PREFACE The growing interest manifested in Life Insurance, its acknowledged importance, and the absence of any standard popular treatise on the subject, to which persons desirous of information may refer, must be my apology for publishing these LECTURES, which familiarly explain the whole theory, and practice, and bearing of Life Insurance. The main object in view — my almost only motive, indeed — has been to present the strong claims of Life Insurance to Families and persons of a considerate and provident turn of mind, in a truthful and readable dress, and cheap, popular form, so that no obstacle need stand in the way of “Lectures on Life Insurance” becoming as much the hand-book of the family as the Penny Magazine or the Almanac. I have adopted the lecture style, because it allows more scope and range of illustration ; and from the conviction that it secures better the attention and carries with it more of the force of oral teaching or didactic instruction ; and I have adopted the more popular mode of publishing in Numbers, in order to secure the circulation of the work by mail ; as well as to afford the Agents of Companies repeated opportunities of politely presenting the subject to the notice of families. It has been my constant endeavour to divest the subject as much as possible of technicalities and dry mathematical calculations. I have sought, instead, to convey to the mind of even the casual reader of its more scientific portions a historic novelty that I trust will enlist the feel- ings and induce further investigation. In order to render the work more instructive, useful, and generally ac- ceptable, I have given an exposition of the Law of Life Insurance, fol- lowing its Practice, and have detailed most of the decisions had, especially in the cases involving questions as to the hill of health — the Medical Juris- ( 3 ) 3 4S, 3 iv PREFACE. PRUDENCE of the subject; and following this have given concise rules for ' preserving health — The Laws of Hygeine — without which the work would be incomplete ; for Life Insurance seeks to promote health and prolong life. The Morality of Life Insurance is also discussed, and its salutary INFLUENCE on the insurant, in sickness and in health, portrayed ; its origin with the early Christians at Jerusalem, and its first practice by them under the direction of the Apostles and the Divine approbation, are clearly pointed out and established by reference to the Sacred Scriptures ; and the rapid strides it is now making in almost all Christian countries, aided and abetted by bishops, archbishops, and clergymen, of different denomi- nations of Christians, are historically traced and shown. Its benign effect in holding the fragments of a broken family together — governing the destiny of sons and daughters ; preventing crime ; leading to virtue ; hal- lowing the widow’s efforts ; blessing the orphan’s path, &c., &c., are pre- sented in a way calculated to inspire families with confidence in Life In- surance, as a practical good, A MORAL BENEFIT, as well as a certain pecuniary provision. With regard to the contest and struggle for preferment that is going on, and that is to be expected to continue, between the competing Life Insur- ance Companies, on questions involving the different plans of insurance, and their respective claims to public favour ; the cash and credit systems ; difference in the scale of rates adopted ; dividends declared, &c., I have endeavoured, with the calmness of an impartial observer, to place before my readers the means of judging intelligently for themselves as to the merits of all these matters and things, without intentionally reflecting upon any of the ofi&ces. I have assumed that the intentions of all are high and honourable ; but that ENLIGHTENED PUBLIC SENTIMENT is the only safe-guard against abuses, and the only earnest or guarantee of wise legis- lation on the subject. Chicago, Sept. 1851. LECTURE I. SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. INTRODUCTION. To Families, &c. May I ask your kind attention to a short series of Lectures on the Science of Life Insurance ? The subject is new, and may be considered too grave, at I first thought, to awaken interest ; but, if subjects of far less importance to society can be so attractively presented as to elicit the earnest attention of the public, I will indulge no fear of not being able to command your attention and enlist your feelings, by grouping together the strong points and fea- tures of Life Insurance, and presenting you with the most strik- ing views it will bear. ^ I know that matters of interest are not generally considered interesting matters ; and am very well aware that most per- sons read for amusement, and are charmed with romances ' played off upon the major-key of human life ; but still I know that there is a time for all things, and that the same cultivated taste that to-day finds enjoyment in the domain of fiction, may by to-morrow be gathering flowers wherewithal to weave gar- lands for the tomb. The Mount Auburns, the Laurel Hills, and the many other adorned cemeteries of the day, are but ( 13 ) «;2;i‘280 14 INTRODUCTION. evidences of the exercise of this discreet, sober second thought; and the thus harmoniously arranged chromatic passages in the world’s great opera will, at times, command the deepest interest in every mind, and will become the pensive taste of some, who shall claim to have grown wiser by experience. Relying, therefore, upon the merits of my theme, and the cultivated taste of the age, together with the fact that I have given to the subject some thought and attention, I hope to present Life Insurance to you, so clad in the garments of truth and simplicity, that its very plainness shall attract you ; and so calculated to bind up the broken heart, that you will fall in love with it for its beneficence. Although fraught with the greatest blessings to the public, and full of unmixed good to mankind, its nature and principles have not been widely disseminated and generally investigated and understood. Beyond its name, and a confused concep- tion that somehow or other it interposes between the death of a husband and father, who embraces it, and the destitution of his family, little is known of it by persons in general. I think I shall be able to satisfy you that Life Insurance is a science of great beauty and interest, and in a practical point of view^ entitled to rank among the foremost of the humane and benevolent institutions of the day. If so, the effort must be conceded as opportune, for Life Insurance is almost entirely destitute of a literature. There is no work extant on the subject in this country. If you would seek information you must go to the statute books of the dif- ferent states that have granted charters and enacted provisions governing it; or to the meagre circulars of the Companies;, or you must rummage periodicals and commercial treatises, foreign and domestic, for here and there a fugitive article per- taining to it, dry, technical, and commercial in its character ; and gather a table from this or that cyclopedia ; and a defini- tion from this or that dictionary of the arts and sciences ; and SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 15 form your opinions of its morality and justice from commenta- tors of the common and civil law, and writers on forensic medicine. But with all these short-comings of a proper and popular literature that should place Life Insurance, its charm- ing principles and beautiful attractions, within the reach of every family, as a household book for the rising generation to grow up with in hand, imbibing its doctrines, and prepared in due time to embrace its provisions — I say, with all these lets and hindrances. Life Insurance is working its way into the elements of our social fabric with considerable progress, and is operating as a beautiful balance or fly-wheel in the machinery of families, the foundations of society. It only requires to be generally understood to be almost universally adopted. This is emphatically an age of progress. Physical, intel- lectual, and moral achievements, too startling almost for belief, come pressing upon the mind, one after another, and take their places among the substantial realities of life, until we are almost prepared to believe anything possible. The electric telegraph is of to-day. Railroads are of but yesterday’s origin. Forty years have hardly elapsed since the humble peasants on the Hudson were surprised by the first steamboat appearing in their waters ; which, it is said, was mistaken for a saw-mill afloat. Many of you remember when the principles for educating the deaf and dumb were first pro- claimed ; for educating the blind, too. But a few years since, vaccination was discovered. It has been reserved for our times to reveal the astonishing truth, that, by the inhalation of a lit- tle ether or chloroform, a diseased limb may be amputated with out pain ; and those of you over twenty-six years of age, can claim contemporary life with the man who first maintained the doctrine, that the masses could rule. What a chaos would the civilized world be in, by the obliteration of these, our now familiar household gods ! 1 * 16 INTRODUCTION. Nations formerly distant, distrustful, jealous, and disposed for war, are now meeting and shaking hands together ; traf- ficking and commingling ; interchanging the arts of civiliza- tion ; vying at efforts of skill in scientific and handicraft work- manship ; and are congregating at a World’s Fair for the exhibition of the products of their genius. What a spectacle ! The arts of peace, and works of philanthropy, have taken a deep hold of men’s minds. Righteousness and Peace are approaching to kiss each other. The lion is considering the matter of meekly lying down with the lamb, for the little child, American freedom, is about to lead them. The sword is verily giving way to the ploughshare, and spears are being transformed into pruning-hooks. The intercommingling of the people of different states and nations, is dethroning preju- dice, and softening down the asperities of feeling, individual as well as national, and leading the current of men’s thoughts to works of usefulness and benevolence. Men are everywhere becoming more tolerant, humane, and reflective ; more tem- perate and sober-minded ; and the evidences of great moral progress are seen in the many institutions that are being de- vised of a social and benevolent character ; for the suppression of vice, and the encouragement of virtue ; the education of the poor ; the protection of the helpless ; the sustaining of the sick ; the strengthening of the social relations of life ; and pro- tection against future want. The social economies of the industrious orders — as Savings Banks; Sickness and Annuity Fund Societies; Benevolent Pawnbroking ; and Provident Dispensaries, are of this kind. Life and Health Assurance Associations also ; and we must not overlook the Temperance, Masonic, and Odd Fellows’ Societies, and other orders and beneficial societies, now so much the rage, and so full of charity, brotherly kindness, and good-will. There are upwards of two millions in the ranks of these mutual supporting societies in Great Britain. SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 17 Some of these social orders have secret forms, to be sure ; but their secrets seem harmless when we cast our eyes beyond to the many social virtues they cultivate, and the mutual health assurance principles they maintain. Whilst they dispense sums of money from a common fund, to sustain a sick brother and family, it seems querulous to cavil about their forms and ceremonies. We are all struck with admiration for the man 'who founds an hospital or an orphan asylum. His name is handed down to posterity in connexion with the institution, as a benefactor to his species. He is a benefactor, and so are those who con- tri^bute of their substance to the maintenance of hospitals, dis- pensaries, orphan asylums, and other public charities. But the social orders and mutual associations of which I speak, are ahead of these institutions, for they aim at self-protection ; a protection which, if generally adopted, would do away with these public charities. Who ever heard of an Odd Fellow, a Rechabite, a Son of Temperance, or member of any other brotherhood or beneficial society, going to a poor-house or charity hospital when sick ? The idea is preposterous. He has been laying hy a fund in the shape of weekly or monthly dues paid in against a day of sickness. He has also made sure of the comforting reflection that he can be sick at home ; and though he may be very sick, and very poor, he will be provided for. He has secured a claim on the brethren beyond the five dollars per week allow- ance ; and they visit him, and watch with him, and with Sama- ritan kindness pour in the oil and wine of consolation and encouragement. A masonic state convention met at Albany, N. Y., a few days since, for the purpose of establishing an asylum for the support of indigent masons, their widows and orphans. A college for the education and support of the orphan children of deceased masons is in successful operation in Missouri. 18 INTRODUCTION. Thus, in various ways, these orders and beneficial societies dispense their blessings. They encourage habits of industry, economy, and all the social virtues; whilst, like savings insti- tutions, many of them afford a certain reliance in money to fall back upon in the hour of sickness. What beautiful devices to strengthen the virtues and kindly sympathies of our nature ; to keep up ambition, social vigour, and the proper pride of man, and the interest he should feel in life, when in health ; and, perhaps, to save him and family from a broken spirit, and public charity when sick ! One of the most remarkable features of the age is the activity of this principle of association — this acting by associated numbers. Men have learned to appreciate the fact, that ‘‘m union there is strength^ They seem to think that union is competent to effect anything. There is scarcely any object for which there is not a society formed. You see in the working of all these brotherhoods a very reliable and refined charity, that comes home to the domestic hearth, and holds the family together, and cherishes the dear and tender sympathies of home; for, ‘‘be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.” And a special beauty in the system is, that every man does it for himself, by a far-seeing prudence in joining one of these brotherhoods ; for they all partake of the nature of Health Assurance Associations. The members are bound together by a wholesome code of by-laws, one of which is, that each must pay into the treasury a certain small sum, a shilling or two weekly, or monthly, to serve as a common fund for supporting those who may happen to fall sick. Now, if you go a step farther in the scale of a refined charity, and form a mutual association, the members binding them- selves to pay a certain small sum annually for life, on condition that at their death a certain sum total shall be paid to their widow^s or heirs, you have a Life Insurance Company. SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 19 The position these associations hold, compared with the beneficial societies and orders of which I have spoken, cannot be better illustrated than to lay before you the opinion of Dr. Franklin in the premises, written in London, as I suppose, more than half a century ago : — Many persons resort to beneficial associations to make provision for their families ; and there are many cases in which the funds of a beneficial society have been most useful to a portion of its members. My object is not to undervalue bene- ficial societies, but to call the attention of the considerate and provident to the fact that a policy of life insurance is the cheapest and safest mode of making a certain provision for one’s family. If any one will look at the tables of life insurance, they will see that, for a very small sum paid every year for a policy of life insurance, a father secures to his family a very considerable amount. For instance, for about $4 per year, a father of 45 years of age secures $100, payable to his family immediately on his death. For about $16 per year, a man of 40 years of age secures for his family $500, and in like propor- tion, according to the ages of the parties. Now we know of no beneficial society that can offer any such inducement. Be- sides, the time occupied, and the hazard in managing the affairs of a beneficial society, amount often to a very considerable sum. It is true a member, if sick, may expect some small pecu- niary aid ; but when he dies, his family, after his funeral, have little or no claim on the society. Now a policy of life insurance comes in just at this period, and gives the family most import- ant aid, because it is most timely ; it being just as they are deprived of their main dependence. If our beneficial societies would combine with their own arrangements an insurance on the life of each member, by taking out a policy from a Life Insurance Company for a moderate amount, for the benefit of his family at his death, their benevolent plan would be com- plete, and they would then do the greatest possible amount of 20 INTRODUCTION. good to each other with the smallest means. It is time our people understood and practised more generally life insurance. ‘‘Many a widow and orphan have had great reason to be grateful that the advantage of life insurance was understood and embraced by the husband and father. A large amount has been paid in this city by the Life Insurance Companies to widows and orphans, when it formed almost their only resource .” — {Public Ledger.) The greatest defect in all these Orders and Beneficial Socie- ties is, that the sums paid in are equal — not apportioned to the different ages according to the value of the risks. They start with members in the prime of life, and nearly all the receipts appear to be profits ; but when the greater claims for the sick- nesses and infirmities of age supervene, their funds are found inadequate. The beneficial orders and health assuring societies in the United States are in some respects different from similarly constituted associations in England, but there is a family like- ness running through the whole ; and it cannot be denied that these “ Friendly Societies,” as the whole race are denominated in England, are exceedingly popular both in that country and this, among the operating classes especially. As a proof of this I need only call your attention to the fact that the society known as the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows, in England, numbers over four hundred thousand, and its income is over a million dollars, annually. This is only one of five similar Unities of Odd Fellows in that country, all perhaps nearly equally numerous and rich. I have seen it estimated that the number of Odd Fellows in the United States was over two hundred thousand. The Sons of Temperance is a still more numerous though a more recently established order. They are both dispensing immense blessings to society, although defect- ive in scientific principles, and only extending their benefits in the main through the lifetime of members. SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 21 There is one remarkable fact worthy to be observed in this connexion : it is that the duration of life is longer among the members of these Friendly Societies in England than among any other class of persons whatever, by an average of about three years [JYiesori^s Vital Statistics)^ and is to be regarded as so much testimony in favour of simple and regular habits and a more perfect obedience to the natural laws. This may con- sole the operative who gains his bread by the sweat of his brow, and it should be a restraint upon the overweening desire of any to grow rich ; for luxury and idleness follow wealth, and the abuse of the natural laws and an abridgment of human life seem almost inseparable consequences. Three years of pro- longed life in the enjoyment of social, brotherly kindness, is a valuable commentary upon these beneficial orders. A Life Insurance Company, then, is a brotherhood of provident husbands and fathers, who love their wives and children, and who say, ^We cannot run the risk of leaving our helpless ones des- titute in the event of our death. Let us provide against this contingency. We are able to support our families very com- fortably whilst we live, but if we were to die suddenly, they would be thrown into poverty. Now let us profit from observ- ation. We have seen families left destitute, and the stricken widow, overpowered with grief, and over-taxed with exertions to support herself and offspring, sink into an early grave ; and we have seen the children, bound out to service and exposed to the whips and scorns of a task-master, and vicious examples, finally lost to society in the ranks of sin and shame. ^ We have cast about and inquired into the history of those gangs, who, by their nightly riots, robberies, and murders, are the hunted down of the policemen of our cities — of those crowds of boys, hardly in their teens, who, by their blasphemy, obscenity, rowdyism, and petty offences, are preparing for a manhood to be either cut short by the hangman, or spent alter- nately in the penitentiary and in the perpetration of the crimes 8 22 INTRODUCTION. that send them thither — or, more lamentably still, of those crea- tures whose name puts humanity to the blush ; who, having but just entered the verge of womanhood, are already become living, walking plagues, ‘ whose house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death’ — we have searched out the history of all these, and have found that, for the most part, they are the children of working men who died, leaving their widows and little ones destitute, the mothers being compelled to part with their children and place them here and there with stran- gers, to be brought up as accident might determine, and who, deprived of maternal care and the domestic influences of home, so potent to restrain and guide, have become what we see, and their path is still downward. — And we have decided the mat- ter in our own minds, that, if these widowed mothers, at their husbands’ decease, could have come in possession of the pro- ceeds of a policy of Life Insurance of $1000, or even $500, they would all have been able, used as they were to self-exer- tion, to adopt some business that would have enabled them to keep their little ones at home under their own guidance, where they would have grown up, and made useful and respectable members of society.”* And now let us, by a timely resort to Life Insurance, avert the possibility of destitution and its dread- ful consequences happening to those we love — the cherished of our bosoms, the little ones we dandle on the knee, and that bear our image and superscription.’ Agreed, agreed! we hear on all sides. We hear it from the young married man whose home is just now established, and consecrated by the hallowed rites of nuptial love ; whose resolutions are firmly fixed to lead an upright and exemplary life ; and whose young and unworn affections centre with such ardour upon his mate, that he wishes every hour he could cut the world in two, to give her half of it. We hear it from the prudent man of meridian life. With * Barlow’s tale of The Howards.” SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 23 affections for his better half sanctified by time ; a just esteem formed for her many womanly virtues; the evidences fully realized of her self-sacrificing devotion ; his love of offspring gratified ; his home a little paradise below ; he reflects, he soli- loquizes thus: — have a charming family around me — the best wife in Christendom — five lovely children. I certainly enjoy the full gratification of the affections. 1 support them very comfortably by my business, but I never can lay up any- thing for them. If I were to die suddenly, they would be left without any means of support. I think it is my duty to get my life insured.” He talks the matter over with his wife, and she approves, and proposes to do without that rather expensive article of dress he wanted her to get the other day ; and they agree to live a little more economically in all things. He insures his life in the sum of three thousand dollars, and finds no difficulty in paying the annual premiums. He is more careful of his loose change, and his wife is more frugal within the house ; and, where there is a will there is always a way.” Nobody sees any difference in their style of living. They live within their means, just as they always have lived, only they avoid the unnecessary expenses. Again, we hear it from the man whose life is passing into the sear and yellow leaf. He exclaims at the top of his voice, I must and will get my life insured !” We are startled at the earnestness of his manner and cry, and we look into the neces- sities of his case. We find he is a clergyman who has grown gray in proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation to his fellow men. He has lived to the age of fifty-nine in the service of God and man ; has been thirty-five years minister of the parish, and idol of his parishioners ; has raised a family of three children, who are all married; has buried his first wife, and has now four manly little boys by the second accomplished partner of his life, the oldest of whom is not ten. He has all along supposed that he was fulfilling every moral duty as hus- 24 INTRODUCTION. band, father, citizen. But he has just read an article in the Edinburgh Journal on Life Insurance, which strikes his moral sense too forcibly to pass unnoticed, showing that it is no more the moral duty of a man to provide the daily bread for his family whilst he lives, than it is to provide against their being left penniless in the event of his death. He sees that, by Life Insurance, he can make one a matter of current expenditure, as well as the other. That, by its pro- visions, he can virtually take his market-basket on his arm, and one of his little boys by the hand, and go to market as usual, and secure the delicacies of the season for his family, years and years after he is dead and laid in his grave. And his conscientious soul is filled with conflicting emotions. His ripened age, his hoary locks, declare that he must soon become superannuated, and his functions and salary cease. He sees that, should God spare him to threescore and ten, the longest that he may hope to officiate, still his boys will be in their youth and childhood then, as helpless as now, and more expensive if he educate them, as it is his bounden duty to do. He takes, for the first time, a clear, full, and realizing sense of the predicament he is in ; of the responsibility he has in- curred for the gratification of his earthly affections, in surround- ing himself with a young family in his old age, when, at best, he cannot hope to see them raised, and, at worst, ere three moments at any time shall have passed, his death may happen, and carry certain destitution to wife and children. And his mind is agitated ; and his sensitive heart throbs ; and tears course down his manly cheeks in secret. He wipes his furrowed brow, and combats his emotions. He says, I am getting nervous, I do believe, in my old age ; my affections for my family are, indeed, very deep and vsincere ; but I must not let them carry me away. I may live twenty years yet, and see all my children grown, and well provided for. I must not distrust the promises of God contained in his holy word.” And SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 25 he adjusts his spectacles, and opens the Sacred Volume for consolation, with the faith of Abraham in the word and pro- mises of God. And the good book opens at 1st Timothy, 5th chapter, and his eye rests on the 8th verse : But if any provide not for his own^ and especially for those of his own house ^ he hath denied the faith ^ and is worse than an infidel y And the admonition is received as a special command from God. He rises and declares his purpose aloud, that he must and will have his life insured ; and goes directly and insures it for $5,000 for life, in favour of his wife ; it being $1,000 for each member of his helpless family. He preached to his congregation five years after this, and found no difficulty, by a more rigid economy, in saving $300 out of his salary every year, the amount called for as the annual premium ; and then, his health failing, his congregation paid his instalments two years for him, when he died — was gathered in as a shock of corn fully ripe, having fulfilled his moral obligations as a husband, father, and Christian. The Policy was paid over to his widow, and, with her good and careful management, was found adequate to the support of the family, and to the completion of the education of the boys. Whether or not this was a special interposition of Providence in behalf of this good man and his family, is not for me to say. It is sufficient for me that it is founded in fact; that it illustrates forcibly the working of this modern humane institution^ and exemplifies an obedience to the moral duties a man owes his family, worthy of imitation. One feature of the case remains yet to be told. This good and exemplary divine, ever pointing to heaven, and himself leading the way, announced from the desk, on the next Sun- day, that he would give a lecture on Life Insurance, in that place, on the next Wednesday evening, and invited his con- gregation and the public to attend. 2 * 26 INTRODUCTION. From the data in his possession, he explained and illustrated the principles and practical operation of Life Insurance, in a clear and forcible manner, and numbers who heard him went and got their lives insured. Would I could enchain you as I was enchained on that occasion, by the novelty and importance of the subject, the clearness with which the venerable orator presented it, and his powerful appeal to husbands and fathers to follow his example, and attend to it as one of the most important moral acts of a lifetime. I never listened to more than one other philanthropic lecture that made as lasting an impression on my mind ; and that was the first lecture ever delivered in Philadelphia, where I was then residing, on African colonization, by the late Robert Goodloe Harper, Esq., of Baltimore. I judged there was a good time coming for both of these institutions, then in their incipiency. And what do we see ? One has established a republic, in a quarter of a century, deemed sufficiently import- ant to demand a line of Ocean Steamers, and has demonstrated the capability of the coloured masses for self-government, to say nothing of what it promises in the future — the civilization, Christianization, and redemption of benighted Africa : and the other is taking up the widows and orphans throughout the length and breadth of our land, and (as we would say in Illinois expressive of extraordinarily polite treatment) is ^Hiand- ing them round in society on a plate is becoming most in- geniously and harmoniously interwoven into the very elements of our social and political fabric, into the families of the masses, and promises happier and more wide-spread results in political and social economy, than any of all the devices that stamp the genius of the age. And it is destined to become in this coun- try the family system of entail — the republican method of in- vesting the proceeds of labour, and handing them down from father to son, through indefinite generations, as effectually as SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 27 a Barony or an Earldom, but without their pomp and circum- stance. It is destined to become not only the commissari- ship of subsistence of millions that would otherwise be left powerless and penniless, to constitute the scum of society, but the life-saving household cement, that, by its cohesiveness, shall hold the broken family fragments together, till time, with its all-healing power, shall develop the rising generation, and build up new and beautiful vases for society on the ruins of the fallen. And further, it is destined to bring together, into wedded life, young and unsophisticated hearts, and unsquan- dered affections, the rich endowment of the healthful of body and virtuous of mind, and thus to become conservative of the best interests of society, in the quality of posterity resulting ; for, if a young man have health, and strength, and skill, it is capital” sufficient to justify the consummation of an early marriage, promising to be the source of all his future happi- ness ; and, if he will but then be considerate enough to insure his life, he gives bonds to the state, in the event of his death, for the maintenance of his family, depending now on the capi- tal that is in his life ; and he need not then, I say, postpone his marriage till he is half worn out with toil, in trying to accu- mulate something to start wdth, but enter upon life young, and enjoy the ever-brimming, freshening fountains of family affec- tion, the soul of life, at once, and have something to live for — something to incite to manly deeds and noble achievements, and prevent irregular associations from otherwise possibly leading the young and ardent mind astray. It is destined, still farther, to be the embodiment of that holiest repository of filial duty, making provision for aged and infirm parents. Affection travels downwards ; it is natural to bestow the ten- derest sympathies and most devoted cares upon the young ; it is natural for man to wish to provide generously for wife and children : but to see the pious devotion of a young man guarding an aged parent from the possibility of destitution, by 2 * 28 INTRODUCTION. insurance on his life, is like apples of gold in pictures of silver; and we hardly know which to admire most, the deed done, or the institution through the ingenious mechanism of which it is effected. And yet still gloriously further, it is destined to achieve an emancipation of the mind from the worship of the almighty dollar,” and cure that eating cancer of the soul, the overreaching desire and passion for acquiring riches, which dethrones morality, and unfits the votary for the enjoyment of all the genial delights of social life : it is bound to disfranchise thousands of families from the thraldom of aping the follies and extravagancies of fashionable life, and wearing out their best energies in a senseless idolatry paid to the golden-calf of wealth ; and to substitute in place the contented mind, which is a continual feast, — the rational enjoyments of the family ties and social affections. It may be felt by many,” says Chambers in his ^ Informa- tion for the People,’ «that, admitting this duty in full, their income is nevertheless insufficient to enable them to spare even the small sum necessary as an annual premium for Life Insu- ranee; the necessities of the present are, in their case, so great that they do not see how they can afford it. We believe there can be no obstacle which is apt to appear more real than this, where an income is at all limited, and yet it is easy to show that no obstacle could be more ideal. It will readily be acknow- ledged by everybody who has an income at all, that there must be some who have smaller incomes ; say for instance that any man has <£400 per annum ; he cannot doubt that there are some who have only £350 : now if these persons live on £350, why may not he do so too, sparing the odd £50 as a deposit for Life Assurance } In like manner, he who has £200 may live as men do who have £175, and devote the remainder, £25, to have a sum assured on his life ; and so on. It may require an effort to accomplish this, but is not the object worthy of an effort ? — ^and can any man be held as honest, or any way SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 29 good, who will not make such an effort rather than be always liable to the risk of leaving in beggary the beings w^hom he most cherished on earth, and for whose support he alone is responsible ?” The most awful period in a man’s history,” says Burt on Life Assurance, ‘«the moment when his spirit wings its flight to a distant world, is usually the time when the greatest revo- lution takes place in the circumstances and destinies of his sur- viving relatives. The sorrowing widow and mourning children need bear no heavier misfortune then than that which has fallen upon them in the loss of a friend, an adviser, and a protector. And yet how often is it the case, even with the thoughtful and pru- dent, that, to the loss of a husband is added the distress arising from pecuniary embarrassment. Willing and unwearying hands supported the wife ; that source is in a moment removed, and no other is substituted for the widow. Friends pity, but do not relieve ; advise, but give not wherewith to put their excellent plans into execution. It is hardly possible to over-estimate the extent of the calamity, when the head of a family is stricken down, and the members are left in helplessness and poverty. It is not only, in such a case, that the affections are crushed and wounded by the loss of a beloved husband or parent, but the miseries of destitution are forthwith felt also ; there is an end of the independence and comfort of the whole household. “ Take such a case in the higher ranks, where a certain style and a superior manner of living had been maintained ; where a higher education was being imparted to the children, and where the well-directed efforts of the parent who has been taken away provided the means of elegance and comfort of all. In a moment, and by an event in itself, and independent of cir- cumstances, the most afflicting, the source of all this happiness is dried up, and the helpless mourners are made at the same time dependants — perhaps almost or altogether beggars. In 80 INTRODUCTION. the breaking up of a household, in the division of the members, in the parting with every superfluous article of furniture and its valued associations, in the feeble attempts to keep up some- thing like former respectability, and the gradual descent to the lowest stage of poverty, there is perhaps as much of misery experienced as under more substantial privations. The heart, in such circumstances — the heart of the widow or orphan, knoweth its own bitterness, and none else ; surely it becomes him to whom the affections of that heart have been most de- voted, to anticipate the possibility of such a season of trial and privation, and, as far as possible, to provide the means of alle- viating it, and soothing its sorrows ; and if he cannot ward off* the stroke of death, yet, by wise precaution, to ward off* at least the evils of destitution, and the misery of dependence. Take a case of very common occurrence ; that of a cler- gyman, happy in his domestic circle, educating his children liberally, and, wuth his <£400 or £500 a year, distributing con- solation to his parishioners, possessing only a life interest in his income ; no sooner is the thread of life snapped than beg- gary stares his family in the face, the widow and children are at once turned out upon the wide world, or doomed perhaps to receive a wretched pittance from some relation. We know not a fiercer or more formidable trial than to be reduced to this state. Is this the state to which any man could desire that those he loves and cherishes should be reduced ? Life Assurance will impoverish no man, but will save from indigence millions of families, and place them in a state of security ; and, in its prodigious developments, afford, in its applications, the attainment of an object the most exalted that can be contemplated; and experience demonstrates that it is the most precious of earthly gifts, and is one of the happiest discoveries of man ; it removes the greatest source of wretch- edness and crime ; substitutes industry for idleness ; economy for extravagance ; sobriety for intemperance ; competency for SCIENCE OF LIFE INSURANCE. 31 want : it disarms the chamber of death of some of its most painful anticipations — utter destitution, added to the desola- tion of an orphan family, and the loneliness of a disconsolate widow ; it mitigates the sorrows of a bed of sickness, by the knowledge that those who depend on the life of a single indi- vidual are provided for. « We know of no present more appropriate, from a father to his son, on the latter attaining manhood, than a policy of assurance on his life. An apparently trifling incident wdll oftentimes give a right direction to the thoughts and conduct of a youth during all his future years. The obligation imposed by a policy of assurance, is as likely, we think, as any other, to exercise a moral influence on the possessor. If the value of health, its importance, and the most rational means of pre- serving it, be rightly understooTd ; if habits of diligence, eco- nomy, kindness, and forethought be cultivated in early life by a man, there is hope that he will prosper in all he undertakes, and become an ornament and a blessing to the sphere in which he moves.” I will close my remarks by two striking examples that have occurred in Chicago within the year. The first is the case of young Gleason, known generally in this community as a steady, worthy, and industrious mechanic. He insured his life about a year since, in the Connecticut Mutual, for $3,000, in favour of his wife, being just married. He lived only seven w^eeks after the transaction, dying of erysipelas. Proof was presented to the Company of the fact of the death having occurred, and the amount called for by the policy was immediately paid. The other case is that of the late Judge Jesse B. Thomas, extensively known and endeared, not only to the citizens of Chicago, but throughout the state. He died suddenly, of erysipelas, about a year since. There is a reminiscence con- nected with his death, in the results of the postponement of Life Insurance, which increased our regrets for his untimely 32 INTRODUCTION. decease. He contracted in the Union Mutual for the insurance of his life, in the sum of $5,000. The papers were made out, but he postponed closing the contract for a few days, as he had not the amount in pocket just then required to pay the first premium. He sickened in a day or two thereafter, and died in about a week. This, I am informed, has been felt as vir- tually a loss to his estate of $15,000 — there were payments to be met that involved the sacrifice at forced sale of some of his best city property. Although just such examples as these are occurring every day, yet when they happen within the circle of one’s acquaint- ance they are calculated to be more impressive. They show ^ point blank’ the provident features of Life Insurance, and how easily a little fortune is secured, or may be lost, to a man’s family at his death, by its adoption, or its neglect. Every man may avail himself of it, and make provision, greater or smaller, for his family. All may become protected by it if they will. It is capable of universal application. It is able to have saved every widow and orphan in the world from destitution. Contracts of this kind are of immense importance to society, then, you must admit. They are equitable, too, based on equal justice to all parties. They do not partake in the least of the nature of lotteries or games of chance ; nor are they wager-contracts like bets upon elections. They are based on the observed fact, that human life in the aggregate is of invariable duration for every age as a class, and each age has a tariff calculated for the average, and every man who throws himself into this community of protected life-interests, pays his average tariff, and secures the advantages to his family of the mean duration of his life, though he may, in the Providence of God, die the next day. BI-MONTHLY INSURANCE ADVERTISER. Life Insurance. Six lectures, of about 32 pages each, being a com- plete manual of Life Insurance, is being published by the author, one every two months, the whole series in twelve months. Price. They are sold to Life Insurance Companies at cost, by the thousand. The rates for advertising that will be charged the companies that spread this work are fixed at $20 for the year, for one page, or $5 one insertion. For a half page one half these rates ; and for two pages double these rates. No additional charge for an exclusive Life Office advertise- ment of one page, on any one of the back numbers, if 1,000 copies are ordered. Order of the series. 1st No. — Introduction. 2d No. — General Prin- ciples, History, Companies. 3d No. — Kate of Interest, Rate of Mortality, Rates of Insurance. 4th No. — Scope, Practice, Law, or Medical Juris- prudence. 5th No. — Morality, Salutary Influence. 6th No. — Vital Sta- tistics, Public Hygiene, Personal Hygiene. Agents should send these Lectures as they are published, to fami- lies, to subscribe for the set, or purchase by the number. Cheap and attractive literature is never generally rejected by considerate families, and what families pay a few cents for they value more highly. A gratui- tous literature betokens a selfish motive. Were the Companies to send their agents each 100 copies, they would swell the editions to 200,000 copies, and secure their advertisements bound up in a standard, household book. This would carry Life Insurance knowledge to about one family in twenty. Fire and Marine Insurance are both making the most rapid strides in this country as well as in Europe. As men become more and more enlightened, they grow more prudent and avail themselves of the protec- tion afforded by insurances of every sort. Health Insurance. This species of insurance is extensively in vogue in the form of Mechanics’ Associations, Beneficial Societies, &c., but is not scientifically practised. Still, great good results from it. Live-Stock Insurance. This sort of insurance is beginning to awaken attention in this country, and ought to be generally understood and prac- tised by the owners of valuable animals. OFFICE S. E. CORNER THIRD AND CIIESNUT STS. |)l)Uairdpl)ia. CAPITAIi EXCLUSIVE OF PREMIUMS. The very great success which has attended the peculiar plan of Life Insurance as practised by this Company furnishes pleasing and incontestable evidence that the public mind is moving intelligently with regard to this great national system of savings and investment. The Capital of this Company is SSOjOOOj of which $103,880 has been paid in and invested (exclusive of pre- miums). The Capital of the Company being invested for the benefit of the insured, they enjoy the extraordinary privilege of this security ^ without any material expense to themselves, perfect mutuality with perfect security^ being fully accom- plished by this arrangement, combination peculiar to this Company, Profits are divided annually among the insured, payable at death, or the present value of which will be purchased, in cash on demand. Policies of two or more years’ standing will be purchased upon surrender : ample provision therefore is made for those parties who may desire to discontinue their payments and drop their policies. Forfeited policies, with the profits, may be renewed at any time, provided the health of the party at the time is unim- paired. No policy will be disputed, except upon the grounds of fraud. The original amount of policies will be reduced at any time, to suit the pleasure of insured parties. Policies may be assigned without the knowledge of the Company. Premium payments may be made to suit the convenience of parties opening policies with the Company. No extra charge for crossing the Atlantic, at any season of the year, in first class vessels. Attention is particularly invited to the pro- spectus published by this Company, which may be obtained gratis on application at the ofiice, or any of its agencies. DIRECTORS. Stephen R. Crawford, Ambrose W. Thompson, Benjamin W. Tingley, Jacob L. Florance, William M. Godwin, PRESIDENT. Stephen B. Crawford. SECRETARY AND TREASURER. Charles G. Imlat. Paul B. Goddard, M. D. Paul B. Goddard, Lawrence Johnson, George M’Henry, James Devereux, John L. Linton. VICE-PRESIDENT. Ambrose W. Thompson. ACTUARY. Puny Fisk. William Pepper, M. D. MEDICAL EXAMINERS. LIFE INSUKANCE THE PENNSYLTANIA COMPANY, FOR INSURANCES ON LIVES AND GRANTING ANNUITIES OFFICE, NO, 66 WALNUT STREET. This Company insure Lives at the rate adopted by the most respectable offices, and having a capital of 500,000 DOIiL.ARl$, and a large surplus, affords the most undoubted security for the payment of losses, and all their engagements. The insured participate every five years in half the profits of the assurance business, and incur no liabilities of losses. This Company also grant annuities, immediate, deferred, or contingent, on single or joint lives ; they sell Endowments, payable at any specified times ; they purchase Life Interests, Reversionary Interests, and make contracts that depend on the contingencies of life. This Company act as Trustees for Minors, Heirs, &c. ; they also receive Money on deposit, and allow interest, the whole or part payable on demand, after ten days’ notice, or, if agreed upon, on demand, without notice. Office open daily, from 9 o’clock, A. M., to 3 o’clock, P. M. HYMAN GRATZ, President. WILLIAM B. HILL, Actuary. DIRECTORS. William Kirkham, Henry J. Williams, Samuel F. Smith, Charles Dutilh, Robt. M. Patterson, M. D. Edwin M. Lewis, S. A. Mercer, F. Hopkinson, Isaac R. Davis, John K. Mitchell, M. D. J. Pemberton Hutchinson, J. J. Vanderkemp. THE GIRARD LIFE INSURANCE, ANNUITY AND TRUST COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA, OEFIGE NO. 132 CHESNUT STBEET, CAPITAL $300,000^ PAID IN. CHARTER PERPETUAL. CONTINUE TO MAKE INSURANCES on lives on the most favourable terms, receive and execute Trusts, and act as Executors, Guardians, and Trustees — and receive Deposits on Interest. The Capital being paid up and invested, together with a large and con- stantly increasing reserved fund, offers a perfect security to the insured. The premium may be paid yearly, half-yearly, or quarterly. The Company add a BONUS periodically to the Insurances for Life. The first Bonus was appropriated in December, 1844, and the second Bonus in December, 1849, amounting to an average of more than sixty per cent, on the premiums paid. The following are a few examples : — Policy. Sum originally insured. Bonuses or additions. Amount of policy and bonuses payable at the decease of the party — to be increased by future additions. No. 58. $1000 $262 50 $1,262 50 No. 89. 2500 656 25 3,156 25 No. 276. 2000 475 00 2,475 00 No. 833. 5000 1,187 50 6,187 50 &c. &c. &c. &c. Pamphlets containing table of rates and explanations, forms of application, and further information, can be had at the Office. THOMAS RIDGWAY, President. JNO. F. JAMES, Actuary. PHILADELPHIA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. NORTH-WEST CORNER OF THIRD AND M’^ALNUT STS. INCORPORATED WITH A CAPITAL OF $100,000, AND HAVING A LARGE AND CONSTANTLY INCREASING CONTINGENT FUND. This Company is in successful operation, and by the adoption of the Cash System they are enabled to put their premiums at a much lower rate than most of their competitors, as will be seen by reference to the annexed table. The profits of the business are divided every year (after setting aside a due portion towards the Contingent Fund to pay losses), in cash and not IN SCRIP, between the insured and the stockholders. Table of Rates of the dijfferent Life Insurance Companies compared with the Philadelphia, for a person of 30 years of age, insuring ^100. Girard, $2 36 New England, - *2 36 Pennsylvania, - 2 36 New York Life, 2 36 Penn Mutual, - 2 36 National Loan Fund, - 2 47 American Life and Health, 2 36 Albion, 2 48 Philadelphia Life Insurance Co., - 2 06 ROBERT P. KING, President M. W. BALDWIN, Vice President Francis Blackburne, Secretary. MEDICAL EXAMINERS. J. F. CUNNINGHAM, M. D., corner Sch. Eighth and Race. RICHARD CLEMENTS, M. D., No. 139 Walnut Street. [One of whom wiU attend at the Office daily from 1 till 2, P. M.] Blank Forms, Pamphlets, &c., and every information connected with Life Insurance, will be cheerfully and promptly furnished on appli- cation at the Office. PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, NORTH-EAST CORNER OF THIRD AND DOCK STS., THE ONLY PURELY MUTUAL COMPANY IN THE CITY OR STATE. GUARANTEE AND ACCUMULATED CAPITAL OVER AND CONSTANTLY INCREASING! Reserved fund to pay losses arising from premiums received to January 1st, 1851, $142,682 19, and constantly increasing from new policies and renewals. In this Company every dollar received is appropriated, after paying losses and expenses, to a reserved fund or capital to pay future losses, and cannot be used for any other purpose (except the interest on the dividends declared), until the accumulated capital of the Company amounts to $400,000 ; when, if the assets of the Company exceed the value of all the policies in force, the first dividend declared may be paid off, and so on, year by year, as the situation of the Company may warrant ; but no dividend can be paid off until the assets of the Company exceed the value of all the policies in force an amount equal to the dividend to be paid off. DANIEL L. MILLER, President, SAMUEL E. STOKES, Vice President. John W. Hornor, Secretary. MEDICAL EXAMINERS. EDWARD HARTSHORNE, M. D., No. 453 Walnut Street. FRANCIS GURNEY SMITH, Jr., M. D., 291 Spruce Street. [In attendance at the Office of the Company from 1 till 2 P. M. daily.] Blank Forms, Tables of Rates, Descriptive Pamphlets, and every information connected with Life Insurance, furnished with pleasure and promptness. LIFE INSURANCE LECTURES. 1 Copy of first liccture is $0 12 Copies “ . 1 ©O lOO “ “ 7 OO 100© “ “ (at cost) 6© ©© To be had of Life Insurance Companies and their agents. Subscription Price of the full work, which will contain six lectures, and be sent by mail if desired, as the numbers appear : — For one set, $© 5© | For two sets, $1 ©© For Five sets, $3 ©© Payable on delivery of the first number. Benevolent minded and considerate persons will confer a benefit on society by aiding in the spread of this work. M. L. Knapp. PALMER’S PATENT LEG HAS RECEIVED THE AWARD OF THE GREAT PRIZE MEDAL OF THE WORLD’S EXHIBITION, 1851. A grand triumph over some thirty different kinds of artificial limbs, among which were the best London and Paris manufacture. MEDALS AWARDED IN THE UNITED STATES. American Institute^ New York, — Silver Medal, 1846. — Gold Medal, 1847. — Gold Medal, 1850. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia , — Scott’s Legacy Medal and Premium,” ($20), and Silver Medal, (First Premium), 1849. — “Recall First Pre- mium,” 1850. Massachusetts M. C. M. Association, Boston . — First Premiums (Silver Medals) in 1847 and 1850. Maryland Institute, Baltimore . — “ First Premium” 1848. — Gold Medal, 1850. MANUFACTORIES, 376 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA. BURT’S BLOCK, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. 29 LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON, ENGLAND.