they may look to-day, can the final conclusions be reasonably objected to:--"First, That every Person who indulges his Ill-nature or Vanity, at the Expense of others; and in introducing Uneasiness, Vexation, and Confusion into Society, however exalted or high-titled he may be, is thoroughly ill-bred;" and "Secondly, That whoever, from the Goodness of his Disposition or Understanding, endeavours to his utmost to cultivate the Good-humour and Happiness of others, and to contribute to the Ease and Comfort of all his Acquaintance, however low in Rank Fortune may have placed him, or however clumsy he may be in his Figure or Demeanour, hath, in the truest sense of the Word, a Claim to Good-Breeding." One fancies that this essay must have been a favourite with the historian of the _Book of Snobs_ and the creator of Major Dobbin. The _Characters of Men_ is not equal to the _Conversation._ The theme is a wider one; and the end proposed,--that of supplying rules for detecting the real disposition through all the social disguises which cloak and envelop it,--can scarcely be said to be attained. But there are happy touches even in this; and when the author says--"I will venture to affirm, that I have known some of _the best sort of Men in the World_ (to use the vulgar Phrase,) who would not have scrupled cutting a Friend's Throat; and _a Fellow whom no Man should be seen to speak to_, capable of the highest Acts of Friendship and Benevolence," one recognises the hand that made the sole good Samaritan in Joseph Andrews "a Lad who hath since been transported for robbing a Hen-roost." The account of the Terrestrial Chrysipus or Guinea, a burlesque on a paper read before the Royal Society on the Fresh Water Polypus, is chiefly interesting from the fact that it is supposed to be written by Petrus Gualterus (Peter Walter), who had an "extraordinary Collection" of them. He died, in fact, worth L300,000. The only other paper in the volume of any value is a short one _Of the Remedy of Affliction for the Loss of our Friends_, to which we shall presently return.