Mary then told me, that, when she married, she was very thoughtless, and that she should, most likely, have ruined her children by false indulgence, as some of her neighbours had done; "but you must know, Madam", she said "that, as I was leaving the Church, after my eldest boy had been christened, the gentleman overtook me in the porch; and, when I stopped, he said "Young woman take care how you bring that child up, you have done right in having him baptised; but remember that he will hereafter receive no benefit from all the privileges and promises which have just been given to him, if he does not fear and obey God. If you do not teach him what is right when he is young, you will, in a great measure, be answerable for his future conduct, and you will convert the blessing God has given you into a continual source of grief and sorrow.' "The Clergyman," added Mary, "told me to look at the young shoots of the ivy, growing against the porch, and showed me that I might train them which ever way I pleased, but that the last year's shoots had become stiff and hard, and would break if I attempted to alter the direction they grew in; he concluded, by saying, that it was just the same with a child, who, if suffered to do as he pleased, the first years of his life, would not submit afterwards to be guided by his parents.

Well, Madam, said my good old friend, I thought a great deal about what I had heard, and I told it all to my husband; and we prayed to God to help us to do our duty by our child; and, when my husband came home from work, he used, for he was a very good scholar, to read the Bible to me that we might learn to set them a good example. Our boy, said she, soon became a fine stout child and we found it difficult to deny him any thing; but, with God's help, we kept steadily to our rule of never indulging him when he cried or teazed us for any thing, and he very soon learnt to be good tempered and con

tented. As, said Mary, it pleased God to give us other children, we considered each as a new blessing entrusted to our care, and we made it our daily prayer, that God would be ever with them and that they might be partakers of his grace and blessing. And I may truly say, she continued, that God blessed our prayers and our endeavours; for the younger ones, from imitating the elder, learnt to be attentive and obedient; and, when my husband came home in the evening, and we all sat at work together, and he read the Bible to us, you would, Madam, if you had passed our door, have said what a happy family!'

"My Children," she repeated, "are now dispersed in the world, and some of them 1 cannot expect to see again; but I trust to meet them all, with their families, in a better world, than this."

Our walk had long been ended, but I was unwil ling to leave this truly Christian Mother; and our con versation was continued at the garden gate leading to her low thatched cottage, which, from the lateness of the evening, I declined entering, and returned home. Whenever I afterwards, as I often did, visited the cottage, I found her, though under the pressure of age and increasing infirmities, always resigned and cheerful, supported by Him who has promised "even to hoary hairs" to be with us. She, like St. Paul, was anxious to depart and be with Christ, yet was contented to wait until it should please him to summon her.

How happy shall I be if any of your readers, who are parents, will take the advice given to Mary, and improve it as she did. Remember, my friends, you are all responsible to God, for your children; you may, if you will ask it, have his assistance to enable you to perform the duty of Christian parents; and your children may be as great blessings to you. aş Mary's were to her.

L.

ON THE HABITS OF MANUFACTURERS.

To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor.

SIR,

IN a former Number of your valuable publication, you expressed an intention of shortly addressing some remarks to the manufacturing poor. This reminds me that I intimated, in a letter which appeared in your Visitor some time since, the probability of my sending you some observations of the same nature; and I will avail myself of an opportunity which now offers itself for fulfilling the promise.

The manufacturing population, in the neighbourhood where I live, consists of three classes;-Calico Printers, and those employed in the different branches of that trade;-Cotton Spinners, and those who work in factories or cotton mills;-and Weavers of Calico and Cotton Goods. There is only one particular in which all these classes have the advantage of those who labour in agriculture; and that is, in what they earn; but they labour under disadvantages of other kinds, for which this is a poor compensation. The Printers and the Spinners are employed, as you may of course suppose, on the premises of those for whom they work; they go early and return late, particularly the Spinners, whose hours of labour vary but little, if at all, throughout the year. They are most of them confined, from morning till night, in rooms, large enough indeed, but required, by the nature of their business, to be kept hot and close. This, if it does not injure their health, often produces bad habits; for it is made an excuse for drinking; and the taste of the little, which may perhaps be necessary, creates a thirst which sometimes is never satis. fied. Another thing is, that the girls who are brought up to these employments are seldom fit for any thing else. They are absent from home all the

day, (their food being generally carried to them by their parents, unless they live very near to their work), and they have no more time, when they return at night, than what is necessary for rest and sleep. There is no opportunity for gaining experience in domestic matters; and, therefore, but little chance of their being managing wives, and mothers of families. When they arrive at these situations, they have to hire others to do their household work, because they never learnt how to do it themselves; and this, we know, is a very dear way of conducting a family. But methods may, no doubt, be recommended, by which a great portion of these evils might be avoided; and perhaps your experience, Mr. Visitor, or the communications of your correspondents, may enable you to throw out some useful hints on the subject.

The Weavers, in general, work at their own homes; so that they have opportunities which the others have not: but there are few amongst them who are willing to profit thereby. Weaving is an easy employment, being performed sitting, with a slight motion of the hands and feet, and not calculated to produce any great habits of industry.Weavers can generally afford to play one day in the week, and some of them more than that; but they are noted for idling away their spare time; many of the men will sit with their arms folded, and many of the women are sadly fond of gossiping and tattle. On this account, it seldom happens that they are better qualified for the business of a family than the last I spoke of: but they have not the same excuse for their defects: they have time and opportunity for gaining such knowledge as will be useful to them as they go through life; and we will hope, that, when their errors are pointed out, in a plain and friendly way, they will have sense enough to get rid of their bad habits, and turn their leisure time to better ac count.

:

There are two vices very common amongst our working-classes, Improvidence and Extravagance: and these are generally the causes of their ever knowing what Want is. Of the first we had a notable instance in this neighbourhood last winter. The concern which gives employment to the greatest number of hands, was, for some time, slack of business and families, which before had been used to plenty, had little or nothing to subsist upon: their only resource was credit with those who would trust them; and, even with this advantage, they had great difficulties to encounter, and endured much severe suffering.How easily all this might have been avoided, if they had been provident enough, when business was good, to have laid by a portion of their earnings, which every one of them could have well spared. The Extravagance which they are guilty of is "Want of economy." They are used to plenty, and will have every thing not only good, but of the best; and are not acquainted with the art of making it so at the least expence. In this way, they waste more than many families who are used to, what may be called, a higher style of living. I fear many of them would throw out very ugly names at some of your cheap dishes; and yet you may assure them that there are many families of what may be reckoned the better sort, where such dishes are used and highly approved of, and where such methods of economy are found very convenient.

There can be no doubt that you are desirous to apply a remedy to such evils as I have here mentioned; and therefore I thought it right to let you know how matters proceed amongst the manufacturing classes in this quarter; and I should wish them to consider that I have done it with a view to their profit and instruction, and not for the sake of making their failings known and getting them a bad name.

I remain your faithful servant,

LANCASHIRE