The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-15 00:00:00

Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Yesterday the annual general meeting of this in-
stitution was held at the London Tavern ; his
Grace the Duke of Argyll, K.T., in the chair.
The meeting was influentially and numerously
attended. There were present, Admiral Sir George
Rodney Mundy ; John George, Esq., M.P. ;
Thomas Baring, Esq., M.P., F.R.S. ; Sir F. Out-
ram, Bart. ; Colonel Moore ; Admiral Sir. H.
Keppel ; W. 11. Harton, Esq. ; Thomas Chapman,
Esq., F.R.S. ; Captain J. R. Ward, R.N. ; Colonel
the Hon. R. F. Rowley, M.P. ; George Lyall,Esq.,
M.P. ; Admiral Ommanney ; Major-General Nut-
hall ; Captain the Hon. F. Maude, R.N. ; Captain
Sir E. Perrott, Bart. ; Admiral W. H. Hall, C. 8.,

F.R.S. ; Colonel Fitz Roy Clayton ; IV. IV. Car-
gill, Esq., M.P. ; Francis Lean, Esq., R.N. ; Col.
Shakespeare ; and many others.
The Noble DUKE, in commencing the business of

the meeting, referred to the great loss which the in-
stitution had sustained by the death of its late pre-
sident—his Grace the Duke of Northumberland—
who had been one of the most munificent and judi-
cious supporters of the institution. The Lifeboat
Institution was one of the most popular of what
might be termed the charitable institutions of the
country. Its income during the last year had
amounted to not less than £32,000, comprising
in the valuable gifts made to the society
completely equipped lifeboats ; and from one
individual alone the society had received the
munificent donation of £5,000. Almost every day
they saw that new lifeboats were being fitted out and
supplied at different stations on the coast. It was
not surprising that the institution should have grown
so rapidly in public estimation. With the exception,
perhaps, of the hospitals, there was no institution
which represented in a more typical form the great
characteristics of modern and Christian civilisation.

He remembered some years since hearing a discussion,
in which the late Lord Macaulay took part, as to
what was the meaning of civilisation ; and he said
that if there was one feeling which more than another
was the indication of Christian civilisation, it was
that growing tenderness for human suffering, and
greater regard for the safety of human life. This was
not a sentiment connected with anything like weak-
ness or effeminacy of feeling. On the contrary, it was
connected with the most humane feelings, and they
would see that a large number of men who formed
the crews of the lifeboats risked their lives to
save those of one or two individuals from wrecks.
The sentiment, therefore, of saving life was one
which was not only Christian in its character, but
it induced the greatest amount of self-sacrifice and
heroic devotion on the part of those who so gallantly
risked their lives to save those of their fellow-
, creatures. There was another feature connected
with the institution, which seemed to account for
the interest felt towards it by the public, and that
was great RIIO.OPCC in the saving of human EL).
which had attended their exertions. -The amount of
success during the past year had been very large,
and not less than 430 lives had been saved from
shipwreck in a way and manner in which those
lives must have been lost had it not been for the

lifeboats. It was gratifying also to note that 280
other lives had been rescued by other classes of
boats, the services of which had been rewarded by
money, medals, and thanks of the institution.
Looking at the wreck chart—that sadly interesting
record—it would be seen that an immense number
of the wrecks took place on the eastern as compared
with the western coast, and that arose from the
circumstance that the harbours were so very few,
and that they were narrow and bad in their
entrances as compared with those on the other side
of the island. As a consequence of this, almost all
the wrecks took place on the shores, and at the
doors of our harbours. (Hear, hear.) His grace
concluded by congratulating the society on the re-
sult of its operations during the past year, and stated
that among the many instances of heroic devotion
to the good work there was none in which more
heroism had been displayed than in the case of the
Stanley, which struck on entering the Tyne last
winter. (Cheers.) His grace then read the list of
officers for the ensuing year, and proposed their
election, stating at the same time that the post of
president of the institution had been accepted by
Earl Percy, son of the present very aged Duke of
Northumberland.

The list of officers was adopted by the meeting ;
and at the suggestion of Thomas Baring, Esq., the
name of the Duke of Argyll was added to the list
of vice-presidents.

RICHARD LEWIS, Esq., the secretary, then read
the report—lt stated that the committee deeply
felt the greatness of the responsibility which
rested on them from the nature and extent
of the work which they had underken—
a work on which hangs the issue of life and death.
The great success, however, which Divine Pro-
vidence had granted to their exertions, and
the kind and liberal support which had been
accorded by their f ellow- countrymen, had encouraged
the committee to renewed exertion, and had enabled
them during the past year to increase considerably
their life-saving stock, which now numbered 144
life-boats. It was with extreme sorrow that the com-
mittee had to advert to the great loss which the life-
boat cause had sustained by the death of their pre-
sident, Admiral the Duke of Northumberland. K. G.,
who for 14 years had actively co-operated with them
in carrying out the national and philanthropic ob-
jects of the institution. Earl Percy, M.P., the eldest
son of the present aged Duke of Northumberland,
had kindly accepted the office thus rendered vacant
by the death of the late esteemed president of the
institution. The most striking feature in the history
of the institution in the past year, as it was also in
the preceding one, was the large number of splendid
gifts—amounting to £8,077 11s. 10d.—of twenty-
five new lifeboats, which had been presented to the
institution by philanthropic persons and collective
ladies, headed by an anonymous donation from " A
Friend" of no less a sum than £5,090. During the
past year the institution had sent no less than 34
new lifeboats to the coast, and others were in course
of construction. Transporting carriages and boat-
houses had been provided, with few exceptions, for
the whole of the above-named lifeboats. The life-
boats of the institution saved no less than 432 lives
and 17 vessels during the past year, nearly the
whole of them under circumstances when no other
description of boat than a lifeboat could with safety
have been employed. For these various services,
and for the saving of 266 lives by shore boats and
other means, the institution had granted rewards
amounting to £1,539. The committee referred
with great satisfaction to the continued intrepid
services of the lifeboat crews, who were ever
ready, day or night, to man the lifeboats during
the fiercest storms. The lives of between 5,000 and
6,000 persons are placed by shipwrecks on our coasts
annually in jeopardy; but happily, owing to the
prompt and unceasing exertions that are everywhere
made on occasions of shipwrecks, the actual loss of
placed in
life amongst that large number of persons

peril did not last year exceed 450 lives. Much credit
was undoubtedly due to the Board of Trade for their
continued valuable co-operation with the institution.
The total number of lives saved during the 41 years
from the establishment of the institution in 1824,
to the end of the year 1864, either by its lifeboats,
or by special exertions, for which it had granted
rewards, was 14,266. The amount of happiness thus
brought to this great multitude of persons, saved
from doath in its most appalling form, and to many
of those who would otherwise have been widows
and orphans, could only be fully realised by them-
selves. The committee referred to the cordial con-
tinued co-operation of the local branch committees,
the coast guard, and the railway and steam packet
companies. Since the formation of the institution
it had expended on lifeboat establishments nearly
£120,000, and had voted 82 gold and 743 silver
medals for saving life, as well as pecuniary awards
to the amount of £19,400. The total amount of
receipts by the institution during the year 1864 was
£31,917 2s. Bd. ; and its expenditure, including its
liabilities, was £29,034 9s. sd. The items of re-
ceipts and expenditure were detailed in the annual
financial statement attached to the report, audited
as usual by a public accountant. Many gratifying
and encouraging donations had been received by the
institution since the last report. The grateful
acknowledgments of the committee were expressed
to several gentlemen. zuho had collected the cost
of eight lifeboats amongst their friends and
others in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol,
and Wiltshire. The committee also tendered
their sincere thanks to the important bodies of
commercial travellers and the Ancient Order of
Foresters, for collecting the cost of three lifeboats.
Legacies, amounting to £3,365, had been received
by the institution during the year. The committee
had, on former occasions, referred to the magnitude
and costliness of the extensive operations of the
National Lifeboat Institution ; and last year they
had been greater than at any preceding period dur-
ing the past forty-one years ; but they were happy
to report that the benevolence of the public had
been proportionably large and liberal. Thus sup-
ported and encouraged to conduct the affairs of the
institution on principles which had proved by expe-
rience to be sound and practicable, the committee
felt assured that it would never be allowed to lan-
guish from the want of funds, to perpetuate and ex-
tend as occasions may require, its merciful work on
the coasts of the United Kingdom.
JOHN GEORGE, Esq., M.P., moved its adoption,
and called attention to the fact that ou the east
coast of Ireland from Kingstown toWaterford, there
was not a single harbour of refuge for shipping, and
he felt it a pleasing duty to acknowledge the fact
that four lifeboat stations had been founded on that
part of the coast, through the instrumentality of the
Lifeboat Association.

The motion was seconded by the Hon. Colonel
ROWLEY, M.P., and unanimously adopted.
W. W. CARGILL, Esq., M.P., moved " That this
meeting has heard with much satisfaction of the
great success which has attended the important
operations of the Royal National Lifeboat Associa-
tion during the past year, and deems it a cause for
much thankfulness that it has contributed to the
saving of nearly 700 of our fellow-creatures from
a watery grave in that period ; and that the loss
of life from shipwrecks during the year was so
unusually low ; and, taking into consideration that
the institution has now 144 lifeboats under its
management, and that the same require a large per-
manent annual income to maintain them in a state
of thorough efficiency, this meeting is of opinion
that the society is eminently deserving of the con-
tinued liberal support of the public.
The motion, seconded by admiral Sir H. KEPPEL,
was also adopted.

On the _motion of Cript..l..%;r E. PRIMOTT,
seconded and supported by Admiral W. N. Hall,
C. 8., the following resolution was adopted:—" That
the thanks of this meeting be tendered to the Lords
of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, and to
the Marine Department of the Board of Trade; for
the important and cordial aid afforded by them to
the Royal Natioal Lifeboat Institution. Also to the
Commodore Controller-General, the Deputy Con-
troller-General, and the officers and men of her
Majesty's Coastguard service, for their continued
valuable assistance to the society."
The Hon. Capt. Maude, R.N., of the Shipwrecked
Mariners' Society, who bore testimony to the valu-
able co-operation of the Lifeboat Association with
the society with which he was connected, proposed
4‘ That this meeting tenders its cordial thanks to Thos.
Baring, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., V.P., the chairman ; to
Thomas Chapman, Esq., F.R.S., V.P., the deputy-
chairman, and to the other members of the commit-
tee of management, for the care and attention with
which they continue to administer the important
affairs of the institution. Also to the honorary
local committees of the several branches of the in-
stitution for their zealous co-operation with the
central committee in promoting the efficiency of the
lifeboat establishments intrusted to their superinten-
dence and management."
The motion, seconded by Sir FRANCIS OUTRAM,
was, like the preceding ones, unanimously adopted.

A cordial vote of thanks to his Grace the Duke of
Argyll was next agreed to.

The Noble CHAIRMAN, in acknowledging the com-
pliment, said that he had been much struck on
reading the description given by Dr. Scoresby, of
the conduct and appearance of the crew of the
Royal Charter, the vessel -which two years after-
wards perished, one of the most melancholy cases of
shipwreck ever known of in the British Islands. Dr.
Scoresby had been for many years an Arctic voyager,
and a great whale fisher, and in his latter years he
became a clergyman of the Church of England, de-
voting the later years of his life to the pursuit of his
' sacred calling. He kept up, however, his scientific
and professional pursuits ; and the year previous to
his death, in consequence of his desire to test certain
views which he had given forth in respect to the
navigation of iron ships, he undertook a voyage to
the antipodes in the Royal Charter, and wrote a very
interesting account of the observations which he had
made. The ship on which he was on board was over-
taken by a terr c storm in the Pacific, and he had
given a most curious description of his observations
of the conduct and appearance of the crew under the
continuance of that storm. He stood on the com-
panion ladder and watched the action of the man
at the wheel and the other men, all standing ready
to obey any orders of the chief ; every nerve
and. every muscle of their bodies seemed to be ready
forinstant action. In such a case as this shipwreck
would be a comparatively light feeling for the brave
sailor, who would meet his death with little emotion.
In the case, however, of the men who were rescued
by the lifeboats of this association the circumstances
of death were most trying and terrible to contem-
plate. There the men clung to the masts and rig-
ging for long and weary hours in the cold and storms
of winter, with the prospect of certain death and
but little hope of escape. (Cheers.) The fact too
that this society had been the means of saving more
than 600 lives with a loss of but three of thei gal-
lant men was a fact most creditable to the nstitu-
tion. He regarded the proceedings with feelings of
great gratification, and felt that it was an institu-
tion which it was satisfactory to belong to, and
satisfactory to support.
The meeting then separated.

"And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And looking on it with lack lustre eye,
Says very wisely, It is ten o'clock :
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A paper was then read by Mr. Markham, one of
the honorary secretaries, contributed by Mr. Fox
Wilson, " On the Gradual Desdcation of South-
, west Africa." The author of the paper adduced
many instances, founded on historical evidence, of
the drying up of the southern part of Africa, which,
he said, was rapidly 'progressing, and was rendering
many parts of the country that were formerly fertile
barren and uninhabitable. The same effect had been
noticed by Dr. Livingstone in tropical Africa, and
had been attributed by him to geological changes ;
but Mr. Wilson contended that the dessica-
tion is gradually increasing, and is attri-
butable to the cutting down of forests and the
burning of the grass. He said that under
the schist rock there is a supply of water derived
from distant mountains, and he mentioned one
abundant spring which, from the character of the
sand that accompanies the water, shows that its
source must be far distant. He recommended,
therefore, that numerous artesian wells should be
dammed up, that the planting of trees should be
encouraged and the burning of grass prohibited.
Dr. LIB INGSTONE agreed with the author of the
paper that there was a gradual dessication now going
on, and that it might be attributed to the causes as-
signed, but independently of that minor process of
drying up, there were indications in the physical
character of the country that a great geological con-
vulsion must have occurred, which elevated the land
on the western coast, and produced fissures in the
rocks which had let out the waters of vast inland
lakes that formerly existed where the land is now
barren. In proof of that opinion, he stated that
there are nnany large water courses now dry in
which he found fossil bones, and that the rivers
flowed from the north towards the south into large
lakes, the beds of which are now indicated by nume-
rous fresh-water shells. He said that the Govern-
ment of the Cape were adopting one of the plans
recommended by Mr. Wilson, and were encouraging
the planting of trees in the colony.
The PRESIDENT alluded to the condition of the
country round Damascus as an illustration of the
gradual dessication of a once fertile country by
causes acting gradually without any geological
changes, and to his own observation of the steppes
of Russia, in illustration of the effect of the absence
of vegetation.

Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE mentioned, as a
confirmation of the opinion of the author of the
paper, that Constantinople is supplied with water by
streams from the forests of Belgrade, and that the
supply had been greatly diminished by cutting down
the trees. The Government having become aware
of the fact, the felling of timber had been prohibited,
and trees have been ordered to be planted.
After some remarks by other gentlemen, the
meeting adjourned to the 27th inst., when it was
announced there will be a further discussion on the
subject of a north-polar expedition.

Anthropological Society.

-.

An animated discussion took place at the meeting
of the Anthropological Society yesterday evening,
on the reading of a paper by Mr. Winwood Reed,
on the efforts of missionaries among savages. Mr.
Reed expressed himself very strongly against the
rrcnitc of mirsin•nnry labnnrs in equatorial Africa
more particularly, where he said the attempts to
evangelise the negroes had proVed " a wretched
bubble." Those who were said to be converted to
Christianity were the most degraded of the natives ;
the men being all thieves and the women prosti-
tutes. One great difficulty the missionaries had
to contend with was polygamy, which the negroes
could with great difficulty be induced to abandon,
and when they did so it was attended with worse
evils. The Mahometans, on the contrary, who
allowed polygamy, made numerous converts, and
the author of the paper contended that that was the
natural state of the negroes, and ought to be
tolerated. He asserted also that Mahometanisin
is only a form of Christianity, and that it is much
better adapted for the negroes than the forms of
religion taught by the Christian missionaries, who
had entirely failed to make any real converts. He
adduced many instances in support of his opinions,
and said he thought the money expended in endea-
vouring to convert the negroes had much better be
employed in improving the degraded population of
this country.

Mr. WALKER, who had resided fourteen years on
the West Coast of Africa, supported the views of
Mr. Reed, and spoke strongly against the characters
of the professing converts to Christianity, and of the
inutility of missionary labours in Africa.

Sir GEORGE DENYS, in reference to the great point
made by the missionaries of the abolition of poly-
gamy, mentioned an anecdote of a bishop who had
so far induced a native to abandon the practice as
to reduce the number of his wives to two, but he
could not be prevailed on to put away either of those
favourites. After a time, however, he returned to
the bishop and told him that he had complied with
his request, and on being asked what he had done
with the wife he had put away, he replied that he
had eaten her.

Dr. COLENSO said that Mr. Reed had done good
service by drawing attention to the efforts made by
missionaries to convert the negroes, and to the re-
sults, though he did, not agree with him on some
points. The public in this country were arriving at
a great crisis in religious feeling, and the same
might be extended abroad, therefore it was important
that the efforts made to spread Christianity among
savage nations should be carefully considered. It
was a subject, however, that required much delibera-
tion, and he should prefer, instead of then expressing
his opinion, to put his views on paper, and read them
at a subsequent meeting of the society.
Captain BURTON took an extensive view of mis-
sionary efforts in various parts of the world, in North.
America, in the West Indies, and in Africa, and
fully supported the statements in Mr. Reed's
paper that they had completely failed to improve the
savage nations whom it had been their object to
convert. Speaking of what was called the nearly
Christian city of Abbeokuta, he said it was a den of
abominations, and the nominally converted negroes
in Sierra Leone and on most of the west coast of
Africa were nearly as bad.
Mr. Harris, Mr. Charlesworth, Dr. Seem.ann, Mr.
Bollaert, and other gentlemen spoke to the same
effect. Mr. Reddie and Mr. M'Arthur, on the con-
trary, contended that the missionaries in many parts
of the world had greatly improved the character of
the natives; and if they had failed in Africa, the
question should rather be how to alter theironode of
proceeding than to abandon their efforts to civilise
and3rico. c
nv.erctAitthTeEn negrßoLeAiiE doubted
Mahome-
tanism was really derived
foroumbtedchrthisattiaty,andconsidered the failure of missionary enterprise was
due to the want of unity among the missionaries
and their divergence from the common centre of
Christendom.
After some observations from the PRESIDENT, Dr.
Hunt,
Mr. REED replied to some objections that had been
raised to his paper, and themeetidingnnaderjo:
Captained.
Burton, their
The PRESIDENT announced that it was intended
by the society to
apublic
vice-president, before his departure
v e
for South America, which the members of other
societies would be invited to attend. He announced
also that the society now numbers 500 members.

OYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and slana_reress. Mrs. Swanborough.
Till; EVENING, at 7, THE SILENT SYSTEM. Messrs.
Belford and J Thorne ; ;Hisses Carbon and Hughes.
After which, the great Comic Drama, MILKY WHITE
e.ers. Craven, Stoyle, Jame.; Miss Swarborough.
To conclude w th TaE " GRIN" BUSHES : Mr. Fenton,
&c. ; Mesdames Rayuham, Simpson, Johnstone, &c.

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