The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-09 00:00:00

Translated from 'he Gerrilan of Dr. PICKFORD.

"Dr. Pickford is known to English readers by his frequent practi-
cal contributions to German medical literature. This is the first
ime, he informs us, that he has addressed himself to the non-medi-
cal reader. We trust this may not be the last, if he shall
detect any other equally flagrant evil which it may be in his
rower to correct."—London Medical Gazette, May 30, 1851.
—" The editor has conferred a great boon on the sufferers from this
listressing malady by translating this little hook, and by laying bare
the scandalous practices of unqualified adventurers, who profess to
cure a disease of which they know nothing, with no other object
than to fill their own purses. The difference between true Sperma-
torrhcea and the various forms of disease which resemble it are
accurately described, and thus a safe guide is offered for the
treatment of the malady "—Medical Circular, May 5, 1852.
—" We have delayed so long upon the contents of the preliminary
chapter, that we have scarcely left ourselves space for any notice of
the subject specially treated of by Dr. Pickford ; but the moderate
price at which the ' brochure' is sold, places it within the reach of
every one Interested in the matter."—Dublin Medical Press, April
15,1852.

No. 11.

?Svo., In cloth, price 3s. 6d., by post free, 4s.
THE CURE OF STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA, on Princi-
ples at once Simple, Safe, and Efficient, in even its most Inveterate
and apparently Intractable Forms. To which is added, PRACTICAL
OBSERVATIONS ON THE TREATMENT OF SPERMATORR-
INEA BY CAUTERIZATION ; its Inefficiency and Danger.
BY F. B. COURTENAY,
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
" Tho4e who complain most loudly are those only who know not
how to use the common instruments
geons has been inarced with all kinds of violence, an indifference
about the simple cure of diseases, and a passion for operations and
all the excesses and horrors of surgery."—John Bell's Surgical
Observations.—" In proof of his views he (Mr. Courtenay) has
Riven the history of a great many cases successfully treated, as bad
as any which Mr. Syme adduced, and on which he had operated.
Such ire cases ix., xi., xii., and xviii. No. ix. had resisted, for a
period of twelve years, the treatment by dilitation, and was finally
removed in as many weeks. Rut cases xviii. and xi x. appear, both
In duration, severity, and complication of symptoms, of a more ag •
gravated character than any detailed by Mr. Syme, and yet the
treatment adopted by Mr. Courtenay proved eminently successful."
—Protean, r I.izars on the Treatment of Stricture.

ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARRIAGE, AND THE SECRET
INFIRMITIES OF YOUTH AND MATURITY.
WITH FIFTY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL.
In French, English, German, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian, in a
Sealed Envelope, 2e. fid., or post-free, for Forty-two Stamps,
SELF-PR E SER V ATION; an
Analytical Investigation of the Physiology and Functions of
Marriage, in all the bearings in which that important subject affects
the health and happine.s of Man, with its Disqualifications and Impe-
diments, tracing their origin to the effects of juvenile solitary habits,
youthful excess, tropical climates, or close study ; followed by prac-
tical remarks, founded on twenty years' experience in the treatment
of Impuissance, Nervous Debility, Local Weakness, Spermatorrholia,
Syphilis, and all diseases of the Urinary and Generative System. Il-
lustrated by 50 coloured Engravings, on the Anatomy of the Repro-
ductive Organs and their relative conditions in Health and Disease.

By SAMUEL LA'MERT, M.D.,
Doctor of Medicine, Matriculated
Edin-
burgh, Honorary Member of
irregularities
-SQUARE, LONDON,
87, BEDFoRD
Member of the University of Edin-
Ere Londonll, Hospital Medical Society,
treatise n London, n,
to &c.
point, & c .
all stacutht,
Licentiate of Apothecaries,
The essential object of this
gVarities and excesses, which
t the fearful
consequences resulting from
of than, perhaps, any
life,degradation in Man-
hood, apnrocidpurceemd
atmuroeredemcaisyerayt
other class of disease known to modern
adopted is founded on experience gained in
The treatment
schools of medicine both in this country andni the most celebrated
The results of the knowledge thus acquired arenhcontinental Europe.
the personal supervision of Dr. La'Mert ,
legally qualified physicians who have devoted thet one of the few
un-
divided studieslo this important branch of medical science.rwhole and
ever, peculiarity re'ating to the treatment of the diseas In short,
to the generative system, and the . means of immediatees incidental
ultimate cure are described in detail. The profession,
shed potation
and
of Dr. La'Mert, who has taken the most distingutshedeputation
and academic honours at home and abroad, is in itself a medical
guarantee that those who may place themselves under his care
ent
will, in every instance, meet with that delicate consideration and
inviolable secrecy which are so requisite in the treatment of these

cues.
Publithe by the Author, and may be had of J. Gilbert, 49, Pater-
noster-row ; Hannay, 63, Oxford-street ; Starts, Titchborne-street,
Haymarket ; Maim, 93, Cornhill ; or tr., by post for forty-two
stamps, from the author, who may be consulted personally, or by
letter. daily. from Ten till Two. and from Six till Elebt-

_
FOXES IN OXFORDSHIRE.-1117xes in this and the'
neighbouring county of Berks are very plentiful; in the
coverts more immediately in the vicinity of Oxford they are
unusually so. On Saturday last, while the Berkshire hounds
were cub hunting at Wytham, the seat of the Earl of
Abingdon, several of the foot people viewed no less than seven
foxes. In the districts of Lerd Redesdale's and Mr. Drake's
hounds, it must also be gratifying to the sportsman to learn
that foxes are numerous.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES.—We publish this morning another letter
on that subject which has lately occupied so many
practised heads, of adjusting the income-tax to a
standard of great fairness and equity. Few persons,
we apprehend, will he at any loss to appreciate the
fact stated by our correspondent, that whereas the
dissentient "economists" could come to no agree-
meent, even among themselves, on the anxioms by
which the present system was to be defended, the
" actuari,-s" were not only unanimous in condemning
it, but were of one accord upon the principles which
they alleged to convict it of injustice. This is little
less than saying that ell practical men conversant
with the subject are of one clear opinion respecting
'he unfairness of the present impost, while the oppo-
site doctrine is rnaintaizied solely by a few theorists
who contradict n 0.,; only their adversaries but each
other. We have already observed that the whole
case stands prejudged by the rational instincts of
every man's mind. When a person is told in cir-
cuitous or technical phraseology that 1001. a year in
profits taken over the counter is as good as 1001. a
years in Consols, his common sense teaches him that
somewhere or other there lurks a sophism in the
proof. He may be too plain a man to be able to
wrangle with an " economist," but he will assuredly
remain unconvinced, and not only in will but in judg-
ment. It may take some time, perhaps, and no little
pains to expose the particular error on which the fal-
lacy rests, but a fallacy it will inevitably prove to
be. In the letter, for instance, to which we are now
referring, will be found an exposure of Mr. War-
burton's theory—that uncertainty or variability of
income receives an adequate consideration in the un-
certainty or variability of taxation without any modi-
fication of the per tentage taken, and that if when a
man ceased to earn he ceased to pay, there could be
no injustice in his payments keeping pace with his
earnings as long as they lasted. We pointed out the
feleity of this doctrine the other day by showing that
a sovereign precariously returned was not, to any
intent or purpose, or for any period of time,
identical with a sovereign coming in as one
of a fixed and permanent influx of sovereigns.
Our correspondent now remarks in the same
spirit, that the fallacy is actually contained in the
double use of the word " income." An income 1,0001.
a year derived from land or the funds leaves the
capital wholly uncurtailed and entire, and is income
in the strictest sense of the word ; a like return de-
rived from professional labour or trade does not leave
the capital untouched, but absorbs more or less of it
every year in what is more familiarly termed the
" wear and tear" of the individual concerned. The
capital of the proprietor is something which will pro-
duce an income spontaneously and infallibly, not only
year after year, but generation after generation, re-
maining always just as complete and productive as
ever. The capital of the tradesman is constituted of
his own fleeting powers and the precarious favours of
the public, a portion of it being consumed every year
in the manufacture of income, until sooner or later it
sinks with its possessor. To call the produce, there-
fore, of these two capitals by the same title of
" income," and to treat this income as in
both cases identical, is an abuse of terms.
Mr. Babbage asserts that the income "of a
whole profession," as that of the bar, for instance, "is
in general quite as permanent as that of the landlord,
and more certain in its payment." It is strange that
so experienced a writer should not have seen the fal-
lacy of such an argument as this. Assuming that
the assertion is literally true (which we very much
doubt), it proves nothing at all respecting the only
point in question—the certainty of each barrister's
particular earnings. The income of a body of land-
lords is subject to no competition or division—it is
their income, and theirs only, and they pro rata must
always share it between them ; but the income of a
" whole profession," which was divisible among 5,000
practitioners one year, may be divided between 7,000
the next ; and, what is more, any one of these may
have been supplanted by a substitute. If a barrister,
from loss of health or any other cause, ceases to earn
his 7001. or 8001. a year, this amount of income is
certainly not deducted from " the income of the
whole profession," which may, of course, remain
the same, but it is lost to the particular recipient ne-
vertheless, and his case is not improved by the circum-
stance of some other person's getting it. Similarly,
his 8001. may be cut down to 4001. by the effect of
competition, and, though the gross earnings of the
whole profession may still stand at the same amount,
he will be 50 per cent. poorer than he was. To none
of these liabilities is a landlord exposed, for his in
come is wholly independent of his own exertions,
and is more likely, indeed, to be increased than
diminished through that growth of the population
by which trades and professions are overcrowded.
It is in this respect that his receipts differ from
those of a barrister, and it is plain nonsense to
maintain that every lawyer must needs always
make the same income, however he is circum-
stanced, simply because the English nation spends
a pretty constant amount of money annually in
law. Again, Mr. Babbage remarks that " during
a series of years the annual profit of each trade,
profession,or class respectively is little less fluctuating
than that arising from rents of houses or lands, and
much less so than that from railways." This is
making a rule out of an exception. Doubtless in-
come may be occasionally found of such a descrip-
tion as to surpass in certainty occasional descriptions
of property, and Irish landlords, for example, may be
represented as enjoying very equivocal advantages
over English tradesmen. But if Mr. Babbage
means to say that such inversions are of sufficient
frequency to make out a case of equality between
property and no property, he is begging the whole
question. His argument is of no avail unless it im-
ports that every tradesman and every practitioner,
upon an average of years, receives an income as
stable, as certain, and as permanent as every landlord
or every fundholder. If this can be proved, then
we should admit that the distinction between in-
come and property is lost; but Mr. Babbage
proves no such thing. It is certainly not impos.
sible that by adjusting the demands of the tax.
gatherer to an acknowledged superiority of Property
over income we might create certain cases of injus-
tice. " Property," here and there, might be of such
a character as to be less desirable or productive than
the " income" taxed at a lower rate in the adjoining
house, but these cases must clearly be exceptional
and rare, whereas the injustice under the present
system is universal and regular. As a general rule,
realised property may always be considered superior
to precarious profits, and it is by such general rules
that legislation should be determined. If Mr. Bab-
bage does really dread the injustice of treating a rail
way shareholder like a fortunate proprietor, with what
feelings should he regard the actual treatment of all
the tradesmen and practitioners in the kingdom as the
eubstantial equals of landlords or fundholders ? For
one such case as could occur under his hypothesis a
thousand actually occur under the existing system,
and if once an appeal is made to this kind of " justice"
we do not see how the present income-tax can be
defensible for a moment.
HE 11 A L D.—Notwithstanding the croakings of
the Chronicle, the Times, and the Daily News, every
dispassionate person must see that the condition of
Ireland is slowly yet perceptibly improving—and,
unless something very untoward occurs during the
autumn and winter, we may reasonably expect that
by the summer of 1833 the sister country will have
successfully overcome the worst crisis of her history.
Though, in isolated districts, there are now, as any
time during half a century, occasional breaches of the
peace—some agrarian outrages—and one or two
crimes of desperate and wicked criminality, yet, on
the whole, we repeat, notwithstanding the mischievous
activity of Roman Catholic priests and bishops, the
material prosperity of the country is increasing, and
men look hopefully to the Government of Lord Derby
and the Viceroyalty.of the Earl of Eglinton as sure
to bring, sooner or later, healing and recovery.
The Irish Funds and securities, joint-stock compa-
nies and railway shares, were never higher than in
the present season. Irish Bank Stock, which three
months ago stood at the very high figure of 220, is
even now, maugre all the predictions of a deficient
harvest and potato failure, quoted so high as 219!,
and there is no reason why, in the course of a fort-
night, it may not again reach the figure at which it
stood in the latter days of July, or even a still
higher quotation. Imports and exports are in-
creasing, bankruptcies and insolvencies are diminish.
ing, while throughout the country the number of
inmates in the workhouses have diminished a third,
one half, and even in some instances in greater num.
hers. Within the last six weeks we have read of cases
in which there was not to be found a single able-
bodied pauper in certain Irish unions, and other cases
in which the inmates were exclusively composed of
the aged, the halt, the lame, and the blind. These
cheering indications and favourable circumstances
seh,east
ra quick
ua and
are shaded somewhat by the sombre fact, that the
stream of
ick
emigration still rolls darkly on, and that
day by day emigrants are hastening from north and
wseuscte,etsosiqonuitofa lttndwh
calamitiesich
whaving had
to stream of emigration still rolls darkly on, and that
day by day emigrants are hastening from north and
south, east and west, to quit a land which having had
to bear deemed
by many in a hopeless crisis. It is, however, con-
solatory to know that the places of these emigrants
are being filled up by Scotch and English settlers,
who, equalling the Irish in general industry, surpass
them in fortitude and perseverance, and in the Wks-

pensible requisite of possessing some capital. We
shall thus have an infusion of new—if not of better
blood ; and we hesitate not to say, that more money
and well-directed energy will come into the country
by means of the new settlers than has been taken
away by the old. It is plain, from the accounts of
B illinaaloe Fair just received, th et agricultural stock
and produce of all kinds are on the increase, and are
fetching better prices. Not merely the number, but
the quality and breed of stock and of domestic animals
have been improved, as may be easily learned at the
markets of Liverpool, Manchester, Congleton, Crewe,
and Stafford, as well as at the ship[ing ports of
Cork, Waterford, and Dublin. The landowner and
the grazier, as well as the tenant-farmer and oc-
cupier, feel that something will be really done
in the ensuing session by the Irish Attorney-Gene-
ral, Mr. Napier, to place the relations of Irish
landlord and tenant on a better footing, and, this
accomplished, it may be hoped a free career will be
given to Irish industry, always supposing the priests
do not mischievously attempt to mar a prosperity
created without their aid, if not against their wishes.
Of course we do not mean to say that Mr. Napier
will take for his model the Bill, or anything like the
Bill, of that indulgent landlord and amiable visionary
Mr. Sharman Crawford. Even the sturdy English
Radical and Manchester cotton-spinner John Bright,
does not seem to expect this, as clearly appears from
his speech at Belfast on Monday lad. Nay, Mr.
Bright, with the sturdy good sense which be occa-
sionally exhibits, tells his Belfast adreirers that he
does not go the length of Mr. Sharma!? Crawford, but
would be content with a measure far less sweeping,
and, we may ourselves add, far less unjust. Doctrines
savouring of spoliation and an agrarian law are
not yet relished in Manchester, or in any town
or hamlet in England, however favourably such
doctrines may be received cod embraced
by the Lucases and the G, van Duffys,
by the M'Mahons and the Shees—tht Ilurphys and
the O'Briens of the new Parliament. Mr. Bright
admits that the question of landlord and tenant in
Ireland is a difficult one—that it has engaged the at-
tention of more than one Government—and that no
measure has yet been framed to meet the exigency of
the case. But while stating these wele known facts
he gives Mr. Napier credit for sincere and honest in-
tentions, and all men must allow that the Irish At-
torney General possesses as thorough a knowledge of
the subject as any living man. There are consider-
ably more than a hundred statutes bearing on the re-
lations of landlord and tenant, and my one who
handles the question must not only hive regard to
these and their operation, but have regard also to the
indefeasible property of the landlord, and the ex-
pended capital, industry, and skill of the tenant.
While, on the one hand, care should be taken to allow
the tenant for permanent and unethausted im-
provements a fair value, on the other land, nothing
should be done to shake or weaken the inprescriptible
title and fee of the proprietor of the soil. ..;:o deal
fairly between landlord and tenant-- .t( maintain the
rights of the one and to secure the irdustry of the
other, is the cardinal and capital point at which Mr.
Napier and every honest man—whether connected
with the Government or not—should unerringly aim.
The priests, however, and their nominees, have no
such just and equitable objects in view, Their design
and desire is to eject the present proprietary of Ire-
land, and to substitute in their places the tenant-
farmers and the occupying tenants. As the one are
chiefly Protestant, educated and independent, and the
other Roman Catholic, illiterate, and enslaved to
Mother Church, the scheme is no bad one for the
priests if it could be realised. But Mr. Bright, ex-
treme in opinions though he be—refuses to go any-
thing like this length, and we doubt that one English
member can be found so bold and reckless—we may
add so dishonest. Even the sacred band of 40 (rather
a sacra bande than a bande mere), when it comes to
the point, will many of them fail "to screw their
courage to the sticking place." To be sure, as old
Mr. Joseph Hume says, the Irish priest members
are so extravagant that they may occasionally, or
even often, do anything to discrdit or damage a party
or a cause; but, withal, it will be generally found
that the loudest-tongued of these brawlers have ge-
nerally a pretty good eye to the main charge. For
ourselves we dare be sworn that the most inveterate
suppliants—the most pertinacious Treasury-beggars
of the whole House of Commons, will be found among
these noisy, counterfeit, pinchbeck patriots, the no-
minees of the Irish priests. There is not a vacant
judgeship, there is not a. vacant assistant barristership,
there is not a vacant mastership in Ceencery, police
magistracy, or consulship, which these men will not ask
of the First Lord of the Treasury weer and over
again for themselves, their relatives, their friends, and
connections. The late Earls Grey and Spencer, the
late Viscount Melbourne, even the late Sir Robert
Peel, and every Irish Viceroy for the last twenty-three
years, has, and have had, and, we may aid, that their
successors will continue to have, more requests and
solicitations from this " patriotic and unpurchaseable
hand," to use their own turgid and fustian phrase-
ology, than from all the sections of the House of
Commons put together. In past times these men and
their fellows used repeal as they are now using tenant-
right. They made it a pretence and a delusion, to
carry their own personal and sordid purposes. Thus
we have seen, in times past, an Irish Repeal Member
for Galway town (Mr. A. H. Lynch) converted into
an English Master in Chancery—thus we have seen
a Repeal Member for King's County (Mr. Nicholas
Fitzsimon) converted into a paid police magistrate—
thus we have seen a Repeal Member for Drogheda
town (Mr. C. O'Dwyer) converted into Filacer of
the Irish Exchequer,with a retiring pension of '2,000/.
per annum—thus we have seen a Repeal Member for
Meath county (Mr. Morgan O'Connell) converted
into a Register of Deeds—thus we have a Repeal
Member for Limerick county (Sir David Roche)
made a baronet, and a Repeal Member for Waterford
(Mr. Barron) created Sir Winston Barron—thus we
have seen a Repeal Member for Cashel, Mr. Stock,
made a serjeant in Ireland, and a judge of an ecclesi-
astical court—thus we have seen another Repeal
Member for a southern borough, Mr. B ill, made a
Justice of Common Pleas—a Repeal Member for
Clonmel, Mr. Pigott, made a Chief Baron ; and the bro-
ther of a Repeal Member for Limerick, Mr. J. O'Brien,
made a sergeant—thus we have seen a Repeal candi-
date for Parliament, Mr. Daniel O'Connell, jun.,
made an English consul in a foreign state—and the
father of repeal, and the father of the consul, the late
Daniel O'Connell, himself the hughest place beggar
fur his kith, kin, and faction, ever sent forth from
Ireland. From the history and records of the past,
Lord Derby will see how much he has to dread the
enmity of the " sacred 40" of the Tenant League.
Their inappeasable, staunchless thirst for place and
pension he may well dread, for he cannot satisfy their
cravings or their covetousness; but their enmity he
may alike defy and despise. There is not one among
the 40 who would not act by the Tenant League as
the sacred tail of old acted by that huge swindle called
Re pale.
CHRONICLE.—Since we last discussed the sub-
ject of life assurance, we have freely opened our
columns to the communications, not only of corres-
pondents who ooneur in nor own views, but of others
who more or less differ with us. As we have already
said, we have no desire to see a monopoly established
in this branch of enterprise. We have no objection
to new insurance offices merely because they are new ;
nor do we quarrel with novel experiments in insurance
simply because they have not been tried before. With
these feelings, we have willingly left all parties to
speak for themselves, and we have gladly given pub-
licity to the views of writers who have called in
question either our facts or our conclusions. The
result of the discussion which has taken place has
been to corroborate both the one and the other; and
at the same time our views have incidentally received
additional confirmation frem quarters totally inde-
pendent either of the partisans or of the opponents of
any class of life assurance companies. For example,
we published a few days ago the Report of the Se-
lect Committee of last session on Friendly Societies.
That document emphatically insists on the neces-
sity " of checking the formation of delusive and ill-
founded schemes for establishing life assurance com-
panies ;" and the Committee add—" This is a subject
of so important and critical a nature that, although
your Committee do not feel justified, by the terms of
their reference, to enter upon it in detail, yet they
think it right to press it upon the notice of the House."
When we turn to the evidence taken by the Com-
mittee, we certainly cannot wonder at this strong ex-
pression of opinion. A single specimen may suffice.
Mr. Jellicoe, one of the vice-presidents of the Insti-
tute of Actuaries, and an authority whose compe-
tency on such matters will hardly be called in ques-
tion, was asked—" In what manner do you think the
present great competition between different offices
is working an evil ?" His reply was as follows:
" The necessity which a young company finds
to obtain a certain amount of business induces
persons forming companies to go to a most extrava-
gant expense in order to obtain the requisite amount
of business, and that expense is so out of proportion
to the income which they are now enabled to obtain
by it that the condition in which they are in conse-
quence is anything but desirable." This reply sub-
stantially embodies the practical purport of what we
have already written on the subject. To those who
have deemed our remarks unjust towards particular
offices which happened to be included among the

twenty-five which we selected for the purposes of
illustration, it may suffice to repeat that we founded
our arguments, not on solitary cases, but on average
results. If any one desires to see of what elements
the average is composed, the details are all before
him ; and as an average necessarily implies that some of
the facts of which it is the mean expression are better,
and some worse, than the medium, it cannot be said that
so long as the sounder companies are conspicuously
distinguished, they suffer any injustice by being
comprised in tabular calculation which would not be
irnpirtial if it left them out. F, notwithstanding the
presence of a few favourable cases, the average of a
fairly chosen group of instances is decidedly unfa-
vourable, it is obvious that there is something wrong
in the system which, tried by its general results, is
found to be so unsatisfactory. We are aware that the
list of twenty-five offices analysed io our former ar-
ticle includes some respectable and bona fide compa-
nies; but they are in no danger of being confounded
with others of a different character, for the distinction
is too clearly indicated by the figures to leave room
for a moment's uncertainty. It is important, how-
ever, that no secondary topic should divert the atten-
tion of the public from the great practical
question—How is the business of Life As-
surance to be placed on a sound and secure footing ?
We have already suggested that one of the most
effectual safeguards against reckless specula-
tion and extravagant management would be the pos-
session, by each Insurance Company, of a certain
amount of paid•up capital. There may be differences
of opinion as to what that amount ought to be. To
ourselves it appears that a Life Assurance office
ought to be rendered at least as secure as a Joint-
stock Bank, by being required to possess a minimum
paid-up capital of 50,0001. Let us examine for a
moment the principal argument against this proposi-
tion. It is said, in the first place, that a Life office
needs no capital—a statement which we do not admit
—and in the next, that to compel an Insurance Com-
pany to commence with a paid-up capital of any
considerable amount would be to impose an incubus
on its progress, by absorbing nearly all the profits
of the business in the payments of a dividend to
the proprietors. But what are the facts ? The
50,0001. would of course be employed profitably—
it would not be locked up in an iron chest—it
would earn interest as well as pay it. Considering
the facilities which Insurance Companies possess for
investing their funds—and also considering that the
cost of managing the capital would be included in the
general expenses of the office-4i per cent. per
annum may be safely assumed as the net rate of in-
terest which the sum in question would bring in.
Suppose further, that the dividend to the proprietors
is at the usual rate of 5 per cent. per annum—it fol-
lows that the difference between what the capital
earns and what it pays will be only three-fourths,
or 153., per cent. per annum ; and this per
ceivage, applied to the 50,0001„ gives precisely
3751. a year as the whole of the sum to be
deducted from the profits of the insurers in
order to afford them the benefit of an adequate
guaranteeing capital. Surely 3751. is not so heavy
an annual charge as to be fatal to the growth of
a solid and vigorous institution. Compared with
the amounts set forth in the accounts of the twenty-
five new companies, as the yearly average of their
expenses during the first three years of their existence,
it is a mere trifle, and may be readily made good by
retrenchment in seine of those manifold modes of out-
lay which the Parliamentary return discloses. But
in estimating the real annual cost of the 50,000/.
capital at 3751., we have stated the case unfavourably
to our own argument. It is probable that, speaking
generally, the companies might obtain more than 41-
per cent. on the investment of their stationary funds;
and there is no reason why, in the infancy of a life-
office, the shareholders should receive as much as 5
per cent. dividend. Taking these considerations into
account, it will be found that a capital of 50,000/. need
not, during the early existence of an office, impose a
charge of more than 2001. a year on the profits of the
business. So much for the plea that the possession
of capital by an insurance company is necessarily
injurious to the insurers by absorbing the profits on
their policies. Those who urge this argument, and
who talk as if every penny of the shareholders divi-
dends was paid by the insurers, entirely forget that the
utmost extent to which the profits can be diminished
is confined to the difference between the interest which
the capital earns from the public, and the dividend
which it pays to the proprietors. Having thus met
the only plausible objection to the principle of requir-
ing Insurance Companies to possess a certain amount
of paid-up capital, we may safely leave the positive
recommendations of the plan to speak for themselves.
When it is remembered that every new Life-office is
to a great extent an experiment, and one of a more or
less hazardous character, it will be felt that there is
an obvious advantage to insurers in dealing with par-
ties who have something to lose, and who have money
of their own to take care of, as well as the annual
savings of other people.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
THE LONDON AND NORTLI-WESTERN AND
THE GREAT WESTERN COMPANIES.
LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY.—To-day, at noon, one of
the largest and most influential meetings ever held
in Liverpool upon railway affairs assembled at the
Clarendon Rooms, South John-street. The meeting
consisted of shareholders in the London and North-
Western and in the Great Western Railways, and
had been convened by advertisement bearing the sig-
nature of Mr. 11. C. Beloe, the railway accountant.
The object was stated to be to consider the present
crisis in the affairs of the two companies, and so great
was the interest manifested that long before the hour
of meeting numerous influential gentlemen holding
smheaerteisngin both
speedilylineshad
became
inconveniently
crowded.
e
Eyre Evans, Esq., was called to the chair by accla-
mation; Mr. Beloe, accountant, officiated as secretary.
Amongst the gentlemen present we noticed—
Thomas E. Moss, Rutson, Alexander M'Gregor,
James Tyrer, William Rathbone, Elias Arnaud,
William Hall, James Buchanan, William Sandbach,
John A. Tinney, Henry Crosfield, T. F. Bennett,
Raymond Houghton, J. C. Harter, Christopher H.
Jones, and J. Eddlestone, Esqrs.; there were also a
great many shareholders, with whose names we are
unacquainted, but who were stated to have come
from distant parts, and some of whom are reported to
hold large interests in both the great companies.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the business of the
meeting, said he should refer the meeting to Mr.
Beloe for an explanation of the circumstances under
which they had been called together, which were
briefly set forth in the necessity that existed of endea-
vouring to devise some measures for promoting a
conciliatory course between the two great companies,
whose present hosti'e conduct towards each other
was inflicting a vast amount of injury on the property
of the shareholders in both.—(Elear, hear.)
Mr. BELOE, after reading the notice convening the
meeting, proceeded to say that he apprehended it was
not required that he should plead a justification for
calling the present meeting, as the very numerous
attendance proved the deep interest which the share-
holders took in the present state of the affairs of the
two companies.—(Bear.) There was, and not unna-
turally, great apprehension entertained by a numerous
and respectable body of gentlemen interested in
both companies for the safety of their property in
those lines, if the hostile attitude now assumed
by each to the other were allowed to proceed much
further.—(Cheers.) They bad looked with fear,
not unmixed with hope, to the result of the recent
correspondence between the two chairmen (Mr. Glyn
and Mr. Russell) ; and that correspondence had ended
in nothing more than the resignation of Mr. Glyn.
In approaching this subject, he would urge upon the
meeting the necessity of adopting everything that
was likely to forward the conciliatory purposes which
the promoters of this meeting had in view. It had
been very justly said, by a writer in the Railway.
Times, that abuse of both boards was easy enough,
and that the shareholders were too apt to give waY t.°
hasty and ill-tempered remarks when they
property in danger from what they believed to e the
fmorestthwas, however,
erroneous policy of the directors. It saw their
(Hear.) In any debate,
he (Mr. Beloe) would
leioktfei time
ytes t
from any animadversions
of things was a remedy,
respectivehwa
at s eachbes best
boardconi calculatedp pursuedny,a
to
od
advancetthh ea
tw coursehtabt e thatwin-
terestsa s
andwr therefore,eagnut
of the two boards ; to remember that this
had been convened for conciliation, and to re-
etehsdte fgowerntahttylhaeettmopmernaiegpts
opeh
lntaytb
ensue,
abstain
as.
s_itune e ,
re-
flect that the directors . of both companies were so
situated that it wa.s. difficult for them to approach
moneetthiebgpolicy
each other in a spirit that was likely to lead to the
desired result.—(Cheers.) It was, therefore, exceed -
ingly advisable that an able, influential, and intelli-
gent committee of joint shareholders should be
appointed, who might enter upon the whole question,
and devise some method by which the two boards
would be enabled to come to an amicable understand-
ing.—(Loud cheers.) The crisis had arrived in the
affairs of both companies at which it was incumbent
on the shareholders to step forward and save their
property from impending ruin ; this was felt by a
large body of gentlemen with whom he (the speaker)
had held: correspondence on the subject, and after ma-
ture deliberation the present meeting had been re-
, solved upon, for the purpose of appointing such a com-

mittee as he had referred to, and to effect which
a resolution had been prepared, which he would
now read :—" That, in the opinion of this meet-
ing, the hostile attitude and fruitless negotiations of
those two great companies, viz , the London and
North-Western and the Great Western Railway Com-
panies, are pernicious to the interests of the share-
holders ; that it is expedient a committee of gentlemen
interested in both companies should be formed fur the
purpose of immediately conferring with the several
baards of direction, in order to ascertain the
extent of the differences existing between
them, with a view to promote some ami-
cable arrangement ; and that, in pursuance of this
object, the following gentlemen, with power to add
three to their number, be appointed a committee to
report to a further meeting, to be called by advertise-
ment, viz. :—Eyre Evans, Esq, of Liverpool; Robert
Wood ward, Esq , ditto ; Henry Clay, E-q., near
Hereford; W. Fenton, DI., banker, Rochdale; and
Alexander Macgregor, Esq., of Liverpool." The
reading of this: resolution was received with the most
perfect cordiality, and Mr. Beloe resumed his seat
amidst loud and protracted cheering.
The CHAIRMAN observed that after the explanation
which the meeting bad heard from the secretary he
had only to remark that he hoped the resolution
would be discussed with good feeling; and that,
while keeping in view the interests of the share-
holders, the committee would, if appointed, not neg-
lect the interests of the public ; if they did, they would
soon become very unpopular, and their objects would
be thwarted in other places.—(Hear).
The resolution having been formally moved by Mr.
BUCHANAN and seconded by Mr. BARDSWELL,
A SHAREHOLDER inquired if the gentlemen named
in the resolution had stated the amount of their re-
spective holdings in the two companies?
Mr. BELOE replied that Mr. Clay and Mr. Fenton
were very large shareholders in both ; it was difficult
to state the precise amount, but the other three gen-
tlemen, being locally well known, might, perhaps,
speak for themselves.
Another SHAREHOLDER wished the name of Mr.
William Rathbone to be placed on the committee.
They knew that he had large holdings in both com-
panies, and more than that, they knew that he was
neither to be bought nor sold.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN said he would himself gladly be
excused, if the meeting thought fit to appoint some
one else.—(No, no.)
A conversation rather than a regular discussion
hereupon ensued; in the course of which the name of
Mr. Benjamin Pierrepont, formerly Mayor of War-
rington, was proposed as one of the committee. It
was stated that this gentleman holds very largely in
both companies, and his selection was urged as a man
of honourable conduct and strict business habits.
Mr. ARNAUD then proceeded to read speech to
the meeting, in which he deprecated the competitive
principle pursued by the two companies, and con-
tended that the following out of that system of Dutch
auction dealing would lead to the ruin of the share-
holders in both. He instanced the case of the
Shrewsbury line, which was opposed by the London
and North-Western ; he was a shareholder in the
former line, but since its opening it had never paid a
penny dividend. He was opposed to high fares, but
an advocate of remunerative fares, and contended
that shareholders were entitled to adequate recom-
pense for the use of their money, in opening those
roads to the public ; and was proceeding to argue in
favour of amalgamation, whom an almost unanimous
shout of " No amalgamation," induced Mr. Arnaud to
omit that portion of his address; and after some
further remarks in reference to the example set by
those two competing lines—the South-Western and
the Brighton and South-Coast Railways—each of
them about ninety-six miles in length, but both too
wise to underbid each other, Mr. Arnaud resumed
his seat.
A SHAREHOLDER observed, that while he concurred
in much of what had fallen from the gentleman who
had just sat down, he thought they would only be
doing mischief by introducing irrelevant matter.
Mr. CROSFIELD made some inquiries in regard to
the holdings of the three gentlemen of Liverpool who
were nominated on the committee.
Mr. Wu. RATHRONE considered it of far more im-
portance that high. minded and honourable men should
constitute the committee than to choose those who
were merely large shareholders. He had no objection
to any of the names proposed.
Mr. HODGSON, while concurring in the remarks of
the preceding speaker, would observe, that in selecting
men merely on account of being large shareholders, it
one gentleman held fifty shares in one company and
only a few in another, they must expect that his mind
would to some extent be swayed by his interests. He
advocated the expediency of ascertaining the intended
policy of the two companies before appointing a cone-
mittee.—(Laughter.) He did not wish it to go abroad
that this meeting was unduly desirous of interiering
with the two boards of directors, but that the share-
holders saw the necessity of taking some steps to save
their interests from ruin.—(Cheers.)
After a brief, desultory conversation,
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution, which was una-
nimously adopted.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman,
who briefly acknowledged the compliment ; and
The meeting, which it was expected would have
been very stormy, but which, on the contrary, was
characterised by the greatest harmony, immediately
broke up.
The proceedings excited the deepest interest through-
out Liverpool.

IRELAND.
CHARGE OF MURDER.
DUBLIN, FRIDAY.—Early in September last the re-
port of proceedings at an inquest, held on the body of
Mrs. Kirwan, the wife of a Dublin artist, was published.
The verdict was to the effect that slir was accidentally
drowned while bathing at Ireland's Eye, a small island
off the coast of Dublin. No suspicion at the time was
entertained that a murder had been committed.
It appears that an Arklow fisherman had been sailing
by the island, and heard violent screams, which ceased
as ho approached the place. He then continued his
course ; but on arriving at his house he informed the
police of Wicklow of what he had heard. When the
report of the inquest appeared in the papers, the police
of Wicklow informed those of Dublin of the facts that
bad been communicated by the fisherman; whereupon
the body was exhumed, and a post-mortem examination
held upon it. The result was that the medical exami-
ners came to the conclusion the woman was not drowned
but strangled. Suspicion immediately attached to the
husband, especially as he married another woman in a
few days after the catastrophe. He has been arrested,
and was yesterday brought before Major Brownrigg at
the Castle, by whom he was remanded to prison. This
day he will be brought before the magistrates at nowth
for further examination.

SEABORNE MAILS.
[N signifies that the mails are sent from the Gentral Post-office
by the aght—and M by the morning—dispatch.]

i When made up in From what Wheu
PLACES General Post-Office port die- due.
London: patched.
--------
America (by Brit. pkt.)N Oct. 8 Liverpool .• Oct. 1 I
America (by U.S. pkt.) N Oct. 22 .. pool • • Oct. 13
ILiver
Atimricd (by U.El.pkt.)3d Oct. onthainpt. Oct. 19
Australia (via South-
ampton)
M,2oth ofeach month Southampt. Oct. 7
24
Ditto (via Marseilles) N 24th °leach month Dover .. Oct. 1
Ditto, via C. of G. Hope N 2d & 14th each mo. Plymouth.. Nov. 30
Africa (West coast).- Nll4th of the month 'Plymouth
Alexandria* • • ...... N 19th & 30th ef mo. \ Dover .. Oct. 18
Belgium N Daily • • • • .. Dover .. Daily
Brazil .. M 9th of the month Southampt. Oct. 12
migth of the month Southampt. Oct. 12
Buenos Area m & 17th of month Southampt. Oct. 16
California(viaChareo
Cape of Good Hope N 14th of the month,Plymouth.. Sept. 26
Cape de Verdi .• Nr2d of the month .. 'Plymouth.. Sept. 26
Constantinople* .• •• 29th 17th 27th gm° Dover .. Oct. 20
Central America NE 2d & 17th of men. Southampt. Oct 16
Channel Liles N Mon., Wed., &Fri. Southampt. Tit:Th.Sat
Chill hi 2d 17th of moth Southampt. Oct. 16
France •• •• M t *Twice daily .. Dover .. Twicedally
Greece* • • • • • Nl7th 17th 27th of mo Dover .. Oct. 19
Hamburgh Ni Tuesday & Friday London .. Tau. Sat.
Holland M
Honduras .. Wednes. & Satar• London .. smt. Thai •
Ireland •• .NI 17th of the month Southampt. Oct. 16
I
• • M& NI Twice daily Holyhead.. TwicedailY
India (via Sonthamp.) M,2oth of the month Southampt. Oct. 24
India (via Marseilles) N Sth& 24th efmonth Dover .. Oct. 19
India, via C. of G. Hope N' 14th of month Plymouth.. Oct. 26
Mauritius N 14th of month Plymouth.. Oct. 26
Mediterranean (via
Southampton) .. M 20th of the monthiSonthampt. Oct. 24
Mediterranean (via
Marseilles) N eth&24thofmonthDover ..
Ist ea. mo.
. Oct. 19
Mexico
•• •• M2d of the month.. Soethampt
• • • • .. M 9th of the month Southampt. Oct. 16
Malta* 7th,17th,19th,171.11 I Dover Oct. 18
& 30th of month
Naples* •• N sth 15th 25th ofmo Dover •• Oct. 12
Papal States* .. N sth 15th 25th
of •
mol Dover .. (Oct.
Peninsula .. M 7th 17th 27th of mo South ampt.lOct. 16
Peru .. 2d & 17th of mntb Southampt. 'Oct. 15
Tuscany .• •• N sth 15thIgth ofmo Dover •• lOct. 12
West Indies M 17th of the mouth Southampt. Oct. 16
West Indies (except
Havanna & Nassau) M id of the month .• ,Southampt.
* The mails to those countries thus marked (*) are conveyed b:
French packet via Marseilles.

19d of the month •• ISonthampt.
(*) are conveyed by
ountries thus marked

A DANDY INDIAN.—The young Indian, like the
young European, is apt to break out as a dandy. He paints
and greases himself with studious care, and dallies elegantly
with his pipe and tomahawk. lie aspires to possess a look-
ing, gioa, and when he gets one, dresses by it more than
seven times a day. It is, however, not only a vain thing;
it is serviceable to him in the prairie, since, by flashing it
against the sun, he can make signals visible to distant
friends before his own dark body is to be descried ; and that,
on many critical occasions, may be a property that makes
the looking-glass a valuable friend. Mr. Sullivan estimates
the smoking. power of the Indian at fifty pipes a day, but his
tobacco is diluted with three times its quantity of the dried
bark of the red willow, which makes it hotter to the mouth,
but much diminishes its sedative effect. —D ickens' s House-
hold Words.