The effect of increasing numbers, in raising the price, and of a resort to inferior soils in lowering, may be illustrated by the ascent of a body lighter than air, which, as it ascends, takes up a chain that connects it with the earth, and which is prevented by the increasing weight of the chain, from ascending as high as it otherwise would, before it finds its equilibrium. 3. That as population and cultivation extend, the laborer must receive less raw produce, unless the capitalist receive less. But the portion received by the capitalist depends upon the number of his competitors, and the demand for capital. 4. That the laborer, receiving less raw produce for his labor, must consume less either in the quantity or quality of his food, unless he retrenches in other things. He commonly retrenches both in food and other things. 5. That the reduction of wages from the increase of numbers may be counteracted by improvements in husbandry. But while the price of raw produce may thus be rendered stationary, the landlord gains by the increase of quantity. 6. That profits are increased by whatever lessens the supply of capital, as taxation, dearth, or increased demand for it, as new avenues to trade, new modes of abridging labor, and the like. They are diminished by an increased supply of capital, as a long course of prosperity in commerce or manufactures, or by a diminished demand, as where former modes of em. ployment are cut off, land, labor, and capital. 7. That though affected by different circumstances, all obey the great law of supply and demand, in the profits they severally yield. Thus, the profits of land, or rent, rise with the demand for raw produce. The profits of labor, or wages, fall with the increase of numbers. The profits of capi. tal fall with the accumulation of capital. The following table will illustrate the effect of an increase of population on rent, wages, and profits, according to the preceding principles. It supposes all the best lands to be taken into cultivation, improvements in hus. bandry stationary, capital to increase in the same ratio with numbers, and the raw produce to be equally divided into rent, wages, and profits, during the whole six periods of time supposed. The number of agricultural laborers are assumed to be one tenth of the gross population. Proportion of Wages of la. Whole amount bor per day of rents in laborers. rent, wages, els of wheat. in pints of days of las bor. each. Number of duce in bush POPULATION. and profits, wheat. 1,000,000 100,000 10,000,000 3,333,3331 160=2 pecks. 6,666,6661 1,200,000 120,000 11,000,000 3,666,666 146 8,036,000 1,400,000 140,000 12,000,000 4,000,000 137 9,343,000 1,600,000 160,000 13,000,000 4,333,333} 130 10,666,6661 1,800,000 180,000 14,000,000 4,666,6661 124 11,962,000 2,000,000 200,000 15,000,000 5,000,000 120 13,333,333} It thus appears, that while the population had doubled, rents had increased 50 per cent, estimated in raw produce, and 100 per cent, estima. ted in labor, and that wages had fallen from two pecks a day, to one and a half peck. But as improvements in husbandry are rarely stationary in any coun. try where art and civilization have made much progress, let us now suppose that they have been sufficient to make the produce of the soil keep pace with the population. In that case the last line of the table would stand thus : Population........ 2,000,000 Number of laborers.............. 200,000 Annual product.......... .20,000,000 Proportion of produce in rent, &c..... 6,666,6663 Daily wages of labor....... 160 pints. Rents estimated in labor....... ..13,333,333} If, however, capital had not accumulated as fast as population, its proportional part of the raw produce would have an increase correspondent to the deficiency, by which the amount of raw produce received for rent would be less than before ; but as wages would also be farther reduced, the landlords might be able to command as much labor as before. The distribution of the annual produce would then be altered in this way, supposing it to be 15,000,000 bushels, and the profits of capital to be two fifths of the produce. Profits..... 6,000,000 bushels. Rents.... 4,500,000 Wages..... 4,500,000 Daily wages. 108 pints. Rents estimated in labor..... .13,333,3331 On the other hand, if capital should increase faster than population, as it commonly does in intelligent and well-regulated communities, it would proportionally increase both wages and rent. 66 The proximity of death in all the varied and shifting scenes of lifethe sudden and fatal accidents which expose men to be cut down in the prime of their youth, leaving fond and helpless relatives to mourn the loss of those upon whom they were dependent for protection and supportand the uncertainty of a life, whether in youth or age, which the slightest casualty may take away,—are subjects that naturally prompt an individual who is surrounded by a family, and connected with relatives relying upon him for necessaries to preserve them from the freezing charity of the world, to devise some means by which they can be saved from want and suffering, after his physical strength and mental energies shall have been destroyed by some one of the mysterious operations of a Divine Providence. Under these circumstances, he feels it to be indispensably necessary to the creation and continuance of his happiness whilst living, that some sure and unfailing provision should be made for securing to those who are dear to him, a sufficient competency to place them beyond a miserable dependence upon public charity after his death; and most of his aims in the business of life are directed towards this desirable consummation. When we look abroad upon the busy action of the world, and view the varied and exciting scenes of life, and mark the struggling of mankind as they rush to and fro on the great stage of their employmentalmost the sole object which we see them striving to attain is wealth, that they may transmit it with their names to posterity. It is not a miserly selfishness which thus induces men to exert the energies of their minds for the purpose of obtaining a portion of the world's treasures; they are actuated by sentiments of a nobler and more elevated character. The acquirement of sufficient property for the support of their families is generally the main object in view ; and after this is ac ; complished, we often see them withdraw from the bustle of active life to scenes of retirement. The ends for which they have toiled from the dawning of manhood are then satisfied; and those dependent upon them are surrounded by all the comforts necessary to constitute happiness; and they are impressed with the consoling consciousness, that if death over. takes them, the pecuniary interests of their families cannot be prejudiced or injured. The energies of men being directed by these impulses, and their duties pointed out and controlled by the feelings we have mentioned, it is of the deepest importance that the means which are most effectual in securing the desired object, and those attended with the least risk, should be generally known and appreciated, and their peculiar application thoroughly understood. An individual may be engaged in the most prosperous business, from which he anticipates the realization of golden returns; he may be in the possession of every material calculated to create the foundation, and rear the superstructure, of a splendid fortune and death steps in to darken the bright vision which his hopes had painted in perspective, and his wife and family are left almost penniless and destitute. A person may toil during a long life, and owing to the various misfortunes which he encounters, be unable at the time of his death to leave any considerable sum for the support of those dependent upon him for a livelihood, who are thus left unprotected, and exposed to the misery and suffering which poverty seldom fails to carry in its train. Almost every undertaking in life is attended with risk and uncertainty; and in whatever business the feelings of men may lead them to engage, they will find something which, in its direct mote consequences, is calculated to unsettle the conviction their minds had formed, of the certainty of deriving large and profitable gains from the pursuit in which they embark. As the ordinary employments of men so frequently terminate unfavorably to their pecuniary interests, and as the most brilliant auspices and flattering prospects are often annihilated and destroyed by the hand of death, it is a matter of grave importance to those whose situations in life compel them to rely upon the hazardous future for the acquirement of a competency upon which to support their families, to reflect upon the means best calculated to secure this object, and to seize upon that, which, in the event of misfortune in life, and impoverishment at death, will surround their wives and children with pecuniary comforts. For the attain. ment of this very desirable end, nothing is so safe and effectual as the contract of life insurance, by which, for a sum proportioned to the age, health, profession, and other circumstances of the individual whose life is the object of insurance, the insurers engage that he shall not die within the re. time limited in the policy; and that if he does, a specified sum of money shall be paid to his heirs, or to those entitled to claim it by the terms of the instrument. The numerous and obvious advantages resulting from insurance of this nature, led to its early adoption on the continent of Europe ; and although its antiquity cannot be ascertained with much certainty, yet the old French authors mention it as perfectly well known so early as the middle of the seventeenth century. Before proceeding to point out the many benefits which flow from it, the principles upon which it rests, and the leading rules of law which govern its construction and control its effect, we shall briefly notice the objections which were made to it shortly after its introduction into the states of Europe ; and which, in France and many other countries, led to the creation of positive regulations declaring this species of contract illegal and void. The reasons which are given for abolishing insurance of this nature, after it had been introduced and sanctioned as productive of good results, do not seem to be very satisfactory. The main argument used against it in France being, that it fixed and determined the price of a man's life, which ought to be beyond all valuation, particularly that of a free. man. The manner in which it was at that time used, was, without doubt, often repugnant to good morals, and in many instances opened a wide door to a variety of frauds and abuses; for it permitted the most unlicensed gambling, by allowing an individual to insure the life of any person in which he had not the slightest interest ; and in some cases, perhaps, led to the employment of the assassin to take away the life insured. These considerations probably formed the grounds upon which its illegality was declared, and yet they furnish no sufficient cause for its utter annihilation. Every necessary modification and restriction could have been imposed, and all the numerous benefits and advantages resulting from its use retained, and only those persons have been permitted to effect the policy who were interested in preserving the life insured. It is true, that when this prohibition was made in France, and other states of continental Europe, the feelings and passions of mankind, whether influenced by avarice, or any other consideration which prompts human action, were less restrained within the bounds of morality and justice, than they have been at later periods, when a more wholesome and salutary system of laws has existed ; but it is unnatural, and contrary to the feelings and principles of human nature, to suppose that the love of the wife and the affection of the child would, in any age, be so far overcome by the desire of gain, as to induce them to sacrifice the life of the husband and parent, that they might enjoy the sum to which an insurance upon his life would then entitle them. The objections, then, with which this contract was met, upon its early introduction, arose from the immorality which prevailed, on account of the discordant materials of which society was then composed, the insufficiency of laws for the punishment of violence and force, and the unlimited extent to which it was carried ; and did not result from any repugnant features intrinsically existing. This is evident from the fact, that in whatever country insurunce of this nature has been allowed, under proper conditions and restrictions, it has ever been productive of the most inestimable results, and has been widely and extensively encouraged, by the most liberal а and favorable legislation. The important advantages resulting from it were early perceived in England; and in the reign of Queen Anne, the Bishop of Oxford, Sir Thomas Allen, and some other gentlemen, were induced to apply for a charter to incorporate themselves and their successors, for the purpose of enabling them to provide for their families in an easy and beneficial manner. And the queen, in 1706, granted her royal charter, incorporating them by the name of the “ Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office.” This was the first institution of the kind ever established in England; and the benefits which it conferred upon the public were found to be so extensive, and the security it fur. nished for the support of families so great, that other companies for the same object were soon incorporated, and every facility was afforded to persons desirous of effecting insurance of this nature. As these societies were originally established in England, an unqualified permission was held out to all persons, allowing them to insure the life of any indi. vidual they pleased, in the same manner as had been practised in France, although it did not lead to the same results; for instead of abolishing it, a law was created, declaring that no insurance should be made by any person upon the life of another, in which the individual for whose use, benefit, or on whose account it should be made, should have no interest, or by way of gaming or wagering; and if made contrary to this law, it was declared void, to all intents and purposes. This provision effectually annihilated every species of gambling which had been carried on under cover of the policy; and destroyed all foundation upon which objections to the legality and justice of this contract could rest, and placed it upon the broad principles of morality and sound policy. After wise and enlightened legislation had in this manner eradicated the deep seated evils which had existed in the use of this species of insurance, the good results following from it were felt and appreciated, and the beneficial ends which it produced were considered of deep public importance. The prejudices existing against it gradually dimin. ished, and finally almost disappeared; and objections against it were viewed as having little more foundation in justice or good policy, than could be pointed out in the case of an insurance upon a ship, or any other species of property. Having glanced at the early history of this contract, and noticed the leading objections which were met and obviated previous to its being extensively introduced, and the benefits which it confers widely known and acknowledged, our next object will be, to point out some of the many advantages which may be derived from its use, and to consider a few of the instances where it is calculated to invest the person for whose use it is made, with pecuniary rights of a nature highly important. The cases in which beneficial results may arise, are numerous, and cannot fail to impress upon the mind a conviction of its great value in effecting objects for accomplishing which it may be used. If an individual has a wife and family dependent upon him for support, a small portion of the yearly income which he derives from the employment in which he is engaged, will secure to them at his death a sufficient sum to preserve them in the enjoyment of those comforts to which they have always been accustomed. Where married persons have a jointure, annuity, or pension, depending upon either of their lives, by insuring the life of the VOL. II.-NO. III. 30 а |