and too peremptory; it is not, however, my intention that it should be so; I entreat you to correct, and even publicly to punish me whenever I am guilty.  Do not treat me with the least indulgence, but criticise to the utmost.  So clear-sighted a judge as you has a right to be severe; and I promise you that the criminal will endeavor to correct himself.  Yesterday I had two of your acquaintances to dine with me, Baron B. and his companion Monsieur S. I cannot say of the former, ’qu’il est paitri de graces’; and I would rather advise him to go and settle quietly at home, than to think of improving himself by further travels.  ’Ce n’est pas le bois don’t on en fait’.  His companion is much better, though he has a strong ‘tocco di tedesco’.  They both spoke well of you, and so far I liked them both.  How go you on with the amiable little Blot?  Does she listen to your Battering tale?  Are you numbered among the list of her admirers?  Is Madame------your Madame de Lursay?  Does she sometimes knot, and are you her Meilcour?  They say she has softness, sense, and engaging manners; in such an apprenticeship much may be learned.—­[This whole passage, and several others, allude to Crebillon’s ’Egaremens du Coeur et de l’Esprit’, a sentimental novel written about that time, and then much in vogue at Paris.]

A woman like her, who has always pleased, and often been pleased, can best teach the art of pleasing; that art, without which, ’ogni fatica vana’.  Marcel’s lectures are no small part of that art:  they are the engaging forerunner of all other accomplishments.  Dress is also an article not to be neglected, and I hope you do not neglect it; it helps in the ‘premier abord’, which is often decisive.  By dress, I mean your clothes being well made, fitting you, in the fashion and not above it; your hair well done, and a general cleanliness and spruceness in your person.  I hope you take infinite care of your teeth; the consequences of neglecting the mouth are serious, not only to one’s self, but to others.  In short, my dear child, neglect nothing; a little more will complete the whole.  Adieu.  I have not heard from you these three weeks, which I think a great while.

LETTER CXLII

London, May 10, O. S. 1751.

My dear friend:  I received yesterday, at the same time, your letters of the 4th and 11th, N. S., and being much more careful of my commissions than you are of yours, I do not delay one moment sending you my final instructions concerning the pictures.  The man you allow to be a Titian, and in good preservation; the woman is an indifferent and a damaged picture; but as I want them for furniture for a particular room, companions are necessary; and therefore I am willing to take the woman for better for worse, upon account of the man; and if she is not too much damaged, I can have her tolerably repaired, as many a fine woman is, by a skillful hand here; but then I expect that