listless before me.

"Will you walk out with us?" said Miss Trevanion, turning to me. I
bowed, and in a few minutes I found myself alone. While the ladies left
me, for their shawls and bonnets, I took up the newspapers which Mr.
Trevanion had thrown on the table, by way of something to do. My eye
was caught by his own name; it occurred often, and in all the papers.
There was contemptuous abuse in one, high eulogy in another; but one
passage in a journal that seemed to aim at impartiality, struck me so
much as to remain in my memory; and I am sure that I can still quote the
sense, though not the exact words. The paragraph ran somewhat thus:--

"In the present state of parties, our contemporaries have not
unnaturally devoted much space to the claims or demerits of Mr.
Trevanion. It is a name that stands unquestionably high in the House of
Commons; but, as unquestionably, it commands little sympathy in the
country. Mr. Trevanion is essentially and emphatically a member of
parliament. He is a close and ready debater; he is an admirable
chairman in committees. Though never in office, his long experience of
public life, his gratuitous attention to public business, have ranked
him high among those practical politicians from whom ministers are
selected. A man of spotless character and excellent intentions, no
doubt, he must be considered; and in him any cabinet would gain an
honest and a useful member. There ends all we can say in his praise.
As a speaker, he wants the fire and enthusiasm which engage the popular
sympathies. He has the ear of the House, not the heart of the country.
An oracle on subjects of mere business, in the great questions of policy
he is comparatively a failure. He never embraces any party heartily; he
never espouses any question as if wholly in earnest. The moderation on
which he is said to pique himself often exhibits itself in fastidious