The secret of thrift, I say, is knowledge. The more you know, the
more you can save yourself and that which belongs to you; and can
do more work with less effort.

A knowledge of the laws of commercial credit, we all know, saves
capital, enabling a less capital to do the work of a greater.
Knowledge of the electric telegraph saves time; knowledge of
writing saves human speech and locomotion; knowledge of domestic
economy saves income; knowledge of sanitary laws saves health and
life; knowledge of the laws of the intellect saves wear and tear
of brain; and knowledge of the laws of the spirit--what does it
not save?

A well-educated moral sense, a well-regulated character, saves
from idleness and ennui, alternating with sentimentality and
excitement, those tenderer emotions, those deeper passions, those
nobler aspirations of humanity, which are the heritage of the
woman far more than of the man; and which are potent in her, for
evil or for good, in proportion as they are left to run wild and
undisciplined; or are trained and developed into graceful,
harmonious, self-restraining strength, beautiful in themselves,
and a blessing to all who come under their influence.

What, therefore, I recommend to ladies in this lecture is thrift:
thrift of themselves and of their own powers: and knowledge as
the parent of thrift.

And because it is well to begin with the lower applications of
thrift, and to work up to the higher, I am much pleased to hear
that the first course of the proposed lectures to women in this