The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-07 00:00:00

1864.

Profit and loss 86,489 9 4
Life profits 55,000 0 0

141,489 9 4
Dividend and bonus at 10s 48,675 9 2

92,814 0 2
Reserve fund 110,460 2 10

£203,274 3 0

With respect to this latter sum of 3s. per share, the di-
rectors would repeat their conviction, as on former occa-
sions, that the shareholders will understand that the dis-
tribution now made on the life account will incur no dan-
ger of creating an annual precedent, as its appropriation is
fixed at intervals of five years, and consequently no fur-
ther profits on the life branch will be divisible until the
annual meeting in the year 1870.
CHARM; TURIOR, Chairman.

August 3, 1865.
ACTUARY'S REPORT. .
TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ROYAL INSURANCE
COMPANY.
Gentlemon;—The termination of another of the periodical
intervals which you have appointed for the investigation
of the Lifo Branch of your business gives me the oppor-
tunity of again submitting my report of the result of the
calculations made to ascertain, with precision, the amount
of the liabilities of the Company under its various engage-
ments in that particular department.
It will be remembered that at the last quinquennial
period my report was accompanied by an " Appendix,"
including minute and extended details of the computations
made, which occupied a space far exceeding that which
could with any propriety bo given in a report to be read at
the meeting of the shareholders. I have adopted the same
course no ff.
In my statements made at that time, I expressed a con-
fident hope that the unhesitating disclosure thus made of
your experience would bring with it an ample reward by
the entire confidence in the stability of your Company as a
Life Assurance establishment which would be engendered
in the mind of every reader on the perusal of the unusually
ample details which were then given. This expectation
has been most amply fulfilled.
Whether it be from the originality of the form of tla.at.
exposition of your affairs, or whether from the degree of
success attained in the effort to convey information on a
subject generally considered abstruse, in language intelli-
gible to ordinary readers, it is at any rate certain that the
statements then made have been followed by an extension
in the Life Department during the subsequent five years
which exceeds all that could have boon expected as a con-
sequent result.
It is, of course, manifest, however, that the subsequent
prosperity experienced could not even partially be caused
by any mere elucidation, however novel or acceptable in
its form, if it had not been for the circumstance that the
facts detailed furnished the material for the declaration of
a satisfactory bonus of far more than usual magnitude.
A few illustrations will sufficiently prove the large ad-
vances made by the Company since 1859, to which I hare
just adverted.
The total premiums received from the commencement of
the Company to the date of the last quinquennial investi-
gation in 1859, being a period of 15 years, was £332,993
lls. 4d. The premiums since received for the last five
years alone are £543,025 13s. M., an advance of 63 per
cent. over the total result of the former period, including
thrice the space of time.
The following example will place the character and ex-
tent of our advance in a still more striking light.
The sum assured on new policies effected in the last year,
1864, amounted to £1,014,897 11s. 5d., and the premium
thereon to £32,708 10s. 7d., actually more than the total
sum assured and premium on new policies collected for the
entire ten years from 1845 to 1854 inclusive.
Again—the total funds accumulated, after paying all
claims and expenses, during the last five years, taking the
life, annuity, • and endowment branches, amount to
£434,962—on the average £86,992 annually. This amount
is 65 per cent. more than the sum collected on those com-
bined branches for the preceding fifteen years.
The appendix will be found to contain other examples of
progress equally conclusive.
The total amount of funds in hand on those branches on
the 31st December was £697,866. It was only £262,904 in
1859—a very remarkable growth of amount for so short a
space of time.
The amount of funds in the Life Branch alone, viz.,
£549,615, without reckoning the debts on half-credit poli-
cies, is equal in amount to 63 per cent. of the entire pre-
miums received from the commencement of the Company's
business. This result in itself is a test of the moderate
amounts abstracted for claims and charges of every shape and
kind.
Tho conclusion arrived at from the severe and rigorous
calculations made, which have now occupied some months
in preparation, is of the most gratifying kind.
The araouut of profit on the last five years is £168,958
14.5. 3d.
Taking, as on thelast occasion, an even sum, say £165,000,
and appropriating one-third thereof (£55,000) to credit of
the proprietors, I find the remaining amount to be sufficient,
oven though the interest of money should only be three per
cent., to provide a reversionary bonus of £2 per cent., per
annum to be added to the original sum assured of every par-
ticipating policy effected previously to Ist January, 1963,
and existing on the Ist January, 1865, for each entire year
that it had been in existence since the last appropriation of
bonus.
It is difficult to moderate the expression of my satisfaction
and thankfulness in having had the rare opportunity of
announcing on three successive occasions, as the result of
my computations, so large a bonus as is represented by the
above figures.
Tho total number of assurances now on the Company's
books is as under :
No. 10,041, sum assured £4,655,033, premium £152,159.
Many of these assurances are, however, on the non-pro-
fit scale, and no participating policy shares in the present
division of surplus unless effected more than two years on
the first of January of the present year ; the amount as-
sured which will benefit by the bonus now declared is,
therefore, considerably less than three millions sterling.
The appendix will be found to contain many arguments
and explanations bearing on the conservative principles
adopted in the processes of valuation established, which
give security to the transactions of the life branch, and
which, at the same time, apply the materials of that secu-
rity for the ultimate advantage, of each of the parties en-
gaged in the contracts, the assured as well as the assurer.
These comprise matters relating to the loading on the
pure premium, the operation of a realised interest for a suc-
cession of years above the rate used in the' computation
and the maintenance of a high standard of eligibility.
On the latter subject, I am happy to announce that I have
succeeded, as far as could reasonably be expected, considering
the difficulties in my way in continuing the investigation
into the mortality prevailing among ,our declining lives.
The correspondence necessary to obtain information for
this purpose was very extensive, and the inquiries needful
in all parts of the world were of such a kind as only to stop
short of the semblance of a system of espionage, but the
effort was singularly successful.
Out of 2,381 lives rejected in the last twenty years, 1,914
have been distinctly traced.
The tabulating this collected information, after under

going all the processes applied to the accepted policies, has
resulted in displaying clearly the widely separate points'
indicating respectively ruin and entire succ,ess,'which may
one or other, bo approached by an assurance company, in
proportion to its neglect or adoption of strict investigation
into the state of health of the lives proposed for assurance
In my last report of this kind, I pointed with much satis-
faction to the elements of prosperity, which I discerned in
the Royal as only waiting to be developed into a successful
expansion. That anticipated development has since been
so rapid and so great, that the company may be more than
content if the new business for the next quinquennial
period
attained in the last five years.—l am, gentlemen, your
faithful servant, _ _

Aug. 4, 1865

PERCY 31. DovE, F.S.S., F.I.A.

. _
The CHAlRMAN—Gentlemen, when I had the pleasure,
with the other directors, of meeting you last year, I thought
it necessary to caution you against the expection that this
company was to be exempt from those alterations of profit
and loss which are inseparable from all human under-
takings, and especially those connected with insurances.
Fire business is essentially erratic in its nature.
Cycles of mishaps are found to occur from time
to time ; and as an instance I might be allowed
to refer to the great fires which took place
in Liverpool and elsewhere in '42 and '43. But since the
formation of this company in 1845 we have had no cycle
of large fires; and therefore, perhaps, the shareholders of
this company might be apt to forget that such things neces-
sarily attend on fire insurance business. They might for-
get it because the experience of this company has been re-
markably favourable. During the 20 years that this com-
pany has been in existence we have only had, I may say,
two bad years, that is, the year '6l, in which the large
London -fire occurred, and the year '64 Which w© are now
considering. But, gentlemim,, I ought to remark, with
reference to that subject, that the net profits of '63 were
considerably more than double the losses of the years
'6l and '64 taken together ; and with those two ex-
ceptions, '6l and '64, there is no year during which
the company has been in existence in which its net
profits have not been sufficient to pay a fair and reason-
able dividend. Therefore, I do not think wo have any
great reason to complain of our experience. (Cheers.)
I think we may very fairly expect an increase of our busi-
ness in the reduction of the duty. The Government, after
a great deal of pressing on the subject, has at last brought
down the duty to one-half, that is from 3s. to ls. 6d., and I
hope and trust that it will certainly go a sixpence further,
and reduce it to is., if they do not take it off altogether. I
think from this cause we may fairly expect an increase of
our business, for then the premium and duty will be so
small a charge that very few people perhaps will be so im-
provident as not to insure. As regards the life business
you will have gathered from the report presented to you,
and the statement of the actuary, the great success of that
department. In fact I believe there is no example of so
rapid and substantial:a progress being made by any other
company. (Hear, hear.) Our premiums, which in 1854
amounted to £25,000 per annum, in 1864 amounted to
£150,000, being an increase of sixfold in 1864 beyond
what they were 10 years ago. Now, an income
of £150,000 from our life business will, I think, be consi-
dered by the shareholders as being a very favourable one,
and which places this company high. in the rank of insur-
ance companies. I will also call your attention to the
growth of the funds of our life business, which are very
large. Those are alluded to in the appendix, but I may
call your attention to one or two prominent facts. You
will find there that our life funds which, five years ago,
were only £262,904, have amounted on the 31st Dec. last
to no less than £697,866. This is certainly a remarkable
increase, and suggests what might be considered perhaps
an exaggerated expectation of our actuary, that in the
course of ten years we should have a million sterling in our
life capital. I cannot conclude my remarks without calling
your attention particularly to the very largo bonus that wo
are able to offer to insurers a bonus of 2 per cent. per
annum for five years, being 10 per cent. for the period; so
that if any gentleman had a policy of £l,OOO five years ago
ho had now a policy of £l,lOO, which, I think, :you will
consider is a vejy great advantage to insurers, and based
as it is upon the soundest and best calculations, I think it
will give the very greatest confidence to the public, and
we have every reason to expect from such a bonus a very
great expansion of our life business. As regards the busi-
ness, we may, I think, be assured, and, according to all
human and reasonable calculation, we aro taking our stand
among the leading life offices of the kingdom, and that
position would be maintained. (Hear, hear.) After making
your dividend and bonus 10s., your reserve fund and pro-
fit and loss will amount to £203,279, which, under all the
circumstances, I think you will consider satisfactory. I
conclude -by-moving the firet zairlution, that the re-
port now read be received, adopted, and printed for
circulation among the proprietors.
Mr. Bonen seconded the motion, and it was carried un-
animously. _

The CHAIRMAN proposed the next resolution, approving
of the computations made by the actuary and the bonus to
the assured.

Alderman DOVER (Deputy Mayor) seconded the resolu-
tion, which was also carried ment con.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the declaration of a divi-
dend and bonuses, in accordance with the recommendation
of the directors' report, which was seconded by Mr. S.
Ho',JAE, and agreed to.
On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by Colonel
MAIVDSLEY, the outgoing directors were re-elected.
Mr. T. B. IIoRsrALL, M.P., said—We all feel that we
owe much of the success and prosperity of this company
to the management of the directors. (Hear, hear.) We
know, and perhaps many may not know, the great extent of
labour which falls on those gentlemen. Hitherto they have
had what some pleased to call a remuneration, I believe
something like £4O a year to each of them, but I am one of
those who think that whore there is efficient management
there might be something like remuneration ; and instead of
£4O a year, I think there ought to be something like £lOO
a year to each of them. The grant has hitherto been £l,OOO
a year, and I propose for the future that it shall be £2,500
a year.
Mr. SAMUEL HOLME seconded the motion.
After a brief discussion the motion was passed.
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks on behalf of the direc-
tors.

On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by Mr. JAMES
lIOLME, the auditors were unanimously re-elected.
Mr. YOUNGHT:SBAND returned thanks for the mark of con-
fidence in the auditors, and said they had thoroughly exa-
mined all the books, vouchers, securities, &c., of the com-
pany, and found them perfectly correct.
On the motion of Alderman COOPER, a vote of thanks
was passed to the chairman, deputy chairman, and direc-
tors of the company, and to the managers and directors of
tho various branches.
The CHAIRMAN acknowledged the vote of thanks, and
proposed that the thanks of the meeting should he given to
Mr. Dove, especially for his very able report, and to the
other officers of the company.
Mr. ROYDS seconded the resolution, which Was carried
with acclamation.
Mr. DOVE acknowledged the compliment.
A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to the chair-
man for his conduct in the chair, and tho meeting separated.

Foreign Nail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.

Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton Aug. 18.
Ditto, via Marseilles Aug 12.
Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet Aug. 1.
Ditto, by French packet
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Aug. 21.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Aug. 2.
Ditto, via Marseilles Aug. —,
Fatkland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton .............Aug. —.
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.... Aug. 2.
Ditto, via Marseilles .......... _ .......Aug. —.
India (Bombay), via Southampton. Aug. —.
Ditto, via Marseilles Aug. —.
Mauritius, via Southampton
Ditto, via Marseil:e3 Aug. 4.
Newfoundland , Aug. 16.
Portugal .....Aug. 4.
Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon
United States and British North America, by Bri-
tish packet .. ...Aug. 10.
Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp-
ton
1 Ditto, via Cork . ...

Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry Aug. 11.
West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Teneriffe Aug. 10.
West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, Cuba,

and Mexico..

Aug. 14

MARRYING A WARD IN CHANCERY.—The County
Palatine Court of Chancery was occupied last week
in investigating the case of John Bradney, a Liverpool bar-
man, and of Harriet Moss, who had been guilty of contempt,
the ono in marrying and the other in helping him to marry
Alice Hilton, her daughter. It appeared that on Nov. 30,
1864, Miss Hilton was placed under the care of Miss Helen
Hyams, of Spollow-land, Kirkdale, by whom she was to be
maintained and educated for au annual sum of £lOO. On
the Bth or 9th of Juno last Bradney was informed by the
district registrar of this court that Miss Hilton was a ward
of the court, but notwithstanding this ho married her with-
out leave of the court. Bradney alleged that ho bad mar-
ried Miss Hilton with the consent of Mrs. Moss, and that
the marriage was legal and valid. The Vice-Chancellor
(Mr. James) said that both Bradney and Mrs. Moss had
boon warned,:they had neglected that warning, the orders
of the court must bo enforced, and its wards protected.
Both the defendants would have to go to prison, and Brad-
ney would not be able to get out until he had settled all
the property of Miss Hilton upon herself. The warrants
for the committal of Bradney and Mrs. Moss were then made
out, and they were taken into custody.

7V-7tOk7 •
•
143 A,, Vt Wei)
•-• _ -
4t.
I Exhibition of the Art Unl 14/
- This exhibition, of which there was v
on Saturday, is usually a very welcome s le t S
to the regular academical exhibitions of the year.
We,_ see collected together under one roof many of
the prettiest little gems which have attracted us in
the various galleries, andare able to make closer ac-
quaintance with others which the eccentricities of
hanging committees had hidden from our sight be-
fore. This year's exhibition is decidely above the
average. There are close upon 120 pictures, vary-
ing from £lO to £2OO invalue, and it would be hard
to point to an instance where a prize winner with
the means placed at his disposal has made a bad
choice. Still, it is remarkable that the taste of the
majority seems to run in the same line. Three-
fourths of the pictures selected are landscapes—little
corners of shady lanes, with quaint old cottages—
cool, sequestered glens—reaches of silvery river flow-
ing through green, grassy banks, golden cornfields
falling to the sickle, mountain passes in North Wales,
sunrises in Switzerland, or sunsets in Scotland and
the Lakes. There are a few sea pieces, mostly of
considerable merit, but of historical pictures and in-
teriors the proportion is very small. The master-
work of the gallery, however, is an historical picture
Leslie's Defence of Latham-house, which represents
the heroic Charlotte de la Tremouille, Countess of
Derby, assisting to " fish" the " flagstaff" which has
been damaged by Puritan cannon. It will be re-
membered as one of the great crowd-gatherers at the
Royal Academy this year, and has been selected by
the fortunate winner of the £2OO prize, Mr. W. H.
Webb, of 'Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the Art Union
has members not only in all our colonies,
but in most countries of Europe. The only
other historical production is " The Princess
Elizabeth in Captivity at Hatfield"—a well-drawn
picture; though the Virgin Queen in her best days
-can hardly•have been -so pietty as the young lady
who is gazing through the oriel window. It has been
selected from the Exhibition of thb British Artists
by Mr. E. Osborne, who drew a £4O prize. The
two £l5O prizes are also from the Society of British
Artists. " The Thorn," by E. J. Cobbett, repre-
sents a group of country children among the black-
berry bushes, gathered round an unfortunate com-
panion who has pricked her finger with a thorn ; the
other, " Innocence," is a charming figure of a young
fisherwoman with a child in her arms. Mr. G.
Dadds, who drew a £lOO prize and gave £6B in ad-
dition to that for a small picture called " Eastern
Life" is, perhaps, the only winner of whose taste we
may be permitted to express a doubt. Another £lOO
prize, " The Tomb of the Mamelukes," by C.
Vacher, is the most important water-colour in the
exhibition, and of another, " Loehaber no more,"
by W. H. Paton, all lovers of Highland scenery will
say that it is the most successful attempt to trans-
fer to canvas the rugged beauties of this wild dis-
trict. The view of Arran Hills from Bute, by J.
Adam, selected from this year's Royal Academy,
is another pleasing bit of Scotch scenery, and
Mr. Toten was lucky to get it for a £25 prize.
Capt. Bamfield for a £75 prize has selected a cha-
racteristic picture of an old French fishing town, by
J. J. Wilson, with its gaunt old gables, red-legged
fisher girls, and crumbling jetty, and in the
" Dysart" on the east coast of Scotland, by Danby.
Mr. E. Lacy has decidedly the finest sea-piece in
the room. The largest interior is the " Grace before
Meat," a £75 prize, which sets before our eyes
the agricultural labourer's cottage as it ought
to be, or Mr. Henley would, tell us it is—
light, clean, and comfortably furnished—the family
sitting down to a hot dinner, and the father reve-
rently asking a blessing. "Il Bacio," which repre-
sents a young Italian mother fondling her child, is
one of the most highly finished of the water-colours,
and Mr. Richardson, of the Institute of Water Co-
lours, has shown us new charms even in so hack-
neyed a subject as " Bopport on the Rhine." From
the same exhibition comes another spirited water-
colour—" A Fair Wind," which apparently charmed.
Mr. Wade so much that, though he only drew a £l5
prize, he added £35 to secure it. Among the other
pictures there are many which, though lower in
value, deserve commendation, particularly " A
Spanish gipsy with cards," by Lidderdale ; "A Fern
Gatherer," by F. Holl, jun. ; " Magpie Ait on the
Tnes," " Corafichls near4he Coast," by Percy,
and " A Boulogne Trawler raining into llavre,"
by J. J. Wilson. Of the £lO prizes perhaps the
tiniest of the little haymakers who, " quite outspent
by the sun, lies curled up by the haycock asleep"
will attract most admiration. The other prizes ex-
hibited are porcelain busts of the Prince of Wales,
from the original, by Merton Edwards, a statuette
in porcelain of " Go to sleep," reduced from the
group by Joseph Durham, chromo-lithographs of
Young England and Wild Roses, and last, though
very far from least, a series of drawings, 32 in num-
ber, engraved by Mr. Lewis Gruner, from Maclise's
Illustrations of the Norman Conquest, which wore
exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1857. Copies of
the series, bound in one volume, will be presented to
each subscriber for the coming year, and, looking to
the character of the work, the Council is no doubt
correct in the anticipation expressed in this year's
report that it will lead to a largo subscription.

The Late Volunteer Review.

The following communications have been trans-
mitted to us from the Horse Guards :

Horse Guards, July 25,
.1865.

My Lord,—l have to inform your lordship that
the annual volunteer review took place under my
immediate direction on Saturday last, the 22d inst.,
at Wimbledon.
The muster was considerable, 9,143 of all ranks,
with 24 guns. These numbers are much less, how-
ever, than what had been announced as the pro-
bable force on the ground, and I cannot help re-
' gretting that corps do not turn out somewhat
stronger on parade on such occasions.
Everything passed off most satisfactorily; the drill
of the battalions has, I think, improved since last
year, though I am of opinion that even yet more
battalion drill is needed in many instances. The
marching past was creditable, and the movements,
though few in number, were performed in a manner
evincing intelligence and an aptitude for military
evolutions.

There is only one subject which I must notice with
regret, that is, the late arrival of the corps. These
were ordered to be on the ground at 4 30, so as to
be prepared for commencing to manoeuvre at 5
o'clock. At that hour, however, hardly a corps had
arrived, at all events none had got into position, and
it was 6 30 before the movements could commence.
The result was that every evolution had to be per-
formed iY a hurried manner, as darkness was fast
approaching, and indeed it was beginning to be dark
before the marching past could be concluded.
Whoever is to blame in the matter, I do hope that
steps may for the future be taken to allow these
gatherings to take place at such an hour as to en-
able a certain number of evolutions to be performed
with steadiness and without undue hurry.

It would be far better for the objecf in view, as
regards gaining military knowledge, and far mom
acceptable I should think to the volunteers them-
selves, to take part in a field day, which need not
be curtailed for want of time to carry out the in-
tended movements.—l remain, &c.,

GEORGE.

To the Right Hon. Earl de Grey and Ripon.

War-office, Aug. 3, 1865.

Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your Royal Highness's letter of the 25th
ultimo relative to the review of volunteers, which
took place at Wimbledon on the 22d ultimo, under
your Royal Highness's immediate direction. In
reply I have to express my satisfaction that an
improvement was perceptible in the drill of the
battalions, and that the movements performed were
well and intelligently executed by the volunteers.-
1 have, &c., DE GREY and RIPON.
His Royal Highness the Field Marshal,
Commanding-in-Chief.

EMIGRATION TO CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND.—
On Friday last the ship Blue Jacket, ono of Shaw, Savill,
and Co.'s lino of packets, left Gravesend, having on board
about 150 assisted emigrants (selected by Mr. Marchman,
the Canterbury Provincial Government agent), most of
whom are agricultural labourers, the rest being smiths,
carpenters, and mechanics. The Blue Jacket takes 50
others who pay their passage, and among whom are Some
old settlers returning.

LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1865.

The sudden stoppage of all communication from
the Great Eastern has naturally occasioned very
great anxiety. The records of the progress of the
great ship have been so eagerly watched, and the
early success of the expedition was received with
such universal gratification, that the mortifying in-
telligence of an apparent failure could hardly be
otherwise than depressing and dispiriting. There
had been, it is true, two temporary stoppages pre-
vious to the present disaster, but these were so
accurately localised and so quickly repaired that '
they almost increased the confidence felt in the
ultimate success of the expedition. The delay in
the communications has now, however, continued
SO long as to give rise to serious uneasiness, and to
well-founded apprehensions that the cable may
have been severed from the ship, and that, conse-
quently, the 1,250 miles known to have been payed
out are lying idle at the bottom of the Atlantic.
There arc, however, several points to be taken into
consideration, and arguments, of course, are not
wanting on both sides of the question. The signals
on Wednesday last became confused and indistinct
at about 10 a.m., and since a few hours after that
time no single signal has been received. Those who
believe in the severance of the cable, therefore,
argue that more than sufficient time has elapsed
for the Great Eastern to have hauled
in the line and to have repaired the fault, so that
if the cable had not broken signals ought to have
been received yesterday evening at furthest. But
allowing that the failure of the communications was
due to a local error, and that the ship would have
to wind the cable in again, it is impossible to cal-
culate within a narrow space the time such a process
would occupy. Twelve or even twenty-four hours
arc not enough margin to leave, while we are un-
certain as to the nature and extent of the injury to
the cable, or to the difficulties which wind or weather
might oppose to the winding in. But there is a
strong argument in favour of the conjecture that
the stoppage of the signals is due to the general
disturbance produced by the magnetic storm which
lasted from Wednesday to Friday, and was again
renewed on Saturday. It should be remembered
that the violence of this storm has produced a sen-
sible effect on the telegraphic wires on land, so that
it is impossible to estimate the effect on the Atlantic
submarine cable. The opinion of Mr. GLAISIIEI:
and Mr. AIRY, derived from their observations at
the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, is that
no communication could have been expected
during so great a magnetic disturbance. Mr.
Amy, writing on Saturday, says that the sponta-
neous earth currents have been so violent that the
telegrams on :the Croydon wire were interrupted,
and, he adds, " It is scarcely in possibility that a
telegraph current can have passed along the Atlantic
cable in a legible state during any part of this time."
Mr. GLAISHEI: writing, Aug. 6, informs us that the
magnetic disturbance was again very active from
10 p.m. on Saturday till 3 a.m. yesterday, and that
since that time it had continued in a lesser degree
up to 10 a.m., the dateof_his letter. The Dartford
and Croydon wires showed forcible traces of dis-
turbance, and the traces were frequently lost. Mr.
GLAISHER naturally draws the inference that
with a continuance of such strong and
active earth currents on the short wires it
is quite possible that through the great length of the
Atlantic cable, even if perfect, " the far-arranged
feeble currents to be sent would not be at all intelli-
gible." Of course, all conjectures must remain
mere conjecture until the matter is finally set at rest
either by a return of one of the ships or a renewal
of the signals. But it is wise, at all events, to sus-
pend our judgments, for the very uncertainty and
delicacy of the undertaking which forbids us to be
over-confident warns us also not to despair. The
coincidence of the magnetic storm with the suspen-
sion of thc 6iffnals certainly points to the conclusion
that it has-had something to do with the stoppage;
but whether the cable has during that period re-
ceived any further injury, it is impossible to say ;
at all events, while " there is life there is hope,"
and, until we have absolute information of the
failure of the expedition, we may cherish the convic-
tion that a favourable solution of the problem is at
any rate possible.

The Prussian lawyers, it appears, have come to a
decision at last upon the vexed question of succes-
sion in the Duchies, and the result of their delibera-
tions can take no one by surprise, for it exactly
follows out the notion previously entertained of
their conduct. In the first place, they declare that
the Duke of AUGUSTENBERG has no right of succes-
sion to the whole or part of the Duchies, because his

father renounced his right of succession, and also
because succession by primogeniture cannot be said
to exist in the House of Augustenburg. It is worthy
of notice that the Danes urged the same plea when
the dispute first threatened a serious termination,
and then the Berlin legal authorities were not of
the same opinion as they now profess to be. It is
really outraging the forbearance of foreign nations,
and insulting the common sense of all lookers-on
for Prussia to pursue the course she is now taking.
The Crown Prince was a great friend of the duke's,
but apparently his Royal Highness finds it as con-
venient to cast off his acquaintances as those of a
lower rank are prone to do, when circumstances
become awkward, and reminiscences as unpleasant.
The manner in which the Duke of AUGUSTENBERG
has been treated by the Prussians is perfectly scan-
dalous, and of itself furnishes an episode in the
Schleswig-Holstein affair that will disgrace their
memory.

The second conclusion at which the Crown law-
yers arrive is, that the claims of the Grand Duke
of OLDENBURG are only valid with reference to the
GOTTOP portion of the Duchies, in virtue of even-
tual reversionary rights. It is amazing to witness
the ingenuity with which people can contrive to
extricate themselves from dilemmas and difficulties
that threaten to subvert their plans and destroy
their projects. There is always some way out of
the wood, and thus we find that all successive ob-
stacles are put aside, and all conflicting claims got
rid of by the skill and sharpness of these astute
agents who serve the legal interests of the Prussian
Crown. The third conclusion is, that the rights of
King CHRISTIAN the Ninth, recognised by the law
of succession of July 31, 1853, having been pub-
lished and duly introduced in the Duchies, " his
Majesty's rights of succession must be considered
as legally established, and these have been trans-
ferred by the Treaty of Vienna to Prussia and Aus-
tria." Nothing can possibly better show the crafty
style of Prussian tactics than this paragraph : be-
cause the King of DENMARK cannot be any; longer a
formidable opponent, it is considered expedient to
allow his claims to bo valid ; and when this
is done they are forthwith annulled by men-
tioning the fatal Treaty. Why did we hear
nothing of the authenticity of King CHRISTIAN'S
claims before the period when that occurrence took
place. On the contrary, it was distinctly stated in
many influential quarters that the Danish Sovereign
had no right whatever in the Duchies, and certainly
this principle was acted on by those in authority,
both in Vienna and Berlin. No doubt the Govern-
ment of King WILLIAM will be only too glad to
avail themselves of the golden opportunity which
is presented to them by the declaration of these
opinions by the Crown lawyers. It will furnish a
useful pretext for compassing their ends and at last
coming forward with something like consistency,
and showing themselves in their true colours. At
any rate, it is something in the way of progress that
we should hear the opinion of the Crown Lawyers,
and the next step to be looked for is the assumption
by Prussia of the Sovereignty of the Duchies. The
desire expressed by Austria that the Duke of
OLDENBURG should be put in possession of those
coveted places will evidently be totally disregarded,
now that the legal authorities have put their veto
against it, and thus furthered the cause that their
friends have so much at heart.

Our Indian fellow-subjects have just now two or
three causes of annoyance or anxiety, despite the
generally satisfactory prospects of the country. The
first is the excessive heat which has in several places
brought the cholera in its train, and has affected the
health of some of our Anglo-Indian officials. The
heat this year seems to have been unusually great in
every part of the world ; and at Calcutta, we are
told, it has been intense, greater than it has been
for many years. There have been some cases of
apoplexy from the heat, and in the courts two judges
and several barristers have been prostrated by it.
If the Calcutta courts are conducted on the same
stifling principles in vogue in the English metropolis
it is not very surprising that the atmosphere of an
Indian summer grows intolerable.
The Anglo-Indians are suffering besides from a
financial difficulty and a military perplexity. It
is true that both are restricted to their own imme-
diate vicinity, but they are productive of annoyance
and depression. The monetary difficulty is in Bom-
bay, where the inevitable reaction from the late
fever of speculation still continues. The sudden
stoppage of the American war has partly contri-
buted to this result, having, of course, considerably
affected the value of the cotton shipped to England
by Bombay merchants. A good deal of money has,
too, been sunk in the various land reclama-
tion companies lately established, and which will
eventually, it is to be hoped, return good dividends.
But the excessive speculation, and the bubble com-
panies, have had, no doubt, the greatest share in
the crisis. When it is fairly surmounted, Bombay
capitalists will have grown wiser, and we may trust
that a favourable reaction on behalf of more steady
dealings will bring good out of evil, and greatly
benefit the island. The Indian Government has
given permission to the Bank of Bombay to receive
assistance from the Bank of Bengal, if the latter
is willing to come to the rescue, and there is there-
fore good reason to believe that the panic has seen
its worst.

The state of affairs in Bhootan is not altogether
satisfactory. The war has been allowed to drag on
much longer than was expected. A more liberal
expenditure and more active measures at the outset
would have settled the business long since and
brought the Bhootanese to their senses. The selec-
tion of the various military positions does not appear
to have been wisely made, and officers and men are
alike suffering from malaria and fever. This is the
more to he regretted, as, owing to the blockade
system having been adopted, the troops are com-
pelled to remain in the same localities for
a lengthened period. There are always plenty
of critics and censors, professional and
otherwise, who are prepared to find fault
with every official scheme, but the frequent cases
of fever among the officers in command cer-
tainly seem to indicate some error in the positions
chosen. There is a rumour that a fresh civil war is
about to break out in Bhootan in consequence of a
disagreement between two rival chiefs. What effect
this will have upon the Bhootanese in their dealings
with us is uncertain. At any rate further hostilities
ethdetißllhtoloietacnoldquseesatsioonn, nbiet
disisptoosebde
'ltiroep ePd°s ttll3l:tn
will of pretty quickly.

There have be- on important changes in some of
the provinces not under our dominion. The ruler
of Khokund has been killed by Tartars, and his
country made over to the Khan of Kokhara, while
in Cabul a great battle has taken place between the
Ameer and the Candahar Sirdais, in which, after
the fashion of some ancient battles, the leaders on
both sides were killed, the heir-apparent of the
Ameer and the head of the Candahar party both
falling victims. The rock fortress of Gwalior,
memorable in Indian history, has been given over to
the Indian Government by the Scindia of to-day,
and it is now garrisoned by European troops. In
the midst of the changes of the times it is gratify-
ing to find our relations with the native provinces
on so good a footing, and it is worth notice that

within the last decade the troubles of India have
changed from those of a semi-barbarous to those of
a civilised country.

Many literary celebrities have been called away
-within a comparatively recent period, and society has
had to sustain several serious losses by their un-
timely removal from the circles they adorned and
the community they delighted and instructed.
Another has just been gathered to the Silent Land
who will long be missed. Professor AYTOUN died
on Friday morning last, at a small shooting-lodge
near Elgin. He had been in declining health for
some time, but it was not thought his state was a
dangerous one. Few aspirants to literary honours
have passed a more brilliant and successful career
than the late lamented professor, and he certainly
cannot be classed among those sons of genius
who pine for want of encouragement and
appreciation. His works have always been re-
ceived with a warm welcome, and his writings, in
their peculiar style, have long been considered un-
rivalled. Since the year 1845 he held the honoured
position of Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres
in the University of Edinburgh—a post for which
he was particularly qualified. His connection with
Blackwood's Magazine dates from 1839, and his
contributions to that famous periodical have always
been distinguished for their brilliancy and vigour.
It was an interesting fact of the Professor's early
days that he attended the classes of his future
father-in-law, the renowned Professor WILSON, with
whom he was afterwards associated in connection with
Blackwood's Magazine, although he did not succeed
him in the editorship as some supposed. The work
on which the late Professor's fame chiefly rests
is the series of poesies entitled the " Lays of
the Scottish Cavaliers." These are most masterly
productions, and well caculated to hand down their
author's reputation to succeeding generations.
They are full of fire and energy, and also actuated
by the pathos and fine feeling that only a true poet
can impart. Professor AYTOUN was also celebrated
for some humorous productions. The spasmodic
tragedy of " Firmilian" was deservedly praised
at its publication, for it aptly depicted the
class it satirised„ and he also, in conjunc-
tion with Mr. THEODORE MARTIN, translated
the "Poems and Ballads of GOETHE," and brought
out the famous work of " Bon Gualtier," which is
replete with wit and humour. WILLIAM EDMOND.
STONE AYTOUN has died in almost the prime of life,
for he was only fifty years of age, but it cannot be
said that he has departed too soon for his fame,
since it is not likely that he could achieve a greater
reputation than he has done. Among his contem-
poraries he will be greatly missed, for his genial
qualities made him a general favourite ; but his
friends may rejoice to think that in the literature
he so truly loved he vas ranked as a shining orna-
ment, and that Scotland has lost a son whom she
duly honoured, and of whose memory she will long
be proud.

LITERATURE.

Cheap Edition of << The Doctor's Wife."

The Sixth Edition of Miss Braddon's last-novel-
but-one, " The Doctor's Wife," has recently been
issued by the Messrs. Maxwell and Company as a
companion volume to the already well-known six
shilling issue of her earlier and, some among them,
more famous works—" Lady Audley's Secret,"
" Aurora Floyd," " Henry Dunbar," and " Eleanor's
Victory." To many bookshelves this re-issue, in a
complete form, of a very charming story will be
especially welcome—most of all, because we cannot
but still recognise in " The Doctor's Wife" the
opening up of a new, a higher, and a purer phase in
the general development, and advancement, and ele-
vation, and expansion of Miss Braddon's genius as a
novelist. In some respects the exposition here
given of the character of the Doctor's wife, is Miss
Braddon's most remarkable performance. Isabel
—first of all known as Miss Sleaford, afterwards
as Mrs. Gilbert—lsabel of the black hair and the'
yellow eyes, the poetry-loving, novel-reading
Isabel, who is enamoured (as far as the preservation
of the chastity of her honour will permit) of the
author of " The Alien's Dream," meaning thereby
Roland Lansdell, of Mordred Priory, Midlandshire
—this all but lackadaisical, mooning, meditative
builder of Chateaux en Espagne, is here
described by the novelist in all the fluctua-
tions of her sensitive temperament, as only a
skilled student in the mysteries of human
nature could describe anything so subtly variable
as Isabel Gilbert's, nee Sleaford's, character. In
regard to Isabel alone, the book is a study. But
other characters there arc in " The Doctor's Wife"
almost equally well discriminated. Sigismund Smith,
for example, the sensation author, contributor of
raw-head and bloody-bone romances to the penny
serials—nothing in its way could very well be more
thoroughly humourous than that delineation ! From
first to last, Sigismund Smith is excellent. So, too, for
that matter is the little rough outline here given at the
opening of the book of that chuckle-headed youth,
Horace Sleaford, the arch-representative or exem-
plar of that horrible genus, abhorred alike by men
and boys, the genus hobbledehoy ! George Gilbert
again—lsabel's unsympathetic husband—the pro-
vincial medical practitioner of Graybridge, cranching
his onions and radishes in so thoroughly heartless a
manner during his bread and cheese suppers—every
touch in regard to George Gilbert is artistically good,
because perfectly in keeping ! Mr. Jeffson, too,
the country surgeon's odd-man (in every sense)
with his high opinion, from schooldays upwards, of
the merits of " Master Jarge"—Mr. Jeffson is an-
other genuine original in his way ! Highly as we
admired the story altogether upon its first appear-
ance, it improves, we find, upon a reperusal of it.
A sure token, as we take it, of any book's intrinsic
excellence. The second of Phiz's illustrations to the
present edition of " The Doctor's Wife " tends
rather, we fear, to give an erroneous notion of the
book at starting ; for, while the tale does comprise,
towards the close of it, a murder among its incidents, it
is altogether, what might be designated as—among
all Miss Braddon's works—the least sensational,
according to the popular and ordinary acceptance of
that Americanism.

How to Spend a Month in Ireland. By Sir Cusack
Roney. Pp. 168. W. 11. Smith and Son.

Among all the pocket-companion guide-books to
Ireland, this one of Sir Cusack Roney's is incom-
parably the best, the compactest, the most com-
pletely up-to-time in the accuracy and minuteness
of its information. It is gossipping and practical
—amusing and instructive—pleasantly anecdotal
and yet thoroughly business-like throughout. It is,
in an abbreviated way, for Ireland at one and the
same time a Murray and a Bradshaw.

Dr. Webster's Complete Dictionary of the English
Language—(Bell and Daldy)—is, in this its eighth
half-crown instalment, brought down to the word
" Scantling" upon page 1176, so that three-fourths
of the projected work are now actually and very
subsantially indeed, before the public. Already we
have seen enough of the book to recognise in it a
very marvel among compilations of this character—
at once the completest and the cheapest dictionary
of the English language ever published.

VICTOR HUGO'S LATEST LITERARY PE RFORII-
- is " Les Travailleura de la Mer," in which
the coast life of the Channel Islands is prominently
brought forward, is receiving the finishing touches, pre-
viously to being placed in the hands of the printer. A
writer in the &dependance Beige says that M. Hugo is
about to do an unprecedented thing, and one which it
would be difficult for any other writer to imitate. He in-
tends to publish, one immediately after the other, three
works which will show tho three aspects of his genius. At
the end of October will appaar a volume of lyrics--" Songs
of the Streets and the Woods ;" at the end of January, a
novel in three volumes—" The Workmen of the Sea;"
and towards the close of the May following, a volume of
d a comedy in one—" The Grandmother."
plays, containing a drama in five acts (" Torquemada"),

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

FRANCE.
PARIS, AUG. 7.

Admiral Willaumez has been nominated Senator.
The report of the committee appointed under the
presidency of the Empress to inquire into the peni-
tentiary system adopted with young convicts in the
departments of the Seine has been published.

It decides against the course of treatment pur-
sued in La Roquette prison, and iu favour of the
agricultural system.

THE BOMBAY MAIL.
SOUTHAMPTON, AUG. 7.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Delta, with the above mail, passed the Needles at
8.40 a.m. to-day.

THE CHINA MAILS.
MARSEILLES, AUG. 7.
The Messageries Imperiales steamer Moeris, with
China mails, arrived hero at 7 a.m. yesterday.
She brings 5,000 bales of silk.