9

I call it a digreffion from that object, if, when you meet with clathing and jarring pretenfions of different prin ces to the fame thing, you had immediately recourfe other books, in which thofe feveral pretenfions were clearly ftated; on the contrary, that is the only way of remembering thofe contefted rights and claims: for, were a man to read tout de juite, Schwederu's Theatrum Pretenfionum, he would only be confounded by the variety, and remember none of them; whereas, by examining them occafionally, as they happen to occur, either in the courfe of your historical reading, or as they are agitated in your own times, you will retain them, by connecting them with thofe historical facts which occafioned your inquiry. For example, had you read, in the courfe of two or three folios of Pretenfions, thofe among others, of the two kings of England and Pruffia to Oft Frife, it is impoffible that you should have remembered them; but now that they are become the debated object at the Diet at Ratisbon, and the topic of all political converfations, if you confult both books and perfons concerning them, and inform your felf thoroughly, you will never forget them as long as you live. You will hear a great deal of them on one fide, at Hanover; and as much on the other fide, af terwards, at Berlin: hear both fides, and form your own opinion, but difpute with neither.

Letters from foreign minifters to their courts, and from their courts to them, are, if genuine, the best and most authentic records you can read, as far as they go. Cardinal d'Offat's, Prefident Jennin's, D'Eftrade's, Sir William Temple's, will not only inform your mind, but form your ftyle, which, in letters of bufinefs, fhould be very plain and fimple, but at the fame time exceedingly clear, correct, and pure.

All that I have faid may be reduced to thefe two d three plain principles: If that you should now read very little, but converfe a great deal: 2dly. to read no ufelcfs, unprofitable books; and, 3dly. that those which you do read, may all tend to a certain object,

↑ «From beginning to end, Schweder's Theatre of Pretendons.

and be relative to, and confequential of each other. In this method, half an hour's reading every day will carry you a great way. People feldom know how to employ their time to the best advantage till they have too little left to employ; but if, at your age, in the beginning of life, people would but confider the value of it, and put every moment to intereft, it is incredible what an additional fund of knowledge and pleasure. fuch an economy would bring in. I look back with regret upon that large fum of time, which, in my youth, I lavished away idly, without either improvement or pleasure. Take warning betimes, and employ every moment; the longest life is too fhort for knowledge, confequently every moment is precious.

LEITER CXLVI.

Court of Berlin...Court of Hanover. .Pleafing by little Atten

MY DEAR FRIEND,

tions... Anecdote.

London, June the 23d

I DIRECT this letter to Mayence, where I think it is

Hikely to meet you. Mayence will not, I believe, have charms to detain you above a week; fo that I reckon you will be at Bonn at the end of July. There you may ftay juft as little or as long as you please, and then proceed to Hanover.

I had a letter, by the laft poft, from a relation of mine at Hanover, Mr. Stanhope Afpinwall, who is in the duke of Newcastle's office, and has lately been appointed the king's minifter to the Dey of Algiers ; a poft which, notwithstanding your views of foreign affairs, I believe you do not envy him. He tells me, in that letter, there are very good lodgings to be had at one Mrs. Meyers, the next door to the duke of Newcattle's, which he offers to take for you: I have defired him to do it, in cafe Mrs. Meyers will wait for you till the latter end of Auguft, or the beginning of September, which, I fuppofe, is about the time when you wil be at Hanover.

As you are entirely master of the time when you will leave Bonn and go to Hanover, fo are you mafter to ftay at Hanover as long as you pleafe, and to go thence where you please; provided that at Christmas you are at Berlin, for the beginning of the carnival: this I would not have you fay at Hanover, confidering the mutual difpofition of thofe two courts; but, when any body afks you where you are to go next, say that you propofe rambling in Germany till the next Spring: when you intend to be in Flanders, in your way to England. I take Berlin, at this time, to be the politeft, the most fhining, and the most useful court in Europe for a young man to be at: and therefore I would, upon no account, not have you there, for at least a couple of months of the carnival. If you are as well received, and pafs your time as well at Bonn, as I believe you will, I would advise you to remain there till about the 20th of Auguft; in four days more you will be at Hanover. As for your ftay there, it must be shorter of longer, according to certain circumftances which you know of: fuppofing them at the best, then stay till within a week or ten days of the king's return to England; but fuppofing them at the worst, your ftay must not be too fhort, for reafons which you also know: no refentment must either appear or be fufpected; therefore, at worst, I think you must remain there a month, and at beft, as long as ever you pleafe. But I am convinced that all will turn out very well for you there. Every body is engaged or inclined to help you; the minifters, both English and German, the principal ladies, and most of the foreign minifters; fo that I may apply to you nullum numen abeft, fi fit prudentia. Du L'erron will, I believe, be back there from Turin, much about the time you get thither: pray be very attentive to him, and connect yourself with him as much as ever you can for, befides that he is a very pretty and well informed man, he is very much in fashion at Hanover, is perfonally very well with the king, and certain ladies; to that a vifible intimacy and connection with him will do you credit and fervice. Pray cultivate monfieur Hop, the Dutch minifter, who has always been very

much my friend, and will, I am fure, be yours: his manners, it is true, are not very engaging; he is rough, but he is fincere. It is very ufeful fometimes to fee the things which one ought to avoid, as it is right to fee very often those which one ought to imitate; and my friend Hop's manners will frequently point out to you what yours ought to be, by the rule of contraries.

Congreve points out a fort of critics, to whom he fays that we are doubly obliged :

Rules for good writing they with pains indite,

Then fhow us what is bad, by what they write.

It is certain that monfieur Hop, with the beft heart in the world, and a thoufand good qualities, has a thoufand enemies, and hardly a friend; fingly from the roughnefs of his manners.

I recommend to you again, though I have already done it twice or thrice, to speak German, even affectedly, while you are at Hanover; which will fhow that you prefer that language, and be of more ufe to you there with fomebody, than you can imagine. When you carry my letters to monfieur Munchaufen, and monfeur Schwiegeldt, addrefs yourself to them in German; the latter fpeaks French very well, but the former extremely ill. Show great attention to madame Munchaufen's daughter, who is a great favourite; these little trifles please mothers, and fometimes fathers, extremely. Obferve and you will find, almoft univerfally, that the leaft things either please or displease most ; because they neceffarily imply, either a very ftrong defire of obliging, or an unpardonable indifference about it. I will give you a ridiculous inftance enough of this truth, from my own experience. When I was ambaffador the first time in Holland, comte de Weffenaer and his wife, people of the firft rank and confideration, had a little boy of about three years old, of whom they were exceedingly fond: in order to make my court to them, I was fo too, and used to take the child ofter upon my lap, and play with him. One day his noft was very fnotty, upon which I took out my handker. chief and wiped it for him; this raised a loud laugh, and they called me a very handy nurse ; but the fathe

and mother were fo pleafed with it, that to this day it is an anecdote in the family; and I never receive a letter from comte Waffancar, but he makes me the compliments du morveux que j'ai mouché autrefois: who, by the way, I am affured, is now the prettiest young fellow in Holland. Where one would gain people, renember that nothing is little. Adieu!

LETTER CXLVII.

Court of Hanover... Favour at Courts... How acquired...Anec date ..Cautions against Gaming.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

London, June the 26th

As I have reafon to fear, from your laft letter of the

18th, from Manheim, that all, or at least most of my letters to you, fince you left Paris, have mifcarried, I think it requifite, at all events, to repeat in this the neceffary parts of thofe feveral letters, as far as they relate to your future motions.

I fuppofe that this will either find you, or be but a few days before you, at Bonn, where it is directed; and I fuppofe too, that you have fixed your time for going thence to Hanover. If things turn out well at Hanover, as in my opinion they will, ftay there till a week or ten days before the king fets out for England; but, fhould they turn out ill, which I cannot imagine, stay however a month, that your departure may not feem a ftep of difcontent or peevishnefs; the very fufpicion of which is by all means to be avoided. Whenever you leave Hanover, be it fooner or later, where would you go? Would you pafs the months of November and December at Brunfwick, Caffel, &c.-Would you chufe to go for a couple of months to Ratilbon, where you would be very well recommended to, and treated by the king's electoral minifter, the baron de Behr, and where you would improve your jus publicum? Or would you rather go directly to Berlin, and stay there till the end of the carnival? Two or three months at Berlin are, confidering all circumftances, neceffary