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in pleatures; they were feafonable, they were the pleatures of
youth, and I enjoyed them while young. If I had not, I
should probably have overvalued them now, as we are very apt
to do what we do not know: but, knowing them as I do, I
know their real value, and how much they are generally over-
rated. Nor do I regret the time that I have pafled in bufinefs,
for the fame reafon; thofe who fee only the outſide of it, imagine
that it has hidden charms, which they pant after; and nothing
but acquaintance can undeeceive them. I, who have been behind
the ſcenes, both of pleasure and bufineſs, and have ſeen all the
ſprings and pullies of thofe decorations which aſtoniſh and dazzle
the audience, retire, not only without regret, but with content-
ment and ſatisfaction. But what I do, and ever ſhall regret, is
the time which, while young, I loft in mere idlenefs, and in doing
nothing. This is the common effect of the inconfideracy of
youth, againſt which I beg you will be moſt carefully upon your
guard. The value of moments, when caſt up, is immenſe, if
well employed; if thrown away, their loſs is irrecoverable. Every
moment may be put to ſome uſe, and that with much more plea-
fure than if unemployed. Do not imagine, that, by the employ-
ment of time, I mean an uninterrupted application to ſerious
ſtudies. No; pleatures are, at proper times, both as neceſſary and
as uſeful: they ſaſhion and form you for the world; they teach
you characters, and ſhow you the human heart in its unguarded
minutes. But then remember to make that uſe of them. I have
known many people, from lazineſs of mind, go thorough both
pleasure and bufineſs, with equal inattention; neither enjoying the
one, nor doing the other: thinking themſelves men of pleasure,
becaufe they were mingled with thofe who were, and men of
bufineſs, becauſe they had bufineſs to do, though they did not do
it. Whatever you do, do it to the purpose; do it thoroughly,
not

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TO HIS SON.

not ſupernically. Approſondiffiez; go to the bottom of things.
Any thing half done, or half known, is, in my mind, neither done
nor known at all. Nay worſe, for it often miſleads. There is
hardly any place, or any company, where you may not gain
knowledge, if you pleafe; almoſt every body knows ſome one
thing, and is glad to talk upon that one thing. Seek and you
will find, in this world as well as in the next. See every thing,
inquire into every thing; and you may excuſe your curiosity, and
the queſtions you aſk, which otherwife might be thought imper-
tinent, by your manner of aſking them; for moſt things depend
a great deal upon the manner. As for example; I am afraid
that I am very trouſeſome with my queſtions; but nobody can in-
form me ſo well as you; or ſomething of that kind.

Now, that you are in a Lutheran country, go to their churches,
and obſerve the manner of their public worſhip; attend to their
ceremonies, and inquire the meaning and intention of every one
of them. And, as you will ſoon understand German well enough,
attend to their ſermons, and obſerve their manner of preaching.
Inform yourſelf of their church-government; whether it refides in
the Sovereign, or in Conſiſtories and Synods. Whence arifes the
maintenance of their Clergy; whether from tythes, as in England,
or from voluntary contributions, or from penſions from the State.
Do the fame thing when you are in Roman Catholic countries;
go to their churches, fee all their ceremonies; aſk the meaning of
them, get the terms explained to you. As for instance; Prime,
Tierce, Sexte, Nones, Mattins, Angelus, High Mafs, Vefpers,
Complies, &c. Inform yourſelf of their ſeveral religious Or-
ders, their Founders, their Rules, their Vows, their Habits, their
Revenues, &c. But, when you frequent places of public wor-
ſhip, as I would have you go to all the different ones you meet
with, remember, that, however erroneous, they are none of them

objects

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260

objects of laughter and ridicule. Honest error is to be pitied, not ridiculed. The object of all the public worships in the world is the fame; it is that great eternal Being, who created every thing. The different manners of worship are by no means subjects of ridicule. Each feet thinks its own the beft; and I know no infallible judge, in this world, to decide which is the beft. Make the fame inquiries, wherever you are, concerning the revenues, the military eftablifhment, the trade, the commerce, and the police of every country. And you would do well to keep a blank paper book, which the Germans call an *Album*; and there, inftead of defiring, as they do, every fool they meet with to feribble fome- thing, write down all theſe things, as soon as they come to your knowledge from good authorities.

I had almost forgotten one thing, which I would recommend as an object for your curioſity and information, that is the Admi-niftration of Juſtice; which, as it is always carried on in open Court, you may, and I would have you, go and fee it, with at-tention and inquiry.

I have now but one anxiety left, which is, concerning you. I would have you be, what I know nobody is, perfect. As that is impoffible, I would have you as near perſection as poffible. I know nobody in a fairer way towards it than yourſelf, if you pleafe. Never were ſo much pains taken for any body's education as for yours; and never had any body thofe opportunities of knowledge and improvement which you have had, and ſtill have. I hope, I wifh, I doubt, and I fear alternately. This only I am fure of, that you will prove either the greatest pain, or the great-est pleasure of Yours.

3

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

261

LETTER CX.

Bath, February the 22d, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

EVERY excellency, and every virtue, has its kindred vice or weakneſs; and, if carried beyond certain bounds, finks into the one or the other. Generofity often runs into Profufion, Oeconomy into Avarice, Courage into Raffneſs, Caution into Timidity, and ſo on :—inſomuch that, I believe, there is more judgment required, for the proper conduct of our virtues, than for avoiding their oppofite vices. Vice, in its true light, is ſo deformed, that it fhocks us at firſt fight; and would hardly ever ſeduce us, if it did not, at firſt, wear the mask of ſome Virtue. But Virtue is, in itſelf, ſo beautiful, that it charms us at firſt fight; engages us more and more, upon further acquaintance; and, as with other Beauties, we think excejfs impoffible: it is here that judgment is neceſſary, to moderate and direct the effects of an excellent caufe. I ſhall apply this reaſoning, at preſent, not to any particular virtue, but to an excellency, which, for want of judgment, is often the caufe of ridiculous and blameable effects; I mean, great Learning, which, if not accompanied with ſound judgment, frequently carries us into Error, Pride, and Pedantry. As, I hope, you will poffeſs that excellency in its utmoſt extent, and yet without its too common failings; the hints, which my experience can ſuggeſt, may, probably, not be uſeleſs to you.

Some learned men, proud of their knowledge, only ſpeak to decide, and give judgment without appeal. The conſequence of which is, that mankind, provoked by the infult, and injured by

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by the oppreflion, revolt; and, in order to flake off the tyranny,
even call the lawful authority in queflion. The more you know,
the modifter you ſhould be: and, (by the bye) that modeſt
is the ſureſt way of gratifying your vanity. Even where you are
fure, ſeem rather doubtful: repreſent, but do not pronounce; and,
if you would convince others, ſeem open to conviction yourſelf.

Others, to ſhow their learning, or often from the preju-
dices of a ſchool-education, where they hear of nothing eſſe, are
always talking of the Ancients, as ſomething more than men,
and of the Moderns as ſomething leſs. They are never without
a Clafſic or two in their pockets; they ſtick to the old good ſenſe;
they read none of the modern traſh; and will ſhow you plainly,
that no improvement has been made, in any one art or ſcience,
theſe laſt ſeventeen hundred years. I would by no means have
you diſown your acquaintance with the Ancients; but ſtill leſs
would I have you brag of an exclusive intimacy with them.
Speak of the Moderns without contempt, and of the Ancients
without idolatry; judge them all by their merits, but not by
their ages; and, if you happen to have an Elzevir claſſic in
your pocket, neither ſhow it nor mention it.

Some great ſcholars, moſt abſurdly, draw all their maxims, both
for public and private life, from what they call Parallel Cafes in
the ancient authors; without confidering, that, in the firſt place,
there never were, ſince the creation of the world, two cafes ex-
aſtely parallel: and, in the next place, that there never was a cafe
ſlated, or even known, by any Hiftorian, with every one of its
circumſtances; which, however, ought to be known, in order to be
reafoned from. Reaſon upon the cafe itſelf, and the ſeveral cir-
cumſtances that attend it, and aſt accordingly; but not from
the authority of ancient Poets or Hiftorians. Take into your
consideration, if you pleafe, cafes ſeemingly analogous; but take
them

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TO HIS SON.

263

them as helps only, not as guides. We are really ſo prejudiced
by our educations; that, as the Ancients deified their Heroes, we
deify their Madmen : of which, with all due regard to antiquity,
I take Leonidas and Curtius to have been two diſtinguified ones.
And yet a ſolid Pedant would, in a ſpeech in Parliament, relative to
a tax of two pence in the pound, upon ſome commodity or other,
quote thofe two heroes, as examples of what we ought to do, and
fuffer for our country. I have known theſe abſurdities carried ſo
far, by people of injudicious learning, that I ſhould not be ſurprized,
if ſome of them were to propoſe, while we are at war with the
Gauls, that a number of geefe ſhould be kept in the Tower, upon
account of the infinite advantage which Rome received, in a
parallel cafe, from a certain number of geefe in the Capitol.
This way of reaſoning, and this way of ſpeaking, will always
form a poor politician, and a puerile declaimer.

There is another ſpecies of learned men, who, though leſs
dogmatical and ſupercilious, are not leſs impertinent. Theſe are
the communicative and ſhining Pedants, who adorn their con-
verſation, even with women, by happy quotations of Greek and
Latin, and who have contracted ſuch a familiarity with the
Greek and Roman authors, that they call them by certain names
or epithets denoting intimacy. As old Homer; that fly rogue
Horace; Maro, inſtead of Virgil; and Naſo, inſtead of Ovid.
Theſe are often imitated by coxcombs, who have no learning at
all; but who have got ſome names, and ſome ſeraps of ancient
authors by heart, which they improperly and impertinently retail
in all companies, in hopes of paſſing for ſcholars. If, therefore,
you would avoid the accufation of pedantry, on one hand, or the
ſupſicion of ignorance, on the other, abſtain from learned often-
tation. Speak the language of the company that you are in;
ſpeak it purely, and unlarded with any other. Never ſeem wiser,
nor

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nor more learned, than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out, and strike it, merely to show that you have one. If you are aſked what o'clock it is, tell it; but do not proclaim it hourly and unaſked, like the watchman.

Upon the whole, remember that learning (I mean Greek and Roman learning) is a moſt useful and neceſſary ornament, which it is ſhameful not to be maſler of; but, at the fame time, moſt carefully avoid thoſe errors and abuſes which I have mentioned, and which too often attend it. Remember too, that great modern knowledge is ſill more neceſſary than ancient; and that you had better know perfectly the preſent, than the old ſlate of Europe; though I would have you well acquainted with both.

I have this moment received your letter of the 17th, N. S. Though, I confefs, there is no great variety in your preſent manner of life, yet materials can never be wanting for a letter; you fee, you hear, or you read, ſomething new every day; a ſhort account of which, with your own reflections thereupon, will make out a letter very well. But, ſince you deſire a ſubjeſt, pray fend me an account of the Lutheran eſtablishment in Germany; their religious tenets, their church-government, the maintenance, authority, and titles of their Clergy.

Vittorio Siri, complete, is a very ſearce and very dear book here; but I do not want it. If your own library grows too voluminous, you will not know what to do with it, when you leave Leipſig. Your beſt way will be, when you go away from thence, to ſend to England, by Hamburgh, all the books that you do not abſoſutely want. Yours.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

265

LETTER CXI.

Bath, March the 1st, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

BY Mr. Harte's letter to Mr. Grevenkop, of the 21ſt Febru ary, N. S. I find, that you had been a great while with- out receiving any letters from me; but, by this time, I dare ſay, you think you have received enough, and poffibly more than you have read; for I am not only a frequent, but a prolix cor respondent.

Mr. Harte ſays, in that letter, that he looks upon Proſeſſor Maſcow to be one of the ableſt men in Europe, in treaty and political knowledge. I am extremely glad of it; for that is what I would have you particularly apply to, and make yourſelf per ſeſt maſler of. The treaty part you muſt chiefly acquire by reading the treaties themſelves, and the hiftories and memoirs relative to them: not but that inquiries and converſations, upon thoſe treaties, will help you greatly, and imprint them better in your mind. In this course of reading, do not perplex your ſelf, at firſt, by the multitude of inſignificant treaties which are to be found in the *Corps Diplomatique*; but ſlick to the material ones, which altered the ſlate of Europe, and made a new ar rangement among the great Powers: ſuch as the treaties of Mün ſter, Nimeguen, Ryſwick, and Utrecht.

But there is one part of political knowledge, which is only to be had by inquiry and converſation; that is, the preſent ſlate of every Power in Europe, with regard to the three important points of Strength, Revenue, and Commerce. You will, therefore, do well, while you are in Germany, to inform yourſelf carefully of the military force, the revenues, and the commerce of every

VOL. I.

M m

Prince

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

266

Prince and State of the Empire; and to write down those in-
formations in a little book, kept for that particular purpose. To
give you a specimen of what I mean :

The Electorate of Hanover.

The revenue is about £. 500,000 a year.

The military establishment, in time of war, may be about
25,000 men; but that is the utmost.

The trade is chiefly linens, exported from Stade,

There are coarse woollen manufactures for home-confump-
tion.

The mines of Hartz produce about £. 100,000 in silver,
annually.

Such informations you may very easily get, by proper inquiries,
of every State in Germany, if you will but prefer useful to fri-
volous conversations.

There are many Princes, in Germany, who keep very few or no
troops, unless upon the approach of danger, or for the fake of
profit, by letting them out, for subfidies, to great Powers: in
that case, you will inform yourself what number of troops they
could raife, either for their own defence, or furnish to other
Powers for subfidies.

There is very little trouble, and an infinite use, in acquiring
of this knowledge. It seems to me even to be a more entertain-
ing subject, to talk upon, than *la pluie et le beau tems*.

Though I am fenfible that these things cannot be known with
the utmost exactneſs, at least by you, yet; you may, however, get
fo near the truth, that the difference will be very immaterial.

Pray let me know if the Roman Catholic worſhip is tolerated
in Saxony, any where but at Court; and if public mafs-houſes are
allowed

TO HISSON.

267

allowed any where else in the Electorate. Are the regular Romiſh
Clergy allowed; and have they any convents?

Are there any military Orders in Saxony, and what? Is the
White Eagle a Saxon or a Polifh Order? Upon what occasion, and
when, was it founded? What number of Knights?

Adieu! God blefs you; and may you turn out what I
wifh!

LETTER CXII.

Bath, March the 9th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I Muſt, from time to time, remind you of what I have often re-
commended to you, and of what you cannot attend to too
much; *sacrifice to the Graces*. The different effects of the fame
things, faid or done, when accompanied or abandoned by them,
is almost inconceivable. They prepare the way to the heart;
and the heart has ſuch an influence over the understanding, that
it is worth while to engage it in our intereſt. It is the whole of
women, who are guided by nothing else; and it has ſo much to
fay, even with men, and the ableſt men too, that it commonly
triumphs in every ſtruggle with the understanding. Monfieur de
Rochefoucault, in his Maxims, fays, that *l'espirit eſt ſouvent la dupe
du cœur*. If he had faid, inſtead of ſouvent, *prefque toujours*, I
fear he would have been nearer the truth. This being the cafe,
aim at the heart. Inſtrinc merit alone will not do: it will gain
you the general eſteem of all; but not the particular affection,
that is the heart, of any. To engage the affection of any parti-
cular perſon, you muſt, over and above your general merit, have
fome particular merit to that perſon; by ſervices done, or offered;

Mm 2

by