The history of assurance is not a sprightly theme. It is so hedged about with details of old ordinances, tables of mortality and specimens of fire marks, as are enough to drive the general reader into the next parish. The historians begin as a rule with the Phœnicians. And they are wise. Everybody has heard of the Phœnicians and that they were the first known traders to visit Britain from overseas. You can safely assert that the Phœnicians practised marine insurance; and on the other hand, you can equally safely deny that they knew anything about assurance at all for there is no one to contradict you. There is no evidence of any kind. This, however, is certain. Marine assurance was the first form of assurance practised amongst men; and, inevitably, the first form. For the risk was evident and above all could be estimated with accuracy. The value of the ship and the worth of its cargo were known, and a fair reckoning could be made of the perils which were likely to be encountered on the voyage. Probably the very first edict concerning this practice was issued when Justinian was Emperor, in the year 533. He limited the legal rate of interest to six per cent. in all cases except that of “Fœnus Nauticum”; and “Fœnus Nauticum” was that early form of marine assurance which we know by the name of Bottomry. In this one case, interest was allowed to be exacted at the rate of twelve per cent. Upon the heels of Justinian, however, followed the Middle Ages, and they wiped out Justinian’s edict and any arrangement of a similar nature, which was to be found in any parts over which the Church ruled. Interest upon the investment of capital was accounted as usury and an offence against God, to be corrected by burnings and floggings, and the other delicate persuasions of those days. We have no sure knowledge when marine insurance was revived, but we may be fairly certain that its revival was due to the far-sighted policy of the Hanseatic League, which had made its merchants the great sea-carriers of the Northern nations. The League published various sea codes during the 13th century and consolidated them at the beginning of the 14th in an authoritative pronouncement known as “The Laws of Wisby.” Wisby was a town on the western side of the Isle of Gothland in the Baltic, and at that time one of the most flourishing staple towns of the North. These Laws of Wisby do actually for the first time mention the word Bottomry, but in such a way as to make it clear that Bottomry had long been practised. Bottomry was a wager. The Underwriter bet the Shipowner that his ship with its cargo would arrive safely at its port of destination. The great difference between Bottomry and an ordinary wager, and between Bottomry and a modern form of assurance, was this: the Underwriter paid the money over at once, and, if he won--that is, if a ship arrived in safety--received his money back with the addition of the premium agreed upon. The Shipowner, in a word, held the stakes.