The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-11 00:00:00

ONDON FRIENDLY INSTITU-

TION

41.
The twenty-second annual general meeting of this
society was held last night in the City o, London
Literary and Scientific institution, A.ldersgate-street
J. Masterman, Esq., one of the Members for the City,
presided, supportd by Mr. Alderman and Sheriff
Challis.

The CHAIRMAN briefly opened the pr cl. b
calling upon ocee tugs, y
The SECRETARY to read the annual report, which
commenced •by congratulating the members upon the
fact that the directors had to repeat the satisfactory
statements of former years. Notwithstanding the pre-
valence of various affections consequent upon the un-
usual temperature of the past season, and the larger
payment of benefits, a saving had been realised in the
sick fund to a very large extent. The subscriptions dur-
ing the year had been upwards of 2001. more than was
required to meet the current payments, which, added to
the interest of the capital invested in this fund, and 150/.
transferred from the management fund, made the in-
crease nearly 5001. The number of deaths being thir-
teen, of these nine were insured for benefits. The claims
on this fund amounted to 1351.; the increase upon ir,
including interest, was upwards of 3801. Two additional
medical officers had been appointed during the year, ono
at Burford, Oxon, and the other at Rotherhithe, in con-
sequence of-the necessity for more help of that kind. The
report pressed on the members the necessity of limit-
ing medical districts, as the result already had proved
highly satisf tctory and advantageous to the memb:rs,
inasmuch as they meet with more prtmpt attenth,n, stud
suffer less inconvenience by a nearer residence to the me-
dical officer. One member had been excluded from the
•.• . •

institution in consequence of having taken relief after
having resumed his occupation. The expenses of ma-
nagement had been kept very far below the receipt., al-
though, during the year, several extra expenses had
been incurred, which are not likely to occur again for
some years. The expense of the attendance of directors
had remained nearly stationary for fifteen years, altheegh
the number of members has in the interval increased
nearly threefold, in consequence of the payment to the
committee and auditors continuing to be regulated by
the original rule, which fixed the sum at Is. for each at-
tendance. Many other duties, such as visiting the sick,
were imposed on the directors, in addition to their at-
tendance at the meetings, but for these no remuneration

was given, and the difficulty of faithfully complying
with the rule induced the directors to recommend
either the appointment of a visitor, or the
giving of some compensation to the directors
for performing it. The report concluded by adverting
to the prosperity of the institution, as shown by the
increase of 178 members, and of nearly 9002 during
the year, and by pressing earnestly on the members the
duty of making known generally the existence of the
society, and its peculiar features, and to urge each of
them to add at least one more to its numbers, on
the consideration that he who induces one to reserve a
portion of the fruits of his physical strength, to as-
suage the sting of affliction, or the cry of the widow,
is the positive agent of a moral good. By acting in this
way each succeeding year would surpass the present in
prosperity.
The report was received with great applause.
Mr. Alderman CHALLIS moved its adoption. It con-
tained all the information which such a document ought
to contain, at the same time withholding any unneces-
sary expression of opinion on the part of the directors
on subjects not before the meeting. The increase of
200 L in the sick fund was a matter for great congratula-
tion, especially when he knew that there were many
other societies that could tell a very different tale.—
(Hear, hear,) It proved that their society was not
composed of the halt and the maimed, but that it was
supported by men who were disposed to take on them-
selves their fair share of its burdens. The limitation
of the districts of the medical men seemed to
him a great advantage. They were greatly too
large, and it was wrong to expect too much
from these important officers. It tended to prevent the
society from receiving support which they would
otherwise have from medical men, than whom he did
not know a more actively benevolent class of the comma-
nity.—(Hear, hear.) The adoption of smaller districts
would, he believed, cause offers of gratuitous assistance
to be made to the society, besides the other conveniences
to the members themselves, from their greater proximity
to the medical officers of the society. It was also mat-
ter of at... 1-1
excluded. He thought that it was well for the directors
of a society not to be too strict in their interpretation or
enforcement of the rules relative to exclusion. It was
difficult always to draw the line in such cases. Men
might be suffering from nervous irritation, the result of
long-continued, or even temporary, illness, and nume-
rous other causes, might make him unwell after the doc-
tors had reported that there was no longer any disease
about him requiring their attendance.—(Hear.) And
ho would, therefore, always tolerate, and'gently exercise
the right of exclusion in all cases, and rather trust to
their own judgments than the opinions of professional
men on that point.—(Cheers.) Another point was the
expenses of management. He had frequently to take the
chair at meetings of Odd Fellows and similar societies,
and had been much struck with the expense of ribbons,
sashes, &c., for the grands, most noble grands, and other
grands, of those societies ; and though these parties
might not be very grand in themselves as members, they
were in one sense—the expense was grand. It was,
therefore, gratifying to him to find that though their
business had increased threefold, they were at the same
time decreasing their expenses. The worthy Alderman,
after brie fly noticing other points in the report, and
eulogising the directors for their disinterested attention
to the affairs of the society, concluded by strongly urging
the duty of aiding to increase its numbers. The greater
the number the greater the stability of the society, for,
as had been remarked, that nothing was so uncertain as
death to the individual, nothing was so certain as its
average. There was not one present who had not some
influence in his own neighbourhood, and who, if be
exerted it, could not send up one, two, or three additions
to the society. With these views he had great pleasure
in moving the adoption of the report.—(Cheers.)
Dr. MULLINDER seconded the motion in a brief
address, in which he showed the great advantages which
had accrued to the Mutual Clerks' Provident Society by
a recent movement for giving greater publicity to its
principles and objects. They had greatly added to its
numbers, and the same might be done in the London
Friendly Institution. He congratulated the meeting on
having Alder man Challis present, who, as the repre-
sentative of Majesty, had the care of crime committed
to him. But such meetings as that which he now
attended were more important, they promcted prudence
and the comfort of families. Theirs was a national ob-

ject, and intimately connected with the progress of moral
good in the country.—(Cheers.)
A MEMBER said, with reference to the sum in the
balance-sheet for the attendance of directors, he found
it amounted to more than the Is. for each attendance,
supposing orwiy one meeting a week. How was this?
The SECRETARY, in explanation, said the expense of
quarterly, special, and audit meetings was included.
The CHAIRMAN then put the motion, which was car-
ried unanimously.
The SECRETARY then read the balance-sheet, from
which it appeared that the income for the year was
3,228 L 6s. 5d., and the expenditure 2,3371. ss. 74d., leav-
ing a balance, invested in the hands of the officers, of
7,8091. 15s. 3p.

The CHAIR said, in proposing this document for
-MAN
the adoption of the meeting, that it would be seen, after
all the expenses of the year had been met, there was a
balance of 6001. in favour of the society beyond the in-
terest on the funds invested. This was a most satifae-
t o ry
The state
bitinoaftehei.nshgse.
et was unanimously adopted, and
scrutineers having been appointed to conduct the election
of directors,
The CHAIRMAN begged to leave the meeting, as he
lived some distance in the country, and the election would
occupy some time. He took a deep interest in the wel-
fare of such societies; had been highly gratified by the
state of their affairs, and, as far as his eurnerous eng
age.
ments permitted, would always be happy to attend and
to aid them.—(Loud cheers.)
On the motion of Dr. MULLINDEB, seconded by Alder-
man CHALLIS, a vote of thanks was given to Mr. Master-
man, for which the Hon. Gentleman returned thanks.
ludderamppaninCustrtLaLnisd waans
itnhteenrecaatillllegd
ntonntvheeriti:r;
propriety of an alteration in the
amMidrslAlo
rtouoleks,plbayc'e maseantos ofe
which some objectionable or un-
healthy professions, at present excluded from participu-
don in the benefits, might be admitted. The discussion
ultimately terminated in the understanding that the
directors would consider the subject, and that in the
meantime the rules gave them ample power to by evr ry
individual case that eaine before them on its own merits.
Mr. VABLEY moved the thanks of the society to the
medical officers.
Messrs. BAINBRIDGE and TILLEY returned thanks.

The CHAIRMAN then declared the result of the ballot
for directors ; and after a hearty vote of thanks to Mr.
Alderman Challis for his conduct in the chair, and the
great interest he had shown in the society, which the
Chairman acknowledged in an appropriate speech, the
meeting broke up.

(ADvERTIBEMENT.] A BAD LEG OF THIRTY-FIVE
YEARS' STANDING CURED BY HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT AND PILLS.—
The particulars of this extraordinary case are as follows :—Mr. Jas.
Macdonald, a native of Ireland, now residing at No. 7, George-yard,
Whitechapel, was discharged from the navy in 1813, in consequence
of his leg then having been bad for two years, and pronounced in
Plymouth Hospital as incurable. During the former long period he
had had the advice of the most skilful surgeons in London, Dublin.
and other places. Notwithstanding the dreadful state of the leg and
five-and-thirty years of suffering, the limb is now soundly healed
aaleld
by the use of Holloway's Ointment and Pills, which are la
dealers in medicines, and at the Proprietor's Establishment, 244
Strand, London.

LITERATURE.
MARGARET RUSSELL ; an Autobiography.
A good biography, above all a good autobiography,
IS among the most interesting of books. It is valu-
able as affording not so much an epitome of events,
as an analysis of sentiments—riot a history of facts,
bat of feelings. Historical works, and the generality
of nevels, are too much occupied with externals ;
they tell)us more of kings and peers and princes than
of men, and, sonsequently, howsoever great may be
tikr wonder or admiration, we feel little sympathy or
liMO interest. Far otherwise is it when, turning
from " all the small grandeurs of place and of
power," we follow the chequered fortunes of an in-
dividual, and study the varying emotions of a human
heart. This is a subject which appeals to every one,
here our natural equality is made manifest; every-
thing else may differ, but, in a more or less degree,
the same passions, the same hopes and fears, and joys
and sorrows, animate the breast of all. Those works
are consequently the most interesting, and perhaps
not the least useful, which exhibit, not the unnatural
perfections of romance, or the regal automata of his-
tory, but real men and women—creatures, like
ourselves,

" too bright or good,
For human nature's daily food."
reelibg, as in like circumstances we should have felt,
and acting as we should have acted. of this class,
simple and unpretending as it appears, is the little
volume now before us. A fictitious narrative, yet
containing mtire of truth than do many tales founded
On fact. The history of Margaret Russell, though
faulty and improbatile as far as plot and incidents are
concerned, is perfect as an autobiography. It is, as
oath a work should be, simple, natural, and without
reserve, the-outpourings of a young and ardent heart ;
conveyed in most appropriate language—eloquent
without apparent effort or desigiu, religious without
ostentation, and (at times) melatcholy without gloom.
The spry is divided into three parts, the second of
vvlitch Ts full of incidents and adventure—marvellous,
nay, almost impossible. Some of the scenes are
forcibly described, most of the characters are vividly
portrayed, but there is an air of incongruity and
improbability about this part of the tale, which,
nevertheless, we are disposed to forgive and induced
to forget, because Margaret mingles with the whole,
making all appear natural and real when connected
with a character so real and natural as her

own. The most beautiful portion of the
tale is the commencement, which describes the
early years of the heroine passed amid scenes of
tranquillity and beauty. Early deprived of her
mother, she is consigned to the care of an aunt
—a strict formalist. The character of this aunt

Dorothea, and her sister Alice, are forcible illustra-
tions of the contrast between real religion, and those
ceremonial observances which too often usurp its
name—the difference between " the letter which
killeth, and the spirit which giveth rife." The
folttiwing is an example—Alice is full of joy at the
prospect of beholding a long-lost son :
" And in the midst of this joy, where was Dorothea?
Encased in that armour of proof wherewith she had
fenced het soul, she was invulnerable to every heartfelt
emotion. Not a tear did she shed; not a pulse was
quickened. She exhorted her sister to prayer, to thanks-
giving. So far this was well; for prayer can never be
wrong, and thanks are always due.. But.she did not rest
here. She blamed her in the harshest terms, and pointed
out the sinfulness of al!owing herself to be absorbed in
worldly emotions.
" Good God! were not the uplifting of the mother's
eye, and-the sudden clasping together of the hands; the
accents of blessing poured out upon the child so newly
found; die tears of joy; the sighs of the overburdened
heart; Are not these the very spirit of thanksgiving?
Were not these the very soul of prayer?
" Oh! none are o mistaken as the unhumanized.
None are so awfully misled as those who would seal up
the fountains which God has given to flow. To check
the love which purifies the intercourse with our kind on
earth; to stifle the joy which softens the soul, and pre-
pares it for heaven; to kneel down and call upon our
Maker th witness and approve the deliberate annihilating,
the taking away of the very life of that being with which
he has endowed us; if there is an unseen, unuttered
blasphemy of heart, it is this."
Every feeling of Margaret's heart being revealed to
us, the story of her -love is related with touching
pathos. Before she had reason to believe her affec-
tion was responded to, a terrible secret was emninu-
micated to ber—she was not, as she had supposed, an
orphan : her father was living, a felon, transported
beyond the seas. Full of the devotion and self-sacri-
fice Which characterise true love, she no longer de-
si:ed an union which would bring shame to one so
dear to her : strong in the fervour of her affection,
she was enabled, as is beautifully narrated in the
chapter of " the, Avowal," to listen to words of ten-
dernest which filled her heart with jny, and then to
bid him depart-. And he went, and then follows the
picture of here" desolation;" but it was not to last,
hi-tr ardent nitture could not retain such a feeling as
despair ; she was not long in finding the true way to
happiness. , Obliged to leave the quiet seclusion of her
country life, the following is a description of her
adieus anelier farewell resolves :
" 1 took my way down to the sea. It was the last
iiiliestliglit, and sent the reflex of her beauty in o,!e
unvarying silver fide across the broad ocean-mirror.
Beautifully, in the language of the Basques, has her light
been called ' the light of the dead!'

" As I lacked up to these blue and cloudless skis, and
across the wide waters, and heard the timed beating of
their surge; against the cliffs, I felt mimed and elevated.
The spirit vf the universe was abroid, and the petty
griefs and strngcles of humanity fnied before it. My
heart was lifted heavenward, and I vowed inwardly that
henceforth-I would devote it to a better service. I would
erush within me every unworthy emotion. AI-would Ivy
my boscm bdre to the storms of life, and, tcrgettino•
live only in my duties. The strongest passion of my
soul should not henceforth divorce me from the gracious
aspect of my mother earth. I had loved, and I must
love still. That feeling could not be deadened till the
breast that nourished it was cold in the grave. But it
should no longer depress, but exalt me. It should hence-
forth be not the shadow, but the light, of my soul.
" Internally I prayed for help—for guidance. I felt
lonely upon the earth. I could not abut my eyes to the
darkness of the prospect before me. I knew that there
was no kindly breast to support and encourage me in my
onward path; and h.,w, without this precious manna,
was Ito make my way through the wilderness? Kind
ness is the feeding-stream of all good; the milk' of the
parent, virtu?. Were we never forcibly deprived of the
fountain of her breast, our hearts would never be weaned
from the nursing mother.

Still, I wouil not despair, though alone and unaided
on earth. lie who, with God's help, sets himself t the
noble task of moddling anew his moral and int-Ileetual
is at ouce the sculptor and the marble—the ag.eit
and ol,j. ct of his design: he works by the aid of the Per-
fect }land, till he becomes the perfect form."
We will not pursue her history further; it is cer-
tainly an eventful one, but its greatest attraction lies
in the truthful sentiments with which it is filled.
The name of the author or authoress of this little
volume is not given ; it is, most probably, a first
work ; .if so, we hope much from him or her here-
after ; n any case, we shall be glad to renew his or
her acquaintance. In some future volume we
shall hoke again to find the same good
feeling, as vividly portrayed, the same kindly
sentiments as forcibly expressed. And we shall
also hope in that future volume to find a less
disjointed plot, and less incongruous incidents, and,
above all, no such blemishes as the introduction of the
idiot girl; the descr4iption of her death is terrible, and
the incidents connected with it, painful and urnatural,
rendered more so by their want of keeping with the
general tenour of the story. Margaret Russell, with-
out coming in Ole category of "religious books," is
oile admirably tended to enforce a moral lesson, or
rather (aid what is perhaps almost better, because
metre generally rrequired) it is calculated to infuse a
softening influence into the spirit—subduing bad
feelings, and animating good. The following is the
result of Margaret'slessons of experience.:—
" And what is the truth which the sacrifices of my
youth have taught me? The ennobling spi-it withi
us—the germ of all good to come—is it wasted and lost
',Alcamo the soarse soil of this world is not fitted for its
culture? No,—Oh! no. In portraying the struggles of
my past life,—struggles noble, but inefrectual,--fruitless
to redress evil, and ending only in weariness, let it not
be supposed that I would advocate the suppression of all
generous, all exalted feeling,—all spirit of self-sacrifice.
God forbid"! No; fervently do I still say, kwep pure—
keep bright that spirit within you; cherish it for its
wee Hereafter, but hope nothing from it Here. Even in
this world we may meet our reward: but such reward is
no necce-ssary condition of the sacrifices we make. By
iooking forward to an earthly recompense, we not only
ray ourselves open to the bitterness of defeated hope,
but we do away with tha very essence of martyrdom,
which should ask nothing from earth, but all from heaven.
" Here, then, let me close the transcript of my joys
and my sorrows; not without a hope that some feeling
of sympathy may be found in the world for one who,
however in the beginning of life she may have done
unwisely, yet in the end, took to her heart the lessens
Of wisdom."

THE FOOD OF AAIMALS. By Robert Dundas
Thr,mson,
Dr. Thomson is proving himself a worthy disciple
of the illustrious Liehig. The little volume here
pied evidences in every page the effects of the cul-
ture derived from the mind of that extraordinary man.
See rig that tile work'ls entirely descriptive of ex-
perit.tental researches on the kod of animals and the
fattening trtjtttle, it will afford much profitable in-
formation to the agriculturist; while its remarks upon
the !hod of man will render it generally acceptable.
Every one who has the misfortune to be of a hypo-
condriacal temperament will nourish their conjectures
as to their internal arrangement by studying the dis-
closokes made by this book ; but, as it may likewise
tend to dissipate many of their apprehensions, we
• its perusal would be very advisable. To
itea the victims of dyspepsia, Dr. Thomson's
t diveii consolations. Even to the
f:IV dueticn will prove advantageous, as,
"b 4 • n his strictures upon the fabrication of
id*
wholesome and nutritious bread.
.-1.474161 on of the phenomenon of digestion and
, - i•of