LONDON,February 14,O.S.1752.
MY DEAR FRIEND:In a month's time,I believe I shall have the pleasure of sending you,and you will have the pleasure of reading,a work of Lord Bolingbroke's,in two volumes octavo,"Upon the Use of History,"in several letters to Lord Hyde,then Lord Cornbury.It is now put into the press.It is hard to determine whether this work will instruct or please most:the most material historical facts,from the great era of the treaty of Munster,are touched upon,accompanied by the most solid reflections,and adorned by all that elegance of style which was peculiar to himself,and in which,if Cicero equals,he certainly does not exceed him;but every other writer falls short of him.I would advise you almost to get this book by heart.I think you have a turn to history,you love it,and have a memory to retain it:this book will teach you the proper use of it.Some people load their memories indiscriminately with historical facts,as others do their stomachs with food;and bring out the one,and bring up the other,entirely crude and undigested.You will find in Lord Bolingbroke's book an infallible specific against that epidemical complaint.--[It is important to remember that at this time Lord Bolingbroke's philosophical works had not appeared;which accounts for Lord Chesterfield's recommending to his son,in this,as well as in some foregoing passages,the study of Lord Bolingbroke's writings.]
I remember a gentleman who had read history in this thoughtless and undistinguishing manner,and who,having traveled,had gone through the Valtelline.He told me that it was a miserable poor country,and therefore it was,surely,a great error in Cardinal Richelieu to make such a rout,and put France to so much expense about it.Had my friend read history as he ought to have done,he would have known that the great object of that great minister was to reduce the power of the House of Austria;and in order to that,to cut off as much as he could the communication between the several parts of their then extensive dominions;which reflections would have justified the Cardinal to him,in the affair of the Valtelline.But it was easier to him to remember facts,than to combine and reflect.
One observation I hope you will make in reading history;for it is an obvious and a true one.It is,that more people have made great figures and great fortunes in courts by their exterior accomplishments,than by their interior qualifications.Their engaging address,the politeness of their manners,their air,their turn,hath almost always paved the way for their superior abilities,if they have such,to exert themselves.
They have been favorites before they have been ministers.In courts,an universal gentleness and 'douceur dans les manieres'is most absolutely necessary:an offended fool,or a slighted valet de chambre,may very possibly do you more hurt at court,than ten men of merit can do you good.Fools,and low people,are always jealous of their dignity,and never forget nor forgive what they reckon a slight:on the other hand,they take civility and a little attention as a favor;remember,and acknowledge it:this,in my mind,is buying them cheap;and therefore they are worth buying.The prince himself,who is rarely the shining genius of his court,esteems you only by hearsay but likes you by his senses;that is,from your air,your politeness,and your manner of addressing him,of which alone he is a judge.There is a court garment,as well as a wedding garment,without which you will not be received.
That garment is the 'volto sciolto';an imposing air,an elegant politeness,easy and engaging manners,universal attention,an insinuating gentleness,and all those 'je ne sais quoi'that compose the GRACES.
I am this moment disagreeably interrupted by a letter;not from you,as Iexpected,but from a friend of yours at Paris,who informs me that you have a fever which confines you at home.Since you have a fever,I am glad you have prudence enough in it to stay at home,and take care of yourself;a little more prudence might probably have prevented it.Your blood is young,and consequently hot;and you naturally make a great deal by your good stomach and good digestion;you should,therefore,necessarily attenuate and cool it,from time to time,by gentle purges,or by a very low diet,for two or three days together,if you would avoid fevers.Lord Bacon,who was a very great physician in both senses of the word,hath this aphorism in his "Essay upon Health,"'Nihil magis ad Sanitatem tribuit quam crebrae et domesticae purgationes'.By 'domesticae',he means those ****** uncompounded purgatives which everybody can administer to themselves;such as senna-tea,stewed prunes and senria,chewing a little rhubarb,or dissolving an ounce and a half of manna in fair water,with the juice of a lemon to make it palatable.
Such gentle and unconfining evacuations would certainly prevent those feverish attacks to which everybody at your age is subject.
By the way,I do desire,and insist,that whenever,from any indisposition,you are not able to write to me upon the fixed days,that Christian shall;and give me a TRUE account how you are.I do not expect from him the Ciceronian epistolary style;but I will content myself with the Swiss simplicity and truth.
I hope you extend your acquaintance at Paris,and frequent variety of companies;the only way of knowing the world;every set of company differs in some particulars from another;and a man of business must,in the course of his life,have to do with all sorts.It is a very great advantage to know the languages of the several countries one travels in;and different companies may,in some degree,be considered as different countries;each hath its distinctive language,customs,and manners:know them all,and you will wonder at none.
Adieu,child.Take care of your health;there are no pleasures without it.