should certainly be practised by every labourer, or manufacturer who is in good work. Saving Banks afford an opportuntity in almost every place ;-and in many places, Benefit societies are established upon such just principles and such exact calculations, that all the risk belonging to those upon the old plan is avoided, and a vast deal of additional benefit secured. V.

`SMALL POX IN NOVA SCOTIA.

LETTERS from North America say that "maný valuable lives have been swept off by the small-pox in Nova Scotia; but that the virulence of the disease is now subsiding, and that fewer persons were attacked by it." These letters also state, that Vaccination has been a powerful means of lessening the virulence of the small-pox, and of stopping its progress. A woman in the neighbourhood of Halifax was staying in town, soon after the small-pox made its appearance. She called at a house where there was a child who had been vaccinated, and the pustule in the arm was just come to its height. She took some lymph from it and inoculated herself, for the purpose of being able to vaccinate her own family when she should return home into the country. When the pustule was in a right state, she vaccinated her younger children. The two eldest refused to submit to it; and the mother did not press it. These two soon afterwards took the small-pox and died, whilst the rest escaped.-We know numbers of instances of the same kind; we do not, however, recommend mothers generally to perform the operation themselves, as there are some cases where vaccination has failed; and therefore it is desirable that the chance of success should not be lessened by any

want of skill in the operator, or of judgment as to the best time of taking the matter, or of experience in watching the progress of the disease.

V.

TRIAL BY JURY.

"THE trial by jury" is considered one of the great bulwarks of English liberty. A judge is to hear a prisoner examined, and he explains what is the law, but he cannot punish any man according to his own wish and inclination; he has no power of that kind; a man must be pronounced guilty or not guilty by a Jury, before he can come under the sentence of the law. This trial by jury was first instituted in the time of Alfred, one of the Saxon kings, who lived more than nine hundred years ago.-The following extract is taken from a new History of England, which comes out in monthly numbers, at sixpence each. This history, as far as it has gone, is well done; it is written by a clergyman of the Church of England; and, whilst it records the affairs of the nation, it points, with great piety, to the hand of the Almighty to be seen in these events: thus giving a character to this history differing from most others.

"Among King Alfred's regulations, we find the first traces of that invaluable rule of English law, that, in case of any charge, seriously affecting life or property, no man shall be punished as guilty till he shall be declared so by a jury of his equals. The words of Alfred's enactment were, If the King's thane is accused of murder, let him clear himself by twelve king's thanes. If an inferior thane is ac

* A nobleman.

6

cused, let him clear himself by eleven of his equals and one king's thane.' That is, the accused was to be deemed innocent, if this number of his equals should declare him so, upon their oaths; which, of course, they could not do without investigating the

case.

I AM an old servant, and my experience perhaps will induce others to listen to my advice. There are no persons to whom character is of greater consequence than to servants,-character to them, is support and maintenance ;-let them then, be careful to preserve their character, by avoiding every temptation to intemperance, idleness, or dishonesty. And let them remember, too, that the only way to be sure of having a good character is to act so as to deserve it. And a true and right principle, a principle of religion can alone give that steadiness and exactness of conduct which will act uprightly at all times, whether seen by man or not.

I have lately read of two dreadful instances of thieving in families, which should serve as a warning to all who read them; one is that of a robbery by a butler and housekeeper in Hertfordshire, for which they are sentenced to transportation for fourteen years; the other is that of a robbery by a butler at Bath, which led to the heinous crime of murder. Now the butler and housekeeper, in the first case, were considered as persons of good character, and were thought by the family to be entirely trust-worthy. They probably valued themselves on their characters, and would by no means have been guilty of direct robbery. But yet they had no real principle,

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and they would practise such little petty pilferings as they believed would not be found out; first taking a few lumps of sugar, a few apples, or tarts, then a glass of wine, or a little spirits, then by degrees it got to a bottle of wine, and then to a joint of pork: at last, two packages, a box and a basket, were filled and packed ready for a relation or friend. They were however found out, tried, and sentenced to fourteen years transportation.

Let this teach every one to beware of every sort and kind of dishonesty, however trifling it may appear. Whatever any one may call a "trifling perquisite" or consider as a claim of his own, that servant who is guided by a truly upright principle will be led astray by no such temptation. Whatever he would not do, if he knew that his master and mistress saw him, he may be pretty sure is wrong; and his own conscience tells him so; and whoever acts against the suggestions of his conscience, even in what may appear to him small things, will soon have his conscience hardened, and will then be led into such crimes as he may, at first, dread to think of.

The other case is almost too tragical to speak of. A man, from the good character which he was said to bear, had been placed in a situation of trust and care; his mistress put great confidence in him; and, in dependance on this, he took several little articles, till they, by degrees, amounted to three hampers and three baskets' full. A fellow-servant found him out, and boldly accused him of robbing his mistress. His fury burst forth, and he struck the defenceless woman to the ground; it seems that she sprung up, and seized him, they struggled together for some time; till at length he killed her.

Let us take warning, and avoid the smallest approach to dishonesty; small crimes of this kind are sure to lead to greater; let us seek to gain a good character, and to keep it; and let us, at the same time, reflect that it is not enough to have a

good character in the opinion of men, but we must seek to possess that right principle which will shew us that the eye of God is constantly upon us.

We servants ought always to remember that the things committed to our care belong to our employers, and not to ourselves. What we are allowed to use, let us take care not to abuse. We cannot be too honest, or too particular in little things.

Whilst upon this subject, I may remark that masters are sometimes, from a mistaken feeling, too backward in checking the beginnings of dishonesty.' Much attention ought to be paid to giving characters; these should contain the truth; there is much dishonesty in giving an untrue character, and it leads to great mischiefs, by making good servants and bad ones appear both alike.

It would be a very great check to crime if receivers of stolen goods were sought out, and punished; these persons require the attention of magistrates, and deserve a punishment quite as severe as the thieves themselves. It is an old saying, that "if there were no receivers there would be no thieves," and there is a great deal of truth in this remark; no punishment seems too bad for those people who hold out a constant encouragement to robbery and plunder; no set of people want watching more than these; there are houses of this description open both in towns and villages, to receive property of every description, from the scraps of pilfered food, to the rich and costly goods, which the more daring robbers are tempted to steal, from knowing that these things can be so easily converted into money.

I do not intend to rail against servants, for I know there are many of strict honesty, who would not touch a thing that did not belong to them; but I would wish to keep the young and unwary from falling into those snares which the crafty lay for them, and I would gladly see all temptation to do