The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-04 00:00:00

THE ROYAL

GE
soc

lETY.

Perhaps no class of men have so fair a claim to the
charity and commiseration of the more fortunate of their
fellows, as those who, after spending their prime in
pursuits of a mercantile and commercial character
which add lustre and stability to the greatness of their
country, find themselves in the season of age and ex-
hausted ensrgy, in spite of industry and forethought, in
a stet of hopeless and bitter penury. Poverty has
comparatively few stings to those who have scarcely
known aught else from their infancy. But it is ether-
wise with men who have been reared in the lap of ease
and comfort, and during the greater part of their lives
may be said, in the touching words of Jaffier, is have
known "the luscious sweets of plenty." When age and
and want fall simultaneously upon such persons, their
crushing force is augmented by the recollection of better
days, and a melancholy spectacle is presented, appealing
strongly to the best fselings and sympathies of the hu-
man heart.
To relieve the necessities of this class of persons—to
afford maintenance and shelter to those who would
otherwise be driven to seek them beneath the roof and
in connexion with the degrading incidents of a workhouso
—is the benevolent object which the Royal Gsneral An-
nuity Society seeks to promote. The meritorious indivi-
duals which this institution aspires to succour consist of
decayed merchants, bankers, clergymen, solicitors, medical
men, master manufacturers, and tradesmen, who, after
passing their early and middle age in comparative pros-
perity, are, from an accumu'atio❑ of varied misfortunes
which prudence cannot always anticipate or avert, too
frequently reduced in old age to a state of abject penury,
and bowed down with a load of difficulties and pri-
vations, than which death itself would be almost pre-
ferable. It also includes within the sphere of its
usefulness deserving single women, who have perhaps
a stronger claim upon the sympathies of the charitable
and the affluent than even those classes whom we have
enumerated. When it is remembered how many females
devote the days of their youth to the care of an aged
parent or relative, to the rearing of their orphan brothers
or sisters, or to the education of the rising generation,
we cannot but think that a society which holds out to

' such persons a fostering hand, when poverty and age
come upon them, is deserving of the warmest support,
even if it had no other claim upon public sympathy.
This society was established some twenty years ago,
and for some considerable time alter its formation it
continued to flourish, when, owing to the death of some
of its early patrons and supporters, it sunk into compa-
rative obscurity. About five or six years ago, however,
vigorous exertions were made to restore and com-
mend it to public favour, and annually since
that time with marked success, no small de-
gree of its present prosperity being directly attributable
to the great personal exertions of its excellent secre-
tary, Mr. Aldrich. It numbers amongst its patrons her
Majesty the Queen, who graciously permitted it to be
called the Royal General Annuity Society ; His Royal
Highness Prince Albert, his Majesty the King of the
Belgians, the Most Noble the Marchioness of Sligo, the
Right Honourable the Countess of Carlisle, the Right
Honourable the Countess of Jersey, the Hight Honour-
able the Viscountess Sydney, the Right Honourable
Lady Wenman, the Right Hon. Lady Fanny Howard, &c.
The society is not limited in its operations to any
particular district, but it relieves, to the utmost of its
power, applicants from all parts of the United Kingdom,
there being two elections in each year, January and
July. The funded property, since the resuscitation of
the society, has increased from 4001. to 2,770/., and is
still increasing, while the subscriptions for the past year
exceeded those of the previous years by 6601.—the total
receipts being the largest for twenty years.
At the present time there are forty annuitants on the
funds, the men receiving 2/. ss. per month, and the
women 11. 10s.; and the necessity that exists for in-
creased exertions on the part of its friends is shown by
the fact that these are 114 deserving individuals, who
have been reduced from comparative opulence to po-
verty, still seeking admission to the charity. Many of
the parties now on the funds of the charity are more
than eighty years of age, and some even over ninety.
All have known comparative prosperity. Some of them,
it is said, have been worth 60,000/. or 70,0001.; and one
is the daughter of a baronet, who, having been reared in
the lap of luxury, is now dependent upon this society
for support.
The Anniversary Festival of the society, as will be seen
by an advertisement in another column, is fixed to be held
on Wednesday next, at the Londan Tavern, and will be
presided over by the Hon. Edward Henry Stanley,
M.P. (eldest son of Lord Stanley), who has this day
arrived in town after a voyage to the West Indies. The
approaching festival is likely to be one of more than
ordinary interest, and the grea'est, exertions arc being
made to give it effect. The following noblemen and
gentlemen, among many others, have already signified
their intention of being present :—The Earl Pelvis,
Lord Ashley, M.P.; Sir John Heron Maxwell, Bart.;
Lord Robert Grosvenor, M.P.; Sir M. R. Shaw Stewart,
Bart.; Sir Robert Gore Booth, Bart.; Sir E. Belcher;
Sir Alexander Hood, Bart.; the Mayor of Gravesend;
the Mayor of Rochester; the Mayor of Rye; the
Mayor of Banbury; the High Sheriff of Surrey; the
Ex-High Sheriff of Surrey; C. N. Newdegate,
M.P.; Thomas Greene, Esq., M.P.; Richard Bremridge,
Esq., M.P.; G. Cornwall Legh, Esq., M.P.; J. C.
Renton, Def., M.P ; William Mundy, Esq., M.P.
A festival, having so laudable an object in view, and
presided over by a chairman bearing the name of Stanley,
upon whose entrance t public life no small degree of ,
interest must hang, cannot fail to prove not only highly.;
attractive to all who may witness it, but advantageous-to
the charity itself.