nor speaking mine own words, on His holy day? Do I devoutly attend upon the ordinances of the Church, and worship Him there, in spirit and in truth? Do I seek to profit by the hearing of His word, both read and preached, and, as often as I have opportunity, resort to the Lord's table, to renew the covenant which God has graciously made with man, and into which I entered with Him in baptism? And do I reflect upon these employments, upon the prayers which I have offered up, and upon the words which I have heard? Do I add watchfulness to my prayers, that I may be on my guard against every enemy of my soul, within and without, and that I may live in the spirit of the prayers which I offer up? And when I am betrayed by my own heart, and fall from any of the holy commandments of God, in thought, desire, word, or deed, does this humble me before God, and do I pray, in Christ's name, that this sin may be forgiven, and that more strength may be given me from on high? And am I more watchful for the future, and do I aim daily to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?' Am I zealous for the kingdom of Christ; and do I endeavour, by means suitable to my ability and station, to promote its extension? Do I live in habitual expectation of His coming again to judgment, and seck to be always ready? Do I employ the time and the money which God has given me as one that must render an account to Him? Do I watch against the love of ease and indolence, and seek to be diligent, as a servant of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart?'

The heads of self-examination are farther extended to the different circumstances and stations of men :-to the prosperous and the afflicted,--to the high and low,to ministers of Christ, and the hearers of His word,-to husbands, to wives, to masters, and to servants.

LENDING SOCIETIES.

THERE is an old saying, that " he who goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing," and we have had so many opportunities of witnessing the truth of this, that we have again

1834.]

LENDING SOCIETIES.

413

and again endeavoured to press upon our readers the great advantage of keeping out of debt, and the importance of using every exertion to enable them to do so. When a man has once got into debt, it is a very difficult matter to get out of it; and those who have been in the habit of lending money, seldom see any of it again. There are cases, however, where a loan of money may be of great use. It may buy a man tools, or a pair of shoes, or an article of clothing, and thus enable a poor man to get into work, which will bring him in such gains as shall enable him to pay his debt. We confess, however, that we have not ourselves had much encouragement to pursue this plan, never having had the good fortune to be repaid any single loan which we have been induced to make. The truth is, that, nine times out of ten, the same disposition which leads a man into difficulties, will continue him in them; and if he cannot pay his way one year, he is not likely to pay it another, especially when a fresh debt is upon him. It is hard work, too, to labour, and to give up the gain as soon as you have received it; and the day is long and wearisome to the man who "works for debt." Keep out of debt, then, my good friends, if you can. A man who always has his week's wages clear and beforehand, is a rich man; another who has his week's wages behindhand is a poor man, even though both receive the same income: for one has all the advantages of being rich, being never without money; the other has all the disadvantage of being poor, never having a sixpence in hand. A man, moreover, who has got a little money in hand, soon finds that it grows. A man who has a debt, generally finds that that grows too; so that one is continually getting better, the other is continually getting worse. There are, however, cases, we repeat, where a loan may be of great use; but this depends much upon the character of the borrower, and whether he really intends and strives to pay again. The rules of Lending Societies" are strict; payment must be made, and we know instances where poor widows, for example, and others, have, by a loan from a society, been enabled to set up a shop, or to purchase a mangle, or in some way to put themselves in the way of earning a liveli

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hood. Much good is said to have been done by means of a "Loan Fund," the particulars of which have been given by the "Labourers' Friend Society," and we are therefore willing, notwithstanding the above remarks, to print the following letter, extracted from one of the numbers of "Facts and Illustrations" of that Society, and sent to us by one of our very obliging correspondents. V.

LOAN FUNDS.

THE following statement was received by Mr. F. Trench, from the Rev. Mr. Capper, Curate of Great Missenden, Bucks, and has been offered for insertion, as illustrative of the benefits resulting from this mode of aiding the poor:

Great Missenden, Bucks, April, 1834. The Loan Fund was established in this parish in October, 1833, and came into operation on the 1st of November, on which occasion there were six borrowers to the amount of 117. The amount of loans issued from that time to the present, a period of twenty-five weeks, is 2347., of which there is now 1167. in actual circulation. The number of borrowers is 101, forty-eight of which have received a second loan, making a total, assisted by the fund, of 149. Of the 101 individual applicants, the great majority consists of different families of labourers, who are earning from 6s. to 10s. per week. The charge for tickets is 4d. in the pound, which covers all the expenses; and they are required to repay at the rate of 1s. in the pound every week, or to forfeit 1d. for each omission. We lend any sum, from 5s. to 5l., and if the securities are persons of property, we allow them to pay up their loan, and to borrow again as soon as they please. We accept any person as security who has a character for honesty and sobriety, whatever may be his situation in life. Of the 149 securities, 50 are agricultural labourers, some of whom we also admit, at the same time, as borrowers, always making it a rule, that the borrower and security shall not be bound for each other. Our plan is, to give them every facility we can, consistent with prudence; and, we have ventured to exercise a considerable

LOAN FUNDS.

1834.] 415 degree of confidence in the honesty of the applicants, which, I am happy to say, has hitherto not been abused. The effect of the Loan System in this parish has been most marked and striking. This time last year we introduced an entire new system in the administration of the Poor Laws, the grand principle of which was, no outdoor relief to the able-bodied; the consequence was, considerable discontent and irritation among the poor, principally manifested against individuals who had been active in effecting the alterations. This continued throughout the summer, and I must say, it was with no small apprehension that I looked forward to the approach of winter. Within one month, however, from the establishment of the Loan Fund, the state of things visibly changed. The countenances of the poor began to brighten up, and discontent openly to give way to frequent and decisive expressions of cheerfulness and gratitude. Now, the note of discord has entirely died away, and confidence is restored. It is impossible for any parish to have been more suddenly and more completely altered for the better than ours, within the last seven months. In previous winters, we had from thirty to sixty men and boys at work on the parish account, at an expense of about 1007. per quarter. This winter we have not had one.

But there is a still more important circumstance which remains to be noticed. I consider the Loan Fund as exercising a remarkable and direct influence over the morals and habits of the poor; it tends to make them honest and provident. We have lent money to some of the greatest rogues in the parish, by way of experiment, and although two of them have neglected their payments, so that we have been obliged to come upon the security, such has been the outcry against them, that they are fairly ashamed of themselves; and, as we have given them time, I have not the least hesitation in saying, that in the course of the summer they will repay every farthing. One had borrowed 31., and the other 30s., and both have repaid nearly half. This circumstance happened at the outset of the fund, in the second and third weeks. Since that time, we have not had a single defaulter, except occasionally for a single night. This happy effect of the Loan

System may, I think, be traced to two causes—the necessity of being provided with a proper security, and of making a regular weekly payment. Some people, having no right principle, will cheat their superiors; but the poor have, nevertheless, a determined abhorrence of fraud among one another. If a man cheats his poor neighbour, he is universally scouted. And, therefore, I think the fear of being generally frowned upon, keeps even the rogue alive to the necessity of showing a little honesty, in a case where the public interests are so much involved; for it is plain to the meanest capacity, that the roguery of one might prove the means of depriving the whole community of an important and highly valued benefit. The regular weekly payments have also an undoubted share in producing this effect. Even a rogue likes to be thought honest, and, in common with his more steady and prudent neighbour, he feels a pride in showing himself to the Committee every week with his money in his hand; and by this means, it is to be hoped, he might gradually and insensibly be led into habits of good

management.

We have hitherto attended entirely, as a Committee, to the whole of the business; but as it is now becoming very irksome, in consequence of the number of borrowers increasing, we are about to employ a respectable secretary, at a salary of 37. per annum, to keep the books and receive the money. One of the Committee will attend in turn every week with him, and the whole will meet once in three weeks to receive applications for fresh loans. This will be less burdensome, and yet equally effective. We have already received about 41. for tickets, and the sum for the whole year will probably amount to 107., which will not only cover every expense, but add something to the fund. We have a capital of only 917.; but one of the principal tradesmen of the village has offered to lend us money to any amount, without interest; and we have now borrowed 20%., and shall probably borrow more, to be repaid by instalments of one, two, or three pounds per week, according to the amount borrowed.-Remarks on the Advantage of Loan Funds, for the Benefit of the Poor and Industrious, with Directions for their Establishment, by Francis Trench. 2d Edit. 1833. Price 1s.