We must therefore believe that as intelligence extends amongst the
working class, and as a better moral tone pervades them, there will be a
rapid improvement in their sober, thrifty and provident habits; for
these form the firmest and surest foundations for social advancement.
There is a growing desire, on the part of the more advanced minds in
society, to see the working men take up their right position. They who
do society's work,--who produce, under the direction of the most
intelligent of their number, the wealth of the nation,--are entitled to
a much higher place than they have yet assumed. We believe in this "good
time coming," for working men and women,--when an atmosphere of
intelligence shall pervade them--when they will prove themselves as
enlightened, polite, and independent as the other classes of society;
and, as the first and surest step towards this consummation, we counsel
them to PROVIDE--to provide for the future as well as for the
present--to provide, in times of youth and plenty, against the times of
adversity, misfortune, and old age.
"If any one intends to improve his condition," said the late William
Felkin, Mayor of Nottingham, himself originally a working man, "he must
earn all he can, spend as little as he can, and make what he does spend,
bring him and his family all the real enjoyment he can.
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