tgo 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



John is as likely to be exempted 

 from this weakness as most young 

 gentlemen m'c shall meet with. He 

 seems to have his father's spirit in 

 this respect, in whom I could never 

 discern the least trace of bashful- 

 ness, though I have often heard 

 him complain of it. Under your 

 management, and the influence of 

 your example, I think he can hardly 

 fail to escape it. Jf he docs, he 

 escapes that which has made many 

 a man uncomfortable for life, and 

 mined not a few ; by forcing them 

 mto mean and dishonourable com- 

 pany, where only they coald be 

 free and cheerful. 



Connections formed at school, 

 are said to be lasting, and often be- 

 neficial. There are two stories of 

 this kind upon record, which would 

 not be so constantly cited as they 

 axe whenever this subject happens 

 to be mentioned, if the chronicle 

 that preserves their remembrance, 

 had many besides to boast of. For 

 ray own part, I found such friend- 

 ships, though warm enough in their 

 commencement, surprisingly liable 

 to extinction: and of seven or eight, 

 ■whom I had selected for intimates, 

 o,ut of about three hundred, in ten 

 years time not one was left me. 

 The truth is, that there may be, 

 ajid often is an attachment of one 

 boy to another, that looks very 

 like a friendship, and while they 

 ajre in circumstances that enable 

 them mutually to oblige and to as- 

 sist each other, promises mcH, and 

 bids fair to be lasting. But they 

 are no sooner separated from each 

 other, by entering into the world at 

 large, than other connections, and 

 new employments, in which they 

 no longer share together, efface tlie 

 remembrance of what passed in ear- 

 lier da3'Sj, and they become strangers 

 3 



to each other for ever. Add to this, 

 that the man frequently difi'ers so 

 much from the boy, his principles, 

 manners, temper, and conduct, un- 

 dergo so great an alteration, that 

 we no longer recognize in him our 

 old pJay-fcHow, but find him utterly 

 unworthy, and unfit lor the place 

 he once held in our affections. 



To close this article, as I did the 

 last, by applying myself immedi- 

 ately to the present concern. Lit- 

 tle John is happily placed above all 

 oecasion for dependence on all such 

 precarious hopes, and need not be 

 sent to school in cjuest of some 

 great men in embryo, who may pos- 

 sibly make his fortune. 



Yours, my dear friend, 



W. C. 



On the proper Course of Elementary 

 Stuili). — From Chatltunis Letters. 



Balh^ Jan. 12, 1751. 

 My dear Nephew, 



Vour letter from Cambridge af- 

 fords me many very sensible plea- 

 sures : first, that you are at last in 

 a proper place for study and inj- 

 provement, instead of losing any 

 more of that most precious thing time 

 in London. In tlie next place, that 

 you seem pleased with the particular 

 society yon arc placed in, .and with 

 the gentleman to whose care and 

 instruction you are con>mitted : and 

 above all I applaud the sound right 

 sense and love of virtue, which ap- 

 pears- through your whole letter. 

 You are already possessed of the 

 true clue to guide you through this 

 dangerous and perplexing part of 

 life's journey, the years of educa- 

 tion ; and upon which the complex- 

 ion of all the rest of your days will 

 infallibly depend : I say you have the 



true 



