LONDON,June 24,O.S.1751
MY DEAR FRIEND:Air,address,manners,and graces are of such infinite advantage to whoever has them,and so peculiarly and essentially necessary for you,that now,as the time of our meeting draws near,I tremble for fear I should not find you possessed of them;and,to tell you the truth,I doubt you are not yet sufficiently convinced for their importance.There is,for instance,your intimate friend,Mr.H-----,who with great merit,deep knowledge,and a thousand good qualities,will never make a figure in the world while he lives.Why?Merely for want of those external and showish accomplishments,which he began the world too late to acquire;and which,with his studious and philosophical turn,I believe he thinks are not worth his attention.He may,very probably,make a figure in the republic of letters,but he had ten thousand times better make a figure as a man of the world and of business in the republic of the United Provinces,which,take my word for it,he never will.
