MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.

LIFE INSURANCE.-We avail ourselves of the able essays on this subject by the Editor of the Chronotype, as a basis for a few remarks explanatory of the Life Insurance principle. By the yearly payment of a premium of from one to three dollars to a life insurance company, a person may secure to his family, at his death, one hundred dollars; or a larger sum, by the payment of a proportionally larger premium. The premium varies, according to the time which the insurer may be expected to live the probable duration of life being deduced from calculations made from tables of longevity; the rate being lower, when the probability of life is greater, and vice versa. In no way can a person who has a family or others dependant upon him, and who enjoys only a small income, make so sure a provision for their future benefit, as by a life insurance. A sum which many years of prudent saving would be required to accumulate, and for the acquisition of which, life and health might not be granted, would, on the insurance plan, be effectually secured to the family of the insurer, at his death, however soon it might occur after the taking out of the policy. Thus the advantage of the associative principle is secured, without any sacrifice of personal independence. It needs only to be observed, that the plan of mutual insurance is decidedly preferable to insurance by stock companies; since whatever advantage might accrue to a stock company, by the receipt of premiums over and above the amount of insurances paid out, would, on the mutual plan, be returned to the insurers themselves.

COMPETITION BETWEEN FREE AND SLAVE LABOR.-A remarkable illustration of the oppugnancy of the free and slave labor systems, is presented by the recent strike at the Tredegar and Amory Iron Works, Richmond, Va.-the free white laborers refusing to work, so long as slaves were employed in

the establishment. It is claimed, on the part of the owner, that he has a right to employ whatever species of labor he chooses; and he calls upon the public to assist him in resisting what he calls the boldest attack upon slave labor and the rights of the citizen ever before made in a slave state. Since, however, slavery is a degrading system, it is not strange that it should be felt by free laborers as a degradation, to have slave labor put in competition, and thus on a par, with their own. Such facts respecting the peculiar effects of the peculiar institution, may open the eyes of some people who find it difficult to see its incompatibility with free institutions. It is perhaps hardly necessary to state, that the Richmond affair was settled by the dismissal of the whites, and the substitution of slaves in their places.

MECHANICS' MUTUAL PROTECTIONS. This is the title assumed by bodies of practical mechanics who have organized themselves, in several towns and cities in Ohio, for the purpose of mutual benefit and relief. On the seventh of May last, they held a General Convention at Cleveland, at which delegates were present from seven different "Protections." Resolutions were passed advocating the natural freedom and equality of men, and the right of the laborer to a proportionate share of the wealth his labors go to create. Delegates were also chosen to attend a General United States Convention, to be held at Buffalo, N. Y., on the third Tuesday of the present month.

AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.-Efforts are making in the State of New York, under the patronage of the American Institute, o establish seminaries in which the theory and practice of Agriculture and Gardening shall be the prominent studies, in connection with other branches of useful knowledge.

ORDER OF UNITED AMERICAN MECHANICS.-An Association with this title has recently been formed in this city. Its objects are thus specified:-1. To assist each other in obtaining employment. 2. To encourage each other in business. 3. To establish a sick and funeral fund. 4. To establish a

general fund for the relief of widows and orphans of deceased members. 5. To aid members who have become incapacitated from following their usual avocations, in obtaining such employment as their situation will admit of their pursuing.

ABOLITION ABROAD.—We are glad to learn that the exciting discussion on the subject of slavery, in the French Chamber of Deputies, occasioned by the presentation of a petition for the emancipation of the slaves in the French Colonies, is likely to result in the overthrow of slavery in the French territories. It is said that more than half the signers of the petition were proprietors of slaves.

We observe also that a proposal has been made to put an end to slavery in New Grenada, on the first of January, 1850 — the government engaging to pay to the holders of slaves five per cent interest on their value. A plan of gradual abolition, which is on trial, is thought not to work well.

The Egyptian government, with the customary promptness of the administration of justice by Oriental tribunals, has decreed the abolition of slavery in its dominions, within fifty days.

CONDITION OF THE RUSSIAN SERFS.-The serfs, who constitute the bulk of the agricultural population of Russia, are bought and sold with the land which they cultivate, and for the use of which they pay a tax to their owners. They can, however, acquire property, and there are instances of those who have become rich; but they cannot compel their masters to sell them their freedom. Efforts for their emancipation, however, of which the Emperor is highly desirous, are not wanting. A nobleman, who was one of the largest proprietors in Russia, has recently not only set at liberty eight thousand serfs, of both sexes, but relinquished to them, for a trifling rent, the lands which they occupied.

SOCIETY FOR THE BENEFIT OF SERVANTS.-Among the recent benevolent movements in London, is the establishment of a General Domestic Servants' Benevolent Institution, the

object of which is, to provide for the support of servants who have become incapacitated for service by old age or infirmity. An annuity of from twenty to twenty-five pounds will be secured by the annual payment of five shillings by a man or three shillings by a female servant. The Society has received valuable donations of money from many wealthy families. Although a state of society in which any useful class are considered as degraded by their occupation, must be a vicious one, this fact renders none the less praiseworthy an act of charity towards the degraded class. Besides, such acts of benevolence may lead to more extensive efforts in their behalf.

POPULAR EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.-The English Parliament have recently been devoting special attention to this subject-giving occasion to a powerful speech from Mr. Macaulay, on its necessity. "He showed," says the foreign correspondent of one of our papers, "that the duty of educating the people had been advocated by the political legislators and philosophers of all ages;" and he adduced evidence to show how much of the crime and misery in the country were owing to the low state of popular education. He quoted Dr. Adam Smith's opinion, "that if the State did not attend to the religious education of its people, great disorders must ensue;" and observed that that illustrious philosopher had hardly written this sentence, before the riots of 1782 took place, and exemplified the truth of it - when a hundred thousand men rose up in London, at the call of a mere madman, and the city was for six weeks in the power of a mob.

ABOLITION OF THE IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN.-A bill has been brought before the English House of Commons, to provide a substitute for the barbarous system of pressing men into the naval serviee, which, it is well known, has heretofore prevailed. The new plan is similar to the mode of enlistment in the militia. The procuring men by impressment is said to be no longer practicable.

THE BOOK WORLD.

HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE MOST EMINENT ENGLISH POETS. By William Howitt. New York: Harper & Brothers. 2 vols. 12mo.

The Harpers have issued these fascinating volumes in a style of great elegance. The illustrations, by Hewet, add considerably to the attraction of the work, and are executed with much neatness. The chief object of the book is to give descriptions of the homes and haunts of the principal English poets, from Chaucer to the present day. This is admirably done; but with this is connected quite a detailed biography of each poet, replete with interesting anecdotes, many of which are quite new. The chapters on Southey, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Scott, Moore, and other writers of the present century, are especially interesting, and contain numerous facts which must be unfamiliar to the large majority of readers. The book has faults; but they are almost lost sight of in the attractiveness of the materials, and the general excellence of the execution. It is a work which will bear more than one perusal without losing its charm.

A YEAR OF CONSOLATION. By Mrs. Butler. New York: Wiley & Putnam. 1 vol. 12mo.

acter.

This is Fanny Kemble's last production, and is stamped on every page with the striking peculiarities of her mind and charThe tone of the thought is that of a bold, strong masculine nature, rendered somewhat petulant and querulous by suffering and world-weariness. The descriptions both of persons and objects are graphic and powerful, but "sicklied o'er" too much by her individual feelings. The observations on art, character and manners, are often very acute. The poems which are interspersed through the prose body of the book, are of various merit, some of them of touching excellence, while others sink to mediocrity. Altogether, the volume is one of the raciest published during the

season.