GREENWICH,June 20,O.S.1751
MY DEAR FRIEND:So very few people,especially young travelers,see what they see,or hear what they hear,that though I really believe it may be unnecessary with you,yet there can be no harm in reminding you,from time to time,to see what you see,and to hear what you hear;that is,to see and hear as you should do.Frivolous,futile people,who make at least three parts in four of mankind,only desire to see and hear what their frivolous and futile precursors have seen and heard:as St.
Peter's,the Pope,and High Mass,at Rome;Notre Dame,Versailles,the French King,and the French Comedy,in France.A man of parts sees and hears very differently from these gentlemen,and a great deal more.
He examines and informs himself thoroughly of everything he sees or hears;and,more particularly,as it is relative to his own profession or destination.Your destination is political;the object,therefore,of your inquiries and observations should be the political interior of things;the forms of government,laws,regulations,customs,trade,manufactures,etc.,of the several nations of Europe.This knowledge is much better acquired by conversation with sensible and well-informed people,than by books,the best of which upon these subjects are always imperfect.For example,there are "Present States"of France,as there are of England;but they are always defective,being published by people uninformed,who only copy one another;they are,however,worth looking into because they point out objects for inquiry,which otherwise might possibly never have occurred to one's mind;but an hour's conversation with a sensible president or 'conseiller'will let you more into the true state of the parliament of Paris,than all the books in France.In the same manner,the 'Almanack Militaire'is worth your having;but two or three conversations with officers will inform you much better of their military regulations.People have,commonly,a partiality for their own professions,love to talk of them,,and are even flattered by being consulted upon the subject;when,therefore,you are with any of those military gentlemen (and you can hardly be in any company without some),ask them military questions,inquire into their methods of discipline,quartering,and clothing their men;inform yourself of their pay,their perquisites,'lours montres,lours etapes',etc.Do the same as to the marine,and make yourself particularly master of that detail;which has,and always will have,a great relation to the affairs of England;and,in proportion as you get good informations,take minutes of them in writing.
The regulations of trade and commerce in France are excellent,as appears but too plainly for us,by the great increase of both,within these thirty years;for not to mention their extensive commerce in both the East and West Indies,they have got the whole trade of the Levant from us;and now supply all the foreign markets with their sugars,to the ruin almost of our sugar colonies,as Jamaica,Barbadoes,and the Leeward Islands.Get,therefore,what informations you can of these matters also.
Inquire too into their church matters;for which the present disputes between the court and the clergy give you fair and frequent opportunities.Know the particular rights of the Gallican church,in opposition to the pretensions of the See of Rome.I need not recommend ecclesiastical history to you,since I hear that you study 'Du Pin'very assiduously.