96 RISEN BY PERSEVERANCE. 



very seldom, ever walked out, as it is called, with her; 1 

 never "went a-walking" in the whole course of my life, 

 never went to walk without having some object in view 

 other than the walk, and as I never could walk at a slow 

 pace, it would have been hard work for her to keep up 

 with me.' 



There is much plain sense and manly tenderness to be 

 found in this volume of confessions. This is for the rapidl}'- 

 increasing sect of club frequenters : — 



•What are we to think of the husband who is in the 

 habit of leaving his own fireside, after the business of the 

 day is over, and seeking promiscuous companions in the ale 

 or the coffee house? I am told that in France it is rare 

 to meet with a husband who does not spend every evening 

 of his life in Avhat is called a cafk — that is to say, a place 

 for no other purpose than that of gossiping, drinking, and 

 gaming. And it is with great sorrow that I acknowledge 

 that many English husbands indulge too much in a similar 

 habit. Drinking clubs, smoking clubs, singing clubs, clubs 

 of oddfellows, whist clubs, sotting clubs — these are inexcus- 

 able, they are censurable, they are at once foolish and 

 wicked, even in single men ; what must they be, then, in 

 husbands ? And how are they to answer, not only to their 

 wives, but to their children, for this profligate abandonment 

 of their homes, this breach of their solemn vow made to 

 the former, this evil example to the latter ? 



'Innumerable are the miseries that spring from this 

 cause. The expense is, in the first place, very considerable. 

 I much question whether, amongst tradesmen, a shilling a 

 night pays the average score, and that, too, for that which 

 is really worth nothing at all, and cannot, even by possi- 



