You may partly conceive the burlesque effect such a fashionable novel produces on people in the middling society of London, who are continually groping in the dark after 'le bel air,' are consequently in perpetual terror and agony, lest they should betray their acquaintance with the great world, and thus generally make themselves exquisitely ludicrous. I had a very amusing example of this a few weeks before the publication of the book in question. I was invited, with several other foreigners, to dine with a very rich * * * * * * * * Among them was a German Prince, who had visited at the house before, and, luckily for the farce, a German Baron also. When dinner was announced, the Prince advanced, as usual, to the lady of the house to hand her out, and was not a little amazed when she turned her back upon him with a slight curtesy, and took the arm of the most agreeably-surprised Baron. A laugh, which I really found it impossible to suppress, almost offended the good Prince, who could not explain to himself the extraordinary behaviour of our hostess; but, as I instantly guessed the cause, I soon helped him out of his wonderment. Regardless of rank, he now took the prettiest woman of the party; while I, for my part, made haste to secure ----, that I might be sure of an amusing conversation during dinner. The soup was hardly removed, when I expressed to her as politely as I could, how much her nice tact and exact knowledge of the usages of even foreign society had surprised me. "Ah," replied she, "when one has been ---- so long, one becomes thoroughly acquainted with the world." "Certainly," replied I, "especially in ----, where you have all that sort of thing in black and white." "You see," said she, speaking rather low, "we know well enough that 'a foreign Prince' is nothing very great, but to a Baron we give the honour due." "Admirably distinguished!" exclaimed I; "but in Italy you must be on your guard, for there 'barone' means a rascal." "Is it possible?" said she; "what a strange title!" "Yes, madam, titles on the Continent are mysterious things; and were you the Sphinx herself, you would never fathom the enigma." "May I help you to some fish?" said she. "With great pleasure," answered I, and found the turbot, even without a title, excellent. But, to return to Almack's:--The oddest thing is, that one of these tickets, for which many English men and women struggle and strive, as if for life and death, are, after all, to be paid for with the sum of ten shillings; for Almack's are neither more nor less than balls for money. 'Quelle folie que le mode!' We are sometimes forced to conclude that our planet is the mad-house of the solar system.