A BOOK OF DOMESTIC COUNSEL.
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“There is no book among the current literature of the day we would rather see in a young man’s hand than this. Although every person in his daily experience must meet with many instances of the folly of unthrift, especially among the poorer classes, the frequency of the text, and it is to be feared the disposition of the age, render the lesson valueless. Domestic economy as an art and a science is an unstudied subject, and one few writers have deemed worthy of their thoughts. We cannot therefore feel sufficiently thankful that the able writer of ‘Self-Help’ has turned his attention to it, and endeavoured, in language that has not only a literary charm about it, but bears the stamp of philanthropic earnestness, to rouse the interest, and thereby the reflection of the British public, in so important a matter of national welfare. The dignity of labour, the necessity of inducing habits of saving, the wickedness of extravagant living, the dangers of prosperity, and the want of sympathy between employers and employed, are topics on which Mr. Smiles speaks hard, and it may be unpleasant truths, accompanied by a fund of illustration. Perhaps no part of the book is so valuable as the dissipation of the superstitious belief in goad-luck, and the chapter on the art of living. We trust the work will be found in every village and public library, that its principles may be disseminated broadcast among our youth; and we can assure all that they may enjoy in it many an hour’s pleasant and profitable reading.”—Spectator.
“In Mr. Smiles’ latest book he gives us something more than an illustrative treatise on that homely and excellent virtue, Thrift. He deals with some of the leading social questions of the day, such as Co-operation and Association. He sketches the sanitary movement unsparingly, satirises the feminine follies of fashionable circles, and lastly concludes with an admirable essay on what may be called the æsthetics of common life. We all know what a book from Mr. Smiles is sure to be, anecdotical, practical, and abounding in good sense and every-day wisdom,—a book that is sure to entertain the old and instruct the young.”—Academy.
“Mr. Smiles has produced an interesting volume. His pages bristle with sage precepts and with admirable illustrations of the virtue he has undertaken to inculcate on his countrymen. There is no doubt ample room for a judicious homily on Thrift. The wealth of England was never so great as at this time, and the thoughtless improvidence of Englishmen was never so conspicuous. Mr. Smiles complains, as well he may, of the monstrous folly of highly-paid artizans, who spend half their wages in selfish pleasure; and he shows that the large gains of such men are no proof of prosperity, as they do but add to their thriftlessness, and serve to gratify animal indulgences. Money, like political power, in the hands of uncultivated men, is certain to be abused. . . . On the whole, Mr. Smiles’ volume is marked by sound good sense, tersely and vigorously expressed. There are few readers who will not gain from it more than one useful lesson; and to young men it may prove specially serviceable.”—Pall Mall Gazette.
“In writing one more good book, in these days when much that is worthless in literature finds favour with the masses, Mr. Smiles has added permanency to the lustre of a name which has long been a ‘household word’ amongst us, and entitled himself to the renewed thanks of every one who is interested in the prosperity, the happiness, and the well-being of the community. . . . May the lesson he teaches be deeply grafted in the minds of the rising generation, to whom more especially we commend the careful perusal and study of the work now before us.”—Derby Advertiser.
“Mr. Smiles has done something in the concluding pages of this volume to give us the supplement which many people have thought was lacking to his teaching. They are full of the highest thought, replete with generous sentiment, based on the true conception of man as a being who only begins his life here below. . . . The book in several ways supplements the former ones; and it is in one respect, at least, superior to them.”—Nonconformist.
By the same Author, post 8vo, 6s.,
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