THE VISIT OF A SILVERSMITH, AND 
ITS RESULTS, 
on clinching a link on a chain, paused in his labours, 
clinching the discussion, by saying, in a very decided 
manner, with a nod and a wink, '‘Quite useless.” It 
is considered an essential necessity that gentlemen in 
certain professions, in the “ old country,” should be 
married, in order to secure them from the shadow of 
suspicion, in their interviews upon matters of business 
with women, and not only from this cause, but also, 
it is a generally recognized opinion, proved in practical 
experience, that married men occupy, or are assigned 
by popular opinion, a higher position in the scale, or 
grades of society, than the unmarried, which may 
reasonably be accounted for by the fact that the 
customs of the country, in a manner prohibit men from 
marrying, until they have acquired a good position, 
and a good stock of coin, and it was thus with the 
silversmith, who had a wive. It would never do 
for men in his position to be single, exposed to so 
many je(p.xrdies, in making ornaments for all the 
lovely ladies ; measuring the circumference of their arms 
and necks, pinching the ears and noses of all the mar- 
ried and unmarried females, who came to his forge,, 
fastening necklaces round the neck, just under the 
chin, peering with his great eyes, and smacking his 
lips, just under the noses of his customers, as he was 
trying to make the catch or clasp fit, for he always 
seemd to have a difiicnlty in fitting the catch of a 
necklace, especially if the girl was pretty. Probably 
her bright eyes dazzled his, and he could not see pro- 
perly. In this case, his wife was sure to be close at hand, 
and would say, “ Go away, let me do it, ” and, before 
the permission was obtained, she would push in, seize 
the necklace, which immediately closed with a snap, 
upon which she said, “There, you stupid, now goto 
your work, ” and to the girl, “ Your ornaments fit 
exactly, now go away ” ; for a very stern and decided 
woman, with her own sex, was the silversmith’s wife. 
She was a living and walking advertisement of the 
work he was able to perform, and always a fine-look- 
ing woman, for he had, of course, his pick and choice 
amongst all the girls, who said, ' ‘ Wbat a fine thing it 
must be, to be a silversmith’s wife ! ” The skin of 
her arms could hardly be seen for silver braclets, and 
perhaps some gold ones too, her ankles were encircled 
by rings, with small bells like thimbles, attached, 
which made a tinkling sound as she walked, but not 
so loud as her husband’s ting, ting, tingle, so that it, 
was far more pleasant to hear, and often, when in 
a sour and irritable frame of mind, induced by the 
tinkle of the silversmith in the kitchen, making orna- 
ments for the boy or his wife, for which a. most 
