The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-19 00:00:00

LONDON AND NORTH -WE iTERN
RAILWAY.

NEST COAST ROUTE TO SCOTLAND.

Additional Express and Further Improved Service of
Trains between London and tho North of Scotland.

An ADDITIONAL EXPRESS TRAIN, conveying
first and second class passengers, now leaves Euston Sta-
tion at 8 p.m., for EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, PERTH,
and the North of Scotland. A direct Train for Greenock,
in connection with this Express, leaves Motherwell at 7.0
a.m., arriving ix. Greenock at 8.20 a.m., allowing ample
time for passengers for Oban and the est Highlands to
join the lona Steamboat, which leaves Greenock at 9.0
a.m. Tourist Tickets and Return Tickets for Scotch Sta-
tions aro available by this Train. Passengers for Green-
ock are conveyed without change of carriage by this Train.
Passengers for Edinbargh by this Train will join the
Limited Mail at Carstairs : those for Perth and the North
of Scotland will join the Train at Gartsherrie.
Passengers by this Train are allowed fifteen minutes at
Carlisle for refreshments. _ _ _ _ . .

The Train leaving Euston Station at 9.0 p.m. has been
accelerated so as io arrive at Aberdeen at 2.0 p.m., two
hours and twenty minutes earlier than heretofore.
A hew Express Train for London leaves Abordeon
(Caledou;an) at. 9.0 a.m., Glasgow (Caledonian) 1.45 p.m.,
awl Edinburgh at 2.3 p.m. ; arriving in London (Eustun
'Station) at 3.15 a.m.
Passengers booked through to Scotland aro allowed to
break their journey at Carlisle.
For further particulars see Time-bills.
W. CAWK WELL, General Manager.
Euston Station, August, 1869.

EAGLE INSURANCE COMPANY,
LONDON.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS,
For the Year ending 30th June, 1869, read at the Annual
General Meeting of Proprietors, 13th August, 1869,
WILLIAM FREDERICK DE LA RUE, ESQ., Deputy-
Chairman of the Company, in the Chair.
The Report which the directors have now to submit to
the proprietors differs in its tenor but little save is one or
two particulars from that laid before them in 1868.
The income of the year, it will be seen, amounts to
X 510,499 18s., and the total charge to £145,077 10s. 9d.
The difference, £95,422 7s. 3d., added to the balance of
the surplus fund at the commencement of the financial
year, raised that item to X 1,002,974 15s. 9d., its present
amount.
SURPLUS FUND ACCOUNT, Jusm 30, 1869.
INCOME OF THE YEAR.
£ s. d.

DR.
Balance of account, 30th
June, 1868
Premiums on new assur-
ancfs
Ditto on old ditto 357,988 7 0

371,548 12 1
Interest from investments 120,939 12 10

Profit and loss, be.lance of
account

492,503 1 11

47,991 13 1

Total income

£1,414,052 6 6
Examined and approved.
THOMAS ALLEN,}
Auditors.
HENRY HOSE,
CHARGE OF THE TEAR.
CR. £ e. d. s. d.
Dividend to proprietors B,BBO 4 0
Claims on decease of lives
assured
Addiriots to those under

participating. policies 24,304 6 6
Policies surrendered
Le-assnrances - new
Ditto old 51,009 4 1

Comm isAon
Medical fees
Income ta x...

40:3,561 12 1
10,618 11 2
760 18 0
3,017 15 8

Expenses of management 16,238 9. 10

436,187

6 9

Total charge
Balance of bccount, Juno 30, 1869, a 6 per
balanco-sheet

£l,-1-18,052 6 6
•
The total of premiums received is £371,548 12s. Id., of
which sum £13,560 ss. ld. is fur new assurances effected
in the year.
The interest from investments is .£1?.0,959 12s. 10d., or
.£1 2s. per cent. on the net amount of the company's
realised assets existing in June, 1868 ; and in connection
with this important feature of the company's affairs the
directors have the satisfaction of reporting that the profit
and lass account again exhibits a considerable profit,
amounting this year within a tiifle to the sum of £48,009.
It may be remembered that a profit of nearly equal amount
was announced in last year's report.
Turning to the items constituting the charge of the
year, it will be noticed that the Sum payable in satisfac-
tion of claims on dceettse of lives assured is larger than
usual. This circumstance, however, is not very material;
as was observed 01 a previous occasion, the proper quin-
quennial average is generally pretty sure to obtain, and
the fact that the average for the past two years barely ex-
ceeds £30'•,000 tends to confirm that statement.
The expenses of management are greater by nearly
£BOO than they were last year. They would have been
materially less but for the unavoidable cost of transferring
the company's securities ibto the names or additional trus-
tees. TAen as they aro, however, these expenses must
be regarded as very moderate. It will be obsmwed that
they are only three per cent. of the t( tal income.

BALANCE-SHEET. .ItNE 30, 1t69.
DR. LIABILITIES.
Interest dur:! to propietors
Cla:.1114 on deveuse of lives ttAured, and

attlilitious Own-to unpaid

Sundry :,emin

£6,757 17 0

108,940 6 7

48,311 3 4

undcr sums tts ured, &c. (1857) 6,336,625 8 2
Proprie ors' fund
Surp:us find

£7,6:5,813 0 10
Examiued and hp! roved.
T EIONIAS ALLEN,)
Auditors.
HENRY ROz•.:E,
CR. ASSETS.
Amount inves'ed in fixed mortgages £1,661,699 9 2
Ditto ditto decreasing ditto 162,770 15 2
Ditto ditto Reversions 278,557 16 6
Ditto ditto Funded securities 491,303 1 2
Ditto ditto Temporary secu-

198,207 17 0
30,934 4 6
12,256 15 10

rities
Current interest on the above investments
Cash and bills
Advanced on security of the company's
policies 165,387 1 8
Agents' balances
Sundry accounts
Value of premiums (1867)
Value of re-assurances 85,706 14 5

£7,675,813 0 10

The balance-sheet does not appear to call for any re-
mark. The assets are, of course, increased by the sum of
£95,422 7s. ?id. already mentioned, as is shown by tha
augmentation to that extent in the balance of the surplus
1 und.

The Direction of the Company is now constituted as
follows :

WILLIAM FREDERICK .DE LA RUE, ESQ., Chairman.
ROBERT ALEXANDER GRAY, ESQ., Deputy-Chairman
Charles Bischoff, Esq. James Murray, Esq.
Thomas Boddington, Esq. Philip Rose, Esq.
Charles Chatfield, Esq. George Russell, Esq.
Sir J. Buller East, Bt., D.C.L. Thomas Godfrey Sambrooke,
Wm. Augustus Guy, M.D., Esq.
F.R.S. Admiral Tindal.
CharlesThos.Rolcombe,Esq. Right lion. Sir John Young
Joshua Lockwood, Esq. Bart., K.C.B.

LONDON and COUNTY BANKING
COMPANY.
Notice is hereby given, that a DIVIDEND on the
CAPITAL of the Company, at the rate of Six per Cent.
for the half-year ending 30th June, 1869, with a BONUS
of Two and a Half per Cent., will be PAID to the Pro-
prietors, either at the Head Office, 21, Lombard-street, or
at any of the Company's Branch Banks, on and after
MONDAY, the 16th inst.
By order of the Board,
W. McBE WAN, General Manager.
21, Lombard-street, Aug. 6, 1869.

THE "SINGER" SEWING MACHINES.
THE "NEW FAMILY"
SEW THE LOCK-STITCH AND THE NEW EMBROIDERY-

STITCH.
Work by Hand and Treadle, and in a Portable Cass
for Travelling.

THE " SINGER " SEWING MACHINES
ARE WORLD-RENOWNED AS THE BEST SYSTEM
AND THE MOST COMPLETE, WITH NEW IMPROVEMENTS
FOR EVERY CLASS OF SEWING.
The p =liar simplicity of thee a Machines enables any one to
Acquire their perfect use in a tew hours.
Illustrated Price Lists post free.

THE "SINGER" MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
Chief Office in the United Kingdom:
147, CHEAPSIDE.
Branch Depots or Loca Agents in every Towns

AGENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE
to introduce commodities valuable to every householder
high and low. This offers a highlyremunerativeCommission to
Tradesmen, Travellers, Gentlemen's Servants, &c. Apply with
two stamps to IL MARRISON, Great Orford-street, Norwich.

THEATRE-ROYAL DRURY-LANE.
ciole Lessee and Manager, Mr. F. B. Chatterton

TRU EVENING, at 7, BELLES OF THE KITCHEN. At 8
FORMOSA : Messrs. Barrett, H. Irving, David Fisher, Brittain
Wright, John Rouse; Mrs Billington, 3lisses M. Brennan, Mac
donald. and Katharine Rodgers. Conclude with BORROWED
PLUMLS.

THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPIII.
'Tilts EVENING, at 7. MY PRECIOUS BETSY: Mr Atkins and
Miss Johnstone. At S, THE SERPENT ON TIIE HEA TH
Mr R Phillips, Mr E Atkins. Mr Stuart. Mrs M. Ehurne, Mrs L.
Murray, &e. And DOMESTIC ECONOMY: Mr Atkins and
Mrs Leigh Murray.

BOIAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress. Mrs. Swanborongh.
lifts EvmNisrs. at 7.30, AMI ,NG TUE BREAKERS: Mr
Clarke. THE TOODLES. JOAN OF ARC: Messrs. Thorne,
James. Fenton; . esdames Goodall, I.ydia37aitland. Buftnn. To
conclude with THE CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL. Mr. D.
James,

ROYALTY Th EATRE.
Gnder•the 3tanftgement of misß \i Oliver,

firs ErENING. at 7.::0. A TIOVING COl'd ,iISSION. After
svMelt CTIECK3IA I'N.. Foßotved by TliE MTLI VARY BILLY
'r LOR. To conclude with IN FOIL A 110 LID Y Mr
Dewar, Mr. Danvers. Miss 31. Oliver Miss Saunders, &c.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Viu

THIS EVENING, at 7. PR ESUMI'Ti VE EVIDENCE. After
which, A • D GALATEA : Herr Formes, Mr V. Rigby, Mr
M. .with, and Miss Blanche Coie. 't o conclude with A QUIE
FAMILY.

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLETS
Promenade Concert. Band of GO. Begin at 8. Is. Box-office
open from 11 to 4.

-,ry •
_ • .
Lti **"l. SUIT

LOA DON, 7'll URS DAY, AUG ILS7 19, 1869.

Explorations are the order of the day, alike in the
new world and the old, in breaking up familiar
ground, and in making researches in regions hitherto
almost, as one might say, untroddee by the foot of
man, certainly in many parts untrodden by the feet
of the pioneers of modern civilisation. Among the
former localities, places which are haunted, so to
speak, by the associations of long past historical
epochs, there are at this moment three especially, the
minute examination of which is being prosecuted
with more assiduous care than has ever been applied
to them before by the systematised science of the
archaeologist. These researches, it is almost needless
to remark, are subterranean, alike in Jerusalem, in
Pompeii, and at Rome. They are being carried on
intermittently, but, for all that, systematically and
persistently. The treasures in fact which they are
every now and then bringing to light are gradually,
almost imperceptibly, accumulating, in a manner
d. and in a variety, in a great measure

beyond our hopes and anticipations.

the record of each of those three new explorations of
old, and, as it was thought, until but yesterday, as it
were, thoroughly sifted ground, is increasing in
bulk and i❑ value. It was but very recently that a
singular and enthralling museum, illustrative of what
hns recently been done in this way among the founda-
tions of Jerusalem, was opened to public view here in
London, at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly. At uncer-
tain intervals a " fiad" of more than unusual interest
is unearthed from among the under foundations
of the Eternal City—now a sort of arti-
ficial quarry, as one may say, consisting of
huge, roughly hewn blocks of precious marbles, and
rare granites—now some colossal statue like the
giant bronze of llERctmEs—now, again, the hitherto
unrecognized or un-identified site of some famous
classic locality or building—now some more than ordi-
narily valu ►ble mural inscription upon the wall of a
newly-opened gallery or corridor in the wonderful
Catacombs. As to marvellous discoveries occasion-

ally made in the midst of the fitful researches still
prosecuted among the yet bnrie I s'reet3 and tene-
ments of Pompeii or of Herculaneum, they possess for
us, one and all, an interest ever fresh and ever full of
fascination. Simultaneously with these diggings
and delvings among the djbris of antiquity, en-
tirely novel and daring explorations are being ad-
ventured upon in regard to regions remote alike from
ancient and from modern civilization. Foremost among
these at the present moment in attractivenass is the
new expedition fitted out under the great African
traveller, Sir SAMUEL BAKER., the expedition now
being directed by him far beyond the desert to the
confluence of the Blue and the White Nile, near the
capital of Soudan, the city of Khartoum. From the
fruits of this new expedition it may be allowable to aid
that very much is hopefully, is confide fitly expected.
Not the least welcome-• am -mg all those fruits, how-
ever, will certainly be acquisitions of any happy and
reliable tidings in regard to the whereabouts of the
good and great explorer,--so long lost to his friends
here in England, Dr. LIVINGSTONE.

Professor STOKES'S address marks less progress in

science than many previous retrospects have shewn.
In the department which he has made peculiarly
his own, the laws of light, he has, indeed, found some-
thing to tell which is of interest; but concerning
science generally he has not much to say. Of course
we cannot expect important discoveries every year.
Sensationalism is the last characteristic that we must
expect in sci( nce. It is not every year that geolo-
gists discover human implements in a stratum older
than the supposed human epoch. It is not every
year that opticians and astronomers have to announce
the discovery of spectral analysis. It is not every year
that travellers come back, as they did in com-
pany at Bath five years ago, to tell of lands unvisited
until they visited them. As a rule, a scientific retro-
spect will be a record of the application of the known
rather than of the revelation of the unknown.
Thus with reference to the subject in which the
PRESIDENT is more particularly interested, we
find that spectral analysis—one of the most
marvellous discoveries of the age—has enabled astro-

nomers to carry on their researches into the struc-
ture of the sun. They have discovered that the
most stupendous changes are going on in the central
body of our system. " Prominences, the heights of
which are to be measured by thousands and tens of
thousands of miles, appear and disappear in the
course of some minutes." If the centre of our
system is undergoing such vast changes, what
changes may not the smaller elements of
that system have to sustain ? If the great
Sol is thus subject to physical revolutions and con-
vulsions, is it not the height of absurdity, the most
unphilosophic of suppositions, to believe that our
little earth will go on for ever as it is now going on ?
To infer, from our brief experience of a few thou-
sand years, that the world will remain for ever would
be the acme of folly in the face of such revelations
as these, even though we had no word of warning to
the contrary. Equally absurd is it to suppose that
that which is always has been. If changes like
those on the face of the sun can be effected in a few
minutes, it is conceivable, it is probable, that less
violent changes may have taken place on the face of
the earth within the period which used to be assigned
for the existence of this planet. Geologists tell us
that they require millions upon millions of years to
account for the physical condition of the earth.
We refer them to the astronomers; we tell them
that they may be true ; but there is no proof that
they are, for they have neglected to take into
account the possibility of other agencies than
those which they see at work. It takes billions
of years to produce geologic phenomena by means
of the agencies now in operation ; but geologists make
an assumption which they have no right to make
when they assume that there have never been any
other agencies ; not slow and regular, like the present,
but sharp, sudden, and convulsive, like those which
are now going on in a far larger world than ours.
Whatever doubt may exist with respect to this
question, however much men of science may oscillate
at various times from the regular to the catastrophic
theory, there can be no doubt, no change of opinion,
as to that great fact which Professor STOKES asserted
at the close of his address. At times it seems as if
the philosophers were on the very point of making
that great discovery which baffled their predecessors
long before the search for the elixir vita,. They
seem to be on the very threshold of the mystery of
life. They seem to be on the very eve of becom-
ing no longer merely seekers, but creators.
Yet, as the PRESIDENT remarks, " admitting to the
full as highly probable, though not completely
demonstrated, the applicability to living beings of
the laws which have been ascertained with reference
to dead matter, I feel constrained at the same
time to admit the existence of a mysterious
something lying beyond a something sui:
generic—which I regard not as balancing and
suspending the ordinary physical laws, but as
working with them and through them to the attain-
ment
of a designed end." This something "is a pro-
found mystery." We may push our inquiries back