his wife be comforted and his children instructed, and his parents honoured and obeyed. Let him rise, in the relationship of husband, father, brother, or friend, to the dignity of one who, having called the Sabbath a delight, has learned to delight himself in the Lord his God, not only in his Creator but in his Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

We therefore invite you to petition that an act may be passed to close public-houses and beer-shops altogether on the Lord's Day. Oppose every attempt to break down the Sabbath barriers, or to weaken those laws which are a protection to you against the efforts of covetousness or worldly-mindedness to rob you of your Sabbath; let them rather be improved and strengthened, so as to set free every working man in the United Kingdom, to rest his body, enjoy domestic comfort, and worship God upon the Sabbath-day.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah lviii. 13, 14. ')

NOBLE CONDUCT OF A FIREMAN.

WE have extracted the following account from a London newspaper, to record the heroic conduct of the subengineer of the Chandos-street engine, and to show what thanks are due to those who so boldly risk their own lives for the safety of others.

"Last night, between the hours of ten and eleven o'clock, a fire broke out in the premises of Mr. Ferroy, a hat manufacturer, No. 16, New-street, Covent-garden, which, besides destroying a considerable amount of property, was well-nigh attended with the sacrifice of from twenty-five to thirty human beings. Police-constable

1 Published by the Society for Promoting the Due Observance of the Lord's Day, Jan. 23, 1854.

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149 immediately sprang his rattle, and, after knocking at the street-door, succeeded in making the inmates sensible of their impending danger. A woman named Scott, who occupied the second floor, on finding the smoke rushing up the stairs, seized hold of two of her children and carried them down, intending to return and save the remaining three, but such was the violence of the fire that she was prevented. The Chandos-street engine at that moment came up, when the poor woman informed Cooper, the sub-engineer, that three of her children still remained in the building, and likewise several other lodgers. Cooper, during the time the men were setting the engine to work, rushed up the stairs. through the heated smoke, laid hold of two children whom he found on the stairs-one in each arm-and was carrying them down, when he heard another crying. He returned a few steps, and told the child to jump upon his back, which was done, and by that means he succeeded in saving the lives of three children. Happily, Merryweather's fire-escape, kept at the police-station in Bow-street, was brought to the spot and placed on the roof, by order of Inspectors Dodd and Wilkinson, by the aid of which the unfortunate creatures were enabled to pass to the next house, and, with the assistance of Briggs, who had charge of the Royal Society's fireescape, the whole of the occupants in the house were saved from a horrible death. Owing to the indefatigable exertions of the firemen the flames were extinguished, but not, however, until the whole of Mr. Ferroy's stock in trade was totally destroyed, and serious damage done to the property of the different lodgers. How the disaster originated is enveloped in obscurity. Mr. Ferroy and one of the lodgers were insured, but the whole of the others were not insured for a single penny."

TAKE CARE OF YOUR WATCH.

MR. E. GRAFTON, in his book on horology, gives the following directions as to the management of a watch :1. Wind your watch up, as nearly as possible, at the same hour every day. 2. Be careful that your key is in

good condition, as there is much danger of injuring the watch when the key is worn or cracked. There are more mainsprings and chains broken through a jerk in winding than from any other cause; and such injury will, sooner or later, be the result if the key be in bad order. 3. As all metals contract by cold, and expand by heat, it must be manifest that to keep the watch as nearly as possible at one temperature is a necessary piece of attention. 4. Keep the watch as constantly as possible in one position -that is, if it hangs by day, let it hang by night against something soft. 5. The hands of a pocket chronometer or duplex watch should never be set backwards; in other watches this is a matter of no consequence. 6. The glass should never be opened in watches that set and regulate at the back. 7. On regulating a watch, should it be fast, move the regulator a trifle towards the slow; and, if going slow, do the reverse. You cannot move the regulator too slightly or too gently at a time; and the only inconvenience that can arise from your not moving it sufficiently is, that you may have to perform the duty more than once. On the contrary, if you move the regulator too much at a time, you will be as far, if not farther than ever, from attaining your object, so that you may repeat the movement until quite tired and disappointed. 8. See that your watch-pocket is in good order, free from flue or nap. Cleanliness here is as needful as in the key before winding; if there be dust or dirt in either instance, it will be sure to work its way into the watch, as well as wear away the engine-turning of the case, and even the case itself.

NEW PRIVILEGES PROPOSED TO BE GIVEN TO
DEPOSITORS IN SAVINGS' BANKS.

THE value and importance of savings' banks have been for many years suggested to the readers of this publication, and proved by a constant series of facts drawn from many different sources and contributed by many different correspondents. A recommendation of them has now come from the highest source in the country, and a reward is proposed to be granted to those prudent and in

dustrious persons who have had the care to lay up their money in them. The leading minister of the crown, in his place in parliament, has just proposed to give the privilege of a vote for members of parliament to every man, whatever his rank or position in society may be, who has been in possession of 501. in a savings' bank for three years. This measure may or may not become the law of the land; as it is only at present a proposal, or bill, as it is called, and requires to be sifted and examined by the great council of the nation before it becomes law. But even while it is yet uncertain, it forms a gratifying proof of the high estimation in which savings' banks are held in the country at large, and those who contribute to their success. It shows that the labouring man who is prudent, wise, and careful, is honoured in the state, in a way in which the extravagant foolish spendthrift is not. It proves that he is held to be worthy of holding a great charge, which the other is not; it shows that he is trusted more, respected more, and considered of more value and importance, so that he may be confided in by his sovereign and her councillors for his judgment and discretion.

This is only right and proper. If it is well to trouble the labouring man with state affairs at all, certainly that labouring man who has got 50%. in the savings' bank is the best one that so great a charge can be committed to. He has already shown himself possessed of wisdom and discretion in his private affairs, and therefore he may be supposed likely to exercise the same good qualities in matters of a public nature. He has been sensible and prudent for himself, and therefore he may be reasonably expected to be sensible and prudent for the nation at large. At least, it cannot possibly be expected that those who have had no ability to take care of their own business will be able to be good stewards of a vote, or voice in the government of a great country. It would be madness to commit so great a charge to every idle, unthinking, incapable creature, who cannot keep himself above those vices which ruin him. To give the power of voting for members of parliament to a parcel of noodles who cannot keep themselves commonly sober, nor, when

they get a shilling in their pockets, save it from the alehouse, would be the very height of rashness and folly in the rulers of any country in the world. Every poor wife who sees her husband come home at night, reeling and tumbling about, like a stricken ox or a poor madman, must lose all her confidence in his judgment and in his opinions. How much more ought the State, which can have no affection for such unworthy members, to guard herself against their influence, and to try every means to shut them out of power!

The best test of sobriety, industry, and care, in the labouring man or mechanic, is the savings' bank; for if he drinks to excess, he does not lay by much there. The ale-house and the bank are the resorts of very different kinds of people. If he will not work as well or as perseveringly as he can, he will gain nothing to save; and if he is foolish in his expenditure, living above his means, he is much in the same situation; but if he has kept 50%. in the bank for three years, he must be a striving, laborious, self-denying man, looking at the wants of the future time as well as the present, and he is a worthy member of society as far as those good qualities go. It is true that he may be selfish, withholding more than is right, parsimonious, and covetous; but with all this, he will be more inclined to support expedient measures, to preserve the State, and to maintain its resources, as far as his power extends, than those who, however generous, jolly, and light-hearted they may be, are not able to keep the wolf from their door, and with whom "every thing goes wrong."

We have already said that it is not certain that such a change will really be made in the law of elections for members of parliament at present; but we have thought it quite safe and right to mention it, although only projected; because, whether it passes or not, it shows what class of persons the ministers of the crown are inclined to trust, and this is, so far, a reward to the depositors in savings' banks who value the good opinion of their countrymen.

E.