LONDON,October 2,O.S.1749.
DEAR BOY:I received by the last post your letter of the 22d September,N.S.,but I have not received that from Mr.Harte to which you refer,and which you say contained your reasons for leaving Verona,and returning to Venice;so that I am entirely ignorant of them.Indeed the irregularity and negligence of the post provoke me,as they break the thread of the accounts I want to receive from you,and of the instructions and orders which I send you,almost every post.Of these last twenty posts.
I am sure that I have wrote eighteen,either to you or to Mr.Harte,and it does not appear by your letter,that all or even any of my letters have been received.I desire for the future,that both you and Mr.Harte will constantly,in your letters,mention the dates of mine.Had it not been for their miscarriage,you would not have,been in the uncertainty you seem to be in at present,with regard to your future motions.Had you received my letters,you would have been by this time at Naples:but we must now take things where they are.
Upon the receipt,then,of this letter,you will as soon as conveniently you can,set out for Rome;where you will not arrive too long before the jubilee,considering the difficulties of getting lodgings,and other accommodations there at this time.I leave the choice of the route to you;but I do by no means intend that you should leave Rome after the jubilee,as you seem to hint in your letter:on the contrary,I will have Rome your headquarters for six months at least;till you shall have,in a manner,acquired the 'Jus Civitatis'there.More things are to be seen and learned there,than in any other town in Europe;there are the best masters to instruct,and the best companies to polish you.In the spring you may make (if you please)frequent excursions to Naples;but Rome must still be your headquarters,till the heats of June drive you from thence to some other place in Italy,which we shall think of by that time.As to the expense which you mention,I do not regard it in the least;from your infancy to this day,I never grudged any expense in your education,and still less do it now,that it is become more important and decisive:
I attend to the objects of your expenses,but not to the sums.I will certainly not pay one shilling for your losing your nose,your money,or your reason;that is,I will not contribute to women,gaming,and drinking.But I will most cheerfully supply,not only every necessary,but every decent expense you can make.I do not care what the best masters cost.I would have you as well dressed,lodged,and attended,as any reasonable man of fashion is in his travels.I would have you have that pocket-money that should enable you to make the proper expense 'd'un honnete homme'.In short,I bar no expense,that has neither vice nor folly for its object;and under those two reasonable restrictions,draw,and welcome.
As for Turin,you may go there hereafter,as a traveler,for a month or two;but you cannot conveniently reside there as an academician,for reasons which I have formerly communicated to Mr.Harte,and which Mr.
Villettes,since his return here,has shown me in a still stronger light than he had done by his letters from Turin,of which I sent copies to Mr.
Harte,though probably he never received them.