mawkish sentimentality in numbers of the effusions poured forth; and there
is so great a destitution of solid, original, and striking thought, that,
in my unpretending, yet honest estimation, the majority of albums are worth
comparatively nothing. A good album should contain pieces of genuine
talent; should be marked by no frivolity or childishness; should be
concise, pointed, and powerful in its contributions; and should embody
valuable moral principle; and, to secure these excellencies, the possessor
of an elegant album should not place it in the hand of any, accompanied
with the request that a contribution be inserted, without ascertaining, in
the first instance, that the person solicited is of genuine taste and
talent, and real principle; because, if these qualifications be not
developed, an album will be merely filled with trifling, crude,
unconnected, and worthless pieces--marked by no beauty, exhibiting no
taste, characterized by no originality, and inculcating no valuable
sentiment.

T. W.

* * * * *


POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.

(_For the Mirror._)

No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes
tyrannize and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober
probability.--JOHNSON.