The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-23 00:00:00

/2

C 7-71
4 e c

MAN TEE LIFEBOAT.

11 VV
)17, •
in party questions, but they knew perMly S
we were divided into antagonism amo geikpurs
that this division would go no farther, and that we
are all ready, whatever might be our party differ-,
ences, to stand shoulder to shoulder against an y
foreign enemy who dares to interfere with ris.
Long might this state of things exist. He did mot
fear any material, nay, he might say any change ;
but he looked forward to a continuance of a time
like the present, when England is the home of the
friendless, the refuge of every foreigner in distress,
and the receptacle for every man who is driven in
consequence of his political opinion, or any other
cause, from his own country. But notwithstand-
ing these feelings towards foreigners, we should
never 'suffer, under any circumstances, any foreign
hostile foot to tread the sacred shores of the country
which we all love. And now he must not detain
them any longer than by thanking them, which he
did most sincerely, for their conduct to-day in the
field, which was ample evidence of the pains which
they had taken for their country's safety. They
had earned that which be knew they possessed—.
the pride, interest, and regard of all their nei gh-
bours and fellow-citizens, and he was confident that
they enjoyed those feelings from the county which
surrounded that town, and he was equally confi-
dent they possessed them from the humble indi-
vidual who, in his official capacity that day, had,
had the honour, the great satisfaction, and pleasur
of
There inspecting
w as
a
them.
banquet in the evening, at which
the duke was present.

(From the Manchester Examiner.)
Most of the public benevolent associations which are, -esta-
blished in this country are favoured by ministers of reL igion
with a direct mode of appeal to the pockets of the oh arit-
able. They have their annual sermons and services,. their
regular congregational contributions and subscriptions, and
their claims are a regularly recognised part of religio.tis
principle. Schools, hospitals, infirmaries, clothing, socie-
ties, missionary associations, and many others of a similar
character come under this head, but the National Lifeboat
Institution, one of the very grandest of our associations, is
not yet acknowledged in that public form. Mere and there
a collection is made in some parish chureb on the coast,
where the parishioners have witnessed the awful effects of
a storm at sea. aria have ..itnossed, too, the splendid exer-

tions of a lifeboat crew ; but., these are desultory efforts.
They pass away with the storm which called them forth,
and they slumber till another mischance awakens th eir
kindly interest. The advocacy of the Lifeboat Institution is
therefore left to the press; and though this method pre-
cludes the important addition of sending round the plate
when the feeling is warm, yet it has done a great deal for
the institution, and our annual sermon will not be
preached in vain if we merely direct public attention
to the merits of this association. The institution is
now established by Royal charter. This privilege,
indeed, adds nothing to its public claims, but it
gives to it a public standing, and in a measure places it on a
more durable foundation. As the report says," The insti-.
tution now stands on a solid and enduring basis, and it ha a
assumed a greater national importance." It is now legally
entitled to possess, through the bequests of deceased per-
sons, or otherwise, landed property to the amount of £2,000
a year, a most valuable privilege, when anyone can be form, I
wise enough to provide in this way for the permanent use-
fulness of the association. But there is a fashion too, even.
in charity and benevolence, which makes the incorporation
of the Lifeboat Institution a matter of policy. It is not
that kindly sympathies are evoked merely because great
people patronise a useful institution, but it is because the
institution itself gains publicity by the act. Sympathies
are communicated in this manner. Interests are created'
which were not felt before. When her gracious Majesty
"pronounces" in favour of any institution, the institution
directly obtains a national claim. The imperial recognition
does not create merit ; it recognises it and stamps it with
approval, and the merit thus publicly acknowleiged passes
current through society. Hence the incorporation of the
Lifeboat Institution may be widely useful to it in a pecu-
niary sense, and as her Majesty has further become an
annual subscriber to the funds of the society, none of her
liege subjects, whose means will allow it, can refuse to fol-
low the royal example.
With respect to the services performed by the institution,
there is a terrible sameness in their character, though the
records are ever new and ever interesting. It is the same
story in one sense, but the details are infinitely varied. It
is always a " brave ship" in distress, always the " winds
and the seas roaring," always some " poor souls" who aro
in the direst extremity of danger. Happily, too, we may
say, through the instrumentality of the Lifeboat Associa-
tion, it is nearly always the same story on the humane side.
The lifeboat is always ready, and a bravo crew at hand.
Our readers will not have forgotten that terrible scene at.
Whitby, for terrible it was in every sense. A lifeboat, not,
it may be said hero, belonging to the National Institution,
had saved the lives of five ships' crews. On the sixth
-voyage, a wave upset the lifeboat, and all but one of the
gallant fellows who made up the crew were swept int')
eternity; yet a fresh crew stept into another old condemned
lifeboat immediately. Now, there was a grandeur about
that act which really ennobles humanity. These men de-
served to have the Victoria cross of valour pinned on their
breasts by the hands of her Majesty. The foe they met,
and the " imminent deadly breach" they scaled would have
appalled any but the bravest of the brave, and yet our
coasts are lined with such men. This is indeed the pre-
vailing feature, the beautiful sameness of the records of
the institution ; the novelty consists in the parts of the
coast where the gallant act was performed, and in
those awful incidents which the varying features
of the coast and the accompanying destructiveness
of wind and tide afford. Here are a few of the incidents re

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coats. Six men were saved by the lifeboat. It was an
awful scene, of which the newspapers at the time gave a
full description. People were gathered on the shore in
hundreds, and in their sight the seamen of the Lovely
Nelly were saved. But one poor boy was left behind. lie
was afraid to jump into the lifeboat, and ere he could gather
courage to take the leap, a wave swept away the masts of
the ship, and the poor lad was never seen alive again. On
the same day five men were saved on the Doomed Bar Bank,
Padstow, from the brigantine Nugget, of Bideford. From
January Ist to the 6th, 14 lifeboats performed eminent ser-
vices ; 32 men were saved, and one vessel was brought safely
into harbour. But sometimes darkness is added to the
perils which the lifeboat men encounter in their exertions
on the stormy deep. At Lyme Regis, for instance, the
word was given during one of the winter months that a
vessel was in the offing in distress. It was night and " pitchy
dark." A strong gale was blowing, and a heavy surf beat
on the shore, but the lifeboat men felt that duty called, and
they did not hesitate. They went to sea as if it were to their
firesides they were going, and they were successful in saving
a ship's crew. The brief narrative of this adventure tells US
that very few on shore believed the lifeboat "would ever
return," the night was so awful ; " it was sufficient to ap-
pal anyone entering the lifeboat." But the crew went, as we
have stated, and were successful ; and the only record which
exists of the adventure, beyond what we have told, unless it
lives in the memory of the men who were saved, is that the
coxswain's name was Thomas Bradley.
The simplicity of these records, contrasted with the bril-
liant services they describe, adds a strong charm to the

" short and simple annals" of the Lifeboat Institution.
There is no superfluity of description, there is no attempt to
add to the sublimity of the event by any high-flown or
heroic language, it is simply recorded as a fact, and a fact
it is of the most sterling character. The report just published
presents a new feature this year. The cost of the services is
placed opposite the services rendered. For instance, the
six men belonging to the brig Lovely Nolly, mentioned
above, were saved for the sum of £l2 Os. 6d. At Portmadoc,
in a heavy gale with a terrific surf, 17 men were saved for
£l4. That is about 17s. a head, and flesh and blood isi9
cer-
tainly cheap at that rate. The Carnsore lifeboat saved
ense
persons at a cost of £22 14s. Suppose the averasgenexp
tohfissaisvitnhge
waaymtaenubtytt
g lufpt ono Y 't
la° ue
restore
1 20s. a year to save a fellow-creature from means
se
Perhaps you may save moree tnaar!altroeoinonsigbay,acytloahuiamtmay
otfhethpoubliifieet
haotribyleedneopangitnhvde;
may save a family from an irrePos
a father to his yung
a darling boy to his widowed mother,m
nil, forted unately it is becoming day by
me more widely known. Public
nanetdiehneallplheesnsecvhielledrneeen;ftoweied
_, .
recorded in the society's report,
just as the merits of the
~ calls far the support of the institutio,
and some infit"-- beautiful!gratitude works, and bow
work is repaid. The Carnsore r
sweetly its ifeboat mentioned
swee
saving 19 people from shipwreck, was 'the thank-
above as sa
offering of a lady who was saved from drowning. bile sees
a striking appropriateness in that thankoffering, and, if wo
were disposed to moralise, an example of the ruling which
brings good out of evil. There • is another instance re.
which shows bow .
corded of a similar character. Two ladies, in memory of
a departed sister, placed a lifeboat at Llandudno, in North
Wales, and called it the Sister's Memorial, The memory of
departed worth, or departed affection, could not be preserved
in a more fitting manner. The memorial is all goodness
and all mercy, and has lees of the taint of the world in it
than anything else that could be mentioned. It is
to keep these benevolences in active operation —to
endow them for ever, as it were—that the Lifeboat
Institution appeals to the public. It is an appeal
that will stand kny test—a cause that all can assist in—and
1
a cause that only requires to be known to be placed beyond
the necessity of an appeal.

THE PRINCE IMPERIAL'S SUBSTITUTE.—" It is
not generally known" that the Prince Imperial has been
promoted to the rank of corporal of the Bth squad of the
Ist battalion of the Ist Regiment of Grenadiers ; he is in-
scribed in the regimental list as Eugene Louis Jean Joseph
Napoleon. The little prince, it seems, is allowed to perform
his regimental duties by deputy. This deputy, one Corpo-
ral Mugaritz, deserted a few days ago, with some of the
regimental money in his possession, and has since been ap-
prehended and sentenced to five ,
years' imprisonment with
hari )91nr.