Chapter 3 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art is here in full — 231 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art is here in full — 231 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LONDON, October 16, O. S. 1747 DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire. It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
Chapter 3 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art is here in full — 231 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.”
the act of making and recording a measurement
From this reading “It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.”
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading “LONDON, October 16, O.”
giving pleasure and satisfaction
From this reading “DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.”
have as an attribute, knowledge, or skill
From this reading “DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.”
made less in size or amount or degree
From this reading “It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.”
plural of “rule” — a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading “It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.”
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading “It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LONDON, October 16, O.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1747
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
a youthful male person
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
dearly loved
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
only a very short time before
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading LONDON, October 16, O.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
absolutely essential
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading LONDON, October 16, O.
the act of making and recording a measurement
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading LONDON, October 16, O.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
giving pleasure and satisfaction
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
have as an attribute, knowledge, or skill
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
made less in size or amount or degree
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
plural of “rule” — a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading S.
a general conscious awareness
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
precisely as stated
From this reading DEAR BOY: The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can.
Chapter 3 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art by Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield holds 231 sentences, grouped into 47 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 3 holds 231 sentences of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art by Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 231 sentences, grouped into 47 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 3 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art by Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10351 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3361 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3361, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2071 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
