the loss of all their worldly possessions, were
it not that those who entered seemed to be
quite as alarmed and hurried.  At the top of
this splendid stone staircase is a lofty room,
somewhat circular in shape, and containing
numerous doors, which were guarded by two
formidable-looking men in red cloaks: of one
of these I inquired for the proprietor, and
was thereupon referred to the Secretary's
office, a suite of quiet elegant rooms.

The information I gathered in these offices
may be classed under three heads: the objects
and history of Lloyd's; the external agencies
by which it is brought into action; the internal
arrangements, by means of which its varied
intelligence is received, digested, arranged,
and, finally, disseminated.

The Society of Underwriters or Marine
Insurers, now known by the designation of
Lloyd's, appears to be one of the oldest associations
extant.  The system of insuring shippers
of goods as well as owners of ships against
losses at sea, may be traced as long back
as the reign of Edward the Sixth—probably
still farther; although that is the date of the
oldest record of such a practice to be found
amongst the State Papers.  In the preamble
to statute 43rd of Elizabeth, marine
insurance is mentioned as "an usage time out
of mind."  At these periods, the merchants
and others who insured or underwrote
policies, assembled at the "exchange-house" in
Lombard Street long before the old Royal
Exchange was built.  After the Great Fire of
London, the Society of Underwriters assembled
for the purpose of business at a coffee-house
in Lombard Street, and afterwards in Pope's
Head Alley, kept by a person named Lloyd—
hence the present designation of the body;
and they appear to have remained guests of
Mr. Lloyd until the year 1774, when they once
more took up their quarters in the Royal
Exchange, to be again burnt out in 1838.

At present the institution numbers two
hundred and seventeen underwriters, one
thousand three hundred and sixty-eight
members and substitutes, and five hundred and
three subscribers to the merchants' room,
who pay yearly subscriptions varying from
ten guineas to two guineas; these, with
entrance fees, make up about nine thousand
six hundred pounds yearly.  Besides this source
of income, Lloyd's receives two hundred
pounds a year from each of the five principal
Assurance Companies, besides various yearly
sums from Dock Companies and sale-rooms,
as well as from the editors of such daily
papers as have the privilege of early copies of
shipping intelligence, making up a total annual
income of about twelve thousand pounds.
The wealth and liberality of this body may
be estimated by the fact, that at the period
when this country was threatened with an
invasion from Napoleon, a sum amounting to
twenty thousand pounds, and afterwards
made thirty-five thousand pounds, was
devoted by Lloyd's towards the formation of
what has since been termed the Patriotic
Fund, for the relief of sufferers in the war
and their families.  Besides this noble gift,
the committee has at various times presented
nineteen thousand pounds to charitable and
patriotic funds.

Let us now see by what machinery this
institution is enabled at nearly all times to
command the very earliest and best information
relative to shipping and cargoes at every
part of the civilised world.  This is effected
by agents, who are located at each port of
note in the four quarters of the globe: no
maritime town of any consequence is without
a Lloyd's agent; and, although no salary attaches
to these offices—certain casual fees alone
forming their remuneration—so anxiously
are they coveted as bestowing a certain degree
of respectability, that it is a frequent occurrence
for as many as fifty applications to be
made on the occasion of a vacancy.  It is the
duty of these agents to report by every mail
or post the arrivals and departures of ships;
all accidents or disasters relative to shipping
or cargoes; the appearance of enemies'
cruisers in time of war; to render assistance
to masters of vessels in any cases of difficulty
or danger; to furnish certificates of damage
to goods or vessels, and generally to furnish
every kind of information likely to prove of
service to the underwriters of Lloyd's.

The number of Lloyd's agents in foreign
and colonial ports is two hundred and ninety-
six: these are chiefly mercantile men; and,
not unfrequently, the British Consul at a
foreign port is selected to perform the duty
of agent.

In the United Kingdom—from the fact of
the very dangerous character of most of the
sea-coast, and the multitudinous arrivals and
departures—the agents amount to not less
than one hundred and forty-seven, or one
half as many as throughout the rest of the
world.  To facilitate and simplify the duties
of these home agents, the entire coasts of
Great Britain and Ireland have been divided
into certain portions, from point to point,
within which each agent has his functions as
accurately denned as have our county
magistrates in matters of police.  It must be at
once apparent that in such serious matters as
shipwrecks or other accidents of the sea, it
could not be permitted for the least shadow
of doubt to exist in the mind of an agent as
to any such disaster happening in his or his
neighbour's district.

In this way England, Wales, and Scotland
are divided into one hundred and twenty-
three agencies. No. 1 of this list extends
from the eastern limits of the parish of
Gravesend to the west entrance of Faversham
Creek: No. 2 extends from the east entrance
of Faversham Creek to Reculver Church.
The districts are carried thus quite round
the kingdom, taking in the Channel Islands
and those to the north of Scotland, and
returning back to the other bank of the Thames