1470. CONDUCT, Advice as to.—[continued].
A determination never
to do what is wrong, prudence and good humor,
will go far towards securing to you the estimation
of the world. When I recollect that at
fourteen years of age, the whole care and direction
of myself was thrown on myself entirely,
without a relation or friend qualified to
advise or guide me, and recollect the various
sorts of bad company with which I associated
from time to time, I am astonished I did not
turn off with some of them, and become as
worthless to society as they were. I had the
good fortune to become acquainted very early
with some characters of very high standing, and
to feel the incessant wish that I could ever become
what they were. Under temptations and
difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr.
Small, Mr. Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this
situation? What course in it will insure me
their approbation? I am certain that this mode
of deciding on my conduct, tended more to its
correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed.
Knowing the even and dignified line
they pursued, I could never doubt for a moment
which of two courses would be in character for
them. Whereas, seeking the same object
through a process of moral reasoning, and with
the jaundiced eye of youth, I should often have
erred. From the circumstances of my position,
I was often thrown into the society of horse
racers, card players, fox hunters, scientific and
professional men, and of dignified men; and
many a time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic
moment of the death of a fox, the victory
of a favorite horse, the issue of a question
eloquently argued at the bar, or in the great
council of the nation, well, which of these kinds
of reputation should I prefer? That of a horse
jockey? a fox hunter? an orator? or the honest
advocate of my country's rights? Be assured,
my dear Jefferson, that these little returns into
ourselves, this self-catechising habit, is not trifling
nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection
and steady pursuit of what is right.—
To Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Washington ed. v, 388.
Ford ed., ix, 231.
(W.
1808)
