The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-04 00:00:00

" TWENTY YEARS AGO."

Twenty years ago ! What chaoges around us,
what mutations of life and fortune, of public and
private affairs within our ken, do these few words
express. Dynasties have toppled down, new worlds
have been "called into existence" in the political
sense, old ones have altered their boundaries ; not an
atlas of "twenty years ago" but is now full of
errors, from the ceaseless changes that time has
worked.

In our own circles, too, nay, in ourselves, how-
ever gradual and imperceptible the change, the
work of twenty years is as plainly seen and felt.
The baby of "twenty years ago" is now the ardent
young man, on the threshold of life's responsi-
bilities, eager to take his part in the battle ; the,
youth has sobered down into the caros of manhood ;
the then upright and stalwart man feels the ap-
proaches of age ; and many, very many, an honoured
head, which twenty years ago was the object of love
and reverence, is now gone to its last resting-place,
leaving only the memory of good deeds "to sow the
world with life immortal."
We have been led to these reflections by the
sight of an " old familiar friend" in the shape of an
institution whose progress The Sun has for 20 years
past chronicled, and to which we have in these
columns often called our readers' attention. The
annual reports and balance sheets of the Provident
Clerks' Association for 1843 and 1863 lie before us,
and if we wanted further proof that " Tempera
tnutantur et nos mutamur in zllis," we should find
it in these sheets.

The association ". twenty years ago" was an
infant institution only three years old, and looked
upon rather as an adjunct to the noble Benevolent
Fond established in connection with it, than as an
office destined to rank among the very best in Eng•
land. Its whole income was but £1,297. its accu-
mulated funds barely £2,300, its new annual
assurances amounted only to about £15,000, and
it had not yet experienced what a recent writer
calls " the excitement of the first claim." But side
by side with the above modest figures we read the
secret, the germ of its future success. The whole an-
nual expense of the association was but £ll4 17s. Bd.
An unpaid board, a few friends who worked " for
love," and the assistance of the staff attached to the
Benevolent Find, quietly and unostentatiously laid
the foundations upon which the goodly edifice of
1863 has beer raised.

By the pre;ont report we find that the new busi
ness of the last 12 months comprises more titan a.
thousand poibies, covering some two hundred and
fifteen thousand pounds, that the income of the
association very closely approaches sixty thousand
pounds, and its well and solidly invested funds ex-
ceed two hundred and twenty thousand pounds,

while the best guarantee of stability, and exemption
from fluctuations of moment in the claim account,
is found in the fact that the risks are distributed
over more than 8,000 policies.
We are glad to see by the names attached to the
documents before us, that "Time, the Destroyer,"
has still spared some of those to whose patience and
energy these gratifying results are due. The same
leaders of commerce, Baring, Hankey, Prescott,
and Rothschild, still head the list:of office-bearers as
trustees, and three at least of the directors can still
look back upon the achievements of 20 years, and
say, with honest pride, " Quorum pars magna
fuimus." There is, however, one point in which the
association has made no progress, and claims to
have made none. In honesty of purpose, in eco-
nomy of management, in publicity of its accounts,
in all those features which make up a good and
sound Life Office, the original programme has been
adhered to, and the Provident Clerks' Association
of to-day, is simply the association of " Twenty
years ago."

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

ATTACK OP THE AUSTIVANS UPON
THE DANNEWIRKE,
COPENHAGEN, FEB. 4, 8.43 a.m.
The Berlingske Tidende of this morning pub-
lishes the following account of the events of yester-
day at the theatre of war :
The day before yesterday our troops engaged the
Prussians, yesterday the Austrians. The engage-
ment of yesterday points to an approaching general
attack, but was attended with no lees good fortune
to our arms than that of the previous day. Our
despatch is dated from
ISCHLESNVIG, Feb. 3, 8.15 p.m.
From half-past 3 this afternoon the Austrians
attacked the position of the Dannewirke at
Bustrup.
Artillery and columns of infantry advanced f
against Haddely.
Towards dark the enemy withdrew, leaving a
few prisoners in our hands,
Later in the evening firing recommenced, but
ceased for a time.
The King, with one of his aides-de-camp and the
President of the Council, inspected the works at
Missunde in the forenoon. Upon his return
his Majesty heard the firing at Bustrup, and wit-
nessed the retreat of the enemy from the extreme
point of the Bustrup works.
HAMBURG, FEB. 4, 9.37 A.M.
An engagement is expected today between
Missunde and Jagel.
The Austrians cannonaded Jagel yesterday.
Preparations are completed for throwing a bridge
across the Schlei.
Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia is said to be
wounded in the arm.
The Prussian losses at the attack upo❑ Missunde
were considerable. Many officers were among the
wounded, and one company alone had 130 men
killed and wounded.

SCHLESWIG, FEB. 3,

The Danish forces engaged in the field today
were the 2d battalion of the first Regiment, the
9th, 11th, and 7th Regiments of Infantry, and
the 11th Battery of Artillery. The Danes lost 1
gun. The Danish loss in soldiers and officers was
not unimportant. Some Prussians were made pri-
soners. The outposts of the Prussian army are at
Kongshor, near Vedelspanege.
Field Marshal von Wrangel's head quarters are
at Kropp.

PARIS, FEB, 4.

The Constitutionnel of to-day publishes an article
by M. Limayrae protesting against the pretensions
of some English journals to throw the responsibility
of the Dano-German conflict upon France. The
writer says :

" The publication of the documents upon the
question will prove that even after the adjournment
of the proposal for a Congress France was ready to
accept any practical proposal. She sees with sor-
row the calamities with which friendly nations are
visited.

"We are convinced," concludes the Constitu-
tionnel, "that England feels the pain, but in cer-
tain quarters it may be mingled with regret to
think that a different policy might perhaps have
averted the calamity."

AMERICA.
(Arrival of the Teutunia.)
SOUTHAMPTON, FEB. 4.

The Hamburg and American Company's steamer
Teutonia, from New York on the 23d ult., has
arrived off Cowes. She brings 78 passengers,
110,000 dole. for England, and 500 dols. for Ham-
burg.
On the 31st ult. the Tcutonia spoke the North
America in lat. 48 N., long. 25 W. ; on the 2d inst.
the ships Gitana ; and on the 3d the Owen and
Cambridge.
Her news has been anticipated.

PORTUGAL.
(Per Magdalena, via Southampton.)
LISBON, JAN. 31.

The project of law abolishing the tobacco contract
has been presented in the Cortes by the Minister of
Finance. The duty proposed to be levied is 1,200r5.
per kilogtamme on unmanufactured tobacco, and
2,800r5. on cigars, with a drawback on the export
of snuff.

The Government still procrastinates the settle-
ment of Mr. Lindsay's proposal. It is said that
Portuguese shipowners do not wish their African
tvide to go into English hands.
The Minister of Public Works has under consi-
deration a new plan for the amelioration of the
Oporto Bar.
A grand masked ball will shortly take place at
the Palace of Ajuda. The King has prepared no
less than thirteen different costumes for the occa-
sion.
The Visconte Sada Bandeira and St. Anselmo
Braamcamp have left the Ministry in consequence
of the reception given by the Cortes to their pro-
posed reforms in the army and municipal guards.
The railway to Beja will be opened in a few days.
A new corvette, the Duke de Palmetto, has been
launched at the arsenal. Another corvette is nearly
ready, and an iron-clad frigate will soon be com-
menced. _ _

...
Trade is dull, and money tight. Exchange on
London, 532- ; Paris, 531; Hamburg, 471 ; Genoa,
525; Rentes, 481 ; Coupons, 49; Bank of Portugal
shares, 553.

THE BOMBAY MAIL.
MARSEILLES, FEB. 4.
The Valetta, with the above mail, arrived at
'Marseilles, at 10 a.m. this day.
The mail leaves for London at 11.30 a.m.