8. A club makes provision for the times. when the husband is unable to work; but there are many special needs which may arise when he is in full work, and a wise man will provide for these as well.

9. The club won't buy a daughter's outfit when she goes to service, or the tools for a son when he goes to a trade, neither will it meet the expenses of sickness among the children. That is where the Savings' Bank comes in.

10. Besides, there may be cases where a man never happens to draw out of his club at all; and though it may be quite satisfactory to have sunk all that he has paid into it in order to be insured against illness, yet it would be doubly satisfactory to have also paid an equal amount into the bank, all of it to come back, plus interest, into the depositor's own pocket, as he sees fit to draw it.

11. Again, saving raises the individual morally as well as materially. It teaches him habits of self-denial and self-control, and stirs him up to the fullest employment of his powers, by giving him an object for exertion. And if it be well for the individual to be industrious and temperate, no less is it a benefit to the State that her people should be of diligent habits and frugal taste.

12. Now I think I have said quite enough about saving, and it only remains for you to practise it. And let me urge you to begin at

once. Don't wait till your wages are raised. I have known men and women, who never had high wages, but who, by plain dressing and careful housekeeping, managed to lay by a hundred pounds or more for their old age. 13. Besides, you don't know how your expenses may rise with your wages. Don't wait till somebody leaves you twenty pounds, but begin with a shilling, and if you haven't got a shilling, begin with sixpence, and save what you can, and you will soon prove that many a little makes a mickle." Broad rivers are fed by tiny rills, and these again are formed from drops of dew and rain, but when all flow together they make the ocean.

SELF-RELIANCE.

in-de-pend-ence, not relying pro-ject, work one is about to

upon others.

do.

1. There's a charm in independence,
Said a farmer to his son,
When the day was almost over,
And the work was nearly done;
There's a charm in independence
Such as none can ever share,
Save the man who once has drifted
Near the cavern of Despair.

2. The man who, by an effort,
When a struggle was a pain,

Has bravely faced his trial,
And lives a man again,

Meets life's trials without flinching,
Takes its troubles as they rise;
You can never hope to conquer
By bandaging your eyes.

3. And trials you are sure to have,
Where'er your steps incline,
And sorrows with your pleasures-
There are lees to every wine.
There's a charm in independence-
To feel that you have won
The prizes due to merit.

By the labour you have done;

4. To feel that, single-handed,

While your neighbour stood aside,
You have gained the meed of courage,
The reward of honest pride.
Look at the timid fellow

Who always is afraid

To venture on a project

Without his neighbour's aid.

5. Ere long, the chances are, my son,
He'll altogether lean
Upon the arm that aided him-
A spiritless machine.

O son, whate'er your place in life,
Whate'er your aim and end,

Be brave, be proud, and never lean,
But on yourself depend.

1. We pass over ten years, and find the Black Prince on the field of Poictiers. Again we must ask-What brought him there, and why was the battle fought? He was this time alone. His father, though the war had rolled on since the battle of Crecy, was in England. But, in other respects, the beginning of the fight was very like that of Crecy.

2. Gascony belonged to him by right, and from this he made a descent into the neighbouring provinces, and was on his return home, when the king of France-John, the son of Philip-pursued him, as his father had pursued Edward III., and overtook him suddenly, on the high upland fields which extended for many miles south of the city of Poictiers.

3. It is the third great battle which has been fought in that neighbourhood. The first was that in which Clovis defeated the Goths; the second was that in which Charles Martel drove back the Saracens; the third was this-the most brilliant of English victories over the French.

4. The spot, which is about six miles south of Poictiers, is still known by the name of the "Battle-field." Its features are very slightly marked-two ridges of rising ground, parted by a gentle hollow. Behind the highest of these two ridges is a large tract of copse and underwood, and leading up to it from the hollow is a somewhat steep lane shut in by woods and vines on each side. It was on this ridge that the prince had taken up his position, and it was solely by the good use which he made of this position that the victory was won.

5. The French army was arranged on the other side of the hollow, in three great divisions, of which the king's was the hindmost. The farmhouse which marks the spot where this division was posted is visible from the walls of Poictiers.

6. It was on Monday, September the 19th, 1356, at 9 a.m., that the battle began. All the Sunday had been taken up by fruitless endeavours of Cardinal Talleyrand to save the bloodshed, by bringing the king and prince to terms, a fact to be noticed for two reasons:-first, because it shows the sincere and Christian desire which animated the clergy of those times-to promote peace and goodwill amongst the savage men with whom they lived; and, secondly, because the refusal of the French king and prince to be persuaded, shows, on this occasion, the confidence of victory which had possessed them.