EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
63 
mode a man of moderate means has of making a certain pro- 
vision for his family. For, while all other means are liable 
to fail at any stage of their progress, this alone acquires 
a moral certainty so soon as the yearly premium is paid ; and 
let the assurer die at any hour after the periodical completion 
of his compact with the office, his representatives will receive 
the amount for which his life has been assured. 
Contrast with this the uncertainty of the hoarded savings. 
These, being always within reach, are continually liable to be 
either wholly or partially withdrawn on the occurrence of any 
pressure or sudden emergency; and the regularity of the 
accumulation is either interrupted or wholly discontinued, 
and thus the savings of five, ten, or twenty years, perhaps, 
dissipated in a few weeks. Here, then, we have a reason and 
an argument why every man, actuated by economy and pru- 
dent forethought, should, without loss of time, secure to his 
family that certain provision at his death, which, alas, he may 
never during life have had the ability to accomplish by other 
means. Let him, if he has not begun to set aside a modicum 
of his hard earnings, pause, and reflect that the daily cigar alone 
— that noxious and useless luxury, — if laid aside, will procure 
for hisfamily from £80 to £100, in the shape of a life policy, ac- 
cording to his age. Let him further reflect, that if the morning 
glass of ale, — which being indulged in he must know is un- 
necessary to the healthy discharge of his functions, — were ab- 
stained from, that it will add another £100 for the sustenance 
of his offspring and the partner of his toils ; when his hand is 
cold, and his life’s-blood moves not ; when his eye has become 
glassy, and the foot can no longer sustain his body. Let him 
bear in mind, that his having performed this act of mere jus- 
tice to those whom he loves and esteems, will not in anywise 
shorten his days, but, on the contrary, the consciousness of 
having done so has been known to quench the burning fever 
of a bewildered brain, and to assist in restoring the phrenzied 
mind to health, and also to sooth the anguish of remorse, 
and even to make tranquil and happy the bed of death. 
With these few introductory remarks we leave our readers, 
purposing, from time to time, to resume the subject. 
