No out-bursting of passion, or touch of deep pathos, interrupted the equanimity of feeling of those who perused Spencer's verses; yet was their absence unmissed, for the fancy, wit, and sentiment that marked them all, and the graceful ease of the versification, rendered them precisely what they were intended for,--_les vers de societe_, the fitting volume elegantly bound to be placed in the _boudoir_.
And there sat the pet poet of gilded _salons_, whose sparkling sallies could once delight the fastidious circles in which he moved.

His once bright eyes, glazed and lustreless, his cheeks sunken and pale, seeming only conscious of the presence of those around him when offered champagne, the excitement of which for a few brief moments produced some flashing _bon mot a propos de rien_ passing at the time, after which his spirits subsided even more rapidly than did the bubbles of the wine that had given them their short excitement.
It made me sad to contemplate this wreck; but most of those around him appeared unconscious of there being any thing remarkable in his demeanour.

They had not known him in his better days.
I am often amused, and sometimes half-vexed by witnessing the prejudices that still exist in France with regard to the English.

These prejudices prevail in all ranks, and are, I am disposed to think, incurable.
They extend to trivial, as well as to more grave matters, and influence the opinions pronounced on all subjects.

An example of this prejudice occurred a few weeks ago, when one of our most admired _belles_ from London having arrived at Paris, her personal appearance was much canvassed.