Letters to His Son 1759-65 | Page 7

be little occasion for your
presence at Hamburg this year. Lord Holderness will only tell you, in
his letter, that, as he had some reason to believe his moving this matter
would be disagreeable to the King, he resolved, for your sake, not to
mention it. You must answer his letter upon that footing simply, and
thank him for this mark of his friendship, for he has really acted as your
friend. I make no doubt of your having willing leave to return in
autumn, for the whole winter. In the meantime, make the best of your
'sejour' where you are; drink the Pyrmont waters, and no wine but
Rhenish, which, in your case is the only proper one for you.
Next week Mr. Harte will send you his "Gustavus Adolphus," in two
quartos; it will contain many new particulars of the life of that real hero,
as he has had abundant and authentic materials, which have never yet
appeared. It will, upon the whole, be a very curious and valuable
history; though, between you and me, I could have wished that he had

been more correct and elegant in his style. You will find it dedicated to
one of your acquaintance, who was forced to prune the luxuriant
praises bestowed upon him, and yet has left enough of all conscience to
satisfy a reasonable man. Harte has been very much out of order these
last three or four months, but is not the less intent upon sowing his
lucerne, of which he had six crops last year, to his infinite joy, and, as
he says, profit. As a gardener, I shall probably have as much joy,
though not quite so much profit, by thirty or forty shillings; for there is
the greatest promise of fruit this year at 'Blackheath, that ever I saw in
my life. Vertumnus and Pomona have been very propitious to me: as
for Priapus, that tremendous garden god, as I no longer invoke him, I
cannot expect his protection from the birds and the thieves.
Adieu! I will conclude like a pedant, 'Levius fit patientia quicquid
corrigere est nefas.'

LETTER CCXLII
LONDON, April 16, 1759
MY DEAR FRIEND: With humble submission to you, I still say that if
Prince Ferdinand can make a defensive campaign this year, he will
have done a great deal, considering the great inequality of numbers.
The little advantages of taking a regiment or two prisoners, or cutting
another to pieces, are but trifling articles in the great account; they are
only the pence, the pounds are yet to come; and I take it for granted,
that neither the French, nor the Court of Vienna, will have 'le dementi'
of their main object, which is unquestionably Hanover; for that is the
'summa summarum'; and they will certainly take care to draw a force
together for this purpose, too great for any that Prince Ferdinand has, or
can have, to oppose them. In short, mark the end on't, 'j'en augure mal'.
If France, Austria, the Empire, Russia, and Sweden, are not, at long run,
too hard for the two Electors of Hanover and Brandenburg, there must
be some invisible power, some tutelar deities, that miraculously
interpose in favor of the latter.
You encourage me to accept all the powers that goats, asses, and bulls,
can give me, by engaging for my not making an ill use of them; but I
own, I cannot help distrusting myself a little, or rather human nature;
for it is an old and very true observation, that there are misers of money,
but none of power; and the non-use of the one, and the abuse of the

other, increase in proportion to their quantity.
I am very sorry to tell you that Harte's "Gustavus Adolphus" does not
take at all, and consequently sells very little: it is certainly informing,
and full of good matter; but it is as certain too, that the style is
execrable: where the devil he picked it up, I cannot conceive, for it is a
bad style, of a new and singular kind; it is full of Latinisms, Gallicisms,
Germanisms, and all isms but Anglicisms; in some places pompous, in
others vulgar and low. Surely, before the end of the world, people, and
you in particular, will discover that the MANNER, in everything, is at
least as important as the matter; and that the latter never can please,
without a good degree of elegance in the former. This holds true in
everything in life: in writing, conversing, business, the help of the
Graces is absolutely necessary; and whoever vainly thinks himself
above them, will find he is mistaken when it will be too late to court
them, for they will not come to strangers of an advanced age. There is
an history lately come