where it is asked, 'What reason is there why a man may not make his parish his club, by paying into the poor-rate, receiving the same benefit as he would from a club in case of sickness or accident, and when too old for work having an annuity granted to him? According to the working of most clubs now, unless a man has been ill, he may pay into a club all his life and get no benefit, and when he is old they turn him over to the parish.' There may, perhaps, be no good logical reason why a man may not make his parish his sick-club;' but the simple fact is, that he will not; and we believe that the adoption of the suggested improvement of connecting the friendly societies of the working classes with the system of parochial relief would only have the summary effect of improving them off the face of the earth. That such a scheme, however, finds favour in some quarters is obvious from the introduction of Lord Shelburne's bill in the House of Lords in 1862, under which it was proposed to connect Friendly Societies with the Poor-law organisation, and to supplement the funds of the former out of the poor-rates to the extent of twenty-five per cent. We do not suppose it probable that a bill of so thoroughly Socialistic a character will ever receive the sanction of either House of Parliament. It could only have the effect of reviving the worst evils of the Old Poorlaw, from which we have happily escaped, and laying the foundation of some new and gigantic system of officialism. One of the most powerful impulses given to the extension of the selfsupporting societies we have passed under review was the passing of the New Poor-law, which compelled working people thenceforward to rely mainly upon their own resources, and make provision for the support of themselves and families during sickness by provident arrangements in time of health; and we should deprecate the passing of any such measure as that proposed by Lord Shelburne as tending to sap the virtue of self-reliance amongst the classes in which it is, of all others, the most desirable to cultivate it.

The benefit societies of the working classes, defective though they may be in many respects, are much safer in their own hands. They have improved and are improving. Time and experience will enable them to introduce new ameliorations. The best institutions are things of slow growth, and are shaped by experience, which includes failures as well as successes; and finally, they require age to strengthen them and root them in habit. The rudest society established by working men for mutual help in sickness, independent of help from private charity or poor rates, is grounded on a right spirit, and is deserving of encouragement rather than of the ridicule and unfair criti

cism

Even

cism which their humble efforts have too often received. the annual division societies, which last but a year, distribute benefit and minister relief so far as they go. Those who subscribe to the funds during that time are entitled to their benefits; and if the larger portion of the members do not receive relief, it has been because their health has been preserved and they did not need it. Their money has, however, been expended on the succour of their comrades and their children, who have been less fortunate than themselves. It is the same with the other societies of a more permanent character. However imperfect they may be, their action is beneficial. They may be conducted by men who cannot spell correctly, and cut a ludicrous figure in the Registrar's Reports; yet their social action, tainted though it be by human weakness and imperfection, is thoroughly salutary.

It was wisely observed by Mr. Finlaison when examined before Mr. Sotheron's Committee in 1849, that the scientific actuaries, while criticising and condemning the inadequate rates of friendly societies generally, have not looked sufficiently at the enormous amount of good done by the men who compose them when they are encouraged. Many of them would come to the parish for relief that are now sustained by the clubs, if we were to attempt an impossible thing by subjecting them to tables like an insurance office. I look,' said he, to the good effect produced, rather than to any discouragement from exacting fees, and inquiring into their affairs, and breaking their societies up. One of the most intelligent men I ever knew, Mr. Oliphant, who had studied the theory and practice of friendly societies for a very long time, when before the Committee on Friendly Societies in 1825, expressed the opinion, in which I most cordially concur, that those societies should not be too much interfered with; that by their own common sense and acting upon equal contributions when they are under a certain age, they do exceedingly well; that is, they do a vast deal of good, relieve sickness and hold together; and if they have become insolvent, then arises the question, which has, I think, awakened too much attention in the minds of the Committees that have sat upon those questions, as to the injustice that would be done to an old man. Now, I do not hold that there is so much injustice, unless it be a very great hardship that an old man has lived a long time and had good health; for if he ultimately loses his benefit in old age, he is in the condition of a ship that was insured for a prosperous voyage, and he cannot say that he has lost his premium if the ship returns unshipwrecked to port.'

From what we have said, we think it will be sufficiently clear

2 B2

clear that the benefit societies of the working classes are institutions of great social value. They have already effected much good, and are capable of effecting still more. At all events they furnish an admirable foundation on which to build up something better. They have practically taught self-reliance, and cultivated amongst the humblest classes habits of provident economy. They began their operations before there was any science of vital statistics to guide them, and if they have made mistakes in mutual assurance, they have not stood alone. Looking at the difficulties they have had to encounter, they are entitled to be judged charitably. Good advice given them in a kindly spirit will not fail to produce good results. The defects which are mixed up with them are to be regarded as but the transient integument which will most probably fall away as the flower ripens and the fruit matures.

ART. III.-1. Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs, existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice and in other Libraries of Northern Italy. Vol. Ï. 1202-1509. Edited by Rawdon Brown. London, 1864. 2. Calendars. Instructions to Editors. London.

MR.

R. RAWDON BROWN'S volume is among the firstfruits of an important extension of the operations carried on at the public expense for the purpose of bringing the MS. records of past times within the reach of the modern student. For some time past writers of known ability have been engaged under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, in calendaring the national archives, while others have been employed to superintend the publication of MS. Chronicles and Memorials which illustrate the history and antiquities of the country. And more recently the House of Commons has sanctioned researches for the same purpose in the archives of Foreign Governments.

This is evidently no tentative experiment, no spasmodic effort of fitful activity, but the gradual execution of a well-matured plan, which is to be still further developed as occasion serves.

Undoubtedly the first object in order of time and in importance is to ascertain the contents of our own Record Office; but when this great task has been completed, further fields of labour open in prospect. Numberless papers which must once have belonged to some one of the many State Offices, and multitudes of others which illustrate or explain them, have found their way to other collections in Great Britain. The various archives and public libraries of foreign countries are rich in documents of the

highest

highest value to the English historian, and of all these MS. treasures at home and abroad it is desirable to obtain calendars.

So vast a design cannot be executed within any space of time which we can venture to calculate; but time is not an important element of the plan. The execution may be as gradual as is found convenient; no order of priority need be observed. Even now, as we learn from the 'Report on the Carte and Carew Papers,' Government are instituting researches in the Bodleian and Lambeth Libraries. Everything that regards details may be left to time and circumstances. But the plan, in all its possible extent, should be steadily kept in view from the first. None less comprehensive in its ultimate scope would deserve the attention of the Legislature, and all that is necessary in the mean time is so to regulate the execution of each part that it may not interfere with the completion of the whole. Let us take warning from the error of the horticulturist, who, in making the successive additions to his garden, with which he gratifies his growing ambition, finds himself hampered by what he has previously done, and at each stage of his progress sees fresh cause to regret that he did not at first lay down his plan on a suitable scale, and then at his convenience complete each section of it, as the approved portion of an harmonious and coherent whole.

Some years have passed since the first calendar was printed, and it is time to review the progress made. The volumes already published fill no trifling space on the shelves of a private library, and the annual grant which has been obtained from Parliament, if not large when compared with the importance of the object, is quite large enough to make us desirous it should be spent well. The Government plan has been in operation long enough to be tested by experience, and to be assailed by criticism; and if any fault can be detected in its conception or execution, it should be corrected without further delay. Nor are we without the witness of the past to aid our judgment. The desire to preserve and to utilize the national Records, which we possess in unrivalled abundance, is no novelty; and it has been manifested even in times when the Legislature might well be excused for neglecting matters of less than vital interest. In 1769 a State Commission was appointed for the purpose of investigating the condition of the public Records, and of publishing such as might seem of more than ordinary interest. But little was effected till the appointment of the Record Commission in 1800. When this body commenced its labours, no one of the numerous offices among which the public Records were then scattered possessed a general catalogue of its contents. But the

several

several keepers, who were paid chiefly, and in some cases solely, by fees, had made for their respective use imperfect lists or notes of such portions of the muniments under their charge as were most likely to interest inquirers for legal purposes, the only class who at that time ever thought of consulting the original Records. The first step of the Commission was to publish at once these lists, imperfect and inaccurate as they were. As a temporary expedient this had a complete success. Its immediate effect was to quadruple the amount of fees; and consequently we may infer, the number of inquirers at the several offices. As a permanent measure it was a failure. It does, indeed, afford a convincing proof (if any proof is needed) that, to make any collection available, the first necessity is a catalogue. But that is all. The compilations themselves are too loose, inaccurate, and immethodical, to form even the framework or skeleton of something better. The Commission next proceeded to publish in succession eleven volumes of selected documents. But here, again, little was gained except experience, and the conviction which experience brought with it-that the principle of selection is not applicable to an enormous collection of papers of every different kind, bearing on every variety of subject, and valuable for different purposes to different classes of readers. The Commission also completed some voluminous publications (which were not required), such as new editions of the Statutes at large, and Rymer's Fodera ;' but though the labours of thirty years were not absolutely thrown away, their results were utterly incommensurate with the vast sums expended and the operose machinery employed.

The Commission had been re-appointed at the commencement of each reign, but in the latter days of William IV. the general discontent was loudly expressed. Half a million had been expended, and little or nothing had been done. Jobbing had been practised, or at least imputed; and all was confusion. A Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the proceedings of the Record Commission, and also to hear evidence and report on the best mode of preserving and of rendering accessible to the public the Records and State Papers of the kingdom. But the Commission itself was allowed to die a natural death on the decease of the King.

In more respects than those just referred to, the precious fruit of failure was experience. The Committee soon discovered that to entrust a work requiring vigilant supervision and active direction to the unsalaried attention of great functionaries, who are already responsible for the discharge of onerous duties of their own, is only to invite neglect on the part of the

persons