This to our cis-Alpine and cis-Atlantic Friends.
Also this other word of entreaty and advice to the large and
respectable nation of Acquaintances, beyond the
mountains;--Greeting.
My most serene and irresponsible neighbors, let us see that we
have the whole advantage of each other; we will be useful, at
least, if not admirable, to one another. I know that the
mountains which separate us are high, and covered with perpetual
snow, but despair not. Improve the serene winter weather to
scale them. If need be, soften the rocks with vinegar. For here
lie the verdant plains of Italy ready to receive you. Nor shall
I be slow on my side to penetrate to your Provence. Strike then
boldly at head or heart or any vital part. Depend upon it, the
timber is well seasoned and tough, and will bear rough usage; and
if it should crack, there is plenty more where it came from. I
am no piece of crockery that cannot be jostled against my
neighbor without danger of being broken by the collision, and
must needs ring false and jarringly to the end of my days, when
once I am cracked; but rather one of the old-fashioned wooden
trenchers, which one while stands at the head of the table, and
at another is a milking-stool, and at another a seat for
children, and finally goes down to its grave not unadorned with
honorable scars, and does not die till it is worn out.
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