Adieu, my dear; remember to write to me once a-week, not as to a father, but, without reserve, as to a friend.

LETTER CXXVII

London, January 14, O. S. 1751

My dear friend:  Among the many good things Mr. Harte has told me of you, two in particular gave me great pleasure.  The first, that you are exceedingly careful and jealous of the dignity of your character; that is the sure and solid foundation upon which you must both stand and rise.  A man’s moral character is a more delicate thing than a woman’s reputation of chastity.  A slip or two may possibly be forgiven her, and her character may be clarified by subsequent and continued good conduct:  but a man’s moral character once tainted is irreparably destroyed.  The second was, that you had acquired a most correct and extensive knowledge of foreign affairs, such as the history, the treaties, and the forms of government of the several countries of Europe.  This sort of knowledge, little attended to here, will make you not only useful, but necessary, in your future destination, and carry you very far.  He added that you wanted from hence some books relative to our laws and constitution, our colonies, and our commerce; of which you know less than of those of any other part of Europe.  I will send you what short books I can find of that sort, to give you a general notion of those things:  but you cannot have time to go into their depths at present—­you cannot now engage with new folios; you and I will refer the constitutional part of this country to our meeting here, when we will enter seriously into it, and read the necessary books together.  In the meantime, go on in the course you are in, of foreign matters; converse with ministers and others of every country, watch the transactions of every court, and endeavor to trace them up to their source.  This, with your physics, your geometry, and your exercises, will be all that you can possibly have time for at Paris; for you must allow a great deal for company and pleasures:  it is they that must give you those manners, that address, that ‘tournure’ of the ’beau monde’, which will qualify you for your future destination.  You must first please, in order to get the confidence, and consequently the secrets, of the courts and ministers for whom and with whom you negotiate.

I will send you by the first opportunity a short book written by Lord Bolingbroke, under the name of Sir John Oldcastle, containing remarks upon the history of England; which will give you a clear general notion of our constitution, and which will serve you, at the same time, like all Lord Bolingbroke’s works, for a model of eloquence and style.  I will also send you Sir Josiah Childe’s little book upon trade, which may properly be called the “Commercial Grammar.”  He lays down the true principles of commerce, and his conclusions from them are generally very just.