The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-03 00:00:00

Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Yesterday, a meeting of this institution was held
at its house, John-street, Adelphi ; Mr. Thomas
Chapman, F.R.S., V.P., in the chair. The minutes
of the previous meeting having been read, the silver
medal of the institution and £2 were voted to Mr.
N. Levett, chief boatman of the coastguard and
and coxswain of the St. lye's lifeboat ; and £l6 to
the crew of the lifeboat, accompanied by a vote of
thanks, inscribed on vellum to each man, in acknow-
ledgment of their daring and persevering efforts in
rescuing four out of five of the crew of the French
brig Providence, of Granville, which had gone
ashore on Hayle Bar, in a strong wind and heavy
ground sea, on the 28th ult. A reward of £ll was
granted to the crew of the Newbiggin lifeboat, for
putting off and saving the crew of the two men of
the sloop Robin Hood, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, which
had foundered off Newbiggin in a gale from the east
and high surf on the 17th ult. Rewards amount-
ing to £l4O were ordered to be made for different
services by the following lifeboats of the institution
during the late gales :—The Caistor lifeboat saved
the brig Kathleen, of Hartlepool, and her crew of six
men, and the brig Harlington, of Sunderland, and her
crew of nine men. The Dunbar lifeboat rescued the
crew of five men of the Prussian schooner Patfios, of
Barth. Margate lifeboat saved the crew of nine
men from the brig Reaper, of Scarborough. Brighton
lifeboat rendered important services to the brig
Ringdove, of Poole. Sennen Cove lifeboat brought
ashore during a gale of wind one of the lightkeepers
from the Longships Lighthouse, who had been taken
seriously ill. Arklow lifeboat rendered important
service to the s.s. Preston Belle, of Dublin. Whit-
burn lifeboat rescued the crew of the brig Anne and
Mary, of North Shields. Hayling Island lifeboat
saved the crew of 13 men of the barque Atlas, of
Shields, and took an abandoned Norwegian barque
into Portsmouth harbour. Kirkcudbright lifeboat
rescued the crew of 4 men Of the schooner Franklin,
of Belfast. Poolbeg lifeboat saved the crew of six
men of the schooner Emma, oft Barrow. And the
New Brighton lifeboat saved the crew of five men
of the schooner Earl of Zetland, of Amlwch. Re-
wards amounting to £l4l were also voted to pay
the expenses of the lifeboats of the institution at
Ballycotton, Scarborough, Tynemouth, Whitby, St.
Andrew's, Rosslare, Holy Island, Barmouth, North
Berwick, Winterton, North Sunderland, Lyme Regis,
Kingsgate, Banff, Worthing, Brooke, and Bridling*
ton, for going out in reply to signals of distress to
render services to different vessels, which, however,
had afterwards got out of danger. A report was
read from Capt. Shaw, harbour master at Ramsgate,
stating that the lifeboat on that station, which was
about to be replaced by a lifeboat of the National
Lifeboat Institution, had during the past 11 years
saved about 400 lives from a watery grave, in addi-
tion to bringing 18 vessels safely to port. The
silver medal of the institution and £2 were granted
to a young man named Thomas H. Frankish, in
acknowledgment of his gallant services, in rescuing
a man who had been capsized from a coble in a
heavy sea, at the mouth of Bridlington Harbour,
on the 10th ult. The poor fellow had been
washed against the pier, and Frankish, with a
lifebuoy and the line fastened to him, was lowered
over the pier into the boiling surf, which threatened
every moment to dash him to pieces against the
wall of the pier, and was thus enabled to save the
man's life. Various other rewards were granted for
saving life from different wrecks on our coasts.
Payments amounting to £1,670 were ordered to be
made on various lifeboat establishments. The cost
of new lifeboats had recently been presented to the
institution by Mrs. Col. Vernon, in memory of her
son ; by Miss Hopkinson, in memory of her brother,
the late Mr. William Hopkinson, of Brighouse ; and

were made that the military force of the garrison of
London should be strengthened, and that the police
force should be doubled. It is true that at that
time there were many disorderly Frenchmen in
England—certain it is that at that time there was a
spirit of discontent existing. Well, the Exhibition
came, and as for doubling the police force it was of no
service, because the people composing the industrial
classes of Great Britain and Ireland were their own
peace officers. (Hear, hear.) These were the men
with whom the peace was safe—these were the men
to be relied on ; and well did they turn into ridicule
all the fears which had before been entertained. As
for the police, they gained great fame among
foreigners by their care and attention to those
foreigners, in preventing them from being robbed,
plundered, and ill-treated, and established a charac-
ter for themselves all over Europe. Well, I recollect
that I took great interest in that Exhibition. I
had the honour of representing this ancient city,
and I was very much concerned in the interest
of the industrial classes. It was my duty, and it
became my busiliess, to look into their wants and
necessities and to see how their interests could be
best forwarded. (Hear, hear.) No man in the
same situation as myself could have done otherwise,
but it became a matter of interest to me to see what
the conduct and deportment of the working classes
would be at that Great Exhibition. Well, I must
say, whatever opinion I had before formed of the
working classes was enhanced when I observed the
deep and close attention they paid to works, not of
frippery, but of science and art—(hear, hear, and
applause)—how they were riveted in attention to
all that appertained to our great invention, the
steam engine—how, in all its bearings upon every
kind of manufacture, they watched its effects.
(Hear.) The order, decorum, and sense they dis-
played were to me extremely agreeable, pleasant,
and delightful. (Hear, hear.) I am not one of
those who wish to set class against class—l am not
one of those who tell people they are ill-used when
they are not ill-used—l am not oneto set the upper
class against the industrial class, and therefore the
observation I am about to make must not be consi-
dered invidious. Well, then, Industrial Exhibitions
took root, and were spread over Great Britain and
Ireland. The second Exhibition that took place was
the strongest proof possible of the utility of the first
—for in the second Exhibition might be seen an im-
provement in all those works of science which had
been shown in the first exhibition. This I had from
the first judges, who stated that the opportunity
which the working classes had of viewing the works
of art in the first Exhibition had had the best effect,
and a visible improvement was to be seen. (Hear,
hear.) Well, then, don't be astonished that I
hold these exhibitions to be useful, for
there can be no doubt that where the working
man and the inventor have au opportunity
of seeing inventions from all parts of England—not
only from his own city or place of residence, but
from all parts of Europe—the march of improve-
ment must take place with the means of observa-
tion. (Hear, hear, and applause.) I have now to
do that which is to me a matter of great satisfaction
—namely, to sincerely congratulate you upon
the success of your exhibition. (Applause.) John
Bull looks at a thing with a hard head, and he will I
tell you that a thing is worth what it pays. (Hear,
hear, and a laugh.) Looking at it from that point
of view, your exhibition has succeeded beyond
almost every other. (Applause.) I congratulate you
upon the receipts, I congratulate you upon the close
attention which has been given to this exhibition by
the working classes. I congratulate the founders of
the exhibition, the admirable committee, and the
working men who have ranged these beautiful
things before us ; and I look upon the whole as
highly honourable and creditable to this our ancient
city and capital of the west. (Loud applause.) Now,
with your permission, I will say but one word on a
subject which I approach with some delicacy. This
exhibition was intended to have been opened by
Lord Palmerston. I may venture to say that I took
upon myself to ask Lord Palmerston to attend ; I
may at this present moment go further and say that
I put it to his lordship as a personal favour to my-
self that he should do honour to the industrial
classes of this city. (Hear.) And I will go still
further and say that the lamented Premier's answer
to me was such as I must confess to be proud of. I
am proud of it, because be stated in as many words
that there was no favour which I could ask of him
that he should not deem it his duty to bestow. (Ap-
plause.) There were some further remarks he made
which it would not be proper for me to lay before
this meeting, because they would trench on political
subjects ; but he was sincere, he was warm in his
desire to attend here. (Hear.) He would have at-
tended the opening of this exhibition had God
granted him power to sustain his frame. He had
not that power, and as you are aware he died just
-one month after this exhibition was opened. I trust
that will be an answer to all those persons who,
moved by an evil spirit, have cavilled at the noble
lord—(hear)—and even dared to state that he was
not in earnest. (Hear, hear.) In Lord Palmerston
I have lost a sincere private friend, and the city of
Bristol has lost a public friend. (Hear.) Of him I
shall say no mere. He lies now in Westminster
Abbey in " cold obstruction ;" and I will quote
from that beautiful anthem sung over him, and
say, " His body is buried in peace, but his name
shall live for evermore." (Applause.)
The SECRETARY then read the report, the conclud-
ing paragraph of which was as follows The
committee gratefully thank all the ladies and gentle-
men who have in any way supported or rendered
assistance to the undertaking ; and they regret that
they cannot brink their otherwise gratifying report
to a close without referring for a moment to au
event which has filled the land with sorrow. At
the opening of this exhibition the committee, in
common with their fellow-citizens, were grieved and
disappointed that illness prevented the then Prime
Minister from presiding at the ceremony. Now, the
committee have, in common with the whole of their
fellow-countrymen, to deplore the fatal termination
of that illness, whereby the nation has lost one of
the ablest, wisest, and most popular of statesmen
who had ever been entrusted with the guidance of
her affairs. The committee deeply and respectfully
sympathise with Lady Palmerston, and humbly
trust that she may be comforted and supported in
her affliction."

The Bishop of GLOUCESTER and BRISTOL said he

The Hon. W. L. BATHURST, responding to the
toast on behalf of his brother, said he believed Lord
Palmerston possessed the confidence of the English
people—confidence which, as Chatham had observed,
was a plant of slow growth. He did not think there
was any immediate prospect of the Conservatives
taking office, for he believed the present Govern-
ment would go on as before, leaning for supportnow
on the Radicals, now on the Conservatives.
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the health of the
the members of the borough, Mr. Bathurst and the
• Hon. Ralph Dutton, said he should be wanting in
his duty if on such an occasion as this he passed
over in silence the calamity which had befallen this
country in the death of Lord Palmerston. He was
sure that there was not an individual in the coun-
try, let his political opinions be what they might,
but considered the loss of that nobleman as a
national one. (Hear hear.) To his (Lord
Palmerston's) own party the loss was irreparable; and
the loss was great to the Conservative party also, for
by his statesmanlike views, by those good old
English feelings and other qualities which he pos-
sessed, the late head of the Government used to
check and suppress the wild schemes of his more
Radical and violent supporters. (Hear, hear.) For
these reasons all true Conservatives would deplore
the loss of him. (Cheers.)
Mr. BATHURST, in replying to the toast, said he
trusted he was not insensible of the great responsi-
bility of his position as one of their representatives ;
but if he felt that responsibility before he expe-
rienced it doubly now, by, the death of that great
statesman whose remains were carried a few days
ago to that honourable place where England laid at
rest her best and noblest sons. (Hear, hear.) As
a Conservative, not in a party spirit, he deeply de-
plored the loss of that illustrious statesman, and he
said this certainly not in a party point of view, for
he looked upon him as the mainstay of the Liberal
party ; but he always felt that however galling it
might be to the Conservative party to feel them-
selves excluded from office, they had some satisfac-
tion for it in the fact that, practically, they did
govern the country—that whenever the Govern-
ment required assistance in resisting their too
Radical partisans they gave it to them and thus
strengthened the Conservative Government of the
country. He thought it would be imprudent for
the Conservative party to make a rush for office,
and that they had better remain as they were, as a
party, and aid the more moderate to resist the more
violent part of the supporters of the Government.

Mr. DurroN, in responding to the toast, also re-
f erred to the death of the late Premier. He said
he had for many years enjoyed the honour of Lord
Palmerston's personal friendship, and he could tes-
tify to the great kindness with which he had always
been received by that eminent statesman. Lord
Palmerston justly enjoyed the highest degree of
popularity in this country—a popularity which was
twofold—viz., personal and political. Those who
knew him personally, and his genial and kind
disposition, could understand his private popularity.
He never made an enemy ; and during the 60 years
of his public life no angry word ever escaped him in
the heat of debate. (Hear, hear.) He enjoyed
nblua tnheev
ealsor
achieved.enjoyed
Itglhreeeawgtraes: nott popularitypopularityidol
the privatetthat
p lifeany
people e at one moment to
become their byword in the next. He never laid
himself out for popular applause. He appealed to
the intelligence and common sense, and not to the
passions of the people, and it was the moderation
which influenced everything that he did in public
that led all men to feel that the government of the
country was safe in his hands; and more, they all
acknowledged him to be a true Englishman. As he
(Mr. Dutton) stood by the grave of that eminent
man last Friday he thought to himself that hewould
be a clever man who should foreshadow the policy
of his successor. The choice of her Majesty had
very properly fallen on Earl Russell. He was the
acknowledged head of the great Liberal party, and
he (Mr. Dutton) thought it was very fair and just
on the part of the Opposition that he should have a
fair trial for his policy. No doubt the great diffi-,
culty of Lord Russell's Government would be the
Reform Bill. If they did not introduce a Reform
Bill that went to extreme lengths, and satisfied the
ultra-Radical party, they would no doubt alienate
themselves from that party ; and if they did, then
they would no doubt alienate themselves from the
whigs. The only plan left open to them was to
follow in the course of Lord Derby's Reform Bill,
and follow up the idea of lateral reform, which
would admit within the pale of the Constitution the
most intelligent and intellectual of the population.
(Cheers.) In that direction there was no doubt a
large opportunity for the present Government; but
then it was on that very point that Lord Russell
overthrew the Government of Lord Derby. He
(Mr. Dutton) thought it very desirable that a re-
form bill should now be passed. Ho would say,
let bygones be bygones, and let such a measure of
representative reform be passed as would add
strength and not weakness to the Constitution. In
conclusion, the speaker expressed a hope that the
time was not far distant when politicians would be
more distinctly ranged under their separate leaders.
The country could only be well governed by a strong
Government tempered by a powerful Opposition.
Other toasts followed, and the meeting did not
break up until 11 o'clock.

The Japanese Ambassadors have returned to
Brussels after visiting the principal towns of Bel-
gium, and intend to again come to Paris to solicit
an audience of the Emperor, who was not in the
capital when they first arrived.

41/44N C..
'4.141t.' 11141,-*$