1808.] 
gerous or unwhvlesome.—Terms of ad- 
mission, two shillings and sixpence, if 
the number of members do not exceed 
sixty; five shillings, if sixty and under 
eighty; and if exceeding cighty mem- 
bers, ten shi'lings and sixpence; three- 
pence alsu to be spent. Allowance; free 
members when sick, lame, or unable’ to 
work, ten shillings per week, for one 
year, afterwards five shillings per week ; 
and, if deemed incurable, three shillings 
per week; if imprisoned tor debt through 
distress, (a provision which I have always 
thought objectionable) two shillings and 
sixpence per week; ten pounds to the 
widow of a deceased member; and five 
pounds on the decease of a member’s 
wife, 
Upon the same plan, and nearly on 
the same terms, are several: other socie- 
ties which have come under my cogni- 
zance. In some the contribution of the 
free members appears tu be one shilling 
per month; of others,’ not tree, one shil+ 
ling and four pence; and, in these, the 
weekly allowance is nine shillings, for the 
first year, and afterwards four shillings. 
In these recent societies, a sum Is in- 
variably set down to be spent, which is 
generally three pence, each monthly or 
quarterly night. There is one society, 
however, whose rules have been lately 
before me, which, not meeting at a pub- 
lic house, has no such calls upon its mem- 
bers; and this society, (composed of va- 
rious classes of dissenters) appears, from 
the funds which it possesses, to be highly 
prosperous, ‘Their terms of admission 
are :—Ifthe member is under twenty-eight 
years of age, ten shillings; if above twen- 
ty-cight years, twelve shillings for every 
year he exceeds that age; the contribu- 
tion, afterwards is three shillings per quar- 
ter; and the allowance to members in 
sickness is ten shillings per week for the 
first year, and five shillings for the second 
year; after which the allowance is op- 
tional to the society. Inthis society, the 
share of a free member is, as far as the 
Jaw will allow, made transterable, which 
is certainly an advantage, and is a cause, 
I have no doubt, of promoting the so- 
ciety. 
In the greater part of these societies, 
though not in the last, it is the rule and 
practice to have an annual feast, which 
is paid for by a separate subscription. 
Much to the credit of these imstitu- 
tions, there appears to be a laudable de- 
sign in them to keep up good morals in 
the members, by discouraging ill lan- 
guage, drunkenness, and other miscon- 
Lycewn of Ancient Literature—Ovid. 
415 
duct; and if the rules in these respects 
are duly enforced, which, from the in- 
terest that attends it, I presume they ge- 
nerally are, they cannot fail of some good 
effect. 
[ cannot conclude this long letter with- 
out expressing an earnest wish, that some 
one who has leisure and ability. for the 
purpose, would take up the subject of 
these benefit societies, and, by shewing 
the principles on which they ought to be 
furmed, and the advantages and disad-. 
vantages arising from them, and how the 
latter are to be remedied, and the former 
improved, place the matter before the 
public in that strong light which circum- 
stances require. Your's, &c. 
3d May, 1868. W.N. 
Ee 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
LYC/EUM OF ANCIENT LITERA- 
TURE.—No. XVIII. 
OVID. 
NHE life of Ovid presents a degree 
K | of interest, which is rarely observed 
in the biography of ancient authors. 
He is equally known as a distinguished 
poet, an accomplished courtier, and an 
unfortunate exile. We shall, therefore, 
enter into a longer description of the 
character, talents, and misfortunes, of 
this well known classic, than has hitherto 
been usual with us; the more particu- 
larly, as the Metamorphoses alone, of ail 
his writings, can be properly reviewed 
under the present head. The-rest of his 
numerous and various works, must be — 
reserved as the subjects of some future 
essays. ; : 
When the successful usurpation of Cz- 
sar had converted the Roman states from 
a republic into a monarchy, it was to be 
expected that the manners of the Ro- 
mans would undergo a national altera- 
tion; that the rigid virtue which had 
once distinguished them, would he sof- 
tened, or awed, by the presence, or con- 
troul of asovereign; and that the austere 
principles of repubiicans, would be ex- 
changed for the meekness and servility 
of subjects. Had this remarkable re- 
volution in the government of the Ro- 
man world been followed by a teinperate 
ad hereditary sovereignty, unpolluted 
by that enormous abuse of power whichi 
disgraced the successors of Augustus, 
and the too frequent display of military 
violence, the world might have applauded 
the change, and Rome itself confessed it 
a benefit. It was delivered from the 
jarring animosities of contending fac« 
tien3; it was rescued from the tyranny 
and 
