BENEFITS OF INSURANCE.

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applicable to the wants of the community in so great a variety ofways, that it is difficult to select particular instances, without toomuch diffuseness. A creditor may secure a debt which he maybe in danger of losing in case of the death of his debtor ; and per-sons may secure expectancies which they may have, depending onthe lives of others, by insuring the lives upon which their interestdepends. These kinds of insurance, like insurance against fireor the perils of the ocean, are wise provisions against the contin-gencies of life, and will become more and more common, as pru-dence and foresight gain ground in any community.

Life-insurances ought to be more general than other insurances,inasmuch as the event, against which they provide, is certain tohappen sooner or later ; and there are few, perhaps it might besaid no cases, in which the insured is not greatly the gainer bythe transaction. If he has paid, in insurance, nearly or quite theamount which is received, it is like so much laid up in a savingsbank, which might not otherwise have been saved ; and the per-son or persons for whose benefit the insurance was effected, theinsured or his heirs, receiving the full amount at once, are able toapply it more effectually, than if it were to be received in smallportions. A man who has his life insured, has taken considerateprecaution for those depending on him, and has evinced his ac-quiescence in the uncertainty of human life, which is the orderof Providence, and one of the designs of which is, we may notdoubt, to promote that precaution and solicitude for the welfareof others, which the present state of society preeminently de-mands.

The practice of life-insurance, if encouraged and promoteduntil it becomes ■'general, will have a powerful influence in increas-ing the comforts and independence, and consequently the peaceand happiness, of mankind. Then we shall, in future, see in thiscountry, as there are at this moment in England, thousands offamilies in the enjoyment of comforts, of which they would havebeen destitute by the death of their heads or relatives, had it notbeen for such provident precaution. It may well be said, thatscarcely any subject of equal importance is, at present, so littleunderstood or attended to, by the people of the United States,and at the same time, no plan, when understood, promises to be62