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Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art
Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art

Chapter VIII · Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art is here in full — 286 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art
Context Illustration Reading 1/57 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
LONDON, November 29, O.
S.
1748.
DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.
His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.
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LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art

Chapter VIII · Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art is here in full — 286 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/57 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
LONDON, November 29, O.
Line 2
S.
/es/
Line 3
1748.
Line 4
DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.
/dɪr bɔɪ aɪ dɪˈleɪd ˈraɪtɪŋ tuː juː tɪl aɪ kʊd ɡɪv juː sʌm əˈkaʊnt ʌv ðə ˈmoʊʃənz ʌv jɔːr frend ˈmɪstər ˈeliət fɔːr huːm aɪ noʊ juː hæv ənd ˈveri ˈdʒʌstli ðə moʊst ˈfrendli kənˈsɜːrn/
Line 5
His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

Learner Dictionary

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.

concern noun US /kənˈsɜːrn/

something that interests you because it is important or affects you

From this reading “DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.”

Cornwall noun US /ˈkɔːrnwɔːl/

a hilly county in southwestern England

From this reading “His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.”

delayed adjective US /dɪˈleɪd/

not as far along as normal in development

From this reading “DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.”

Eliot noun US /ˈeliət/

British poet (born in the United States) who won the Nobel prize for literature; his plays are outstanding examples of modern verse drama (1888-1965)

From this reading “DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.”

fortnight noun US /ˈfɔːrtnaɪt/

a period of fourteen consecutive days

From this reading “His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.”

justly adverb US /ˈdʒʌstli/

with honesty

From this reading “DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.”

motions noun US /ˈmoʊʃənz/

plural of “motion” — the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals

From this reading “DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.”

November noun US /noʊˈvembər/

the month following October and preceding December

From this reading “LONDON, November 29, O.”

All words in this reading · 50

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.

1748

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading 1748.

29

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading LONDON, November 29, O.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

accountnounUS /əˈkaʊnt/

a record or narrative description of past events

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

agoadverbUS /əˈɡoʊ/

in the past

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

BOYnounUS /bɔɪ/

a youthful male person

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

cameverbUS /keɪm/

inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

concernnounUS /kənˈsɜːrn/

something that interests you because it is important or affects you

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

CornwallnounUS /ˈkɔːrnwɔːl/

a hilly county in southwestern England

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

couldmodal verbUS /kʊd/

the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

DEARadjectiveUS /dɪr/

dearly loved

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

delayedadjectiveUS /dɪˈleɪd/

not as far along as normal in development

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

EliotnounUS /ˈeliət/

British poet (born in the United States) who won the Nobel prize for literature; his plays are outstanding examples of modern verse drama (1888-1965)

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

familynounUS /ˈfæməli/

a social unit living together

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

fathernounUS /ˈfɑːðər/

a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

fortnightnounUS /ˈfɔːrtnaɪt/

a period of fourteen consecutive days

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

friendnounUS /frend/

a person you know well and regard with affection and trust

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

friendlyadjectiveUS /ˈfrendli/

characteristic of or befitting a friend

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

giveverbUS /ɡɪv/

cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

HisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

justlyadverbUS /ˈdʒʌstli/

with honesty

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

knowverbUS /noʊ/

be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

LONDONnounUS /ˈlʌndən/

the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center

From this reading LONDON, November 29, O.

mostadverbUS /moʊst/

used to form the superlative

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

motionsnounUS /ˈmoʊʃənz/

plural of “motion” — the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

MrnounUS /ˈmɪstər/

a form of address for a man

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

NovembernounUS /noʊˈvembər/

the month following October and preceding December

From this reading LONDON, November 29, O.

OnounUS /oʊ/

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, November 29, O.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

post-chaise

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

remainingadjectiveUS /rɪˈmeɪnɪŋ/

not used up

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

restverbUS /rest/

not move; be in a resting position

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

SnounUS /es/

1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites

From this reading S.

someadjectiveUS /sʌm/

(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

tillprepositionUS /tɪl/

up to a particular time

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

togetheradverbUS /təˈɡeðər/

in contact with each other or in proximity

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

townnounUS /taʊn/

an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city

From this reading His father and he came to town together, in a post-chaise a fortnight ago, the rest of the family remaining in Cornwall.

veryadjectiveUS /ˈveri/

precisely as stated

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

whompronounUS /huːm/

the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

writingnounUS /ˈraɪtɪŋ/

the act of creating written works

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

youpronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

yourdeterminerUS /jɔːr/

belonging to the person or people being spoken to

From this reading DEAR BOY: I delayed writing to you till I could give you some account of the motions of your friend Mr. Eliot; for whom I know you have, and very justly, the most friendly concern.

Chapter 8 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art by Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield holds 286 sentences, grouped into 58 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.

What does chapter 8 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art contain?

Chapter 8 holds 286 sentences of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 8 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 286 sentences, grouped into 58 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.

How do I study chapter 8 of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art?

Work through the 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 58 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.

Can chapter 8 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 8 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.

Questions about reading Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art

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.

Is this the complete text of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art?

Yes. All 10351 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3361 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #3361, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art take to read?

About 600 minutes of reading across 2071 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art section by section

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.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 40 chapters of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art

Words and structures a reader meets early in Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

October
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Distresses
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Journey
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Heidelberg
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Letters to His Son, Complete On the Fine Art; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.