BY GEORGE GREGORY, D. D. Author of Essays Historical and Moral; the Economy of Nature; &c. &c. A NEW EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, No. 6, BRIDGE STREET, BLACKFRIARS, By W. Flint, Green Arbour Court, St. Sepulchre's, [Price 5s. Bound.] 1948 B 875 Bibl. T PREFACE. THERE is not any book extant in our own, or perhaps in any other language, which contains such a fund of useful practical knowledge as Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son. Impressed with this opinion, I had procured a copy, from which I meant to expunge every exceptionable passage, for the use and instruction of my own children. On casually mentioning the circumstance before some intelligent persons, who, as well as myself, were fathers of families, they united in a wish that the benefit might be more extensively dif fused; and that an edition might be published,, from which every sentiment should be carefully expunged which might injure or pervert the morals of youth;-they further recommended that the publication might have the sanction of some name, not altogether unknown in the religious world, to give it that currency which its utility deserved. Such is the history of the book which is now presented to the public, a work from which no accession of fame can be reasonably expected, and with respect to which I commit myself, merely that the public may have some assurance that it contains nothing but what is strictly moral, and, I trust I may add, instructive. The system of education pursued by the Earl of Chesterfield was that which is peculiarly adapted for forming a man of business, a man of the world, the uses of this publication may therefore: be comprised in few words. 3 PREFACE. 1st, It will serve as an excellent guide, a text book to parents and tutors with respect to the course of studies, and the choice of books in the earlier stages of education, and it includes much elementary knowledge, conveyed in a style and manner which must be pleasing and instructive to the young student himself. 2dly, It is well calculated to form a correct and elegant taste in polite literature: it conveys a va riety of useful instructions relative to style and manner, both in composition and in conversation. 3dly, Most of the common and useful topics of conversation are treated of in this work, and in a lively manner, and the political and historical anecdotes scattered through these letters are such as are likely at once to excite a spirit of inquiry in the minds of youth, and to furnish them with materials both for thought and conversation. 4thly, I do not know such perfect models of the epistolary style as the letters of Lord Chesterfield; indeed, what Dr. Johnson well remarks of another eminent writer, may with justice be applied to our author; "His prose is the model of the middle style: on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not grovelling; pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration; always equable, and always easy." In a word, whoever wishes to write a good business letter, "whoever," in the words of the same author, "wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious," will find his time not mispent in the perusal of this volume. 5thly, The knowledge of mankind displayed in these letters is profound, without being systematic,-practical, without being trite. I really do not know a work in which the human heart is so well laid open, nor the manners of the world so accurately, so faithfully depicted. To a young PREFACE. man entering into life, we may, with some truth, when speaking of these letters, apply the saying of Lord Mansfield with respect to Blackstone's Commentaries, "That had that work been published when he was a young man, it would have saved him at least seven years' study." Lastly, to every young person who has been brought up in retirement, the rules of good breeding, and the observations on the manners of polished society, which he will find here, will prove highly instructive; from them he will learn at once how to conduct himself, and to judge with. accuracy of the manners and behaviour of others. I have only to add, that I believe I have preserved in this volume all that is really useful in. the four volumes of Lord Chesterfield's Letters; I have omitted only what was exceptionable, or what was mere repetition, which though well adapted to a private correspondence such as this,. in order to enforce principles already laid down, can be only considered as lumber in a compilation for the public eye. The epistolary form is cautiously preserved; and the style, as well as the sentiments, are entirely those of the author. For the benefit of the English reader, the passages from other languages are translated, and I have added a few notes where the subject wanted elucidation. Chapel Street, Bedford Row, G. G.. |