Robert finds his meal ready prepared for him, his wife neatly and cleanly dressed, at leisure to sit with him, and their children round the social board, on which is placed their homely dinner of good, nourishing, and pleasant food, accompanied, it may be, by a mug of his own homebrewed beer, and a slice of his own home-made loaf; and yet, with all these comforts around him, having a happy home-"a home which he loves," he will spend less of his earnings on his mere living than any of his three neighbours.

It is matter of surprise how Robert's wife finds time for all she does; she never seems hurried; she has always a minute to spare; and yet she performs more than double the work accomplished by any of her neighbours. They say she must have some kind genius presiding over her household. Yes, she has a kind genius, and this is, good management, which causes Robert, with the same amount of money, to be, in fact, a richer, as well as a happier man than either of his fellow-labourers. It need not, however, shed its influence over his dwelling alone-it may, in a degree, be obtained by all who will take a little trouble for its acquirement; the humblest situation-the most untaught intellect-are not excluded from its advantages.-Working Man's Companion.

To those who take an interest in schools, and generally in the training of children and young people, I would suggest the idea of introducing a sort of exercise in domestic economy, and of affording every facility and encouragement for its practice. In my intercourse with the labouring classes, what I have observed they seem most to want to learn is, to market and make purchases on the most advantageous terms; to apply the art of cookery to preparing food in an economical, wholesome, and palatable manner; in the country, to brew and bake; to light a fire expeditiously and economically *; to

The best and quickest mode of restoring a neglected fire is to stir, out the ashes, and with the tongs to fill up the spaces between the bars. with cinders. If carefully done, it is surprising how soon this process will produce an effective and glowing fire,-(The Original.)

keep up a fire economically; to make a fire expeditiously; to set out a table neatly and quickly; to clear away expeditiously; to cut out, make, and mend linen, and to keep other clothes in good order; to wash and get up linen; to dry and clean shoes; to sweep and clean rooms quietly and expeditiously, and to keep them neat and comfortable; and, lastly, to prepare proper food for children and the sick. The difference in the way of doing these things is immense, and the difference in point of comfort corresponding. The management of a fire is of great importance, and quietness and quickness are essential to comfort. Some women conduct their household concerns with a noise and confusion that are quite distracting.-The Original.

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DRUNKENNESS.

ITS CONSEQUENCES TO INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER.— 1. Destruction of health; disease in every form and shape; premature decrepitude in the old; stunted growth, and general debility and decay in the young; loss of life by paroxysms, apoplexies, drownings, burnings, and accidents of various kinds; delirium tremens-one of the most awful afflictions of humanity; paralysis, idiotcy, madness, and violent death.-2. Destruction of mental capacity and vigour; and extinction of aptitude for learning, as well as of disposition for practising any useful art or industrious occupation.-3. Irritation of all the worst passions of the heart; hatred, anger, revenge; with a brutalization of disposition that breaks asunder and destroys the most endearing bonds of nature and society.-4. Extinction of all moral and religious principle; disregard of truth, indifference to education, violation of chastity, insensibility to shame, and indescribable degradation.

Let any man consider in his own mind, candidly, how much, in different parts of his life, he has spent in liquor, and see whether, if that had been laid by in a savings

bank, where he would besides have received interest for it, he would not have been in possession of a comfortable sum. The health, too, wasted at the beer-shop is of the utmost importance to the poor man. How many middleaged men are old and infirm from drinking! and how many shorten their lives from the same cause! And is not this a crime equal to self-murder of any other kind? besides the power to work which is thus lost, perhaps for many years, to a poor man's wife and family.

EMPLOYMENT OF AGRICULTURAL
LABOURERS.

WITH the view of relieving the pressure of the New Poor Law on partially able-bodied labourers, some benevolent individuals in the parish of Titchfield, Hants, conceiving that great benefit might be derived from the cultivation of unproductive lands as a means of employment, resolved on giving the experiment a trial, which appears to have been attended with the following result:

"It was agreed that some waste land should be rented, and brought into cultivation under the direction of a committee: the rate of wages to be fixed by them. A subscription was entered into to furnish the funds; and though objections were made at first to the plan by some individuals, they were soon done away, for at the end of the first year 1147. 13s. was raised. The land, with a part of this capital, was brought into cultivation, manured, and cropped; and the following extract from the first year's report will show with what success:-'There has been expended on the rent and culture of eight acres and thirty-one perches 1077. 19s. 6d., and 1097. 19s. 6d. has been received for the crop; thus, notwithstanding all the disadvantage of an indifferent and hitherto uncultivated soil, an actual profit was raised on the first year's outlay. Nor was the issue of their efforts during the second year less encouraging to the committee, for they reported to the meeting in Nov. 1838, that 1577. 13s. 9d.

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had been expended on the land, and 1677. 1s. 14d. had been returned to them by its produce. Four acres of waste land have been cultivated this year, not only without loss, but with a considerable profit-91. 75. 44d. The third year has by no means disappointed their hopes, and although the weather has not been very favour able for the potato crop, yet by a still greater profit than in either of the former years they are led to infer both the utility and soundness of their plan. The subjoined is an extract from the committee's report in Dec., 1839: This year the actual profits amount to 124. Is., 9 d., while the gross produce of the land now cultivated is 2057. 19s. 5d. The objects contemplated by the society are fully effected. Every man of good character, upon application, has been employed. Twenty-six men, and two women with their families, have been employed on fifteen acres of land this year, and a produce of 2067. has been realized on a tract of land which four years ago yielded no return to the proprietor. If the original subscriptions were divided there would be a considerable bonus to each member, and it is therefore clearly shown. what may with good management be effected towards employing deserving labourers, and enabling them to support themselves without parochial aid or loss to any individual.”—Salisbury Herald.

EMPLOYMENT OF THE POOR.

MR. DENTON, of Rushbrooke Park Farm, proposes that the females and children of the poor should be employed during the winter in cutting off the ears and leaves of the corn stalks, and preparing the straw for thatching. There are many advantages to the agriculturists in this arrangement. The corn is more easily thrashed, the straw is unbruised,-a thatch lasts three times longer than when laid with broken straw-and the wife and children of the labourer can, at an easy occupation, earn about three shillings a week-a most com

fortable addition to the poor man's small pittance.-Bury Herald.

THE TRULY ESTIMABLE CHARACTER.

As the earth is fruitful in plants and flowers, but its riches are in mines of precious metals, and the veins of marble hidden in its bosom, so the real worth of a character is unseen by the world. The brotherly conduct by which society is profited, or the pangs of sorrow as much as possible alleviated, may be recognized and admired; but the springs are invisible. The actings of the heart in desires to imitate its benevolent Heavenly Father, and emanating from faith, which is the gift of no mortal power, but will be bestowed on those who ask it, and patient endurance of evil, are hidden from all eyes but those of God. Causes such as these the irreligious cannot understand; they are strangers to such Christian experience. They are, however, God's delight, and at the great day of account, the Saviour will be found openly avowing his own disciples and followers.

EVILS OF IGNORANCE, AND THE MEANS OF REMOVING THEM.

"THE fundamental cause of the greatest evils of the poor is ignorance. Ignorance, however, is not the mere incapacity to read or write. Experience often teaches us that these acquirements, however desirable, are by no means indispensable; and though they are wanting, there may be much intellect, a quick sense of the ways and means of individual advantage, and accurate knowledge of moral good and evil. The ignorance arising from the want of intercourse with minds superior to their own, possessed of wider information, and having therefore different views of interest and duty; this together with the scantiness of religious knowledge, is the ignorance which most generally and most hurtfully besets the lower classes.