<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0174" id="link2H_4_0174"></SPAN></p>
<h2> LETTER CLXXII </h2>
<p>MY DEAR FRIEND: Versatility as a courtier may be almost decisive to you
hereafter; that is, it may conduce to, or retard your preferment in your
own destination. The first reputation goes a great way; and if you fix a
good one at Hanover, it will operate also to your advantage in England.
The trade of a courtier is as much a trade as that of a shoemaker; and he
who applies himself the most, will work the best: the only difficulty is
to distinguish (what I am sure you have sense enough to distinguish)
between the right and proper qualifications and their kindred faults; for
there is but a line between every perfection and its neighboring
imperfection. As, for example, you must be extremely well-bred and polite,
but without the troublesome forms and stiffness of ceremony. You must be
respectful and assenting, but without being servile and abject. You must
be frank, but without indiscretion; and close, without being costive. You
must keep up dignity of character, without the least pride of birth or
rank. You must be gay within all the bounds of decency and respect; and
grave without the affectation of wisdom, which does not become the age of
twenty. You must be essentially secret, without being dark and mysterious.
You must be firm, and even bold, but with great seeming modesty.</p>
<p>With these qualifications, which, by the way, are all in your own power, I
will answer for your success, not only at Hanover, but at any court in
Europe. And I am not sorry that you begin your apprenticeship at a little
one; because you must be more circumspect, and more upon your guard there,
than at a great one, where every little thing is not known nor reported.</p>
<p>When you write to me, or to anybody else, from thence, take care that your
letters contain commendations of all that you see and hear there; for they
will most of them be opened and read; but, as frequent couriers will come
from Hanover to England, you may sometimes write to me without reserve;
and put your letters into a very little box, which you may send safely by
some of them.</p>
<p>I must not omit mentioning to you, that at the Duke of Newcastle's table,
where you will frequently dine, there is a great deal of drinking; be upon
your guard against it, both upon account of your health, which would not
bear it, and of the consequences of your being flustered and heated with
wine: it might engage you in scrapes and frolics, which the King (who is a
very sober man himself) detests. On the other hand, you should not seem
too grave and too wise to drink like the rest of the company; therefore
use art: mix water with your wine; do not drink all that is in the glass;
and if detected, and pressed to drink more do not cry out sobriety; but
say that you have lately been out of order, that you are subject to
inflammatory complaints, and that you must beg to be excused for the
present. A young fellow ought to be wiser than he should seem to be; and
an old fellow ought to seem wise whether he really' be so or not.</p>
<p>During your stay at Hanover I would have you make two or three excursions
to parts of that Electorate: the Hartz, where the silver mines are;
Gottingen, for the University; Stade, for what commerce there is. You
should also go to Zell. In short, see everything that is to be seen there,
and inform yourself well of all the details of that country. Go to Hamburg
for three or four days, and know the constitution of that little Hanseatic
Republic, and inform yourself well of the nature of the King of Denmark's
pretensions to it.</p>
<p>If all things turn out right for you at Hanover, I would have you make it
your head-quarters, till about a week or ten days before the King leaves
it; and then go to Brunswick, which, though a little, is a very polite,
pretty court. You may stay there a fortnight or three weeks, as you like
it; and from thence go to Cassel, and stay there till you go to Berlin;
where I would have you be by Christmas. At Hanover you will very easily
get good letters of recommendation to Brunswick and to Cassel. You do not
want any to Berlin; however, I will send you one for Voltaire. 'A propos'
of Berlin, be very reserved and cautious while at Hanover, as to that King
and that country; both which are detested, because feared by everybody
there, from his Majesty down to the meanest peasant; but, however, they
both extremely deserve your utmost attention and you will see the arts and
wisdom of government better in that country, now, than in any other in
Europe. You may stay three months at Berlin, if you like it, as I believe
you will; and after that I hope we shall meet there again.</p>
<p>Of all the places in the world (I repeat it once more), establish a good
reputation at Hanover, 'et faites vous valoir la, autant qu'il est
possible, par le brillant, les manieres, et les graces'. Indeed it is of
the greatest importance to you, and will make any future application to
the King in your behalf very easy. He is more taken by those little
things, than any man, or even woman, that I ever knew in my life: and I do
not wonder at him. In short, exert to the utmost all your means and powers
to please: and remember that he who pleases the most, will rise the
soonest and the highest. Try but once the pleasure and advantage of
pleasing, and I will answer that you will never more neglect the means.</p>
<p>I send you herewith two letters, the one to Monsieur Munchausen, the other
to Monsieur Schweigeldt, an old friend of mine, and a very sensible
knowing man. They will both I am sure, be extremely civil to you, and
carry you into the best company; and then it is your business to please
that company. I never was more anxious about any period of your life, than
I am about this, your Hanover expedition, it being of so much more
consequence to you than any other. If I hear from thence, that you are
liked and loved there, for your air, your manners, and address, as well as
esteemed for your knowledge, I shall be the happiest man in the world.
Judge then what I must be, if it happens otherwise. Adieu.</p>
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