Letter to a young gentleman at school
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: manuscript
Date made: 1792-01-17
owner: Copp Family
place made: United States: New England
place owned: United States: Connecticut, Stonington
Physical Description: ink (overall material)
paper (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 8 1/4 in x 13 1/4 in; 20.955 cm x 33.655 cm
Credit line: John Brenton Copp
To a young gentleman at school
Sturminster Newton 17 th January 1792
I am glad to hear you are well set on your new school. I have now before me the three last letters which you sent your Father. And at his desire am going to give you a few directions concerning letter writing. I hope they may be of some small service towards improving your talent that way. When you sit down to write, call off your thought from every other thing but the subject you intend to handle consider it with great attention. place it in every point of view and examine it on every side before you begin. By this means you will lay a plan of it in your mind which will rise like a well contrived building beautiful, uniform, and regular. Whereas if you neglect to form your self some method of going through the whole, and leave it to be conducted by giddy accidents, your thoughts upon any subject can never appear otherwise than a mere heap of confusion. Consider you are now to form a style in other words to learn the way of expressing what you think, and your doing it well will for your whole life will depend in a great upon the manner you fall into at the beginning. It is of great consequence therefore to be attentive and diligent at first and an expression gentle and easy manner of writing is so useful so engaging a quality that whatever pains it costs it will amply repay. Nor is the task so difficult as you at first imagine little practice and attention will instruct you and give you rules for ordering. But on your part I shall expect observance and application without which nothing can be done. As to subjects you are allowed the utmost liberty. Whatever has been done thought seen or heard your observations on what you know your enquiries about what you do know the like.
like the weather, every thing around you stands re- our purpose and the more variety you intermix the letter discourses require a dignity in formality of style sent able to the subject whereas letter writing requires all pomp of words and is most agreeable when most familiar But tho' lofty phrases are here improve the style must not therefore sink into meanness and to prevent its doing so an easy complaisance an open sincerity and unaffected good nature should appear in every place A letter should wear an honest cheerful countenance like one who truly concerns and is glad to see his friend and not like a person admiring her own dress and seeming pleased with nothing herself.  Express your meaning as briefly as possible long periods will please the ear but perplex the understanding Let your letter abound with thoughts more than words A short one and plain strikes the mind fixed in impression a tedious one is seldom clearly understood and never long remembered But there is still something required to beyond all these towards the writing a polite and agreeable letter such as a gentleman ought to be distinguished by and that is an air of good breeding and humanity which ought constantly to appear in every expression and give a beauty to the whole By this I need not be supposed to mean overstrained or affected compliments every thing they may tend to but an easy gentle and obliging manner of address a choice of words which divine the most suit meaning and generous and good natured complaisance What I have said of the style of your letter is intended as a direction for your conversation also of which your care is necessary as well as your writing Common conversation is not of so little consequence as you may imagine and if you now attend to yourself to talk at random you will find it hereafter not easy to do otherwise I wish you good success in your studies and am certain your capacity is equal to my hopes Consider the advantage will be all your own and your friends can have no other share of it but the satisfaction of seeing you a virtuous and learned man  I am
Sir
Your affectionate friend and humble servant
Edw. B. Jason
28310.6791.03.1