work for them); I say, if the Elector + Palatine could be engaged to give his vote, I should think it would be + right to proceed to the election with a clear majority of five votes; and + leave the King of Prussia and the Elector of Cologne, to protest and + remonstrate as much as ever they please. The former is too wise, and the + latter too weak in every respect, to act in consequence of these protests. + The distracted situation of France, with its ecclesiastical and + parliamentary quarrels, not to mention the illness and possibly the death + of the Dauphin, will make the King of Prussia, who is certainly no + Frenchman in his heart, very cautious how he acts as one. The Elector of + Saxony will be influenced by the King of Poland, who must be determined by + Russia, considering his views upon Poland, which, by the by, I hope he + will never obtain; I mean, as to making that crown hereditary in his + family. As for his sons having it by the precarious tenure of election, by + which his father now holds it, ‘a la bonne heure’. But, should Poland have + a good government under hereditary kings, there would be a new devil + raised in Europe, that I do not know who could lay. I am sure I would not + raise him, though on my own side for the present. + </p> + <p> + I do not know how I came to trouble my head so much about politics today, + which has been so very free from them for some years: I suppose it was + because I knew that I was writing to the most consummate politician of + this, and his age. If I err, you will set me right; ‘si quid novisti + rectius istis, candidus imperti’, etc. + </p> + <p> + I am excessively impatient for your next letter, which I expect by the + first post from Hanover, to remove my anxiety, as I hope it will, not only + with regard to your health, but likewise to OTHER THINGS; in the meantime + in the language of a pedant, but with the tenderness of a parent, ‘jubeo + te bene valere’. + </p> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield makes you many compliments, and is much concerned at + your indisposition. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0177" id="link2H_4_0177"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXV + </h2> + <h3> + TO MONSIEUR DE VOLTAIRE, NOW STAYING AT BERLIN. + </h3> + <p> + LONDON, August 27, O. S. 1752. + </p> + <p> + SIR: As a most convincing proof how infinitely I am interested in + everything which concerns Mr. Stanhope, who will have the honor of + presenting you this letter, I take the liberty of introducing him to you. + He has read a great deal, he has seen a great deal; whether or not he has + made a proper use of that knowledge, is what I do not know: he is only + twenty years of age. He was at Berlin some years ago, and therefore he + returns thither; for at present people are attracted toward the north by + the same motives which but lately drew them to the south. + </p> + <p> + Permit me, Sir, to return you thanks for the pleasure and instruction I + have received from your ‘History of Lewis XIV’. I have as yet read it but + four times, because I wish to forget it a little before I read it a fifth; + but I find that impossible: I shall therefore only wait till you give us + the augmentation which you promised; let me entreat you not to defer it + long. I thought myself pretty conversant in the history of the reign of + Lewis XIV., by means of those innumerable histories, memoirs, anecdotes, + etc., which I had read relative to that period of time. You have convinced + me that I was mistaken, and had upon that subject very confused ideas in + many respects, and very false ones in others. Above all, I cannot but + acknowledge the obligation we have to you, Sir, for the light which you + have thrown upon the follies and outrages of the different sects; the + weapons you employ against those madmen, or those impostors, are the only + suitable ones; to make use of any others would be imitating them: they + must be attacked by ridicule, and, punished with contempt. ‘A propos’ of + those fanatics; I send you here inclosed a piece upon that subject, + written by the late Dean Swift: I believe you will not dislike it. You + will easily guess why it never was printed: it is authentic, and I have + the original in his own handwriting. His Jupiter, at the Day of judgment, + treats them much as you do, and as they deserve to be treated. + </p> + <p> + Give me leave, Sir, to tell you freely, that I am embarrassed upon your + account, as I cannot determine what it is that I wish from you. When I + read your last history, I am desirous that you should always write + history; but when I read your ‘Rome Sauvee’ (although ill-printed and + disfigured), yet I then wish you never to deviate from poetry; however, I + confess that there still remains one history worthy of your pen, and of + which your pen alone is worthy. You have long ago given us the history of + the greatest and most outrageous madman (I ask your pardon if I cannot say + the greatest hero) of Europe; you have given us latterly the history of + the greatest king; give us now the history of the greatest and most + virtuous man in Europe; I should think it degrading to call him king. To + you this cannot be difficult, he is always before your eyes: your poetical + invention is not necessary to his glory, as that may safely rely upon your + historical candor. The first duty of an historian is the only one he need + require from his, ‘Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat’. + Adieu, Sir! I find that I must admire you every day more and more; but I + also know that nothing ever can add to the esteem and attachment with + which I am actually, your most humble and most obedient servant, + CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0178" id="link2H_4_0178"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 19, 1752, + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Since you have been at Hanover, your correspondence has + been both unfrequent and laconic. You made indeed one great effort in + folio on the 18th, with a postscript of the 22d August, N. S., and since + that, ‘vous avez rate in quarto’. On the 31st August, N. S., you give me + no informations of what I want chiefly to know; which is, what Dr. Hugo + (whom I charged you to consult) said of your asthmatic complaint, and what + he prescribed you to prevent the returns of it; and also what is the + company that, you keep there, who has been kind and civil to you, and who + not. + </p> + <p> + You say that you go constantly to the parade; and you do very well; for + though you are not of that trade, yet military matters make so great a + part both of conversation and negotiation, that it is very proper not to + be ignorant of them. I hope you mind more than the mere exercise of the + troops you see; and that you inform yourself at the same time, of the more + material details; such as their pay, and the difference of it when in and + out of quarters; what is furnished them by the country when in quarters, + and what is allowed them of ammunition, bread, etc., when in the field; + the number of men and officers in the several troops and companies, + together with the non-commissioned officers, as ‘caporals, frey-caporals, + anspessades’, sergeants, quarter-masters, etc.; the clothing how frequent, + how good, and how furnished; whether by the colonel, as here in England, + from what we call the OFF-RECKONINGS, that is, deductions from the men’s + pay, or by commissaries appointed by the government for that purpose, as + in France and Holland. By these inquiries you will be able to talk + military with military men, who, in every country in Europe, except + England, make at least half of all the best companies. Your attending the + parades has also another good effect, which is, that it brings you, of + course, acquainted with the officers, who, when of a certain rank and + service, are generally very polite, well-bred people, ‘et du bon ton’. + They have commonly seen a great deal of the world, and of courts; and + nothing else can form a gentleman, let people say what they will of sense + and learning; with both which a man may contrive to be a very disagreeable + companion. I dare say, there are very few captains of foot, who are not + much better company than ever Descartes or Sir Isaac Newton were. I honor + and respect such superior geniuses; but I desire to converse with people + of this world, who bring into company their share, at least, of + cheerfulness, good-breeding, and knowledge of mankind. In common life, one + much oftener wants small money, and silver, than gold. Give me a man who + has ready cash about him for present expenses; sixpences, shillings, + half-crowns, and crowns, which circulate easily: but a man who has only an + ingot of gold about him, is much above common purposes, and his riches are + not handy nor convenient. Have as much gold as you please in one pocket, + but take care always to keep change in the other; for you will much + oftener have occasion for a shilling than for a guinea. In this the French + must be allowed to excel all people in the world: they have ‘un certain + entregent, un enjouement, un aimable legerete dans la conversation, une + politesse aisee et naturelle, qui paroit ne leur rien couter’, which give + society all its charms. I am sorry to add, but it is too true, that the + English and the Dutch are the farthest from this, of all the people in the + world; I do by no means except even the Swiss. + </p> + <p> + Though you do not think proper to inform me, I know from other hands that + you were to go to the Gohr with a Comte Schullemburg, for eight or ten + days only, to see the reviews. I know also that you had a blister upon + your arm, which did you a great deal of good. I know too, you have + contracted a great friendship with Lord Essex, and that you two were + inseparable at Hanover. All these things I would rather have known from + you than from others; and they are the sort of things that I am the most + desirous of knowing, as they are more immediately relative to yourself. + </p> + <p> + I am very sorry for the Duchess of Newcastle’s illness, full as much upon + your as upon her account, as it has hindered you from being so much known + to the Duke as I could have wished; use and habit going a great way with + him, as indeed they do with most people. I have known many people + patronized, pushed up, and preferred by those who could have given no + other reason for it, than that they were used to them. We must never seek + for motives by deep reasoning, but we must find them out by careful + observation and attention, no matter what they should be, but the point + is, what they are. Trace them up, step by step, from the character of the + person. I have known ‘de par le monde’, as Brantome says, great effects + from causes too little ever to have been suspected. Some things must be + known, and can never be guessed. + </p> + <p> + God knows where this letter will find you, or follow you; not at Hanover, + I suppose; but wherever it does, may it find you in health and pleasure! + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0179" id="link2H_4_0179"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 22, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The day after the date of my last, I received your letter + of the 8th. I approve extremely of your intended progress, and am very + glad that you go to the Gohr with Comte Schullemburg. I would have you see + everything with your own eyes, and hear everything with your own ears: for + I know, by very long experience, that it is very unsafe to trust to other + people’s. Vanity and interest cause many misrepresentations, and folly + causes many more. Few people have parts enough to relate exactly and + judiciously: and those who have, for some reason or other, never fail to + sink, or to add some circumstances. + </p> + <p> + The reception which you have met with at Hanover, I look upon as an omen + of your being well received everywhere else; for to tell you the truth, it + was the place that I distrusted the most in that particular. But there is + a certain conduct, there are certaines ‘manieres’ that will, and must get + the better of all difficulties of that kind; it is to acquire them that + you still continue abroad, and go from court to court; they are personal, + local, and temporal; they are modes which vary, and owe their existence to + accidents, whim, and humor; all the sense and reason in the world would + never point them out; nothing but experience, observation, and what is + called knowledge of the world, can possibly teach them. For example, it is + respectful to bow to the King of England, it is disrespectful to bow to + the King of France; it is the rule to courtesy to the Emperor; and the + prostration of the whole body is required by eastern monarchs. These are + established ceremonies, and must be complied with: but why thev were + established, I defy sense and reason to tell us. It is the same among all + ranks, where certain customs are received, and must necessarily be + complied with, though by no means the result of sense and reason. As for + instance, the very absurd, though almost universal custom of drinking + people’s healths. Can there be anything in the world less relative to any + other man’s health, than my drinking a glass of wine? Common sense + certainly never pointed it out; but yet common sense tells me I must + conform to it. Good sense bids one be civil and endeavor to please; though + nothing but experience and observation can teach one the means, properly + adapted to time, place, and persons. This knowledge is the true object of + a gentleman’s traveling, if he travels as he ought to do. By frequenting + good company in every country, he himself becomes of every country; he is + no longer an Englishman, a Frenchman, or an Italian; but he is an + European; he adopts, respectively, the best manners of every country; and + is a Frenchman at Paris, an Italian at Rome, an Englishman at London. + </p> + <p> + This advantage, I must confess, very seldom accrues to my countrymen from + their traveling; as they have neither the desire nor the means of getting + into good company abroad; for, in the first place, they are confoundedly + bashful; and, in the next place, they either speak no foreign language at + all, or if they do, it is barbarously. You possess all the advantages that + they want; you know the languages in perfection, and have constantly kept + the best company in the places where you have been; so that you ought to + be an European. Your canvas is solid and strong, your outlines are good; + but remember that you still want the beautiful coloring of Titian, and the + delicate, graceful touches of Guido. Now is your time to get them. There + is, in all good company, a fashionable air, countenance, manner, and + phraseology, which can only be acquired by being in good company, and very + attentive to all that passes there. When you dine or sup at any well-bred + man’s house, observe carefully how he does the honors of his table to the + different guests. Attend to the compliments of congratulation or + condolence that you hear a well-bred man make to his superiors, to his + equals, and to his inferiors; watch even his countenance and his tone of + voice, for they all conspire in the main point of pleasing. There is a + certain distinguishing diction of a man of fashion; he will not content + himself with saying, like John Trott, to a new-married man, Sir, I wish + you much joy; or to a man who lost his son, Sir, I am sorry for your loss; + and both with a countenance equally unmoved; but he will say in effect the + same thing in a more elegant and less trivial manner, and with a + countenance adapted to the occasion. He will advance with warmth, + vivacity, and a cheerful countenance, to the new-married man, and + embracing him, perhaps say to him, “If you do justice to my attachment to + you, you will judge of the joy that I feel upon this occasion, better than + I can express it,” etc.; to the other in affliction, he will advance + slowly, with a grave composure of countenance, in a more deliberate + manner, and with a lower voice, perhaps say, “I hope you do me the justice + to be convinced that I feel whatever you feel, and shall ever be affected + where you are concerned.” + </p> + <p> + Your ‘abord’, I must tell you, was too cold and uniform; I hope it is now + mended. It should be respectfully open and cheerful with your superiors, + warm and animated with your equals, hearty and free with your inferiors. + There is a fashionable kind of SMALL TALK which you should get; which, + trifling as it is, is of use in mixed companies, and at table, especially + in your foreign department; where it keeps off certain serious subjects, + that might create disputes, or at least coldness for a time. Upon such + occasions it is not amiss to know how to parley cuisine, and to be able to + dissert upon the growth and flavor of wines. These, it is true, are very + little things; but they are little things that occur very often, and + therefore should be said ‘avec gentillesse et grace’. I am sure they must + fall often in your way; pray take care to catch them. There is a certain + language of conversation, a fashionable diction, of which every gentleman + ought to be perfectly master, in whatever language he speaks. The French + attend to it carefully, and with great reason; and their language, which + is a language of phrases, helps them out exceedingly. That delicacy of + diction is characteristical of a man of fashion and good company. + </p> + <p> + I could write folios upon this subject, and not exhaust it; but I think, + and hope, that to you I need not. You have heard and seen enough to be + convinced of the truth and importance of what I have been so long + inculcating into you upon these points. How happy am I, and how happy are + you, my dear child, that these Titian tints, and Guido graces, are all + that you want to complete my hopes and your own character! But then, on + the other hand, what a drawback would it be to that happiness, if you + should never acquire them? I remember, when I was of age, though I had not + near so good an education as you have, or seen a quarter so much of the + world, I observed those masterly touches and irresistible graces in + others, and saw the necessity of acquiring them myself; but then an + awkward ‘mauvaise honte’, of which I had brought a great deal with me from + Cambridge, made me ashamed to attempt it, especially if any of my + countrymen and particular acquaintances were by. This was extremely absurd + in me: for, without attempting, I could never succeed. But at last, + insensibly, by frequenting a great deal of good company, and imitating + those whom I saw that everybody liked, I formed myself, ‘tant bien que + mal’. For God’s sake, let this last fine varnish, so necessary to give + lustre to the whole piece, be the sole and single object now of your + utmost attention. Berlin may contribute a great deal to it if you please; + there are all the ingredients that compose it. + </p> + <p> + ‘A Propos’ of Berlin, while you are there, take care to seem ignorant of + all political matters between the two courts; such as the affairs of Ost + Frise, and Saxe Lawemburg, etc., and enter into no conversations upon + those points; but, however, be as well at court as you possibly can; live + at it, and make one of it. Should General Keith offer you civilities, do + not decline them; but return them, however, without being ‘enfant de la + maison chez lui’: say ‘des chores flatteuses’ of the Royal Family, and + especially of his Prussian Majesty, to those who are the most like to + repeat them. In short, make yourself well there, without making yourself + ill SOMEWHERE ELSE. Make compliments from me to Algarotti, and converse + with him in Italian. + </p> + <p> + I go next week to the Bath, for a deafness, which I have been plagued with + these four or five months; and which I am assured that pumping my head + will remove. This deafness, I own, has tried my patience; as it has cut me + off from society, at an age when I had no pleasures but those left. In the + meantime, I have, by reading and writing, made my eyes supply the defect + of my ears. Madame H——-, I suppose, entertained both yours + alike; however, I am very glad that you were well with her; for she is a + good ‘proneuse’, and puffs are very useful to a young fellow at his + entrance into the world. + </p> + <p> + If you should meet with Lord Pembroke again, anywhere, make him many + compliments from me; and tell him that I should have written to him, but + that I knew how troublesome an old correspondent must be to a young one. + He is much commended in the accounts from Hanover. + </p> + <p> + You will stay at Berlin just as long as you like it, and no longer; and + from thence you are absolutely master of your own motions, either to The + Hague, or to Brussels; but I think that you had better go to The Hague + first, because that from thence Brussels will be in your way to Calais, + which is a much better passage to England than from Helvoetsluys. The two + courts of The Hague and Brussels are worth your seeing; and you will see + them both to advantage, by means of Colonel Yorke and Dayrolles. Adieu. + Here is enough for this time. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0180" id="link2H_4_0180"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 26, 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: As you chiefly employ, or rather wholly engross my + thoughts, I see every day, with increasing pleasure, the fair prospect + which you have before you. I had two views in your education; they draw + nearer and nearer, and I have now very little reason to distrust your + answering them fully. Those two were, parliamentary and foreign affairs. + In consequence of those views, I took care, first, to give you a + sufficient stock of sound learning, and next, an early knowledge of the + world. Without making a figure in parliament, no man can make any in this + country; and eloquence alone enables a man to make a figure in parliament, + unless, it be a very mean and contemptible one, which those make there who + silently vote, and who do ‘pedibus ire in sententiam’. Foreign affairs, + when skillfully managed, and supported by a parliamentary reputation, lead + to whatever is most considerable in this country. You have the languages + necessary for that purpose, with a sufficient fund of historical and + treaty knowledge; that is to say, you have the matter ready, and only want + the manner. Your objects being thus fixed, I recommend to you to have them + constantly in your thoughts, and to direct your reading, your actions, and + your words, to those views. Most people think only ‘ex re nata’, and few + ‘ex professo’: I would have you do both, but begin with the latter. I + explain myself: Lay down certain principles, and reason and act + consequently from them. As, for example, say to yourself, I will make a + figure in parliament, and in order to do that, I must not only speak, but + speak very well. Speaking mere common sense will by no means do; and I + must speak not only correctly but elegantly; and not only elegantly but + eloquently. In order to do this, I will first take pains to get an + habitual, but unaffected, purity, correctness and elegance of style in my + common conversation; I will seek for the best words, and take care to + reject improper, inexpressive, and vulgar ones. I will read the greatest + masters of oratory, both ancient and modern, and I will read them singly + in that view. I will study Demosthenes and Cicero, not to discover an old + Athenian or Roman custom, nor to puzzle myself with the value of talents, + mines, drachms, and sesterces, like the learned blockheads in us; but to + observe their choice of words, their harmony of diction, their method, + their distribution, their exordia, to engage the favor and attention of + their audience; and their perorations, to enforce what they have said, and + to leave a strong impression upon the passions. Nor will I be pedant + enough to neglect the modern; for I will likewise study Atterbury, Dryden, + Pope, and Bolingbroke; nay, I will read everything that I do read in that + intention, and never cease improving and refining my style upon the best + models, till at last I become a model of eloquence myself, which, by care, + it is in every man’s power to be. If you set out upon this principle, and + keep it constantly in your mind, every company you go into, and every book + you read, will contribute to your improvement, either by showing you what + to imitate, or what to avoid. Are you to give an account of anything to a + mixed company? or are you to endeavor to persuade either man or woman? + This principle, fixed in your mind, will make you carefully attend to the + choice of your words, and to the clearness and harmony of your diction. + </p> + <p> + So much for your parliamentary object; now to the foreign one. + </p> + <p> + Lay down first those principles which are absolutely necessary to form a + skillful and successful negotiator, and form yourself accordingly. What + are they? First, the clear historical knowledge of past transactions of + that kind. That you have pretty well already, and will have daily more and + more; for, in consequence of that principle, you will read history, + memoirs, anecdotes, etc., in that view chiefly. The other necessary + talents for negotiation are: the great art of pleasing and engaging the + affection and confidence, not only of those with whom you are to + cooperate, but even of those whom you are to oppose: to conceal your own + thoughts and views, and to discover other people’s: to engage other + people’s confidence by a seeming cheerful frankness and openness, without + going a step too far: to get the personal favor of the king, prince, + ministers, or mistresses of the court to which you are sent: to gain the + absolute command over your temper and your countenance, that no heat may + provoke you to say, nor no change of countenance to betray, what should be + a secret: to familiarize and domesticate yourself in the houses of the + most considerable people of the place, so as to be received there rather + as a friend to the family than as a foreigner. Having these principles + constantly in your thoughts, everything you do and everything you say will + some way or other tend to your main view; and common conversation will + gradually fit you for it. You will get a habit of checking any rising + heat; you will be upon your guard against any indiscreet expression; you + will by degrees get the command of your countenance, so as not to change + it upon any the most sudden accident; and you will, above all things, + labor to acquire the great art of pleasing, without which nothing is to be + done. Company is, in truth, a constant state of negotiation; and, if you + attend to it in that view, will qualify you for any. By the same means + that you make a friend, guard against an enemy, or gain a mistress; you + will make an advantageous treaty, baffle those who counteract you, and + gain the court you are sent to. Make this use of all the company you keep, + and your very pleasures will make you a successful negotiator. Please all + who are worth pleasing; offend none. Keep your own secret, and get out + other people’s. Keep your own temper and artfully warm other people’s. + Counterwork your rivals, with diligence and dexterity, but at the same + time with the utmost personal civility to them; and be firm without heat. + Messieurs d’Avaux and Servien did no more than this. I must make one + observation, in confirmation of this assertion; which is, that the most + eminent negotiators have allways been the politest and bestbred men in + company; even what the women call the PRETTIEST MEN. For God’s sake, never + lose view of these two your capital objects: bend everything to them, try + everything by their rules, and calculate everything for their purposes. + What is peculiar to these two objects, is, that they require nothing, but + what one’s own vanity, interest, and pleasure, would make one do + independently of them. If a man were never to be in business, and always + to lead a private life, would he not desire to please and to persuade? So + that, in your two destinations, your fortune and figure luckily conspire + with your vanity and your pleasures. Nay more; a foreign minister, I will + maintain it, can never be a good man of business if he is not an agreeable + man of pleasure too. Half his business is done by the help of his + pleasures; his views are carried on, and perhaps best and most + unsuspectedly, at balls, suppers, assemblies, and parties of pleasure; by + intrigues with women, and connections insensibly formed with men, at those + unguarded hours of amusement. + </p> + <p> + These objects now draw very near you, and you have no time to lose in + preparing yourself to meet them. You will be in parliament almost as soon + as your age will allow, and I believe you will have a foreign department + still sooner, and that will be earlier than ever any other body had one. + If you set out well at one-and-twenty, what may you not reasonably hope to + be at one-and-forty? All that I could wish you! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0181" id="link2H_4_0181"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 29, 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: There is nothing so necessary, but at the same time there + is nothing more difficult (I know it by experience) for you young fellows, + than to know how to behave yourselves prudently toward those whom you do + not like. Your passions are warm, and your heads are light; you hate all + those who oppose your views, either of ambition or love; and a rival, in + either, is almost a synonymous term for an enemy. Whenever you meet such a + man, you are awkwardly cold to him, at best; but often rude, and always + desirous to give him some indirect slap. This is unreasonable; for one man + has as good a right to pursue an employment, or a mistress, as another; + but it is, into the bargain, extremely imprudent; because you commonly + defeat your own purpose by it, and while you are contending with each + other, a third often prevails. I grant you that the situation is irksome; + a man cannot help thinking as he thinks, nor feeling what he feels; and it + is a very tender and sore point to be thwarted and counterworked in one’s + pursuits at court, or with a mistress; but prudence and abilities must + check the effects, though they cannot remove the cause. Both the + pretenders make themselves disagreeable to their mistress, when they spoil + the company by their pouting, or their sparring; whereas, if one of them + has command enough over himself (whatever he may feel inwardly) to be + cheerful, gay, and easily and unaffectedly civil to the other, as if there + were no manner of competition between them, the lady will certainly like + him the best, and his rival will be ten times more humbled and + discouraged; for he will look upon such a behavior as a proof of the + triumph and security of his rival, he will grow outrageous with the lady, + and the warmth of his reproaches will probably bring on a quarrel between + them. It is the same in business; where he who can command his temper and + his countenance the best, will always have an infinite advantage over the + other. This is what the French call un ‘procede honnete et galant’, to + PIQUE yourself upon showing particular civilities to a man, to whom lesser + minds would, in the same case, show dislike, or perhaps rudeness. I will + give you an instance of this in my own case; and pray remember it, + whenever you come to be, as I hope you will, in a like situation. + </p> + <p> + When I went to The Hague, in 1744, it was to engage the Dutch to come + roundly into the war, and to stipulate their quotas of troops, etc.; your + acquaintance, the Abbe de la Ville, was there on the part of France, to + endeavor to hinder them from coming into the war at all. I was informed, + and very sorry to hear it, that he had abilities, temper, and industry. We + could not visit, our two masters being at war; but the first time I met + him at a third place, I got somebody to present me to him; and I told him, + that though we were to be national enemies, I flattered myself we might + be, however, personal friends, with a good deal more of the same kind; + which he returned in full as polite a manner. Two days afterward, I went, + early in the morning, to solicit the Deputies of Amsterdam, where I found + l’Abbe de la Ville, who had been beforehand with me; upon which I + addressed myself to the Deputies, and said, smilingly, I am very sorry, + Gentlemen, to find my enemy with you; my knowledge of his capacity is + already sufficient to make me fear him; we are not upon equal terms; but I + trust to your own interest against his talents. If I have not this day had + the first word, I shall at least have the last. They smiled: the Abbe was + pleased with the compliment, and the manner of it, stayed about a quarter + of an hour, and then left me to my Deputies, with whom I continued upon + the same tone, though in a very serious manner, and told them that I was + only come to state their own true interests to them, plainly and simply, + without any of those arts, which it was very necessary for my friend to + make use of to deceive them. I carried my point, and continued my + ‘procede’ with the Abbe; and by this easy and polite commerce with him, at + third places, I often found means to fish out from him whereabouts he was. + </p> + <p> + Remember, there are but two ‘procedes’ in the world for a gentleman and a + man of parts; either extreme politeness or knocking down. If a man + notoriously and designedly insults and affronts you, knock him down; but + if he only injures you, your best revenge is to be extremely civil to him + in your outward behavior, though at the same time you counterwork him, and + return him the compliment, perhaps with interest. This is not perfidy nor + dissimulation; it would be so if you were, at the same time, to make + professions of esteem and friendship to this man; which I by no means + recommend, but on the contrary abhor. But all acts of civility are, by + common consent, understood to be no more than a conformity to custom, for + the quiet and conveniency of society, the ‘agremens’ of which are not to + be disturbed by private dislikes and jealousies. Only women and little + minds pout and spar for the entertainment of the company, that always + laughs at, and never pities them. For my own part, though I would by no + means give up any point to a competitor, yet I would pique myself upon + showing him rather more civility than to another man. In the first place, + this ‘procede’ infallibly makes all ‘les rieurs’ of your side, which is a + considerable party; and in the next place, it certainly pleases the object + of the competition, be it either man or woman; who never fail to say, upon + such an occasion, that THEY MUST OWN YOU HAVE BEHAVED YOURSELF VERY, + HANDSOMELY IN THE WHOLE AFFAIR. The world judges from the appearances of + things, and not from the reality, which few are able, and still fewer are + inclined to fathom: and a man, who will take care always to be in the + right in those things, may afford to be sometimes a little in the wrong in + more essential ones: there is a willingness, a desire to excuse him. With + nine people in ten, good-breeding passes for good-nature, and they take + attentions for good offices. At courts there will be always coldnesses, + dislikes, jealousies, and hatred, the harvest being but small in + proportion to the number of laborers; but then, as they arise often, they + die soon, unless they are perpetuated by the manner in which they have + been carried on, more than by the matter which occasioned them. The turns + and vicissitudes of courts frequently make friends of enemies, and enemies + of friends; you must labor, therefore, to acquire that great and uncommon + talent of hating with good-breeding and loving with prudence; to make no + quarrel irreconcilable by silly and unnecessary indications of anger; and + no friendship dangerous, in case it breaks, by a wanton, indiscreet, and + unreserved confidence. + </p> + <p> + Few, (especially young) people know how to love, or how to hate; their + love is an unbounded weakness, fatal to the person they love; their hate + is a hot, rash, and imprudent violence, always fatal to themselves. + </p> + <p> + Nineteen fathers in twenty, and every mother, who had loved you half as + well as I do, would have ruined you; whereas I always made you feel the + weight of my authority, that you might one day know the force of my love. + Now, I both hope and believe, my advice will have the same weight with you + from choice that my authority had from necessity. My advice is just + eight-and-twenty years older than your own, and consequently, I believe + you think, rather better. As for your tender and pleasurable passions, + manage them yourself; but let me have the direction of all the others. + Your ambition, your figure, and your fortune, will, for some time at + least, be rather safer in my keeping than in your own. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0182" id="link2H_4_0182"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 4, 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I consider you now as at the court of Augustus, where, if + ever the desire of pleasing animated you, it must make you exert all the + means of doing it. You will see there, full as well, I dare say, as Horace + did at Rome, how states are defended by arms, adorned by manners, and + improved by laws. Nay, you have an Horace there as well as an Augustus; I + need not name Voltaire, ‘qui nil molitur inept?’ as Horace himself said of + another poet. I have lately read over all his works that are published, + though I had read them more than once before. I was induced to this by his + ‘Siecle de Louis XIV’, which I have yet read but four times. In reading + over all his works, with more attention I suppose than before, my former + admiration of him is, I own, turned into astonishment. There is no one + kind of writing in which he has not excelled. You are so severe a classic + that I question whether you will allow me to call his ‘Henriade’ an epic + poem, for want of the proper number of gods, devils, witches and other + absurdities, requisite for the machinery; which machinery is, it seems, + necessary to constitute the ‘epopee’. But whether you do or not, I will + declare (though possibly to my own shame) that I never read any epic poem + with near so much pleasure. I am grown old, and have possibly lost a great + deal of that fire which formerly made me love fire in others at any rate, + and however attended with smoke; but now I must have all sense, and + cannot, for the sake of five righteous lines, forgive a thousand absurd + ones. + </p> + <p> + In this disposition of mind, judge whether I can read all Homer through + ‘tout de suite’. I admire its beauties; but, to tell you the truth, when + he slumbers, I sleep. Virgil, I confess, is all sense, and therefore I + like him better than his model; but he is often languid, especially in his + five or six last books, during which I am obliged to take a good deal of + snuff. Besides, I profess myself an ally of Turnus against the pious + AEneas, who, like many ‘soi-disant’ pious people, does the most flagrant + injustice and violence in order to execute what they impudently call the + will of Heaven. But what will you say, when I tell you truly, that I + cannot possibly read our countryman Milton through? I acknowledge him to + have some most sublime passages, some prodigious flashes of light; but + then you must acknowledge that light is often followed by darkness + visible, to use his own expression. Besides, not having the honor to be + acquainted with any of the parties in this poem, except the Man and the + Woman, the characters and speeches of a dozen or two of angels and of as + many devils, are as much above my reach as my entertainment. Keep this + secret for me: for if it should be known, I should be abused by every + tasteless pedant, and every solid divine in England. + </p> + <p> + ‘Whatever I have said to the disadvantage of these three poems, holds much + stronger against Tasso’s ‘Gierusalemme’: it is true he has very fine and + glaring rays of poetry; but then they are only meteors, they dazzle, then + disappear, and are succeeded by false thoughts, poor ‘concetti’, and + absurd impossibilities; witness the Fish and the Parrot; extravagancies + unworthy of an heroic poem, and would much better have become Ariosto, who + professes ‘le coglionerie’. + </p> + <p> + I have never read the “Lusiade of Camoens,” except in prose translation, + consequently I have never read it at all, so shall say nothing of it; but + the Henriade is all sense from the beginning to the end, often adorned by + the justest and liveliest reflections, the most beautiful descriptions, + the noblest images, and the sublimest sentiments; not to mention the + harmony of the verse, in which Voltaire undoubtedly exceeds all the French + poets: should you insist upon an exception in favor of Racine, I must + insist, on my part, that he at least equals him. What hero ever interested + more than Henry the Fourth; who, according to the rules of epic poetry, + carries on one great and long action, and succeeds in it at last? What + descriptions ever excited more horror than those, first of the Massacre, + and then of the Famine at Paris? Was love ever painted with more truth and + ‘morbidezza’ than in the ninth book? Not better, in my mind, even in the + fourth of Virgil. Upon the whole, with all your classical rigor, if you + will but suppose St. Louis a god, a devil, or a witch, and that he appears + in person, and not in a dream, the Henriade will be an epic poem, + according to the strictest statute laws of the ‘epopee’; but in my court + of equity it is one as it is. + </p> + <p> + I could expatiate as much upon all his different works, but that I should + exceed the bounds of a letter and run into a dissertation. How delightful + is his history of that northern brute, the King of Sweden, for I cannot + call him a man; and I should be sorry to have him pass for a hero, out of + regard to those true heroes, such as Julius Caesar, Titus, Trajan, and the + present King of Prussia, who cultivated and encouraged arts and sciences; + whose animal courage was accompanied by the tender and social sentiments + of humanity; and who had more pleasure in improving, than in destroying + their fellow-creatures. What can be more touching, or more interesting—what + more nobly thought, or more happily expressed, than all his dramatic + pieces? What can be more clear and rational than all his philosophical + letters? and whatever was so graceful, and gentle, as all his little + poetical trifles? You are fortunately ‘a porte’ of verifying, by your + knowledge of the man, all that I have said of his works. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Maupertius (whom I hope you will get acquainted with) is, what + one rarely meets with, deep in philosophy and, mathematics, and yet + ‘honnete et aimable homme’: Algarotti is young Fontenelle. Such men must + necessarily give you the desire of pleasing them; and if you can frequent + them, their acquaintance will furnish you the means of pleasing everybody + else. + </p> + <p> + ‘A propos’ of pleasing, your pleasing Mrs. F——-d is expected + here in two or three days; I will do all that I can for you with her: I + think you carried on the romance to the third or fourth volume; I will + continue it to the eleventh; but as for the twelfth and last, you must + come and conclude it yourself. ‘Non sum qualis eram’. + </p> + <p> + Good-night to you, child; for I am going to bed, just at the hour at which + I suppose you are going to live, at Berlin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0183" id="link2H_4_0183"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXI + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 11, O. S. 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: It is a very old and very true maxim, that those kings + reign the most secure and the most absolute, who reign in the hearts of + their people. Their popularity is a better guard than their army, and the + affections of their subjects a better pledge of their obedience than their + fears. This rule is, in proportion, full as true, though upon a different + scale, with regard to private people. A man who possesses that great art + of pleasing universally, and of gaining the affections of those with whom + he converses, possesses a strength which nothing else can give him: a + strength which facilitates and helps his rise; and which, in case of + accidents, breaks his fall. Few people of your age sufficiently consider + this great point of popularity; and when they grow older and wiser, strive + in vain to recover what they have lost by their negligence. There are + three principal causes that hinder them from acquiring this useful + strength: pride, inattention, and ‘mauvaise honte’. The first I will not, + I cannot suspect you of; it is too much below your understanding. You + cannot, and I am sure you do not think yourself superior by nature to the + Savoyard who cleans your room, or the footman who cleans your shoes; but + you may rejoice, and with reason, at the difference that fortune has made + in your favor. Enjoy all those advantages; but without insulting those who + are unfortunate enough to want them, or even doing anything unnecessarily + that may remind them of that want. For my own part, I am more upon my + guard as to my behavior to my servants, and others who are called my + inferiors, than I am toward my equals: for fear of being suspected of that + mean and ungenerous sentiment of desiring to make others feel that + difference which fortune has, and perhaps too, undeservedly, made between + us. Young people do not enough attend to this; and falsely imagine that + the imperative mood, and a rough tone of authority and decision, are + indications of spirit and courage. Inattention is always looked upon, + though sometimes unjustly, as the effect of pride and contempt; and where + it is thought so, is never forgiven. In this article, young people are + generally exceedingly to blame, and offend extremely. Their whole + attention is engrossed by their particular set of acquaintance; and by + some few glaring and exalted objects of rank, beauty, or parts; all the + rest they think so little worth their care, that they neglect even common + civility toward them. I will frankly confess to you, that this was one of + my great faults when I was of your age. Very attentive to please that + narrow court circle in which I stood enchanted, I considered everything + else as bourgeois, and unworthy of common civility; I paid my court + assiduously and skillfully enough to shining and distinguished figures, + such as ministers, wits, and beauties; but then I most absurdly and + imprudently neglected, and consequently offended all others. By this folly + I made myself a thousand enemies of both sexes; who, though I thought them + very insignificant, found means to hurt me essentially where I wanted to + recommend myself the most. I was thought proud, though I was only + imprudent. A general easy civility and attention to the common run of ugly + women, and of middling men, both which I sillily thought, called, and + treated, as odd people, would have made me as many friends, as by the + contrary conduct I made myself enemies. All this too was ‘a pure perte’; + for I might equally, and even more successfully, have made my court, when + I had particular views to gratify. I will allow that this task is often + very unpleasant, and that one pays, with some unwillingness, that tribute + of attention to dull and tedious men, and to old and ugly women; but it is + the lowest price of popularity and general applause, which are very well + worth purchasing were they much dearer. I conclude this head with this + advice to you: Gain, by particular assiduity and address, the men and + women you want; and, by an universal civility and attention, please + everybody so far as to have their good word, if not their goodwill; or, at + least, as to secure a partial neutrality. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mauvaise honte’ not only hinders young people from making, a great many + friends, but makes them a great many enemies. They are ashamed of doing + the thing they know to be right, and would otherwise do, for fear of the + momentary laugh of some fine gentleman or lady, or of some ‘mauvais + plaisant’. I have been in this case: and have often wished an obscure + acquaintance at the devil, for meeting and taking notice of me when I was + in what I thought and called fine company. I have returned their notice + shyly, awkwardly, and consequently offensively; for fear of a momentary + joke, not considering, as I ought to have done, that the very people who + would have joked upon me at first, would have esteemed me the more for it + afterward. An example explains a rule best: Suppose you were walking in + the Tuileries with some fine folks, and that you should unexpectedly meet + your old acquaintance, little crooked Grierson; what would you do? I will + tell you what you should do, by telling you what I would now do in that + case myself. I would run up to him, and embrace him; say some kind of + things to him, and then return to my company. There I should be + immediately asked: ‘Mais qu’est ce que c’est donc que ce petit Sapajou que + vous avez embrasse si tendrement? Pour cela, l’accolade a ete charmante’; + with a great deal more festivity of that sort. To this I should answer, + without being the least ashamed, but en badinant: O je ne vous dirai tas + qui c’est; c’est un petit ami que je tiens incognito, qui a son merite, et + qui, a force d’etre connu, fait oublier sa figure. Que me donnerez-vous, + et je vous le presenterai’? And then, with a little more seriousness, I + would add: ‘Mais d’ailleurs c’est que je ne desavoue jamais mes + connoissances, a cause de leur etat ou de leur figure. Il faut avoir bien + peu de sentimens pour le faire’. This would at once put an end to that + momentary pleasantry, and give them all a better opinion of me than they + had before. Suppose another case, and that some of the finest ladies ‘du + bon ton’ should come into a room, and find you sitting by, and talking + politely to ‘la vieille’ Marquise de Bellefonds, the joke would, for a + moment, turn upon that ‘tete-a-tete’: He bien! avez vous a la fin fixd la + belle Marquise? La partie est-elle faite pour la petite maison? Le souper + sera galant sans doute: Mais ne faistu donc point scrupule de seduire une + jeune et aimable persone comme celle-la’? To this I should answer: ‘La + partie n’etoit pas encore tout-a fait liee, vous nous avez interrompu; + mais avec le tems que fait-on? D’ailleurs moquezvous de mes amours tant + qu’il vous plaira, je vous dirai que je respecte tant les jeunes dames, + que je respecte meme les vieilles, pour l’avoir ete. Apre cela il y a + souvent des liaisons entre les vieilles et les jeunes’. This would at once + turn the pleasantry into an esteem for your good sense and your + good-breeding. Pursue steadily, and without fear or shame, whatever your + reason tells you is right, and what you see is practiced by people of more + experience than yourself, and of established characters of good sense and + good-breeding. + </p> + <p> + After all this, perhaps you will say, that it is impossible to please + everybody. I grant it; but it does not follow that one should not + therefore endeavor to please as many as one can. Nay, I will go further, + and admit that it is impossible for any man not to have some enemies. But + this truth from long experience I assert, that he who has the most friends + and the fewest enemies, is the strongest; will rise the highest with the + least envy; and fall, if he does fall, the gentlest, and the most pitied. + This is surely an object worth pursuing. Pursue it according to the rules + I have here given you. I will add one observation more, and two examples + to enforce it; and then, as the parsons say, conclude. + </p> + <p> + There is no one creature so obscure, so low, or so poor, who may not, by + the strange and unaccountable changes and vicissitudes of human affairs, + somehow or other, and some time or other, become an useful friend or a + trouble-some enemy, to the greatest and the richest. The late Duke of + Ormond was almost the weakest but at the same time the best-bred, and most + popular man in this kingdom. His education in courts and camps, joined to + an easy, gentle nature, had given him that habitual affability, those + engaging manners, and those mechanical attentions, that almost supplied + the place of every talent he wanted; and he wanted almost every one. They + procured him the love of all men, without the esteem of any. He was + impeached after the death of Queen Anne, only because that, having been + engaged in the same measures with those who were necessarily to be + impeached, his impeachment, for form’s sake, became necessary. But he was + impeached without acrimony, and without the lest intention that he should + suffer, notwithstanding the party violence of those times. The question + for his impeachment, in the House of Commons, was carried by many fewer + votes than any other question of impeachment; and Earl Stanhope, then Mr. + Stanhope, and Secretary’ of State, who impeached him, very soon after + negotiated and concluded his accommodation with the late King; to whom he + was to have been presented the next day. But the late Bishop of Rochester, + Atterbury, who thought that the Jacobite cause might suffer by losing the + Duke of Ormond, went in all haste, and prevailed with the poor weak man to + run away; assuring him that he was only to be gulled into a disgraceful + submission, and not to be pardoned in consequence of it. When his + subsequent attainder passed, it excited mobs and disturbances in town. He + had not a personal enemy in the world; and had a thousand friends. All + this was simply owing to his natural desire of pleasing, and to the + mechanical means that his education, not his parts, had given him of doing + it. The other instance is the late Duke of Marlborough, who studied the + art of pleasing, because he well knew the importance of it: he enjoyed and + used it more than ever man did. He gained whoever he had a mind to gain; + and he had a mind to gain everybody, because he knew that everybody was + more or less worth gaining. Though his power, as Minister and General, + made him many political and party enemies, they did not make him one + personal one; and the very people who would gladly have displaced, + disgraced, and perhaps attainted the Duke of Marlborough, at the same time + personally loved Mr. Churchill, even though his private character was + blemished by sordid avarice, the most unamiable of all vices. He had wound + up and turned his whole machine to please and engage. He had an inimitable + sweetness and gentleness in his countenance, a tenderness in his manner of + speaking, a graceful dignity in every motion, and an universal and minute + attention to the least things that could possibly please the least person. + This was all art in him; art of which he well knew and enjoyed the + advantages; for no man ever had more interior ambition, pride, and + avarice, than he had. + </p> + <p> + Though you have more than most people of your age, you have yet very + little experience and knowledge of the world; now, I wish to inoculate + mine upon you, and thereby prevent both the dangers and the marks of youth + and inexperience. If you receive the matter kindly, and observe my + prescriptions scrupulously, you will secure the future advantages of time + and join them to the present inestimable ones of one-and-twenty. + </p> + <p> + I most earnestly recommend one thing to you, during your present stay at + Paris. I own it is not the most agreeable; but I affirm it to be the most + useful thing in the world to one of your age; and therefore I do hope that + you will force and constrain yourself to do it. I mean, to converse + frequently, or rather to be in company frequently with both men and women + much your superiors in age and rank. I am very sensible that, at your age, + ‘vous y entrez pour peu de chose, et meme souvent pour rien, et que vous y + passerez meme quelques mauvais quart-d’heures’; but no matter; you will be + a solid gainer by it: you will see, hear, and learn the turn and manners + of those people; you will gain premature experience by it; and it will + give you a habit of engaging and respectful attentions. Versailles, as + much as possible, though probably unentertaining: the Palais Royal often, + however dull: foreign ministers of the first rank, frequently, and women, + though old, who are respectable and respected for their rank or parts; + such as Madame de Pusieux, Madame de Nivernois, Madame d’Aiguillon, Madame + Geoffrain, etc. This ‘sujetion’, if it be one to you, will cost you but + very little in these three or four months that you are yet to pass in + Paris, and will bring you in a great deal; nor will it, nor ought it, to + hinder you from being in a more entertaining company a great part of the + day. ‘Vous pouvez, si vous le voulex, tirer un grand parti de ces quatre + mois’. May God make you so, and bless you! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0184" id="link2H_4_0184"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 16, O. S. 1752. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Vanity, or to call it by a gentler name, the desire of + admiration and applause, is, perhaps, the most universal principle of + human actions; I do not say that it is the best; and I will own that it is + sometimes the cause of both foolish and criminal effects. But it is so + much oftener the principle of right things, that though they ought to have + a better, yet, considering human nature, that principle is to be + encouraged and cherished, in consideration of its effects. Where that + desire is wanting, we are apt to be indifferent, listless, indolent, and + inert; we do not exert our powers; and we appear to be as much below + ourselves as the vainest man living can desire to appear above what he + really is. + </p> + <p> + As I have made you my confessor, and do not scruple to confess even my + weaknesses to you, I will fairly own that I had that vanity, that + weakness, if it be one, to a prodigious degree; and, what is more, I + confess it without repentance: nay, I am glad I had it; since, if I have + had the good fortune to please in the world, it is to that powerful and + active principle that I owe it. I began the world, not with a bare desire, + but with an insatiable thirst, a rage of popularity, applause, and + admiration. If this made me do some silly things on one hand, it made me, + on the other hand, do almost all the right things that I did; it made me + attentive and civil to the women I disliked, and to the men I despised, in + hopes of the applause of both: though I neither desired, nor would I have + accepted the favors of the one, nor the friendship of the other. I always + dressed, looked, and talked my best; and, I own, was overjoyed whenever I + perceived, that by all three, or by any one of them, the company was + pleased with me. To men, I talked whatever I thought would give them the + best opinion of my parts and learning; and to women, what I was sure would + please them; flattery, gallantry, and love. And, moreover, I will own to + you, under the secrecy of confession, that my vanity has very often made + me take great pains to make a woman in love with me, if I could, for whose + person I would not have given a pinch of snuff. In company with men, I + always endeavored to outshine, or at least, if possible, to equal the most + shining man in it. This desire elicited whatever powers I had to gratify + it; and where I could not perhaps shine in the first, enabled me, at + least, to shine in a second or third sphere. By these means I soon grew in + fashion; and when a man is once in fashion, all he does is right. It was + infinite pleasure to me to find my own fashion and popularity. I was sent + for to all parties of pleasure, both of men or women; where, in some + measure, I gave the ‘ton’. This gave me the reputation of having had some + women of condition; and that reputation, whether true or false, really got + me others. With the men I was a Proteus, and assumed every shape, in order + to please them all: among the gay, I was the gayest; among the grave, the + gravest; and I never omitted the least attentions of good-breeding, or the + least offices of friendship, that could either please, or attach them to + me: and accordingly I was soon connected with all the men of any fashion + or figure in town. + </p> + <p> + To this principle of vanity, which philosophers call a mean one, and which + I do not, I owe great part of the figure which I have made in life. I wish + you had as much, but I fear you have too little of it; and you seem to + have a degree of laziness and listlessness about you that makes you + indifferent as to general applause. This is not in character at your age, + and would be barely pardonable in an elderly and philosophical man. It is + a vulgar, ordinary saying, but it is a very true one, that one should + always put the best foot foremost. One should please, shine, and dazzle, + wherever it is possible. At Paris, I am sure you must observe ‘que chacun + se fait valoir autant qu’il est possible’; and La Bruyere observes, very + justly, qu’on ne vaut dans ce monde que ce qu’on veut valoir’: wherever + applause is in question, you will never see a French man, nor woman, + remiss or negligent. Observe the eternal attentions and politeness that + all people have there for one another. ‘Ce n’est pas pour leurs beaux yeux + au moins’. No, but for their own sakes, for commendations and applause. + Let me then recommend this principle of vanity to you; act upon it ‘meo + periculo’; I promise you it will turn to your account. Practice all the + arts that ever coquette did, to please. Be alert and indefatigable in + making every man admire, and every woman in love with you. I can tell you + too, that nothing will carry you higher in the world. + </p> + <p> + I have had no letter from you since your arrival at Paris, though you must + have been long enough there to have written me two or three. In about ten + or twelve days I propose leaving this place, and going to London; I have + found considerable benefit by my stay here, but not all that I want. Make + my compliments to Lord Albemarle. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0185" id="link2H_4_0185"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 28, 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Since my last to you, I have read Madame Maintenon’s + “Letters”; I am sure they are genuine, and they both entertained and + informed me. They have brought me acquainted with the character of that + able and artful lady; whom I am convinced that I now know much better than + her directeur the Abby de Fenelon (afterward Archbishop of Cambray) did, + when he wrote her the 185th letter; and I know him the better too for that + letter. The Abby, though brimful of the divine love, had a great mind to + be first minister, and cardinal, in order, NO DOUBT, to have an + opportunity of doing the more good. His being ‘directeur’ at that time to + Madame Maintenon, seemed to be a good step toward those views. She put + herself upon him for a saint, and he was weak enough to believe it; he, on + the other hand, would have put himself upon her for a saint too, which, I + dare say, she did not believe; but both of them knew that it was necessary + for them to appear saints to Lewis the Fourteenth, who they were very sure + was a bigot. It is to be presumed, nay, indeed, it is plain by that 185th + letter that Madame Maintenon had hinted to her directeur some scruples of + conscience, with relation to her commerce with the King; and which I + humbly apprehend to have been only some scruples of prudence, at once to + flatter the bigot character, and increase the desires of the King. The + pious Abbe, frightened out of his wits, lest the King should impute to the + ‘directeur’ any scruples or difficulties which he might meet with on the + part of the lady, writes her the above-mentioned letter; in which he not + only bids her not tease the King by advice and exhortations, but to have + the utmost submission to his will; and, that she may not mistake the + nature of that submission, he tells her it is the same that Sarah had for + Abraham; to which submission Isaac perhaps was owing. No bawd could have + written a more seducing letter to an innocent country girl, than the + ‘directeur’ did to his ‘penitente’; who I dare say had no occasion for his + good advice. Those who would justify the good ‘directeur’, alias the pimp, + in this affair, must not attempt to do it by saying that the King and + Madame Maintenon were at that time privately married; that the directeur + knew it; and that this was the meaning of his ‘enigme’. That is absolutely + impossible; for that private marriage must have removed all scruples + between the parties; nay, could not have been contracted upon any other + principle, since it was kept private, and consequently prevented no public + scandal. It is therefore extremely evident that Madame Maintenon could not + be married to the King at the time when she scrupled granting, and when + the ‘directeur’ advised her to grant, those favors which Sarah with so + much submission granted to Abraham: and what the ‘directeur’ is pleased to + call ‘le mystere de Dieu’, was most evidently a state of concubinage. The + letters are very well worth your reading; they throw light upon many + things of those times. + </p> + <p> + I have just received a letter from Sir William Stanhope, from Lyons; in + which he tells me that he saw you at Paris, that he thinks you a little + grown, but that you do not make the most of it, for that you stoop still: + ‘d’ailleurs’ his letter was a panegyric of you. + </p> + <p> + The young Comte de Schullemburg, the Chambellan whom you knew at Hanover, + is come over with the King, ‘et fait aussi vos eloges’. + </p> + <p> + Though, as I told you in my last, I have done buying pictures, by way of + ‘virtu’, yet there are some portraits of remarkable people that would + tempt me. For instance, if you could by chance pick up at Paris, at a + reasonable price, and undoubted originals (whether heads, half lengths, or + whole lengths, no matter) of Cardinals Richelieu, Mazarin, and Retz, + Monsieur de Turenne, le grand Prince de Condo; Mesdames de Montespan, de + Fontanges, de Montbazon, de Sevigne, de Maintenon, de Chevreuse, de + Longueville, d’Olonne, etc., I should be tempted to purchase them. I am + sensible that they can only be met with, by great accident, at family + sales and auctions, so I only mention the affair to you eventually. + </p> + <p> + I do not understand, or else I do not remember, what affair you mean in + your last letter; which you think will come to nothing, and for which, you + say, I had once a mind that you should take the road again. Explain it to + me. + </p> + <p> + I shall go to town in four or five days, and carry back with me a little + more hearing than I brought; but yet, not half enough for common wants. + One wants ready pocket-money much oftener than one wants great sums; and + to use a very odd expression, I want to hear at sight. I love every-day + senses, every-day wit and entertainment; a man who is only good on + holydays is good for very little. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0186" id="link2H_4_0186"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + Christmas Day, 1752 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: A tyrant with legions at his com mand may say, Oderint + modo timeant; though he is a fool if he says it, and a greater fool if he + thinks it. But a private man who can hurt but few, though he can please + many, must endeavor to be loved, for he cannot be feared in general. + Popularity is his only rational and sure foundation. The good-will, the + affections, the love of the public, can alone raise him to any + considerable height. Should you ask me how he is to acquire them, I will + answer, By desiring them. No man ever deserved, who did not desire them; + and no man both deserved and desired them who had them not, though many + have enjoyed them merely by desiring, and without deserving them. You do + not imagine, I believe, that I mean by this public love the sentimental + love of either lovers or intimate friends; no, that is of another nature, + and confined to a very narrow circle; but I mean that general good-will + which a man may acquire in the world, by the arts of pleasing respectively + exerted according to the rank, the situation, and the turn of mind of + those whom he hath to do with. The pleasing impressions which he makes + upon them will engage their affections and their good wishes, and even + their good offices as far (that is) as they are not inconsistent with + their own interests; for further than that you are not to expect from + three people in the course of your life, even were it extended to the + patriarchal term. Could I revert to the age of twenty, and carry back with + me all the experience that forty years more have taught me, I can assure + you, that I would employ much the greatest part of my time in engaging the + good-will, and in insinuating myself into the predilection of people in + general, instead of directing my endeavors to please (as I was too apt to + do) to the man whom I immediately wanted, or the woman I wished for, + exclusively of all others. For if one happens (and it will sometimes + happen to the ablest man) to fail in his views with that man or that + woman, one is at a loss to know whom to address one’s self to next, having + offended in general, by that exclusive and distinguished particular + application. I would secure a general refuge in the good-will of the + multitude, which is a great strength to any man; for both ministers and + mistresses choose popular and fashionable favorites. A man who solicits a + minister, backed by the general good-will and good wishes of mankind, + solicits with great weight and great probability of success; and a woman + is strangely biassed in favor of a man whom she sees in fashion, and hears + everybody speak well of. This useful art of insinuation consists merely of + various little things. A graceful motion, a significant look, a trifling + attention, an obliging word dropped ‘a propos’, air, dress, and a thousand + other undefinable things, all severally little ones, joined together, make + that happy and inestimable composition, THE ART OF PLEASING. I have in my + life seen many a very handsome woman who has not pleased me, and many very + sensible men who have disgusted me. Why? only for want of those thousand + little means to please, which those women, conscious of their beauty, and + those men of their sense, have been grossly enough mistaken to neglect. I + never was so much in love in my life, as I was with a woman who was very + far from being handsome; but then she was made up of graces, and had all + the arts of pleasing. The following verses, which I have read in some + congratulatory poem prefixed to some work, I have forgot which, express + what I mean in favor of what pleases preferably to what is generally + called mare solid and instructive: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I would an author like a mistress try, + Not by a nose, a lip, a cheek, or eye, + But by some nameless power to give me joy.” + </pre> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield bids me make you many compliments; she showed me your + letter of recommendation of La Vestres; with which I was very well + pleased: there is a pretty turn in it; I wish you would always speak as + genteelly. I saw another letter from a lady at Paris, in which there was a + high panegyrical paragraph concerning you. I wish it were every word of it + literally true; but, as it comes from a very little, pretty, white hand, + which is suspected, and I hope justly, of great partiality to you: ‘il en + faut rabattre quelque chose, et meme en le faisant it y aura toujours + d’assez beaux restes’. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0187" id="link2H_4_0187"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1753-1754 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER CLXXXV + </p> + <p> + LONDON, New Years’ Day, 1753 + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: It is now above a fortnight since I have received a letter + from you. I hope, however, that you are well, but engrossed by the + business of Lord Albemarle’s ‘bureau’ in the mornings, and by business of + a genteeler nature in the evenings; for I willingly give up my own + satisfaction to your improvement, either in business or manners. + </p> + <p> + Here have been lately imported from Paris two gentlemen, who, I find, were + much acquainted with you there Comte Zinzendorf, and Monsieur Clairant the + Academician. The former is a very pretty man, well-bred, and with a great + deal of useful knowledge; for those two things are very consistent. I + examined him about you, thinking him a competent judge. He told me, ‘que + vous parliez l’Allemand comme un Allemand; que vous saviez le droit public + de l’empire parfaitement bien; que vous aviez le gout sur, et des + connoissances fort etendues’. I told him that I knew all this very well; + but that I wanted to know whether you had l’air, les manieres, les + attentions, en fin le brillant d’un honnete homme’: his answer was, ‘Mais + oui en verite, c’est fort bien’. This, you see, is but cold in comparison + of what I do wish, and of what you ought to wish. Your friend Clairant + interposed, and said, ‘Mais je vous assure qu’il est fort poli’; to which + I answered, ‘Je le crois bien, vis-a-vis des Lapons vos amis; je vous + recuse pour juge, jusqu’a ce que vous ayez ete delaponne, au moins dix + ans, parmi les honnetes gens’. These testimonies in your favor are such as + perhaps you are satisfied with, and think sufficient; but I am not; they + are only the cold depositions of disinterested and unconcerned witnesses, + upon a strict examination. When, upon a trial, a man calls witnesses to + his character, and that those witnesses only say that they never heard, + nor do not know any ill of him, it intimates at best a neutral and + insignificant, though innocent character. Now I want, and you ought to + endeavor, that ‘les agremens, les graces, les attentions’, etc., should be + a distinguishing part of your character, and specified of you by people + unasked. I wish to hear people say of you, ‘Ah qu’il est aimable! Quelles + manieres, quelles graces, quel art de Claire’! Nature, thank God, has + given you all the powers necessary; and if she has not yet, I hope in God + she will give you the will of exerting them. + </p> + <p> + I have lately read with great pleasure Voltaire’s two little histories of + ‘Les Croisades’, and ‘l’Esprit Humain’; which I recommend to your perusal, + if you have not already read them. They are bound up with a most poor + performance called ‘Micromegas’, which is said to be Voltaire’s too, but I + cannot believe it, it is so very unworthy of him; it consists only of + thoughts stolen from Swift, but miserably mangled and disfigured. But his + history of the ‘Croisades’ shows, in a very short and strong light, the + most immoral and wicked scheme that was ever contrived by knaves, and + executed by madmen and fools, against humanity. There is a strange but + never-failing relation between honest madmen and skillful knaves; and + whenever one meets with collected numbers of the former, one may be very + sure that they are secretly directed by the latter. The popes, who have + generally been both the ablest and the greatest knaves in Europe, wanted + all the power and money of the East; for they had all that was in Europe + already. The times and the minds favored their design, for they were dark + and uniformed; and Peter the Hermit, at once a knave and a madman, was a + fine papal tool for so wild and wicked an undertaking. I wish we had good + histories of every part of Europe, and indeed of the world, written upon + the plan of Voltaire’s ‘de l’Esprit Humain’; for, I own, I am provoked at + the contempt which most historians show for humanity in general: one would + think by them that the whole human species consisted but of about a + hundred and fifty people, called and dignified (commonly very undeservedly + too) by the titles of emperors, kings, popes, generals, and ministers. + </p> + <p> + I have never seen in any of the newspapers any mention of the affairs of + the Cevennes, or Grenoble, which you gave me an account of some time ago; + and the Duke de Mirepoix pretends, at least, to know nothing of either. + Were they false reports? or does the French court choose to stifle them? I + hope that they are both true, because I am very willing that the cares of + the French government should be employed and confined to themselves. + </p> + <p> + Your friend, the Electress Palatine, has sent me six wild boars’ heads, + and other ‘pieces de sa chasse’, in return for the fans, which she + approved of extremely. This present was signified to me by one Mr. Harold, + who wrote me a letter in very indifferent English; I suppose he is a Dane + who has been in England. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harte came to town yesterday, and dined with me to-day. We talked you + over; and I can assure you, that though a parson, and no member ‘du beau + monde’, he thinks all the most shining accomplishments of it full as + necessary for you as I do. His expression was, THAT IS ALL THAT HE WANTS; + BUT IF HE WANTS THAT, CONSIDERING HIS SITUATION AND DESTINATION, HE MIGHT + AS WELL WANT EVERYTHING ELSE. + </p> + <p> + This is the day when people reciprocally offer and receive the kindest and + the warmest wishes, though, in general, without meaning them on one side, + or believing them on the other. They are formed by the head, in compliance + with custom, though disavowed by the heart, in consequence of nature. His + wishes upon this occasion are the best that are the best turned; you do + not, I am sure, doubt the truth of mine, and therefore I will express them + with a Quaker-like simplicity. May this new year be a very new one indeed + to you; may you put off the old, and put on the new man! but I mean the + outward, not the inward man. With this alteration, I might justly sum up + all my wishes for you in these words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dii tibi dent annos, de to nam caetera sumes. +</pre> + <p> + This minute, I receive your letter of the 26th past, which gives me a very + disagreeable reason for your late silence. By the symptoms which you + mention of your illness, I both hope and believe that it was wholly owing + to your own want of care. You are rather inclined to be fat, you have + naturally a good stomach, and you eat at the best tables; which must of + course make you plethoric: and upon my word you will be very subject to + these accidents, if you will not, from time to time, when you find + yourself full, heated, or your head aching, take some little, easy, + preventative purge, that would not confine you; such as chewing a little + rhubarb when you go to bed at night; or some senna tea in the morning. You + do very well to live extremely low, for some time; and I could wish, + though I do not expect it, that you would take one gentle vomit; for those + giddinesses and swimmings in the head always proceed from some foulness of + the stomach. However, upon the whole, I am very glad that your old + complaint has not mixed itself with this, which I am fully convinced + arises simply from your own negligence. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + I am sorry for Monsieur Kurze, upon his sister’s account. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0188" id="link2H_4_0188"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 15, 1753 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I never think my time so well employed, as when I think it + employed to your advantage. You have long had the greatest share of it; + you now engross it. The moment is now decisive; the piece is going to be + exhibited to the public; the mere out lines and the general coloring are + not sufficient to attract the eyes and to secure applause; but the last + finishing, artful, and delicate strokes are necessary. Skillful judges + will discern and acknowledge their merit; the ignorant will, without + knowing why, feel their power. In that view, I have thrown together, for + your perusal, some maxims; or, to speak more properly, observations on men + and things; for I have no merit as to the invention: I am no system + monger; and, instead of giving way to my imagination, I have only + consulted my memory; and my conclusions are all drawn from facts, not from + fancy. Most maxim mongers have preferred the prettiness to the justness of + a thought, and the turn to the truth; but I have refused myself to + everything that my own experience did not justify and confirm. I wish you + would consider them seriously, and separately, and recur to them again + ‘pro re nata’ in similar cases. Young men are as apt to think themselves + wise enough, as drunken men are to think themselves sober enough. They + look upon spirit to be a much better thing than experience; which they + call coldness. They are but half mistaken; for though spirit, without + experience, is dangerous, experience, without spirit, is languid and + defective. Their union, which is very rare, is perfection; you may join + them, if you please; for all my experience is at your service; and I do + not desire one grain of your spirit in return. Use them both, and let them + reciprocally animate and check each other. I mean here, by the spirit of + youth, only the vivacity and presumption of youth, which hinder them from + seeing the difficulties or dangers of an undertaking, but I do not mean + what the silly vulgar call spirit, by which they are captious, jealous of + their rank, suspicious of being undervalued, and tart (as they call it) in + their repartees, upon the slightest occasions. This is an evil, and a very + silly spirit, which should be driven out, and transferred to an herd of + swine. This is not the spirit of a man of fashion, who has kept good + company. People of an ordinary, low education, when they happen to fail + into good company, imagine themselves the only object of its attention; if + the company whispers, it is, to be sure, concerning them; if they laugh, + it is at them; and if anything ambiguous, that by the most forced + interpretation can be applied to them, happens to be said, they are + convinced that it was meant at them; upon which they grow out of + countenance first, and then angry. This mistake is very well ridiculed in + the “Stratagem,” where Scrub says, I AM SURE THEY TALKED OF ME FOR THEY + LAUGHED CONSUMEDLY. A well-bred man seldom thinks, but never seems to + think himself slighted, undervalued, or laughed at in company, unless + where it is so plainly marked out, that his honor obliges him to resent it + in a proper manner; ‘mais les honnetes gens ne se boudent jamais’. I will + admit that it is very difficult to command one’s self enough, to behave + with ease, frankness, and good-breeding toward those, who one knows + dislike, slight, and injure one, as far as they can, without personal + consequences; but I assert that it is absolutely necessary to do it: you + must embrace the man you hate, if you cannot be justified in knocking him + down; for otherwise you avow the injury which you cannot revenge. A + prudent cuckold (and there are many such at Paris) pockets his horns when + he cannot gore with them; and will not add to the triumph of his maker by + only butting with them ineffectually. A seeming ignorance is very often a + most necessary part of worldly knowledge. It is, for instance, commonly + advisable to seem ignorant of what people offer to tell you; and when they + say, Have you not heard of such a thing? to answer No, and to let them go + on; though you know it already. Some have a pleasure in telling it, + because they think that they tell it well; others have a pride in it, as + being the sagacious discoverers; and many have a vanity in showing that + they have been, though very undeservedly, trusted; all these would be + disappointed, and consequently displeased, if you said Yes. Seem always + ignorant (unless to one’s most intimate friend) of all matters of private + scandal and defamation, though you should hear them a thousand times; for + the parties affected always look upon the receiver to be almost as bad as + the thief: and, whenever they become the topic of conversation seem to be + a skeptic, though you are really a serious believer; and always take the + extenuating part. But all this seeming ignorance should be joined to + thorough and extensive private informations: and, indeed, it is the best + method of procuring them; for most people have such a vanity in showing a + superiority over others, though but for a moment, and in the merest + trifles, that they will tell you what they should not, rather than not + show that they can tell what you did not know; besides that such seeming + ignorance will make you pass for incurious and consequently undesigning. + However, fish for facts, and take pains to be well informed of everything + that passes; but fish judiciously, and not always, nor indeed often, in + the shape of direct questions, which always put people upon their guard, + and, often repeated, grow tiresome. But sometimes take the things that you + would know for granted; upon which somebody will, kindly and officiously, + set you right: sometimes say that you have heard so and so; and at other + times seem to know more than you do, in order to know all that you want; + but avoid direct questioning as much as you can. All these necessary arts + of the world require constant attention, presence of mind, and coolness. + Achilles, though invulnerable, never went to battle but completely armed. + Courts are to be the theatres of your wars, where you should be always as + completely armed, and even with the addition of a heel-piece. The least + inattention, the least DISTRACTION, may prove fatal. I would fain see you + what pedants call ‘omnis homo’, and what Pope much better calls + ALL-ACCOMPLISHED: you have the means in your power; add the will; and you + may bring it about. The vulgar have a coarse saying, of SPOILING A SHIP + FOR A HALFPENNY WORTH OF TAR; prevent the application by providing the + tar: it is very easily to be had in comparison with what you have already + got. + </p> + <p> + The fine Mrs. Pitt, who it seems saw you often at Paris, speaking of you + the other day, said, in French, for she speaks little English, . . . + whether it is that you did not pay the homage due to her beauty, or that + it did not strike you as it does others, I cannot determine; but I hope + she had some other reason than truth for saying it. I will suppose that + you did not care a pin for her; but, however, she surely deserved a degree + of propitiatory adoration from you, which I am afraid you neglected. Had I + been in your case, I should have endeavored, at least, to have supplanted + Mr. Mackay in his office of nocturnal reader to her. I played at cards, + two days ago, with your friend Mrs. Fitzgerald, and her most sublime + mother, Mrs. Seagrave; they both inquired after you; and Mrs. Fitzgerald + said, she hoped you went on with your dancing; I said, Yes, and that you + assured me, you had made such considerable improvements in it, that you + had now learned to stand still, and even upright. Your ‘virtuosa’, la + Signora Vestri, sung here the other day, with great applause: I presume + you are INTIMATELY acquainted with her merit. Good night to you, whoever + you pass it with. + </p> + <p> + I have this moment received a packet, sealed with your seal, though not + directed by your hand, for Lady Hervey. No letter from you! Are you not + well? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0189" id="link2H_4_0189"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 27, O. S. 1753. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this day been tired, jaded, nay, tormented, by the + company of a most worthy, sensible, and learned man, a near relation of + mine, who dined and passed the evening with me. This seems a paradox, but + is a plain truth; he has no knowledge of the world, no manners, no + address; far from talking without book, as is commonly said of people who + talk sillily, he only talks by book; which in general conversation is ten + times worse. He has formed in his own closet from books, certain systems + of everything, argues tenaciously upon those principles, and is both + surprised and angry at whatever deviates from them. His theories are good, + but, unfortunately, are all impracticable. Why? because he has only read + and not conversed. He is acquainted with books, and an absolute stranger + to men. Laboring with his matter, he is delivered of it with pangs; he + hesitates, stops in his utterance, and always expresses himself + inelegantly. His actions are all ungraceful; so that, with all his merit + and knowledge, I would rather converse six hours with the most frivolous + tittle-tattle woman who knew something of the world, than with him. The + preposterous notions of a systematical man who does not know the world, + tire the patience of a man who does. It would be endless to correct his + mistakes, nor would he take it kindly: for he has considered everything + deliberately, and is very sure that he is in the right. Impropriety is a + characteristic, and a never-failing one, of these people. Regardless, + because ignorant, of customs and manners, they violate them every moment. + They often shock, though they never mean to offend: never attending either + to the general character, or the particular distinguishing circumstances + of the people to whom, or before whom they talk; whereas the knowledge of + the world teaches one, that the very same things which are exceedingly + right and proper in one company, time and place, are exceedingly absurd in + others. In short, a man who has great knowledge, from experience and + observation, of the characters, customs, and manners of mankind, is a + being as different from, and as superior to, a man of mere book and + systematical knowledge, as a well-managed horse is to an ass. Study, + therefore, cultivate, and frequent men and women; not only in their + outward, and consequently, guarded, but in their interior, domestic, and + consequently less disguised, characters and manners. Take your notions of + things, as by observation and experience you find they really are, and not + as you read that they are or should be; for they never are quite what they + should be. For this purpose do not content yourself with general and + common acquaintance; but wherever you can, establish yourself, with a kind + of domestic familiarity, in good houses. For instance, go again to Orli, + for two or three days, and so at two or three ‘reprises’. Go and stay two + or three days at a time at Versailles, and improve and extend the + acquaintance you have there. Be at home at St. Cloud; and, whenever any + private person of fashion invites you to, pass a few days at his + country-house, accept of the invitation. This will necessarily give you a + versatility of mind, and a facility to adopt various manners and customs; + for everybody desires to please those in whose house they are; and people + are only to be pleased in their own way. Nothing is more engaging than a + cheerful and easy conformity to people’s particular manners, habits, and + even weaknesses; nothing (to use a vulgar expression) should come amiss to + a young fellow. He should be, for good purposes, what Alcibiades was + commonly for bad ones, a Proteus, assuming with ease, and wearing with + cheerfulness, any shape. Heat, cold, luxury, abstinence, gravity, gayety, + ceremony, easiness, learning, trifling, business, and pleasure, are modes + which he should be able to take, lay aside, or change occasionally, with + as much ease as he would take or lay aside his hat. All this is only to be + acquired by use and knowledge of the world, by keeping a great deal of + company, analyzing every character, and insinuating yourself into the + familiarity of various acquaintance. A right, a generous ambition to make + a figure in the world, necessarily gives the desire of pleasing; the + desire of pleasing points out, to a great degree, the means of doing it; + and the art of pleasing is, in truth, the art of rising, of distinguishing + one’s self, of making a figure and a fortune in the world. But without + pleasing, without the graces, as I have told you a thousand times, ‘ogni + fatica e vana’. You are now but nineteen, an age at which most of your + countrymen are illiberally getting drunk in port, at the university. You + have greatly got the start of them in learning; and if you can equally get + the start of them in the knowledge and manners of the world, you may be + very sure of outrunning them in court and parliament, as you set out much + earlier than they. They generally begin but to see the world at + one-and-twenty; you will by that age have seen all Europe. They set out + upon their travels unlicked cubs: and in their travels they only lick one + another, for they seldom go into any other company. They know nothing but + the English world, and the worst part of that too, and generally very + little of any but the English language; and they come home, at three or + four-and-twenty, refined and polished (as is said in one of Congreve’s + plays) like Dutch skippers from a whale-fishing. The care which has been + taken of you, and (to do you justice) the care that you have taken of + yourself, has left you, at the age of nineteen only, nothing to acquire + but the knowledge of the world, manners, address, and those exterior + accomplishments. But they are great and necessary acquisitions, to those + who have sense enough to know their true value; and your getting them + before you are one-and-twenty, and before you enter upon the active and + shining scene of life, will give you such an advantage over all your + contemporaries, that they cannot overtake you: they must be distanced. You + may probably be placed about a young prince, who will probably be a young + king. There all the various arts of pleasing, the engaging address, the + versatility of manners, the brillant, the graces, will outweigh, and yet + outrun all solid knowledge and unpolished merit. Oil yourself, therefore, + and be both supple and shining, for that race, if you would be first, or + early at the goal. Ladies will most probably too have something to say + there; and those who are best with them will probably be best SOMEWHERE + ELSE. Labor this great point, my dear child, indefatigably; attend to the + very smallest parts, the minutest graces, the most trifling circumstances, + that can possibly concur in forming the shining character of a complete + gentleman, ‘un galant homme, un homme de cour’, a man of business and + pleasure; ‘estime des hommes, recherche des femmes, aime de tout le + monde’. In this view, observe the shining part of every man of fashion, + who is liked and esteemed; attend to, and imitate that particular + accomplishment for which you hear him chiefly celebrated and + distinguished: then collect those various parts, and make yourself a + mosiac of the whole. No one body possesses everything, and almost + everybody possesses some one thing worthy of imitation: only choose your + models well; and in order to do so, choose by your ear more than by your + eye. The best model is always that which is most universally allowed to be + the best, though in strictness it may possibly not be so. We must take + most things as they are, we cannot make them what we would, nor often what + they should be; and where moral duties are not concerned, it is more + prudent to follow than to attempt to lead. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0190" id="link2H_4_0190"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 3, 1753 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You have set out well at The Hague; you are in love with + Madame Munter, which I am very glad of: you are in the fine company there, + and I hope one of it: for it is not enough, at your age, to be merely in + good company; but you should, by your address and attentions, make that + good company think you one of them. There is a tribute due to beauty, even + independently of further views; which tribute I hope you paid with + alacrity to Madame Munter and Madame Degenfeldt: depend upon it, they + expected it, and were offended in proportion as that tribute seemed either + unwillingly or scantily paid. I believe my friend Kreuningen admits nobody + now to his table, for fear of their communicating the plague to him, or at + least the bite of a mad dog. Pray profit of the entrees libres that the + French Ambassador has given you; frequent him, and SPEAK to him. I think + you will not do amiss to call upon Mr. Burrish, at Aix-la-Chapelle, since + it is so little out of your way; and you will do still better, if you + would, which I know you will not, drink those waters for five or six days + only, to scour your stomach and bowels a little; I am sure it would do you + a great deal of good Mr. Burrish can, doubtless, give you the best letters + to Munich; and he will naturally give you some to Comte Preysing, or Comte + Sinsheim, and such sort of grave people; but I could wish that you would + ask him for some to young fellows of pleasure, or fashionable coquettes, + that, you may be ‘dans l’honnete debauche de Munich’. A propos of your + future motions; I leave you in a great measure the master of them, so + shall only suggest my thoughts to you upon that subject. + </p> + <p> + You have three electoral courts in view, Bonn, Munich, and Manheim. I + would advise you to see two of them rather cursorily, and fix your + tabernacle at the third, whichever that may be, for a considerable time. + For instance, should you choose (as I fancy you will), to make Manheim the + place of your residence, stay only ten or twelve days at Bonn, and as long + at Munich, and then go and fix at Manheim; and so, vice versa, if you + should like Bonn or Munich better than you think you would Manheim, make + that the place of your residence, and only visit the other two. It is + certain that no man can be much pleased himself, or please others much, in + any place where he is only a bird of passage for eight or ten days; + neither party thinking it worth while to make an acquaintance, still less + to form any connection, for so short a time; but when months are the case, + a man may domesticate himself pretty well, and very soon not be looked + upon as a stranger. This is the real utility of traveling, when, by + contracting a familiarity at any place, you get into the inside of it, and + see it in its undress. That is the only way of knowing the customs, the + manners, and all the little characteristical peculiarities that + distinguish one place from another; but then this familiarity is not to be + brought about by cold, formal visits of half an hour: no; you must show a + willingness, a desire, an impatience of forming connections, ‘il faut s’y + preter, et y mettre du liant, du desir de plaire. Whatever you do approve, + you must be lavish in your praises of; and you must learn to commend what + you do not approve of, if it is approved of there. You are not much given + to praise, I know; but it is because you do not yet know how extremely + people are engaged by a seeming sanction to their own opinions, + prejudices, and weaknesses, even in the merest trifles. Our self-love is + mortified when we think our opinions, and even our tastes, customs, and + dresses, either arraigned or condemned; as on the contrary, it is tickled + and flattered by approbation. I will give you a remarkable instance of + this kind. The famous Earl of Shaftesbury, in the flagitious reign of + Charles the Second, while he was Chancellor, had a mind to be a favorite, + as well as a minister of the King; in order, therefore, to please his + Majesty, whose prevailing passion was women, my Lord kept a w——e, + whom he had no occasion for, and made no manner of use of. The King soon + heard of it, and asked him if it was true; he owned it was; but that, + though he kept that one woman, he had several others besides, for he loved + variety. A few days afterward, the King, at his public levee, saw Lord + Shaftesbury at some distance, and said in the circle, “One would not think + that that little, weak man is the greatest whore-master in England; but I + can assure you that he is.” Upon Lord Shaftesbury’s coming into the + circle, there was a general smile; the King said, “This is concerning you, + my Lord.”—“Me, sir?” answered the Chancellor, with some surprise. + “Yes, you,” answered the King; “for I had just said that you were the + greatest whore-master in England! Is it not true?”—“Of a SUBJECT, + Sir,” replied Lord Shaftesbury, “perhaps I am.” It is the same in + everything; we think a difference of opinion, of conduct, of manners, a + tacit reproach, at least, upon our own; we must therefore use ourselves to + a ready conformity to whatever is neither criminal nor dishonorable. + Whoever differs from any general custom, is supposed both to think, and + proclaim himself wiser than the rest of the world: which the rest of the + world cannot bear, especially in a young man. A young fellow is always + forgiven and often applauded, when he carries a fashion to an excess; but + never if he stops short of it. The first is ascribed to youth and fire; + but the latter is imputed to an affectation of singularity or superiority. + At your age, one is allowed to ‘outrer’ fashion, dress, vivacity, + gallantry, etc., but by no means to be behindhand in any one of them. And + one may apply to youth in this case, ‘Si non errasset, fecerat ille + minus’. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0191" id="link2H_4_0191"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CLXXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 19, 1753 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Of all the various ingredients that compose the useful and + necessary art of pleasing, no one is so effectual and engaging as that + gentleness, that ‘douceur’ of countenance and manner, to which you are no + stranger, though (God knows why) a sworn enemy. Other people take great + pains to conceal or disguise their natural imperfections; some by the make + of their clothes and other arts, endeavor to conceal the defects of their + shape; women, who unfortunately have natural bad complexions, lay on good + ones; and both men and women upon whom unkind nature has inflicted a + surliness and ferocity of countenance, do at least all they can, though + often without success, to soften and mitigate it; they affect ‘douceur’, + and aim at smiles, though often in the attempt, like the Devil in Milton, + they GRIN HORRIBLY A GHASTLY SMILE. But you are the only person I ever + knew in the whole course of my life, who not only disdain, but absolutely + reject and disguise a great advantage that nature has kindly granted. You + easily guess I mean COUNTENANCE; for she has given you a very pleasing + one; but you beg to be excused, you will not accept it; but on the + contrary, take singular pains to put on the most ‘funeste’, forbidding, + and unpleasing one that can possibly be imagined. This one would think + impossible; but you know it to be true. If you imagine that it gives you a + manly, thoughtful, and decisive air, as some, though very few of your + countrymen do, you are most exceedingly mistaken; for it is at best the + air of a German corporal, part of whose exercise is to look fierce, and to + ‘blasemeer-op’. You will say, perhaps, What, am I always to be studying my + countenance, in order to wear this ‘douceur’? I answer, No; do it but for + a fortnight, and you never will have occasion to think of it more. Take + but half the pains to recover the countenance that nature gave you, that + you must have taken to disguise and deform it as you have, and the + business will be done. Accustom your eyes to a certain softness, of which + they are very capable, and your face to smiles, which become it more than + most faces I know. Give all your motions, too, an air of ‘douceur’, which + is directly the reverse of their present celerity and rapidity. I wish you + would adopt a little of ‘l’air du Couvent’ (you very well know what I + mean) to a certain degree; it has something extremely engaging; there is a + mixture of benevolence, affection, and unction in it; it is frequently + really sincere, but is almost always thought so, and consequently + pleasing. Will you call this trouble? It will not be half an hour’s + trouble to you in a week’s time. But suppose it be, pray tell me, why did + you give yourself the trouble of learning to dance so well as you do? It + is neither a religious, moral, or civil duty. You must own, that you did + it then singly to please, and you were, in the right on’t. Why do you wear + fine clothes, and curl your hair? Both are troublesome; lank locks, and + plain flimsy rags are much easier. This then you also do in order to + please, and you do very right. But then, for God’s sake, reason and act + consequentially; and endeavor to please in other things too, still more + essential; and without which the trouble you have taken in those is wholly + thrown away. You show your dancing, perhaps six times a year, at most; but + you show your countenance and your common motions every day, and all day. + Which then, I appeal to yourself, ought you to think of the most, and care + to render easy, graceful, and engaging? Douceur of countenance and gesture + can alone make them so. You are by no means ill-natured; and would you + then most unjustly be reckoned so? Yet your common countenance intimates, + and would make anybody who did not know you, believe it. ‘A propos’ of + this, I must tell you what was said the other day to a fine lady whom you + know, who is very good-natured in truth, but whose common countenance + implies ill-nature, even to brutality. It was Miss H——n, Lady + M—y’s niece, whom you have seen both at Blackheath and at Lady + Hervey’s. Lady M—y was saying to me that you had a very engaging + countenance when you had a mind to it, but that you had not always that + mind; upon which Miss H——n said, that she liked your + countenance best, when it was as glum as her own. Why then, replied Lady M—y, + you two should marry; for while you both wear your worst countenances, + nobody else will venture upon either of you; and they call her now Mrs. + Stanhope. To complete this ‘douceur’ of countenance and motions, which I + so earnestly recommend to you, you should carry it also to your + expressions and manner of thinking, ‘mettez y toujours de l’affectueux de + l’onction’; take the gentle, the favorable, the indulgent side of most + questions. I own that the manly and sublime John Trott, your countryman, + seldom does; but, to show his spirit and decision, takes the rough and + harsh side, which he generally adorns with an oath, to seem more + formidable. This he only thinks fine; for to do John justice, he is + commonly as good-natured as anybody. These are among the many little + things which you have not, and I have, lived long enough in the world to + know of what infinite consequence they are in the course of life. Reason + then, I repeat it again, within yourself, CONSEQUENTIALLY; and let not the + pains you have taken, and still take, to please in some things be a ‘pure + perte’, by your negligence of, and inattention to others of much less + trouble, and much more consequence. + </p> + <p> + I have been of late much engaged, or rather bewildered, in Oriental + history, particularly that of the Jews, since the destruction of their + temple, and their dispersion by Titus; but the confusion and uncertainty + of the whole, and the monstrous extravagances and falsehoods of the + greatest part of it, disgusted me extremely. Their Talmud, their Mischna, + their Targums, and other traditions and writings of their Rabbins and + Doctors, who were most of them Cabalists, are really more extravagant and + absurd, if possible, than all that you have read in Comte de Gabalis; and + indeed most of his stuff is taken from them. Take this sample of their + nonsense, which is transmitted in the writings of one of their most + considerable Rabbins: “One Abas Saul, a man of ten feet high, was digging + a grave, and happened to find the eye of Goliah, in which he thought + proper to bury himself, and so he did, all but his head, which the Giant’s + eye was unfortunately not quite deep enough to receive.” This, I assure + you, is the most modest lie of ten thousand. I have also read the Turkish + history which, excepting the religious part, is not fabulous, though very + possibly not true. For the Turks, having no notion of letters and being, + even by their religion, forbid the use of them, except for reading and + transcribing the Koran, they have no historians of their own, nor any + authentic records nor memorials for other historians to work upon; so that + what histories we have of that country are written by foreigners; as + Platina, Sir Paul Rycaut, Prince Cantimer, etc., or else snatches only of + particular and short periods, by some who happened to reside there at + those times; such as Busbequius, whom I have just finished. I like him, as + far as he goes, much the best of any of them: but then his account is, + properly, only an account of his own Embassy, from the Emperor Charles the + Fifth to Solyman the Magnificent. However, there he gives, episodically, + the best account I know of the customs and manners of the Turks, and of + the nature of that government, which is a most extraordinary one. For, + despotic as it always seems, and sometimes is, it is in truth a military + republic, and the real power resides in the Janissaries; who sometimes + order their Sultan to strangle his Vizir, and sometimes the Vizir to + depose or strangle his Sultan, according as they happen to be angry at the + one or the other. I own I am glad that the capital strangler should, in + his turn, be STRANGLE-ABLE, and now and then strangled; for I know of no + brute so fierce, nor no criminal so guilty, as the creature called a + Sovereign, whether King, Sultan, or Sophy, who thinks himself, either by + divine or human right, vested with an absolute power of destroying his + fellow-creatures; or who, without inquiring into his right, lawlessly + exerts that power. The most excusable of all those human monsters are the + Turks, whose religion teaches them inevitable fatalism. A propos of the + Turks, my Loyola, I pretend, is superior to your Sultan. Perhaps you think + this impossible, and wonder who this Loyola is. Know then, that I have had + a Barbet brought me from France, so exactly like the Sultan that he has + been mistaken for him several times; only his snout is shorter, and his + ears longer than the Sultan’s. He has also the acquired knowledge of the + Sultan; and I am apt to think that he studied under the same master at + Paris. His habit and his white band show him to be an ecclesiastic; and + his begging, which he does very earnestly, proves him to be of a mendicant + order; which, added to his flattery and insinuation, make him supposed to + be a Jesuit, and have acquired him the name of Loyola. I must not omit + too, that when he breaks wind he smells exactly like the Sultan. + </p> + <p> + I do not yet hear one jot the better for all my bathings and pumpings, + though I have been here already full half my time; I consequently go very + little into company, being very little fit for any. I hope you keep + company enough for us both; you will get more by that, than I shall by all + my reading. I read simply to amuse myself and fill up my time, of which I + have too much; but you have two much better reasons for going into + company, pleasure and profit. May you find a great deal of both in a great + deal of company! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0192" id="link2H_4_0192"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXC + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 20, 1753 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Two mails are now due from Holland, so that I have no + letter from you to acknowledge; but that, you know, by long experience, + does not hinder my writing to you. I always receive your letters with + pleasure; but I mean, and endeavor, that you should receive mine with some + profit; preferring always your advantage to my own pleasure. + </p> + <p> + If you find yourself well settled and naturalized at Manheim, stay there + some time, and do not leave a certain for an uncertain good; but if you + think you shall be as well, or better established at Munich, go there as + soon as you please; and if disappointed, you can always return to Manheim + I mentioned, in a former letter, your passing the Carnival at Berlin, + which I think may be both useful and pleasing to you; however, do as you + will; but let me know what you resolve: That King and that country have, + and will have, so great a share in the affairs of Europe, that they are + well worth being thoroughly known. + </p> + <p> + Whether, where you are now, or ever may be hereafter, you speak French, + German, or English most, I earnestly recommend to you a particular + attention to the propriety and elegance of your style; employ the best + words you can find in the language, avoid cacophony, and make your periods + as harmonious as you can. I need not, I am sure, tell you what you must + often have felt, how much the elegance of diction adorns the best + thoughts, and palliates the worst. In the House of Commons it is almost + everything; and, indeed, in every assembly, whether public or private. + Words, which are the dress of thoughts, deserve surely more care than + clothes, which are only the dress of the person, and which, however, ought + to have their share of attention. If you attend to your style in any one + language, it will give you a habit of attending to it in every other; and + if once you speak either French or German very elegantly, you will + afterward speak much the better English for it. I repeat it to you again, + for at least the thousandth time, exert your whole attention now in + acquiring the ornamental parts of character. People know very little of + the world, and talk nonsense, when they talk of plainness and solidity + unadorned: they will do in nothing; mankind has been long out of a state + of nature, and the golden age of native simplicity will never return. + Whether for the better or the worse, no matter; but we are refined; and + plain manners, plain dress, and plain diction, would as little do in life, + as acorns, herbage, and the water of the neighboring spring, would do at + table. Some people are just come, who interrupt me in the middle of my + sermon; so good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0193" id="link2H_4_0193"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 26, 1753 + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: Fine doings at Manheim! If one may give credit to the weekly + histories of Monsieur Roderigue, the finest writer among the moderns; not + only ‘des chasses brillantes et nombreuses des operas ou les acteurs se + surpassent les jours des Saints de L. L. A. A. E. E. serenissimes + celebres; en grand gala’; but to crown the whole, Monsieur Zuchmantel is + happily arrived, and Monsieur Wartenslebeu hourly expected. I hope that + you are ‘pars magna’ of all these delights; though, as Noll Bluff says, in + the “Old Bachelor,” THAT RASCALLY GAZETTEER TAKES NO MORE NOTICE OF YOU + THAN IF YOU WERE NOT IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. I should think that he + might at least have taken notice that in these rejoicings you appeared + with a rejoicing, and not a gloomy countenance; and you distinguished + yourself in that numerous and shining company, by your air, dress, + address, and attentions. If this was the case, as I will both hope and + suppose it was, I will, if you require it, have him written to, to do you + justice in his next ‘supplement’. Seriously, I am very glad that you are + whirled in that ‘tourbillon’ of pleasures; they smooth, polish, and rub + off rough corners: perhaps too, you have some particular COLLISION, which + is still more effectual. + </p> + <p> + Schannat’s “History of the Palatinate” was, I find, written originally in + German, in which language I suppose it is that you have read it; but, as I + must humbly content myself with the French translation, Vaillant has sent + for it for me from Holland, so that I have not yet read it. While you are + in the Palatinate, you do very well to read everything relative to it; you + will do still better if you make that reading the foundation of your + inquiries into the more minute circumstances and anecdotes of that + country, whenever you are in company with informed and knowing people. + </p> + <p> + The Ministers here, intimidated on the absurd and groundless clamors of + the mob, have, very weakly in my mind, repealed, this session, the bill + which they had passed in the last for rendering Jews capable of being + naturalized by subsequent acts of parliament. The clamorers triumph, and + will doubtless make further demands, which, if not granted, this piece of + complaisance will soon be forgotten. Nothing is truer in politics, than + this reflection of the Cardinal de Retz, ‘Que le peuple craint toujours + quand on ne le craint pas’; and consequently they grow unreasonable and + insolent, when they find that they are feared. Wise and honest governors + will never, if they can help it, give the people just cause to complain; + but then, on the other hand, they will firmly withstand groundless clamor. + Besides that this noise against the Jew bill proceeds from that narrow + mobspirit of INTOLERATION in religious, and inhospitality in civil + matters; both which all wise governments should oppose. + </p> + <p> + The confusion in France increases daily, as, no doubt, you are informed + where you are. There is an answer of the clergy to the remonstrances of + the parliament, lately published, which was sent me by the last post from + France, and which I would have sent you, inclosed in this, were it not too + bulky. Very probably you may see it at Manheim, from the French Minister: + it is very well worth your reading, being most artfully and plausibly + written, though founded upon false principles; the ‘jus divinum’ of the + clergy, and consequently their supremacy in all matters of faith and + doctrine are asserted; both which I absolutely deny. Were those two points + allowed the clergy of any country whatsoever, they must necessarily govern + that country absolutely; everything being, directly or indirectly, + relative to faith or doctrine; and whoever is supposed to have the power + of saving and damning souls to all eternity (which power the clergy + pretend to), will be much more considered, and better obeyed, than any + civil power that forms no pretensions beyond this world. Whereas, in + truth, the clergy in every country are, like all other subjects, dependent + upon the supreme legislative power, and are appointed by that power under + whatever restrictions and limitations it pleases, to keep up decency and + decorum in the church, just as constables are to keep peace in the parish. + This Fra Paolo has clearly proved, even upon their own principles of the + Old and New Testament, in his book ‘de Beneficiis’, which I recommend to + you to read with attention; it is short. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0194" id="link2H_4_0194"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 25, 1753 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday again I received two letters at once from you, + the one of the 7th, the other of the 15th, from Manheim. + </p> + <p> + You never had in your life so good a reason for not writing, either to me + or to anybody else, as your sore finger lately furnished you. I believe it + was painful, and I am glad it is cured; but a sore finger, however + painful, is a much less evil than laziness, of either body or mind, and + attended by fewer ill consequences. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad to hear that you were distinguished at the court of Manheim + from the rest of your countrymen and fellow-travelers: it is a sign that + you had better manners and address than they; for take it for granted, the + best-bred people will always be the best received wherever they go. Good + manners are the settled medium of social, as specie is of commercial life; + returns are equally expected for both; and people will no more advance + their civility to a bear, than their money to a bankrupt. I really both + hope and believe, that the German courts will do you a great deal of good; + their ceremony and restraint being the proper correctives and antidotes + for your negligence and inattention. I believe they would not greatly + relish your weltering in your own laziness, and an easy chair; nor take it + very kindly, if, when they spoke to you or you to them, you looked another + way, as much as to say, kiss my b——h. As they give, so they + require attention; and, by the way, take this maxim for an undoubted + truth, That no young man can possibly improve in any company, for which he + has not respect enough to be under some degree of restraint. + </p> + <p> + I dare not trust to Meyssonier’s report of his Rhenish, his Burgundy not + having answered either his account or my expectations. I doubt, as a wine + merchant, he is the ‘perfidus caupo’, whatever he may be as a banker. I + shall therefore venture upon none of his wine; but delay making my + provision of Old Hock, till I go abroad myself next spring: as I told you + in the utmost secrecy, in my last, that I intend to do; and then probably + I may taste some that I like, and go upon sure ground. There is commonly + very good, both at Aix-la-Chapelle and Liege, where I formerly got some + excellent, which I carried with me to Spa, where I drank no other wine. + </p> + <p> + As my letters to you frequently miscarry, I will repeat in this that part + of my last which related to your future motions. Whenever you shall be + tired of Berlin, go to Dresden; where Sir Charles Williams will be, who + will receive you with open arms. He dined with me to-day, and sets out for + Dresden in about six weeks. He spoke of you with great kindness and + impatience to see you again. He will trust and employ you in business (and + he is now in the whole secret of importance) till we fix our place to meet + in: which probably will be Spa. Wherever you are, inform yourself minutely + of, and attend particularly to the affairs of France; they grow serious, + and in my opinion will grow more and more so every day. The King is + despised and I do not wonder at it; but he has brought it about to be + hated at the same time, which seldom happens to the same man. His + ministers are known to be as disunited as incapable; he hesitates between + the Church and the parliaments, like the ass in the fable, that starved + between two hampers of hay: too much in love with his mistress to part + with her, and too much afraid of his soul to enjoy her; jealous of the + parliaments, who would support his authority; and a devoted bigot to the + Church, that would destroy it. The people are poor, consequently + discontented; those who have religion, are divided in their notions of it; + which is saying that they hate one another. The clergy never do forgive; + much less will they forgive the parliament; the parliament never will + forgive them. The army must, without doubt, take, in their own minds at + last, different parts in all these disputes, which upon occasion would + break out. Armies, though always the supporters and tools of absolute + power for the time being, are always the destroyers of it, too, by + frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it. This + was the case of the Praetorian bands, who deposed and murdered the + monsters they had raised to oppress mankind. The Janissaries in turkey, + and the regiments of guards in Russia, do the same now. The French nation + reasons freely, which they never did before, upon matters of religion and + government, and begin to be ‘sprejiudicati’; the officers do so too; in + short, all the symptoms, which I have ever met with in history previous to + great changes and revolutions in government, now exist, and daily + increase, in France. I am glad of it; the rest of Europe will be the + quieter, and have time to recover. England, I am sure, wants rest, for it + wants men and money; the Republic of the United Provinces wants both still + more; the other Powers cannot well dance, when neither France, nor the + maritime powers, can, as they used to do, pay the piper. The first + squabble in Europe, that I foresee, will be about the Crown of Poland, + should the present King die: and therefore I wish his Majesty a long life + and a merry Christmas. So much for foreign politics; but ‘a propos’ of + them, pray take care, while you are in those parts of Germany, to inform + yourself correctly of all the details, discussions, and agreements, which + the several wars, confiscations, bans, and treaties, occasioned between + the Bavarian and Palatine Electorates; they are interesting and curious. + </p> + <p> + I shall not, upon the occasion of the approaching new year, repeat to you + the wishes which I continue to form for you; you know them all already, + and you know that it is absolutely in your power to satisfy most of them. + Among many other wishes, this is my most earnest one: That you would open + the new year with a most solemn and devout sacrifice to the Graces; who + never reject those that supplicate them with fervor; without them, let me + tell you, that your friend Dame Fortune will stand you in little stead; + may they all be your friends! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0195" id="link2H_4_0195"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 15, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 26th past + from Munich. Since you are got so well out of the distress and dangers of + your journey from Manheim, I am glad that you were in them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Condisce i diletti + Memorie di pene, + Ne sa che sia bene + Chi mal non soffri.” + </pre> + <p> + They were but little samples of the much greater distress and dangers + which you must expect to meet within your great, and I hope, long journey + through life. In some parts of it, flowers are scattered, with profusion, + the road is smooth, and the prospect pleasant: but in others (and I fear + the greater number) the road is rugged, beset with thorns and briars, and + cut by torrents. Gather the flowers in your way; but, at the same time, + guard against the briars that are either mixed with them, or that most + certainly succeed them. + </p> + <p> + I thank you for your wild boar; who, now he is dead, I assure him, ‘se + laissera bien manger malgre qu’il en ait’; though I am not so sure that I + should have had that personal valor which so successfully distinguished + you in single combat with him, which made him bite the dust like Homer’s + heroes, and, to conclude my period sublimely, put him into that PICKLE, + from which I propose eating him. At the same time that I applaud your + valor, I must do justice to your modesty; which candidly admits that you + were not overmatched, and that your adversary was about your own age and + size. A Maracassin, being under a year old, would have been below your + indignation. ‘Bete de compagne’, being under two years old, was still, in + my opinion, below your glory; but I guess that your enemy was ‘un Ragot’, + that is, from two to three years old; an age and size which, between man + and boar, answer pretty well to yours. + </p> + <p> + If accidents of bad roads or waters do not detain you at Munich, I do not + fancy that pleasures will: and I rather believe you will seek for, and + find them, at the Carnival at Berlin; in which supposition, I eventually + direct this letter to your banker there. While you are at Berlin (I + earnestly recommend it to you again and again) pray CARE to see, hear, + know, and mind, everything there. THE ABLEST PRINCE IN EUROPE is surely an + object that deserves attention; and the least thing that he does, like the + smallest sketches of the greatest painters, has its value, and a + considerable one too. + </p> + <p> + Read with care the Code Frederick, and inform yourself of the good effects + of it in those parts of, his dominions where it has taken place, and where + it has banished the former chicanes, quirks, and quibbles of the old law. + Do not think any detail too minute or trifling for your inquiry and + observation. I wish that you could find one hour’s leisure every day, to + read some good Italian author, and to converse in that language with our + worthy friend Signor Angelo Cori; it would both refresh and improve your + Italian, which, of the many languages you know, I take to be that in which + you are the least perfect; but of which, too, you already know enough to + make yourself master of, with very little trouble, whenever you please. + </p> + <p> + Live, dwell, and grow at the several courts there; use them so much to + your face, that they may not look upon you as a stranger. Observe, and + take their ‘ton’, even to their affectations and follies; for such there + are, and perhaps should be, at all courts. Stay, in all events, at Berlin, + till I inform you of Sir Charles Williams’s arrival at Dresden; where I + suppose you would not care to be before him, and where you may go as soon + after him as ever you please. Your time there will neither be unprofitably + nor disagreeably spent; he will introduce you into all the best company, + though he can introduce you to none so good as his own. He has of late + applied himself very seriously to foreign affairs, especially those of + Saxony and Poland; he knows them perfectly well, and will tell you what he + knows. He always expresses, and I have good reason to believe very + sincerely, great kindness and affection for you. + </p> + <p> + The works of the late Lord Bolingbroke are just published, and have + plunged me into philosophical studies; which hitherto I have not been much + used to, or delighted with; convinced of the futility of those researches; + but I have read his “Philosophical Essay” upon the extent of human + knowledge, which, by the way, makes two large quartos and a half. He there + shows very clearly, and with most splendid eloquence, what the human mind + can and cannot do; that our understandings are wisely calculated for our + place in this planet, and for the link which we form in the universal + chain of things; but that they are by no means capable of that degree of + knowledge, which our curiosity makes us search after, and which our vanity + makes us often believe we arrive at. I shall not recommend to you the + reading of that work; but, when you return hither, I shall recommend to + your frequent and diligent perusal all his tracts that are relative to our + history and constitution; upon which he throws lights, and scatters + graces, which no other writer has ever done. + </p> + <p> + Reading, which was always a pleasure to me, in the time even of my + greatest dissipation, is now become my only refuge; and, I fear, I indulge + it too much at the expense of my eyes. But what can I do? I must do + something; I cannot bear absolute idleness; my ears grow every day more + useless to me, my eyes consequently more necessary; I will not hoard them + like a miser, but will rather risk the loss, than not enjoy the use of + them. + </p> + <p> + Pray let me know all the particulars, not only of your reception at + Munich, but also at Berlin; at the latter, I believe, it will be a good + one; for his Prussian Majesty knows, that I have long been AN ADMIRER AND + RESPECTER OF HIS GREAT AND VARIOUS TALENTS. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0196" id="link2H_4_0196"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 1, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, yesterday, yours of the 12th, from Munich; in + consequence of which, I direct this to you there, though I directed my + three last to Berlin, where I suppose you will find them at your arrival. + Since you are not only domesticated, but ‘niche’ at Munich, you are much + in the right to stay there. It is not by seeing places that one knows + them, but by familiar and daily conversations with the people of fashion. + I would not care to be in the place of that prodigy of beauty, whom you + are to drive ‘dans la course de Traineaux’; and I am apt to think you are + much more likely to break her bones, than she is, though ever so cruel, to + break your heart. Nay, I am not sure but that, according to all the rules + of gallantry, you are obliged to overturn her on purpose; in the first + place, for the chance of seeing her backside; in the next, for the sake of + the contrition and concern which it would give you an opportunity of + showing; and, lastly, upon account of all the ‘gentillesses et + epigrammes’, which it would naturally suggest. Voiture has made several + stanzas upon an accident of that kind, which happened to a lady of his + acquaintance. There is a great deal of wit in them, rather too much; for, + according to the taste of those times, they are full of what the Italians + call ‘concetti spiritosissimi’; the Spaniards ‘agudeze’; and we, + affectation and quaintness. I hope you have endeavored to suit your + ‘Traineau’ to the character of the fair-one whom it is to contain. If she + is of an irascible, impetuous disposition (as fine women can sometimes + be), you will doubtless place her in the body of a lion, a tiger, a + dragon, or some tremendous beast of prey and fury; if she is a sublime and + stately beauty, which I think more probable (for unquestionably she is + ‘hogh gebohrne’), you will, I suppose, provide a magnificent swan or proud + peacock for her reception; but if she is all tenderness and softness, you + have, to be sure, taken care amorous doves and wanton sparrows should seem + to flutter round her. Proper mottos, I take it for granted, that you have + eventually prepared; but if not, you may find a great many ready-made ones + in ‘Les Entretiens d’Ariste et d’Eugene, sur les Devises’, written by Pere + Bouhours, and worth your reading at any time. I will not say to you, upon + this occasion, like the father in Ovid, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris.” + </pre> + <p> + On the contrary, drive on briskly; it is not the chariot of the sun that + you drive, but you carry the sun in your chariot; consequently, the faster + it goes, the less it will be likely to scorch or consume. This is Spanish + enough, I am sure. + </p> + <p> + If this finds you still at Munich, pray make many compliments from me to + Mr. Burrish, to whom I am very much obliged for all his kindness to you; + it is true, that while I had power I endeavored to serve him; but it is as + true too, that I served many others more, who have neither returned nor + remembered those services. + </p> + <p> + I have been very ill this last fortnight, of your old Carniolian + complaint, the ‘arthritis vaga’; luckily, it did not fall upon my breast, + but seized on my right arm; there it fixed its seat of empire; but, as in + all tyrannical governments, the remotest parts felt their share of its + severity. Last post I was not able to hold a pen long enough to write to + you, and therefore desired Mr. Grevenkop to do it for me; but that letter + was directed to Berlin. My pain is now much abated, though I have still + some fine remains of it in my shoulder, where I fear it will tease me a + great while. I must be careful to take Horace’s advice, and consider well, + ‘Quid valeant humeri, quid ferre recusent’. + </p> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield bids me make you her compliments, and assure you that + the music will be much more welcome to her with you, than without you. + </p> + <p> + In some of my last letters, which were directed to, and will, I suppose, + wait for you at Berlin, I complimented you, and with justice, upon your + great improvement of late in the epistolary way, both with regard to the + style and the turn of your letters; your four or five last to me have been + very good ones, and one that you wrote to Mr. Harte, upon the new year, + was so pretty a one, and he was so much and so justly pleased with it, + that he sent it me from Windsor the instant he had read it. This talent + (and a most necessary one it is in the course of life) is to be acquired + by resolving, and taking pains to acquire it; and, indeed, so is every + talent except poetry, which is undoubtedly a gift. Think, therefore, night + and day, of the turn, the purity, the correctness, the perspicuity, and + the elegance of whatever you speak or write; take my word for it, your + labor will not be in vain, but greatly rewarded by the harvest of praise + and success which it will bring you. Delicacy of turn, and elegance of + style, are ornaments as necessary to common sense, as attentions, address, + and fashionable manners, are to common civility; both may subsist without + them, but then, without being of the least use to the owner. The figure of + a man is exactly the same in dirty rags, or in the finest and best chosen + clothes; but in which of the two he is the most likely to please, and to + be received in good company, I leave to you to determine. + </p> + <p> + Both my arm and my paper hint to me, to bid you good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0197" id="link2H_4_0197"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 12, 1754. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I take my aim, and let off this letter at you at Berlin; I + should be sorry it missed you, because I believe you will read it with as + much pleasure as I write it. It is to inform you, that, after some + difficulties and dangers, your seat in the new parliament is at last + absolutely secured, and that without opposition, or the least necessity of + your personal trouble or appearance. This success, I must further inform + you, is in a great degree owing to Mr. Eliot’s friendship to us both; for + he brings you in with himself at his surest borough. As it was impossible + to act with more zeal and friendship than Mr. Eliot has acted in this + whole affair, I desire that you will, by the very next post, write him a + letter of thanks, warm and young thanks, not old and cold ones. You may + inclose it in yours to me, and, I will send it to him, for he is now in + Cornwall. + </p> + <p> + Thus, sure of being a senator, I dare say you do not propose to be one of + the ‘pedarii senatores, et pedibus ire in sententiam; for, as the House of + Commons is the theatre where you must make your fortune and figure in the + world, you must resolve to be an actor, and not a ‘persona muta’, which is + just equivalent to a candle snuffer upon other theatres. Whoever does not + shine there, is obscure, insignificant and contemptible; and you cannot + conceive how easy it is for a man of half your sense and knowledge to + shine there if he pleases. The receipt to make a speaker, and an applauded + one too, is short and easy.—Take of common sense ‘quantum sufcit’, + add a little application to the rules and orders of the House, throw + obvious thoughts in a new light, and make up the whole with a large + quantity of purity, correctness, and elegance of style. Take it for + granted, that by far the greatest part of mankind do neither analyze nor + search to the bottom; they are incapable of penetrating deeper than the + surface. All have senses to be gratified, very few have reason to be + applied to. Graceful utterance and action please their eyes, elegant + diction tickles their ears; but strong reason would be thrown away upon + them. I am not only persuaded by theory, but convinced by my experience, + that (supposing a certain degree of common sense) what is called a good + speaker is as much a mechanic as a good shoemaker; and that the two trades + are equally to be learned by the same degree of application. Therefore, + for God’s sake, let this trade be the principal object of your thoughts; + never lose sight of it. Attend minutely to your style, whatever language + you speak or write in; seek for the best words, and think of the best + turns. Whenever you doubt of the propriety or elegance of any word, search + the dictionary or some good author for it, or inquire of somebody, who is + master of that language; and, in a little time, propriety and elegance of + diction will become so habitual to you, that they will cost you no more + trouble. As I have laid this down to be mechanical and attainable by + whoever will take the necessary pains, there will be no great vanity in my + saying, that I saw the importance of the object so early, and attended to + it so young, that it would now cost me more trouble to speak or write + ungrammatically, vulgarly, and inelegantly, than ever it did to avoid + doing so. The late Lord Bolingbroke, without the least trouble, talked all + day long, full as elegantly as he wrote. Why? Not by a peculiar gift from + heaven; but, as he has often told me himself, by an early and constant + attention to his style. The present Solicitor-General, Murray,—[Created + Lord Mansfield in the year 1756.]—has less law than many lawyers, + but has more practice than any; merely upon account of his eloquence, of + which he has a never-failing stream. I remember so long ago as when I was + at Cambridge, whenever I read pieces of eloquence (and indeed they were my + chief study) whether ancient or modern, I used to write down the shining + passages, and then translate them, as well and as elegantly as ever I + could; if Latin or French, into English; if English, into French. This, + which I practiced for some years, not only improved and formed my style, + but imprinted in my mind and memory the best thoughts of the best authors. + The trouble was little, but the advantage I have experienced was great. + While you are abroad, you can neither have time nor opportunity to read + pieces of English or parliamentary eloquence, as I hope you will carefully + do when you return; but, in the meantime, whenever pieces of French + eloquence come in your way, such as the speeches of persons received into + the Academy, ‘orasions funebres’, representations of the several + parliaments to the King, etc., read them in that view, in that spirit; + observe the harmony, the turn and elegance of the style; examine in what + you think it might have been better; and consider in what, had you written + it yourself; you might have done worse. Compare the different manners of + expressing the same thoughts in different authors; and observe how + differently the same things appear in different dresses. Vulgar, coarse, + and ill-chosen words, will deform and degrade the best thoughts as much as + rags and dirt will the best figure. In short, you now know your object; + pursue it steadily, and have no digressions that are not relative to, and + connected with, the main action. Your success in parliament will + effectually remove all OTHER OBJECTIONS; either a foreign or a domestic + destination will no longer be refused you, if you make your way to it + through Westminster. + </p> + <p> + I think I may now say, that I am quite recovered from my late illness, + strength and spirits excepted, which are not yet restored. Aix-la-Chapelle + and Spa will, I believe, answer all my purposes. + </p> + <p> + I long to hear an account of your reception at Berlin, which I fancy will + be a most gracious one. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0198" id="link2H_4_0198"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 15, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I can now with great truth apply your own motto to you, + ‘Nullum numen abest, si sit Prudentia’. You are sure of being, as early as + your age will permit, a member of that House; which is the only road to + figure and fortune in this country. Those, indeed, who are bred up to, and + distinguish themselves in particular professions, as the army, the navy, + and the law, may, by their own merit, raise themselves to a certain + degree; but you may observe too, that they never get to the top, without + the assistance of parliamentary talents and influence. The means of + distinguishing yourself in parliament are, as I told you in my last, much + more easily attained than I believe you imagine. Close attendance to the + business of the House will soon give you the parliamentary routine; and + strict attention to your style will soon make you, not only a speaker, but + a good one. The vulgar look upon a man, who is reckoned a fine speaker, as + a phenomenon, a supernatural being, and endowed with some peculiar gift of + heaven; they stare at him, if he walks in the Park, and cry, THAT IS HE. + You will, I am sure, view him in a juster light, and ‘nulla formidine’. + You will consider him only as a man of good sense, who adorns common + thoughts with the graces of elocution, and the elegance of style. The + miracle will then cease; and you will be convinced, that with the same + application, and attention to the same objects, you may most certainly + equal, and perhaps surpass, this prodigy. Sir W——Y———-, + with not a quarter of your parts, and not a thousandth part of your + knowledge, has, by a glibness of tongue simply, raised him successively to + the best employments of the kingdom; he has been Lord of the Admiralty, + Lord of the Treasury, Secretary at War, and is now Vice-Treasurer of + Ireland; and all this with a most sullied, not to say blasted character. + Represent the thing to yourself, as it really is, easily attainable, and + you will find it so. Have but ambition enough passionately to desire the + object, and spirit enough to use the means, and I will be answerable for + your success. When I was younger than you are, I resolved within myself + that I would in all events be a speaker in parliament, and a good one too, + if I could. I consequently never lost sight of that object, and never + neglected any of the means that I thought led to it. I succeeded to a + certain degree; and, I assure you, with great ease, and without superior + talents. Young people are very apt to overrate both men and things, from + not being enough acquainted with them. In proportion as you come to know + them better, you will value them less. You will find that reason, which + always ought to direct mankind, seldom does; but that passions and + weaknesses commonly usurp its seat, and rule in its stead. You will find + that the ablest have their weak sides too, and are only comparatively + able, with regard to the still weaker herd: having fewer weaknesses + themselves, they are able to avail themselves of the innumerable ones of + the generality of mankind: being more masters of themselves, they become + more easily masters of others. They address themselves to their + weaknesses, their senses, their passions; never to their reason; and + consequently seldom fail of success. But then analyze those great, those + governing, and, as the vulgar imagine, those perfect characters, and you + will find the great Brutus a thief in Macedonia, the great Cardinal + Richelieu a jealous poetaster, and the great Duke of Marlborough a miser. + Till you come to know mankind by your own experience, I know no thing, nor + no man, that can in the meantime bring you so well acquainted with them as + le Duc de la Rochefoucault: his little book of “Maxims,” which I would + advise you to look into, for some moments at least, every day of your + life, is, I fear, too like, and too exact a picture of human nature. + </p> + <p> + I own, it seems to degrade it; but yet my experience does not convince me + that it degrades it unjustly. + </p> + <p> + Now, to bring all this home to my first point. All these considerations + should not only invite you to attempt to make a figure in parliament, but + encourage you to hope that you shall succeed. To govern mankind, one must + not overrate them: and to please an audience, as a speaker, one must not + overvalue it. When I first came into the House of Commons, I respected + that assembly as a venerable one; and felt a certain awe upon me, but, + upon better acquaintance, that awe soon vanished; and I discovered, that, + of the five hundred and sixty, not above thirty could understand reason, + and that all the rest were ‘peuple’; that those thirty only required plain + common sense, dressed up in good language; and that all the others only + required flowing and harmonious periods, whether they conveyed any meaning + or not; having ears to hear, but not sense enough to judge. These + considerations made me speak with little concern the first time, with less + the second, and with none at all the third. I gave myself no further + trouble about anything, except my elocution, and my style; presuming, + without much vanity, that I had common sense sufficient not to talk + nonsense. Fix these three truths strongly in your mind: First, that it is + absolutely necessary for you to speak in parliament; secondly, that it + only requires a little human attention, and no supernatural gifts; and, + thirdly, that you have all the reason in the world to think that you shall + speak well. When we meet, this shall be the principal subject of our + conversations; and, if you will follow my advice, I will answer for your + success. + </p> + <p> + Now from great things to little ones; the transition is to me easy, + because nothing seems little to me that can be of any use to you. I hope + you take great care of your mouth and teeth, and that you clean them well + every morning with a sponge and tepid water, with a few drops of + arquebusade water dropped into it; besides washing your mouth carefully + after every meal, I do insist upon your never using those sticks, or any + hard substance whatsoever, which always rub away the gums, and destroy the + varnish of the teeth. I speak this from woeful experience; for my + negligence of my teeth, when I was younger than you are, made them bad; + and afterward, my desire to have them look better, made me use sticks, + irons, etc., which totally destroyed them; so that I have not now above + six or seven left. I lost one this morning, which suggested this advice to + you. + </p> + <p> + I have received the tremendous wild boar, which your still more tremendous + arm slew in the immense deserts of the Palatinate; but have not yet tasted + of it, as it is hitherto above my low regimen. The late King of Prussia, + whenever he killed any number of wild boars, used to oblige the Jews to + buy them, at a high price, though they could eat none of them; so they + defrayed the expense of his hunting. His son has juster rules of + government, as the Code Frederick plainly shows. + </p> + <p> + I hope, that, by this time, you are as well ‘ancre’ at Berlin as you was + at Munich; but, if not, you are sure of being so at Dresden. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0199" id="link2H_4_0199"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 26, 1754. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have received your letters of the 4th, from Munich, and + of the 11th from Ratisbon; but I have not received that of the 31st + January, to which you refer in the former. It is to this negligence and + uncertainty of the post, that you owe your accidents between Munich and + Ratisbon: for, had you received my letters regularly, you would have + received one from me before you left Munich, in which I advised you to + stay, since you were so well there. But, at all events, you were in the + wrong to set out from Munich in such weather and such roads; since you + could never imagine that I had set my heart so much upon your going to + Berlin, as to venture your being buried in the snow for it. Upon the + whole, considering all you are very well off. You do very well, in my + mind, to return to Munich, or at least to keep within the circle of + Munich, Ratisbon, and Manheim, till the weather and the roads are good: + stay at each or any of those places as long as ever you please; for I am + extremely indifferent about your going to Berlin. + </p> + <p> + As to our meeting, I will tell you my plan, and you may form your own + accordingly. I propose setting out from hence the last week in April, then + drinking the Aix-la-Chapelle waters for a week, and from thence being at + Spa about the 15th of May, where I shall stay two months at most, and then + return straight to England. As I both hope and believe that there will be + no mortal at Spa during my residence there, the fashionable season not + beginning till the middle of July, I would by no means have you come there + at first, to be locked up with me and some few Capucins, for two months, + in that miserable hole; but I would advise you to stay where you like + best, till about the first week in July, and then to come and pick me up + at Spa, or meet me upon the road at Liege or Brussels. As for the + intermediate time, should you be weary of Manheim and Munich, you may, if + you please, go to Dresden, to Sir Charles Williams, who will be there + before that time; or you may come for a month or six weeks to The Hague; + or, in short, go or stay wherever you like best. So much for your motions. + </p> + <p> + As you have sent for all the letters directed to you at Berlin, you will + receive from thence volumes of mine, among which you will easily perceive + that some were calculated for a supposed perusal previous to your opening + them. I will not repeat anything contained in them, excepting that I + desire you will send me a warm and cordial letter of thanks for Mr. Eliot; + who has, in the most friendly manner imaginable, fixed you at his own + borough of Liskeard, where you will be elected jointly with him, without + the least opposition or difficulty. I will forward that letter to him into + Cornwall, where he now is. + </p> + <p> + Now that you are to be soon a man of business, I heartily wish that you + would immediately begin to be a man of method; nothing contributing more + to facilitate and dispatch business, than method and order. Have order and + method in your accounts, in your reading, in the allotment of your time; + in short, in everything. You cannot conceive how much time you will save + by it, nor how much better everything you do will be done. The Duke of + Marlborough did by no means spend, but he slatterned himself into that + immense debt, which is not yet near paid off. The hurry and confusion of + the Duke of Newcastle do not proceed from his business, but from his want + of method in it. Sir Robert Walpole, who had ten times the business to do, + was never seen in a hurry, because he always did it with method. The head + of a man who has business, and no method nor order, is properly that + ‘rudis indigestaque moles quam dixere chaos’. As you must be conscious + that you are extremely negligent and slatternly, I hope you will resolve + not to be so for the future. Prevail with yourself, only to observe good + method and order for one fortnight; and I will venture to assure you that + you will never neglect them afterward, you will find such conveniency and + advantage arising from them. Method is the great advantage that lawyers + have over other people, in speaking in parliament; for, as they must + necessarily observe it in their pleadings in the courts of justice, it + becomes habitual to them everywhere else. Without making you a compliment, + I can tell you with pleasure, that order, method, and more activity of + mind, are all that you want, to make, some day or other, a considerable + figure in business. You have more useful knowledge, more discernment of + characters, and much more discretion, than is common at your age; much + more, I am sure, than I had at that age. Experience you cannot yet have, + and therefore trust in the meantime to mine. I am an old traveler; am well + acquainted with all the bye as well as the great roads; I cannot misguide + you from ignorance, and you are very sure I shall not from design. + </p> + <p> + I can assure you, that you will have no opportunity of subscribing + yourself my Excellency’s, etc. Retirement and quiet were my choice some + years ago, while I had all my senses, and health and spirits enough to + carry on business; but now that I have lost my hearing, and that I find my + constitution declining daily, they are become my necessary and only + refuge. I know myself (no common piece of knowledge, let me tell you), I + know what I can, what I cannot, and consequently what I ought to do. I + ought not, and therefore will not, return to business when I am much less + fit for it than I was when I quitted it. Still less will I go to Ireland, + where, from my deafness and infirmities, I must necessarily make a + different figure from that which I once made there. My pride would be too + much mortified by that difference. The two important senses of seeing and + hearing should not only be good, but quick, in business; and the business + of a Lord-lieutenant of Ireland (if he will do it himself) requires both + those senses in the highest perfection. It was the Duke of Dorset’s not + doing the business himself, but giving it up to favorites, that has + occasioned all this confusion in Ireland; and it was my doing the whole + myself, without either Favorite, Minister, or Mistress, that made my + administration so smooth and quiet. I remember, when I named the late Mr. + Liddel for my Secretary, everybody was much surprised at it; and some of + my friends represented to me, that he was no man of business, but only a + very genteel, pretty young fellow; I assured them, and with truth, that + that was the very reason why I chose him; for that I was resolved to do + all the business myself, and without even the suspicion of having a + minister; which the Lord-lieutenant’s Secretary, if he is a man of + business, is always supposed, and commonly with reason, to be. Moreover, I + look upon myself now to be emeritus in business, in which I have been near + forty years together; I give it up to you: apply yourself to it, as I have + done, for forty years, and then I consent to your leaving it for a + philosophical retirement among your friends and your books. Statesmen and + beauties are very rarely sensible of the gradations of their decay; and, + too often sanguinely hoping to shine on in their meridian, often set with + contempt and ridicule. I retired in time, ‘uti conviva satur’; or, as Pope + says still better, ERE TITTERING YOUTH SHALL SHOVE YOU FROM THE STAGE. My + only remaining ambition is to be the counsellor and minister of your + rising ambition. Let me see my own youth revived in you; let me be your + Mentor, and, with your parts and knowledge, I promise you, you shall go + far. You must bring, on your part, activity and attention; and I will + point out to you the proper objects for them. I own I fear but one thing + for you, and that is what one has generally the least reason to fear from + one of your age; I mean your laziness; which, if you indulge, will make + you stagnate in a contemptible obscurity all your life. It will hinder you + from doing anything that will deserve to be written, or from writing + anything that may deserve to be read; and yet one or other of those two + objects should be at least aimed at by every rational being. + </p> + <p> + I look upon indolence as a sort of SUICIDE; for the man is effectually + destroyed, though the appetites of the brute may survive. Business by no + means forbids pleasures; on the contrary, they reciprocally season each + other; and I will venture to affirm, that no man enjoys either in + perfection, that does not join both. They whet the desire for each other. + Use yourself, therefore, in time to be alert and diligent in your little + concerns; never procrastinate, never put off till to-morrow what you can + do to-day; and never do two things at a time; pursue your object, be it + what it will, steadily and indefatigably; and let any difficulties (if + surmountable) rather animate than slacken your endeavors. Perseverance has + surprising effects. + </p> + <p> + I wish you would use yourself to translate, every day, only three or four + lines, from any book, in any language, into the correctest and most + elegant English that you can think of; you cannot imagine how it will + insensibly form your style, and give you an habitual elegance; it would + not take you up a quarter of an hour in a day. This letter is so long, + that it will hardly leave you that quarter of an hour, the day you receive + it. So good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0200" id="link2H_4_0200"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 8, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: A great and unexpected event has lately happened in our + ministerial world. Mr. Pelham died last Monday of a fever and + mortification, occasioned by a general corruption of his whole mass of + blood, which had broke out into sores in his back. I regret him as an old + acquaintance, a pretty near relation, and a private man, with whom I have + lived many years in a social and friendly way. He meant well to the + public; and was incorrupt in a post where corruption is commonly + contagious. If he was no shining, enterprising minister, he was a safe + one, which I like better. Very shining ministers, like the sun, are apt to + scorch when they shine the brightest: in our constitution, I prefer the + milder light of a less glaring minister. His successor is not yet, at + least publicly, ‘designatus’. You will easily suppose that many are very + willing, and very few able, to fill that post. Various persons are talked + of, by different people, for it, according as their interest prompts them + to wish, or their ignorance to conjecture. Mr. Fox is the most talked of; + he is strongly supported by the Duke of Cumberland. Mr. Legge, the + Solicitor-General, and Dr. Lee, are likewise all spoken of, upon the foot + of the Duke of Newcastle’s, and the Chancellor’s interest. Should it be + any one of the last three, I think no great alterations will ensue; but + should Mr. Fox prevail, it would, in my opinion, soon produce changes by + no means favorable to the Duke of Newcastle. In the meantime, the wild + conjectures of volunteer politicians, and the ridiculous importance which, + upon these occasions, blockheads always endeavor to give themselves, by + grave looks, significant shrugs, and insignificant whispers, are very + entertaining to a bystander, as, thank God, I now am. One KNOWS SOMETHING, + but is not yet at liberty to tell it; another has heard something from a + very good hand; a third congratulates himself upon a certain degree of + intimacy, which he has long had with everyone of the candidates, though + perhaps he has never spoken twice to anyone of them. In short, in these + sort of intervals, vanity, interest, and absurdity, always display + themselves in the most ridiculous light. One who has been so long behind + the scenes as I have is much more diverted with the entertainment, than + those can be who only see it from the pit and boxes. I know the whole + machinery of the interior, and can laugh the better at the silly wonder + and wild conjectures of the uninformed spectators. This accident, I think, + cannot in the least affect your election, which is finally settled with + your friend Mr. Eliot. For, let who will prevail, I presume, he will + consider me enough, not to overturn an arrangement of that sort, in which + he cannot possibly be personally interested. So pray go on with your + parliamentary preparations. Have that object always in your view, and + pursue it with attention. + </p> + <p> + I take it for granted that your late residence in Germany has made you as + perfect and correct in German, as you were before in French, at least it + is worth your while to be so; because it is worth every man’s while to be + perfectly master of whatever language he may ever have occasion to speak. + A man is not himself, in a language which he does not thoroughly possess; + his thoughts are degraded, when inelegantly or imperfectly expressed; he + is cramped and confined, and consequently can never appear to advantage. + Examine and analyze those thoughts that strike you the most, either in + conversation or in books; and you will find that they owe at least half + their merit to the turn and expression of them. There is nothing truer + than that old saying, ‘Nihil dictum quod non prins dictum’. It is only the + manner of saying or writing it that makes it appear new. Convince yourself + that manner is almost everything, in everything; and study it accordingly. + </p> + <p> + I am this moment informed, and I believe truly, that Mr. Fox—[Henry + Fox, created Lord Holland, Baron of Foxley, in the year 1763]—is to + succeed Mr. Pelham as First Commissioner of the Treasury and Chancellor of + the Exchequer; and your friend, Mr. Yorke, of The Hague, to succeed Mr. + Fox as Secretary at War. I am not sorry for this promotion of Mr. Fox, as + I have always been upon civil terms with him, and found him ready to do me + any little services. He is frank and gentleman-like in his manner: and, to + a certain degree, I really believe will be your friend upon my account; if + you can afterward make him yours, upon your own, ‘tan mieux’. I have + nothing more to say now but Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0201" id="link2H_4_0201"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CXCIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 15, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: We are here in the midst of a second winter; the cold is + more severe, and the snow deeper, than they were in the first. I presume, + your weather in Germany is not much more gentle and, therefore, I hope + that you are quietly and warmly fixed at some good town: and will not risk + a second burial in the snow, after your late fortunate resurrection out of + it. Your letters, I suppose, have not been able to make their way through + the ice; for I have received none from you since that of the 12th of + February, from Ratisbon. I am the more uneasy at this state of ignorance, + because I fear that you may have found some subsequent inconveniences from + your overturn, which you might not be aware of at first. + </p> + <p> + The curtain of the political theatre was partly drawn up the day before + yesterday, and exhibited a scene which the public in general did not + expect; the Duke of Newcastle was declared First Lord Commissioner of the + Treasury, Mr. Fox Secretary of State in his room, and Mr. Henry Legge + Chancellor of the Exchequer: The employments of Treasurer of the Navy, and + Secretary at War, supposed to be vacant by the promotion of Mr. Fox and + Mr. Legge, were to be kept ‘in petto’ till the dissolution of this + parliament, which will probably be next week, to avoid the expense and + trouble of unnecessary re-elections; but it was generally supposed that + Colonel Yorke, of The Hague, was to succeed Mr. Fox; and George + Greenville, Mr. Legge. This scheme, had it taken place, you are, I believe + aware, was more a temporary expedient, for securing the elections of the + new parliament, and forming it, at its first meeting, to the interests and + the inclinations of the Duke of Newcastle and the Chancellor, than a plan + of administration either intended or wished to be permanent. This scheme + was disturbed yesterday: Mr. Fox, who had sullenly accepted the seals the + day before, more sullenly refused them yesterday. His object was to be + First Commissioner of the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and + consequently to have a share in the election of the new parliament, and a + much greater in the management of it when chosen. This necessary + consequence of his view defeated it; and the Duke of Newcastle and the + Chancellor chose to kick him upstairs into the Secretaryship of State, + rather than trust him with either the election or the management of the + new parliament. In this, considering their respective situations, they + certainly acted wisely; but whether Mr. Fox has done so, or not, in + refusing the seals, is a point which I cannot determine. If he is, as I + presume he is, animated with revenge, and I believe would not be over + scrupulous in the means of gratifying it, I should have thought he could + have done it better, as Secretary of State, with constant admission into + the closet, than as a private man at the head of an opposition. But I see + all these things at too great a distance to be able to judge soundly of + them. The true springs and motives of political measures are confined + within a very narrow circle, and known to a very few; the good reasons + alleged are seldom the true ones: The public commonly judges, or rather + guesses, wrong, and I am now one of that public. I therefore recommend to + you a prudent Pyrrhonism in all matters of state, until you become one of + the wheels of them yourself, and consequently acquainted with the general + motion, at least, of the others; for as to all the minute and secret + springs, that contribute more or less to the whole machine, no man living + ever knows them all, not even he who has the principal direction of it. As + in the human body, there are innumerable little vessels and glands that + have a good deal to do, and yet escape the knowledge of the most skillful + anatomist; he will know more, indeed, than those who only see the exterior + of our bodies, but he will never know all. This bustle, and these changes + at court, far from having disturbed the quiet and security of your + election, have, if possible, rather confirmed them; for the Duke of + Newcastle (I must do him justice) has, in, the kindest manner imaginable + to you, wrote a letter to Mr. Eliot, to recommend to him the utmost care + of your election. + </p> + <p> + Though the plan of administration is thus unsettled, mine, for my travels + this summer, is finally settled; and I now communicate it to you that you + may form your own upon it. I propose being at Spa on the 10th or 12th of + May, and staying there till the 10th of July. As there will be no mortal + there during my stay, it would be both unpleasant and unprofitable to you + to be shut up tete-a-fete with me the whole time; I should therefore think + it best for you not to come to me there till the last week in June. In the + meantime, I suppose, that by the middle of April, you will think that you + have had enough of Manheim, Munich, or Ratisbon, and that district. Where + would you choose to go then? For I leave you absolutely your choice. Would + you go to Dresden for a month or six weeks? That is a good deal out of + your way, and I am not sure that Sir Charles will be there by that time. + Or would you rather take Bonn in your way, and pass the time till we meet + at The Hague? From Manheim you may have a great many good letters of + recommendation to the court of Bonn; which court, and it’s Elector, in one + light or another, are worth your seeing. + </p> + <p> + From thence, your journey to The Hague will be but a short one; and you + would arrive there at that season of the year when The Hague is, in my + mind, the most agreeable, smiling scene in Europe; and from The Hague you + would have but three very easy days journey to me at Spa. Do as you like; + for, as I told you before, ‘Ella e assolutamente padrone’. But lest you + should answer that you desire to be determined by me, I will eventually + tell you my opinion. I am rather inclined to the latter plan; I mean that + of your coming to Bonn, staying there according as you like it, and then + passing the remainder of your time, that is May and June, at The Hague. + Our connection and transactions with the Republic of the United Provinces + are such, that you cannot be too well acquainted with that constitution, + and with those people. You have established good acquaintances there, and + you have been ‘fetoie’ round by the foreign ministers; so that you will be + there ‘en pais connu’. Moreover, you have not seen the Stadtholder, the + ‘Gouvernante’, nor the court there, which ‘a bon compte’ should be seen. + Upon the whole, then, you cannot, in my opinion, pass the months of May + and June more agreeably, or more usefully, than at The Hague. But, + however, if you have any other, plan that you like better, pursue it: Only + let me know what you intend to do, and I shall most cheerfully agree to + it. + </p> + <p> + The parliament will be dissolved in about ten days, and the writs for the + election of the new one issued out immediately afterward; so that, by the + end of next month, you may depend upon being ‘Membre de la chambre basse’; + a title that sounds high in foreign countries, and perhaps higher than it + deserves. I hope you will add a better title to it in your own, I mean + that of a good speaker in parliament: you have, I am sure, all, the + materials necessary for it, if you will but put them together and adorn + them. I spoke in parliament the first month I was in it, and a month + before I was of age; and from the day I was elected, till the day that I + spoke. I am sure I thought nor dreamed of nothing but speaking. The first + time, to say the truth, I spoke very indifferently as to the matter; but + it passed tolerably, in favor of the spirit with which I uttered it, and + the words in which I had dressed it. I improved by degrees, till at last + it did tolerably well. The House, it must be owned, is always extremely + indulgent to the two or three first attempts of a young speaker; and if + they find any degree of common sense in what he says, they make great + allowances for his inexperience, and for the concern which they suppose + him to be under. I experienced that indulgence; for had I not been a young + member, I should certainly have been, as I own I deserved, reprimanded by + the House for some strong and indiscreet things that I said. Adieu! It is + indeed high time. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0202" id="link2H_4_0202"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CC + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 26, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter of the 15th from Manheim, + where I find you have been received in the usual gracious manner; which I + hope you return in a GRACEFUL one. As this is a season of great devotion + and solemnity in all Catholic countries, pray inform yourself of, and + constantly attend to, all their silly and pompous church ceremonies; one + ought to know them. I am very glad that you wrote the letter to Lord———, + which, in every different case that can possibly be supposed, was, I am + sure, both a decent and a prudent step. You will find it very difficult, + whenever we meet, to convince me that you could have any good reasons for + not doing it; for I will, for argument’s sake, suppose, what I cannot in + reality believe, that he has both said and done the worst he could, of and + by you; What then? How will you help yourself? Are you in a situation to + hurt him? Certainly not; but he certainly is in a situation to hurt you. + Would you show a sullen, pouting, impotent resentment? I hope not; leave + that silly, unavailing sort of resentment to women, and men like them, who + are always guided by humor, never by reason and prudence. That pettish, + pouting conduct is a great deal too young, and implies too little + knowledge of the world, for one who has seen so much of it as you have. + Let this be one invariable rule of your conduct,—Never to show the + least symptom of resentment which you cannot to a certain degree gratify; + but always to smile, where you cannot strike. There would be no living in + courts, nor indeed in the world if one could not conceal, and even + dissemble, the just causes of resentment, which one meets with every day + in active and busy life. Whoever cannot master his humor enough, ‘pour + faire bonne mine a mauvais jeu’, should leave the world, and retire to + some hermitage, in an unfrequented desert. By showing an unavailing and + sullen resentment, you authorize the resentment of those who can hurt you + and whom you cannot hurt; and give them that very pretense, which perhaps + they wished for, of breaking with, and injuring you; whereas the contrary + behavior would lay them under, the restraints of decency at least; and + either shackle or expose their malice. Besides, captiousness, sullenness, + and pouting are most exceedingly illiberal and vulgar. ‘Un honnete homme + ne les connoit point’. + </p> + <p> + I am extremely glad to hear that you are soon to have Voltaire at Manheim: + immediately upon his arrival, pray make him a thousand compliments from + me. I admire him most exceedingly; and, whether as an epic, dramatic, or + lyric poet, or prose-writer, I think I justly apply to him the ‘Nil + molitur inepte’. I long to read his own correct edition of ‘Les Annales de + l’Empire’, of which the ‘Abrege Chronologique de l’Histoire Universelle’, + which I have read, is, I suppose, a stolen and imperfect part; however, + imperfect as it is, it has explained to me that chaos of history, of seven + hundred years more clearly than any other book had done before. You judge + very rightly that I love ‘le style le r et fleuri’. I do, and so does + everybody who has any parts and taste. It should, I confess, be more or + less ‘fleuri’, according to the subject; but at the same time I assert + that there is no subject that may not properly, and which ought not to be + adorned, by a certain elegance and beauty of style. What can be more + adorned than Cicero’s Philosophical Works? What more than Plato’s? It is + their eloquence only that has preserved and transmitted them down to us + through so many centuries; for the philosophy of them is wretched, and the + reasoning part miserable. But eloquence will always please, and has always + pleased. Study it therefore; make it the object of your thoughts and + attention. Use yourself to relate elegantly; that is a good step toward + speaking well in parliament. Take some political subject, turn it in your + thoughts, consider what may be said both for and against it, then put + those arguments into writing, in the most correct and elegant English you + can. For instance, a standing army, a place bill, etc.; as to the former, + consider, on one side, the dangers arising to a free country from a great + standing military force; on the other side, consider the necessity of a + force to repel force with. Examine whether a standing army, though in + itself an evil, may not, from circumstances, become a necessary evil, and + preventive of greater dangers. As to the latter, consider, how far places + may bias and warp the conduct of men, from the service of their country, + into an unwarrantable complaisance to the court; and, on the other hand, + consider whether they can be supposed to have that effect upon the conduct + of people of probity and property, who are more solidly interested in the + permanent good of their country, than they can be in an uncertain and + precarious employment. Seek for, and answer in your own mind, all the + arguments that can be urged on either side, and write them down in an + elegant style. This will prepare you for debating, and give you an + habitual eloquence; for I would not give a farthing for a mere holiday + eloquence, displayed once or twice in a session, in a set declamation, but + I want an every-day, ready, and habitual eloquence, to adorn extempore and + debating speeches; to make business not only clear but agreeable, and to + please even those whom you cannot inform, and who do not desire to be + informed. All this you may acquire, and make habitual to you, with as + little trouble as it cost you to dance a minuet as well as you do. You now + dance it mechanically and well without thinking of it. + </p> + <p> + I am surprised that you found but one letter for me at Manheim, for you + ought to have found four or five; there are as many lying for you at your + banker’s at Berlin, which I wish you had, because I always endeavored to + put something into them, which, I hope, may be of use to you. + </p> + <p> + When we meet at Spa, next July, we must have a great many serious + conversations; in which I will pour out all my experience of the world, + and which, I hope, you will trust to, more than to your own young notions + of men and things. You will, in time, discover most of them to have been + erroneous; and, if you follow them long, you will perceive your error too + late; but if you will be led by a guide, who, you are sure, does not mean + to mislead you, you will unite two things, seldom united, in the same + person; the vivacity and spirit of youth, with the caution and experience + of age. + </p> + <p> + Last Saturday, Sir Thomas Robinson, who had been the King’s Minister at + Vienna, was declared Secretary of State for the southern department, Lord + Holderness having taken the northern. Sir Thomas accepted it unwillingly, + and, as I hear, with a promise that he shall not keep it long. Both his + health and spirits are bad, two very disqualifying circumstances for that + employment; yours, I hope, will enable you, some time or other, to go + through with it. In all events, aim at it, and if you fail or fall, let it + at least be said of you, ‘Magnis tamen excidit ausis’. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0203" id="link2H_4_0203"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 5, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday your letter of the 20th March, from + Manheim, with the inclosed for Mr. Eliot; it was a very proper one, and I + have forwarded it to him by Mr. Harte, who sets out for Cornwall tomorrow + morning. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that you use yourself to translations; and I do not care of + what, provided you study the correctness and elegance of your style. The + “Life of Sextus Quintus” is the best book of the innumerable books written + by Gregorio Leti, whom the Italians, very justly, call ‘Leti caca libro’. + But I would rather that you chose some pieces of oratory for your + translations, whether ancient or modern, Latin or French, which would give + you a more oratorical train of thoughts and turn of expression. In your + letter to me you make use of two words, which though true and correct + English, are, however, from long disuse, become inelegant, and seem now to + be stiff, formal, and in some degree scriptural; the first is the word + NAMELY, which you introduce thus, YOU INFORM ME OF A VERY AGREEABLE PIECE + OF NEWS, namely, THAT MY ELECTION IS SECURED. Instead of NAMELY, I would + always use WHICH IS, or THAT IS, that my-election is secured. The other + word is, MINE OWN INCLINATIONS: this is certainly correct before a + subsequent word that begins with a vowel; but it is too correct, and is + now disused as too formal, notwithstanding the hiatus occasioned by MY + OWN. Every language has its peculiarities; they are established by usage, + and whether right or wrong, they must be complied with. I could instance + many very absurd ones in different languages; but so authorized by the + ‘jus et norma loquendi’, that they must be submitted to. NAMELY, and TO + WIT, are very good words in themselves, and contribute to clearness more + than the relatives which we now substitute in their room; but, however, + they cannot be used, except in a sermon or some very grave and formal + compositions. It is with language as with manners they are both + established by the usage of people of fashion; it must be imitated, it + must be complied with. Singularity is only pardonable in old age and + retirement; I may now be as singular as I please, but you may not. We + will, when we meet, discuss these and many other points, provided you will + give me attention and credit; without both which it is to no purpose to + advise either you or anybody else. + </p> + <p> + I want to know your determination, where you intend to (if I may use that + expression) WHILE away your time till the last week in June, when we are + to meet at Spa; I continue rather in the opinion which I mentioned to you + formerly, in favor of The Hague; but however, I have not the least + objection to Dresden, or to any other place that you may like better. If + you prefer the Dutch scheme, you take Treves and Coblentz in your way, as + also Dusseldorp: all which places I think you have not yet seen. At + Manheim you may certainly get good letters of recommendation to the courts + of the two Electors of Treves and Cologne, whom you are yet unacquainted + with; and I should wish you to know them all; for, as I have often told + you, ‘olim haec meminisse juvabit’. There is an utility in having seen + what other people have seen, and there is a justifiable pride in having + seen what others have not seen. In the former case, you are equal to + others; in the latter, superior. As your stay abroad will not now be very + long, pray, while it lasts, see everything and everybody you can, and see + them well, with care and attention. It is not to be conceived of what + advantage it is to anybody to have seen more things, people, and + countries, than other people in general have; it gives them a credit, + makes them referred to, and they become the objects of the attention of + the company. They are not out in any part of polite conversation; they are + acquainted with all the places, customs, courts, and families that are + likely to be mentioned; they are, as Monsieur de Maupertuis justly + observes, ‘de tous les pays, comme les savans, sont de tous les tems’. You + have, fortunately, both those advantages: the only remaining point is ‘de + savoir les faire valoir’, for without that one may as well not have them. + Remember that very true maxim of La Bruyere’s, ‘Qu’on ne vaut dans se + monde que ce qu’on veut valoir’. The knowledge of the world will teach you + to what degree you ought to show ‘que vous valez’. One must by no means, + on one hand, be indifferent about it; as, on the other, one must not + display it with affectation, and in an overbearing manner, but, of the + two, it is better to show too much than too little. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0204" id="link2H_4_0204"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 27, 1754 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I heartily congratulate you upon the loss of your + political maidenhead, of which I have received from others a very good + account. I hear that you were stopped for some time in your career; but + recovered breath, and finished it very well. I am not surprised, nor + indeed concerned, at your accident; for I remember the dreadful feeling of + that situation in myself; and as it must require a most uncommon share of + impudence to be unconcerned upon such an occasion, I am not sure that I am + not rather glad you stopped. You must therefore now think of hardening + yourself by degrees, by using yourself insensibly to the sound of your own + voice, and to the act (trifling as it seems) of rising up and sitting + down. Nothing will contribute so much to this as committee work of + elections at night, and of private bills in the morning. There, asking + short questions, moving for witnesses to be called in, and all that kind + of small ware, will soon fit you to set up for yourself. I am told that + you are much mortified at your accident, but without reason; pray, let it + rather be a spur than a curb to you. Persevere, and, depend upon it, it + will do well at last. When I say persevere, I do not mean that you should + speak every day, nor in every debate. Moreover, I would not advise you to + speak again upon public matters for some time, perhaps a month or two; but + I mean, never lose view of that great object; pursue it with discretion, + but pursue it always. ‘Pelotez en attendant partie’. You know I have + always told you that speaking in public was but a knack, which those who + apply to the most will succeed in the best. Two old members, very good + judges, have sent me compliments upon this occasion; and have assured me + that they plainly find it will do; though they perceived, from that + natural confusion you were in, that you neither said all, nor perhaps what + you intended. Upon the whole, you have set out very well, and have + sufficient encouragement to go on. Attend; therefore, assiduously, and + observe carefully all that passes in the House; for it is only knowledge + and experience that can make a debater. But if you still want comfort, + Mrs.———-I hope, will administer it to you; for, in my + opinion she may, if she will, be very comfortable; and with women, as with + speaking in parliament, perseverance will most certainly prevail sooner or + later. + </p> + <p> + What little I have played for here, I have won; but that is very far from + the considerable sum which you heard of. I play every evening, from seven + till ten, at a crown whist party, merely to save my eyes from reading or + writing for three hours by candle-light. I propose being in town the week + after next, and hope to carry back with me much more health than I brought + down here. Good-night. + </p> + <p> + [Mr. Stanhope being returned to England, and seeing his father almost + every day, is the occasion of an interruption of two years in their + correspondence.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0205" id="link2H_4_0205"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1756-1758 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER CCIII + </p> + <p> + BATH, November 15, 1756 + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yours yesterday morning together with the + Prussian, papers, which I have read with great attention. If courts could + blush, those of Vienna and Dresden ought, to have their falsehoods so + publicly, and so undeniably exposed. The former will, I presume, next + year, employ an hundred thousand men, to answer the accusation; and if the + Empress of the two Russias is pleased to argue in the same cogent manner, + their logic will be too strong for all the King of Prussia’s rhetoric. I + well remember the treaty so often referred to in those pieces, between the + two Empresses, in 1746. The King was strongly pressed by the Empress Queen + to accede to it. Wassenaer communicated it to me for that purpose. I asked + him if there were no secret articles; suspecting that there were some, + because the ostensible treaty was a mere harmless, defensive one. He + assured me that there were none. Upon which I told him, that as the King + had already defensive alliances with those two Empresses, I did not see of + what use his accession to this treaty, if merely a defensive one, could + be, either to himself or the other contracting parties; but that, however, + if it was only desired as an indication of the King’s good will, I would + give him an act by which his Majesty should accede to that treaty, as far, + but no further, as at present he stood engaged to the respective Empresses + by the defensive alliances subsisting with each. This offer by no means + satisfied him; which was a plain proof of the secret articles now brought + to light, and into which the court of Vienna hoped to draw us. I told + Wassenaer so, and after that I heard no more of his invitation. + </p> + <p> + I am still bewildered in the changes at Court, of which I find that all + the particulars are not yet fixed. Who would have thought, a year ago, + that Mr. Fox, the Chancellor, and the Duke of Newcastle, should all three + have quitted together? Nor can I yet account for it; explain it to me if + you can. I cannot see, neither, what the Duke of Devonshire and Fox, whom + I looked upon as intimately united, can have quarreled about, with + relation to the Treasury; inform me, if you know. I never doubted of the + prudent versatility of your Vicar of Bray: But I am surprised at O’Brien + Windham’s going out of the Treasury, where I should have thought that the + interest of his brother-in-law, George Grenville, would have kept him. + </p> + <p> + Having found myself rather worse, these two or three last days, I was + obliged to take some ipecacuanha last night; and, what you will think odd, + for a vomit, I brought it all up again in about an hour, to my great + satisfaction and emolument, which is seldom the case in restitutions. + </p> + <p> + You did well to go to the Duke of Newcastle, who, I suppose, will have no + more levees; however, go from time to time, and leave your name at his + door, for you have obligations to him. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0206" id="link2H_4_0206"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 14, 1756. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: What can I say to you from this place, where EVERY DAY IS + STILL BUT AS THE FIRST, though by no means so agreeably passed, as Anthony + describes his to have been? The same nothings succeed one another every + day with me, as, regularly and uniformly as the hours of the day. You will + think this tiresome, and so it is; but how can I help it? Cut off from + society by my deafness, and dispirited by my ill health, where could I be + better? You will say, perhaps, where could you be worse? Only in prison, + or the galleys, I confess. However, I see a period to my stay here; and I + have fixed, in my own mind, a time for my return to London; not invited + there by either politics or pleasures, to both which I am equally a + stranger, but merely to be at home; which, after all, according to the + vulgar saying, is home, be it ever so homely. + </p> + <p> + The political settlement, as it is called, is, I find, by no means + settled; Mr. Fox, who took this place in his way to his brother’s, where + he intended to pass a month, was stopped short by an express, which he + received from his connection, to come to town immediately; and accordingly + he set out from hence very early, two days ago. I had a very long + conversation with him, in which he was, seemingly at least, very frank and + communicative; but still I own myself in the dark. In those matters, as in + most others, half knowledge (and mine is at most that) is more apt to lead + one into error, than to carry one to truth; and our own vanity contributes + to the seduction. Our conjectures pass upon us for truths; we will know + what we do not know, and often, what we cannot know: so mortifying to our + pride is the bare suspicion of ignorance! + </p> + <p> + It has been reported here that the Empress of Russia is dying; this would + be a fortunate event indeed for the King of Prussia, and necessarily + produce the neutrality and inaction, at least, of that great power; which + would be a heavy weight taken out of the opposite scale to the King of + Prussia. The ‘Augustissima’ must, in that case, do all herself; for though + France will, no doubt, promise largely, it will, I believe, perform but + scantily; as it desires no better than that the different powers of + Germany should tear one another to pieces. + </p> + <p> + I hope you frequent all the courts: a man should make his face familiar + there. Long habit produces favor insensibly; and acquaintance often does + more than friendship, in that climate where ‘les beaux sentimens’ are not + the natural growth. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! I am going to the ball, to save my eyes from reading, and my mind + from thinking. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0207" id="link2H_4_0207"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, January 12, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I waited quietly, to see when either your leisure, or your + inclinations, would al low you to honor me with a letter; and at last I + received one this morning, very near a fortnight after you went from + hence. You will say, that you had no news to write me; and that probably + may be true; but, without news, one has always something to say to those + with whom one desires to have anything to do. + </p> + <p> + Your observation is very just with regard to the King of Prussia, whom the + most august House of Austria would most unquestionably have poisoned a + century or two ago. But now that ‘terras Astraea reliquit’, kings and + princes die of natural deaths; even war is pusillanimously carried on in + this degenerate age; quarter is given; towns are taken, and the people + spared: even in a storm, a woman can hardly hope for the benefit of a + rape. Whereas (such was the humanity of former days) prisoners were killed + by thousands in cold blood, and the generous victors spared neither man, + woman, nor child. Heroic actions of this kind were performed at the taking + of Magdebourg. The King of Prussia is certainly now in a situation that + must soon decide his fate, and make him Caesar or nothing. Notwithstanding + the march of the Russians, his great danger, in my mind, lies westward. I + have no great notions of Apraxin’s abilities, and I believe many a + Prussian colonel would out-general him. But Brown, Piccolomini, Lucchese, + and many other veteran officers in the Austrian troops, are respectable + enemies. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Pitt seems to me to have almost as many enemies to encounter as his + Prussian Majesty. The late Ministry, and the Duke’s party, will, I + presume, unite against him and his Tory friends; and then quarrel among + themselves again. His best, if not his only chance of supporting himself + would be, if he had credit enough in the city, to hinder the advancing of + the money to any administration but his own; and I have met with some + people here who think that he has. + </p> + <p> + I have put off my journey from hence for a week, but no longer. I find I + still gain some strength and some flesh here, and therefore I will not cut + while the run is for me. + </p> + <p> + By a letter which I received this morning from Lady Allen, I observe that + you are extremely well with her; and it is well for you to be so, for she + is an excellent and warm puff. + </p> + <p> + ‘A propos’ (an expression which is commonly used to introduce whatever is + unrelative to it) you should apply to some of Lord Holderness’s people, + for the perusal of Mr. Cope’s letters. It would not be refused you; and + the sooner you have them the better. I do not mean them as models for your + manner of writing, but as outlines of the matter you are to write upon. + </p> + <p> + If you have not read Hume’s “Essays” read them; they are four very small + volumes; I have just finished, and am extremely pleased with them. He + thinks impartially, deep, often new; and, in my mind, commonly just. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0208" id="link2H_4_0208"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCVI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 17, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Lord Holderness has been so kind as to communicate to me + all the letters which he has received from you hitherto, dated the 15th, + 19th, 23d, and 26th August; and also a draught of that which he wrote to + you the 9th instant. I am very well pleased with all your letters; and, + what is better, I can tell you that the King is so too; and he said, but + three days ago, to Monsieur Munchausen, HE (meaning you) SETS OUT VERY + WELL, AND I LIKE HIS LETTERS; PROVIDED THAT, LIKE MOST OF MY ENGLISH + MINISTERS ABROAD, HE DOES NOT GROW IDLE HEREAFTER. So that here is both + praise to flatter, and a hint to warn you. What Lord Holderness recommends + to you, being by the King’s order, intimates also a degree of approbation; + for the BLACKER INK, AND THE LARGER CHARACTER, show, that his Majesty, + whose eyes are grown weaker, intends to read all your letters himself. + Therefore, pray do not neglect to get the blackest ink you can; and to + make your secretary enlarge his hand, though ‘d’ailleurs’ it is a very + good one. + </p> + <p> + Had I been to wish an advantageous situation for you, and a good debut in + it, I could not have wished you either better than both have hitherto + proved. The rest will depend entirely upon yourself; and I own I begin to + have much better hopes than I had; for I know, by my own experience, that + the more one works, the more willing one is to work. We are all, more or + less, ‘des animaux d’habitude’. I remember very well, that when I was in + business, I wrote four or five hours together every day, more willingly + than I should now half an hour; and this is most certain, that when a man + has applied himself to business half the day, the other half, goes off the + more cheerfully and agreeably. This I found so sensibly, when I was at The + Hague, that I never tasted company so well nor was so good company myself, + as at the suppers of my post days. I take Hamburg now to be ‘le centre du + refuge Allemand’. If you have any Hanover ‘refugies’ among them, pray take + care to be particularly attentive to them. How do you like your house? Is + it a convenient one? Have the ‘Casserolles’ been employed in it yet? You + will find ‘les petits soupers fins’ less expensive, and turn to better + account, than large dinners for great companies. + </p> + <p> + I hope you have written to the Duke of Newcastle; I take it for granted + that you have to all your brother ministers of the northern department. + For God’s sake be diligent, alert, active, and indefatigable in your + business. You want nothing but labor and industry to be, one day, whatever + you please, in your own way. + </p> + <p> + We think and talk of nothing here but Brest, which is universally supposed + to be the object of our great expedition. A great and important object it + is. I suppose the affair must be brusque, or it will not do. If we + succeed, it will make France put some water to its wine. As for my own + private opinion, I own I rather wish than hope success. However, should + our expedition fail, ‘Magnis tamen excidit ausis’, and that will be better + than our late languid manner of making war. + </p> + <p> + To mention a person to you whom I am very indifferent about, I mean + myself, I vegetate still just as I did when we parted; but I think I begin + to be sensible of the autumn of the year; as well as of the autumn of my + own life. I feel an internal awkwardness, which, in about three weeks, I + shall carry with me to the Bath, where I hope to get rid of it, as I did + last year. The best cordial I could take, would be to hear, from time to + time, of your industry and diligence; for in that case I should + consequently hear of your success. Remember your own motto, ‘Nullum numen + abest si sit prudentia’. Nothing is truer. Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0209" id="link2H_4_0209"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCVII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 23, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received but the day before yesterday your letter of the + 3d, from the headquarters at Selsingen; and, by the way, it is but the + second that I have received from you since your arrival at Hamburg. + Whatever was the cause of your going to the army, I approve of the effect; + for I would have you, as much as possible, see everything that is to be + seen. That is the true useful knowledge, which informs and improves us + when we are young, and amuses us and others when we are old; ‘Olim haec + meminisse juvabit’. I could wish that you would (but I know you will not) + enter in a book, a short note only, of whatever you see or hear, that is + very remarkable: I do not mean a German ALBUM stuffed with people’s names, + and Latin sentences; but I mean such a book, as, if you do not keep now, + thirty years hence you would give a great deal of money to have kept. ‘A + propos de bottes’, for I am told he always wears his; was his Royal + Highness very gracious to you, or not? I have my doubts about it. The + neutrality which he has concluded with Marechal de Richelieu, will prevent + that bloody battle which you expected; but what the King of Prussia will + say to it is another point. He was our only ally; at present, probably we + have not one in the world. If the King of Prussia can get at Monsieur de + Soubize’s, and the Imperial army, before other troops have joined them, I + think he will beat them but what then? He has three hundred thousand men + to encounter afterward. He must submit; but he may say with truth, ‘Si + Pergama dextra defendi potuissent’. The late action between the Prussians + and Russians has only thinned the human species, without giving either + party a victory; which is plain by each party’s claiming it. Upon my word, + our species will pay very dear for the quarrels and ambition of a few, and + those by no means the most valuable part of it. If the many were wiser + than they are, the few must be quieter, and would perhaps be juster and + better than they are. + </p> + <p> + Hamburg, I find, swarms with Grafs, Graffins, Fursts, and Furstins, + Hocheits, and Durchlaugticheits. I am glad of it, for you must necessarily + be in the midst of them; and I am still more glad, that, being in the + midst of them, you must necessarily be under some constraint of ceremony; + a thing which you do not love, but which is, however, very useful. + </p> + <p> + I desired you in my last, and I repeat it again in this, to give me an + account of your private and domestic life. + </p> + <p> + How do you pass your evenings? Have they, at Hamburg, what are called at + Paris ‘des Maisons’, where one goes without ceremony, sups or not, as one + pleases? Are you adopted in any society? Have you any rational brother + ministers, and which? What sort of things are your operas? In the tender, + I doubt they do not excel; for ‘mein lieber schatz’, and the other + tendernesses of the Teutonic language, would, in my mind, sound but + indifferently, set to soft music; for the bravura parts, I have a great + opinion of them; and ‘das, der donner dich erschlage’, must no doubt, make + a tremendously fine piece of ‘recitativo’, when uttered by an angry hero, + to the rumble of a whole orchestra, including drums, trumpets, and French + horns. Tell me your whole allotment of the day, in which I hope four + hours, at least, are sacred to writing; the others cannot be better + employed than in LIBERAL pleasures. In short, give me a full account of + yourself, in your un-ministerial character, your incognito, without your + ‘fiocchi’. I love to see those, in whom I interest myself, in their + undress, rather than in gala; I know them better so. I recommend to you, + ‘etiam atque etiam’, method and order in everything you undertake. Do you + observe it in your accounts? If you do not, you will be a beggar, though + you were to receive the appointments of a Spanish Ambassador + extraordinary, which are a thousand pistoles a month; and in your + ministerial business, if you have no regular and stated hours for such and + such parts of it, you will be in the hurry and confusion of the Duke of N——-, + doing everything by halves, and nothing well, nor soon. I suppose you + ‘have been feasted through the Corps diplomatique at Hamburg, excepting + Monsieur Champeaux; with whom, however, I hope you live ‘poliment et + galamment’, at all third places. + </p> + <p> + Lord Loudon is much blamed here for his ‘retraite des dix milles’, for it + is said that he had above that number, and might consequently have acted + offensively, instead of retreating; especially as his retreat was contrary + to the unanimous opinion (as it is now said) of the council of war. In our + Ministry, I suppose, things go pretty quietly, for the D. of N. has not + plagued me these two months. When his Royal Highness comes over, which I + take it for granted he will do very soon, the great push will, I presume, + be made at his Grace and Mr. Pitt; but without effect if they agree, as it + is visibly their interest to do; and, in that case, their parliamentary + strength will support them against all attacks. You may remember, I said + at first, that the popularity would soon be on the side of those who + opposed the popular Militia Bill; and now it appears so with a vengeance, + in almost every county in England, by the tumults and insurrections of the + people, who swear that they will not be enlisted. That silly scheme must + therefore be dropped, as quietly as may be. Now that I have told you all + that I know, and almost all that I think, I wish you a good supper and a + good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0210" id="link2H_4_0210"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 30, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have so little to do, that I am surprised how I can find + time to write to you so often. Do not stare at the seeming paradox; for it + is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one + finds to do it in. One yawns, one procrastinates, one can do it when one + will, and therefore one seldom does it at all; whereas those who have a + great deal of business, must (to use a vulgar expression) buckle to it; + and then they always find time enough to do it in. I hope your own + experience has by this time convinced you of this truth. + </p> + <p> + I received your last of the 8th. It is now quite over with a very great + man, who will still be a very great man, though a very unfortunate one. He + has qualities of the mind that put him above the reach of these + misfortunes; and if reduced, as perhaps he may, to the ‘marche’ of + Brandenburg, he will always find in himself the comfort, and with all the + world the credit, of a philosopher, a legislator, a patron, and a + professor of arts and sciences. He will only lose the fame of a conqueror; + a cruel fame, that arises from the destruction of the human species. Could + it be any satisfaction to him to know, I could tell him, that he is at + this time the most popular man in this kingdom; the whole nation being + enraged at that neutrality which hastens and completes his ruin. Between + you and me, the King was not less enraged at it himself, when he saw the + terms of it; and it affected his health more than all that had happened + before. Indeed it seems to me a voluntary concession of the very worst + that could have happened in the worst event. We now begin to think that + our great and secret expedition is intended for Martinico and St. Domingo; + if that be true, and we succeed in the attempt, we shall recover, and the + French lose, one of the most valuable branches of commerce—I mean + sugar. The French now supply all the foreign markets in Europe with that + commodity; we only supply ourselves with it. This would make us some + amends for our ill luck, or ill conduct in North America; where Lord + Loudon, with twelve thousand men, thought himself no match for the French + with but seven; and Admiral Holborne, with seventeen ships of the line, + declined attacking the French, because they had eighteen, and a greater + weight of METAL, according to the new sea-phrase, which was unknown to + Blake. I hear that letters have been sent to both with very severe + reprimands. I am told, and I believe it is true, that we are negotiating + with the Corsican, I will not say rebels, but asserters of their natural + rights; to receive them, and whatever form of government they think fit to + establish, under our protection, upon condition of their delivering up to + us Port Ajaccio; which may be made so strong and so good a one, as to be a + full equivalent for the loss of Port Mahon. This is, in my mind, a very + good scheme; for though the Corsicans are a parcel of cruel and perfidious + rascals, they will in this case be tied down to us by their own interest + and their own danger; a solid security with knaves, though none with + fools. His Royal Highness the Duke is hourly expected here: his arrival + will make some bustle; for I believe it is certain that he is resolved to + make a push at the Duke of N., Pitt and Co.; but it will be ineffectual, + if they continue to agree, as, to my CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE, they do at + present. This parliament is theirs, ‘caetera quis nescit’? + </p> + <p> + Now that I have told you all that I know or have heard, of public matters, + let us talk of private ones that more nearly and immediately concern us. + Admit me to your fire-side, in your little room; and as you would converse + with me there, write to me for the future from thence. Are you completely + ‘nippe’ yet? Have you formed what the world calls connections? that is, a + certain number of acquaintances whom, from accident or choice, you + frequent more than others: Have you either fine or well-bred women there? + ‘Y a-t-il quelque bon ton’? All fat and fair, I presume; too proud and too + cold to make advances, but, at the same time, too well-bred and too warm + to reject them, when made by ‘un honnete homme avec des manieres’. + </p> + <p> + Mr.———is to be married, in about a month, to Miss———. + I am very glad of it; for, as he will never be a man of the world, but + will always lead a domestic and retired life, she seems to have been made + on purpose for him. Her natural turn is as grave and domestic as his; and + she seems to have been kept by her aunts ‘a la grace’, instead of being + raised in a hot bed, as most young ladies are of late. If, three weeks + hence, you write him a short compliment of congratulation upon the + occasion, he, his mother, and ‘tutti quanti’, would be extremely pleased + with it. Those attentions are always kindly taken, and cost one nothing + but pen, ink, and paper. I consider them as draughts upon good-breeding, + where the exchange is always greatly in favor of the drawer. ‘A propos’ of + exchange; I hope you have, with the help of your secretary, made yourself + correctly master of all that sort of knowledge—Course of Exchange, + ‘Agie, Banco, Reiche-Thalers’, down to ‘Marien Groschen’. It is very + little trouble to learn it; it is often of great use to know it. + Good-night, and God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0211" id="link2H_4_0211"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCIX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, October 10, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: It is not without some difficulty that I snatch this + moment of leisure from my extreme idleness, to inform you of the present + lamentable and astonishing state of affairs here, which you would know but + imperfectly from the public papers, and but partially from your private + correspondents. ‘Or sus’ then—Our in vincible Armada, which cost at + least half a million, sailed, as you know, some weeks ago; the object kept + an inviolable secret: conjectures various, and expectations great. Brest + was perhaps to be taken; but Martinico and St. Domingo, at least. When lo! + the important island of Aix was taken without the least resistance, seven + hundred men made prisoners, and some pieces of cannon carried off. From + thence we sailed toward Rochfort, which it seems was our main object; and + consequently one should have supposed that we had pilots on board who knew + all the soundings and landing places there and thereabouts: but no; for + General M——-t asked the Admiral if he could land him and the + troops near Rochfort? The Admiral said, with great ease. To which the + General replied, but can you take us on board again? To which the Admiral + answered, that, like all naval operations, will depend upon the wind. If + so, said the General, I’ll e’en go home again. A Council of War was + immediately called, where it was unanimously resolved, that it was + ADVISABLE to return; accordingly they are returned. As the expectations of + the whole nation had been raised to the highest pitch, the universal + disappointment and indignation have arisen in proportion; and I question + whether the ferment of men’s minds was ever greater. Suspicions, you may + be sure, are various and endless, but the most prevailing one is, that the + tail of the Hanover neutrality, like that of a comet, extended itself to + Rochfort. What encourages this suspicion is, that a French man of war went + unmolested through our whole fleet, as it lay near Rochfort. Haddock’s + whole story is revived; Michel’s representations are combined with other + circumstances; and the whole together makes up a mass of discontent, + resentment, and even fury, greater than perhaps was ever known in this + country before. These are the facts, draw your own conclusions from them; + for my part, I am lost in astonishment and conjectures, and do not know + where to fix. My experience has shown me, that many things which seem + extremely probable are not true: and many which seem highly improbable are + true; so that I will conclude this article, as Josephus does almost every + article of his history, with saying, BUT OF THIS EVERY MAN WILL BELIEVE AS + HE THINKS PROPER. What a disgraceful year will this be in the annals of + this country! May its good genius, if ever it appears again, tear out + those sheets, thus stained and blotted by our ignominy! + </p> + <p> + Our domestic affairs are, as far as I know anything of them, in the same + situation as when I wrote to you last; but they will begin to be in motion + upon the approach of the session, and upon the return of the Duke, whose + arrival is most impatiently expected by the mob of London; though not to + strew flowers in his way. + </p> + <p> + I leave this place next Saturday, and London the Saturday following, to be + the next day at Bath. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0212" id="link2H_4_0212"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 17, 1757. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your last, of the 30th past, was a very good letter; and I + will believe half of what you assure me, that you returned to the + Landgrave’s civilities. I cannot possibly go farther than half, knowing + that you are not lavish of your words, especially in that species of + eloquence called the adulatory. Do not use too much discretion in + profiting of the Landgrave’s naturalization of you; but go pretty often + and feed with him. Choose the company of your superiors, whenever you can + have it; that is the right and true pride. The mistaken and silly pride + is, to PRIMER among inferiors. + </p> + <p> + Hear, O Israel! and wonder. On Sunday morning last, the Duke gave up his + commission of Captain General and his regiment of guards. You will ask me + why? I cannot tell you, but I will tell you the causes assigned; which, + perhaps, are none of them the true ones. It is said that the King + reproached him with having exceeded his powers in making the Hanover + Convention, which his R. H. absolutely denied, and threw up thereupon. + This is certain, that he appeared at the drawing-room at Kensington, last + Sunday, after having quitted, and went straight to Windsor; where, his + people say, that he intends to reside quietly, and amuse himself as a + private man. But I conjecture that matters will soon be made up again, and + that he will resume his employments. You will easily imagine the + speculations this event has occasioned in the public; I shall neither + trouble you nor myself with relating them; nor would this sheet of paper, + or even a quire more, contain them. Some refine enough to suspect that it + is a concerted quarrel, to justify SOMEBODY TO SOMEBODY, with regard to + the Convention; but I do not believe it. + </p> + <p> + His R. H.‘s people load the Hanover Ministers, and more particularly our + friend Munchausen here, with the whole blame; but with what degree of + truth I know not. This only is certain, that the whole negotiation of that + affair was broached and carried on by the Hanover Ministers and Monsieur + Stemberg at Vienna, absolutely unknown to the English Ministers, till it + was executed. This affair combined (for people will combine it) with the + astonishing return of our great armament, not only ‘re infecta’, but even + ‘intentata’, makes such a jumble of reflections, conjectures, and + refinements, that one is weary of hearing them. Our Tacituses and + Machiavels go deep, suspect the worst, and, perhaps, as they often do, + overshoot the mark. For my own part, I fairly confess that I am + bewildered, and have not certain ‘postulata’ enough, not only to found any + opinion, but even to form conjectures upon: and this is the language which + I think you should hold to all who speak to you, as to be sure all will, + upon that subject. Plead, as you truly may, your own ignorance; and say, + that it is impossible to judge of those nice points, at such a distance, + and without knowing all circumstances, which you cannot be supposed to do. + And as to the Duke’s resignation; you should, in my opinion, say, that + perhaps there might be a little too much vivacity in the case, but that, + upon the whole, you make no doubt of the thing’s being soon set right + again; as, in truth, I dare say it will. Upon these delicate occasions, + you must practice the ministerial shrugs and ‘persiflage’; for silent + gesticulations, which you would be most inclined to, would not be + sufficient: something must be said, but that something, when analyzed, + must amount to nothing. As for instance, ‘Il est vrai qu’on s’y perd, mais + que voulez-vous que je vous dise?—il y a bien du pour et du contre; + un petit Resident ne voit gueres le fond du sac.—Il faut attendre.—Those + sort of expletives are of infinite use; and nine people in ten think they + mean something. But to the Landgrave of Hesse I think you would do well to + say, in seeming confidence, that you have good reason to believe that the + principal objection of his Majesty to the convention was that his + Highness’s interests, and the affair of his troops, were not sufficiently + considered in it. To the Prussian Minister assert boldly that you know ‘de + science certaine’, that the principal object of his Majesty’s and his + British Ministry’s intention is not only to perform all their present + engagements with his Master, but to take new and stronger ones for his + support; for this is true—AT LEAST AT PRESENT. + </p> + <p> + You did very well in inviting Comte Bothmar to dine with you. You see how + minutely I am informed of your proceedings, though not from yourself. + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + I go to Bath next Saturday; but direct your letters, as usual, to London. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0213" id="link2H_4_0213"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXI + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 26, 1757. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I arrived here safe, but far from sound, last Sunday. I + have consequently drunk these waters but three days, and yet I find myself + something better for them. The night before I left London. I was for some + hours at Newcastle House, where the letters, which came that morning, lay + upon the table: and his Grace singled out yours with great approbation, + and, at the same time, assured me of his Majesty’s approbation, too. To + these two approbations I truly add my own, which, ‘sans vanite’, may + perhaps be near as good as the other two. In that letter you venture ‘vos + petits raisonnemens’ very properly, and then as properly make an excuse + for doing so. Go on so, with diligence, and you will be, what I began to + despair of your ever being, SOMEBODY. I am persuaded, if you would own the + truth, that you feel yourself now much better satisfied with yourself than + you were while you did nothing. + </p> + <p> + Application to business, attended with approbation and success, flatters + and animates the mind: which, in idleness and inaction, stagnates and + putrefies. I could wish that every rational man would, every night when he + goes to bed, ask himself this question, What have I done to-day? Have I + done anything that can be of use to myself or others? Have I employed my + time, or have I squandered it? Have I lived out the day, or have I dozed + it away in sloth and laziness? A thinking being must be pleased or + confounded, according as he can answer himself these questions. I observe + that you are in the secret of what is intended, and what Munchausen is + gone to Stade to prepare; a bold and dangerous experiment in my mind, and + which may probably end in a second volume to the “History of the + Palatinate,” in the last century. His Serene Highness of Brunswick has, in + my mind, played a prudent and saving game; and I am apt to believe that + the other Serene Highness, at Hamburg, is more likely to follow his + example than to embark in the great scheme. + </p> + <p> + I see no signs of the Duke’s resuming his employments; but on the contrary + I am assured that his Majesty is coolly determined to do as well as he can + without him. The Duke of Devonshire and Fox have worked hard to make up + matters in the closet, but to no purpose. People’s self-love is very apt + to make them think themselves more necessary than they are: and I shrewdly + suspect, that his Royal Highness has been the dupe of that sentiment, and + was taken at his word when he least suspected it; like my predecessor, + Lord Harrington, who when he went into the closet to resign the seals, had + them not about him: so sure he thought himself of being pressed to keep + them. + </p> + <p> + The whole talk of London, of this place, and of every place in the whole + kingdom, is of our great, expensive, and yet fruitless expedition; I have + seen an officer who was there, a very sensible and observing man: who told + me that had we attempted Rochfort, the day after we took the island of + Aix, our success had been infallible; but that, after we had sauntered + (God knows why) eight or ten days in the island, he thinks the attempt + would have been impracticable, because the French had in that time got + together all the troops in that neighborhood, to a very considerable + number. In short, there must have been some secret in that whole affair + that has not yet transpired; and I cannot help suspecting that it came + from Stade. WE had not been successful there; and perhaps WE were not + desirous that an expedition, in which WE had neither been concerned nor + consulted, should prove so; M——t was OUR creature, and a word + to the wise will sometimes go a great way. M——t is to have a + public trial, from which the public expects great discoveries—Not I. + </p> + <p> + Do you visit Soltikow, the Russian Minister, whose house, I am told, is + the great scene of pleasures at Hamburg? His mistress, I take for granted, + is by this time dead, and he wears some other body’s shackles. Her death + comes with regard to the King of Prussia, ‘comme la moutarde apres diner’. + I am curious to see what tyrant will succeed her, not by divine, but by + military right; for, barbarous as they are now, and still more barbarous + as they have been formerly, they have had very little regard to the more + barbarous notion of divine, indefeasible, hereditary right. + </p> + <p> + The Praetorian bands, that is, the guards, I presume, have been engaged in + the interests of the Imperial Prince; but still I think that little John + of Archangel will be heard upon this occasion, unless prevented by a + quieting draught of hemlock or nightshade; for I suppose they are not + arrived to the politer and genteeler poisons of Acqua Tufana,—[Acqua + Tufana, a Neapolitan slow poison, resembling clear water, and invented by + a woman at Naples, of the name of Tufana.]—sugar-plums, etc. + </p> + <p> + Lord Halifax has accepted his old employment, with the honorary addition + of the Cabinet Council. And so we heartily wish you a goodnight. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0214" id="link2H_4_0214"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 4, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The Sons of Britain, like those of Noah, must cover their + parent’s shame as well as they can; for to retrieve its honor is now too + late. One would really think that our ministers and generals were all as + drunk as the Patriarch was. However, in your situation, you must not be + Cham; but spread your cloak over our disgrace, as far as it will go. M——t + calls aloud for a public trial; and in that, and that only, the public + agree with him. There will certainly be one, but of what kind is not yet + fixed. Some are for a parliamentary inquiry, others for a martial one; + neither will, in my opinion, discover the true secret; for a secret there + most unquestionably is. Why we stayed six whole days in the island of Aix, + mortal cannot imagine; which time the French employed, as it was obvious + they would, in assembling their troops in the neighborhood of Rochfort, + and making our attempt then really impracticable. The day after we had + taken the island of Aix, your friend, Colonel Wolf, publicly offered to do + the business with five hundred men and three ships only. In all these + complicated political machines there are so many wheels, that it is always + difficult, and sometimes im possible, to guess which of them gives + direction to the whole. Mr. Pitt is convinced that the principal wheels, + or, if you will, the spoke in his wheel, came from Stade. This is certain, + at least that M——t was the man of confidence with that person. + Whatever be the truth of the case, there is, to be sure, hitherto an + ‘hiatus valde deflendus’. + </p> + <p> + The meeting of the parliament will certainly be very numerous, were it + only from curiosity: but the majority on the side of the Court will, I + dare say, be a great one. The people of the late Captain-general, however + inclined to oppose, will be obliged to concur. Their commissions, which + they have no desire to lose, will make them tractable; for those + gentlemen, though all men of honor, are of Sosia’s mind, ‘que le vrai + Amphitrion est celui ou l’on dine’. The Tories and the city have engaged + to support Pitt; the Whigs, the Duke of Newcastle; the independent and the + impartial, as you well know, are not worth mentioning. It is said that the + Duke intends to bring the affair of his Convention into parliament, for + his own justification; I can hardly believe it; as I cannot conceive that + transactions so merely electoral can be proper objects of inquiry or + deliberation for a British parliament; and, therefore, should such a + motion be made, I presume it will be immediately quashed. By the + commission lately given to Sir John Ligonier, of General and + Commander-in-chief of all his Majesty’s forces in Great Britain, the door + seems to be not only shut, but bolted, against his Royal Highness’s + return; and I have good reason to be convinced that that breach is + irreparable. The reports of changes in the Ministry, I am pretty sure, are + idle and groundless. The Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt really agree very + well; not, I presume, from any sentimental tenderness for each other, but + from a sense that it is their mutual interest: and, as the late + Captain-general’s party is now out of the question, I do not see what + should produce the least change. + </p> + <p> + The visit made lately to Berlin was, I dare say, neither a friendly nor an + inoffensive one. The Austrians always leave behind them pretty lasting + monuments of their visits, or rather visitations: not so much, I believe, + from their thirst of glory, as from their hunger of prey. + </p> + <p> + This winter, I take for granted, must produce a piece of some kind or + another; a bad one for us, no doubt, and yet perhaps better than we should + get the year after. I suppose the King of Prussia is negotiating with + France, and endeavoring by those means to get out of the scrape with the + loss only of Silesia, and perhaps Halberstadt, by way of indemnification + to Saxony; and, considering all circumstances, he would be well off upon + those terms. But then how is Sweden to be satisfied? Will the Russians + restore Memel? Will France have been at all this expense ‘gratis’? Must + there be no acquisition for them in Flanders? I dare say they have + stipulated something of that sort for themselves, by the additional and + secret treaty, which I know they made, last May, with the Queen of + Hungary. Must we give up whatever the French please to desire in America, + besides the cession of Minorca in perpetuity? I fear we must, or else + raise twelve millions more next year, to as little purpose as we did this, + and have consequently a worse peace afterward. I turn my eyes away, as + much as I can, from this miserable prospect; but, as a citizen and member + of society, it recurs to my imagination, notwithstanding all my endeavors + to banish it from my thoughts. I can do myself nor my country no good; but + I feel the wretched situation of both; the state of the latter makes me + better bear that of the former; and, when I am called away from my station + here, I shall think it rather (as Cicero says of Crassus) ‘mors donata + quam vita erepta’. + </p> + <p> + I have often desired, but in vain, the favor of being admitted into your + private apartment at, Hamburg, and of being informed of your private life + there. Your mornings, I hope and believe, are employed in business; but + give me an account of the remainder of the day, which I suppose is, and + ought to be, appropriated to amusements and pleasures. In what houses are + you domestic? Who are so in yours? In short, let me in, and do not be + denied to me. + </p> + <p> + Here I am, as usual, seeing few people, and hearing fewer; drinking the + waters regularly to a minute, and am something the better for them. I read + a great deal, and vary occasionally my dead company. I converse with grave + folios in the morning, while my head is clearest and my attention + strongest: I take up less severe quartos after dinner; and at night I + choose the mixed company and amusing chit-chat of octavos and duodecimos. + ‘Ye tire parti de tout ce gue je puis’; that is my philosophy; and I + mitigate, as much as I can, my physical ills by diverting my attention to + other objects. + </p> + <p> + Here is a report that Admiral Holborne’s fleet is destroyed, in a manner, + by a storm: I hope it is not true, in the full extent of the report; but I + believe it has suffered. This would fill up the measure of our + misfortunes. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0215" id="link2H_4_0215"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 20, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I write to you now, because I love to write to you; and + hope that my letters are welcome to you; for otherwise I have very little + to inform you of. The King of Prussia’s late victory you are better + informed, of than we are here. It has given infinite joy to the unthinking + public, who are not aware that it comes too late in the year and too late + in the war, to be attended with any very great consequences. There are six + or seven thousand of the human species less than there were a month ago, + and that seems to me to be all. However, I am glad of it, upon account of + the pleasure and the glory which it gives the King of Prussia, to whom I + wish well as a man, more than as a king. And surely he is so great a man, + that had he lived seventeen or eighteen hundred years ago, and his life + been transmitted to us in a language that we could not very well + understand—I mean either Greek or Latin—we should have talked + of him as we do now of your Alexanders, your Caesars, and others; with + whom, I believe, we have but a very slight acquaintance. ‘Au reste’, I do + not see that his affairs are much mended by this victory. The same + combination of the great Powers of Europe against him still subsists, and + must at last prevail. I believe the French army will melt away, as is + usual, in Germany; but this army is extremely diminished by battles, + fatigues, and desertion: and he will find great difficulties in recruiting + it from his own already exhausted dominions. He must therefore, and to be + sure will, negotiate privately with the French, and get better terms that + way than he could any other. + </p> + <p> + The report of the three general officers, the Duke of Marlborough, Lord + George Sackville, and General Waldegrave, was laid before the King last + Saturday, after their having sat four days upon M——t’s affair: + nobody yet knows what it is; but it is generally believed that M——t + will be brought to a court-martial. That you may not mistake this matter, + as MOST people here do, I must explain to you, that this examination + before the three above-mentioned general officers, was by no means a + trial; but only a previous inquiry into his conduct, to see whether there + was, or was not, cause to bring him to a regular trial before a + court-martial. The case is exactly parallel to that of a grand jury; who, + upon a previous and general examination, find, or do not find, a bill to + bring the matter before the petty jury; where the fact is finally tried. + For my own part, my opinion is fixed upon that affair: I am convinced that + the expedition was to be defeated; and nothing that can appear before a + court-martial can make me alter that opinion. I have been too long + acquainted with human nature to have great regard for human testimony; and + a very great degree of probability, supported by various concurrent + circumstances, conspiring in one point, will have much greater weight with + me, than human testimony upon oath, or even upon honor; both which I have + frequently seen considerably warped by private views. + </p> + <p> + The parliament, which now stands prorogued to the first of next month, it + is thought will be put off for some time longer, till we know in what + light to lay before it the state of our alliance with Prussia, since the + conclusion of the Hanover neutrality; which, if it did not quite break it, + made at least a great flaw in it. + </p> + <p> + The birth-day was neither fine nor crowded; and no wonder, since the King + was that day seventy-five. The old Court and the young one are much better + together since the Duke’s retirement; and the King has presented the + Prince of Wales with a service of plate. + </p> + <p> + I am still UNWELL, though I drink these waters very regularly. I will stay + here at least six weeks longer; where I am much quieter than I should be + allowed to be in town. When things are in such a miserable situation as + they are at present, I desire neither to be concerned nor consulted, still + less quoted. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0216" id="link2H_4_0216"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 26, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received by the last mail your short account of the King + of Prussia’s victory; which victory, contrary to custom, turns out more + complete than it was at first reported to be. This appears by an + intercepted letter from Monsieur de St. Germain to Monsieur d’Affry, at + The Hague, in which he tells him, ‘Cette arme est entierement fondue’, and + lays the blame, very strongly, upon Monsieur de Soubize. But, be it + greater or be it less, I am glad of it; because the King of Prussia (whom + I honor and almost adore) I am sure is. Though ‘d’ailleurs’, between you + and me, ‘ou est-ce que cela mene’? To nothing, while that formidable union + of three great Powers of Europe subsists against him, could that be any + way broken, something might be done; without which nothing can. I take it + for granted that the King of Prussia will do all he can to detach France. + Why should not we, on our part, try to detach Russia? At least, in our + present distress, ‘omnia tentanda’, and sometimes a lucky and unexpected + hit turns up. This thought came into my head this morning; and I give it + to you, not as a very probable scheme, but as a possible one, and + consequently worth trying. The year of the Russian subsidies (nominally + paid by the Court of Vienna, but really by France) is near expired. The + former probably cannot, and perhaps the latter will not, renew them. The + Court of Petersburg is beggarly, profuse, greedy, and by no means + scrupulous. Why should not we step in there, and out-bid them? If we + could, we buy a great army at once; which would give an entire new turn to + the affairs of that part of the world at least. And if we bid handsomely, + I do not believe the ‘bonne foi’ of that Court would stand in the way. + Both our Court and our parliament would, I am very sure, give a very great + sum, and very cheerfully, for this purpose. In the next place, Why should + not you wriggle yourself, if possible, into so great a scheme? You are, no + doubt, much acquainted with the Russian Resident, Soltikow; Why should you + not sound him, as entirely from yourself, upon this subject? You may ask + him, What, does your Court intend to go on next year in the pay of France, + to destroy the liberties of all Europe, and throw universal monarchy into + the hands of that already great and always ambitious Power? I know you + think, or at least call yourselves, the allies of the Empress Queen; but + is it not plain that she will be, in the first place, and you in the next, + the dupes of France? At this very time you are doing the work of France + and Sweden: and that for some miserable subsidies, much inferior to those + which I am sure you might have, in a better cause, and more consistent + with the true interest of Russia. Though not empowered, I know the manner + of thinking of my own Court so well upon this subject, that I will venture + to promise you much better terms than those you have now, without the + least apprehensions of being disavowed. Should he listen to this, and what + more may occur to you to say upon this subject, and ask you, ‘En ecrirai + je d ma cour? Answer him, ‘Ecrivez, ecrivex, Monsieur hardiment’. Je + prendrai tout cela sur moi’. Should this happen, as perhaps, and as I + heartily wish it may, then write an exact relation of it to your own + Court. Tell them that you thought the measure of such great importance, + that you could not help taking this little step toward bringing it about; + but that you mentioned it only as from yourself, and that you have not in + the least committed them by it. If Soltikow lends himself in any degree to + this, insinuate that, in the present situation of affairs, and + particularly of the King’s Electoral dominions, you are very sure that his + Majesty would have ‘une reconnoissance sans bornes’ for ALL those by whose + means so desirable a revival of an old and long friendship should be + brought about. You will perhaps tell me that, without doubt, Mr. Keith’s + instructions are to the same effect: but I will answer you, that you can, + IF YOU PLEASE, do it better than Mr. Keith; and in the next place that, be + all that as it will, it must be very advantageous to you at home, to show + that you have at least a contriving head, and an alertness in business. + </p> + <p> + I had a letter by the last post, from the Duke of Newcastle, in which he + congratulates me, in his own name and in Lord Hardwicke’s, upon the + approbation which your dispatches give, not only to them two, but to + OTHERS. This success, so early, should encourage your diligence and rouse + your ambition if you have any; you may go a great way, if you desire it, + having so much time before you. + </p> + <p> + I send you here inclosed the copy of the Report of the three general + officers, appointed to examine previously into the conduct of General M——t; + it is ill written, and ill spelled, but no matter; you will decipher it. + You will observe, by the tenor of it, that it points strongly to a + court-martial; which, no doubt, will soon be held upon him. I presume + there will be no shooting in the final sentence; but I do suppose there + will be breaking, etc. + </p> + <p> + I have had some severe returns of my old complaints last week, and am + still unwell; I cannot help it. + </p> + <p> + A friend of yours arrived here three days ago; she seems to me to be a + serviceable strong-bodied bay mare, with black mane and tail; you easily + guess who I mean. She is come with mamma, and without ‘caro sposo’. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! my head will not let me go on longer. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0217" id="link2H_4_0217"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 31, 1757 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 18th, with + the inclosed papers. I cannot help observing that, till then, you never + acknowledged the receipt of any one of my letters. + </p> + <p> + I can easily conceive that party spirit, among your brother ministers at + Hamburg, runs as high as you represent it, because I can easily believe + the errors of the human mind; but at the same time I must observe, that + such a spirit is the spirit of little minds and subaltern ministers, who + think to atone by zeal for their want of merit and importance. The + political differences of the several courts should never influence the + personal behavior of their several ministers toward one another. There is + a certain ‘procede noble et galant’, which should always be observed among + the ministers of powers even at war with each other, which will always + turn out to the advantage of the ablest, who will in those conversations + find, or make, opportunities of throwing out, or of receiving useful + hints. When I was last at The Hague, we were at war with both France and + Spain; so that I could neither visit, nor be visited by, the Ministers of + those two Crowns; but we met every day, or dined at third places, where we + embraced as personal friends, and trifled, at the same time, upon our + being political enemies; and by this sort of badinage I discovered some + things which I wanted to know. There is not a more prudent maxim than to + live with one’s enemies as if they may one day become one’s friends; as it + commonly happens, sooner or later, in the vicissitudes of political + affairs. + </p> + <p> + To your question, which is a rational and prudent one, Whether I was + authorized to give you the hints concerning Russia by any people in power + here, I will tell you that I was not: but, as I had pressed them to try + what might be done with Russia, and got Mr. Keith to be dispatched there + some months sooner than otherwise, I dare say he would, with the proper + instructions for that purpose. I wished that, by the hints I gave you, you + might have got the start of him, and the merit, at least, of having + ‘entame’ that matter with Soltikow. What you have to do with him now, when + you meet with him at any third place, or at his own house (where you are + at liberty to go, while Russia has a Minister in London, and we a Minister + at Petersburg), is, in my opinion, to say to him, in an easy cheerful + manner, ‘He bien, Monsieur, je me flatte que nous serons bientot amis + publics, aussi bien qu’amis personels’. To which he will probably ask, + Why, or how? You will reply, Because you know that Mr. Keith is gone to + his Court with instructions, which you think must necessarily be agreeable + there. And throw out to him that nothing but a change of their present + system can save Livonia to Russia; for that he cannot suppose that, when + the Swedes shall have recovered Pomerania they will long leave Russia in + quiet possession of Livonia. + </p> + <p> + If he is so much a Frenchman as you say, he will make you some weak + answers to this; but, as you will have the better of the argument on your + side, you may remind him of the old and almost uninterrupted connection + between France and Sweden, the inveterate enemy of Russia. Many other + arguments will naturally occur to you in such a conversation, if you have + it. In this case, there is a piece of ministerial art, which is sometimes + of use; and that is, to sow jealousies among one’s enemies, by a seeming + preference shown to some one of them. Monsieur Hecht’s reveries are + reveries indeed. How should his Master have made the GOLDEN ARRANGEMENTS + which he talks of, and which are to be forged into shackles for General + Fermor? The Prussian finances are not in a condition now to make such + expensive arrangements. But I think you may tell Monsieur Hecht, in + confidence, that you hope the instructions with which you know that Mr. + Keith is gone to Petersburg, may have some effect upon the measures of + that Court. + </p> + <p> + I would advise you to live with that same Monsieur Hecht in all the + confidence, familiarity, and connection, which prudence will allow. I mean + it with regard to the King of Prussia himself, by whom I could wish you to + be known and esteemed as much as possible. It may be of use to you some + day or other. If man, courage, conduct, constancy, can get the better of + all the difficulties which the King of Prussia has to struggle with, he + will rise superior to them. But still, while his alliance subsists against + him, I dread ‘les gros escadrons’. His last victory, of the 5th, was + certainly the completest that has been heard of these many years. I + heartily wish the Prince of Brunswick just such a one over Monsieur de + Richelieu’s army; and that he may take my old acquaintance the Marechal, + and send him over here to polish and perfume us. + </p> + <p> + I heartily wish you, in the plain, home-spun style, a great number of + happy new years, well employed in forming both your mind and your manners, + to be useful and agreeable to yourself, your country, and your friends! + That these wishes are sincere, your secretary’s brother will, by the time + of your receiving this, have remitted you a proof, from Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0218" id="link2H_4_0218"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 8, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received by the same post your two letters of the 13th + and 17th past; and yesterday that of the 27th, with the Russian manifesto + inclosed, in which her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias has been + pleased to give every reason, except the true one, for the march of her + troops against the King of Prussia. The true one, I take it to be, that + she has just received a very great sum of money from France, or the + Empress queen, or both, for that purpose. ‘Point d’argent, point de + Russe’, is now become a maxim. Whatever may be the motive of their march, + the effects must be bad; and, according to my speculations, those troops + will replace the French in Hanover and Lower Saxony; and the French will + go and join the Austrian army. You ask me if I still despond? Not so much + as I did after the battle of Colen: the battles of Rosbach and Lissa were + drams to me, and gave me some momentary spirts: but though I do not + absolutely despair, I own I greatly distrust. I readily allow the King of + Prussia to be ‘nec pluribus impar’; but still, when the ‘plures’ amount to + a certain degree of plurality, courage and abilities must yield at last. + Michel here assures me that he does not mind the Russians; but, as I have + it from the gentleman’s own mouth, I do not believe him. We shall very + soon send a squadron to the Baltic to entertain the Swedes; which I + believe will put an end to their operations in Pomerania; so that I have + no great apprehensions from that quarter; but Russia, I confess, sticks in + my stomach. + </p> + <p> + Everything goes smoothly in parliament; the King of Prussia has united all + our parties in his support; and the Tories have declared that they will + give Mr. Pitt unlimited credit for this session; there has not been one + single division yet upon public points, and I believe will not. Our + American expedition is preparing to go soon; the dis position of that + affair seems to me a little extraordinary. Abercrombie is to be the + sedantary, and not the acting commander; Amherst, Lord Howe, and Wolfe, + are to be the acting, and I hope the active officers. I wish they may + agree. Amherst, who is the oldest officer, is under the influence of the + same great person who influenced Mordaunt, so much to honor and advantage + of this country. This is most certain, that we have force enough in + America to eat up the French alive in Canada, Quebec, and Louisburg, if we + have but skill and spirit enough to exert it properly; but of that I am + modest enough to doubt. + </p> + <p> + When you come to the egotism, which I have long desired you to come to + with me, you need make no excuses for it. The egotism is as proper and as + satisfactory to one’s friends, as it is impertinent and misplaced with + strangers. I desire to see you in your every-day clothes, by your + fireside, in your pleasures; in short, in your private life; but I have + not yet been able to obtain this. Whenever you condescend to do it, as you + promise, stick to truth; for I am not so uninformed of Hamburg as perhaps + you may think. + </p> + <p> + As for myself, I am very UNWELL, and very weary of being so; and with + little hopes, at my age, of ever being otherwise. I often wish for the end + of the wretched remnant of my life; and that wish is a rational one; but + then the innate principle of self-preservation, wisely implanted in our + natures for obvious purposes, opposes that wish, and makes us endeavor to + spin out our thread as long as we can, however decayed and rotten it may + be; and, in defiance of common sense, we seek on for that chymic gold, + which beggars us when old. + </p> + <p> + Whatever your amusements, or pleasures, may be at Hamburg, I dare say you + taste them more sensibly than ever you did in your life, now that you have + business enough to whet your appetite to them. Business, one-half of the + day, is the best preparation for the pleasures of the other half. I hope, + and believe, that it will be with you as it was with an apothecary whom I + knew at Twickenham. A considerable estate fell to him by an unexpected + accident; upon which he thought it decent to leave off his business; + accordingly he generously gave up his shop and his stock to his head man, + set up his coach, and resolved to live like a gentleman; but, in less than + a month, the man, used to business, found, that living like a gentleman + was dying of ennui; upon which he bought his shop and stock, resumed his + trade, and lived very happily, after he had something to do. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0219" id="link2H_4_0219"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 24, 1758 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday your letter of the 2d instant, with + the inclosed; which I return you, that there may be no chasm in your + papers. I had heard before of Burrish’s death, and had taken some steps + thereupon; but I very soon dropped that affair, for ninety-nine good + reasons; the first of which was, that nonody is to go in his room, and + that, had he lived, he was to have been recalled from Munich. But another + reason, more flattering for you, was, that you could not be spared from + Hamburg. Upon the whole, I am not sorry for it, as the place where you are + now is the great entrepot of business; and, when it ceases to be so, you + will necessarily go to some of the courts in the neighborhood (Berlin, I + hope and believe), which will be a much more desirable situation than to + rush at Munich, where we can never have any business beyond a subsidy. Do + but go on, and exert yourself were you are, and better things will soon + follow. + </p> + <p> + Surely the inaction of our army at Hanover continues too long. We expected + wonders from it some time ago, and yet nothing is attempted. The French + will soon receive reinforcements, and then be too strong for us; whereas + they are now most certainly greatly weakened by desertion, sickness, and + deaths. Does the King of Prussia send a body of men to our army or not? or + has the march of the Russians cut him out work for all his troops? I am + afraid it has. If one body of Russians joins the Austrian army in Moravia, + and another body the Swedes in Pomerania, he will have his hands very + full, too full, I fear. The French say they will have an army of 180,000 + men in Germany this year; the Empress Queen will have 150,000; if the + Russians have but 40,000, what can resist such a force? The King of + Prussia may say, indeed, with more justice than ever any one person could + before him, ‘Moi. Medea superest’. + </p> + <p> + You promised the some egotism; but I have received none yet. Do you + frequent the Landgrave? ‘Hantex vous les grands de la terre’? What are the + connections of the evening? All this, and a great deal more of this kind, + let me know in your next. + </p> + <p> + The House of Commons is still very unanimous. There was a little popular + squib let off this week, in a motion of Sir John Glynne’s, seconded by Sir + John Philips, for annual parliaments. It was a very cold scent, and put an + end to by a division of 190 to 70. + </p> + <p> + Good-night. Work hard, that you may divert yourself well. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0220" id="link2H_4_0220"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 4, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I should have been much more surprised at the contents of + your letter of the 17th past, if I had not happened to have seen Sir C. + W., about three or four hours before I received it. I thought he talked in + an extraordinary manner; he engaged that the King of Prussia should be + master of Vienna in the month of May; and he told me that you were very + much in love with his daughter. Your letter explained all this to me; and + next day, Lord and Lady E——-gave me innumerable instances of + his frenzy, with which I shall not trouble you. What inflamed it the more + (if it did not entirely occasion it) was a great quantity of cantharides, + which, it seems, he had taken at Hamburgh, to recommend himself, I + suppose, to Mademoiselle John. He was let blood four times on board the + ship, and has been let blood four times since his arrival here; but still + the inflammation continues very high. He is now under the care of his + brothers, who do not let him go abroad. They have written to this same + Mademoiselle John, to prevent if they can, her coming to England, and told + her the case; which, when she hears she must be as mad as he is, if she + takes the journey. By the way, she must be ‘une dame aventuriere’, to + receive a note for 10,000 roubles from a man whom she had known but three + days! to take a contract of marriage, knowing he was married already; and + to engage herself to follow him to England. I suppose this is not the + first adventure of the sort which she has had. + </p> + <p> + After the news we received yesterday, that the French had evacuated + Hanover, all but Hamel, we daily expect much better. We pursue them, we + cut them off ‘en detail’, and at last we destroy their whole army. I wish + it may happen; and, moreover, I think it not impossible. + </p> + <p> + My head is much out of order, and only allows me to wish you good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0221" id="link2H_4_0221"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 22, 1758 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have now your letter of the 8th lying before me, with + the favorable account of our progress in Lower Saxony, and reasonable + prospect of more decisive success. I confess I did not expect this, when + my friend Munchausen took his leave of me, to go to Stade, and break the + neutrality; I thought it at least a dangerous, but rather a desperate + undertaking; whereas, hitherto, it has proved a very fortunate one. I look + upon the French army as ‘fondue’; and, what with desertion, deaths, and + epidemical distempers, I dare say not a third of it will ever return to + France. The great object is now, what the Russians can or will do; and + whether the King of Prussia can hinder their junction with the Austrians, + by beating either, before they join. I will trust him for doing all that + can be done. + </p> + <p> + Sir C. W. is still in confinement, and, I fear, will always be so, for he + seems ‘cum ratione insanire’; the physicians have collected all he has + said and done that indicated an alienation of mind, and have laid it + before him in writing; he has answered it in writing too, and justifies + himself in the most plausible arguments than can possibly be urged. He + tells his brother, and the few who are allowed to see him, that they are + such narrow and contracted minds themselves, that they take those for mad + who have a great and generous way of thinking; as, for instance, when he + determined to send his daughter over to you in a fortnight, to be married, + without any previous agreement or settlements, it was because he had long + known you, and loved you as a man of sense and honor; and therefore would + not treat with you as with an attorney. That as for Mademoiselle John, he + knew her merit and her circumstances; and asks, whether it is a sign of + madness to have a due regard for the one, and a just compassion for the + other. I will not tire you with enumerating any more instances of the poor + man’s frenzy; but conclude this subject with pitying him, and poor human + nature, which holds its reason by so precarious a tenure. The lady, who + you tell me is set out, ‘en sera pour la seine et les fraix du voyage’, + for her note is worth no more than her contract. By the way, she must be a + kind of ‘aventuriere’, to engage so easily in such an adventure with a man + whom she had not known above a week, and whose ‘debut’ of 10,000 roubles + showed him not to be in his right senses. + </p> + <p> + You will probably have seen General Yorke, by this time, in his way to + Berlin or Breslau, or wherever the King of Prussia may be. As he keeps his + commission to the States General, I presume he is not to stay long with + his Prussian Majesty; but, however, while he is there, take care to write + to him very constantly, and to give all the information you can. His + father, Lord Hardwicke, is your great puff: he commends your office + letters, exceedingly. I would have the Berlin commission your object, in + good time; never lose view of it. Do all you can to recommend yourself to + the King of Prussia on your side of the water, and to smooth your way for + that commission on this; by the turn which things have taken of late, it + must always be the most important of all foreign commissions from hence. + </p> + <p> + I have no news to send you, as things here are extremely quiet; so, + good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0222" id="link2H_4_0222"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 25, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: I am now two letters in your debt, which I think is the first + time that ever I was so, in the long course of our correspondence. But, + besides that my head has been very much out of order of late, writing is + by no means that easy thing that it was to me formerly. I find by + experience, that the mind and the body are more than married, for they are + most intimately united; and when the one suffers, the other sympathizes. + ‘Non sum qualis eram’: neither my memory nor my invention are now what + they formerly were. It is in a great measure my own fault; I cannot accuse + Nature, for I abused her; and it is reasonable I should suffer for it. + </p> + <p> + I do not like the return of the impression upon your lungs; but the rigor + of the cold may probably have brought it upon you, and your lungs not in + fault. Take care to live very cool, and let your diet be rather low. + </p> + <p> + We have had a second winter here, more severe than the first, at least it + seemed so, from a premature summer that we had, for a fortnight, in March; + which brought everything forward, only to be destroyed. I have experienced + it at Blackheath, where the promise of fruit was a most flattering one, + and all nipped in the bud by frost and snow, in April. I shall not have a + single peach or apricot. + </p> + <p> + I have nothing to tell you from hence concerning public affairs, but what + you read in the newspapers. This only is extraordinary: that last week, in + the House of Commons, above ten millions were granted, and the whole + Hanover army taken into British pay, with but one single negative, which + was Mr. Viner’s. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Pitt gains ground in the closet, and yet does not lose it in the + public. That is new. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Kniphausen has dined with me; he is one of the prettiest fellows + I have seen; he has, with a great deal of life and fire, ‘les manieres + d’un honnete homme, et le ton de la Parfaitement bonne compagnie’. You + like him yourself; try to be like him: it is in your power. + </p> + <p> + I hear that Mr. Mitchel is to be recalled, notwithstanding the King of + Prussia’s instances to keep him. But why, is a secret that I cannot + penetrate. + </p> + <p> + You will not fail to offer the Landgrave, and the Princess of Hesse (who I + find are going home), to be their agent and commissioner at Hamburg. + </p> + <p> + I cannot comprehend the present state of Russia, nor the motions of their + armies. They change their generals once a week; sometimes they march with + rapidity, and now they lie quiet behind the Vistula. We have a thousand + stories here of the interior of that government, none of which I believe. + Some say, that the Great Duke will be set aside. + </p> + <p> + Woronzoff is said to be entirely a Frenchman, and that Monsieur de + l’Hopital governs both him and the court. Sir C. W. is said, by his + indiscretions, to have caused the disgrace of Bestuchef, which seems not + impossible. In short, everything of every kind is said, because, I + believe, very little is truly known. ‘A propos’ of Sir C. W.; he is out of + confinement, and gone to his house in the country for the whole summer. + They say he is now very cool and well. I have seen his Circe, at her + window in Pall-Mall; she is painted, powdered, curled, and patched, and + looks ‘l’aventure’. She has been offered, by Sir C. W——‘s + friends, L500 in full of all demands, but will not accept of it. ‘La + comtesse veut plaider’, and I fancy ‘faire autre chose si elle peut. Jubeo + to bene valere. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0223" id="link2H_4_0223"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, May 18, O. S. 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have your letter of the 9th now before me, and condole + with you upon the present solitude and inaction of Hamburg. You are now + shrunk from the dignity and importance of a consummate minister, to be + but, as it were, a common man. But this has, at one time or another, been + the case of most great men; who have not always had equal opportunities of + exerting their talents. The greatest must submit to the capriciousness of + fortune; though they can, better than others, improve the favorable + moments. For instance, who could have thought, two years ago, that you + would have been the Atlas of the Northern Pole; but the Good Genius of the + North ordered it so; and now that you have set that part of the globe + right, you return to ‘otium cum dignitate’. But to be serious: now that + you cannot have much office business to do, I could tell you what to do, + that would employ you, I should think, both usefully and agreeably. I + mean, that you should write short memoirs of that busy scene, in which you + have been enough concerned, since your arrival at Hamburg, to be able to + put together authentic facts and anecdotes. I do not know whether you will + give yourself the trouble to do it or not; but I do know, that if you + will, ‘olim hcec meminisse juvabit’. I would have them short, but correct + as to facts and dates. + </p> + <p> + I have told Alt, in the strongest manner, your lamentations for the loss + of the House of Cassel, ‘et il en fera rapport a son Serenissime Maitre’. + When you are quite idle (as probably you may be, some time this summer), + why should you not ask leave to make a tour to Cassel for a week? which + would certainly be granted you from hence, and which would be looked upon + as a ‘bon procede’ at Cassel. + </p> + <p> + The King of Prussia is probably, by this time, at the gates of Vienna, + making the Queen of Hungary really do what Monsieur de Bellisle only + threatened; sign a peace upon the ramparts of her capital. If she is + obstinate, and will not, she must fly either to Presburg or to Inspruck, + and Vienna must fall. But I think he will offer her reasonable conditions + enough for herself; and I suppose, that, in that case, Caunitz will be + reasonable enough to advise her to accept of them. What turn would the war + take then? Would the French and Russians carry it on without her? The King + of Prussia, and the Prince of Brunswick, would soon sweep them out of + Germany. By this time, too, I believe, the French are entertained in + America with the loss of Cape Breton; and, in consequence of that, Quebec; + for we have a force there equal to both those undertakings, and officers + there, now, that will execute what Lord L———never would + so much as attempt. His appointments were too considerable to let him do + anything that might possibly put an end to the war. Lord Howe, upon seeing + plainly that he was resolved to do nothing, had asked leave to return, as + well as Lord Charles Hay. + </p> + <p> + We have a great expedition preparing, and which will soon be ready to sail + from the Isle of Wight; fifteen thousand good troops, eighty battering + cannons, besides mortars, and every other thing in abundance, fit for + either battle or siege. Lord Anson desired, and is appointed, to command + the fleet employed upon this expedition; a proof that it is not a trifling + one. Conjectures concerning its destination are infinite; and the most + ignorant are, as usual, the boldest conjecturers. If I form any + conjectures, I keep them to myself, not to be disproved by the event; but, + in truth, I form none: I might have known, but would not. + </p> + <p> + Everything seems to tend to a peace next winter: our success in America, + which is hardly doubtful, and the King of Prussia’s in Germany, which is + as little so, will make France (already sick of the expense of the war) + very tractable for a peace. I heartily wish it: for though people’s heads + are half turned with the King of Prussia’s success, and will be quite + turned, if we have any in America, or at sea, a moderate peace will suit + us better than this immoderate war of twelve millions a year. + </p> + <p> + Domestic affairs go just as they did; the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt + jog on like man and wife; that is, seldom agreeing, often quarreling; but + by mutual interest, upon the whole, not parting. The latter, I am told, + gains ground in the closet; though he still keeps his strength in the + House, and his popularity in the public; or, perhaps, because of that. + </p> + <p> + Do you hold your resolution of visiting your dominions of Bremen and + Lubeck this summer? If you do, pray take the trouble of informing yourself + correctly of the several constitutions and customs of those places, and of + the present state of the federal union of the Hanseatic towns: it will do + you no harm, nor cost you much trouble; and it is so much clear gain on + the side of useful knowledge. + </p> + <p> + I am now settled at Blackheath for the summer; where unseasonable frost + and snow, and hot and parching east winds, have destroyed all my fruit, + and almost my fruit-trees. I vegetate myself little better than they do; I + crawl about on foot and on horseback; read a great deal, and write a + little; and am very much yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0224" id="link2H_4_0224"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, May 30, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have no letter from you to answer, so this goes to you + unprovoked. But ‘a propos’ of letters; you have had great honor done you, + in a letter from a fair and royal hand, no less than that of her Royal + Highness the Princess of Cassel; she has written your panegyric to her + sister, Princess Amelia, who sent me a compliment upon it. This has + likewise done you no harm with the King, who said gracious things upon + that occasion. I suppose you had for her Royal Highness those attentions + which I wish to God you would have, in due proportions, for everybody. You + see, by this instance, the effects of them; they are always repaid with + interest. I am more confirmed by this in thinking, that, if you can + conveniently, you should ask leave to go for a week to Cassel, to return + your thanks for all favors received. + </p> + <p> + I cannot expound to myself the conduct of the Russians. There must be a + trick in their not marching with more expedition. They have either had a + sop from the King of Prussia, or they want an animating dram from France + and Austria. The King of Prussia’s conduct always explains itself by the + events; and, within a very few days, we must certainly hear of some very + great stroke from that quarter. I think I never in my life remember a + period of time so big with great events as the present: within two months + the fate of the House of Austria will probably be decided: within the same + space of time, we shall certainly hear of the taking of Cape Breton, and + of our army’s proceeding to Quebec within a few days we shall know the + good or ill success of our great expedition; for it is sailed; and it + cannot be long before we shall hear something of the Prince of Brunswick’s + operations, from whom I also expect good things. If all these things turn + out, as there is good reason to believe they will, we may once, in our + turn, dictate a reasonable peace to France, who now pays seventy per cent + insurance upon its trade, and seven per cent for all the money raised for + the service of the year. + </p> + <p> + Comte Bothmar has got the small-pox, and of a bad kind. Kniphausen diverts + himself much here; he sees all places and all people, and is ubiquity + itself. Mitchel, who was much threatened, stays at last at Berlin, at the + earnest request of the King of Prussia. Lady is safely delivered of a son, + to the great joy of that noble family. The expression, of a woman’s having + brought her husband a son, seems to be a proper and cautious one; for it + is never said from whence. + </p> + <p> + I was going to ask you how you passed your time now at Hamburg, since it + is no longer the seat of strangers and of business; but I will not, + because I know it is to no purpose. You have sworn not to tell me. + </p> + <p> + Sir William Stanhope told me that you promised to send him some Old Hock + from Hamburg, and so you did not. If you meet with any superlatively good, + and not else, pray send over a ‘foudre’ of it, and write to him. I shall + have a share in it. But unless you find some, either at Hamburg or at + Bremen, uncommonly and almost miracuously good, do not send any. Dixi. + Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0225" id="link2H_4_0225"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 13, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The secret is out: St. Malo is the devoted place. Our + troops began to land at the Bay of Cancale the 5th, without any + opposition. We have no further accounts yet, but expect some every moment. + By the plan of it, which I have seen, it is by no means a weak place; and + I fear there will be many hats to be disposed of, before it is taken. + There are in the port above thirty privateers; about sixteen of their own, + and about as many taken from us. 237 + </p> + <p> + Now for Africa, where we have had great success. The French have been + driven out of all their forts and settlements upon the Gum coast, and upon + the river Senegal. They had been many years in possession of them, and by + them annoyed our African trade exceedingly; which, by the way, ‘toute + proportion gardee’, is the most lucrative trade we have. The present booty + is likewise very considerable, in gold dust, and gum Seneca; which is very + valuable, by being a very necessary commodity, for all our stained and + printed linens. + </p> + <p> + Now for America. The least sanguine people here expect, the latter end of + this month or the beginning of the next, to have the account of the taking + of Cape Breton, and of all the forts with hard names in North America. + </p> + <p> + Captain Clive has long since settled Asia to our satisfaction; so that + three parts of the world look very favorable for us. Europe, I submit to + the care of the King of Prussia and Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; and I + think they will give a good account of it. France is out of luck, and out + of courage; and will, I hope, be enough out of spirits to submit to a + reasonable peace. By reasonable, I mean what all people call reasonable in + their own case; an advantageous one for us. + </p> + <p> + I have set all right with Munchausen; who would not own that he was at all + offended, and said, as you do, that his daughter did not stay long enough, + nor appear enough at Hamburg, for you possibly to know that she was there. + But people are always ashamed to own the little weaknesses of self-love, + which, however, all people feel more or less. The excuse, I saw, pleased. + </p> + <p> + I will send you your quadrille tables by the first opportunity, consigned + to the care of Mr. Mathias here. ‘Felices faustaeque sint! May you win + upon them, when you play with men; and when you play with women, either + win or know why you lose. + </p> + <p> + Miss———marries Mr.———-next week. WHO + PROFFERS LOVE, PROFFERS DEATH, says Weller to a dwarf: in my opinion, the + conclusion must instantly choak the little lady. Admiral marries Lady; + there the danger, if danger is, will be on the other side. The lady has + wanted a man so long, that she now compounds for half a one. Half a loaf— + </p> + <p> + I have been worse since my last letter; but am now, I think, recovering; + ‘tant va la cruche a l’eau’;—and I have been there very often. + </p> + <p> + Good-night. I am faithfully and truly yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0226" id="link2H_4_0226"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 27, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You either have received already, or will very soon + receive, a little case from Amsterdam, directed to you at Hamburg. It is + for Princess Ameba, the King of Prussia’s sister, and contains some books + which she desired Sir Charles Hotham to procure her from England, so long + ago as when he was at Berlin: he sent for them immediately; but, by I do + not know what puzzle, they were recommended to the care of Mr. Selwyn, at + Paris, who took such care of them, that he kept them near three years in + his warehouse, and has at last sent them to Amsterdam, from whence they + are sent to you. If the books are good for anything, they must be + considerably improved, by having seen so much of the world; but, as I + believe they are English books, perhaps they may, like English travelers, + have seen nobody, but the several bankers to whom they were consigned: be + that as it will, I think you had best deliver them to Monsieur Hecht, the + Prussian Minister at Hamburg, to forward to her Royal Highness, with a + respectful compliment from you, which you will, no doubt, turn in the best + manner, and ‘selon le bon ton de la parfaitement bonne compagnie’. + </p> + <p> + You have already seen, in the papers, all the particulars of our St. + Malo’s expedition, so I say no more of that; only that Mr. Pitt’s friends + exult in the destruction of three French ships of war, and one hundred and + thirty privateers and trading ships; and affirm that it stopped the march + of threescore thousand men, who were going to join the Comte de Clermont’s + army. On the other hand, Mr. Fox and company call it breaking windows with + guineas; and apply the fable of the Mountain and the Mouse. The next + object of our fleet was to be the bombarding of Granville, which is the + great ‘entrepot’ of their Newfoundland fishery, and will be a considerable + loss to them in that branch of their trade. These, you will perhaps say, + are no great matters, and I say so too; but, at least, they are signs of + life, which we had not given them for many years before; and will show the + French, by our invading them, that we do not fear their invading us. Were + those invasions, in fishing-boats from Dunkirk, so terrible as they were + artfully represented to be, the French would have had an opportunity of + executing them, while our fleet, and such a considerable part of our army, + were employed upon their coast. BUT MY LORD LIGONIER DOES NOT WANT AN ARMY + AT HOME. + </p> + <p> + The parliament is prorogued by a most gracious speech neither by nor from + his Majesty, who was TOO ILL to go to the House; the Lords and Gentlemen + are, consequently, most of them, gone to their several counties, to do (to + be sure) all the good that is recommended to them in the speech. London, I + am told, is now very empty, for I cannot say so from knowledge. I vegetate + wholly here. I walk and read a great deal, ride and scribble a little, + according as my lead allows, or my spirits prompt; to write anything + tolerable, the mind must be in a natural, proper disposition; + provocatives, in that case, as well as in another, will only produce + miserable, abortive performances. + </p> + <p> + Now that you have (as I suppose) full leisure enough, I wish you would + give yourself the trouble, or rather pleasure, to do what I hinted to you + some time ago; that is, to write short memoirs of those affairs which have + either gone through your hands, or that have come to your certain + knowledge, from the inglorious battle of Hastenbeck, to the still more + scandalous Treaty of Neutrality. Connect, at least, if it be by ever so + short notes, the pieces and letters which you must necessarily have in + your hands, and throw in the authentic anecdotes that you have probably + heard. You will be glad when you have done it: and the reviving past + ideas, in some order and method, will be an infinite comfort to you + hereafter. I have a thousand times regretted not having done so; it is at + present too late for me to begin; this is the right time for you, and your + life is likely to be a busy one. Would young men avail themselves of the + advice and experience of their old friends, they would find the utility in + their youth, and the comfort of it in their more advanced age; but they + seldom consider that, and you, less than anybody I ever knew. May you soon + grow wiser! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0227" id="link2H_4_0227"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXV + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 30, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: This letter follows my last very close; but I received + yours of the 15th in the short interval. You did very well not to buy any + Rhenish, at the exorbitant price you mention, without further directions; + for both my brother and I think the money better than the wine, be the + wine ever so good. We will content our selves with our stock in hand of + humble Rhenish, of about three shillings a-bottle. However, ‘pour la + rarity du fait, I will lay out twelve ducats’, for twelve bottles of the + wine of 1665, by way of an eventual cordial, if you can obtain a ‘senatus + consultum’ for it. I am in no hurry for it, so send it me only when you + can conveniently; well packed up ‘s’entend’. + </p> + <p> + You will, I dare say, have leave to go to Cassel; and if you do go, you + will perhaps think it reasonable, that I, who was the adviser of the + journey, should pay the expense of it. I think so too; and therefore, if + you go, I will remit the L100 which you have calculated it at. You will + find the House of Cassel the house of gladness; for Hanau is already, or + must be soon, delivered of its French guests. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Brunswick’s victory is, by all the skillful, thought a ‘chef + d’oeuvre’, worthy of Turenne, Conde, or the most illustrious human + butchers. The French behaved better than at Rosbach, especially the + Carabiniers Royaux, who could not be ‘entames’. I wish the siege of Olmutz + well over, and a victory after it; and that, with good news from America, + which I think there is no reason to doubt of, must procure us a good peace + at the end of the year. The Prince of Prussia’s death is no public + misfortune: there was a jealousy and alienation between the King and him, + which could never have been made up between the possessor of the crown and + the next heir to it. He will make something of his nephew, ‘s’il est du + bois don’t on en fait’. He is young enough to forgive, and to be forgiven, + the possession and the expectative, at least for some years. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! I am UNWELL, but affectionately yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0228" id="link2H_4_0228"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 18, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter of the 4th; and my last + will have informed you that I had received your former, concerning the + Rhenish, about which I gave you instructions. If ‘vinum Mosellanum est + omni tempore sanum’, as the Chapter of Treves asserts, what must this + ‘vinum Rhenanum’ be, from its superior strength and age? It must be the + universal panacea. + </p> + <p> + Captain Howe is to sail forthwith somewhere or another, with about 8,000 + land forces on board him; and what is much more, Edward the White Prince. + It is yet a secret where they are going; but I think it is no secret, that + what 16,000 men and a great fleet could not do, will not be done by 8,000 + men and a much smaller fleet. About 8,500 horse, foot, and dragoons, are + embarking, as fast as they can, for Embden, to reinforce Prince + Ferdinand’s army; late and few, to be sure, but still better than never, + and none. The operations in Moravia go on slowly, and Olmutz seems to be a + tough piece of work; I own I begin to be in pain for the King of Prussia; + for the Russians now march in earnest, and Marechal Dann’s army is + certainly superior in number to his. God send him a good delivery! + </p> + <p> + You have a Danish army now in your neighborhood, and they say a very fine + one; I presume you will go to see it, and, if you do, I would advise you + to go when the Danish Monarch comes to review it himself; ‘pour prendre + langue de ce Seigneur’. The rulers of the earth are all worth knowing; + they suggest moral reflections: and the respect that one naturally has for + God’s vicegerents here on earth, is greatly increased by acquaintance with + them. + </p> + <p> + Your card-tables are gone, and they inclose some suits of clothes, and + some of these clothes inclose a letter. + </p> + <p> + Your friend Lady———is gone into the country with her + Lord, to negotiate, coolly and at leisure, their intended separation. My + Lady insists upon my Lord’s dismissing the———, as + ruinous to his fortune; my Lord insists, in his turn, upon my Lady’s + dismissing Lord—————; my Lady replies, that + that is unreasonable, since Lord creates no expense to the family, but + rather the contrary. My Lord confesses that there is some weight in this + argument: but then pleads sentiment: my Lady says, a fiddlestick for + sentiment, after having been married so long. How this matter will end, is + in the womb of time, ‘nam fuit ante Helenam’. + </p> + <p> + You did very well to write a congratulatory letter to Prince Ferdinand; + such attentions are always right, and always repaid in some way or other. + </p> + <p> + I am glad you have connected your negotiations and anecdotes; and, I hope, + not with your usual laconism. Adieu! Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0229" id="link2H_4_0229"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 1, 1758 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I think the Court of Cassel is more likely to make you a + second visit at Hamburg, than you are to return theirs at Cassel; and + therefore, till that matter is clearer, I shall not mention it to Lord + Holderness. + </p> + <p> + By the King of Prussia’s disappointment in Moravia, by the approach of the + Russians, and the intended march of Monsieur de Soubize to Hanover, the + waters seem to me to be as much troubled as ever. ‘Je vois tres noir + actuellement’; I see swarms of Austrians, French, Imperialists, Swedes, + and Russians, in all near four hundred thousand men, surrounding the King + of Prussia and Prince Ferdinand, who have about a third of that number. + Hitherto they have only buzzed, but now I fear they will sting. + </p> + <p> + The immediate danger of this country is being drowned; for it has not + ceased raining these three months, and withal is extremely cold. This + neither agrees with me in itself, nor in its consequences; for it hinders + me from taking my necessary exercise, and makes me very unwell. As my head + is always the part offending, and is so at present, I will not do, like + many writers, write without a head; so adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0230" id="link2H_4_0230"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 29, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your secretary’s last letter brought me the good news that + the fever had left you, and I will believe that it has: but a postscript + to it, of only two lines, under your own hand, would have convinced me + more effectually of your recovery. An intermitting fever, in the intervals + of the paroxysms, would surely have allowed you to have written a few + lines with your own hand, to tell me how you were; and till I receive a + letter (as short as you please) from you yourself, I shall doubt of the + exact truth of any other accounts. + </p> + <p> + I send you no news, because I have none; Cape Breton, Cherbourg, etc., are + now old stories; we expect a new one soon from Commodore Howe, but from + whence we know not. From Germany we hope for good news: I confess I do + not, I only wish it. The King of Prussia is marched to fight the Russians, + and I believe will beat them, if they stand; but what then? What shall he + do next, with the three hundred and fourscore thousand men now actually at + work upon him? He will do all that man can do, but at last ‘il faut + succomber’. + </p> + <p> + Remember to think yourself less well than you are, in order to be quite + so; be very regular, rather longer than you need; and then there will be + no danger of a relapse. God bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0231" id="link2H_4_0231"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 5, 1758 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, with great pleasure, your letter of the 22d + August; for, by not having a line from you in your secretary’s two + letters, I suspect that you were worse than he cared to tell me; and so + far I was in the right, that your fever was more malignant than + intermitting ones generally are, which seldom confines people to their + bed, or at most, only the days of the paroxysms. Now that, thank God, you + are well again, though weak, do not be in too much haste to be better and + stronger: leave that to nature, which, at your age, will restore both your + health and strength as soon as she should. Live cool for a time, and + rather low, instead of taking what they call heartening things: Your + manner of making presents is noble, ‘et sent la grandeur d’ame d’un preux + Chevalier’. You depreciate their value to prevent any returns; for it is + impossible that a wine which has counted so many Syndicks, that can only + be delivered by a ‘senatus consultum’, and is the PANACEA Of the North, + should be sold for a ducat a bottle. The ‘sylphium’ of the Romans, which + was stored up in the public magazines, and only distributed by order of + the magistrate, I dare say, cost more; so that I am convinced, your + present is much more valuable than you would make it. + </p> + <p> + Here I am interrupted, by receiving your letter of the 25th past. I am + glad that you are able to undertake your journey to Bremen: the motion, + the air, the new scene, the everything, will do you good, provided you + manage yourself discreetly. + </p> + <p> + Your bill for fifty pounds shall certainly be accepted and paid; but, as + in conscience I think fifty pounds is too little, for seeing a live + Landgrave, and especially at Bremen, which this whole nation knows to be a + very dear place, I shall, with your leave, add fifty more to it. By the + way, when you see the Princess Royal of Cassel, be sure to tell her how + sensible you are of the favorable and too partial testimony, which you + know she wrote of you to Princess Amelia. + </p> + <p> + The King of Prussia has had the victory, which you in some measure + foretold; and as he has taken ‘la caisse militaire’, I presume ‘Messieurs + les Russes sont hors de combat pour cette campagne’; for ‘point d’argent, + point de Suisse’, is not truer of the laudable Helvetic body, than ‘point + d’argent, point de Russe’, is of the savages of the Two Russias, not even + excepting the Autocratrice of them both. Serbelloni, I believe, stands + next in his Prussian Majesty’s list to be beaten; that is, if he will + stand; as the Prince de Soubize does in Prince Ferdinand’s, upon the same + condition. If both these things happen, which is by no means improbable, + we may hope for a tolerable peace this winter; for, ‘au bout du compte’, + the King of Prussia cannot hold out another year; and therefore he should + make the best of these favorable events, by way negotiation. + </p> + <p> + I think I have written a great deal, with an actual giddiness of head upon + me. So adieu. + </p> + <p> + I am glad you have received my letter of the Ides of July. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0232" id="link2H_4_0232"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 8, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: This letter shall be short, being only an explanatory note + upon my last; for I am not learned enough, nor yet dull enough, to make my + comment much longer than my text. I told you then, in my former letter, + that, with your leave (which I will suppose granted), I would add fifty + pounds to your draught for that sum; now, lest you should misunderstand + this, and wait for the remittance of that additional fifty from hence, + know then my meaning was, that you should likewise draw upon me for it + when you please; which I presume, will be more convenient to you. + </p> + <p> + Let the pedants, whose business it is to believe lies, or the poets, whose + trade it is to invent them, match the King of Prussia With a hero in + ancient or modern story, if they can. He disgraces history, and makes one + give some credit to romances. Calprenede’s Juba does not now seem so + absurd as formerly. + </p> + <p> + I have been extremely ill this whole summer; but am now something better. + However, I perceive, ‘que l’esprit et le corps baissent’; the former is + the last thing that anybody will tell me; or own when I tell it them; but + I know it is true. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0233" id="link2H_4_0233"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 22, 1758 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have received no letter from you since you left Hamburg; + I presume that you are perfectly recovered, but it might not have been + improper to have told me so. I am very far from being recovered; on the + contrary, I am worse and worse, weaker and weaker every day; for which + reason I shall leave this place next Monday, and set out for Bath a few + days afterward. I should not take all this trouble merely to prolong the + fag end of a life, from which I can expect no pleasure, and others no + utility; but the cure, or at least the mitigation, of those physical ills + which make that life a load while it does last, is worth any trouble and + attention. + </p> + <p> + We are come off but scurvily from our second attempt upon St. Malo; it is + our last for this season; and, in my mind, should be our last forever, + unless we were to send so great a sea and land force as to give us a moral + certainty of taking some place of great importance, such as Brest, + Rochefort, or Toulon. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Munchausen embarked yesterday, as he said, for Prince Ferdinand’s + army; but as it is not generally thought that his military skill can be of + any great use to that prince, people conjecture that his business must be + of a very different nature, and suspect separate negotiations, + neutralities, and what not. Kniphausen does not relish it in the least, + and is by no means satisfied with the reasons that have been given him for + it. Before he can arrive there, I reckon that something decisive will have + passed in Saxony; if to the disadvantage of the King of Prussia, he is + crushed; but if, on the contrary, he should get a complete victory (and he + does not get half victories) over the Austrians, the winter may probably + produce him and us a reasonable peace. I look upon Russia as ‘hors de + combat’ for some time; France is certainly sick of the war; under an + unambitious King, and an incapable Ministry, if there is one at all: and, + unassisted by those two powers, the Empress Queen had better be quiet. + Were any other man in the situation of the King of Prussia, I should not + hesitate to pronounce him ruined; but he is such a prodigy of a man, that + I will only say, I fear he will be ruined. It is by this time decided. + </p> + <p> + Your Cassel court at Bremen is, I doubt, not very splendid; money must be + wanting: but, however, I dare say their table is always good, for the + Landgrave is a gourmand; and as you are domestic there, you may be so too, + and recruit your loss of flesh from your fever: but do not recruit too + fast. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0234" id="link2H_4_0234"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, September 26, 1758 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I am sorry to find that you had a return of your fever; + but to say the truth, you in some measure deserved it, for not carrying + Dr. Middleton’s bark and prescription with you. I foresaw that you would + think yourself cured too soon, and gave you warning of it; but BYGONES are + BYGONES, as Chartres, when he was dying, said of his sins; let us look + forward. You did very prudently to return to Hamburg, to good bark, and, I + hope, a good physician. Make all sure there before you stir from thence, + notwithstanding the requests or commands of all the princesses in Europe: + I mean a month at least, taking the bark even to supererogation, that is, + some time longer than Dr. Middleton requires; for, I presume, you are got + over your childishness about tastes, and are sensible that your health + deserves more attention than your palate. When you shall be thus + re-established, I approve of your returning to Bremen; and indeed you + cannot well avoid it, both with regard to your promise, and to the + distinction with which you have been received by the Cassel family. + </p> + <p> + Now to the other part of your letter. Lord Holdernesse has been extremely + civil to you, in sending you, all under his own hand, such obliging offers + of his service. The hint is plain, that he will (in case you desire it) + procure you leave to come home for some time; so that the single question + is, whether you should desire it or not, NOW. It will be two months before + you can possibly undertake the journey, whether by sea or by land, and + either way it would be a troublesome and dangerous one for a convalescent + in the rigor of the month of November; you could drink no mineral waters + here in that season, nor are any mineral waters proper in your case, being + all of them heating, except Seltzer’s; then, what would do you more harm + than all medicines could do you good, would be the pestilential vapors of + the House of Commons, in long and crowded days, of which there will + probably be many this session; where your attendance, if here, will + necessarily be required. I compare St. Stephen’s Chapel, upon those days, + to ‘la Grotta del Cane’. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be the fate of the war now, negotiations will certainly be + stirring all the winter, and of those, the northern ones, you are + sensible, are not the least important; in these, if at Hamburg, you will + probably have your share, and perhaps a meritorious one. Upon the whole, + therefore, I would advise you to write a very civil letter to Lord + Holdernesse; and to tell him that though you cannot hope to be of any use + to his Majesty’s affairs anywhere, yet, in the present unsettled state of + the North, it is possible that unforeseen accidents may throw in your way + to be of some little service, and that you would not willingly be out of + the way of those accidents; but that you shall be most extremely obliged + to his Lordship, if he will procure you his Majesty’s gracious permission + to return for a few months in the spring, when probably affairs will be + more settled one way or another. When things tend nearer to a settlement, + and that Germany, from the want of money or men, or both, breathes peace + more than war, I shall solicit Burrish’s commission for you, which is one + of the most agreeable ones in his Majesty’s gift; and I shall by no means + despair of success. Now I have given you my opinion upon this affair, + which does not make a difference of above three months, or four at most, I + would not be understood to mean to force your own, if it should happen to + be different from mine; but mine, I think, is more both for your health + and your interest. However, do as you please: may you in this, and + everything else, do for the best! So God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0235" id="link2H_4_0235"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 18, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received by the same post your two letters of the 29th + past, and of the 3d instant. + </p> + <p> + The last tells me that you are perfectly recovered; and your resolution of + going to Bremen in three or four days proves it; for surely you would not + undertake that journey a second time, and at this season of the year, + without feeling your health solidly restored; however, in all events, I + hope you have taken a provision of good bark with you. I think your + attention to her Royal Highness may be of use to you here; and indeed all + attentions, to all sorts, of people, are always repaid in some way or + other; though real obligations are not. For instance, Lord Titchfield, who + has been with you at Hamburg, has written an account to the Duke and + Duchess of Portland, who are here, of the civilities you showed him, with + which he is much pleased, and they delighted. At this rate, if you do not + take care, you will get the unmanly reputation of a well-bred man; and + your countryman, John Trott, will disown you. + </p> + <p> + I have received, and tasted of your present; which is a ‘tres grand vin’, + but more cordial to the stomach than pleasant to the palate. I keep it as + a physic, only to take occasionally, in little disorders of my stomach; + and in those cases, I believe it is wholsomer than stronger cordials. + </p> + <p> + I have been now here a fortnight; and though I am rather better than when + I came, I am still far from well. + </p> + <p> + My head is giddier than becomes a head of my age; and my stomach has not + recovered its retentive faculty. Leaning forward, particularly to write, + does not at present agree with, Yours. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0236" id="link2H_4_0236"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 28, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your letter has quieted my alarms; for I find by it, that + you are as well recovered as you could be in so short a time. It is your + business now to keep yourself well by scrupulously following Dr. + Middleton’s directions. He seems to be a rational and knowing man. Soap + and steel are, unquestionably, the proper medicines for your case; but as + they are alteratives, you must take them for a very long time, six months + at least; and then drink chalybeate waters. I am fully persuaded, that + this was your original complaint in Carniola, which those ignorant + physicians called, in their jargon, ‘Arthritis vaga’, and treated as such. + But now that the true cause of your illness is discovered, I flatter + myself that, with time and patience on your part, you will be radically + cured; but, I repeat it again, it must be by a long and uninterrupted + course of those alterative medicines above mentioned. They have no taste; + but if they had a bad one, I will not now suppose you such a child, as to + let the frowardness of your palate interfere in the least with the + recovery or enjoyment of health. The latter deserves the utmost attention + of the most rational man; the former is the only proper object of the care + of a dainty, frivolous woman. + </p> + <p> + The run of luck, which some time ago we were in, seems now to be turned + against us. Oberg is completely routed; his Prussian Majesty was surprised + (which I am surprised at), and had rather the worst of it. I am in some + pain for Prince Ferdinand, as I take it for granted that the detachment + from Marechal de Contade’s army, which enabled Prince Soubize to beat + Oberg, will immediately return to the grand army, and then it will be + infinitely superior. + </p> + <p> + Nor do I see where Prince Ferdinand can take his winter quarters, unless + he retires to Hanover; and that I do not take to be at present the land of + Canaan. Our second expedition to St. Malo I cannot call so much an + unlucky, as an ill-conducted one; as was also Abercrombie’s affair in + America. ‘Mais il n’y a pas de petite perte qui revient souvent’: and all + these accidents put together make a considerable sum total. + </p> + <p> + I have found so little good by these waters, that I do not intend to stay + here above a week longer; and then remove my crazy body to London, which + is the most convenient place either to live or die in. + </p> + <p> + I cannot expect active health anywhere; you may, with common care and + prudence, effect it everywhere; and God grant that you may have it! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0237" id="link2H_4_0237"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 21, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You did well to think of Prince Ferdinand’s ribband, which + I confess I did not; and I am glad to find you thinking so far beforehand. + It would be a pretty commission, and I will ‘accingere me’ to procure it + to you. The only competition I fear, is that of General Yorke, in case + Prince Ferdinand should pass any time with his brother at The Hague, which + is not unlikely, since he cannot go to Brunswick to his eldest brother, + upon account of their simulated quarrel. + </p> + <p> + I fear the piece is at an end with the King of Prussia, and he may say + ‘ilicet’; I am sure he may personally say ‘plaudite’. Warm work is + expected this session of parliament, about continent and no continent; + some think Mr. Pitt too continent, others too little so; but a little + time, as the newspapers most prudently and truly observe, will clear up + these matters. + </p> + <p> + The King has been ill; but his illness is terminated in a good fit of the + gout, with which he is still confined. It was generally thought that he + would have died, and for a very good reason; for the oldest lion in the + Tower, much about the King’s age, died a fortnight ago. This extravagancy, + I can assure you, was believed by many above peuple. So wild and + capricious is the human mind! + </p> + <p> + Take care of your health as much as you can; for, To BE, or NOT To BE, is + a question of much less importance, in my mind, than to be or not to be + well. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0238" id="link2H_4_0238"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 15, 1758. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: It is a great while since I heard from you, but I hope + that good, not ill health, has been the occasion of this silence: I will + suppose you have been, or are still at Bremen, and engrossed by your + Hessian friends. + </p> + <p> + Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick is most certainly to have the Garter, and I + think I have secured you the honor of putting it on. When I say SECURED, I + mean it in the sense in which that word should always be understood at + courts, and that is, INSECURELY; I have a promise, but that is not + ‘caution bourgeoise’. In all events, do not mention it to any mortal, + because there is always a degree of ridicule that attends a + disappointment, though often very unjustly, if the expectation was + reasonably grounded; however, it is certainly most prudent not to + communicate, prematurely, one’s hopes or one’s fears. I cannot tell you + when Prince Ferdinand will have it; though there are so many candidates + for the other two vacant Garters, that I believe he will have his soon, + and by himself; the others must wait till a third, or rather a fourth + vacancy. Lord Rockingham and Lord Holdernesse are secure. Lord Temple + pushes strongly, but, I believe, is not secure. This commission for + dubbing a knight, and so distinguished a one, will be a very agreeable and + creditable one for you, ‘et il faut vous en acquitter galamment’. In the + days of ancient chivalry, people were very nice who they would be knighted + by and, if I do not mistake, Francis the First would only be knighted by + the Chevalier Bayard, ‘qui etoit preux Chevalier et sans reproche’; and no + doubt but it will be recorded, ‘dans les archives de la Maison de + Brunswick’, that Prince Ferdinand received the honor of knighthood from + your hands. + </p> + <p> + The estimates for the expenses of the year 1759 are made up; I have seen + them; and what do you think they amount to? No less than twelve millions + three hundred thousand pounds: a most incredible sum, and yet already + subscribed, and even more offered! The unanimity in the House of Commons, + in voting such a sum, and such forces, both by sea and land, is not the + less astonishing. This is Mr. Pitt’s doing, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR + EYES. + </p> + <p> + The King of Prussia has nothing more to do this year; and, the next, he + must begin where he has left off. I wish he would employ this winter in + concluding a separate peace with the Elector of Saxony; which would give + him more elbowroom to act against France and the Queen of Hungary, and put + an end at once to the proceedings of the Diet, and the army of the empire; + for then no estate of the empire would be invaded by a co-estate, and + France, the faithful and disinterested guarantee of the Treaty of + Westphalia, would have no pretense to continue its armies there. I should + think that his Polish Majesty, and his Governor, Comte Bruhl, must be + pretty weary of being fugitives in Poland, where they are hated, and of + being ravaged in Saxony. This reverie of mine, I hope will be tried, and I + wish it may succeed. Good-night, and God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0239" id="link2H_4_0239"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1759-1765 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER CCXXXVII + </p> + <p> + LONDON, New-year’s Day, 1759 + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: ‘Molti e felici’, and I have done upon that subject, one + truth being fair, upon the most lying day in the whole year. + </p> + <p> + I have now before me your last letter of the 21st December, which I am + glad to find is a bill of health: but, however, do not presume too much + upon it, but obey and honor your physician, “that thy days may be long in + the land.” + </p> + <p> + Since my last, I have heard nothing more concerning the ribband; but I + take it for granted it will be disposed of soon. By the way, upon + reflection, I am not sure that anybody but a knight can, according to + form, be employed to make a knight. I remember that Sir Clement Cotterel + was sent to Holland, to dub the late Prince of Orange, only because he was + a knight himself; and I know that the proxies of knights, who cannot + attend their own installations, must always be knights. This did not occur + to me before, and perhaps will not to the person who was to recommend you: + I am sure I will not stir it; and I only mention it now, that you may be + in all events prepared for the disappointment, if it should happen. + </p> + <p> + G——-is exceedingly flattered with your account, that three + thousand of his countrymen; all as little as himself, should be thought a + sufficient guard upon three-and-twenty thousand of all the nations in + Europe; not that he thinks himself, by any means, a little man, for when + he would describe a tall handsome man, he raises himself up at least half + an inch to represent him. + </p> + <p> + The private news from Hamburg is, that his Majesty’s Resident there is + woundily in love with Madame———-; if this be true, God + send him, rather than her, a good DELIVERY! She must be ‘etrennee’ at this + season, and therefore I think you should be so too: so draw upon me as + soon as you please, for one hundred pounds. + </p> + <p> + Here is nothing new, except the unanimity with which the parliament gives + away a dozen of millions sterling; and the unanimity of the public is as + great in approving of it, which has stifled the usual political and + polemical argumentations. + </p> + <p> + Cardinal Bernis’s disgrace is as sudden, and hitherto as little + understood, as his elevation was. I have seen his poems, printed at Paris, + not by a friend, I dare say; and to judge by them, I humbly conceive his + Eminency is a p——-y. I will say nothing of that excellent + headpiece that made him and unmade him in the same month, except O KING, + LIVE FOREVER. + </p> + <p> + Good-night to you, whoever you pass it with. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0240" id="link2H_4_0240"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 2, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I am now (what I have very seldom been) two letters in + your debt: the reason was, that my head, like many other heads, has + frequently taken a wrong turn; in which case, writing is painful to me, + and therefore cannot be very pleasant to my readers. + </p> + <p> + I wish you would (while you have so good an opportunity as you have at + Hamburg) make yourself perfectly master of that dull but very useful + knowledge, the course of exchange, and the causes of its almost perpetual + variations; the value and relation of different coins, the specie, the + banco, usances, agio, and a thousand other particulars. You may with ease + learn, and you will be very glad when you have learned them; for, in your + business, that sort of knowledge will often prove necessary. + </p> + <p> + I hear nothing more of Prince Ferdinand’s garter: that he will have one is + very certain; but when, I believe, is very uncertain; all the other + postulants wanting to be dubbed at the same time, which cannot be, as + there is not ribband enough for them. + </p> + <p> + If the Russians move in time, and in earnest, there will be an end of our + hopes and of our armies in Germany: three such mill-stones as Russia, + France, and Austria, must, sooner or later, in the course of the year, + grind his Prussian Majesty down to a mere MARGRAVE of Brandenburg. But I + have always some hopes of a change under a ‘Gunarchy’—[Derived from + the Greek word ‘Iuvn’ a woman, and means female government]—where + whim and humor commonly prevail, reason very seldom, and then only by a + lucky mistake. + </p> + <p> + I expect the incomparable fair one of Hamburg, that prodigy of beauty, and + paragon of good sense, who has enslaved your mind, and inflamed your + heart. If she is as well ‘etrennee’ as you say she shall, you will be soon + out of her chains; for I have, by long experience, found women to be like + Telephus’s spear, if one end kills, the other cures. + </p> + <p> + There never was so quiet, nor so silent a session of parliament as the + present; Mr. Pitt declares only what he would have them do, and they do it + ‘nemine contradicente’, Mr. Viner only expected. + </p> + <p> + Duchess Hamilton is to be married, to-morrow, to Colonel Campbell, the son + of General Campbell, who will some day or other be Duke of Argyle, and + have the estate. She refused the Duke of B——-r for him. + </p> + <p> + Here is a report, but I believe a very groundless one, that your old + acquaintance, the fair Madame C———e, is run away from + her husband, with a jeweler, that ‘etrennes’ her, and is come over here; + but I dare say it is some mistake, or perhaps a lie. Adieu! God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0241" id="link2H_4_0241"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 27, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: In your last letter, of the 7th, you accuse me, most + unjustly, of being in arrears in my correspondence; whereas, if our + epistolary accounts were fairly liquidated, I believe you would be brought + in considerably debtor. I do not see how any of my letters to you can + miscarry, unless your office-packet miscarries too, for I always send them + to the office. Moreover, I might have a justifiable excuse for writing to + you seldomer than usual, for to be sure there never was a period of time, + in the middle of a winter, and the parliament sitting, that supplied so + little matter for a letter. Near twelve millions have been granted this + year, not only ‘nemine contradicente’, but, ‘nemine quicquid dicente’. The + proper officers bring in the estimates; it is taken for granted that they + are necessary and frugal; the members go to dinner; and leave Mr. West and + Mr. Martin to do the rest. + </p> + <p> + I presume you have seen the little poem of the “Country Lass,” by Soame + Jenyns, for it was in the “Chronicle”; as was also an answer to it, from + the “Monitor.” They are neither of them bad performances; the first is the + neatest, and the plan of the second has the most invention. I send you + none of those ‘pieces volantes’ in my letters, because they are all + printed in one or other of the newspapers, particularly in the + “Chronicles”; and I suppose that you and others have all those papers + among you at Hamburg; in which case it would be only putting you to the + unnecessary expense of double postage. + </p> + <p> + I find you are sanguine about the King of Prussia this year; I allow his + army will be what you say; but what will that be ‘vis-a-vis’ French, + Austrians, Imperialists, Swedes, and Russians, who must amount to more + than double that number? Were the inequality less, I would allow for the + King of Prussia’s being so much ‘ipse agmen’ as pretty nearly to balance + the account. In war, numbers are generally my omens; and, I confess, that + in Germany they seem not happy ones this year. In America. I think, we are + sure of success, and great success; but how we shall be able to strike a + balance, as they call it, between good success there, and ill success upon + the continent, so as to come at a peace; is more than I can discover. + </p> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield makes you her compliments, and thanks you for your + offer; but declines troubling you, being discouraged by the ill success of + Madame Munchausen’s and Miss Chetwynd’s commissions, the former for beef, + and the latter for gloves; neither of which have yet been executed, to the + dissatisfaction of both. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0242" id="link2H_4_0242"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXL + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 16, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have now your letter of the 20th past lying before me, + by which you despond, in my opinion too soon, of dubbing your Prince; for + he most certainly will have the Garter; and he will as probably have it + before the campaign opens, as after. His campaign must, I doubt, at best + be a defensive one; and he will show great skill in making it such; for + according to my calculation, his enemies will be at least double his + number. Their troops, indeed, may perhaps be worse than his; but then + their number will make up that defect, as it will enable them to undertake + different operations at the same time. I cannot think that the King of + Denmark will take a part in the present war; which he cannot do without + great possible danger; and he is well paid by France for his neutrality; + is safe, let what will turn out; and, in the meantime, carries on his + commerce with great advantage and security; so that that consideration + will not retard your visit to your own country, whenever you have leave to + return, and that your own ARRANGEMENTS will allow you. A short absence + animates a tender passion, ‘et l’on ne recule que pour mieux sauter’, + especially in the summer months; so that I would advise you to begin your + journey in May, and continue your absence from the dear object of your + vows till after the dog-days, when love is said to be unwholesome. We have + been disappointed at Martinico; I wish we may not be so at Guadaloupe, + though we are landed there; for many difficulties must be got over before + we can be in possession of the whole island. A pro pos de bottes; you make + use of two Spanish words, very properly, in your letter; were I you, I + would learn the Spanish language, if there were a Spaniard at Hamburg who + could teach me; and then you would be master of all the European languages + that are useful; and, in my mind, it is very convenient, if not necessary, + for a public man to understand them all, and not to be obliged to have + recourse to an interpreter for those papers that chance or business may + throw in his way. I learned Spanish when I was older than you; convinced + by experience that, in everything possible, it was better to trust to + one’s self than to any other body whatsoever. Interpreters, as well as + relaters, are often unfaithful, and still oftener incorrect, puzzling, and + blundering. In short, let it be your maxim through life to know all you + can know, yourself; and never to trust implicitly to the informations of + others. This rule has been of infinite service to me in the course of my + life. + </p> + <p> + I am rather better than I was; which I owe not to my physicians, but to an + ass and a cow, who nourish me, between them, very plentifully and + wholesomely; in the morning the ass is my nurse, at night the cow; and I + have just now, bought a milch-goat, which is to graze, and nurse me at + Blackheath. I do not know what may come of this latter, and I am not + without apprehensions that it may make a satyr of me; but, should I find + that obscene disposition growing upon me, I will check it in time, for + fear of endangering my life and character by rapes. And so we heartily bid + you farewell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0243" id="link2H_4_0243"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 30, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I do not like these frequent, however short, returns of + your illness; for I doubt they imply either want of skill in your + physician, or want of care in his patient. Rhubarb, soap, and chalybeate + medicines and waters, are almost always specifics for obstructions of the + liver; but then a very exact regimen is necessary, and that for a long + continuance. Acids are good for you, but you do not love them; and sweet + things are bad for you, and you do love them. There is another thing very + bad for you, and I fear you love it too much. When I was in Holland, I had + a slow fever that hung upon me a great while; I consulted Boerhaave, who + prescribed me what I suppose was proper, for it cured me; but he added, by + way of postscript to his prescription, ‘Venus rarius colatur’; which I + observed, and perhaps that made the medicines more effectual. + </p> + <p> + I doubt we shall be mutually disappointed in our hopes of seeing one + another this spring, as I believe you will find, by a letter which you + will receive at the same time with this, from Lord Holderness; but as Lord + Holderness will not tell you all, I will, between you and me, supply that + defect. I must do him the justice to say that he has acted in the most + kind and friendly manner possible to us both. When the King read your + letter, in which you desired leave to return, for the sake of drinking the + Tunbridge waters, he said, “If he wants steel waters, those of Pyrmont are + better than Tunbridge, and he can have them very fresh at Hamburg. I would + rather he had asked me to come last autumn, and had passed the winter + here; for if he returns now, I shall have nobody in those quarters to + inform me of what passes; and yet it will be a very busy and important + scene.” Lord Holderness, who found that it would not be liked, resolved to + push it no further; and replied, he was very sure that when you knew his + Majesty had the least objection to your return at this time, you would + think of it no longer; and he owned that he (Lord Holderness) had given + you encouragement for this application last year, then thinking and hoping + that there would be little occasion for your presence at Hamburg this + year. Lord Holderness will only tell you, in his letter, that, as he had + some reason to believe his moving this matter would be disagreeable to the + King, he resolved, for your sake, not to mention it. You must answer his + letter upon that footing simply, and thank him for this mark of his + friendship, for he has really acted as your friend. I make no doubt of + your having willing leave to return in autumn, for the whole winter. In + the meantime, make the best of your ‘sejour’ where you are; drink the + Pyrmont waters, and no wine but Rhenish, which, in your case is the only + proper one for you. + </p> + <p> + Next week Mr. Harte will send you his “Gustavus Adolphus,” in two quartos; + it will contain many new particulars of the life of that real hero, as he + has had abundant and authentic materials, which have never yet appeared. + It will, upon the whole, be a very curious and valuable history; though, + between you and me, I could have wished that he had been more correct and + elegant in his style. You will find it dedicated to one of your + acquaintance, who was forced to prune the luxuriant praises bestowed upon + him, and yet has left enough of all conscience to satisfy a reasonable + man. Harte has been very much out of order these last three or four + months, but is not the less intent upon sowing his lucerne, of which he + had six crops last year, to his infinite joy, and, as he says, profit. As + a gardener, I shall probably have as much joy, though not quite so much + profit, by thirty or forty shillings; for there is the greatest promise of + fruit this year at ‘Blackheath, that ever I saw in my life. Vertumnus and + Pomona have been very propitious to me: as for Priapus, that tremendous + garden god, as I no longer invoke him, I cannot expect his protection from + the birds and the thieves. + </p> + <p> + Adieu! I will conclude like a pedant, ‘Levius fit patientia quicquid + corrigere est nefas.’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0244" id="link2H_4_0244"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 16, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: With humble submission to you, I still say that if Prince + Ferdinand can make a defensive campaign this year, he will have done a + great deal, considering the great inequality of numbers. The little + advantages of taking a regiment or two prisoners, or cutting another to + pieces, are but trifling articles in the great account; they are only the + pence, the pounds are yet to come; and I take it for granted, that neither + the French, nor the Court of Vienna, will have ‘le dementi’ of their main + object, which is unquestionably Hanover; for that is the ‘summa summarum’; + and they will certainly take care to draw a force together for this + purpose, too great for any that Prince Ferdinand has, or can have, to + oppose them. In short, mark the end on’t, ‘j’en augure mal’. If France, + Austria, the Empire, Russia, and Sweden, are not, at long run, too hard + for the two Electors of Hanover and Brandenburg, there must be some + invisible power, some tutelar deities, that miraculously interpose in + favor of the latter. + </p> + <p> + You encourage me to accept all the powers that goats, asses, and bulls, + can give me, by engaging for my not making an ill use of them; but I own, + I cannot help distrusting myself a little, or rather human nature; for it + is an old and very true observation, that there are misers of money, but + none of power; and the non-use of the one, and the abuse of the other, + increase in proportion to their quantity. + </p> + <p> + I am very sorry to tell you that Harte’s “Gustavus Adolphus” does not take + at all, and consequently sells very little: it is certainly informing, and + full of good matter; but it is as certain too, that the style is + execrable: where the devil he picked it up, I cannot conceive, for it is a + bad style, of a new and singular kind; it is full of Latinisms, + Gallicisms, Germanisms, and all isms but Anglicisms; in some places + pompous, in others vulgar and low. Surely, before the end of the world, + people, and you in particular, will discover that the MANNER, in + everything, is at least as important as the matter; and that the latter + never can please, without a good degree of elegance in the former. This + holds true in everything in life: in writing, conversing, business, the + help of the Graces is absolutely necessary; and whoever vainly thinks + himself above them, will find he is mistaken when it will be too late to + court them, for they will not come to strangers of an advanced age. There + is an history lately come out, of the “Reign of Mary Queen of Scots” and + her son (no matter by whom) King James, written by one Robertson, a + Scotchman, which for clearness, purity, and dignity of style, I will not + scruple to compare with the best historians extant, not excepting Davila, + Guicciardini, and perhaps Livy. Its success has consequently been great, + and a second edition is already published and bought up. I take it for + granted, that it is to be had, or at least borrowed, at Hamburg, or I + would send it to you. + </p> + <p> + I hope you drink the Pyrmont waters every morning. The health of the mind + depends so much upon the health of the body, that the latter deserves the + utmost attention, independently of the senses. God send you a very great + share of both! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0245" id="link2H_4_0245"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 27, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have received your two letters of the 10th and 13th, by + the last mail; and I will begin my answer to them, by observing to you + that a wise man, without being a Stoic, considers, in all misfortunes that + befall him, their best as well as their worst side; and everything has a + better and a worse side. I have strictly observed that rule for many + years, and have found by experience that some comfort is to be extracted, + under most moral ills, by considering them in every light, instead of + dwelling, as people are too apt to do, upon the gloomy side of the object. + Thank God, the disappointment that you so pathetically groan under, is not + a calamity which admits of no consolation. Let us simplify it, and see + what it amounts to. You are pleased with the expectation of coming here + next month, to see those who would have been pleased with seeing you. + That, from very natural causes, cannot be, and you must pass this summer + at Hamburg, and next winter in England, instead of passing this summer in + England, and next winter at Hamburg. Now, estimating things fairly, is not + the change rather to your advantage? Is not the summer more eligible, both + for health and pleasure, than the winter, in that northern frozen zone? + And will not the winter in England supply you with more pleasures than the + summer, in an empty capital, could have done? So far then it appears, that + you are rather a gainer by your misfortune. + </p> + <p> + The TOUR too, which you propose making to Lubeck, Altena, etc., will both + amuse and inform you; for, at your age, one cannot see too many different + places and people; since at the age you are now of, I take it for granted + that you will not see them superficially, as you did when you first went + abroad. + </p> + <p> + This whole matter then, summed up, amounts to no more than this—that + you will be here next winter, instead of this summer. Do not think that + all I have said is the consolation only of an old philosophical fellow, + almost insensible of pleasure or pain, offered to a young fellow who has + quick sensations of both. No, it is the rational philosophy taught me by + experience and knowledge of the world, and which I have practiced above + thirty years. + </p> + <p> + I always made the best of the best, and never made bad worse by fretting; + this enabled me to go through the various scenes of life in which I have + been an actor, with more pleasure and less pain than most people. You will + say, perhaps, one cannot change one’s nature; and that if a person is born + of a very sensible, gloomy temper, and apt to see things in the worst + light, they cannot help it, nor new-make themselves. I will admit it, to a + certain degree; and but to a certain degree; for though we cannot totally + change our nature, we may in a great measure correct it, by reflection and + philosophy; and some philosophy is a very necessary companion in this + world, where, even to the most fortunate, the chances are greatly against + happiness. + </p> + <p> + I am not old enough, nor tenacious enough, to pretend not to understand + the main purport of your last letter; and to show you that I do, you may + draw upon me for two hundred pounds, which, I hope, will more than clear + you. + </p> + <p> + Good-night: ‘aquam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem’: Be neither + transported nor depressed by the accidents of life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0246" id="link2H_4_0246"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLIV + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, May 16, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your secretary’s last letter of the 4th, which I received + yesterday, has quieted my fears a good deal, but has not entirely + dissipated them. YOUR FEVER STILL CONTINUES, he says, THOUGH IN A LESS + DEGREE. Is it a continued fever, or an intermitting one? If the former, no + wonder that you are weak, and that your head aches. If the latter, why has + not the bark, in substance and large doses, been administered? for if it + had, it must have stopped it by this time. Next post, I hope, will set me + quite at ease. Surely you have not been so regular as you ought, either in + your medicines or in your general regimen, otherwise this fever would not + have returned; for the Doctor calls it, YOUR FEVER RETURNED, as if you had + an exclusive patent for it. You have now had illnesses enough, to know the + value of health, and to make you implicitly follow the prescriptions of + your physician in medicines, and the rules of your own common sense in + diet; in which, I can assure you, from my own experience, that quantity is + often worse than quality; and I would rather eat half a pound of bacon at + a meal, than two pounds of any the most wholesome food. + </p> + <p> + I have been settled here near a week, to my great satisfaction; ‘c’est ma + place’, and I know it, which is not given to everybody. Cut off from + social life by my deafness, as well as other physical ills, and being at + best but the ghost of my former self, I walk here in silence and solitude + as becomes a ghost: with this only difference, that I walk by day, + whereas, you know, to be sure, that other ghosts only appear by night. My + health, however, is better than it was last year, thanks to my almost + total milk diet. This enables me to vary my solitary amusements, and + alternately to scribble as well as read, which I could not do last year. + Thus I saunter away the remainder, be it more or less, of an agitated and + active life, now reduced (and I am not sure that I am a loser by the + change) to so quiet and serene a one, that it may properly be called still + life. + </p> + <p> + The French whisper in confidence, in order that it may be the more known + and the more credited, that they intend to invade us this year, in no less + than three places; that is England, Scotland, and Ireland. Some of our + great men, like the devils, believe and tremble; others, and one little + one whom I know, laugh at it; and, in general, it seems to be but a poor, + instead of a formidable scarecrow. While somebody was at the head of a + moderate army, and wanted (I know why) to be at the head of a great one, + intended invasions were made an article of political faith; and the belief + of them was required, as in the Church the belief of some absurdities, and + even impossibilities, is required upon pain of heresy, excommunication, + and consequently damnation, if they tend to the power and interest of the + heads of the Church. But now that there is a general toleration, and that + the best subjects, as well as the best Christians, may believe what their + reasons find their consciences suggest, it is generally and rationally + supposed the French will threaten and not strike, since we are so well + prepared, both by armies and fleets, to receive and, I may add, to destroy + them. Adieu! God bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0247" id="link2H_4_0247"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLV + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 15, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your letter of the 5th, which I received yesterday, gave + me great satisfaction, being all in your own hand; though it contains + great, and I fear just complaints of your ill state of health. You do very + well to change the air; and I hope that change will do well by you. I + would therefore have you write after the 20th of August, to Lord + Holderness, to beg of him to obtain his Majesty’s leave for you to return + to England for two or three months, upon account of your health. Two or + three months is an indefinite time, which may afterward insensibly + stretched to what length one pleases; leave that to me. In the meantime, + you may be taking your measures with the best economy. + </p> + <p> + The day before yesterday, an express arrived from Guadaloupe which brought + an account of our being in possession of the whole island. And I make no + manner of doubt but that, in about two months, we shall have as good news + from Crown-point, Quebec, etc. Our affairs in Germany, I fear, will not be + equally prosperous; for I have very little hopes for the King of Prussia + or Prince Ferdinand. God bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0248" id="link2H_4_0248"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLVI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 25, 1759 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The two last mails have brought me no letter from you or + your secretary. I will take this as a sign that you are better; but, + however, if you thought that I cared to know, you should have cared to + have written. Here the weather has been very fine for a fortnight + together, a longer term than in this climate we are used to hold fine + weather by. I hope it is so, too, at Hamburg, or at least at the villa to + which you are gone; but pray do not let it be your ‘villa viciosa’, as + those retirements are often called, and too often prove; though, by the + way, the original name was ‘villa vezzosa’; and by wags miscalled + ‘viciosa’. + </p> + <p> + I have a most gloomy prospect of affairs in Germany; the French are + already in possession of Cassel, and of the learned part of Hanover, that + is Gottingen; where I presume they will not stop ‘pour l’amour des belles + lettres’, but rather go on to the capital, and study them upon the coin. + My old acquaintance, Monsieur Richelieu, made a great progress there in + metallic learning and inscriptions. If Prince Ferdinand ventures a battle + to prevent it, I dread the consequences; the odds are too great against + him. The King of Prussia is still in a worse situation; for he has the + Hydra to encounter; and though he may cut off a head or two, there will + still be enough left to devour him at last. I have, as you know, long + foretold the now approaching catastrophe; but I was Cassandra. Our affairs + in the new world have a much more pleasing aspect; Guadaloupe is a great + acquisition, and Quebec, which I make no doubt of, will still be greater. + But must all these advantages, purchased at the price of so much English + blood and treasure, be at last sacrificed as a peace-offering? God knows + what consequences such a measure may produce; the germ of discontent is + already great, upon the bare supposition of the case; but should it be + realized, it will grow to a harvest of disaffection. + </p> + <p> + You are now, to be sure, taking the previous necessary measures for your + return here in the autumn and I think you may disband your whole family, + excepting your secretary, your butler, who takes care of your plate, wine, + etc., one or at most two, maid servants, and your valet de chambre and one + footman, whom you will bring over with you. But give no mortal, either + there or here, reason to think that you are not to return to Hamburg + again. If you are asked about it, say, like Lockhart, that you are ‘le + serviteur des Evenemens’; for your present appointments will do you no + hurt here, till you have some better destination. At that season of the + year, I believe it will be better for you to come by sea than by land, but + that you will be best able to judge of from the then circumstances of your + part in the world. + </p> + <p> + Your old friend Stevens is dead of the consumption that has long been + undermining him. God bless you, and send you health. + </p> + <p> + [Another two year lapse in the letters. D.W.] LETTER CCXLVII + </p> + <p> + BATH, February 26, 1761. + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I am very glad to hear that your election is finally + settled, and to say the truth, not sorry that Mr.——has been + compelled to do, ‘de mauvaise grace’, that which he might have done at + first in a friendly and handsome manner. However, take no notice of what + is passed, and live with him as you used to do before; for, in the + intercourse of the world, it is often necessary to seem ignorant of what + one knows, and to have forgotten what one remembers. + </p> + <p> + I have just now finished Coleman’s play, and like it very well; it is well + conducted, and the characters are well preserved. I own, I expected from + the author more dialogue wit; but, as I know that he is a most scrupulous + classic, I believe he did not dare to put in half so much wit as he could + have done, because Terence had not a single grain; and it would have been + ‘crimen laesae antiquitatis’. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0249" id="link2H_4_0249"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 21, 1761. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 19th. If I + find any alterations by drinking these waters, now six days, it is rather + for the better; but, in six days more, I think I shall find with more + certainty what humor they are in with me; if kind, I will profit of, but + not abuse their kindness; all things have their bounds, ‘quos ultra + citrave nequit consistere rectum’; and I will endeavor to nick that point. + </p> + <p> + The Queen’s jointure is larger than, from SOME REASONS, I expected it + would be, though not greater than the very last precedent authorized. The + case of the late Lord Wilmington was, I fancy, remembered. + </p> + <p> + I have now good reason to believe that Spain will declare war to us, that + is, that it will very soon, if it has not already, avowedly assist France, + in case the war continues. This will be a great triumph to Mr. Pitt, and + fully justify his plan of beginning with Spain first, and having the first + blow, which is often half the battle. + </p> + <p> + Here is a great deal of company, and what is commonly called good company, + that is, great quality. I trouble them very little, except at the pump, + where my business calls me; for what is company to a deaf man, or a deaf + man to company? + </p> + <p> + Lady Brown, whom I have seen, and who, by the way, has got the gout in her + eye, inquired very tenderly after you. And so I elegantly rest, Yours, + till death. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0250" id="link2H_4_0250"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXLIX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 6, 1761. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have been in your debt some time, which, you know, I am + not very apt to be: but it was really for want of specie to pay. The + present state of my invention does not enable me to coin; and you would + have had as little pleasure in reading, as I should have in writing ‘le + coglionerie’ of this place; besides, that I am very little mingled in + them. I do not know whether I shall be able to follow, your advice, and + cut a winner; for, at present, I have neither won nor lost a single + shilling. I will play on this week only; and if I have a good run, I will + carry it off with me; if a bad one, the loss can hardly amount to anything + considerable in seven days, for I hope to see you in town to-morrow + sevennight. + </p> + <p> + I had a dismal letter from Harte, last week; he tells me that he is at + nurse with a sister in Berkshire; that he has got a confirmed jaundice, + besides twenty other distempers. The true cause of these complaints I take + to be the same that so greatly disordered, and had nearly destroyed the + most august House of Austria, about one hundred and thirty years ago; I + mean Gustavus Adolphus; who neither answered his expectations in point of + profit nor reputation, and that merely by his own fault, in not writing it + in the vulgar tongue; for as to facts I will maintain that it is one of + the best histories extant. + </p> + <p> + ‘Au revoir’, as Sir Fopling says, and God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0251" id="link2H_4_0251"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCL + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 2, 1762. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I arrived here, as I proposed, last Sunday; but as ill as + I feared I should be when I saw you. Head, stomach, and limbs, all out of + order. + </p> + <p> + I have yet seen nobody but Villettes, who is settled here for good, as it + is called. What consequences has the Duke of Devonshire’s resignation had? + He has considerable connections and relations; but whether any of them are + resigned enough to resign with him, is another matter. There will be, to + be sure, as many, and as absurd reports, as there are in the law books; I + do not desire to know either; but inform me of what facts come to your + knowledge, and of such reports only as you believe are grounded. And so + God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0252" id="link2H_4_0252"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLI + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 13, 1762. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have received your letter, and believe that your + preliminaries are very near the mark; and, upon that supposition, I think + we have made a tolerable good bargain with Spain; at least full as good as + I expected, and almost as good as I wished, though I do not believe that + we have got ALL Florida; but if we have St. Augustin, I suppose that, by + the figure of ‘pars pro toto’, will be called all Florida. We have by no + means made so good a bargain with France; for, in truth, what do we get by + it, except Canada, with a very proper boundary of the river Mississippi! + and that is all. As for the restrictions upon the French fishery in + Newfoundland, they are very well ‘per la predica’, and for the Commissary + whom we shall employ: for he will have a good salary from hence, to see + that those restrictions are complied with; and the French will double that + salary, that he may allow them all to be broken through. It is plain to + me, that the French fishery will be exactly what it was before the war. + </p> + <p> + The three Leeward islands, which the French yield to us, are not, all + together, worth half so much as that of St. Lucia, which we give up to + them. Senegal is not worth one quarter of Goree. The restrictions of the + French in the East Indies are as absurd and impracticable as those of + Newfoundland; and you will live to see the French trade to the East + Indies, just as they did before the war. But after all I have said, the + articles are as good as I expected with France, when I considered that no + one single person who carried on this negotiation on our parts was ever + concerned or consulted in any negotiation before. Upon the whole, then, + the acquisition of Canada has cost us fourscore millions sterling. I am + convinced we might have kept Guadaloupe, if our negotiators had known how + to have gone about it. + </p> + <p> + His most faithful Majesty of Portugal is the best off of anybody in this, + transaction, for he saves his kingdom by it, and has not laid out one + moidore in defense of it. Spain, thank God, in some measure, ‘paye les + pots cassis’; for, besides St. Augustin, logwood, etc., it has lost at + least four millions sterling, in money, ships, etc. + </p> + <p> + Harte is here, who tells me he has been at this place these three years, + excepting some few excursions to his sister; he looks ill, and laments + that he has frequent fits of the yellow jaundice. He complains of his not + having heard from you these four years; you should write to him. These + waters have done me a great deal of good, though I drink but two-thirds of + a pint in the whole day, which is less than the soberest of my countrymen + drink of claret at every meal. + </p> + <p> + I should naturally think, as you do, that this session will be a stormy + one, that is, if Mr. Pitt takes an active part; but if he is pleased, as + the Ministers say, there is no other AEolus to blow a storm. The Dukes of + Cumberland, Newcastle, and Devonshire, have no better troops to attack + with than the militia; but Pitt alone is ipse agmen. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0253" id="link2H_4_0253"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 27, 1762. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received your letter this morning, and return you the + ball ‘a la volee’. The King’s speech is a very prudent one; and as I + suppose that the addresses in answer to it were, as usual, in almost the + same words, my Lord Mayor might very well call them innocent. As his + Majesty expatiates so much upon the great ACHIEVEMENTS of the war, I + cannot help hoping that, when the preliminaries shall be laid before + Parliament IN DUE TIME, which, I suppose, means after the respective + ratifications of all the contracting parties, that some untalked of and + unexpected advantage will break out in our treaty with France; St. Lucia, + at least. I see in the newspapers an article which I by no means like, in + our treaty with Spain; which is, that we shall be at liberty to cut + logwood in the Bay of Campeachy, BUT BY PAYING FOR IT. Who does not see + that this condition may, and probably will, amount to a prohibition, by + the price which the Spaniards may set it at? It was our undoubted right, + and confirmed to us by former treaties, before the war, to cut logwood + gratis; but this new stipulation (if true) gives us a privilege something + like a reprieve to a criminal, with a ‘non obstante’ to be hanged. + </p> + <p> + I now drink so little water, that it can neither do me good nor hurt; but + as I bathe but twice a-week, that operation, which does my rheumatic + carcass good, will keep me here some time longer than you had allowed. + </p> + <p> + Harte is going to publish a new edition of his “Gustavus,” in octavo; + which, he tells me, he has altered, and which, I could tell him, he should + translate into English, or it will not sell better than the former; for, + while the world endures, style and manner will be regarded, at least as + much as matter. And so, ‘Diem vous aye dans sa sainte garde’! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0254" id="link2H_4_0254"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 13, 1762. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received your letter this morning, with the inclosed + preliminaries, which we have had here these three days; and I return them, + since you intend to keep them, which is more than I believe the French + will. I am very glad to find that the French are to restore all the + conquests they made upon us in the East Indies during this war; and I + cannot doubt but they will likewise restore to us all the cod that they + shall take within less than three leagues of our coasts in North America + (a distance easily measured, especially at sea), according to the spirit, + though not the letter of the treaty. I am informed that the strong + opposition to the peace will be in the House of Lords, though I cannot + well conceive it; nor can I make out above six or seven, who will be + against it upon a division, unless (which I cannot suppose) some of the + Bishops should vote on the side of their maker. God bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0255" id="link2H_4_0255"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 13, 1762. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter, which gave me a very + clear account of the debate in your House. It is impossible for a human + creature to speak well for three hours and a half; I question even if + Belial, who, according to Milton, was the orator of the fallen angels, + ever spoke so long at a time. + </p> + <p> + There must have been, a trick in Charles Townshend’s speaking for the + Preliminaries; for he is infinitely above having an opinion. Lord Egremont + must be ill, or have thoughts of going into some other place; perhaps into + Lord Granville’s, who they say is dying: when he dies, the ablest head in + England dies too, take it for all in all. + </p> + <p> + I shall be in town, barring accidents, this day sevennight, by dinnertime; + when I have ordered a haricot, to which you will be very welcome, about + four o’clock. ‘En attendant Dieu vous aye dans sa sainte garde’! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0256" id="link2H_4_0256"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLV + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 14, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, by the last mail, your letter of the 4th, from + The Hague; so far so good. + </p> + <p> + You arrived ‘sonica’ at The Hague, for our Ambassador’s entertainment; I + find he has been very civil to you. You are in the right to stop for two + or three days at Hanau, and make your court to the lady of that place. + —[Her Royal Highness Princess Mary of England, Landgravine of + Hesse.] —Your Excellency makes a figure already in the newspapers; + and let them, and others, excellency you as much as they please, but pray + suffer not your own servants to do it. + </p> + <p> + Nothing new of any kind has happened here since you went; so I will wish + you a good-night, and hope God will bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0257" id="link2H_4_0257"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLVI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 14, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter from Ratisbon, where I am + glad that you are arrived safe. You are, I find, over head and ears + engaged in ceremony and etiquette. You must not yield in anything + essential, where your public character may suffer; but I advise you, at + the same time, to distinguish carefully what may, and what may not affect + it, and to despise some German ‘minutiae’; such as one step lower or + higher upon the stairs, a bow more or less, and such sort of trifles. + </p> + <p> + By what I see in Cressener’s letter to you, the cheapness of wine + compensates the quantity, as the cheapness of servants compensates the + number that you must make use of. + </p> + <p> + Write to your mother often, if it be but three words, to prove your + existence; for, when she does not hear from you, she knows to a + demonstration that you are dead, if not buried. + </p> + <p> + The inclosed is a letter of the utmost consequence, which I was desired to + forward, with care and speed, to the most Serene LOUIS. + </p> + <p> + My head is not well to-day. So God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0258" id="link2H_4_0258"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLVII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 1, 1763. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I hope that by this time you are pretty well settled at + Ratisbon, at least as to the important points of the ceremonial; so that + you may know, to precision, to whom you must give, and from whom you must + require the ‘seine Excellentz’. Those formalities are, no doubt, + ridiculous enough in themselves; but yet they are necessary for manners, + and sometimes for business; and both would suffer by laying them quite + aside. + </p> + <p> + I have lately had an attack of a new complaint, which I have long + suspected that I had in my body, ‘in actu primo’, as the pedants call it, + but which I never felt in ‘actu secundo’ till last week, and that is a fit + of the stone or gravel. It was, thank God, but a slight one; but it was + ‘dans toutes les formes’; for it was preceded by a pain in my loins, which + I at first took for some remains of my rheumatism; but was soon convinced + of my mistake, by making water much blacker than coffee, with a prodigious + sediment of gravel. I am now perfectly easy again, and have no more + indications of this complaint. + </p> + <p> + God keep you from that and deafness! Other complaints are the common, and + almost the inevitable lot of human nature, but admit of some mitigation. + God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0259" id="link2H_4_0259"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 22, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You will, by this post, hear from others that Lord + Egremont died two days ago of an apoplexy; which, from his figure, and the + constant plethora he lived in, was reasonably to be expected. You will ask + me, who is to be Secretary in his room: To which I answer, that I do not + know. I should guess Lord Sandwich, to be succeeded in the Admiralty by + Charles Townshend; unless the Duke of Bedford, who seems to have taken to + himself the department of Europe, should have a mind to it. This event may + perhaps produce others; but, till this happened, everything was in a state + of inaction, and absolutely nothing was done. Before the next session, + this chaos must necessarily take some form, either by a new jumble of its + own atoms, or by mixing them with the more efficient ones of the + opposition. + </p> + <p> + I see by the newspapers, as well as by your letter, that the difficulties + still exist about your ceremonial at Ratisbon; should they, from pride and + folly, prove insuperable, and obstruct your real business, there is one + expedient which may perhaps remove difficulties, and which I have often + known practiced; but which I believe our people know here nothing of; it + is, to have the character of MINISTER only in your ostensible title, and + that of envoy extraordinary in your pocket, to produce occasionally, + especially if you should be sent to any of the Electors in your + neighborhood; or else, in any transactions that you may have, in which + your title of envoy extraordinary may create great difficulties, to have a + reversal given you, declaring that the temporary suspension of that + character, ‘ne donnera pas la moindre atteinte ni a vos droits, ni a vos + pretensions’. As for the rest, divert yourself as well as you can, and eat + and drink as little as you can. And so God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0260" id="link2H_4_0260"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLIX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 1, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Great news! The King sent for Mr. Pitt last Saturday, and + the conference lasted a full hour; on the Monday following another + conference, which lasted much longer; and yesterday a third, longer than + either. You take for granted, that the treaty was concluded and ratified; + no such matter, for this last conference broke it entirely off; and Mr. + Pitt and Lord Temple went yesterday evening to their respective country + houses. Would you know what it broke off upon, you must ask the + newsmongers, and the coffee-houses; who, I dare say, know it all very + minutely; but I, who am not apt to know anything that I do not know, + honestly and humbly confess, that I cannot tell you; probably one party + asked too much, and the other would grant too little. However, the King’s + dignity was not, in my mind, much consulted by their making him sole + plenipotentiary of a treaty, which they were not in all events determined + to conclude. It ought surely to have been begun by some inferior agent, + and his Majesty should only have appeared in rejecting or ratifying it. + Louis XIV. never sat down before a town in person, that was not sure to be + taken. + </p> + <p> + However, ‘ce qui est differe n’est pas perdu’; for this matter must be + taken up again, and concluded before the meeting of the parliament, and + probably upon more disadvantageous terms to the present Ministers, who + have tacitly admitted, by this negotiation, what their enemies have loudly + proclaimed, that they are not able to carry on affairs. So much ‘de re + politica’. + </p> + <p> + I have at last done the best office that can be done to most married + people; that is, I have fixed the separation between my brother and his + wife; and the definitive treaty of peace will be proclaimed in about a + fortnight; for the only solid and lasting peace, between a man and his + wife, is, doubtless, a separation. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0261" id="link2H_4_0261"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 30, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You will have known, long before this, from the office, + that the departments are not cast as you wished; for Lord Halifax, as + senior, had of course his choice, and chose the southern, upon account of + the colonies. The Ministry, such as it is, is now settled ‘en attendant + mieux’; but, in, my opinion cannot, as they are, meet the parliament. + </p> + <p> + The only, and all the efficient people they have, are in the House of + Lords: for since Mr. Pitt has firmly engaged Charles Townshend to him, + there is not a man of the court side, in the House of Commons, who has + either abilities or words enough to call a coach. Lord B——is + certainly playing ‘un dessous de cartes’, and I suspect that it is with + Mr. Pitt; but what that ‘dessous’ is, I do not know, though all the + coffeehouses do most exactly. + </p> + <p> + The present inaction, I believe, gives you leisure enough for ‘ennui’, but + it gives you time enough too for better things; I mean reading useful + books; and, what is still more useful, conversing with yourself some part + of every day. Lord Shaftesbury recommends self-conversation to all + authors; and I would recommend it to all men; they would be the better for + it. Some people have not time, and fewer have inclination, to enter into + that conversation; nay, very many dread it, and fly to the most trifling + dissipations, in order to avoid it; but, if a man would allot half an hour + every night for this self-conversation, and recapitulate with himself + whatever he has done, right or wrong, in the course of the day, he would + be both the better and the wiser for it. My deafness gives me more than a + sufficient time for self-conversation; and I have found great advantages + from it. My brother and Lady Stanhope are at last finally parted. I was + the negotiator between them; and had so much trouble in it, that I would + much rather negotiate the most difficult point of the ‘jus publicum Sacri + Romani Imperii’ with the whole Diet of Ratisbon, than negotiate any point + with any woman. If my brother had had some of those self-conversations, + which I recommend, he would not, I believe, at past sixty, with a crazy, + battered constitution, and deaf into the bargain, have married a young + girl, just turned of twenty, full of health, and consequently of desires. + But who takes warning by the fate of others? This, perhaps, proceeds from + a negligence of selfconversation. God bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0262" id="link2H_4_0262"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, October 17, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The last mail brought me your letter of the 2d instant, as + the former had brought me that of the 25th past. I did suppose that you + would be sent over, for the first day of the session; as I never knew a + stricter muster, and no furloughs allowed. I am very sorry for it, for the + reasons you hint at; but, however, you did very prudently, in doing, ‘de + bonne grace’, what you could not help doing; and let that be your rule in + every thing for the rest of your life. Avoid disagreeable things as much + as by dexterity you can; but when they are unavoidable, do them with + seeming willingness and alacrity. Though this journey is ill-timed for you + in many respects, yet, in point of FINANCES, you will be a gainer by it + upon the whole; for, depend upon it, they will keep you here till the very + last day of the session: and I suppose you have sold your horses, and + dismissed some of your servants. Though they seem to apprehend the first + day of the session so much, in my opinion their danger will be much + greater in the course of it. + </p> + <p> + When you are at Paris, you will of course wait upon Lord Hertford, and + desire him to present you to the King; at the same time make my + compliments to him, and thank him for the very obliging message he left at + my house in town; and tell him, that, had I received it in time from + thence, I would have come to town on purpose to have returned it in + person. If there are any new little books at Paris, pray bring them me. I + have already Voltaire’s ‘Zelis dans le Bain’, his ‘Droit du Seigneur’, and + ‘Olympie’. Do not forget to call once at Madame Monconseil’s, and as often + as you please at Madame du Pin’s. Au revoir. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0263" id="link2H_4_0263"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 24, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I arrived here, as you suppose in your letter, last + Sunday; but after the worst day’s journey I ever had in my life: it snowed + and froze that whole morning, and in the evening it rained and thawed, + which made the roads so slippery, that I was six hours coming post from + the Devizes, which is but eighteen miles from hence; so that, but for the + name of coming post, I might as well have walked on foot. I have not yet + quite got over my last violent attack, and am weak and flimsy. + </p> + <p> + I have now drank the waters but three days; so that, without a miracle, I + cannot yet expect much alteration, and I do not in the least expect a + miracle. If they proved ‘les eaux de Jouvence’ to me, that would be a + miracle indeed; but, as the late Pope Lambertini said, ‘Fra noi, gli + miracoli sono passati girt un pezzo’. + </p> + <p> + I have seen Harte, who inquired much after you: he is dejected and + dispirited, and thinks himself much worse than he is, though he has really + a tendency to the jaundice. I have yet seen nobody else, nor do I know who + here is to be seen; for I have not yet exhibited myself to public view, + except at the pump, which, at the time I go to it, is the most private + place in Bath. + </p> + <p> + After all the fears and hopes, occasioned severally by the meeting of the + parliament, in my opinion, it will prove a very easy session. Mr. Wilkes + is universally given up; and if the ministers themselves do not wantonly + raise difficulties, I think they will meet with none. A majority of two + hundred is a great anodyne. Adieu! God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0264" id="link2H_4_0264"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 3, 1763. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Last post brought me your letter of the 29th past. I + suppose C——-T——-let off his speech upon the + Princess’s portion, chiefly to show that he was of the opposition; for + otherwise, the point was not debatable, unless as to the quantum, against + which something might be said; for the late Princess of Orange (who was + the eldest daughter of a king) had no more, and her two sisters but half, + if I am not mistaken. + </p> + <p> + It is a great mercy that Mr. Wilkes, the intrepid defender of our rights + and liberties, is out of danger, and may live to fight and write again in + support of them; and it is no less a mercy, that God hath raised up the + Earl of S———to vindicate and promote true religion and + morality. These two blessings will justly make an epoch in the annals of + this country. + </p> + <p> + I have delivered your message to Harte, who waits with impatience for your + letter. He is very happy now in having free access to all Lord Craven’s + papers, which, he says, give him great lights into the ‘bellum tricenale’; + the old Lord Craven having been the professed and valorous knight-errant, + and perhaps something more, to the Queen of Bohemia; at least, like Sir + Peter Pride, he had the honor of spending great part of his estate in her + royal cause: + </p> + <p> + I am by no means right yet; I am very weak and flimsy still; but the + doctor assures me that strength and spirits will return; if they do, + ‘lucro apponam’, I will make the best of them; if they do not, I will not + make their want still worse by grieving and regretting them. I have lived + long enough, and observed enough, to estimate most things at their + intrinsic, and not their imaginary value; and, at seventy, I find nothing + much worth either desiring or fearing. But these reflections, which suit + with seventy, would be greatly premature at two-and-thirty. So make the + best of your time; enjoy the present hour, but ‘memor ultimae’. God bless + you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0265" id="link2H_4_0265"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 18, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received your letter this morning, in which you reproach + me with not having written to you this week. The reason was, that I did + not know what to write. There is that sameness in my life here, that EVERY + DAY IS STILL BUT AS THE FIRST. I see very few people; and, in the literal + sense of the word, I hear nothing. + </p> + <p> + Mr. L———and Mr. C——-I hold to be two very + ingenious men; and your image of the two men ruined, one by losing his + law-suit, and the other by carrying it, is a very just one. To be sure, + they felt in themselves uncommon talents for business and speaking, which + were to reimburse them. + </p> + <p> + Harte has a great poetical work to publish, before it be long; he has + shown me some parts of it. He had entitled it “Emblems,” but I persuaded + him to alter that name for two reasons; the first was, because they were + not emblems, but fables; the second was, that if they had been emblems, + Quarles had degraded and vilified that name to such a degree, that it is + impossible to make use of it after him; so they are to be called fables, + though moral tales would, in my mind, be the properest name. If you ask me + what I think of those I have seen, I must say, that ‘sunt plura bona, + quaedam mediocria, et quaedam——’ + </p> + <p> + Your report of future changes, I cannot think is wholly groundless; for it + still runs strongly in my head, that the mine we talked of will be sprung, + at or before the end of the session. + </p> + <p> + I have got a little more strength, but not quite the strength of Hercules; + so that I will not undertake, like him, fifty deflorations in one night; + for I really believe that I could not compass them. So good-night, and God + bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0266" id="link2H_4_0266"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 24, 1763. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: I confess I was a good deal surprised at your pressing me so + strongly to influence Parson Rosenhagen, when you well know the resolution + I had made several years ago, and which I have scrupulously observed ever + since, not to concern myself, directly or indirectly, in any party + political contest whatsoever. Let parties go to loggerheads as much and as + long as they please; I will neither endeavor to part them, nor take the + part of either; for I know them all too well. But you say, that Lord + Sandwich has been remarkably civil, and kind to you. I am very glad of it, + and he can by no means impute to you my obstinacy, folly, or philosophy, + call it what you please: you may with great truth assure him, that you did + all you could to obey his commands. + </p> + <p> + I am sorry to find that you are out of order, but I hope it is only a + cold; should it be anything more, pray consult Dr. Maty, who did you so + much good in your last illness, when the great medicinal Mattadores did + you rather harm. I have found a Monsieur Diafoirus here, Dr. Moisy, who + has really done me a great deal of good; and I am sure I wanted it a great + deal when I came here first. I have recovered some strength, and a little + more will give me as much as I can make use of. + </p> + <p> + Lady Brown, whom I saw yesterday, makes you many compliments; and I wish + you a merry Christmas, and a good-night. Adieu! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0267" id="link2H_4_0267"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXVI + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 31, 1763 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Gravenkop wrote me word, by the last post, that you were + laid up with the gout: but I much question it, that is, whether it is the + gout or not. Your last illness, before you went abroad, was pronounced the + gout, by the skillful, and proved at last a mere rheumatism. Take care + that the same mistake is not made this year; and that by giving you strong + and hot medicines to throw out the gout, they do not inflame the + rheumatism, if it be one. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wilkes has imitated some of the great men of antiquity, by going into + voluntary exile: it was his only way of defeating both his creditors and + his prosecutors. Whatever his friends, if he has any, give out of his + returning soon, I will answer for it, that it will be a long time before + that soon comes. + </p> + <p> + I have been much out of order these four days of a violent cold which I do + not know how I got, and which obliged me to suspend drinking the waters: + but it is now so much better, that I propose resuming them for this week, + and paying my court to you in town on Monday or Tuesday seven-night: but + this is ‘sub spe rati’ only. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0268" id="link2H_4_0268"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXVII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 20, 1764. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 3d from + Prague, but I never received that which you mention from Ratisbon; this + made me think you in such rapid motion, that I did not know where to take + aim. I now suppose that you are arrived, though not yet settled, at + Dresden; your audiences and formalities are, to be sure, over, and that is + great ease of mind to you. + </p> + <p> + I have no political events to acquaint you with; the summer is not the + season for them, they ripen only in winter; great ones are expected + immediately before the meeting of parliament, but that, you know, is + always the language of fears and hopes. However, I rather believe that + there will be something patched up between the INS and the OUTS. + </p> + <p> + The whole subject of conversation, at present, is the death and will of + Lord Bath: he has left above twelve hundred thousand pounds in land and + money; four hundred thousand pounds in cash, stocks, and mortgages; his + own estate, in land, was improved to fifteen thousand pounds a-year, and + the Bradford estate, which he——-is as much; both which, at + only five-and twenty years’ purchase, amount to eight hundred thousand + pounds; and all this he has left to his brother, General Pulteney, and in + his own disposal, though he never loved him. The legacies he has left are + trifling; for, in truth, he cared for nobody: the words GIVE and BEQUEATH + were too shocking for him to repeat, and so he left all in one word to his + brother. The public, which was long the dupe of his simulation and + dissimulation, begins to explain upon him; and draws such a picture of him + as I gave you long ago. + </p> + <p> + Your late secretary has been with me three or four times; he wants + something or another, and it seems all one to him what, whether civil or + military; in plain English, he wants bread. He has knocked at the doors of + some of the ministers, but to no purpose. I wish with all my heart that I + could help him: I told him fairly that I could not, but advised him to + find some channel to Lord B——-, which, though a Scotchman, he + told me he could not. He brought a packet of letters from the office to + you, which I made him seal up; and keep it for you, as I suppose it makes + up the series of your Ratisbon letters. + </p> + <p> + As for me, I am just what I was when you left me, that is, nobody. Old age + steals upon me insensibly. I grow weak and decrepit, but do not suffer, + and so I am content. + </p> + <p> + Forbes brought me four books of yours, two of which were Bielefeldt’s + “Letters,” in which, to my knowledge, there are many notorious lies. + </p> + <p> + Make my compliments to Comte Einsiedel, whom I love and honor much; and so + good-night to ‘seine Excellentz’. + </p> + <p> + Now our correspondence may be more regular, and I expect a letter from you + every fortnight. I will be regular on my part: but write oftener to your + mother, if it be but three lines. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0269" id="link2H_4_0269"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 27,1764 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, two days ago, your letter of the 11th from + Dresden, where I am very glad that, you are safely arrived at last. The + prices of the necessaries of life are monstrous there; and I do not + conceive how the poor natives subsist at all, after having been so long + and so often plundered by their own as well as by other sovereigns. + </p> + <p> + As for procuring you either the title or the appointments of + Plenipotentiary, I could as soon procure them from the Turkish as from the + English Ministry; and, in truth, I believe they have it not to give. + </p> + <p> + Now to come to your civil list, if one may compare small things with + great: I think I have found out a better refreshment for it than you + propose; for to-morrow I shall send to your cashier, Mr. Larpent, five + hundred pounds at once, for your use, which, I presume, is better than by + quarterly payments; and I am very apt to think that next midsummer day, he + will have the same sum, and for the same use, consigned to him. + </p> + <p> + It is reported here, and I believe not without some foundation, that the + queen of Hungary has acceded to the Family Compact between France and + Spain: if so, I am sure it behooves us to form in time a counter alliance, + of at least equal strength; which I could easily point out, but which, I + fear, is not thought of here. + </p> + <p> + The rage of marrying is very prevalent; so that there will be probably a + great crop of cuckolds next winter, who are at present only ‘cocus en + herbs’. It will contribute to population, and so far must be allowed to be + a public benefit. Lord G———, Mr. B———-, + and Mr. D———-, are, in this respect, very meritorious; + for they have all married handsome women, without one shilling fortune. + Lord must indeed take some pains to arrive at that dignity: but I dare say + he will bring it about, by the help of some young Scotch or Irish officer. + Good-night, and God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0270" id="link2H_4_0270"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 3, 1764. + </h3> + <p> + DEAR FRIEND: I have received your letter of the 13th past. I see that your + complete arrangement approaches, and you need not be in a hurry to give + entertainments, since so few others do. + </p> + <p> + Comte Flemming is the man in the world the best calculated to retrieve the + Saxon finances, which have been all this century squandered and lavished + with the most absurd profusion: he has certainly abilities, and I believe + integrity; I dare answer for him, that the gentleness and flexibility of + his temper will not prevail with him to yield to the importunities of + craving and petulant applications. I see in him another Sully; and + therefore I wish he were at the head of our finances. + </p> + <p> + France and Spain both insult us, and we take it too tamely; for this is, + in my opinion, the time for us to talk high to them. France, I am + persuaded, will not quarrel with us till it has got a navy at least equal + to ours, which cannot be these three or four years at soonest; and then, + indeed, I believe we shall hear of something or other; therefore, this is + the moment for us to speak loud; and we shall be feared, if we do not show + that we fear. + </p> + <p> + Here is no domestic news of changes and chances in the political world; + which, like oysters, are only in season in the R months, when the + parliament sits. I think there will be some then, but of what kind, God + knows. + </p> + <p> + I have received a book for you, and one for myself, from Harte. It is upon + agriculture, and will surprise you, as I confess it did me. This work is + not only in English, but good and elegant English; he has even scattered + graces upon his subject; and in prose, has come very near Virgil’s + “Georgics” in verse. I have written to him, to congratulate his happy + transformation. As soon as I can find an opportunity, I will send you your + copy. You (though no Agricola) will read it with pleasure. + </p> + <p> + I know Mackenzie, whom you mention. ‘C’est une delie; sed cave’. + </p> + <p> + Make mine and Lady Chesterfield’s compliments to Comte et Comtesse + Flemming; and so, ‘Dieu vous aye en sa sainte garde’! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0271" id="link2H_4_0271"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 14, 1764 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter of the 30th past, by + which I find that you had not then got mine, which I sent you the day + after I had received your former; you have had no great loss of it; for, + as I told you in my last, this inactive season of the year supplies no + materials for a letter; the winter may, and probably will, produce an + abundant crop, but of what grain I neither know, guess, nor care. I take + it for granted, that Lord B———‘surnagera encore’, but by + the assistance of what bladders or cork-waistcoats God only knows. The + death of poor Mr. Legge, the epileptic fits of the Duke of Devonshire, for + which he is gone to Aix-la-Chapelle, and the advanced age of the Duke of + Newcastle, seem to facilitate an accommodation, if Mr. Pitt and Lord Bute + are inclined to it. + </p> + <p> + You ask me what I think of the death of poor Iwan, and of the person who + ordered it. You may remember that I often said, she would murder or marry + him, or probably both; she has chosen the safest alternative; and has now + completed her character of femme forte, above scruples and hesitation. If + Machiavel were alive, she would probably be his heroine, as Caesar Borgia + was his hero. Women are all so far Machiavelians, that they are never + either good or bad by halves; their passions are too strong, and their + reason too weak, to do anything with moderation. She will, perhaps, meet, + before it is long, with some Scythian as free from prejudices as herself. + If there is one Oliver Cromwell in the three regiments of guards, he will + probably, for the sake of his dear country, depose and murder her; for + that is one and the same thing in Russia. + </p> + <p> + You seem now to have settled, and ‘bien nippe’ at Dresden. Four sedentary + footmen, and one running one, ‘font equipage leste’. The German ones will + give you, ‘seine Excellentz’; and the French ones, if you have any, + Monseigneur. + </p> + <p> + My own health varies, as usual, but never deviates into good. God bless + you, and send you better! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0272" id="link2H_4_0272"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, October 4, 1764. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have now your last letter, of the 16th past, lying + before me, and I gave your inclosed to Grevenkop, which has put him into a + violent bustle to execute your commissions, as well and as cheap as + possible. I refer him to his own letter. He tells you true as to Comtesse + Cosel’s diamonds, which certainly nobody will buy here, unsight unseen, as + they call it; so many minutiae concurring to increase or lessen the value + of a diamond. Your Cheshire cheese, your Burton ale and beer, I charge + myself with, and they shall be sent you as soon as possible. Upon this + occasion I will give you a piece of advice, which by experience I know to + be useful. In all commissions, whether from men or women, ‘point de + galanterie’, bring them in your account, and be paid to the uttermost + farthing; but if you would show them ‘une galanterie’, let your present be + of something that is not in your commission, otherwise you will be the + ‘Commissionaire banal’ of all the women of Saxony. ‘A propos’, Who is your + Comtesse de Cosel? Is she daughter, or grand-daughter, of the famous + Madame de Cosel, in King Augustus’s time? Is she young or old, ugly or + handsome? + </p> + <p> + I do not wonder that people are wonderfully surprised at our tameness and + forbearance, with regard to France and Spain. Spain, indeed, has lately + agreed to our cutting log wood, according to the treaty, and sent strict + orders to their governor to allow it; but you will observe too, that there + is not one word of reparation for the losses we lately sustained there. + But France is not even so tractable; it will pay but half the money due, + upon a liquidated account, for the maintenance of their prisoners. Our + request, to have the Comte d’Estaing recalled and censured, they have + absolutely rejected, though, by the laws of war, he might be hanged for + having twice broke his parole. This does not do France honor: however, I + think we shall be quiet, and that at the only time, perhaps this century, + when we might, with safety, be otherwise: but this is nothing new, nor the + first time, by many, when national honor and interest have been sacrificed + to private. It has always been so: and one may say, upon this occasion, + what Horace says upon another, ‘Nam fuit ante Helenam’. + </p> + <p> + I have seen ‘les Contes de Guillaume Vade’, and like most of them so + little, that I can hardly think them Voltaire’s, but rather the scraps + that have fallen from his table, and been worked up by inferior workmen, + under his name. I have not seen the other book you mention, the + ‘Dictionnaire Portatif’. It is not yet come over. + </p> + <p> + I shall next week go to take my winter quarters in London, the weather + here being very cold and damp, and not proper for an old, shattered, and + cold carcass, like mine. In November I will go to the Bath, to careen + myself for the winter, and to shift the scene. Good-night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0273" id="link2H_4_0273"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 19, 1764. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday morning Mr.——-came to me, from Lord + Halifax, to ask me whether I thought you would approve of vacating your + seat in parliament, during the remainder of it, upon a valuable + consideration, meaning MONEY. My answer was, that I really did not know + your disposition upon that subject: but that I knew you would be very + willing, in general, to accommodate them, so far as lay in your power: + that your election, to my knowledge, had cost you two thousand pounds; + that this parliament had not sat above half its time; and that, for my + part, I approved of the measure well enough, provided you had an equitable + equivalent. I take it for granted that you will have a letter from———, + by this post, to that effect, so that you must consider what you will do. + What I advise is this: Give them a good deal of ‘Galbanum’ in the first + part of your letter. ‘Le Galbanum ne coute rien’; and then say that you + are willing to do as they please; but that you hope an equitable + consideration will be had to the two thousand pounds, which your seat cost + you in the present parliament, of which not above half the term is + expired. Moreover, that you take the liberty to remind them, that your + being sent from Ratisbon, last session, when you were just settled there, + put you to the expense of three or four hundred pounds, for which you were + allowed nothing; and that, therefore, you hope they will not think one + thousand pounds too much, considering all these circumstances: but that, + in all events, you will do whatever they desire. Upon the whole, I think + this proposal advantageous to you, as you probably will not make use of + your seat this parliament; and, further, as it will secure you from + another unpaid journey from Dresden, in case they meet, or fear to meet, + with difficulties in any ensuing session of the present parliament. + Whatever one must do, one should do ‘de bonne grace’. ‘Dixi’. God bless + you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0274" id="link2H_4_0274"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 10, 1764. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I am much concerned at the account you gave me of + yourself, in your last letter. There is, to be sure, at such a town as + Dresden, at least some one very skillful physician, whom I hope you have + consulted; and I would have you acquaint him with all your several attacks + of this nature, from your great one at Laubach, to your late one at + Dresden: tell him, too, that in your last illness in England, the + physicians mistook your case, and treated it as the gout, till Maty came, + who treated it as a rheumatism, and cured you. In my own opinion, you have + never had the gout, but always the rheumatism; which, to my knowledge, is + as painful as the gout can possibly be, and should be treated in a quite + different way; that is, by cooling medicines and regimen, instead of those + inflammatory cordials which they always administer where they suppose the + gout, to keep it, as they say, out of the stomach. + </p> + <p> + I have been here now just a week; but have hitherto drank so little of the + water, that I can neither speak well nor ill of it. The number of people + in this place is infinite; but very few whom I know. Harte seems settled + here for life. He is not well, that is certain; but not so ill neither as + he thinks himself, or at least would be thought. + </p> + <p> + I long for your answer to my last letter, containing a certain proposal, + which, by this time, I suppose has been made you, and which, in the main, + I approve of your accepting. + </p> + <p> + God bless you, my dear friend! and send you better health! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0275" id="link2H_4_0275"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXIV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 26, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your last letter, of the 5th, gave me as much pleasure as + your former had given me uneasiness; and Larpent’s acknowledgment of his + negligence frees you from those suspicions, which I own I did entertain, + and which I believe every one would, in the same concurrence of + circumstances, have entertained. So much for that. + </p> + <p> + You may depend upon what I promised you, before midsummer next, at + farthest, and AT LEAST. + </p> + <p> + All I can say of the affair between you, of the Corps Diplomatique, and + the Saxon Ministers, is, ‘que voila bien du bruit pour une omelette au + lard’. It will most certainly be soon made up; and in that negotiation + show yourself as moderate and healing as your instructions from hence will + allow, especially to Comte de Flemming. The King of Prussia, I believe, + has a mind to insult him personally, as an old enemy, or else to quarrel + with Saxony, that dares not quarrel with him; but some of the Corps + Diplomatique here assure me it is only a pretense to recall his envoy, and + to send, when matters shall be made up, a little secretary there, ‘a moins + de fraix’, as he does now to Paris and London. + </p> + <p> + Comte Bruhl is much in fashion here; I like him mightily; he has very much + ‘le ton de la bonne campagnie’. Poor Schrader died last Saturday, without + the least pain or sickness. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0276" id="link2H_4_0276"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 22, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The day before yesterday I received your letter of the 3d + instant. I find that your important affair of the ceremonial is adjusted + at last, as I foresaw it would be. Such minutiae are often laid hold on as + a pretense, for powers who have a mind to quarrel; but are never + tenaciously insisted upon where there is neither interest nor inclination + to break. Comte Flemming, though a hot, is a wise man; and I was sure + would not break, both with England and Hanover, upon so trifling a point, + especially during a minority. ‘A propos’ of a minority; the King is to + come to the House to-morrow, to recommend a bill to settle a Regency, in + case of his demise while his successor is a minor. Upon the King’s late + illness, which was no trifling one, the whole nation cried out aloud for + such a bill, for reasons which will readily occur to you, who know + situations, persons, and characters here. I do not know the particulars of + this intended bill; but I wish it may be copied exactly from that which + was passed in the late King’s time, when the present King was a minor. I + am sure there cannot be a better. + </p> + <p> + You inquire about Monsieur de Guerchy’s affair; and I will give you as + succinct an account as I can of so extraordinary and perplexed a + transaction: but without giving you my own opinion of it by the common + post. You know what passed at first between Mr. de Guerchy and Monsieur + d’Eon, in which both our Ministers and Monsieur de Guerchy, from utter + inexperience in business, puzzled themselves into disagreeable + difficulties. About three or four months ago, Monsieur du Vergy published + in a brochure, a parcel of letters, from himself to the Duc de Choiseul; + in which he positively asserts that Monsieur de Guerchy prevailed with him + (Vergy) to come over into England to assassinate d’Eon; the words are, as + well as I remember, ‘que ce n’etoit pas pour se servir de sa plume, mais + de son epee, qu’on le demandoit en Angleterre’. This accusation of + assassination, you may imagine, shocked Monsieur de Guerchy, who + complained bitterly to our Ministers; and they both puzzled on for some + time, without doing anything, because they did not know what to do. At + last du Vergy, about two months ago, applied himself to the Grand Jury of + Middlesex, and made oath that Mr. de Guerchy had hired him (du Vergy) to + assassinate d’Eon. Upon this deposition, the Grand jury found a bill of + intended murder against Monsieur de Guerchy; which bill, however, never + came to the Petty Jury. The King granted a ‘noli prosequi’ in favor of + Monsieur de Guerchy; and the Attorney-General is actually prosecuting du + Vergy. Whether the King can grant a ‘noli prosequi’ in a criminal case, + and whether ‘le droit des gens’ extends to criminal cases, are two points + which employ our domestic politicians, and the whole Corps Diplomatique. + ‘Enfin’, to use a very coarse and vulgar saying, ‘il y a de la merde au + bout du baton, quelque part’. + </p> + <p> + I see and hear these storms from shore, ‘suave mari magno’, etc. I enjoy + my own security and tranquillity, together with better health than I had + reason to expect at my age, and with my constitution: however, I feel a + gradual decay, though a gentle one; and I think that I shall not tumble, + but slide gently to the bottom of the hill of life. When that will be, I + neither know nor care, for I am very weary. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + Mallet died two days ago, of a diarrhoea, which he had carried with him to + France, and brought back again hither. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0277" id="link2H_4_0277"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 2, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 22d past; + and I delayed answering your former in daily, or rather hourly expectation + of informing you of the birth of a new Ministry; but in vain; for, after a + thousand conferences, all things remain still in the state which I + described to you in my last. Lord S. has, I believe, given you a pretty + true account of the present state of things; but my Lord is much mistaken, + I am persuaded, when he says that THE KING HAS THOUGHT PROPER TO + RE-ESTABLISH HIS OLD SERVANTS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HIS AFFAIRS; for he + shows them all the public dislike possible; and, at his levee, hardly + speaks to any of them; but speaks by the hour to anybody else. + Conferences, in the meantime, go on, of which it is easy to guess the main + subject, but impossible, for me at least, to know the particulars; but + this I will venture to prophesy, that the whole will soon centre in Mr. + Pitt. + </p> + <p> + You seem not to know the character of the Queen: here it is. She is a good + woman, a good wife, a tender mother; and an unmeddling Queen. The King + loves her as a woman; but, I verily believe, has never yet spoke one word + to her about business. I have now told you all that I know of these + affairs; which, I believe, is as much as anybody else knows, who is not in + the secret. In the meantime, you easily guess that surmises, conjectures, + and reports are infinite; and if, as they say, truth is but one, one + million at least of these reports must be false; for they differ + exceedingly. + </p> + <p> + You have lost an honest servant by the death of poor Louis; I would advise + you to take a clever young Saxon in his room, of whose character you may + get authentic testimonies, instead of sending for one to France, whose + character you can only know from far. + </p> + <p> + When I hear more, I will write more; till when, God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0278" id="link2H_4_0278"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 15, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I told you in my last, that you should hear from me again, + as soon as I had anything more to write; and now I have too much to write, + therefore will refer you to the “Gazette,” and the office letters, for all + that has been done; and advise you to suspend your opinion, as I do, about + all that is to be done. Many more changes are talked of, but so idly, and + variously, that I give credit to none of them. There has been pretty clean + sweeping already; and I do not remember, in my time, to have seen so much + at once, as an entire new Board of Treasury, and two new Secretaries of + State, ‘cum multis aliis’, etc. + </p> + <p> + Here is a new political arch almost built, but of materials of so + different a nature, and without a key-stone, that it does not, in my + opinion, indicate either strength or duration. It will certainly require + repairs, and a key-stone next winter; and that key-stone will, and must + necessarily be, Mr. Pitt. It is true he might have been that keystone now; + and would have accepted it, but not without Lord Temple’s consent, and + Lord Temple positively refused. There was evidently some trick in this, + but what is past my conjecturing. ‘Davus sum, non OEdipus’. + </p> + <p> + There is a manifest interregnum in the Treasury; for I do suppose that + Lord Rockingham and Mr. Dowdeswell will not think proper to be very + active. General Conway, who is your Secretary, has certainly parts at + least equal to his business, to which, I dare say, he will apply. The same + may be said, I believe, of the Duke of Grafton; and indeed there is no + magic requisite for the executive part of those employments. The + ministerial part is another thing; they must scramble with their + fellow-servants, for power and favor, as well as they can. Foreign affairs + are not so much as mentioned, and, I verily believe, not thought of. But + surely some counterbalance would be necessary to the Family compact; and, + if not soon contracted, will be too late. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0279" id="link2H_4_0279"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 17, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You are now two letters in my debt; and I fear the gout + has been the cause of your contracting that debt. When you are not able to + write yourself, let your Secretary send me two or three lines to acquaint + me how you are. + </p> + <p> + You have now seen by the London “Gazette,” what changes have really been + made at court; but, at the same time, I believe you have seen that there + must be more, before a Ministry can be settled; what those will be, God + knows. Were I to conjecture, I should say that the whole will centre, + before it is long, in Mr. Pitt and Co., the present being an heterogeneous + jumble of youth and caducity, which cannot be efficient. + </p> + <p> + Charles Townshend calls the present a Lutestring Ministry; fit only for + the summer. The next session will be not only a warm, but a violent one, + as you will easily judge; if you look over the names of the INS and of the + OUTS. + </p> + <p> + I feel this beginning of the autumn, which is already very cold: the + leaves are withered, fall apace, and seem to intimate that I must follow + them; which I shall do without reluctance, being extremely weary of this + silly world. God bless you, both in it and after it! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0280" id="link2H_4_0280"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 25, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received but four days ago your letter of the 2d + instant. I find by it that you are well, for you are in good spirits. Your + notion of the new birth or regeneration of the Ministry is a very just + one; and that they have not yet the true seal of the covenant is, I dare + say, very true; at least it is not in the possession of either of the + Secretaries of State, who have only the King’s seal; nor do I believe + (whatever his Grace may imagine) that it is even in the possession of the + Lord Privy Seal. I own I am lost, in considering the present situation of + affairs; different conjectures present themselves to my mind, but none + that it can rest upon. The next session must necessarily clear up matters + a good deal; for I believe it will be the warmest and most acrimonious one + that has been known, since that of the Excise. The late Ministry, THE + PRESENT OPPOSITION, are determined to attack Lord B——-publicly + in parliament, and reduce the late Opposition, THE PRESENT MINISTRY, to + protect him publicly, in consequence of their supposed treaty with him. + ‘En attendant mieux’, the paper war is carried on with much fury and + scurrility on all sides, to the great entertainment of such lazy and + impartial people as myself: I do not know whether you have the “Daily + Advertiser,” and the “Public Advertiser,” in which all political letters + are inserted, and some very well-written ones on both sides; but I know + that they amuse me, ‘tant bien que mal’, for an hour or two every morning. + Lord T———is the supposed author of the pamphlet you + mention; but I think it is above him. Perhaps his brother C——T———, + who is by no means satisfied with the present arrangement, may have + assisted him privately. As to this latter, there was a good ridiculous + paragraph in the newspapers two or three days ago. WE HEAR THAT THE RIGHT + HONORABLE MR. C——-T———IS INDISPOSED AT HIS + HOUSE IN OXFORDSHIRE, OF A PAIN IN HIS SIDE; BUT IT IS NOT SAID IN WHICH + SIDE. + </p> + <p> + I do not find that the Duke of York has yet visited you; if he should, it + may be expensive, ‘mais on trouvera moyen’. As for the lady, if you should + be very sharp set for some English flesh, she has it amply in her power to + supply you if she pleases. Pray tell me in your next, what you think of, + and how you like, Prince Henry of Prussia. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0281" id="link2H_4_0281"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXX + </h2> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your great character of Prince Henry, which I take to be a + very just one, lowers the King of Prussia’s a great deal; and probably + that is the cause of their being so ill together. But the King of Prussia, + with his good parts, should reflect upon that trite and true maxim, ‘Qui + invidet minor’, or Mr. de la Rouchefoucault’s, ‘Que l’envie est la plus + basse de toutes les passions, puisqu’on avoue bien des crimes, mais que + personae n’avoue l’envie’. I thank God, I never was sensible of that dark + and vile passion, except that formerly I have sometimes envied a + successful rival with a fine woman. But now that cause is ceased, and + consequently the effects. + </p> + <p> + What shall I, or rather what can I tell you of the political world here? + The late Ministers accuse the present with having done nothing, the + present accuse the late ones with having done much worse than nothing. + Their writers abuse one another most scurrilously, but sometimes with wit. + I look upon this to be ‘peloter en attendant partie’, till battle begins + in St., Stephen’s Chapel. How that will end, I protest I cannot + conjecture; any farther than this, that if Mr. Pitt does not come into the + assistance of the present ministers, they will have much to do to stand + their ground. C——-T———will play booty; and + who else have they? Nobody but C——-, who has only good sense, + but not the necessary talents nor experience, ‘AEre ciere viros martemque + accendere cantu’. I never remember, in all my time, to have seen so + problematical a state of affairs, and a man would be much puzzled which + side to bet on. + </p> + <p> + Your guest, Miss C——-, is another problem which I cannot + solve. She no more wanted the waters of Carlsbadt than you did. Is it to + show the Duke of Kingston that he cannot live without her? a dangerous + experiment! which may possibly convince him that he can. There is a trick + no doubt in it; but what, I neither know nor care; you did very well to + show her civilities, ‘cela ne gute jamais rien’. I will go to my waters, + that is, the Bath waters, in three weeks or a month, more for the sake of + bathing than of drinking. The hot bath always promotes my perspiration, + which is sluggish, and supples my stiff rheumatic limbs. ‘D’ailleurs’, I + am at present as well, and better than I could reasonably expect to be, + ‘annu septuagesimo primo’. May you be so as long, ‘y mas’! God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0282" id="link2H_4_0282"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 25, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received your letter of the 10th ‘sonica’; for I set out + for Bath to-morrow morning. + </p> + <p> + If the use of those waters does me no good, the shifting the scene for + some time will at least amuse me a little; and at my age, and with my + infirmities, ‘il faut faire de tout bois feche’. Some variety is as + necessary for the mind as some medicines are for the body. + </p> + <p> + Here is a total stagnation of politics, which, I suppose, will continue + till the parliament sits to do business, and that will not be till about + the middle of January; for the meeting on the 17th December is only for + the sake of some new writs. The late ministers threaten the present ones; + but the latter do not seem in the least afraid of the former, and for a + very good reason, which is, that they have the distribution of the loaves + and fishes. I believe it is very certain that Mr. Pitt will never come + into this, or any other administration: he is absolutely a cripple all the + year, and in violent pain at least half of it. Such physical ills are + great checks to two of the strongest passions to which human nature is + liable, love and ambition. Though I cannot persuade myself that the + present ministry can be long lived, I can as little imagine who or what + can succeed them, ‘telle est la-disette de sujets papables’. The Duke of + swears that he will have Lord personally attacked in both Houses; but I do + not see how, without endangering himself at the same time. + </p> + <p> + Miss C———is safely arrived here, and her Duke is fonder + of her than ever. It was a dangerous experiment that she tried, in leaving + him so long; but it seems she knew her man. + </p> + <p> + I pity you for the inundation of your good countrymen, which overwhelms + you; ‘je sais ce qu’en vaut l’aune. It is, besides, expensive, but, as I + look upon the expense to be the least evil of the two, I will see if a + New-Year’s gift will not make it up. + </p> + <p> + As I am now upon the wing, I will only add, God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0283" id="link2H_4_0283"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 28, 1765 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 10th. I + have now been here a month, bathing and drinking the waters, for + complaints much of the same kind as yours, I mean pains in my legs, hips, + and arms: whether gouty or rheumatic, God knows; but, I believe, both, + that fight without a decision in favor of either, and have absolutely + reduced me to the miserable situation of the Sphinx’s riddle, to walk upon + three legs; that is, with the assistance of my stick, to walk, or rather + hobble, very indifferently. I wish it were a declared gout, which is the + distemper of a gentleman; whereas the rheumatism is the distemper of a + hackney-coachman or chairman, who is obliged to be out in all weathers and + at all hours. + </p> + <p> + I think you will do very right to ask leave, and I dare say you will + easily get it, to go to the baths in Suabia; that is, supposing that you + have consulted some skillful physician, if such a one there be, either at + Dresden or at Leipsic, about the nature of your distemper, and the nature + of those baths; but, ‘suos quisque patimur manes’. We have but a bad + bargain, God knows, of this life, and patience is the only way not to make + bad worse. Mr. Pitt keeps his bed here, with a very real gout, and not a + political one, as is often suspected. + </p> + <p> + Here has been a congress of most of the ‘ex Ministres’. If they have + raised a battery, as I suppose they have, it is a masked one, for nothing + has transpired; only they confess that they intend a most vigorous attack. + ‘D’ailleurs’, there seems to be a total suspension of all business, till + the meeting of the parliament, and then ‘Signa canant’. I am very glad + that at this time you are out of it: and for reasons that I need not + mention: you would certainly have been sent for over, and, as before, not + paid for your journey. + </p> + <p> + Poor Harte is very ill, and condemned to the Hot well at Bristol. He is a + better poet than philosopher: for all this illness and melancholy proceeds + originally from the ill success of his “Gustavus Adolphus.” He is grown + extremely devout, which I am very glad of, because that is always a + comfort to the afflicted. + </p> + <p> + I cannot present Mr. Larpent with my New-Year’s gift, till I come to town, + which will be before Christmas at farthest; till when, God bless you! + Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0284" id="link2H_4_0284"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, December 27, 1765. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I arrived here from Bath last Monday, rather, but not much + better, than when I went over there. My rheumatic pains, in my legs and + hips, plague me still, and I must never expect to be quite free from them. + </p> + <p> + You have, to be sure, had from the office an account of what the + parliament did, or rather did not do, the day of their meeting; and the + same point will be the great object at their next meeting; I mean the + affair of our American Colonies, relatively to the late imposed + Stamp-duty, which our Colonists absolutely refuse to pay. The + Administration are for some indulgence and forbearance to those froward + children of their mother country; the Opposition are for taking vigorous, + as they call them, but I call them violent measures; not less than ‘les + dragonnades’; and to have the tax collected by the troops we have there. + For my part, I never saw a froward child mended by whipping; and I would + not have the mother country become a stepmother. Our trade to America + brings in, ‘communibus annis’, two millions a year; and the Stamp-duty is + estimated at but one hundred thousand pounds a year; which I would by no + means bring into the stock of the Exchequer, at the loss or even the risk + of a million a year to the national stock. + </p> + <p> + I do not tell you of the Garter given away yesterday, because the + newspapers will; but, I must observe, that the Prince of Brunswick’s + riband is a mark of great distinction to that family; which I believe, is + the first (except our own Royal Family) that has ever had two blue ribands + at a time; but it must be owned they deserve them. + </p> + <p> + One hears of nothing now in town, but the separation of men and their + wives. Will Finch, the Ex-vice Chamberlain, Lord Warwick, and your friend + Lord Bolingbroke. I wonder at none of them for parting; but I wonder at + many for still living together; for in this country it is certain that + marriage is not well understood. + </p> + <p> + I have this day sent Mr. Larpent two hundred pounds for your + Christmas-box, of which I suppose he will inform you by this post. Make + this Christmas as merry a one as you can; for ‘pour le peu du bon tems qui + nous reste, rien nest si funeste, qu’un noir chagrin’. For the new years—God + send you many, and happy ones! Adieu. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0285" id="link2H_4_0285"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + 1766-1771 + </h2> + <p> + LETTER CCLXXXIV + </p> + <p> + LONDON, February 11, 1766 + </p> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received two days ago your letter of the 25th past; and + your former, which you mention in it, but ten days ago; this may easily be + accounted for from the badness of the weather, and consequently of the + roads. I hardly remember so severe a win ter; it has occasioned many + illnesses here. I am sure it pinched my crazy carcass so much that, about + three weeks ago, I was obliged to be let blood twice in four days, which I + found afterward was very necessary, by the relief it gave to my head and + to the rheumatic pains in my limbs; and from the execrable kind of blood + which I lost. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps you expect from me a particular account of the present state of + affairs here; but if you do you will be disappointed; for no man living + (and I still less than anyone) knows what it is; it varies, not only + daily, but hourly. + </p> + <p> + Most people think, and I among the rest, that the date of the present + Ministers is pretty near out; but how soon we are to have a new style, God + knows. This, however, is certain, that the Ministers had a contested + election in the House of Commons, and got it but by eleven votes; too + small a majority to carry anything; the next day they lost a question in + the House of Lords, by three. The question in the House of Lords was, to + enforce the execution of the Stamp-act in the colonies ‘vi et armis’. What + conclusions you will draw from these premises, I do not know; but I + protest I draw none; but only stare at the present undecipherable state of + affairs, which, in fifty years’ experience, I have never seen anything + like. The Stamp-act has proved a most pernicious measure; for, whether it + is repealed or not, which is still very doubtful, it has given such terror + to the Americans, that our trade with them will not be, for some years, + what it used to be; and great numbers of our manufacturers at home will be + turned a starving for want of that employment which our very profitable + trade to America found them: and hunger is always the cause of tumults and + sedition. + </p> + <p> + As you have escaped a fit of the gout in this severe cold weather, it is + to be hoped you may be entirely free from it, till next winter at least. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Lord having parted with his wife, now, keeps another w—-e, at + a great expense. I fear he is totally undone. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0286" id="link2H_4_0286"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 17, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You wrong me in thinking me in your debt; for I never + receive a letter of yours, but I answer it by the next post, or the next + but one, at furthest: but I can easily conceive that my two last letters + to you may have been drowned or frozen in their way; for portents and + prodigies of frost, snow, and inundations, have been so frequent this + winter, that they have almost lost their names. + </p> + <p> + You tell me that you are going to the baths of BADEN; but that puzzles me + a little, so I recommend this letter to the care of Mr. Larpent, to + forward to you; for Baden I take to be the general German word for baths, + and the particular ones are distinguished by some epithet, as Weissbaden, + Carlsbaden, etc. I hope they are not cold baths, which I have a very ill + opinion of, in all arthritic or rheumatic cases; and your case I take to + be a compound of both, but rather more of the latter. + </p> + <p> + You will probably wonder that I tell you nothing of public matters; upon + which I shall be as secret as Hotspur’s gentle Kate, who would not tell + what she did not know; but what is singular, nobody seems to know any more + of them than I do. People gape, stare, conjecture, and refine. Changes of + the Ministry, or in the Ministry at least, are daily reported and + foretold, but of what kind, God only knows. It is also very doubtful + whether Mr. Pitt will come into the Administration or not; the two present + Secretaries are extremely desirous that he should; but the others think of + the horse that called the man to its assistance. I will say nothing to you + about American affairs, because I have not pens, ink, or paper enough to + give you an intelligible account of them. They have been the subjects of + warm and acrimonious debates, both in the Lords and Commons, and in all + companies. + </p> + <p> + The repeal of the Stamp-act is at last carried through. I am glad of it, + and gave my proxy for it, because I saw many more inconveniences from the + enforcing than from the repealing it. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Browne was with me the other day, and assured me that he left you + very well. He said he saw you at Spa, but I did not remember him; though I + remember his two brothers, the Colonel and the ravisher, very well. Your + Saxon colonel has the brogue exceedingly. Present my respects to Count + Flemming; I am very sorry for the Countess’s illness; she was a most + well-bred woman. + </p> + <p> + You would hardly think that I gave a dinner to the Prince of Brunswick, + your old acquaintance. I glad it is over; but I could not avoid it. ‘Il + m’avait tabli de politesses’. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0287" id="link2H_4_0287"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXVI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, June 13, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday your letter of the 30th past. I + waited with impatience for it, not having received one from you in six + weeks; nor your mother neither, who began to be very sure that you were + dead, if not buried. You should write to her once a week, or at least once + a-fortnight; for women make no allowance either for business or laziness; + whereas I can, by experience, make allowances for both: however, I wish + you would generally write to me once a fortnight. + </p> + <p> + Last week I paid my midsummer offering, of five hundred pounds, to Mr. + Larpent, for your use, as I suppose he has informed you. I am punctual, + you must allow. + </p> + <p> + What account shall I give you of ministerial affairs here? I protest I do + not know: your own description of them is as exact a one as any I, who am + upon the place, can give you. It is a total dislocation and ‘derangement’; + consequently a total inefficiency. When the Duke of Grafton quitted the + seals, he gave that very reason for it, in a speech in the House of Lords: + he declared, “that he had no objection to the persons or the measures of + the present Ministers; but that he thought they wanted strength and + efficiency to carry on proper measures with success; and that he knew but + one man MEANING, AS YOU WILL EASILY SUPPOSE, MR. PITT who could give them + strength and solidity; that, under this person, he should be willing to + serve in any capacity, not only as a General Officer, but as a pioneer; + and would take up a spade and a mattock.” When he quitted the seals, they + were offered first to Lord Egmont, then to Lord Hardwicke; who both + declined them, probably for the same reasons that made the Duke of Grafton + resign them; but after their going a-begging for some time, the Duke of———-begged + them, and has them ‘faute de mieux’. Lord Mountstuart was never thought of + for Vienna, where Lord Stormont returns in three months; the former is + going to be married to one of the Miss Windsors, a great fortune. To tell + you the speculations, the reasonings, and the conjectures, either of the + uninformed, or even of the best-informed public, upon the present + wonderful situation of affairs, would take up much more time and paper + than either you or I can afford, though we have neither of us a great deal + of business at present. + </p> + <p> + I am in as good health as I could reasonably expect, at my age, and with + my shattered carcass; that is, from the waist upward; but downward it is + not the same: for my limbs retain that stiffness and debility of my long + rheumatism; I cannot walk half an hour at a time. As the autumn, and still + more as the winter approaches, take care to keep yourself very warm, + especially your legs and feet. + </p> + <p> + Lady Chesterfield sends you her compliments, and triumphs in the success + of her plaster. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0288" id="link2H_4_0288"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXVII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 11, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: You are a happy mortal, to have your time thus employed + between the great and the fair; I hope you do the honors of your country + to the latter. The Emperor, by your account, seems to be very well for an + emperor; who, by being above the other monarchs in Europe, may justly be + supposed to have had a proportionably worse education. I find, by your + account of him, that he has been trained up to homicide, the only science + in which princes are ever instructed; and with good reason, as their + greatness and glory singly depend upon the numbers of their + fellow-creatures which their ambition exterminates. If a sovereign should, + by great accident, deviate into moderation, justice, and clemency, what a + contemptible figure would he make in the catalogue of princes! I have + always owned a great regard for King Log. From the interview at Torgaw, + between the two monarchs, they will be either a great deal better or worse + together; but I think rather the latter; for our namesake, Philip de Co + mines, observes, that he never knew any good come from l’abouchement des + Rois. The King of Prussia will exert all his perspicacity to analyze his + Imperial Majesty; and I would bet upon the one head of his black eagle, + against the two heads of the Austrian eagle; though two heads are said, + proverbially, to be better than one. I wish I had the direction of both + the monarchs, and they should, together with some of their allies, take + Lorraine and Alsace from France. You will call me ‘l’Abbe de St. Pierre’; + but I only say what I wish; whereas he thought everything that he wished + practicable. + </p> + <p> + Now to come home. Here are great bustles at Court, and a great change of + persons is certainly very near. You will ask me, perhaps, who is to be + out, and who is to be in? To which I answer, I do not know. My conjecture + is that, be the new settlement what it will, Mr. Pitt will be at the head + of it. If he is, I presume, ‘qu’il aura mis de l’eau dans son vin par + rapport a Mylord B——-; when that shall come to be known, as + known it certainly will soon be, he may bid adieu to his popularity. A + minister, as minister, is very apt to be the object of public dislike; and + a favorite, as favorite, still more so. If any event of this kind happens, + which (if it happens at all) I conjecture will be some time next week, you + shall hear further from me. + </p> + <p> + I will follow your advice, and be as well as I can next winter, though I + know I shall never be free from my flying rheumatic pains, as long as I + live; but whether that will be more or less, is extremely indifferent to + me; in either case, God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0289" id="link2H_4_0289"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 1, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The curtain was at last drawn up, the day before + yesterday, and discovered the new actors, together with some of the old + ones. I do not name them to you, because to-morrow’s Gazette will do it + full as well as I could. Mr. Pitt, who had carte blanche given him, named + everyone of them: but what would you think he named himself for? Lord + Privy Seal; and (what will astonish you, as it does every mortal here) + Earl of Chatham. The joke here is, that he has had A FALL UP STAIRS, and + has done himself so much hurt, that he will never be able to stand upon + his leg’s again. Everybody is puzzled how to account for this step; though + it would not be the first time that great abilities have been duped by low + cunning. But be it what it will, he is now certainly only Earl of Chatham; + and no longer Mr. Pitt, in any respect whatever. Such an event, I believe, + was never read nor heard of. To withdraw, in the fullness of his power and + in the utmost gratification of his ambition, from the House of Commons + (which procured him his power, and which could alone insure it to him), + and to go into that hospital of incurables, the House of Lords, is a + measure so unaccountable, that nothing but proof positive could have made + me believe it: but true it is. Hans Stanley is to go Ambassador to Russia; + and my nephew, Ellis, to Spain, decorated with the red riband. Lord + Shelburne is your Secretary of State, which I suppose he has notified to + you this post, by a circular letter. Charles Townshend has now the sole + management of the House of Commons; but how long he will be content to be + only Lord Chatham’s vicegerent there, is a question which I will not + pretend to decide. There is one very bad sign for Lord Chatham, in his new + dignity; which is, that all his enemies, without exception, rejoice at it; + and all his friends are stupefied and dumbfounded. If I mistake not much, + he will, in the course of a year, enjoy perfect ‘otium cum dignitate’. + Enough of politics. + </p> + <p> + Is the fair, or at least the fat, Miss C——with you still? It + must be confessed that she knows the arts of courts, to be so received at + Dresden, and so connived at in Leicester-fields. + </p> + <p> + There never was so wet a summer as this has been, in the memory of man; we + have not had one single day, since March, without some rain; but most days + a great deal. I hope that does not affect your health, as great cold does; + for, with all these inundations, it has not been cold. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0290" id="link2H_4_0290"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCLXXXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, August 14, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday your letter of the 30th past, and I + find by it that it crossed mine upon the road, where they had no time to + take notice of one another. + </p> + <p> + The newspapers have informed you, before now, of the changes actually + made; more will probably follow, but what, I am sure, I cannot tell you; + and I believe nobody can, not even those who are to make them: they will, + I suppose, be occasional, as people behave themselves. The causes and + consequences of Mr. Pitt’s quarrel now appear in print, in a pamphlet + published by Lord T———; and in a refutation of it, not + by Mr. Pitt himself, I believe, but by some friend of his, and under his + sanction. The former is very scurrilous and scandalous, and betrays + private conversation. My Lord says, that in his last conference, he + thought he had as good a right to nominate the new Ministry as Mr. Pitt, + and consequently named Lord G——-, Lord L———, + etc., for Cabinet Council employments; which Mr. Pitt not consenting to, + Lord T——-broke up the conference, and in his wrath went to + Stowe; where I presume he may remain undisturbed a great while, since Mr. + Pitt will neither be willing nor able to send for him again. The pamphlet, + on the part of Mr. Pitt, gives an account of his whole political life; + and, in that respect, is tedious to those who were acquainted with it + before; but, at the latter end, there is an article that expresses such + supreme contempt of Lord T——-, and in so pretty a manner, that + I suspect it to be Mr. Pitt’s own: you shall judge yourself, for I here + transcribe the article: “But this I will be bold to say, that had he (Lord + T——-) not fastened himself into Mr. Pitt’s train, and acquired + thereby such an interest in that great man, he might have crept out of + life with as little notice as he crept in; and gone off with no other + degree of credit, than that of adding a single unit to the bills of + mortality” I wish I could send you all the pamphlets and half-sheets that + swarm here upon this occasion; but that is impossible; for every week + would make a ship’s cargo. It is certain, that Mr. Pitt has, by his + dignity of Earl, lost the greatest part of his popularity, especially in + the city; and I believe the Opposition will be very strong, and perhaps + prevail, next session, in the House of Commons; there being now nobody + there who can have the authority and ascendant over them that Pitt had. + </p> + <p> + People tell me here, as young Harvey told you at Dresden, that I look very + well; but those are words of course, which everyone says to everybody. So + far is true, that I am better than at my age, and with my broken + constitution, I could have expected to be. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0291" id="link2H_4_0291"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXC + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 12, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 27th past. + I was in hopes that your course of waters this year at Baden would have + given you a longer reprieve from your painful complaint. If I do not + mistake, you carried over with you some of Dr. Monsey’s powders. Have you + taken any of them, and have they done you any good? I know they did me a + great deal. I, who pretend to some skill in physic, advise a cool regimen, + and cooling medicines. + </p> + <p> + I do not wonder, that you do wonder, at Lord C——-’s conduct. + If he was not outwitted into his peerage by Lord B——, his + accepting it is utterly inexplicable. The instruments he has chosen for + the great office, I believe, will never fit the same case. It was cruel to + put such a boy as Lord G—-over the head of old Ligonier; and if I + had been the former, I would have refused that commission, during the life + of that honest and brave old general. All this to quiet the Duke of R——to + a resignation, and to make Lord B——Lieutenant of Ireland, + where, I will venture to prophesy, that he will not do. Ligonier was much + pressed to give up his regiment of guards, but would by no means do it; + and declared that the King might break him if he pleased, but that he + would certainly not break himself. + </p> + <p> + I have no political events to inform you of; they will not be ripe till + the meeting of the parliament. Immediately upon the receipt of this + letter, write me one, to acquaint me how you are. + </p> + <p> + God bless you; and, particularly, may He send you health, for that is the + greatest blessing! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0292" id="link2H_4_0292"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, September 30, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, yesterday, with great pleasure, your letter of + the 18th, by which I consider this last ugly bout as over; and, to prevent + its return, I greatly approve of your plan for the south of France, where + I recommend for your principal residence, Pezenas Toulouse, or Bordeaux; + but do not be persuaded to go to Aix en Provence, which, by experience, I + know to be at once the hottest and the coldest place in the world, from + the ardor of the Provencal sun, and the sharpness of the Alpine winds. I + also earnestly recommend to you, for your complaint upon your breast, to + take, twice a-day, asses’ or (what is better mares’ milk), and that for + these six months at least. Mingle turnips, as much as you can, with your + diet. + </p> + <p> + I have written, as you desired, to Mr. Secretary Conway; but I will answer + for it that there will be no difficulty to obtain the leave you ask. + </p> + <p> + There is no new event in the political world since my last; so God bless + you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0293" id="link2H_4_0293"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 29, 7766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The last mail brought me your letter of the 17th. I am + glad to hear that your breast is so much better. You will find both asses’ + and mares’ milk enough in the south of France, where it was much drank + when I was there. Guy Patin recommends to a patient to have no doctor but + a horse, and no apothecary but an ass. As for your pains and weakness in + your limbs, ‘je vous en offre autant’; I have never been free from them + since my last rheumatism. I use my legs as much as I can, and you should + do so too, for disuse makes them worse. I cannot now use them long at a + time, because of the weakness of old age; but I contrive to get, by + different snatches, at least two hours’ walking every day, either in my + garden or within doors, as the weather permits. I set out to-morrow for + Bath, in hopes of half repairs, for Medea’s kettle could not give me whole + ones; the timbers of my wretched vessel are too much decayed to be fitted + out again for use. I shall see poor Harte there, who, I am told, is in a + miserable way, between some real and some imaginary distempers. + </p> + <p> + I send you no political news, for one reason, among others, which is that + I know none. Great expectations are raised of this session, which meets + the 11th of next month; but of what kind nobody knows, and consequently + everybody conjectures variously. Lord Chatham comes to town to-morrow from + Bath, where he has been to refit himself for the winter campaign; he has + hitherto but an indifferent set of aides-decamp; and where he will find + better, I do not know. Charles Townshend and he are already upon ill + terms. ‘Enfin je n’y vois goutte’; and so God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0294" id="link2H_4_0294"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 15, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have this moment received your letter of the 5th instant + from Basle. I am very glad to find that your breast is relieved, though + perhaps at the expense of your legs: for, if the humor be either gouty or + rheumatic, it had better be in your legs than anywhere else. I have + consulted Moisy, the great physician of this place, upon it; who says, + that at this distance he dares not prescribe anything, as there may be + such different causes for your complaint, which must be well weighed by a + physician upon the spot; that is, in short, that he knows nothing of the + matter. I will therefore tell you my own case, in 1732, which may be + something parallel to yours. I had that year been dangerously ill of a + fever in Holland; and when I was recovered of it, the febrific humor fell + into my legs, and swelled them to that degree, and chiefly in the evening, + that it was as painful to me as it was shocking to others. I came to + England with them in this condition; and consulted Mead, Broxholme, and + Arbuthnot, who none of them did me the least good; but, on the contrary, + increased the swelling, by applying poultices and emollients. In this + condition I remained near six months, till finding that the doctors could + do me no good, I resolved to consult Palmer, the most eminent surgeon of + St. Thomas’s Hospital. He immediately told me that the physicians had + pursued a very wrong method, as the swelling of my legs proceeded only + from a relaxation and weakness of the cutaneous vessels; and he must apply + strengtheners instead of emollients. Accordingly, he ordered me to put my + legs up to the knees every morning in brine from the salters, as hot as I + could bear it; the brine must have had meat salted in it. I did so; and + after having thus pickled my legs for about three weeks, the complaint + absolutely ceased, and I have never had the least swelling in them since. + After what I have said, I must caution you not to use the same remedy + rashly, and without the most skillful advice you can find, where you are; + for if your swelling proceeds from a gouty, or rheumatic humor, there may + be great danger in applying so powerful an astringent, and perhaps + REPELLANT as brine. So go piano, and not without the best advice, upon a + view of the parts. + </p> + <p> + I shall direct all my letters to you ‘Chez Monsieur Sarraxin’, who by his + trade is, I suppose, ‘sedentaire’ at Basle, while it is not sure that you + will be at any one place in the south of France. Do you know that he is a + descendant of the French poet Sarrazin? + </p> + <p> + Poor Harte, whom I frequently go to see here, out of compassion, is in a + most miserable way; he has had a stroke of the palsy, which has deprived + him of the use of his right leg, affected his speech a good deal, and + perhaps his head a little. Such are the intermediate tributes that we are + forced to pay, in some shape or other, to our wretched nature, till we pay + the last great one of all. May you pay this very late, and as few + intermediate tributes as possible; and so ‘jubeo te bene valere’. God + bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0295" id="link2H_4_0295"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 9, 1766. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, two days ago, your letter of the 26th past. I + am very glad that you begin to feel the good effects of the climate where + you are; I know it saved my life, in 1741, when both the skillful and the + unskillful gave me over. In that ramble I stayed three or four days at + Nimes, where there are more remains of antiquity, I believe, than in any + town in Europe, Italy excepted. What is falsely called ‘la maison + quarree’, is, in my mind, the finest piece of architecture that I ever + saw; and the amphitheater the clumsiest and the ugliest: if it were in + England, everybody would swear it had been built by Sir John Vanbrugh. + </p> + <p> + This place is now, just what you have seen it formerly; here is a great + crowd of trifling and unknown people, whom I seldom frequent, in the + public rooms; so that I may pass my time ‘tres uniment’, in taking the air + in my post-chaise every morning, and in reading of evenings. And ‘a + propos’ of the latter, I shall point out a book, which I believe will give + you some pleasure; at least it gave me a great deal. I never read it + before. It is ‘Reflexions sur la Poesie et la Peinture, par l’Abbee de + Bos’, in two octavo volumes; and is, I suppose, to be had at every great + town in France. The criticisms and the reflections are just and lively. + </p> + <p> + It may be you expect some political news from me: but I can tell you that + you will have none, for no mortal can comprehend the present state of + affairs. Eight or nine people of some consequence have resigned their + employments; upon which Lord C——-made overtures to the Duke of + B——-and his people; but they could by no means agree, and his + Grace went, the next day, full of wrath, to Woburn, so that negotiation is + entirely at an end. People wait to see who Lord C——-will take + in, for some he must have; even HE cannot be alone, ‘contra mundum’. Such + a state of affairs, to be sure, was never seen before, in this or in any + other country. When this Ministry shall be settled, it will be the sixth + Ministry in six years’ time. + </p> + <p> + Poor Harte is here, and in a most miserable condition; those who wish him + the best, as I do, must wish him dead. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0296" id="link2H_4_0296"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCV + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, February 13, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: It is so long since I have had a letter from you, that I + am alarmed about your health; and fear that the southern parts of France + have not done so well by you as they did by me in the year 1741, when they + snatched me from the jaws of death. Let me know, upon the receipt of this + letter, how you are, and where you are. + </p> + <p> + I have no news to send you from hence; for everything seems suspended, + both in the court and in the parliament, till Lord Chatham’s return from + the Bath, where he has been laid up this month, by a severe fit of the + gout; and, at present, he has the sole apparent power. In what little + business has hitherto been done in the House of Commons, Charles Townshend + has given himself more ministerial airs than Lord Chatham will, I believe, + approve of. However, since Lord Chatham has thought fit to withdraw + himself from that House, he cannot well do without Charles’ abilities to + manage it as his deputy. + </p> + <p> + I do not send you an account of weddings, births, and burials, as I take + it for granted that you know them all from the English printed papers; + some of which, I presume, are sent after you. Your old acquaintance, Lord + Essex, is to be married this week to Harriet Bladen, who has L20,000 down, + besides the reasonable expectation of as much at the death of her father. + My kinsman, Lord Strathmore, is to be married in a fortnight, to Miss + Bowes, the greatest heiress perhaps in Europe. In short, the matrimonial + frenzy seems to rage at present, and is epidemical. The men marry for + money, and I believe you guess what the women marry for. God bless you, + and send you health! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0297" id="link2H_4_0297"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 3, 1767 + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received two letters at once from you, both + dated Montpellier; one of the 29th of last December, and the other the + 12th of February: but I cannot conceive what became of my letters to you; + for, I assure you, that I answered all yours the next post after I + received them; and, about ten days ago, I wrote you a volunteer, because + you had been so long silent, and I was afraid that you were not well; but + your letter of the 12th of February has removed all my fears upon that + score. The same climate that has restored your health so far will + probably, in a little more time, restore your strength too; though you + must not expect it to be quite what it was before your late painful + complaints. At least I find that, since my late great rheumatism, I cannot + walk above half an hour at a time, which I do not place singly to the + account of my years, but chiefly to the great shock given then to my + limbs. ‘D’ailleurs’ I am pretty well for my age and shattered + constitution. + </p> + <p> + As I told you in my last, I must tell you again in this, that I have no + news to send. Lord Chatham, at last, came to town yesterday, full of gout, + and is not able to stir hand or foot. During his absence, Charles + Townshend has talked of him, and at him, in such a manner, that + henceforward they must be either much worse or much better together than + ever they were in their lives. On Friday last, Mr. Dowdeswell and Mr. + Grenville moved to have one shilling in the pound of the land tax taken + off; which was opposed by the Court; but the Court lost it by eighteen. + The Opposition triumph much upon this victory; though, I think, without + reason; for it is plain that all the landed gentlemen bribed themselves + with this shilling in the pound. + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Buccleugh is very soon to be married to Lady Betty Montague. + Lord Essex was married yesterday, to Harriet Bladen; and Lord Strathmore, + last week, to Miss Bowes; both couples went directly from the church to + consummation in the country, from an unnecessary fear that they should not + be tired of each other if they stayed in town. And now ‘dixi’; God bless + you! + </p> + <p> + You are in the right to go to see the assembly of the states of, + Languedoc, though they are but the shadow of the original Etats, while + there was some liberty subsisting in France. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0298" id="link2H_4_0298"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 6, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter from Nimes, by which I + find that several of our letters have reciprocally miscarried. This may + probably have the same fate; however, if it reaches Monsieur Sarrazin, I + presume he will know where to take his aim at you; for I find you are in + motion, and with a polarity to Dresden. I am very glad to find by it, that + your meridional journey has perfectly recovered you, as to your general + state of health; for as to your legs and thighs, you must never expect + that they will be restored to their original strength and activity, after + so many rheumatic attacks as you have had. I know that my limbs, besides + the natural debility of old age, have never recovered the severe attack of + rheumatism that plagued me five or six years ago. I cannot now walk above + half an hour at a time and even that in a hobbling kind of way. + </p> + <p> + I can give you no account of our political world, which is in a situation + that I never saw in my whole life. Lord Chatham has been so ill, these + last two months, that he has not been able (some say not willing) to do or + hear of any business, and for his ‘sous Ministres’, they either cannot, or + dare not, do any, without his directions; so everything is now at a stand. + This situation, I think, cannot last much longer, and if Lord Chatham + should either quit his post, or the world, neither of which is very + improbable, I conjecture, that which is called the Rockingham Connection + stands the fairest for the Ministry. But this is merely my conjecture, for + I have neither ‘data’ nor ‘postulata’ enough to reason upon. + </p> + <p> + When you get to Dresden, which I hope you will not do till next month, our + correspondence will be more regular. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0299" id="link2H_4_0299"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 5, 1767, + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: By your letter of the 25th past, from Basle, I presume + this will find you at Dresden, and accordingly I direct to you there. When + you write me word that you are at Dresden, I will return you an answer, + with something better than the answer itself. + </p> + <p> + If you complain of the weather, north of Besancon, what would you say to + the weather that we have had here for these last two months, + uninterruptedly? Snow often, northeast wind constantly, and extreme cold. + I write this by the side of a good fire; and at this moment it snows very + hard. All my promised fruit at Blackheath is quite destroyed; and, what is + worse, many of my trees. + </p> + <p> + I cannot help thinking that the King of Poland, the Empress of Russia, and + the King of Prussia, ‘s’entendent comme larrons en foire’, though the + former must not appear in it upon account of the stupidity, ignorance, and + bigotry of his Poles. I have a great opinion of the cogency of the + controversial arguments of the Russian troops, in favor of the Dissidents: + I am sure I wish them success; for I would have all intoleration + intolerated in its turn. We shall soon see more clearly into this matter; + for I do not think that the Autocratrice of all the Russias will be + trifled with by the Sarmatians. + </p> + <p> + What do you think of the late extraordinary event in Spain? Could you have + ever imagined that those ignorant Goths would have dared to banish the + Jesuits? There must have been some very grave and important reasons for so + extraordinary a measure: but what they were I do not pretend to guess; and + perhaps I shall never know, though all the coffeehouses here do. + </p> + <p> + Things are here in exactly the same situation, in which they were when I + wrote to you last. Lord Chatham is still ill, and only goes abroad for an + hour in a day, to take the air, in his coach. The King has, to my certain + knowledge, sent him repeated messages, desiring him not to be concerned at + his confinement, for that he is resolved to support him, ‘pour et contre + tous’. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0300" id="link2H_4_0300"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCXCIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, June 1, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received yesterday your letter of the 20th past, from + Dresden, where I am glad to find that you are arrived safe and sound. This + has been everywhere an ‘annus mirabilis’ for bad weather, and it continues + here still. Everybody has fires, and their winter clothes, as at + Christmas. The town is extremely sickly; and sudden deaths have been very + frequent. + </p> + <p> + I do not know what to say to you upon public matters; things remain in + ‘statu quo’, and nothing is done. Great changes are talked of, and, I + believe, will happen soon, perhaps next week; but who is to be changed, + for whom, I do not know, though everybody else does. I am apt to think + that it will be a mosaic Ministry, made up ‘de pieces rapportees’ from + different connections. + </p> + <p> + Last Friday I sent your subsidy to Mr. Larpent, who, I suppose, has given + you notice of it. I believe it will come very seasonably, as all places, + both foreign and domestic, are so far in arrears. They talk of paying you + all up to Christmas. The King’s inferior servants are almost starving. + </p> + <p> + I suppose you have already heard, at Dresden, that Count Bruhl is either + actually married, or very soon to be so, to Lady Egremont. She has, + together with her salary as Lady of the Bed-chamber, L2,500 a year, + besides ten thousand pounds in money left her, at her own disposal, by + Lord Egremont. All this will sound great ‘en ecus d’Allemagne’. I am glad + of it, for he is a very pretty man. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + I easily conceive why Orloff influences the Empress of all the Russias; + but I cannot see why the King of Prussia should be influenced by that + motive. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0301" id="link2H_4_0301"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCC + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, JULY 2, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Though I have had no letter from you since my last, and + though I have no political news to inform you of, I write this to acquaint + you with a piece of Greenwich news, which I believe you will be very glad + of; I am sure I am. Know then that your friend Miss——-was + happily married, three days ago, to Mr.———-, an Irish + gentleman, and a member of that parliament, with an estate of above L2,000 + a-year. He settles upon her L600 jointure, and in case they have no + children, L1,500. He happened to be by chance in her company one day here, + and was at once shot dead by her charms; but as dead men sometimes walk, + he walked to her the next morning, and tendered her his person and his + fortune; both which, taking the one with the other, she very prudently + accepted, for his person is sixty years old. + </p> + <p> + Ministerial affairs are still in the same ridiculous and doubtful + situation as when I wrote to you last. Lord Chatham will neither hear of, + nor do any business, but lives at Hampstead, and rides about the heath. + His gout is said to be fallen upon his nerves. Your provincial secretary, + Conway, quits this week, and returns to the army, for which he languished. + Two Lords are talked of to succeed him; Lord Egmont and Lord Hillsborough: + I rather hope the latter. Lord Northington certainly quits this week; but + nobody guesses who is to succeed him as President. A thousand other + changes are talked of, which I neither believe nor reject. + </p> + <p> + Poor Harte is in a most miserable condition: He has lost one side of + himself, and in a great measure his speech; notwithstanding which, he is + going to publish his DIVINE POEMS, as he calls them. I am sorry for it, as + he had not time to correct them before this stroke, nor abilities to do it + since. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0302" id="link2H_4_0302"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCI + </h2> + <h3> + BLACKHEATH, July 9, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have received yours of the 21st past, with the inclosed + proposal from the French ‘refugies, for a subscription toward building + them ‘un temple’. I have shown it to the very few people I see, but + without the least success. They told me (and with too much truth) that + while such numbers of poor were literally starving here from the dearness + of all provisions, they could not think of sending their money into + another country, for a building which they reckoned useless. In truth, I + never knew such misery as is here now; and it affects both the hearts and + the purses of those who have either; for my own part, I never gave to a + building in my life; which I reckon is only giving to masons and + carpenters, and the treasurer of the undertaking. + </p> + <p> + Contrary to the expectations of all mankind here, everything still + continues in ‘statu quo’. General Conway has been desired by the King to + keep the seals till he has found a successor for him, and the Lord + President the same. Lord Chatham is relapsed, and worse than ever: he sees + nobody, and nobody sees him: it is said that a bungling physician has + checked his gout, and thrown it upon his nerves; which is the worst + distemper that a minister or a lover can have, as it debilitates the mind + of the former and the body of the latter. Here is at present an + interregnum. We must soon see what order will be produced from this chaos. + </p> + <p> + The Electorate, I believe, will find the want of Comte Flemming; for he + certainly had abilities, and was as sturdy and inexorable as a Minister at + the head of the finances ought always to be. When you see Comtesse + Flemming, which I suppose cannot be for some time, pray make her Lady + Chesterfield’s and my compliments of condolence. + </p> + <p> + You say that Dresden is very sickly; I am sure London is at least as + sickly now, for there reigns an epidemical distemper, called by the + genteel name of ‘l’influenza’. It is a little fever, of which scarcely + anybody dies; and it generally goes off with a little looseness. I have + escaped it, I believe, by being here. God keep you from all distempers, + and bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0303" id="link2H_4_0303"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, October 30, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I have now left Blackheath, till the next summer, if I + live till then; and am just able to write, which is all I can say, for I + am extremely weak, and have in a great measure lost the use of my legs; I + hope they will recover both flesh and strength, for at present they have + neither. I go to the Bath next week, in hopes of half repairs at most; for + those waters, I am sure, will not prove Medea’s kettle, nor ‘les eaux de + Jouvence’ to me; however, I shall do as good courtiers do, and get what I + can, if I cannot get what I will. I send you no politics, for here are + neither politics nor ministers; Lord Chatham is quiet at Pynsent, in + Somersetshire, and his former subalterns do nothing, so that nothing is + done. Whatever places or preferments are disposed of, come evidently from + Lord———-, who affects to be invisible; and who, like a + woodcock, thinks that if his head is but hid, he is not seen at all. + </p> + <p> + General Pulteney is at last dead, last week, worth above thirteen hundred + thousand pounds. He has left all his landed estate, which is eight and + twenty thousand pounds a-year, including the Bradford estate, which his + brother had from that ancient family, to a cousin-german. He has left two + hundred thousand pounds, in the funds, to Lord Darlington, who was his + next nearest relation; and at least twenty thousand pounds in various + legacies. If riches alone could make people happy, the last two + proprietors of this immense wealth ought to have been so, but they never + were. + </p> + <p> + God bless you, and send you good health, which is better than all the + riches of the world! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0304" id="link2H_4_0304"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, November 3, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Your last letter brought me but a scurvy account of your + health. For the headaches you complain of, I will venture to prescribe a + remedy, which, by experience, I found a specific, when I was extremely + plagued with them. It is either to chew ten grains of rhubarb every night + going to bed: or, what I think rather better, to take, immediately before + dinner, a couple of rhubarb pills, of five grains each; by which means it + mixes with the aliments, and will, by degrees, keep your body gently open. + I do it to this day, and find great good by it. As you seem to dread the + approach of a German winter, I would advise you to write to General + Conway, for leave of absence for the three rigorous winter months, which I + dare say will not be refused. If you choose a worse climate, you may come + to London; but if you choose a better and a warmer, you may go to Nice en + Provence, where Sir William Stanhope is gone to pass his winter, who, I am + sure, will be extremely glad of your company there. + </p> + <p> + I go to the Bath next Saturday. ‘Utinam de frustra’. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0305" id="link2H_4_0305"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, September 19, 1767. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Yesterday I received your letter of the 29th past, and am + very glad to find that you are well enough to think that you may perhaps + stand the winter at Dresden; but if you do, pray take care to keep both + your body and your limbs exceedingly warm. + </p> + <p> + As to my own health, it is, in general, as good as I could expect it, at + my age; I have a good stomach, a good digestion, and sleep well; but find + that I shall never recover the free use of my legs, which are now full as + weak as when I first came hither. + </p> + <p> + You ask me questions concerning Lord C———, which neither + I, nor, I believe, anybody but himself can answer; however, I will tell + you all that I do know, and all that I guess, concerning him. This time + twelvemonth he was here, and in good health and spirits, except now and + then some little twinges of the gout. We saw one another four or five + times, at our respective houses; but for these last eight months, he has + been absolutely invisible to his most intimate friends, ‘les sous + Ministres’: he would receive no letters, nor so much as open any packet + about business. + </p> + <p> + His physician, Dr.——-, as I am told, had, very ignorantly, + checked a coming fit of the gout, and scattered it about his body; and it + fell particularly upon his nerves, so that he continues exceedingly + vaporish; and would neither see nor speak to anybody while he was here. I + sent him my compliments, and asked leave to wait upon him; but he sent me + word that he was too ill to see anybody whatsoever. I met him frequently + taking the air in his post-chaise, and he looked very well. He set out + from hence for London last Tuesday; but what to do, whether to resume, or + finally to resign the Administration, God knows; conjectures are various. + In one of our conversations here, this time twelvemonth, I desired him to + secure you a seat in the new parliament; he assured me that he would, and, + I am convinced, very sincerely; he said even that he would make it his own + affair; and desired that I would give myself no more trouble about it. + Since that, I have heard no more of it; which made me look out for some + venal borough and I spoke to a borough-jobber, and offered five-and-twenty + hundred pounds for a secure seat in parliament; but he laughed at my + offer, and said that there was no such thing as a borough to be had now, + for that the rich East and West Indians had secured them all, at the rate + of three thousand pounds at least; but many at four thousand, and two or + three that he knew, at five thousand. This, I confess, has vexed me a good + deal; and made me the more impatient to know whether Lord C—-had + done anything in it; which I shall know when I go to town, as I propose to + do in about a fortnight; and as soon as I know it you shall. To tell you + truly what I think—I doubt, from all this NERVOUS DISORDER that Lord + C——-is hors de combat, as a Minister; but do not ever hint + this to anybody. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0306" id="link2H_4_0306"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CC + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, December 27, 1767. ‘En nova progenies’! + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The outlines of a new Ministry are now declared, but they + are not yet quite filled up; it was formed by the Duke of Bedford. Lord + Gower is made President of the Council, Lord Sandwich, Postmaster, Lord + Hillsborough, Secretary of State for America only, Mr. Rigby, + Vice-treasurer of Ireland. General Canway is to keep the seals a fortnight + longer, and then to surrender them to Lord Weymouth. It is very uncertain + whether the Duke of Grafton is to continue at the head of the Treasury or + not; but, in my private opinion, George Grenville will very soon be there. + Lord Chatham seems to be out of the question, and is at his repurchased + house at Hayes, where he will not see a mortal. It is yet uncertain + whether Lord Shelburne is to keep his place; if not, Lord Sandwich they + say is to succeed him. All the Rockingham people are absolutely excluded. + Many more changes must necessarily be, but no more are yet declared. It + seems to be a resolution taken by somebody that Ministers are to be + annual. + </p> + <p> + Sir George Macartney is next week to be married to Lady Jane Stuart, Lord + Bute’s second daughter. + </p> + <p> + I never knew it so cold in my life as it is now, and with a very deep + snow; by which, if it continues, I may be snow-bound here for God knows + how long, though I proposed leaving this place the latter end of the week. + </p> + <p> + Poor Harte is very ill here; he mentions you often, and with great + affection. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + When I know more you shall. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0307" id="link2H_4_0307"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCVI + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, January 29, 1768. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: Two days ago I received your letter of the 8th. I wish you + had gone a month or six weeks sooner to Basle, that you might have escaped + the excessive cold of the most severe winter that I believe was ever + known. It congealed both my body and my mind, and scarcely left me the + power of thinking. A great many here, both in town and country, have + perished by the frost, and been lost in the snow. + </p> + <p> + You have heard, no doubt, of the changes at Court, by which you have got a + new provincial, Lord Weymouth; who has certainly good parts, and, as I am + informed, speaks very well in the House of Lords; but I believe he has no + application. Lord Chatham is at his house at Hayes; but sees no mortal. + Some say that he has a fit of the gout, which would probably do him good; + but many think that his worst complaint is in his head, which I am afraid + is too true. Were he well, I am sure he would realize the promise he made + me concerning you; but, however, in that uncertainty, I am looking out for + any chance borough; and if I can find one, I promise you I will bid like a + chapman for it, as I should be very sorry that you were not in the next + parliament. I do not see any probability of any vacancy in a foreign + commission in a better climate; Mr. Hamilton at Naples, Sir Horace Mann at + Florence, and George Pitt at Turin, do not seem likely to make one. And as + for changing your foreign department for a domestic one, it would not be + in my power to procure you one; and you would become ‘d’eveque munier’, + and gain nothing in point of climate, by changing a bad one for another + full as bad, if not worse; and a worse I believe is not than ours. I have + always had better health abroad than at home; and if the tattered remnant + of my wretched life were worth my care, I would have been in the south of + France long ago. I continue very lame and weak, and despair of ever + recovering any strength in my legs. I care very little about it. At my age + every man must have his share of physical ills of one kind or another; and + mine, thank God, are not very painful. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0308" id="link2H_4_0308"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCVII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 12, 1768. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: The day after I received your letter of the 21st past, I + wrote to Lord Weymouth, as you desired; and I send you his answer + inclosed, from which (though I have not heard from him since) I take it + for granted, and so may you, that his silence signifies his Majesty’s + consent to your request. Your complicated complaints give me great + uneasiness, and the more, as I am convinced that the Montpellier + physicians have mistaken a material part of your case; as indeed all the + physicians here did, except Dr. Maty. In my opinion, you have no gout, but + a very scorbutic and rheumatic habit of body, which should be treated in a + very different manner from the gout; and, as I pretend to be a very good + quack at least, I would prescribe to you a strict milk diet, with the + seeds, such as rice, sago, barley, millet, etc., for the three summer + months at least, and without ever tasting wine. If climate signifies + anything (in which, by the way, I have very little faith), you are, in my + mind, in the finest climate in the world; neither too hot nor too cold, + and always clear; you are with the gayest people living; be gay with them, + and do not wear out your eyes with reading at home. ‘L’ennui’ is the + English distemper: and a very bad one it is, as I find by every day’s + experience; for my deafness deprives me of the only rational pleasure that + I can have at my age, which is society; so that I read my eyes out every + day, that I may not hang myself. + </p> + <p> + You will not be in this parliament, at least not at the beginning of it. I + relied too much upon Lord C——-’s promise above a year ago at + Bath. He desired that I would leave it to him; that he would make it his + own affair, and give it in charge to the Duke of G——, whose + province it was to make the parliamentary arrangement. This I depended + upon, and I think with reason; but, since that, Lord C has neither seen + nor spoken to anybody, and has been in the oddest way in the world. I have + sent to the D——-of G———, to know if L——-C——had + either spoken or sent to him about it; but he assured me that he had done + neither; that all was full, or rather running over, at present; but that, + if he could crowd you in upon a vacancy, he would do it with great + pleasure. I am extremely sorry for this accident; for I am of a very + different opinion from you, about being in parliament, as no man can be of + consequence in this country, who is not in it; and, though one may not + speak like a Lord Mansfield or a Lord Chatham, one may make a very good + figure in a second rank. ‘Locus est et pluribus umbris’. I do not pretend + to give you any account of the present state of this country, or Ministry, + not knowing nor guessing it myself. + </p> + <p> + God bless you, and send you health, which is the first and greatest of all + blessings! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0309" id="link2H_4_0309"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCVIII + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 15, 1768. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: This letter is supplemental to my last. This morning Lord + Weymouth very civilly sent Mr. Wood, his first ‘commis’, to tell me that + the King very willingly gave you leave of absence from your post for a + year, for the recovery of your health; but then added, that as the Court + of Vienna was tampering with that of Saxony, which it seems our Court is + desirous to ‘contrequarrer’, it might be necessary to have in the interim + a ‘Charge d’Affaires’ at Dresden, with a defalcation out of your + appointments of forty shillings a-day, till your return, if I would agree + to it. I told him that I consented to both the proposals, upon condition + that at your return you should have the character and the pay of + Plenipotentiary added to your present character and pay; and that I would + completely make up to you the defalcation of the forty shillings a-day. He + positively engaged for it: and added, that he knew that it would be + willingly agreed to. Thus I think I have made a good bargain for you, + though but an indifferent one for myself: but that is what I never minded + in my life. You may, therefore, depend upon receiving from me the full of + this defalcation, when and how you please, independently of your usual + annual refreshment, which I will pay to Monsieur Larpent, whenever you + desire it. In the meantime, ‘Cura ut valeas’. + </p> + <p> + The person whom Mr. Wood intimated to me would be the ‘Charge d’Affaires’ + during your absence, is one Mr. Keith, the son of that Mr. Keith who was + formerly Minister in Russia. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0310" id="link2H_4_0310"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCIX + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 12, 1768. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND: I received, yesterday, your letter of the 1st; in which + you do not mention the state of your health, which I desire you will do + for the future. + </p> + <p> + I believe you have guessed the true reason of Mr. Keith’s mission; but by + a whisper that I have since heard, Keith is rather inclined to go to + Turin, as ‘Charge d’Affaires’. I forgot to tell you, in my last, that I + was almost positively assured that the instant you return to Dresden, + Keith should decamp. I am persuaded that they will keep their words with + me, as there is no one reason in the world why they should not. I will + send your annual to Mr. Larpent, in a fortnight, and pay the forty + shillings a-day quarterly, if there should be occasion; for, in my own + private opinion, there will be no ‘Charge d’Affaires’ sent. I agree with + you, that ‘point d’argent, point d’Allemand’, as was used to be said, and + not without more reason, of the Swiss; but, as we have neither the + inclination nor I fear the power to give subsidies, the Court of Vienna + can give good things that cost them nothing, as archbishoprics, + bishoprics, besides corrupting their ministers and favorite with places. + </p> + <p> + Elections here have been carried to a degree of frenzy hitherto unheard + of; that for the town of Northampton has cost the contending parties at + least thirty thousand pounds a side, and——————-has + sold his borough of————-, to two members, for nine + thousand pounds. As soon as Wilkes had lost his election for the city, he + set up for the county of Middlesex, and carried it hollow, as the jockeys + say. Here were great mobs and riots upon that occasion, and most of the + windows in town broke, that had no lights for WILKES AND LIBERTY, who were + thought to be inseparable. He will appear, the 10th of this month, in the + Court of King’s Bench, to receive his sentence; and then great riots are + again expected, and probably will happen. God bless you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0311" id="link2H_4_0311"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 17, 1768. + </h3> + <p> + MY DEAR FRIEND. Your last two letters, to myself and Grevenkop, have + alarmed me extremely; but I comfort myself a little, by hoping that you, + like all people who suffer, think yourself worse than you are. A dropsy + never comes so suddenly; and I flatter myself, that it is only that gouty + or rheumatic humor, which has plagued you so long, that has occasioned the + temporary swelling of your legs. Above forty years ago, after a violent + fever, my legs swelled as much as you describe yours to be; I immediately + thought that I had a dropsy; but the Faculty assured me, that my complaint + was only the effect of my fever, and would soon be cured; and they said + true. Pray let your amanuensis, whoever he may be, write an account + regularly once a-week, either to Grevenkop or myself, for that is the same + thing, of the state of your health. + </p> + <p> + I sent you, in four successive letters, as much of the Duchess of + Somerset’s snuff as a letter could well convey to you. Have you received + all or any of them? and have they done you any good? Though, in your + present condition, you cannot go into company, I hope that you have some + acquaintances that come and sit with you; for if originally it was not + good for man to be alone, it is much worse for a sick man to be so; he + thinks too much of his distemper, and magnifies it. Some men of learning + among the ecclesiastics, I dare say, would be glad to sit with you; and + you could give them as good as they brought. + </p> + <p> + Poor Harte, who is here still, is in a most miserable condition: he has + entirely lost the use of his left side, and can hardly speak intelligibly. + I was with him yesterday. He inquired after you with great affection, and + was in the utmost concern when I showed him your letter. + </p> + <p> + My own health is as it has been ever since I was here last year. I am + neither well nor ill, but UNWELL. I have in a manner lost the use of my + legs; for though I can make a shift to crawl upon even ground for a + quarter of an hour, I cannot go up or down stairs, unless supported by a + servant. God bless you and grant you a speedy recovery! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + NOTE.—This is the last of the letters of Lord Chesterfield to his + son, Mr. Philip Stanhope, who died in November, 1768. The + unexpected and distressing intelligence was announced by the lady to + whom Mr. Stanhope had been married for several years, unknown to his + father. On learning that the widow had two sons, the issue of this + marriage, Lord Chesterfield took upon himself the maintenance of his + grandchildren. The letters which follow show how happily the writer + adapted himself to the trying situation. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0312" id="link2H_4_0312"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXI + </h2> + <h3> + TO MRS. STANHOPE, THEN AT PARIS + </h3> + <p> + LONDON, March 16, 1769. + </p> + <p> + MADAM: A troublesome and painful inflammation in my eyes obliges me to use + another hand than my own to acknowledge the receipt of your letter from + Avignon, of the 27th past. + </p> + <p> + I am extremely surprised that Mrs. du Bouchet should have any objection to + the manner in which your late husband desired to be buried, and which you, + very properly, complied with. All I desire for my own burial is not to be + buried alive; but how or where, I think must be entirely indifferent to + every rational creature. + </p> + <p> + I have no commission to trouble you with, during your stay at Paris; from + whence, I wish you and the boys a good journey home, where I shall be very + glad to see you all; and assure you of my being, with great truth, your + faithful, humble servant, CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0313" id="link2H_4_0313"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXII + </h2> + <h3> + TO THE SAME, AT LONDON + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: The last time that I had the pleasure of seeing you, I was so taken + up in playing with the boys that I forgot their more important affairs. + How soon would you have them placed at school? When I know your pleasure + as to that, I will send to Monsieur Perny, to prepare everything for their + reception. In the meantime, I beg that you will equip them thoroughly with + clothes, linen, etc., all good, but plain; and give me the account, which + I will pay; for I do not intend that, from, this time forward the two boys + should cost you one shilling. I am, with great truth, Madam, your + faithful, humble servant, CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0314" id="link2H_4_0314"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXIII + </h2> + <p> + MADAM: As some day must be fixed for sending the boys to school, do you + approve of the 8th of next month? By which time the weather will probably + be warm and settled, and you will be able to equip them completely. + </p> + <p> + I will upon that day send my coach to you, to carry you and the boys to + Loughborough House, with all their immense baggage. I must recommend to + you, when you leave them there, to suppress, as well as you can, the + overgrowings of maternal tenderness; which would grieve the poor boys the + more, and give them a terror of their new establishment. I am, with great + truth, Madam, your faithful, humble servant, CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0315" id="link2H_4_0315"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXIV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 11, 1769. + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: Nobody can be more willing and ready to obey orders than I am; but + then I must like the orders and the orderer. Your orders and yourself come + under this description; and therefore I must give you an account of my + arrival and existence, such as it is, here. I got hither last Sunday, the + day after I left London, less fatigued than I expected to have been; and + now crawl about this place upon my three legs, but am kept in countenance + by many of my fellow-crawlers; the last part of the Sphinx’s riddle + approaches, and I shall soon end, as I began, upon all fours. + </p> + <p> + When you happen to see either Monsieur or Madame Perny, I beg you will + give them this melancholic proof of my caducity, and tell them that the + last time I went to see the boys, I carried the Michaelmas quarterage in + my pocket; and when I was there I totally forgot it; but assure them, that + I have not the least intention to bilk them, and will pay them faithfully + the two quarters together, at Christmas. + </p> + <p> + I hope our two boys are well, for then I am sure you are so. I am, with + great truth and esteem, your most faithful, humble servant, CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0316" id="link2H_4_0316"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXV + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 28, 1769. + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: Your kind anxiety for my health and life is more than, in my + opinion, they are both worth; without the former the latter is a burden; + and, indeed, I am very weary of it. I think I have got some benefit by + drinking these waters, and by bathing, for my old stiff, rheumatic limbs; + for, I believe, I could now outcrawl a snail, or perhaps even a tortoise. + </p> + <p> + I hope the boys are well. Phil, I dare say, has been in some scrapes; but + he will get triumphantly out of them, by dint of strength and resolution. + I am, with great truth and esteem, your most faithful, humble servant, + CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0317" id="link2H_4_0317"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXVI + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 5, 1769. + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: I remember very well the paragraph which you quote from a letter of + mine to Mrs. du Bouchet, and see no reason yet to retract that opinion, in + general, which at least nineteen widows in twenty had authorized. I had + not then the pleasure of your acquaintance: I had seen you but twice or + thrice; and I had no reason to think that you would deviate, as you have + done, from other widows, so much as to put perpetual shackles upon + yourself, for the sake of your children. But (if I may use a vulgarism) + one swallow makes no summer: five righteous were formerly necessary to + save a city, and they could not be found; so, till I find four more such + righteous widows as yourself, I shall entertain my former notions of + widowhood in general. + </p> + <p> + I can assure you that I drink here very soberly and cautiously, and at the + same time keep so cool a diet that I do not find the least symptom of + heat, much less of inflammation. By the way, I never had that complaint, + in consequence of having drank these waters; for I have had it but four + times, and always in the middle of summer. Mr. Hawkins is timorous, even + to minutia, and my sister delights in them. + </p> + <p> + Charles will be a scholar, if you please; but our little Philip, without + being one, will be something or other as good, though I do not yet guess + what. I am not of the opinion generally entertained in this country, that + man lives by Greek and Latin alone; that is, by knowing a great many words + of two dead languages, which nobody living knows perfectly, and which are + of no use in the common intercourse of life. Useful knowledge in my + opinion consists of modern languages, history, and geography; some Latin + may be thrown into the bargain, in compliance with custom, and for closet + amusement. + </p> + <p> + You are, by this time, certainly tired with this long letter, which I + could prove to you from Horace’s own words (for I am a scholar) to be a + bad one; he says, that water-drinkers can write nothing good: so I am, + with real truth and esteem, your most faithful, humble servant, + CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0318" id="link2H_4_0318"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXVII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 9, 1770. + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: I am extremely obliged to you for the kind part which you take in + my health and life: as to the latter, I am as indifferent myself as any + other body can be; but as to the former, I confess care and anxiety, for + while I am to crawl upon this planet, I would willingly enjoy the health + at least of an insect. How far these waters will restore me to that, + moderate degree of health, which alone I aspire at, I have not yet given + them a fair trial, having drank them but one week; the only difference I + hitherto find is, that I sleep better than I did. + </p> + <p> + I beg that you will neither give yourself, nor Mr. Fitzhugh, much trouble + about the pine plants; for as it is three years before they fruit, I might + as well, at my age, plant oaks, and hope to have the advantage of their + timber: however, somebody or other, God knows who, will eat them, as + somebody or other will fell and sell the oaks I planted five-and-forty + years ago. + </p> + <p> + I hope our boys are well; my respects to them both. I am, with the + greatest truth, your faithful and humble servant, CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0319" id="link2H_4_0319"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXVIII + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, November 4,1770 + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: The post has been more favorable to you than I intended it should, + for, upon my word, I answered your former letter the post after I had + received it. However you have got a loss, as we say sometimes in Ireland. + </p> + <p> + My friends from time to time require bills of health from me in these + suspicious times, when the plague is busy in some parts of Europe. All I + can say, in answer to their kind inquiries, is, that I have not the + distemper properly called the plague; but that I have all the plague of + old age and of a shattered carcass. These waters have done me what little + good I expected from them; though by no means what I could have wished, + for I wished them to be ‘les eaux de Jouvence’. + </p> + <p> + I had a letter, the other day, from our two boys; Charles’ was very finely + written, and Philip’s very prettily: they are perfectly well, and say that + they want nothing. What grown-up people will or can say as much? I am, + with the truest esteem, Madam, your most faithful servant. CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0320" id="link2H_4_0320"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXIX + </h2> + <h3> + BATH, October 27,1771. + </h3> + <p> + MADAM: Upon my word, you interest yourself in the state of my existence + more than I do myself; for it is worth the care of neither of us. I + ordered my valet de chambre, according to your orders, to inform you of my + safe arrival here; to which I can add nothing, being neither better nor + worse than I was then. + </p> + <p> + I am very glad that our boys are well. Pray give them the inclosed. + </p> + <p> + I am not at all surprised at Mr.———‘s conversion, for he + was, at seventeen, the idol of old women, for his gravity, devotion, and + dullness. I am, Madam, your most faithful, humble servant, CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0321" id="link2H_4_0321"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER CCCXX + </h2> + <h3> + TO CHARLES AND PHILIP STANHOPE + </h3> + <p> + I RECEIVED a few days ago two the best written letters that ever I saw in + my life; the one signed Charles Stanhope, the other Philip Stanhope. As + for you Charles, I did not wonder at it; for you will take pains, and are + a lover of letters; but you, idle rogue, you Phil, how came you to write + so well that one can almost say of you two, ‘et cantare pores et respondre + parati’! Charles will explain this Latin to you. + </p> + <p> + I am told, Phil, that you have got a nickname at school, from your + intimacy with Master Strangeways; and that they call you Master + Strangeways; for to be rude, you are a strange boy. Is this true? + </p> + <p> + Tell me what you would have me bring you both from hence, and I will bring + it you, when I come to town. In the meantime, God bless you both! + </p> + <p> + CHESTERFIELD. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + PG EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: + + A little learning is a dangerous thing + A joker is near akin to a buffoon + A favor may make an enemy, and an injury may make a friend + Ablest man will sometimes do weak things + Above all things, avoid speaking of yourself + Above the frivolous as below the important and the secret + Above trifles, he is never vehement and eager about them + Absolute command of your temper + Abstain from learned ostentation + Absurd term of genteel and fashionable vices + Absurd romances of the two last centuries + According as their interest prompts them to wish + Acquainted with books, and an absolute stranger to men + Advice is seldom welcome + Advise those who do not speak elegantly, not to speak + Advocate, the friend, but not the bully of virtue + Affectation of singularity or superiority + Affectation in dress + Affectation of business + All have senses to be gratified + Always made the best of the best, and never made bad worse + Always does more than he says + Always some favorite word for the time being + Always look people in the face when you speak to them + Am still unwell; I cannot help it! + American Colonies + Ancients and Moderns + Anxiety for my health and life + Applauded often, without approving + Apt to make them think themselves more necessary than they are + Argumentative, polemical conversations + Arrogant pedant + Art of pleasing is the most necessary + As willing and as apt to be pleased as anybody + Ascribing the greatest actions to the most trifling causes + Assenting, but without being servile and abject + Assertion instead of argument + Assign the deepest motives for the most trifling actions + Assurance and intrepidity + At the first impulse of passion, be silent till you can be soft + Attacked by ridicule, and, punished with contempt + Attend to the objects of your expenses, but not to the sums + Attention to the inside of books + Attention and civility please all + Attention + Author is obscure and difficult in his own language + Authority + Avoid cacophony, and, what is very near as bad, monotony + Avoid singularity + Awkward address, ungraceful attitudes and actions + Be neither transported nor depressed by the accidents of life + Be silent till you can be soft + Being in the power of every man to hurt him + Being intelligible is now no longer the fashion + Better not to seem to understand, than to reply + Better refuse a favor gracefully, than to grant it clumsily + Blindness of the understanding is as much to be pitied + Bold, but with great seeming modesty + Boroughjobber + Business must be well, not affectedly dressed + Business now is to shine, not to weigh + Business by no means forbids pleasures + BUT OF THIS EVERY MAN WILL BELIEVE AS HE THINKS PROPER + Can hardly be said to see what they see + Cannot understand them, or will not desire to understand them + Cardinal Mazarin + Cardinal Richelieu + Cardinal de Retz + Cardinal Virtues, by first degrading them into weaknesses + Cautious how we draw inferences + Cease to love when you cease to be agreeable + Chameleon, be able to take every different hue + Characters, that never existed, are insipidly displayed + Cheerful in the countenance, but without laughing + Chitchat, useful to keep off improper and too serious subjects + Choose your pleasures for yourself + Civility, which is a disposition to accommodate and oblige others + Clamorers triumph + Close, without being costive + Command of our temper, and of our countenance + Commanding with dignity, you must serve up to it with diligence + Committing acts of hostility upon the Graces + Common sense (which, in truth, very uncommon) + Commonplace observations + Company is, in truth, a constant state of negotiation + Complaisance + Complaisance to every or anybody’s opinion + Complaisance due to the custom of the place + Complaisant indulgence for people’s weaknesses + Conceal all your learning carefully + Concealed what learning I had + Conjectures pass upon us for truths + Conjectures supply the defect of unattainable knowledge + Connections + Connive at knaves, and tolerate fools + Consciousness of merit makes a man of sense more modest + Consciousness and an honest pride of doing well + Consider things in the worst light, to show your skill + Contempt + Contempt + Contempt + Content yourself with mediocrity in nothing + Conversationstock being a joint and common property + Conversation will help you almost as much as books + Converse with his inferiors without insolence + Dance to those who pipe + Darkness visible + Decides peremptorily upon every subject + Deep learning is generally tainted with pedantry + Deepest learning, without goodbreeding, is unwelcome + Defended by arms, adorned by manners, and improved by laws + Deserve a little, and you shall have but a little + Desire to please, and that is the main point + Desirous of praise from the praiseworthy + Desirous to make you their friend + Desirous of pleasing + Despairs of ever being able to pay + Dexterity enough to conceal a truth without telling a lie + Dictate to them while you seem to be directed by them + Difference in everything between system and practice + Difficulties seem to them, impossibilities + Dignity to be kept up in pleasures, as well as in business + Disagreeable to seem reserved, and very dangerous not to be so + Disagreeable things may be done so agreeably as almost to oblige + Disputes with heat + Dissimulation is only to hide our own cards + Distinction between simulation and dissimulation + Distinguish between the useful and the curious + Do as you would be done by + Do not become a virtuoso of small wares + Do what you are about + Do what you will but do something all day long + Do as you would be done by + Do not mistake the tinsel of Tasso for the gold of Virgil + Does not give it you, but he inflicts it upon you + Doing, ‘de bonne grace’, what you could not help doing + Doing what may deserve to be written + Doing nothing, and might just as well be asleep + Doing anything that will deserve to be written + Done under concern and embarrassment, must be ill done + Dress like the reasonable people of your own age + Dress well, and not too well + Dressed as the generality of people of fashion are + Ears to hear, but not sense enough to judge + Easy without negligence + Easy without too much familiarity + Economist of your time + Either do not think, or do not love to think + Elegance in one language will reproduce itself in all + Employ your whole time, which few people do + Endeavor to hear, and know all opinions + Endeavors to please and oblige our fellowcreatures + Enemies as if they may one day become one’s friends + Enjoy all those advantages + Equally forbid insolent contempt, or low envy and jealousy + ERE TITTERING YOUTH SHALL SHOVE YOU FROM THE STAGE + Establishing a character of integrity and good manners + Even where you are sure, seem rather doubtful + Every numerous assembly is MOB + Every virtue, has its kindred vice or weakness + Every man knows that he understands religion and politics + Every numerous assembly is a mob + Every man pretends to common sense + EVERY DAY IS STILL BUT AS THE FIRST + Everybody is good for something + Everything has a better and a worse side + Exalt the gentle in woman and man__above the merely genteel + Expresses himself with more fire than elegance + Extremely weary of this silly world + Eyes and the ears are the only roads to the heart + Eyes and ears open and mouth mostly shut + Feed him, and feed upon him at the same time + Few things which people in general know less, than how to love + Few people know how to love, or how to hate + Few dare dissent from an established opinion + Fiddlefaddle stories, that carry no information along with them + Fit to live__or not live at all + Flattering people behind their backs + Flattery of women + Flattery + Flexibility of manners is necessary in the course of the world + Fools, who can never be undeceived + Fools never perceive where they are illtimed + Forge accusations against themselves + Forgive, but not approve, the bad. + Fortune stoops to the forward and the bold + Frank without indiscretion + Frank, but without indiscretion + Frank, open, and ingenuous exterior, with a prudent interior + Frequently make friends of enemies, and enemies of friends + Friendship upon very slight acquaintance + Frivolous, idle people, whose time hangs upon their own hands + Frivolous curiosity about trifles + Frivolous and superficial pertness + Fullbottomed wigs were contrived for his humpback + Gain the heart, or you gain nothing + Gain the affections as well as the esteem + Gainer by your misfortune + General conclusions from certain particular principles + Generosity often runs into profusion + Genteel without affectation + Gentlemen, who take such a fancy to you at first sight + Gentleness of manners, with firmness of mind + Geography and history are very imperfect separately + German, who has taken into his head that he understands French + Go to the bottom of things + Good manners + Good reasons alleged are seldom the true ones + Good manners are the settled medium of social life + Good company + Goodbreeding + Graces: Without us, all labor is vain + Gratitude not being universal, nor even common + Grave without the affectation of wisdom + Great learning; which, if not accompanied with sound judgment + Great numbers of people met together, animate each other + Greatest fools are the greatest liars + Grow wiser when it is too late + Guard against those who make the most court to you + Habit and prejudice + Habitual eloquence + Half done or half known + Hardened to the wants and distresses of mankind + Hardly any body good for every thing + Haste and hurry are very different things + Have no pleasures but your own + Have a will and an opinion of your own, and adhere to it + Have I employed my time, or have I squandered it? + Have but one set of jokes to live upon + Have you learned to carve? + He that is gentil doeth gentil deeds + He will find it out of himself without your endeavors + Heart has such an influence over the understanding + Helps only, not as guides + Herd of mankind can hardly be said to think + Historians + Holiday eloquence + Home, be it ever so homely + Honest error is to be pitied, not ridiculed + Honestest man loves himself best + Horace + How troublesome an old correspondent must be to a young one + How much you have to do; and how little time to do it in + Human nature is always the same + Hurt those they love by a mistaken indulgence + I hope, I wish, I doubt, and fear alternately + I shall never know, though all the coffeehouses here do. + I shall always love you as you shall deserve. + I know myself (no common piece of knowledge, let me tell you) + I CANNOT DO SUCH A THING + I, who am not apt to know anything that I do not know + Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds + If free from the guilt, be free from the suspicion, too + If you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself + If I don’t mind his orders he won’t mind my draughts + If you will persuade, you must first please + If once we quarrel, I will never forgive + Ignorant of their natural rights, cherished their chains + Impertinent insult upon custom and fashion + Improve yourself with the old, divert yourself with the young + Inaction at your age is unpardonable + Inattention + Inattentive, absent; and distrait + Inclined to be fat, but I hope you will decline it + Incontinency of friendship among young fellows + Indiscriminate familiarity + Indiscriminately loading their memories with every part alike + Indolence + Indolently say that they cannot do + Infallibly to be gained by every sort of flattery + Information is, in a certain degree, mortifying + Information implies our previous ignorance; it must be sweetened + Injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult + Inquisition + Insinuates himself only into the esteem of fools + Insipid in his pleasures, as inefficient in everything else + Insist upon your neither piping nor fiddling yourself + Insolent civility + INTOLERATION in religious, and inhospitality in civil matters + Intrinsic, and not their imaginary value + It is a real inconvenience to anybody to be fat + It is not sufficient to deserve well; one must please well too + Jealous of being slighted + Jog on like man and wife; that is, seldom agreeing + Judge of every man’s truth by his degree of understanding + Judge them all by their merits, but not by their ages + Judges from the appearances of things, and not from the reality + Keep your own temper and artfully warm other people’s + Keep good company, and company above yourself + Kick him upstairs + King’s popularity is a better guard than their army + Know their real value, and how much they are generally overrated + Know the true value of time + Know, yourself and others + Knowing how much you have, and how little you want + Knowing any language imperfectly + Knowledge is like power in this respect + Knowledge: either despise it, or think that they have enough + Knowledge of a scholar with the manners of a courtier + Known people pretend to vices they had not + Knows what things are little, and what not + Labor is the unavoidable fatigue of a necessary journey + Labor more to put them in conceit with themselves + Last beautiful varnish, which raises the colors + Laughing, I must particularly warn you against it + Lay down a method for everything, and stick to it inviolably + Lazy mind, and the trifling, frivolous mind + Learn to keep your own secrets + Learn, if you can, the WHY and the WHEREFORE + Leave the company, at least as soon as he is wished out of it + Led, much oftener by little things than by great ones + Less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in + Let me see more of you in your letters + Let them quietly enjoy their errors in taste + Let nobody discover that you do know your own value + Let nothing pass till you understand it + Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote + Life of ignorance is not only a very contemptible, but tiresome + Listlessness and indolence are always blameable + Little minds mistake little objects for great ones + Little failings and weaknesses + Loud laughter is the mirth of the mob + Love with him, who they think is the most in love with them + Loved without being despised, and feared without being hated + Low company, most falsely and impudently, call pleasure + Low buffoonery, or silly accidents, that always excite laughter + Luther’s disappointed avarice + Machiavel + Made him believe that the world was made for him + Make a great difference between companions and friends + Make himself whatever he pleases, except a good poet + Make yourself necessary + Make every man I met with like me, and every woman love me + Man is dishonored by not resenting an affront + Man or woman cannot resist an engaging exterior + Man of sense may be in haste, but can never be in a hurry + Man who is only good on holydays is good for very little + Mangles what he means to carve + Manner is full as important as the matter + Manner of doing things is often more important + Manners must adorn knowledge + Many things which seem extremely probable are not true + Many are very willing, and very few able + Mastery of one’s temper + May you live as long as you are fit to live, but no longer! + May you rather die before you cease to be fit to live + May not forget with ease what you have with difficulty learned + Mazarin and Lewis the Fourteenth riveted the shackles + Meditation and reflection + Mere reason and good sense is never to be talked to a mob + Merit and goodbreeding will make their way everywhere + Method + Mistimes or misplaces everything + Mitigating, engaging words do by no means weaken your argument + MOB: Understanding they have collectively none + Moderation with your enemies + Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise + Money, the cause of much mischief + More people have ears to be tickled, than understandings to judge + More one sees, the less one either wonders or admires + More you know, the modester you should be + More one works, the more willing one is to work + Mortifying inferiority in knowledge, rank, fortune + Most people enjoy the inferiority of their best friends + Most long talkers single out some one unfortunate man in company + Most ignorant are, as usual, the boldest conjecturers + Most people have ears, but few have judgment; tickle those ears + Much sooner forgive an injustice than an insult + My own health varies, as usual, but never deviates into good + Mystical nonsense + Name that we leave behind at one place often gets before us + National honor and interest have been sacrificed to private + Necessity of scrupulously preserving the appearances + Neglect them in little things, they will leave you in great + Negligence of it implies an indifference about pleasing + Neither know nor care, (when I die) for I am very weary + Neither abilities or words enough to call a coach + Neither retail nor receive scandal willingly + Never would know anything that he had not a mind to know + Never read history without having maps + Never affect the character in which you have a mind to shine + Never implicitly adopt a character upon common fame + Never seek for wit; if it presents itself, well and good + Never to speak of yourself at all + Never slattern away one minute in idleness + Never quit a subject till you are thoroughly master of it + Never maintain an argument with heat and clamor + Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with + Never saw a froward child mended by whipping + Never to trust implicitly to the informations of others + Nipped in the bud + No great regard for human testimony + No man is distrait with the man he fears, or the woman he loves + No one feels pleasure, who does not at the same time give it + Not tumble, but slide gently to the bottom of the hill of life + Not to communicate, prematurely, one’s hopes or one’s fears + Not only pure, but, like Caesar’s wife, unsuspected + Not make their want still worse by grieving and regretting them + Not making use of any one capital letter + Not to admire anything too much + Not one minute of the day in which you do nothing at all + Notes by which dances are now pricked down as well as tunes + Nothing in courts is exactly as it appears to be + Nothing much worth either desiring or fearing + Nothing so precious as time, and so irrecoverable when lost + Observe, without being thought an observer + Often more necessary to conceal contempt than resentment + Often necessary, not to manifest all one feels + Often necessary to seem ignorant of what one knows + Oftener led by their hearts than by their understandings + Old fellow ought to seem wise whether he really be so or not + One must often yield, in order to prevail + Only doing one thing at a time + Only because she will not, and not because she cannot + Only solid and lasting peace, between a man and his wife + Our understandings are generally the DUPES of our hearts + Our frivolous dissertations upon the weather, or upon whist + Out of livery; which makes them both impertinent and useless + Outward air of modesty to all he does + Overvalue what we do not know + Oysters, are only in season in the R months + Passes for a wit, though he hath certainly no uncommon share + Patience is the only way not to make bad worse + Patient toleration of certain airs of superiority + Pay your own reckoning, but do not treat the whole company + Pay them with compliments, but not with confidence + People never desire all till they have gotten a great deal + People lose a great deal of time by reading + People will repay, and with interest too, inattention + People angling for praise + People hate those who make them feel their own inferiority + Perfection of everything that is worth doing at all + Perseverance has surprising effects + Person to you whom I am very indifferent about, I mean myself + Pettish, pouting conduct is a great deal too young + Petty jury + Plain notions of right and wrong + Planted while young, that degree of knowledge now my refuge + Please all who are worth pleasing; offend none + Pleased to some degree by showing a desire to please + Pleased with him, by making them first pleased with themselves + Pleasing in company is the only way of being pleased in yourself + Pleasure and business with equal inattention + Pleasure is necessarily reciprocal + Pleasure is the rock which most young people split upon + Pleasures do not commonly last so long as life + Pocket all your knowledge with your watch + Polite, but without the troublesome forms and stiffness + POLITICIANS NEITHER LOVE NOR HATE + Prefer useful to frivolous conversations + Prejudices are our mistresses + Pride remembers it forever + Pride of being the first of the company + Prudent reserve + Public speaking + Put out your time, but to good interest + Quarrel with them when they are grown up, for being spoiled + Quietly cherished error, instead of seeking for truth + Read my eyes out every day, that I may not hang myself + Read with caution and distrust + Real merit of any kind will be discovered + Real friendship is a slow grower + Reason ought to direct the whole, but seldom does + Reason, which always ought to direct mankind, seldom does + Receive them with great civility, but with great incredulity + Reciprocally profess wishes which they seldom form + Recommend (pleasure) to you, like an Epicurean + Recommends selfconversation to all authors + Refuge of people who have neither wit nor invention of their own + Refuse more gracefully than other people could grant + Repeating + Represent, but do not pronounce + Reserve with your friends + Respect without timidity + Respectful without meanness, easy without too much familiarity + Return you the ball ‘a la volee’ + Rich man never borrows + Richelieu came and shackled the nation + Rochefoucault, who, I am afraid, paints man very exactly + Rochefoucault + Rough corners which mere nature has given to the smoothest + Ruined their own son by what they called loving him + Same coolness and unconcern in any and every company + Scandal: receiver is always thought, as bad as the thief + Scarce any flattery is too gross for them to swallow + Scarcely any body who is absolutely good for nothing + Scrupled no means to obtain his ends + Secret, without being dark and mysterious + Secrets + See what you see, and to hear what you hear + Seem to like and approve of everything at first + Seeming frankness with a real reserve + Seeming inattention to the person who is speaking to you + Seeming openness is prudent + Seems to have no opinion of his own + Seldom a misfortune to be childless + Selflove draws a thick veil between us and our faults + Sentimentmongers + Sentiments that were never felt, pompously described + Serious without being dull + Settled here for good, as it is called + Shakespeare + She has all the reading that a woman should have + She who conquers only catches a Tartar + She has uncommon, sense and knowledge for a woman + Shepherds and ministers are both men + Silence in love betrays more woe + Singularity is only pardonable in old age + Six, or at most seven hours sleep + Smile, where you cannot strike + Some complaisance and attention to fools is prudent + Some men pass their whole time in doing nothing + Something or other is to be got out of everybody + Something must be said, but that something must be nothing + Sooner forgive an injury than an insult + Sow jealousies among one’s enemies + Spare the persons while you lash the crimes + Speaking to himself in the glass + Stampact has proved a most pernicious measure + Stampduty, which our Colonists absolutely refuse to pay + State your difficulties, whenever you have any + Steady assurance, with seeming modesty + Studied and elaborate dress of the ugliest women in the world + Style is the dress of thoughts + Success turns much more upon manner than matter + Sure guide is, he who has often gone the road which you want to + Suspicion of age, no woman, let her be ever so old, ever forgive + Swearing + Tacitus + Take the hue of the company you are with + Take characters, as they do most things, upon trust + Take, rather than give, the tone of the company you are in + Take nothing for granted, upon the bare authority of the author + Taking up adventitious, proves their want of intrinsic merit + Talent of hating with goodbreeding and loving with prudence + Talk often, but never long + Talk sillily upon a subject of other people’s + Talk of natural affection is talking nonsense + Talking of either your own or other people’s domestic affairs + Tell me whom you live with, and I will tell you who you are + Tell stories very seldom + The longest life is too short for knowledge + The present moments are the only ones we are sure of + The best have something bad, and something little + The worst have something good, and sometimes something great + There are many avenues to every man + They thought I informed, because I pleased them + Thin veil of Modesty drawn before Vanity + Think to atone by zeal for their want of merit and importance + Think yourself less well than you are, in order to be quite so + Thinks himself much worse than he is + Thoroughly, not superficially + Those who remarkably affect any one virtue + Those whom you can make like themselves better + Three passions that often put honesty to most severe trials + Timidity and diffidence + To be heard with success, you must be heard with pleasure + To be pleased one must please + To govern mankind, one must not overrate them + To seem to have forgotten what one remembers + To know people’s real sentiments, I trust much more to my eyes + To great caution, you can join seeming frankness and openness + Too like, and too exact a picture of human nature + Trifle only with triflers; and be serious only with the serious + Trifles that concern you are not trifles to me + Trifling parts, with their little jargon + Trite jokes and loud laughter reduce him to a buffoon + Truth, but not the whole truth, must be the invariable principle + Truth leaves no room for compliments + Unaffected silence upon that subject is the only true medium + Unguarded frankness + Unintelligible to his readers, and sometimes to himself + Unopened, because one title in twenty has been omitted + Unwilling and forced; it will never please + Use palliatives when you contradict + Useful sometimes to see the things which one ought to avoid + Value of moments, when cast up, is immense + Vanity, interest, and absurdity, always display + Vanity, that source of many of our follies + Warm and young thanks, not old and cold ones + Waterdrinkers can write nothing good + We love to be pleased better than to be informed + We have many of those useful prejudices in this country + We shall be feared, if we do not show that we fear + Well dressed, not finely dressed + What pleases you in others, will in general please them in you + What displeases or pleases you in others + What you feel pleases you in them + What have I done today? + What is impossible, and what is only difficult + Whatever pleases you most in others + Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well + Whatever one must do, one should do ‘de bonne grace’ + Whatever real merit you have, other people will discover + When well dressed for the day think no more of it afterward + Where one would gain people, remember that nothing is little + Who takes warning by the fate of others? + Wife, very often heard indeed, but seldom minded + Will not so much as hint at our follies + Will pay very dear for the quarrels and ambition of a few + Wish you, my dear friend, as many happy new years as you deserve + Wit may created any admirers but makes few friends + Witty without satire or commonplace + Woman like her, who has always pleased, and often been pleased + Women are the only refiners of the merit of men + Women choose their favorites more by the ear + Women are all so far Machiavelians + Words are the dress of thoughts + World is taken by the outside of things + Would not tell what she did not know + Wrapped up and absorbed in their abstruse speculations + Writing anything that may deserve to be read + Writing what may deserve to be read + Wrongs are often forgiven; but contempt never is + Yielded commonly without conviction + You must be respectable, if you will be respected + You had much better hold your tongue than them + Young people are very apt to overrate both men and things + Young fellow ought to be wiser than he should seem to be + Young men are as apt to think themselves wise enough + Your merit and your manners can alone raise you + Your character there, whatever it is, will get before you here +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The PG Edition of Chesterfield’s +Letters to His Son, by The Earl of Chesterfield + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO HIS SON *** + +***** This file should be named 3361.htm or 3361.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/6/3361/3361-h/3361-h.htm + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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