The Emperor Napoleon quickly observed this peculiar predisposition to a military life in his subjects, and took advantage of it to fool them to the top of their bent.  The victories achieved beneath his banner reflect scarcely less honour on them than on him, and the memory of them associates his name in their hearts by the strongest bonds of sympathy that can bind a Frenchman—­the love of glory.  A sense of duty, high discipline, and true courage, influence our soldiers in the discharge of their calling.  They are proud of their country and of their regiment, for the honour of which they are ready to fight unto the death; but a Frenchman, though proud of his country and his regiment, is still more proud of his individual self, and, believing that all eyes are upon him acts as if his single arm could accomplish that which only soldiers en masse can achieve.

A pleasant party at dinner at home yesterday.  The Marquis de Mornay, Count Valeski, and General Ornano, were among the number.  Laughed immoderately at the naivete of ——­, who is irresistibly ludicrous.

Madame ——­ came in the evening and sang “God save the King.”  Time was that her singing this national anthem would have electrified the hearers, but now—.  Alas! alas! that voices, like faces, should lose their delicate flexibility and freshness, and seem but like the faint echo of their former brilliant tones!

Does the ear of a singer, like the eye of some has-been beauty, lose its fine perception and become accustomed to the change in the voice, as does the eye to that in the face, to which it appertains, from being daily in the habit of seeing the said face!  Merciful dispensation of Providence, which thus saves us from the horror and dismay we must experience could we but behold ourselves as others see us, after a lapse of years without having met; while we, unconscious of the sad change in ourselves, are perfectly sensible of it in them.  Oh, the misery of the mezzo termine in the journey of life, when time robs the eyes of their lustre, the cheeks of their roses, the mouth of its pearls, and the heart of its gaiety, and writes harsh sentences on brows once smooth and polished as marble!

     Well a-day! ah, well a-day! 
     Why fleets youth so fast away,
     Taking beauty in its train,
     Never to return again?

     Well a-day! ah, well a-day! 
     Why will health no longer stay? 
     After youth ’t will not remain,
     Chased away by care and pain.

     Well a-day! ah, well a-day! 
     Youth, health, beauty, gone for aye,
     Life itself must quickly wane
     With its thoughts and wishes vain.

     Well a-day! ah, well a-day! 
     Frail and perishable clay
     That to earth our wishes chain,
     Well it is that brief’s thy reign.

I have been reading Captain Marryat’s Naval Officer, and think it exceedingly clever and amusing.  It is like himself, full of talent, originality, and humour.  He is an accurate observer of life; nothing escapes him; yet there is no bitterness in his satire and no exaggeration in his comic vein.  He is never obliged to explain to his readers why the characters he introduces act in such or such a manner.