IT is sometimes said that though Rev. John Foster wrote on many subjects, his reputation depends on four essays: “On a Man’s Writing Memoirs of Himself,” “On Decision of Character,” “On the Application of the Epithet Romantic,” and “On Some of the Causes by which Evangelical Religion Has Been Rendered Less Acceptable to Persons of Cultivated Tastes.” These, indeed, complete the list of his essays as they appear in the catalogues, but each one of them is really a book of essays, written in the form of “Letters,” after the manner of Bolingbroke in his essays on the “Study of History.” The Letters “On Decision of Character” are the best of the series, but in those “On a Man’s Writing Memoirs of Himself” Foster dwells most effectively on the important truth of the constant changes undergone by the individuality of the same person during a long life. These essays gave him celebrity during his lifetime, and he has not lost standing since his death. He was born in Yorkshire, England, September 17th, 1770. His life was spent in his professional work as a clergyman, relieved by the amateur work as an author which gave him his widest usefulness. He died October 15th, 1843.