LONDON, September 19, 1752,
MY DEAR FRIEND: Since you have been at Hanover, your correspondence has
been both unfrequent and laconic. You made indeed one great effort in
folio on the 18th, with a postscript of the 22d August, N. S., and since
that, ‘vous avez rate in quarto’. On the 31st August, N. S., you give me
no informations of what I want chiefly to know; which is, what Dr. Hugo
(whom I charged you to consult) said of your asthmatic complaint, and
what he prescribed you to prevent the returns of it; and also what is the
company that, you keep there, who has been kind and civil to you, and who
not.
You say that you go constantly to the parade; and you do very well; for
though you are not of that trade, yet military matters make so great a
part both of conversation and negotiation, that it is very proper not to
be ignorant of them. I hope you mind more than the mere exercise of the
troops you see; and that you inform yourself at the same time, of the
more material details; such as their pay, and the difference of it when
in and out of quarters; what is furnished them by the country when in
quarters, and what is allowed them of ammunition, bread, etc., when in
the field; the number of men and officers in the several troops and
companies, together with the non-commissioned officers, as ‘caporals,
frey-caporals, anspessades’, sergeants, quarter-masters, etc.; the
clothing how frequent, how good, and how furnished; whether by the
colonel, as here in England, from what we call the OFF-RECKONINGS, that
is, deductions from the men’s pay, or by commissaries appointed by the
government for that purpose, as in France and Holland. By these inquiries
you will be able to talk military with military men, who, in every
country in Europe, except England, make at least half of all the best
companies. Your attending the parades has also another good effect, which
is, that it brings you, of course, acquainted with the officers, who,
when of a certain rank and service, are generally very polite, well-bred
people, ‘et du bon ton’. They have commonly seen a great deal of the
world, and of courts; and nothing else can form a gentleman, let people
say what they will of sense and learning; with both which a man may
contrive to be a very disagreeable companion. I dare say, there are very
few captains of foot, who are not much better company than ever Descartes
or Sir Isaac Newton were. I honor and respect such superior geniuses; but
I desire to converse with people of this world, who bring into company
their share, at least, of cheerfulness, good-breeding, and knowledge of
mankind. In common life, one much oftener wants small money, and silver,
than gold. Give me a man who has ready cash about him for present
expenses; sixpences, shillings, half-crowns, and crowns, which circulate
easily: but a man who has only an ingot of gold about him, is much above
common purposes, and his riches are not handy nor convenient. Have as
much gold as you please in one pocket, but take care always to keep
change in the other; for you will much oftener have occasion for a
shilling than for a guinea. In this the French must be allowed to excel
all people in the world: they have ‘un certain entregent, un enjouement,
un aimable legerete dans la conversation, une politesse aisee et
naturelle, qui paroit ne leur rien couter’, which give society all its
charms. I am sorry to add, but it is too true, that the English and the
Dutch are the farthest from this, of all the people in the world; I do by
no means except even the Swiss.
Though you do not think proper to inform me, I know from other hands that
you were to go to the Gohr with a Comte Schullemburg, for eight or ten
days only, to see the reviews. I know also that you had a blister upon
your arm, which did you a great deal of good. I know too, you have
contracted a great friendship with Lord Essex, and that you two were
inseparable at Hanover. All these things I would rather have known from
you than from others; and they are the sort of things that I am the most
desirous of knowing, as they are more immediately relative to yourself.
I am very sorry for the Duchess of Newcastle’s illness, full as much upon
your as upon her account, as it has hindered you from being so much known
to the Duke as I could have wished; use and habit going a great way with
him, as indeed they do with most people. I have known many people
patronized, pushed up, and preferred by those who could have given no
other reason for it, than that they were used to them. We must never seek
for motives by deep reasoning, but we must find them out by careful
observation and attention, no matter what they should be, but the point
is, what they are. Trace them up, step by step, from the character of the
person. I have known ‘de par le monde’, as Brantome says, great effects
from causes too little ever to have been suspected. Some things must be
known, and can never be guessed.
God knows where this letter will find you, or follow you; not at Hanover,
I suppose; but wherever it does, may it find you in health and pleasure!
Adieu.