Languages for a statesman, in 1748

[DaveAgain]

I read part of Chesterfield's letters to his son last year. (English, French). Seeing Professor Arguelles' 6 languages thread reminded me of Chesterfield's list.

In letter XL , May 27 1748, he lists the languages a (british) statesman should ideally master:

As to knowledge, I have often told you, and I am persuaded you are thoroughly convinced, how absolutely necessary it is to you, whatever your destination may be. But as knowledge has a most extensive meaning, and as the life of man is not long enough to acquire, nor his mind capable of entertaining and digesting, all parts of knowledge, I will point out those to which you should particularly apply, and which, by application, you may make yourself perfect master of. Classical knowledge, that is, (1) Greek and (2) Latin, is absolutely necessary for everybody; because everybody has agreed to think and to call it so. And the word ILLITERATE, in its common acceptation, means a man who is ignorant of those two languages. You are by this time, I hope, pretty near master of both, so that a small part of the day dedicated to them, for two years more, will make you perfect in that study. Rhetoric, logic, a little geometry, and a general notion of astronomy, must, in their turns, have their hours too; not that I desire you should be deep in any one of these; but it is fit you should know something of them all. The knowledge more particularly useful and necessary for you, considering your destination, consists of modern languages, modern history, chronology, and geography, the laws of nations, and the ‘jus publicum Imperii’. You must absolutely speak all the modern Languages, as purely and correctly as the natives of the respective countries: for whoever does not speak a language perfectly and easily, will never appear to advantage in conversation, nor treat with others in it upon equal terms. As for (3) French, you have it very well already; and must necessarily, from the universal usage of that language, know it better and better every day: so that I am in no pain about that: (4) German, I suppose, you know pretty well by this time, and will be quite master of it before you leave Leipsig: at least, I am sure you may. (5) Italian and (6) Spanish will come in their turns, and, indeed, they are both so easy, to one who knows Latin and French, that neither of them will cost you much time or trouble. Modern history, by which I mean particularly the history of the last three centuries, should be the object of your greatest and constant attention, especially those parts of it which relate more immediately to the great powers of Europe. This study you will carefully connect with chronology and geography; that is, you will remark and retain the dates of every important event; and always read with the map by you, in which you will constantly look for every place mentioned: this is the only way of retaining geography; for, though it is soon learned by the lump, yet, when only so learned, it is still sooner forgot.

[Lemus]

A fascinating excerpt but one has to wonder how many British statement of that era, or any later one, were actually capable of speaking all six. I would not consider myself a great expert on British history by any means but there are none that would immediately come to mind.

[DaveAgain]

A fascinating excerpt but one has to wonder how many British statement of that era, or any later one, were actually capable of speaking all six. I would not consider myself a great expert on British history by any means but there are none that would immediately come to mind.

I read Julian Jackson's Fall of France a while back. One scene I recall was a meeting of the French and British political and military leaders, there was no shared language between the two groups

[sirgregory]

If the preface to the 1938 Teach Yourself German by Sir John Adams is anything to go by, educated Englishmen generally weren't conversationally fluent in their languages. And he implies that things had improved over the last several decades.

We have travelled a long way on the road since the Englishman, tall and skinny, with sandy hair and protruding teeth, was made the butt of ridicule on the Continental stage, and his attempts to speak a foreign tongue were found either irritating or excruciatingly funny.

We have progressed much, too, in our approach to the study of foreign languages. We are not so content to signal and gesticulate for our food in a foreign restaurant, and our eyes no longer flash with indignation at these "damned foreigners" who cannot speak the King's English. It used to be quite common, too, for a well-educated man to turn out a creditable essay in French or German on the fossil iguanodon, yet be distressingly inarticulate when called upon to order a second-class railway ticket or a dinner.

Most of the difficulties of forty years ago were due to an undue importance given to grammar and Classical subject-matter : the teaching did not help the practical man who wanted to travel.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.531124/page/n5/mode/2up

On the other hand, biographies of well-known writers such as Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde often suggest some knowledge of a couple of modern languages and literary knowledge of Latin and Greek. Hard to say though if they how well they might have spoken them. Histories of European royal families indicate many of the royals often spoke several languages as the royal courts had a very cosmopolitan character.
https://www.rbth.com/history/329404-romanovs-language-spoke

[DaveAgain]

If the preface to the 1938 Teach Yourself German by Sir John Adams is anything to go by, educated Englishmen generally weren't conversationally fluent in their languages. And he implies that things had improved over the last several decades.
.

I read Travellers in the third reich last year, if I remember correctly Germany was a popular destination for study before WW2. (partly due to being cheaper than other options! )

On the other hand, biographies of well-known writers such as Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde often suggest some knowledge of a couple of modern languages and literary knowledge of Latin and Greek. Hard to say though if they how well they might have spoken them. Histories of European royal families indicate many of the royals often spoke several languages as the royal courts had a very cosmopolitan character.
https://www.rbth.com/history/329404-romanovs-language-spoke

In the Roberts biography of Churchchill, he says that as a young man Mr Churchill was embarassed by his poor education/ignorance in comparision to his Indian Army contemporaries, and so started a programme of self-improvement.

[luke]

Chesterfield's letters to his son.

In letter XL , May 27 1748:

(1) Greek and (2) Latin, is absolutely necessary for everybody; As for (3) French, you have it very well already; (4) German, I suppose, you know pretty well by this time, and will be quite master of it before you leave Leipsig: (5) Italian and (6) Spanish will come in their turns, and, indeed, they are both so easy, to one who knows Latin and French, that neither of them will cost you much time or trouble.

I edited down the letter to focus on locations and languages.

Same here with the Wikipedia article on the son:
Chesterfield's son's family life

Stanhope met his wife in Rome in the spring of 1750. He was just 18, and she 20. Their two sons, Charles and Philip, were born in London in 1761 and 1763 respectively, and it was not until 25 September 1767 that he and Eugenia were married in Dresden.

Often in ill health, he died in St Gervais, France, on 16 November 1768, aged only 36, and is buried at Vaucluse.

He had just turned 16 at the time letter XL was written.

[Herodotean]

If the preface to the 1938 Teach Yourself German by Sir John Adams is anything to go by, educated Englishmen generally weren't conversationally fluent in their languages. And he implies that things had improved over the last several decades.
.

I read Travellers in the third reich last year, if I remember correctly Germany was a popular destination for study before WW2. (partly due to being cheaper than other options! :-) )

Germany was also an internationally recognized powerhouse in higher education, particularly in the nineteenth century. Germans developed the idea of the "research university" and attracted students as well as established academics from other countries who wanted to emulate German success in their home institutions.

[Ug_Caveman]

A fascinating excerpt but one has to wonder how many British statement of that era, or any later one, were actually capable of speaking all six. I would not consider myself a great expert on British history by any means but there are none that would immediately come to mind.

The great Sir Christopher Lee spoke all of the above (or at least spoke English, French, Spanish, Italian and German with a solid knowledge of the classical languages)

[einzelne]

A fascinating excerpt but one has to wonder how many British statement of that era, or any later one, were actually capable of speaking all six.

I wonder how many freshly minted PhDs in Classics can boast such knowledge today...

[einzelne]

I can only copy the testimony about Mr William Ewart Gladstone, four times prime minister and four times chancellor, I already shared on this forum:

"And yet what best defines this extraordinary man is the way in which he spent his last day as the leader of what was then the greatest power on earth. He recorded that he had been to church, written half a dozen letters, seen half a dozen people, "Read I. Hen. VI. And finished my version of the Odes of Horace." Reading a Shakespeare play might seem unlikely enough in the circumstances, let alone completing a classical translation. But then, as Gladstone recorded in the breathtaking human document that is his Diaries, he read during the course of his life at least 20,000 books in at least six languages, and he was an indefatigable writer, translator, and controversialist."