BATH,October 12,O.S.1748.
DEAR BOY:I came here three days ago upon account of a disorder in my stomach,which affected my head and gave me vertigo.I already find myself something better;and consequently do not doubt but that the course of these waters will set me quite right.But however and wherever I am,your welfare,your character,your knowledge,and your morals,employ my thoughts more than anything that can happen to me,or that Ican fear or hope for myself.I am going off the stage,you are coming upon it;with me what has been,has been,and reflection now would come too late;with you everything is to come,even,in some manner,reflection itself;so that this is the very time when my reflections,the result of experience,may be of use to you,by supplying the want of yours.As soon as you leave Leipsig,you will gradually be going into the great world;where the first impressions that you shall give of yourself will be of great importance to you;but those which you shall receive will be decisive,for they always stick.To keep good company,especially at your first setting out,is the way to receive good impressions.If you ask me what I mean by good company,I will confess to you that it is pretty difficult to define;but I will endeavor to make you understand it as well as I can.
Good company is not what respective sets of company are pleased either to call or think themselves,but it is that company which all the people of the place call,and acknowledge to be,good company,notwithstanding some objections which they may form to some of the individuals who compose it.
It consists chiefly (but by no means without exception)of people of considerable birth,rank,and character;for people of neither birth nor rank are frequently,and very justly admitted into it,if distinguished by any peculiar merit,or eminency in any liberal art or science.Nay,so motly a thing is good company,that many people,without birth,rank,or merit,intrude into it by their own forwardness,and others slide into it by the protection of some considerable person;and some even of indifferent characters and morals make part of it.But in the main,the good part preponderates,and people of infamous and blasted characters are never admitted.In this fashionable good company,the best manners and the best language of the place are most unquestionably to be learned;for they establish and give the tone to both,which are therefore called the language and manners of good company:there being no legal tribunal to ascertain either.
A company,consisting wholly of people of the first quality,cannot,for that reason,be called good company,in the common acceptation of the phrase,unless they are,into the bargain,the fashionable and accredited company of the place;for people of the very first quality can be as silly,as ill-bred,and as worthless,as people of the meanest degree.
On the other hand,a company consisting entirely of people of very low condition,whatever their merit or parts may be,can never be called good company;and consequently should not be much frequented,though by no means despised.
A company wholly composed of men of learning,though greatly to be valued and respected,is not meant by the words GOOD COMPANY;they cannot have the easy manners and,'tournure'of the world,as they do not live in it.
If you can bear your part well in such a company,it is extremely right to be in it sometimes,and you will be but more esteemed in other companies,for having a place in that.But then do not let it engross you;for if you do,you will be only considered as one of the 'literati'
by profession;which is not the way either,to shine,or rise in the world.
The company of professed wits and pests is extremely inviting to most young men;who if they have wit themselves,are pleased with it,and if they have none,are sillily proud of being one of it:but it should be frequented with moderation and judgment,and you should by no means give yourself up to it.A wit is a very unpopular denomination,as it carries terror along with it;and people in general are as much afraid of a live wit,in company,as a woman is of a gun,which she thinks may go off of itself,and do her a mischief.Their acquaintance is,however,worth seeking,and their company worth frequenting;but not exclusively of others,nor to such a degree as to be considered only as one of that particular set.
But the company,which of all others you should most carefully avoid,is that low company,which,in every sense of the word,is low indeed;low in rank,low in parts,low in manners,and low in merit.You will,perhaps,be surprised that I should think it necessary to warn you against such company,but yet I do not think it wholly,unnecessary,from the many instances which I have seen of men of sense and rank,discredited,verified,and undone,by keeping such company.