LONDON,December 6,O.S.1748.
DEAR BOY:I am at present under very great concern for the loss of a most affectionate brother,with whom I had always lived in the closest friendship.My brother John died last Friday night,of a fit of the gout,which he had had for about a month in his hands and feet,and which fell at last upon his stomach and head.As he grew,toward the last,lethargic,his end was not painful to himself.At the distance which you are at from hence,you need not go into mourning upon this occasion,as the time of your mourning would be near over,before you could put it on.
By a ship which sails this week for Hamburg,I shall send you those things which I proposed to have sent you by Mr.Eliot,viz.,a little box from your Mamma;a less box for Mr.Harte;Mr.Locke's book upon education;the print of Carlo Maratti,which I mentioned to you some time ago;and two letters of recommendation,one to Monsieur Andrie and the other to Comte Algarotti,at Berlin.Both those gentlemen will,I am sure,be as willing as they are able to introduce you into the best company;and I hope you will not (as many of your countrymen are apt to do)decline it.It is in the best companies only;that you can learn the best manners and that 'tournure',and those graces,which I have so often recommended to you,as the necessary means of making a figure in the world.
I am most extremely pleased with the account which Mr.Harte gives me of your progress in Greek,and of your having read Hesiod almost critically.
Upon this subject I suggest but one thing to you,of many that I might suggest;which is,that you have now got over the difficulties of that language,and therefore it would be unpardonable not to persevere to your journey's end,now that all the rest of your way is down hill.
I am also very well pleased to hear that you have such a knowledge of,and taste for curious books and scarce and valuable tracts.This is a kind of knowledge which very well becomes a man of sound and solid learning,but which only exposes a man of slight and superficial reading;therefore,pray make the substance and matter of such books your first object,and their title-pages,indexes,letter,and binding,but your second.It is the characteristic of a man of parts and good judgment to know,and give that degree of attention that each object deserves.
Whereas little minds mistake little objects for great ones,and lavish away upon the former that time and attention which only the latter deserve.To such mistakes we owe the numerous and frivolous tribes of insect-mongers,shell-mongers,and pursuers and driers of butterflies,etc.The strong mind distinguishes,not only between the useful and the useless,but likewise between the useful and the curious.He applies himself intensely to the former;he only amuses himself with the latter.
Of this little sort of knowledge,which I have just hinted at,you will find at least as much as you need wish to know,in a superficial but pretty French book,entitled,'Spectacle de la Nature';which will amuse you while you read it,and give you a sufficient notion of the various parts of nature.I would advise you to read it,at leisure hours.But that part of nature,which Mr.Harte tells me you have begun to study with the Rector magnificus,is of much greater importance,and deserves much more attention;I mean astronomy.The vast and immense planetary system,the astonishing order and regularity of those innumerable worlds,will open a scene to you,which not only deserves your attention as a matter of curiosity,or rather astonishment;but still more,as it will give you greater,and consequently juster,ideas of that eternal and omnipotent Being,who contrived,made,and still preserves that universe,than all the contemplation of this,comparatively,very little orb,which we at present inhabit,could possibly give you.Upon this subject,Monsieur Fontenelle's 'Pluralite des Mondes',which you may read in two hours'time,will both inform and please you.God bless you!Yours.
