The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-27 00:00:00

stress of weather 58 from defects in • ships or •
.equipments, including charts and compasses ; and
69 from various other causes more or less avoidable.
We thus see that 127 vessels were absolutely lost
in one year from causes which were clearly con-
trollable by man,and which were, we fear, the pro-
duct in some instances of his wilful negligence. It
is not long ago that the master of a ship was tried
and convicted at the Old Bailey for scuttling
his vessel off the Downs. Who can tell how many
more vessels have been thus wilfully destroyed, in
addition to those which have been lost through
gross and culpable neglect ? For it must be re-
membered that, in consequence of the almost uni-
versal custom of insurance, the shipowner has
often no pecuniary interest in the safety of his
vessel, and may even be benefited by her loss. It
cannot be wondered at, therefore, if here and
there an unprincipled man should lend himself to
the commission of a fraud for his own advan-
tage. Every English vessel should be thoroughly
examined before she leaves port, in order that it
might be satisfactorily shown that she was sea-
worthy and well manned, and that means, both
simple and efficacious, were on board for the rescue
of the crew in the event of an accident.
On this latter point it is much to be lamented
that the law of the land does not afford that pro-
tection to its merchant seamen which they surely
have a rightful claim to, by requiring all owners
of vessels to provide the cheap and simple appliance
of a life-belt for the use of each seaman in his em-
ploy, as by such provision alone undoubtedly many
lives would be annually saved from our merchant-
, craft. We will illustrate this assertion by a case

in point :
" A few months ago a lifeboat of the Nationa.
Life-boat Institution stationed at Walmer, pro
ceeded off early in the morning to the rescue of a
sloop's crew on the Goodwin Sands. The crew,
three in number, were seen in the rigging ; but it
was found impossible, from the violence of the sea
and the rolling of the vessel, to approach her. As
soon as the tide turned, causing the sea somewhat
to subside, the life-boat was taken alongside ; but,
at the moment of her being so, the vessel's mast
went by the board, falling across the bow of the
life-boat. One of the three men in the vessel's rig-
ging had before this been washed off and perished ;
of the two who remained, one was, taken into the
boat as the mast fell ; the other, the master of the
vessel, was thrown into the water. One of the
life-boat's crew, John Chadwick, immediately
jumped overboard, swam to him, and succeeded
in bringing him alongside the life-boat ; but on the
crew grasping him, his clothes unfortunately tore
away, and a sea dashing the boat away from him
he unhappily perished.
In the report of this case received by the Insti-
tution, it is remarked that had the unfortunate
master been provided with one of the cork life-belts,
such as were worn by the life-boat's crew, his life
would probably not have been sacrificed. Indeed,
the two other men previously washed front the
rigging and drowned might possibly have been
saved had they been provided with belts, as they
might have been picked up by the life-boat, or by
a Deal hugger which was near at the time.
The life-boats of the National Life-boat Institu-
tion were manned last year by abort 3,000 persons
on occasions of service and exercise. They were
often afloat during the heaviest gales, and in the
darkest nights; and it is satisfactory to be able to
report that not a single life was lost from them on
those occasions. This happy circumstance is prin-
cipally, no doubt, attributable to the safety of the
boats themselves; but this immunity from fatal
results has been owing in some instances to the
excellent cork life-belts, one of which each man
forming the boat's crew is required, by the rules of
the society, to put on before he is allowed to step
into her.
Let the reader bear in mind that the average
loss of life from wrecks on our coast during the
past seven years is 745. It is not presumptuous to
say that a very considerable proportion of this
large number of our fellow-creatures have been
sacrificed through the cupidity and carelessness of
their employers. How many of these victims might
this day, with God's blessing, be still the solace and
support of their families, as well as useful and active
members of a busy commercial community like ours, '
-if all had been done for them which justice and hu-
manity dictated. If the shipowner had discharged}
his duty by ascertaining the soundness and tight-1
ness of his vessel, the fitness of her rigging, sails,
anchoring gear, &c., before committing her to the
dangers of the sea. how much misery would often
have been prevented ? Where in the hour of need
and distress has been the sufficient number of the
ship's life-boats—the means of safely lowering
them—the life-buoys and the life-belts ? None are
at hand ; and if found, they are too frequently found
to be worse than useless, from want of repair and
preparation. We confess that we eLvy not the
feelings of the man who has realised immense
wealth, but who has not in his day faithfully dis. 1
charged the important duties of an employer of la
hour, and who, by his remissness, probably uncon-
sciously to himself, has consigned many a woman
to be a widow and her children to be orphans. The
best interests of our country, and the cause of hu-
manity, constrain us to speak thus openly and unre-
servedly on this important subject. Great difficulty
is at present experienced in manning with able sea-
men her Majesty's ships. Now, in seven years.
5,220 valuable lives, or nearly 800 annually, mostly
seamen, have perished from shipwrecks on our
coast •, and that very large number would unques-
tionably have been nearly doubled had not strenu-
ous and brave exertions been made to rescue ship-
wrecked:persons. Whosoever therefore contributes,
either by his individual services or in any other way,
to this philanthropic work, is not only the friend of
the cause of suffering humanity, but he also renders
important services to his country.
" The preservation of human life," it has been well
observed by a contemporary, " has in all ages been
considered-as an act deserving of the most enthu-
siastic need of gratitude. If he who makes an eat
of corn to grow where it never grew before merits
public applause, how much more deserving of praise
is he who rescues a fellow-creature from a violent
and an unprepared death. The highest and humblest
are made widows and orphans by ruthless ship-
wreck. To-day it is the great admiral, is his proud
war-ship, who goes down ' with twice five hundred
men' into the ocean's bosom. To-morrow it is the
poor woman, with her children round her, who on
the desolated beach mourns for the embrowned
face, the tarry hand, the manly heart that
will reture no more ; for the night has been stormy.
the smack was capsized, the fishermen are 'drowned."
Ten thousand nine hundred and two persons nave
been saved from shipwreck by lifeboats and other
means since the establishment of the National Life
boat Institution ; £28,061 have been expended by
it on lifeboat establishments, and £11,651, besides
gold and silver medals, for saving life have been
voted. The committee of the Institution make,
therefore, a confident appeal to the generosity of
the public, on whose support the continued 'fficiency
and extension of the society depend. Many nest
lifeboats are yet needed on the coasts. The cost of
several, recently placed, as well as of the carriages
and boat-houses required for them, has in some
cases been defrayed in full by charitable persons,
admirers of the institution, or anxious to afford sub-
stantial testimony of their personal gratitude for
rescue from shipwreck by means of lifeboats. Only
the other day Lord Bury and hls fellow-passengers,
returning in the Asia from the United States, pre-
sented £2l, the profits of an amateur magazine they
had started to relieve the tedium of the voyage, to
the National Lifeboat Institution. A prettier or
more graceful thank-offering for a " good deliver
ante" from ocean's perils could not well be con-
ceived. Only recently the journeymen sawyers anti
boat-builders in the employ of Messrs. Forrest, of
Limehouse, subscribed £3O for the same purpose.
Equally as touching and appreciated was the gift to
the society of ls. 6d. in stamps from a sailor's
orphan. It only remains for us to appeal to the
public at large for their continuous pecuniary sup-
port to ass institution at once noble, patriotic, and
merciful in its design, and which is so constantly
affording practical illustration of its useful charac-
er and successful working,.

REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL WEBSTER.—The fol-
lowing conversation occurred at the dinner table where Mr.
Webster for the first time met Colonel Preston, then 'a
new Senator from South Carolina. "Colonel Preston," said
the great Massachpsetts lawyer in his stateliest manner,
" I am happy to greet you as a memberof the body to which
it is my pride and honour to belong, bui 1 regret to see that
Southern gentlemen so often stand aloof from me." Mr.
Preston answered in polite and deferential terms, when the
other continued :—" The truth is, I am far more a Southern
than a Northern man, and I think that I should be treated
hailfellow 'by all my Southern colleagues." " May I
beg to know" said the other, `•the grounds upon which
you make this claim ?" " Certrinly,' replied Mr. Webster.
" In the first place, I ant very fond of a race 11)1'Se, :111(I
believe the turf is a southern institution. Sec.eeliv, I have
in my cellar a hundred dozen of the best wine, unpaid fr,
and that I understand to be a trait of southern life. Ihjrdl),
before daylight. 1 shall be under the table, and I stippse
you are willing to admit this to be characteristic ~f
southerners." " Enough," shouted the other, laughirun
"you have vindicated your claim to be my compatriot "
Some readers will recollect the exquisite 1114111'10r in which
Mr. Webster used to relate the following : —One right,
before railroads were built, he was forced to !unhake
a journey by private conveyance from Baltimore to Wash-
ington.. The man who drove the waggon was such an
ill-looking fellow, and told so many stories of robberies and
murders, that before they had gone far Mr. Webster wits
somewhat alarmed. At last the waggon stopped in the
midst of a dense wood, when the man, turning suddenly
round to his passengers, excl&inted fiercely, " Now, sir, tell
rue who you are." Mr. Webster replied in a faltering voice,
and ready to spring from the vehicle, " I am Daniel Web-
ster, member of Congress from Massachusetts." " What,"
rejoined the driver, grasping him warmly by the hand,
"are you Webster? Thank God; thank G;(1. You are
such an ugly chap that I took you for a highwayman."—
, Toronto Globe.