dress; let it have du brillant: I do not mean by a clumsy load of gold and silver, but by the taste and fashion of it. Women like and require it; they think it an attention due to them. [Nov. 14, 1749.]
Dancing Youth.—You danced pretty well here,
and ought to dance very well before you come home;
for what one is obliged to do sometimes, one ought
to be able to do well. Besides, la belle danse donne
du brillant à un jeune homme. And you should
endeavor to shine. A calm serenity, negative merit
and graces, do not become your age. You should
be alerte, adroit, vif; be wanted, talked of, impatiently
expected, and unwillingly parted with in company.
I should be glad to hear half a dozen women
of fashion say: "Où est donc le petit Stanhope? Que
ne vient-il? Il faut avouer qu'il est aimable." All
this I do not mean singly with regard to women as
the principal object; but with regard to men, and
with a view of your making yourself considerable.
For, with very small variations, the same things
that please women please men. [Same date.]
Ill-Breeding.—My last was upon the subject of
good-breeding; but, I think, it rather set before you
the unfitness and disadvantages of ill-breeding, than
the utility and necessity of good; it was rather negative
than positive. This, therefore, shall go fur-
