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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +Letters to His Son, 1750 + +by The Earl of Chesterfield + + + + + LETTERS TO HIS SON + By the EARL OF CHESTERFIELD + + on the Fine Art of becoming a + + MAN OF THE WORLD + + and a + + GENTLEMAN + + + +LETTER C + +LONDON, January 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CI + +LONDON, January 11, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CII + +LONDON, January 18, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +A distinguished politeness of manners and address; which common sense, +observation, good company, and imitation, will infallibly give you if you +will accept it. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CIII + +LONDON, January 25, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + + 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. + + +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 + + Silence in love betrays more woe + Than words, though ne'er so witty; + The beggar that is dumb, we know, + Deserves a double pity. + +'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'. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CIV + +LONDON, February 5, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I have received no letter yet from you or Mr. Harte. + + + + +LETTER CV + +LONDON, February 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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: + + "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." + +However, the poem, with all its faults about it, may justly be called a +fine one. + +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: + + "Le Donne, i Cavalier, l'arme, gli amori + Le cortesie, l'audaci imprese, io canto." + +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, + + "--- ch'el fior virginal cosi avea salvo, + Come selo porto dal matern' alvo." + +The author adds, very gravely, -- + + "Forse era ver, ma non pero credibile + A chi del senso suo fosse Signore." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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, + + "The English bullion of one sterling line, + Drawn to French wire, would through whole pages shine." + +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. + + + + +LETTER CVI + +LONDON, February 22, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Adieu, my friend! go on and prosper. + +Mr. Grevenkop has just received Mr. Harte's letter of the 19th N. S. + + + + +LETTER CVII + +LONDON, March 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CVIII + +LONDON, March 19, O. S. 1750. + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CIX + +LONDON, March 29, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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'. + + + + +LETTER CX + +LONDON, April 26, O. S. 1756. + +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. + +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'. + +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! + + + + +LETTER CXI + +LONDON, April 30, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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:-- + + "Hunc to Romane caveito." + +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. + +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'. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXII + +LONDON, May 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Remember the GRACES, for without them 'ogni fatica e vana'. Adieu. + + + + +LETTER CXIII + +LONDON, May 17, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXIV + +LONDON, May 24., O. S. 1750 + +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'. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Pray tell me what Italian books you have read, and whether that language +is now become familiar to you. + +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: + + "---------born to be controlled, + Stoop to the forward and the bold." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXV + +LONDON, June 5, O. S. 1750 + +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'. + +'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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXVI + +LONDON, June 11, O. S. 1750 + +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:-- + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"Here it is that honor interferes with everything, mixing even with +people's manner of thinking, and directing their very principles. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXVII + +LONDON, July 9, O. S. 1750. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + +Creditor. By French Debtor. To English + German Enunciation + Italian Manners + Latin + Greek + Logic + Ethics + History + |Naturae + Jus |Gentium + |Publicum + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. S. I send you the inclosed to deliver to Lord Rochford, upon your +arrival at Turin. + + + + +LETTER CXVIII. + +LONDON, August 6, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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!' + + + + +LETTER CXIX + +LONDON, October 22, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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 in-, accuracy 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXX + +LONDON, November 1, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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)-- + + "---------born to be controlled, + Stoops to the forward and the bold." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXXI + +LONDON, November 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. 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. + + + + +LETTER CXXII + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Adieu for this time, my dear child. Yours tenderly. + + + + +LETTER CXXIII + +LONDON, November 12, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. S. Upon reflection, I direct this letter to Paris; I think you must +have left Montpelier before it could arrive there. + + + + +LETTER CXXIV + +LONDON, November 19, O. S. 1750 + +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 Ev6que 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXXV + +LONDON, December 24, 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +I wish you, my dear friend, as many happy new years as you deserve, and +not one more. May you deserve a great number! + + + + +ETEXT EDITORS BOOKMARKS: + + +Absurd romances of the two last centuries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Advocate, the friend, but not the bully of virtue. . . . . . . . . . . +Ariosto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Assurance and intrepidity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Attention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Author is obscure and difficult in his own language. . . . . . . . . . +Characters, that never existed, are insipidly displayed. . . . . . . . +Collana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Commanding with dignity, you must serve up to it with diligence. . . . +Complaisance to every or anybody's opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Conceal all your learning carefully. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Contempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Content yourself with mediocrity in nothing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Court mores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Dance to those who pipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Dante. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Decides peremptorily upon every subject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Desire to please, and that is the main point . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Desirous to make you their friend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Despairs of ever being able to pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Difference in everything between system and practice.. . . . . . . . . +Dignity to be kept up in pleasures, as well as in business . . . . . . +Distinction between simulation and dissimulation . . . . . . . . . . . +Do not mistake the tinsel of Tasso for the gold of Virgil. . . . . . . +Doing what may deserve to be written . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Done under concern and embarrassment, must be ill done . . . . . . . . +Dressed as the generality of people of fashion are . . . . . . . . . . +Economist of your time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Economists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Establishing a character of integrity and good manners . . . . . . . . +Feed him, and feed upon him at the same time . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Flattery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Fortune stoops to the forward and the bold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Frivolous and superficial pertness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Gentlemen, who take such a fancy to you at first sight . . . . . . . . +Guard against those who make the most court to you . . . . . . . . . . +Have no pleasures but your own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +If you will persuade, you must first please. . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Improve yourself with the old, divert yourself with the young. . . . . +Indiscriminately loading their memories with every part alike. . . . . +Insipid in his pleasures, as inefficient in everything else. . . . . . +Labor more to put them in conceit with themselves. . . . . . . . . . . +Lay down a method for everything, and stick to it inviolably . . . . . +Leo the Tenth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Let nobody discover that you do know your own value. . . . . . . . . . +Let them quietly enjoy their errors in taste . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Lying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Man is dishonored by not resenting an affront. . . . . . . . . . . . . +Manner is full as important as the matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise. . . . . . . . +Money, the cause of much mischief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Montesquieu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +More people have ears to be tickled, than understandings to judg . . . +Most people enjoy the inferiority of their best friends. . . . . . . . +Necessity of scrupulously preserving the appearances . . . . . . . . . +Never affect the character in which you have a mind to shine . . . . . +Never put you out of countenance before company. . . . . . . . . . . . +Never read history without having maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +No one feels pleasure, who does not at the same time give it.. . . . . +Not only pure, but, like Caesar's wife, unsuspected. . . . . . . . . . +Often more necessary to conceal contempt than resentment . . . . . . . +Passes for a wit, though he hath certainly no uncommon share . . . . . +Patient toleration of certain airs of superiority. . . . . . . . . . . +People hate those who make them feel their own inferiority . . . . . . +People lose a great deal of time by reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Pleased with him, by making them first pleased with themselves . . . . +Pleasure is necessarily reciprocal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Pocket all your knowledge with your watch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Put out your time, but to good interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Real merit of any kind will be discovered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Resentment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Respect without timidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Rich man never borrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Same coolness and unconcern in any and every company . . . . . . . . . +Seem to like and approve of everything at first. . . . . . . . . . . . +Sentiments that were never felt, pompously described . . . . . . . . . +Shall be more, or less, or not at all, yours.. . . . . . . . . . . . . +She has all the reading that a woman should have . . . . . . . . . . . +She who conquers only catches a Tartar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Silence in love betrays more woe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Spare the persons while you lash the crimes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Steady assurance, with seeming modesty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Suspicion of age, no woman, let her be ever so old, ever forgive . . . +Take the hue of the company you are with.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Taking up adventitious, proves their want of intrinsic merit . . . . . +Tasso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +The present moments are the only ones we are sure of . . . . . . . . . +Those whom you can make like themselves better . . . . . . . . . . . . +Timidity and diffidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +To be heard with success, you must be heard with pleasure. . . . . . . +To be pleased one must please. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Trifle only with triflers; and be serious only with the serious. . . . +Trite jokes and loud laughter reduce him to a buffoon. . . . . . . . . +Unwilling and forced; it will never please . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Well dressed, not finely dressed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +What is impossible, and what is only difficult . . . . . . . . . . . . +What pleases you in others, will in general please them in you . . . . +Whatever real merit you have, other people will discover . . . . . . . +Wish you, my dear friend, as many happy new years as you deserve . . . +Women choose their favorites more by the ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Words are the dress of thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +Writing what may deserve to be read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +You must be respectable, if you will be respected. . . . . . . . . . . +Your character there, whatever it is, will get before you here . . . . + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Letters to His Son, 1750 +by The Earl of Chesterfield + diff --git a/old/lc04s10.zip b/old/lc04s10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a5961e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lc04s10.zip diff --git a/old/lc04s11.txt b/old/lc04s11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7aaed54 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lc04s11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3647 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Letters to His Son, 1750 +#4 in our series by The Earl of Chesterfield + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CI + +LONDON, January 11, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CII + +LONDON, January 18, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +A distinguished politeness of manners and address; which common sense, +observation, good company, and imitation, will infallibly give you if you +will accept it. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CIII + +LONDON, January 25, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + + 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. + + +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 + + Silence in love betrays more woe + Than words, though ne'er so witty; + The beggar that is dumb, we know, + Deserves a double pity. + +'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'. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CIV + +LONDON, February 5, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I have received no letter yet from you or Mr. Harte. + + + + +LETTER CV + +LONDON, February 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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: + + "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." + +However, the poem, with all its faults about it, may justly be called a +fine one. + +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: + + "Le Donne, i Cavalier, l'arme, gli amori + Le cortesie, l'audaci imprese, io canto." + +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, + + "--- ch'el fior virginal cosi avea salvo, + Come selo porto dal matern' alvo." + +The author adds, very gravely,-- + + "Forse era ver, ma non pero credibile + A chi del senso suo fosse Signore." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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, + + "The English bullion of one sterling line, + Drawn to French wire, would through whole pages shine." + +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. + + + + +LETTER CVI + +LONDON, February 22, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Adieu, my friend! go on and prosper. + +Mr. Grevenkop has just received Mr. Harte's letter of the 19th N. S. + + + + +LETTER CVII + +LONDON, March 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CVIII + +LONDON, March 19, O. S. 1750. + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CIX + +LONDON, March 29, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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'. + + + + +LETTER CX + +LONDON, April 26, O. S. 1756. + +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. + +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'. + +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! + + + + +LETTER CXI + +LONDON, April 30, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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:-- + + "Hunc to Romane caveito." + +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. + +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'. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXII + +LONDON, May 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Remember the GRACES, for without them 'ogni fatica e vana'. Adieu. + + + + +LETTER CXIII + +LONDON, May 17, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXIV + +LONDON, May 24., O. S. 1750 + +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'. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Pray tell me what Italian books you have read, and whether that language +is now become familiar to you. + +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: + + "---------born to be controlled, + Stoop to the forward and the bold." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXV + +LONDON, June 5, O. S. 1750 + +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'. + +'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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXVI + +LONDON, June 11, O. S. 1750 + +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:-- + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"Here it is that honor interferes with everything, mixing even with +people's manner of thinking, and directing their very principles. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXVII + +LONDON, July 9, O. S. 1750. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + +Creditor. By French Debtor. To English + German Enunciation + Italian Manners + Latin + Greek + Logic + Ethics + History + |Naturae + Jus |Gentium + |Publicum + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. S. I send you the inclosed to deliver to Lord Rochford, upon your +arrival at Turin. + + + + +LETTER CXVIII. + +LONDON, August 6, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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!' + + + + +LETTER CXIX + +LONDON, October 22, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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 in-, accuracy 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXX + +LONDON, November 1, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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)-- + + "---------born to be controlled, + Stoops to the forward and the bold." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXXI + +LONDON, November 8, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. 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. + + + + +LETTER CXXII + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Adieu for this time, my dear child. Yours tenderly. + + + + +LETTER CXXIII + +LONDON, November 12, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. S. Upon reflection, I direct this letter to Paris; I think you must +have left Montpelier before it could arrive there. + + + + +LETTER CXXIV + +LONDON, November 19, O. S. 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LETTER CXXV + +LONDON, December 24, 1750 + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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'. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +I wish you, my dear friend, as many happy new years as you deserve, and +not one more. May you deserve a great number! + + + + +ETEXT EDITORS BOOKMARKS: + +Absurd romances of the two last centuries +Advocate, the friend, but not the bully of virtue +Ariosto +Assurance and intrepidity +Attention +Author is obscure and difficult in his own language +Characters, that never existed, are insipidly displayed +Collana +Commanding with dignity, you must serve up to it with diligence +Complaisance to every or anybody's opinion +Conceal all your learning carefully +Connections +Contempt +Content yourself with mediocrity in nothing +Court mores +Dance to those who pipe +Dante +Decides peremptorily upon every subject +Desire to please, and that is the main point +Desirous to make you their friend +Despairs of ever being able to pay +Difference in everything between system and practice +Dignity to be kept up in pleasures, as well as in business +Distinction between simulation and dissimulation +Do not mistake the tinsel of Tasso for the gold of Virgil +Doing what may deserve to be written +Done under concern and embarrassment, must be ill done +Dressed as the generality of people of fashion are +Economist of your time +Economists +Establishing a character of integrity and good manners +Feed him, and feed upon him at the same time +Flattery +Fortune stoops to the forward and the bold +Frivolous and superficial pertness +Gentlemen, who take such a fancy to you at first sight +Guard against those who make the most court to you +Have no pleasures but your own +If you will persuade, you must first please +Improve yourself with the old, divert yourself with the young +Indiscriminately loading their memories with every part alike +Insipid in his pleasures, as inefficient in everything else +Labor more to put them in conceit with themselves +Lay down a method for everything, and stick to it inviolably +Leo the Tenth +Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote +Let nobody discover that you do know your own value +Let them quietly enjoy their errors in taste +Lying +Man is dishonored by not resenting an affront +Manner is full as important as the matter +Method +Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise +Money, the cause of much mischief +Montesquieu +More people have ears to be tickled, than understandings to judg +Most people enjoy the inferiority of their best friends +Necessity of scrupulously preserving the appearances +Never affect the character in which you have a mind to shine +Never put you out of countenance before company +Never read history without having maps +No one feels pleasure, who does not at the same time give it +Not only pure, but, like Caesar's wife, unsuspected +Often more necessary to conceal contempt than resentment +Passes for a wit, though he hath certainly no uncommon share +Patient toleration of certain airs of superiority +People hate those who make them feel their own inferiority +People lose a great deal of time by reading +Pleased with him, by making them first pleased with themselves +Pleasure is necessarily reciprocal +Pocket all your knowledge with your watch +Put out your time, but to good interest +Real merit of any kind will be discovered +Resentment +Respect without timidity +Rich man never borrows +Same coolness and unconcern in any and every company +Seem to like and approve of everything at first +Sentiments that were never felt, pompously described +Shall be more, or less, or not at all, yours +She has all the reading that a woman should have +She who conquers only catches a Tartar +Silence in love betrays more woe +Spare the persons while you lash the crimes +Steady assurance, with seeming modesty +Suspicion of age, no woman, let her be ever so old, ever forgive +Take the hue of the company you are with +Taking up adventitious, proves their want of intrinsic merit +Tasso +The present moments are the only ones we are sure of +Those whom you can make like themselves better +Timidity and diffidence +To be heard with success, you must be heard with pleasure +To be pleased one must please +Trifle only with triflers; and be serious only with the serious +Trite jokes and loud laughter reduce him to a buffoon +Unwilling and forced; it will never please +Well dressed, not finely dressed +What is impossible, and what is only difficult +What pleases you in others, will in general please them in you +Whatever real merit you have, other people will discover +Wish you, my dear friend, as many happy new years as you deserve +Women choose their favorites more by the ear +Words are the dress of thoughts +Writing what may deserve to be read +You must be respectable, if you will be respected +Your character there, whatever it is, will get before you here + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Letters to His Son, 1750 +by The Earl of Chesterfield + diff --git a/old/lc04s11.zip b/old/lc04s11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e18994 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lc04s11.zip |