No. 1. The Effects of a Bad Temper, displayed in the History of Rebecca Price.

No. 2. Friendly Suggestions to the Labouring Classes, by the Rev. S. Wood.

No. 3. Attention to Truth recommended, by J. C. Means.

THE Christian Tract Society was established in London in 1809, for the purpose of distributing among the poor, small cheap tracts, inculcating moral conduct upon Christian principles. It has steadily pursued its enlightened and benevolent purposes, though it has never received the support it has so well merited. Since its establishment, the Society has published sixty tracts, many of them of great value, and admirably calculated to enlighten and improve, not merely the poor, but all who would practise their lessons of virtue.

The three tracts now to be noticed, form the commencement of a New Series. They are all, we believe, by fresh contributors. The attempt is praiseworthy, the execution in many respects good, but they will not bear a comparison with some in the older series. Every reader of tract No. 1, will be ready to say, 66 I have known a case similar to that of Rebecca Price." The dreadful effects of bad temper, in destroying the peace and virtue of families, have been often witnessed, and cannot be too strongly portrayed. But if it be true that "Rebecca could not command her temper," then it was not her fault that her children were spoiled, that her house became a scene of misery, that her husband was driven to the tavern, and from thence to the sea, and that she herself was brought at last to the poorhouse. The object of the tract is, to dissuade from the indulgence of bad temper; and had not Rebecca had the power to correct the evil propensity, useless was the advice to "put away from her, anger, malace, and ill will," to "bridle her tongue," and become peaceable, gentle, and full of good fruits. To complete the object of this tract, it should be followed by another, entitled, a Cure for a Bad Temper, in which the efficacy of reason, and the precepts of Christianity, should be exhibited, in governing and directing aright the passions of the human heart; and examples are not wanting to prove, that by a proper and faithful employment of these means, the worst cases of this evil disposition may be remedied.

The "Suggestions to the Labouring Classes" will not, we fear, be generally read and received by those for whom they are intended. The poor are addressed as if they were for the most part in circumstances similar to each other; but their condition and habits are as diversified as are the seasons of the year. To suit these different descriptions, the suggestions should be adapted to their diversities. There are, in our labouring population, the industrious but improvident, the idle and improvident, the industrious but uncleanly, the industrious but intemperate, and many, many other varieties; and to these, different admonitions should be given, for that which would apply to one, would be totally inapplicable to another; and therefore, if the same suggestions are presented to all, they will perhaps be received by none. We have our misgivings as to the acceptability to the labouring classes, of this tract, and suspect that serious objections would be raised by most of them into whose hands it should be put. Above all, it is most likely, that to the generality of readers, it will appear too much like the advice of an individual, not sufficiently acquainted with the habits, feelings, good and bad qualities of those to whom the advice is presented. To tell the labourers "to be the first to come to their work, and the last to leave it"-" to buy a piece of cloth for a coat at twelve shillings per yard instead of sixteen"—" and if their clothes are really so bad that they cannot make a respectable appearance in a place of worship, this ought to be a motive with them to clothe themselves better"-and to advise them to various purchases of flannel at various prices, when any one acquainted with the wages and condition of a large portion of the working population, knows and laments the difficulty they have even in procuring food,-such suggestions would, by the labourer, be regarded as mockery. We have heard of a conversation, in which a person was dilating on the amazing cheapness of provisions in Ireland, and the happy consequent condition of the labourers, when even luxuries could be obtained for fourpence! "And where," asked the celebrated James Watt, "is the fourpence to come from?" And comfortable, no doubt, it is to be clad in flannel, and to make a respectable appearance at church or elsewhere, in cloth at sixteen or twelve shillings a-yard; but a man who is labouring from twelve to sixteen hours a-day, for four shillings and sixpence to

nine shillings a-week, may well inquire of Mr. Wood how he is to put his advice in execution? Still there are good and important suggestions in this tract, among which we would notice those against despondency under trying circumstances, the necessity and advantage of self-respect, the comfort of cleanliness, and the great importance of attendance on religious worship.

Tracts on the duty of adhering to truth, are greatly needed at a time like the present, when falsehood is, alas! so commonly employed in the political, commercial, religious, and social worlds. No. 3, is therefore a word in season. Lies of business, custom, politics, are well exposed, and their baleful tendencies clearly displayed. Lying is traced to fear, vanity, a love of exaggeration, avarice, and ambition; and the advantages and pleasures of truth, are made most manifest."A tradesman or a workman,” Mr. Means truly remarks, "whose promises are continually broken, is not believed by any; and in this way, sometimes a whole class of tradesmen get a bad name. In such cases, however, an individual may obtain an honourable distinction by the strict observance of his word, and how truly honourable such a distinction is! Petrarch, the Italian poet, resided in the house of a certain Cardinal. Some one of the family had committed a fault, and the Cardinal would fain have all in his house clear themselves upon oath. But when Petrarch came forward, he stopped him with these words, as for you Petrarch, your word is sufficient.' It was better to deserve such a character, than to have written the finest poems the world has ever seen. And any one, who will, may in time deserve it."

Illustrations of Political Economy, No. 3.-Brooke and Brooke Farm, a Tale; by Harriet Martineau.— p. 147. C. Fox, London.

MISS Martineau has the pen of a ready writer. To some of the higher faculties of mind-good taste, a warm if not florid imagination, a power of feeling and a quick perception, with a happy capacity of description-she may fairly lay claim; and full to overflowing as she is of her subject, these supply her with the inexhaustible means of illustrating and adorning it. The path by which

it is her pleasure to lead us to the knowledge of the important subject on which she treats, is the pleasantest we have ever trod. While scattering around her the seeds of much valuable instruction, (the importance of which at first we scarcely appreciate, from the ease and freedom of its delivery, and the delightful accompaniments in which it is embodied,) our senses are refreshed with the sights and the sounds of rural and rejoicing nature—our sympathies are again freely drawn out by the passions and the life-vicissitudes the anxieties and the sun-bright hours of some of our species-and we follow out the movements and the fortunes of the individuals she describes, with unabated interest, being made to feel by her truth-telling pencil, that they are beings of the same mortal mould as ourselves.

There is more of a love of nature in this Number than in its predecessors-a quiet sort of dallying affection, over its sweet and simple scenes. We have accordingly some beautiful landscapes both of still and animated life, and the interest of the story is more fully sustained by the delightful relief which the moral agents receive from their connection with natural objects. The story is, as usual, a very simple one. It is a fragment of the history of a country village, giving an account of the enclosure of a common, and the opposition made to it by the villagers, with the prosperity which the enclosing of this unproductive land ultimately brought to the good people at Brooke.

The principle which is illustrated and brought out, is, that "Production being the great end of the employment of labour and capital, that application of both which secures the largest production is the best." And also, that "large capitals well managed, produce in a larger proportion than small." From this it will be seen, that Miss Martineau has confined herself in the present Number, to the further illustration and enforcement of the doctrines laid down in her second tale, as to the reciprocal actions of capital and labour, their mutual dependance, and collateral influences. We cannot but remark, however, that the opposition of the poor people to the violation of their public rights, was neither so ignorant nor so injudicious as our authoress seems to think, The greater part of these enclosing acts, have been barefaced robberies of the village poor, perpetrated by their rural tyrants. Few hamlets, we suspect, possess an enlightened and phi

lanthropic Sir Henry Withers, or a shrewd and benevolent Mr. Malton. The enclosure of commons is not always, therefore, to be considered as a proof of long-sighted consideration for the wants and the comforts of the rural population.

Miss Martineau excels in dialogue; and it is chiefly in this way that she introduces to us her doctrines, and illustrates their modes of operation. With her admirable powers as a story teller, we sometimes think, she might occasionally bring forward her views to more advantage, and throw the light of a stronger illustration over them, if they were evolved somewhat less artificially, and, as it were, grew up more spontaneously out of the incidents and materials of her story. In this way, they would make, we conceive, a deeper impression, than in the more didactic form in which they are generally presented. We think, too, that Miss Martineau, with all her happy sagacity and knowledge of human nature, brings forward occasionally some characters, that, if natural, are not very natural like. Le vrai n'est pas toujours le vrai semblable; but, generally speaking, it is so in this world; and in works of fiction, the characters should instantaneously strike us as living portraits of nature, fresh from her great reservoir, and moving in an atmosphere of truth and reality. In the last Number, the character of Paul, and in the present, that of Serjeant Rayne, are, we think, liable to the objection, that they are rather possibilities than probabilities. They may have existed, but they are not representatives of any tribe or division of our species; hence the value of their judgment is considerably impaired, our sympathies being but feebly excited toward such isolated and artificial beings. With these slight and perhaps only seeming defects, which our respect and good will for Miss Martineau prompt us to notice, we cordially recommend the present Number, as amply sustaining the high reputation of its precursors.

THE CHRISTIAN PIONEER.

GLASGOW, MAY 1, 1832.

THE Annual Meeting of the Members of the Octagon Unitarian Congregation, Norwich, was held in the chapel, on Sunday, February 26, Alderman Bolingbroke in the chair: on which occasion, the treasurer exhibited a very satisfactory statement of the finances