登陆注册
20013100000200

第200章 LETTER CXXXI(2)

By attending carefully to all these agremens in your daily conversation,they will become habitual to you,before you come into parliament;and you will have nothing then,to do,but to raise them a little when you come there.I would wish you to be so attentive to this object,that I,would not have you speak to your footman,but in the very best words that the subject admits of,be the language what it will.Think of your words,and of their arrangement,before you speak;choose the most elegant,and place them in the best order.Consult your own ear,to avoid cacophony,and,what is very near as bad,monotony.Think also of your gesture and looks,when you are speaking even upon the most trifling subjects.The same things,differently expressed,looked,and delivered,cease to be the same things.The most passionate lover in the world cannot make a stronger declaration of love than the 'Bourgeois gentilhomme'does in this happy form of words,'Mourir d'amour me font belle Marquise vos beaux yeux'.I defy anybody to say more;and yet Iwould advise nobody to say that,and I would recommend to you rather to smother and conceal your passion entirely than to reveal it in these words.Seriously,this holds in everything,as well as in that ludicrous instance.The French,to do them justice,attend very minutely to the purity,the correctness,and the elegance of their style in conversation and in their letters.'Bien narrer'is an object of their study;and though they sometimes carry it to affectation,they never sink into inelegance,which is much the worst extreme of the two.Observe them,and form your French style upon theirs:for elegance in one language will reproduce itself in all.I knew a young man,who,being just elected a member of parliament,was laughed at for being discovered,through the keyhole of his chamber-door,speaking to himself in the glass,and forming his looks and gestures.I could not join in that laugh;but,on the contrary,thought him much wiser than those who laughed at him;for he knew the importance of those little graces in a public assembly,and they did not.Your little person (which I am told,by the way,is not ill turned),whether in a laced coat or a blanket,is specifically the same;but yet,I believe,you choose to wear the former,and you are in the right,for the sake of pleasing more.The worst-bred man in Europe,if a lady let fall her fan,would certainly take it up and give it her;the best-bred man in Europe could do no more.The difference,however,would be considerable;the latter would please by doing it gracefully;the former would be laughed at for doing it awkwardly.I repeat it,and repeat it again,and shall never cease repeating it to you:air,manners,graces,style,elegance,and all those ornaments,must now be the only objects of your attention;it is now,or never,that you must acquire them.Postpone,therefore,all other considerations;make them now your serious study;you have not one moment to lose.The solid and the ornamental united,are undoubtedly best;but were I reduced to make an option,I should without hesitation choose the latter.

I hope you assiduously frequent Marcell --[At that time the most celebrated dancing-master at Paris.]--and carry graces from him;nobody had more to spare than he had formerly.Have you learned to carve?for it is ridiculous not to carve well.A man who tells you gravely that he cannot carve,may as well tell you that he cannot blow his nose:it is both as necessary,and as easy.

Make my compliments to Lord Huntingdon,whom I love and honor extremely,as I dare say you do;I will write to him soon,though I believe he has hardly time to read a letter;and my letters to those I love are,as you know by experience,not very short ones:this is one proof of it,and this would have been longer,if the paper had been so.Good night then,my dear child.

同类推荐
  • 顺权方便经

    顺权方便经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 梵网经菩萨戒本疏

    梵网经菩萨戒本疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说施一切无畏陀罗尼经

    佛说施一切无畏陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 旧德堂医案

    旧德堂医案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Sportsman

    The Sportsman

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 重生之留学归来

    重生之留学归来

    留学归来的青年宋瑞杰,本想回家乡为二老送终,却以特殊的方式“归来”,且看原本平凡的青年怎样谱写不平凡的故事。
  • 爱情,我们回去吧

    爱情,我们回去吧

    初恋的故事就像玉龙雪山,爱情是那云上流淌的完美女声——每一个爱情故事都像印第安手鼓声中的二重唱,我们跟随起舞时候,它的歌声总在流逝。多年以后,我们都想说:“爱情,我们回去吧。”
  • 我是神书

    我是神书

    你是否曾怀疑过电视荧幕上的离奇魔术?你是否对一些超能力视频抱有强烈的好奇或者质疑?你是否对你所认知世界的一切真理深信不疑?这世上存在着很多我们无法理解的东西,人们都喜欢用科学去解决。当科学无法得到结论,成为了一个又一个有待解决的谜题;当异能的谣言越传越广,甚至出现在你眼前时,你又该怀疑哪个世界?(ps:本书是一本严肃纪实的轻松幽默恶搞小说。)
  • 武当的一名弟子

    武当的一名弟子

    千年当有圣人出,千年当有魔劫动。人间,末法时代,武当的一名弟子秉承天命,悟天书得大道,拯救人间·····
  • 孤独流浪者

    孤独流浪者

    无限宇宙,孕育了无数智慧生命,文明之间碰撞出剧烈的火花,人类,刚刚起步的文明在一次偶然中差点被毁灭,如何活下去,在强大文明的夹缝中苟延残喘,生存还是毁灭,仅在一念之间。
  • 斗智斗勇的故事

    斗智斗勇的故事

    我们编辑的这套《世界经典探案故事全集》包括《侦探出动的故事》、《高超推理的故事》、《蛛丝马迹的故事》、《扑朔迷离的故事》、《缉捕追踪的故事》、《原形毕露的故事》、《斗智斗勇的故事》、《智破奇案的故事》、《真相大白的故事》和《插翅难逃的故事》等10册,这些作品汇集了古今中外著名的疑案、迷案、奇案、悬案、冤案等近百篇,其故事情节惊险曲折,探案英雄大智大勇,阅读这些侦破故事,不仅可以启迪智慧、增强思维、了解社会、增长知识,还可以学到自我保卫、推理破案的常识,防范日常生活的不测。
  • 斑一驳

    斑一驳

    学校是我们每个人成长的地方,这里见证了太多青涩年代的悲欢离合,或许我们的故事在这它历史的长河里并不浓墨重彩,却成为每个人一生都难以忘却的珍贵回忆,本文描写的是青春里的一段回忆,相信我们每个人都曾年轻。。。
  • 非洲狮2:王者之路

    非洲狮2:王者之路

    “落日”出生在一个庞大的家族,与父母兄弟姐妹一起经历生活的磨难和大自然的考验,也历经了亲人的死亡和家族的盛衰。她在危难中保存自己的性命,在学习和实战中慢慢成长和强大,成为一族的族长,与丈夫雷从原先的仇恨到共经风雨、相濡以沫,他们一起带领整个家族度过一个又一个灾难……
  • 醉后赠马四

    醉后赠马四

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 滴血玫瑰梦之杀手

    滴血玫瑰梦之杀手

    当杀手遭遇爱情,这是不是命运的肆意玩弄?冷面杀手云中海和一娇美女人一夜风流之后便遭到各种黑暗势力无休无止的重重追杀,一路逃亡,命悬一线,却遇美女无数,当他正沉浸在温柔中时,却突然发现这一切只是一个惊天阴谋的一部分,苦苦寻觅,最终的背后主谋却让他震惊的心碎。