<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0161" id="link2H_4_0161"></SPAN></p>
<h2> LETTER CLIX </h2>
<h3> LONDON, February 14, O. S. 1752. </h3>
<p>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.]</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>I am this moment disagreeably interrupted by a letter; not from you, as I
expected, 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 simple 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Adieu, child. Take care of your health; there are no pleasures without it.</p>
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