第21章

Besidethecomfortofknowledge，everyscienceisauxiliarytoeveryother。Whileyouareattendingthesecoursesyoucanproceedbyyourselfinaregularseriesofhistoricalreading。Itwouldbeawasteoftimetoattendaprofessorofthis。Itistobeacquiredfrombooksandifyoupursueitbyyourselfyoucanaccommodateittoyourotherreadingsoastofillupthosechasmsoftimenototherwiseappropriated。Thereareportionsofthedaytoowhenthemindshouldbeeased，particularlyafterdinneritshouldbeappliedtolighteroccupation：historyisofthiskind。Itexercisesprincipallythememory。Reflectionalsoindeedisnecessarybutnotgenerallyinalaboriousdegree。Toconductyourselfinthisbranchofscienceyouhaveonlytoconsiderwhataerasofitmeritagrasp&

whataparticularattention，&ineachaeraalsotodistinguishbetweenthecountriestheknowledgeofwhosehistorywillbeuseful&

thosewhereitsufficesonlytobenotaltogetherignorant。Havinglaiddownyourplanastothebranchesofhistoryyouwouldpursue，theorderoftimewillbeyoursufficientguide。AfterwhatyouhavereadinantienthistoryIshouldsupposeMillot’sdigestwouldbeuseful&sufficient。ThehistoriesofGreeceandRomeareworthyagooddegreeofattention，theyshouldbereadintheoriginalauthors。ThetransitionfromantienttomodernhistorywillbebesteffectedbyreadingGibbon’s。ThenageneralhistoryoftheprincipalstatesofEurope，butparticularonesofEngland。Heretootheoriginalwritersaretobepreferred。Kennetpublishedaconsiderablecollectionofthesein3vols。folio，buttherearesomeothersnotinhiscollectionwellworthbeingread。AfterthehistoryofEnglandthatofAmericawillclaimyourattention。Heretoooriginalauthors¬compilersarebest。Anauthorwhowritesofhisowntimesoroftimesnearhisownpresentsinhisownideas&

mannerthebestpictureofthemomentofwhichhewrites。Historyneednotbehurriedbutmaygivewaytotheothersciencesbecausehistorycanbepursuedafteryoushallhaveleftyourpresentsituationaswellaswhileyouremaininit。Whenyoushallhavegotthrothissecondorderofpreparationthestudyofthelawistobebegun。Thislikehistoryistobeacquiredfrombooks。Alltheaidyouwillwantwillbeacatalogueofthebookstoberead&theorderinwhichtheyaretoberead。ItbeingabsolutelyindifferentinwhatplaceyoucarryonthisreadingIshouldproposeyourdoingitinFrance。TheadvantagesofthiswillbethatyouwillatthesametimeacquirethehabitofspeakingFrenchwhichistheobjectofayearortwo。Youmaybegivingattentiontosuchofthefineartsasyourturnmayleadyouto&youwillbeforminganacquaintancewiththeindividuals&charactersofanationwithwhomwemustlongremainintheclosestintimacy&towhomweareboundbythestrongtiesofgratitudeandpolicy。Anationinshortofthemostamiabledispositionsonearth，thewholemassofwhichispenetratedwithanaffectionforus。YoumightbeforeyoureturntoyourowncountrymakeavisittoItalyalso。

IshouldhaveperformedtheofficeofbuthalfafriendwereI

toconfinemyselftotheimprovementofthemindonly。Knowledgeindeedisadesirable，alovelypossession，butIdonotscrupletosaythathealthismoreso。Itisoflittleconsequencetostorethemindwithscienceifthebodybepermittedtobecomedebilitated。Ifthebodybefeeble，themindwillnotbestrong——thesovereigninvigoratorofthebodyisexercise，andofallexerciseswalkingisbest。Ahorsegivesbutakindofhalfexercise，andacarriageisnobetterthanacradle。Nooneknows，tillhetries，howeasilyahabitofwalkingisacquired。Apersonwhoneverwalkedthreemileswillinthecourseofamonthbecomeabletowalk15or20withoutfatigue。Ihaveknownsomegreatwalkers&hadparticularaccountsofmanymore：andIneverkneworheardofonewhowasnothealthy&

longlived。Thisspeciesofexercisethereforeismuchtobeadvised。Shouldyoubedisposedtotryit，asyourhealthhasbeenfeeble，itwillbenecessaryforyoutobeginwithalittle，&toincreaseitbydegrees。Forthesamereasonyoumustprobablyatfirstascribetoitthehoursmostpreciousforstudy，Imeanthoseaboutthemiddleoftheday。Butwhenyoushallfindyourselfstrongyoumayventuretotakeyourwalksintheeveningafterthedigestionofthedinnerisprettywellover。Thisismakingacompromisebetweenhealth&study。The