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with tile Equitably Soeieiy have been of great public importance and utility , uor can this notice of him be consi ^ tiered-complete without a brief account of that institution . The Equitable Society was founded in 1762 ; and , although in some respects it proceeded on more
scientific"prineiples-than ^ Tiy-Sod ^ ty '' tfhlc"h : had been previously established , possessed but little claim to its title . ; nor did its founders display a much greater degree of knowledge of the principles of Life Assurance than those of many similar Societies which were formed about the middle of the
last century , and which have long since terminated in disappointment and ruin ; a fate to which institutions of this kind are particularly exposed from , the circumstance of their income necessarily exceeding their expenditure for a long series of years ; hence their members , misled by the
fallacious prospect of perpetual accumulations , haye been but too often ready to adopt measures of the most ruinous and fatal tendency . The effect of such measures can only be ascertained by means of a thorough knowledge of a particular branch
of mathematics and it is no easy task to place a subject of this kind in such a clear and familiar point of view as to convince the unwilling , and induce them to abandon the hope of immediate gain for the sake of security , and future advantages ,.
* It is not without effort * ' observes one of the most eminent mathematicians of the present day , " * ' that those who possess mathematical knowledge can communicate with those who do not , and adapt their language to the necessities of such an intercourse . '
Of this style of composition the Addresses of Mr . Morgan to the General 1 Courts of the Equitable Society afford a most successful instance . He has pointed out with admirable * Sir W . P . Horachjill , Aatronomy . ^ miner ' s Cyclopaedia ,
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clearness the pernicious tendency of measures , such as we have alluded to , and given a concise and perspicuous explanation of the general principles of Life Assurance . Of this , we cannot have a more convincing proof than the happy effects which they have produced .
"No one can read them in connexion with the History of the Equitable Society , without admiring at the same time the prudence and modera * tion which they have so successfully enforced upon those to whom they were addressed , and the ability , integrity , and wisdom , which have guided this institution from one step
of prosperity to another , and raised it from comparative insignificance to its present magnitude and importajice At the time of Mr . Morgan's appointment , in 1774 , it consisted of about 700 members , with a capital of only 33 , 8007 . Stock in the 3 per cents ! , under regulations which must ever have retained it in a state of infancy and weakness .
It now consists of many thousand members , and possessed , at the last investigation of its affairs , in 1829 , a capital exceeding nine millions , and an income of nearly 800 , 0 OO £ . per annum . It is engaged in assurances , for the most part intended as a provision for the surviving families of its members , to the amount of upwards Of NINETEEN MILLIONS .
In closmg this sumitiary . it may be added , that as Mr . Morgan ' s financial abilities brought him into a familiar intercourse with some of the ablest statesmen of his time , so did his literary attainments with many of the most learned men .
Such he was as a public man , nor was he lessdislmguished ' , in all the relations of life , private and domestic . May 28 , 1833 , At Ryde , a ^ ed 76 , after a lingering' illness , which she bore with much fortitude , Sarah Ruffhead , relict of the Rev . J . T . Ruffhead , curate of PrittlewelJ , Essex , and sister of the Ilev , Lawrence
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tORRESpONDENCM . 255
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 1, 1833, page 255, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2619/page/31/
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