means of procuring spiritual blessings, the declarations of the Sacred Scriptures sufficiently confirm. "The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." The Apostles request the brethren to pray for them, and they offer their own prayers for the brethren. Paul directs that "intercessions be made for all men." "Confess your faults one to another," says James, "and pray for one another." "The prayer of faith shall heal the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." Thus, to doubt the efficacy of united prayer, as the direct means of procuring the great and inestimable blessings of redeeming grace, would be in direct opposition to the plainest teachings of the divine word, and the experience of the Church of Christ, through all the periods of its existence. Precisely what we owe to it, as I before said, we have no certain criteria by which to ascertain. Indeed, the very attempt would indicate a vain and idle curiosity. This part of the divine government is no more mysterious than many others. I am inclined, however, to think, that we owe more to prevalent intercessions than some Christians seem willing to admit. How can we tell, that our peace and joy in believing, the comforts and blessings possessed by our families, the spiritual prosperity of our churches, and the privileges and happiness of our country, are not mainly to be attributed to the sincere, fervent, and constant intercessions of the faithful followers of Christ. The Christian poet has said, speaking of the humble piety of the retired man, who lives unheeded by the world, "Perhaps she owes Her sunshine and her rain, her blooming spring Walks forth to meditate at even-tide, And think on her, who thinks not of herself." These remarks would naturally prepare the way for the discussion of a subject as interesting and extensive as any that belongs to the Christian dispensation, I mean the intercession of Christ. This, however, would be somewhat foreign to our present subject, though, by the way, I would observe that the Scriptural doctrine of Jesus making intercession for his people in heaven, rests on precisely the same foundation as the doctrine of prayer. As I have already extended these remarks beyond the usual limits of a single communication, I must postpone to another opportunity, the consideration of the excuses commonly made for the neglect of social family worship, and the attempt to ascertain the cause, and point out the remedy, for that increasing and alarming indifference which the professors of the Gospel manifest in the present day, to the sacred and delightful exercise of family devotion. In the mean time, June 6th, 1829. I remain, yours affectionately, On the Co-operative System. G. B. THE moralist naturally inquires, Must the most valuable portion of the community be always deprived of the blessings of knowledge, and the advantages of a wellinformed mind? Thanks to the wisdom of some intelligent men of the present day, we can now reply, there is no difficulty in bringing about a complete improvement in every class of society. If they will consent to unite themselves together, after the manner of the primitive Christians, by living as the members of one family, every person will have both the leisure and the means of storing his mind with the treasures of knowledge. Schools for the young and inexperienced, and libraries containing the works of those master spirits, whose mighty intellects have added new blessings to the world, will be opened to the man who now thirsts for improvement, but cannot have his appetite gratified. The parent will see his offspring initiated in the principles of art, science, and philosophy; and the many leisure hours which his vocation will leave at his own disposal, will be directed to the perusal of valuable publications, or to the intelligent conversation of his friends and companions. What * The best schools for co-operative societies, are those which are conducted on the plan of Pestalozzi. See Biber's Lectures on Education. † A library should be a paramount object of every thinking and intelligent agent, and ought to contain the works of philosophers, moralists, historians, and scientific men. Poems and works of mere amusement should also find admittance on its shelves, provided they do not exclude more important literary productions, and are untainted by immorality. Maps, charts, and other mediums of conveying valuable information, should hang on the walls of the library, and the other more public rooms. It is now a common complaint, that it is difficult to find men of congenial minds and of reciprocal dispositions; but in an association where the greatest pains would be taken with the moral and intellectual improvement of its members, how many intelligent and agreeable companions might hold sweet communion together and enjoy the pleasures of a permanent friendship. would be the consequences of these great advantages, the imagination can hardly conceive. They are, in fact, overwhelming. The many thousands of our fellow-creatures whose minds are suffered to rust in obscurity, would, we may reasonably conclude, exert their native energies in searching into the recesses of learning. The inventions in every department of knowledge would be multiplied to a vast extent, and those bad passions which generally accompany gross ignorance, would give place to the sublime and pure emotions of an enlightened understanding. As knowledge is power, that power, like the mighty avalanche, would prostrate the towers which superstition and error have erected to enslave the human mind, while truth in all her native majesty, would reign omnipotent over the children of men. 3dly, Anxiety for our own future welfare in life, and for that of our family, would be unknown in a society where sufficient provision would be made for the sick and the superannuated. How hard is the condition of a vast portion of the community, in every civilized part of the globe! What anxiety must be felt by thousands, who are obliged to toil for their daily bread, and whose habitations are the abodes of squalid poverty and disease. How frequently must the parents of the poor, lament the lot of their children, who, exposed to the temptations of the vicious and the profane, and who, ignorant of the first principles of religion and knowledge, run into all manner of wickedness and folly.* How frequently, too, must they be harrassed by the reflection, that when death snatches them from their sorrows, * "The children of the very poor," says the humane author of Elia, "do not prattle. It is none of the least frightful features in that condition, that there is no childishness in its dwellings. 'Poor people,' said a sensible old nurse to us, do not bring up their children-they drag them up.' The aliment of the poor babe was thin, unnourishing; the return to its little baby tricks and efforts to engage attention, bitter ceaseless objurgation. It was dragged up, to live or die as it happened. It had no young dreams. It broke at once into the iron realities of real life. A child exists, not, for the very poor, as any object of dalliance, it is only another mouth to be fed, a pair of little hands to be betimes inured to labour. It is the rival, till it can be the co-operator for food, with the parent. It is never his mirth, his diversion, his solace,—it never makes him young again, with recalling his young times. children of the very poor, have no young times. It has come to be a woman before it was a child. It has learned to go to market; it chaffers, it haggles, it envies, it murmurs; it is knowing, much sharpened, but it never prattles." The their offspring will be left destitute, in a world where false pleasures are the main pursuit of the great and powerful, and where the poor and needy are continually exposed to "the proud man's contumely." Is it not also a disgrace to any nation which calls itself civilized, to see the images of the Supreme Being, treated worse than the beasts which perish? A horse or a favourite dog, is, in the estimation of the sons of affluence, of more value than the happiness of the poor. The laws of our senators fall upon the working class of society, while the rich can often trangress with impunity.* But what has always appeared to me so peculiarly distressing, is, the condition of the aged. It is painful to see old men working themselves to death in European countries, for a mere pittance. It is dreadful to look into the houses of the poor miserable creatures, with scarcely a rag to cover their bodies, and with scarcely food sufficient to prevent the spark of life from expiring. It is dreadful to read the accounts in the public papers, of our fellow-creatures perishing for want of food; and the heart of that man must indeed be callous, who would not make great sacrifices to benefit their condition. I am afraid, however, that the plans generally adopted by the humane, for the melioration of their poor brethren, have failed to carry into effect their laudable intentions. Not seldom have many charitable institutions increased, instead of remedied, the evils of the poor; and the idle have ceased to work that they might live upon the industry of the charitable. The frequent and ruinous fluctuations in trade, the great inequality of property, low wages, and above all, the monopoly of corn, the great * Punishment, however, ought rather to fall upon the affluent delinquent, than upon the poor and friendless part of mankind. When we consider, that the latter have so many temptations to commit evil, it is truly astonishing that they do not more frequently break the laws of their country; while, on the other hand, the rich have not only every indulgence which fortune can supply, but every whim and caprice gratified, so that their inducement to trangress the laws, either of God or man, must be comparatively small. And yet it is a notorious fact, that the stockjobbers, who recently defrauded a credulous people, escaped without punishment, while a man for committing a petty theft, is torn from his family, and transported to a foreign land. t Foundling hospitals, for instance, have greatly encouraged lewdness and other immorality; and workhouses have caused more idleness, and its many evil attendants, than probably any other of the bad institutions of modern times. An able writer has proved, that it would be the interest of farmers and country gentlemen, to give high wages to their labourers. The article of human existence, will always prevent the poor from rising above their degraded situation, and from partaking of the blessings of providence, unless they form co-operative societies, and have all things in common. What a change would then take place in their condition! Decent clothing, wholesome food, medical attendance,* and a total suspension from labour in their old age, would be only a part of the comforts which would follow this blissful improvement in their mode of life. Men in the decline of life, would have no cause to be in a feverish state of apprehension for their future maintenance. Children would behold the authors of their existence, finishing their days with joy; and parents would see their offspring educated, and be assured, that after their decease, their children would be supported by their fellow-creatures, and placed in situations where they might maintain themselves with comfort and respectability: it being the peculiar advantage of co-operative societies, to support the incapacitated, to educate the young, and to employ every member in some vocation, in which he may be able to contribute to the maintenance of himself and family. No man will be required to devote either the whole of his days, or even the greater portion of his time, to labour and fatigue; neither, on the other hand, will idle drones be permitted to feed upon the fruits of the industrious. Those who were formerly the pampered sons of fortune, and the creatures of discontent, will find their happiness increased by habitual employment, and their minds enlightened by the intercourse of sensible, worthy men, while those who were once the children of poor-rates would diminish, and poaching and other depredations would be less numerous, while the equitable remuneration for labour, would improve the morals and skill of the workmen. * While the sword has slain its thousands, it may be truly said, that the nostrums of quack-doctors (which are generally purchased by the poor) and improper diet, have slain their tens of thousands. + Some pseudo-economists have had the hardihood to maintain, that mere sinecure holders of hereditary property, and other idlers, are blessings to society, because they must ultimately spend their capital in employing mechanics and other labourers. But these Gothamites seem to forget, that the labourers could improve the capital of idlers, without being under the necessity of maintaining them by their industry, or of robbing one part of the community to pay another. "I have no propensity," says Paley in one of his tracts, "to envy any one, but least of all the rich. The life of the poor is free from many anxieties which the rich feel, and is fraught with many sources of delight which they want. ." Most other moralists, from Socrates down to Paley, |