第108章 LETTER LXXVI

LONDON,July 30,O.S.1749.

DEAR BOY:Mr.Harte's letters and yours drop in upon me most irregularly;for I received,by the last post,one from Mr.Harte,of the 9th,N.S.,and that which Mr.Grevenkop had received from him,the post before,was of the 13th;at last,I suppose,I shall receive them all.

I am very glad that my letter,with Dr.Shaw's opinion,has lessened your bathing;for since I was born,I never heard of bathing four hours a-day;which would surely be too much,even in Medea's kettle,if you wanted (as you do not yet)new boiling.

Though,in that letter of mine,I proposed your going to Inspruck,it was only in opposition to Lausanne,which I thought much too long and painful a journey for you;but you will have found,by my subsequent letters,that I entirely approved of Venice;where I hope you have now been some time,and which is a much better place for you to reside at,till you go to Naples,than either Tieffer or Laubach.I love capitals extremely;it is in capitals that the best company is always to be found;and consequently,the best manners to be learned.The very best provincial places have some awkwardness,that distinguish their manners from those of the metropolis.'A propos'of capitals,I send you here two letters of recommendation to Naples,from Monsieur Finochetti,the Neapolitan Minister at The Hague;and in my next I shall send you two more,from the same person,to the same place.

I have examined Comte d'Einsiedlen so narrowly concerning you,that Ihave extorted from him a confession that you do not care to speak German,unless to such as understand no other language.At this rate,you will never speak it well,which I am very desirous that you should do,and of which you would,in time,find the advantage.Whoever has not the command of a language,and does not speak it with facility,will always appear below himself when he converses in that language;the want of words and phrases will cramp and lame his thoughts.As you now know German enough to express yourself tolerably,speaking it very often will soon make you speak it very well:and then you will appear in it whatever you are.What with your own Saxon servant and the swarms of Germans you will meet with wherever you go,you may have opportunities of conversing in that language half the day;and I do very seriously desire that you will,or else all the pains that you have already taken about it are lost.You will remember likewise,that,till you can write in Italian,you are always to write to me in German.

Mr.Harte's conjecture concerning your distemper seems to be a very reasonable one;it agrees entirely with mine,which is the universal rule by which every man judges of another man's opinion.But,whatever may have been the cause of your rheumatic disorder,the effects are still to be attended to;and as there must be a remaining acrimony in your blood,you ought to have regard to that,in your common diet as well as in your medicines;both which should be of a sweetening alkaline nature,and promotive of perspiration.Rheumatic complaints are very apt to return,and those returns would be very vexatious and detrimental to you;at your age,and in your course of travels.Your time is,now particularly,inestimable;and every hour of it,at present,worth more than a year will be to you twenty years hence.You are now laying the foundation of your future character and fortune;and one single stone wanting in that foundation is of more consequence than fifty in the superstructure;which can always be mended and embellished if the foundation is solid.To carry on the metaphor of building:I would wish you to be a Corinthian edifice upon a Tuscan foundation;the latter having the utmost strength and solidity to support,and the former all possible ornaments to decorate.The Tuscan column is coarse,clumsy,and unpleasant;nobody looks at it twice;the Corinthian fluted column is beautiful and attractive;but without a solid foundation,can hardly be seen twice,because it must soon tumble down.Yours affectionately.