bearing no just proportion to that which will be required, at the period which must necessarily arrive, when the young and the active, who are now contributors, must, in their, turn put in their claims. It may be said, that a rising generation will come in and pay for them, as they have paid for others. It will be no proof of the march of intellect, if they do. If they have learnt to calculate at all, they may soon be convinced that they would be joining a bankrupt concern—that their quotas would merely go to put off the evil day, at which failure is inevitable. The case is very different with those Associations which are formed on accurate principles, and have been conducted in a correct and judicious manner. Let the balance be struck when it may, each member will find his own risk at the time represented in the capital of the institution; so that another institution need not hesitate to take upon themselves the balance and outstanding risks, together with the future payments. Many of the District Benefit Societies are liable to objections, from the smallness of the number of their members; since, though the quotas may be fixed upon the best principles, it may very possibly happen that a disproportionate number of deaths or cases of sickness may occur, in consequence of the numbers not being adequate to furnish a correct average. The more you investigate this subject, the more you will understand its great practical advantages, and the various kinds of assistance which an industrious and economical man may derive from an Association for mutual assurance, of the description to which I am now referring. There are, doubtless, several of these, of long standing and unquestionable security: but I know of none, which, in the combination of so many advantages, and in receiving such small sums as to render it availing to those whose incomes are very limited, surpasses the NATIONAL PROVIDENT

INSTITUTION.

Relief during sickness, in the shape of medicine and weekly allowances, does not come within the scope of the National Provident Institution. Such Associations must necessarily have a more local character; but, for their security, they require to be governed upon the same principles of equitably adjusted

co-operation. I have personally witnessed, with admiration, the practical working of some of the Benefit Societies which the working class of Jews have long established amongst themselves; and though I am not prepared to state that they have adopted such calculations as to entitle this part of their plans to imitation without further examination, I may safely hold up as exemplary the personal attentions of the active members and office-bearers in those societies with which I became acquainted.

"When you do any thing from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, even though the world should make wrong suppositions about it: for if you do not act right, shun the action itself; but if you do, why are you afraid of those who censure you wrongly ?". Economical Library, No. iv. p. 23.

"Whatever rules you have deliberately proposed to yourself for the conduct of life, abide by them, as so many laws, and as if you would be guilty of impiety in transgressing any of them."-Economical Library, No. iv. p. 26.

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"Endeavour to be as perfect as you can in the particular calling you adopt: possess all the arts and mysteries thereunto belonging, and be assiduous in every part thereof;— industry being the natural means of acquiring wealth, honour, and reputation; as idleness is of poverty, shame, and disgrace. Lay a good foundation in regard to principle. Be just and honest in your dealings; not wilfully overreach nor deceive your neighbour: keep always in your eye the golden rule, of 'Doing as you would be done unto.' Have a strict regard to discharging all legal debts: do not evade your creditors by any shuffling arts, by giving notes only to defer payment; but, if you have it in your power, discharge all debts when they become due.

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Above all, when you are straitened for want of money, be cautious of taking it up at a high interest.”. Economical Library, No. iv. p. 24.

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Our Rulers will best promote the improvement of the people, by leaving capital to find its most lucrative course, commodities their fair price, industry and intelligence their

natural reward, idleness and folly their consequent punishment;-by maintaining peace, by defending property, by diminishing the price of law, and observing strict economy in every department of the State.”—Economical Library, No. iv. p. 34.

NOTE (17.) PAGE 339.

"Instances may occur, from accidental and fortuitous circumstances, in which the able, the vigorous, and the healthy, may very properly be the objects of temporary assistance; but it is scarcely less deplorable for the country at large, than for the sufferers themselves, when a number of such individuals are for any length of time unemployed. The working-classes are obviously a most important part of the wealth of a nation. Every day that a workman passes unemployed must be a loss to the community, proportioned to the value of an equal portion of his time devoted to labour. When thousands of workmen are out of employ for several weeks together, the total loss to the country would be very considerable, even were no expense incurred in maintaining them during the interval. But the sums so expended, are necessarily and irrecoverably lost to the national stock, having left behind them nothing to represent their value. I readily admit, that we cannot contemplate the employment of these sums without feeling a pleasure derived from the knowledge, that, whilst they afforded relief and comfort to the distressed, they evinced the noble and generous and benevolent feelings of the more fortunate members of society. But greater benefits would be enjoyed by the former, and equal philanthropy and more operative patriotism would be displayed by the latter, if the capital devoted to this branch of charity were so laid out, as, by giving employment to those capable of labour, it might, in part at least, remain under a new form, and in combination with so much value as may have been rescued from the lost time of the operatives.

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Why should not charity, as well as avarice and ambition, turn over her capital, instead of being limited in her exertions, and restricted to unproductive consumption? That this course is so seldom pursued, argues its difficulty, not its

impracticability. I can scarcely conceive a more legitimate and praiseworthy object for the ingenuity of the lovers of their country, than the contrivance of suitable plans for the profitable employment of operatives, when thrown out of their ordinary work.

"When the gentlemen of Paris, from the most studied and intricate fashion in the dressing of their hair, suddenly passed into the simplest crop, and deprived the hair-dressers of their means of subsistence, De Prony acted the part of a true philanthropist, when he conceived the idea of giving them occupation in the construction of extensive Tables of Logarithms.

"Whilst want of occupation must lead to poverty and distress, and promote depression of mind and the prevalence of disease, active employment has the opposite tendency. It was therefore counsel worthy of the Oracle, when the Romans, visited with pestilence, were ordered to draw off the waters of the Lake of Nemi."-Hints on the Cholera, &c. by Dr. Hodgkin, p. 22.

NOTE (18). P. 340.

ALTHOUGH I have said but a few words respecting the importance of cultivating the moral principle, and guarding it against the dangers of its being weakened or destroyed by deviations from the path of virtue, it is impossible for me too strongly to express its intimate connections with the health both of body and mind. I must still refer to other writers, and other teachers, for the development of this most comprehensive subject: nevertheless, there is one point which I will not omit to notice; since I believe it to be but seldom alluded to, and at the same time to bear a close relation to various points which I have touched upon, either in the Lectures or Notes. I have often observed, with surprise and regret, that whilst the principles of justice, which should regulate the transactions of individuals with each other, are understood, though not always acted on, there appears to be a mistaken theory, as well as practice, with reference to bodies of men.

It has often been said, that corporations—in which term I

apprehend various associations of individuals are to be comprehended-have no bowels, or, in other words, no conscience. This may be true, to some extent; since such bodies will sometimes sanction proceedings which the individual members would scarcely sanction on their own separate personal responsibility, and of which they would not willingly receive the entire demerit. The point which I am desirous to notice, relates to the other side of the question; which, though not embodied in an aphorism, and seldom noticed, is quite as important;—I allude to the fact, that when the justice of a question, in which a body of men on the one side, and one or more individuals on the other, are to be considered, popular opinion, through the influence of the defect in moral principle to which I am now referring, is strongly disposed to sanction a deviation from impartial justice in favour of individuals, upon the plea that it is taking the part of the weak against the strong. No absolute violation of justice can be really sanctioned or palliated by this delusive plea. The examples, which I adduce merely by way of illustration, will serve to shew that the course pursued is impolitic as well as immoral. I have been informed, in the case of the loss of vessels at sea—and I have myself noticed in the case of assured lives—that undoubted evidence of fraud on the part of individuals is rarely allowed to be sufficient to protect the assuring bodies against the injury which such dishonesty inflicts. The mischief which this course produces is manifold, and of an extent which it is impossible to calculate or estimate. It gives a sort of licence to fraud, which cannot fail to multiply under the protection afforded it. As those, whose defect of moral principle allows them to cheat a Company under favour of the impunity which they find, may soon be led to practise their fraud on individuals also, it is obvious that the public, as well as Associations, become the sufferers. Again: the sanctioned fraudulent losses, by swelling the aggregate amount of the risk to be run, necessarily raise the rate of premiums to be paid by honest individuals, who thus are made to suffer for the guilty. The evil thus diffuses itself into society, and escapes unnoticed; just as unwholesome water is taken almost