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them. Attention is absolutely necessary for this, as indeed it is for every thing else; and a man without attention is not fit to live in the world. When an awkward fellow first comes into a room, it is highly probable, that his fword gets between his legs, and throws him down, or makes him tumble, at least; when he has recovered this accident, he goes and places himself in the very place of the whole room where he should not; there he foon lets his hat fall down, and, in taking it up again, throws down his cane; in recovering his cane, his hat falls a second time; so that he is a quarter of an hour before he is in order again. If he drinks tea or coffee, he certainly fcauls his mouth, and lets either the cup or the faucer fall, and spills the tea or coffee in his breeches. At dinner, his awkwardneſs diftinguiches itſelf particularly, as he has more to do: there he holds his knife, fork, and fpoon, differently from other people; eats with his knife to the great danger of his mouth, picks his teeth with his fork, and puts his fpoon, which has been in his throat twenty times, into the diſhes again. If he is to carve, he can never hit the joint; but, in his vain efforts to cut through the bone, scatters the faucer in every body's face. He generally daubs himſelf with foup and greaſe, though his napkin is commonly fluck through a button hole, and tickles his chin. When he drinks, he infallibly coughs in his glaſs, and befprinkles the company. Befides all this, he has ſtrange tricks and geſtures; ſuch as ſnuffing up his noſe, making faces, putting his fingers in his noſe, or blowing it and looking afterwards in his handkerchief, ſo as to make the company ſick. His hands are troubleſome to him, when he has not ſomething in them, and he does not know where to put them; but they are in perpetual motion between his boſom and his breeches: he does not wear his clothes, and, in ſhort, does nothing like other people. All this, I own, is not in any degree criminal; but it is highly diſagreeable and ridiculous.

TO HIS SON.

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ridiculous in company, and ought moſt carefully to be avoided, by whoever defires to pleafe.

From this account of what you ſhould not do, you may eaſily judge what you ſhould do; and a due attention to the manners of people of ſaſhion, and who have been the world, will make it habitual and familiar to you.

There is, likewife, an awkwardneſs of exprefſion and words, moſt carefully to be avoided; ſuch as falſe English, bad pronunciation, old ſayings, and common proverbs; which are ſo many proofs of having kept bad and low company. For example; if, inſtead of ſaying that taſtes are different, and that every man has his own peculiar one, you ſhould let off a proverb, and ſay, that what is one man's meat is another man's poſion; or, eſſe, every one as they like, as the good man ſaid when he kifled his cow; every body would be perfuaded that you had never kept company with any body above footmen and houſemaids.

Attention will do all this; and without attention nothing is to be done: want of attention, which is really want of thought, is either folly or madneſs. You ſhould not only have attention to every thing, but a quickneſs of attention, ſo as to obſerve, at once, all the people in the room; their motions, their looks, and their words; and yet without ſtaring at them, and ſeeming to be an obſerver. This quick and unobſerved obſervation is of inſinite advantage in life, and is to be acquired with care; and, on the contrary, what is called abſence, which is a thoughtleſsneſs, and want of attention about what is doing, makes a man ſo like either a fool or a madman, that, for my part, I fee no real difference. A fool never has thought; a madman has loft it; and an abſent man is, for the time, without it.

Adieu ! Direct your next to me, chez Monsieur Chabert, Ban-

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quier,

148 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

quier, à Paris; and take care that I find the improvements I expect, at my return.

LETTER LX.

DEAR BOY,

Spa, August 6th, 1741.

I AM very well pleased with the several performances you sent me, and still more so with Mr. Maittaire's letter, that accompanied them, in which he gives me a much better account of you than he did in his former. *Laudari a laudato viro*, was always a commendable ambition; encourage that ambition, and continue to defer the praifes of the praufe-worthy. While you do so, you shall have whatever you will from me; and when you cease to do so, you shall have nothing.

I am glad you have begun to compose a little; it will give you an habit of thinking upon subjects, which is at least as neceffary as reading them: therefore pray send me your thoughts upon this subject.

*Non sibi, sed toti genitum se credere mundo.*

It is a part of Cato's character in Lucan; who says, that Cato did not think himself born for himself only, but for all mankind. Let me know, then, whether you think that a man is born only for his own pleasure and advantage, or whether he is not obliged to contribute to the good of the society in which he lives, and of all mankind in general. This is certain, that every man receives advantages from society, which he could not have, if he were the only man in the world: therefore, is he not, in some measure, in debt to society? and is he not obliged to do for others what they do

TO HIS SON.

do for him? You may do this in English or Latin, which you please; for it is the thinking part, and not the language, that I mind in this cafe.

I warned you, in my last, against those disagreeable tricks and awkwardnesses, which many people contract when they are young, by the negligence of their parents, and cannot get quit of them when they are old; such as odd motions, strange postures, and ungenteel carriage. But there is likewife an awkwardness of the mind, that ought to be, and with care may be, avoided: as for instance; to mistake or forget names; to speak of Mr. What-d'ye-call-him, or Mrs. Thingum, or How-d'ye-call-her, is exceedingly awkward and ordinary. To call people by improper titles and appellations is so too; as my Lord, for Sir; and Sir, for my Lord. To begin a story or narration, when you are not perfect in it, and cannot go through with it; but are forced, possibly, to say, in the middle of it, "I have forgot the reft," is very unpleafant and bungling. One must be extremely exact, clear, and perſpicuous in every thing one says, otherwife, instead of entertaining or inf forming others, one only tires and puzzles them. The voice and manner of speaking, too, are not to be neglected: some people almost flut their mouths when they speak, and mutter so, that they are not to be underftood; others speak so faſt, and ſputter, that they are not to be underftood neither; some always speak as loud as if they were talking to deaf people; and others so low that one cannot hear them. All these habits are awkward and difagreeable, and are to be avoided by attention: they are the diſtinguifhing marks of the ordinary people, who have had no care taken of their education. You cannot imagine how neceſſary it is to mind all these little things; for I have seen many people, with great talents, ill received, for want of having these talents

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talents too; and others well received, only from their little talents,
and who had no great ones. Adieu.

LETTER LXI.

DEAR BOY,

SINCE my laft, I have changed confiderably for the better;
from the defarts of Spa to the pleafures of Paris; which,
when you come here, you will be better able to enjoy than I am.
It is a moft magnificent town, not near so big as London, but
much finer; the houfes being much larger, and all built of ſtone.
It was not only much enlarged, but embellifhed, by the magnifi-
cence of the laft King, Lewis XIV; and a prodigious number of
expensive buildings, and uſeul and charitable foundations, ſuch as
libraries, hofpitals, ſchools, &c. will long remain the monuments
of the magnificence, humanity, and good government of that
Prince. The people here are well-bred, juſt as I would have you
be; they are not awkwardly bafhful, and afhamed, like the
Englifh; but eafily civil, without ceremony. Though they are
very gay and lively, they have attention to every thing, and al-
ways mind what they are about. I hope you do ſo too, now, and
that my higheſt expeſtations of your improvement will be more
than anſwered, at my return; for I expeſt to find you conſtrue
both Greek and Latin, and likewife tranſlate into thofe languages
pretty readily; and alſo to make verſes in them both, with ſome
little invention of your own. All this may be, if you pleaſe;
and I am perſuaded you would not have me diſappointed. As
to the genius of Poetry, I own, if nature had not given it you,
you cannot have it; for it is a true maxim, that *Poeta nafeitur,
non*

TO HIS SON.

151

non fit: but then, that is only as to the invention, and imagina-
tion, of a Poet; for every body can, by application, make them-
felves maſters of the mechanical part of poetry; which confifts in
the numbers, rhymes, meaſure, and harmony of verſe. Ovid
was born with ſuch a genius for poetry, that he ſays, he could not
help thinking in verſe, whether he would or not; and that very
often he ſpoke verſes without intending it. It is much otherwife
with oratory; and the maxim there is, *Orator fit:* for it is certain,
that, by ſtudy and application, every man can make himſelf a
pretty good Orator; eloquence depending upon obſervation and
care. Every man, if he pleaſes, may chufe good words inſtead
of bad ones, may ſpeak properly inſtead of improperly, may be
clear and perſpicuous in his recitals, inſtead of dark and muddy;
he may have grace inſtead of awkwardneſs in his motions and
geſtures; and, in ſhort, may be a very agreeable, inſtead of a very
diſagreeable ſpeaker, if he will take care and pains. And ſurely
it is very well worth while to take a great deal of pains, to
excell other men, in that particular article in which they excel
beaſts.

Demofhenes, the celebrated Greek Orator, thought it ſo abfo-
lutely neceſſary to ſpeak well, that, though he naturally ſluttered,
and had weak lungs, he refolved, by application and care, to get
the better of thofe diſadvantages. Accordingly, he cured his flam-
mering, by putting ſmall pebbles into his mouth; and ſtrength-
ened his lungs gradually, by uſing himſelf every day to ſpeak aloud
and diſtinctly for a confiderable time. He likewife went often to
the ſea-ſhore, in ſtormy weather, when the ſea made moſt noife,
and there ſpoke as loud as he could, in order to uſe himſelf to
the noife and murmurs of the popular affembliſes of the Athenians,
before whom he was to ſpeak. By ſuch care, joined to the con-
ſtant ſtudy of the beſt authors, he became at laſt the greatest
Orator.

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Orator of his own or any other age or country, though he was born without any one natural talent for it. Adieu! Copy Demosthenes.

LETTER LXII.

Lyons, September the 1st, N. S. 1741.

DEAR BOY,

I Have received your Polyglot letter, with which I am very well pleased; and for which, it is reasonable, you should be very well rewarded. I am glad to fee invention and languages go together; for the latter signify very little, without the former; but, well joined, they are very useful. Language is only to express thoughts; and if a man is heedless, and does not give himself time to think, his words will be very frivolous and filly.

I left Paris five days ago; and, that you may trace me, if you pleafe, upon your map, I came here through Dijon, the capital of Burgundy: I shall go from hence to Vienne, the second city in Dauphiné (for Grenoble is the capital) and from thence, down the Rhône, to Avignon, the chief town of the Comtat Venaiffin, which belongs to the Pope; then to Aix, the principal town of Provence; then to Marfeilles; then to Nîmes and Montpellier; and then back again. This is a very great and rich town, situated upon two fine rivers that join here, the Rhône and the Saône. Here is the great manufacture of gold, silver, and silk stuffs, which supplies almost all Europe. It was famous in the time of the Romans, and is called, in Latin, Lugdunum.

My rambling makes me both a less frequent, and a shorter correspondent, than otherwife I should be; but I am perfuaded, that

TO HIS SON.

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that you are now so fensible how neceflary it is to learn, and apply yourfelf, that you want no spur nor admonition to it. Go on, then, with diligence, to improve in learning and, above all, in virtue and honour; and you will make both me and yourfelf happy. Adieu.

LETTER LXIII.

Marfeilles, September the 22d, N. S. 1741.

DEAR BOY,

YOU find this letter dated from Marfeilles, a fea-port town in the Mediterranean sea. It has been famous and considerable, for theſe two thouſand years at leaſt, upon account of its trade and situation. It is called Maffilia in Latin, and diſtinguifhed itſelf, in favour of the Roman liberty, againſt Julius Cefar. It was here, too, that Milo was banifhed, for killing Clodius. You will find the particulars of theſe faëts, if you look in your Diſionary for the articles Marſeilles and Milon. It is now a very large and fine town, extremely rich from its commerce; it is built in a ſemi-circle round the port, which is always full of merchant ſhips of all nations. Here the King of France keeps his gallies, which are very long ſhips rowed by oars, ſome of forty, ſome of fifty, and threeſcore oars. The people who row them are called galley-flaves; and are, either prifoners taken from the Turks, on the coaſts of Africa, or criminals, who, for various crimes committed in France, are condemned to row in the gallies, either for life, or for a certain number of years. They are chained by the legs, with great iron chains, two and two together.

VOL. I.

X

The

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The prospect, for two leagues round this place, is the moat
pleasing that can be imagined; confifting of high hills, covered
with vineyards, olive-trees, fig-trees, and almond-trees; with
above fix thousand little country houfes interſperſed, which they
call here, *des Baſides*.

Within about ten leagues of this place, as you will find in the
map, is Toulon, another fea-port town upon the Mediterranean,
not near so big as this, but much ſtronger; there moſt of the
French men of war are built and kept, and likewife moſt of the
naval ſtores, ſuch as ropes, anchors, fails, maſts, and whatever
belongs to ſhipping.

If you look into your Geographical Diſcription for *Provence*,
you will find the hiftory of this country, which is worth your
reading; and, when you are looking in your Diſcription, look
for *Dauphiné* too, which is the next province to this; and there
you will find, when *Dauphiné* was united to the Crown of France,
upon condition that the King of France's eldeſ ſon ſhould
always be called *le Dauphin*. You ſhould, in truth, omit no
one opportunity of informing yourſelf of Modern Hiftory and
Geography; which are the common ſubjects of all converſation,
and, conſequently, it is a ſhame to be ignorant of them.

Since you have begun compoſition, I ſend you here another
ſubjeſt to compoſe a ſew lines upon.

" *Nil confire fibi, nulláque palleſcere culpá.*"

Whoever obſerves that rule, will always be very happy: may you
do it! Adieu.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

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LETTER LXIV.

La France.

La France eſt, à tout prendre, le plus beau païs de l'Europe;
car il eſt très grand, très riche, et très fertile; le climat
eſt admirable, et il n'y fait jamais trop chaud, comme en Italie, et
en Eſpagne; ny trop froid, comme en Suede et en Dannemarc. Ce
Royaume eſt borné au Nord par la mer, qui s'appelle la Manche;
au Sud par la mer Mediterranée. La France n'eſt ſeparée de l'Italie
que par les Alpes, qui font de grandes montagnes couvertes de
neige, la plus grande partie de l'année; et les monts Pyrénées, qui
font encore de grandes montagnes, la ſéparent de l'Eſpagne. Elle
eſt partagée en douze Gouvernemens ou Provinces, qui font;

La Picardie,
La Normandie,
L'Île de France,
La Champagne,
La Bretagne,
L'Orlénois,
La Bourgogne,
Le Lyonnois,
La Guienne, ou la Gascogne,
Le Languedoc,
Le Dauphiné,
La Provence.

Les François en général ont beaucoup d'efprit, et font très
agréables, parcequ'ils ont en même tems de la vivacité, jointe à
beaucoup de politeſſe. A la verité, ils font quelquefois un peu
étourdis,

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