“The Flower Girl” and “Domestic Felicity,” exhibited in Philadelphia, elicited general admiration, and proved Mrs. Spencer’s possession of the highest order of talent. A connoisseur remarked that the latter picture excelled any other production that had appeared in the gallery since its first opening. Its vigor and freshness were as remarkable as its rich and harmonious coloring, while the drawing and composition were pronounced admirable. It represented a mother and father bending over their sleeping children, and several artists observed that they knew of no one who could surpass the painting of the mother’s hand. The managers of the Art Union in Philadelphia were so delighted with this picture that a few of their number privately subscribed to purchase it, the rules not allowing directors to expend the funds except for paintings selected by the prizeholders. It was afterward sold to an association in the West. The Western Art Union purchased several of Mrs. Spencer’s works, and had one engraved for their annual presentation plate. Mrs. Spencer found her kitchen scenes so popular that she adopted that comic, familiar style in many of her paintings. “Shake Hands?” represents a girl making pastry, and holding out her floured hand with a humorous smile. This manner the artist has been obliged to adhere to on account of the ready sale of such pictures, while the subjects that better pleased her own taste have been neglected. Yet she has contrived to introduce a moral into every one of her comic pieces. “The Contrast” embodies a touching story. It is in two pictures: one showing a pampered, petulant little dog, barking at some intruder from his velvet cushion surrounded by silken draperies; the other, a meagre, skin-and-bone animal, creeping through the pitiless snow-storm in search of food for its young ones. Mrs. Spencer excels in her pictures of different animals. Some time ago Mrs. Spencer made a series of original designs--twenty or thirty--illustrative of scenes in the volumes of “The Women of the American Revolution.” All these have not yet been published. Perhaps more of her paintings have been engraved than of any American artist. All are of her own composition, and most of them are domestic scenes. One called “Pattycake” shows a young mother, with her baby on her lap, teaching it to clap its hands; another, “Both at Play,” represents a father teasing his little girl by holding an air-balloon just out of her reach. These are done in the highly-finished German style adopted by Mrs. Spencer. She usually takes her own children for models. “The Captive” exhibits a slave in market, her master lifting the veil that concealed her charms. Its touching expression is admirable. “Reading the Legend” shows a lovely lady listening to a reading within view of a noble castle; but we do not like the taste of either the costume or the attitude of the reader.