"Viewed as compositions, they appear almost unrivalled for a serious epistolary style; clear, elegant, and terse, never straining at effect, and yet never hurried into carelessness."—Lord Mahon, 1845.

"In point of style, a finished classical work; they contain instructions for the conduct of life that will never be obsolete. Instinct with the most consummate good sense and knowledge of life and business, and certainly nothing can be more attractive than the style in which they are set before their readers."—Quarterly Review, vol. lxxvi., 1845.

"Lord Chesterfield's letters are, I will venture to say, masterpieces of good taste, good writing, and good sense."—John Wilson Croker, 1846.