and was now destitute, having received from his insurance nothing beyond £7 10s. when his wife died." Mr. Ansell states that the condition of 2,000 societies was brought before him in three years, all in a state of insolvency. It is not intended to be insinuated that all existing societies are insecure, as there are some well regulated under the control of estimable individuals. With such it is not proposed to interfere, nor with any others, further than to recommend to the managers the propriety of submitting their present circumstances to the investigation of a competent actuary. Having pointed out the defects of many existing societies, and the causes why others have failed, the following suggestions are necessary to be observed in the formation of au efficient provident society. The permanent continuance of the Institution should be the aim of its members, and their grand design should be to make provision at one period of life for contingencies which arise at another. Youth, in short, should endow old age; and the payments should be graduated accordingly. The tables should be constructed by an actuary who has thoroughly studied the laws of sickness and mortality. An erroneous impression prevails, that if the rules of any society are certified by Tidd Pratt, Esq. its safety may be depended upon. It ought, however, to be recollected, that he does no more than certify that the rules are in accordance with the act of parliament. With the rates he does not interfere, however false and unsafe they may be. To the study of vital statistics Mr. Neison has devoted a much larger amount of labour than probably any other actuary; he may therefore be regarded as the safest guide in this important department of science, having, at an expense to himself of £4,000, analysed the condition of 4,000 enrolled Friendly Societies, the materials for which were supplied by Government. He has also investigated the affairs of the Manchester Unity of Odd Fel lows, which contains 250,000 members. In both investigations his calculations have approximated to the same results, thus proving their value and correctness. For these disinterested labours Mr. N. has received the thanks of Government, and those of the Statistical Societies of Great Britain and the Continent. In his tract addressed to the Order of Odd Fellows, Mr. N. has demonstrated the absolute necessity of augmented contributions, if the permanency of that institution is to be secured; and Mr. Wood, who is acknowledged to be one of the ablest actuaries in Scotland, and who has been officially engaged by the Order, has confirmed the correctness of Mr. Neison's calculations, and advised their adoption, with which recommendation several lodges in Scotland have complied. Economy in every department of the Institution should be acted upon. The only paid officers being the secretary and clerks, a detailed account should be presented half-yearly to the members, embracing the receipts and expenditure. In the election of managers it ought to be borne in mind that much injury has resulted to many societies from the abstraction of funds by unworthy parties, some of whom have absconded, and others have become insolvent. The utmost vigilance should be manifested in the admission of members. It is essential to the security of the Institution, that only such be received as enjoy good health. Every candidate for admission ought to undergo medical examination, as in life assurance companies. To prevent fraud, and deter parties from feigning sickness, medical assistance should be provided, and the surgeon remunerated at so much per member -this arrangement would prevent the individual remaining longer on the funds than necessity required, and it would stimulate the medical adviser to cure his patient as soon as possible. The Institution should be under the management of four trustees, a treasurer, and twelve directors resident in London. It should also be provided that the chairman of every local branch shall be entitled to a seat at the board in London. The directors to be elected annually by ballot. Influenced by the foregoing considerations, and with a determination to adopt as the fundamental basis of the society the principles just enumerated, a society is about to be established in London, to be called the UNITED KINGDOM PROVIDENT ASSOCIATION. The objects of which are, First. A weekly allowance during sickness of from 2s. to 14s., according to the fortnightly contribution paid. Second. The assurance of a sum of from £5 to £200, payable at the death of a member. Third. The payment of an annuity to members of from 2s. to 20s. a week, commencing at 55, 60, 65, or 70. Fourth. Endowments for children and adults on attaining any specified age. Fifth. Contingent endowments of from £5 to £200, payable on attaining a stipulated age, or earlier in the event of death. Sixth. Medical advice with medicines. It is intended to realize the above objects and secure the same stability to this society as is possessed by the most successful and prosperous life offices and when it is considered that the laws which govern human sickness have been proved to be as perfect as those which relate to mortality, it will be at once acknowledged that this valuable feature can be easily attained. One important advantage contemplated by this association will be the establishment of provincial branches, under the superintendence aud control of local officers. It is well known that many societies have failed, and others now exist in a languishing state, for want of an accession of new members, which a limited district cannot supply, and without which it is utterly impossible for the society to continue, much less prosper. Mr. Neison has stated that a society of 500 members constantly re-inforced by accessions of youthful lives, as the the elder one's decline, is essential to permanent prosperity. By the arrangement now contemplated this difficulty will be overcome, smallest and most distant branch will form an integral part of the general society-participate in such advantages as can only be secured by incorporation with a society extending over the entire kingdomthe numerical strength of which constitutes a guarantee against those disasters which have befallen so many apparently secure institutions. The usual and expensive outlay incurred by new societies for preliminary charges, &c., will also be much reduced, and an equal share in the surplus profits arising from the funds being invested with government at compound interest, &c. And it ought ever to be borne in mind that money 1apidly accumulates by this mode of investment; for instance, ls per annum at the rate allowed by Government will amount in 46 years to £6 -i. e, for a gradual payment of forty-six shillings the Society will be entitled to six pounds, and the same ratio applies to larger amount. The business at the National Debt Office will also be managed without costs. The members may remove from one district to another, thus conferring on domestic servants and others who have occasion to change their residence, the right to retain undisturbed all the privileges for which they are insured. The deferred annuity scheme has never yet been sufficiently appreciated. It embraces objects of equal importance to those contemplated by sickness or death; and, by the generality of benefit societies, has been totally overlooked. It is intended to make this one of the leading features of the business of this association; and when the advantages of deferred annuities are fully understood, it cannot be doubted that numbers will avail themselves of them. As an example of the benefits to be realized, a payment of 44d. per week will secure to a person aged 25, 5s. weekly on attaining the age of 65. The following may be adduced as a few of the special advantages which this association offers. No society will be allowed to hold its meetings at a public-house. No entrance fees will be required. Females will be eligible for admission. Members may be transferred from one branch to another without loss of benefit. Six monthly contributions will constitute Free Membership. Payments graduated according to the age of the member on entrance. Being a Mutual Society, the whole profits will periodically be divided amongst the members. Fifty-two weeks' full pay in sickness. Payments may be made weekly, monthly, or quarterly. No compulsory offices to be served. For the reasons enumerated, the co-operation of all parties is solicited in this cause of both prudence and benevolence. If the wealthy and influential will interest and exert themselves, they may be the means of establishing an institution which will contribute to the removal of distress-and also prevent the young from becoming identified with those which have already proved fatal to the piety and reputation of numbers. The duty of pro moting the welfare of such an associ- con JOSIAH BATES. 1, Grange Road, Dalston, London, 1st Dec., 1848. [We hope the above important subject will receive that attention which it deserves.-ED.] REVIEWS. THE JUBILEE OF THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION: Being a Grateful Memorial of the Origin, Government, and History of the Denomination. pp. 450. London: John Bakewell, Methodist New Connexion Book Room. COMMUNICATED. The enlightened patriot contemplates the origin and advancement of his country, her preservation and her prospects, with interest; and, if piety crowns his patriotism, sanctifies the season of her prosperity with prayer and thanksgiving. But, in the estimation of the genuine Christian, all that is temporal is infinitely inferior to that which is spiritual. No privileges can be put in competition with those of the Church. No history has attractions compared to that which records her progress. The preservation of her life-giving doctrines and her liberties, is cause for far more elevated joy than the conservation of the most righteous national institutes; while before the brightness of her coming glory all the glories of earth fade and disappear. The volume before us is specially designed and eminently adapted to enlighten and confirm the members of our Connexion, for whom it has been principally written. Attachment to any section of the Church of Christ ought to be the result, not of educational prejudices or of accidental association, but of conscientious inquiry and of enlightened conviction. Persons thus acting from conviction will find conscience smile on their industry to discover the truth, and on the sober decision of their deliberate judgment. They will be found the firmest in the day of the Church's trial. While others fear and flee, they will stand with calm dignity, immoveable on what they believe to be the rock of truth. The work before us supplies an important desideratum in our Connexional literature. The Jubilee Volume will, we confidently predict, be read with equal satisfaction when the excitement produced by the Jubilee meetings and funds shall have passed away. Next to retaining and diffusing the pure faith of the Gospel, appears to us the duty of the Church's right government. It was not, indeed, till after its members were gradually bereft of their scriptural liberty, that corruption came in like a flood, the "Man of Sin was revealed, and a pall spread over the brightest truths of revelation. These are admonitory facts to the Church of God. The contents of the Jubilee volume are these: Chap. I. The Origin and Characteristics of Methodism. Chap. II. The Origin of the New Connexion. Chap. III. The Distinctive Principles of the New Connexion. Chap. IV. Application of these Principles. Chap. V. Sketch of the History of the Connexion. Chap. VI. Influence of the New Connexion upon the Politics of Methodism. Chap. VII. The Present Position, Prospects, and Obligations of the New Connexion. The first and second chapters were written by the Rev. William Cooke; the third and fourth by the Rev. Thomas Allin; the fifth and sixth by the Rev. P. J. Wright; and the seventh by the Rev. Samuel Hulme. The first chapter opens with a brief, but beautiful, allusion to the period which marks the history of the Connexion. It then depicts in dark shadows the moral condition of the country at the rise of Methodism; and proves that many noxious elements threatened to convey their contagious influence over the whole nation, and to render it a loathesome mass. He states, with obvious truth, that, "Without such a revival as that exhibited in Methodism," these elements must have "combined to corrupt the principles, and deprave the character of the nation, until the measure of its iniquity was full to the very brim, and the land had become reprobate, blighted, and accursed by its own enormities, and scathed and rejected of God. This awful doom, however, was averted, and that revival of religion denominated Methodism was the principal, though not the only, means, at once of saving the country from so great a calamity, and of introducing the brightest era in British history." (p. 18.) The instrumentality mercifully provided at this crisis is next introduced to our notice, which exhibits in a most marvellous light the infinite wisdom and almighty power of the Divine agent. As consistency required, the Wesleys occupy the larger space; but a just tribute of respect is paid to the "seraphic" Whitefield. After noticing some of the distinguished co-workers of the illustrious Wesley, he takes an interesting and animating view of the rapid diffusion of Divine light and truth through their instrumentality; who, rivalling the Apostle of the Gentiles in the ardour of their zeal, overstepped the boundaries of the kingdom, and traversed the wide seas in seeking those that were lost. The providential circumstances which removed many of the scales from Mr. Wesley's eyes, which "Church order" had placed upon them, pass under review. Mr. Cooke remarks: "As the primitive Church was destined, in its full development, not only to be free from Jewish forins, but to be ultimately severed from its connexion with the Jewish system, so Methodism was designed ultimately to exist as a distinct denomination, enjoying within itself all the ordinances and privileges of the Church of God. The design of Providence was, not to make Methodism like the Church, but to make the Church like Methodism. This was the line of progression, the other was the line of retrogression; and Providence never designed his people to move backward." (p. 42.) The distinguishing features of Methodism are shown to be in beautiful harmony with those of primitive Christianity. One of these demands our special attention-the connexional character of Methodism. "Primitive Christianity was, in the general sense, connexional. As members were united to each other in the same Church, so were Churches united to each other as so many parts of the universal Church of Christ; and this union was recognized, not only by the exercise of christian love and occasional intercourse, but by the closest ties of connexion-by the intercommunion of ministers, by the supply of mutual pecuniary aid, by representation in synodical convocation, and above all, by their mutual subordination to synodical authority. (Acts xv.) Now, this important principle is embodied in the organization of Methodism; and here is the great secret of its internal vigour, its expansive and aggressive character. It is the key-stone which gives cohesion and strength to every part of the fabric. It gives unity to its spirit, and resistless energy to its operations." (p. 48.) In common with our Congregational brethren, we hold as a fundamental principle, the right of the laity in the government of the Churches. In every storey of our ecclesiastical fabric their voice is freely heard, their presence felt; while all that is strictly local is freely managed by individual churches. On such a principle as this was our Connexion founded. Our constitution was originally formed by the united counsel of our Churches, expressed through their representatives, in assembled Conference. No modification of it can be effected but through the same medium. Nor can this be done without a very general concurrence of sentiment, after several months given for calm consideration. Our connexional system is therefore, we conceive, not opposed to, but favourable to sober liberty, and genuine freedom. And, notwithstanding the continued laudation of the theory of Congregationalism, it is conceived that the formation and progress of the "Congregational Union " is a homage to the connexional principle, an acknowledgment of the weakness of rigid Independency. In this chapter the important truth is illustrated, that "Vital and practical Christianity is the best conservative of sound doctrine." "As piety decayed, evangelical truth faded. It might be found in the tomes of the reformers, but it was no longer uttered from the oracles. It had lost its vitality, and lay buried, fossilized, and forgotten amongst the relics of a by-gone age. But when experimental religion revived, the truth revived; as the former was diffused, the latter was extended." (p. 51.) Without vital religion there is, indeed, a want of spiritual discernment-a faculty graciously imparted by the influence of the Holy Spirit; so that not only are the articles of a scriptural creed misun |