JOHN GAY TO DR. ARBUTHNOT.

Hanover, August 16th, 1714.

"You remember, I suppose, that I was to write you abundance of letters
from Hanover; but as one of the most distinguished qualities of a
publician is secrecy, you must not expect from me any arcanas of state.
There is another thing that is necessary to establish the character of a
politician, which is to seem always to be full of affairs of State; to
know the consultations of the Cabinet Council when at the same time his
politics are collected from newspapers. Which of these two causes my
secrecy is owing to I leave you to determine. There is yet one thing
more that is extremely necessary for a foreign minister, which he can no
more be without than an artisan without his tools; I mean the terms of
his art. I call it an art or a science because I think the King of
France has established an academy to instruct the young Machiavelians of
his country in the deep and profound science of politics. To the end I
might be qualified for an employment of this nature, and not only be
qualified myself, but (to speak in the style of Sir John Falstaff) be
the cause of qualification in others, I have made it my business to read
memoirs, treatises, etc. And as a dictionary of law-terms is thought
necessary for young beginners, so I thought a dictionary of terms of
State would be no less useful for young politicians. The terms of
politics being not so numerous as to swell into a volume, especially in
times of peace (for in times of war all the terms of fortifications are
included), I thought fit to extract them in the same manner for the
benefit of young practitioners as a famous author has compiled his
learned treatise of the law, called the 'Doctor and Student.' I have not
made any great progress in this piece; but, however, I will give you a