New-York tribune., 1868-02-19

| the EnglIshman's house, which was his castle
and his ship, which was his castles outer
wooden wall, were well shielded from fire and
rom. ,est. Let the tempest blow, or the
Gro -. re, there were good golden guineas
in Tho insn rance vaults Then came the idea
Of life insufa, nee. The Englshman's life in
surance-jolly boys. these ancestors of ours
was roast beef and Beer. And, as the very last
thing an Englisbman thinks of is dying, as in
fact it is about the one thing which can
scarcely be possible to O loyal English subject,
it was long before it occurred to him to shield
his life by the same safeguard which surrounded
his ships and his house. In France, the Meth
erlands, Germany, and Denmark, 1t had been
carried into practice, and was discussed by
learned men. As early as 1881, we find the
prudent Dutchmen reading and writing books
on the subject Our ancestors were too busy
with Nell Gwynne, and Charles, and the merry
PLAYS of the witty Mistress Aphra Behn, to
think of calculating how long they would live,
and how much it would pay to take the risks
of their old age. But Dutch William brought
over many Dutch notions, and toward the end
of his life we find the principle Of life insurance
creeping into England.
poets the best Of fathers, were pretty much
given to gaming and strong drink, orto prayers
and preaching. There was the feeling that life
was too merry for thrift. There came the
pietist feeling that insurance was little more
than a wager, that it was highly improper. 1t
was trihng with Providence, and questioning
the Divine will for Robin to ENSURE his life.' He
was stubbornly kicking against Divine DEGREES
The Lord gave and the Lord took away; and,
if it pleased him to take Robin in his lusty
manhood, he should bow to the stroke, and not
seek to avertit by foolish and wicked wagers
This, and the distrust that all such contracts
would naturally create, together with the IN
nate shrinking that the bravest of us feel from
speculating upon our own lives, made life IN
surance tedious growth. We have seen that
it was long before the Englishman became
convinced of the truth of the new idea that
came to him with Dutch William; but
once convinced, he speedily embraced it;
and now eveyy thoughtful Englishman covers
his life with policy of life insur-
ance, while the system is scarcely known
on the Continent.
Few, perhaps. know how extensively the
idea has grown in this country. Here is the
twelfth annual report OF the Massachusetts,
Insurance Commissioner, and some of the
figures Will be interesting. We take the
period embraced between 1853 and 15G6-eight
short years. In 1853, there were fourteen com
panies, in 1866 forty-three. There were 49,5O2
policies. representing an amount of Sll6A52, 1876,
in 1853. In 1866 we see 3lO,73S policies, repre-
senting $S7i S63,92j. We have business that
has increased over seven hundred per cent.
Well il may be said how is it possible for any
private companies to carry obligations of such
enormous magnit ude? Let us look at that q
moment, for It is most essential considera-
tion. We know that lifg insurance has been
reduced 10 a science Of exquisite subtlety; that
our chances of living and dying have been put
to the wisest mathematical tests that gifted
men have thought it into a system. What do
We seef First, the Income. In 1853, these
companies received $4,S35,886 In 1866 the
sum in all amounted to S4l,3T,i04 The total
assets have increased from s17,449,455 to SS8,-
$50, ,239, while the computed premium re-
serve which was nearly Sil,0OO0O0, is now over
sos 100000. The claims by death have been
small per cent. Of this. In 1859, these amounted
to 81 l97 5S3, while in 1866 they were 5,35Sl4l;
so that the fund in reserve to meet these de-
mands has never been less than ten times
a. large as any demand that could arse
from ordinary mortality. Let it be remem-
bered that this period embraces the war years ;
and that many gallant fellow before he put
on his knapsacll, placed an insurance on his
life. The comfort of that wise deed to-day
remains with his family
Thus briefly, with just an appetizing sprink-
ling of figures, have we indicated the immedi-
ate and absolute advantages Of life insurance
We have good deal to say on the subject
We feel that there is no duty more immediate
and absolute and unavoidable than this and
we hope to bring it home to the conscience vi
every reader