CURRENT LITERATURE.
Thrift. By Samuel Smiles. (John Murray.)—There is no book among the current literature of the day wo 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 good-luck and the chapter on the art of living. We trust the work will be found in every village and public library, that ita prin- ciples may be disseminated broad-oast among our youth, and can assure all that they may enjoy in it many an hour's pleasant and profitable reading.
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