第30章 LETTER XXVI

LONDON,January 29,O.S.1748.

DEAR BOY:I find,by Mr.Harte's last letter,that many of my letters to you and him,have been frozen up on their way to Leipsig;the thaw has,Isuppose,by this time,set them at liberty to pursue their journey to you,and you will receive a glut of them at once.Hudibras alludes,in this verse,Like words congealed in northern air,to a vulgar notion,that in Greenland words were frozen in their utterance;and that upon a thaw,a very mixed conversation was heard in the air,of all those words set at liberty.This conversation was,Ipresume,too various and extensive to be much attended to:and may not that be the case of half a dozen of my long letters,when you receive them all at once?I think that I can,eventually,answer that question,thus:If you consider my letters in their true light,as conveying to you the advice of a friend,who sincerely wishes your happiness,and desires to promote your pleasure,you will both read and attend to them;but,if you consider them in their opposite,and very false light,as the dictates of a morose and sermonizing father,I am sure they will be not only unattended to,but unread.Which is the case,you can best tell me.

Advice is seldom welcome;and those who want it the most always like it the least.I hope that your want of experience,of which you must be conscious,will convince you,that you want advice;and that your good sense will incline you to follow it.

Tell me how you pass your leisure hours at Leipsig;I know you have not many;and I have too good an opinion of you to think,that,at this age,you would desire more.Have you assemblies,or public spectacles?and of what kind are they?Whatever they are,see them all;seeing everything,is the only way not to admire anything too much.

If you ever take up little tale-books,to amuse you by snatches,I will recommend two French books,which I have already mentioned;they will entertain you,and not without some use to your mind and your manners.

One is,'La Maniere de bien penser dans les Ouvrages d'Esprit',written by Pere Bouhours;I believe you read it once in England,with Monsieur Coderc;but I think that you will do well to read it again,as I know of no book that will form your taste better.The other is,'L'Art de plaire dans la Conversation',by the Abbe de Bellegarde,and is by no means useless,though I will not pretend to say,that the art of pleasing can be reduced to a receipt;if it could,I am sure that receipt would be worth purchasing at any price.Good sense,and good nature,are the principal ingredients;and your own observation,and the good advice of others,must give the right color and taste to it.Adieu!I shall always love you as you shall deserve.