XLIV.

INDUSTRY AND THRIFT.*

MANY popular books have been written for the purpose of communicating to the public the grand secret of making money. But there is no secret whatever about it, as the proverbs of every nation abundantly testify. "Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves." "Diligence is the mother of good luck." "No pains no gains." "No sweat no sweet." "Work and thou shalt have." "The world is his who has patience and industry." less than rise in debt." proverbial philosophy, embodying the hoarded experience of many generations, as to the best means of thriving in the world. They were current in people's mouths long before books were invented; and like other popular proverbs they were the first codes of popular morals. Moreover they have stood the test of time, and the experience of every day still bears witness to their accuracy, force, and soundness. The proverbs of Solomon are full of wisdom as to the force of industry, and the use and abuse of money :-" He that is slothful in work is brother to him that is a great waster." "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be

"Better go to bed supperSuch are specimens of the

From Self Help.

wise." Poverty, says the preacher, shall come upon the idler, "as one that travelleth, and want as an armed man;" but of the industrious and upright, "the hand of the diligent maketh rich." "The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings." But above all, "It is better to get wisdom than gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it."

Simple industry and thrift will go far towards making any person of ordinary working faculty comparatively independent of his means. Even a working man may be so, provided he carefully husband his resources, and watch the little outlets of useless expenditure. A penny is a very small matter, yet the comfort of thousands of families depends upon the proper spending and saving of pennies. If a man allows the little pennies, the results of his hard work, to slip out of his fingers— some to the beershop, some this way and some that he will find that his life is little raised above one of mere animal drudgery.

On the other hand, if he take care of the pennies -putting some weekly into a benefit society or an insurance fund, others into a savings' bank, and confiding the rest to his wife to be carefully laid out, with a view to the comfortable maintenance. and education of his family-he will soon find that this attention to small matters will abundantly repay him in increasing means, growing comfort

at home, and a mind comparatively free from fears as to the future. And if a working man have high ambition and possess richness in spirit,—a kind of wealth which far transcends all mere worldly possessions, he may not only help himself, but be a profitable helper of others in his path through life.

S. Smiles.

XLV.

THE MAID OF NEIDPATH.1

O LOVERS' eyes are sharp to see,
And lovers' ears in hearing;

And love, in life's extremity

Can lend an hour of cheering.
Disease had been in Mary's bower
And slow decay from mourning,
Though now she sits on Neidpath's tower
To watch her Love's returning.

All sunk and dim her eyes so bright,
Her form decay'd by pining,
Till through her wasted hand, at night,
You saw the taper shining.

By fits a sultry hectic hue

Across her cheek was flying;

By fits so ashy pale she grew,

Her maidens thought her dying.

Yet keenest powers to see and hear
Seem'd in her frame residing;
Before the watch-dog prick'd his ear,
She heard her lover's riding;

Ere scarce a distant form was kenn'd,
She knew, and waved to greet him,
And o'er the battlement did bend,
As on the wing to meet him.

He came he pass'd-an heedless gaze,
As o'er some stranger, glancing;
Her welcome, spoke in faltering phrase,
Lost in his courser's prancing-
The castle-arch, whose hollow tone
Returns each whisper spoken,
Could hardly catch the feeble moan
That told her heart was broken.

Sir IV. Scott.

XLIV.

WOLSEY AND MORE.*

THE reign of Henry VIII. presents to us two of the most remarkable men that ever filled the marble chair1-one immediately succeeding the other, an unparalleled succession-both great, very great, but exhibiting each his own kind of greatness, between which, as to superiority, the reader will

*

From Shades and Echocs of Old London, by kind permission of the Religious Tract Society.

very soon

and Sir

decide-Cardinal Wolsey and

Thomas More.

In connection with the former, we have a description of two very characteristic scenes associated with the marble seat at Westminster. Cavendish, his biographer, and one of his household, thus quaintly describes the first.

"Having risen by day-break, and heard mass, he returned to his private chamber, and his public rooms being now filled with noblemen and gentlemen attending his levée, he issued out into them, apparelled all in red, in the habit of a cardinal, which was either of fine scarlet, or else of crimson satin, taffety damask, or caffa, the best that he could get for money; and upon his head a round pillion, with a noble of black velvet set to the same in the inner side; he had also a tippet of fine sables about his neck; holding in his hand a very fine orange, whereof the meat or substance within was taken out, and filled up again with part of a sponge, wherein was vinegar and other confections against the pestilent airs, the which he most commonly smelt unto passing among the press, or else when he was pestered with many suitors. There was also borne before him, first, the great seal of England, and then his cardinal's hat, by a nobleman or some worthy gentleman, right solemnly, bareheaded. And as soon as he was entered into his chamber of presence, there were attending his coming to await upon him to Westminster Hall, as well noblemen and other worthy gentlemen, as noblemen and gentlemen of his own family; thus