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Leader (1850-1860), 12th July 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 649, Untitled Article

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      of what was once an English sport called " quarterstaff- " but which has now fallen into disuse among us , and is practised chiefly in France . To the quarterstaff succeeded a description of Indian club exercise by Mr . Harrison , the interest of which lies in the apparent ease with which wooden clubs of immense size , and w eighing 301 b . and even 371 b ., are wielded . Hardly was this over , before the ram again descended . When it ceased for awhile , there was a foot race , " tossing the caber , " some capital wrestling , broadsword playing , and a race in sacks , concluded the amusements of the day .

      The meeting of the Institute of Actuaries , and the subsequent dinner at Richmond , to which the foreign actuaries and managers of life and fire assurance companies now in $ own were invited , is not the least interesting among those festivals which we have entitled " international . " But what and who are the " Institute of Actuaries" ? It is a society of recent formation , chiefly " for the purpose of elevating the attainments and status and promoting the general

      efficiency of all who are engaged in occupations connected with the pursuits of an actuary ; and for the extension and improvement of the data and methods of the science which has its origin in the application of the doctrine of probabilities to the affairs of life , and from which life assurance , annuity , reversionary interest , and other analogous institutions derive their principles of operation . It embraces , as its peculiar province of inquiry , all monetary questions involving a consideration of the separate or combined effects of interest and probability . "

      At the meeting for discussion , some remarkable statistics were furnished by the gentlemen present , respecting the state of assurance generally in England and abroad . The Times gives the following sum-« w :-" The amount of new business done by the English life assurance companies now exceeds £ 15 , 000 , 000 in the year , and the total amount of the sums assured is sot less than £ 150 , 000 , 000 . The total amount of duty received in 1850 , in Great Britain and Ireland , from fixe assurances , was £ 1 , 171 , 629 10 s ., representing a sum assured of £ 784 , 086 , 533 , besides £ 61 , 805 , 427 farming-stock , which is exempt from duty , making a total of £ 842 , 891 , 960 . This large amount is steadily on the increase , since 1844 the increase being at the rate of 2 per cent , per annum , and within the last two years 2-786 per cent , per annum .

      At the beginning of 1850 , there were no less than 207 companies for various branches of assurance , and of 121 of these the guaranteed capital was computed at about £ 93 , 000 , 000 . The progress of fire assurances in France has been most remarkable . The earliest of the existing proprietary companies was only established in 1819 , yet the amount of fire insurances in force at the end of 1850 , in the 13 proprietary companies alone , was upwards of £ 968 , 800 , 000 , and the amount of the annual premiums thereon , £ 827 , 500 . In the course of the year £ 415 , 000 was paid for losses . It is computed by M . Duproca * that the amount of fire insurance in France exceeds £ 1 , 300 , 000 , 000 , being 50 per cent , more than that in Great Britain . Life assurance in France has not been so actively pressed . Three or four of the old proprietary companies assure sums payable on death ; but the largest business is in the Mutual Tontine Association for the

      assurance of sums payable after fixed periods . At the end of 1849 , the number of subscriptions of this kind in the different societies was nearly £ 16 , 000 , 000 . The annual payments received and accumulated and invested in Government stock amounted to £ 5 , 000 , 000 . The maritime assurances in France are increasing , and are calculated byM . le Capitain Lafonde to be £ 50 , 000 , 000 . There also exist in France several hail insurance companies , and for risks of mortality among cattle , accidental death , and even the costs of law proceedings . Of German assurances Herr Masais gives the following nummary to the Institute : — £ 286 , 000 , 000 against the risks of lire by proprietary companies , £ 100 , 000 , 000 by mutual assurance companies , £ 429 , 000 , 000 by municipal associations assuring only immovable property , £ 100 , 000 , 000 against accidents by laud and sea , £ 9 , 000 , 000 on losses

      and reversions , £ 1 , 400 , 000 on life annuities , £ 11 , 000 , 000 ugainst hail , £ 200 , 000 against the mortality of cattle . In returns for 1849 , received from Herr Hopf , manager of the leading company for fire and life assurance at Gotha , the aunts insured against fire in one mutual and six proprietary companies are given as nearly £ 214 , 000 , 000 , besides £ 42 , 000 , 000 b y one of these companies ugainst the risk of trauuport of goods . Tike annual premiums these companies received were upwards of £ 460 , 000 . The assurance companies in Holland are 142 in number ; but many of them are of smull importance , the principal being for marine assurance . In Belgium there are 19 leading companies , one or two assuring largely on lives and against fire rinks . A very raiiid extension of the nyutem is also taking place in America ; and New York , Boston , and Philadelphia poBHeas no Icbb thiiu 11 (>" companies . "

      The dinner at Richmond was , of course , not for discussion but compliinentu . Lord Overstone appropriately presided , and made ( several speeches , and opoko Home striking words . Ho gave the actuary an important pout iu society : — - 44 The actuary , as he understood that term , was engnged in investigating the varied and complicated phenomena of active life , and especially the catuiultiett , or , aa they were generally callea , the accidents to which person and property wero cxpoBcd . It wa *» his Ihihuichh from confusion to educe order and regularity—to arrive at Home knowledge of the luw » by which apparently lawlcaa cventu were directed—and on the knowledge bo ( Attained to / ojrm regulatiouu and , institution !* which might

      contribute to the safety of society , to the progress of the best interests of man , and to the abvancement of civilization . { Cheers . ) The actuary sought to enable men in their private affairs to steer as certainly among the casualties of life , as the mariner , he hoped , would soon be enabled to do amidst those of the ocean . ( Cheers . )" Mr . Kennedy , who responded to the toast , " Prosperity to the Assurance Interests of the World , " on the part of the United States delivered a very interesting speech . He said : — " He represented in that company a youthful nation , hardly yet out of the leading-strings of its parent to whom it owed all honour and respect . They were hardly yet out of their swaddling-clothes , and , perhaps , like

      other children , they were rather fond of boasting even in the presence of their parent— ( cheers and laughter ); but he asked the company to attribute their faults to their youth , and to remember that their extraordinary natural growth brought about by circumstances which neither they nor any other human power could control—( cheers )— , had increased them in numbers and prosperity beyond anything that history could parallel . ( Cheers . ) There was nothing peculiarly great , or glorious , or honourable , in the causes producing this state of affairs . Their greatest efforts had been directed to know themselves—( cheers )—and they were the first nation that had ever made the numbering of the people at the outset a part of their constitutional and fundamental laws . ( Hear , hear . ) They had found that principle of so much value that they

      had branched into correlative subjects of inquiry . As early as 1810 , the statistics of their agriculture and of their manufactures had been taken , it being considered that , next to knowing the numbers of the people , it was necessary to know their various conditions , in order "that legislation might be carried on with enlightened views , and that the progress of the country might be accurately ascertained . ( Hear . ) From that time till the present they had kept these objects in view ; and in their last census , in which he had the honour to participate as superintendent , the age , sex , colour ,

      condition , birthplace , trade , degree of education , of every being , white or black , free or slave , were given . The details of their agriculture , manufactures , and commerce were collected , and presented results deeply interesting to a society like this . ( Hear , hear . ) With reference to the statistics of longevity , they had viewed with great interest the progress which the actuaries of England had made ; and instead of retarding themjn their progress , they were willing to help them along and to proceed at the same rate themselves , if not a little faster . ( Cheers and laughter . )"

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      CONTINENTAL NOTES . The President of the Republic has been making a speech at Beauvais . He was present at a banquet in honour of Jeanne Hachette , the heroine of Beauvais , whose statue was inaugurated that day , and delivered the following address in reply to the mayor : — " Gentlemen , —The honourable Mayor of Beauvais will pardon me if I limit myself to a plain expression of thanks , for the flattering words which he has just addressed to me . In replying to them I should be afraid of altering the religious character of this festival , which , by the commemoration of a glorious feat accomplished in this city , offers a high historical lesson . It is encouraging to think that in extreme dancers Providence

      reserves often to a single being the privilege of being the instrument of preservation for all , and in certain circumstances has even chosen that instrument from among the weaker sex , as if by the irailty of the envelope to prove still better the empire of the soul over human affairs , and to show that a cause does not perish , when it has for guides an ardent faith , an inspired devotion , a profound conviction . Thus , in the 15 th century , with a few years' interval , two women , obscure in origin but animated by the sacred fire , Jeanne d'Arc , and Jeanno Hachette , appear at the most desperate moment to fulfil a holy mission . The one has the miraculous glory of delivering France from a foreign yoke ; the other inflicts the shame of retreat upon a prince , who , notwithstanding the splendour and extent of his power , was only a rebel wager of civil war . And yet to what do the actions

      of these women reduce themselves , ? They did no more than show to the French the path of honour and duty , and how to inarch in it at their head . Similar examples ought to be honoured , perpetuated . Accordingly , I am happy to think that it was the Emperor Napoleon , who , in 1806 , reestabliBhed the ancient usage , long interrupted , of celebrating the raising of the siege of Beauvais . For in liis eyes France was not a factitious country , born of yesterday , confined in the narrow limits of a single epoch or a single party : but she was the nation great by eight hundred years of monarchy , not Ichb great after ten years of revolution ; labouring for the fusion of all old and new interests , and adopting ull glorieu without exception of time or of cause . We huvo all inherited these h < ntimentM , for I see here representatives of all parties ; they come with me to render homage to the warlike virtue of un epocli—to the hcroitun of a woman . JLet us drink a toast to the memory of Jeanne lluchette . "

      Of course , loud cheer ** followed , and in tho presence of tho fltutue of a heroine uiul the representative of u hero of France , tho auditory could not abstain from crieH of " Vive Napoleon ! " plentifully mingled with criew of " Vive le President ! ' But the event of the week which throws all the rent into the shade , in the presentation of M . do Tocquevillo ' H report ou Kcvittion , on Tuesday liiat . Wo have the document before un . It is divided into two partH . The first exaininen the necessity of reviuion , tho Hecond the propouitionH for revision . He declare ** that tho constitution is bud , mint able , Htormy , tho cuuho of ull agitation . The two priijcipul iimltu which be pointa out are precisely those which give

      most offence to the Ultra-republicans—the election by departments , and the erection of the President of the Republic and the Assembly of the Republic by their election into two jealous and opposing powers . He denounces the conduct of the Government in pushing an illegal candidateship , that of Louis Napoleon , and declares that many who call so loudly for revision , in reality only want agitation . But , in spite of all that can be urged—and he puts the cases fairly on all sideshe concludes that revision may be dangerous , but that it is necessary ; and that among the many dangers , formidable dangers , with which the future is pregnant , that of assembling the constituent is the least . He makes the following emphatic declaration : —

      " The point upon which the committee has been unanimous is this : —If , in spite of all legal efforts towards unanimity , by making such mutual concessions as are compatible with the dignity and sincerity of opinions , the attempt should fail , should the Assembly not provide a sufficient number of votes for the legal revision—if , in a word , the constitution remains , it must be strictly and universally obeyed . On this point the commission , which was divided on so many others , is unanimous , and we entertain the firm conviction that the same unanimity will be manifested by the Assembly . It is requisite that every one should understand that a legal attempt to reform a constitution gives , if it fails , to the latter a new consecration . " And he adds further to the force of this : —

      " We expect the administration , and even all parties , to conform themselves to this view , and that they will remember that any attempt having for object to urge on the people to unconstitutional measures , from the moment that a legal revision of the constitution cannot be attained , would not only be uuseemiag and irregular , but criminal . " The second part , which consists of an examination of the rival propositions , and gives the reasons for their rejection , terminates in these words : —

      " There remained the joint proposition of 233 of our colleagues ; those of that number who form part of the commission having themselves declared that the wording drawn up by them and their political friends had only for object the expression of a general idea , and could only serve as an element , at most as a basis for a definitive resolution , that wording has been set aside , and our honourable President has submitted to us the following proposition : — " The Legislative Assembly , having considered the 111 th article of the Constitution , expresses a wish that the Constitution should be revised in totality , conformably to the said article . ' and clearldefines

      " This wording , which contains y ( precise ) the opinions of the majority , which we have made known to you , has been adopted by nine votes against six . We have been charged to submit it to you for your adoption . " The department of the " Dordogne" having had a representative to elect , has just given the signal of abstaining from voting . This doctrine of abstaining from voting is upheld by the Democratic-Socialist press , on the ground that to vote whilst the law of May 31 is still in existence , would give a sanction to that restrictive law . It is expected that tlie department of the " Nord , " which has likewise a representative to elect , will abstain from voting . Already the democratic press of that department Iras manifested a strong opinion to that effect .

      Pius IX ., anxious for the salvation of his French flock , whom he believes to be following the road of Socialist perdition , lias just summoned a certain number of the French bishops and other members of the h ' ^ \ clergy to come to Home , there to receive salutary instructions from the Holy Father . A printer of Nantes , in the service of the Jesuits , printing all their little publications destined to deceive tho people , and to resuscitate superstition with all its horrors , has just been sentenced to twenty years' hard labour for fraudulent bankruptcy .

      At the Conferences of Dresden , Austria , in consequence of her entering the German Bund with both her German and non-German possessions , would seeure to herself a preponderance iu German affairs . Prussia , having on this ground been fmperaeded , Iihh now had recourse to a subterfuge , endeavouring to withdraw from the German Bund her non-German provinces , iu order to preserve her right of peace ; and war without the Germun XTnity , in which tihe is eclipsed by her rival . By bo doing the intend * to deprive Austria of her utrongest argument for entering the Bund with all her posseMsioiiH , thus reducing her to a member of that Bund , representing a population of about 6 , 000 , 000 only , instead of . ' { 0 , 000 , 000 . But , " it bon chat bou rat" as the l'Veneh proverb says (" Tit for tat ") . To this Pru » tiiim move the Cabinet of Vienna at once replied : —

      " When in 1 H 1 H tho I ' riiHfiiau provinces entered tlw Bund , they could not be admitted without the unanimity of voices ; mid , therefore , now they must obtain U »« «« mc unanimity for their withdrawal . " By this we can easily see that tho < lifli « iiHy -in f . ir from being promptly settled ; it . i « « t «>)>" wllH ! " occupy the German policy at least a wiiole year , and will perhaps not be revived without active interference from a quarter leu « t palatable to German Sovereign * . . . . A Leipzig journal contain * tho information that tho military ptunnutteo will propotto to the Jingore

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      Juwr W , 1851 . ] «}* . & *«»** 649

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 12, 1851, page 649, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1891/page/5/