Thrift

It is difficult to account for the waste and extravagance of working people. It must be the hereditary remnant of the original savage. It must be a…

Slavery long existed among ourselves. It existed when Caesar lauded. It existed in Saxon times, when the household work was done by slaves. The…

When the Normans took possession of England, they continued slavery. They made slaves of the Saxons themselves whom they decreed villeins and…

The last serfs in England were emancipated in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; but the last serfs in Scotland, were not emancipated until the reign of…

Matters have now become entirely different. The workman, no matter what his trade, is comparatively free. The only slavery from which he suffers,…

The working man is now more of a citizen than he ever was before. He is a recognized power, and has been admitted within the pale of the constitution…

The working classes very much under-estimate themselves. Though they receive salaries or wages beyond the average earnings of professional men, yet…

"Let the working man," says Mr. Sterling, "try to connect his daily task, however mean, with the highest thoughts he can apprehend, and he thereby…

With respect to remuneration, the average of skilled mechanics and artisans, as we have already said, are better paid than the average of working…

Skilled workmen might--and, if they had the will, they would--occupy a social position as high as the educated classes we refer to. What prevents…

Notwithstanding their high wages, they for the most part cling to the dress, the language, and the manners of their class. They appear, during…

How are these enormous evils to be cured? Some say by better education; others by moral and religious instruction; others by better homes, and better…

We often hear that "Knowledge is Power;" but we never hear that Ignorance is Power. And yet Ignorance has always had more power in the world than…

Ignorance arms men against each other; provides gaols and penitentiaries; police and constabulary. All the physical force of the State is provided by…

The principal causes of anxiety in this country, are the social suffering and disease which proceed from Ignorance. To mitigate these, we form…

The physiologist may discuss the laws of health, and the Board of Health may write tracts for circulation among the people; but half the people…

It must, however, be admitted that education is not enough. The clever man may be a clever rogue; and the cleverer he is, the cleverer rogue he…

Nor has the poverty of the people so much to do with their social degradation as is commonly supposed. The question is essentially a moral one. If…

The late Mr. Clay, chaplain of the Preston House of Correction, after characterizing drunkenness as the GREAT SIN, proceeds: "It still rises in…

The late Sir Arthur Helps, when speaking of high and low wages, and of the means of getting and spending money, thus expresses himself on the subject…

"In the living of the poor (as indeed of all of us) there are two things to be considered; how to get money, and how to spend it. Now, I believe, the…

Notwithstanding, however, the discouraging circumstances to which we have referred, we must believe that in course of time, as men's nature becomes…

Education, however obtained, is always an advantage to a man. Even as a means of material advancement, it is worthy of being sought after,--not to…

A beginning has already been made with public school education. Much still remains to be done to establish the system throughout the empire. At…

We must therefore believe that as intelligence extends amongst the working class, and as a better moral tone pervades them, there will be a rapid…

Thrift is the spirit of order applied to domestic management and organization. Its object is to manage frugally the resources of the family; to…

The words "Waste not, want not," carved in stone over Sir Walter Scott's kitchen fireplace at Abbotsford, expresses in a few words the secret of…

Order is the best manager of time; for unless work is properly arranged, Time is lost; and, once lost, it is gone for ever. Order illustrates many…

Thrift is the spirit of order in human life. It is the prime agent in private economy. It preserves the happiness of many a household. And as it is…

People of the highest position, in point of culture and education, have often as great privations to endure as the average of working people. They…

Thus, the tenth Earl of Buchan brought up a numerous family of children, one of whom afterwards rose to be Lord Chancellor of England, upon an income…

The late Dr. Aiton said that his father brought up a still larger family on only half the income of the Earl of Buchan. The following dedication,…

The author might even cite his own case as an illustration of the advantages of thrift. His mother was left a widow, when her youngest child--the…

But one of the most remarkable illustrations of Thrift is to be found in the history of the Rev. Robert Walker--the _Wonderful_ Robert Walker, as…

After officiating as curate of Leathwaite for about twenty years, the annual value of the living was increased to seventeen pounds ten shillings. His…

Many men, in order to advance themselves in the world, and to raise themselves in society, have "scorned delights and lived laborious days." They…

Goethe says, "It is perfectly indifferent within what circle an honest man acts, provided he do but know how to understand and completely fill out…

At all events, it is not by socialism, but by individualism, that anything has been done towards the achievement of knowledge, and the advancement of…

Individual men are willing to deny themselves, but associated communities will not. The masses are too selfish, and fear that advantage will be taken…

Lord Elcho might also have mentioned Dr. Hutton, the geologist, a man of a much higher order of genius; who was the son of a coal-viewer. Bewick, the…

George Stephenson worked his way from the pithead to the highest position as an engineer. George began his life with industry, and when he had…

And he was right. For the man who, after satisfying his wants, has something to spare, is no longer poor. It is certain that from that day Stephenson…

When Stephenson proposed to erect his first locomotive, he had not sufficient means to defray its cost. But in the course of his life as a workman,…

Watt, also, when inventing the condensing steam-engine, maintained himself by making and selling mathematical instruments. He made flutes, organs,…

These great workers did not feel ashamed of labouring with their hands for a living; but they also felt within themselves the power of doing…

Horace Walpole has said that Queen Caroline's patronage of Stephen Duck, the thresher poet, ruined twenty men, who all turned poets. It was not so…

At the same time, a man who feels that he has some good work in him, which study and labour might yet bring out, is fully justified in denying…

The author in his boyhood knew three men who worked in an agricultural implement maker's shop. They worked in wood and iron, and made carts, ploughs,…

Two of the young men, who worked at the same bench, contrived to save enough money to enable them to attend college during the winter. At the end…

It is not necessary to trace their history; but what they eventually arrived at, may be mentioned. Of the first two, one became the teacher and…

Although mechanics' institutes are old institutions, they have scarcely been supported by working men. The public-house is more attractive and more…

We have referred to the wise practice of men in humble position maintaining themselves by their trade until they saw a way towards maintaining…

Franklin long maintained himself by his trade of printing. He was a hard-working man,--thrifty, frugal and a great saver of time. He worked for…

Samuel Richardson, while writing his novels, stuck to his trade of a bookseller. He sold his books in the front shop, while he wrote them in the back…

Students of Art have had to practise self-denial in many ways. Quentin Matsys, having fallen in love with a painter's daughter, and determined to win…

The greater number of artists have sprung from humble life. If they had been born rich, they would probably never have been artists. They have had to…

Chantry of Sheffield, was an economist both of time and money. He saved fifty pounds out of his earnings as a carver and gilder; paid the money to…

Canova was a stone-cutter, like his father and his grandfather; and through stone-cutting he worked his way to sculpture. After leaving the quarry,…

Lough, the English sculptor, is another instance of self-denial and hard work. When a boy, he was fond of drawing. At school, he made drawings of…

At length Lough went from Newcastle to London, to push his way in the world of art. He obtained a passage in a collier, the skipper of which he knew.…