PARIS, July 28, 1787.
DEAR JACK,--The letter which you were so kind as to write to me the 22d
of May, 1786, was not delivered to me till the 3d of May, 1787, when it
found me in the neighborhood of Marseilles. Before that time, you must
have taken your degree, as mentioned in your letter. Those public
testimonies which are earned by merit, and not by solicitation, may
always be accepted without the imputation of vanity. Of this nature is
the degree which your masters proposed to confer on you. I congratulate
you sincerely on it. It will be a pleasing event to yourself; it will
be the same to your parents and friends, and to none more than myself.
Go on deserving applause, and you will be sure to meet with it; and the
way to deserve it is, to be good, and to be industrious. I am sure you
will be good, and hope you will be industrious. As to your future plan,
I am too distant from you to advise you on sure grounds. In general, I
am of opinion, that till the age of about sixteen, we are best employed
on languages; Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish, or such of them as we
can. After this, I think the College of William and Mary the best place
to go through the courses of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy in its
different branches, and Law. Of the languages I have mentioned, I think
Greek the least useful. Write me word, from time to time, how you go
on. I shall always be glad to assist you with any books you may have
occasion for, and you may count with certainty on every service I can
ever render you, as well as on the sincere esteem of, dear Jack, yours
affectionately.