Half of the people have been very sure that if he were elected the country would come to an end, if the world did not. But we are inclined to believe that the Union will last a little longer, and that we shall have some good times yet, in time to come. It has been said that a “special Providence watches over children, drunkards, and the United States.” They make so many blunders, and yet live through them, it must be that they are cared for, for they take very little care of themselves. So we are disposed to trust Providence, and not to worry.

—Editor’s Drawer” column in the December 1856 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine Volume 14.

(Do take care to notice who was elected President in 1856, when this bit of optimism was penned.)