but also lead to nothing in the end but vexation and remorse. 4. The more moderate and less painfully exciting exertions which suffice to secure a competence, and so render the condition of its owner easy, without elevating him greatly above his original sphere of life, are a useful, salutary, and even agreeable exercise, and their result affords no disappointment because it had been foreseen and understood from the beginning. A person may form a very exaggerated notion of a state of life of which he has had no experience because removed far above him, and feel proportionably disappointed when after making every sacrifice to reach it, he finds the reality far different from what he anticipated. otherwise when all that is desired is to be comfortably settled in our own rank of life; as then nothing is sought but the means of avoiding inconveniences and privations occasionally experienced, and securing permanently those comforts which had previously been enjoyed at times only. This end may be acquired without the aid of personal qualities of rare and superior description, or other extraordinary advantages, and solely by the exercise of that frugality and prudence which it is in the power of every one to make use of. It is 5. From the humblest class of workmen to the highest, including professional men, all must exercise the qualities of prudence and frugality in order to succeed; but the mode in which they are called upon to practise them presents an important difference. By a bountiful provision of Providence the humbler classes, who, from imperfect education, are less able to subject themselves to restraints, are not obliged to exercise them to the same extent as their superiors; if they attend to the proper management of their earnings they are pretty sure to get on well. The educated classes must not only take similar precautions, but, besides, they will not be in a position to make anything on which to practise them, unless by a previous long and sometimes painful exercise of toil and forethought they have fitted themselves to pursue the vocation they have adopted. Any one in good health can fit himself after a short while to perform the ruder operations of agricultural or manufacturing industry. No mental exertions need be undergone, nor is there the trouble of acquiring that nice manual skill and address which the higher departments of labour demand. Further, the learner is not obliged to work long without remuneration, as after applying himself to the occupation for a brief period he can perform it well enough to make it worth while for others to pay him for his labour; so he does not want the aid of prudence to induce him to undergo the trouble of preparing for an employment that will yield him no return until a distant day. He has little more to do than exercise the powers which nature has given him, and receive forthwith remuneration for his conduct. When work of the kind he performs is going, it can usually be had by all of his class; and any one who makes a prudent use of what he naturally receives in prosperous times, need never experience want. 6. By not indulging in superfluous expenditure for the course of a few years, so much may be laid by in a bank as will support the labourer when the times are hard, work not to be had, and provisions dear; or enable him to emigrate to the colonies, where the reward of labour is high, the abundance of land renders the necessaries of life remarkably cheap, and the scarcity of workmen compared with the demand for them leads employers to offer high wages to such as they can obtain. The English labourer, whose earnings when at work are usually considerable, can easily secure himself against adversity in this manner; but, it is to be regretted, this is not done as often as it might. Some years ago there were very many engaged making railways, and when some of these were subsequently discontinued, the navvies in great numbers were reduced to destitution, though previously they had been earning Unan average more than 40l. a-year each. happily, the beer-shops and ale-houses had received much of their earnings, the savings'-banks very little. on 7. In Ireland wages are lower than in the rest of the United Kingdom, yet even there the labourer might do much for himself out of his scanty pittance. How few of them spend less than sixpence a-week, or 11. 6s. a-year, on tobacco, the most that can be said in defence of which is that it is not always injurious to the health, the active habits of some enabling them to endure stimulants which to persons more sedentary would be absolutely destructive! The consumption of spirits absorbs a much larger portion of the earnings of those who indulge in it; and between both many a workman in the course of a few years spends from 201. to 50l., besides being prevented from earning what he would otherwise have gained but for the idleness, sickness, and various misfortunes so often produced by dissipation. So true it is that the heaviest taxes are those which a man imposes on himself by his own misconduct, and the very best assistance which can be afforded is to lay before him their amount and teach him how to remove them. 8. Those who recommend prudence and frugality to the humbler classes must carefully bear in mind that these qualities are required even in a higher degree amongst those of more elevated rank, although, indeed, the effects of neglecting them do not so often lead to actual destitution. Success in the learned professions and higher branches of industry cannot be purchased without patient toil and intense study to fit one to exercise an employment of such a nature. During much of the time so engaged, the learner receives little or no payment for his trouble: and unless he has sufficient forethought and prudence to endure these probationary labours, he will never make much in his business. And when he has mastered the difficulties in his way, he must, like the poorer individual, regulate with frugality the expenditure of his gains; for should he not do so, though it is unlikely he will sink into actual destitution, yet he will suffer consequences to him just as bitter, and feel as much sorrow and anguish in falling with his family into reduced circumstances, as the man in an humbler rank of life experiences when exposed to actual privation, or else driven to avoid it by seeking shelter in the poorhouse. 9. MORAL EFFECTS OF FRUGALITY AND PRUDENCE. -Not only will those who cultivate these qualities secure themselves against want and destitution, and preserve themselves from falling into reduced circumstances, but, besides, the course of conduct they adopt must render them better men, and give them reason to enjoy greater mental tranquillity. For example, take the case of a labourer, who, instead of running through his wages as fast as he gets them, deposits in a neighbouring savings'-bank whatever is not wanted for immediate consumption, and then let us trace the natural effects of his conduct. He no longer frequents public-houses, and other objectionable places, but becomes sober and wellconducted. When any sudden calamity comes on, such as a failure of food crops, or a state of temporary depression in the business he follows, he can make use of what he accumulated in prosperous times, and subsist on it until prospects brighten, or employ it to remove him to some other locality, instead of being driven by want to theft, or robbery, or brought to the poorhouse. When sickness or old age comes on, instead of languishing in misery, or else becoming a burthen to others who might be badly able or else unwilling to bear it, he is in a position to support himself from his own resources. And at the hour of death, his last moments are not disturbed or tormented by the thoughts of leaving a helpless family exposed to misery; but he is cheered by reflecting he has done his duty, and by his industry and frugality placed them in a way of being maintained until they become capable of earning a livelihood by their own exertions. AGAINST A RICH MAN DESPISING POVERTY. If well thou view'st us with no squinted eye, My little fills my little-wishing mind, Thou having more than much yet seekest more: Whatever man possesses, God has lent ; To reckon how, and where, and when he spent ; The more thou hast, thy debt still grows the more. But, seeing God himself descended down Let me be like my head whom I adore! Be thou great, wealthy-I still base and poor. FLETCHER. LESSON II. LABOURERS AND EMPLOYERS. "Servants be obedient to them that are your masters, with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. "And ye masters do the same thing unto them, forbearing threatening; knowing that your master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him." 1. THE worth of labour, like that of everything else which is bought and sold, changes considerably from time to time; and during the transition disputes not unfrequently arise: the workmen, when their labour becomes less profitable than usual to the employers, being unwilling, nevertheless, to submit to a reduction of wages, and when it becomes more so, attempting to secure a more rapid and greater advantage than that conceded. It is only fair and reasonable that wages should be adjusted to the worth of what they are given for; and to this level in the end, as shall presently be shown, they must inevitably rise or fall. But it is deeply to be regretted the good sense of masters and men does not lead them to settle |