Wecanteachyouherebutverylittle;youarehenceforthtobeyourownteachers。Dothisjustice，however，totheEnglishAcademy，tobearinmind，thatinthisplaceyoucontractednonarrowhabits，nofalseideas，nothingthatcouldleadyoutotheimitationofanylivingmaster，whomaybethefashionabledarlingoftheday。Asyouhavenotbeentaughttoflatterus，donotlearntoflatteryourselves。Wehaveendeavouredtoleadyoutotheadmirationofnothingbutwhatistrulyadmirable。Ifyouchooseinferiorpatterns，orifyoumakeyourownFORMERworks，yourpatternsforyourLATTER，itisyourownfault。
Thepurposeofthisdiscourse，and，indeed，ofmostofmyothers，istocautionyouagainstthatfalseopinion，buttooprevalentamongstartists，oftheimaginarypowerofnativegenius，anditssufficiencyingreatworks。Thisopinion，accordingtothetemperofminditmeetswith，almostalwaysproduces，eitheravainconfidence，orasluggishdespair，bothequallyfataltoallproficiency。
Study，therefore，thegreatworksofthegreatmastersforever。
Studyasnearlyasyoucan，intheorder，inthemanner，ontheprinciples，onwhichtheystudied。Studynatureattentively，butalwayswiththosemastersinyourcompany;considerthemasmodelswhichyouaretoimitate，andatthesametimeasrivalswhichyouaretocombat。
ADISCOURSE