s dreary and comfortless. The rain dripped perpendicularly from
the eves of the houses, exemplifying the axiom, that lines are composed
of a succession of points. At the corners of the streets it shot a
curved torrent from the projecting spouts, flooding the channels, and
drenching, with a sudden drum-like sound, the passing umbrellas, whose
varied tints of pink, blue, and orange, like the draggled finery of
feathers and flounces beneath them, only made the scene more glaringly
desolate. Then came the rush and splatter of cabriolets, scattering
terror and defilement. The well-mounted English dandy shows his sense by
hoisting his parapluie; the French dragoon curls his mustachio at such
effeminacy, and braves the liquid bullets in the genuine spirit of
Marengo; the old French count picks his elastic steps with the placid
and dignified philosophy of the _ancien regime_; while the Parisian
dames, of all ranks, ages, and degrees, trip along, with one leg
undraped, exactly in proportion to the shapeliness of its configuration.

The huge clock of the Messageries Royales told three as I entered the
gateway. The wide court had an air of humid dreariness. On one side
stood a dozen of those moving caravansaras, the national vehicles, with
their leathern caps--like those of Danish sailors in a north-wester--
hanging half off, soaked with wet. Opposite was the range of offices,
busy with all the peculiar importance of French _bureaucracie._ Their
clerks, decorated with ribbons and crosses, wield their pens with all
the conscious dignity of secretaries of state; and "_book_" a bale or a
parcel as though they were signing a treaty, or granting an amnesty. The
meanest _employe_ seems to think himself invested with certain occult
powers. His civility savours of government patronage; and his frown is
inquisitorial. To his fellows, his address is abrupt and diplomatic. He
seems to speak in cipher, and to gesticulate by some rule of
freemasonry. But to the _uninitiated_ he is explanatory to a scruple, as
though mischief might ensue from his being misapprehended. He makes sure
of your understanding by an emphasis, which reminds one of the loudness
of tone used towards a person supposed to be hard of hearing--a
proceeding not very flattering where there happens to be neither dulness
nor deafness in the case. In a word, the measured pedantry of his whole
deportment betrays the happy conviction in which he rejoices of being
conversant with mat