have all agreed to shut at seven in the evening, while I have the testimony of all the masters as being quite as beneficial for their interests, besides the extra advantage it gives for the assistants. Perhaps you would not object to give the notice in the Student, which valuable periodical I take in, and read with relish and pleasure the great good which it has been the means of promoting. I am gentlemen, your obedient servant, 19, High-street. W. H. WILLY. [We are extremely happy to give publicity to the following address, issued by the Exeter Association for obtaining an abridgment of the hours of labour.] For several years past the attention of the public has been drawn, by means of the press, to the desirable object which this Association has in view. Public meetings have been held in the metropolis and elsewhere, and intense interest on the subject is manifest. Associations are now formed in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and many other provincial towns, for the purpose of carrying into systematic operation, measures not unreasonable or unjust, but humane and benevolent. The prolonged hours during which the assistants in shops are confined, and there obliged to labour and inhale an unhealthy and contaminated atmosphere, have aroused the attention, and excited the sympathy of some of the greatest philanthropists of the day, and foremost amongst these is the Right Honourable Lord Ashley, patron of the London Association. The public are earnestly, but in the most respectful manner, solicited to give their approval to the contemplated arrangements sought for in the prospectus of this Association. They can encourage those shops who are willing to shorten the hours of labour; by so doing they will give opportunities for rational recreation and mental improvement, to a numerous, but not unimportant portion of the community, who will appreciate and acknowledge the kindness shown them with gratitude. Moreover, the public who thus render their support, will enjoy the satisfaction and delight resulting from a conviction that they are sanctioning a system which will tend to promote the health and happiness of their fellow creatures. The female portion of the public in particular, is appealed to. Let them abandon the practice of shopping at night, and the object sought for by this Association is gained. The employers are respectfully requested to relieve themselves and their assistants by giving their countenance and support to an object which will give dissatisfaction to none, but benefit to all. Their aid and influence will assist materially in the efforts made by this Association : humanity and justice demand this of them, which their good sense and best feelings will acknowledge and approve. Again, the employers, by giving the evenings to their assistants, would save it for themselves, and thus secure opportunities for mental culture, which elevate and dignify the character; they would also have time for repose in the bosom of their own families from the toils of business, a considerable expense would be saved in gas, while the profits would be undiminished by the customers coming early. Several employers having expressed their willingness to accede to the proposals in the annexed prospectus, all of them are solicited to aid the Association. The assistants, more particularly, are now called on to enrol their names as members of an Association instituted for their well-being, physically, morally, and intellectually. The boon sought will afford them time for physical recreation, moral and intellectual cultivation. R. CLARENCE HALSE, Secretary pro tem. (From the Birmingham Pilot, December 13th, 1845.) We understand it is in contemplation to form a union of assistant tradesmen, as soon as arrangements can be made, in order to counteract the intimidation and coercion practised by certain employers, towards the movers of the early hour system. EXETER ASSOCIATION FOR OBTAINING AN ABRIDGEMENT OF THE HOURS OF BUSINESS. Ox the evening of Monday last, Mr. Maccall, of Crediton, delivered a Lecture before the members of this Association and the public, in the Theatre at the Atheneum, in this city; when there was a very respectable attendance. The subject of the Lecture was, the "Physical and Moral Evils of the Protracted Hours of Labour." Mr. J. T. Tucker was called to the Chair, who opened the business by some suitable preliminary observations, and called on Mr. Maccall to commence his Lecture, which that gentleman did, delivering one of the most brilliant addresses that has been listened to by any audience. He pointed out the situation of shop assistants,-those "victims of gas and gingham," and in a strain of peculiar eloquence adverted to the additional labours imposed on them by the thoughtless frivolity of customers. He spoke also of the situation of females, apprentices and assistants in millinery and dressmaking establishments, as regards which, as well as the former class of persons, the competition of interests in giving birth to new combinations, has become in itself a formidable disease in society. He also spoke of the situation of children and young persons in mills and factories; and adverted to the horrors connected with collieries and mines. He pronounced all these to be great, and some of them enormous evils, prejudicial to human existence, and too bitter for human endurance,-tending to the utter prostration of mental energy, and calling loudly for immediate amelioration. Neither in this catalogue of ills and hardships, did he forget the merchant-seaman, and the labours and hardships to which he is exposed from under-manned ships. He looked not, however, to any legislative enactment for the cure of monstrous social evils such as these, indeed, on the contrary, he deprecated intermeddling of this kind, appealing rather to the good sense and good feeling of all who have it in their power by their own conduct to abate and to extinguish them; and thus with no pecuniary injury, and little if anything of inconvenience to themselves, to confer benefit and happiness on the community at large. The great evil is protracted hours of labour, consuming the whole of existence in toil so arduous and incessant as to leave neither time nor capacity for mental exercise and improvement: no time for the proper exercise of the body. The result also is very general and rapid deterioration of the health, a primary and ever active agent in producing this being the noxious air in which the occupations or work are carried on, the difficulties connected with the purification and renovation of this air, and with the entire subject of ventilation, being much greater than is generally supposed. What then he asked on the part of the over-confined and over-worked portion of mankind, involving all ages, was that there shall be raised for them the standard of human enjoyment. That there shall be furnished time for instruction and improvement, and for innocent and rational amusement. At present, he contended, their privations are many, and their gratifications few. He asked that these may be enabled to cultivate their tastes, and to exercise their reflective faculties. That these too may sometimes have opportunity of mixing in scenes favourable to the cultivation of the purest and most peaceful thoughts. That these shall be enabled to look forward to the termination of their hours of labour, not to be succeeded by those of vacant listlessness, or coarse and debasing pursuits, but that they sometimes may be enabled to look upon the glories and beauties of natural scenery, and that their souls may be filled with that enthusiasm which causes man to rejoice in his being, and with a grateful heart, lift up his eyes to heaven, and give thanks to God. He was anxious, alas! that here should be connected with every improvement in man's social condition, an equal progress in intelli gence,-that for him the tree of knowledge may bear its precious fruit. To aid in all this then he called on the press-that powerful machine, which has wrought out such wondrous results for mankind. He appealed to employers, he appealed to the good sense and good feeling of all, so to regulate their time and worldly business, as that suitable leisure may be afforded those whose lot it is to labour and toil for their daily bread. John STANZAS BY A SUFFERER FROM OVER TOIL. DOES Nature wear a blooming brow? And is her voice so sweet? Do you say there is peace in the midwood glade, And the voice of birds-doth it lull to rest Like the sighs from a kindred mourner's breast, Which make the weeper glad? And the drowsy hum of the bee doth fall Like balm upon the ear, Like the ceaseless tune of an instrument, And dirgeth the death of our care. Do you say there is this? Oh lead me to The spot in the midwood glade ; The influence of its sounds will come Like light into the shade! "Oh! think not that the joys that dwell In the silence of the wood, "You'll find no spot where your weary soul "You'll never escape from his tyrant grip, Nor the weary weight of his chain, With a crushing, creeping pain. "Until you have lost your energies To sell and get him gain, Until you are summoned away from this Oh yes! by a grand effort, we May free us from this thrall; And masters and their servants too, At Nature's shrine may fall. We all are Men-in all our hearts But rudely torr and wrenched aside, Hasler, Printer, Craue-court, Fleet-street, London. Ir the possession of knowledge were tantamount to the performance of duty, the present century might challenge a comparison with any of its predecessors. A marked improvement has taken place, not only in the mechanical arts which minister to our bodily comforts, but also in the doctrines which are propounded in the study, the forum, and the pulpit, for the gratification and instruction of our minds. And yet, though the limits of good and evil were never more clearly defined, or more generally understood, he would be a bold writer who should state that they were never better observed. We should, perhaps, expect too much, if we thought that religion, which existed prior to and apart from science, must become more general, merely because men are more civilised; but, as we write for those who would fain apply their talents to the best purpose, it may not be impertinent in us to inquire into the true end and object of all knowledge. If religion had no existence amongst us, we should readily allow that our present position in life is precisely that to which we are bound to devote all our energy and ability; because, as we should then expect neither protection nor advancement from a superior Providence, we could only hope to improve our position, if it were bad, or maintain it, if it were good, by a sedulous attention to its nature and duties. Nor should our belief in a Divine Providence lead us to a different line of conduct, because it brings us gradually to the further belief that our present situation, however disproportioned to our abilities it may seem, is precisely that in which we ought to be E placed, and the duties of which we ought earnestly and constantly to endeavour to perform. "Sir," said Dr. Johnson to Boswell, "if a man were a good Christian, and only a baker by trade, he would still strive to be the best baker in the town.' The sound good sense of this observation is, perhaps, somewhat obscured by the homeliness of the language in which it is clothed; but no one need be alarmed at the close juxtaposition of Christianity and the trade of a baker. Believing, as we do, that we are bound to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow, we must regard the earning it honestly as an essential part of our religion; nor can it be said that we have acted honestly in our particular trade or calling, until we have exerted ourselves in it to the utmost of our ability. There are but too many, and they are, for the most part, young men, who will urge with much unction upon a sympathising listener, that their positions in life are not suited to their wants, their feelings, and their abilities; that the magnitude of their genius will not permit them to perform the trivial and monotonous duties which are required of them, although they could achieve great things in any other walk of life. This is their oft-reiterated complaint; but it is to be feared that idleness, and not genius, prevents them from duly performing the humble duties of their station: an opinion not likely to be shaken, since we can only judge what a man can do by what he has done, or is doing. These gentlemen would do well to consider, that no trade, calling, or duty, taken by itself, is unimportant; that it is impossible to exceed our duty; but that he who acts up to what his situation in life requires of him, answers the purpose for which he came into the world. In preparing ourselves for the proper achievement of our allotted task, no limit can be fixed to our studies. When once we have reached that point which our predecessor in the office, or our neighbour in the trade, may have regarded as the acme of perfection, we may seek improvement anywhere and everywhere, provided we do not enter with such zeal into the pursuit, as to deviate from the path already marked out. The various occupations of mankind are linked together in so firm and so singular a manner, that the lucubrations of the philosopher may facilitate the labours of the artisan, the warrior, and the statesman, at one and the same time; nor can we safely affirm that any branch of study will be useless to us in the performance of our daily task. An unremitting attention to the details of our situation, and to them only, will not be altogether productive of good; for the mind, like the body, requires rest; although, as the latter may often be relieved by a change of position, so the best relaxation for the former, is the alteration of its employment. But, let our |