r, who is never happy unless he is landing you
in a false position and ruthlessly demolishing it. There is the crusted
old Don, whose boots creak, whose clothes seem to be made of some hard,
unyielding material, and whose stiff collars scrape his shaven cheeks
with a rustling noise; he speaks rarely and gruffly; he opens his mouth
to insert food, and closes it with a snap; but he is a humorous old
fellow, with a twinkle in his eye; generous if whimsical; and more
good-natured than he wishes you to believe. Some of my friends are
silent and abrupt; there is the statuesque chaplain who, whatever you
may talk of, appears to be preoccupied with something else; there are
brisk, bird-like men, who pick up their food and interject disconnected
remarks. But the majority are lively, sensible fellows, with abundance
of interest in life and people, and a considerable sense of humour;
and, after all, I think it matters very little what a man talks about
as long as you feel that the talk is sincere and natural, and not a
pose; the only kind of talker whom I find really discomposing is the
shy man, who makes false starts, interrupts in order to show his
sympathy, and then apologises for his misapprehension; but this is an
unknown species in a College Hall. What one does weary of more and more
every year is the sort of surface cackle that has to be indulged in in
general society, simply to fill the time.

But of course, in conversation, much depends upon what may be called
LUCK. You may invite three or four of the best conversationalists you
know to a quiet dinner; and yet, though the same party may have on some
previous occasion played the game with agility and zest, yet for some
reason, on the present occasion, all may go heavily. You may light upon
a tiresome subject; your most infectious humorist may be tired or out
of temper, and the whole thing may languish and droop; people may
misunderstand each other, perversely or unintentionally; the dredge may
bring up nothing but mud; a contagion of yawning may set in, and you
are lost. Again, some party which has been assembled from motives of
duty, and from which no species of social pleasure was expected, may
turn out brisk, lively, and entertaining.

A good party should contain, if possible, a humorist, a sentimentalist,
and a good-tempered butt; the only kind of men who should be rigidly
excluded are the busy mocker, the despiser, the superior person. It
does not matter how much peo