In 1779 a proposal was made for an universal assurance of lives, by means of a tax to be levied by Government. By this all want was to be abolished, and various Utopian benefits to be received. As, however, the scheme was never carried out, it is only worthy of notice as indicative of a growing spirit of inquiry. In 1783 Mr. Baron Maseres endeavoured to familiarise the mind with the doctrines of life annuities. It is to his discernment that we owe the confirmation of Mr. de Moivre having recourse to an hypothesis concerning the probabilities of the duration of human life, which he yet knew to be untrue, in order to facilitate the computation. This work of Francis Maseres is less referred to than it deserves; but there is reason to believe that the value of his tables for all ages under 75 or 80 were nearer the truth for the average of this country, than any other then extant. During the mania for insuring anything and everything, there was a man named John Perrott of considerable repute in the coffee-houses and on the Exchange. He resided in a large mansion many miles out of town, and rode to Lloyd’s in his coach and four, after the fashion of the magnates of the day. He had come from the country a poor but clever boy, and had worked his way until he could boast that he was worth a plum. His avocations were various. He was a member of Lloyd’s; he was a speculator on the money market; he was an insurer of lives, of merchandise, and of anything that was offered, and so daring was his character that he would take any risk however desperate, his motto being, “Everything is insurable--at a premium.” He was liberal in his dealings in business, and in his annuity transactions would often grant more than he was asked if the applicant seemed to require and deserve it. He affected an expensive style of living; his agents bought rare pictures; but his chief delight was to collect fine china, a taste in which he indulged to an extravagant extent. The uglier the monster the dearer it was to John Perrott, and the more he was willing to pay for it. His clerks were employed to board the vessels from the East directly they reached the Thames, and he would at any time leave off business to listen to information about pottery and porcelain. When a man came to insure his life or his ship, to buy an annuity or to sell one, he was sure of a favourable bargain if he could but produce some vase or jar which had been seen by no one else. He had one fine specimen in his collection, which however required a second and similar one to complete its value in his eyes. This he once possessed, but being lost or broken, it afforded him a constant topic of complaint, and out of it arose a characteristic story of the man.