<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"></SPAN></p>
<h2> LETTER XLVI </h2>
<h3> LONDON, August 2, O. S. 1748. </h3>
<p>DEAR BOY: Duval the jeweler, is arrived, and was with me three or four
days ago. You will easily imagine that I asked him a few questions
concerning you; and I will give you the satisfaction of knowing that, upon
the whole, I was very well pleased with the account he gave me. But,
though he seemed to be much in your interest, yet he fairly owned to me
that your utterance was rapid, thick, and ungraceful. I can add nothing to
what I have already said upon this subject; but I can and do repeat the
absolute necessity of speaking distinctly and gracefully, or else of not
speaking at all, and having recourse to signs. He tells me that you are
pretty fat for one of your age: this you should attend to in a proper way;
for if, while very young; you should grow fat, it would be troublesome,
unwholesome, and ungraceful; you should therefore, when you have time,
take very strong exercise, and in your diet avoid fattening things. All
malt liquors fatten, or at least bloat; and I hope you do not deal much in
them. I look upon wine and water to be, in every respect; much wholesomer.</p>
<p>Duval says there is a great deal of very good company at Madame Valentin's
and at another lady's, I think one Madame Ponce's, at Leipsig. Do you ever
go to either of those houses, at leisure times? It would not, in my mind,
be amiss if you did, and would give you a habit of ATTENTIONS; they are a
tribute which all women expect; and which all men, who would be well
received by them; must pay. And, whatever the mind may be, manners at
least are certainly improved by the company of women of fashion.</p>
<p>I have formerly told you, that you should inform yourself of the several
orders, whether military or religious, of the respective countries where
you may be. The Teutonic Order is the great Order of Germany, of which I
send you inclosed a short account. It may serve to suggest questions to
you for more particular inquiries as to the present state of it, of which
you ought to be minutely informed. The knights, at present, make vows, of
which they observe none, except it be that of not marrying; and their only
object now is, to arrive, by seniority, at the Commanderies in their
respective provinces; which are, many of them, very lucrative. The Order
of Malta is, by a very few years, prior to the Teutonic, and owes its
foundation to the same causes. These' knights were first called Knights
Hospitaliers of St. John of Jerusalem, then Knights of Rhodes; and in the
year 1530, Knights of Malta, the Emperor Charles V. having granted them
that island, upon condition of their defending his island of Sicily
against the Turks, which they effectually did. L'Abbe de Vertot has
written the history of Malta, but it is the least valuable of all his
works; and moreover, too long for you to read. But there is a short
history, of all the military orders whatsoever, which I would advise you
to get, as there is also of all the religious orders; both which are worth
your having and consulting, whenever you meet with any of them in your
way; as, you will very frequently in Catholic countries. For my own part,
I find that I remember things much better, when I recur, to my books for
them, upon some particular occasion, than by reading them 'tout de suite'.
As, for example, if I were to read the history of all the military or
religious orders, regularly one after another, the latter puts the former
out of my head; but when I read the history of any one, upon account, of
its having been the object of conversation or dispute, I remember it much
better. It is the same in geography, where, looking for any particular
place in the map, upon some particular account, fixes it in one's memory
forever. I hope you have worn out your maps by frequent, use of that sort.
Adieu.</p>
<p><br/> <b> A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER </b></p>
<p>In the ages of ignorance, which is always the mother of superstition, it
was thought not only just, but meritorious, to propagate religion by fire
and sword, and to take away the lives and properties of unbelievers. This
enthusiasm produced the several crusades, in the 11th, 12th, and following
centuries, the object of which was, to recover the Holy Land out of, the
hands of the Infidels, who, by the way, were the lawful possessors. Many
honest enthusiasts engaged in those crusades, from a mistaken principle of
religion, and from the pardons granted by the Popes for all the sins of
those pious adventurers; but many more knaves adopted these holy wars, in
hopes of conquest and plunder. After Godfrey of Bouillon, at the head of
these knaves and fools, had taken Jerusalem, in the year 1099, Christians
of various nations remained in that city; among the rest, one good honest
German, that took particular care of his countrymen who came thither in
pilgrimages. He built a house for their reception, and an hospital
dedicated to the Virgin. This little establishment soon became a great
one, by the enthusiasm of many considerable people who engaged in it, in
order to drive the Saracens out of the Holy Land. This society then began
to take its first form; and its members were called Marian Teutonic
Knights. Marian, from their chapel sacred to the Virgin Mary; Teutonic,
from the German, or Teuton, who was the author of it, and Knights from the
wars which they were to carry on against the Infidels.</p>
<p>These knights behaved themselves so bravely, at first; that Duke Frederick
of Swabia, who was general of the German army in the Holy Land, sent, in
the year 1191, to the Emperor Henry VI. and Pope Celestine III. to desire
that this brave and charitable fraternity might be incorporated into a
regular order of knighthood; which was accordingly done, and rules and a
particular habit were given them. Forty knights, all of noble families,
were at first created by the King of Jerusalem and other princes then in
the army. The first grand master of this order was Henry Wallpot, of a
noble family upon the Rhine. This order soon began to operate in Europe;
drove all the Pagans out of Prussia, and took possession of it. Soon
after, they got Livonia and Courland, and invaded even Russia, where they
introduced the Christian religion. In 1510, they elected Albert, Marquis
of Bradenburg, for their grand master, who, turning Protestant, soon
afterward took Prussia from the order, and kept it for himself, with the
consent of Sigismund, King of Poland, of whom it was to hold. He then
quitted his grand mastership and made himself hereditary Duke of that
country, which is thence called Ducal Prussia. This order now consists of
twelve provinces; viz., Alsatia, Austria, Coblentz, and Etsch, which are
the four under the Prussian jurisdiction; Franconia, Hesse, Biessen,
Westphalia, Lorraine, Thuringia, Saxony, and Utrecht, which eight are of
the German jurisdiction. The Dutch now possess all that the order had in
Utrecht. Every one of the provinces have their particular Commanderies;
and the most ancient of these Commandeurs is called the Commandeur
Provincial. These twelve Commandeurs are all subordinate to the Grand
Master of Germany as their chief, and have the right of electing the grand
master. The elector of Cologne is at present 'Grand Maitre'.</p>
<p>This order, founded by mistaken Christian zeal, upon the anti-Christian
principles of violence and persecution, soon grew strong by the weakness
and ignorance of the time; acquired unjustly great possessions, of which
they justly lost the greatest part by their ambition and cruelty, which
made them feared and hated by all their neighbors.</p>
<p>I have this moment received your letter of the 4th, N. S., and have only
time to tell you that I can by no means agree to your cutting off your
hair. I am very sure that your headaches cannot proceed from thence. And
as for the pimples upon your head, they are only owing to the heat of the
season, and consequently will not last long. But your own hair is, at your
age, such an ornament, and a wig, however well made, such a disguise, that
I will upon no account whatsoever have you cut off your hair. Nature did
not give it to you for nothing, still less to cause you the headache. Mr.
Eliot's hair grew so ill and bushy, that he was in the right to cut it
off. But you have not the same reason.</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.