Sometimes John was quite spirit-broken, and said he should leave home and try to get work somewhere else.  He was forced to sell some of his goods to buy food, and did not know which way to turn.  But his wife never failed to wear a cheerful face, and used to be always saying to him, “Do your best, and be content to take what God appoints.”

John loved his wife very much; but he was sometimes half vexed because she was never sad like he was.  He would tell her that it was a very good thing to be cheerful and happy when they could get a good living.  She then used to say to him, that there was no virtue in being content when all was going on well; and that the proper time to try to be cheerful was, when things were going amiss.

At last, better times came.  John got into work on the estate of a rich man who lived near; and as he was a very honest man and knew his work, his master soon put him in a place of trust, raised his wages, and gave him a good house to live in.

John had by this time got five children, and he could no longer deny that he had reason enough to be a happy man.  You may see him and his wife and children in the picture, enjoying a fine Summer’s evening in front of their house.

I knew John when I was young, and he was always ready to say how much was due to his good wife.  He told me that he owed all his good fortune to her cheerful spirits and good advice to him; and added, that now he was well off he found the truth of what she had told him, that the proper time to try to be cheerful was, when things were going amiss.  I have never forgot that lesson, and I hope I never shall; and I beg my young friends to keep in mind that ‘Contentment is a constant feast.’

[Illustration:  Contentment]

INDUSTRY.

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“There is work enough in the world for every one to do something.  There is no proper place for idle people.”  This is what old Michael the basket maker used to say to his children; and as they grew up, they found reason enough to thank him for the lesson.

Michael had been a sailor in his youth, but when he married, he settled in a country place, and took up the trade of a basket maker.  At first, he could hardly get money enough to buy rods:  but by working very hard, he soon got money and credit too.  No one in the village was now up before Michael, and most people went to bed before he left off work.

Small as was the sum of money that he could earn in a week, he would always put by something, if it was but a penny.  Every month he put these savings into the savings’ bank; and in the course of the first six years, he found he had got twenty-five pounds.

By this time he had got two children, and the eldest was old enough to learn to read.  She used to sit by him with her book as he worked, and he taught her when she wanted help.  His wife was in the mean time doing something in the house, or working for some of the farmers who lived near.