ces; however, you had as good not fay fo while you are there. But the place which you are going to, in a great degree is; for I have known as many well-bred men come from Turin, as from any part of Europe. The late king, Victor Amedéus, took great pains to form fuch of his fubjects as were of any confideration, both to bufinefs and manners; the prefent king I am told follows his example : this, however, is certain, that in all courts and congreffes, where there are various foreign minifters, thofe of the king of Sardinia are generally the ableft, and the politeft. You will therefore, at Turin, have very good models to form yourfelf upon; and, remember, that with regard to the best models, as well as to the antique Greek ftatues, in the print, non mai a bastanza. Obferve every word, look, and motion of those who are allowed to be the most accomplished perfons there. Obferve their natural and carelefs, but genteel air; their unembarraffed good-breeding; their unaffuming, but yet unproftituted dignity. Mind their decent mirth, their difcreet frankness, and that entregent, which, as much above the frivolous as below the important and the fecret, is the proper medium for converfation in mixed companies.

Of all the men that ever I knew in my life, (and I knew him extremely well) the late duke of Marlborough poffeffed the graces in the highest degree, not to fay engroffed them; and indeed he got the moft by them; for I will venture (contrary to the cuftom of profound hiftorians, who always affign deep caufes for great events) to afcribe the better half of the duke of Marlborough's greatness and riches to thofe graces. He was eminently illiterate; wrote bad English, and fpelled it ftill worfe. He had no fhare of what is commonly called parts; that is, he had no brightness, nothing fhining in his genius. He had, most undoubtedly, an excellent good plain understanding, with found judgment. But thefe, alone, would probably have raifed him but fomething higher than they found him; which was page to king James the Second's queen. There the graces protected and promoted him; for, while he was an enfign of the Guards, the duchess of

Cleveland, then favourite mistrefs to king Charles the Second, ftruck by thofe very graces, gave him five thoufand pounds; with which he immediately bought an annuity for his life, of five hundred pounds a year, of my grandfather, Halifax; which was the foundation of his fubfequent fortune. His figure was beautiful; but his manner was irresistible, by either man or woman. It was by this engaging, graceful manner, that he was enabled, during all his war, to connect the va rious and jarring powers of the Grand Alliance, and to carry them on to the main object of the war, notwithftanding their private and feparate views, jealoufies, and wrong-headednefs. Whatever court he went to (and he was often obliged to go himself to fome reftive and refractory ones) he as conftantly prevailed, and brought them into his measures. The penfionary Heinfius, a venerable old minifter, grown grey in bufinefs, and who had governed the republic of the United Provinces for more than forty years, was abfolutely governed by the duke of Marlborough, as that republic feels to this day. He was always cool; and nobody ever obferved the leaft variation in his countenance : he could refuse more gracefully than other people could grant; and thofe who went away from him the most diffatisfied, as to the fubftance of their business, were yet perfonally charmed with him, and, in fome degree, comforted by his manner. With all his gentleness and gracefulness, no man living was more conscious of his fituation, nor maintained his dignity better.

Do not mistake, and think that these graces, which Ifo often and fo earnestly recommend to you, fhould only accompany important tranfactions, and be worn only les jours de gala: no; they fhould, if poffible, accompany even the least thing that you do or fay; for if you neglect them in little things, they will leave you in great ones. I fhould, for inftance, be extremely concerned to fee you even drink a cup of coffee ungracefully, and flop yourself with it, by your awkward manner of holding it; nor fhould I like to fee

On holydays.

your

coat buttoned, or fhoes buckled awry. But I fhould be outrageous, if I heard you mutter your words unintelligibly, fammer in your fpeech, or hefitate, mifplace, and miftake in your narrations: and I fhould run away from you, with greater rapidity, if poffible, than I fhould now run to embrace you, if I found you deftitute of all thofe graces which I have fet mỹ heart upon their making you one day, omnibus ornatum excellere rebus .

LETTER LXVII.

Admonitions on firft going into the World... Dress...Vivacity. London, December the goth.

DEAR BOY,

DIRECT this letter to Berlin, where, I fuppofe, it will either find you, or, at least, wait but a little time for you. I cannot help being anxious for your fuccefs, at this your first appearance upon the great ftage of the world; for, though the fpectators are always candid enough to give great allowances, and to fhow great indulgence to a new actor; yet, from the first impreffion which he makes upon them, they are apt to decide, in their own minds at least, whether he will ever be a good one or not: if he feems to underftand what he fays, by fpeaking it properly: if he is attentive to his part, instead of staring negligently about; and if, upon the whole he feems ambitious to pleafe, they willingly pafs over little awkwardneffes and inaccuracies, which they afcribe to a commendable modefty in a young and unexperienced actor. They pronounce that he will be a good one in time: and, by the encouragement which they give him, make him fo the fooner. This, I hope, will be your cafe: you have fenfe enough to underftand your part a conítant attention, and ambition to excel in it, with a careful obfervation of the beft actors, will inevitably qualify you, if not for the firft, at least for confiderable parts.

Prepared to excel in all things.

Your drefs (as infignificant a thing as drefs is in itfelf) is now become an object worthy of fome attention; for, I confefs, I cannot help forming fome opinion of a man's fenfe and character from his dress; and I believe moft people do, as well as myfelf. Any affectation whatfoever in dress, implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding. Moft of our young fellows, here, difplay fome character or other by their drefs; fome affect the tremendous, and wear a great and fiercely cocked hat, an enormous fword, a fhort waistcoat, and a black cravat: these I should be almoft tempted to fwear the peace againft, in my own defence, if I was not convinced that they are but meek affes in lions' fkins. Others go in brown frocks, leather breeches, great oaken cudgels in their hands, their hats uncocked, and their hair unpowdered; and imitate grooms, ftage-coachmen, and country bumpkins, fo well, in their outfides, that I do not make the leaft doubt of their resembling them equally in their infides. A man of fenfe carefully avoids any particular character in his dress: he is accurately clean for his own fake ; but all the rest is for other people's. He dreffes as well, and in the fame manner, as the people of fenfe and fashion in the place where he is. If he dreffes better, as he thinks, that is, more than they, he is a fop; if he dreffes worse, he is unpardonably negligent: but, of the two, I would rather have a young fellow too much than too little dreffed; the excefs on that fide will wear off, with a little age and reflection; but, if he is negligent at twenty, he will be a floven at forty, and ftink at fifty years old. Drefs yourself fine, where others are fine; and plain, where others are plain; but take care, always, that your clothes are well made, and fit you, for otherwife they will give you a very awkward air. When you are once well dreffed for the day, think no more of it afterwards; and, without any ftiffness for fear of difcompofing that drefs, let all your motions be as eafy and natural as if you had no clothes on at all. So much for dress, which I maintain to be a thing of confequence in the polite world.

As to manners, good-breeding, and the graces, I

have so often entertained you upon thefe important fubjects, that I can add nothing to what I have formerly faid. Your own good fenfe will fuggeft to you the fubftance of them; and obfervation, experience, and good company, the feveral modes of them. Your great vivacity, which I hear of from many people, will be no hindrance to your pleafing in good compa ny; on the contrary will be of ufe to you, if tempered by good-breeding, and accompanied by the graces. But then, I fuppofe your vivacity to be a vivacity of parts, and not a conftitutional reitíefinefs; for the moft difagreeable compofition that I know in the world, is that of ftrong aniinal fpirits, with a cold genius. Such a fellow is troublefomely active, frivolously bufy, foolifhly lively; talks much with little meaning, & laughs more, with lefs reafon; whereas in my opinion, a warm and lively genius, with a cool conftitution, is the fection of human nature.

per

Do what you will at Berlin, provided you do but do fomething all day long. All I defire of you is, that you will never flattern away one minute in idleness, and in doing nothing. When you are not in company, learn what either books, mafters, or Mr. Harte, can teach you; and when you are in company, learn (what company only can teach you) the characters and manners of mankind. I really afk your pardon for giving you this advice; becaufe if you are a rational creature, and a thinking being, as I fuppofe, and verily believe you are, it must be unneceffary, and, to a certain degree, injurious. If I did not know, by experience, that fome men pafs their whole time in doing nothing, I fhould not think it poffible for any being, fuperior to monfieur Defcarte's automatons, to fquander away in abfolute idlenefs one fingle minute of that fmall portion of time which is allotted us in this world.

I fend you, my dear child! (and you will not doubt) very fincerely the withes of the feafon. May you deferve a great number of happy new-ycars! and, if you deferve, may you have them. Many new-years indeed, you may fee, but happy ones you cannot fes without deferving them. Thele, virtue, honour, and