10 Fred the Apprentice.

rather than steal, though when I was at work
I might have taken what belonged to others,
when we wete starving.

‘You like work, my dear Fred; and young
as you are, only thirteen, you are very indus-
trious, and I know you to be honest. Do not
be hurt, my dear Francis, if I say that I am
more anxious about you. I don’t want to
reproach you for the past, but let me advise you
for the future. A good character is your only
fortune, and it is by honest industry that you
can do your duty and keep yourself respectable.
Any poor person who has not sufficient industry
and perseverance to continue working day by
day to gain an honest livelihood, runs a great
risk of becoming a thief. Watch over yourself,
my dear Francis, and try to conquer your habits
of idleness. Remember what is said in God’s
word: “Study to be quiet, and to do your own
business, and to work with your own hands, as
we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly
toward them that are without, and that ye may
have lack of nothing.” And, again, the Apostle
Paul says: “When we were with you, this we
commanded you, that if any would not work,
neither should he eat.”