The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-18 00:00:00

LONDON Vil7 URDAY, SEPT. 18, 1869,

The National Lifeboat Institution continues,
during these times of profound peace, to elicit
the display of that nautical heroism which has,
in times of war, contributed so largely to make
England what she is. This noble and hu-
mane association, in other words, affords the op-
portunity, all along our sea-beaten coasts, for the
evidencing, by our gallant tars, again and again
during each rolling year, whenever " the stormy
winds do blow," as the good old song has it, that the
pluck, the self-possession, the indomitable resolution,
the almost reckless daring for which our sailors have
before now been so often remarkable, when led on
against the foe by a NELSON or a COCHRANE, have,
in no way whatever, when doing battle
simply with the elements, dwindled away and dege-
nerated. A storm is, in point of fact, quite as good
a test as a frigate action. The rescue of the crew of
a foundering collier is a feat fully as glorious, in its
way, as the boarding and capturing of an enemy's
man-of-war. Reading the quarterly journal of the
National Life-boat Institution, indeed, in a great
measure, has long been to ourselves something very
much akin to reading the Gazette on the morrow of a
victory. It is in effect, for that matter, the record
of a triumph won over the perils of the great deep.
We turn the leaves, not without emotion. We
examine the wreck-chart, by which the letterpress of
the journal is almost always accompanied, with some-
thing of the same kind of interest as that with which
a reader of " JAMES'S Naval History of England,"
let us say, scrutinises every now and then those little
wood-cut diagrams, showing how such and such a
famous fiigatc-action was fought out—such an action,
for example, as that between the Shannon and the
Chesapeake. Here, the enemy's ship or our own was
raked! Here, one or other of them gave or took
a broadside ! Precisely in the same way, we
glance at the Wreck Chart accompanying the So-
ciety's Journal, we say to ourselves—Here, and here,
and here a new lifeboat has been established by the
efforts of this truly National Institution. But that
the Society has accustomed us to similar displays of
dauntless courage, north, south, east, and west, along
our own sea-board, we should be startled into a glow
of prouder satisfaction, even than that existed under
the actual circumstances of the case on our reading the
account of an incident like that related this morning
by a correspondent of the Mites, signing himself
" LEANDER," and heading his brief but striking nar-
rative, " English Oars and English Pluck." Writ-
ing to the Times under date only yesterday,
" LEANDER" relates the incident he has to record,
and of which we presume him to have been an eye-
witness, in the manner following—" During the
heavy gale on Monday last," he writes, " when no

steamer could cross the Channel, a French vesse

from Rio was seen in distress off Boulogne.
masts and rigging were cut away, and the waves
were breaking over her. The crew were seen hold-
ing on in the way they could. It so happened
that five Englishmen, said to belong to a rowing
club, were at Boulogne. There is a lifeboat there,
but it was locked up, and neither the key
nor the crew were forthcoming. Though our
gallant countrymen would shrink from any
glory in their deeds, it should be known that the
boat-house was broken open, and, three of the French
lifeboat crew having joined them with their captain,
the boat was with difficulty got afloat about 4 o'clock
p.m. The efforts of the crew were watched from
the shore, and they were soon seen returning with
four rescued sailors. There still remained six cling-
ing to the wreck ; but these plucky fellows once
more put to sea, and their noble efforts were
rewarded by bringing off the remainder of
the crew." Nobly done, all this, not a
doubt of it. But—it is pre' isely what is being re-
corded over and over again, quarter after quarter, in
the journal of the National Life-boat Institution.
The last number of tLat journal now imme-
diately about to _issue from the press—dated, by
anticipation, October Ist, 1869—being Vol. VII.,
No. 74, contains, among many wonderfully inter-
esting particulars, on pp. 264-268, an epitome of
" The Wreck Register and Chart for 1868," that
would be absolutely appalling to examine, only that
it is filled, throughout its record of disasters, with
incidents suggestive of profound consolation. A
portion at least of this Register, we propose giving
in another part of our columns at the earliest

Her

possible opportunity. it relates the old glorious
story all over again, but one that Re are
never tired of reading about or of commending to the
consideration of the public at large. The journal is
a periodical appeal of irresistible persuasiveness—
commending eloquently to the generosity of the
people of England the claims to popular support,
preferred by one of the moat heroic and glorious
among our national institutions.

SELDOM has a week been more full of tragedy than
the one which closes this day. From sea and land
we have had accounts of distress, danger, and des-
truction. The " act of God" has overwhelmed many
of our bravest men, but we can add, as usual under
similar circumstances, that it has called forth heroic
deeds and made us more than ever proud of the brave
British seamen who never hesitate to risk their lives

in attempting the rescue of their fellow-men. Thus
it is that the "act of God" is always accompanied by
compensations which enable us to recognise " the partial
evil, universal good." But far otherwise is it with the
evil which comes from the acts of man which we have
had to record during the same period. Families mur-
dered, and wives beaten within an inch of their
lives, by their natural protectors, are not circum-
stances which afford any ground for congratulation
except to the lovers of the horrible, who have had
no cause to complain of late, for scarcely is one
tragedy recorded before another appears to claim
attention. The other day, at the Guildhall, Sir
Robert Carden had to pronounce judgment on
a man of an unusually vindictive disposition.
CHARLOTTE JOYCE, the complainant, told a sad tale
of ill-usage. Her husband was addicted to drinking,
and he constantly beat her. On the last occasion he
attacked her with unusual violence. He took off his

heavy boot and struck the unfortunate victim several
times on the ribs, declaring that he would strike her
on the side instead of the face because she could not
then shew her wounds. The miserable state of the

home was depicted in the complainant's subsequent
remarks, in which she said that she had to support the
family by her own exertions, but this she did not mind
if her husband would only let her alone. Another brutal
assault is reported from Sheffield. It was the old,old story
of a man coming home on Saturday night the worse
for liquor. Of course, under these circumstances, it
was easy to pick a quarrel, and accordingly he blamed
his wife for not coming to meet him. He was so
violent that the poor woman ran out of the house
and took refuge with a neighbour. Some time after
she returned to the house, when he immediately
attacked her again. After throwing her on the
ground he kicked her with his hob-nailed boots,
inflicting most serious nu uries. It was not until
some neighbours had courageously interposed that
the unfortunate woman was rescued from her hus-
band's violence. It was feared at first that she
would not recover from the serious injuries she had
received, but after a time she became better.

In East London, where a whole family was
murdered, we find that JUDGE was often in a