* * * * *

THE BODY.--Among the strange compliments which superstition pays to the
Creator, is a scorn and contempt for the fleshy investiture which he has
bestowed on us, at least among Christians; for the Pagans were far more
pious in this respect; and Mohammed agreed with them in doing justice to
the beauty and dignity of the human frame. It is quite edifying, in the
Arabian Nights, to read the thanks that are so often and so rapturously
given to the Supreme Being for his bestowal of such charms on his
creatures. Nor was a greater than Mahomet of a nature to undervalue the
earthly temples of gentle and loving spirits. Ascetic mistakes have ever
originated in want of heartiness or of heart; in consciousness of
defect, or vulgarity of nature, or in spiritual pride. A well-balanced
body and soul never, we may be sure, gave way to it. What an
extraordinary flattery of the Deity to say, "Lord! I thank thee for this
jewel of a soul which I possess; but what a miserable casket thou hast
given me to put it in!"--_Leigh Hunt._

[From The Ladies' Companion]

LETTICE ARNOLD.

By the Author of "TWO OLD MEN'S TALES," "EMILIA WYNDHAM," &c.

[_Continued from page 35._]

CHAPTER V.

Since trifles make the sum of human things....
Oh! let the ungentle spirit learn from thence,
A small unkindness is a great offense:
Large favors to bestow we strive in vain,
But all may shun the guilt of giving pain.

HANNAH MORE.

If Lettice had made her reflections, and had started upon her new
undertaking with a heart yearning with the desire to perform its duties
well, Mrs. Melwyn had not been without undergoing a somewhat similar
process upon her side, and this was her course of thought:

"She had at first felt the utmost dislike to the plan.

"She had, in the course of her life, seen so much discomfort and
dissatisfaction arise upon both sides from this sort of connection, that
she had taken up quite a prejudice against any thing of the sort.

"It was a very great pity," she often said to herself, "that so it
should be, but the case was almost universal. If it could be otherwise,
what desirable connections might be formed in a world such as the
present! Such numbers of women of all ages, and all degrees of mental
qualifications, find themselves suddenly without resource, through the
accident of early death in the case of the professions, or of