time, to make a frequent use of what is recommended; analysis thus made by rule, would not improve the understanding. Let technical assistance be recurred to only in such cases, as require the recollection of a long series of names, or dates, or facts, that have no immediate connexion with our usual studies or occupations.

It would be vain to lay down any course of study, as absolutely preferable to all others. Those who know the country will be aware, that many different roads may lead to the same point; and the shortest is not always the best. Lord Chatham, in his letters to his nephew, recommends several works, which may be useful in giving a knowledge of the English history and constitution. Perhaps many will look over those letters, merely to find out what books should be read within a given period of time; as if a statesman like Lord Chatham could be manufactured by such a receipt!— It is to be hoped that young men, who are going to the university, may read his letters with other views; there is nothing new in them, but they inspire virtuous ambition, and they inculcate the great truth, that application in youth is necessary to prepare success in later life; a truth which comes with peculiar force from a statesman of Lord Chatham's genius and experience. The amiable disposition, the warm affection for his nephew, and the attention to his education shown in that little work, prove that, in these countries, the greatest talents are found united with domestic virtues. The unanimous voice of Britain confirms this truth, and applauds the manly sentiments and classic elegance, with which the editor of Lord Chatham's letters has introduced them to the public.

Among the studies of young statesmen, history must be the foremost; but they should not read merely to remember dates, and remarkable events; a sufficient portion of this knowledge, for useful and ostensible purposes, it may be presumed, has been already learned technically at school. It is now necessary to study history, and particularly the history of our own country, rationally, and philosophically, with due attention to the concatenation of causes and events, observing the growth and progress of our constitution, the reciprocating influence of laws and government, of manners, education, and institution. Montesquieu's Essai sur la Décadence des Romains is an example of the mode in which history ought to be studied; it teaches to think, and shows how a statesman may apply to practical use, the knowledge he has learnt from historians. It is to be regretted, that we have no work on English history of the same sort or of equal value. Bolingbroke, though eloquent, is declamatory, diffuse, and full of party-spirit, both in religion and politics. Priestley's lectures on history fall short of what had been expected by his admirers.

This philosophical study of history will prepare the way for political economy. Lectures on moral and political economy are part of the course at some universities, and where the professors are eminent, much may be learned from this mode of instruction; but in general, on thesc intricate subjects, reading the works of men skilled on these topics is preferable to hearing their lectures.

There is no necessity to repeat the observations, that have been made in the preceding pages, on the method of culti

vating the reasoning powers, and on the advantage of applying these powers to a variety of subjects: it is obvious, that what has been said on the education of a lawyer is peculiarly applicable to a statesman. Beside the regular course of reading which he pursues, he should attend to the current topics of political conversation, and to the newspapers and pamphlets of the day; this will give a new and immediate interest in acquiring information. Whenever any subject occurs, on which this interest of the moment is excited, he should seize the opportunity to acquire accurate knowledge, which, being associated with real conversation and business, will be fixed in due order in his memory. It is surprising how much is learned by going to the bottom of any one subject; and how much extraneous knowledge is obtained, while we are looking for exact information on any particular point.

Modern languages are absolutely necessary to a statesman, not only as the keys of books, but of minds. He should speak French, Italian, and German. These should be learned during his earlier education; even from the nursery he should have been in the habit of speaking them. At the university, he should make himself acquainted with the principal works in these languages. But he should carefully avoid taking any lessons on pronunciation from an ordinary master, otherwise he will have much to unlearn when he goes abroad.—If, when he goes to the continent, he pronounce French only like an Englishman, the French, in their truly polite toleration for the blunders of foreigners, would probably say, "Monsieur a un

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petit accent étranger qui est très agréable: nous aimons de "voir comment Monsieur se joue de notre langue, &c." But

if he had acquired the patois, or even the provincial accent of some inferior French master, they might be less tolerant, especially in those high-bred societies to which young men of rank and fortune ought to have access. Courts and courtiers are on these points fastidious; and for want of certain trifling recommendations, men of abilities may be excluded from company, where they could study the characters of the first statesmen of the age, and learn more than any books of travels could teach.

d

The writing or composing much in French does not seem advisable, because the idiom of the language differs so much from ours. There have been instances of Englishmen, who have attained such a knowledge of the French, as to write it with correctness and elegance. Gibbon wrote a manifesto and an essay in such good French, that they passed for the writings of a native. But it may be doubted whether Gibbon's taste for French composition was advantageous to his style. The English and French taste for oratory, and some of their established rules of criticism, differ essentially. In what the French call le style noble, they do not admit of any allusions to what they term ignoble objects: under this prohibition come all trades and manufactures, and most of the common employments of life. Many of the allusions, which we admire in our orators, they reject as utterly inadmissible in fine writing. They are shocked with this mixture of what they call le style noble and le style vulgaire in one of our greatest modern orators, in Burke. Yet his frequent allusions to common life and to mechanic trades make his writings popular in England, and obtain the admiration of our best critics. In a country like

Essai sur l'etude de la literature.

ours, where the middle classes have so large a share and influence on the public opinion, and where, from the nature of our government, orators must make frequent appeals to the judgment or passions of the people, that species of eloquence must be cultivated, which is best understood, and which best obtains its object, whether of persuasion or conviction. Ours is a commercial country, and a mechanic people; and allusion to commerce, manufactures, trades, arts, and sciences, must be introduced by our orators, because these come home to the occupations and habits of their auditors, and are of sufficient notoriety for mixed assemblies. The field of eloquence is enlarged, and the powers of the orator are increased by this accession of images and ideas, which may be almost infinitely combined. Examples from Burke will show what advantages the moderns have in this respect gained over the ancients; and will illustrate what has been said of the advantage of collecting knowledge from various and dissimilar sources.

"A politician, to do great things, looks for a power, what "our workmen call a purchase; and if he finds that power, in politics as in mechanics, he cannot be at a loss to apply it."

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"He is not deserving to rank high, or even to be mentioned "in the order of great statesmen, who, having obtained the command and direction of such a power as existed in the wealth, the discipline, and the habits of such corporations 66 as those which you have rashly destroyed, cannot find any way of converting it to the great and lasting benefit of his country. At the first view of this subject, a thousand views suggest themselves to a contriving mind. To destroy any

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