They are like the woman in Proverbs who worked willingly with her hands, rose while it was night, saw well to the ways of her household, and ate not the bread of idleness. I have before me the household accounts of several German families living on what we should call small incomes; and they show more exactly than any vague praise can do the prodigies of thrift accomplished by people obliged to economise, and at the same time to present a respectable appearance. The first one is the budget of a small official living with a wife and two children in a little town where a flat on the fourth or fifth floor can be had at a low rent:-- £ s. d. Rent 20 0 0 Fuel 3 10 0 Light 1 10 0 Clothes for the man 3 0 0 Clothes for the wife 2 0 0 Clothes for the children 1 0 0 Boots for the man 1 0 0 Boots for the wife and children 1 5 0 Repairs to boots 0 17 6 Washing and house repairs 3 0 0 Doctor 2 0 0 Newspaper 0 12 0 Charwoman 3 0 0 Taxes 2 10 0 Postage 1 4 0 Insurances 2 10 0 Amusements 3 0 0 Housekeeping 45 0 0 Sundries 3 1 0 ----------- £100 0 0 ===========