LONDON,November 12,O.S.1750
MY DEAR FRIEND:You will possibly think,that this letter turns upon strange,little,trifling objects;and you will think right,if you consider them separately;but if you take them aggregately,you will be convinced that as parts,which conspire to form that whole,called the exterior of a man of fashion,they are of importance.I shall not dwell now upon these personal graces,that liberal air,and that engaging address,which I have so often recommended to you;but descend still lower,to your dress,cleanliness,and care of your person.
When you come to Paris,you may take care to be extremely well dressed;that is,as the fashionable people are;this does by no means consist in the finery,but in the taste,fitness,and manner of wearing your clothes;a fine suit ill-made,and slatternly or stiffly worn,far from adorning,only exposes the awkwardness of the wearer.Get the best French tailor to make your clothes,whatever they are,in the fashion,and to fit you:and then wear them,button them,or unbutton them,as the genteelest people you see do.Let your man learn of the best friseur to do your hair well,for that is a very material part of your dress.Take care to have your stockings well gartered up,and your shoes well buckled;for nothing gives a more slovenly air to a man than ill-dressed legs.In your person you must be accurately clean;and your teeth,hands,and nails,should be superlatively so;a dirty mouth has real ill consequences to the owner,for it infallibly causes the decay,as well as the intolerable pain of the teeth,and it is very offensive to his acquaintance,for it will most inevitably stink.I insist,therefore,that you wash your teeth the first thing you do every morning,with a soft sponge and swarm water,for four or five minutes;and then wash your mouth five or six times.Mouton,whom I desire you will send for upon your arrival at Paris,will give you an opiate,and a liquor to be used sometimes.Nothing looks more ordinary,vulgar,and illiberal,than dirty hands,and ugly,uneven,and ragged nails:I do not suspect you of that shocking,awkward trick,of biting yours;but that is not enough:
you must keep the ends of them smooth and clean,not tipped with black,as the ordinary people's always are.The ends of your nails should be small segments of circles,which,by a very little care in the cutting,they are very easily brought to;every time that you wipe your hands,rub the skin round your nails backward,that it may not grow up,and shorten your nails too much.The cleanliness of the rest of your person,which,by the way,will conduce greatly to your health,I refer from time to time to the bagnio.My mentioning these particulars arises (I freely own)from some suspicion that the hints are not unnecessary;for,when you were a schoolboy,you were slovenly and dirty above your fellows.
I must add another caution,which is that upon no account whatever,you put your fingers,as too many people are apt to do,in your nose or ears.
It is the most shocking,nasty,vulgar rudeness,that can be offered to company;it disgusts one,it turns one's stomach;and,for my own part,I would much rather know that a man's fingers were actually in his breech,than see them in his nose.Wash your ears well every morning,and blow your nose in your handkerchief whenever you have occasion;but,by the way,without looking at it ,afterward.There should be in the least,as well as in the greatest parts of a gentleman,'les manieres nobles'.Sense will teach you some,observation others;attend carefully to the manners,the diction,the motions,of people of the first fashion,and form your own upon them.On the other hand,observe a little those of the vulgar,in order to avoid them:for though the things which they say or do may be the same,the manner is always totally different:and in that,and nothing else,consists the characteristic of a man of fashion.
The lowest peasant speaks,moves,dresses,eats,and drinks,as much as a man of the first fashion,but does them all quite differently;so that by doing and saying most things in a manner opposite to that of the vulgar,you have a great chance of doing and saying them right.There are gradations in awkwardness and vulgarism,as there are in everything else.
