LONDON,December 25,1753
MY DEAR FRIEND:Yesterday again I received two letters at once from you,the one of the 7th,the other of the 15th,from Manheim.
You never had in your life so good a reason for not writing,either to me or to anybody else,as your sore finger lately furnished you.I believe it was painful,and I am glad it is cured;but a sore finger,however painful,is a much less evil than laziness,of either body or mind,and attended by fewer ill consequences.
I am very glad to hear that you were distinguished at the court of Manheim from the rest of your countrymen and fellow-travelers:it is a sign that you had better manners and address than they;for take it for granted,the best-bred people will always be the best received wherever they go.Good manners are the settled medium of social,as specie is of commercial life;returns are equally expected for both;and people will no more advance their civility to a bear,than their money to a bankrupt.
I really both hope and believe,that the German courts will do you a great deal of good;their ceremony and restraint being the proper correctives and antidotes for your negligence and inattention.I believe they would not greatly relish your weltering in your own laziness,and an easy chair;nor take it very kindly,if,when they spoke to you or you to them,you looked another way,as much as to say,kiss my b----h.As they give,so they require attention;and,by the way,take this maxim for an undoubted truth,That no young man can possibly improve in any company,for which he has not respect enough to be under some degree of restraint.
I dare not trust to Meyssonier's report of his Rhenish,his Burgundy not having answered either his account or my expectations.I doubt,as a wine merchant,he is the 'perfidus caupo',whatever he may be as a banker.I shall therefore venture upon none of his wine;but delay making my provision of Old Hock,till I go abroad myself next spring:as I told you in the utmost secrecy,in my last,that I intend to do;and then probably I may taste some that I like,and go upon sure ground.
There is commonly very good,both at Aix-la-Chapelle and Liege,where Iformerly got some excellent,which I carried with me to Spa,where Idrank no other wine.
As my letters to you frequently miscarry,I will repeat in this that part of my last which related to your future motions.Whenever you shall be tired of Berlin,go to Dresden;where Sir Charles Williams will be,who will receive you with open arms.He dined with me to-day,and sets out for Dresden in about six weeks.He spoke of you with great kindness and impatience to see you again.He will trust and employ you in business (and he is now in the whole secret of importance)till we fix our place to meet in:which probably will be Spa.Wherever you are,inform yourself minutely of,and attend particularly to the affairs of France;they grow serious,and in my opinion will grow more and more so every day.The King is despised and I do not wonder at it;but he has brought it about to be hated at the same time,which seldom happens to the same man.His ministers are known to be as disunited as incapable;he hesitates between the Church and the parliaments,like the ass in the fable,that starved between two hampers of hay:too much in love with his mistress to part with her,and too much afraid of his soul to enjoy her;jealous of the parliaments,who would support his authority;and a devoted bigot to the Church,that would destroy it.The people are poor,consequently discontented;those who have religion,are divided in their notions of it;which is saying that they hate one another.The clergy never do forgive;much less will they forgive the parliament;the parliament never will forgive them.The army must,without doubt,take,in their own minds at last,different parts in all these disputes,which upon occasion would break out.Armies,though always the supporters and tools of absolute power for the time being,are always the destroyers of it,too,by frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it.This was the case of the Praetorian bands,who deposed and murdered the monsters they had raised to oppress mankind.The Janissaries in turkey,and the regiments of guards in Russia,do the same now.The French nation reasons freely,which they never did before,upon matters of religion and government,and begin to be 'sprejiudicati';the officers do so too;in short,all the symptoms,which I have ever met with in history previous to great changes and revolutions in government,now exist,and daily increase,in France.I am glad of it;the rest of Europe will be the quieter,and have time to recover.England,I am sure,wants rest,for it wants men and money;the Republic of the United Provinces wants both still more;the other Powers cannot well dance,when neither France,nor the maritime powers,can,as they used to do,pay the piper.The first squabble in Europe,that I foresee,will be about the Crown of Poland,should the present King die:and therefore I wish his Majesty a long life and a merry Christmas.So much for foreign politics;but 'a propos'of them,pray take care,while you are in those parts of Germany,to inform yourself correctly of all the details,discussions,and agreements,which the several wars,confiscations,bans,and treaties,occasioned between the Bavarian and Palatine Electorates;they are interesting and curious.
I shall not,upon the occasion of the approaching new year,repeat to you the wishes which I continue to form for you;you know them all already,and you know that it is absolutely in your power to satisfy most of them.
Among many other wishes,this is my most earnest one:That you would open the new year with a most solemn and devout sacrifice to the Graces;who never reject those that supplicate them with fervor;without them,let me tell you,that your friend Dame Fortune will stand you in little stead;may they all be your friends!Adieu.