The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-01-23 00:00:00

Literature.

THE INSURANCE WORLD.

The Pod Marxists eflissanad; and hindrance
Directory (18136) is only a sixpenny publication,
but, as all the world knows, it is the leading
Annual of an interest paramount to most in the
monetary circle—an interest that supplements
the wealth of indiriduale—suoroure the wants of
private families—and does more than almost any
other save banking (with which, too, it is inti-
mately allied) to buoy up the credit and capital
of this great commercial ',pantry. 130 fully and
so strongly ars we convinced of the value and
importance of insurance transactions, and the
Imminent and essential consequence to our mer-
cantile and domestic resources of the millions of
money annually turned over in a sort of business
which like Bovine Banks could scarcely be said
to exist at all bait-a-century ago; that we are
rather apt to bore our readers from time to time
with a series of insurance articles, as some
periodicals do theirs with their serial sensation
1 novels. Ours, however, in, we flatter ourselves,
rather more in the way of business, and we are
proud to own that not a few of the most flourish-
ing offices have seen fit to circulate our article
either apart or by ordering an extra impression
of one or other of our cheap papers—a plan
which we aunt be understood highly to com-
mend, since if the remarks we may be enabled to
oiler have any weight, It must be when read in
tLeir original form. Prior to noticing the merits
of the Post Magazine .dbnaisack as an Ineuranoe
Directory, it may be proper to say that it is in
one respect distinguished from all our other
almanaoks, cheap or dear, by Nor being pub-
lished before the commencement of the year. It

was only the other day that we were inasing •
zealous bibliople of our town by pointing out in
all his almanscics, diaries, lc., ate., for the
"ensuing year" that one and all had a spurious
list of the Ministry, with Lord Palmerston for
premier instead of Earl Russell ; to which he him-
self superadded the superfluous misery that in
can of the Queen's death (which we believe it is
treason so much as to imagine), certain pages of
his handsomely bound stook of prayer books and
church services would be good for nothing. How
the Post Magazine Aintanack, making its 26th
bow to the public, under Mr. Hooper Hartnoll,
rectifies all this, let itself declare l--
" The date of this prefatory notice," ems be, "will be
a day or two In advance of the year borne on Its title
page. Whatever changes therefore may take place in
the interval in reaper of the °Merl appointments and
honorary °roes held by the thousands of persous whose
names appear in its wellaitored eolnems, will be to that
extent a &er• rheum of the principle upon which this
almensok is compiled —namely, tWit of its being •
reliable record of the several names, end erase al
honour and trust, as they stand related to each other on
each seommive New Year's Day. The unavoidable
errors erring from such publications being brought out
several weslis,—socnittintes two or three months in ad.
ranee of the year to which they an supposed to apply,
have received further Illustrations. The most exten-
sively simulated amnesic is the kingdom will, through-
out the whole year 1966, inform the world that Lord
Palmerston, who died mare than two months sines, is
still Prime Minister of Ragland, • Knight of the Garter,
Lord Warden of the Claque Port., a Privy Counsellor,
and Member for Tiverton ;—and tha the other Cabinet
Minirere severally retain the oilier they held at the
tier of his Lordship'srlecwara. The tame almanaok and
most others will keep Leopold L on the throes of
Belgium twelve months looser, although his remains
were interred on the lerth of December, whilst they
exclude from the Upper House for • like period Sir John
Romilly (Dow Baron Rowdily), and Sir Praria Baring,
Bart. (now Berea Northbrook), who wre peered Pears
of the realm an the 19th December."

The principal feature of the Post Magazine
Aistanack is, however, WI voluminous and care-
fully collected details relating to Insurance Com-
panies and Institutions, presenting not only an
Alphabetical List of Directors, but an Insurance
Directory of a most complete, yet compact cha-
racter; tables of the rates of premiums of the
several offices, bringing, with the appendix of
advertisements, in which the several offices give
each special amounts of themselves, as is pally
boasted, "so large a mass of information into •
comparatively small campus, that this alumna&
may almost be regarded as a photographic
picture of the Insurance Companies of the United
Kingdom."