The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-13 00:00:00

Thcoestf a little:
facitory, successful, and prosperous year,
ich had lain in their path—which were numerous, ap
patently insurmountable—had been, at the:..
energy, and trouble entirely surmoußll4l,6alitledeti,-2p
move]. They then, as it were, wrote trzer-
the tomb which should enclose them, a OWE
and well in the coming year. That y &Oleo,
gone, and they were then again assem
to its result. They had heard read, a t4nolly
hands a copy of, the directors' re whe
Sheridan) took to be the best eviden l'hey
and the surest guarantee the sharehol 9-coutl
that they had not remained idle or been nee
the past year, but rather, on the contraiVe
had exerted themselves to the utmost to
out the promise made at the meeting of BM. As his
friend Mr. Webber had said, who rarely left anything
unsaid that ought to be said, they had issue .1 in the
past year nearly double the number of poli-Cies than in
the precedineb one, which he . held to be marked and de
tided proof of success, with-which he thought thd, y would
agree when he informed thetna that for not one •)f those
policies were they indebted either to party influence or
personal interest—the whole, with' the exception, of re as-
surances, being the result -of a vigorous canvass among
total strangers, who had been induced to assure soledy upon
the merit of the principle of life assurance, and!to select
this office because it had been kept before their oyes, and
held out as affording the usual facilities for a ow amensu-
rate payment of premiums. He (Mr. Sheridan) ;thought,
therefore, upon these considerations they might agree in
saying the report was a good one, and one whit h might
well be compared with many of their older nei ghbours
working' the same time ; he would not, bowers r, draw
invidious comnarisons.Theexecutive thought it might have
been better.. The time which had been spent—the) energy
which had been infused into the working depal ?talent—
would have warranted, nay, they felt demanded, better;
but they had been held in check by circumstai cees—eir-
cumstauces over which they had no control. It was true
they last year had difficulties, but they-were inte enal ones
—within their own reach—subject to their own removal.
This year the case had been different. Their difficulties
had been external ones, and consequently beyoseel their
power, for he need scarcely remind them that the' stirring
events and startling changes of the past year, whi ch had
diseased the blood of the politic 1 body of Enrol Pe, and
occupied and engrossed the undivided attention of all her
Governments, had affected, and was affecting,- all el, Asses of
the -corninnnity, themselves amongst the rest. It ; was not
hie (Mr. Sheridan's) purpose 'to dilate upon these 1 :ational
grievances or errors, or occupythe attention of Co e meet-
ing by'p)inting out how, in a remote degree, the can aces had
affected-prejudicially the well-being and working institu-
tions similar to their own—sufficient, ho observeirk , was it
for them to know and feel that in the face of war c d. a pro-
tracted nature, disease of no common order or c b aracter,
and comparative starvation, they had net only 5.3 cceeded
in eveaterieg the eforra, but had 'laced their lita le corn-
eau in such a position as, with age,P bade fair -to be as
eoo4ebest.
if not to rival the Mr. Sheridan arm )logised
for encroaching farther
e11e...1-sr 'the Present p lA i unttyh etior time,
i)asswbuitthohnete
iurladwninogt
their attention to the last paragraph in the direr,' tors' re-
port, and venturing
to hope that it might not i,e heed-
lessly read, or when read forgotpteenr.sonaHle
ewxinsrt Into. im-
press upon them the: necessity .of
attributed the colossal fortunes of their larger neil ;hbours
to the exertions of a devoted and select few. knew
that life assurance was, at the best, but a very un otalatable
commodity to the many. They preferred the but Cher and
the baker to the surgeon—they preferred even the, surgeon
to them. He knew it was a difficult matter to convince
-some-men that -they are doing themselves good a risen pro-
viding for their posterity. You might impress upon
them that they .•would live the longer in the remem-
brance and gratitude of their friends ; but still the animal
would predominate—the ever-recurring questions would
arise—How would it benefit them when dead ?—a nd they
would return dogmatically to their former c pinion.. There
were, however, ethers—he was happy to say for the cha-
racter of human nature —who, if you asked thei n what
they were toiling for, would inform you to leave their,
families a maintenance ; and these were the men 'who, if
properly plied, might be made useful members of society
through the medium of life assurance. But these, even
these, required repeated applications, or they would put it
off from day to day, so prone was man to avoid anything
like a consiceration of that futurity which to tb em could
bring but dissolution. Instances of this find wore nume-
rous. Mr. Sheridan referred to one which occurred last
summer, when hundreds were dying of disease, and no man
()Mild call an hour his own, or say he should. return home
safe at night when he went forth in the morning. An agent
had endeavoured to induce a cattle-dealer to assrtrilhis life,
who'called and filled up a proposal for 5001., but b e would
leave it. Disease struck him as he passed to his own
home, and he died that very night, leaving a wid ow and
children dependent upon precarious bounty. Mr. Sl seridan
concluded by observing that he only asked the sharaholders
to remember, amid the many charities which buret this
philanthropic world, that charity which, if no't better,
was at least equal to any—the charity of life assn ranee.
Mr. LANE then moved, and Mr. Burnes' seconded, a
vote of thanks to the medical officers ' • which was replied
to by Mr. HARDING, who explained to the meeting the
principle on which he and his colleague, Dr. Grady, acted
in the selection of lives, which was, not to reject those
which had been damaged, but to accept them on an in-
creased rate of premium. DrAGRADY also expressed his
sense of the compliment.
A vote of thauks, moved by lfr. JAMES, and seconded
by Mr. JOHN SHERIDAN, was also passed to the solicitor of
the society, Mr. Munson, for his disinterested conduct
since the first starting of the society in declining any re-
muneration until it was firmly established ; a compliment
which the gentleman interested in -it briefly but appro-
priately responded to.
Mr. JAMES, in moving the thanks en' the meeting to the
agests of the society, took occasion to compliment the sys-
tem adopted by the medical officers in the selection of lives,
and referred to the experience of anothee assurance society
as corroborative of his views.

The motion having been seconded by My. BRITTEN, jun.,
was unanimously agreed to.
A sum of 10 guineas each was, on the ,motion of Mr.
FLETCIign, voted as the remuneration of the Auditors ; and
he proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the
thairman.

LIEUT.-GEN. SI It WILLIAM NA PIER.

•w• ' •
TO TILE EDITOR OF THE, DAILY NEWS.

SlR,—The accompanying documents speak f 'tnr them-
selves ; and as your journal was one of those al3 me re-
porter misrepresented Sir James Graham's speech , I have
a right to ask, and do ask, as a matter of justice the in-
sertion of the enclosed documents in the Daily l frews.
W. NAPIER, Lieutenant-Ge beral.

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