serving spirit that clung to them in their "good old ways," could not comprehend all this, or, perhaps, anything of the movement at all; neither yet can we fully. The machinery set in operation in their day had not, to them, given any direct evidences of its results. We may not see these results clearly either, still, we can discover that the direction they assume is that of progress.

Many have been the means by which our progress has been attained -numerous the agencies at work. Philosophers, experimentalists, poets, divines, statesmen, have all lent their powerful influence to the onward movement. The same influences are still in operation. The minutest details of what but lately was comprehended in general systems, are being investigated and solved. The terra incognita of human knowledge is fast receding before the torch of science, and becoming the arena for the display of modern skill.

How much the world owes to the unflinching labours of an unshackled Press, in the progress to which we have referred, cannot be estimated, neither will the largeness of the amount, we are sure, be disputed. Nevertheless, although we are in progress intellectually, it may still be a question how far we are so in a moral point of view. The fact need not be disputed, that the moral has not kept pace with the intellectual development of the age. Our tendencies are almost all towards the artificial—we have almost forgot the voice of nature within us, and the moral claims of our species. Our literature, although thoroughly imbued with that knowledge which giveth power, is too destitute of that morality which yieldeth happiness and comfort.

The power of intellect is a great power; intellectual progress a glorious result. Still, moral power and progress are more heaven-like in their operation, and more desirable in the present day. Intellect gives us the command over the material world; it makes every created thing subservient to the use of man. It gives the power to do good; yet it grudges to give the will to do it. It sees the beginning and the end; but it deals only with the materialism of things. Morality, as it

regards the vast treasures of the material world, seeks to apportion to each individual his proper share, and to each person his proper station. It is the heavenly hand-maid of intellect, without which "'twere folly to be wise." If intellect has the power, morality has at least the will to do justly and to love mercy. MIND THYSELF, is the motto of the present age; SERVE THYSELF, its practical application. KNOW THYSELF, is the motto of Christian morality; LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF, its all-glorious spirit and effect. The fruits of the Christian morality are meekness, charity, peace, contentment, long-suffering, kindness, mercy.

Those of the selfish morality are heart-burnings, jealousies, contentions, hatred, discontent, riches to hundreds, and poverty to millions. It is not good that the selfish morality should exist longer. It hampers us in our social progress, and it must be got rid of. There are indications of a moral movement in the present day, and, with our indifferent power, we shall lend it all our aid. To educate the poor, to make them cleanly and comfortable in their dwellings, are certain of the indications to which we refer. When we observe those cared for who care not, or who cannot take care of themselves, we shall have hope that they will also soon learn the art of self-government, and perform the part of good men and members of society.

The utilitarianism of the present age owes its rise to the splendid result of the experimentalist within the last sixty or seventy years. At the head of his class stands our own James Watt, to whose investigations, combined with those of Dr. Adam Smith, we owe the mercantile, and we scarce can tell how much of our intellectual greatness. The researches of these men set the public mind in motion, the one in the pursuit of those mechanical improvements which have revolutionized all our modes and habits; the other in establishing our mercantile economy on a more solid basis. It is now high time that the benefits they have bestowed upon the world should be made available to all. It is high time that men should receive the benefits for which, for half a century, they have toiled. And we know of no barrier to the accomplishment of such a "consummation so devoutly to be wished," than a want of proper moral feeling among all classes of the people. We have little faith in acts of Parliament for effecting a hocus pocus transmutation of our evils into good. We have greater faith in the individual efforts of the community to do justly one with another. Nevertheless, we do not regard lightly acts of Parliament. We rejoice to behold them when on the side of improvement. We regard them, however, only as the indications of accumulated individual opinion; and, as such, they are prominent land-marks in a nation's progress. Although law may give currency to a line of conduct in one particular matter, still, the rule of right and wrong, in the human breast, is much more efficacious and desirable, as it indicates a course of acting in every dealing. We are of opinion that acts of Parliament generally happen near to their proper time; because they are rather the results of the prevalent state of feeling in the community, than any attempt on the part of Government to coerce the nation. We do not, however, regard the maxim as universally true, that vox populi is vox dei; it is therefore evident to us, that the great work of social improvement ought to be carried on among

the people. It is to the people that the instructive and warning voice of knowledge must be raised. It is to them that all the efforts of moral reformers must now be addressed. It will not do longer to deal in abstract speculations, clogged with the technicalities of forms and systems. Truth must be proclaimed, as such, to the people; and the easiest way must be adopted to make them understand it without the ratiocination of the schools. The age of theory is past, and cui bono has become the order of the day.

The prevailing character of our periodical literature seems, to us, more adapted for the amusement of the people, than their moral and intellectual improvement. It shall be our aim, while we use every endeavour to add to the stores of popular knowledge, to direct all our efforts, at the same time, toward the production of a healthy state of moral feeling. We can see no reason why all literary efforts are to be left entirely to metropolitan adventures, to the exclusion of our local energies. Surely there is room, without entering into competition with the Blackwoods, the Frasers, and the Dublins of the day, for something to be done in the provinces. We ask politicians of all grades and parties we ask leaguers for the abolition or support of any law-whether it is better to trust to the sole energies of their great leaders in the metropolis, or to raise up aiders and abettors of their views and principles at home. Nay, we ask, if it is not the case that, in all localities, there are peculiarities which can only be effectually brought out by the labours of individuals on the spot.

Frequently, within the last few weeks, have we been told of the "hopelessness" of the task in which we now engage; nevertheless, we do enter upon our work in carnest. At the same time, it is with most unfeigned pleasure we state, that, we have met with encouragement fully equal to our most sanguine expectations; and if we are supported with that spirit indicated by the fact referred to, we have hope of running a long and useful career. We ask the support of the intelligent portion of the community. We claim a share of the intellectual labours of our men of talent. Our magazine shall ever be open to works of real merit; while, whatever is unworthy, either in scope or tendency, shall not, so far as our judgment goes, disfigure our pages. In our endeavours to provide the useful, we shall not forget to combine with it those lighter and gayer works of the intellect, which, while they charm the mind by the fanciful creations of the imagination, tend also to instruct, by displaying the perfections of ideal beauty. We have, it is true, our own political and ecclesiastical predilections, yet, difficult as it may be to keep clear of expressing opinions at variance with the

motley-coloured robe of sect and party, we shall endeavour to hurt no one's feelings by the advocacy of any of those, generally petty, differences which are the cause of division. We believe that there is common vantage ground for the display of truth and justice, in which all may join, whose patronage is worth the having. With errors of conduct and inconsistencies, we shall have no sympathy. If we should have occasion to discuss social evils, we shall speak as unto wise men, leaving the matter to be decided by the judgment of those to whom we appeal. In regard to works of literature, our opinion shall be expressed in accordance with our impressions of their merit. We have thus indicated the course we intend to pursue, and our endeavours shall be to do so well. We promise little, but our aims shall be large and comprehensive.

Our magazine is now launched upon the world. We trust that it will glide calmly into the channel of public favour, and that, kept clear of shoals and reefs, its career may be long, prosperous, and useful.

It is an interesting, and, at the same time, a profitable study, to observe the aspect of society, and to mark the varied dispositions and characters of which it is composed. The careful observer cannot fail to remark the many weaknesses and failings which actuate the great proportion of the members of any community; failings which, unless checked and discarded, will produce, and in reality have produced, evils of no ordinary magnitude to all around. However slight and trivial these failings may appear when casually glanced at, they will, upon closer inspection, be found productive of much annoyance and serious mischief; while indulgence in them tends to superinduce, on the mind of him who is affected, a selfish disposition, and a reluctance to study the comfort and happiness of his fellow-men, should the gratification of these in any way interfere with his own enjoyment. These failings are justly designated the excrescences of the body politic, the lopping away any one of which entitles the operator to the gratitude of the public.

The object of the subsequent remarks is to call attention to an evil habit, the ramifications of which are widely spread, and the consequences alike injurious to every class of the community. He who attempts to rectify the failings of the people, especially when these have, by long continuance, become a kind of second nature, will find he has undertaken a task which, while it may be highly necessary and useful, is at the same time so arduous and difficult as to be entitled to the appellation of Herculean, and to require moral courage and fortitude of the highest

kind. One of the aims we have in view in starting this journal, is that of attempting, and if possible, removing the evil habits and prejudices now referred to, conceiving that their existence tends to mar the comfort of mankind at large. We are aware of the intervening obstacles in our onward march; but, strong in the consciousness of a good and righteous cause, we shall not fear to set our faces against them. We conceive the pages of a magazine could not be better appropriated than to subjects bearing on the moral well-being of society, and calculated to promote the extinction of those pernicious habits so detrimental to the interest of the community in general. While thus conscious of the importance and difficulty of the task now taken in hand, as well as of our inability to execute it in a manner every way worthy of the object contemplated, still, we trust that the few observations which follow will serve at least the purpose of drawing attention to the subject, and excite serious thought, if not to accomplish a thorough reformation.

The two simple words chosen to head this article are, by certain classes of the community-and these by no means few in numbermade frequent use of; and, in point of fact, appear to be regarded by them as the talisman is, by the natives of eastern climes-a charm to serve in every time of need. These words have become so familiar, their application so ready, and the trust placed in them so great, that were a member of one of these classes, by some unlucky mischance, to forget this sesame of his thoughts, he would be as bewildered as was Cassim in the robbers' cave, or the Irish barrister when his client gained a joke but lost a cause by abstracting the thread of his address. Various are the motives, and different the objects that influence the man who is guided by the "call again" principle. Want of money, or an indisposition to part with it, may, however, be looked upon as the two grand inducements which prompt an individual thus to regulate his conduct. Should the scarcity of means have been the primary cause, but which an influx of wealth has removed, the force of the habit engendered actuates the now wealthy man to follow the same course. Reason or expostulation is useless; habit has assumed the ascendency, and arguments and reproofs are thrown away.

Our friend, Isaac Tibbs, in his own person, is a practical exemplification of the force of our remark. He is a living embodiment of the principle. The magic words, "call again," seem to be stereotyped in his vocabulary, and to form part and parcel of his being. All that is known of Isaac's parentage, after the strictest investigation, is, that one summer morning, very early in life, he was discovered ensconced in a basket at the corner of a street, where his mother, with due circumspection, had laid him. We say "due circumspection," for, despite the strict search of the parochial authorities, no trace of her could be found. From this conduct on the part of Isaac's mother, it may well be inferred that she was of a retiring disposition, and wished not to boast of the gift she had thus bestowed on the public-a gift certainly of value, if the assertion promulgated during the late militia panic be true that every child is equal in value to £50. The guardians of the poor had no such high opinion of the value of this deposit; on the