The Argosy — page 172: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Fair Normandy. 155 And Rouen has suffered. Her people can scarcely be as noble and disinterested as they were in quieter and more sleepy days. But they are a fine race, and probably will hold their own in comparison with other people. And if Rouen itself has suffered, and lost most of her medizval aspect, perhaps it makes us prize and appreciate the more what remains. We look down a vista of gables and red roofs, and dormer windows and latticed panes; we note all the beauty of outline and colouring ; we see how charmingly the blue sky over- head blends with the wonderful old-world view below: we close our eyes and thoughts to the rest of the world; and we are thankful. And. in her darkest and lowest quarters, where daylight scarcely penetrates, and where cleanliness is scarcely known, after all we feel inclined to exclaim with all our energy of heart and soul, Farr RovEN! Long. may she flourish ! —=6 SES ON FINDING AN OLD LETTER. Ou, little scented billet doux, ) What strange emotions have you brought, What tender trains of pensive thought— "Tis ten years since you met my view ! I seized it with a trembling hand, And tore the silken bonds apart ; I pressed it to my lips—my heart— With feelings few could understand. From out its folds there fell some flowers, They fell in fragments at my touch— In ruin sweet! they said so much ; They spoke to me of bygone hours. And where is she from whom they came ? Moves she on earth, or dwells above ? I loved her with a spirit’s love, It was no simple boyish flame. Not here—not here—but far away ; From one of those bright stars we see She now looks down and beckons me, Beyond the clouds, beyond the day. I kissed the lines—’twas with a sigh— Then, mute into the dim dead past, A long, long mournful look I cast, With aching heart and spellbound eye. GomiilGaooks am