University of Virginia Library

LETTER XXI.

Your letter has afforded me a pleasure which I never
fail to receive from your communications. Your present
situation, my son, is not exactly that which I would
wish, but I cannot select one more eligible, at this time. If,
however, you make a proper use of your present opportunity,
slender as it is, you cannot fail to derive much useful
information from it. You are now of an age, my dear boy,
when the mind, no longer passive to impression, begins to
exert itself. The elements of knowledge are within yourself,
and the rest, of course, within your reach. We, all of
us, have two educations; one which we receive from others
—another, and the most valuable, which we give ourselves.
It is this last which fixes our grade in society, which determines,
eventually, our actual value in this life, and, perhaps,
the colour of our fate hereafter. Yes, my dear Theodore,
your destiny is in your own hands; nor would all the professors
and teachers in the world make you a wise and good
man without your own co-operation; and, if such you are
determined to be, it is not the want of them that can prevent
it.

You are mistaken in supposing that there are no English
books in the press, the key of which I left with you: behind
the Encyclopædia are some cumbrous folios, none of them
deserving your attention, except, perhaps, Rapin; but, in
the upper division, you will find, behind Voltaire and Rousseau,
nearly a hundred volumes, amongst which are Hume,
Belsham, and many others, which I consider as standard
works that you cannot be too well acquainted with. There
is a little manuscript catalogue of them on the shelf; and, if
you will send it me, I will mark such as you would do well
to read, noting the order. There are, besides, the books in
the cabinet, to say nothing of your lexicons, atlases, &c. I

would advise you, in reading, to consult the Encylopædia
when you meet with a difficult article; always resorting for
the meaning of words, which you do not understand, to the
Dictionnaire de l'Academie, in the first instance, and never
to the French and English dictionary, but from necessity.
It will enlarge your knowledge of the language, more than
you are aware of. I would recommend, too, frequent translations
from the French, which, when the original has faded
from your mind, you may retranslate in your own style, and
then compare it with your author.

I rejoice to hear of your amusement with your gun, and
that you are regaining your skill. I hope even Buona
will soon come to beat me on the wing. Give my love to
him: I long to see his rosy cheeks. My love, also, to
Sally.

God bless you, my dear boy.