in some measure be satisfied, and they should gain time to reach Zator. The count consented; the servant mounted behind the carriage, and let the horse go, which was seized by the wolves, and torn into a thousand pieces. Meantime, the travellers proceeded with all the speed they could, in hopes to reach the town, from which they were not very distant. But the horses were tired, and the wolves, becoming more savage now that they had tasted blood, had almost overtaken the carriage. In this extreme necessity the servant cried out, "There is only one means of deliverance; I will go and meet the wolves, if you will swear to provide as a father for my wife and children. I must perish; but while they fall upon me, you will escape." Podotsky hesitated to comply; but as there was no prospect of escape, he consented, and solemnly vowed, that if the man would sacrifice himself for their safety, he would constantly provide for his family. The servant immediately got down, went to meet the wolves, and was devoured! The count reached the gates of Zator, and was saved. He conscientiously kept his word.

The rich and the poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.-Proverbs, xxii. 2.

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he that honoureth him, hath mercy on the poor.-Proverbs,

xiv. 31.

Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.Paul's Epistle to Titus, ii. 9, 10.

And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.-Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, vi. 9.

Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt

give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.-Deuteronomy, xxiv. 14, 15.

INDUSTRY.

THE Almighty Creator has made the earth productive of many things necessary for our subsistence and comfort, but scarcely any of these things are to be had in sufficient quantities, or are in a state fit for use, without human labour. Grain must be sown and reaped; metals must be dug from the ground and fabricated into utensils; flax, wool, and cotton, must be spun and woven. From these and the like operations, arises the wealth both of individuals and of nations. That any one, therefore, may be entitled to have food, or clothing, or any useful thing he desires, he must bear his share in the labours of society, unless he be so weak in body or mind as to be unfit for work, or already have so much wealth, of his own or another's getting, as to require no more.

When a people do not work, but live only on fruits or wild animals, they are said to be in a savage condition. Such are the American Indians, the Caffres, and the original people of Australia. Their style of living is very miserable; they have no comfortable food or clothing; and, having no store against times of scarcity, they often perish in great numbers from hunger. A savage country rarely supports more than one person for every square mile.

When a people are industrious, they live in a much better style. As they rear and tend cattle and sheep, sow and reap corn, build dwellings for themselves, and bring home the productions of other countries in ships, they have many comforts which the savage never tastes. Generally, a people are well or ill off exactly in proportion to their industry. The Germans, Swiss, French, Dutch, and British, are the most industrious of all nations, and hence their general condition is the best. In their countries, there are from one to three hundred persons for every square mile. We thus

see that in a country where there is much industry there are far more people, and these far happier, than in one where there is no industry.

The same rule holds respecting individuals. He who does not work, or in some way serve his fellow-creatures, is left to want; but he who works obtains the means of living in greater or less comfort. Generally, according as men are diligent and honest, or the reverse, just so do they prosper in their callings. While God has appointed all good things to be attainable only through labour, he has also appointed that labour should in itself be useful and agreeable to man. We cannot be healthy, we cannot be happy, unless we have some occupation for our minds and hands. On the other hand, we should not labour too hard or too diligently, for then we shall exhaust the powers of our bodies, and incur diseases which are even worse than the consequences of idleness. To work ten hours every day (Sundays being excepted), is generally thought to be as much as is consistent with health.

THE HUSBANDMAN AND HIS SONS: A FABLE.

A certain husbandman, lying at the point of death, and being desirous his sons should pursue that business of agriculture, in which himself had been engaged all his life, made use of this expedient to induce them to it. He called them to his bedside, and spoke to this effect :-" All the patrimony I have to bequeath to you, my sons, is my farm and my vineyard, of which I make you joint-heirs. But I charge you not to let it go out of your own occupation for if I have any treasure besides, it lies buried somewhere in the ground, within a foot of the surface.”

:

This made the sons conclude that he talked of money which he had hidden there: so, after their father's death, with unwearied diligence and application, they carefully dug up every inch, both of the farm and vineyard. From which it came to pass, that though they missed of the treasure which they expected, the ground, by being so well stirred and loosened, produced so plentiful a crop of all that was sowed in it, as proved a real, and that no inconsiderable, treasure.

THE DILIGENT CARPENTER.

31

CRESIN.

Pliny, the ancient naturalist, relates that the people of a certain district in Italy were much surprised at the fine appearance and great fertility of a farm belonging to one amongst them, named Cresin. As their own lands were poor and barren, they conceived that Cresin must employ some magical arts in order to make his ground yield such abundance. Accordingly, they brought him before a judge, and accused him of being an enchanter.

Cresin, being called upon for his defence, brought forward. a stout girl, his daughter, and also his implements of husbandry and the cattle which drew his plough. "This girl," said he, "pulls all the weeds which grow on my farm. I manure it carefully, to enable the ground to bear good crops. You see that all my implements are in the best order, and that my cattle, which I take pains to feed well, are the stoutest in the country. Behold," said he, "all the magic I use in the management of my farm! Any one of my neighbours may have as good crops as I, if he will use the same means."

The judges said they never had heard a better pleading, and dismissed Cresin with many commendations of his industry.

THE DILIGENT CARPENTER.

Sir Jonah Barrington, in his Memoirs, says "I recollect, in Queen's County, to have seen a Mr Clerk, who had been a working carpenter, and, when making a bench for the session justices at the court-house, was laughed at for taking peculiar pains in planing and smoothing the seat of it. He smilingly observed that he did it to make it easy for himself, as he expected he should not die till he had a right to sit thereupon; and his expectation was fulfilled. He was an industrious man-honest, respectable, and kind-hearted. He succeeded in all his efforts to accumulate an independence he did accumulate it, and uprightly. His character kept pace with the increase of his property, and he lived to sit as a magistrate on that bench he had shaved and planed."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

Benjamin Franklin was the son of a tallow-chandler at Boston in North America. His father, who was a poor man, brought him up as a printer. Benjamin was fond of reading, and spent all the money he could spare in buying books. At the same time, he did not neglect his work. He lived sparingly, and never wasted his time. When seventeen years old, he removed to Philadelphia, another city in North America, and there worked for some time with a printer named Keimer. He was already, by his talents and diligence, able to write a letter in neat and proper language. It chanced that the governor of the province saw a letter he had written, and thought so highly of it that he went to seek for the young printer at his master's shop, and invited him to his house. Franklin soon after went to London, where he worked for some time with various printers. While the other workmen spent five or six shillings a-week in beer, and thus were always muddling their brains, Benjamin drank no fermented or spirituous liquor, and thus, while much clearer in the head, and much healthier than they, he saved a little money. At twenty years of age, he returned much improved to Philadelphia, where, soon after, he set up in business with Mr Keimer. He was now extremely industrious. Every day, he composed or arranged the types of a sheet of small folio, besides attending to other business. His neighbours, pleased with his diligence, his honest and correct behaviour, and his lively talents, brought him all the business they could; and thus he could not fail to prosper. He now set up a newspaper, which he conducted with so much prudence and ability, that it acquired a great circulation, and brought him in much profit. Still, however, to show that he was not spoilt by his success, he dressed very plainly, lived frugally, and would sometimes be seen wheeling along a barrow containing the paper which he had purchased for his printing-office. He then set up as a stationer, commenced a subscription library, and began to publish an annual work entitled Poor Richard's Almanack, which contained a great number of prudent and sensible advices. Still, amidst all