good society, trained imperfectly in the minor town of Wigton, and having had very little schooling, and that of the milder sort, it did not take very unusual powers of perception for him to discover that he was not sufficiently posted up in the theory and practice of book-keeping, so essential to the successful management of a wholesale business. He had previously compared himself with London men about him, and had candidly admitted his education was otherwise deficient. These reflections brought out the man and the thrift. Instead of idly lamenting the lack of previous opportunity, he modestly and wisely put himself to school of an evening, and learning what he was taught with the zest induced by a practical purpose, it is quite likely that he got ideas of the uses of figures and accounts very superior to those drilled into the minds of boys by the dull routine of an ordinary school, and he eventually emerged from the ordeal better instructed than those he had previously been inferior to. That was the great practical application of his thrift of time, which so soon brought him much money.

Remarkable shrewdness accompanied this valuable access of knowledge. He was made town traveller, and speedily attained to the dignity of "the road," where he so distinguished himself in forestalling the travelling partner of another house, that he was bought up by that house, and became a partner in the firm, subsequently so widely known as Copestake, Moore and Co., of which he thus became a member so early as the age of twenty-three. Sustained throughout by the superior mental training he had acquired for himself, he speedily adopted all the manners, knack, and cajollery that do so much for the commercial man, and spared no effort to bring such things to bear with all their force.

SELLING HIS COAT OFF HIS BACK.

Amongst many other drapers of the same kind, there was one in particular who was extremely averse to opening a new account. This was so well known that it was the common talk in the commercial rooms of the town, and another traveller laid a wager of five pounds that Moore could not get a line from that draper. Thus put upon his best metal, Moore called again and again, but was peremptorily told that there was no possibility of an order for him. Not to be put off, he contrived to get into a friendly conversation, during which he drew the draper's attention to the new coat he happened to have on, pointing out the latest London cut, and other recommendations. Perceiving that the draper was interested, he remarked, “You are exactly my size; it's quite new; I'll sell it to you." "What's the price?" inquired the draper. "Twenty-five shillings," replied Moore. The bait took, the coat was sold, the five pounds were won, and the account thus opened continued running profitably for years afterwards.

During his brief engagement with the draper in Soho Square, he was attracted by the little daughter of his employer, and secretly determined that he would seek to make her his wife. When first he saw her she was quite a young girl, so that in taking that fancy he effectually deferred

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marriage for some years, a condition of thrift that may have had much to do with his success. When first he proposed to her she refused him, but perhaps his experience on the road gave him confidence in the operation of time. Five years afterwards she accepted him. It is probable that the strong attachment he conceived for her formed a sheet-anchor of hope in a life, that thus became one of serious purpose at a critical period, and ended in the acquisition of immense wealth.

OBSCURE PROSPERITY.

It is inevitable that instances and examples of the reward of intelligence and industry should be derived from the lives of men who have far outstripped their fellows in the race of life. It is only such conspicuous cases that are accessible, while the lives of equally meritorious and mostly happier men, whose success has been satisfactory but not so very notable, must of necessity be passed by in silence and left in obscurity.

TICKLING THE FANCY.

It tickles the fancy of boys and young men to fill them up with the notion that they are going to be great. The youthful imagination is quite prone enough to indulge in day dreams of that kind without being artificially stimulated by shallow and mischievous teaching. Therefore, the consideration of great men's lives requires much discrimination, lest reflections thereon should run too much in the direction of pandering to the passion for extreme advancement that has become a vice in England, as compared with the wiser industry and accompanying thrift that so advantageously prevail in France.

MODEST OPPORTUNITIES.

Out of the millions of young persons who are progressively entering upon manhood, there must be a certain small proportion who have the ability and opportunity for advancing to positions of great distinction. It should not be forgotten that there are those amongst the majority of whose prosperity we never hear, whose ability is no less, but whose great opportunity never arrives, and comparisons between the industrial characteristics of the French and English should be cautious to the latter not to despise the smaller opportunities that come in the way of all who seek them, for practising and turning to account the best points of modest ability which all possess, and the quiet thrift that all can practise. As a general rule, there is no short cut to fortune. The histories of the lives of the greatest men are soon read, and are too apt to convey to the mind of the reader an idea of rapid success; but a little reading between the lines will convince everyone who reflects a little that there is scarcely a case that has not involved the exercise of a degree of toil, study, and patience beyond the strength and capacity of most men. At the same time, there is no one who can lose anything by exercising such strength and ability as he possesses in perfecting himself in his work, and in cultivating thrift and application so as not to waste either time, money, or opportunity. Such a course, involving due attention to little things, will inevitably tell in

the end. Even the greatest misfortunes are mitigated by the exercise of small virtues, and the minor ills that flesh is heir to will be qualified and toned down, and if such virtues are neglected, they will be found wanting when the opportunity comes.

ENDURING PATIENCE.

The brief sketch of a successful life is too apt to convey to the careless mind the notion that the success was as rapid as the sketch is short. There is reason to believe that some young people are consequently weary before they have really made any exertion. All who reflect upon this should appreciate the fact that all success implies some merit, however much the merit may be obscured by surrounding circumstances, so that when a successful career is ascribed to "all luck" it is often an entire mistake and generally a very great one.

THE PROSPERITY OF MIDDLE AGE.

The majority of youth will do well to possess themselves with patience of the broadest description. Solid prosperity, after all, does not come to the very young except in rare instances. It is only the advantage of long experience and observation that can usually prosper. Hence the encouragement for those who are worthy of it. Most of the success in life does not come so soon as is supposed. It is only the very few who reach it in early life. It is in middle age that the fruit of thrift generally ripens into a satisfactory maturity. In the course of business, there are some advantages which can only accrue to those of mature years. The young are too likely to undervalue the advantages of experience which only time can impart. The young head, in this respect, little thinks what a deal the old head knows, acquired bit by bit and only to be acquired so. The difference between one middle-aged man and another is in the storing of the experience and its garnering with observation.

EXAMPLE OF LORD BEACONSFIELD.

In the latter years of Lord Beaconsfield's life, the idea of observers sometimes seemed to be that he had laid the foundation of his later life by public and personal achievements in his youth. On the contrary, his youth was a conspicuous failure. He did nothing that contributed to his after fame until he had reached middle age, or was upon the verge of forty. There never was a man who so graphically illustrated the helplessness of youth and the advantage of mature thought in middle age, resulting from special experience.

THRIFT FOR GIRLS.

SPOILED CHILDREN.

PRETTY little girls, as a general rule, are the least disposed to be thrifty, and the least sensible of the necessity for thriftiness. Judging from what they say and what they do, it would appear that they generally look to someone else to do the thrift, while they bask in all the advantages of it. Pretty little girls may be forgiven for this. When they are as good-tempered as they are pretty-and most of them are-they are such universal favourites that they are almost sure to get spoiled with the notion that they are "little queens," born for happiness and certain of its continuance.

EXPECTATIONS OF MARRIAGE.

A beautiful little girl of our acquaintance being taken, with a small party of privileged friends, to see the house of a newly-married couple, placed upon record an idea worthy of all application. The bridegroom was decidedly wealthy; the bride brought him a handsome portion; the new house was sumptuously and splendidly appointed, fully up to the ample means thus at command, and the bridegroom's name was Merton. Our beautiful little friend eagerly scanned what was shown to her, treasuring up for special recollection details that would probably escape the notice of her elders, for she had only seen five summers. During the evening of the same day she was a little pettish and singularly restless, though quiet of speech and evidently very thoughtful. At length her unusual manner excited considerable notice, and inquiries at length drew from her a deep sigh and the astounding exclamation, "I wish I was married!"

She evaded all inquiries as to why; but, upon being asked who she should like to be married to, she promptly replied, "Mr. Merton." She had never seen the gentleman, so the motive for her eccentric wish was sought for, and she at length explained, with evident reluctance, as one who would cherish a treasured secret, "Because then I should have all those nice things." It is not every pretty little girl who is so candid; but when their candour is wrought upon, they are not unlikely to disclose the entertainment of delicious day dreams, only conjured up to be eventually dispelled, and sometimes with the cruel force of very bitter practical experience.

DAY DREAMS.

Such day dreams sometimes last beyond the years of childhood, and, in some rare cases, scarcely ever cease, if we are to judge from observation, but become realised in a life of exceptional good fortune, or that which passes for it. But for the majority-for the 999 out of every thousand-such dreams are very much like other dreams, fading from memory as the morning of life advances, and often, like other dreams, proving only delusive forerunners of experiences the very reverse. Perhaps it may be said that, for the most part, the longer the dreaming lasts, the more likely it is not to be realised.

WHOLESOME DISAPPOINTMENTS.

That there are so few who realise such dreams is by no means to be regretted. It is not healthy, either physically or morally, that girls, any more than boys, should grow up as hot-house plants, so nurtured and educated as to be in perpetual risk of being chilled by the rude blasts of the rough storms of the world. Physically, there can be no complete health without considerable bodily exertion, systematically arising out of sensible surroundings; morally, there can be no happiness where there is no exercise for the mental powers in the course of duties and responsibilities properly imposed upon the majority of people. Some little girls, and some big ones too, may think it a fine thing to be a lady-a real lady-" waited on hand and foot," as the phrase goes, but none can tell so well as they, and many can tell, with bitter truth, what helpless, forlorn, spoiled, pampered, unhappy beings they arevictims of a restraint that is intolerable, and of a sense of desolation that so often pervades the houses of the great, sometimes resulting in painful nervous derangements that no physician can cure, and nothing can stay the continuance of, where life is nothing but a course of enforced idleness. Such being the fate of many real ladies, what must the lives of those be worth who only ape their more exalted models, and endeavour to shuffle through the responsibilities of life in the character of lady shams?

SELF HELP.

There is no station or position of life wherein it can fail to be advantageous to be accustomed to the practice of self-help and the consequent thrift that grows out of it; and, wherever the example is sensibly set, there is nothing easier than to train young girls in habits of orderly and useful occupation. All young girls do not get such a training-far from it. The habit of mind that regards household occupations as menial is rather strengthened by the somewhat increasing variety of opportunities that arise in the career of modern girls; and it is to be feared that many ignorant mothers, charged with the responsibility of equally ignorant daughters, assist in putting notions into young heads that can only lead to disappointment, or worse, respecting the prospects of life.

WOMEN'S IGNORANCE.

"If ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise" implies a proverb very often too liberally applied, especially amongst girls and women. It is painfully true, that, beyond the routine of an average school, women of all classes, with