This system, while it secures a provision to his survivors, at the same time incites a man to the moral obligation of exorcising foresight and prudence, since through its means these virtues may be practised, and their ultimate reward secured. Not the least of the advantages attending life assurance is the serenity of mind which attends the provident man when lying on a bed of sickness, or when he is in prospect of death,--so unlike that painful anxiety for the future welfare of a family, which adds poignancy to bodily suffering, and retards or defeats the power of medicine. The poet Burns, in writing to a friend a few days before his death, said that he was "still the victim of affliction. Alas! Clark, I begin to fear the worst. Burns' poor widow, and half a dozen of his dear little ones helpless orphans;--there, I am weak as a woman's tear. Enough of this,--_'tis half my disease_!" Life assurance may be described as a joint-stock plan for securing widows, and children from want. It is an arrangement by means of which a large number of persons agree to lay by certain small sums called "premiums," yearly, to accumulate at interest, as in a savings bank, against the contingency of the assurer's death,--when the amount of the sum subscribed for is forthwith handed over to his survivors. By this means, persons possessed of but little capital, though enjoying regular wages or salaries, however small, may at once form a fund for the benefit of their family at death. We often hear of men who have been diligent and useful members of society, dying and leaving their wives and families in absolute poverty. They have lived in respectable style, paid high rents for their houses, dressed well, kept up good visiting acquaintance, were seen at most places of amusement, and brought up their children with certain ideas of social position and respectability; but death has stricken them down, and what is the situation of their families? Has the father provided for their future? From twenty to twenty-five pounds a year, paid into an Assurance Society, would have secured their widows and orphans against absolute want. Have they performed this duty? No--they have done nothing of the kind; it turns out that the family have been living up to their means, if not beyond them, and the issue is, that they are thrown suddenly bankrupt upon the world. Conduct such as this is not only thoughtless and improvident, but heartless and cruel in the last degree. To bring a family into the world, give them refined tastes, and accustom them to comforts, the loss of which is misery, and then to leave the family to the workhouse, the prison, or the street--to the alms of relatives, or to the charity of the public,--is nothing short of a crime done against society, as well as against the unfortunate individuals who are the immediate sufferers.