In the first portion of the President's address this Session, we were favoured with a short account of the origin of life assurance, which showed that, in the earliest days of insurance, a policy was a contract of indemnity to secure a certain sum. in the event of the life assured dying within a specified time (usually a year) of the date of the assurance; that there was no right of renewal on the part of the assured; and that the object of the contract was originally to secure creditors against loss, the earliest life policies being effected in connection with marine insurance. The safety of a ship and its cargo depends largely on the skill of the captain, and would probably be endangered to a certain extent by his death, and it was therefore natural to provide against the risk of this by a contract to pay a certain sum in the event of his dying during the voyage in question, or within a specified time, say a year. In later times, when the right of renewal was granted to the assured, the contract appears to have radically altered in its object, and to have been entered into chiefly for the purpose of providing a fund for the maintenance, after the death of the life assured, of those who were dependent on him, and particularly to guard against their being left destitute by his premature death. In fact, at that time an assurance company was somewhat of the same nature as the “Friendly” or “Benefit” Societies of the present day.