interval of leisure may occur, and if it should, do not neglect it, but run over and make us happy by the enjoyment of your company and conversation. It is not from want of inclination that I do not pay you another visit; the recollection of the pleasure I had in your society, is so strongly impressed upon me, that I have nothing more anxiously at heart, than to fly over to you with all speed, that I may again enjoy it. Neither is it want of time, that detains me; for my office, which exclusively occupies me for nine months, leaves me at liberty the remaining three. What is it then? I will tell you the truth, nor blush to reveal to my friend, "that, when my 66 purse is heavier, I shall find the journey to you lighter*." it The soil of Oriental literature in Holland, as elsewhere, is barren; it produces only the mere conveniences of life, but no superfluities whatever. I must therefore defer all hope of accomplishing a journey to England, without some unexpected improvement of my circumstances. I shall however bear my lot, whatever it may be, with patience. Having mentioned this subject to you, I will add something in which you may essentially serve me. With a view to improving my fortune, and procuring that affluence, which, though may be dispensed with, is most acceptable to those who possess it, I have determined to undertake the charge of a pupil, to receive him into my house, and superintend his morals and education. I am particularly anxious, however, that he should be of your country, not only because the system of private education is little known or followed here, but because it would be more agreeable to me to part with my liberty to an Englishman, (you see how openly I speak,) from whom I might expect a more substantial recompence. My paper will not allow me to say much more. Oblige me with a few lines in reply; I am certain you will willingly assist me as far as you can, and you may depend upon the strictest attention * An Arabic proverb, adopted, to the situation of the writer. on on my part, to any request from you which I can possibly execute. My wife sends her best compliments to your excellent mother and sister. Farewell, my dear Jones; and continue to honour me with your esteem. H. A. SCHULTENS. At an interval of more than twenty-five years from the date of this letter, I cannot but acknowledge a disposition to sympathize with the feelings of the learned writer, and participate the regret which he expresses, at the deprivation of the society of his friend, from his want of means to defray the expence of a journey to England. At this period, Schultens enjoyed an extensive reputation, and was perhaps the object of envy to many, who, without any claim to distinction, possessed that opulence, which, with all his indefatigable labours in cultivating and promoting literature, he had not been able to procure. We feel the more for him, because his complaints, (if the confidential communication of his circumstances authorize the expression,) are neither deficient in dignity, nor resignation. In truth, the tract of literature which he had chosen to cultivate, was more calculated to produce a harvest of celebrity, than profit. * Mr. JONES to H. A. SCHULTENS. July 1777. I should have great pleasure in complying with your kind and friendly request, by furnishing my contribution to the new work which is soon to appear amongst you, and would exert myself for this purpose, but the absolute want of leisure makes it impossible. My law employments, attendance in the courts, incessant studies, the arrangement of pleadings, trials of causes, and * Appendix, No. 34. opinions opinions to clients, scarcely allow me a few moments for eating and sleeping. I thank you sincerely for your very entertaining account of your own occupations, and of what is going on in your country. If I should hear of any wealthy English gentleman, who wishes to send his son as a pupil to Holland, to study literature, you may rely upon my recommendation of your merits, as well as upon my assistance on all occasions. I must however at the same time tell you, that an opportunity of this nature is very uncertain. Mr. JONES to Lord ALTHORPE. MY DEAR LORD, Bath, Dec. 28, 1777. I told you, when I had the pleasure of seeing you in London, that it was doubtful whether I should pass my vacation at Amsterdam or at Bath; the naiads of the hot springs have prevailed, you see, over the nymphs of the lakes, and I have been drinking the waters for a month, with no less pleasure than advantage to my health; the improvement of which I ascribe, however, in great measure, to my regular exercise on the downs, and to abstinence from any study that requires too much exertion of the mind. I should have scated indeed in Holland from town to town, and a little voyage would have dissipated my bile, if I had any but that scheme I must postpone till another winter, and have sent an excuse to my Dutch friend who expected me. As I came hither entirely for the purpose of recreating my exhausted spirits and strengthening my stomach, I have abstained with some reluctance from dancing, an amusement which I am as fond of as ever, but which would be too heating for a waterdrinker; and as for the idler diversions of a public place, they have not the recommendation of novelty, without which they cannot cannot long please. You, my dear friend, are in the mean time relaxing yourself, from the severer pursuits of science and civil knowledge, with the healthy and manly exercise of the field, from which you will return with a keener appetite to the noble feast which the Muses are again preparing for you at Cambridge. And here, by way of parenthesis, I must tell you that I joined a small party of hunters the other morning, and was in at the death of a hare; but I must confess, that I think hare-hunting a very dull exercise, and fit rather for a huntress than a mighty hunter, rather for Diana than Orion. Had I the taste and vigour of Actæon, without his indiscreet curiosity, my game would be the stag or the fox, and I should leave the hare in peace, without sending her to her many friends. This heresy of mine may arise from my fondness for every thing vast, and my disdain of every thing little, and for the same reason I should prefer the more violent sport of the Asiatics, who inclose a whole district with toils, and then attack the tigers and leopards with javelins, to the sound of trumpets and clarions. Of music, I conclude, you have as much at Althorpe, as your heart can desire; I might here have more than my ears could bear, or my mind conceive, for we have with us La Motte, Fischer, Rauzzini; but, as I live in the house of my old master, Evans, whom you remember, I am satisfied with his harp, which I prefer to the Theban lyre, as much as I prefer Wales to ancient or modern Egypt. I was this morning with Wilkes, who shewed me a letter lately written to him from Paris, by Diderot; as I have you know a quick memory, I brought away the substance of it, and give it to you in a translation almost literal:-" Friend Wilkes, it delights me "to hear that you still have sufficient employment for your active "mind, without which you cannot long be happy. I have just read "the several speeches which you have delivered on the subject of 66 your 66 66 66 66 66 your present war against the provincials; they are full of eloquence, force, and dignity. I too have composed a speech on "the same subject, which I would deliver in your senate, had I a seat in it. I will wave for the present, my countrymen, all "consideration of the justice or injustice of the measures you are pursuing; I well know that to be an improper topic at the time "when the public welfare is immediately concerned. I will not even question at present your power to reduce an exasperated "and desperate people; but consider, I entreat you, that you are surrounded by nations by whom you are detested; and say, for "Heaven's sake, how long you will give them reason to laugh at the "ridiculous figure you are making. This is my harangue; it is "short in words, but extensive in meaning."-So far, my dear Lord, we have no reason to censure the thoughts or expressions of the learned Encyclopedist; what follows is so profligate, that I would not transcribe it, if I were not sure, that you would join with me in condemning it. "As to yourself, (he adds,) be cheerful, drink "the best wines, keep the gayest company, and should you be "inclined to a tender passion, address yourself to such women as "make the least resistance; they are as amusing and as interesting as others. One lives with them without anxiety, and quits them "without regret."-I want words, Diderot, to express the baseness, the folly, the brutality of this sentiment. I am no cynic, but as fond as any man at Paris of cheerful company, and of such pleasures as a man of virtue need not blush to enjoy ; but if the philosophy of the French academicians be comprised in your advice to your friend Wilkes, keep it to yourself, and to such as you. I am of a different sect. He concludes his letter with some professions of regard, and with a recommendation of a young Frenchman, who told Wilkes some speeches of Diderot, to the Empress of Russia, which you shall hear at some other time. I 66 |