The Committee turn with pleasure to the notice of the BENEFITS which have been permitted to flow from the exertions of the Society. And here they naturally begin by adverting to that IMPROVEMENT in the TEMPORAL CONDITION of the poor, which all experience proves to be an indispensable preparation for the higher and more important advantages. For it is almost universally found that, below a certain point, the moral and intellectual are absolutely concurrent with, and vary as, the physical wants of a population. The miserable effects of too long continued toil and exertion without adequate repose and nutrition, with insufficient clothing, exposure to cold, damp, and deficient ventilation, and other privations to which the poor are too often subjected, invariably extend their influence over their social condition and habits, and affect materially their position as moral and intelligent beings; bearing powerfully upon matters with which at first sight they might appear to have little connexion. {17a} The anticipation expressed last year of an increased appreciation of the PROVIDENT FUNDS by the poor, has been more than justified. The number of depositors to the COAL FUND, which in 1844 was 388, in 1845 has been 581. The sum deposited in 1844 was £160; in 1845 it amounted to not less than £263. In the St. Mary Abbot’s division the amount of deposits has actually been doubled. The total value of coals dispensed has been £320, instead of £200 as in 1844. The most remarkable increase is in the districts of Jennings’ Buildings, among the Irish; of whom, in 1844, 14 depositors laid by £6; in 1845, 68 have deposited £33. In another district, in Charles Place, the number of depositors has increased from 3 to 17. In Campden Place 73 out of 125 families, and in Southend 36 out of 50 received coals at Christmas, averaging in quantity from three to four sacks each:—the fruits of their own industry and providence. {17b} CLOTHING FUNDS have been established in eleven districts. The number of depositors has been 100; and the amount distributed in articles of clothing to them, £33. It is confidently hoped that a considerable increase in the number of Subscribers and in the amount of Subscriptions to the District Visiting Society may enable the Committee to establish a general measure; which for want of sufficient funds has been hitherto of necessity postponed.