The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-14 00:00:00

ingly, "0.11..1.1 see
-you don't ittinderstand me, sir..
I don't mean the 'air.of the 'ed, but the hair hof
the hatmosphere !" Horeigners, too, Mr. Leech
pencils off with--more-than the vraisemblance of
Gavarni, though with- more than the caricature of
Rovvlandson. testimony of'which take that
"Staggerer for an Excursionist" in London, when
Bearded Monsieur with profuse gesticutationsaith,
hat in hand, to honest Chawbacon, with Polly Dust-
pan on his arm, "Pardon, m'sieu! •Faut it aller
droite, 4 gauche, ou en face, pour' me rendre 4
Peek-a-peek-a-dee-lee ?" Or, better still, that
group of frowsy and hirsute foreigners, "Memo-
rials of the Great Exhibition of 1851," pausing in
amazement by an at fresco washing-stand, with its
cleanly array of towels, soap, et cetera, under one
of the trees in Hyde Park—one crying out, "Mon
Dieu,
.Alphonse ! Regardez done. Comment
appele-t-on cette machine a?" His comrade,
"Teens, c'est drble--mail je ne -sais pas." Fancy
'portraits are sprinkled through the pages delight-
fully, as in the case of the " Indivfdrial".{with
straw in his hair; and sums scrawled on the wall,
and his finger in his- mouth, grinning]—" who
sends a fifty-pound note for unpaid income tax to
the Chancellor- of the Exchequer. . With sketches
from. IZiture the volutrie, of 'course, abounds
" taken near the
'in justice to Mr.
Ft hrreoetmi
sootni tw;
Thu,:
It,eornne,,, oofutglhiets,e
Leech, to be
mean, of the old gentleman, gooseberryja. ced and
is
'especially particularised. That, we
pottle-bodied, wheezing and tight, who calling
out agonisedly in a spasmedid trot, " Good gram-
It were idle, however, to go on particularising. As
ous ! it's striking, arid they'll, have begun dinner."
well attempt . to . define in: words the distinctive
charaeter of the grins and guffaws celebrated by
Hog krth's pencil in his 'inimitable.'" Laughing
Audience," as to catalogue all the variable fun and
frolic scitiandeTred by the humorous hand of Leech
over his no less inimitable "Pictures of Life and
Character.'' They are things to seen and roared
over, rather than to
.be 'coolly criticised Or delibe-
raand tely
et- enumerated.„ _For ourselves we have again
Y again
given them the panegyric of our
laughter. Gratitude to Mr. Leech, .and good-will.
to others (who
may not Yet have canned them.
selves under the infinence of 'hiS-iadiant humour),
impel us to add to that more appropriate and more
genial eulogium, this sedater tribute of sincere and
unaffected admiration. -

NATIONAL LOAN FUND LIFE
ASSURANCE socrErr.

The annual general meeting of this company was held
on the 9th inst. It was more numerowdyattended than
we have seen it on any former occasion,: the spacious
board room being quite filled. Edmond S. Sythes,
the Chairman of the Company, presided:
The balance sheets and auditors' certificate Were read,
as also the actuary's report, as follows

" L, 21st Aril
"Gentlemen,—Having completedondon the variopus, callBscus. la-
tions, it again devolves upon me to submit to you the re-
sults of my annual investigation of the affairs of the Na-
tional Loan Fund Life Assurance Society.
" During the past year 1,031 policies have been issued,
covering assurances to the extent of '420,1331., and yield-
ing premiums to the amount of 13,725/. 17s. 9d. per annum.
The claims paid during the year amount to 43,8171. 75.4 d ;
the expected claims during the same period, according to the
table of mortality adopted by the society, being 30,5801.
The total claims paid from the commencement of the
society to the end of the year amount to 262,8631. lls. 7d.,
being 2,423 less than the expectation. The income of the
society arising from premiums on 5,696 policies is now
82,2071. 7s. 11d. per annum, exclusive of extra premiums
and income from other sources, and the correspoading
amount of assurances is 2,496,3011.
" The position of the affairs of the society, calculated up
to the lst of December, 1854, is as follows :
Present value of income receivable by the
society under Life Assurancecontracts £1,120,030 3 11
Present value of income from Deferred
Annuities and Endowments
Amount of investments, as per Auditors'
Report, &c.

4,936 16 7

148,432 6 2

£1,273,399 6 8

Present value of liabili-
ties on all existing
Life Assurances, in-
cludingcuri entclai ea5E1,068,146 17 1
Present value of liabili-
ties on Deferred An-
nuities and Endow-
ments
Present value of Imme-
diate Annuities pay-
able by the society...
Paid-up capital
Bonus on shares unpaid

26,440 3 8

60,200 19 0
51,076 10 0
301. 2 4

.21,206,168 12 1

Balance in favour of the society —.2 67,130 14 7
" After. reserving the sum of .57,6951. Hs. 7d. from this
balance, the remainder will enable you to declare to non-
withdrawal policies, on the profit scale, a cash bonus of 15
per cent., and a reversionary bonus in addition to the sums
assured, varying according to age and duration, from 20
to GO Per cent. on the premiums of all policies on the profit
scale. the same being upwards of four years' standing, and
to the proprietors a bonus of 3 per cent. in addition to the
regular interest of 5 per cent.—l. am, gentlemen, your very
obedient servant, •

`‘ W. S. B. WOOLHOUSE, Actuary.
"To the D:rectors of the National Loan Fund
Life Assurance Society."
The foll.wing report of the directors was read by J.
Lea,..der Starr, Epq., the manager .:
, "The directors are bappy in having an opportunity
1 of submitting to the proprietors the balance sheets of the
past year, showing the progress and financial state of the
cornpiny, and also the annual report of our eminent
actuary.
"From these it will be seen that, despite the gravy
hind, ranee to the success of nearly every branch of busi-
ness during the pest year, both at borne and abroad, by
untowarJ circumstances disorganising the steady march
of counriercial success which bad heretofore existed ; de-
spite the unusual mortality, by cholera and otherwise,
which has caused such unprecedented losses to Life As-
surance Companies, and which has called for 22,150/.
15s. 4d. of our funds to meet such claims, in excess of
the sum paid the preceding year ; our business has been
well sustained, and the result of the year's transactions
has been such as to warrant the actuary in recommend-
ing us to award a handsome bonus, both to policy-holders
and proprietors.
" Since the end of the financial year our business has
been well kept up, and the attention of the directors has
been most earnestly engagedinsiftitg the whole system of
our operations, with the view of making such modifications
as the experience of the past has proved to be desirable.
Their attention has also been occupied in endeavouring
to carry out a general system of retrenchment of our
expenditure both at home and at our chief foreign
agencies, and in doing which they have been met in a
spirit of great cordiality and earnestness by our general
agents, and especially by our representatives at New
York ; and the progress, so far, has not been inconsider-
able, while hopes of further reductions are likely to be
realised in the future progress of the finance committee,
who are still pursuing so desirable an object.
" The removal of the Society's offices from Cornhill to
the Strand, and the change of name, which the directors
hope will soon be completely accomplished, are mea-
sures bearing most f tvourably on the future business
and success of the institution. -
"In no period of the society's history has the busi-
ness conducted at our foreign agencies been so well man-
aged, or in detail more regular, than at this moment.
"The directors recommend, as suggested in the ac-
tuary's report, that the proprietors award 3 per cent.
bonus to holders of shares (in addition to the regular
annual interest of 5 per cent.), and 15 per cent. cash
bonus to policyholders (with profits, and on the non-
withdrawal scale), and the reversionary bonus, as ex-
plained by Mr. Woolhouse.
" It will be the business of the present meeting to
elect four directors in lieu of Messrs. Elliotson, Sgines,
Tabor, and. Thompson, whose term of office expires, but
who are eligible for re-election, and offer themselves ac-
cordingly, and to confirm Messrs. Hodgson end King
Church, who have been appointed directors by a ePecial
court convened for that purpose, vice Messrs. CrOft and
Starr, resigned. ,
" Also to elect two auditors in lieu of Pl:Sfess:
Wheatstone, F.R.S., and Professor J. Radford l''o lln
whose term of office expires, but are eligible, and offer
themselves accordingly.
the rep re.
On the motion of the CHAIRMAN,
" 142, Strand, Ma‘y‘ E 3, D-1148°517." ort was 5.
Svg"'
Chainivin.
ceived and adopted. ' n
nimously re-elected. .
The present auditors were u_oaseph
Thompson, Esq.,
E. S. Symes, Esq., AI.P-, J
John Elhotson, Esq., M.D.,
Clement Tabor, Esq_.!
and Samuel King Church,
e duly elected,
ietorLs,iafendon its presentc)
and confirmed directors of the
society. congratulate the management of
We may honestly'the
very general expre •of expression confi-
dence company on
HenryEsq.wJe
r. Hodgson,
future prospects.Thebill now before Par-
liament,
liament, to change the name to one more appropriate t
nearntdhh9a
re
felt, 0 f the success 'p‘
aThertof the
Internationalprop r
its business,Assurance So.
ciety," having passed the committees of both Houses of
and prosperity of
parliament, will soon become a law, and ' f 1'
n we ee sure,
apdsoe
sii,cteei
oenov
Ss
this company.

At a special general meeting of the proprietors'on the
preceding day, the Chairman, on behalf of the directors,
stated the course pursued by the directors in refuthtion
of Mr. Bennett's circulars, and detailed especially the
causes which led to that individual's dismissal from office;
and Mr. Bennett having replied thereto at great length,
the following resolution was passed by a very large ma-
jority of the proprietors pre,ent, no proxies having been
used used on the occasion, although absent proprietors, to
extent of over 100, had confided their proxies to' the
directors :

" Resolved—That this meeting cordially approves of th•
course which the directors have felt themselves compelled
to take in the matter of Mr. Bennett's dismissal from the
office of financial manager, and desires to record its confi.
deuce in their general administration of the affairs of the
society."
The meeting then voted thanks to the chairman (Dr.
Symes) "for his able and excellent conduct in the chair."
•

• nights with his-," -
Smith coming for a
willfew .
'There is some rumour, says Galignani, of Mr Aibert
*scent of
,taiWdhoEnwgoliusiald alone nearly fill hie salle
Mont Blanc. It be highly successful among all
as well as Mr. Smith's own
ea:ohouhon
countrymen,