The Sun.
London, England, 1824-05-24 00:00:00

concerns on his own judgment, at his own risk,
and with the responsibility of his whole for-
tune. What is more necessary still to be observ-
ed is, that no person is prevented from insuring
on vessels or cargoes by not being a Mem-
ber of Lloyd's. Any single individual, in any
part of the kingdom, may insure as much as he
pleases, and on whatever terms he may think fit.
Where then, it will be said, is the objection to
the present state of the Jaw ? And what is the
object of Mr. Buxton's Bill ? We shall briefly
' answer these questions. By an existing Act of
Parliament, which was passed in the year 1719,
two Chartered Companies the Royal Exchange
Assurance and the London Assurance, were
established ; and on condition of their paying a
certain sum of money each to Government they
obtained the following privilege—namely, that
no other Corporations, Societies, or Partner-
ships should insure any ships, goods, or merchan-
dises at sea or going to sea. The privilege was
originally granted for thirty-one years, but it
has continued to the present time. As the law
now stands, therefore, any single person may
underwrite a policy of insurance on the whole or
part of a ship or cargo ; and each Member of a
Partnership or Society may, on his own separate
account and responsibility, do the the same ;
but no Company, as such, can underwrite except
the two Companies above-mentioned. The Act
of 1719 was certainly framed on principles which
cannot Ile justified, and with views which have
been disappointed ; hut like many other human
contrivances it has led to much better results than
those contemplated by its authors, though of a
very different nature. The Act purported to
guard against the insolvency of private Under-
writers, and was no doubt intended to throw the
great mass of that business, especially the ha-
zardous risks, into the hands of the two Compa-
nies ; but in point of fact those Companies do not
underwrite a twentieth part of the policies now
effected ; they seldom insure hazardous risks ;
and on the other hand the loss by insol-
vency of private Underwriters is in the present
times- extremely trifling. Two questions then
arise—first, whether the exclusive privilege of
Corporate Insurance should be continued to the
Royal Exchange and London Companies? and, if
not, whether the right of insuring on ships and car-
goes should be conceded to all other public compa-
nies? On the first of these points it seems that his
Majesty's Ministers consider themselves in some
degree pledged to put an end to the exclusive privi-
lege of the Companies in question, unless it can be I
she..vn to rest on strong grounds of public utility.
The second question is more difficult. It involves
a comparison between a system of unprecedented
excellence in practice, with one whose advan-
tages exist only in theory. It is somewhat like
the question of Parliamentary Reform ; the new
scheme may be more captivating ; but the
present system confessedly " works well."—
It is easy to say that some Underwriters at
Lloyd's are litigious ; that some of them be-
come insolvent; that some premiums are high,
and that some claims remain long unsettled.—
There never was a human Institution that had not
its partial defects; but we look at the Establish-
ment as a whole—There it stands and has stood
for above a century—

Like a great Sea-mark, saving those that eye it.
It has grown with the growing trade and navi-
gation of the Empire ; it has protected that
trade and navigation in the day of darkness and
distress ; it has blunted the shaft of the enemy,
and lightened the gloom of the tempest—nor can
we forget that its benevolence has been as munifi-
cent and patriotic as its speculations have been
bold and judicious. Altogether tlae commercial
world new saw any thing like the Establishment
at Lloyd's ; and we own we should look with
great alarm at any measure which threatened to
hurl that noble column from its base.

DEATH 01' SIR H. CLEMENT THOMPSON.—This
Gentleman died suddenly in the King's Bench
prison on Saturday
night, where he had been
confined since March- last. His day 'rule had
been provided in the morning, but sudden indis-
position prevented him from using it, and before
ten o'clock in the evening he fell suddenly from
his chair. Medical assistance was promptly ob-
tained, but the spark of life was extinct.
The Newcastle Theatre is advertised to be
let. Mr. MANSEL is one of the candidates for
it; the others are Messrs. MACREADY, BUTLER,
BUNN, and OXIIERRY.
New potatoes about the size of gooseberries
were sold on Saturday in Covent-garden Market
at the moderate price of three shillings a pound!
Yesterday a woman of the name of Payne,
who resided in Great Warner-street, Clerken-
well, attempted to drown her Self in the Pad-
dington Canal, but was prevented by persons
who, seeing her distracted state, had been watch-
ing her movements. Being taken to the house
of a surgeon, it was found she had taken poison.
She has been conveyed to Bartholomew's Hospi-
tal, where she lies dangerously ill.