Letter from Alexander Boswell to James Boswell, October 1763:
Your returning to the study of the Latin and Greek authors secures to you a mine of unexhaustible knowledge and entertainment. There is a peculiar strength of thought and of expression in the ancients, a je ne sais quoi which strikes those who understand them with reverence. By falling into this way you will find constant entertainment, and that is the only thing can dispel gloom and low spirits. When I have nothing to do, which happens when I am from home visiting, time passes heavily; but when I am occupied, I repine that it is so short. You’ll too in Holland probably acquire a taste for gardening and send me home some instruction about it. In my last I put a query about a Dutch cow-house or byre which I suppose you’ll solve me in.
