I am extremely glad to hear that you are soon to have Voltaire at Manheim:immediately upon his arrival,pray make him a thousand compliments from me.I admire him most exceedingly;and,whether as an epic,dramatic,or lyric poet,or prose-writer,I think I justly apply to him the 'Nil molitur inepte'.I long to read his own correct edition of 'Les Annales de l'Empire',of which the 'Abrege Chronologique de l'Histoire Universelle',which I have read,is,I suppose,a stolen and imperfect part;however,imperfect as it is,it has explained to me that chaos of history,of seven hundred years more clearly than any other book had done before.You judge very rightly that I love 'le style le r et fleuri'.I do,and so does everybody who has any parts and taste.It should,I confess,be more or less 'fleuri',according to the subject;but at the same time I assert that there is no subject that may not properly,and which ought not to be adorned,by a certain elegance and beauty of style.What can be more adorned than Cicero's Philosophical Works?What more than Plato's?It is their eloquence only that has preserved and transmitted them down to us through so many centuries;for the philosophy of them is wretched,and the reasoning part miserable.
But eloquence will always please,and has always pleased.Study it therefore;make it the object of your thoughts and attention.Use yourself to relate elegantly;that is a good step toward speaking well in parliament.Take some political subject,turn it in your thoughts,consider what may be said both for and against it,then put those arguments into writing,in the most correct and elegant English you can.
For instance,a standing army,a place bill,etc.;as to the former,consider,on one side,the dangers arising to a free country from a great standing military force;on the other side,consider the necessity of a force to repel force with.Examine whether a standing army,though in itself an evil,may not,from circumstances,become a necessary evil,and preventive of greater dangers.As to the latter,consider,how far places may bias and warp the conduct of men,from the service of their country,into an unwarrantable complaisance to the court;and,on the other hand,consider whether they can be supposed to have that effect upon the conduct of people of probity and property,who are more solidly interested in the permanent good of their country,than they can be in an uncertain and precarious employment.Seek for,and answer in your own mind,all the arguments that can be urged on either side,and write them down in an elegant style.This will prepare you for debating,and give.
you an habitual eloquence;for I would not give a farthing for a mere holiday eloquence,displayed once or twice in a session,in a set declamation,but I want an every-day,ready,and habitual eloquence,to adorn extempore and debating speeches;to make business not only clear but agreeable,and to please even those whom you cannot inform,and who do not desire to be informed.All this you may acquire,and make habitual to you,with as little trouble as it cost you to dance a minuet as well as you do.You now dance it mechanically and well without thinking of it.
I am surprised that you found but one letter for me at Manheim,for you ought to have found four or five;there are as many lying for you at your banker's at Berlin,which I wish you had,because I always endeavored to put something into them,which,I hope,may be of use to you.
When we meet at Spa,next July,we must have a great many serious conversations;in which I will pour out all my experience of the world,and which,I hope,you will trust to,more than to your own young notions of men and things.You will,in time,discover most of them to have been erroneous;and,if you follow them long,you will perceive your error too late ;but if you will be led by a guide,who,you are sure,does not mean to mislead you,you will unite two things,seldom united,in the same person;the vivacity and spirit of youth,with the caution and experience of age.
Last Saturday,Sir Thomas Robinson,who had been the King's Minister at Vienna,was declared Secretary of State for the southern department,Lord Holderness having taken the northern.Sir Thomas accepted it unwillingly,and,as I hear,with a promise that he shall not keep it long.Both his health and spirits are bad,two very disqualifying circumstances for that employment;yours,I hope,will enable you,some time or other,to go through with it.In all events,aim at it,and if you fail or fall,let it at least be said of you,'Magnis tamen excidit ausis'.Adieu.