Almanack, representing Industry taking Time by the fore-lock, is
not the least of the beauties in this plate, as it intimates the danger
of delay, and advises us to make the best use of time, whilst we have it
in our power; nor will the position of the gloves, on the flap of the
escritoire, be unobserved by a curious examiner, being expressive of
that union that subsists between an indulgent master and an industrious
apprentice.

The strong-beer nose and pimpled face of the porter, though they have no
connexion with the moral of the piece, are a fine caricatura, and show
that our author let slip no opportunity of ridiculing the vices and
follies of the age, and particularly here, in laying before us the
strange infatuation of this class of people, who, because a good deal of
labour requires some extraordinary refreshment, will even drink to the
deprivation of their reason, and the destruction of their health. The
surly mastiff, keeping close to his master, and quarrelling with the
house-cat for admittance, though introduced to fill up the piece,
represents the faithfulness of these animals in general, and is no mean
emblem of the honesty and fidelity of the porter.

In this print, neither the cat, dog, nor the porter are well drawn, nor
is much regard paid to perspective; but the general design is carried on
by such easy and natural gradations, and the consequent success of an
attentive conduct displayed in colours so plain and perspicuous, that
these little errors in execution will readily be overlooked.

[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.

PLATE 4.

THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE A FAVOURITE, AND ENTRUSTED BY HIS MASTER.]

INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.

PLATE V.

THE IDLE 'PRENTICE TURNED AWAY AND SENT TO SEA.

"A foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." Proverbs, chap. x.
verse 1.

Corrupted by sloth and contaminated by evil company, the idle
apprentice, having tired the patience of his master, is sent to sea, in
the hope that the being removed from the vices of the town, and the
influence of his wicked companions, joined with the hardships and perils
of a seafaring life, might effect that reformation of which his friends
despaired while he continued on shore. See him then in the ship's boat,
accompanied by his afflicted mother, making towards the vessel in which
he is to embark. The disposition of the different figures in the boat,
and the expression of their countenances, tell us plainly, t