The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-28 00:00:00

LIFE BRANC IT.

The very mtifyinz duty now falls upon the Directors to
state the sum assured on n •Nv policies for fhe year 17,62
exceeds even that of the ye‘r 1861 by £/80,000, and has arrived
at the almost unexampled amount for a single year of
.£701027 on 1,408 new policies issued. Until within the last
lbw years it is believed that such a sum assured as that which
has just been announced as the Jesuit of one year's business
was all but unheard of.

Thi
s Portion of le Company's business has been carefully
watched, and cannot fail to give much satisfaction to the
Pha reholder, as well as no small encouragement for the
fu-tare to the participating life assurer.
Evidence of continued care in the selection of lives is amply
afforded by a statement of the number rejected. These have
amounted to 311 for the year, on which the aggregate sum
proposed for assuranne o mounts to .£ '43,2at. Various degrees
of ineligibility have led to these lives being declined.
No small number of the Assurance Companies of the day
record their accepted lives annually at a sum not much, if at
all, exceeding those which the Royal has declared as inadmis-
eitle in a single year from deterioration of some kind or
another.
If, to complete their review, the Directors now advert
briefly to the United Kingdom, they have to announce that
in Fire Business its proiress has been undoubtedly more
rapid than that of any other Company established either in
London or elsewhere, except when amalgamations have taken
place. The returns of duty have proved this. In Life, the
amount of New Policies already reported make all other
evidence needless.
The Directors conclude their present Report with the
expression of an opinion that the prospects of the Royal
Insurance Company were never brighter, and of'a consequent
hope, founded on a grateful remembrance of the past, that
the future may unfold for it a sphere of still greater macni-
tude, combining distinguished commercial success to the
Office with a lengthened career of usefulness and protection
to the public.
PERCY H. DOVE, Manager and Actuary.
JOHN B. JOHNSTON, Secretary in London.

VEINERALOGY.—King's College, London.—
Prrfessor TENNANT, F.G.S., will commence a
COURSE OF LECTURES on MINER ALOGY, with a view
to facilitate the study of Geology, and of the application of
mineral substances in the Arts.
The Lectures will begin on FRIDAY, October 2, at Nine
o'clock, a.m. They will be continued on each succeeding
Wednesday and Friday at the same hour. Fee, £2 25.
E. W. JELF, D.D., Principal.

CIELEBRATION of the TERCENTENARY of
..J the BIRTH of SHA.KSPE ARE, at Stratford-upon-
Avon. The Tercentenary Committee (of which Sir Robert
N. C. Hamilton, Bart., K.C.8., is Chairman) are now receiv-
ing SUBSCRIPTIONS, and they may also be paid to the
account of the Tercentenary Committee, at the Stourbridge
and Kidderminster or Warwick and Leamington Banks,
Stratford-upon-Avon ; Messrs. Greenway, Smith, and
Greenway, Warwick ; or their London agents, Messrs.
Smith, Payne, and Co , Messrs. Hanburys and Co., or Messrs.
Glyn and Co , bankers, London.
The Tercentenary Committee, in submitting the subscrip-
tion list to the nation, most earnestly appeal to the admirers
of Shakspeare for their aid and assistance. The Committee
rest their claims upon the ground that Stratford is not only
the birthplace of Shakspeare, but the centre of attraction to
all admirers of the great Poet's works, and that it was his
home, the town he loved, and where he lived and died.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Gray's-inn-road,
in the immediate vicinity of the Great Northern Rail-
way Terminus, at Ring's-cross.
Patron—The QUEEN.
President—The Duke of BUCCLEUCIT,
Treasurer—Edward Masterman, Esq.
This was the first hospital to introduce the principle of free
and instant admission to the destitute sick, without the for-
mality of governors' letters. It is entirely devoted to desti-
tution in its most pitiable form—viz., that which is accom-
panied by sickness and disease, and is now of sufficient
magnitude that, with adequate support, it may be rendered
capable of admitting into its wards a very large proportion of
the casual sick of this great metropolis. It requires but the
funds in order to have 500 beds available for the reception of
these the most wretched of our fellow-creatures. Moreover,
it gratuitously affords medical advice and medicine to more,
on the average, than 3,000 out-patients a week.
The Weekly Board feel it their imperative duty to make an
EARNEST APPEAL to the public for continued support,
to enable them to admit and relieve the distressing cases that
daily present themselves.
Contributions are received by the Treasurer, Edward
lliasNicholas-lane; also by Messrs. Coutts and
and Co. ; Hearer and Co. ; Ransom and
ter m
Drummondan E sq. ,
Co. ; Prescott, Grote, and Co.; Smith, Payne, and Co. Glyn
and Co. ; Jones Loyd and Co. ; Barclay and Co. ; Denison
acnod.
;CNo.is;
Nisbet
t andlli anicso,. D;
eressis. J.
.Deacon,
and
d and Co.,Gurney, and
Co.;
Barned()verendo. Liverpool
and at the Hospital.
STANFORD S. SMITH Secretary.

ARMY CONTRACTS.
TENDERS will be received at this Office until
12 o'clock noon on the 3d of October, from persons who
may be willing to enter into Contracts to supply
FORAGE AND PAILLASSE STRAW,
in such quantities is may he required. for the use of ITer
Majesty's Land Forces stationed in the following places,
from Ist November, 1863, to 31st October, 1864 :

FORAGE.
1. Hyde-pa k, Kensington, Regent's-park, and Horse
Guards.
2. Tronushw and Kneller HalL
3. Hanipton Court.
4. Windsor.
5. Briahton.
fi. Sandhurst.
7. Enfield.

PAILLASSE STRAW.
7. Brompton House, Hyde-park, and Kensington.
2. Regent's-park, St. John's-wood, and Portman-street
Barracks.
3- New Barracks, Chelsea.
4. Wellington and St. George's Barracks.
6. The Tower.
F. Hounslow and Kneller Hail.
7. Hampton Court.
S. Windsor.
9. Brighton, with Coast Forts from Newhaven to Shore-
ham.
10. Croydon.
separate Tenders must be made for Forme and for Pail.
asse Straw for each of the above-mentioned Stations or Bar-
racks as grouped and numbered.
Forms of Tender and Conditions of Contract may be ob-
tained on application at this office, by letter or in person,
between the hours of 10 and 4 o'clock.
Tenders on the pr;nteil forms must he properly filled up
and sivned, and no Tender will be noticed unless delivered
at the under-mentioned t Alice, under closed envelope (marked
t.?tt the outsiae " Tender for Commissariat Supplies "), before
l' o'clock noon on the 3d October next.
(signed) W. T. POWER,
Dem, f„ COM Mis scary-General.
y - G ener al.
---*`-31ranissary-General's Office,
°ll4°ll ('Nv-street, 2'ardens,
S.W., 10th Sept, 1863.