I hope that your good sense will make you acquire them abroad. If you desire to make yourself considerable in the world (as, if you have any spirit, you do), it must be entirely your own doing; for I may very possibly be out of the world at the time you come into it. Your own rank and fortune will not assist you; your merit and your manners can alone raise you to figure and fortune. I have laid the foundations of them, by the education which I have given you; but you must build the superstructure yourself. I must now apply to you for some informations, which I dare say you can, and which I desire you will give me. Can the Elector of Saxony put any of his subjects to death for high treason, without bringing them first to their trial in some public court of justice? Can he, by his own authority, confine any subject in prison as long as he pleases, without trial? Can he banish any subject out of his dominions by his own authority? Can he lay any tax whatsoever upon his subjects, without the consent of the states of Saxony? and what are those states? how are they elected? what orders do they consist of? Do the clergy make part of them? and when, and how often do they meet? If two subjects of the elector's are at law, for an estate situated in the electorate, in what court must this suit be tried? and will the decision of that court be final, or does there lie an appeal to the imperial chamber at Wetzlaer? What do you call the two chief courts, or two chief magistrates, of civil and criminal justice? What is the common revenue of the electorate, one year with another? What number of troops does the elector now maintain? and what is the greatest number that the electorate is able to maintain? I do not expect to have all these questions answered at once; but you will answer them, in proportion as you get the necessary and authentic informations. You are, you see, my German oracle; and I consult you with so much faith, that you need not, like the oracles of old, return ambiguous answers; especially as you have this advantage over them, too, that I only consult you about past end present, but not about what is to come. I wish you a good Easter-fair at Leipsig. See, with attention all the shops, drolls, tumblers, rope-dancers, and 'hoc genus omne': but inform yourself more particularly of the several parts of trade there. Adieu. LETTER XXXIII LONDON, March 25, O. S. 1748. DEAR BOY: I am in great joy at the written and the verbal accounts which I have received lately of you.