282 LECTURE XXIII. 



contingents : want of employment, sickness, and 

 death. You may escape the two first, but the 

 last must come. It is, however, your duty to 

 provide against the two first of these ; and this 

 you may do by deposits in the savings' bank. 



If you will not help yourselves, how can you 

 expect others to assist you? But I am sure 

 that a good, steady, provident man, who has 

 earned an excellent character for himself, if he 

 should be attacked by sickness or any other 

 misfortune, is sure to find friends and assistance. 

 Enjoy your pint of beer or hot coffee, but avoid 

 the ale-house for you there spend, or rather 

 waste, your money, and ruin your families ; for 

 it has been computed that amongst those who 

 earn a sufficiency to live upon comfortably, one- 

 half of it is too often spent by the man upon 

 objects in which the other members of his family 

 have no share. Now this is selfishness, to say 

 the least of it. 



I cannot conceive a much greater pleasure 

 that a working man, with a wife and family, can 

 experience, than a feeling that he is independent 

 that is, that he has saved up sufficient money 

 to guard against bad times and sickness. Many 

 of you have good, handsome wives, and pretty 



