OF FRENCH SOCIETY. 61 fessed, admirably written epistles, we profitably learn much of the hollowness of worldly friendships, much of the in- sincerity of mere wits and mere men of letters of persons who associate to- gether, partly for the credit of having it known that they are so associated - who mix acrimony and adulation, ventur- ing to indemnify themselves for their reciprocal flattery when together, by their cutting sarcasms when separated. Happily, the more we see of these com- munications, the more we are convinced that nothing but sound principle, " godly sincerity," a conquest over vanity, a triumph over egotism, an habitual strug- gle against selfishness - can establish an honourable, virtuous, and durable friend- ship, or shed a benign lustre on the most polished society. We repeat, that these reports are not industriously gleaned from rival parties, ill-informed journalists, nor even from virtuous writers, eager to expose the vices they detested ; but from the principal
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