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wassurprisedtoseethemaddressthespeakerwithoutrisingfromtheirseats,andthree,four,andfiveatatimewithoutbeingchecked。whenamotionwasmade,thespeakerinsteadofputtingthequestionintheusualform,onlyaskedthegentlemenwhethertheychosethatsuchorsuchathingshouldbedone,andwasansweredbyayessir,ornosir:andtho’thevoicesappearedfrequentlytobedivided,theyneverwouldgotothetroubleofdividingthehouse,buttheclerkenteredtheresolutions,Isupposed,ashethoughtproper。inshorteverythingseemstobecarriedwithoutthehouseingeneral’sknowingwhatwasproposed。thesituationofthisplaceisextremelybeautiful,andverycommodiousfortradehavingamostsecureportcapableofreceivingthelargestvessels,thoseof400

hh’dsbeingabletobrushagainstthesidesofthedock。thehousesareingeneralbetterthanthoseinWilliamsburgh,butthegardensmoreindifferent。thetwotownsseemmuchofasize。theyhavenopublickbuildingsworthmentioningexceptagovernor’shouse,thehullofwhichafterbeingnearlyfinished,theyhavesufferedtogotoruin。Iwouldgiveyouanaccountoftherejoicingshereontherepealofthestampact,butthisyouwillprobablyseeinprintbeforemylettercanreachyou。IshallproceedtomorrowtoPhiladelphiawhereIshallmakethestaynecessaryforinoculation,thencegoingontoNew-YorkIshallreturnbywatertoWilliamsburgh,aboutthemiddleofJuly,tillwhichtimeyouhavetheprayersofDearPageYouraffectionatefriendP。S。Ishouldbegladifyoucouldinsomeindirectmanner,withoutdiscoveringthatitwasmydesire,letJ。RandolphknowwhenIproposetobeinthecityofWilliamsburgh。

THESTUDYOFLAW

_ToThomasTurpin_

_Shadwell,Feb。5,1769_

DEARSIR,——Iamtrulyconcernedthatitisnotinmypowertoundertakethesuperintendanceofyoursoninhisstudies;butmysituationbothpresentandfuturerendersitutterlyimpossible。I

donotexpecttobeheremorethantwomonthsinthewholebetweenthisandNovembernext,atwhichtimeIproposetoremovetoanotherhabitationwhichIamabouttoerect,andonaplansocontractedasthatIshallhavebutonesparebedchamberforwhatevervisitantsI

mayhave。norhaveIreasontoexpectatanyfuturedaytopassagreaterproportionofmytimeathome。thussituateditwouldevenhavebeeninjusticetoPhilltohaveundertakentogivehimanassistancewhichwillnotbewithinmypower;ataskwhichI

otherwiseshouldwiththegreatestpleasurehavetakenonme,andwouldhavedesirednohighersatisfactionthantoseehimholdthatrankintheprofessiontowhichhisgeniusandapplicationmustsurelyadvancehim。thesehoweverencouragemetohopethatthepresenceofanassistantwillbelittlenecessary。Ialwayswasofopinionthattheplacingayouthtostudywithanattorneywasratheraprejudicethanahelp。wearealltooaptbyshiftingonthemourbusiness,toincroachonthattimewhichshouldbedevotedtotheirstudies。theonlyhelpayouthwantsistobedirectedwhatbookstoread,andinwhatordertoreadthem。IhaveaccordinglyrecommendedstronglytoPhilltoputhimselfintoapprenticeshipwithnoone,buttoemployhistimeforhimselfalone。toenablehimtodothistoadvantageIhavelaiddownaplanofstudywhichwillaffordhimalltheassistanceatutorcould,withoutsubjectinghimtotheinconvenienceofexpendinghisowntimefortheemolumentofanother。

onedifficultyonlyoccurs,thatis,thewantofbooks。butthisI

aminhopesyouwillthinklessofremedyingwhenitisconsideredthathadhebeenplacedunderthecareofanother,apropercollectionofbooksmusthavebeenprovidedforhimbeforeheengagedinthepracticeofhisprofession;foralawyerwithoutbookswouldbelikeaworkmanwithouttools。theonlydifferencethenisthattheymustnowbeprocuredsomethingearlier。shouldyouthinkitnecessary,itwouldbebettertoconsiderthemoneylaidoutinbooksasapartoftheprovisionmadeforhimandtodeductitfromwhatyouintendedtogivehim,thanthatheshouldbewithoutthem。I

havegivenhimacatalogueofsuchaswillbenecessary,amountinginthewholetoaboutpound100sterling,butdividedintofourinvoices。ShouldPhillenterontheplanofstudyrecommended,I

shallendeavorasoftenaspossibletotakeyourhouseinonmywaytoandfromWilliamsburghasitwillaffordmethedoublesatisfactionofobservinghisprogressinscienceandofseeingyourself,myaunt,andthefamily。IamDearSirwithgreatrespectYourmosthumbleservantAGENTLEMAN’SLIBRARY

_ToRobertSkipwithaListofBooks_

_Monticello,Aug。3,1771_

Isatdownwithadesignofexecutingyourrequesttoformacatalogueofbookstotheamountofabout50lib。sterl。ButcouldbynomeanssatisfymyselfwithanypartialchoiceIcouldmake。

ThinkingthereforeitmightbeasagreeabletoyouIhaveframedsuchageneralcollectionasIthinkyouwouldwishandmightintimefindconvenienttoprocure。Outofthisyouwillchuseforyourselftotheamountyoumentionedforthepresentyearandmayhereafterasshallbeconvenientproceedincompletingthewhole。AviewofthesecondcolumninthiscataloguewouldIsupposeextortasmilefromthefaceofgravity。Peacetoitswisdom!Letmenotawakenit。A

littleattentionhowevertothenatureofthehumanmindevincesthattheentertainmentsoffictionareusefulaswellaspleasant。Thattheyarepleasantwhenwellwritteneverypersonfeelswhoreads。

Butwhereinisitsutilityasksthereverendsage,bigwiththenotionthatnothingcanbeusefulbutthelearnedlumberofGreekandRomanreadingwithwhichhisheadisstored?

Ianswer,everythingisusefulwhichcontributestofixintheprinciplesandpracticesofvirtue。Whenanyoriginalactofcharityorofgratitude,forinstance,ispresentedeithertooursightorimagination,wearedeeplyimpressedwithitsbeautyandfeelastrongdesireinourselvesofdoingcharitableandgratefulactsalso。Onthecontrarywhenweseeorreadofanyatrociousdeed,wearedisgustedwithit’sdeformity,andconceiveanabhorenceofvice。

Noweveryemotionofthiskindisanexerciseofourvirtuousdispositions,anddispositionsofthemind,likelimbsofthebodyacquirestrengthbyexercise。Butexerciseproduceshabit,andintheinstanceofwhichwespeaktheexercisebeingofthemoralfeelingsproducesahabitofthinkingandactingvirtuously。Weneverreflectwhetherthestorywereadbetruthorfiction。Ifthepaintingbelively,andatolerablepictureofnature,wearethrownintoareverie,fromwhichifweawakenitisthefaultofthewriter。IappealtoeveryreaderoffeelingandsentimentwhetherthefictitiousmurtherofDuncanbyMacbethinShakespearedoesnotexciteinhimasgreatahorrorofvillany,astherealoneofHenryIV。byRavaillacasrelatedbyDavila?AndwhetherthefidelityofNelsonandgenerosityofBlandfordinMarmonteldonotdilatehisbreastandelevatehissentimentsasmuchasanysimilarincidentwhichrealhistorycanfurnish?Doeshenotinfactfeelhimselfabettermanwhilereadingthem,andprivatelycovenanttocopythefairexample?WeneitherknownorcarewhetherLawrenceSternereallywenttoFrance,whetherhewasthereaccostedbytheFranciscan,atfirstrebukedhimunkindly,andthengavehimapeaceoffering:orwhetherthewholebenotfiction。Ineithercaseweequallyaresorrowfulattherebuke,andsecretlyresolve_we_willneverdoso:wearepleasedwiththesubsequentatonement,andviewwithemulationasoulcandidlyacknowlegingit’sfaultandmakingajustreparation。Consideringhistoryasamoralexercise,herlessonswouldbetooinfrequentifconfinedtoreallife。Ofthoserecordedbyhistoriansfewincidentshavebeenattendedwithsuchcircumstancesastoexciteinanyhighdegreethissympatheticemotionofvirtue。Wearethereforewiselyframedtobeaswarmlyinterestedforafictitiousasforarealpersonage。Thefieldofimaginationisthuslaidopentoouruseandlessonsmaybeformedtoillustrateandcarryhometothehearteverymoralruleoflife。

ThusalivelyandlastingsenseoffilialdutyismoreeffectuallyimpressedonthemindofasonordaughterbyreadingKingLear,thanbyallthedryvolumesofethics,anddivinitythateverwerewritten。ThisismyideaofwellwrittenRomance,ofTragedy,ComedyandEpicpoetry——IfyouarefondofspeculationthebooksundertheheadofCriticismwillaffordyoumuchpleasure。OfPoliticsandTradeIhavegivenyouafewonlyofthebestbooks,asyouwouldprobablychusetobenotunacquaintedwiththosecommercialprincipleswhichbringwealthintoourcountry,andtheconstitutionalsecuritywehavefortheenjoimentofthatwealth。InLawImentionafewsystematicalbooks,asaknowledgeoftheminutiaeofthatscienceisnotneces-saryforaprivategentleman。

InReligion,History,Naturalphilosophy,Ihavefollowedthesameplaningeneral,——Butwhencethenecessityofthiscollection?

CometothenewRowanty,fromwhichyoumayreachyourhandtoalibraryformedonamoreextensiveplan。Separatedfromeachotherbutafewpacesthepossessionsofeachwouldbeopentotheother。

Aspringcentricallysituatedmightbethesceneofeveryevening’sjoy。Thereweshouldtalkoverthelessonsoftheday,orlosetheminmusic,chessorthemerrimentsofourfamilycompanions。Theheartthuslightenedourpillowswouldbesoft,andhealthandlonglifewouldattendthehappyscene。ComethenandbringourdearTibbywithyou,thefirstinyouraffections,andsecondinmine。

Offerprayersformetooatthatshrinetowhichtho’absentIpraycontinualdevotions。Ineveryschemeofhappinesssheisplacedintheforegroundofthepicture,astheprinci-palfigure。Takethataway,anditisnopictureforme。BearmyaffectionstoWintipockclothedinthewarmestexpressionsofsincerity;andtoyourselfbeeveryhumanfelicity。Adieu。

ENCLOSURE

_FINEARTS_。

Observationsongardening。Payne。5/

Webb’sessayonpainting。12mo3/

Pope’sIliad。18/

Odyssey。15/

Dryden’sVirgil。12mo。12/

Milton’sworks。2v。8vo。Donaldson。Edinburgh1762。10/

Hoole’sTasso。12mo。5/

OssianwithBlair’scriticisms。2v。8vo。10/

TelemachusbyDodsley。6/

Capell’sShakespear。12mo。30/

Dryden’splays。6v。12mo。18/

Addison’splays。12mo。3/

Otway’splays。3v。12mo。9/

Rowe’sworks。2v。12mo。6/

Thompson’sworks。4v。12mo。12/

Young’sworks。4v。12mo。12/

Home’splays。12mo。3/

Mallet’sworks。3v。12mo。9/

Mason’spoeticalworks。5/

Terence。Eng。3/

Moliere。Eng。15/

Farquhar’splays。2v。12mo。6/

Vanbrugh’splays。2v。12mo。6/

Steele’splays。3/

Congreve’sworks。3v。12mo。9/

Garric’sdramaticworks。2v。8vo。10/

Foote’sdramaticworks。2v。8vo。10/

Rousseau’sEloisa。Eng。4v。12mo。12/——

EmiliusandSophia。Eng。4v。12mo。12/

Marmontel’smoraltales。Eng。2v。12mo。12/

GilBlas。bySmollett。6/

DonQuixot。bySmollett4v。12mo。12/

DavidSimple。2v。12mo。6/

RodericRandom。}

2v。12mo。6/}

PeregrinePickle。}_thesearewrittenbySmollett_

4v。12mo。12/}

Launcelot}

Graves。6/}

Adventuresofa}

guinea。2v。}

12mo。6/}

Pamela。4v。12mo。}

12/}_thesearebyRichardson。_

Clarissa。8v。12mo。}

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