Two other methods of co-operative saving remain to be mentioned.  The first is by Life Assurance, which enables widows and children to be provided for at the death of the assured; and the second is by Friendly Societies, which enable working men to provide themselves with relief in sickness, and their widows and orphans with a small sum at their death.  The first method is practised by the middle and upper classes; and the second by the working classes.

It might possibly take a long time to save enough money to provide for those who are dependent upon us; and there is always the temptation to encroach upon the funds set apart for death, which—­as most people suppose—­may be a far-distant event.  So that saving bit by bit, from week to week, cannot always be relied upon.

The person who joins an assurance society is in a different position.  His annual or quarterly saving becomes at once a portion of a general fund, sufficient to realize the intention of the assured.  At the moment that he makes his first payment, his object is attained.  Though he die on the day after his premium has been paid, his widow and children will receive the entire amount of his assurance.

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.