of one penny a yard. Some
of these coloured decorations produce an eye-deception that quite, as
the Scotch would say, "jumbles the judgment and confounds the
understanding."

We have not done with luxuries, and I will now bring one before you
that, like many others, if used aright, there is no harm in, and which I
look upon as a means of keeping up social good-fellowship among all. I
mean _smoking_. Now the use of tobacco in itself is harmless, but used
in excess is not only dangerous, but acts as a poison. I like a pipe,
but I find at the same time it is needful to have a light. The ingenuity
of man has supplied my want and wish, and I can now get a light from an
article which, to look at, seems only something black tipped with red.
The labour required to produce this small box of lights, as it is
called, is wonderful--the chemist, the wood merchant, the mechanician
(and I am sorry to say, also the surgeon, from the deleterious effects
of the phosphorus on the human frame), have all to bring their work to
bear on the production of this most useful article. Yet, after all, it
is sold and bought for one penny a box. Messrs. Bryant & May profess to
save your houses from fire for this sum by using their matches, and I
think they are right. Fire and heat are among our best friends, but are
also dangerous enemies; and I am sure a penny spent on Bryant & May's
matches is _well_ spent. I do not wish to disparage other makers--far
from it; but a match that will only ignite on the box is an article all
householders should procure, not only for their own protection, but also
for that of their neighbours.

A very striking instance of the value of a penny is set before us in
that most wonderful system the penny-postage, the institution of which
was a boon to the kingdom that cannot be too highly appreciated. It
enables rich and poor alike to bring their thoughts and desires into
communication with each other, and so relieve anxious cares in regard
to the health and wealth, the joys and sorrows of friends in an easy
manner. A penny stamp can convey all our requirements, whether for good
or for evil, and many a large sum is now transmitted under its care. I
have been told that as many as 60,000 letters have passed through the
travelling post-office of the London and North-Western Railway in one
night. How could this great correspondence ever have been carried on but
for railways; and but for the foresight of Sir Rowland Hill this s