- poses, and his riches are not handy nor convenient.
Have as much gold as you please in one pocket, but take care always to keep change in the other; for you will much oftener have occasion for a shilling than for a guinea. [Sept, 19, 1752.]
Maxims.—My dear friend,—I never think my
time so well employed, as when I think it employed
to your advantage. In that view, I have thrown together,
for your use, the enclosed maxims[1]; or, to
speak more properly, observations of men and
things; for I have no merit as to the invention; I
am no system-monger; and, instead of giving way
to my imagination, I have only consulted my memory;
and my conclusions are all drawn from facts,
not from fancy. Most maxim-mongers have preferred
the prettiness to the justness of a thought,
and the turn to the truth; but I have refused myself
to everything that my own experience did not justify
and confirm. [Jan. 15, 1753.]
A Wet Summer.—There never was so wet a
summer as this has been, in the memory of man;
we have not had one single day, since March, without
some rain; but most days a great deal. I hope
that does not affect your health, as great cold does;
- ↑ See "Maxims," p. 328.
