CXLVII. Court of Hanover...Favour at Courts.. How acquired... Anecdote...Cautions against CXLVII. Hanover...Court of Brunswick..... CXLIX. George the Second...Duke of Newcastle... CL. Negotiations at Hanover..Election of King of the Romans...Weakness of the Houfe uf Auftria. Views of the different Parties CLI. Manners of different Countries... Abfurdity of drinking Healths... Fashionable Manners CLII. Court of Berlin...Epic Poetry...Homer...Vir- gil...Milton...Taffo.... Charles XII...Heroes CLIII. Popular Monarchs...Art of Pleafing...Im- pediments to it in the Young...Pride ..Inatten- tion. Bafhfulness...Duke of Ormond.. Duke of Marlborough...Advice to affociate with Superi- CLIV. Countenance...Roughness in Manners...Ca- baliftical Writers...Turkish Hiftory...Defpotifm CLVI. Court of Manheim...Good-breeding fecures a good Reception...Affairs of France...Danger to eftablished Governments from the Military... Another Prophecy of the French Revolution... CLVII. Parliament... Means of acquiring Diftinction there... Neceffity of not over-rating Mankind CLVIII. Method in Business...Duke of Marlborough ...Duke of Newcastle...Sir Robert Walpole... Indolence a Kind of Suicide...Tranflating GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF A Polite Education. LETTER I. Introduction-Exhortation to Diligence in Study-Cato the MY DEAR CHILD, I Cenfor. Bath, September the goth. AM very glad to hear that you are returned from your travels well, and in good humour. As I know you have a pleasure in learning, I take it for granted that you have refumed your ftudies; for time is precious, life short, and confequently one must not lose a fingle moment. A man of fenfe knows how to make the most of time, and puts out his whole fum, either to intereft or to pleasure; He is never idle; but conftantly employed either in amufements or in ftudy. It is a faying, that idlenefs is the mother of all vice. At leaft, it is certain, that laziness is the inheritance of fools; and nothing so despicable as a fluggard. Cato the Cenfor, an old Roman of great virtue and much wifdom, ufed to fay, there were but three actions of his life which he regretted. The firft was, the having told a fecret to his wife; the Tecond, that he had once gone by fea when he might have gone by land; and the third, the having paffed one day without doing any thing. Confidering the manner in which you em ploy your time, I own that I am envious of the pleasure you will have in finding yourself more learned the other boys, even those who are older than your B C What honour this will do you! What diftinctions, what applaufes will follow, wherever you go! You must confefs that this cannot but give you pleasure. The being defirous of furpafling them in merit and learning is a very laudable ambition; whereas, the wifhing to outfhine others in rank, in expense, in clothes, and in equipage, is a filly vanity, that makes a man appear ridiculous. Σ LETTER II. Examples from Ancient Hiftory of Generofity and Greatness I MY DEAR CHILD, of Soul. Bath, March the 28th. He tells HAVE received a letter from Mr. Maittaire, in which he gives a very good account of you. me, you are going to begin again what you have already learned; you ought to be very attentive, and not repeat your leffons like a parrot, without knowing what they mean. In one of my letters I told you, that, in order to be a perfectly virtuous man, juftice was not fufficient; for that generofity and greatnefs of foul implied much more. You will understand this better by examples; here are fome. Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, having conquered Darius, king of Perfia, took an infinite num ber of prifoners; and, among others, the wife and mother of Darius. Now, according to the laws of war, he might have made flaves of them; but he had too much greatnefs of foul to make a bad ufe of his victory; he therefore treated them as queens, and fhowed them the fame attention and refpect as if he had been their fubject; which Darius hearing, faid, that Alexander deferved to be victorious, and was alone worthy to reign in his ftead. Obferve by this, how virtue and greatnefs of foul compel even enemies to beftow praife. Julius Cæfar too, the first emperor of the Romans, was in an eminent degree poffeffed of humanity, and this greatness of foul. After having vanquished Pompey the Great, at the battle of Pharfalia, he pardonedthofe, whom, according to the laws of war, he might have put to death; and not only gave them their lives, but also restored them their fortunes and their honours. Upon which Cicero, in one of his orations, makes this beautiful remark, fpeaking to Julius Cæfar: "Fortune could not do more for you, than give you the power of faving fo many people; nor Nature ferve you better, than in giving you the will to do it." You fee by: that, what glory and praise are gained by doing good; befides the pleafure which is felt inwardly, and exceeds all others. Adieu I fhall conclude this letter, as Cicero often does his, Jubeo te bene valere: that is to fay, I order you to be in good health. DEAR BOY, I THANK LETTER III. On Irony: Tunbridge, July the 15th you for your concern about my health ; which I would have given you an account of fooner, but that writing does not agree with thefe waters. I am better fince I have been here; and fhall therefore ftay a month longer. Signor Zamboni compliments me, through you, much more than I deferve ; but pray do you take care to deferve what he fays of you; and remember, that praife, when it is not deferved, is the feverest satire and abufe; and the moft effectual way of expofing people's vices and follies. This is a figure of fpeech, called Irony; which is faying directly the contrary of what you mean; but yet it is not a lie, because you plainly thow, that you mean directly the contrary of what you fay; fo that you deceive nobody. For example; if one were to compliment a notorious knave, for his fingular honefty and probity, and an eminent fool for his wit and parts, the irony is plain; and every body would difcover the fatire. Or, fuppofe that I were to commend you for your great attention to your book, and for your retaining and remembering what you have once learned, would you not plainly perceive the irony, and fee that I laughed at you? Therefore, whenever you are commended for any thing, confider fairly with yourself, whether you deferve it or not; and if you do not deserve it, remember that you are only abused and laughed at; and endeavour to deferve better for the future, and to prevent the irony. I MY DEAR BOY, LETTER IV. On Attention and Decency. July the 24th WAS pleafed with your asking me, the last time I faw you, why I had left off writing: For I looked upon it as a fign that you liked and minded my letters: If that be the cafe, you fhall hear from me often enough; and my letters may be of ufe, if you will give attention to them; otherwife it is only giving myfelf trouble to no purpofe; for it fignifies nothing to read a thing once, if one does not mind and remember it. It is a fure fign of a little mind, to be doing one thing, and at the fame time to be either thinking of another, or not thinking at all. One should always think of what one is about. When one is learning, one should not think of play; and when one is at play, one should not think of one's learning. Befides that, if you do not mind your book while you are at it, it will be a double trouble to you, for you must learn it all over again. One of the most important points of life is decency; which is to do what is proper, and where it is proper; for many things are proper at one time, and in one place, that are extremely improper in another: For example; it is very proper and decent that you should play fome part of the day, but you must feel that it would be very improper and indecent, if you were to ly your kite, or play at nine pins, while you were with Mr. Maittaire. It is proper and decent to dance rell; but then you must dance only at balls, and places |