lly since the
conclusion of the last great strike. There is no town in England,
excepting perhaps Huddersfield, where the people have proved themselves
so provident and so thrifty. Fifty years ago, only one person in thirty
of the population of Preston deposited money in the Savings Bank; twenty
years ago, the depositors increased to one in eleven; and last year they
had increased to one in five. In 1834, the sum of a hundred and
sixty-five thousand pounds had been accumulated in the Savings Bank by
5,942 depositors; and in 1874, four hundred and seventy-two thousand
pounds had been accumulated by 14,792 depositors, out of a total
population of 85,428. Is there any other town or city that can show a
more satisfactory result of the teaching, the experience, and the
prosperity of the last twenty years?

CHAPTER IX.

LITTLE THINGS.

"The sober comfort, all the peace which springs
From the large aggregate of little things;
On these small cares of daughter, wife, or friend,
The almost sacred joys of Home depend."--_Hannah More_.

"Know when to spend and when to spare,
And when to buy, and thou shalt ne'er be bare."

"He that despiseth little things, shall perish by little and
little."--_Ecclesiasticus_.

Neglect of small things is the rock on which the great majority of the
human race have split. Human life consists of a succession of small
events, each of which is comparatively unimportant, and yet the
happiness and success of every man depends upon the manner in which
these small events are dealt with. Character is built up on little
things,--little things well and honourably transacted. The success of a
man in business depends on his attention to little things. The comfort
of a household is the result of small things well arranged and duly
provided for. Good government can only be accomplished in the same
way,--by well-regulated provisions for the doing of little things.

Accumulations of knowledge and experience of the most valuable kind are
the result of little bits of knowledge and experience carefully
treasured up. Those who learn nothing or accumulate nothing in life, are
set down as failures,--because they have neglected little things. They
may themselves consider that the world has gone against them; but in
fact they have been their own enemies. There has long been a popular
belief in "good luck;" but, like many other popular notions, it is
gradually giving way. The conviction is extending t