The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-27 00:00:00

IRISH AND SCOTCH BANKS.

The returns of circulation of the Irish and Scotch
banks for the four weeks ending the 20th of January,
when added together, give the following as the average
weekly circulation of these banks during the past month,
viz.:—
Average circulation of the Irish banks £G,732,(20
Average circulation of the Scotch banks 4,119,523

Average circulation during past m0uthe...£10,852,143

On; comparing the above With the fixed issues of the
several banks, as given in the Banking Almanac, the
following appears to be the state of the circulation :

The Irish banks aro above their fixed issue £378,126
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue 1,032,314

Total above the fixed issue...

£1,410;440

The amounts of gold and silver held at the head office!,
of the several banks during the past month have been as
follows :

Gold and silver held by the Irish banks £2,102,47R
Gold and silver hold by the Scotch banks 1,724,101

Total of gold and silver hold £3,826,579

The above statements complete the returns of the cir
culation in England, Scotland, and Ireland for the month
ending the 20th of January.
These returns show an increase of 638,630/. in the
circulation of notes in England, and an increase of
452,0291. in the circulation of the United Kingdom,
when compared with the month ending the 23d of De-
cember, 1854 ; and, as compared with the month ending
the 21st of January, 1854, the above returns show a
decrease of 1,797,8111. in the circulation of notes in
England, and a decrease of 1,483,5221. in the circulation
of the United Kingdom. -
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both departments during the month ending the
20th of January was 13,450,912/., being a decrease of
959,4501., as compared with the previous month ; and a
decrease of 2,911,3301. when compared with the same
period last year.
The stock of specie held by the Scotch and Irish banks
during the month ending the 20th of January was
3,826,5791., being a decrease of 35,0121. as compared
with the previous return, and an increase of 387,6011.
when compared with the corresponding period last year.

THE STANDARD LIFE ASSURANCE

COMPANY.

The Twenty-ninth Annual General Meeting of the Standard
,Life Assurance Company was held within the Company's
Office, Edinburgh, on Thursday, the 15th of February ; An-
thony Trail, Esq., the senior director, in the chair.
The following statements, containing minute details of the
progiess of the company, and of its position at the date of
the periodical balance were submitted to the meeting :
Annual balance sheet as at 15th November, 1854, certified
in accordance with the company's acts of Parliament.

Report by the auditor after elapliination of the books and
accounts.
General statement as to the progress of the business and
its results as at 15th November, 1854.
The following abstract of results exhibits the actual pro-
gress of the year.
The number of proposals for assurance made to the direc-
tors during the year was 1,265

The number of proposals accepted during the sane pe-
riod was • 1,046
and with annuity transactions accepted, to the
number of 4O

makes the transactions of the year 1,086
being an increase of 171 policies as compared with the
largest number issued in any previous year.
The amount of suns proposed for assurance
was .........
The amount of sums contained in policies
issued was. 515,117 7 0

The difference £107,083 1 5
being the amount of the declined proposals And it is curious
to remark, as evincing the continued care bestowed in the
selection of lives, that the accepted and declined proposals
for many years have borne the same relative proportion.
It will also be observed that the average amount of each
policy bo;filloefrnearly Z 001:; a teSult-41rtictr,In the manage-
ment of life assurance institutions, is considered a very favour-
able feature in the transaction of business,

The annual premiums corresponding to the new assurances
amount to £16,650 0 2

The amount of claims by death was £89,428 13 10
And with bonus additions

Makes in all £95,361 1 0

The amount of claims is greater than in the previous year
by 5,8612. 6s. 2d. ; but it is only in proportion to the ex-
tended business of the company.
The annual revenue at 15th November, 1854, had reaehed
218,9682. 16s. 5d., being an increase on the year of 13,936(. 2s.

The following are the yearly results of the new business
since 1844 : -

Sums Assured. .
1845—Bonus Year £446,026 12 10 Annual
£l4,979Premiums 8 10
1846..,. 368,679 7 10 12,846 4 10
1847
1848
1849
1850—Bonus Year
1851
1852
15,145 15 6

1853

455,24817 1 14,886 9 3

1854 ~..

515,117 7 0 16,650 0 2

New Thasiness in 10
£4,476,333 4 3 £150,382 10 5
years

Annual Average £447,633 0 5 £15,038 5 0
The report read by the directors, after communicating the
above ;moults, proceeded as follovt's :
On tiae present occasion the directors have no feature of
novelty, The institution has now been extended by agencies
to every part of the kingdom; the principles on which it is
founded. are not susceptible, in their opinion, of any apparent
improvement; its practice has always been characterised by
tic most liberal dealing towards those who transact with it ;
and it hasp now become the chief duty of those entrusted with
its management to maintain the company in the high and
honourable position which it has reached by the patient and
steady attention bestowed on its interests by those who, dur-
ing the last thirty years, have laboured to make it what it
now is, one of the most successful companies of the day on
the particular system on which it is founded.

The directors hope that the company may long enjoy the
confidence of the public, and they trust that the same liberal
rivalry 'which exists among the offices in Scotland wiil con-
tinue to actuate them, a fair emulation being a wholesome
stimulant, beneficial to the public, and inspiriting to the
offices themselves. It would be well for England if Life
Assurance was In as wholesome a condition as it is in Scot-
land. The daily increasing evil which presses on the English
public by the wholesale manufacture of new offices calls
loudly for legislative interference, but although a Committee
of the House of Commons reported, eighteen months ago, on
the necessity of soma check being instituted, the evil still con-
tinues, 104 new offices having beenprojeoted, and 56 founded
during the last two years alone.
The directors have only farther to remind those present
that at 15th November, 1855, the company will reach the
period when the fifth investigation of its affairs is appointed
to be made. The necessary calculations are now in progress,
and the most anxious attention of the board will be directed
to the important duties which that inquiry in solves. But
they refer to the approach of that period at present, more
particularly for the purpose of seeking co-operaticrnin pro--
meting the business of the year now current. " The Bonus
Year," as it is termed, has always been a very successful ono
in point of business, in consequence of the inducement to
enter before the division of profits ; but a heavier task than
usual has to be performed this year, in consequence of the
very large extent of business during the past year—the Bonus
Year being no doubt expected to be, as it has hitherto been,
the best of the quinquennial period. The directors trust,
therefore, that they will receive hearty support in their en-
deavours to make it a year of increased success.

This Report having been unanimously approved of, the
meeting then proceeded to elect now directors in, the room of
those who retire by rotation, and after the appointments were
made, the direction of the company was declared by the
Chairman to be as follows :
Governor—Ms Grace the DUKE of Buccaatcn and
QUEENSBERRY.

Deputy-Governor—The Right Han. the EARL of ELGIN and

KLNCARDINE.

EDINBURGH.
ORDINARY DIRECTORS.
ANDREW BLACKBURN, Esq., Banker.
THOMAS GRAHAM MURRAY, Esq., W.S.
JAMES VEITCH, Esq., of liock.
WILLIAM WOOD, Esq., Surgeon.
ALEXANDER JAMES RUSSELL, Esq., C.S.
WILLIAM MONCREIFF, Esq., Accountant.
GEORGE PATTON, Esq., Advocate.
JOHN ROBERT TOD, Esq., W.S.
CHARLES PEARSON, Esq., Accountant.
JAMES COXDIE, Esq., Perth.
JAMES ROBERTSON, sq., W.S.
JAMES HAY, Esq., Merchant, Leith.
GEORGE MOIR, Esq., Advocate.
HARRY MAXWELL INGLIS, Esq., W.S.

LONDON.
Chairman of the Board,
The Right Hon. the Earl of ABERDEEN.
ORDINARY DIRECTORS.
JOHN LINDSAY, Esq., 26, Laurence Pouutney-lane.
THOMAS H. BROOKING, Esq., 14, New Broad:street.
JOHN GRIFFITH FRITH, Esq., Austin Friars.
ALEXANDER GILLESPIE, Esq., 3, Billiter-court.
ALEXANDER MACGREGOR, Esq., Arlington-street.
JonN SCOTT, Esq., 4, Hyde-park-street.
Sir ANTHONY OLIPIIANT, C.B.

A vote of thanks was presented to the Board of Directors,
to the Manager 'and other Office-bearers, and to the Chairman,
after which the meeting separated.
• By order of the Board of Directors.
WILL. THOS. THOMSON, Managers.
11. JONES WILLIAMS, Resident Secretary,
London, 82, King William-street.

Every information will be given at the Offices and at the
Agencies of the Company, which are established in all the
principal towns of the. kingdom.
LONDON
EDINBURGH (Head Office)... 3, GEORGE -STR EET.
DUBLIN ' 66, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET.

Mons. Soyer leaves *London this morning for Scutari,
at the desire of her Majesty's (xoverninent, for the pur-
pose of superintending the dietary at the hospital tlicr.
He proceeds via Marseilles, as it is considered of im-
portance to place the hospital cuisine at the earliest pos-
sible moment in a condition to supply the demands upon
it with expediti ‘n, comfort, and economy.
THE NEW BILL TO APPOINT PUBLIC PROSECUTORS.
--Yesterday the bill before Parliament for the appoint-
ment of " Public Prosecutors," was issued. The Lord
Chancellor, in the event of the bill becoming law, is to
appoint barristers to the office in districts at 1,500/. a
year, and deputies may be appointed at 10!. a day when
are to be employed. Justices may .remand to take the opinion
of a public prosecutor. District agents
TILE EAST.S POWERFUL.
ap-
pointed in furtherance of the act.
PAcAnaNvTxrirrtisasnloiNeNenrda
and B. Solo
39,, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly. Observe
mons, opticians, —ixorniGHLAW'ssrEASß.—L-Messrs. ;S. .
opposite
the York Hotel. By her Majesty's Roy a.
extraordinary Letters Patent for valuable and improvements
in the most powerful and brilliant Telescopes, Camp, Race-
course, Opera, and Perspective Glasses, to know the distances
of objects viewed through them—of great importance to the
army, navy, and others. These telescopes possess such extra-
ordinary powers that some 3A inches, with an extra eye-
'cm will show distinctly Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring,
and the double stars ; with the same telescope can be
seen a person's countenance three miles and a half distant,
and an object from 16 to 20 miles. They are of larger and all
sizes, with increasing powers accordingly ; while their vary-
ing from 4 to 6 inches enable us to discover more than the
above, and the Georgian 'with his 6 satellites, &c.—The Royal
Exhibition, 1851.—Valuable, newly-invented, very small,
powerful waistcoat-pocket glass,the size of a walnut, by which
a person can be seen and known 1 miles distant ; they answer
every purpose on the race-course, and at the opera houses,
country scenery, and ships are clearly seen at 8 to 10 miles.
They are invaluable for shooting, deer-stalking, yachting, to
.sportsmen, gentlemen, gamekeepers, and tourists. Opera,
race-course, camp, and perspective glasses, with' weaderfid
power.—Newly-constructed Spectacle Lenses of the great-
est transparent power. The valuable advantage derived
from this invention is, that vision becoming Impaired is
preserved and strengthened,
and very aged persons are
enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occu
pation—can see with these lenses of a much less magnify-
ing power—and they do not require the frequent changes
to the dangerous effects of further powerful assistance. Deaf-
ness—New Discovery.—The Organic Vibrator, an extraordi-
nary powerful, small, newly-invented instrument for deafness,
entirely different from all others, to, surpass anything of the
kind that has been, or probably ever can be, produced.
Being of the same colour as the skin, is not perceptible ; it
enables deaf persons to hear distinctly at church an d.
t
public assemblies ; the unpleasant sensation of singing noises
in the ears is entirely removed; and it affords all the assist-
ance that possibly could' be desired. 39, Albetnarle-streetit
Piccadilly. Observe —opposite the York Mite'.