ist and colour-maker, then by the maker of the toy--many of these
employed at large wages; and yet you receive for your children an
article which not only gives instruction, but the greatest amusement,
all for one penny.

An old saying, but a very true one, "Cleanliness is next to godliness;"
and this brings us to a luxury which, though long known in France, has
only been lately introduced here. This is the shoe-black. You come up to
him, dirty from the mud of the streets of London, and in a very short
time you have your boots shining for a penny. This penny's worth brings
before us a large amount of thought before it can be earned and paid
for. We have to begin with the farmer, who feeds the animal that, after
we have eaten a good dish from and think no more of, yet furnishes the
hair which is made into brushes by the brushmaker; the carpenter has to
make the box to hold them; the blacking-maker also comes to the service;
and the tailor to give the uniform red coat worn by the Shoeblack
Brigade--yet after all this, you can get your boots blacked, and that
well done, for one penny. Out of their earnings, at some stations the
boys--so I was told a short time ago--have to pay 2s. 6d. a day for
leave to stand at their station.

I have gone a long way on things that can be obtained for a penny, but I
have not yet got to the greatest and most valuable--a thing which is to
be obtained for even less than the widow's mite. It is this: "Come ye,
buy and eat, without money and without price, for My word is meat
indeed, and My word is drink indeed." Christ says this, and man cannot
deny it. I am not going to preach a sermon, but as things have come
before me, I have put them down.

Seeing what a penny can do, let us turn to some of the results. A penny
a week at a school, and what can be gained? A child is educated to use
the talents given him or her, so as to work out an honest living, and is
there taught what it can do for the life that now is and that which is
to come. The value of education is so great that it cannot be
over-estimated. A young man I knew got into a railway workshop. He saved
enough to go to Australia, where he has now made a large sum of money.
He left this country with less than L50 in his pocket. He knew work and
business, thanks to education, and had a determined desire to work his
way. I wish it was so all over England, for I know in the Midland
Counties every one will not leave home. You must leave home