"Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." (Ephesians vi. 2, 3.) THRIFT-BOXES of various shapes, sizes, and materials, are

employed by children, taught by their elders to save their little spare money. Some of these are perhaps too easy to open, and therefore the hoard is often diminished; and some are made of earthenware, and cannot be opened at all without breaking. If the box has a lock and key, it seems irksome to the youthful owner that mother should keep the key, and yet if the key remain under the guardianship of the youngster, without any restrictions, the contents of the box are not likely to accumulate very steadily. Into some thrift-boxes money is apt to be placed which would have been better employed in judicious charity, and into others the money spent in what is useless or harmful had better have been placed. Under any circumstances, a boy or girl would be greatly pained if, after storing the savings of months or years, the thrift-box should be missing when the contents were needed. It is not, however, exactly of that sort of thrift-box that we would now think. The thrift-boxes of which we now chiefly write are alive!

As people grow older, if of saving disposition, the thrift-box assumes a somewhat different form. A working man takes a share in a Building Society. Henceforth that is to be his thrift-box. Perhaps he speedily purchases a house and garden, for which he is not as yet able to pay. He can, however, obtain a sufficient loan from the Society. There will need much effort and constant economy in order to pay the successive instalments. But he judges that, if his health be spared, it can be done, and he determines that, such being the case, it shall be done. Others place what they can spare in the Savings' Bank. Up-grown people have a considerable variety of thrift-boxes. It is much to VOL. VII. NEW SERIES.-March, 1872.

D

be regretted that, too frequently, when the little store was needed, the thrift-box was missing. Let us hope that such results of heedlessness, mismanagement, or villany are becoming less frequent. But we do not purpose to dwell any longer at present on that kind of thrift-box, but on those that live, and speak, and walk along the streets.

Many persons, during the prime of life, treat their children as their thrift-boxes. All that they can acquire is employed for the benefit of these children. Money is not all that they lavish on their children, but that, so far as they can obtain it, is freely used for their benefit. Father is anxious to earn as much as possible, and mother tries to save to the utmost of her power. Their efforts are not directed to the purchase of luxuries for themselves. The children need food, and clothes, and schooling. Then, one and another need help in order to prepare for some position in which they will gain a comfortable livelihood. Every shilling which comes into the possession of the parents seems connected with the youngsters. Of course, the general wants of the household must be supplied; but, beyond those, the father and mother see little besides the children. The money thus laboriously acquired and economically used, is but a small part of the treasure spent upon the children. Who can estimate the patient attention bestowed most cheerfully on the young people successively? During babyhood and childhood the demands are incessant, even when the youngster is free from actual pain. But during such periods as teething, measles, hooping-cough, scarlet-fever, and the numerous evils which have to be passed through, the endurance of parents is still more severely tested. But they are, for the most part, as willing to employ all their strength on behalf of the boys and girls, as to spend the money which they can gain. Their leisure hours are given to these same youngsters. A few years earlier, both father and mother, perhaps, enjoyed the companionship of a few friends of their own age, entering into their views, and tastes, and pursuits. But all this has been laid aside. The parents, in leisure time, seem to know nobody and go nowhere. It would be difficult to describe all that parents, even when possessing very little money, endowed with no special gifts, favoured with no unusual opportunities, quite ordinary sort of people, contrive to lavish on their children. All this is done, too, with such constant and overflowing love, that the value of the benefits is greatly enhanced. During the prime of life, the children form the thrift-box into which father and mother place, from day to day, all the good

things they can secure. would think.

That is the sort of thrift-box of which we

Very lamentable is it when such a thrift-box is missing when most needed. Unhappily this is too often the case. Sometimes the children profess to mean well, but they expend so much on their personal gratification, that they have little or nothing to spare for the parents. In other cases, the selfishness is more calculating. The child has that which would supply the needful comforts to his parents, but he wishes to keep it, and add thereto. At other times, the question is not one of money at all. The parents may possess a competency themselves. They ask not for gold and silver, but for love, with its suitable manifestations. During many,

many years, they have daily bestowed love. The best affection of their hearts has been stored, in unlimited measure, in this thriftbox. They ask for some suitable return for the priceless investment. Very pitiable is it when they ask in vain.

Young ladies are sometimes heard singing, whilst seated at the piano, something about a certain "old arm-chair," concerning which they repeatedly declare, "I love it, I love it." The old arm-chair is that in which a deceased mother used to sit. Perhaps there is really no great danger of anybody "chiding" them on account of moderate regard to the relic of former days. But such old arm-chairs, in many cases, still have an occupant. Now, as to the chair, we may please ourselves. But, whatever our tastes in these matters, it is undeniable that the living occupant does require our love and care. If an aged mother is in need of such help, most maidservants can spare a little from their wages on behalf of one who has ever loved them dearly. Then, whether aged parents need pecuniary help or not, they ask for affection. Love the occupant, however you regard the old arm-chair.

A little boy knelt at his mother's knee. That mother had lately become a widow. The child was repeating his prayers for the first time in his mother's hearing since he was made fatherless. "God bless my mother," the boy said, and paused. Both mother and child wept. The next petition had ever been, "God bless my father." But both were satisfied that the much-loved one was raised far above sorrow, and pain, and want, and temptation. He needed no longer the prayers of those on earth. At length the little fellow said, "Mother, I cannot bear to leave dear father out altogether. May I say, 'I thank Thee, Lord, that I once had a good father?' I cannot leave him all out." Many will have much cause to bless God for pious parents, even when those have been

removed to a better world. Let us, however, whilst they are spared, endeavour to return somewhat of their kindness and care.

One evening some people were returning from the market-town to their respective homes, carrying their purchases. One little ́lad was observed bearing a very heavy basket. The child was evidently overburdened, yet he manfully struggled on without any expression of complaint. One who was passing said to the lad, "That basket is too heavy for you to carry." The boy replied, "It is heavy, Sir, but I would rather carry it myself than that mother should have to carry it." That was spoken like a little hero. No doubt his mother had enough, and more than enough, to bear. The noble little fellow was resolved that he would take his share of the family burdens, and he felt a worthy delight in the reflection that he was thus relieving the mother he loved. Take care that so long as your parents and you are spared to each other, the thrift-box in which they have stored so much shall not be missing.

BEING THE

LORD BACON'S MAXIM.

SUBSTANCE OF AN ADDRESS READ TO A YOUNG
MEN'S MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT CLASS.

- BY THE REV.

IT has been truly said that a man may nowadays be almost what he likes. Kings and emperors cannot drink in learning with a golden ladle, but must come at it by dint of hard study, and in much the same manner as other people. A man may be a born genius, and die an ignoramus. It is only by application to study that the intellectual faculties can be developed, and knowledge secured. Perseverance is the price of success.

The Saying on which we speak is threefold.

I. "Reading makes a full man.”The body requires food in order to its sustenance and development; even so is it with the mind. It cannot feed upon nothing. And the more we read, the more does the

JOHN TESSEYMAN.

mind expand and develop. And a man may read a long time before, in the sense of the proverb, he shall become a "full man.'

Reading is a source of improvement. It increases our stores of knowledge, aids us in acquiring a correct form of expression, and refines the mental perceptions. It is also a source of pleasure; and the more we practice it, the more pleasurable does it become.

II. "Writing makes a correct man."-This, all who practice it are able to testify. There is a pleasure in writing. Not so much, perhaps, at first; it may, and will, require determination and perseverance; yet gradually it will become a pleasure, unknown to those who have never paid the price for it.