familiarity, genteel without affectation, and insinuating
without any seeming art or design. [Same date.]
Polish.—Now, though I would not recommend
to you to go into woman's company in search of
solid knowledge or judgment, yet it has its use in
other respects; for it certainly polishes the manners,
and gives une certaine tournure, which is very necessary
in the course of the world; and which Englishmen
have generally less of than any people in the
world. [Jan. 2, 1748.]
A Good Supper.—I cannot say that your suppers
are luxurious, but you must own they are solid; and
a quart of soup, and two pounds of potatoes, will
enable you to pass the night without great impatience
for your breakfast next morning. One part
of your supper (the potatoes) is the constant diet
of my old friends and countrymen, the Irish, who
are the healthiest and the strongest men that I know
in Europe. [Same date.]
A Greek Professor.—Since you do not care to
be an assessor of the Imperial Chamber, and desire
an establishment in England; what do you think of
being Greek professor at one of our universities? It
is a very pretty sinecure, and requires very little