wench, whom he had wooed in vain for above five years before, was so
charmed with his grins and the applauses which he received on all sides,
that she married him the week following, and to this day wears the prize
upon her finger, the cobbler having made use of it as his wedding ring.

This paper might perhaps seem very impertinent if it grew serious in the
conclusion. I would, nevertheless, leave it to the consideration of
those who are the patrons of this monstrous trial of skill, whether or no
they are not guilty, in some measure, of an affront to their species in
treating after this manner the "human face divine," and turning that part
of us, which has so great an image impressed upon it, into the image of a
monkey; whether the raising such silly competitions among the ignorant,
proposing prizes for such useless accomplishments, filling the common
people's heads with such senseless ambitions, and inspiring them with
such absurd ideas of superiority and pre-eminence, has not in it
something immoral as well as ridiculous.

TRUST IN GOD.

_Si fractus illabatur orbis_,
_Impavidum ferient ruinae_.

--HOR., Car. iii. 3, 7.

Should the whole frame of nature round him break,
In ruin and confusion hurled,
He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack,
And stand secure amidst a falling world.

ANON.

Man, considered in himself, is a very helpless and a very wretched being.
He is subject every moment to the greatest calamities and misfortunes. He
is beset with dangers on all sides, and may become unhappy by numberless
casualties which he could not foresee, nor have prevented had he foreseen
them.

It is our comfort, while we are obnoxious to so many accidents, that we
are under the care of One who directs contingencies, and has in His hands
the management of everything that is capable of annoying or offending us;
who knows the assistance we stand in need of, and is always ready to
bestow it on those who ask it of Him.

The natural homage which such a creature bears to so infinitely wise and
good a Being is a firm reliance on Him for the blessings and conveniences
of life, and an habitual trust in Him for deliverance out of all such
dangers and difficulties as may befall us.

The man who always lives in this disposition of mind has not the same
dark and melancholy views of human nature as he who considers himself
abstractedly from this relation to the Supreme Being. At t