To: Henry St John, Viscount St John. n.p. 12 August [n.s.] 1720. Text: MS, BL Add. 34196, fols 12–13.

Att my return from a journey, which I took to see how forward y^e country habitation, ¹ which I am fitting up, is, I found y^r letter of y^e 14^th of July. I am very glad y^t you approve y^e method I propose to take with my young Man. ² if we cannot make him book learn’d, we will endeavour to give him principles of virtue & honour, such a fond of knowledg as may enable him to be useful in his generation, and that manner which can only be acquir’d by frequenting people of sense & breeding and which gives a grace & casts a lustre on all the actions of life. ³ he is so well, & y^e weather so cool this summer that I know not whether I shall not put him 4to the Academy sooner than I intended, for tho’ he loses little time here, yet he will lose less there, as I have order’d things. besides the masters which y^e Academy affords, I intend that Mons^r de Lisle, y^e Kings Geographer, ⁴ & who besides y^t is a very excellent Historian, shall spend several hours in y^e week with him. there are two persons, friends of mine, & excellent Scholars, who have promis’d me to visit him two or three times a week. one of these is an ancient man ⁵ who has pass’d his whole life in y^e education of youth. the other is not seven years older than my eleve, ⁶ & is perhaps y^e most extraordinary youth Genius in Europe. you may judg of his character by this, y^t they have taken him out of his garret, without any application but y^t which his merit made for him, to put him about y^e young King. ⁷ there are some people of y^e world who will call on him att y^e Academy sometimes, and carry him abroad, & I shall not much care that he go out w^th any others, because with these he will have as much diversion as it is fit for him to take, & will certainly see no company but y^e best. thus his whole time will be well & usefully employ’d, & I doubt not but you will find him vastly improv’d in a short time.