MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS. 



891 



true clue to guide you, in the max- 

 im you lay down iti your letter to 

 me, namely, that the use of learn- 

 ing is, to render a man more vise 

 and virtuous ; not merely to make 

 him more learned. Made tud vir- 

 tittc ; go on, my dear boy, by this 

 golden rule, and you cannot fail to 

 become every thing yo\ir generous 

 heart prompts you to wish to be, and 

 that mine most affettionately wishes 

 for you. There is but one danger 

 in your way; and that is perhaps 

 natural enough to your age, the 

 love of pleasure, or the fear of close 

 application and laborious diligence. 

 With the last there is nothing you 

 may not conquer : and the first is 

 sure to conquer and enslave who- 

 ever does not strenuously and gene- 

 rouslj' resist the first allurements of 

 it, lest, by small indulgencies, he 

 fall under the yoke of irresistible 

 habit. V'danda est itiiproba siiicu^ 

 desidia, I desire, may be affixed to 

 the curtains of your bed, and to the 

 walls of your chambers. If you «lo 

 not rise early, you never can make 

 any progress worth ttilking of; and 

 another rule is, if you do not set 

 apart your hours of reading, and 

 never suffer jourself or any one 

 else to break in upon them, your 

 (lays will slip through your hands 

 unprofitabiy ai»d frivolously ; un- 

 praised by all you wir-h to please, 

 and really unenjoyablc to yourself. 

 Be assured, whatever j'ou take from 

 pleasure, amusinients, or indolence 

 for these first few years of your life, 

 •will repay you a hundred fold in the 

 pleasures, honors, and advanta<»es 

 of all the remainder of your days. 

 My heart is so full of the most earnest 

 desire that you should do well, tint 

 i lind my letter has run into some 

 length, which you will, I know, be 

 BO good to excuse. There rcmaiius 



now nothing to trouble you with, 

 but a little plan for the beginning 

 of your studies, which I desire in a 

 particular manner may be exactly 

 followed in every tittle. You are 

 to qualify yourself lor the part in 

 society to which your birth and es- 

 tate call you. You are to be a gen- 

 tleman of such learning and quali- 

 fications, as may distinguish you in 

 the service of your country here- 

 after ; not a pedant, who reads 

 only to be called learned, instead 

 of considering learning as an instru- 

 ment only for aCtion. Give me 

 leave therefore, my dear nephew, 

 who have gone before you, to point 

 out to 3'ou the danu;ers in your road ; 

 to guard you against such things as I 

 experience my own defe6ls to arise 

 from ; and, at the same time, if I 

 have had any little successes in the 

 world, to guide you to what I have 

 drawn many helps from. I have 

 not the pleasure of knowing the 

 gentleman who is your tutor, but I 

 dare say he is every way equal to 

 the charge, whicii I think no small 

 one. You will communicate this 

 letter to him, and 1 hope he will be 

 so good to concur with me, as to 

 the course of study I desire you may 

 begin wilh ; and that such books, 

 and such only as I have pointed out, 

 may be read. They are as follow c 

 I'-uclid; a course of logic; a course of 

 experimental philosophy ; Locke's 

 C!ondu6t of the Understanding; Jiis 

 Treatise, also, on the Understanding; 

 his Treatise on Government, and Let- 

 ters on Toleration. 1 desire, for the 

 present, no books of poetry but 

 Jlorace and Virgil ; of Horace, the 

 Odes, but above all, the lOpistles and 

 ArsPoelica. These parts, Nocturn^ 

 V'ersate Manu,V'^ersate niurna. Ti'U 

 ly (le Ofticiis, de Amicit^a, deSoiicc- 

 tuto. Jlis Catillnariaii Orations, ;ind 



riiilippics: 



