<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"></SPAN></p>
<h2> LETTER XXVII </h2>
<h3> LONDON, February 9, O. S. 1748. </h3>
<p>DEAR BOY: You will receive this letter, not from a Secretary of State but
from a private man; for whom, at his time of life, quiet was as fit, and
as necessary, as labor and activity are for you at your age, and for many
years yet to come. I resigned the seals, last Saturday, to the King; who
parted with me most graciously, and (I may add, for he said so himself)
with regret. As I retire from hurry to quiet, and to enjoy, at my ease,
the comforts of private and social life, you will easily imagine that I
have no thoughts of opposition, or meddling with business. 'Otium cum
dignitate' is my object. The former I now enjoy; and I hope that my
conduct and character entitle me to some share of the latter. In short, I
am now happy: and I found that I could not be so in my former public
situation.</p>
<p>As I like your correspondence better than that of all the kings, princes,
and ministers, in Europe, I shall now have leisure to carry it on more
regularly. My letters to you will be written, I am sure, by me, and, I
hope, read by you, with pleasure; which, I believe, seldom happens,
reciprocally, to letters written from and to a secretary's office.</p>
<p>Do not apprehend that my retirement from business may be a hindrance to
your advancement in it, at a proper time: on the contrary, it will promote
it; for, having nothing to ask for myself, I shall have the better title
to ask for you. But you have still a surer way than this of rising, and
which is wholly in your own power. Make yourself necessary; which, with
your natural parts, you may, by application, do. We are in general, in
England, ignorant of foreign affairs: and of the interests, views,
pretensions, and policy of other courts. That part of knowledge never
enters into our thoughts, nor makes part of our education; for which
reason, we have fewer proper subjects for foreign commissions, than any
other country in Europe; and, when foreign affairs happen to be debated in
Parliament, it is incredible with how much ignorance. The harvest of
foreign affairs being then so great, and the laborers so few, if you make
yourself master of them, you will make yourself necessary; first as a
foreign, and then as a domestic minister for that department.</p>
<p>I am extremely well pleased with the account which you give me of the
allotment of your time. Do but go on so, for two years longer, and I will
ask no more of you. Your labors will be their own reward; but if you
desire any other, that I can add, you may depend upon it.</p>
<p>I am glad that you perceive the indecency and turpitude of those of your
'Commensaux', who disgrace and foul themselves with dirty w——s
and scoundrel gamesters. And the light in which, I am sure, you see all
reasonable and decent people consider them, will be a good warning to you.
Adieu.</p>
<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"></SPAN></p>
<h2> LETTER XXVIII </h2>
<h3> LONDON, February 13, O. S. 1748 </h3>
<p>DEAR BOY: your last letter gave me a very satisfactory account of your
manner of employing your time at Leipsig. Go on so but for two years more,
and, I promise you, that you will outgo all the people of your age and
time. I thank you for your explanation of the 'Schriftsassen', and
'Amptsassen'; and pray let me know the meaning of the 'Landsassen'. I am
very willing that you should take a Saxon servant, who speaks nothing but
German, which will be a sure way of keeping up your German, after you
leave Germany. But then, I would neither have that man, nor him whom you
have already, put out of livery; which makes them both impertinent and
useless. I am sure, that as soon as you shall have taken the other
servant, your present man will press extremely to be out of livery, and
valet de chambre; which is as much as to say, that he will curl your hair
and shave you, but not condescend to do anything else. I therefore advise
you, never to have a servant out of livery; and, though you may not always
think proper to carry the servant who dresses you abroad in the rain and
dirt, behind a coach or before a chair, yet keep it in your power to do
so, if you please, by keeping him in livery.</p>
<p>I have seen Monsieur and Madame Flemming, who gave me a very good account
of you, and of your manners, which to tell you the plain truth, were what
I doubted of the most. She told me, that you were easy, and not ashamed:
which is a great deal for an Englishman at your age.</p>
<p>I set out for Bath to-morrow, for a month; only to be better than well,
and enjoy, in, quiet, the liberty which I have acquired by the resignation
of the seals. You shall hear from me more at large from thence; and now
good night to you.</p>
<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"></SPAN></p>
<h2> LETTER XXIX </h2>
<h3> BATH, February 18, O. S. 1748. </h3>
<p>DEAR BOY: The first use that I made of my liberty was to come here, where
I arrived yesterday. My health, though not fundamentally bad yet, for want
of proper attention of late, wanted some repairs, which these waters never
fail giving it. I shall drink them a month, and return to London, there to
enjoy the comforts of social life, instead of groaning under the load of
business. I have given the description of the life that I propose to lead
for the future, in this motto, which I have put up in the frize of my
library in my new house:—</p>
<p>Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno, et inertibus horis<br/>
Ducere sollicitae jucunda oblivia vitas.<br/></p>
<p>I must observe to you upon this occasion, that the uninterrupted
satisfaction which I expect to find in that library, will be chiefly owing
to my having employed some part of my life well at your age. I wish I had
employed it better, and my satisfaction would now be complete; but,
however, I planted while young, that degree of knowledge which is now my
refuge and my shelter. Make your plantations still more extensive; they
will more than pay you for your trouble. I do not regret the time that I
passed in pleasures; they were seasonable; they were the pleasures of
youth, and I enjoyed them while young. If I had not, I should probably
have overvalued them now, as we are very apt to do what we do not know;
but, knowing them as I do, I know their real value, and how much they are
generally overrated. Nor do I regret the time that I have passed in
business, for the same reason; those who see only the outside of it,
imagine it has hidden charms, which they pant after; and nothing but
acquaintance can undeceive them. I, who have been behind the scenes, both
of pleasure and business, and have seen all the springs and pullies of
those decorations which astonish and dazzle the audience, retire, not only
without regret, but with contentment and satisfaction. But what I do, and
ever shall regret, is the time which, while young, I lost in mere
idleness, and in doing nothing. This is the common effect of the
inconsideracy of youth, against which I beg you will be most carefully
upon your guard. The value of moments, when cast up, is immense, if well
employed; if thrown away, their loss is irrecoverable. Every moment may be
put to some use, and that with much more pleasure, than if unemployed. Do
not imagine, that by the employment of time, I mean an uninterrupted
application to serious studies. No; pleasures are, at proper times, both
as necessary and as useful; they fashion and form you for the world; they
teach you characters, and show you the human heart in its unguarded
minutes. But then remember to make that use of them. I have known many
people, from laziness of mind, go through both pleasure and business with
equal inattention; neither enjoying the one, nor doing the other; thinking
themselves men of pleasure, because they were mingled with those who were,
and men of business, because they had business to do, though they did not
do it. Whatever you do, do it to the purpose; do it thoroughly, not
superficially. 'Approfondissez': go to the bottom of things. Any thing
half done or half known, is, in my mind, neither done nor known at all.
Nay worse, it often misleads. There is hardly any place or any company,
where you may not gain knowledge, if you please; almost everybody knows
some one thing, and is glad to talk upon that one thing. Seek and you will
find, in this world as well as in the next. See everything; inquire into
everything; and you may excuse your curiosity, and the questions you ask
which otherwise might be thought impertinent, by your manner of asking
them; for most things depend a great deal upon the manner. As, for
example, I AM AFRAID THAT I AM VERY TROUBLESOME WITH MY QUESTIONS; BUT
NOBODY CAN INFORM ME SO WELL AS YOU; or something of that kind.</p>
<p>Now that you are in a Lutheran country, go to their churches, and observe
the manner of their public worship; attend to their ceremonies, and
inquire the meaning and intention of everyone of them. And, as you will
soon understand German well enough, attend to their sermons, and observe
their manner of preaching. Inform yourself of their church government:
whether it resides in the sovereign, or in consistories and synods. Whence
arises the maintenance of their clergy; whether from tithes, as in
England, or from voluntary contributions, or from pensions from the state.
Do the same thing when you are in Roman Catholic countries; go to their
churches, see all their ceremonies: ask the meaning of them, get the terms
explained to you. As, for instance, Prime, Tierce, Sexte, Nones, Matins,
Angelus, High Mass, Vespers, Complines, etc. Inform yourself of their
several religious orders, their founders, their rules, their vows, their
habits, their revenues, etc. But, when you frequent places of public
worship, as I would have you go to all the different ones you meet with,
remember, that however erroneous, they are none of them objects of
laughter and ridicule. Honest error is to be pitied, not ridiculed. The
object of all the public worships in the world is the same; it is that
great eternal Being who created everything. The different manners of
worship are by no means subjects of ridicule. Each sect thinks its own is
the best; and I know no infallible judge in this world, to decide which is
the best. Make the same inquiries, wherever you are, concerning the
revenues, the military establishment, the trade, the commerce, and the
police of every country. And you would do well to keep a blank paper book,
which the Germans call an ALBUM; and there, instead of desiring, as they
do, every fool they meet with to scribble something, write down all these
things as soon as they come to your knowledge from good authorities.</p>
<p>I had almost forgotten one thing, which I would recommend as an object for
your curiosity and information, that is, the administration of justice;
which, as it is always carried on in open court, you may, and I would have
you, go and see it with attention and inquiry.</p>
<p>I have now but one anxiety left, which is concerning you. I would have you
be, what I know nobody is—perfect. As that is impossible, I would
have you as near perfection as possible. I know nobody in a fairer way
toward it than yourself, if you please. Never were so much pains taken for
anybody's education as for yours; and never had anybody those
opportunities of knowledge and improvement which you, have had, and still
have, I hope, I wish, I doubt, and fear alternately. This only I am sure
of, that you will prove either the greatest pain or the greatest pleasure
of, Yours.</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.