mode. I write in a bed-room at an hotel, sitting upon a cane chair, in the same dress I go out in, and with no books to refer to but the New Testament, Shakspeare, and a pocketdictionary. Now and then, when much pressed for time, and without premeditation, and with my eye upon the clock, I have written some of the short moral pieces above mentioned, at the Athenæum, at the same table where others have been writing notes and letters; and sometimes I snatch an interval at my office. Moreover, most of these short pieces have been written by measure, to fill up certain spaces. I write down a title, and then wait for the first sentence; then for another, and so on, without any plan, till I have got as many lines as I want, and I have generally found that the more unsatisfactory the process has been to myself, the more satisfaction I have given to others. I can only attribute my succeeding under such circumstances to the extent I am told I have done, to my formerly having read with great attention, not crammed, many of the best authors, and to my habitual cultivation for many years of the pure truth, unmixed with party feeling, or any bias whatever. The disposition and the hidden materials seem to bring me through my emergencies. I shall conclude with a tribute which I feel to be due. In former times, printers appear to have been the torment of authors; but mine are to me the reverse, for they render me every assistance, and in each individual in the office with whom I have to do, I find so complete an understanding of his business, such punctuality in execution, so much intelligence, and such a desire to accommodate me, as make what might be very irksome, very agreeable. With my publisher, to whom I applied without any previous knowledge, from his contiguity to the printing-office, my business is less frequent and less urgent, but I can speak of him with equal praise; so that with readers, printers, and publisher, I consider myself altogether most fortunate.

In my first address to you I expressed a hope that we should

soon be on intimate terms. In what I have just written I have assumed that we are so, and have let my pen talk as if I were talking in person to a familiar acquaintance.

SAVINGS BANKS.

In looking over some papers, I found a little tract entitled, "Observations on the Utility and Management of Savings Banks," which I wrote a long time since in reference to the village where I first turned my attention to the subject of pauperism. Though Savings Banks are now well understood, which was not the case when I wrote, I subjoin a few extracts, as placing some of their advantages in a familiar point of view, and as having relation to the article in my twenty-fifth number on a bank for seamen. Some of the reasoning too is applicable to those who are above the condition of the classes to whom I was addressing myself.

"Should a young man of eighteen begin to save two shillings a week, and go regularly on for ten years, he would at the age of twenty-eight have in bank, reckoning his savings and the interest, about sixty pounds; the value of which, observe, consists very much in the manner of acquiring it. For suppose him to have spent those ten years, as is too commonly the case, working half his time and drinking and idling the rest, and suppose the sum of sixty pounds to be then given him, what effect would it have? Would he not most likely drink more and work less? Does money make bad habits into good ones? It is rather like putting manure upon weeds -it only makes them ranker. But when a man has set his mind upon saving, he will almost necessarily contract such habits, as will make his savings useful. He will find hard work grow easier, because it increases his gains; he will shun idleness because it stops them; he will turn away from the

alehouse, because it swallows them up; he will be content with frugal fare, because it adds to his savings, and though he may look forward to the comforts of marriage, he will be in no hurry to bring upon himself the charges of a family. Being careful himself, he will look about for some careful young woman, and they will resolve not to be married till they can furnish a house and have some money in store. This will make them doubly industrious and doubly careful, and then their savings will mount up so fast, that perhaps they will begin to have higher notions, and will put off their marriage a little longer, till they have saved enough to set up on a small farm, or in some business, where they think they can, by joining their savings, become richer, though married, than they could separate. Here marriage is indeed a blessing! The children will have advantages in education, which their parents did not possess; and though all this cannot happen to all, it is yet impossible to foresee what benefit may arise to a man and his descendants, from placing a portion of his early earnings in a savings bank. One shilling a week saved will, with the interest, amount to twenty pounds in seven years. Three shillings a week will amount to sixty pounds in the same period. If a man, who earns thirty shillings a week, deposits ten, he will possess at the end of five years one hundred and forty pounds; and if he should marry a female who has been able to accumulate half as much, they would together possess no less a sum than two hundred guineas to begin the world with.

"It is true that a Savings Bank holds out the best prospect to those who are young and unencumbered; but almost all may derive some advantage from it—at least they may point out to their children the easy means of securing their own comfort, and it will be strange, if out of a large family, some do not prove able to assist their less fortunate parents in their old age.-Teach but a child to put part of his first little earnings in the bank, and in all probability poverty will not

overtake him to the end of his life. Teach one child to save, and others will follow the example, till industry and frugality become as common as vice and misery are now. If a boy of twelve years of age can lay by threepence a week till he is fourteen-then sixpence a week till he is sixteen-and then one shilling a week till he is eighteen, by which time he may be supposed to have learnt his business he will have in the bank, adding the interest of his money, ten pounds; besides having acquired habits of industry and carefulness. It has been shown above, what he may lay by in the next ten years: and what he will be at the end of that time, compared with men of his own age, who have not saved, and who are neither industrious nor careful, need not be shown.

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Many, who have been wild in their youth, begin to be steady when they marry; but bad habits will break out, and an increasing family presses so hard upon those, who have nothing beforehand, that they often become discouraged, and sink under the evils of poverty. They need not, however, despair-let them consider, if they have not some inclination, which they now and then indulge at the expense of some of their comforts, though the thought of it afterwards only causes them pain. Let them try to turn that inclination into an inclination for saving; it will soon grow upon them, for it gives pleasure both in deed and in thought; it will go with them to the plough, it will stay with them at the loom, and will sweeten the labour of both. Let them only make a beginning, if it is but with sixpence; if necessity compels them, they can take it back; the attempt will do them credit, and perhaps they will be more fortunate another time. Let them consider every penny they spend; let them examine if they cannot do without something, which before they thought necessary. If they happen to have money in their pockets, without any immediate use for it, let them take it to the bank, and trust to their industry to supply their future wants. A shilling, not called for, soon tempts to the alehouse, it is

soon spent there, a shot is soon run up, a day's wages are soon lost, and thus five shillings are gone without thought and without profit. Now five shillings in the bank would make an excellent beginning towards rent, or towards clothing. Scrape a little money together, and some pounds in the year may be saved, by laying in potatoes, or flour, or coals at the best hand, instead of in very small quantities, and on credit. By buying two pair of good strong shoes at once, so that they may always be well dried before they are put on, and mended as soon as they want it, two pair will last as long as three that are constantly worn; here are at least ten shillings saved, besides the saving of health and strength.

"There are many other ways of saving, by means of a little money beforehand; and it is clear that a man and his family, who earn four-and-twenty shillings a week, may, by good management, live better than they did before; or, if they prefer it, may lay by a few pounds at the end of the year. If a man wants to borrow a little money on any particular occasion, or for any particular purpose, what is so likely to obtain him credit, as his having been a regular saver in the bank? If he has unfortunately not been so steady as he might have been, what is so likely to get him a character as his beginning to put money in the bank? But there is scarcely any end to the advantages of such an establishment to those who choose to avail themselves of it; for unmarried women especially it is particularly desirable; they may there place their savings in safety, without trouble or expense; it gives them the best opportunity of making themselves comfortable if they marry, and independent if they do not.

"As yet Savings Banks have not been established long enough to prove more than a very few of the good effects that may be expected from them. They are calculated, however, to serve the country in the best of all possible ways, by enabling every man to serve himself; they hold out encouragement to youth, comfort to middle life, and independence