Cambridge, December, 1809.
STUDY is, I am persuaded, at present my duty; but I shall be heartily
glad when another year is over, and I shall be left to pursue the duties
of the sacred office in peace and quietness, if it please God. . . . How
often do I picture to myself these happy scenes, and “catch a momentary
joy;” but, perhaps, this hand which now glides swiftly, along the page
may soon forget to move. I may be summoned to another world in the midst
of my academical pursuits, and may never have the honour granted me of
building the house of God. Should this be the case, should your brother
be called to the peaceful tomb before another revolving year, bear in
mind, when he is gone, that his supreme wish has been unfulfilled, and
that his studies and trifling successes have not so filled his mind as to
call it off from the care of souls, and the earnest wish for their
salvation. In this work I would gladly live and die; but the Supreme
Disposer of events knows what is best, and in that I hope, not only to
acquiesce, but to rejoice. You wish for my thoughts on letter-writing.
I do not think you should make two copies of any letters, except it be
necessary to keep one by you for reference; few such circumstances occur,
and therefore I would advise you to write at once what you intend to
send. I do not mean that you should put down whatever comes into your
mind, but write deliberately and with caution. I would illustrate my
meaning by referring to what takes place in polite conversation;
supposing yourself to be in company, and obliged to converse, you would
not weigh and ponder your sentences over and over, but merely endeavour
to avoid anything indecorous, and to express yourself in tolerably good
language; or, if you will, in the best manner you are able. When you
write, then, you should endeavour to let your thoughts flow freely and
easily, and express them in the most suitable words which occur at the
moment, but by no means to be solicitous in seeking fine words or
eloquent phrases. Horace has a famous line in his Art of Poetry, which
has great strength in the original, but I must content myself with
Francis’ translation,
“For if the mind with _clear conceptions_ glow,
The _willing words_ in just expressions flow.”
The substance of what I would say is this, having settled your subject in
your mind, write at once, in the best manner you are able at the time;
practice will give considerable ease, and you will shortly write, not
only well, but with despatch.