History Literature / LettersToHisSon

* HanoverStuartWars: Mentioned - or rather, the aftermath of them. The Earl mentions that his son may meet if not the Pretender himself, then at least his followers when he's in Rome.

* CaligulasHorse: Discussed. "He [=the Cardinal de Retz] is persuaded that when UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} made his horse a Consul, the people of Rome, at that time, were not greatly surprised at it, having necessarily been in some degree prepared for it, by an insensible gradation of extravagances from the same quarter." (letter 50)

* GoodIsNotNice: Discussed in letter 98, contrasting Cato the younger (who had this reputation) with AffablyEvil Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar.

* ScienceMarchesOn: The Earl's doctors used bloodletting several times, and misdiagnosed his son's rheumatism for gout.

* NamesTheSame: The Münchhausen mentioned probably is not TheMunchausen (who was named Hieronymus Carl Friedrich), but his relative Gerlach Adolph, minister in Hanover.

* TheCaligula: The original one is mentioned. "A silly tyrant said, 'oderint modo timeant'" (letter 164)
** Also, "A tyrant with legions at his command may say, Oderint modo timeant [let them hate me, so long as they fear me]; though he is a fool if he says it, and a greater fool if he thinks it."

* GratuitousForeignLanguage
** AltumVidetur
** GratuitousFrench
** GratuitousGerman
** GratuitousItalian
** GratuitousSpanish

* LostForever: During 1759-61, there is a two year lapse in the letters. Some other letters also have been lost.

* [[ScienceMarchesOn Medicine Marches On]]: The Earl's doctors used bloodletting several times, and misdiagnosed his son's rheumatism for gout.

* [[spoiler:ShaggyDogStory: Imagine you read a story like this: A British lord and former minister has a bastard son whom he wants to learn everything necessary to become a man of the world and make a great career one day. Also, the son will visit many 18th century courts in Europe, which has potential for many interesting stories. This creates various conflicts, since the son isn't as ambitious as his father. Not to mention his situation as a bastard son in a society which looked down on these men. Besides, the son (in the later part) has a wife and children in Paris his father doesn't even know about. - And then, at the age of 36, the son suddenly dies, before his father.]]

* WillNotTellALie: What the Earl recommends. "I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying." (letter XIV)
** Also, he often points out how a honest friend who doesn't hesitate telling you about your flaws is better than a flatterer.

* WritersSuck: "I do not find that God has made you a poet; and I am very glad that he has not."

* TheFashionista: The French. "Fashion is more tyrannical at Paris than in any other place in the world; it governs even more absolutely than [[LEtatCestMoi their king]], which is saying a great deal."

* LanguageDrift: "want" in the old sense of "lacking something"; "graces" = "good manners, pleasantness, eloquence", "parts" = "intellectual abilities" / "learning", "Imperialists" = soldiers of the HolyRomanEmpire etc.

* GoodIsNotNice: Discussed in letter 98, contrasting Cato the younger (who had this reputation) with AffablyEvil GaiusJuliusCaesar.

* InsufferableGenius: Also something he warns the son to become. "Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have one. If you are asked what o'clock it is, tell it; but do not proclaim it hourly and unasked, like the watchman." (letter 30)

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Lord Chesterfield repeats many of his aesops in his letters; justified because a) as he wrote himself, many letters got lost on their way from Britain to wherever his son was; and b), don't forget that the 330 letters span over twenty years.

* CommonSense: "Common sense (which, in truth, very uncommon) is the best sense I know of: abide by it, it will counsel you best. Read and hear, for your amusement, ingenious systems, nice questions subtilly agitated, with all the refinements that warm imaginations suggest; but consider them only as exercitations for the mind, and turn always to settle with common sense." (letter 52)

* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Also in German. "'das, der donner [sic] dich erschlage'[[note]]That the thunder shall strike you down[[/note]], must no doubt, make a tremendously fine piece of 'recitativo', when uttered by an angry hero, to the rumble of a whole orchestra, including drums, trumpets, and French horns." (letter 207)

* UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution: Mentioned in the latest letters. Note that the Earl was opposed to the infamous Stamp Act which angered the Americans so much and pointed out that this new tax may at best raise 80000 pounds, but the costs caused by reduced trade would be over a million. (He even underestimated the latter number - the real sum would turn out to be almost two millions--to say nothing of the untold millions that Britain might have reaped had the Colonies remained loyal.)

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} / AbsentMindedProfessor: What he didn't recommend to be in high society. "Sir UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton, Mr. Locke, and (it may be) five or six more, since the creation of the world, may have had a right to absence, from that intense thought which the things they were investigating required." (letter 1)

* UsefulNotes/{{Deism}}: "The object of all the public worships in the world is the same; it is that great eternal Being who created everything." (letter 29)
** Lord Bolingbroke also was this: "He professes himself a deist; believing in a general Providence, but doubting of, though by no means rejecting (as is commonly supposed) the immortality of the soul and a future state." (letter 95)

* [[EducationMama Education Papa]]: He expected his son to learn not only Latin and Greek, but to speak the important languages of the continent - that is, French, German, Spanish and Italian - as well as his native language. Not like the average speaker, but at the level of a courtier - with spirit and perfect manners. Also, he should have a foundation in geography and history. And know the basics of various arts and sciences, like architecture, geometry, astronomy, logic... And know about the important parts of economy of the various countries, their political/judicial systems and military. Or rather, gather these informations by himself while in other countries. After all, he expected his son to become a minister one day. Note: His son was ''fourteen'' when he left Britain. Also note that the Earl did ''not'' expect his son to learn to play a musical instrument, deeming this as below a gentleman's dignity. TakeThat, Amy Chua!

* [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Everything Sounds Scarier in German]]: "'das, der donner [sic] dich erschlage'[[note]]That the thunder shall strike you down[[/note]], must no doubt, make a tremendously fine piece of 'recitativo', when uttered by an angry hero, to the rumble of a whole orchestra, including drums, trumpets, and French horns." (letter 207)

* UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat: Mentioned and praised as the ablest prince in Europe.

* HumansAreBastards / HumansAreFlawed: "In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is too great a majority of fools and, knaves; who, singly from their number, must to a certain degree be respected, though they are by no means respectable. And a man who will show every knave or fool that he thinks him such, will engage in a most ruinous war, against numbers much superior to those that he and his allies can bring into the field. Abhor a knave, and pity a fool in your heart; but let neither of them, unnecessarily, see that you do so." (letter 60)

* Creator/JonathanSwift: Recommended by the Earl.

* ThePope: The son meets the current one.
** "The popes, who have generally been both the ablest and the greatest knaves in Europe, wanted all the power and money of the East; for they had all that was in Europe already." (Letter 185)

* Creator/LaRochefoucauld: Mentioned very positively in letter 32.

* UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar: Often mentioned during the later letters (203 to 254)

* Creator/{{Voltaire}}: The Earl read his writings, enjoyed them and was in contact with him.

* FrederickTheGreat: Mentioned and praised as the ablest prince in Europe.

* SevenYearsWar: Often mentioned during the later letters (203 to 254)

* [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Everything Sounds Scarier In German]]: "'das, der donner [sic] dich erschlage'[[note]]That the thunder shall strike you down[[/note]], must no doubt, make a tremendously fine piece of 'recitativo', when uttered by an angry hero, to the rumble of a whole orchestra, including drums, trumpets, and French horns." (letter 207)

* EvilStepmother: Conversed. "For my part, I never saw a froward child mended by whipping; and I would not have the mother country become a stepmother." (letter 283)

* ForeignCussWord: "merde". He must have considered this the equivalent of a PrecisionFStrike today.

** GratuitousLatin

* TheUnSmile: "both men and women upon whom unkind nature has inflicted a surliness and ferocity of countenance, do at least all they can, though often without success, to soften and mitigate it; they affect 'douceur', and aim at smiles, though often in the attempt, like [[ParadiseLost the Devil in Milton]], they GRIN HORRIBLY A GHASTLY SMILE." (letter 189)

* CaligulasHorse: Discussed. "He [=the Cardinal de Retz] is persuaded that when Caligula made his horse a Consul, the people of Rome, at that time, were not greatly surprised at it, having necessarily been in some degree prepared for it, by an insensible gradation of extravagances from the same quarter." (letter 50)

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} / AbsentMindedProfessor: What he didn't recommend to be in high society. "Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Locke, and (it may be) five or six more, since the creation of the world, may have had a right to absence, from that intense thought which the things they were investigating required." (letter 1)

* InsistentTerminology: The Earl refers to MariaTheresa generally as "the Queen of Hungary".

** The Earl describes the ArabianNights as "Oriental ravings and extravagances".

** "I love 'la belle nature'; Rembrandt paints caricatures" (letter 142)

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: "the Duke of Newcastle and [[WilliamPittTheElder Mr. Pitt]] jog on like man and wife; that is, seldom agreeing, often quarreling; but by mutual interest, upon the whole, not parting." (letter 221)

* TheAmericanRevolution: Mentioned in the latest letters. Note that the Earl was opposed to the infamous Stamp Act which angered the Americans so much and pointed out that this new tax may at best raise 80000 pounds, but the costs caused by reduced trade would be over a million. (He even underestimated the latter number - the real sum would turn out to be almost two millions--to say nothing of the untold millions that Britain might have reaped had the Colonies remained loyal.)

----

** In a certain way, this: "What can be more adorned than {{Cicero}}'s Philosophical Works? What more than {{Plato}}'s? It is their eloquence only that has preserved and transmitted them down to us through so many centuries; for the philosophy of them is wretched, and the reasoning part miserable." (letter 200)

* DesignatedHero: Also discussed. "I dare assert too, in defiance of the favorers of the ancients, that {{Homer}}'s hero, Achilles, was both a brute and a scoundrel, and consequently an improper character for the hero of an epic poem; he had so little regard for his country, that he would not act in defense of it, because he had quarreled with Agamemnon about a w—-e; and then afterward, animated by private resentment only, he went about killing people basely, I will call it, because he knew himself invulnerable; and yet, invulnerable as he was, he wore the strongest armor in the world; which I humbly apprehend to be a blunder; for a horse-shoe clapped to his vulnerable heel would have been sufficient." (letter 64)

* ThePope: The son mets the current one.

* WritersSuck: "I do not find that God has made you a poet; and I am very glad that he has not"

** Also, "A tyrant with legions at his command may say, Oderint modo timeant [they shall hate me as long as they fear me]; though he is a fool if he says it, and a greater fool if he thinks it."

* TheAmericanRevolution: Mentioned in the latest letters. Note that the Earl was opposed to the infamous Stamp Act which angered the Americans so much and pointed out that this new tax may at best raise 80000 pounds, but the costs caused by reduced trade would be over a million. (He even underestimated the latter number - the real sum would turn out to be almost two millions.)

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} / AbsentMindedProfessor: What he didn't recommend to be in high society. "Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Locke, and (it may be) five or six more, since the creation of the world, may have had a right to absence, from that intense thought which the things they were investigating required." (letter I)

* CuckoldHorns: "A prudent cuckold (and there are many such at Paris) pockets his horns when he cannot gore with them; and will not add to the triumph of his maker by only butting with them ineffectually." (letter CLXXXVI)

* LikeAWeasel: "On the other hand, the cunning, crafty man thinks to gain all his ends by the 'suaviter in modo' only; HE BECOMES ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN; he seems to have no opinion of his own, and servilely adopts the present opinion of the present person; he insinuates himself only into the esteem of fools, but is soon detected, and surely despised by everybody else." (letter 133)

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: "for I do not suppose you capable of falling in love with a strumpet" (letter 117) [[spoiler:As early as 1750, the son had met his later wife and mother of his two sons. Until his death in 1768, he wouldn't tell his father about them.]]

* ValuesResonance:
** With regards to the Crusades, Lord Chesterfield wrote that the Christians attacked the Muslims to take land that was rightfully theirs.
** About fox-hunting: "The poor beasts are here pursued and run down by much greater beasts than themselves".

* BrokenPedestal: The British [=MPs=], after the Earl had joined their ranks.

* FairForItsDay:
** With regards to the Crusades, Lord Chesterfield wrote that the Christians attacked the Muslims to take land that was rightfully theirs.
** About fox-hunting: "The poor beasts are here pursued and run down by much greater beasts than themselves".

* HaveAGayOldTime: Many examples. "queer fellow"; "make love to the most impertinent beauty of condition that you meet with"; "gay conversations", "intimate connections" (as in "Though the young Frenchmen of fashion may not be worth forming intimate connections with..."), "be gay with the gay", "You must be gay within all the bounds of decency and respect", "he is one of the prettiest fellows I have seen", "the fag end of a life" etc.

* HumansAreBastards: "In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is too great a majority of fools and, knaves; who, singly from their number, must to a certain degree be respected, though they are by no means respectable. And a man who will show every knave or fool that he thinks him such, will engage in a most ruinous war, against numbers much superior to those that he and his allies can bring into the field. Abhor a knave, and pity a fool in your heart; but let neither of them, unnecessarily, see that you do so." (letter 60)

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: "the Duke of Newcastle and [[PittTheElder Mr. Pitt]] jog on like man and wife; that is, seldom agreeing, often quarreling; but by mutual interest, upon the whole, not parting." (letter 221)

* {{Mentors}}: Mr. Harte, the son's tutor. An unnamed lady (letter 101) for the Earl himself, when he was young.

* UncannyValley: "both men and women upon whom unkind nature has inflicted a surliness and ferocity of countenance, do at least all they can, though often without success, to soften and mitigate it; they affect 'douceur', and aim at smiles, though often in the attempt, like [[ParadiseLost the Devil in Milton]], they GRIN HORRIBLY A GHASTLY SMILE." (letter 189)

* WineIsClassy: The Earl told his son the one or other time to sent him some bottles of wine, and paid with gold for them.