LONDON,November 1,O.S.1750
MY DEAR FRIEND:I hope that this letter will not find you still at Montpelier,but rather be sent after you from thence to Paris,where,I am persuaded,that Mr.Harte could find as good advice for his leg as at Montpelier,if not better;but if he is of a different opinion,I am sure you ought to stay there,as long as he desires.
While you are in France,I could wish that the hours you allot for historical amusement should be entirely devoted to the history of France.
One always reads history to most advantage in that country to which it is relative;not only books,but persons being ever at hand to solve doubts and clear up difficulties.I do by no means advise you to throw away your time in ransacking,like a dull antiquarian,the minute and unimportant parts of remote and fabulous times.Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.And a general notion of the history of France,from the conquest of that country by the Franks,to the reign of Louis the Eleventh,is sufficient for use,consequently sufficient for you.There are,however,in those remote times,some remarkable eras that deserve more particular attention;I mean those in which some notable alterations happened in the constitution and form of government.As,for example,in the settlement of Clovis in Gaul,and the form of government which he then established;for,by the way;that form of government differed in this particular from all the other Gothic governments,that the people,neither collectively nor by representatives,had any share in it.It was a mixture of monarchy and aristocracy:and what were called the States General of France consisted only of the nobility and clergy till the time of Philip le Bel,in the very beginning of the fourteenth century,who first called the people to those assemblies,by no means for the good of the people,who were only amused by this pretended honor,but,in truth,to check the nobility and clergy,and induce them to grant the money he wanted for his profusion;this was a scheme of Enguerrand de Marigny,his minister,who governed both him and his kingdom to such a degree as to,be called the coadjutor and governor of the kingdom.Charles Martel laid aside these assemblies,and governed by open force.Pepin restored them,and attached them to him,and with them the nation;by which means he deposed Childeric and mounted the throne.This is a second period worth your attention.The third race of kings,which begins with Hugues Capet,is a third period.A judicious reader of history will save himself a great deal of time and trouble by attending with care only to those interesting periods of history which furnish remarkable events,and make eras,and going slightly over the,common run of events.Some people read history as others read the "Pilgrim's Progress";giving equal attention to,and indiscriminately loading their memories with every part alike.But I would have you read it in a different manner;take the shortest general history you can find of every country;and mark down in that history the most important periods,such as conquests,changes of kings,and alterations of the form of government;and then have recourse to more extensive histories or particular treatises,relative to those great points.Consider them well,trace up their causes,and follow their consequences.For instance,there is a most excellent,though very short history of France,by Le Gendre.Read that with attention,and you will know enough of the general history;but when you find there such remarkable periods as are above mentioned,consult Mezeray,and other of the best and minutest historians,as well as political treatises upon those subjects.In later times,memoirs,from those of Philip de Commines,down to the innumerble ones in the reign of Louis the Fourteenth,have been of great use,and thrown great light upon particular parts of history.