PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE
EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.

From a painting by W. Heare, in the possession of
Solomon Payrolles Esq.

LETTERS
WRITTEN BY
THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE
PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE,
EARL OF CHESTERFIELD,

TO
HIS SON,
PHILIP STANHOPE, Esq;
LATE ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY AT THE COURT OF DRESDEN:

TOGETHER WITH
SEVERAL OTHER PIECES
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

PUBLISHED BY
Mrs. EUGENIA STANHOPE,

FROM THE ORIGINALS NOW IN HER POSSESSION.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
Printed for J. DODSLEY in PALL-MALL.

M.DCC.LXXIV.

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser,
SIR,

THE following little piece, calculated to promote the cause of Religion and Virtue, and to throw a just Ridicule upon the most dangerous and most infamous System of Education that ever appeared, having accidentally fallen into my Hands, I take the Opportunity of communicating it through the Channel of your useful and moral Paper.

I am, Sir,
your humble Servant,

AS OLD CORRESPONDENT.

A NEW OFFICE of INITIATION for at
YOUNG MEN of a SUPERIOR CLASS, by
a CLERGMAN in Kent.

Lord CHESTERFIELD's. Cred.

I. Believe this World is the first Object of my Hope and Mere], and that the Little Fret-flees of Life will answer all the kinds of human Excellence.

I believe that we are to succeed in all Things by the Grace of Civility and Attention; that there is no sin but against Good Manners; and that all Religion and Virtue coexist in outward Appearance.

I believe that all Women are Children, and all Men Fool except a few cunning People who fee through the rill, and make their Ufe of them.

I believe that Hypocrypity, Fornication and Adultery are within the Lines of Morality; that a Woman may be honourable when she has lost her Honour, and virtuous when she has lost her Virtue. This and whatever else is necessary to obtain my own Ede, and bring those into Rupute, I refuse to follow, and avoid all moral Offences, such as forching my Head before Company, splitting upon the Floor, or omitting to like up a Lady's Fan.

This is the Perfection in which I will perf-vere without any Regard to the Reformation of the Body, or the Life everlasting. Amen.

Quæ est. Wilt thou be initiated into the theurgies?

A. What? That is my Inclination.

B. With thee keep the Rules of Cheaters' Morality.

A. I will, Lord Chefterfield being my Ad-miral.

Then the Officerial shall say, Name this Child.

A. A fine Gentleman.

I then he shall say, I introduce thee to the World, the Etern and the Decil, that thou may't triumph over all Awkwardness, and grow up in all Politeness, that thou may't be acceptable to the Ladies; celebrate, for re-fined Breeding; able to speak French and bad Italian.

That in Proceed of Time thou may't be Invited with some superumerary Chasacter in a Peculiar Court, get into Fashions, perhaps into the Privy Council; and then thou art dead, the Letters written to thy Befands may be published in five Editions for the Lure of all other Families.

You are to take care that this Child, when he is of proper Age, be sent to Paris to be confirmed.

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S
LETTERS.

LETTER I*.

ON me dit, Monieur ! que vous vous difpofez à voiager, et que vous débutez par la Hollande. De forte que j'ai cru de mon devoir, de vous souhaiter un bon voiage, et des vents favorables. Vous aurez la bonté, j'espere, de me faire part de votre arrivée à la Haye ; et fi après cela, dans le cours de vos voiages, vous faites quelques remarques curieufes, vous voudrez bien, me les communiquer.

La Hollande, où vous allez, eft de beaucoup, la plus belle, et la plus riche des Sept Provinces-Unies, qui toutes enfable, forment la République. Les autres font celles de Gueldres, Zélande, Frise, Utrecht, Groningue, et Over-Yfël. Les Sept Provinces compofent, ce qu'on appelle, les Etats Généraux des Provinces-Unies, et font une République très puiffante, et très confidérable.

Une République, au refte, veut dire un gouvernement tout-à-fait libre, où il n'y a point de Roi. La Haye, où vous irez d'abord, eft le plus beau village du monde, car ce n'eſt pas une ville. La ville d'Amsterdam, confée la capitale des Provinces-Unies, eſt très

* Cette Lettre eſt un pur badinage, Mr. Stanhope aſtant fait un voiage en Hollande a l'age d'environ cinq ans.

VOL. I.

B

belle,

49
43

2 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

belle, et très riche. Il y a encore plusieurs villes fort confidérables en Hollande, comme Dordrecht, Haerlem, Leyde, Delft, Rotterdam, &c. Vous verrez par toute la Hollande, une extrême propreté: les rües mêmes, y font plus propres que nos maifons ne le font ici. La Hollande fait un très grand commerce, furtout à la Chine, au Japon, et au reste des Indes Orientales.

Voici bien des fêtes de fuite, que vous allez avoir, profitez-en, divertissez vous bien, et à votre retour, il faudra regagner le tems perdu, en apprenant mieux que jamais. Adieu.

TRANSLATION*.

I AM told, Sir, you are preparing to travel, and that you
begin by Holland; I therefore thought it my duty to wish you
a prosperous journey, and favourable winds. I hope you will be so
good as to acquaint me with your arrival at the Hague; and if,
in the course of your travels, you should make any curious obser-
vations, be so kind to communicate them to me.

Holland, where you are going, is, by far, the finest and richest of the Seven United Provinces, which, all together, form the Republic. The other Provinces are, Guelderland, Zealand, Friefland, Utrecht, Groningen, and Overyflé; these Seven provinces form what is called the States General of the United Provinces: this is a very powerful, and a very confiderable Republic. I must tell you, that a Republic is a free State, without any King. You will go first to the Hague, which is the most beautiful village in the world; for it is not a town. Amsterdam, reckoned the capital of the United Provinces, is a very fine, rich city; there are, besides, in Holland, several confiderable towns, such as Dort, Haerlem, Leyden, Delft, and Rotterdam.

* This Letter is a mere pleafantry, Mr. Stanhope having been carried to Holland when he was but about five years of age.

3

You

TO HIS SON.

3

You will obferve, throughout Holland, the greatest cleanlines;
the very streets are cleaner than our houfes are here. Holland carries
on a very great trade, particularly to China, Japan, and all over
the Eaft Indies.

You are going to have a great many holydays all together; make the best use of them, by diverting yourfelf well. At your return hither, you muſt regain the loſt time, by learning better than ever. Adieu.

LETTER II.

A* Ifleworth.

MON CHER ENFANT,

COMME, avec le tems, vous lirez les anciens Poëtes Grecs
et Latins, il eſt bon d'avoir premièrement quelque teinture
des fondemens de la poëſie, et de savoir en general, les hiftoires aux
quelles les Poëtes font le plus fouvent allufion. Vous avez déjà lû
l'Hiftoire Poëtique, et j'espere que vous vous en fouvenez: vous
y aurez trouvé celle des Dieux, et des Déeffes, dont les Poëtes
parlent à tous momens. Même les Poëtes modernes, c'eſt à dire,
les Poëtes d'aujourd'hui, ont auffi adopté toutes ces hiftoires des
Anciens. Par exemple; un Poëte Anglois ou François, invoque
au commencement de ſon ouvrage, Apollon le Dieu des vers,
il invoque auffi les neuf-Mufes, qui font les Déeffes de la Poëſie, il
les prie de lui être propices ou favorables, et de lui infpirer leur
génie. C'eſt-pourquoi je vous envoie ici l'hiftoire d'Apollon, et
celle des neuf-Mufes, ou neuf-Sœurs, comme on les nomme fouvent.
Apollon eſt auffi quelquefois appellé le Dieu du Parnafie, parce que
le Parnafie eſt une montagne, fur laquelle on fuppofe qu'il eſt fré-
quemment. C'eſt un beau talent que de bien faire des vers; et

B 2

j'espere

4 The Dutch of Lande, mistie of Poets, a short of Duyfheylle lived after the
King's birth at St. Vituskh. When the child was born, he was brought into a public place,
where the King, the Queen, and the rest of the family, were, from their birth, the garden
loft, the园的园丁, by their own hands to be made, and their own hands to plant the trees,
a garden, where the flowers pull'd them by a German, who brought the flowers to the King,
the garden, now unloved, was cut down, by his father.

43

4

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

j'espere que vous l'aurez, car comme il eft bien plus difficile d'exprimer les pensées en vers qu'en prose, il y a d'autant plus de gloire à le faire. Adieu.

TRANSLATION.

MY DEAR CHILD,

Illeworth.

As you will, in time, read the ancient Greek and Latin Poets, it is proper that you should first have some notion of the foundation of poetry, and a general knowledge of those stories to which Poets most commonly allude. You have already read the Poetical History, and I hope you remember it. You will have found there the histories of Gods and Goddesseſes, whom the Poets are continually mentioning. Even modern Poets (that is to say, those of the present times) have adopted all the histories of the ancient ones.

For example; an English or a French Poet, at the beginning of his work, invokes Apollo, the God of Poetry; he also invokes the nine Muses, who are the Goddesſes of Poetry. He intreats them to be propitious, or favourable; and to inspire him with their genius. For this reason, I here find you the history of Apollo, and that of the nine Muses, or nine Sifters, as they are frequently called.

Apollo is also often named the God of Parnaſſus; because he is supposed to be frequently upon a mountain, called Parnaſſus. The making verſes well, is an agreeable talent, which I hope you will be poſſessed of; for, as it is more difficult to express one's thoughts in verse, than in prose, therefore the being capable of doing it is more glorious. Adieu.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

5

LETTER III.

A POLLON étoit fils de Jupiter et de Latone, qui accoucha de lui et de Diane, en même tems, dans l'île de Delos. Il eſt le Dieu du Jour, et alors il s'appelle ordinairement Phœbus. Il eſt auffi le Dieu de la Poésie, et de la Musique; comme tel il eſt représenté avec une lyre à la main, qui eſt une espece de harpe. Il avoit un fameux temple à Delphes, où il rendoit des Oracles, c'eſt-à-dire, où il prédifoit l'avenir. Les Poètes l'invoquent fouvent pour les animer de son feu afin de chanter dignement les loianges des Dieux et des Hommes.

Les neuf Muses étaient filles de Jupiter, et de la Déesſe Mnemofyne, c'eſt à dire la Déesſe de la Mémoire; pour marquer que la mémoire eſt nécessaire aux arts, et aux ſciences.

Elles s'appellent, Clio, Euterpe, Polymnie, Thalie, Melpomene, Terpfichore, Uranie, Calliope, Erato. Elles font les Déesſes de la Poésie, de l'Histoire, de la Musique, et de tous les arts, et les ſciences. Les Poètes ont représenté les neuf Muses fort jeunes, et fort belles, ornées de guirlandes de fleurs.

Les montagnes où elles demeurent, font le Parnasse, l'Hélicon, et le Pinde. Elles ont auffi deux celebres fontaines, qui s'appellent, Hipocrene, et Caftalie. Les Poètes, en les invoquant, les prient de quitter, pour un moment, le Parnasse, et l'Hipocrene, pour venir à leur succours et leur inspirer des vers.

Le Pêgaë eſt le cheval poëtique, dont les Poètes font fouvent mention : il a des ailes aux pieds. Il donna un coup de pied contre le mont Hélicon, et en fit fortir la fontaine d'Hipocrene. Quand un Poëte eſt à faire des vers, on dit, qu'il eſt monté fur fon Pêgaë.

TRANSLA-

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

TRANSLATION.

APOLLO was son of Jupiter and Latona, who was delivered of him and Diana in the island of Delos. He is God of the Sun, and thence generally is called Phebus. He is also the God of Poetry and of Music, in which character he is represented with a lyre in his hand. That instrument is a kind of harp. There was a famous temple at Delphos, dedicated to Apollo; where he pronounced Oracles; that is to say, foretold what is to happen. He is often invoked by Poets, to animate them with his fire, that they may be inspired to celebrate the praisings of Gods and of Men.

The nine Muses were daughters of Jupiter, and of the Goddeſs Mnemofyne; that is to say, the Goddeſs of Memory; to show that memory is neceſsary to arts and ſciences. They are called Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpſichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, Calliope. They are the Goddeſſes of Poetry, Hiftory, Muſic, and of all arts and ſciences. The nine Muses are represented by Poets as very young, very handſome, and adorned with garlands of flowers. The mountains which they inhabit are called Parnassus, Helicon, and Pindus. There are also two celebrated fountains which belong to them, named Hippocrene, and Caſtalia. Poets, in their invocations, deſire them to quit for a moment their Parnassus, and Hippocrene, that they may aſſiſt them with their inſpiration to make verſes.

Pegasus, the poetic horſe, often mentioned by Poets, has wings to his feet. He gave a kick againſt Mount Helicon, and the fountain of Hippocrene immediately sprang out. When a Poet is making verſes, it is fometimes faſd, he is mounted upon his Pegasus*.

* This expreſſion is more a French than an English one.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

LETTER IV.

A Ifleworth 19 Juin, 1738.

VOUS êtes le meilleur garçon du monde, et votre dernière traduction vaut encore mieux que la première. Voilà juſtement ce qu'il faut, se perfectionner de plus en plus tous les jours; fi vous continuez de la forte, quoique je vous aime déjà beaucoup, je vous en aimerai bien d'avantage, et même fi vous apprenez bien, et devenez favant, vous ferez aimé, et recherché de tout le monde: au lieu qu'on méprife, et qu'on évite les ignorans. Pour n'être pas ignorant moi-même, je lis beaucoup, j'ai l'autre jour l'hiftoire de Didon, que je m'en vais vous conter.

Didon etoit fille de Belus, Roi de Tyr, et fut mariée a Sichée qu'elle aimoit beaucoup; mais comme ce Sichée avoit de grandes richeſſes, Pygmalion, frère de Didon, le fit tuer, et les lui vola. Didon, qui craignoit que ſon frère ne la tuât auffi, s'enſuit, et ſe fauva en Afrique, où elle bâtit la belle ville de Carthage. Or il arriva, que, dans ce tems là, Enée ſe fauva auffi de la ville de Troye, qui avoit été prife et brulée par les Grecs; et comme il faisoit voile vers l'Italie avec plusieurs autres Troyens, il fut jeté par la tempête, ſur les côtes d'Afrique, et aborda à Carthage. Didon le reçut fort honnêtement, et lui permit de reſter juſques a ce qu'il eut radouſé ſa flotte; mais malheureuſement pour elle, elle en devint amoureuse; Enée, comme vous pouvez croire, ne ſut pas cruel, de forte que l'affaire ſut bientôt faite. Quand les vaiffeaux ſurent prêts, Enée voulut partir pour l'Italie, où les Dieux l'envoioient pour être le fondateur de Rome; mais Didon qui ne vouloit point qu'il s'en allat, lui reprochoit ſon ingratitude, et les faveurs qu'elle

## 8 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

qu'elle lui avoit accordées. Mais n'importe, il fe fauve de nuit, la
quitte, et fe met en mer. La pauvre Didon au desefpoir d'être
ainfi abandonnée par un homme qu'elle aimoit tant, fit allumer
un grand feu, s'y jetta, et mourut de la forte. Quand vous ferez
plus grand, vous lirez toute cette hiftoire en Latin, dans Virgile,
qui en a fait un fort beau poëme, qui s'appelle l'Enéide.

Si vous abandonniez Mifs Pinkerton, pour Mifs Williams, croiez
vous qu'elle feroit la même chofe ? Adieu, mon cher.

On a fait une jolie Epigramme au sujet de Didon, que je vous
envoie, et que vous apprendrez facilement par-cœur.

Pauvre Didon où t'a reduite

De tes Maris le trifle fort ?

L'un en mourant caufe ta fuite,

L'autre en fuivant caufe ta mort.

## TRANSLATION

YOU are the beft boy in the world, and your laft tranflation
is full better than the former. This is juſt as it ought to
be, to improve every day more and more. Although I now love
you dearly, if you continue to go on ſo, I ſhall love you ſill more
tenderly: if you improve, and grow learned, every one will be fond
of you, and defirous of your company; whereas ignorant people are
ſhunned and deſpifed. In order that I may not be ignorant my-
felf, I read a great deal. The other day, I went through the
hiftory of Dido, which I will now tell you.

Dido was daughter of Belus, King of Tyre, and was married
to Sicheus, whom ſhe dearly loved. But as Sicheus had immense
riches, Pygmalion, Dido's brother, had him put to death, and
feized his treasuries. Dido, fearful leaſt her brother might kill
her too, fled to Africa, where ſhe built the fine city of Carthage.

Now

5

## TO HISSON

9

Now it happened, that juſt about the fame time, Eneas alſo fled from
the city of Troy, which had been taken and burnt by the Greeks;
and as he was going, with many other Trojans, in his ſhips to Italy,
he was thrown, by a ſorm, upon the coaſt of Africa, and landed
at Carthage. Dido received him very kindly, and gave him leave
to ſtay till he had refitted his fleet: but, unfortunately for her,
ſhe became in love with him. Eneas (as you may eafily believe)
was not cruel; ſo that matters were ſoon fettled. When the
ſhips were ready, Eneas wanted to fet ſail for Italy, to which the
Gods had ordered him, that he might be the founder of Rome;
but Dido oppoſed his departure, and reproached him with ingra-
titude, and the favours he had received. However, he left her,
ran off in the night, and put to ſea. Poor Dido, in deſpair at
being abandoned by the man ſhe loved, had a great pile of wood
fet on fire, threw herſelf into the flames, and was burned to
death. When you are older, you will read all this ſtory in Latin,
written by Virgil; who has made a fine poem of it, called the
Eneid. If you ſhould abandon Mifs Pinkerton, for Mifs Williams,
do you think ſhe would do the fame ? Adieu, my dear! I ſend
you a very pretty Epigram upon the ſubject of Dido; you may
eaſily learn it by heart.

Infelix Dido ! nulli benè nupta marito,
Hoc pereunte fugis, hoc fugiente peris.

## LETTER V

JE vous ai dit, mon cher, que je vous enverrois quelques hif-
toires pour vous amuſer : je vous envoie donc à prefent
celle du Siege de Troye, qui eſt divertiffante, et ſur laquelle,

VOL. I.

C

Homère,

43

10

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

Homère, un ancien Poëte Grec, a fait le plus beau Poème Epique
qui ait jamais été. Par parenthèse, un Poème Epique eft un long
poème sur quelque grand évenement, ou sur les actions de quelque
grand homme.

Le siège de Troye eft fi celèbre pour avoir duré dix ans, et
à caufe du grand nombre de Héros qui y ont été, qu'il ne faut
nullement l'ignorer. Quand vous serez plus grand, vous le lirez
dans le Grec d'Homère.

Adieu ! vous êtes le meilleur enfant du monde.

Je vous renvoie votre lettre corrigée, car quoiqu'il n'y eut que
peu de fautes, il eft pourtant bon que vous les fachiez.

TRANSLATION.

I Told you, my dear, that I would fend you fome ſtories to amufe you; I therefore now give you the Hiftory of the Siege of Troy, which is very entertaining. Homer, an ancient Greek Poet, has wrote upon this ſubject the fineſt Epic Poem that ever was. By the way, you are to know, that an Epic Poem is a long poem upon ſome great event, or upon the actions of ſome great man.

The ſiège of Troy is ſo very famous, for having laſted ten years,
and alſo upon account of the great number of Heroes who were
there, that one muſt by no means be ignorant of ſuch an event.
When you are older, you will read it all in the Greek of Homer.

Adieu ! you are the beſt child in the world.

I return you your letter correſted; for, though it had but few
faults, it is however proper that you ſhould know them.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

11

LETTER VI.

La caufe de la guerre entre les Grecs, et les Troyens, et du ſiege
et de la prife de Troye.

L A paix régnoit dans le ciel, et les Dieux et les Déeffes joüif-
foient d'une parfaite tranquillité; ce qui donnoit du chagrin
à la Déeffe Difcorde qui n'aime que le trouble, et les querelles.
Elle réſolut donc de les broüiller, et pour parvenir à ſon but, elle
jetta parmi les Déeffes une Pomme d'or, ſur laquelle ces paroles
étoient écrites, à la plus belle. Voilà d'abord chacune des Déeffes
qui ſe diſoit la plus belle, et qui vouloit avoir la Pomme, car la
beauté eſt une affaire bien ſenſible aux Déeffes, auffi bien qu'aux
Dames. La diſpute fut principalement entre Junon femme de
Jupiter, Venus la Déeffe de l'Amour, et Pallas Déeffe des Arts
et des ſciences. A-la-fin elles convinrent de s'en rapporter à
un berger nommé Paris, qui païſoit des troupeaux ſur le Mont
Ida; mais qui étoit veritablement le fils de Priam Roi de
Troye. Elles parurent donc toutes trois nues devant Paris,
car pour bien juger, il faut tout voir. Junon lui offrit les gran-
deurs du monde, s'il vouloit décider en ſa faveur; Pallas lui offrit
les arts et les ſciences; mais Venus qui lui promit la plus belle
femme du monde, l'emporta, et il lui donna la Pomme.

Vous pouvez bien croire à quel point Venus étoit contente, et
combinet Junon et Pallas étoient courroucées. Venus donc, pour
lui tenir parole, lui dit d'aller en Greece chez Ménélas, dont la
femme qui s'appelloit Hélène deviendroit amoureuſe de lui. Il
y alla, et Ménélas le reçut chez lui fort honnêtement; mais peu
de tems après Hélène s'enfuit avec Paris, qui la mena à Troye.
Ménélas irrité de cet outrage, s'en plaignit à ſon frere Agamemnon

C 2

Roi

43

12 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

Roi de Mycénes, qui engagea les Grecs à venger cet affront. On envoia donc des Ambafladeurs à Troye, pour demander qu'on rendit Hélène à son mari, et en cas de refus, pour declarer la guerre. Paris refusa de la rendre, fur quoi la guerre fut declarée, qui dura dix ans, et dont je vous enverrai bientôt l'hiſtoire.

TRANSLATION.

Caufe of the War between the Greeks and Trojans, and of the
befieging and taking of Troy.

HEAVEN and Earth were at peace, and the Gods and
Goddeſſes enjoyed the moſt perfect tranquillity. When
the Goddeſs Difford, who delights in confusion and quarrels,
displeafed at this universal calm, resolved to excite diffenſion. In
order to effect this, he threw among the Goddeſſes a golden
Apple, upon which theſe words were written, “To the faireſt.”
Immediately each of the Goddeſſes wanted to have the Apple, and
each faid he was the handsomest; for Goddeſſes are as anxious
about their beauty, as mere mortal ladies. The ſtrife was,
however, more particularly between Juno, the wife of Jupiter;
Venus, the Goddeſs of Love; and Pallas, the Goddeſs of Arts
and Sciences. At length they agreed to be judged by a ſhep-
herd, named Paris, who fed his flocks upon Mount Ida, and
was, however, fon to Priam, King of Troy. They appeared all
three before Paris, and quite naked; for, in order to judge criti-
cally, and to determine equitably, it is requifite that all ſhould
be ſeen. Juno offered him the grandeurs of the world, if he
would decide in her favour; Pallas promifed him arts and ſei-
ences; but Venus, who tempted him with the moſt beautiful
woman in the universe, prevailed, and he gave her the Apple.

You

TO HIS SON.

13

You may easily imagine how glad Venus was, and how angry
Juno and Pallas were. Venus, in order to perform her promife,
ordered him go to Menelaüs's, in Greece, whose wife, named
Helena, would fall in love with him: accordingly he went, and
was kindly entertained by Menelaüs; but, soon after, Paris ran
away with Helena, and carried her off to Troy. Menelaüs, irri-
tated at this injurious breach of hospitality, complained to his
brother Agamemnon, King of Mycenæ, who engaged the Greeks
to avenge the affront. Embafladors were sent to Troy, to de-
mand the reſtitution of Helena, and, in cafe of a denial, to declare
war. Paris refused to reſtore her; upon which war was pro-
claimed. It laſted ten years. I ſhall very soon ſend you the
hiftoire of it.

LETTER VII.

A Illeworth, ce 30 Juin, 1738.

JE vous envoie à cette heure, mon Cher ! une hiftoire fort
en abrégé, du ſiege de Troye, ou vous verrez que les Troyens
étoient juſtement punis de l'injuſtice de Paris, qu'ils ſoutenoient.

Je vous enverrai bientôt auffi, les hiftoires de plusieurs des Rois et des Héros, qui étoient dans l'armée des Grecs, et qui meritent d'être ſeuſs. J'aurois dû vous avoir dit que la ville de Troye étoit en Afie, et que la Grée étoit un païs de l'Europe, qui eſt à preſent ſous le Turc, et fait partie de ce qu'on appelle Turquie en Europe.

De la manière que vous y allez, vous ferez bien favant avec le
temps, et je crains même que bientôt vous n'en fachiez plus que
moi. Je vous le pardonnerai pourtant, et je ferai fort content de
paffer pour un ignorant en comparaifon de vous. Adieu.

Histoire

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14 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

Histoire du Siege de Troye.

Les Troyens aiant donc refulcé de rendre Hélène à son Mari ; les Grecs leur declarèrent la guerre. Or il y avoit en Grèce un grand nombre de Rois, qui fournirent leurs troupes, et qui allèrent en personne à cette guerre ; mais comme il falloit que quelqu'un commandât en Chef, ils convinrent tous, de donner le commandement à Agamemnon, Roi de Mycènes, et frère de Ménélas le mari d'Hélène.

Ils s'embarquerent donc pour Troye, mais les vents étant contraires ils furent arretés à Aulis et n'en pouvoient pas fortir. Surquoi le Prêtre Calchas déclara que c'étoit la Déeffe Diane qui envoioit ces vents contraires et qui les continueroit jufques à ce qu'Iphigénie la fille d'Agamemnon lui eut été immolée. Agamemnon obéit, et envoia chercher Iphigénie, mais dans l'instant qu'on alloit la sacrifier, Diane mit une Biche à sa place, et enleva Iphigénie à Tauros, où elle la fit fa Prêtreffe.

Après ceci le vent devint favorable, et ils allerent à Troye, où ils débarquerent, et en firent le siege. Mais les Troyens se défendentrent si bien, que le siege dura dix ans, et les Grecs voiant qu'ils ne pouvoient pas prendre la ville par force, eurent recours à la rufe. Ils firent, donc, faire un grand Cheval de bois, et mirent dans le ventre de ce Cheval bon nombre de foldats bien armés et après cela firent semblant de sef retirer à leurs vaillkeaux, et d'abandonner le siege. Les Troyens donnerent dans le panneau, et firent entrer ce Cheval dans la ville ; ce qui leur couta cher, car au milieu de la nuit ces hommes fortirent du Cheval, mirent le feu à la ville, en ouvrirent les portes, et firent entrer l'armée des Grecs, qui revinrent, faccagèrent la ville, et tuèrent tous les habitans, excepté un fort petit nombre qui échappèrent par la fuite, parmi lesquels étoit Enée dont je vous ai déjà

parlé,

5

TO HIS SON.

15

parlé, qui se fauva avec son père Anchise, qu'il portoit sur ses épaules parce qu'il étoit vieux, et son fils Alcagne qu'il menoit par la main, parce qu'il étoit jeune.

Histoire d'Ajax.

Ajax, un des plus vaillans Grecs qui furent au siege de Troye, étoit fils de Télamon, Prince de Salamine. Après qu'Achille fut tué, il prétendit que ses armes lui appartenoient comme son plus proche parent. Mais Ulysse les lui disputa, et les emporta; furquoi Ajax devint fou, et tuoit tous les moutons qu'il trouvoit, croiant que c'étoient des Grecs. A la fin il se tua lui même.

Histoire de Nestor.

Nestor étoit le plus vieux et le plus sage de tous les Grecs qui se trouvoient au siege de Troye. Il avoit plus de trois cents ans, de forte que tant à caufe de son expérience, que de sa sagesse, l'armée Grecque étoit gouvernée par ses Confeils. On dit même aujourd'hui d'un homme qui eft fort vieux et fort sage, c'eft un Nestor.

L'Histoire d'Ulysse.

Ulysse autre Prince qui alla au siege de Troye, étoit Roi d'Ithaque, et fils de Laërte. Sa femme se nommoit Pénélope, dont il étoit si amoureux, qu'il ne vouloit pas la quitter, pour aller au siege de Troye ; de forte qu'il contrefit l'infénie pour en être dispenſé, mais il fut découvert et obligé d'y aller. C'étoit le plus fin et le plus adroit de tous les Grecs. Pendant les dix années qu'il fut au siege de Troye, sa femme Pénélope eut plufieurs amans, mais elle n'en écouta aucun, fi bien qu'à présent

même

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16

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

même, quand ou veut louer une femme pour sa chaufferie on dit
c'est une Pénélope.

Il fut plusieurs années, après que Troye fut brulée, avant que
d'arriver chez lui, à caufe des tempêtes, et autres accidents qui lui
survinrent dans son voiage. Les voages d'Ulysse font le sujet d'un
beau poème, qu'Homère a fait en Grec et qui s'appelle l'Odyssée.
Ulysse avoit un fils nommé Télémaque.

Du côté des Troyens il y avait aussi des personnages très illu-
stres: Leur Roi Priam qui étoit fort vieux avoit eu cinquante en-
fans de sa femme Hécube. Quand Troye fut prife, il fut tué par
Pyrrhus le fils d'Achille. Hécube fut la captive d'Ulysse.

Histoire d'HECTOR.

Hector étoit fils de Priam, et le plus brave des Troyens; sa
femme se nommoit Andromaque, et il avoit un fils qui s'appelloit
Aftyanax. Il voulut se battre contre Achille qui le tua, et puis
fort brutalement, l'attacha à son Char, et le traina en triomphe,
autour des murailles de Troye.

Quand la ville fut prife, sa femme Andromaque fut captive de
Pyrrhus fils d'Achille, qui en devint amoureux, et l'epoufa.

Histoire de CASSANDRE.

Cassandre, fille de Priam, étoit fi belle, que le Dieu Apollon
en devint amoureux, et lui accorda le don de prédire l'avenir, pour
en avoir les dernieres favours; mais comme elle trompa le Dieu et
ne se rendit point, il fit enforte que quoiqu'elle prédit toujours la
verité, personne ne la croiroit. On dit même à prefent d'une per-
fonne qui prédit les fuites d'une affaire, sur lesquelles on ne l'en
croit pas: c'est une Cassandre.

2

Histoire

37

TO HIS SON.

Histoire d'ENÉE.

Enée étoit Prince Troyen, fils d'Anchise, et de la Déesie
Venus, qui le protégea dans tous ses dangers. Sa femme s'ap-
pella Creuse, et il en eut un fils nommé Afcagnie ou Iulus.
Quand Troye fut brulée, il se fauva, et porta son père Anchise
fur ses épaules, à caufe de quoi il fut appellé le pieux Enée.

Vous favez déjà ce qui lui arriva à Carthage avec Didon ; après
quoi il alla en Italie, où il époufa Lavinie fille du Roi Latinus,
après avoir tué Turnus qui étoit fon rival.

Romulus qui étoit le fondateur de Rome defcendoit d'Enée et
de Lavinie

TRANSLATION.

I NOW fend you, my dear, a very short history of the siege of
Troy. You will there see how justly the Trojans were
punished for supporting Paris in his injustice.

I will fend you soon the histories of several Kings and Heroes,
who were in the Grecian army, and defer to be known. I
ought to have informed you, that the city of Troy was in Asia;
and that Greece is a country in Europe; which, at prefent, be-
longs to the Turks, and is part of what is called Turkey in
Europe.

Confidering the manner in which you now go on, you will in
time be very learned; I am even afraid Iaft you should foon
know more than myself. However, I ſhall forgive you, and will
be very happy to be eſteemed ignorant, in comparifon of you.
Adieu.

VOL. I.

D

The

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

The History of the Siege of Troy.

The Trojans having refused to restore Helen to her husband, the Greeks declared war against them. Now there was in Greece a great number of Kings, who furnished troops, and commanded them in person. They all agreed to give the supreme command to Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, and brother to Mencaius, husband to Helen.

They embarked for Troy; but meeting with contrary winds, were detained by them at Aulis. Upon which Calchas, the High Priest, declared, that those adverse winds were sent by the Godesses Diana; who would continue them, till Iphigenia, daughter to Agamemnon, was sacrificed to her. Agamemnon obeyed, and sent for Iphigenia; but just as she was going to be sacrificed, Diana put a Hind in her stead, and carried off Iphigenia to Tauros, where she made her one of her Prieſtesses.

After this, the winds became favourable, and they purfuſed their voyage to Troy, where they landed and began the ſiſe: but the Trojans defended their city ſo well, that the ſiſe laſt ten years. The Greeks, finding they could not take it by force, had recourse to ſtratagem. They made a great wooden Horſe, and enclosed in its body a number of armed men; after which they pretended to retire to their ſhips, and abandon the ſiſe. The Trojans fell into this ſnare, and brought the Horſe into their town; which coſt them dear, for, in the middle of the night, the men, concealed in it, got out, fet fire to the city, opened the gates, and let in the Grecian army, that had returned under the walls of Troy. The Greeks facked the city, and put all the inhabitants to the sword, except a very few, who faved themselves by flight. Among theſe was Eneas, whom I mentioned to you before; and who

TO HIS SON.

who fled with his father Anchises upon his shoulders, becaufe he was old; and led his ſon Aſcanius by the hand, becaufe he was young.

Story of Ajax.

Ajax was one of the moſt valiant Greeks that went to the ſiſe of Troy; he was ſon to Telamon, Prince of Salamis. After Achilles had been killed, he demanded that Hero's armour, as his neareſt relation; but Ulyſſes contended that point, and obtained the armour. Upon which Ajax went mad, and slaughtered all the sheep he met with, under a notion that they were ſo many Greeks: at laſt he killed himself.

Story of NESTOR.

Neſtor was the oldeſt and wifeſt of all the Greeks who were at the ſiſe of Troy. He was above three hundred years old: ſo that, on account of his experience, as well as his wisdom, the Grecian army was directed by his counſels. Even at this preſent time, it is ſaid of a man, who is very old, and very wife, he is a Neſtor.

Story of ULYSSES.

Ulyſſes was another Prince who went to the ſiſe of Troy; he was King of Ithaca, and ſon of Laertes. His wife's name was Penelope, with whom he was ſo much in love, that, unwilling to leave her, he feigned himself mad, in order to be excused going to the ſiſe of Troy; but, this device being discovered, he was compelled to embark for Ilion. He was the moſt artful and subtle of all the Greeks. During those ten years of his abſence at Troy, Penelope had ſeveral lovers, but she gave encouragement

D 2

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

20

couragement to none; so that even now, when a woman is com-
mended for chafitivity, she is called a Penelope.

After the deftruétion of Troy, Ulysses was several years before he reached his kingdom, being toffed about by tempefts and various accidents. The voyages of Ulysses have been the subject of a very fine poem, written by Homer, in Greek, and called The Odifcy. Ulysses had one fon, whose name was Telemachus. There were alfo many illuftrious perſons on the Trojan ſide, Priam was their King. He was very old, and had had fifty children by his wife Hecuba. After the taking of Troy, he was killed by Pyrrhus, the ſon of Achilles, and Hecuba made captive to Ulyſſes.

Story of HECTOR.

Hector was ſon to Priam, and the braſeſt of the Trojans;
Andromache was his wife, and his ſon's name Aſtyanax. He
reſolved to engage Achilles; who killed him, and then brutally
faſtened his dead body to his car, and dragged it in triumph
round the walls of Troy.

After that city was taken, his wife, Andromache, became
captive to Pyrrhus, the ſon of Achilles. He afterwards fell in
love with, and married her.

Story of CASSANDRA.

Caffandra, daughter of Priam, was ſo beautiful, that the God
Apollo fell in love with her; and gave her the power of foretelling
future events, upon condition of her compliance with his deſires.
But as she deceived the God, by not gratifying his wishes, he or-
dered matters in ſuch a manner, that, although she always fore-
told truth, no body believed her. It is even now ſaid of a perſon
who

6

TO HIS SON.

21

who foretels the conſequences of an affair, and is not believed,
She is a Caffandra.

Story of ENEAS.

Eneas was a Trojan Prince, ſon of Anchises, and of the God-
defs Venus, who protected him in all the dangers he underwent.
His wife's name was Creuſa; by whom he had a ſon called Alca-
nius, or Julius. When Troy was burned, he made his eſcape, and
carried his father Anchises upon his back; for which reaſon he was
furnamed the pious Eneas.

You already know what happened to him, with Dido, at Car-
thage. After that he went to Italy, where, having killed his rival,
Turnus, he married Lavinia, daughter to King Latinus.

From Æneas and Lavinia was defcended Romulus, the founder
of Rome.

LETTER VIII.

A Idleworth, ce 29me, Juillet.

MON CHER ENFANT,

Je vous ai envoié dans ma derniere, l'hisſoire d'Atalante *, qui
fuccomba à la tentation de l'Or ; je vous envoie à cette
heure, l'hisſoire d'une femme, qui tint bon contre toutes les ten-
tations ; c'eft Daphné fille du fleuve Penée. Apollon en fut éper-
dûmert amoureux ; et Apollon étoit comme vous favez un Dieu
fort accompli ; car il étoit jeune et bien fait, d'ailleurs c'étoit le
Dieu du Jour, de la Muſique, et de la Poéſie. Voici bien du bril-
lant ; mais n'importe, il la pourſuivit inutilement, et elle ne vou-
lut jamais l'écouter.

* Qui ne ſe trouve pas.

Un

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

22

Un jour done l'aiant rencontrée dans les champs, il la pourfu-
vit, dans le defflein de la force. Daphné courut de son mieux
pour l'éviter; mais à la fin, n'en pouvant plus, Apollo étoit fur le
point de la prendre dans ses bras; quand les Dieux qui approuvoient
fa vertu, et plaignoient son fort, la changerent en Laurier; de
forte qu'Apollon, qui croitoit embrasser fa chère Daphné, fut bien
surpris de trouver un arbre entre ses bras. Mais pour lui mar-
quer son amour, il ordonna que le Laurier feroit le plus honorable
de tous les arbres, et qu'on en couronneroit les Guerriers victorieux,
et les plus célestres Poètes: ce qui s'eft toujours fait depuis chez
les anciens. Et vous trouverez même souvent dans les Poètes
modernes, Lauriers pour Viteñoires. Un tel eft chargé de Lauriers,
un tel a cueilli des Lauriers, dans le champ de bataille. C'eft à
dire il a remporté des victoires; il s'eft diftingué par sa bravoure.
J'espere qu'avec le tems vous vous diftinguerez auſſi par votre
courage. C'eſt une qualité très neceſſaire à un honnête homme,
et qui d'ailleurs donne beaucoup d'éclat. Adieu.

TRANSLATION.

MY DEAR CHILD,

I
Sent you, in my laft, the flory of Atalanta *, who could not
refift the temptation of Gold. I will now give you the flory
of a woman, with whom no temptation whatever had any power ;
this was Daphne, daughter to the river Peneus. Apollo was
violently in love with her, and Apollo was, as you know, a very
accomplified God, for he was young and handſome; befides
which, he was God of the Sun, of Muſic, and of Poetry. Theſe

* Which cannot be found.

are

TO HIS SON.

23

are brilliant qualities; but, notwithstanding, the nymph was coy,
and the lover unſuccesſul.

One day, having met with her in the fields, he purfued, in
order to have forced her. Daphne, to avoid him, ran as long as
she was able; but at laſt, being quite ſpent, Apollo was juſt going
to catch her in his arms, when the Gods, who pitied her fate, and
approved her virtue, changed her into a Laurel; ſo that Apollo,
inſtead of his dear Daphne, was surprized to find a tree in his
arms. But, as a teſtimony of his love, he decreed the Laurel to be
the moſt honourable of all trees; and ordained viſtorious War-
riors, and celebrated Poets to be crowned with it: an injunction
which was ever afterwards obſerved by the ancients. You will
even often find, among the modern Poets, Laurels for Viſtories.
Such-a-one is loaded with Laurels; ſuch-a-one has gathered Lau-
rels in the field of battle. This means, he has been viſtorious,
and has diſtinguifhed himſelf by his bravery. I hope, that, in time,
you too will be famous for your courage. Valour is eſtential to a
gentleman; befides, that it adds brilliancy to his character.
Adieu.

LETTER IX.

A Bath ce 30<sup>e</sup> Sept. 1738.

MON CHER ENFANT,

J
E suis bien aife d'apprendre que vous êtes revenu gai et gail-
lard de vos voilages. La danſe de trois jours que vous avez faite
ne vous aura pas tant plû, que celle que vous allez recommencer
avec votre maitre à danſer.

Comme je fais que vous aimez à apprendre ; je préſuppoſe que
vous avez repris vòtre école; car le tems étant precieux, et la vie
courte,

3

44
43

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

24

courte, il n'en faut pas perdre. Un homme d'espirit tire parti du
tems, et le met tout à profit, ou à plaifier ; il n'eſt jamais fans
faire quelque chose, et il eſt toujours occupé ou au plaifier, ou à
l'étude. L'oifiveté, dit-on, eſt la mere de tous les vices ; mais au
moins eſt il ſur qu'elle eſt l'appanage des ſots, et qu'il n'y a rien
de plus méprisable qu'un fainctant. Caton le Cenfeur, un vieux
Romain, d'une grande vertu, et d'une grande fagesser, diſoit qu'il
n'y avoit que trois chofes dans ſa vie dont il ſe repentoit; la première
étoit, d'avoir dit un ſecret à ſa femme ; la ſeconde, d'être allé une
fois par mer, là où il pouvoit aller par terre ; et la derniere, d'ap-
voir paſſer un jour fans rien faire. De la manière que vous em-
ploiez votre tems, j'avoué que je ſuis envieux du plaifier que vous
aurez, de vous voir bien plus favant, que les autres garçons plus
agés que vous. Quel honneur cela vous fera ; quelle diſtinction;
quels applaudiſemens vous trouverez par tout ! Avouez que cela
fera bien flatteur. Auffi c'eſt une ambition très louable, que
de les vouloir ſurpaſſer, en mérite et en savoir. Au lieu que
de vouloir ſurpaſſer les autres ſeulement, en rang, en dépenſe, en
habits, et en équipage, n'eſt qu'une ſotte vanité, qui rend un
homme ſort ridicule.

Reprenons un peu nôtre Géographie, pour vous amuser avec
les cartes, car à cette heure, que les jours font courts, vous ne
pourrez pas aller à la promenade les après diners, il faut pourtant
ſe divertir; rien ne vous divertira plus que de regarder les cartes.
Adieu ! vous êtes un excellent petit garçon.

Faites mes compliments à votre Maman.

TRANS-

TO HIS SON.

25

TRANSLATION.

Bath, September the 30th, 1738.

MY DEAR CHILD,

I Am very glad to hear, that you are returned from your travels
well, and in good humour. The three days dance which
you have borne, has not, I believe, been quite so agreeable as
that which you are now going to renew with your dancing-
mafter.

As I know you have a pleafure in learning, I take it for granted
that you have refumed your ſtudies; for time is precious, life ſhort,
and conſequently one muſt not loſe a ſingle moment. A man of
ſenſe knows how to make the moſt of time, and puts out his
whole ſum, either to intereſt or to pleafure: he is never idle; but
conſantly employed either in amuſements or in ſtudy. It is a ſay-
ing, that idlenefs is the mother of all vice. At leaſt, it is certain,
that lazineſs is the inheritance of fools; and nothing ſo despicable
as a ſluggard. Cato the Cenſor, an old Roman, of great virtue
and much wifdom, uſed to ſay, there were but three aſtions of his
life which he regretted. The firſt was, the having told a ſe-
cret to his wife; the ſecond, that he had once gone by ſea when
he might have gone by land; and the third, the having paſſed
one day without doing any thing. Confidering the manner in
which you employ your time, I own that I am envious of the
pleafure you will have in finding yourſelf more learned than other
boys, even thoſe who are older than yourſelf. What honour this
will do you ! What diſtinations, what applaſes will follow, where-
ever you go ! You muſt confes that this cannot but give you plea-
ſure. The being deſirous of ſurpaſſing them in merit and
learning, is a very laudable ambition; whereas the wifhing to

VOL. I.

E

outſhine

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

26

outfhine others in rank, in expence, in clothes, and in equipage,
is a filly vanity, that makes a man appear ridiculous.

Let us return to our Geography, in order to amuse ourselves with maps. Now the days are short, you cannot walk out in the evening; yet one must amuse one's self; and there is nothing to entertaining as maps. Adieu! you are an excellent little boy.

Make my compliments to your Mamma.

LETTER X.

A Bath ce 4<sup>ème</sup> d'Octobre 1738.

MON CHER ENFANT,

VOUS voiez bien, qu'en vous écrivant si fouvent, et de la
maniere dont je le fais, je ne vous traite pas en petit enfant,
mais en garçon qui a de l'ambition, et qui aime à apprendre, et
à s'instruire. De forte que je suis perfuadé qu'en lifant mes lettres,
vous faites attention, non feulement à la matiere qu'elles traitent,
mais aufli à l'orthographe, et au flyle. Car il eft très important
de savoir bien écrire des lettres; on en a befoin tous les jours dans
le commerce, de la vie, soit pour les affaires, soit pour les plaifirs,
et l'on ne pardonne qu'aux Dames, des fautes d'orthographe et de
flyle. Quand vous ferez plus grand, vous lirez les Epitres, (c'eft à
dire les lettres) de Ciceron, qui font le modele le plus parfait de la
maniere de bien écrire. A propos de Ciceron, il faut vous dire un
peu, qui il etoit; c'étoit un vieux Romain, qui vivoit il y a dix-
huit cents ans : homme d'un grand génie, et le plus célèbre Ora-
teur qui ait jamais été. Ne faut il pas, par parenthefe, vous expli-
quer ce que c'eft qu'un Orateur ? Je crois bien que oui. Un Ora-
teur donc, c'eft un homme qui harangue dans une affemblée
publique,

TO HIS SON.

27

publique, et qui parle avec éloquence, c'eft à dire qui raifonne bien,
qui a un beau flyle, et qui choifit bien ses paroles. Or jamais
homme, n'a mieux fait toutes ces chofes que Ciceron; il parloit
quelquefois à tout le peuple Romain, et par fon éloquence il leur
perfuadoit tout ce qu'il vouloit. Quelquefois aufli il entreprenoit
les procès de ses amis, il plaidoit pour eux devant des Juges, et il
manquoit rarement d'emporter leurs suffrages, c'eft à dire, leurs
voix, leurs décifions, en fa faveur. Il avoit rendu de grands
fervices à la République Romaine, pendant qu'elle jouiffoit de fa
liberté; mais quand elle fut affuuffette par Jules Céfar, le premier
Empereur Romain, il devint sufpeét aux Tyrans, et fut à la fin
égorgé par les ordres de Marc Antoine, qui le haiffoit, parce qu'il
avoit harangué fi fortement contre lui, quand il vouloit fe rendre
maître de Rome.

Souvenez vous toujours, s'il y a quelques mots dans mes lettres,
que vous n'entendez pas parfaitement, d'en demander l'explication
à votre Maman, ou de les chercher dans le Dictionnaire. Adieu,

TRANSLATION.

Bath, October the 4th, 1738.

MY DEAR CHILD,

BY my writing so often, and by the manner in which I
write, you will easily see, that I do not treat you as a
little child, but as a boy who loves to learn, and is ambitious of
receiving instructions. I am even perfuaded, that in reading my
letters, you are attentive, not only to the subject of which they treat,
but likewife to the orthography, and to the flyle. It is of the
greatest importance to write letters well; as this is a talent which
unavoidably occurs every day of one's life, as well in business
as in pleasure; and inaccuracies in orthography, or in flyle, are
never

E 2

never

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

never pardoned but in ladies. When you are older, you will
read the Epistles (that is to say letters) of Cicero; which are the
most perfect models of good writing. *A propos* of Cicero; I
must give you some account of him. He was an old Roman,
who lived eighteen hundred years ago; a man of great genius, and
the most celebrated Orator that ever was. Will it not be ne-
ceffary to explain to you what an Orator is? I believe I must.
An Orator is a man who harangues in a public assembly, and who
speaks with eloquence; that is to say, who reafons well, has a
fine style, and chufes his words properly. Now, never man
fucceeded better than Cicero, in all those different points: he ufed
fometimes to speak to the whole people of Rome assembled; and,
by the force of his eloquence, perfuaded them to whatever he pleafed.
At other times, he ufed to undertake caufes, and plead for his
clients in courts of judicature: and in those caufes he generally
had all the sufferages, that is to say, all the opinions, all the deci-
fions, in his favour. While the Roman Republic enjoyed its free-
dom, he did very signal services to his country; but after it was
enflamed by Julius Cefar, the first Emperor of the Romans, Ci-
cero became suspected by the tyrants; and was at last put to
death by order of Marc Antony, who hated him for the severity
of his orations against him, at the time that he endeavoured to
obtain the sovereignty of Rome.

In cafe there should be any words in my letters which you do
not perfectly understand, remember always to inquire the expla-
nation from your Mamma, or else to seek for them in the Dic-
tionary. Adieu.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

LETTER XI.

MON CHER ENFANT,

A Bath, ce 11<sup>eme</sup> d'Octobre, 1738.

VOUS aiant parlé dans ma dernière de Ciceron le plus grand
Orateur que Rome ait jamais produit, (quoiqu'elle en ait
produit plusieurs) je vous préfente aujourd'hui Démothénes le plus
célébre des Orateurs Grecs. J'aurois dû à la verité avoir com-
mencé par Démothénes, comme l'ainé, car il vivoit à peu près
trois cents ans avant Ciceron; et Ciceron même a beaucoup pro-
fité de la lecture de ses Harangues; comme j'espere qu'avec le
tems vous profiterez de tous les deux. Revenons à Démothénes.
Il étoit de la célèbre ville d'Athenes dans la Greece, et il avoit tant
d'éloquence, que pendant un certain tems il gouvernoit absolu-
ment la ville, et perfuadoit aux Athéniens ce qu'il vouloit. Il
n'avoit pas naturellement le don de la parole, car il bégaioit,
mais il s'en corrigea en mettant, quand il parloit, de petits cailloux
dans sa bouche. Il se distingua particulierement par les Harangues,
qu'il fit contre Philippe, Roi de Macédoine, qui vouloit se rendre
maître de la Greece. C'est pourquoi ces Harangues là font intitu-
lées, *Les Philippiques*. Vous voiez de quel utage c'est que de
favoir bien parler, de s'exprimer bien, et de s'énoncer avec grace.
Il n'y a point de talent, par lequel on se rend plus agréable ou
plus confidérable, que par celui de bien parler.

A propos de la ville d'Athenes; je crois que vous ne la con-
noissez guères encore; et pourtant il eft bien néceffaire de faire
connoissance avec elle, car fi elle n'a pas été la mere, du moins
elle a été la nourrice, des Arts et des Sciences, c'eft à dire, que fi
elle ne les a point inventé, du moins elle les a porté à la per-
fection. Il eft vrai que l'Egypte a été la première où les Arts

4

et

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

50

et les Sciences ont commencés, mais il eft vrai auſſi que c'eſt
Athènes qui les a perſectionnés. Les plus grands Philosophes,
c'eſt à dire, les gens qui aimoient, et qui étudioient la ſageſſe,
étoient d'Athenes, comme auſſi les meilleurs Poëtes, et les meil-
leurs Orateurs. Les Arts y ont été portés auſſi à la dernière per-
fection; comme la Sculpture, c'eſt à dire, l'art de tailler des
figures en pierre et en marbre. L'Architecture, c'eſt à dire
l'art de bien bâtir des maſons, des temples, des théâtres. La
Peinture, la Muſique, enfin tout fleuriftoit à Athenes. Les
Athéniens avoient l'esprit délicat, et le goût juſte; ils étoient
polis et agréables, et l'on appelloit, cet esprit vif, juſte, et enjoué,
qu'ils avoient, le Sel Attique, parce que, comme vous favez,
le fel a, en même tems, quelque chofe de piquant et d'agréable. On
dit même aujourd'hui d'un homme qui a cette forte d'esprit qu'il
a du Sel Attique c'eſt à dire Athénien. J'esf'ére que vous ferez
bien falé de ce Sel là, mais pour l'être il faut apprendre bien des
choſes, les concevoir, et les dire promptement; car les meilleures
choſes perdent leur grace fi elles paroiffent trop travailleés. Adieu
mon petit ami, en voilà affiez pour aujourd'hui.

TRANSLATION.

MY DEAR CHILD,

Bath, October the 11th, 1738.

HAVING mentioned Cicero to you in my laſt; Cicero, the
greatesſt Orator that Rome ever produced; although it pro-
duced ſeveral; I this day introduce to your acquaintance De-
mofthenes, the moſt celebrated of the Grecian Orators. To ſay
the truth, I ought to have began with Demoſthenes, as the elder;
for he lived about three hundred years before the other. Cicero
even improved by reading his Orations, as I hope you will in time
profit

2

TO HIS SON.

31

profit by reading thofe of both. Let us return to Demoſthenes.
He was born at Athens, a celebrated city in Greece; and so
commanding was his eloquence, that, for a considerable time, he
absolutely governed the city, and perfuaded the people to whatever
he pleafed. His elocution was not naturally good, for he
flammered; but got the better of that impediment by ſpeaking
with ſmall pebbles in his mouth. He diſtinguifhed himſelf more
particularly by his Orations againſt Philip King of Macedonia,
who had deſigned the conqueſt of Greece. Thofe Orations, being
againſt Philip, were from thence called Philippics. You fee how
uſeful it is to be able to ſpeak well, to exprefs one's ſelf clearly, and
to pronounce gracefully. The talent of ſpeaking well, is more
eſſentially neceſſary than any other, to make us both agreeable,
and confiderable.

A propos of the city of Athens; I believe you at preſent know
but little of it; and yet it would be requisite to be well informed
upon that ſubjeſt; for, if Athens was not the mother, at leaſt ſhe
was nurſe to all the Arts and Sciences; that is to ſay, though ſhe
did not invent, yet ſhe improved them to the higheſt degree
of perſection. It is true, that Arts and Sciences firſt began in
Egypt; but it is as certain, that they were brought to perſection
at Athens. The greatest Philosophers, (that is to ſay, men who
loved and ſtudied wifdom) were Athenians, as alſo the beſt Poets,
and the beſt Orators. Arts likewife were there brought to the
utmoſt perſection; ſuch as Sculpture, which means the art of
cutting figures in ſtone and in marble; Architecture, or the
art of building houſes, temples, and theatres, well. Painting,
Muſic, in ſhort, every art flourifhed at Athens. The Athenians
had great delicacy of wit, and juſtneſs of taſſe; they were polite
and agreeable. That ſort of lively, juſt, and pleafing wit, which
they poſſeſſed, was called Attic Salt, becauſe ſalt has, as you
know,

43

32

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

know, something sharp and yet agreeable. Even now, it is said
of a man, who has that turn of wit, he has Attic Salt; which
means Athenian. I hope you will have a good deal of that Salt;
but this requires the learning many things; the comprehend-
ing and expelling them without hesitation: for the best things
lofe much of their merit, if they appear too studied. Adieu, my
dear boy; here is enough for this day.

LETTER XII.

JE suis bien-aîne que vous étudiez l'Histoire Romaine, car de
toutes les anciennes hiftaires, il n'y en a pas de fi infructtive,
ni qui fourniffe tant d'exemples de vertu, de fageſſe, et de cou-
rage. Les autres grands Empires, favoir, celui des Afſyriens,
celui des Perfes, et celui des Macedoniens, ſe font élevés prefque
tout d'un coup, par des accidens favorables, et par le succès ra-
pide de leurs armes; mais l'Empire Romain s'eft aggrandi par de-
grès, et a furmonté les difficultés qui s'oppoſoient à ſon aggran-
diffement, autant par ſa vertu, et par ſa fageſſe, que par ſes armes.

Rome qui fut dans la suite la maitrefſe du monde, n'étoit
d'abord, comme vous le favez, qu'une petite ville fondée par Ro-
mulus, ſon premier Roi, à la tête d'un petit nombre de bergers
et d'aventuriers, qui ſe rangerent fous lui, et dans le premier
dénombrement que Romulus ſit du peuple, c'eſt à dire, la
premiere fois, qu'il ſit compter le nombre des habitans, ils ne
montoient qu'à trois mille hommes de pied, et trois cents che-
vaux, au lieu qu'à la fin de ſon regne, qui dura trente ſept ans,
il y avoit quarante fix mille hommes de pied, et mille chevaux.

Pendant les deux cents cinquante premieres années de Rome,
c'eſt

33

TO HISSON.

c'eſt à dire, tout le tems qu'elle fut gouvernée par des Rois,
fes voifins lui firent la guerre, et tachèrent d'étouffer dans ſa
naïſance, un peuple, dont ils craignoient l'aggrandiffement, con-
féquence naturelle de ſa vertu, de ſon courage, et de ſa fageſſe.

Rome donc emploia ſes deux cents cinquante premieres an-
nées, à lutter contre ſes plus proches voifins, qu'elle furmonta; et
deux cents cinquante autres, à ſe rendre maitrefſe de l'Italie; de
forte qu'il y avoit cinq cents ans, depuis la fondation de Rome,
jufques à ce qu'elle devint maitrefſe de l'Italie. Ce fut ſeule-
ment dans les deux cents années ſuivantes qu'elle ſe rendit la mai-
trefſe du monde, c'eſt à dire ſept cents ans après ſa fondation.

TRANSLATION.

I Am glad to hear you study the Roman hiftory; for, of all
ancient hiftories, it is the moſt infructtive, and furnifhes moſt
examples of virtue, wisdom, and courage. The other great
Empires, as the Afſyrian, Perſian, and Macedonian, Sprung up,
almoſt of a ſudden, by favourable accidents, and the rapidity
of their conqueſts; but the Roman Empire extended itſelf gra-
dually, and furmounted the obſtacles that oppoſed its aggrandife-
ment, not leſs by virtue and wisdom, than by force of arms.

Rome, which at length, became the miftrefis of the world, was
(as you know) in the beginning but a ſmall city, founded by Ro-
mulus, her firſt King, at the head of an inconfiderable number of
herdſmen and vagabonds, who had made him their Chief. At the
firſt ſurvey Romulus made of his people; that is, the firſt time he
took an account of the inhabitants, they amounted only to three
thouſand ſoot and three hundred horſe; whereas, towards the
end of his reign, which laſted thirty-seven years, he reckoned
forty-fix thouſand ſoot, and one thouſand horſe.

VOL. I.

F

During

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

34

During the first two hundred and fifty years of Rome, as long as it was governed by Kings, the Romans were engaged in frequent wars with their neighbours; who endeavoured to crush in its infancy a state whose future greatnesſs they dreaded, as the natural consequence of its virtue, courage, and wisdom.

Thus Rome employed its first two hundred and fifty years in struggling with the neighbouring States, who were in that period entirely subdueſd; and two hundred and fifty more in conquering the reſt of Italy: ſo that we reckon five hundred years from the foundation of Rome to the entire conqueſt of Italy. And in the following two hundred years ſhe attained to the Empire of the World; that is, in seven hundred years from the foundation of the city.

LETTER XIII.

ROMULUS qui, comme je vous l'ai déjà dit, étoit le Fondateur, et le premier Roi de Rome, n'ayant pas d'abord beaucoup d'habitans pour ſa nouvelle ville, ſongea à tous les moisens d'en augmenter le nombre, et pour cet effet, il publia qu'elle ſerviroit d'afyle, c'eſt à dire, de refuge et de lieu de ſureté pour ceux qui ſeroient bannis des autres villes d'Italie. Cela lui attira bien des gens qui fortirent de ces villes, ſoit à cauſe de leurs dettes, ſoit à cauſe des crimes qu'ils y avoient commis: car un afyle eſt un endroit qui ſert de protection à tous ceux qui y viennent, quelque crime qu'ils aient commis, et on ne peut les y prendre ni les punir. Avouez qu'il eſt aſſez ſurprenant que d'un pareil amas de vauriens et de coquins, il en ſoit forti la nation la plus ſage et la plus vertucuſe qui ſut jamais.

Mais

TO HIS SON.

35

Mais c'eſt que Romulus y ſit de ſi bonnes loix, infpira à tout le peuple, un tel amour de la patrie, et de la gloire, y établit ſi bien la religion, et le culte des Dieux, que pendant quelques centaines d'années ce ſut un peuple de Héros, et de gens vertueux.

TRANSLATION.

ROMULUS, who (as I have already told you) was the Founder and first King of Rome, not having sufficient inhabitants for his new city, considered every method by which he might augment their number; and to that end, he iſſued out a proclamation, declaring, that it ſhould be an *afylum*, or, in other words, a ſanctuary and place of safety, for ſuch as were baniſhed from the different cities of Italy. This device brought to him many people, who quitted their respective towns, whether for debt, or on account of crimes which they had committed: an *afylum* being a place of protection for all who fly to it; where, let their offences be what they will, they cannot be apprehended or puniſhed. Pray, is it not very aftonifhing, that, from ſuch a vile affemblage of vagrants and rogues, the wifeſt and moſt virtuous nation, that ever exiſted, ſhould deduce its origin? The reaſon is this; Romulus enaſted ſuch wholeſome laws, infpiried his people with ſo great a love of glory and their country, and ſo firmly eſtablished religion, and the worſhip of the Gods, that, for ſome succeeding ages, they continued a nation of Heroes and virtuous men.

F 2

LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XIV.

Je vous ai déjà fouvent parlé de la nécessité qu'il y a de savoir l'hiistoire à fond; mais je ne peux pas vous le redire trop fouvent. Ciceron l'appelle avec raison; Teflis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memorie, magisira vitæ, nuntia vetuflatis. Par le secours de l'hiistoire un jeune homme peut, en quelque façon, acquérir l'expérience de la vieillesse; en lisant ce qui a été fait, il apprend ce qu'il a à faire, et plus il eft inflruit du paflé, mieux il faura le conduire à l'avenir.

De toutes les Histoires anciennes, la plus intéreflante, et la plus instruétive, c'eft l'hiistoire Romaine. Elle eft la plus fertile en grands hommes, et en grands événemens. Elle nous anime, plus que toute autre, à la vertu; en nous montrant, comment une petite ville, comme Rome, fondée par une poignée de Pâtres et d'Aventuriers, s'eft rendue dans l'espace de sept cents ans maitreffie du monde, par le moien de fa vertu et de fon courage.

C'eft pourquoi j'en ai fait un abrégé fort en racourci. Pour vous en faciliter la connoifance, et l'imprimer d'autant mieux dans votre esprit, vous le traduirez peu à peu, dans un livre que vous m'apporterez tous les Dimanches.

Tout le tems de l'hiistoire Romaine, depuis Romulus jufqu'à Augufte, qui eft de sept cents vingt trois ans, peut se diviser en trois parties.

La première eft tous les sept Rois de Rome, et dure deux cents quarante quatre ans.

La feconde depuis l'établissement des Confuls et l'expulsion des Rois, jufqu'à la première Guerre Punique, eft auffi de deux cents quarante quatre ans.

La

TO HIS SON.

37

La troificme s'étend, depuis la premiere Guerre Punique jufqu'au regne d'Augufte, et elle dure deux cents trente cinq ans; ce qui fait en tout, les sept cents vingt trois ans, ci-dessus mentionnés, depuis sa fondation, jufqu'au regne d'Augufte.

Sous le regne d'Augufte, Rome étoit au plus haut point de fa grandeur, car elle étoit la Maitreffe du Monde; mais elle ne l'étoit plus d'elle même; aiant perdu fon ancienne liberté, et fon ancienne vertu. Augufte y établit le Pouvoir abfolu des Empereurs, qui devint bien-tôt une tyrannie horrible et cruelle sous les autres Empereurs les suceffeurs, moinant quoi, Rome déchût de sa grandeur en moins de tems qu'elle n'en avoit pris pour y monter.

Le premier gouvernement de Rome fut Monarchique, mais une Monarchie bornée, et pas abfolue, car le Sénat partageoit l'autorité avec le Roi. Le Roiaume étoit électif, et non pas héréditaire, c'eft à dire, quand un Roi mouroit, on en choisiffoit un autre, et le fils ne succédoit pas au pere. Romulus, qui fut le fondateur de Rome, en fut auffi le premier Roi. Il fut clû par le peuple, et forma le premier plan du gouvernement. Il établit le Sénat, qui confisfoit en cent membres; et partagea le peuple en trois ordres. Les Patriciens, c'eft à dire les gens du premier rang; les Chevaliers, c'eft à dire ceux du fecond rang; tout le refte étoit peuple, qu'il appella Plebéiens.

Traduifez ceci en Anglois, et apportez le moi Dimanche, écrit fur ces lignes que je vous envoie.

TRANS-

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

TRANSLATION.

I Have often told you how neceffary it was to have a per-
fect knowledge of hiftory; but cannot repeat it often
enough. Cicero properly calls it *Teflis temporum, lux veritatis,*
*vita memorie, magiftra vitæ, nuntia vetuſtatis*. By the help of
Hiftory, a young man may, in fome meafure, acquire the expe-
rience of old-age. In reading what has been done, he is apprifed
of what he has to do; and, the more he is informed of what is
paft, the better he will know how to conduct himſelf for the
future.

Of all ancient hiftories, the Roman is the moſt intereſting
and inſtructive. It abounds moſt with accounts of illuſtrious
men, and preſents us with the greateſt number of important
events. It likewife spurs us on, more than any other, to virtu-
ous actions, by ſhowing how a ſmall city, like Rome, founded by
a handful of ſhepherds and vagabonds, could, in the ſpace of
seven hundred years, render herſelf miſtrefſs of the world by cou-
rage and virtue.

Hence it is, that I have refolved to form a ſmall abridgement of
that hiftory, in order to facilitate your acquiring the knowledge of
it; and, for the better imprinting it in your mind, I defire that,
by little and little, you would tranflate, and copy it fair into a
book, which you muſt not fail to bring to me every Sunday.

The whole time of the Roman hiftory, from Romulus down
to Auguſtus Cefar, being seven hundred and twenty-three years,
may be divided into three periods.

The firſt, under the ſeven Kings, is of two hundred and
forty-four years.

The ſecond, from the expulsion of the Kings, and eſtablish-

ment

TO HIS SON.

ment of the Conſuls, to the firſt Punic War, is likewife two
hundred and forty-four years.

The third is, from the firſt Punic War down to the reign of
Auguſtus Cefar, and lafts two hundred and thirty-five years;
which three periods, added together, make up the ſeven hundred
and twenty-three years above-mentioned, from the foundation of
Rome to the reign of Auguſtus Cefar.

In the reign of Auguſtus, Rome was at the ſummit of her greatneſs; for ſhe was miſtrefſs of the world, though no longer miſtrefſs of herſelf, having loft both her ancient liberty and her ancient virtue. Auguſtus eſtablished the Imperial power, which ſoon degenerated into the moſt deteſtable and cruel tyranny, under the succeeding Emperors; in conſequence of which, Rome ſell from her former greatneſs, in a ſhorter ſpace of time than ſhe had taken to aſcend to it.

The firſt form of government eſtablished at Rome was *Monarchical*; but a limited, not an abſolute Monarchy, as the power was divided between the King and the Senate. The Kingdom was elective, and not hereditary; that is, when one King died, another was choſen in his room, and the ſon of the deceaſed King did not ſucceed him. Romulus, who was founder of Rome, was alſo her firſt King; he was elected by the people, and he formed the firſt ſystem of government. He appointed the Senate, which confiſted of one hundred; and divided the people into three orders; namely, *Patricians*, who were of the firſt rank or order; *Knights*, of the ſecond; and the third was the common people, whom he called *Plebeians*.

Translate this into English, and bring it me next Sunday,
written upon the lines which I now ſend you.

LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XV.

ROMULUS et Rémus étoient jumeaux, et fils de Rhéa
Sylvia, fille de Numitor Roi d'Albe. Rhéa Sylvia fut en-
fermée et mife au nombre des Vestales, par fon oncle Amulius,
afin qu'elle n'eut point d'enfans, car les Vestales étoient obligées à
la chafeté. Elle devint pourtant groffie, et prétendit que le Dieu
Mars l'avoit forcé. Quand elle accoucha de Romulus et de Ré-
mus, Amulius ordonna qu'ils suffient jettés dans le Tibre. Ils y
furent effectivement portés dans leur berceau; mais l'eau s'étant
retirée le berceau refta à fec. Une Louve qui étoit venue là pour
boire, les allaita, jufques à ce que Fauftulus, un berger, les em-
porta chez lui, et les éleva comme fiens. Etant devenus grands,
ils allèrent avec nombre de Latins, d'Albains, et de bergers,
et ils fondèrent Rome. Romulus pour regner feul, tua son frere
Rémus, et fut declaré Roi par tous ces gens là. Etant de-
venu Souverain, il partagea le peuple en trois tribus et trente
Curies, en Patriciens, Plébériens, Sénat, Patrons, Cliens, et Che-
valiers. Les Patriciens étoient les plus aceredités, et les plus con-
fidérables. Les Plébériens étoient le petit peuple. Les Patrons
étoient les gens les plus refpeçables qui protégeoient un certain
nombre du petit peuple, qu'on appelloit leurs Cliens. Le Sénat
confiftoit de cent personnes choifiés d'entre les Patriciens, et les
Chevaliers étoient une troupe de trois cents hommes à cheval,
qui servoient de garde du corps à Romulus, et qu'il appella
Celeres.

Mais Romulus ne fe contenta pas de ces règlements civils, il in-
flitua aufli le culte des Dieux, et établit les Arupfices et les Au-
gures, qui étoient des Prétres, dont les premiers confultoient les
entrailles

TO HISSON.

entrailles des victimes qu'on sacrifioit, et les derniers observoient le
vol, et le chant des oifeaux, et déclaroient fi les prédages étoient favo-
rables ou non, avant qu'on entreprit quelque chofe que ce pût être.

Romulus pour attirer des habitants à la nouvelle ville, la declara
un afyle à tous ceux qui viendroient s'y établir; ce qui attira un
nombre infini de gens, qui y accoururent des autres villes, et cam-
pagnes voifines. Un Afyle veut dire, un lieu de fureté, et de pro-
tection, pour ceux qui font endettés, ou qui aiant commis des
crimes, fe fauvent de la juftice. Dans les païs Catholiques, les
eglifes font actuellement des afyles pour toute forte de criminels
qui s'y refugient.

Mais on manquoit de femmes à Rome: pour suppléer à ce
défaut, Romulus envoia faire des propofitions de mariage à fes
voifins les Sabins, mais les Sabins rejetterent ces propofitions, avec
hauteur; furquoi Romulus fit publier dans les lieux circonvoifins
qu'un tel jour, il célèbreroit la fête du Dieu Confus *, et qu'il
invitoit tout le monde à y affifter. On y accourut de toutes
parts et principalement les Sabins, quand tout d'un coup, à un
fignal donné, les Romains, l'epée à la main, fe faififient de toutes
les femmes qui y étoient: et les épouferent après. Cet évenement
remarquable, s'appelle l'Enlévement des Sabines. Les Sabins irri-
tés de cet affront, et de cette injuftice, déclarerent la guerre aux
Romains, qui fut terminée et une paix concluë, par l'entremife
des femmes Sabines, qui étoient établies à Rome. Les Romains et
les Sabins s'unirent parfaitement, ne firent qu'un peuple; et Tatius
Roi des Sabins regna conjointement avec Romulus. Tatius mourut
bientôt après, et Romulus regna encore feul.

Il faut remarquer que l'Enlévement des Sabines fut une action
plus utile que juſte: mais l'utilité ne doit pas autoriser l'injuitice,
car l'on doit tout ſouffrir, et même mourir, plutôt que de com-

* Selon Plutarch e'toit le Dieu des Conféils.

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mettre

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LORD CHESTRFIELD's LETTERS

mettre une injustice. Auflfi ce fut la feule que les Romains firent pendant plufieurs fiecles: Un Siécle veut dire, cent ans.

Les voifins de Rome devinrent bientôt jaloux de cette Puiflance naiflante; de forte que Romulus eut encore plufieurs guerres à foutenir, dans lefquelles il remporta toujours la victoire; mais comme il commençoit à devenir tyrannique chez lui, et qu'il vouloit ôter au Sénat leurs privileges, pour regner plus de- spotiquement; tout d'un coup il difparut et l'on ne le vit plus. La verité eft que les Sénateurs l'avoient tué; mais comme ils craig- noient la colere du peuple, un Sénateur des plus accredités nom- mé Proculus Julius, protefta au peuple, que Romulus lui avoit apparu comme Dieu, et l'avoit affuré qu'il avoit été transporté au Ciel, et placé parmi les Dieux; qu'il vouloit même que les Ro- mains l'adoraflent fous le nom de *Quirinus*, ce qu'ils firent.

Remarquez bien que le gouvernement de Rome fous Romulus étoit un gouvernement mixte et libre; et que le Roi n'étoit rien moins qu'abfolu; au contraire il partageoit l'autorité, avec le Sénat, et le peuple, à peu près comme le Roi, ici, avec la Chambre Haute, et la Chambre Basſe. De forte que Romulus voulant faire une in- juſtice fi criante, que de violer les droits du Sénat et la liberté du peuple, fut juſtement puni, comme tout tyran merite de l'être. Tout homme a un droit naturel à ſa liberté, et quiconque veut la lui ravir, mérite la mort, plus que celui qui ne cherche qu'à lui voler ſon argent fur le grand chemin.

La plupart des loix et des arrangemens de Romulus, avoient égard principalement à la guerre et étoient formés dans le deſſein de rendre le peuple belliqueux; comme en effet il le fut, plus que tout autre. Mais c'étoit aufli un bonheur pour Rome, que ſon ſuccefſeur, Numa Pompilius, étoit d'un naturel pacifique, qu'il s'appliqua à établir le bon ordre dans la ville et à faire des loix, pour encourager la vertu, et la religion.

Après la mort de Romulus, il y eut un Interregne d'un an; un

Interregne

TO HISSON.

43

Interregne eſt l'intervalle entre la mort d'un Roi et l'élection d'un autre; ce qui peut ſeulement arriver dans les Roiaumes Électiſs; car dans les Monarchies Héréditaires, dès l'inſtant qu'un Roi meurt, ſon fils ou ſon plus proche parent devient immediatement Roi. Pendant cet interregne, les Sénateurs ſaifoient alternativement les fonctions de Roi. Mais le peuple ſe laſſa de cette forte de gouvernement, et voulut un Roi. Le choix étoit difficile; les Sabins d'un côté, et les Romains de l'autre, voulant chacun un Roi d'entre eux. Il y avoit alors dans la petite ville de Cures, pas loin de Rome, un homme d'une grande réputation de probité, et de juſtice, appellé Numa Pompilius, qui menoit une vie retirée et champétre, et jouifloit d'un doux repos, dans la solitude de la campagne. On convint donc, unanimement, de le choisir pour Roi, et l'on envoia des Ambaſſadeurs le lui notifier. Mais bien loin d'être ébloui par une élevation ſi ſubite, et ſi im- prevue, il refuſa; et ne ſe laifſa fléchir qu'avec peine, par les in- ftances réitérées des Romains et de ſes plus proches parens: méri- tant d'autant plus cette dignité, qu'il ne la recherchoit pas. Re- marquez, par cet exemple, de Numa Pompilius, comment la vertu ſe fait jour, au travers même de l'obſeurité d'une vie retirée et champétre, et comment tôt ou tard elle eſt toujours récom- penſée.

Numa placé ſur le trône, entreprit d'adoucir les mœurs des Romains, et de leur infpirer un esprit pacifique, par les éxercices de la religion. Il bâtit un temple en l'honneur du Dieu Janus, qui devoit être un indice public de la guerre, ou de la paix; étant ouvert en tems de guerre, et fermé en tems de paix. Il fut fermé pendant tout ſon regne; mais depuis jufqu'au regne de Céfar Auguſte, il ne ſut fermé que deux fois: la première après la première Guerre Punique, et la ſeconde après la bataille d'Aëlium, où Auguſte déſit Antoine. Le Dieu Janus eſt

G 2

toujours

4
4

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

toujours représenté avec deux visages; l'un qui regarde le paflé et l'autre l'avenir; à caufe de quoi, vous le verrez souffrent dans les Poëtes Latins appellé Janus Bifrons, c'est à dire qui a deux fronts. Mais pour revenir à Numa: il prétendit avoir des entretiens secrèts avec la Nymphe Egérie pour disposer le peuple, qui aime toujours le merveilleux, à mieux recevoir ses loix et ses règlements, comme lui étant infpirés par la divinité même. Enfin il établit ie bon ordre, à la ville et à la campagne; il infpira à fes fujets l'amour du travail, de la frugalité, et même de la pauvreté. Après avoir régné quarante trois ans, il mourut regretté de tout fon peuple.

On peut dire, que Rome étoit redevable de toute fa grandeur à fes deux premiers Rois, Romulus et Numa, qui en jetterent les fondemens. Romulus ne forma fes fujets qu'à la guerre; Numa qu'à la paix et à la juſtice. Sans Numa, ils auroient été féroces et barbares; fans Romulus, ils auroient peut-être reflés dans le repos, et l'obſeurité. Mais c'étoit cet heureux afflémblage de vertus religieues, civiles et militaires, qui les rendit à la fin les maîtres du monde.

Tullus Hoftilius fut élu Roi, bientôt après la mort de Numa Pompilius. Il avoit l'efprit auſi guerrier, que Numa l'avoit eu pacifique, et il eut bientôt occafion de l'exercer; car la ville d'Albe, jaloufe déjà de la puiffance de Rome, chercha un prétexte pour lui faire la guerre. La guerre étant déclarée de part et d'autre, et les deux armées fur le point d'en venir aux mains; un Albain propofa, que pour épargner le fang de tant de gens, on choifiroit dans les deux armées, un certain nombre, dont la victoire décideroit du fort des deux villes: Tullus Hoftilius accepta la propofition.

Il fe trouvoit dans l'armée des Albains trois freres, qui s'appelloient les Curiaces, et dans l'armée des Romains trois freres auſi qu'on nommoit

6

TO HIS SON.

45

nommoit les Horaces: Ils étoient de part et d'autre à peu près de même âge et de même force. Ils furent choifis, et acceptèrent avec joie un choix qui leur faisoit tant d'honneur. Ils s'avancent entre les deux armées, et, l'on donne le signal du combat. D'abord deux des Horaces font tués par les Curiaces qui tous trois furent bleſſés. Le troiſième Horace étoit fans bleſſure, mais ne ſe ſentant pas aſſez fort pour reſifter aux trois Curiaces, au défaut de force il uſa de ſtratagème. Il fit donc ſemblant de ſuir, et aiant fait quelque chemin, il regarda en arriere et vit les trois Curiaces, qui le pourſuivoient, à quelque diſtance l'un de l'autre, ſelon que leurs bleſſures leur permettoient de marcher, alors il retourne ſur fes pas, et les tue l'un après l'autre.

Les Romains le reçurent avec joie dans leur camp, mais ſa leur qui étoit promife à un des Curiaces, vient à ſa rencontre, et verſant un torrent de larmes, lui reproche d'avoir tué ſon amant. Sur quoi ce jeune vainqueur dans les transports de ſon emportement, lui paſſe l'epée au travers du corps. La juſtice le condamna à la mort, mais il en appella au peuple qui lui pardonna, en confidération du ſervice qu'il venoit de leur rendre.

Tullus Hoftilius regna trente deux ans, et ſit d'autres guerres contre les Sabins et les Latins. C'étoit un Prince qui avoit de grandes qualités, mais qui aimoit trop la guerre.

TRANSLATION.

ROMULUS and Remus were twins, and ſons of Rhea Sylvia, daughter of Numitor, King of Alba. Rhea Sylvia was, by her uncle Amulius, ſhut up among the Veſtals, and conſtrained by him to become one of their number, to prevent her having any children: for the Veſtals were obliged to inviolable, chaſtity.

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

46

She, nevertheless, proved with child, and pretended
she had been forced by the God Mars. When she was de-
livered of Romulus and Remus, Amulius commanded the infants
to be thrown into the Tiber. They were in fact brought to the
river, and exposed in their cradle; but the water retiring, it
remained on the dry ground. A she-wolf coming there to drink,
fuckled them, till they were taken home by Faustilius, a shep-
herd, who educated them as his own. When they were grown
up, they associated with a number of Latins, Albanians, and
shepherds, and founded Rome. Romulus, defirous of reigning
alone, killed his brother Remus, and was declared King by his
followers. On his advancement to the throne, he divided the
people into three Tribes, and thirty Curie; into Patricians, Ple-
beians, Senate, Patrons, Clients, and Knights. The Patricians
were the most considerable of all. The common people were
called Plebeians. The Patrons were of the most reputable
fort, and protected a certain number of the lower claus, who
went under the denomination of their Clients. The Senate con-
fited of one hundred perons, chosen from among the Patricians ;
and the Knights were a select body of three hundred horfemen,
who served as Life Guards to Romulus, to whom he gave the
name of Celeres.

But Romulus, not satisfied with these regulations, instituted a
form of religious worship; establishing the Auriformes and Augurs.
These were Priests; and the bufinefs of the former was to inspect
the entrails of the victim offered in sacrifice; that of the latter,
to observe the flying, chattering, or flinging of birds, declaring
whether the omens were favourable or not, before the undertaking
of any enterprize.

Romulus, with a view of attracting people to his new city,
declared it an afylum, or sanctuary, for all who were willing to
establish

2

TO HIS SON.

47

eblify their abode in it. This expedient brought an infinite
number of people, who flocked to him from the neighbouring
towns and country. An Afylum, signifies a place of safety and
protection, for all such as are loaded with debts, or who have
been guilty of crimes, and fly from justice. In Catholic coun-
tries, their churches are, at this very time, Afylums for all forts
of criminals, who take shelter in them.

But Rome, at this time, had few or no women: to remedy
which want, Romulus sent propofals of marriage to his neigh-
bours, the Sabines; who rejected them with disdain: whereupon,
Romulus published throughout all the country, that, on a certain
day, he intended to celebrate the festival of the God Confus*, and
invited the neighbouring cities to affix it at it. There was a great
concourse from all parts, on that occasion, particularly of the
Sabines; when, on a sudden, the Romans, at a signal given,
feized, sword in hand, all the young women they could meet with
and afterwards married them. This remarkable event is called,
the Rape of the Sabines. Enraged at this affront and injustice,
the Sabines declared war againft the Romans; which was put an
end to, and peace concluded, by the mediation of the Sabine
women living at Rome. A strict union was made between the
Romans and Sabines, who became one and the fame people; and
Tatius, King of the Sabines, reigned jointly with Romulus; but
dying soon after, Romulus reigned again alone.

Pray observe, that the Rape of the Sabines was more an ad-
vantageous, than a just meafure; yet the utility of it should not
warrant its injustice; for we ought to endure every misfortune,
even death, rather than be guilty of an injustice; and indeed this
is the only one that can be imputed to the Romans, for many suc-
ceeding ages: an Age, or Century, means one hundred years.

* According to Plutarch, the God of Counfel.

Rome's

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

48

Rome's growing power foon raiſed jealousy in her neighbours,
fo that Romulus was obliged to engage in ſeveral wars, from
which he always came off vijorous; but as he began to behave
himſelf tyrannically at home, and attacked the privileges of the
Senate, with a view of reigning with more defotifm, he ſuſ-
denly diſappeared. The truth is, the Senators killed him;
but, as they apprehended the indignation of the people, Pro-
culus Julius, a Senator of great repute, proteſted before the
people, that Romulus had appeared to him as a God; aſſuring
him, that he had been taken up to Heaven, and placed among
the Deities: and defired that the Romans ſhould worſhip him,
under the name of *Quirinus*; which they accordingly did.

Take notice, that the Roman government, under Romulus,
was a mixed and free government; and the King ſo far from
being abſolute, that the power was divided between him, the
Senate, and the People, much the fame as it is between our King,
the Houſe of Lords, and Houſe of Commons; ſo that Romulus,
attempting ſo horrible a piece of injuſtice, as to violate the privi-
leges of the Senate, and the liberties of the People, was deferv-
edly puniſhed, as all tyrants ought to be. Every man has a na-
tural right to his liberty; and whoever endeavours to ravifh it
from him, deſerves death more than the robber who attacks us
for our money on the highway.

Romulus directed the greatest part of his laws and regulations
to war; and formed them with the view of rendering his ſub-
jeets a warlike people, as indeed they were, above all others.
Yet it likewife proved fortunate for Rome, that his ſucceſſor,
Numa Pompilius, was a Prince of a pacific diſpoſition, who ap-
plied himſelf to the eſtablishing good order in the city, and enaſt-
ing laws for the encouragement of virtue and religion.

After

TO HIS SON.

49.

After the death of Romulus, there was a year's *Interregnum*. An *Interregnum* is the interval between the death of one King and the election of another, which can happen only in elective kingdoms; for, in hereditary monarchies, the moment a King dies, his ſon, or his neareſt relation, immediately ascends the throne.

During the above *Interregnum*, the Senators alternately executed the functions of a Sovereign; but the people ſoon became tired of that ſort of government, and demanded a King. The choice was difficult; as the Sabines on one ſide, and the Romans on the other, were defirous of a King's being choſen from among themſelves. However, there happened, at that time, to live in the little town of Cures, not far from Rome, a man in great reputation for his probity and juſtice, called Numa Pompilius, who, led a retired life, enjoying the ſweets of repofe, in a country foliitude. It was unanimously agreed to chooſe him King; and Embaſſadors were diſpatched to notify to him his election; but he, far from being dazzled by ſo ſudden and unexpeſted an elevation, refused the offer, and could ſcarce be prevailed on, to accept it, by the repeated entreaties of the Romans, and of his neareſt relations; proving himſelf the more worthy of that high dignity, as he the leſs fought it. Remark from that example of Numa Pompilius; how virtue forces her way, and ſhines through the obſcurity of a retired life; and that ſooner or later it is always rewarded.

Numa, being now feasted on the throne, applied himſelf to
ſoften the manners of the Romans, and to infpire them with a
love of peace, by exerciſing them in religious duties. He built
a temple in honour of the God Janus, which was to be a public
mark of war and peace, by keeping it open in time of war, and
ſhut in time of peace. It remained cloſed during his whole long

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reign; but from that time, down to the reign of Augustus Cefar,
it was shut but twice; once at the end of the first Punic War,
and the second time, in the reign of Augustus, after the fight of
Actium, where he vanquished Marc Anthony. The God Janus
is always represented with two faces, one looking on the time
paft, and the other on the future; for which, reason you will
often find him, in the Latin Poets, called Janus bifrons, two-fronted
Janus. But, to return to Numa; he pretended to have secret
conferences with the Nymph Egeria, the better to prepare the
people (who are ever fond of what is marvellous) to receive his
laws and ordinances as divine inspirations. In short, he inspired
his subjects with the love of industry, frugality, and even of
poverty. He died, universally regretted by his people, after a
reign of forty-three years.

We may venture to say, that Rome was indebted for all her
grandeur to these two Kings, Romulus and Numa, who laid
the foundations of it. Romulus took pains to form the Romans
to war; Numa, to peace and justice. Had it not been for Numa,
they would have continued fierce and uncivilized; had it not
been for Romulus, they would, perhaps, have fallen into indolence and obscurity: but it was the happy union of religious,
civil, and military virtues, that rendered them masters of the
world.

Tullus Hoftilius was elected King, immediately after the death
of Numa Pompilius. This Prince had as great talents for war, as
his predecessor had for peace, and he soon found an opportunity
to exercise them; for the city of Alba, already jealous of the
power of Rome, fought a pretext of coming to a rupture with
her. War, in fact, was declared on both sides, and the two
armies were ready to engage, when an Alban proposed, in order
to spare so great an effusion of blood, that a certain number
of

TO HIS SON.

51

of warriors should be chosen out of each army, on whose victory
the fortune of both nations should depend.

Tullus Hoftilius accepted the propofal; and there happening
to be, in the Alban army, three brothers, named Curiatii;
and, in the Roman army, three brothers, called Horatii; who
were all much of the fame age and strength, they were pitched
upon for the champions, and joyfully accepted a choice which
reflected so much honour on them. Then, advancing in prefence
of both armies, the signal for combat was given. Two of the
Horatii were soon killed by the Curiatii, who were, themselves,
all three wounded. The third of the Horatii remained yet un-
hurt; but, not capable of encountering the three Curiatii all
together, what he wanted in strength, he supplied by frata-
gem. He pretended to run away, and, having gained some
ground, looked back, and saw the three Curiatii purfuing him,
at some distance from each other, haftening with as much speed
as their wounds permitted them; he then returning, killed all
three, one after another.

The Romans received him joyfully in their camp; but his fitter,
who was promised in marriage to one of the Curiatii, meeting him,
poured forth a deluge of tears, reproaching him with the death
of her lover; whereupon the young conqueror, transported with
rage, plunged his fword into her bosom. Justice condemned him
to death; but, having appealed to the People, he received his
pardon, in consideration of the service he had rendered to his
country.

Tullus Hoftilius reigned thirty-two years, and conducted other
wars against the Sabines and Latins. He was a Prince poffesfed
of great qualities, but too much addicted to war.

H 2

LETTER

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XVI.

DEAR BOY,

Monday.

I Send you, here enclosed, your historical exercise for this week; and thank you for correcting fome faults I had been guilty of in former papers. I shall be very glad to be taught by you; and, I assure you, I would rather have you able to instruct me, than any other body in the world. I was very well pleased with your objection to my calling the brothers, that fought for the Romans and the Albans, the *Horatii* and the *Curiatii*; for which I can give you no better reason than usage and custom, which determine all languages. As to ancient proper names, there is no settled rule, and we must be guided by custom: for example, we say Ovid and Virgil, and not Ovidius and Virgilius, as they are in Latin; but then, we say Augustus Cefar, as in the Latin, and not Augustus Cefar, which would be the true English. We say Scipio Africanus, as in Latin, and not Scipio the African. We say Tacitus, and not Tacit: so that, in short, custom is the only rule to be observed in this cafe. But, wherever custom and usage will allow it, I would rather choose not to alter the ancient proper names. They have more dignity, I think, in their own, than in our language. The French change most of the ancient proper names, and give them a French termination or ending, which sometimes sounds even ridiculous; as, for instance, they call the Emperor Titus, *Tite*; and the historian, Titus Livius, whom we commonly call in English Livy, they call *Tite Lively*. I am very glad you started this objection; for the only way to get knowledge is to inquire and object. Pray remember to ask questions,

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queftions, and to make your objections, whenever you do not understand, or have any doubts about any thing.

LETTER XVII.

Bientôt après la mort de Tullus Hoftilius, le peuple choisi pour Roi Ancus Marcius, petit fils de Numa. Il rétablit d'abord le culte divin qui avoit été un peu négligé pendant le regne guerrier de Tullus Hoftilius. Il effuia quelques guerres, malgré lui, et y remporta toujours l'avantage. Il aggrandit la ville de Rome, et mourut après avoir regné vingt quatre ans. Il ne le ceda en mérite,oit pour la guerre,oit pour la paix,à aucun de les prédecesseurs.

Un certain Lucumon, Grec de naissance, qui s'étoit établi à Rome
fous le regne d'Ancus Marcius, fut élu Roi à fa place, et prit le
nom de Tarquin. Il créa cent nouveaux Sénateurs, et foutint
plufieurs guerres, contre les peuples voifins, dont il fortit toujours
avec avantage. Il augmenta, embellit et fortifia la ville. Il fit
des Aqueducs et des Egouts. Il bâtit aufti le Cirque, et jetta les
fondemens du Capitole: le Cirque étoit un lieu célèbre, à Rome,
où l'on faisoit les courfes de chariots.

Tarquin avoit deftiné pour fon fucceſseur Servius Tullius, qui
avoit été prifonnier de guerre et par conſequent eſclave; ce que les
fils d'Ancus Marcius, qui étoient à cette heure devenus grands, aiant
trouvémauvais, ils firent aſſaffiner Tarquin qui avoit regné trente huit
ans. L'attentat, et le crime des fils d'Ancus Marcius leur furent in-
utiles, car Servius Tullius fut déclaré Roi par le peuple, fans demander
le confentement du Sénat. Il foutint plufieurs guerres qu'il termina
heureufement. Il partagea le peuple en dix neuf Tribus; il établit

6.

le

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

le Cens, ou le dénombrement du peuple, et il introduisit la coutume, d'affranchir les éclaves. Servius songeoit à abdiquer la couronne, et à établir à Rome, une parfaite République, quand il fut affaif-finé par fon gendre Tarquin le Superbe. Il regna quarante quatre ans, et fut fans contredit, le meilleur de tous les Rois de Rome.

Tarquin étant monté sur le trône, fans que ni le Peuple, ni le Sénat, lui cuffient conferé la Roiauté; la conduite qu'il y garda répondit à de tels commencementemens, et lui fit donner le furnom de Superbe. Il renverfa les fages établissiemens des Rois fes prédécesseurs, foula aux pieds les droits du peuple, et gouverna en Prince arbitraire et despotique. Il bâtit un temple magnifique à Jupiter, qui fut appellé le Capitole, à caufe qu'en sreufant les fondemens, on y avoit trouvé la tête d'un homme, qui s'appelle en Latin Caput: le Capitole étoit le bâtiment le plus célèbre de Rome.

La tyrannie de Tarquin étoit déjà devenue odieuse et infupportable aux Romains, quand l'action de fon fils Sextus leur fournit une occasion de s'en affranchir. Sextus étant devenu amoureux de Lucrée femme de Collatin, et celle-ci ne voulant pas consentir à fes defirs, il la força. Elle découvrit le tout à fon Mari et à Brutus, et après leur avoir fait promettre de venger l'affront qu'on lui avoit fait, elle se poignarda. Là deſlius ils foulevèrent le peuple, et Tarquin avec toute ſa famille fut banni de Rome, par un décret ſolemnel, après y avoir regné vingt cinq ans. Telle eſt la fin que méritent tous les tyrans, et tous ceux qui ne ſe ſervent du pouvoir que le fort leur a donné, que pour faire du mal, et opprimer le genre humain.

Du tems de Tarquin, les livres des Sybilles furent apportés à Rome, confervés toujours après avec un grand foin, et confultés comme des oracles.

Tarquin chafſe de Rome, fit plusieurs tentatives pour y rentrer, et caufa quelques guerres aux Romains. Il engagea Porfenna,

TO HIS SON.

55

fenna, Roi d'Hétrurie, à appuier fes intérêts, et à faire la guerre aux Romains pour le rétablir. Porfenna marcha donc contre les Romains, défit leur armée, et auroit pris Rome même, s'il n'eut été arrêté par la valeur d'Horatius Coelès, qui défendit feul contre toute l'armée, un pont, par où il falloit paſſer. Porfenna intimidé par les prodiges de valeur et de courage, qu'il voïoit faire tous les jours aux Romains, jugea à propos de conclure la paix avec eux, et de ſe retirer.

Ils eurent plusieurs autres guerres avec leurs voifins, dont je ne ferai point mention, ne voulant m'arrêter qu'aux événemens les plus importans. En voici un qui arriva bientôt, feize ans après l'établissement des Confuls. Le peuple étoit extrêmement endetté, et refuſa de s'enroller pour la guerre, à moins que fes dettes ne ſuffirent abolies. L'occasion étoit preſſante, et la difficulté grande, mais le Sénat s'avifa d'un expedient pour y remedier; ce fut de créer un Diſtateur, qui auroit un pouvoir abſolu, et au deſlius de toutes les loix, mais qui ne dureroit que pour un peu de tems ſeulement. Titus Largius qui fut nommé à cette Dignité, appaifa le defordre, rétablit la tranquillité, et puis ſe démit de la charge.

On eut fouvent, dans la suite, recours à eet expedient d'un Diſtateur, dans les grandes ocaſions; et il eſt à remarquer, que quoique cette charge fut revêtue d'un pouvoir abſolu et defpo-tique, pas un ſeu! Diſtateur n'en abuſa, pour plus de cent ans.

TRANS-

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

TRANSLATION.

SOON after the death of Tullus Hoſtilius, the people placed upon the throne Ancus Marcius, grandson to Numa Pom-pilius. His firſt care was to re-eſtablish divine worſhip, which had been ſomewhat neglected during the warlike reign of his predeceſſor. He engaged in ſome wars, againſt his will, and always came off with advantage. He enlarged the city; and died after a reign of twenty-four years: a Prince not inferior, whether in peace or war, to any of his predeceſſors.

One Lucumon, a Greek by birth, who had eſtablished himself at Rome in the reign of Ancus Marcius, was choſen King in his place, and took the name of Tarquin. He added a hundred Senators to the former number; carried on, with ſucces, ſeveral wars againſt the neighbouring States; and enlarged, beautified, and ſtrengthened the city. He made the Aqueducts and Common Sewers, built the Circus, and laid the foundation of the Capitol: the Circus was a celebrated place at Rome, ſet apart for chariot-races, and other games.

Tarquin had deſtined for his ſucceſſor Servius Tullius, one who, having been taken prifoner of war, was, conſequently, a ſlave; which the ſons of Ancus Marcius, now grown up, highly reſenting, cauſed Tarquin to be aſſaſinated, in the thirty-eighth year of his reign: but that criminal deed of the ſons of Ancus Marcius was attended with no ſucces; for the people eſtablished Servius Tullius King, without afk-ing the concurrence of the Senate. This Prince was engaged in va-rious wars, which he happily concluded. He divided the people into nineteen Tribes; eſtablished the *Conſiūs*, or general ſurvey of the citizens; and introduced the cuſtom of giving liberty to ſlaves, called otherwife, *manumiffion*. Servius intended to abdicate the

crown,

TO HIS SON.

57

crown, and form a perſect Republic at Rome, when he was aſſaſinated by his ſon-in-law, Tarquin the Proud. He reigned forty-four years, and was, without dispute, the beſt of all the Kings of Rome.

Tarquin having aſcended the throne, invited to Royalty neither by the People nor Senate, his conduct was ſuitable to ſuch a beginning, and cauſed him to be ſurnamed the *Proud*. He overturned the wife eſtablishments of the Kings his predeceſſors, trampled upon the rights of the people, and governed as an arbitrary and deſpotic Prince. He built a magnificent temple to Jupiter, called the Capitol, becauſe, in digging its foundation, the head of a man had been found there, which in Latin is called *Caput*: the Capitol was the moſt celebrated edifice in Rome.

The tyranny of Tarquin was already become odious and in-ſupportable to the Romans; when an atrocious act of his ſon Sextus adminiſtered to them an opportunity of afflicting their liberty. This Sextus, falling in love with Lucretia, wife to Collatinus, who would not conſent to his defires, ravished her. The Lady difco-vered the whole matter to her hufband, and to Brutus, and then ſtabbed herſelf; having firſt made them promife to revenge the outrage done to her honour. Whereupon they raſed the people; and Tarquin, with all his family, was expelled by a ſolemn decree, after having reigned twenty-five years. Such is the fate that tyrants deferve, and all thofe who, in doing evil, and oppreſſing mankind, abufe that power which Providence has given.

In the reign of Tarquin, the books of the Sybils were brought to Rome, and ever after preferved and confulted as oracles.

Tarquin, after his expulſion, made ſeveral attempts to reinfate himself, and raſed ſome wars againſt the Romans. He engaged Porfenna, King of Hetruria, to eſpouſe his intereſt, and make war

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

upon them, in order to his restoration. Porfenna marched againſt
the Romans, defeated their forces, and moſt probably would have
taken the city, had it not been for the extraordinary courage of
Horatius Cocles, who alone defended the pafs of a bridge againſt
the whole Tufcan army. Porfenna, ſtruck with admiration and
awe of ſo many prodigies of valour as he remarked every day in
the Romans, thought proper to make peace with them, and
draw off his army.

They had many other wars with their neighbours, which I
omit mentioning, as my purpofe is to dwell only upon the moſt
important events. Such is the following one, which happened
about fixteen years after the eſtablifhing of Conſuls. The peo-
ple were loaded with debts, and refused to enlift themſelves
in military ſervice, unleſs thoſe debts were cancelled. This was
a very preſſing and critical conjunſture; but the Senate found an
expedient, which was to create a Diſtator, with a power ſo abſo-
lute as to be above all law; which, however, was to laſt but a
ſhort time. Titus Largius was the perſonage named for the
purpofe; who, having appeaſed the tumult, and reſtored tran-
quillity, laid down his high employment.

The Romans had often, in ſucceeding times, and on preſſing
occafions, recourse to this expedient. It is remarkable, that, though
that office was inveſted with an abſolute and deſpotic power, not
one Diſtator abuſed it, for upwards of a hundred years.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

59

LETTER XVIII.

NOUS voici parvenus à une importante *Epoque* de l'Histoire
Romaine, c'eſt à dire, à l'établiffement d'un gouvernement
libre.

Les Rois et la Roïauté étant bannis de Rome, on réſolut
de créer à la place d'un Roi, deux Conſuls, dont l'autorité ne
ſeroit qu'annuelle, c'eſt à dire, qu'elle ne dureroit qu'un an. On
l'affia au peuple le droit d'élire les Conſuls, mais il ne pouvoit les
choirſer que parmi les Patriciens, c'eſt à dire les gens de qualité.
Les deux Conſuls avoient le même pouvoir qu'avoient aupara-
vant les Rois, mais avec cette différence eſſentielle, qu'ils n'avo-
ient ce pouvoir que pour un an, et qu'à la fin de ce terme, ils en
devoient rendre compte au peuple: moien affuré d'en prévenir
l'abus. Ils étoient appellés Conſuls du verbe Latin *conſulere* qui
ſignifie Conſeiller, comme qui diroit, les Conſeillers de la Ré-
publique.

Les deux premiers Conſuls qu'on élut furent L. Junius Brutus,
et L. Collatinus, le mari de Lucrée. Les Conſuls avoient les
mêmes marques de dignité, que les Rois, excepté la couronne et
le ſceptre. Mais ils avoient la robe de pourpre, et la *Chaire
Curule*, qui étoit une Chaife d'ivoire, ſur des roues. Les Con-
ſuls, le Sénat, et le Peuple, firent tous ſerment, de ne pas rappeller
Tarquin, et de ne jamais ſouffrir de Roi à Rome.

Remarquez bien la forme du gouvernement de Rome. L'au-
torité étoit partagée entre les Conſuls, le Sénat, et le Peuple;
chacun avoit ſes droits: et depuis ce ſage établiffement, Rome
s'élève, par un progrès rapide, à une perfection, et une excellence
qu'on a peine à concevoir.

12

Souvenez

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

Souvenez vous que le gouvernement monarchique avoit duré
deux cents quarante quatre ans.

TRANSLATION.

WE are now come to an important *epocha* of the Roman History; I mean, the establishment of a free government.

Royalty being banished Rome, it was resolved to create,
instead of a King, two Conculs, whose authority should be annual;
or, in other words, was to last no longer than one year. The
right of electing the Conculs was left to the people; but they
could choose them only from among the Patricians; that is, from
among men of the first rank. The two Conculs were jointly
invented with the same power the Kings had before, with this
effemeral difference, that their power ended with the year; and at
the expiration of that term, they were obliged to give an account of
their regency to the people: a sure means to prevent the abuse of
it. They were called Conculs, from the Latin verb *confulerē*, to
counsel; which intimated their being Counsellors to the Republic.

'The first Conculs elected were L. Junius Brutus, and P. Col-
latinus, Lucretia's husband. The Conculs held the same badges
of dignity as the Kings, excepting the crown and sceptre. They
had the purple robe, and the Curule chair, being a chair of
ivory, set upon wheels. The Conculs, Senate, and People,
took a solemn oath, never to recall Tarquin, or suffer a King in
Rome.

Take notice of the form of the Roman government. The
power was divided between the Conculs, Senate, and People; each
had their rights and privileges: and, from the time of that wife
establishment, Rome exalted herself, with a rapid progress, to
such

TO HIS SON.

61

fuch a high point of perfection and excellency, as is fearc to be
conceived.

Remember, that the monarchical government lafted two hundred
and forty-four years.

LETTER XIX.

C
EPENDANT les Patriciens en agissoient afflez mal avec le
peuple, et abusoient du pouvoir que leur rang et leurs richesses
leurs donnoient. Ils emprisonnoient ceux des Plébériens qui leur
devoient de l'argent, et les chargeoient de chaînes. Ce qui caufa
tant de mécontentement, que le peuple quitta Rome, et se retira en
corps, sur le *Mont Sacré*, à trois milles de Rome. Une défertion
fi générale donna l'allarme au Sénat et aux Patriciens, qui leur en-
voientrend des deputations pour les perfuader de revenir; mais inu-
tilement. A la fin on choisit dix des plus fages et des plus mode-
rés du Sénat, qu'on envoia au peuple avec un plein pouvoir de
conclure la paix, aux meilleures conditions qu'ils pourroient.
Menénius Agrippa, qui portoit la parole, termina fon difcours au
peuple par un apologue qui les frappa extremement. " Autrefois,
" dit il, les membres du corps humain, indignés de ce qu'ils
" travailloient tous pour l'eftomach, pendant que lui oifif et pa-
" refleux, jouifloit tranquillement des plaifirs, qu'on lui préparoit,
" convinrent de ne plus rien faire : mais voulant dompter ainfi
" l'eftomach, par la famine, tous les membres et tout le corps tom-
" bêrent dans une foiblefſe, et une inanition extrême." Il comparoit
ainfi, cette divifion inteſtine des parties du corps, avec la divifion
qui séparoit le peuple d'avèc le Sénat. Cette application plût tant
au peuple que la paix fut conclue à certaines conditions, dont
la principale étoit; que le peuple choifiroit, parmi eux, cinq
nouveaux

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62 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

nouveaux magistrats, qui furent appelez Tribuns du peuple. Ils étoient élus tous les ans, et rien ne pouvoit se faire fans leur confentement. Si l'on propoçoit quelque loi, et que les Tribuns du peuple s'y oppofaient, la loi ne pouvoit paffer; ils n'étoient pas même obligés d'alléguer de raifon pour leur oppofition, iluffisoit qu'ils diffent simplement, Veto, qui veut dire, je défends. Remarquez bien cette époque intériffante de l'hiftoire Romaine, et ce changement confidérable dans la forme du gouvernement, qui affura au peuple, pendant quelques Siécles, leurs droits et leurs priviléges, que les Grands font toujours trop portés à envahir injuſtement. Ce changement arriva l'an de Rome 261, c'eſt à dire, vingt et un an après le banniſtement des Rois, et l'établiſſement des Conſuls.

Outre les Tribuns, le peuple obtint auſi deux nouveaux Magi-
frats annuels appellés les Ediles du peuple, qui étoient ſoumis aux
Tribuns du peuple, faisoient exécuter leurs ordres, rendoient la
juſtice ſous eux, veilloient à l'entretien des temples et des bâti-
mens publics, et prenoient ſoin des vivres.

Remarquez quels étoient les principaux Magistrats de Rome.
Premièrement c'étoient les deux Conſuls, qui étoient annuels, et
qui avoient entre eux le pouvoir des Rois. Après cela, dans les
grands beſoins, on créa la charge de Diétaur, qui ne duroit ordi-
nairement que fix mois, mais qui étoit revêtue d'un pouvoir ab-
ſolu.

Les Tribuns du Peuple étoient des Magistrats annuels, qui veil-
loient aux intérêts du peuple, et les protégeoient contre les injuſ-
tices des Patriciens. Pour les Ediles, je viens de décrire leurs fonc-
tions.

Quelques années après on créa encore deux nouveaux Magistrats,
qui s'appelloient les Cenſeurs. Ils étoient d'abord pour cinq ans;
mais ils furent bientôt reduits à un an et demi. Ils avoient un
très

3

TO HIS SON.

63

très grand pouvoir, ils faisoient le dénombrement du peuple ; ils
impoſoient les taxes, ils avoient ſoin des mœurs, et pouvoient
chauffer du Sénat, ceux qu'ils en jugeoient indignes ; ils pouvoient
auſi dégrader les Chevaliers Romains, en leur ôtant leur cheval.

Pas fort long tems après, on créa encore deux autres nouveaux
Magistrats, appellés les Prêteurs; qui étoient les principaux Offi-
ciers de la juſtice, et jugeoient tous les procès. Voici donc les
grands Magistrats de la Republique Romaine, ſelon l'ordre de leur
établiſſement.

Les Conſuls.
Le Diétaur.
Les Tribuns du Peuple.
Les Ediles.
Les Cenſeurs.
Les Prêteurs.

TRANSLATION.

THE Patricians, however, treated the people ungenerously,
and abufed the power which their rank and riches gave
them. They threw into prifon ſuch of the Plebeians as owed
them money, and loaded them with irons. Thefe harſh mea-
fures caufed ſo great a diſcontent, that the people in a body aban-
doned Rome, and retired to a rifing ground, three miles diſtant
from the city, called Mons Sacer. Such a general defection
alarmed the Senate and Patricians; who ſent a deputation to
perſuade them to return, but to no purpofe. At length ſome of
the wíſeſt and moſt moderate of the Senators were ſent on that
bufineſs, with full powers to conclude a peace on the beſt con-
ditions

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

ditions they could obtain. Agrippa, who spoke in behalf of the Senate, finished his discourse with a fable, which made great impreffion on the minds of the people. "Formerly," said he, "the members of the human body, enraged that they should "labour for the STomach, while that, remaining idle and indolent, "quietly enjoyed those pleasures which were prepared for it, "agreed to do nothing: but, intending to reduce the STomach "by famine, they found that all the members grew weak, and "the whole body fell into an extreme inanition."

Thus he compared this intedline divifion of the parts of the human body, with the divifion that separated the people from the Senate. This application pleafed them so much, that a reconciliation was effected on certain conditions; the principal of which was, that the people should choose among themfelves five new Magiftrates, who were called *Tribunes of the People*. They were choofe every year, and nothing could be done without their confent. If a motion was made for preferring any law, and the Tribunes of the People oppofed it, the law could not pafs; and they were not even obliged to alledge any reafon for their oppofition; their merely pronouncing *Veto*, was enough; which signifies, *I forbid*. Take proper notice of this intereſting epocha of the Roman Hiftory, this important alteration in the form of government, that fecured, for ſome ages, the rights and privi- leges of the people, which the Great are but too apt to infringe. This alteration happened in the year of Rome 261; twenty- one years after the expulsion of Kings, and the eſtablishment of Conſuls.

Befides the Tribunes, the people obtained two other new annual Magiftrates, called Ædiles, who were ſubject to the authority of the Tribunes, adminiftered juſtice under them, took care

TO HIS SON.

65

care of the building and reparation of temples, and other public structures, and inspected provifions of all kind.

Remember who were the principal Magiftrates of Rome. First, the Conſuls, whose office was annual, and who, between them, had the power of Kings: next, the Dictator, created on extraordinary emergencies, and whose office usually lapsed but fix months.

The Tribunes of the People were annual Magiftrates, who acted as guardians of the rights of the Commons, and proteſed them from the opprefion of the Patricians. With regard to the Ædiles, I have already mentioned their functions.

Some years after, two other new Magiftrates were created, called Cenſors. This office, at first, was to continue five years; but it was soon confined to a year and a half. The authority of the Cenſors was very great; their duty was the ſurvey of the people, the laying on of taxes, and the cenſure of manners. They were empowered to expel any perſon from the Senate, whom they deemed unworthy of that Affiability; and degrade a Roman Knight, by depriving him of his horſe.

Not very long after, two Prætors were inſtituted. These Magiftrates were the chief Officers of juſtice, and decided all law-PUITS. Here you have the lift of the great Magiftrates of the Roman Commonwealth, according to their order and inſti- TUTION.

The Conſuls.

The Dictator.

The Tribunes of the People

The Ædiles.

The Cenſors.

The Prætors.

VOL. I.

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LETTER

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XX.

L'AN 300 de Rome, les Romains n'avoient pas encore de
loix fixes et certaines, de forte que les Confuls et les Sén-
teurs, qu'ils commettoient pour juger, étoient les Arbitres abfolus
du fort des citoyens. Le peuple voulût, donc, qu'au lieu de ces
jugemens arbitraires, on établit des loix qui servifient de regles
fures, tant à l'égard du gouvernement et des affaires publiques, que
par rapport aux différens entre les particuliers. Sur quoi, le Sénat
ordonna qu'on enverroit des Ambafladeurs à Athènes, en Grèce,
pour étudier les loix de ce país, et en rapporter celles qu'ils
jugeroient les plus convenables à la République. Ces Ambafladeurs
étant de retour, on clût dix personnes (qui furent appellées les
Décemvirs) pour établir ces nouvelles loix. On leur donna un
pouvoir abfolu pour un an, et pendant ce tems là, il n'y avoit point
d'autre Magistrat à Rome. Les Décemvirs firent graver leurs loix
fur des tables d'airain poſées dans l'endroit le plus apparente de
la place publique; et ces loix furent toujours après appellées les
Loix des Dix Tables *. Mais lorfque le terme du gouvernement des
Décemvirs fut expiré, ils ne voulurent point ſe démettre de leur
pouvoir, mais ſe rendirent par force les Tyrans de la République :
ce qui cauſa de grands tumultes. A la fin ils furent obligés de
céder, et Rome reprit ſon ancienne forme de gouvernement.

L'année 365 de Rome, les Gaulois (c'eſt à dire les François)
entrèrent en Italie, et marchèrent vers Rome, avec une armée de plus
de foixante mille hommes. Les Romains envoièrent à leur ren-
contre une armée, levée à la hâte, de quarante mille hommes. On
ſe battit, et les Romains furent entièrement défaits. A cette
trifle nouvelle, tous ceux qui étoient restés à Rome, ſe retirèrent

* Plus communément nommées les Loix des Douze Tables, parce que depuis il y en eut deux d'ajoutés aux dix premières.

dans

TO HIS SON.

67

dans le Capitole, qui étoit la Citadelle, et s'y fortifièrent auſi bien
que le tems le permettoit. Trois jours après, Brennus, le Général
des Gaulois, s'avança jufqu'à Rome avec ſon armée, et trouvant la
ville abandonnée, et ſans défenſe, il affliegea la citadelle, qui
ſe défendit avec une bravoure incroiable. Une nuit que les Gaulois
vouloient la prendre par surprife, et qu'ils étoient montés jufques
aux portes, ſans qu'on s'en apperçut: M. Manlius, eveillé par
les cris et battement d'ailes des oyes, donna l'allarme, et ſauva
la citadelle. Bientôt après, Camille, un illuftre Romain, qui
avoit été banni de Rome, aiant appris le danger auquel ſa
Patrie ſe trouvoit expofée, ſurvint avec ce qu'il put trouver
de troupes dans les païs voifins, déſit entièrement les Gaulois,
et ſauva Rome. Admirez ce bel exemple de grandeur d'ame !
Camille, banni injuſtement de Rome, oublie l'injure qu'on lui
a faite, ſon amour pour ſa Patrie l'emporte ſur le deſir de ſe
venger, et il vient ſauver ceux qui avoient voulu le perdre.

TRANSLATION.

IN the year of the city 300, the Romans had no written or
fixed flatutes, infomuch that the Confuls and Senators, who
were appointed Judges, were abſolute Arbiters of the fate of the
citizens. The people therefore demanded, that, inſtead of ſuch
arbitrary decifions, certain ſlated laws ſhould be enaſted, as di-
reſtions for the adminiftration of public affairs, and alſo with re-
gard to private litigations. Whereupon the Senators ſent Em-
baſſadors to Athens in Grèce, to ſudy the laws of that country,
and to collect ſuch as they ſhould find moſt ſuitable to the Re-
public. When the Embaſſadors returned, ten perſons (who were
ſyled Decemviri) were eſtected for the inſtitution of theſe new
laws. They were inveſted with abſolute power for a whole

year ;

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

year; during which time all other Magiftracies were ſuſpended.
The Decemviri cauſed their laws to be engraved on brazen tables; which ever after were called the Laws of the Ten Tables *. Theſe were placed in the moſt confpicuous part of the principal ſquare in the city. When the time of the Decemviri was expired, they reſuſed to lay down their power; but maintained it by force, and became the tyrants of the Republic. This cauſed great tumults; however, they were at length conſtrained to yield; and Rome returned to its ancient form of government.

About the year of Rome 365, the Gauls (that is to ſay, the French) entered Italy, and marched towards Rome with an army of above ſixty thouſand men. The Romans levied in haſte an army of forty thouſand men, and ſent it to encounter them. The two armies came to an engagement, in which the Romans received a total defeat. On the arrival of this bad news, all who had remained at Rome fled into the Capitol, or Citadel, and there ſortified themſelves, as well as the ſhortneſs of time would permit. Three days after, Brennus, General of the Gauls, advanced to Rome with his army, and found the city abandoned; whereupon he laid ſiege to the Capitol, which was defended with incredible bravery. One night when the Gauls determined to ſurprize the Capitol, and had climbed up to the very ramparts, without being perceived, M. Manlius, awakened by the cackling of geefe, alarmed the garrifon, and ſaved the Capitol. At the fame time Camillus, an illuſtrious Roman, who, ſome time before, had been baniſhed from the city, having had information of the danger to which his country was expofed, came upon the Gauls in the rear, with as many troops as he could muſter up about the country, and gave them a total overthrow. Admire, in Camillus, this fine example, this greatneſs of foul; he who, having been unjuſtly baniſhed,

* More generally called the Laws of the Twelve Tables, Two having been added ſince, to the original Ten.

5

forgetful

69

TO HIS SON.

forgetful of the wrongs he had received, and aſtuated by the love of his country, more than the defire of revenge, comes to fave thate who ſought his ruin.

LETTER XXI.

A Bath, ce 28<sup>ème</sup> Mars, 1739.

MON CHER ENFANT,

J'AI reçu une lettre de Monfieur Maittaire, dans laquelle il me dit beacoup de bien de vous, et m'affure que vous apprenez bien; fur quoi j'ai d'abord acheté quelque choſe de fort joli pour vous apporter d'ici. Voiez un peu ſi vous n'avez pas ſujet d'aimer Monfieur Maittaire et de faire tout ce que vous pouvez; à fin qu'il ſoit content de vous. Il me dit que vous allez à prefent recommencer ce que vous avez déjà appris, il faut y bien faire attention, au moins, et ne pas répéter comme un perroquet, fans savoir ce que cela veut dire.

Je vous ai dit dans ma derniere, que pour être parfaitement honnête homme, il neuffiſoit pas ſimplement d'être juſte; mais que la generofité, et la grandeur d'ame, alloient bien plus loin. Vous le comprendrez mieux, peut-être, par des exemples: en voici.

Alexandre le grand, Roi de Macédoine, aiant vaincu Darius Roi de Perſe, prit un nombre infini de prifonniers, et entre autres la femme et la mere de Darius; or ſelon les droits de la guerre il auroit pù avec juſtice en faire ſes eſclaves; mais il avoit trop de grandeur d'âme pour abuſer de ſa viétoire. Il les traita toujours en Reines, et leur témoigna les mêmes égards, et le même resſpect, que s'il eut été leur ſujet. Ce que Darius aiant entendu, dit, qu' Alexandre méritoit ſa viétoire, et qu'il étoit ſeuſ digne de regner à ſa place. Remarquez par là comment des ennemis mêmes;

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mêmes; font forcés de donner des louanges à la vertu, et à la grandeur d'ame.

Jules Cefar, auffi, le premier Empereur Romain, avoit de l'humantité, et de la grandeur d'ame; car après avoir vaincu le grand Pompé, à la bataille de Pharsale, il pardonna à ceux, que selon les loix de la guerre, il auroit pu faire mourir: et non feulement il leur donna la vie, mais il leur rendit leurs biens et leurs honneurs. Sur quoi, Ciceron, dans une de ses Harangues, lui dit ce beau mot; *Nibil enim poteſt fortuna tua majus, quam ut poffis, aut Natura tua melius, quam ut velis, confervare quam-plurimos: ce qui veut dire; "Votre fortune ne pouvoit rien faire " de plus grand, pour vous, que de vous donner le pouvoir de fau-" ver tant de gens; et la nature ne pouvoit rien faire de meilleur, " pour vous, que de vous en donner la volonté." Vous voiez encore par là, la gloire, et les éloges, qu'on gagne à faire du bien; outre le plaifir qu'on reflent en foi même, et qui furpaffe tous les autres laifirs.*

Adieu, je finirai cette lettre comme Ciceron finifoit souvent les fiennes. *Jubeo te bene valere; c'eſt à dire: je vous ordonne de vous bien porter.*

TRANSLATION.

Bath, March the 28th, 1739.

MY DEAR CHILD,

I Have received a letter from Mr. Maittaire, in which he gives a very good account of you; and affures me, that you improve in learning; upon which I immediately bought something very pretty, to bring you from hence. Confider now, whether you ought not to love Mr. Maittaire; and to do every thing in your power to pleafe him. He tells me, you are going to begin again what

4

TO HIS SON.

71

what you have already learned: you ought to be very attentive, and not repeat your leſions like a parrot, without knowing what they mean.

In my laſt I told you, that, in order to be a perfectly virtuous man, juſtice was not ſufficient; for that generofity and greatneſs of ſoul implied much more. You will underſtand this better by examples: here are ſome.

Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, having conquered Darius, King of Persia, took an infinite number of prifoners; and, among others, the wife and mother of Darius. Now, according to the laws of war, he might with juſtice have made flaves of them: but he had too much greatneſs of ſoul, to make a bad uſe of his victory; he therefore treated them as Queens, and ſhowed them the fame attentions and reſpect, as if he had been their ſubject; which Darius hearing of, ſaid, that Alexander deſerved to be victorious, and was alone worthy to reign in his ſtead. Obſerve by this, how virtue, and greatneſs of ſoul, compeſſel even enemies to beſtow praisſes.

Julius Cæſar too, the firſt Emperor of the Romans, was in an eminent degree poffeſt of humanity, and this greatneſs of ſoul. After having vanquifhed Pompey the Great, at the battle of Pharsalia, he pardoned thofe, whom, according to the laws of war, he might have put to death; and not only gave them their lives, but alſo reſtored them their fortunes, and their honours. Upon which Cicero, in one of his Orations, makes this beautiful remark, ſpeaking to Julius Cæſar; *Nibil enim poteſt fortuna tua majus, quam ut poffis, aut Natura tua melius, quam ut velis confervare quamplurimos: which means, " Fortune could not do more for " you, than give you the power of ſaving ſo many people; nor " Nature ſerve you better, than in giving you the will to do it." You ſee by that, what glory and prairie are gained by doing good; beſides*

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befides the pleasure which is felt inwardly, and exceeds all
others.

Adieu, I shall conclude this letter, as Cicero often does his;
*Jubo te bene valere*: that is to say, I order you to be in good
health.

LETTER XXII.

Tunbridge, July the 15th, 1739.

DEAR BOY,

I Thank you for your concern about my health; which I would have given you an account of sooner, but that writing does not agree with thefe waters. I am better since I have been here; and shall therefore flay a month longer.

Signor Zamboni compliments me, through you, much more
than I deferve; but pray do you take care to deferve what he fays
of you; and remember, that praeſe, when it is not deferved, is
the ſevereſt fatire and abufe; and the moſt effectual way of ex-
pofing people's vices and follies. This is a figure of ſpeech,
called Irony; which is ſaying directly the contrary of what you
mean; but yet it is not a lie, becauſe you plainly ſhow, that
you mean directly the contrary of what you ſay; ſo that you
deceive no body. For example: if one were to compliment a
notorious knave, for his ſingular honeſty and probity; and an
eminent fool for his wit and parts, the irony is plain; and every
body would diſcover the fatire. Or, ſuppofe that I were to com-
mend you for your great attention to your book, and for your
retaining and remembering what you have once learned; would
not you plainly perceive the irony, and fee that I laughed at you?
Therefore, whenever you are commended for any thing, confider
fairly,

TO HIS SON.

fairly, with yourſelf, whether you deferve it or not; and if you do
not deferve it, remember that you are only abuſed and laughed
at; and endeavour to deferve better for the future, and to pre-
vent the irony.

Make my compliments to Mr. Maittaire, and return him my
thanks for his letter. He tells me, that you are again to go over
your Latin and Greek grammar; ſo that when I return I expect
to find you very perfect in it; but if I do not, I ſhall compli-
ment you upon your application and memory. Adieu.

LETTER XXIII.

July the 24th, 1739-

MY DEAR BOY,

I WAS pleased with your aſking me, the laſt time I ſaw you,
why I had left off writing; for I looked upon it as a
ſign that you liked and minded my letters: if that be the caſe,
you ſhall hear from me often enough; and my letters may be of
uſe, if you will give attention to them; otherwife it is only
giving myſelf trouble to no purpofe; for it ſignifies nothing
to read a thing once, if one does not mind and remember it. It
is a ſure ſign of a little mind, to be doing one thing, and at the
fame time to be either thinking of another, or not thinking at
all. One ſhould always think of what one is about: when one is
learning one ſhould not think of play; and when one is at play,
one ſhould not think of one's learning. Befides that, if you do not
mind your book while you are at it, it will be a double trouble
to you, for you muſt learn it all over again. One of the moſt im-
portant points of life is Decency; which is, to do what is proper,
and where it is proper; for many things are proper at one time,

VOL. I.

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and

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74

and in one place, that are extremely improper in another: for example; it is very proper and decent, that you should play fome part of the day; but you must feel that it would be very improper and indecent, if you were to fly your kite, or play at nine-pins, while you are with Mr. Maittaire. It is very proper and decent to dance well; but then you must dance only at balls, and places of entertainment: for you would be reckoned a fool, if you were to dance at church, or at a funeral. I hope, by these examples, you understand the meaning of the word Decency; which in French is *Bienfance*; in Latin, *Decorum*; and in Greek, *Ηεπων*. Cicero fays of it, *Sic hoc Decorum quod elucet in vitâ, movet approbationem eorum quibuscum vivitur, ordine et conflantid, et moderatione dictorum omnium atque faëtorum*: by which you fee how neceflary decency is, to gain the approbation of mankind. And, as I am fure you defire to gain Mr. Maittaire's approbation, without which you will never have mine, I dare fay you will mind and give attention to whatever he fays to you, and behave yourfelf seriously and decently, while you are with him; afterwards play, run, and jump, as much as ever you pleafe.

LETTER XXIV.

DEAR BOY,

Friday.

I WAS very glad when Mr. Maittaire told me, that you had more attention now, than you uſed to have; for it is the only way to reap any benefit by what you learn. Without attention, it is impoffible to remember, and without remembering it is

TO HIS SON.

75

is but time and labour loft to learn. I hope too, that your attention is not only employed upon words, but upon the ſenſe and meaning of thofe words; that is, that when you read, or get any thing by heart, you obſerve the thoughts and reflections of the author, as well as his words. This attention will furnifh you with materials, when you come to compofe and invent upon any ſubject yourfelf: for example, when you read of anger, envy, hatred, love, pity, or any of the paffions, obſerve what the author ſays of them, and what good or ill effects he aſcribes to them. Obſerve too, the great difference between ſprofe and verſe, in treating the fame ſubjects. In verſe, the figures are fironger and bolder, and the diſcription or exprefſion loftier or higher, than in ſprofe; nay, the words in verſe are ſeldom put in the fame order as in profe. Verſe is full of metaphors, fibilities, and epithets. Epithets (by the way) are adjectives, which mark ſome particular quality of the thing or perſon to which they are added; as for example, Pius Æneas, the pious Æneas; Pius is the epithet: Fama Mendax, Fame that lies; Mendax is the epithet: Ποθας-ωκυς; Αχιλλεύς; Achilles ſwift of foot; Ποθας-ωκυς; is the epithet. This is the fame in all languages: as for inſtance; they ſay in French, L'envie pâle et blême, L'amour aceugle; in English, pale, livid envy, blind love: these adjectives are the epithets. Envy is always repreſented, by the Poets, as pale, meagre, and pining away at other people's happineſs. Ovid ſays of envy,

Vixque tene: lacrymas, quod nil lacrymabile corrit;
Which means, that Envy can ſcare ſe help crying, when ſhe ſees nothing to cry at; that is, ſhe cries when ſhe ſees others happy. Envy is certainly one of the meaneſt and moſt tormenting of all paffions, ſince there is hardly any body, that has not ſomething for an envious man to envy: ſo that he can never be happy, while he ſees any body eſſe ſo.
Adieu.
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LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

76

LETTER XXV.

Illeworth, September the 10th, 1739.

DEAR BOY,

SINCE you promise to give attention, and to mind what you learn, I shall give myself the trouble of writing to you again, and shall endeavour to instruct you in several things, that do not fall under Mr. Maittaire's province; and which, if they did, he could teach you much better than I can. I neither pretend nor propose to teach them you thoroughly; you are not yet of an age fit for it: but I only mean to give you a general notion, at prefent, of some things that you must learn more particularly hereafter, and that will then be the easier to you, for having had a general idea of them now. For example, to give you some notion of Hiftory.

Hiftory is an account of whatever has been done by any country in general, or by any number of people, or by any one man: thus, the Roman Hiftory is an account of what the Romans did, as a nation; the Hiftory of Catiline's conspiracy, is an account of what was done by a particular number of people; and the Hiftory of Alexander the Great, written by Quintus Curtius, is the account of the life and actions of one single man. Hiftory is, in short, an account or relation of any thing that has been done.

Hiftory is divided into sacred and prophane, ancient and modern.

Sacred Hiftory is the Bible, that is, the Old and New Teftament. The Old Teftament is the Hiftory of the Jews, who were God's chosen people; and the New Teftament is the Hiftory of Jefus Chrift, the Son of God.

Prophane

TO HIS SON.

77

Prophane Hiftory is the account of the Heathen Gods, such as you read in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and which you will know a great deal more of, when you come to read Homer, Virgil, and the other ancient Poets.

Ancient Hiftory is the account of all the kingdoms and countries of the world, down to the end of the Roman Empire.

Modern Hiftory is the account of the kingdoms and countries of the world, since the deftruction of the Roman Empire.

The perfect knowledge of Hiftory is extremely neceffary; becaufe, as it informs us of what was done by other people, in former ages, it inſtructs us what to do in the like cafes. Befides, as it is the common ſubject of converfation, it is a ſhame to be ignorant of it.

Geography muſt neceſſarily accompany Hiftory; for it would not be enough to know what things were done formerly, but we muſt know where they were done; and Geography, you know, is the deſcription of the earth, and ſhow us the ſituations of towns, countries, and rivers. For example; Geography ſhow you that England is in the North of Europe, that London is the chief town of England, and that it is ſituated upon the river Thames, in the county of Middlesex; and the fame of other towns and countries. Geography is likewife divided into ancient and modern; many countries and towns having, now, very different names from what they had formerly; and many towns, which made a great figure in ancient times, being now utterly deftroyed, and not exiling: as the two famous towns of Troy, in Asia, and Carthage, in Africa; of both which there are not now the leaſt remains.

Read this with attention, and then go to play with as much attention; and so farewell.

LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XXVI.

DEAR BOY,

Illeworth, September the 15th, 1739-

HISTORY must be accompanied with Chronology, as well as Geography, or else one has but a very confused notion of it; for it is not sufficient to know what things have been done, which Hiftory teaches us; and where they have been done, which we learn by Geography; but one must know when they have been done, and that is the particular bufineſs of Chronology. I will therefore give you a general notion of it.

Chronology (in French *la Chronologie*) fixes the dates of facts; that is, it informs us when fuch and fuch things were done; reckoning from certain periods of time, which are called Æras, or Epochs: for example, in Europe, the two principal Æras or epochs, by which we reckon, are, from the creation of the world to the birth of Chriſt, which was four thouſand years; and from the birth of Chriſt to this time, which is one thouſand ſeven hundred and thirty-nine years: ſo that, when one ſpeaks of a thing that was done before the birth of Chriſt, one ſays, it was done in fuch a year of the world; as, for inſtance, Rome was founded in the three thouſand two hundred and twenty-fifth year of the world; which was about ſeven hundred and fifty years before the birth of Chriſt. And one ſays, that Charlemain was made the firſt Emperor of Germany in the year eight hundred; that is to ſay, eight hundred years after the birth of Chriſt. So that you ſee, the two great periods, Æras, or Epochs, from whence we date every thing, are, the creation of the world, and the birth of Jefus Chriſt.

There

TO HIS SON.

There is another term in Chronology, called Centuries, which is only uſed in reckoning after the birth of Chriſt. A century means one hundred years; conſequently, there have been ſeventeen centuries ſince the birth of Chriſt, and we are now in the eighteenth century. When any body ſays, then, for example, that ſuch a thing was done in the tenth century, they mean, after the year nine hundred, and before the year one thouſand, after the birth of Chriſt. When any body makes a miſtake in Chronology, and ſays, that a thing was done ſome years ſooner, or ſome years later, than it really was, that error is called an Anachronifm. Chronology requires memory and attention; both which you can have if you pleafe: and I ſhall try them both, by aſking you queſtions about this letter, the next time I ſee you.

LETTER XXVII.

DEAR BOY,

Illeworth, September the 17th, 1739-

IN my two laſt letters I explained to you the meaning and uſe of Hiftory, Geography, and Chronology, and ſhowed you the connection they had with one another; that is, how they were joined together, and depended each upon the other. We will now consider Hiftory more particularly by itſelf.

The moſt ancient Hiftories of all, are ſo mixed with ſables, that is, with falſehoods and invention, that little credit is to be given to them. All the Heathen Gods and Goddeſſes, that you read of in the Poets, were only men and women; but, as they had either found out ſome uſeful invention, or had done a great

deal

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

deal of good in the countries where they lived, the people, who had a great veneration for them, made them Gods and Goddeffies when they died, addreffed their prayers, and raifed altars to them. Thus Bacchus, the God of Wine, was only the firft man who invented the making of wine; which pleafed the people ſo much, that they made a God of him: and may be they were drunk when they made him ſo. So Ceres, the Goddeſs of Plenty, who is always repreſented, in pietures, with wheat-fheaves about her head, was only ſome good woman, who invented ploughing, and fowing, and raifing corn: and the people, who owed their bread to her, deified her; that is, made a Goddeſs of her. The cafe is the fame of all the other Pagan Gods and Goddeſſes, which you read of in prophane and fabulous hiftory.

The authentic, that is, the true ancient hiftory, is divided into five remarkable periods or æras, of the five great Empires of the world. The firſt Empire of the world was the Affyrian, which was deftroyed by the Medes. The Empire of the Medes was overturned by the Perſians; and the Empire of the Perſians was demolifhed by the Macedonians, under Alexander the Great. The Empire of Alexander the Great laſted no longer than his life; for at his death, his Generals divided the world among them, and went to war with one another; till, at laſt, the Roman Empire aroſe, fwallowed them all up, and Rome became the miſtrſs of the world. Remember, then, that the five great Empires, that ſucceded each other, were theſe:

1. The Affyrian Empire, firſt eſtablished.

2. The Empire of the Medes.

3. The Perſian Empire.

4. The Macedonian Empire.

5. The Roman Empire.

5

If

TO HIS SON.

81

If ever you find a word that you do not understand, either in my letters or any where else, I hope you remember to ask your Mamma the meaning of it. Here are but three in this letter, which you are likely not to understand; theſe are,

CONNECTION, which is a noun ſubſtantive, that signifies a joining, or tying together; it comes from the verb to connect, which signifies to join. For example; one fays of any two people, that are intimate friends, and much together, there is a great connection between them, or, they are mightily connected. One fays ſo alſo, of two things that have a reſemblance, or a likeneſs to one another, there is a connection between them: as for example; there is a great connection between Poetry and Painting, because they both exprefs nature, and a ſtrong and lively imagination is neceſſary for both.

DEIFY is a verb, which signifies to make a God; it comes from the Latin word Deus, God, and Fio, I become. The Roman Emperors were always deified after their death, though moſt of them were rather devils, when alive.

AUTHENTIC, means true; ſomething that may be depended upon, as coming from good authority. For example; one fays, ſuch a hiftory is authentic, ſuch a piece of news is authentic; that is, one may depend upon the truth of it.

I have just now received your letter, which is very well written.

VOL. I.

M

LETTER

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XXVIII.

Thursday, Illeworth.

DEAR BOY,

AS I shall come to town next Saturday, I would have you come to me on Sunday morning, about ten o'clock: and I would have you likewife tell Mr. Maittaire, that, if it be not troublefome to him, I should be extremely glad to fee him at the fame time. I would not have given him this trouble, but that it is uncertain when I can wait upon him in town: I do not doubt but he will give me a good account of you, for I think you are now ſenſible of the advantages, the pleafure, and the neceffity of learning well; I think, too, you have an ambition to excel in whatever you do, and therefore will apply yourſelf. I muſt also tell you, that you are now talked of as an eminent ſcholar, for your age; and therefore your ſhame will be the greater, if you ſhould not anſwer the expeſtations people have of you. Adieu.

LETTER XXIX.

Monday.

DEAR BOY,

IT was a great pleasure to me, when Mr. Maittaire told me, yesterday, in your prefence, that you began to mind your learning, and to give more attention. If you continue to do so, you will find two advantages in it; the one, your own improvement, the other, my kindneſs; which you muſt never expeſt, but when Mr. Maittaire tells me you deferve it. There is no doing any thing well without

TO HIS SON.

83

without application and induſtry. Induſtry (in Latin *Induſtria*, and in Greek *αγχινοια*) is defined (that is deſeribed) to be *frequens exercitium circa rem honeſtam, unde aliquis induſtrius dicitur, hoc est ſudioſus, vigilans*. This I expeſt so much from you, that I do not doubt, in a little time, but that I ſhall hear you called, Philip the induſtrious, or, if you like it better in Greek, *Φιλιππος αγχινοος*. Moſt of the great men of antiquity had ſome epithet added to their names, deſeribing ſome particular merit they had; and why ſhould not you endeavour to be diſtinguifhed by ſome honourable appellation? Parts and quickneſs, though very neceſſary, are not alone ſufficient; attention and application muſt complete the buſineſs: and both together will go a great way.

*Accipite ergo animis, atque hæc mea figite diéla.*

Adieu.

We were talking yefterday of America, which I told you was firſt diſcovered by Chriſtopher Columbus, a Genoefe, through the encouragement of Ferdinando and Ifabella, King and Queen of Spain, in 1491, that is, at the latter end of the fifteenth century; but I forgot to tell you, that it took its name of America from one Vefpufius Americus, of Florence, who diſcovered South America, in 1497. The Spaniards began their conquelſs in America by the iſlands of St. Domingo and Cuba; and ſoon afterwards Ferdinando Cortez, with a ſmall army, landed upon the continent, took Mexico, and beat Montezuma, the Indian Emperor. This encouraged other nations to go and try what they could get in this new-diſcovered world. The Englifh have got there, New York, New England, Jamaica, Barbadoes, Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and ſome of the Leeward iſlands. The Portugueſe have got the Brazils; the Dutch, Curaçoa, and Surinam; and the French, Martinico and New France.

M 2

LETTER

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XXX.

Monday.

DEAR BOY,

Have lately mentioned Chronology to you, though slightly; but, as it is very necessary you should know something of it, I will repeat it now a little more fully, in order to give you a better notion of it.

Chronology is the art of measuring and divining anything time, or the doctrine of epochas, which, you know, are particular and remarkable periods of time. The word Chronology is compounded of the Greek words χρειοσ, which signifies *Time*, and λόγος, which signifies *Difcourfe*. Chronology and Geography are called the two eyes of Hiftory, because Hiftory can never be clear and well under flood without them. Hiftory relates facts; Chronology tells us at what time, or when, those facts were done; and Geography shows us in what place or country they were done. The Greeks measured their time by Olympiads, which was a space of four years, called in Greek Ολυμπιας. This method of computation had its rife from the Olympic Games, which were celebrated the beginning of every fifth year, on the banks of the river Alpheus, near Olympia, a city in Greece. The Greeks, for example, would fay, that such a thing happened in such a year of such an Olympiad : as for instance; that Alexander the Great died in the first year of the 114th Olympiad. The first Olympiad was 774 years before Chriſt; so, consequently, Chriſt was born in the first year of the 195th Olympiad.

The period, or æra, from whence the Romans reckoned their time, was from the building of Rome; which they marked thus, ab U. C. that is, ab Urbe Condita. Thus, the Kings were ex-

pelled,

TO HIS SON.

85

pelled, and the Confular Government established, the 244th ab U. C. that is, of Rome.

All Europe now reckons from the great epoch of the birth of Jefus Chriſt, which was 1738 years ago; so that, when any body asks, in what year did such or such a thing happen, they mean in what year since the birth of Chriſt.

For example; Charlemain, in French Charlemagne, was made Emperor of the West in the year 800; that is, 800 years after the birth of Chriſt; but, if we speak of any event or historical fact that happened before that time, we then fay, it happened so many years before Chriſt. For instance; we fay Rome was built 750 years before Chriſt.

The Turks date from their Hegira, which was the year of the flight of their falſe Prophet, Mahomet, from Mecca; and, as we fay that such a thing was done in such a year of Chriſt; they fay, such a thing was done in such a year of the Hegira. Their Hegira begins in the 622d year of Chriſt, that is, above 1100 years ago.

There are two great periods in Chronology, from which the nations of Europe date events. The first is the Creation of the World; the second, the Birth of Jefus Chriſt.

Those events that happened before the Birth of Chriſt, are dated from the Creation of the World. Those events which have happened since the Birth of Chriſt, are dated from that time; as the preſent year 1739. For example;

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>A. M.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Noah's Flood happened in the year of the world</td><td>1656</td></tr><tr><td>Babylon was built by Semiramis, in the year</td><td>1800</td></tr><tr><td>Moses was born in the year</td><td>2400</td></tr><tr><td>Troy was taken by the Greeks, in the year</td><td>2800</td></tr><tr><td>Rome founded by Romulus, in the year</td><td>3225</td></tr></tbody></table>

Alexander

4

86 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

<table><tr><td>A. M.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Alexander the Great conquered Perſia</td><td>3674</td></tr><tr><td>Jefus Chriſt born in the year of the world</td><td>4000</td></tr></table>

The meaning of A. M. at the top of these figures, is anno mundi, the year of the world.

From the birth of Chriſt, all Chriſtians date the events that have happened since that time; and this is called the Chriſtian æra. Sometimes we ſay, that ſuch a thing happened in ſuch a year of Chriſt, and ſometimes we ſay, in ſuch a century. Now, a century is one hundred years from the birth of Chriſt; ſo that at the end of every hundred years a new century begins; and we are, conſequently, now in the eighteenth century.

For example, as to the Chriſtian æra, or ſince the birth of Chriſt;

Mahomet, the falſe prophet of the Turks, who eſtablished the Mahometan religion, and writ the Alcoran, which is the Turkisł book of religion, died in the ſeventh century; that is, in the year of Chriſt

632
Charlemain was crowned Emperor in the laſt year of the eighth century, that is, in the year

Here the old Roman Empire ended.

William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in the eleventh century, in the year

1066
The Reformation, that is, the Proteſtant Religion, begun by Martin Luther, in the ſixteenth century, in the year

1530
Gunpowder invented, by one Bertholdus, a German Monk, in the fourteenth century, in the year

1380
Printing invented, at Haerlem in Holland, or at Straſbourg, or at Mentz in Germany, in the fifteenth century, about the year

6

Adieu.

TO HIS SON.

37

LETTER XXXI.

A Bath, ce 17ème d'Octobre 1739.

MON CHER ENFANT,

E N verité je crois que vous êtes le premier garçon à qui avant l'age de huit ans, on ait jamais parlé des figures de la rhétorique, comme j'ai fait dans ma derniere *; mais auſi il me ſemble qu'on ne peut pas commencer trop jeune à y penter un peu; et l'art de perſuader à l'efprit, et de toucher le cœur mérite bien qu'on y falſe attention de bonne heure.

Vous concevez bien qu'un homme qui parle et qui écrit élegamment et avec grace; qui choifit bien ſes paroles, et qui orne et embellit la matiere ſur laquelle il parle ou écrit, perſuadera mieux, et obtiendra plus facilement ce qu'il souhaite; qu'un homme qui s'explique mal, qui parle mal ſa langue, qui ſe ſert de mots bas et vulgaires, et qui enfin n'a ni grace, ni élegance en tout ce qu'il dit. Or c'eſt cet art de bien parler, que la Rhétorique enſeigne; et quoique je ne ſonge pas à vous y enſonceer encore; je voudrois pourtant bien vous en donner quelque Idée, convenable à votre age.

La première choſe à laquelle vous devez faire attention; c'eſt de parler la langue que vous parlez, dans ſa derniere pureté, et ſelon les règles de la Grammaire. Car il n'eſt pas permis, de faire des fautes contre la Grammaire, ou de ſe ſervir de mots, qui ne font pas véritablement des mots. Mais ce n'eſt pas encore tout, car il ne ſuffit point de ne pas parler mal; mais il faut parler bien, et le meilleur moien d'y parvenir eſt de lire avec attention les meilleurs livres, et de remarquer comment les honnêtes gens et ceux qui parlent le mieux s'expriment; car les Bourgeois, le petit

* Qui ne ſe trouve pas.

peuple,

88 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

peuple, les laquis, et les fervantes, tout cela parle mal. Ils ont des expressions baffes et vulgaires, dont les honnêtes gens ne doivent jamais se servir. Dans les Nombres, ils joignent le singulier et le pluriel ensemble; dans les Genres, ils confondent le maſculin avec le feminin; et dans les Tems ils prennent fouvent l'un pour l'autre. Pour éviter toutes ces fautes, il faut lire avec soin; remarquer le tour et les expressions des meilleurs auteurs; et ne jamais paffer un ſeuł mot qu'on n'entend pas, ou ſur lequel on a la moindre difficulté, fans en demander exactement la signification. Par exemple; quand vous lifez les Métamorphoses d'Ovide, avec Monfieur Martin; il faut lui demander le ſens de chaque mot que vous ne favez pas, et même ſi c'eſt un mot, dont on peut ſe ſervir en profe auſſi bien qu'en vers: car, comme je vous ai dit autrefois, le langage poëtique eſt différent du langage ordinaire, et il y a bien des mots dont on ſe fert dans la poëſie, qu'on ſeroit fort mal d'employer dans la profe. De même quand vous lifez le François, avec Monfieur Pelnote, demandez lui le ſens de chaque nouveau mot que vous rencontrez chemin faifant; et priez le de vous donner des exemples de la manière dont il faut s'en ſervir. Tout ceci ne demande qu'un peu d'attention, et pourtant il n'y a rien de plus utile. Il faut (dit-on) qu'un homme ſoit né Poëte; mais il peut ſe faire Orateur. *Naficitur Poeta, fit Orator.* C'eſt à dire qu'il faut être né avec une certaine force et vivacité d'esprit pour être Poëte; mais que l'attention, la lecture, et le travail ſuffirent pour faire un Orateur. Adieu.

TRANS-

TO HIS SON.

89

TRANSLATION.

MY DEAR CHILD,

Bath, October the 17th, 1739.

INDEED, I believe you are the firſt boy, to whom (under the age of eight years) one has ever ventured to mention the figures of rhetoric, as I did in my laſt *. But I am of opinion, that we cannot begin to think too young; and that the art which teaches us how to perfuade the mind, and touch the heart, muſt surely deferve the earlieſt attention.

You cannot but be convinced, that a man who ſpeaks and writes with elegancy and grace; who makes choice of good words; and adorns and embellifhes the ſubject, upon which he either ſpeaks or writes, will perfuade better, and ſucceed more easily in obtaining what he wifhes, than a man who does not explain himſelf clearly; ſpeaks his language ill; or makes uſe of low and vulgar expreſſions; and who has neither grace nor elegance in any thing that he ſays. Now it is by Rhetoric, that the art of ſpeaking eloquently is taught: and, though I cannot think of grounding you in it, as yet, I would wifh however to give you an idea of it, ſuitable to your age.

The firſt thing you ſhould attend to, is, to ſpeak whatever language you do ſpeak, in its greateſt purity, and according to the rules of Grammar; for we muſt never offend againſt Grammar, nor make uſe of words, which are not really words. This is not all; for not to ſpeak ill, is not ſufficient; we muſt ſpeak well; and the beſt method of attaining to that, is to read the beſt authors with attention; and to obſerve how people of ſaſhion ſpeak, and thofe who expreſs themſelves beſt; for ſhop-keepers, common people, footmen, and maid-ſervants, all ſpeak ill. They

* Not to be found.

VOL. I.

N

make

90 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

make use of low and vulgar expressions, which people of rank
never use. In Numbers, they join the singular and the plural
together; in Genders, they confound masculine with feminine;
and, in Tenches, they often take the one for the other. In order to
avoid all these faults, we must read with care, observe the turn
and expressions of the best authors; and not pass a word which we
do not understand, or concerning which we have the least doubt,
without exactly inquiring the meaning of it. For example;
when you read Ovid's Metamorphoses with Mr. Martin, you should
ask him the meaning of every word you do not know; and also,
whether it is a word which may be made use of in prose, as well
as in verse; for, as I formerly told you, the language of poetry is
different from that which is proper for common discourse; and a
man would be to blame, to make use of some words in prose,
which are very happily applied in poetry. In the same manner,
when you read French with Mr. Pelnote, ask him the meaning of
every word you meet with, that is new to you; and define him to
give you examples of the various ways in which it may be used.
All this requires only a little attention; and yet there is nothing
more useful. It is said, that a man must be born a Poet; but
that he can make himself an Orator. Nascitur Poeta, fit Orator.
This means, that, to be a Poet, one must be born with a certain
degree of strength and vivacity of mind; but that attention,
reading, and labour, are sufficient to form an Orator. Adieu.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

LETTER XXXII.

DEAR BOY,

Bath, October the 26th, 1739.

THOUGH Poetry differs much from Oratory in many
things; yet it makes use of the same figures of Rhetoric;
nay, it abounds in metaphors, similes, and allegories; and you
may learn the purity of the language, and the ornaments of
eloquence, as well by reading verse as prose. Poetical diction,
that is, poetical language, is more sublime and lofty than prose,
and takes liberties which are not allowed in prose, and are called
Poetical Licences: This difference between verse and prose
you will easily observe, if you read them both with attention. In
verse, things are seldom said plainly and simply, as one would say
them in prose; but they are described and embellished: as for
example; what you hear the watchman say often in three words,
a cloudy morning, is said thus in verse, in the tragedy of Cato:

"The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers,

"And heavily in clouds brings on the day.

This is poetical diction; which would be improper in prose, though each word separately may be used in prose.

I will give you, here, a very pretty copy of verses of Mr.
Waller's, which is extremely poetical, and full of images. It is to
a Lady who played upon the lute. The lute, by the way, is an
instrument with many strings, which are played upon by the
fingers.

"Such moving sounds from such a careles's touch,

"So little she concern'd, and we so much.

N 2

“The

92

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

" The trembling strings about her fingers croud,

" And tell their joy, for every kid, aloud.

" Small force there needs to make them tremble so,

" Touch'd by that hand, who would not tremble too ?

" Here Love takes stand, and, while she charms the ear,

" Empties his quiver on the lifting deer.

" Music so softens and difarms the mind,

" That not one arrow can resistance find.

" Thus the fair tyrant celebrates the prize,

" And acts herself the triumph of her eyes.

" So Nero once, with harp in hand, surveyed

" His flaming Rome: and as it burnt, he play'd."

Mind all the poetical beauties of these verbes. He suppofes the
sounds of the strings, when she touches them, to be the expression
of their joy for kissing her fingers. Then, he compares the
trembling of the strings to the trembling of a lover, who is sup-
pofered to tremble with joy and awe, when touch'd by the perſon
he loves. He repreſents Love (who, you know, is deſcribed as a
little boy, with a bow, arrows, and a quiver) as flanding by her,
and shooting his arrows at people's hearts, while her muſic softens
and difarms them. Then he concludes with that fine simile of
Nero, a very cruel Roman Emperor, who ſet Rome on fire,
and played on the harp all the while it was burning: for, as
Love is repreſented by the Poets as fire and flames; so she, while
people were burning for love of her, played, as Nero did while
Rome, which he had ſet on fire, was burning. Pray get these
verſes by heart againſt I ſee you. Adieu.

You will observe, that these verſes are all long, or heroic verſes,
that is, of ten ſyllables, or five feet; for a foot is two ſyllables.

LETTER

93

TO HIS SON.

LETTER XXXIII.

MON CHER ENFANT,

A Bath ce 29<sup>ème</sup> d'Octobre 1739.

S
Il l'on peut être trop modeſte, vous l'êtes, et vous méritez plus
que vous ne demandez. Une canne à pomme d'ambre, et
une paire de boucles, font des récompenſes très modiques pour ce
que vous faites, et j'y ajouterai bien quelque autre chose. La
modeſtie eſt une très bonne qualité, qui accompagne ordinaire-
ment le vrai mérite. Rien ne gagne et ne prévient plus les esprits
que la modeſtie; comme, au contraire, rien ne choque et ne
rebute plus que la préſomption et l'effronterie. On n'aime pas
un homme, qui veut toujours ſe faire valoir, qui parle avantageue-
ment de lui même, et qui eſt toujours le héros de ſon propre
Roman. Au contraire, un homme qui cache, pour ainſi dire,
ſon propre mérite, qui releve celui des autres, et qui parle peu et
modeſtement de lui même, gagne les esprits, et ſe fait eſtimer et
aimer.

Mais il y a, auſi, bien de la différence entre la modeſtie et la
mauvaise honte; autant la modeſtie eſt louable, autant la mauvaise
honte eſt ridicule. Il ne faut non plus être un nigaud, qu'un
effronté; et il faut savoir ſe présenter, parler aux gens, et leur
répondre fans être décontenancé ou embaraſſé. Les Anglois font
pour l'ordinaire nigauds, et n'ont pas ces manières aijées, et libres,
mais en même tems polies, qu'ont les François. Remarquez donc
les François, et imitez les, dans leur manière de ſe présenter, et
d'aborder les gens. Un bourgeois ou un campagnard a honte
quand il ſe présente dans une compagnie; il eſt embaraſſé, ne
fait

94 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

fait que faire de ses mains, se démonte quand on lui parle, et ne répond qu'avec embarras, et presqu'en bégaiant; au lieu qu'un honnête homme, qui fait vivre, se préfente avec afflurance et de bonne grace, parle même aux gens qu'il ne connoit pas, fans s'embarauffer et d'une manière tout à fait naturelle et auffée. Voilà ce qui s'appelle avoir du monde, et savoir vivre, qui eft un article très important dans le commerce du monde. Il arrive souvent; qu'un homme qui a beaucoup d'esprit et qui ne fait pas vivre, eft moins bien reçû, qu'un homme qui a moins d'esprit. mais qui a du monde.

C'est objet mérite bien votre attention; penféz y donc, et joignez la modeftie à une afflurance polie et auffée. Adieu.

Je reçois dans le moment votre lettre du 27, qui eft très bien écrite.

TRANSLATION.

Bath, October the 29th, 1739.

MY DEAR CHILD,

IF it is possible to be too modefty, you are; and you defer me more than you require. An amber-headed cane, and a pair of buckles, are a recompence so far from being adequate to your defects, that I shall add something more. Modefty is a very good quality, and which generally accompanies true merit: it engages and captivates the minds of people; as, on the other hand, nothing is more shocking and difguftful, than prefumption and immodesty. We cannot like a man who is always commending and fpeaking well of himfelf, and who is the hero of his own ſtory. On the contrary, a man who endeavours to conceal his own merit; who fets that of other people in its true light; who ſpeaks but little of himfelf, and with modeſtly: fuch a man makes a favour able impreſſion upon the understanding of his hearers, and acquires their love and eſteem.

There

TO HIS SON.

There is, however, a great difference between modeſtly, and an aukward bathfulneſs; which is as ridiculous as true modeſtly is commendable. It is as absurd to be a ſimpleton, as to be an immodest fellow; and one ought to know how to come into a room, ſpeak to people, and anſwer them, without being out of countenance, or without embarraſſment. The English are generally apt to be bathful; and have not thatof eafy, free, and at the fame time polite manners, which the French have. A mean fellow, or a country bumpkin, is afhamed when he comes into good company; he appears embarraſſed, does not know what to do with his hands, is difconcerted when ſpoken to, anſwers with difficulty, and almost flammers: whereas a gentleman, who is uſed to the world, comes into company with a graceful and proper afflurance, ſpeaks even to people he does not know, without embarraſſment, and in a natural and eafy manner. This is called uſage of the world, and good-breeding: a moſt neceſſary and important knowledge in the intercourſe of life. It frequently happens that a man with a great deal of fenſe, but with little uſage of the world, is not ſo well received as one of inferior parts, but with a gentleman-like behaviour.

These are matters worthy your attention; reflect on them; and unite modeſtly, to a polite and eafy afflurance. Adieu.

I this instant receive your letter of the 27th, which is very well written.

LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XXXIV.

Bath, November the 1st, 1739.

DEAR BOY,

LET us return to Oratory, or the art of speaking well; which should never be entirely out of your thoughts, since it is so useful in every part of life, and so absolutely necessary in moft. A man can make no figure without it, in Parliament, in the Church, or in the Law; and even in common conversation, a man that has acquired an easy and habitual eloquence, who speaks properly and accurately, will have a great advantage over thofe who speak incorrectly and inelegantly.

The bufineſs of Oratory, as I have told you before, is to per-
fuade people; and you eafily feel, that to pleafe people, is a great
ſtep towards perſuading them. You muſt then, conſequently, be
ſenſible how advantageous it is for a man, who ſpeaks in public,
whether it be in Parliament, in the Pulpit, or at the Bar, (that
is, in the Courts of Law) to pleafe his hearers so much as to gain
their attention: which he can never do, without the help of
Oratory. It is not enough to ſpeak the language, he ſpeaks in,
in its utmoſt purity, and according to the rules of Grammar; but
he muſt ſpeak it elegantly; that is, he muſt chuse the beſt and
moſt expreſſive words, and put them in the beſt order. He
ſhould likewife adorn what he ſays by proper metaphors, Ami-
lies, and other figures of Rhetoric; and he ſhould enliven it, if
he can, by quick and ſprightly turns of wit. For example; ſup-
pose you had a mind to perſuade Mr. Maittaire to give you a
holyday, would you bluntly ſay to him, Give me a holy-
day? That would certainly not be the way to perſuade him to it.

4

But

TO HIS SON.

But you should endeavour firſt to please him, and gain his attention, by telling him; that your experience of his goodneſs and indulgence encouraged you to aſk a favour of him; that, if he should not think proper to grant it; at leaſt you hoped, he would not take it ill, that you aſked it. Then you should tell him, what it was that you wanted; that it was a holyday; for which you should give your reaſons; as, that you had ſuch or ſuch a thing to do, or ſuch a place to go to. Then, you might urge ſome arguments why he should not refuse you; as, that you have ſeldom aſked that favour, and that you ſeldom will; and that the mind may ſometimes require a little reſt from labour, as well as the body. This you may illuſtrate by a ſimile, and ſay, that as the bow is the ſtronger, for being ſometimes unſtrung and unbent; ſo the mind will be capable of more attention, for being now and then easy and relaxed.

This is a little oration, fit for ſuch a little orator as you; but, however, it will make you underſtand what is meant by oratory and eloquence: which is to perſuade. I hope you will have that talent hereafter in greater matters.

LETTER XXXV.

November the 20th, 1739.

DEAR BOY,

AS you are now reading the Roman Hiftory, I hope you do it with that care and attention which it deferves. The utility of Hiftory confiſts principally in the examples, it gives us, of the virtues and vices of thofe who have gone before us: upon which we ought to make the proper obſervations. Hiftory animates

VOL. I.

O

and

98 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

98

and excites us to the love and the practice of virtue; by flowing us the regard and veneration that was always paid to great and virtuous men, in the times in which they lived, and the praise and glory with which their names are perpetuated, and tranfmitted down to our times. The Roman Hiftory furnifhes more ex-amples of virtue and magnanimity, or greatneſs of mind, than any other. It was a common thing to fee their Confuls and Dictators (who, you know, were their chief Magiftrates) taken from the plough, to lead their armies againſt their enemies; and, after victory, returning to their plough again, and paſſing the reſt of their lives in modeſt retirement: a retirement more glorious, if poffible, than the victories that preceded it! Many of their greatest men died ſo poor, that they were buried at the expence of the public. Curius, who had no money of his own, refuted a great ſum, that the Samnites offered him, faying, that he faw no glory in having money himſelf, but in commanding thofe that had. Cicero relates it thus: "Curio ad focum fedenti magnum "auri pondus Samnites cum attuliffent, repudiati ab eo ſunt. "Non enim aurum habere præclarum fibi videri, ſed iis qui ha-"berent aurum, imperare." And Fabricius, who had often commanded the Roman armies, and as often triumphed over their enemies, was found by his fire-fide, eating thofe roots and herbs which he had planted and cultivated himſelf in his own field. Seneca tells it thus: Fabricius ad focum cœnat illas ipſas radices quas in agro repurgando, triumphphalis Senex vulſit. Scipio, after a victory he had obtained in Spain, found among the prifoners a young Princeſs of extreme beauty, who, he was informed, was ſoon to have been married to a man of quality of that country. He ordered her to be entertained and attended with the fame care and refpect, as if ſhe had been in her father's houſe; and, as ſoon as he could find her lover, he gave her to him, and added

to

TO HIS SON.

99

to her portion the money that her father had brought for her ran-
fom. Valerius Maximus fays, *Eximiæ formæ virginem accerſitis pa-
rentibus, et ſponſo inviolatam tradidit, et Juvenis, et Cœlebs, et Viſtor.
This was a moſt glorious example of moderation, continence,
and generofity, which gained him the hearts of all the people of
Spain; and made them fay, as Livy tells us, *Veniffa Diis ſimilli-
num juvenem, vincentem omnia, cum armis, tum benignitate, ac
beneficiis*.

Such are the rewards that always crown virtue; and fuch the
characters that you ſhould imitate, if you would be a great and a
good man, which is the only way to be a happy one! Adieu.

LETTER XXXVI.

DEAR BOY,

Monday.

I WAS very forry that Mr. Maittaire did not give me fuch an
account of you, yeferday, as I wifhed and expeſted. He
takes ſo much pains to teach you, that he well deferves from
you the returns of care and attention. Befides, pray confider,
now that you have juſtly got the reputation of knowing much
more than other boys of your age do, how ſhameful it would be
for you to lofe it; and to let other boys, that are now behind
you, get before you. If you would but have attention, you have
quickneſs enough to conceive, and memory enough to retain;
but, without attention, while you are learning, all the time
you employ at your book is thrown away; and your ſhame
will be the greater, if you ſhould be ignorant, when you had
fuch opportunities of learning. An ignorant man is infignificant
and contemptible; nobody cares for his company, and he can

02

juſt

100 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

juft be faid to live, and that is all. There is a very pretty French
Epigram, upon the death of fuch an ignorant, infignificant fellow,
the fling of which is, that all that can be faid of him is, that he
was once alive, and that he is now dead. This is the Epigram,
which you may get by heart.

Colas eſt mort de maladie,
Tu veux que j'en pleure le ſort,
Que diable veux tu que j'en die?
Colas vivoit, Colas eſt mort.

Take care not to deferve the name of Colas; which I ſhall certain-
ly give you, if you do not learn well: and then that name will
get about, and every body will call you Colas; which will be
much worſe than Frisky.

You are now reading Mr. Rollin's ancient Hiftory: pray
remember to have your maps by you, when you read it, and defire
Monfieur Pelnote to ſhow you, in the maps, all the places you
read of. Adieu.

LETTER XXXVII.

DEAR BOY,

Saturday.

SINCE you chufc the name of Polyglot, I hope you will
take care to deferve it; which you can only do by care and
application. I confefs the names of Frisky, and Colas, are not
quite ſo honourable; but then, remember too, that there cannot
be a ſtronger ridicule, than to call a man by an honourable name,
when he is known not to deferve it. For example; it would be
a manifeſt irony to call a very ugly fellow an Adonis, who, you

6

know

TO HISSON.

101

know was ſo handsome, that Venus herſelf fell in love with him;
or to call a cowardly fellow an Alexander, or an ignorant fellow,
Polyglot; for every body would diſcover the ſneer: and Mr. Pope
obſerves very truly, that

"Praife undeferv'd is fatire in diſguife.

Next to the doing of things that deferve to be written, there is
nothing that gets a man more credit, or gives him more pleasure,
than to write things that deferve to be read. The younger Pliny,
(for there were two Plinys, the uncle and the nephew) exprefſes
it thus: "Equidem beatos puto, quibus Deorum munere datum eſt,
aut facere ſcribenda, aut legenda ſcribere; beatiffimos verò quibus
utrumque."

Pray mind your Greek particularly; for to know Greek very
well, is to be really learned: there is no great credit in knowing
Latin, for every body knows it; and it is only a ſhame not to
know it. Befides that, you will underſand Latin a great deal
the better for underſtanding Greek very well; a great number
of Latin words, especially the technical words, being derived
from the Greek. Technical words, mean ſuch particular words,
as relate to any art or ſcience; from the Greek word τεχνη,
which signifies Art, and τεχνικός, which signifies Artificial.
Thus, a Dictionary, that explains the terms of art, is called a,
Lexicon Technicum, or a Technical Dictionary.

Adieu..

LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

102

LETTER XXXVIII.

Longford, June the 9th, 1740.

DEAR BOY,

I Write to you now, in the supposition that you continue to defer me your attention, as much as you did when I left London; and that Mr. Maittaire would commend you as much now, as he did the last time he was with me; for otherwife, you know very well, that I should not concern myself about you. Take care, therefore, that, when I come to town, I may not find myself miftaken in the good opinion I entertained of you in my abfence.

I hope you have got the linnets and bullfinches you so much wanted; and I recommend the bullfinches to your imitation. Bullfinches, you muſt know, have no natural note of their own, and never ſing, unleſs taught; but will learn tunes better than any other birds. This they do by attention and memory; and you may obſerve, that, while they are taught, they lifen with great care, and never jump about and kick their heels. Now I really think it would be a great ſhame for you to be outdone by your own bullfinch.

I take it for granted, that, by your late care and attention, you are now perfect in Latin verſes; and that you may at prefent be called, what Horace defired to be called, *Remanæ fidicen Lyræ.* Your Greek too, I dare ſay, keeps pace with your Latin; and you have all your paradigms ad unguem.

You cannot imagine what alterations and improvemeats I ex-
pect to find every day, now that you are more than Oëtennis.

And,

2

TO HIS SON.

103

And, at this age, *non progredi* would be *regredi*, which would be very ſhameful.

Adieu! Do not write to me; for I ſhall be in no ſettled place to receive letters, while I am in the country.

LETTER XXXIX.

London, June the 25th, 1740.

DEAR BOY,

A S I know you love reading, I ſend you this book for your amuſement, and not by way of taſk or ſtudy. It is an Hiflorical, Chronological, and Geographical Diſtionary; in which you may find almoſt every thing you can defire to know, whether ancient or modern. As Hiflorical, it gives you the hiftory of all remarkable perſons and things; as Chronological, it tells you the time when thoſe perſons lived, and when thoſe things were done; and as Geographical, it deſcribes the ſituation of countries and cities. For example; would you know who Ariftides the Juſt was, you will find there, that he was of Athens; that his diſtinguished honeſty and integrity acquired him the name of Juſt; the moſt glorious appellation a man can have. You will likewife find, that he commanded the Athenian army, at the battle of Platea, where Mardonius, the Perſian General, was defeated, and his army, of three hundred thouſand men, utterly deſtroyed; and that, for all theſe virtues, he was baniſhed Athens by the Oftra-ciſm. You will then (it may be) be curious to know what the Oftraſiſm is. If you look for it, you will find that the Athenians, being very jealous of their liberties, which they thought were

104

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

were the moſt in danger from thofe whose virtue and merit made them the moſt popular, (that is, recommended them moſt to the favour of the people) contrived this Oſtracifm; by which, if fix thouſand people gave in the name of any one man, written upon a ſhell, that perſon was immediately banifhed for ten years.

As to Chronology, would you know when Charlemain was made
Emperor of the Weſt; look for the article of Charlemagne; and
you will find, that, being already Maſter of all Germany, France,
and great part of Spain and Italy, he was declared Emperor, in the
year 800.

As to the Geographical part, if you would know the
situation of any town, or country, that you read of; as for inſtance,
Perſepolis; you will find where it was ſituated, by whom founded,
and that it was burned by Alexander the Great, at the inſtiga-
tion of his miſtrefs, Thais, in a drunken riot. In ſhort, you
will find a thouſand entertaining ſtories to divert you, when you
have leifure from your ſtudies, or your play: for one muſt always
be doing ſomething, and never lavifh away ſo valuable a thing
as time; which, if once loft, can never be regained. Adieu.

LETTER

105

TO HIS SON.

LETTER XL.

Philippus Cheſterfield parvulo ſuo Philippo Stanhope, S. P. D.

Pergrata mihi fuit epiftola tua, quam nuper accepi, eleganter
enim ſcripta erat, et polliceris te ſummam operam daturum,
ut veras laudes, meritò adipiſci poffis. Sed, ut planè dicam;
valde ſuſpicor te, in ea ſcribenda, optimum et eruditiflimum ad-
jutorem habuiffe; quo duce et aufpice, nec elegantia, nec doc-
trina, nec quicquid prorfus eſt dignum ſapiente bonoque, unquam
tibi deefie poterit. Illum ergo ut quam diligenter colas, te etiam
atque etiam rogo; et quo magis eum omni officio, amor, et ob-
ſequio perſequeris, eo magis te meſt ſtudioſum, et obſervantem
exiſtimabo.

Duo ſeptimanæ mihi ad has aquas bibendas ſuperſunt, ante-
quam in urbem revertam; tunc cura, ut te in dies dociorem in-
veniam. Animo, attentione, majore diligentià opus eſt. Præmia
laboris, et induſtriae, hinc afferam, ſi modo te dignum præbeas;
ſin aliter, ſegnitici pænas dabis. Vale.

TRANSLATION.

Philip Chesterfield to his dear little Philip Stanhope.

YOUR laſt letter afforded me very great ſatisfaction, both
as it was elegantly penned, and becauſe you promife in it,
to take great pains, to attain, deſervedly, true præſe. But I muſt
tell you ingenuouſly, that I ſuſpect, very much, your having had,
in compoſing it, the aſſistance of a good and able maſter; under
whofe conduct and inſtruction it will be your own fault if you
VOL. I. P do

106 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

do not acquire elegance of style, learning, and, in short, every
thing else, becoming a wife and virtuous person. I earnestly
entreat you, therefore, to imitate, carefully, so good a pattern;
and, the more attention and regard you show for him, the more
I shall think you love and respect me.

I shall continue here a fortnight longer, drinking these waters,
before I return to town; let me then find you sensibly improved
in your learning. You must summon greater refutation and dili-
gence. I shall bring you prefents from hence, which I shall
receive as rewards of your application and industry, provided I
find you deferring of them; if otherwife, expect reproof and
chaufisement for your sloth. Farewell.

LETTER XLI.

Tunbridge, July the 18th 1740.

DEAR BOY,

AFTER Sparta and Athens, Thebes and Corinth were the
most confiderable cities in Greece. Thebes was in Bœotia,
a province of Greece, famous for its thick, foggy air, and for the
dullness and flatuity of its inhabitants; infor much that calling a
man a Bœotian, was the fame as calling him a flupid fellow: and
Horace, speaking of a dull, heavy fellow, says, *Bœotum jurares,
craffo in aere, natum*.

However, Thebes made itself very confiderable, for a time, un-
der the conduct of Epaminondas, who was one of the greatest and
most virtuous characters of all antiquity. Thebes, like all the rest
of Greece, fell under the absolute dominion of the Kings of Ma-
cedon, Alexander's fucceflors. Thebes was founded by Cadmus,

who

5

TO HIS SON.

who first brought letters into Greece. Oedipus was King of
Thebes; whose very remarkable story is worth your reading.

The city of Corinth fometimes made a figure, in defence of the
common liberties of Greece; but was chiefly confiderable, upon
account of its great trade and commerce; which enriched it so
much, and introduced so much luxury, that, when it was burnt
by Mummius, the Roman Conful, the number of golden, filer,
brafs, and copper flatues and vafes, that were then melted, made
that famous metal, called Corinthian brafs, so much esteemed by
the Romans.

There were, befides, many other little Kingdoms and Repub-
lies in Greece, which you will be acquainted with, when you en-
ter more particularly into that part of ancient history. But, to in-
form yourfelf a little, at prefent, concerning Thebes and Corinth,
turn to the following articles in Moreri.

Thebes, Epaminondas,
Cadmus, Pelopidas,
Oedipus, Corinth,
Jocafte, Mummius.
Sphynx,

LETTER XLII.

Tunbridge, July the 29th, 1740.

DEAR BOY,

SINCE you are so ready at the meafure of Greek and Latin
verfes, as Mr. Maittaire writes me word you are; he will
poffibly, before it is very long, try your invention a little, and fet
you to make fome of your own compofition; you ſhould therefore

fore

108 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

fore begin to confider, not only the meaure of the verſes you read,
but likewife the thoughts of the Poet, and the ſimilies, metaphors,
and alluſions, which are the ornaments of poetry, and raife it
above proſe, and diſtinguith it from proſe, as much as the mea-
fure does. This attention to the thoughts and diſion of other
Poets, will fuggeſt both matter, and the manner of expreffing it, to
you, when you come to invent, yourſelf. Thoughts are the fame
in every language, and a good thought in one language is a good
one in every other: thus, if you attend to the thoughts and images
in French or Englifh poetry, they will be of uſe to you, when you
compoſe in Latin or Greek. I have met lately with a very pretty
copy of Englifh verſes, which I here fend you to learn by heart;
but firſt, I will give you the thought in proſe, that you may ob-
ſerve how it is expreſſed, and adornd by poetical diſion.

The Poet tells his miftrefs, Florella, that ſhe is ſo unkind to
him, ſhe will not even ſuffer him to look at her; that, to avoid
her cruelty, he addreffes himſelf to other women, who receive
him kindly; but that, notwithstanding this, his heart always re-
turns to her, though ſhe uſes him ſo ill; and then he concludes
with this beautiful and apt ſimile, in which he compares his fate
to that of exiles (that is, people who are banifhed from their own
country) who, though they are pitied in whatever country they go
to, yet long to return to their own, where they are ſure to be
uſed ill, and punished.

Why will Florella, when I gaze,
My ravish'd eyes reprove,
And hide from them the only face,
They can behold with love?

To

TO HIS SON.

109

To ſhun her ſcorn, and eafe my care,
I ſeek a nymph more kind,
And while I rove from fair to fair,
Still gentler uſage find.

But oh! how faint is every joy,
Where Nature has no part!
New beauties may my eyes employ,
But you engage my heart.

So reſtleſs exiles, doom'd to roam,
Meet pity every where;
Yet languifh for their native home,
Though death attends them there.

You will obſerve that theſe verſes have alternate rhymes; that
is, the third line rhymes to the firſt, and the fourth line to the
ſecond; the firſt and third lines 'having four feet each; and the
ſecond and fourth having but three feet each. A foot, in Englifh
verſe, is two ſyllables.

To uſe your ear a little to Englifh verſe, and to make you at-
tend to the ſenſe too, I have tranſpoſed the words of the follow-
ing lines; which I would have you put in their proper order, and
fend me in your next.

Life confider cheat a when tis all I
Hope with fool'd, deceit men yet with favour
Repay will to-morrow truſt on think and
Falſer former day to-morrow's than the
Worſe lies bleſt be ſhall when and we ſays it
Hope new ſome poſſeſs'd cut off with we what.

Adieu.

LETTER

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LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER XLIII.

Tunbridge, August the 14th, 1740.

DEAR BOY,

I AM very glad to hear from Mr. Maittaire, that you are fo
ready at scanning both Greek and Latin verfes; but I hope
you mind the fenſe of the words, as well as the quantities. The
great advantage of knowing many languages, confiſts in under-
ſtanding the fenſe of thofe nations, and authors, who ſpeak and
write thofe languages; but not in being able to repeat the words
like a parrot, without knowing their true force and meaning.
The Poets require your attention and obſervation more than the
proſe authors; poetry being more out of the common way than
proſe composiſtions are. Poets have greater liberties allowed them
than proſe writers, which is called the Poetical Licence. Horace
fays, that Poets and Painters have an equal privilege of attempting
any thing. Piſforibus atque Poetis, quidlibet audendi, ſemper ſuit
œqua poteſtas. Ficition, that is, invention, is faid to be the foul of
poetry. For example; the Poets give life to feveral inanimate
things; that is, to things that have no life: as for inſtance; they
repreſent the paffions, as Love, Fury, Envy, &c. under human
figures; which figures are allegorical; that is, repreſent the
qualities and effects of thofe paffions. Thus the Poets repreſent
Love as a little boy, called Cupid, becauſe Love is the paffion of
young people chiefly. He is repreſented blind likewife; becauſe
Love makes no diffiinſtction, and takes away the judgment. He
has a bow and arrows, with which he is ſuppoſed to wound
people, becauſe Love gives pain: and he has a pair of wings to
fly with; becauſe Love is changeable, and apt to fly from one
object

TO HIS SON.

111

object to another. Fury likewife is repreſented under the figures
of three women, called the three Furies; Aleſto, Megara, and
Tifiphone. They are deſcribed with lighted torches or flam-
beaux in their hands; becauſe Rage and Fury is for fetting fire
to every thing: they are likewife drawn, with ſerpents hifling
about their heads; becauſe ſerpents are poſionous and deſtruſtive
animals. Envy is deſcribed as a woman, melancholy, pale, livid,
and pining; becauſe envious people are never pleafed, but always
repining at other people's happineſs: ſhe is ſuppoſed to feed upon
ſerpents; becauſe envious people only comfort themſelves with
the misfortunes of others. Ovid gives the following deſcription
of Envy.

Videt intus edentem
Vipereas carnes, vitiorum alimenta fuorum,
Invidiam: vifdque oculos averit. at illa
Surgit humo pigrâ: ſemefarumque relinquit
Corpora ſerpentum; paffuque incedit inerti.
Urque Deam vidit formáque armifque decoram;
Ingemuit: vultumque ima ad ſuſpiria duxit.
Pallor in ore ſedet: macies in corpore toto:
Nuſquam reeſta acies: livent rubigine dentes:
Peſtora felle virent: lingua eſt ſuffusa veneno.
Rifus abeſt; nifi quem vifi movére dolores.
Nec fruitur ſomno, vigilacibus excita curis:
Sed videt ingratos, intabeſcitque videndo,
Succeffus hominum: carpitque et carpitur undâ:
Suppliciumque ſuum eſt.

This is a beautiful poetical deſcription of that wretched, mean
paffion of envy, which I hope you will have too generous a mind
ever to be infec ted with; but that, on the contrary, you will
apply

112

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

apply yourself to virtue and learning, in such a manner as to
become an object of envy yourself. Adieu!

LETTER XLIV.

DEAR BOY,

Monday.

SINCE, by Mr. Maittaire's care, you learn your Latin and
Greek out of the best authors, I wish you would, at the
fame time that you confrue the words, mind the sense and
thoughts of those authors; which will help your invention, when
you come to compoſe yourſelf, and at the fame time form your
taſt e. Taſte, in its proper ſignification, means the taſt e of the
palate in eating or drinking; but it is metaphorically uſed for
the judgment one forms of any art or ſcience. For example; if
I ſay ſuch a man has a good taſt e in poetry, I mean that he
judges well of poetry, and diſtinguifhes rightly what is good and
what is bad; and finds out equally the beauties and the faults of
the composition. Or if I ſay, that ſuch a man has a good taſt e
in painting, I mean the fame thing; which is, that he is a good
judge of pictures; and will diſtinguifh not only good ones from
bad ones, but very good ones from others not quite ſo good, but
yet good ones. Avoir le goût bon, means the fame thing in
French: and nothing forms ſo true a taſt e, as the reading the
ancient authors with attention.—Description is a beautiful part of
poetry, and much uſed by the best Poets; it is likewife called
painting, becauſe it repreſents things in ſo lively and ſtrong a
manner, that we think we fee them as in a picture. Thus
Ovid describes the palace of the Sun, or Apollo.

3

Regia

TO HIS SON.

113

Regia Solis erat ſublimibus alta columnis,
Clara micante auro, flammaſque imitante pyropo.
Cujus ebur nitidum ſuſligia ſumma tenebat :
Argenti bifores radiabant lumine valvo,
Materiem ſuperabat opus: nam Mulciber illic
Æquora cælarat medias cingentia terras,
Terrarumque orbem, cælumque quod imminet orbi.

Afterwards he describes Phæbus himself, fitting upon his throne:

Purpureæ velatus vefle ſedebat
In Solio Phæbus, claris lucente ſmaragdit.
A dæxtrâ lævâque Dies, et Menſis, et Annus,
Sæculaque et poſtæ ſpatiis æqualibus Horæ;
Verque novum ſtabat, cinætum florente coron,
Stabat nuda Æſtas, et ſpicea ſerta gerebat,
Stabat et Autumnus calcatis ſordidus uvis,
Et glacialis Hyems, canos hirſuta capillos.

Obferve the invention in this description. As the fun is the great rule by which we measure time; and as it marks out the years, the months, the days, and the seaſons; so Ovid has represented Phæbus upon his throne, as the principal figure, attended by the years, days, months, and seaſons, which he likewife represents as ſo many perſons. This is properly invention, and invention is the foul of poetry. Poets have their name, upon that account, from the Greek word Ποιεω, which signifies, to make, or invent. Adieu !

Translate theſe Latin verſes, at your leiſure, into English, and ſend your translation, in a letter, to my houſe in town. I mean English proper; for I do not expect verſe from you yet.

VOL. I.

Q

LETTER

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

320

is one of the greatest pleasures and honours a rational being can
have; may you long continue to deferve it! Your averfion to
drinking, and your diftike to gaming, which Mr. Eliot affures
me are both very ftrong, give me the greatest joy imaginable, for
your fake; as the former would ruin both your constitution and
underfanding, and the latter your fortune and character. Mr.
Harte wrote me word fome time ago, and Mr. Eliot confirms it
now, that you employ your pin-money in a very different manner
from that in which pin-money is commonly lavifhed. Not in
gew-gaws and baubles, but in buying good and uſeful books.
This is an excellent ſymptom, and gives me very good hopes. Go
on thus, my dear boy, but for theſe two next years, and I aſk
no more. You muſt then make ſuch a figure, and ſuch a fortune,
in the world, as I with you, and as I have taken all theſe pains to
enable you to do. After that time, I allow you to be as idle as ever
you pleafe; becauſe I am ſure that you will not then pleafe to be ſo
at all. The ignorant and the weak are only idle; but thofe, who have
once acquired a good ſtock of knowledge, always defire to encreafe it.
Knowledge is like power, in this reſpect, that thofe who have the
moſt, are moſt defirous of having more. It does not clog, by poſ-
ſeffion, but increaſes defire; which is the cafe of very few pleafures.

Upon receiving this congratulatory letter, and reading your
own prales, I am ſure that it muſt naturally occur to you, how
great a ſhare of them you owe to Mr. Harte's care and atten-
tion; and, conſequently, that your regard and affection for him
muſt increaſe, if there be room for it, in proportion as you reap,
which you do daily, the fruits of his labours.

I muſt not, however, conceal from you, that there was one
article in which your own witneſs, Mr. Eliot, faultered; for, upon
my quſtioning him home, as to your manner of ſpeaking, he
could not ſay that your utterance was either diſtinet or graceful.

I have

2

TO HIS SON.

321

I have already faſd ſo much to you upon this point, that I can
add nothing. I will therefore only repeat this truth, which is,
that if you will not ſpeak diſtinetly and gracefully, nobody will
defire to hear you.

I am glad to learn that Abbé Mably's *Droit Public de l'Europe*
makes a part of your evening amufements. It is a very uſeful
book, and gives a clear deduction of the affairs of Europe, from
the Treaty of Münſter to this time. Pray read it with attention,
and with the proper maps; always recurring to them for the ſe-
veral countries or towns yielded, taken, or reſtored. Pere Bou-
geant's third volume will give you the beſt idea of the Treaty of
Münſter, and open to you the ſeveral views of the belligerent and
contracting parties: and there never were greater than at that
time. The Houſe of Aufftria, in the war immediately preceding
that Treaty, intended to make itſelf abſolute in the Empire, and to
overthrow the rights of the reſpective States of it. The view of
France was to weaken and diſmember the Houſe of Aufftria, to
ſuch a degree, as that it ſhould no longer be a counterbalance to
that of Bourbon. Sweden wanted poſſeffions upon the continent
of Germany, not only to ſupply the neceſſities of its own poor
and barren country; but likewife to hold the balance in the Em-
pire between the Houſe of Aufftria and the States. The Houſe
of Brandenburg wanted to aggrandife itſelf by pilfering in the
fire; changed ſides occasionally, and made a good bargain at
laſt: for I think it got, at the peace, nine or ten biſhopries
ſeculariſed. So that we may date, from the Treaty of Münſter,
the decline of the Houſe of Aufftria, the great power of the Houſe
of Bourbon, and the aggrandifement of that of Brandenburg:
which, I am much miſtaken, if it ſtops where it is now.

Make my compliments to Lord Pulteney; to whom I would
have you be not only attentive, but uſeful, by fetting him (in

VOL. I.

Tt

cafe

322 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

cafe he wants it) a good example of application and temperance. I begin to believe, that, as I shall be proud of you, others will be proud too of imitating you. Thofe expeſtations, of mine, seem now ſo well grounded, that my diſappointment, and conſequently my anger, will be ſo much the greater, if they fail; but, as things ſtand now, I am moſt affectionately and tenderly, Yours.

LETTER CXXVIII.

London, Auguſt the 30th O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

YOUR ſereflections upon the conduct of France, from the Treaty of Münſter to this time, are very juſt; and I am very glad to find, by them, that you not only read; but that you think and reſelect upon what you read. Many great readers load their memories, without exerciſing their judgments; and make lumber-rooms of their heads, inſtead of furniſing them usefully: ſaſts are heaped upon ſaſts, without order or diſtinction, and may juſtly be ſaid to compoſe that

— Rudis indigeſtaque moles
Quem dixere chaos.

Go on, then, in the way of reading that you are in; take nothing for granted, upon the bare authority of the author; but weigh and confider, in your own mind, the probability of the ſaſts, and the juſtneſs of the ſereflections. Conſult different authors upon the fame ſaſts, and form your opinion upon the greater or leſſer degree of probability arifing from the whole; which, in my mind, is the utmoſt ſtretch of hiflorical faith: certainty (I fear) not being

TO HIS SON.

ing to be found. When an Hiftorian pretends to give you the cauſes and motives of events, compare thofe cauſes and motives with the characters and intereſts of the parties concerned, and judge for yourſelf, whether they correfpond or not. Conſider whether you cannot aſſign others more probable; and in that exſamination, do not deſpife ſome very mean and trifling cauſes of the actions of great men: for ſo various and inconſiſtent is human nature, ſo ſtrong and ſo changeable are our paffions, ſo fluctuating are our wills, and ſo much are our minds influenced by the accidents of our bodies, that every man is more the man of the day, than a regular and conſequential character. The beſt have ſomething bad, and ſomething little; the worſt have ſomething good, and ſometimes ſomething great; for I do not believe what Velleius Patereculus (for the ſake of faying a pretty thing) ſays of Scipio, *Qui nihil non laudandum aut fecit, aut dixit, aut finfit.* As for the ſereflections of Hiftorians, with which they think it neceſſary to interlard their Hiftories, or at leaſt to conclude their chapters (and which, in the French Hiftories, are always introduced with a *tant il eſt vrai*, and in the English, *ſo true it is*) do not adopt them implicitly upon the credit of the author, but analyse them yourſelf, and judge whether they are true or not.

But, to return to the politics of France, from which I have digreſſed; you have certainly made one farther ſ reflection, of an advantage which France has, over and above its abilities in the cabinet, and the ſkill of its negotiators; which is (if I may uſe the expreſſion) its ſoleneſs, continuity of riches and power within itself, and the nature of its government. Near twenty millions of people, and the ordinary revenue of above thirteen millions ſterling a year, are at the abſolute diſpoſal of the Crown. This is what no other Power in Europe can ſay; ſo that different Powers must

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324

must now unite to make a balance against France; which union,
though formed upon the principle of their common intereft, can
never be so intimate as to compofe a machine so compadt and
fimple as that of one great kingdom, directed by one will, and
moved by one intereft. The Allied Powers (as we have constantly
feen) have, befides the common and declared object of their alli-
ance, fome ſeparate and concealed view, to which they often fa-
crifice the general one; which makes them, either directly or
indirectly, pull different ways. Thus, the deſign upon Toulon
failed, in the year 1706, only from the ſecret view of the
Houſe of Auftria upon Naples; which made the Court of
Vienna, notwithstanding the repreſentations of the other Allies to
the contrary, ſend to Naples the 12,000 men that would have done
the bufineſs at Toulon. In this laſt war, too, the fame cauſes had
the fame effects: the Queen of Hungary, in ſecret, thought of
nothing but recovering of ſileſia, and what ſhe had loft in Italy;
and therefore never ſent half that quota, which ſhe promised and
we paid for, into Flanders; but left that country to the Maritime
Powers to defend as they could. The King of Sardinia's real
object was Savona, and all the Riviera di Ponente; for which
reafon he concurred ſo lamely in the invafion of Provence:
where the Queen of Hungary, likewife, did not ſend one third of
the force stipulated, engroſſed as ſhe was, by her oblique views
upon the plunder of Genoa, and the recovery of Naples. Inſo-
much that the expedition into Provence, which would have dif-
trefled France to the greatest degree, and have cauſed a great de-
tachment from their army in Flanders, failed ſhamefully, for want
of every one thing neceſſary for its ſucceſs. Suppofe, therefore,
any four or five Powers, who, all together, ſhall be equal, or even
a little ſuperior, in riches and ſtrength, to that one Power againſt
which they are united; the advantage will ſtill be greatly on the
ſide

TO HIS SON.

325

ſide of that ſingle Power, becauſe it is but one. The power and
riches of Charles V. were, in themſelves, certainly ſuperior to thofe
of Francis I; and yet, upon the whole, he was not an overmatch
for him. Charles V.'s dominions, great as they were, were ſeat-
tered and remote from each other; their conſtitutions different;
and, wherever he did not refide, diſturbances aroſe: whereas the
compactneſs of France made up the difference in the ſtrength.
This obvious reflection convinced me of the abſurdity of the
Treaty of Hanover, in 1725, between France and England, to-
which the Dutch afterwards acceded; for it was made upon the
apprehenſions, either real or pretended, that the marriage of Don
Carlos with the eldeſt Archdutcheſs, now Queen of Hungary,
was ſettled in the Treaty of Vienna, of the fame year, between
Spain and the late Emperor, Charles VI; which marriage, thofe-
conſummate politicians ſaid, would revive in Europe the exorbi-
tant power of Charles V. I am ſure, I heartily with it had;
as, in that caſe, there had been, what there certainly is not now,
one Power in Europe to counterbalance that of France; and
then the Maritime Powers would, in reality, have held the balance
of Europe in their hands. Even ſuppoſing that the Auftrian
power would then have been an overmatch for that of France,
which (by the way) is not clear; the weight of the Maritime
Powers, then thrown into the ſcale of France, would inſalliſh
have made the balance at leaſt even. In which caſe too, the mo-
derate efforts of the Maritime Powers, on the ſide of France, would
have been ſufficient; whereas, now, they are obliged to exhaſt
and beggar themſelves, and that too ineffectually, in hopes to
ſupport the ſhattered, beggared, and inſufficient Houſe of
Auftria.

This has been a long political differtation, but I am informed
that political ſubjects are your favourite ones; which I am glad
of,

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

326

of, considering your defination. You do well to get your materials all ready, before you begin your work. As you buy, and (I am told) read, books of this kind, I will point out two or three for your purchase and perusal; I am not sure that I have not mentioned them before; but that is no matter, if you have not got them. *Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire du 17ᵉ Siècle*, is a most useful book for you to recur to, for all the facts and chronology of that century; it is in four volumes octavo, and very correct and exact. If I do not mistake, I have formerly recommended to you, *Les Mémoires du Cardinal de Retz*; however, if you have not yet read them, pray do, and with the attention which they deserve. You will then find the best account of a very interesting period of the minority of Lewis XIV. The characters are drawn short, but in a strong and masterly manner; and the political reflections, are the only just and practical ones that I ever saw in print: they are well worth your transcribing. *Le Commerce des Anciens, par Monfleur Huot Evêque d'Avranche*, in one little volume octavo, is worth your perusal, as commerce is a very considerable part of political knowledge. I need not, I am sure, suggeest to you, when you read the course of Commerce, either of the ancients or of the moderns, to follow it upon your map; for there is no other way of remembering Geography correctly, but by looking perpetually in the map for the places one reads of, even though one knows before, pretty near, where they are.

Adieu! As all the accounts which I receive of you grow better and better, so I grow more and more affectionately yours.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

327

LETTER CXXIX.

London, September the 5th, O. S., 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I Have received yours, with the enclosed German letter to Mr. Grevenkop, which he affires me is extremely well written, confidering the little time that you have applied yourself to that language. As you have now got over the moft difficult part, pray go on diligently, and make yourfelf abfolutely mafter of the reft. Whoever does not entirely poſſeſs a language, will never appear to advantage, or even equal to himſelf, either in ſpeaking or writing it. His ideas are fettered, and ſeem imperfect or confuſed, if he is not mafter of all the words and phraſes neceſſary to expreſs them. I therefore defire, that you will not fail writing a German letter, once every fortnight, to Mr. Grevenkop; which will make the writing of that language familiar to you: and, moreover, when you ſhall have left Germany, and be arrived at Turin, I ſhall require you to write even to me in German; that you may not forget, with eafe, what you have with difficulty learned. I likewife defire, that, while you are in Germany, you will take all opportunities of converſing in German, which is the only way of knowing that, or any other language, accu- rately. You will alſo defire your German mafter to teach you the proper titles and ſuperscriptions to be uſed to people of all ranks; which is a point fo material, in Germany, that I have known many a letter returned unopened, becauſe one title in twenty has been omitted in the direction.

St. Thomas's day now draws near, when you are to leave Saxony and go to Berlin; and I take it for granted, that, if any thing

is

328 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

is yet wanting, to complete your knowledge of the state of that
Electorate, you will not fail to procure it before you go away.
I do not mean, as you will easily believe, the number of churches,
parishes, or towns; but I mean the constitution, the revenues,
the troops, and the trade of that Electorate. A few queffions,
fenfibly afked, of fenfible people, will procure you the neceffary
informations; which I defire you will enter in your little book.
Berlin will be entirely a new scene to you, and I look upon it,
in a manner, as your firſt step into the great world: take care
that step be not a false one, and that you do not flumble at the
threshold. You will there be in more company than you have
yet been; Manners and Attentions will therefore be more
neceflary. Pleafing in company, is the only way of being pleafed
in it yourfelf. Senſe and Knowledge are the firſt and neceflary
foundations for pleafing in company; but they will by no means
do alone, and they will never be perfectly welcome, if they
are not accompanied with Manners and Attentions. You will
beſt acquire theſe by frequenting the companies of people
of ſaſhion; but then you muſt refolve to acquire them, in
thofe companies, by proper care and obſervation; for I have
known people, who, though they have frequented good com-
pany al their life-time, have done it in ſo inattentive and
unobſerving a manner, as to be never the better for it, and
to remain as difagreeable, as awkward, and as vulgar, as if
they had never been any perſon of ſaſhion. When you go
into good company (by good company is meant the people
of the firſt ſaſhion of the place) obſerve carefully their turn, their
manners, their addrefs; and conform your own to them. But
this is not all neither: go deeper ſtill; obſerve their charaſters,
and pry, as far as you can, into both their hearts and their heads.
Seek for their particular merit, their predominant paſſion, or their
prevailing

TO HIS SON.

prevailing weakneſs; and you will then know what to bait your
hook with, to catch them. Man is a compoſition of ſo many,
and ſuch various ingredients, that it requires both time and care
to analyſe him: for though we have, all, the fame ingredients in
our general compoſition, as Reaſon, Will, Paſſions, and Appetites;
yet the different proportions and combinations of them, in each
individual, produce that infinite variety of characters, which, in
fome particular or other, diſtinguifhes every individual from
another. Reaſon ought to direct the whole, but ſeldom does. And
he who addrefſes himſelf ſingly to another man's reaſon, without
endeavouring to engage his heart in his intereſt alſo, is no more
likely to fucceed, than a man who ſhould apply only to a King's
nominal Minifter, and negleſt his Favourite. I will recommend
to your attentive perſal, now that you are going into the world,
two books, which will let you as much into the characters of men,
as books can do. I mean, *Les Réſouxions Morales de Monsieur
de la Rochefoucault, et Les Caraſères de La Bruyère*; but re-
member, at the fame time, that I only recommend them to you
as the beſt general maps, to affiſt you in your journey, and not as
marking out every particular turning and winding that you will
meet with. There, your own ſagacity and obſervation muſt
come to their aid. La Rochefoucault is, I know, blamed, but
I think without reaſon, for deriving all our actions from the
source of ſelf-love. For my own part, I fee a great deal of truth,
and no harm at all, in that opinion. It is certain, that we fee
our own happineſs in every thing we do; and it is as certain,
that we can only find it in doing well, and in conforming all our
actions to the rule of right reaſon, which is the great law of Nature.
It is only a miſaken ſelf-love that is a blameable motive, when we
take the immediate and indiſcriminate gratification of a paſſion, or
appetite, for real happineſs. But am I blameable, if I do a good
action,

329

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

330

action, upon account of the happineſs which that honeſt con-
feciousneſs will give me? Surely not. On the contrary, that
pleasing confeciousneſs is a proof of my virtue. The reflection,
which is the moſt cenſured in Monfieur de la Rochefoucault's
book, as a very ill-natured one, is this; On trouve dans le mal-
heur de ſon meilleur ami, quelque chose qui ne déplait pas. And
why not ? Why may I not feel a very tender and real concern
for the misfortune of my friend, and yet at the fame time feel a
pleasing confeciousneſs at having diſcharged my duty to him, by
comforting and aſſifting him to the utmoſt of my power in that
misfortune ? Give me but virtuous actions, and I will not quibble
and chicane about the motives. And I will give any body their
choice of theſe two truths, which amount to the fame thing: He,
who loves himſelf beſt, is the honeſteſt man; or, The honeſteſt
man loves himſelf beſt.

The characters of La Bruyere are pictures from the life; moſt
of them finely drawn, and highly coloured. Furnish your mind
with them firſt; and when you meet with their likeneſs, as you
will every day, they will ſtrike you the more. You will compare
every feature with the original; and both will reciprocally help
you to discover the beauties and the blemiſhes.

As women are a confiderable, or at least a pretty numerous part
of company; and as their ſuffrages go a great way towards eſta-
blifhing a man's character, in the fashionable part of the world
(which is of great importance to the fortune and figure he
propoſes to make in it) it is neceſſary to pleafe them. I will
therefore, upon this ſubject, let you into certain Arcanas, that
will be very uſeful for you to know, but which you muſt, with
the utmoſt care, conceal; and never ſeem to know. Women,
then, are only children of a larger growth; they have an enter-
taining tattle, and ſometimes wit; but for ſolid, reaſoning, good

ſenſe,

2

TO HIS SON.

331

ſenſe, I never in my life knew one that had it, or who reaſoned
or acted conſequentially for four-and-twenty hours together. Some
little paſſion or humour always breaks in upon their beſt reſolu-
tions. Their beauty neglected, or controverted, their age in-
creased, or their ſuppoſed underſtandings depreciated, inſantly
kindles their little paſſions, and overturns any ſyſtem of conſe-
quential conduct, that, in their moſt reaſonable moments, they
might have been capable of forming. A man of ſenſe only trifles
with them, plays with them, humours and flatters them, as he
does with a ſpightly, forward child; but he neither confuſes
them about, nor truſts them with, ſerious matters; though he
often makes them believe that he does both; which is the thing
in the world that they are proud of; for they love mightily to
be dabbling in buſineſs (which, by the way, they always ſpoil ;)
and being juſtly diſtruſtful, that men in general look upon them
in a trifling light, they almoſt adore that man, who talks more
feriouſly to them, and who ſeems to confult and truſt them : I
ſay, who ſeems; for weak men really do, but wife ones only
ſeem to do it. No flattery is either too high or too low for them.
They will greedily ſwallow the higheſt, and gratefully accept of
the loweſt; and you may SAFELY flatter any woman, from her un-
derſtanding, down to the exquifite taſte of her fan. Women,
who are either indifputablely beautiful, or indifputablely ugly, are beſt
flattered upon the ſcore of their underſtandings: but thofe who
are in a ſtate of mediocrity, are beſt flattered upon their beauty,
or at least their graces; for every woman, who is not abſolutely
ugly, thinks herſelf handſome; but not hearing often that ſhe is
ſo, is the more grateful, and the more obliged to the few who
tell her ſo: whereas a decided and confecious beauty looks upon
every tribute, paid to her beauty, only as her due; but wants to
ſhine, and to be confidered on the ſide of her underſtanding:

Uu2

and

332 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

and a woman, who is ugly enough to know that she is so, knows
that she has nothing left for it but her underfanding, which is,
consequently, (and probably in more senes than one) her weak
fide. But these are secrets, which you must keep inviolably, if
you would not, like Orpheus, be torn to pieces by the whole
sex: on the contrary, a man, who thinks of living in the great
world, must be gallant, polite, and attentive to please the wo-
men. They have, from the weaknes of men, more or less in-
fluence in all Courts: they absolutely stamp every man's charac-
ter in the beau monde, and make it either current, or cry it down,
and stop it in payments. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to
manage, please, and flatter them; and never to discover the leaft
marks of contempt, which is what they never forgive: but in this
they are not singular, for it is the fame with men; who will
much sooner forgive an injustice than an insult. Every man is
not ambitious, or covetous, or paffionate; but every man has
pride enough in his composition to feel and resent the leaft flight
and contempt. Remember, therefore, moft carefully to con-
ceal your contempt, however juft, wherever you would not
make an implacable enemy. Men are much more unwilling to
have their weaknes and their imperfections known, than their
erimes; and, if you hint to a man, that you think him filly,
ignorant, or even ill-bred, or awkward, he will hate you more,
and longer, than if you tell him, plainly, that you think
him a rogue. Never yield to that temptation, which, to moft
young men, is very strong, of exposing other people's weak-
nesses and infirmities, for the fake either of diverting the
company, or of showing your own superiority. You may get
the laugh on your side by it, for the prefent; but you will make
enemies by it for ever; and even though you laugh with you then,
will, upon reflection, fear, and consequently hate you: besides
that,

TO HIS SON.

333

that, it is ill-natured; and that a good heart defires rather to
conceal, than expofe, other people's weaknes or misfortunes. If
you have wit, ufe it to please, and not to hurt: you may fline,
like the fun in the temperate Zones, without scorching. Here it
is wifhed for; under the Line it is dreaded.

There are fome of the hints, which my long experience in the
great world enables me to give you; and which, if you attend
to them, may prove ufeful to you in your journey through it. I
with it may be a profumerous one; at leaft, I am fure that it muft
be your own fault if it is not.

Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, who, I am very forry
to hear, is not well. I hope by this time he is recovered.
Adieu.

LETTER CXXX.

London, September the 13th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I
Have more than once recommended to you the Memoirs
of the Cardinal de Retz, and to attend particularly to the
political reflections interſpered in that excellent work. I will
now preach a little upon two or three of those texts.

In the difturbances at Paris, Monfieur de Beaufort, who was a
very popular, though a very weak man, was the Cardinal's tool
with the populace. Proud of his popularity, he was always for
affembling the people of Paris together, thinking that he made a
great figure at the head of them. The Cardinal, who was faſtious
enough, was wife enough, at the fame time, to avoid gathering
the people together, except when there was occasion, and when he
had something particular for them to do. However, he could

not

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

334

not always check Monsieur de Beaufort; who having assembled them once very unneceffarily, and without any determined object they ran riot, would not be kept within bounds by their leaders, and did their caufe a great deal of harm; upon which the Cardinal obferves, moſt judiciously, *Que Monsieur de Beaufort ne savoit pas, que qui affemble le peuple, l'émeut.* It is certain, that great numbers of people, met together, animate each other, and will do ſomething, either good or bad, but oftener bad: and the respective individuals, who were ſeparately very quiet, when met together in numbers, grow tumultuous as a body, and ripe for any miſchief that may be pointed out to them by the leaders; and, if their leaders have no buſineſs for them, they will find ſome for themſelves. The Demagogues, or leaders of popular ſactions, ſhould therefore be very careful not to affemble the people unneceſſarily, and without a ſettled and well-confidered object. Beſides that, by making those popular affemblies too frequent, they make them likewise too familiar, and, conſequently, leſs reſpected by their enemies. Obſerve any meetings of people, and you will always find their eagerneſs and impetuosity rife or fall in proportion to their numbers: when the numbers are very great, all ſenſe and reaſon ſeems to ſubſide, and one ſudden frenzy to ſeize on all, even the cooleſt of them.

Another very juſt obſervation of the Cardinal's, is, that the things which happen in our own times, and which we fee ourſelves, do not ſurprize us near ſo much as the things which we read of in times paſt, though not in the leaſt more extraordinary; and adds, that he is perſuaded, that, when Caligula made his horſe a Conſul, the people of Rome, at that time, were not greatly ſurprifed at it, having neceſſarily been in ſome degree prepared for it, by an ſenſible gradation of extravagancies from the ſame quarter. This is ſo true, that we read every day, with aftonifhment,

TO HIS SON.

335

ment, things which we fee every day without ſurprife. We wonder at the intrepidity of a Leonidas, a Codrus, and a Curtius; and are not the leaſt ſurprifed to hear of a Sea-Captain, who has blown up his ſhip, his crew, and himſelf, that they might not fall into the hands of the enemies of his country. I cannot help reading of Porſenna and Regulus, with ſurprife and reverence; and yet I remember that I ſaw, without either, the execution of Shepherd, a boy of eighteen years old, who intended to ſhoot the late King, and who would have been pardoned, if he would have expreſſed the leaſt ſorrow for his intended crime; but, on the contrary, he declared, That, if he was pardoned, he would attempt it again; that he thought it a duty which he owed his country; and that he died with pleaſure for having endeavoured to perform it. Reaſon equals Shepherd to Regulus; but prejudice, and the recency of the fact, make Shepherd a common malefactor, and Regulus a hero.

Examine carefully, and re-confider all your notions of things; analyſe them, and diſcover their component parts, and fee if habit and prejudice are not the principal ones; weigh the matter, upon which you are to form your opinion, in the equal and impartial ſcales of reaſon. It is not to be conceived how many people, capable of reaſoning, if they would, live and die in a thouſand errors, from lazineſs; they will rather adopt the prejudices of others, than give themſelves the trouble of forming opinions of their own. They ſay things, at firſt, because other people have faſid them, and then they perſift in them, because they have faſid them themſelve.

The leaſt obſervation that I ſhall now mention, of the Cardinal's, is, "that a ſecret is more eſtably kept by a good many people, than "one commonly imagines." By this he means a ſecret of importance, among people intereſted in the keeping of it. And it is certain, that,

336 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

that people of buſineſs know the importance of ſecrecy, and will
obſerve it, where they are concerned in the event. And the Car-
dinal does not ſuppoſe that any body is filly enough to tell a ſecre,
merely from the deſire of telling it, to any one that is not ſome
way or other intereſted in the keeping it, and concerned in the
event. To go and tell any friend, wife, or miſtreſs, any ſecre
with which they have nothing to do, is diſcovering to them ſuch
an unretentive weakneſs, as muſt convince them that you will tell
it to twenty others, and conſequently that they may reveal it
without the risque of being diſcovered. But a ſecre properly
communicated, only to thofe who are to be concerned in the thing
in queſtion, will probably be kept by them, though they ſhould
be a good many. Little ſecrets are commonly told again, but
great ones generally kept. Adieu.

LETTER CXXXI.

London, September the 20th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I
Wait with impatience for your accurate Hiftory of the Cheva-
liers Porte Epées, which you promised me in your laſt, and
which I take to be the forerunner of a larger work, that you in-
tend to give the public, containing a general account of all the
Religious and Military Orders of Europe. Seriouſly; you will do
well to have a general notion of all thofe Orders, ancient and
modern; both as they are frequently the ſubjects of converſation,
and as they are more or leſs interwoven with the hiftories of thofe
times. Witneſs the Teutonic Order, which, as ſoon as it gained
strength, began its unjuſt depredations in Germany, and acquired
ſuch

2

TO HIS SON.

337

ſuch confiderable poſſeffions there; and the Order of Maltha
also, which continues to this day its piracies upon the Inſidels.
Befides, one can go into no company in Germany, without run-
ning againſt Monsieur le Chevalier, or Monſieur le Commandeur
de l'Ordre Teutonique. It is the fame in all the other parts of
Europe, with regard to the Order of Maltha; where you never
go into company without meeting two or three Chevaliers, or
Commandeurs, who talk of their Preuves, their Langues, their
Caravanes, &c. all which things I am ſure you would not wil-
lingly be ignorant of. On the other hand, I do not mean that
you ſhould have a profound and minute knowledge of theſe mat-
ters, which are of a nature that a general knowledge of them is
fully ſufficient. I would not recommend to you to read Abbé
Vertot's Hiftory of the Order of Maltha, in four quarto volumes;
that would be employing a great deal of good time very ill. But
I would have you know the foundations, the objects, the Inſignia,
and the ſhort general hiftory of them all.

As for the ancient religious military Orders, which were chiefly
founded in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; ſuch as Maltha, the
Teutonic, the Knights Templers, &c. the injuſtice and the wicked-
neſs of thofe eſtablishments cannot, I am ſure, have eſcaped
your obſervation. Their pious object was, to take away, by force,
other people's property; and to maſſacre the proprietors them-
ſelves, if they refused to give up that property, and adopt the
opinions of theſe invaders. What right or pretence had theſe
confederated Chriſtians of Europe to the Holy Land? Let them
produce their grant of it in the Bible? Will they ſay, that the
Saracens had poſſeſed themſelves of it by force; and that, conſe-
quently, they had the fame right. Is it lawful then to ſcal
 goods, becauſe they were ſlopen before? Surely not. The truth
 it, that the wickedneſs of many, and the weakneſs of more, in
 thofe ages of ignorance and ſuperſtition, concurred to form thofe

VOL. I.

X X

ſlagitious

338 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

flagitious conspiracies against the lives and properties of unoffending people. The Pope facilitated the villany, and annexed the pardon of fins to the perpetration of it. This gave rife to the Croifadoes, and carried such swarms of people from Europe to the conquests of the Holy Land. Peter the Hermit, an active and ambitious Priest, by his indefatigable pains, was the immediate author of the first Croifade; Kings, Princes, all Profezion and Characters united, from different motives, in this great undertaking, as every sentiment, except true religion and morality, invited to it. The ambitious hoped for kingdoms; the greedy and the nefarious for plunder; and fome were enthufiafts enough to hope for salvation, by the deftruction of a confiderable number of their fellow-creatures, who had done them no injury. I cannot omit, upon this occafion, telling you, that the Eaflern Emperors at Conftantinople, (who, as Chriftians, were obliged, at leaft, to feem to favour thefe expeditions) feeing the immenfe numbers of the Croifez, and fearing that the Weftern Empire might have fome mind to the Eaflern Empire too, if it fucceeded againſt the Inſidels, as L'appétit vient en mangeant; theſe Eaflern Emperors, very honeſtly, poſioned the waters where the Croifez were to pafs, and ſo deftroyed infinite numbers of them.

The later Orders of Knighthood; ſuch as the Garter in England; the Elephant in Denmark; the Golden Fleece in Burgundy; the St. Esprit, St. Michel, St. Louis, and St. Lazare, in France, &c. are of a very different nature and inſtitution. They were either the invi- tations to, or the rewards of, brave actions, in fair war, and are now rather the decorations of the favour of the Prince, than the proofs of the merit of the ſubject. However, they are worth your inqüities to a certain degree; and converſation will give you frequent opportunities for them. Wherever you are, I would advife you to inqüire into the reſpective Orders of that country, and to write down a ſhort account of them. For example; while

TO HIS SON.

339

while you are in Saxony, get an account of l'Aigle Blane, and of what other Orders there may be, either Polifh or Saxon; and, when you ſhall be at Berlin, inform yourſelf of the three Orders there, l'Aigle Noir, la Généroſité, et le Vrai Mérite, which are the only ones, that I know of, there. But whenever you meet with ſtraggling ribbands and flars, as you will with a thouſand in Germany, do not fail to inquire what they are, and to take a minute of them in your memorandum-book: for it is a fort of knowledge that coſs little to acquire, and yet is of ſome uſe. Young people have frequently an incurieuſneſs about them, arifing either from lazineſs, or a contempt of the object, which deprives them of ſeveral ſuch little parts of know- ledge, that they afterwards withſi they had acquired. If you will put converſation to profit, great knowledge may be gained by it; and is it not better (ſince it is full as eafy) to turn it upon uſeful, than upon uſeleſs ſubjects? People always talk beſt upon what they know moſt, and it is both pleafing them, and improving one's ſelf, to put them upon that ſubject. With people of a particular proſeffion, or of a diſtinguifhed eminency in any branch of learn- ing, one is not at a loſs: but with thofe, whether men or women, who properly confitute what is called the beau monde, one muſt not chufe deep ſubjects, nor hope to get any knowledge above that of Orders, Ranks, Families, and Court anecdotes; which are therefore the proper (and not altogether uſeleſs) ſubjects of that kind of converſation. Women, eſpecially, are to be talked to, as below men, and above children. If you talk to them too deep, you only confound them, and loſe your own labour; if you talk to them too frivolouſly, they perceive and refent the contempt. The proper tone for them is, what the French call the Entregent, and is, in truth, the polite jargon of good com- pany. Thus, if you are a good Chemift, you may extraſt ſome- thing out of every thing.

Xx2

A propos

340 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

A propos of the beau monde; I must again and again recommend the Graces to you. There is no doing without them in that world; and, to make a good figure in that world, is a great step towards making one in the world of bufinefs, particularly that part of it for which you are deftined. An ungraceful manner of speaking, awkward motions, and a difagreeable address, are great clogs to the ablest man of bufinefs; as the opposite qualifications are of infinite advantage to him. I am therefore very glad that you learn to dance, since I am told there is a very good dancing-master at Leipzig. I would have you dance a minuet very well, not so much for the fake of the minuet itself (though that, if danced at all, ought to be danced well) as that it will give you an habitual genteel carriage, and manner of presenting yourself.

Since I am upon little things, I must mention another, which though little enough in itself, yet, as it occurs at least once in every day, deferves some attention; I mean Carving. Do you use yourself to carve adroitly and genteely, without hacking half an hour acrofs a bone, without befattering the company with the fauce, and without overturning the glafles into your neighbours pockets? These awkwardneffes are extremely difagreeable; and, if often repeated, bring ridicule. They are very easily avoided, by a little attention and use.

How trifling foever these things may seem, or really be, in themfelves, they are no longer so, when above half the world thinks them otherwife. And, as I would have you omnibus ornatum—excellere rebus, I think nothing above or below my pointing out to you, or your excelling in. You have the means of doing it, and time before you to make use of them. Take my word for it, I ask nothing now, but what you will, twenty years hence, moft heartily wifh that you had done. Attention to all these things, for the next two or three years, will fave you infinite

TO HIS SON.

infinite trouble and endlefs regrets hereafter. May you, in the whole course of your life, have no reafon for any one juſt regret! Adieu.

Your Drefden china is arrived, and I have ſent it to your Mamma.

## LETTER CXXXII.

London, September the 27th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I Have received your Latin Leefure upon War, which, though it is not exacfly the fame Latin that Cefar, Cicero, Horace, Virgil, and Ovid ſpoke, is, however, as good Latin as the erudite Germans ſpeak or write. I have always obſerved, that the moſt learned people, that is thofe who have read the moſt Latin, write the worſt; and that diſtinguifhes the Latin of a Gentleman ſcholar, from that of a Pedant. A Gentleman has, probably, read no other Latin than that of the Auguſtan age; and therefore can write no other: whereas the Pedant has read much more bad Latin than good; and conſequently writes so too. He looks upon the beſt classical books, as books for ſchool-boys, and conſequently below him; but pores over fragments of obſure authors, treaſures up the obſolute words which he meets with there, and uſes them, upon all occafions, to ſhow his reading, at the expence of his judgment. Plautus is his favourite author, not for the fake of the wit and the vis comica of his comedies; but upon account of the many obſolute words, and the cant of low charaſters, which are to be met with no where else. He will rather uſe illi than illi, optumè than optime, and any bad word, rather than any good one, provided he can but prove, that, ftridly ſpeaking, it is Latin; that is, that it was written by a Roman. By this rule, I might now write to you in the language of

Chaucer

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

342

Chaucer or Spenser, and aflèrt that I wrote English, becaufe it was English in their days; but I should be a moft affected puppy if I did so, and you would not underftand three words of my letter. All theſe, and ſuch-like affected peculiarities, are the chaacteriſtics of learned coxcombs and pedants, and are carefully avoided by all men of ſenſe.

I dipped, accidentally, the other day, into Pitifcus's preſace to his Lexicon; where I found a word that puzzled me, and that I did not remember ever to have met with before. It is the ad-verb preſſifciné; which means, in a good hour; an expréſſion, which, by the ſuperſtition of it, appears to be low and vulgar. I looked for it; and at laſt I found, that it is once or twice made uſe of in Plautus; upon the ſtrength of which, this learned pedant thruſts it into his preſace. Whenever you write Latin, remember that every word or phraſe which you make uſe of, but cannot find in Cefar, Cicero, Livy, Horace, Virgil, and Ovid, is bad, illiberal Latin, though it may have been written by a Roman.

I muſt now ſay fomething as to the matter of the Læſture; in which, I confefs, there is one doctrine laid down that ſurprifes me: it is this; Quum vero boſſis ſit lenta citave morte omnia dira nobis minitans quocunque bellantibus negotium eſt, parum ſane interfuerit quo modo eum obruere et interficere fatagamus ſi ferociam exuere cunetetur. Ergo veneno quoque uti fas eſt, &c. whereas I cannot conceive that the uſe of poſſion can, upon any account, come within the lawful means of ſelf-defence. Force may, without doubt, be juſtly repelled by force, but not by treachery and fraud; for I do not call the ſtratagems of war, ſuch as ambuſcades, masked batteries, ſalſe attacks, &c. frauds or treachery; they are mutually to be expected and guarded againſt; but poſſoned arrows, poſſoned waters, or poſſon adminiſtered to your enemy (which can only be done by treachery) I have always heard, read,

7

TO HIS SON.

343

read, and thought, to be unlawful and infamous means of de-fence, be your danger ever so great: but, ſi ferociam exuere cunetetur; muſt I rather die than poſſon this enemy? Yes, certainly: much rather die than do a bafe or criminal action: nor can I be ſure, before hand, that this enemy may not, in the laſt moment, ferociam exuere. But the Public Lawyers, now, ſeem to me, rather to warp the law, in order to authorife, than to check, thofe unlawful proceedings of Princes and States; which, by being become common, appear leſs criminal: though euſtom can never alter the nature of good and ill.

Pray let no quibbles of Lawyers, no refinements of Caſuifts, break into the plain notions of right and wrong; which every man's right reaſon, and plain common-ſenſe, fuggeſts to him. To do as you would be done by, is the plain, ſure, and undif-puted rule of morality and juſtice. Stick to that; and be con-vinced, that whatever breaks into it, in any degree, however ſpeciouſly it may be turned, and however puzzling it may be to anſwer it, is, notwithstanding, ſalſe in itſelf, unjuſt, and cri-minal. I do not know a crime in the world, which is not, by the Caſuifts among the Jefuits (eſpecially the twenty-four collected, I think, by Eſcobar) allowed, in ſome, or many cafes, not to be criminal. The principles firſt laid down by them are often ſpe-cious, the reaſonings plaſible; but the concluſion always a lie: for it is contrary to that evident, and undeniable rule of juſtice, which I have mentioned above, of not doing to any one what you would not have him do to you. But, however, theſe refined pieces of caſuiftry and ſophiſtry, being very convenient and wel-come to people's paſſions and appetites, they gladly accept the in-dulgence, without defiring to detect the fallacy of the reaſoning: and indeed many, I might ſay moſt, people, are not able to do it; which makes the publication of ſuch quibblings and refine-ments the more pernicious. I am no ſkilful Caſuift, nor ſubtle Difputant;

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

344

Difsputant; and yet I would undertake to justify, and qualify, the
profeſſion of a highwayman, ſtep by ſtep, and ſo plaufibly, as
to make many ignorant people embrace the proſſion, as an inno-
cent, if not even a laudable one; and to puzzle people, of ſome
degree of knowledge, to anſwer me point by point. I have ſeen
a book, entitled *Quidlibet ex Quolibet*, or the Art of making
any thing out of any thing; which is not ſo difficult, as it would
ſeem, if once one quits certain plain truths, obvious in gros to
every understanding, in order to run after the ingenious refine-
ments of warm imaginations and ſpeculative reaſonings. Doctor
Berkeley, Biſhop of Cloyne, a very worthy, ingenious, and learned
man, has wrote a book to prove, that there is no ſuch thing as
Matter, and that nothing exiſts but in idea: that you and I only
fancy ourſelves eating, drinking, and ſleeping; you at Leipzig,
and I at London: that we think we have ſlesh and blood,
legs, arms, &c. but that we are only ſpirit. His arguments are,
ſtrictly ſpeaking, unanſwerable; but yet I am ſo far from being
convinced by them, that I am determined to go on to eat and
drink, and walk and ride, in order to keep that matter, which I
ſo miſtakenly imagine my body at prefent to confiſt of, in as good
plight as poffible. Common ſenſe, (which, in truth, is very un-
common) is the beſt ſenſe I know of: abide by it; it will coun-
fel you beſt. Read and hear, for your amuſement, ingenious
ſystems, nice queſtions, ſubtily agitated, with all the refinements
that warm imaginations fuggeſt; but confider them only as exer-
citations for the mind, and return always to fettle with common-
ſenſe.

I flumbled, the other day, at a bookfeller's, upon Comte de
Gabalis, in two very little volumes, which I had formerly read.
I read it over again, and with freeſh aftonifhment. Moſt of the
extravagancies are taken from the Jewish Rabbins, who broached
thoſe wild notions, and delivered them in the unintelligible jargon
which

TO HIS SON.

345

which the Caballifts and Roſcrucians deal in to this day. Their
number is, I believe, much leſſen, but there are ſill ſome; and
I myſelf have known two, who ſtudied and firmly believed in that
myſtical nonſenſe. What extravagancy is not man capable of
entertaining, when once his ſhackled reaſon is led in triumph by
fancy and prejudice! The ancient Alchymiſts gave very much
into this ſtuff, by which they thought they ſhould diſcover the
Philofopher's Stone: and ſome of the moſt celebrated Empirics
employed it in the purſuit of the Universal Medicine. Paracelsus,
a bold Empiric, and wild Caballift, aſſerted, that he had diſ-
covered it, and called it his *Alkabefl*. Why, or wherefore, God
knows; only that thoſe madmen call nothing by an intelligible
name. You may eafily get this book from the Hague; read it,
for it will both divert and aftonifh you; and at the fame time,
teach you *nil admirari*. A very neceſſary leſſon.

Your letters, except when upon a given ſubject, are exceedingly
laconic, and neither anſwer my deſires, nor the purpofe of letters;
which ſhould be familiar converſations, between aſcent friends.
As I deſire to live with you upon the footing of an intimate friend,
and not of a parent, I could wifh that your letters gave me more
particular accounts of yourſelf, and of your leſſer tranſactions.
When you write to me, ſuppofe yourſelf converſing freely with
me, by the fire-fide. In that cafe, you would naturally mention
the incidents of the day; as, where you had been, who you had
ſeen, what you thought of them, &c. Do this in your letters;
acquaint me sometimes with your ſtudies, sometimes with your
diverſions; tell me of any new perſons and characters that you
meet with in company, and add your own obſervations upon them:
in ſhort, let me fee more of you, in your letters. How do you
go on with Lord Pulteney; and how does he go on at Leipzig?
Has he learning, has he parts, has he application? Is he good or
ill-natured? In ſhort, What is he; at least, what do you think

Vol. I.

Yy

him?

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

346

him? You may tell me without reserve, for I promife you
fecrecy. You are now of an age, that I am defirous to begin a
confidential correfpondence with you; and, as I ſhall, on my
part, write you, very freely, my opinion upon men and things,
which I ſhould often be very unwilling that any body but you
and Mr. Harte ſhould fee; ſo, on your part, if you write me
without reserve, you may depend upon my inviolable fecrecy. If
you have ever looked into the Letters of Madame de Sevigné, to
her daughter, Madame de Grignan; you muſt have obſerved the
eaſe, freedom, and friendſhip, of that correfpondence; and yet,
I hope, and believe, that they did not love one another better
than we do. Tell me what books you are now reading, either
by way of ſtudy or amuſement: how you paſs your evenings
when at home, and where you paſs them when abroad. I know
that you go ſometimes to Madame Valentin's ſ Assembly; What
do you do there; do you play, or ſup, or is it only *la belle con-
verſation* ? Do you mind your dancing, while your dancing-
maſter is with you ? As you will be often under the neceſſity of
dancing a minuet, I would have you dance it very well. Re-
member, that the graceful motion of the arms, the giving your
hand, and the putting-on and pulling-off your hat genteely, are
the material parts of a gentleman's dancing. But the greateſt
advantage, of dancing well, is, that it neceſſarily teaches you to
prefent yourſelf, to fit, ſtand, and walk genteely; all of which
are of real importance to a man of fashion.

I ſhould with that you were poſhed, before you go to Berlin;
where, as you will be in a great deal of good company, I would
have you have the right manners for it. It is a very confiderable
article to have *le ton de la bonne compagnie*, in your defination
particularly. The principal buſineſs of a foreign Minifter is, to
get into the ſecrets, and to know all *les allures* of the Courts at
which he ſeſides: this he can never bring about, but by ſuch a
pleasing

TO HIS SON.

347

pleasing addrefs, ſuch engaging manners, and ſuch an inſinuating
behaviour, as may make him ſought for, and in ſome meaſure
domeſtic, in the beſt company and the beſt families of the place.
He will then, indeed, be well inſormed of all that paffes, either
by the confidences made him, or by the careleſſes of people in
his company; who are accuſtomed to look upon him as one
of them, and conſequently not upon their guard before him.
For a Minifter, who only goes to the Court he ſeſides at in form,
to aſk an audience of the Prince or the Minifter, upon his laſt
inſtructions, puts them upon their guard, and will never know
any thing more than what they have a mind that he ſhould know.
Here women may be put to ſome uſe. A King's miſtrefs, or a
Minifter's wife or miſtrefs, may give great and uſeful infor-
mations; and are very apt to do it, being proud to ſhow that
they have been truſted. But then, in this cafe, the height of
that ſort of addrefs, which ſtrikes women, is requisite; I mean
that eafy politenefs, genteel and graceful addrefs, and that exté-
rieur brilliant, which they cannot withſtand. There is a ſort of
men ſo like women, that they are to be taken juſt in the fame
way; I mean thofe who are commonly called fine men; who
fwarm at all Courts; who have little reflection and leſs knowledge;
but who, by their good-breeding, and *train-tran* of the world, are
admitted into all companies; and, by the imprudence or careleſ-
neſs of their ſuperiors, pick up ſecrets worth knowing, and eafily
got out of them by proper addrefs. Adieu.

LETTER CXXXIII.

DEAR BOY,

Bath, October the 12th O. S. 1748.

I
Came here three days ago, upon account of a diſorder in my
ſtomach, which affected my head, and gave me vertigos. I
already

Y y 2

Y y 2

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

348

already find myself something better; and consequently do not
doubt, but that the course of these waters will let me quite right.
But how-ever, and where-ever I am, your welfare, your cha-
acter, your knowledge, and your morals, employ my thoughts
more than any thing that can happen to me, or that I can fear
or hope for myself. I am going off of the stage, you are coming
upon it: with me, what has been, has been, and reflection now
would come too late; with you, every thing is to come, even, in
fome manner, reflection itself: so that this is the very time when
my reflections, the result of experience, may be of use to you, by
supplying the want of yours. As soon as you leave Leipzig, you
will gradually be going into the great world; where the first im-
preffions that you shall give of yourfelf will be of great impor-
tance to you; but thofe which you shall receive will be decisive,
for they always flick. To keep good company, especially at your
first fetting out, is the way to receive good impreffions. If you
ask me what I mean by good company, I will confefs to you, that
it is pretty difficult to define; but I will endeavour to make you
underland it as well as I can.

Good Company, is not what respective fets of company are
pleafed either to call or think themfelves; but it is that company
which all the people of the place call, and acknowledge to be,
good company, notwithstanding fome objections which they may
form to fome of the individuals who compofe it. It confits chiefly
(but by no means without exception) of people of confiderable
birth, rank, and character: for people of neither birth nor rank,
are frequently, and very juſtly, admitted into it, if diſtinguifhed
by any peculiar merit, or eminency in any liberal art or ſcience.
Nay, fo motley a thing is good company, that many people,
without birth, rank, or merit, intrude into it by their own
forwardneſs, and others flide into it by the protecſion of fome
confiderable perſon; and fome even of indifferent characters and
morals.

TO HIS SON.

349

morals make part of it. But, in the main, the good part pre-
ponderates, and people of infamous and blasted characters are
never admitted. In this fashionable good company, the beſt
manners, and the beſt language, of the place are moſt unqueſtion-
ably to be learnt; for they eſtabliſh, and give the tone to both,
which are therefore called the language and manners of good
company : there being no legal tribunal to aſſertain either.

A company confifting wholly of people of the first quality,
cannot, for that reaſon, be called good company, in the common
acceptation of the phraſe, unleſs they are, into the bargain, the fa-
ſhionable and accredited company of the place; for people of the
very first quality can be as filly, as ill-bred, and as worthleſs, as
people of the meaneſt degree. On the other hand, a company confift-
ing intirely of people of very low condition, whatever their merit or
parts may be, can never be called good company; and conſequently
ſhould not be much frequented; though by no means deſpited.

A company wholly compofed of men of learning, though
greatly to be valued and reſpected, is not meant by the words,
good company: they cannot have the easy manners and tournure
of the world, as they do not live in it. If you can bear your
part well in ſuch a company, it is extremely right to be in it fome-
times, and you will be but more eſteemed, in other companies, for
having a place in that. But then do not let it engroſs you; for if
you do, you will be only confidered as one of the litterati by pro-
fefſion; which is not the way either to ſhine, or rife in the world.

The company of profeſsed Wits and Poets is extremely inviting
to moſt young men; who, if they have wit themſelves, are pleafed
with it, and if they have none, are fillily proud of being one of
it: but it ſhould be frequented with moderation and judgment,
and you ſhould by no means give yourfelf up to it. A Wit is a
very unpopular denomination, as it carries terror along with it;
and people in general are as much afraid of a live Wit, in com-

pany.

3