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268

by expressions of regard and esteem; by complacency, attentions, &c. for him: and the graceful manner of doing all these things opens their way to the heart, and facilitates, or rather infuses, their effects. From your own observation, reflect what a dif- agreeable impreffion an awkward addrefs, a slovenly figure, an ungraceful manner of speaking, whether fluttering, muttering, monotony, or drawling; an unattentive behaviour, &c. make upon you, at firſt fight, in a ſtranger, and how they prejudice you againſt him, though, for ought you know, he may have great in- trinſic ſenſe and merit. And reflect, on the other hand, how much the oppoſites of all theſe things prepoſſes you, at firſt fight, in favour of theſe who enjoy them. You wifh to find all good qualities in them, and are in ſome degree diſappointed if you do not. A thouſand little things, not ſeparately to be defined, confpire to form theſe Graces, this je ne ſçais quoi, that always pleafe. A pretty perſon, genteel motions, a proper degree of drefs, an harmonious voice, ſonething open and chearful in the counte- nance, but without laughing; a diſtinet and properly varied manner of ſpeaking: all theſe things, and many others, are neceſ- fary ingredients in the compofition of the pleafing je ne ſçais quoi, which every body feels, though no body can deſcribe. Ob- ferve carefully, then, what diſpleaſes or pleaſes you, in others; and be perfuaded, that, in general, the ſame things will pleafe or diſpleaſe them, in you. Having mentioned laughing, I muſt par- ticularly warn you againſt it: and I could heartily wifh, that you may often be ſeen to ſmile, but never heard to laugh, while you live. Frequent and loud laughter is the characteriſtic of folly and ill manners: it is the manner in which the mob expreſs their ſilly joy, at ſilly things; and they call it being merry. In my mind, there is nothing ſo illiberal, and ſo ill-bred, as audible laughter. True wit, or ſenſe, never yet made any body laugh; they

TO HIS SON.

269

they are above it: they pleafe the mind, and give a chearfulneſs to the countenance. But it is low buffoonery, or ſilly accidents, that always excite laughter; and that is what people of ſenſe and breeding ſhould ſhow themselves above. A man's going to fit down, in the ſupposition that he has a chair behind him, and falling down upon his breech for want of one, fetts a whole company a laughing, when all the wit in the world would not do it; a plain proof, in my mind, how low and unbecoming a thing laughter is. Not to mention the diſagreeable noife that it makes, and the shocking diſtortion of the face that it occaſons. Laughter is eafily reſtrained, by a very little reflection; but, as it is generally connected with the idea of gaiety, people do not enough attend to its abſurdity. I am neither of a melancholy, nor a Cynical diſpo- ſition; and am as willing, and as apt to be pleafed as any body; but I am ſure that, ſince I have had the full uſe of my reaſon, no- body has ever heard me laugh. Many people, at firſt from awk- wardneſs and mauvaise honte, have got a very diſagreeable and ſilly trick of laughing, whenever they ſpeak: and I know a man of very good parts, Mr. Waller, who cannot ſay the commonest thing with- out laughing; which makes theſe, who do not know him, take him at firſt for a natural fool. This and many other very diſagreeable habits, are owing to mauvaise honte at their firſt fetting out in the world. They are aſhamed in company, and ſo diſconcerted that they do not know what they do, and try a thouſand tricks to keep themselves in countenance; which tricks afterwards grow habitual to them. Some put their fingers in their noſe, others feratch their head, others twirl their hats; in ſhort, every awkward, ill-bred body has his trick. But the frequency does not juſtify the thing; and all theſe vulgar habits and awkwardneſs, though not criminal indeed, are moſt carefully to be guarded againſt, as they are great bars in the way of the art of pleafing. Remember,

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270

ber, that to pleafe, is almost to prevail, or at least a neceffary
previous step to it. You, who have your fortune to make, should
more particularly fludy this art. You had not, I muſt tell you,
when you left England, les manieres prèvenantes ; and I muſt con-
fefs they are not very common in England : but I hope that
your good ſenſe will make you acquire them abroad. If you
defire to make yourſelf confiderable in the world (as, if you have
any ſpirit, you do) it muſt be intirely your own doing : for I may
very poſſibly be out of the world at the time you come into it.
Your own rank and fortune will not affiſt you; your merit and
your manners can, alone, raife you to figure and fortune. I have
laid the foundations of them, by the education which I have given
you; but you muſt build the ſuperſtructure yourſelf.

I muſt now apply to you for ſome informations, which I dare
fay you can, and which I defire you will give me.

Can the Elector of Saxony put any of his ſubjects to death for
high treaſon, without bringing them firſt to their trial in ſome
public Court of Juſtice ?

Can he, by his own authority, confine any ſubject in príſon as
long as he pleafes, without trial ?

Can he banifh any ſubjeſt out of his dominions by his own
authority ?

Can he lay any tax whatsoever upon his ſubjects, without the
conſent of the States of Saxony ? and what are the ſtates ? how
are they elefted ? what Orders do they confiſt of ? Do the Clergy
make part of them ? and when, and how often, do they meet ?

If two ſubjects of the Elector's are at law, for an eſtate ſituated
in the Electorate, in what court muſt this ſuit be tried ; and
will the decifion of that court be final, or does there lie an appeal
to the Imperial Chamber at Wetzlaer ?

6

What

TO HIS SON.

271

What do you call the two chief Courts, or two chief Magi-
frates, of civil and criminal JusTice ?

What is the common revenue of the Electorate, one year with
another?

What number of troops does the Elector now maintain? and
what is the greatest number that the Electorate is able to
maintain.

I do not expect to have all theſe queſtions anſwered at once;
but you will anſwer them in proportion as you get the neceſſary
and authentie informations.

You are, you fee, my German Oracle; and I confult you with
ſo much faith, that you need not, like the Oracles of old, return
ambiguous anſwers; eſpecially as you have this advantage over
them, too, that I only confult you about paſt, and preſent, but not
about what is to come.

I wiſh you a good Eafter-fair at Leipzig. See, with attention,
all the ſhops, drolls, tumblers, rope-dancers, and hoc genus omne :
but inform yourſelf more particularly of the ſeveral parts of trade
there. Adieu.

LETTER CXIII.

London, March the 25th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I AM in great joy at the written and the verbal accounts
which I have received lately of you. The former, from Mr.
Harte; the latter, from Mr. Trevanion, who is arrived here: they
confipre to convince me that you employ your time well at Leipzig.
I am glad to find you confult your own intereſt, and your
own.

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

272

own pleafure so much; for the knowledge which you will acquire in theſe two years, is equally neceſſary for both. I am likewise particularly pleafed to find, that you turn yourſelf to that ſort of knowledge which is more peculiarly neceſſary for your deftination: for Mr. Harte tells me you have read, with attention, Cail- lières, Pequet, and Richelieu's Letters. The Memoirs of the Cardinal de Retz will both entertain and inſtruſt you; they relate to a very intereſting period of the French Hiftory, the Miniftry of Cardinal Mazarin, during the minority of Lewis XIV. The characters of all the confiderable people of that time are drawn, in a ſhort, ſtrong, and maſterly manner; and the political reflections, which are moſt of them printed in Italics, are the juſteſt that ever I met with; they are not the laboured reflections of a ſyſtematical cloſet politician, who, without the leaſt experience of buſineſs, ſits at home and writes maxims; but they are the reflections which a great and able man formed, from long experience, and practice, in great buſineſs. They are true concluſions, drawn from faſts, not from ſpeculations.

As Modern Hiftory is particularly your buſineſs, I will give you
fome rules to direct your ſtudy of it. It begins, properly, with
Charlemagne, in the year 800. But as, in theſe times of igno-
rance, the Priefts and Monks were almoſt the only people that
could or did write, we have ſcarcely any hiftories of theſe times
but ſuch as they have been pleafed to give us; which are com-
pounds of ignorance, ſuperſtition, and party zeal. So that a ge-
neral notion of what is rather ſuppoſed, than really known to be,
the hiftory of the ſive or ſix following centuries, ſeems to be ſu-
ficient: and much time would be but ill employed in a minute
attention to theſe legends. But reſerve your utmoſt care, and
moſt diligent inquiſitions, for the fifteenth century, and downwards.
Then learning began to revive, and credible hiftories to be writ-
ten;

TO HIS SON.

273

ten; Europe began to take the form, which, to ſome degree, it
still retains, at leaſt the foundations of the preſent great Powers
of Europe were then laid. Lewis the Eleventh made France, in
truth, a Monarchy, or, as he uſed to ſay himſelf, *la mit hors de
Page*. Before his time, there were independent provinces in
France, as the Dutchy of Brittany, &c. whose Princes tore it to
pieces, and kept it in conſtant domeſtic conſuſion. Lewis the
Eleventh reduced all theſe petty States, by fraud, force, or mar-
riage: for he ſerupled no means to obtain his ends.

About that time, Ferdinand King of Arragon, and Ifabella his
wife, Queen of Caſtilie, united the whole Spaniſh Monarchy; and
drove the Moors out of Spain, who had till then kept poſſeſion of
Granada. About that time too, the Houſe of Auffria laid the great
foundations of its ſubſquent power; firſt, by the marriage of
Maximilian with the Heireſs of Burgundy; and then, by the
marriage of his ſon Philip, Archduke of Auffria, with Jane, the
daughter of Ifabella, Queen of Spain, and Heireſs of that whole
kingdom, and of the Weſt Indies. By the firſt of theſe marriages,
the Houſe of Auffria acquired the ſeventeen Provinces; and by
the latter, Spain and America; all which centered in the perſon
of Charles the Fifth, ſon of the above-mentioned Archduke,
Philip, the ſon of Maximilian. It was upon account of theſe two
marriages, that the following Latin Difſtich was made:

*Bella gerant alii, Tu felix Auffria nube,
Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus.*

This immenſe power, which the Emperor Charles the Fifth
found himſelf poſſeſed of, gave him a defire for univerſal power
(for people never defire all till they have gotten a great deal) and
alarmed France: this ſowed the feeds of that jealouſy and enmity,
which have flouriſhed ever ſince, between theſe two great Powers.

VOL. I.

N n

Afterwards

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

274

Afterwards the House of Austria was weakened by the division
made by Charles the Fifth of its dominions, between his son, Phi-
lip the Second of Spain, and his brother Ferdinand; and has ever
fince been dwindling to the weak condition in which it now is.
This is a moſt intereſting part of the hiftory of Europe, of which
it is abſolutely neceſſary that you ſhould be exaſtly and mi-
nutely inſormed.

There are in the hiftory of moſt countries, certain very
remarkable æras, which deferve more particular inquiry and
attention than the common run of hiftory. Such is the revolt
of the seventeen Provinces; in the reign of Philip the Second
of Spain; which ended in forming the prefent Republic of
the Seven United Provinces; whose independency was firſt al-
lowed by Spain at the Treaty of Münſter. Such was the extra-
ordinary revolution of Portugal, in the year 1640, in favour of
the prefent House of Braganza. Such is the famous revolution of
Sweden, when Chriſtian the Second of Denmark, who was alſo
King of Sweden, was driven out by Guſtavus Vafa. And ſuch,
alſo, is that memorable æra in Denmark, of 1660; when the States
of that kingdom made a voluntary ſurrender of all their rights
and liberties to the crown; and changed that free ſtate into the
moſt abſolute Monarchy now in Europe. The *Acta Regia*, upon
that occafion, are worth your perſuing. Theſe remarkable periods
of Modern Hiftory deferve your particular attention, and moſt of
them have been treated ſingly by good Hiflorians, which are worth
your reading. The revolutions of Sweden, and of Portugal, are
moſt admirably well written, by L'Abbé de Vertot; they are
ſhort, and will not take twelve hours reading. There is another
book which very well deferves your looking into, but not worth
your buying at prefent, becauſe it is not portable: if you can bor-
row, or hire it, you ſhould; and that is, L'Histoire des Traiſons de
Paix, in two volumes, folio, which make part of the *Corps Di-
plomatique*.

TO HIS SON.

275

plomatique. You will there find a ſhort and clear hiftory, and
the ſubſtance of every treaty made in Europe, during the laſt
century, from the Treaty of Vervins. Three parts in four of
this book are not worth your reading, as they relate to trea-
ties of very little importance; but if you ſelect the moſt con-
fiderable ones, read them with attention, and take ſome
notes, it will be of great uſe to you. Attend chiefly to thofe
in which the great Powers of Europe are the parties; ſuch
as the Treaty of the Pyrenées, between France and Spain; the
Treaties of Nimeguen and Ryſwick: but, above all, the Treaty
of Münſter ſhould be moſt circumſtancially and minutely known
to you, as almoſt every treaty made ſince has ſome reference to
it. For this, Pere Bougeant is the beſt book you can read,
as it takes in The thirty years War, which preceded that treaty.
The treaty itſelf, which is made a perpetual law of the Empire,
comes in the courſe of your ſteatures upon the *Jus Publicum Im-
perii*.

In order to furniſh you with materials for a letter, and,
at the fame time, to inform both you and myſelf of what it is
right that we ſhould know, pray anſwer me the following
queſtions.

How many companies are there in the Saxon regiments of ſoot ?

How many men in each company ?

How many troops in the regiments of horſe and dragoons;
and how many men in each ?

What number of commiſſioned and non-commiſſioned Officers
in a company of ſoot, or in a troop of horſe or dragoons. N. B.
Non-commiſſioned Officers are all thofe below Enſigns and
Corneſts.

What is the daily pay of a Saxon foot ſoldier, dragoon, and
trooper ?

N n 2

What

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

What are the several ranks of the *Etat Major Général* ? N. B.
The *Etat Major Général*, is every thing above Colonel. The Au-
frians have no Brigadiers, and the French have no Major Generals,
in their *Estat Major*. What have the Saxons? Adieu.

LETTER CXIV.

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

DEAR BOY,

THIS little packet will be delivered to you by one Monfleur
Duval, who is going to the fair at Leipzig. He is a
jeweller, originally of Geneva, but who has been settled here
there eight or ten years, and a very fensible fellow : pray be very
civil to him.

As I advifed you, fome time ago, to inform yourfelf of the
civil and military eftablifhments of as many of the Kingdoms and
States of Europe, as you ſhould either be in, yourfelf, or be able
to get authentic accounts of, I fend you here a little book, in
which, upon the article of Hanover, I have pointed out
the ſhort method of putting down theſe informations, by way
of helping your memory. The book being lettered, you can
immediately turn to whatever article you want; and, by adding
interleaves to each letter, may extend your minutes to what
particulars you pleafe. You may get fuch books made any
where; and appropriate each, if you pleafe, to a particular
object. I have myſelf found great utility in this method. If I
had known what to have ſent you, by this opportunity, I would
have done it. The French ſay, *Que les petits prêſens entretien-
nent l'amitié et que les grands l'augmentent* ; but I could not recol-
lect.

TO HIS SON.

left that you wanted any thing, or, at least, any thing that you
cannot get as well at Leipzig as here. Do but continue to de-
ferve, and, I assure you, that you shall never want any thing
I can give.

Do not apprehend that my being out of employment may be
any prejudice to you. Many things will happen, before you can
be fit for bufineſs; and, when you are fit, whatever my fitua-
tion may be, it will always be in my power to help you in your
firſt ſteps; afterwards, you muſt help yourſelf by your own abi-
lities. Make yourſelf neceſſary, and, inſtead of Soliciting, you will
be ſolicited. The thorough knowledge of foreign affairs, the
intereſts, the views, and the manners of the ſeveral Courts in Eu-
rope, are not the common growth of this country. It is in
your power to acquire them; you have all the means. Adieu !
Yours.

LETTER CXV.

London, April the 1st, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I
Have not received any letter, either from you or from Mr.
Harte, theſe three poſts, which I impute wholly to accidents,
between this place and Leipzig; and they are diffrent enough to
admit of many. I always take it for granted that you are well,
when I do not hear to the contrary; beſides, as I have often
told you, I am much more anxious about your doing well, than
about your being well; and, when you do not write, I will fup-
pole that you are doing ſomething more uſeful. Your health will
continue, while your temperance continues; and, at your age,
nature

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

278

nature takes sufficient care of the body, provided she is left to
herself, and that intemperance on one hand, or medicines on
the other, do not break in upon her. But it is by no means so
with the mind, which, at your age particularly, requires great
and conquant care, and some physic. Every quarter of an hour, well
or ill employed, will do it essential and lafting good or harm.
It requires, also, a great deal of exercife, to bring it to a flate
of health and vigour. Obferve the difference there is between
minds cultivated, and minds uncultivated, and you will, I am
fure, think that you cannot take too much pains, nor employ too
much of your time in the culture of your own. A drayman
is probably born with as good organs as Milton, Locke, or
Newton; but, by culture, they are much more above him than
he is above his horfe. Sometimes, indeed, extraordinary geniufes
have broken out by the force of nature, without the affistance of
education; but thofe inflances are too rare for any body to truft
to; and even they would make a much greater figure, if they
had the advantage of education into the bargain. If Shakeſpeare's
genius had been cultivated, thofe beauties, which we so juſtly
admire in him, would have been undifgraced by thofe extrava-
gancies, and that nonſenſe, with which they are frequently
accompanied. People are, in general, what they are made, by
education and company, from fifteen to five-and-twenty; con-
fider well, therefore, the importance of your next eight or nine
years; your whole depends upon them. I will tell you, fincerely,
my hopes and my fears concerning you. I think you will be a
good ſcholar, and that you will acquire a confiderable flock of
knowledge of various kinds: but I fear that you neglect what are
called little, though, in truth, they are very material things; I
mean, a gentleneſs of manners, an engaging addrefs, and an
infinuating behaviour: they are real and folid advantages, and none
but

4

TO HIS SON.

279

but thofe who do not know the world, treat them as trifles. I
am told that you ſpeak very quick, and not diffinſtly; this is a
moſt ungraceful and diſagreeable trick, which you know I have
told you of a thouſand times; pray attend carefully to the cor-
reſion of it. An agreeable and diffinſt manner of ſpeaking adds
greatly to the matter; and I have known many a very good
ſpeech unregarded, upon account of the diſagreeable manner in
which it has been delivered, and many an indifferent one
applauded, from the contrary reaſon. Adieu.

LETTER CXVI.

London, April the 15th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

THOUGH I have no letters from you to acknowledge,
since my laſt to you, I will not let three poſs go from
hence without a letter from me. My affection always prompts
me to write to you, and I am encouraged to do it, by the hopes
that my letters are not quite uſeleſs. You will probably re-
ceive this in the midſt of the diverſions of Leipſig fair; at which,
Mr. Harte tells me, that you are to ſhine in fine clothes, among
fine folks. I am very glad of it, as it is time that you ſhould
begin to be formed to the manners of the world in higher life.
Courts are the beſt ſchools for that ſort of learning. You are
beginning now with the outside of a Court; and there is not a
more gaudy one than that of Saxony. Attend to it, and make
your obſervations upon the turn and manners of it, that you may
hereafter compare it with other Courts, which you will fee. And,
though you are not yet able to be informed, or to judge of the
political conduct and maxims of that Court, yet you may remark
the

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

250

the forms, the ceremonies, and the exterior flate of it. At leaft,
fee every thing that you can fee, and know every thing that you
can know of it, by afking queftions. See likewife every thing at
the fair, from operas and plays, down to the Savoyards raece-
flows. Every thing is worth feeing once; and the more one
fees, the lefs one either wonders or admires.

Make my compliments to Mr. Harte, and tell him that I have
juft now received his letter, for which I thank him. I am called
away, and my letter is therefore very much shortened. Adieu.

I am impatient to receive your anfwers to the many queftions
that I have aſked you.

LETTER CXVII.

London, April the 26th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I AM extremely pleafed with your continuation of the Hiftory
of the Reformation, which is one of thofe important aeras
that deferves your utmoſt attention, and of which you cannot
be too minutely informed. You have, doubtleſs, confidered the
caufes of that great event, and obſerved, that diſappointment and
refentment had a much greater ſhare in it, than a religious zeal, or
an abhorrence of the errors and abufes of Popery.

Luther, an Auguſtin Monk, enraged that his Order, and conſe-
quently himſelf, had not the exclusive privilege of ſelling indulgences, but that the Dominicans were let into a ſhare of that profitable but infamous trade, turns reformer, and exclaims againſt the abufes, the corruption, and the idolatry, of the Church of Rome; which were certainly groſs enough for him to have ſeen long before,
but

TO HIS SON.

281

but which he had at leaſt acquieſced in, till what he called the
Rights, that is the profit, of his Order came to be touched. It is
true, the Church of Rome furniſhed him ample matter for com-
plaint and reformation, and he laid hold of it ably. This ſeems
to me the true caufe of that great and neceſſary work: but,
whatever the caufe was, the effect was good: and the reformation
ſpread itſelf by its own truth and fitneſs; was conſcientiouſly re-
ceived by great numbers in Germany, and other countries; and was
ſoon afterwards mixed up with the politics of Princes: and, as it
always happens in religious disputes, became the ſpecious covering
of injuſtice and ambition.

Under the pretence of cruſhing Hereſy, as it was called, the Houſe
of Auffria meant to extend and eſtablish its power in the Empire:
as, on the other hand, many Proteſtant Princes, under the pretence
of extirpating idolatry, or, at leaſt, of ſecuring toleration, meant
only to enlarge their own dominions or privileges. Theſe views
reſpectively, among the Chieſs on both ſides, much more than true
religious motives, continued what were called the Religious Wars,
in Germany, almoſt uninterruptedly, till the affairs of the two
Religions were finally ſettled by the treaty of Münſter.

Were moſt hiftorical events traced up to their true cauſes, I ſear
we ſhould not find them much more noble, nor diſintereſted, than
Luther's diſappointed avarice; and therefore I look with ſome
contempt upon thofe refining and ſagacious Hiftorians, who
aſcribe all, even the moſt common events, to ſome deep political
cauſe; whereas mankind is made up of inconſiſtencies, and no
man acts invariably up to his predominant character. The wifegt
man ſometimes acts weakly, and the weakeſt ſometimes wifely.
Our jarring paſſions, our variable humours, nay our greater or
leſſer degree of health and ſpirits, produce ſueh contradictions in
our conduct, that, I believe, thofe are the ofteneſt miftaken, who

VOL. I.

Oo

aſcribe

282

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

+

aferibe our actions to the moſt ſeemingly obvious motives: and
I am convinced, that a light ſupper, a good night's ſleep, and a
fine morning, have ſometimes made a Hero, of the fame man,
who, by an indigſation, a ſerſleſs night, and a rainy mornings,
would have proved a coward. Our beſt conjectures, therefore, as
to the true ſprings of actions, are but very uncertain; and the
actions themſelves are all that we muſt pretend to know from
Hiftory. That Cefar was murdered by twenty-three conſpirators,
I make no doubt; but I very much doubt, that their love of
liberty, and of their country, was their ſole, or even principal
motive; and I dare ſay that, if the truth were known, we ſhould
find that many other motives, at leaſt concurred, even in the
great Brutus himſelf; ſuch as pride, envy, perſonal pique, and
difappointment. Nay, I cannot help carrying my Pyrrhonifm
ſtill further, and extending it often to hiftorical ſaſts themſelves,
at leaſt to moſt of the circumſtances with which they are related;
and every day's experience confirms me in this hiftorical incredu-
lity. Do we ever hear the moſt recent ſaſt related exaſtly in
the fame way, by the ſeveral people who were at the fame time
eye-witneſſes of it? No. One miſtakes, another miſrepreſents;
and others warp it a little to their own turn of mind, or private
views. A man, who has been concerned in a tranſaſtion, will not
write it fairly; and a man who has not, cannot. But, notwith-
ſtanding all this uncertainty, Hiftory is not the leaſ neceſſary to be
known; as the beſt hiftories are taken for granted, and are the
frequent ſubjects both of converſation and writing. Though I
am convinced that Cefar's ghoſt never appeared to Brutus, yet I
ſhould be much aſhamed to be ignorant of that ſaſt, as related by
the Hiftorians of thoſe times. Thus the Pagan theology is univer-
ſally received as matter for writing and converſation, though be-
lieved now by nobody; and we talk of Jupiter, Mars, Apollo,

7

8c.

283

TO HIS SON.

8c. as Gods, though we know, that, if they ever exifted at all,
it was only as mere mortal men. This hiftorical Pyrrhonifm, then,
proves nothing againſt the ſtudy and knowledge of Hiftory; which,
of all other ſtudies, is the moſt neceſſary, for a man who is to
live in the world. It only points out to us, not to be too de-
ciſive and peremptory; and to be cautious how we draw infer-
ences, for our own practice, from remote ſaſts, partially or igno-
rantly related; of which we can, at beſt, but imperſeſtly gueſs, and
certainly not know the real motives. The teſtimonics of Ancient
Hiftory muſt neceſſarily be weaker than thoſe of Modern, as all
teſtimony grows weaker and weaker, as it is more and more re-
mote from us. I would therefore adviſe you to ſtudy Ancient
Hiftory, in general, as other people do; that is, not to be igno-
rant of any of thoſe ſaſts which are univerſally received, upon the
faith of the beſt Hiftorians; and, whether true or falſe, you have
them as other people have them. But Modern Hiftory, I mean
particularly that of the three laſt centuries, is what I would have
you apply to with the greatest attention and exaſtneſs. There
the probability of coming at the truth is much greater, as the
teſtimonies are much more recent; befides, anecdotes, memoirs,
and original letters, often come to the aid of Modern Hif-
tory. The beſt Memoirs that I know of are thoſe of Cardinal
de Retz, which I have once before recommended to you; and
which I adviſe you to read more than once, with attention.
There are many political maxims in theſe Memoirs*, which are
moſt of them printed in Italics; pray attend to, and remember
them. I never read them, but that my own experience confirms
the truth of them. Many of them ſeem trifling, to people who
are not uſed to buſineſs; but thoſe who are, feel the truth of them.

* The Maxims here mentioned are inferted, with a tranſlation, at the end of the
ſecond volume.

002

It

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

284

It is time to put an end to this long, rambling letter; in which,
if any one thing can be of use to you, it will more than pay the
trouble I have taken to write it. Adieu! Yours.

LETTER CXVIII.

London, May the 10th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I Reckon that this letter will find you juſt returned from Dref-
den, where you have made your firſt court Caravanne. What
inclination for Courts this taſte of them may have given you, I
cannot tell; but this I think myſelf ſure of, from your good ſenſe,
that, in leaving Drefden, you have left diſlipation too; and have
reſumed, at Leipzig, that application, which, if you like Courts,
can alone enable you to make a good figure at them. A mere
Courtier, without parts or knowledge, is the moſt frivolous and
contemptible of all Beings; as, on the other hand, a man of parts
and knowledge, who acquires the eafy and noble manners of a
Court, is the moſt perfect. It is a trite, common-place obſerva-
tion, that Courts are the ſeats of falſehood and diſſimulation.
That, like many, I might ſay moſt, common-place obſervations,
is falſe. Falſehood and diſſimulation are certainly to be found
at Courts; but where are they not to be found? Cottages have
them, as well as Courts; only with worſe manners. A couple of
neighbouring farmers, in a village, will contrive and practise as
many tricks, to over-reach each other at the next market, or to
ſupplant each other in the favour of the 'Squire, as any two Cour-
tiers can do to ſupplant each other in the favour of their Prince.

Whatever

TO HIS SON.

285

Whatever Poets may write, or fools believe, of rural innocence
and truth, and of the perfidy of Courts, this is moſt undoubtedly
true—that Shepherds and Miniflers are both men; their nature and
paffions the fame, the modes of them only different.

Having mentioned common-place obſervations, I will particu-
larly caution you against either uſing, believing, or approving
them. They are the common topics of witlings and coxcombs;
thoſe, who really have wit, have the utmoſt contempt for them,
and ſcorn even to laugh at the pert things that thoſe would-be
wits ſay upon ſuch ſubjects.

Religion is one of their favourite topics; it is all prieſt-craft;
and an invention contrived and carried on by Priefts, of all reli-
gions, for their own power and profit: from this abſurd and falſe
principle flow the common-place, inſipid jokes and inſults upon
the Clergy. With theſe people, every Prieſt, of every religion, is
either a public or a concealed unbeliever, drunkard, and whore-
maſter; whereas, I conceive, that Priefts are extremely like
other men, and neither the better nor the worſe for wearing a
gown or a ſurplice; but, if they are different from other
people, probably it is rather on the ſide of religion and mora-
lity, or at least decency, from their education and manner
of life.

Another common topic for falſe wit, and cold raillery, is Ma-
trimony. Every man and his wife hate each other cordially,
whatever they may pretend, in public, to the contrary. The huf-
band certainly wishes his wife at the devil, and the wife certainly
cuckolds her hufband. Whereas, I prefume, that men and their
wives neither love nor hate each other the more, upon account
of the form of matrimony which has been ſaid over them. The
cohabitation, indeed, which is the conſequence of matrimony,
makes them either love or hate more, accordingly as they reſpec-
tively.

286 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

tively defer it; but that would be exactly the fame, between
any man and woman, who lived together without being
married.

These, and many other common-place reflections upon nations,
or profeffions, in general (which are at least as often false as true)
are the poor refuge of people who have neither wit nor inven-
tion of their own, but endeavour to fling in company by fecond-
hand finery. I always put these pert jackanapes's out of coun-
tenance, by looking extremely grave, when they expect that I
should laugh at their plefantries; and by faying well, and so;
as if they had not done, and that the fling were still to come.
This disconcerts them; as they have no refources in themselves,
and have but one fet of jokes to live upon. Men of parts are not
reduced to these shifts, and have the utmost contempt for them:
they find proper subjects enough for either useful or lively con-
verfations; they can be witty without fatire or common-place, and
ferious without being dull. The frequentation of Courts checks
this petulency of manners; the good-breeding and circumpec-
tion which are necessary, and only to be learned there, correct
these pertneſſes. I do not doubt but that you are improved in
your manners, by the short visit which you have made at Dref-
den; and the other Courts, which I intend that you shall be bet-
ter acquainted with, will gradually smooth you up to the highest
polifh. In Courts, a verfatility of genius, and a softneſs of man-
ners, are absolutely necessary; which some people miffake for
abject flattery, and having no opinion of one's own; whereas it
is only the decent and genteel manner of maintaining your own
opinion, and poffibly of bringing other people to it. The man-
ner of doing things is often more important than the things
themselves; and the very fame thing may become either
pleafing, or offenſive, by the manner of faying or doing it. Ma-
teriam

teriam

TO HIS SON.

287

teriam ſuperaſabt opus, is often faſd of works of Sculpture;
where, though the materials were valuable, as Silver, Gold,
&c. the workmanship was ſill more ſo. This holds true,
applied to manners; which adorn whatever knowledge or parts
people may have; and even make a greater Impreſſion, upon nine
in ten of mankind, than the intrinsic value of the materials. On
the other hand, remember, that what Horace ſays of good writing
is juſtly applicable to those who would make a good figure in
Courts, and diſtinguish themſelves in the ſhining parts of life;
Sapere eſt principium et ſons. A man, who, without a good
fund of knowledge and parts, adopts a Court life, makes the
moſt ridiculous figure imaginable. He is a machine, little ſupe-
rior to the Court clock; and, as this points out the hours, he points
out the frivolous employment of them. He is, at moſt, a com-
ment upon the clock; and, according to the hours that it ſtrikes,
tells you, now it is levee, now dinner, now ſupper time, &c.
The end which I propoſe by your education, and which (if you
pleafe) I ſhall certainly attain, is, to unite in you all the knowledge
of a Scholar, with the manners of a Courtier; and to join, what
is ſeldom joined in any of my countrymen, Books and the
World. They are commonly twenty years old before they have
ſpoken to any body above their Schoolmaſter, and the Fellows of
their college. If they happen to have learning, it is only Greek
and Latin; but not one word of Modern Hiftory, or Modern
Languages. Thus prepared, they go abroad, as they call it; but,
in truth, they ſlay at home all that while; for, being very awk-
ward, confoundedly affamed, and not ſpeaking the languages,
they go into no foreign company, at least none good; but
drefa and ſup with one another only, at the tavern. Such ex-
amples, I am ſure, you will not imitate, but even carefully
avoid. You will always take care to keep the beſt company

in