with all speed to her husband, and then to return, as quick as possible, to give her an account of the state in which they should find the wounded man.

Whilst the dauphiness was waiting in the torture of suspense for the footman's return, the king came up, and hearing what had happened, exclaimed, "What a shocking thing it would be, were this man to die! How shall we ever console his wife and child?" "How, otherwise, my dear father," replied Antoinetta, "than by striving to provide for their wants? for shall we not, by this means, in some degree lessen the bitterness of their life?" The king immediately promised to give them a pension, and ordered his first surgeon to daily attend the wounded man, who was restored to his family, and lived to bless his illustrious benefactress.

ON A SUPERINTENDING PROVIDENCE.

THE extreme heat of July 13th and 14th, 1808, and many following days, was so excessive and unusual, that numbers of labourers perished in the fields, horses fell down dead on the roads, and the thermometer was said, in some places, to have risen to 109 in the shade, and 140 in the sun. The vegetable world felt the effects of this extraordinary temperature of the air as well as animals flowers withered, foliage languished, and many

shrubs, requiring moisture and exposed to the sun, died.

Dr. Boerhaave has asserted, that if the temperature of the atmosphere exceeded that of the body, human creatures could not live; but the recent heat shows he was mistaken. Nor may it be easy to ascertain the exact degree which would destroy the whole race of man ; but of this we are assured, that a small increase would overpower every nerve, and that the same Being that regulates heat and cold, could raise either to that pitch that no human power could resist. The Psalmist says, "Our times are in his hand," and the smallest consideration confirms the assertion. A deluge is not a necessary instrument of destruction. Extreme heat or cold alone, without any more striking phænomenon, would cause all animals to perish; where, then, would be the pride of the boaster, or the contumelious threats of the conqueror? The general and the common soldier, the prince and the peasant, the master and the servant, the overseer and the despised negro, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, would be alike unable to stop the progress of that overwhelming power, that was silently effecting the work of destruction. All must yield and perish together. Infinite are the means that might produce this awful consequence, and so beautiful and harmonious the arrangement of our system, that a small deviation from its original order might overturn the whole, and not only destroy the inhabitants of the earth, but also those of the planets and their satellites. All

power is with him, however, he may permit feeble mortals to follow the bent of their corrupt inclinations for a time. The ravages of an Alexander, a Timur Khan, or a Bonaparte, are but instruments in his hand to promote his great and beneficial designs, however far from their intentions to do good; nor can they proceed one step beyond the limits he has appointed: "Thus far shalt thou go, and no further." On what foundation rests the pride of man? We perceive that he is a being wholly dependent on a superior Power, from day to day, for every comfort of existence, as well as for existence itself; that he cannot secure to himself, or those dearest to his heart, one hour's safety from the attacks of the elements and other accidents: and yet how insensible to this state of dependence do we often see many who live without a proper religious acknowledgment of the superintending providence of God. They receive his daily blessings, and suffer his chastisements, without referring them to him as the disposer of all events; and too frequently ascribe the success of their undertakings to their own exertions or abilities, forgetful of the donor of these endowments. They leave their beds of a morning, and view the rising of the majestic sun; they behold his enlivening rays diffused over the face of nature; they inhale the refreshing breath of a new day; the order of things is undisturbed; health, peace, and affluence are their portion; but not a spark of gratitude warms their heart. They enjoy the gifts of Providence, without one sentiment of that love and veneration that

is due to the source of all good.

How is this? It is

strange to say, that the cause of this insensibly is, that these blessings are seldom interrupted, and that winter and summer, day and night, with all the beneficial vicissitudes of wet and dry, heat and cold, clouds and sunshine, succeed each other as things of course, and excite but little attention because they are common. An unusual phænomenon awakens the mind to an acknowledgment of our dependent state; a thunder-storm, a hurricane, an inundation, an earthquake, or the eruption of a volcano, make us sensible that our preservation is not of ourselves, and that all we enjoy, and all* we possess, proceed from the bounty of an Omnipotent Being, who can deprive us of them in a moment. These considerations should teach us to cultivate an habitual dependence on his providence, with a grateful disposition for his bounty. The morning and evening sacrifice of thanksgiving should never be neglected; for no day of our lives passes without the enjoyment of innumerable blessings, the privation of which would make us know their value.

The insensibility that so strikingly prevails to the common daily benefits of the harmonious order of the seasons, and the accommodation of the atmosphere to our bodies, may be attributed to another cause, that, like the former, is an additional instance of Divine goodness. They are bestowed on all ranks and conditions. sun rises and sets for the peasant as well as the monarch; and because all partake of the benefit, few think themselves favoured, and some, perhaps feel no cause for gratitude, but when some unusual turn of good fortune,

The

as it is called, befals them. Still more reprehensible are those who indulge a spirit of murmuring and dis content; for which of us is there, whatever may be his trials, who has not more bestowed upon him than he de

serves.

GIPSIES.

MR. LYSONS, in his entertaining work of the envi rons of London, has given the following curious account of the queen of the Gipsies, and the extraordinary people under her dominion.

of

From the register of the parish of Beckenham, in Kent; extract: "Margaret Finch, buried October 24, 1740." This remarkable person lived to the age 109 years. She was one of the people called Gipsies; and had the title of their queen. After travelling over various parts of the kingdom, during the greater part of a century, she settled at Norwood; whither her age, and the fame of her fortune-telling, attracted numerous visitors. From a habit of sitting on the ground with her chin resting on her knees, the sinews at length became so contracted, that she could not rise from that posture. After her death they were obliged to inclose her body in a deep, square box. Her funeral was attended by two mourning coaches, a sermon was preached on the occasion, and a great concourse of people at