The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-04-10
NUS EHAl, a II e o us 0
From the Washington Union.
Valuable Counsels for Young Men.-Let-
Tor from Hugh g. Gexare.
WAsuIHoTuS, October 10, 1S41.

to answer it; anl will l'rgin hy assuring
.ycu that no. only we've your apologies for
calling upon me quite suIrrilu"l'>, hu: that
/ have seldom felt II compliment more than
sliat implir!l i'll your referring to me on
such III jrct, aud been more interested
anl even eager to comply with a request,
from the agreeable manner of making il.
IN short. vour letter strikes me as the Ian.
yuaue OF enc who has II decided vocation
for that si,le he stalnlS ready to undertake ;
anil am delighted to offer you s"mc Vt
the fruits If my own experience, because
am quite sure you will make good use cf
them.
What YOU aim mt is. first. to make your
self master Of the great scic":in ciriiiS, as
Quiutiiin has ito understand the"rr:i-
cally the philosophy Of legislation. and the
constitution of civil society. III the broa,.>t
accepalion Of the term, including AL the
Influences. political, judicial, and moral.
that effect The leS,ines of mankind, united
in bodies l'"li,c aml, SECOND. how best To
turn that know!c.l ge /" account i'll the ac-
tual services Of The State. This is IL noble
objcr,, aud you will pardon me for s;,yin,
it is the very one rr''p"Scd to myself in
hoyhoo.l, and Of which, have never for
one ,ln,ncnt lost sigh; since, anil to which
cvervlhin" else in my studies aml pursuits
has been, in my view, merely subsidiary
snl instrumental. II is true that having,
from f,v"r:.hle circumstances, been enahl",!
TO p.l,suc my studies with more leisure.
and to Il greater extent, than Americans
are usually permitted to do. l have arqn:r'rl
many things. that are generally rcckonr'l
merely 0rnaMontni; hut never made any
sacrifice To attain them. They were picked
up because f'n"'l ,lcm i'll my lnt,h-ly
the side Of 'lle great ro:nl meant t. travel,
and from which WIS determined nothing
should ever temp me t." 'lrviatr. | never
coull reconcile myself To the i.l"a of what
is callcl literary lfc"-,hat is, to l,r,
Of c"nte'nu!a,ive and "l"urcan, however
elegant, *l"th, ;,s contrh'i<,irg;IiSi."d from
ore paS.eI in The mhlst Of the business Of
men. in rrnm'ing the great actual Interests
uf society. Not to act on the mind, of
ones contemporaries seems 70 me to le lv-
ing in vain.
Your questions, although distinguished
As they are fislin.uSl,al!e in speculation
ss well as in practice, must for some par
poses he considered together. The s"rt Of
education you wouhl give yourself is that
Of the citizen of an ancient Common wealth.
which always fitted him to "perform all
the "ilic''<. public and private. If peace aud
war;" whatever his f.vori;e tastes anil
stu,iics might lie. Thus. in the most p,nv
state Of Athenian genius. about the break
ing out of the Pvl"p"ncsan war, all their
great wits wer" practical mcn-S,l ,l,h"cles
was a general. S"crates II stalwart soldier.
dc. Thucydles. the historian, is a mos,
notable example Of the same thing. H.
.d~cd, am firmly convinced that one IF
the causes Of the surprising excellence of
Greek literature was the very fact that
giles Of public life, AMI constrained to be
thoroughly experienced in the passions and
ways Of men.
This l'eing assumed. you must begin Lv
making yourself a luwyer, and thorough
one. | mean You must master Blark-tnnes
Commentaries, with K"nl's AMI St.,rv's :;
and. not content with that. you mus, study
Cokc's Insti utes-n"t the Coke Li,iletnn
merely. Tut MV the Institutes. I hold it
for certain that no man can take lead IN
the debates Of his country without this
sort of knowledge. and that lIis lead in it
will ne pretty nearly rr"p"rii"nel to his
stock of it. Look, for instance, ut Judge
Marshalrs f:mous argument in the case Of
Jonathan R"lhins-the most triumphant
exhibition of ability ever yet male in Con.
,gress, anil which none hut u LAWYER cou!.l
have niul.. And Of all orr other great
men-all like the Roman patrirans-l"v-
gers, of course. Read Mr.. Jefferson. State
Papers, when he WAS Secretary of State,
and see how he discusses great principles "f
saw. True. they We're rather Of interna-
tio"aI than municipal law; hut that ia
nothing. The law uf nations is only n
branch of the "cnnnnn law" aud it. !.
that mighty common low of the English
race that pcrva.'es-nay, c"nsiitu!es--tIle
whole body and bulk Of our institutions.
; and without Il thorough, knowledge Of
!. which nobody truly understands tl'ose in
eti.utions. These, as have heen preach-
ing for Ire last twelve years, are altogether
historical. If you want to know what
they mean or are, you must look to the
monuments Of the past, to M,gma Churta,