made, and then you will save three half-pence into the bargain. 66 A penny saved is a penny got," And will help to get something to put in the pot. Why that rhyme is worth another penny; if I go on in this way, I shall make you all as rich as Jews. What strange things happen! This Temperance plan that is now getting so well known, would have been finely laughed at when I was a boy. Indeed, for the matter of that, it is often well laughed at now, but there is a great deal more got by joining a Temperance Society than by laughing at it. Bill Simpkins laughs at it for one, and Dick Holloway for another; but Bill's jacket is sadly out at the elbows, and Dick has but just got out of prison, where he has been for debt. The old proverb says, "Let those laugh that win!" and therefore I think that you have much more reason to laugh than Bill Simpkins and Dick Holloway. Temperance is the father of health, cheerfulness, and old age. Drunkenness has so large a family that I cannot remember the names of one-half of them however, disease, debt, dishonour, destruction, and death are among them,-not the most hopeful household this in the world. He that wishes his cares and his troubles to cease, Within two hundred yards of the place where you are now assembled, I was, many years ago, roused at the dead of the night out of a sound sleep, by a man who was rolling and tumbling about among the gardens, and roaring out for assistance. I got up very unwillingly, for it is no joke to turn out of a comfortable warm bed, on a raw cold night, to wait on a drunken fellow who is likely enough to kick your shins for any kindness you may render him. Well, the drunken man proved to be a soldier, who had taken so much grog after a review, that he had not only lost his musket and his cap and feather, but himself also; for he had, no one knew how, scrambled over two or three garden walls, coming, at last, quite to a stand still, and roaring out lustily for assistance. All this came of drinking grog. home, and a pretty job I had of it, As I led him he promised me half the riches of the West Indies for the part I had taken, but I never saw him again. Now, what a brave fellow he would have been, when in the pickle in which I found him, to quell a riot, or to attack an enemy, or to defend property! Why, a lad of fourteen, with a knobbed stick, would have been a match for half-a-dozen such valorous heroes. Take my word for it, drinking never yet made a good soldier, nor a good citizen. Let Old Humphrey encourage you to continue your temperate career; for though it may not remove all the troubles you have, it will assuredly prevent many more from coming upon you. However temperate we may be, we shall be sure to make mistakes enough in the world, and bring upon ourselves enough of trouble, at least Old Humphrey has found it to be so; but the drunkard goes abroad in quest of care, buckles it on his back, and carries it home to his miserable habitation. Again I say, Be sober. Temptation's luring wiles beware, And, 'mid ten thousand mercies given, ON SLEEP. How do you sleep at night, my friends? How do you sleep at night? I have just risen from my bed with a buoyant body and a grateful spirit, comforted and invigorated by refreshing slumber. What a merciful provision of an all-merciful God, for the bodily ills and mental sorrows of human beings, is the blessing of sleep! How gently it extracts the thorny cares of the mind! How delightfully it soothes the throbbing pulse and agonizing head! and how mysteriously it pours its balm into the wasted frame, composing, comforting, and strengthening it, again to endure, to achieve, and to enjoy! Though the rich often enjoy it, sound sleep is the peculiar heritage of the working man. How frequently does it quit the tapestried chamber and the damask-curtained bed, to rest on the pallet of labour and toil! "The sleep of a la bouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or : much but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep," Eccles. v. 12. A quiet chamber is very necessary to secure us rest, but a quiet conscience is yet more so; indeed, without it, refreshing slumber is almost out of the question. Trust in the Lord; commit your ways to Him; cling to and cast your sins and sorrows upon the Saviour of sinners, and seek his grace to love him, to serve him, to obey him, and to rejoice in him; then "when thou liest down thou shalt not be afraid, yea thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet,” Prov. iii. 24. Squire Jenkinson, who was both weak and wicked, could get no rest. He had a noble mansion, fine pleasure grounds, and a beautiful carriage drawn by beautiful horses. His table was supplied with every luxury, and his friends were the most cheerful companions in the world; but, still, Squire Jenkinson could get no rest. Sometimes he went to bed early, and sometimes he went to bed late; but, whether late or early, it was just the same. "There is no peace for the wicked," and there was no rest for Squire Jenkinson. He applied to his friends, who told him to take exercise, and to drink an extra glass of grog before he went to bed. He applied to his doctor, and he gave him laudanum, and opium; but in spite of exercise, and grog, and laudanum, and opium, no sound rest could he obtain. At last |