Transcriber’s Notes: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. * * * * * ANNALS, ANECDOTES, AND LEGENDS OF LIFE ASSURANCE. * * * * * LONDON: SPOTTISWOODES AND SHAW, New-street-Square. ANNALS, ANECDOTES AND LEGENDS: A Chronicle OF LIFE ASSURANCE. BY JOHN FRANCIS, AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND,” ETC. “Tragedy never quits the world--it surrounds us everywhere. We have but to look, wakeful and vigilant, abroad; and, from the age of Pelops to that of Borgia, the same crimes, though under different garbs, will stalk in our paths.”--SIR E. BULWER LYTTON. “Murder?” “Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.”--SHAKSPEARE. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 1853. * * * * * Dedicated, by Permission, TO THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. THIS NARRATIVE, RECORDING THE PROGRESS OF LIFE ASSURANCE, AND RELATING THE SERVICES OF SIR WILLIAM PETTY, THE FATHER OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, IN THE CAUSE OF VITAL STATISTICS, IS, BY PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO HIS DESCENDANT, THE MOST NOBLE HENRY PETTY, THIRD MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE, BY HIS LORDSHIP’S MOST OBEDIENT AND VERY DEVOTED SERVANT, JOHN FRANCIS. _Shooter’s Hill, May 23. 1853._ PREFACE The subject of Life Assurance is so important, that any endeavour to trace its history, however imperfect, may not be unacceptable. Men toil, work, slave, nay, almost sin for their families; they do everything but insure: and should this volume induce any one to avail himself of the benefits of Life Assurance who has not hitherto done so, or should it attract the attention of others who are ignorant of the system, the writer will not deem his labour entirely in vain. The many legends and traditions of the subject, form a page from the romance of Mammon, which, remarkable as some of the stories may appear, and fearful as many of them are, form but a small portion of the sad and stern realities attached to the annals of Life Assurance. The simple fact, that the payment of a small yearly sum will at once secure the family of the insured from want, even should he die the day after the first premium is paid, is sufficiently singular to the uninitiated; but it is more so, that very few avail themselves of an opportunity within the reach of all. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Origin of the Doctrine of Probabilities. Essay of John de Witt. The Plague. First Bills of Mortality. Captain John Graunt--his Opinions, Life, and Estimates. Curious Terms in the old Registers--their Explanation. Life of Sir William Petty. His Career and Character Page 1 CHAP. II.