248

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

will improve your manners, though not your understanding;
and that complaifance and politenefs, which are so useful in
men's company, can only be acquired in women's.

Remember always, what I have told you a thousand times, that
all the talents in the world will want all their luſtre, and ſome
part of their uſe too, if they are not adornd with that eafy good-
breeding, that engaging manner, and thofe graces, which ſeduce
and preſoffeſs people in your favour at firſt ſight. A proper
care of your perſon is by no means to be neglected; always
extremely clean; upon proper occafions, fine. Your carriage
genteel, and your motions graceful. Take particular care of your
manner and addrefs, when you preſent yourſelf in company.
Let them be reſpectful without meannefs, eafy without too much
familiarity, genteel without affectation, and inſinuating without
any feeming art or deſign.

You need not ſend me any more extraſts of the German con-
ſtitution; which, by the courſe of your preſent ſtudies, I know
you muſt ſoon be acquainted with: but I would now rather that
your letters ſhould be a fort of journal of your own life. As for
inſtance; what company you keep, what new acquaintances you
make, what your pleafures are; with your own ſ-reflections upon
the whole: likewise, what Greek and Latin books you read and
underſtand. Adieu.

LETTER CIV.

January the 2d, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I AM edified with the allotment of your time at Leipzig;
which is so well employed, from morning till night, that a
fool would fay, you had none left for your ſelf; whereas, I
am

TO HIS SON.

249

am ſure, you have ſenſe enough to know, that ſuch a right uſe
of your time is having it all to your ſelf; nay, it is even more,
for it is laying it out to immenſe intereſt; which, in a very few
years, will amount to a prodigious capital.

Though twelve of your fourteen *Commenfaux* may not be the
livelieſt people in the world, and may want (as I easily conceive
that they do) *le ton de la bonne compagnie, et les graces*, which I
with you, yet pray take care not to exprefs any contempt, or
throw out any ridicule; which, I can aſſure you, is not more
contrary to good manners than to good ſenſe: but endeavour
rather to get all the good you can out of them; and ſomething or
other is to be got out of every body. They will, at leaſt, improve
you in the German language; and, as they come from different
countries, you may put them upon ſubjects, concerning which
they muſt neceſſarily be able to give you ſome uſeful informations,
let them be ever so dull or difagreeable in general: they will
know ſomething, at leaſt, of the laws, cuſtoms, government, and
confiderable families of their respective countries; all which are
better known than not, and conſequently worth inquiring into.
There is hardly any body good for every thing, and there is
fearcely any body who is absolutely good for nothing. A good
chymick will extraſt ſome ſpirit or other out of every ſubſtance;
and a man of parts will, by his dexterity and management,
elicit ſomething, worth knowing, out of every thing he converſes
with.

As you have been introduced to the Dutchefs of Courland,
pray go there as often as ever your more neceſſary occupations
will allow you. I am told ſhe is extremely well-bred, and has
parts. Now, though I would not recommend to you, to go
into women's company in fear of ſolid knowledge or judgment,
yet it has its uſe in other reſpects; for it certainly poliſhes the
manners,

VOL. I.

Kk

250 LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

manners, and gives *une certaine tournure*, which is very neceffary
in the course of the world; and which Englishmen have generally
lefs of than any people in the world.

I cannot fay that your fuppers are luxurious, but you muft
own they are folid; and a quart of foup, and two pounds of
potatoes, will enable you to paſs the night without great im-
patience for your breakfast next morning. One part of your
fupper (the potatoes) is the conſtant diet of my old friends and
countrymen, the Irifh, who are the healthieſt and the ſtrongest
bodies of men that I know in Europe.

As I believe that many of my letters to you and to Mr. Harte
have miſcarried, as well as ſome of yours and his to me; parti-
cularly one of his from Leipzig, to which he refers in a ſubfe-
quent one, and which I never received; I would have you, for
the future, acknowledge the dates of all the letters which either
of you ſhall receive from me; and I will do the fame on my
part.

That which I received by the laſt mail, from you, was of the
25th November, N. S. the mail before that brought me yours,
of which I have ſorged the date, but which encloſed one to
Lady Cheſterfield: ſhe will anſwer it ſoon, and, in the mean time,
thanks you for it.

My disorder was only a very great cold, of which I am intirely
recovered. You ſhall not complain for want of accounts from Mr.
Grevenkop, who will frequently write you whatever paſſes here,
in the German language and character; which will improve you
in both. Adieu.

LETTER

TO HIS SON.

25

LETTER CV.

DEAR BOY,

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

I
Willingly accept the New-year's gift, which you promife me
for next year; and the more valuable you make it, the more
thankful I ſhall be. That depends entirely upon you; and there-
fore I hope to be prefented, every year, with a new edition of
you, more correct than the former, and confiderably enlarged
and amended.

Since you do not care to be an Aſſeffor of the Imperial Cham-
ber, and that you deſire an eſtablishment in England; what do
you think of being Greek Professor at one of our Univerſities?
It is a very pretty finecure, and requires very little knowledge
(much leſs than, I hope, you have already) of that language. If
you do not approve of this, I am at a loſs to know what eſle to
propoſe to you; and therefore deſire that you will inform me what
fort of deſtination you propoſe for yourſelf: for it is now time to
fix it, and to take our meaſures accordingly. Mr. Harte tells me,
that you ſet up for a Πολιτικος αυες; if ſo, I prefume it is in
the view of succeeding me in my office; which I will very wil-
lingly reſign to you, whenever you ſhall call upon me for it. But,
if you intend to be the Πολιτικος, or the Βαληφογος αυες, there are
ſome trifling circumſtances, upon which you ſhould previouſly
take your reſolution. The firſt of which is, to be fit for it; and
then, in order to be ſo, make yourſelf maſter of Ancient and Mo-
dern Hifory, and Languages. To know perfectly the conſtitu-
tion, and form of government of every nation; the growth and
the decline of ancient and modern Empires; and to trace out,

Kk 2

and

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

252

and reflect upon the causes of both. To know the strength, the
riches, and the commerce of every country. These little things,
trifling as they may seem, are yet very necessary for a Politician to
know; and which therefore, I prefume, you will condeſcend to
apply yourſelf to. There are ſome additional qualifications ne-
ceſſary, in the practical part of buſineſs, which may deferſe ſome
confideration in your leifure moments; ſuch as, an abſolute com-
mand of your temper, ſo as not to be provoked to paffion, upon
any account: Patience, to hear frivolous, impertinent, and un-
reafonable applications; with addrefs enough to ſeſuſe, without
offending: or, by your manner of granting, to double the obliga-
tion: Dexterity enough to conceal a truth, without telling a lie:
Sagacity enough to read other people's countenances: and Sere-
nity enough not to let them diſcover any thing by yours; a
ſeeming frankneſs, with a real ſeſerve. These are the rudiments
of a Politician; the world muſt be your grammar.

Three mails are now due, from Holland; ſo that I have no
letters from you to acknowledge. I therefore conclude with re-
commending myſelf to your favour and protection, when you
ſucceed. Yours,

LETTER CVI.

London, January the 29th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

I
Find, by Mr. Harte's laſt letter, that many of my letters, to
you and him, have been frozen up in their way to Leipzig:
the thaw has, I ſuppofe, by this time, ſet them at liberty, to
purſue their journey to you, and you will receive a glut of them
at once. Hudibras alludes, in this verſe,

Like words congealed in northern air,

to

TO HIS SON.

253

to a vulgar notion, that, in Greenland, words were frozen in their utterance; and that, upon a thaw, a very mixed conversation was heard in the air, of all thate words fet at liberty. This conversation was, I prefume, too various and extenſive to be much attended to: and may not that be the cafe of half a dozen of my long letters, when you receive them all at once? I think that I can, eventually, anſwer that queſtion, thus: If you confider my letters in their true light, as conveying to you the advice of a friend, who ſincerely withſes your happineſs, and deſires to promote your pleaſures, you will both read and attend to them; but, if you confider them in their oppoſite, and very falſe light, as the diſtates of a moroſe and ſermonizing father, I am ſure they will be not only unattended to, but unread. Which is the cafe, you can beſt tell me. Advice is ſeldom welcome; and thate who want it the moſt, always like it the leaſt. I hope, that your want of experience, which you muſt be confious of, will convince you, that you want advice; and that your good ſenſe will incline you to follow it.

Tell me how you pafs your leifure hours at Leipzig? I know
you have not many; and I have too good an opinion of you, to
think, that, at this age, you would deſire more. Have you
aſſemblies, or public ſpectacles? and of what kind are they?
Whatever they are, ſee them all: ſeeing every thing, is the only
way not to admire any thing too much.

If you ever take up little tale-books, to amufe you by snatches, I
will recommend two French books, which I have already mention-
ed; they will entertain you, and not without ſome uſe to your mind
and your manners. One is, *La manière de lien penfer dans les
ouvrages d'espit*, written by *Pere Boulours*; I believe, you read it
once in England, with Monſieur Codere; but I think that you will
do well to read it again, as I know of no book that will form your
taſte

254

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

tafte better. The other is, *L'Art de plaire dans la Conversation*, by the Abbé de Bellegarde, and is by no means uſeleſt, though I will not pretend to ſay, that the art of pleafing can be reduced to a receipt; if it could, I am ſure, that receipt would be worth purchasing at any price. Good-ſenſe, and good-nature, are the principal ingredients; and your own obſervation, and the good advice of others, muſt give the right colour and taſte to it. Adieu! I ſhall always love you as you ſhall deferve.

LETTER CVII.

DEAR BOY,

London, February the 9th, O. S, 1748.

YOU will receive this letter, not from a Secretary of State,
but from a private man; for whom, at his time of life,
quiet was as fit, and as neceſſary, as labour and activity are for
you at your age, and for many years ſtill to come. I reſigned
the feals, laſt Saturday, to the King; who parted with me moſt
graciouſly, and (I may add, for he faſd ſo himſelf) with regret.
As I retire from hurry to quiet, and to enjoy, at my eafe, the
comforts of private and ſocial life, you will eafily imagine that I
have no thoughts of oppoſition, or meddling with buſineſs. Otium
cum dignitate is my object. The former I now enjoy; and I
hope that my conduct and character entitle me to ſome ſhare of
the latter. In ſhort, I am now happy; and I found that I could
not be ſo in my former public ſituation.

As I like your correspondence better than that of all the Kings,
Princes, and Minifers in Europe, I ſhall now have leifure to
carry it on more regularly. My letters to you will be written, I

2

am

255

TO HIS SON.

am ſure, by me, and, I hope, read by you, with pleafure; which,
I believe, ſeldom happens, reciprocally, to letters written from and
to a Secretary's office.

Do not apprehend that my retirement from buſineſs may be a
hindrance to your advancement in it, at a proper time; on the
contrary, it will promote it: for, having nothing to aſk for my-
felf, I ſhall have the better title to aſk for you. But you have ſtill
a ſurer way than this of rifing, and which is wholly in your own
power. Make yourſelf neceſſary; which, with your natural parts,
you may, by application, do. We are in general, in England,
ignorant of foreign affairs; and of the intereſts, views, preten-
fions and policy of other Courts. That part of knowledge never-
enters into our thoughts, nor makes part of our education; for
which reaſon, we have fewer proper ſubjects for foreign commif-
fions, than any other country in Europe; and, when foreign
affairs happen to be debated in Parliament, it is incredible with
how much ignorance. The harveſt of foreign affairs being then
ſo great, and the labourers ſo few, if you make yourſelf maſter
of them, you will make yourſelf neceſſary; firſt as a foreign, and
then as a domeſtic Minifer for that department.

I am extremely well pleafed with the account, which you give
me, of the allotment of your time. Do but go on ſo, for two
years longer, and I will aſk no more of you. Your labours will
be their own reward; but if you deſire any other, that I can add,
you may depend upon it.

I am glad that you perceive the indecency and turpitude of
thofe of your *Commenfaux*, who diſgrace and foul themſelves with
dirty w—-s and ſcoundrel gameſters. And the light in which,
I am ſure, you fee all reaſonable and decent people confider them,
will be a good warning to you. Adieu.

LETTER

236

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S LETTERS

LETTER CVIII.

DEAR BOY,

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

YOUR last letter gave me a very satisfactory account of your manner of employing your time at Leipzig. Go on so but for two years more, and I promise you, that you will outgo all the people of your age and time. I thank you for your explication of the *Schriftfassen*, and *Ampfsaffen*; and pray let me know the meaning of the *Landfassen*. I am very willing that you should take a Saxon servant, who speaks nothing but German; which will be a sure way of keeping up your German, after you leave Germany. But then, I would neither have that man, nor him whom you have already, put out of livery; which makes them both impertinent and uselefs. I am sure, that as soon as you shall have taken the other servant, your prefent man will prefes, extremely, to be out of livery, and valet de chambre; which is as much as to say, that he will curl your hair, and have you, but not condeſcend to do any thing else. I therefore advife you, never to have a ſervant out of livery; and, though you may not always think proper to carry the ſervant, who drefſes you, abroad in the rain and dirt, behind a coach, or before a chair; yet keep it in your power to do so, if you pleafe, by keeping him in livery.

I have seen Monsieur and Madame Flemming, who give me a very good account of you, and of your manners; which, to tell you the plain truth, were what I doubted of the moſt. She told me, that you were eafy, and not affhamed; which is a great deal for an Englishman, at your age.

I fet

Minister
from Saxony.

4

TO HIS SON.

257

I fet out for the Bath to-morrow, for a month; only to be better than well, and to enjoy, in quiet, the liberty which I have acquired by the refignation of the feals. You ſhall hear from me more at large from thence; and now good night to you.

LETTER CIX.

Bath, February the 16th, O. S. 1748.

DEAR BOY,

THE firſt uſe that I made of my liberty, was to come here, where I arrived yefterday. My health, though not fundamentally bad, yet, for want of proper attention of late, wanted ſome repairs, which theſe waters never fail giving it. I ſhall drink them a month, and return to London, there to enjoy the comforts of ſocial life, inſtead of groaning under the load of buſineſs. I have given the deſcription of the life that I propoſe to lead for the future, in this motto, which I have put up in the frize of my library in my new house;

Nunc veterum libris, nunc ſonno, et inertibus horis

Ducere ſollicitæ jucunda oblivia vitæ.

I muſt obſerve to you, upon this occafion, that the uninterrupted ſatifaſſion which I expeſt to find in that library, will be chiefly owing to my having employed ſome part of my life, well at your age. I with him had employed it better, and my ſatifaſſion would now be complete; but, however, I planted, while young, that degree of knowledge which is now my refuge and my ſhelter. Make your plantations ſtill more extenſive, they will more than pay you for your trouble. I do not regret the time that I paſſed

VOL. I.

L 1

in