The constantly recurring praises of the same person affect us always differently as we go on in life.

In youth the prevailing sentiment is an ardent desire to see the prodigy of whom we have heard so much--in after years, heartily to detest what hourly hurts our self-love by comparisons.

We would take any steps to avoid meeting what we have inwardly decreed to be a "bore." The former was my course; and though my curiosity was certainly very great, I had made up my mind to as great a disappointment, and half wished for the longed arrival as a means of criticising what they could see no fault in.
The wished-for evening at length came, and we all set out upon a walk to meet the carriage which was to bring the bien aime Clara among us.

We had not walked above a mile when the eager eye of the foremost detected a cloud of dust upon the road at some distance; and, after a few minutes more, four posters were seen coming along at a tremendous rate.

The next moment she was making the tour of about a dozen uncles, aunts, cousins, and cousines, none of whom, it appeared to me, felt any peculiar desire to surrender the hearty embrace to the next of kin in succession.