The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-03 00:00:00

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TIMES FIRE ASSURANCE
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An eltranrdicary ineeting of the shareholders of eol_ 77yw:siaeldort251,Ve(inesdayat tbeir offices, Ludgate
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hill to consider the propriety of increasing- the capital
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as, read :

"The operations of the year, although limited, with re-
ference to profit and loss upon the fire risks taken, have
been prosperous, and the comparative absence of losses dur-
ing the last nine months has been remarkable. The plate-
glass business of the company has been also most success-
fully conducted ; for although the competition has been
, great, 4,000 policies have been issued during the last year, .
whilst from the prompt manner in which losses have been
paid, and the vigour with which new agencies have been
appointed for
directorstpi profitslu egei t'g:ni f'P,oairi:i:eacii.N. thebeni els euernn,esaeai
succeeded
extensiontds
itn sufficient
ol
entering
1 stteehsrei,
ri
g:‘t'oo plate-glassil-
formed, the foundation has been laid for a business of the
most. valuable kind ; and indeed, from this department alone,
has been making efforts to obtain concessions from Con-
rin netpgol replace the
agreementsti sh
e uthe
t interest
theeosisti 1
c'taeohnsnasa_i
faonrdthsoisuttuerrripoGseerimnaHnyol.laTnhde,
agencies have been
tracts with the following French fire companies,
La Pater-
nelie, Lo Nora, Li Gonfiance, and L'Etoile. By these con-
trsets your directors consent to take portions only of those
risks upon which the reassuring office is also placed, and
upon which they keep at least an equal amount, and in most
cases double the amount offered to this company. The direc-
tors have been taking risks from these offices now for the last
twelve) months, and have not yet in all that time had a single
our directors, in seeking for the means of transacting
American business, made offers to the Beacon and to the
Athemeum fire companies for the purchase or atnalgan--Cion
of the business already existing and business
and of
those companies, and aided by the ability and perseverance
of your manager, Mr. Sheridan, have succeeded in effecting
an amalgamation with the two offices referred to upon most
advantageous terms. The actual cost in money has been com- •
Paratively small, the assets and liabilities of the two emu- -
Panics very nearly balancing each other. The shareholders of
the purchased companies will have t . sign the deed of this
company, taking the shares of this company with some few
exceptions at 7s. paid. The amount or capital required for
this purpose will be amply covered by the sum of 25 WO/.
The number of a .ditional sharet for which your deed will have
to be signed to represent the above sum will beabout 60, -00,
with in most, cases a further responsibility thereon of 13s.
per share. The number of shares vlready signed for is 3,.,00.
The total number, therefore. when all the new shareholders
have slimed will bo 143,000 shareholders or thereabouts, ac-
tually signed for, with a responsibility of 1 is. per share oa
the hulk of them. It will readily oe seen, therefore, that the
director- were compelled to increase the capital of the com-
pany, for the purpose of admitting the s0,00i) new shares,
and the directors thought, that instead of increasing the
capital to the amount actu lily required, it would be better to
increase the capital to the snaszof 250,000/., inasmuch as tho
directors anticipate a largi demand for the shares of the com-
pany, and they cannot but admit that the larger the list of
shareholders the less the responsibility. to each individual
shareholder, whilst the chances of new business from in-
creased connections are considerably augmented. These are
the sole reasons for the call and the increase of capital, and
so far is the fact from their having been caused by misfor-
tunes or losses, that your. directors, prior to the amalgama-
tions or purchases above referred to, could have repaid to
every shareholder 20s. in the pound, by dividing the assets of
the company, and the sum to be obtained by the sale of the
business. The directors point to this fact as a proof that the
shareholders' money has been judiciously expended, and that
the amount sunk in preliminary expenses could be easily rea-
lised. The income of the company is now estimated for the
ensuing year at the large sum of 50,000/. ; and if the expe-
rience of the past is to be relied upon, you have cow an
income which, after paying lssses and expenses, will not
only pay a lunch larger dividend than has yet been received
by the shareholders, but will also enable you to put by a
large sum annually as a reserve fund for future contingen-
cies. It will be necessary to invest the sum of 30,0001. in
Government securities, in order to compete successfully with
the great companies now doing fire business at home and
abroad, and which companies have made similar invest-
ments. For this purpose, should the new shares be held
back, it is contemplated that another call of two shillings
per share Will be necessary. In which case the call will be •
made upon the shareholders of the three conjoined companies.
A call of two shillings per share will produce about 13,0001.,
and your directors will have sufficient in hand, and already
invested, viz., 17,0031., to make up the sum to 30,0001. The
whole of this sum will be invested in approved stock, and not
one shilling of it will be used for any other purpose."
The Cu MRIIIAN, in a very effective speech, recapitu-
lated the most salient points of the report, and concluded
by recommending that the same should be adopted.
Several questions were put by the proprietors as to
foreign business generally, which were satisfactorily re-
plied
to by the managing director.
Deputaziohs of directors and shareholders from the va-
rious local boards were in attendance to watch the inte-
rests of their constituents. Various inquiries were made
by them as to the'nature of the risks to be under-
taken, to which Mr. Sheridan replied in a manner
which seemed to remove any doubts which might
have existed in their minds.
Captain EDWARD MARKT, ch 3 i -man of the Bath
Board, expressed his entire satisfaction with the state-
ment of the directors ; a 3 did.also th.e Chairman of the
Southampton Board.
The CHAIRMAN then put the following resolution,
which v.•as carried by acclamation :
" Resolved—That inasmuch as the number of sharp
homers required by the 13th c1au5e..4.440...4940,L0f settlement of this company in order 'to constitute ~
au extraordinary general meeting of 'taharigkders ,!
'1,4 now present, and inasmuch as the proper no-
...
tices of this meeting' to increase the capital has been
issued to the shareholders, and inserted in the public
journals, and inasmuch as an increase on the capital of
this company is deemed expedient and necessary, the
Name be, aed is hereby increased accordingly from the
sum of 100,0001. to the sum of 250.000/. And further,
that l'ie new capital be offered to the present sharehold-
ers at the rate of one share for every one share now held
by each such shareholder, all calls hitherto made having
been paid, . but that each shareholder shall signify his
intention of taking such new shares within one month
from the date of the notice offering such new shares."
It was stated that, the income of the company was
50,0001. a-year.
The usual vote of thanks having been passed to the
chairman, the meeting wa, di,solved.

THE LATE LORD HA RDII\ GE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sia,—A statement relative to the late Lord Har-
diuge appeared in the Tinto and was controverted.
The writer of that statement attempted to hand
the dispute over to me, without any just right to
do so, and hence my letter, No. 1, was written ;
the letters which followed No. 1 need no explana-
tion, and your publication of them will be accepted
as a favour.—l remain, sir, your obedt. servant,
W. NAPIER, Lieut.-General.

Oct. 1.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—Whon any person of real authority on the sub-
ject controvert: my statement of the part taken by the
late Lord Ilardinge at the battle of Al!inert:, I shall be
ready to substantiate its truth ; mean while I decline the
honour of fighting the battle of Printing house-square.
W. NAPIER, Lieut. -General.

Sept. 27, 1556.

The Times Office, Sept. 29.
The Editor of the Times presents his compliments to
' General Napier, and begs leave to say that he will be
happy to insert any communications from General Na-
pier tending to substantiate General Napier's statement
of the late Lord Hardinge's part in the battle of Alliuera,
" which does not contain a snarl against the Times."
The Editor is quite ready and able to fight the battle of
Printing-Louse-square without General Napier's
ance, and it is utterly immaterial to him whet her Gel.
Napier chooses to fight his own battles in the Times or
not ; but if General Napier does avail himself the
colonies of the Times for that purpose, he thug see the
propriety of nut at the same time snappi, g at the hand
which renders him help.

Lieut.-General Wm. Napier, &c., Scinde House,

Ciaphatn.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
roy letter to you, which you have ,uppreAsed,
I said that, while declining the h ,our of fighting; the
battle of Printing-house—qun.re, I was ready t ,:übsta,,-
ttate my statem,mt of the :ate Lord liardiuge's part in
the battle of Albuera.

Col. Wade's authority has been adduced ; but C.-d.
Wade's letter was published in 1841, by Sir Lowry Cole,
together with a correspondence between himself, Lord
Hardinge, and royseil, in which the whole matter in
dispute was discussed, and Lord Hardinge's pretensions
were vindicated. It is for his representatives, there-
fore, to sustain his cause ; but as they cannot be expect.
ed, aad ought not to be called upon, to sustain such a
controversy in their present affliction, and *He their
father's body remains unburied, I will show that Colonel
Wade's letter is not rum e conclusive now than it was years
ago ; that is to say, not conclusive at all. However, be
it first remarked, that your writer has fathered upon me
a military ignorance which belongs to himself. I never said
Lord Hardiuge " executed a manoeuvre" which gained
the da3, but that he urged an attack I Very different
things. Now for my statement.
All that I have published about Lord Hardinge at
Albuera came from himself, and was given to me ex-
pressly for my history. Col. Wade could not know what
passed between Col. Hardinge and Lord Beresford ; he
could not even be sure of what passed between Col. Har•
dingo and Sir Lowry Cole. Now, long after my third
volume was published, Sir L. Cole—whom I knew from
childhood—was met by me in the street, and asked to
write a letter giving his version of the Albuera affair.
This he refused, saying it was of no consequence, and I
&mid his only objection was that he had not been "or-
dered." This would be enough, it so much ignorance did
not prevail as to the essential difference between the
merits of Lord Hardingo's part and Sir L. Cule's part in
the battle.

Lord Hardinge's great merit was nit so much the con-
ception of pushing the 4th division and Abercrombie's
brigade into renewed action, but in the resolution not
to let Marshal Beresford's desponding view of the
crisis prevail. He saw the battle might,still be won, if
all the spare troops were pushed on, and decidedfor
Beresford that it should be so ; but it was "neck or
nought," and, had it been nought, Beresford's better
lodgment would have been justly extolled.
Sir L. Cole, yielding to urgent exhortations, executed
one par!: of Hardinge's conception, as Col. Abercrombie
did the other parts, and with both it was an intrepid
resolution—with Cole morally so, as well as physically.
He bad been posted with positive orders at an important
point ; be was menaced by an enormous body of cavalry ;
he could not see the exact state of the battle on the hill
above, but he knew it to be almost desperate for the
allies ; he could not know what reserves Soult-bad in
hand3ll not be ere gat au infantry column
oietiimiefiriti-y, to
fall on lii,p/ight flank. •Vvis these dangers star-
ing bins in the 'face, he mounted the bill to attack more
than double, it might be three times, his own numbers,
supported by a powerful artillery, and alrea.ty half vie
torious. It was a great action, and so was llar.linge's
stroke of genius for which ho has been long and justly
eulogised. W. NArIER, Lieut.-General.
, Sept. 29, 1856.

THE LATE F. M. VISCOUNT liARDIYGE.

GENERAL ORDER.

HOBBS GUARDS, Oct. 2..
The Queen desires to make known to the army her
sincere grief at the loss of that great and eminent soldier,
Field• Marshal Viscount Hardinge.
A few weeks only have elapsed since, yielding to the
request of the Field• Marshal, whose health had given
way under the arduous duties of his office, the Queen
reluctantly accepted his resignation of the chief command
of her army.
The sosiduous labour of a long public and eventful
career, during which Viscount Hardinge hold some of
the highest offices of the State, terminated, too HOOD,
a life fertile in resources, and of unwearied perseverance
and devotion to duty.
The Queen has a high and grateful sense of Lord
liardinge's valuable and unremitting services, and in
his death deplores the loss of a true and devoted friend.
No Sovereign ever possessed a more honest and faithful
counsellor, or a more loyal, fearless, and devoted servant.
His Royal Highness Commanding-hi-Chief has the
gratification in publishing her Majesty's feelings and
sentiments (in which he sincerely participates) on this
melancholy occasion, and is confident that the army will
equally lament the loss of one whose whole mind was
applied to the promotion of their efficiency and welfare.
By command of his Royal Highness the General Corn-
manding-in-Chief.

and Intelligence.

The reduction in the army consequent on the instruc•
tions issued by the authorities at the Horse Guards is
proceeding at Chatham. Yesterday morning the troops
stationed at St. Mar' 's Barracks, Chatham, to the num-
ber of upwards of 1,000 men of all ranks, were inspected
by AAjutantJ. Pope, when 106 men belonging to the
4th Royals, 7th Fusiliers, and 19:h Regiments were
ordered to proceed to Fort Pitt, there to be inspected
Ly Dr. J. R. Taylor, C. 8., when the whole of that
number were ordered to be discharged. Thirty-
eight men selecZed from the 4th Light Dragoons,
7th Hussars, 12th Lancers, 7th Fusiliers, 10th,
20th, 231 Welsh Fusiliers, 25th King's Own Borderers,
80th, 31st, 41st, 47th, 51st Light Infantry, 55th, 56th,
57th, 68th Light Infantry, 69th, 95th, and the Rifle Bri-
gade were also yesterday discharged from the Invalid
Depot, Chatham.

G. A. NVETEIERALL, Adjutant•Gencral.

Yesterday at Liverpool three companies of Royal Ar-
tillery embarked on board the steamer Trafalgar, for
Dublin.
The Daniil screw steam frigate Niels Juel, 42 guns,
°minorlore Iroinger, on a cruise, last from Leith, put
into Plymouth Sound on Wednesday, and was receivod
with the customary salutes. From Plymouth she pro-
ceeds to Cherbourg,
Letters received at Plymouth state that the screw
steamships Duke of Wellington, 131, Capt. H. Caldwell,
and Conqueror, 101, Capt. H. R. Yelverton, arrived at
Gibraltar on Sunday, 21s. Sept. ; they add that diar-
rhima Lad broken out on board the Duke of Wellington,
and that in two days 100 men had been placed on the
sick list, and one bad died.
The paddlewheel steamvessel Vivinl, 2, Master W. H.
Allen, from Portsmouth, arrived at Plymouth on Wed-
ne,day.

The following circular was issued yesterday :
HORSE GUARDS, Sept. 25.
His Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-
Chief, with the view to relieve regiments from the great
expense now consequent on the necessity of employing
professed musicians (civilians) as masters of bands, has
it in contemplation to recommend the establishment of a
large musical class as part of the education of boys sent
to the Royal Military Asylum, an& for the ins ruction of
persons seat from regiments to qualify for bugle majors,
trumpet majors, and bandmasters, and where training
would require especial time and attention.
No immediate benefit could be expected from the in•
stitutiou of such a class, but it may be reasonably hoped
that in a year or two many of the pupils would have
acquired sufficient skill to assist in the work of instruc-
tion, and that after that period several would be eligible
for the situations named - namely, bugle-major, trumpet.
main., and band-masters. A preliminary outlay of 500/.
or 6001. would be necessary for the supply of musical in-
struments ; andfit is calculated that 1,0001. per annum
would be afterwards necessary to maintain the class, in-
cluding the salary of the director, the necessary profes-
sors, and copying and arranging music, &c., repair of
instruments, and other incidental expenses.
There are now 112 battalions of infantry and 26 regi-
ments of cavalry, exclusive of artillery, sappers, military
train, and 10 colonial corps. If every regiment would
pay an original subscription of 51. or 8/. per annum to the
fund ample provision would be made for all expenses.
It is unnecessary to dilate on the expected advantages
of this proposition, but there is every reason to hope
that it will result in a great saving of expense to regi.
ments, and tend to the permanent efficiency of regimen-
tal bands. His Royal Highness requests to be favoured.
with your opinion on this subject.—l have, &c.,
G. A. WErnnunr,L, Adjutant-General.

Thy Eagle, 50, was towed from her moorings to the
jetty at Ddvoriprt on Wednesday ; she is ordered to be
examined, and fitted as a gunnery ship for Falmouth.
Eight ovens are to be heated on Monday next for
baking bread at the Royal William Victualiing-yard.
The authorities at the War-office having directed that
the troops belonging to the provisional battalion, Chat-
ham, shall receive a regular course of instruction by the
normal schoolmasters who have been appointed to that
garrison, the garrison chapel school has undergone
some alterations and additions, in order to accommo•
date the large number of troops now stationed at
Chatham. A range of buildings is also in course of
erection near Chatham barracks, to be occupied exclu-
sively by the normal schoolmasters, who are at present
accommodated with quarters in the barracks.
A aflotll. :oßiing appointments have been made at the

Frank Buckley, naval imtmetrir, to iho Adman;
St.. V. Jenyngs, midshipman, tt-, the Satellite.

The following circular memorandum has been
issued to the army at home and abroad

on.As,, Mi.dwifur"
Dr.
Matcham delivered a lecture at the
LECTURE TO FEMALES.— On Thursdaiseemvbertiyin.rgoome
and the
eminent American,
giving Lose . tuft,the
opinionsto
and 400pra c fLme:les,
7 > fai i
cr ton
lathbe, pr. pri,-,ty,
greatPrtr attention,
ur,- The
(Fifrieltliscthr,umanedntmale:t7rtiltiae: ttinccouch
lecturer was frequently '•
~, "P'audlfter an
lecture was listened to with
THE CORNWALL r tSrIERIICs.--- . Unusually go,,d
there nt every promise , f a.
•I I d .) ). •'' N,wlyn 1
pilchard me, si •, • ..
the cif-ones du 'the '
successful mackerel season,bout
few days having avereged abort' ~ 1,000 Per boat. At
Portloe the pilchard tish??e'
,soru..ti'awn.,4 to a
close.
Mr.
Blarney has cured loi!'„aLL
ill
~(.4•11 market 300 hfids. of
pilchards, Mesere. %ma!" nI. Co. abour• 330 hhds.
amid from the drift beats snut (i 0 blids. have been cured
for the foreign !Barka. At St. Ives the drift boats have
been
prevented from going to sea by the boisterous state
of the weather, but state few boats have been taking
small quantities of pilchards.
WHALING EXTRAORDINARY.—A Yankee skipper is at
preterit iu Manchester' for the purpose of getting two
rifles of a very peculiar character made by Mr. whit.
worts, the eminent mechanical engineer; they are each
40lb. weight, and are intended to shoot whales that can-
not be approached and killed in the ordinary methodc/
The barrel is only 20 inches long, rifled polygonally t describe one turn in the length. The projectile is/
shell of 31b. weight, 6 inches long,fired f In the should
ro
,;tie 0 L
.- .2 draaluis of powder, and having a charge ir)4
')f 47'z. The skipper states that he killed three what 11 season cut of 40 fired at with a bomb in the shap t°
arrow 20 inches long, and having indiarubber
mays
guide its flight. The rest spouted blood, but ,
°wing to the length of the bomb detraclin b 200
de.structi,veness. They are 100. feet long an rk uutil
tons. , The ship and crew are now waiting
the rifles and shells are cunpleted

HORSE GUARDS, Sept. 26.
Commanding officers of regiments horn the Crimea
wilt tr„nsmit, without delay, to the Ajutant-General
reports whether or not the men of their regiments are in
posses4on of their ~haltoes, and, if not, tl state in detail
the reas ms for b,uvh, and the meivures which have been
taken for obtaining them,

Commanding officers of all regiments will send in a
report whether the evipinent of their regiment is cum-
plet•_., and, it rot, to owe what, articles are ch-fi&ent,
and what are of new pttterri and of old re,pectively.—
By command.
-G. A. WETHERALL.

LECTURE AT KESWICK —The Right Hon. J. Napier,
M.P., gave a very interesting lecture on Friday evening
last, in the new Lectura-hall, Keswick Mechanics' Insti-
tution. The subject of the lecture was " Labour and
Knowledge in connection with the Condition of the
Working Class." There was a very respectable audience,
but only a thin attendance of mechanics, for whom the
lecture was specially intended.
An edition of the Dispatch will henceforth be pub-
lished every Friday, containing particulars of important
events, and price of the markets, funds, tte., up to the
moment of cuing to pre,ss, and may be received at the
most distant carts of Scotland and Ireland on the Satur-
day. The pages of the Dispatch will be so extended as
to allow the introduction of nearly six additional coluznys,
in q4ntity, and the principal articles will be
.s.et in l
Adver.
clear type that will not fatigue the eyesight
tisers, to insure the insertion of their advertisements t
in each of the four editions, should forward the on
Thursday, or at latest , before 10 o'clock on Friday
morning. —Dispatch Office, 139, Fleet street.