Page:Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies, from the papers of Thomas Jefferson - Volume 1.djvu/303

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books, in the following order : Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon- tis Hellenica, Xenophontis Anabasis, Arrian, Quintus Curtius, Dio- dorus Siculus, Justin. This shall form the first stage of your historical reading, and is all 1 need mention to you now. ‘The next, will be of Roman history.* From that, we will come down to modern history. In Greek and Lafin poetry, you have read or will read at school, Virgil, Terence, Horace, Anacreon, ‘Theocri- tus, Homer, Euripides, Sophocles. Read also Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shakspeare, Ossian, Pope’s and Swift’s works, in order to form your style in your own language. In morality, read Epic- tetus, Xenophontis Memorabilia, Plato’s Socratic dialogues, Cicero’s philosophies, Antoninus, and Seneca. In order to assure a certain progress in this reading, consider what hours you have free from the school and the exercises of the school. Give about two of them, every day, to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learn- ing. <A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exer- cise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that na- ture, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks. Never think of taking a book with you. The object of walking is to relax the mind. You should therefore not permit yourself even to think while you walk; but divert your attention by the objects surrounding you. Walking is the best possible ex- ercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves on having subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained, by the use of this animal. No one has occasioned so much, the degeneracy of the human body. An Indian goes on foot nearly as far in a day, for a long journey, as an enfeebled white does on his horse ; and he will tire the best horses. ‘There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking far without fatigue. I would ad- vise you to take your exercise in the afternoon: not because it is the best time for exercise, for certainly it is not; but because it is the best time to spare from your studies; and habit will soon re- concile it to health, and render it nearly as useful as if you gave to that the more precious hours of the day. A little walk of half an hour, in the morning, when you first rise, is advisable also. It shakes off sleep, and produces other good effects in the animal economy. Rise at a fixed and an early hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also. Sitting up late at night is injurious to

  • Livy, Sullust, Cesar, Cicero’s epistles, Suetonius, Tacitus, Gibbon.