of the new company were Captain Barlow, a
white-headed, retired naval officer; Colonel
Buncombe, a big, burly, military personage, with
a bullet head, a bull neck, and a voice like
thunder; and Mr. Beasley, a thin, melancholy-looking
man, with spiky hair, who, as I afterwards
learned, was a leather merchant in
Bermondsey.

"Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Harrison, "we
will, if you please, proceed to business. Colonel
Buncombe, will you kindly take the chair?
Have you any objection? None. But still,
perhaps it will be better to proceed in the regular
manner. I beg to move that Colonel Buncombe
do take the chair. Will any one second that?"
Captain Barlow seconded it, and the motion was
carried unanimously. Colonel Buncombe
accordingly took the chair.

"Now, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen," said
Mr. Harrison, "perhaps you will allow me to
introduce my nephew, who will act as secretary
pro tem., and undertake the duties gratuitously
until the formation of the company, when you
may see fit to appoint him permanently to the
office." There was no objection to this, and
Mr. Harrison's nephew was introduced. He was
a very tall young man, with an elaborate head of
hair, and so well dressed and complete in all his
outward appointments as to suggest, either that
he was independent and could afford to give his
services gratuitously, or that he had unlimited
credit and didn't pay his tailor. We now took
our seats, and Mr. Harrison, placing himself at
the right hand of the chairman, produced a fair
sheet of foolscap, and laid it upon the table
before him.

"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen," said Mr.
Harrison, holding up the fair sheet of paper, and
placing his forefinger upon his brow, "this is
our scheme at present."  Mr. Harrison paused,
as if he had made a joke and were waiting for the
applause; but all that came was the dry remark
of Mr. Beasley, that there was nothing on it.

"Mr. Beasley," said Mr. Harrison, "you are
quite right, there is nothing on it at present ;
but there will be, sir, in time in time. You
are doubtless aware, Mr. Chairman, that I have
had great experience in these matters, and that
I have brought out many companies, all of
which have succeeded, and are now in a nourishing
condition—in a flourishing condition." Mr.
Harrison always repeated a triumphant climax.
"But, sir," he continued, "they have all begun
with this—with a fair sheet of paper. I like to
call the attention of my directors to the fact as
an illustration of what great results from little
causes spring. We begin with this blank sheet
of paper; we write upon it the name of the
company, the amount of the capital, the names
of the officers, and the objects. We proceed
from this to issue the prospectus, to draw up
and settle the deed, to obtain signatures for
two-thirds of the capital in accordance with
the Act of Parliament, and finally to obtain a
certificate of incorporation. Then we are a
company, and may proceed to business. This
sheet of paper, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, is
the seed, the incorporated company, the
fullgrown tree, which will in due time strike its
roots deep into the earth and overshadow the
land with its luxuriant branches. Now, sir, it
would have been very easy for me to have placed
before you a scheme already cut and dried, to
have brought you together, so to speak, round a
tree of considerable growth ; but that is not my
system. I do not like to prejudice my directors"
—he always called us his directors—" in any
way. My plan is to let them judge for
themselves, and have the whole conduct of their own
affairs, ab initio—ab initio." He repeated the
Latin, and emphasised it by placing his finger
on his nose.   " I, therefore, only desire to say,
Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, that there is a
want to be supplied, that there is an ample field
for a new life insurance company conducted on
sound principles— on sound principles, you will
understand—and that the present time is highly
favourable for going before the public with a
new scheme. Sir, it is proved by statistics that
only a very small per-centage of the population
is insured, and that there are many quarters of
this favoured land where the blessings of
insurance have never even been heard of; where
the light of the glorious system of providence
against death and fire, founded upon
mathematical principles about which there can be no
dispute, has never penetrated. Therefore, sir,
any one who, at the present time, founds a new
insurance association, and conducts it upon
sound principles, may be regarded as a benefactor
of his species. Let us begin, then, with the
admitted fact that a new company is a great
want. We are met here to take the
preliminary steps towards supplying that want.
That, I believe, is so ?"

Colonel Buncombe nodded assent, and
Captain Barlow said, "Yes, yes," with the air of a
man fully prepared to agree to anything and
everything. "Very well, then," continued Mr.
Harrison; "the first thing is the name. Shakespeare
says, what's in a name ?  Now, I can tell
you, Mr. Chairman, there is a great deal in a
name, especially in the name of an insurance
company. What you want is something that
will sound familiar to the general car, and at the
same time express stability."

Mr. Beasley suggested "The Rock."

" A very good title, my dear sir," said Mr.
Harrison ; " but, unfortunately for us, there is
already a very excellent association of that
name."

Captain Barlow suggested "The
Impregnable."

"Most admirable," said Mr. Harrison, "and
fitly expressing the character of the association
we are about to found; but there, I regret to
say, we are also anticipated."

Various other names were suggested, all
expressing a firm basis and an unassailable
position; but Mr. Harrison's intimate knowledge
of the Insurance world enabled him to inform
us that they were all in use. It is true that the
last result of Mr. Beasley's excogitation, "The
Gibraltar,"  had not been appropriated, but,