ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



5)43 



' 3 for some years, what you cannot 

 oe to yourself, your experience ; 

 experience anticipated, and ready 

 digested for your use. Thus we 

 will endeavour, niy dear child, to 

 join the two best seasons of life, 

 to establish your virtue and your 

 happiness upon solid foundations : 

 Mtxctns uittumni ei ven'i hunores. 

 So much in general. I will now, 

 my dear nephew, say a few tilings 

 to you upon a matter where you 

 have surprisingly little to learn, con- 

 sidering you have seen nothin;; but 

 Boconnock ; I mean behaviour. 

 Behaviour is of infinite advantage 

 or prejudice to a man as he hap- 

 pens to have formed it to a graceful, 

 noble, engaging, and proper man- 

 ner, or to a vulgar, coarse, ill-bred, 

 or awkward, and ungenteel one. 

 Behaviour, though an external thing, 

 which seems rather to belong to the 

 body than to the mind, is certainly 

 founded in considerable virtues : 

 though I have known instances of 

 good men, with something very re- 

 volting and offensive in their man- 

 ner of behaviour, especially when 

 they have the misfortune to be na- 

 turally very awkward and ungen- 

 teel ; and which their mistaken 

 friends have helped to confirm them 

 in, by telling them, they were a- 

 bove such trilles, as being genteel, 

 dancing, fencing, riding, and doing 

 all manly exercises, with grace and 

 vigour. As if the body, because 

 inferior, were not a part of the com- 

 position of man ; and the proper, 

 easy, ready, and graceful use of 

 himself, both in mind and limb, did 

 not go to make up the chara<^ter of 

 an ai-complished man. You are in 

 no danger of falling into this pre- 

 poiterous error : and I had a great 

 pleasure in finding you, when I first 

 law jrou La London, so well dis- 

 2 



posed ))y nature, and ?o properly 

 attentive to make yourself genteel 

 in person, and well-bred in beha- 

 viour. I am very glad vou have 

 taken a fcnting-masfer : that exer- 

 cise will give you some manly, firm, 

 and graceful attitudes : open your 

 chest, place 3'our head upright, and 

 plant you well on your legs. As 

 to the use of the sword, it is well 

 to know it : but remember, my 

 dearest nephew, it is a science of 

 defence : and that a sword can ne- 

 ver be employed by the hand of a 

 man of virtue, in any other cause. 

 As to the carriage of your person, 

 be particularly careful, as you are 

 tall and thin, not to get a habit of 

 stooping ; nothing has so poor a 

 look ; above all things avoid con- 

 tracting any peculiar gesticulations of 

 the body, or movements of the mus- 

 cles of the face. It is rare to see in 

 any one a graceful laughter ; it is 

 generally better to smile than laugh 

 out, especially to contra6l a habit 

 of laughing at small or no jokes. 

 Sometimes it would be affectation, 

 or worse, mere moroseness, not to 

 laugh heartily, when the truly ridi- 

 culous circumstances of an incident, 

 or the true pleasantry and wit of a 

 tiling call for and justil'y it; but the 

 trick of laughing frivolously is by 

 ail means to be avoided: Risu hi' 

 epto^ res ineptiur nulla est. Now 

 as to politeness, many have attempt- 

 od difinitions of it : I believe it is 

 best to be known by description ; 

 definition not being able to coin- 

 prise it. I would, however, venture 

 to call it benevolence in trilles, or 

 the preference of others to ourselves 

 in little daily, hourly, occurrences 

 in the commerce of life : a better 

 place, a more commodious seat, 

 priority in being helped at (able, 

 &c. \Vhat is it but sacrificing our- 



si'lves 



