AT the Annual General Meeting of the NATIONAL SHIPWRECK INSTITUTION, held at the London Tavern on Thursday the 21st day of April, 1853, CAPTAIN THE EARL TALBOT, R.N., C.B., VICE-PRESIDENT, in the Chair, The following Report of the Committee was read:— ANNUAL REPORT.

THE Committee of Management, in present- ing to the Subscribers and .the Public their Report for the past year, do so with mingled feelings of satisfaction and regret: of satis- faction, that so much success has attended the efforts which have been made to save life from shipwreck; of regret, that still so many human beings have perished on OUT , coasts during the late autumn and winter.

•Yet, however much we must deplore these disasters, they form no ground of discourage- ment; on the contrary, they should incite us to renewed exertion: they point out that there is much to be done, and they pro- claim more loudly than ever the necessity that exists for well-organized, well-directed, and well-sustained efforts in the sacred cause in which we are embarked.

In rendering an. account of the proceed- ings of the Institution for the past year, the Report will be arranged, as usual, under the several heads of General Proceedings, Life- Boats, Rockets, Wrecks, Rewards, Local Committees, Publications, and Finance.

General Proceedings.—It is with great regret that the Committee have to advert to the loss which they have sustained by the death of the late THOMAS WILSON, their much-respected and valued Chairman, who, for a period of nearly thirty years—extending from the first foundation of the Institution to within a few days of his death—actively and zealously co-operated with them, and almost without intermission presided over their meetings. A brief memoir of his life will be found in the December Number of the Life-Boat Journal, Yet, while the common course of nature has deprived them of the services of one valued friend, it is with much gratification that the Committee are enabled to state that the vacancy will be filled by another long-tried supporter of the Institution, Mr. Alderman THOMPSON, M.P., who, at the last meeting of the Committee, was proposed by His Grace the President, and unanimous!/ elected Chairman.

Mr. FRANCIS WILSON has likewise consented to accept the office of a Trustee of the Society vacant by the death of his late lamented father.

The Committee have further to express their regret at the retirement (from in- creasing years) of GEORGE PALMER, Esq., of Nazing Park, Essex, who for a long period filled the office of Deputy-Chairman of Committee. Mr. PALMER will long be remembered for his strenuous endeavours to call the attention of Parliament to the subject of wrecks, and as Chairman of a Select Committee of the House of Commons on Ship- wrecks, in 1843. On his retirement from office, the Committee unanimously voted to Mr. PALMER the gold medal of the Institu- tion in acknowledgment of the services he had rendered to the cause, both in Parliament and in the improvements introduced by him in the construction of life-boats.

In the course of last autumn the Inspector of Life-Boats visited the whole of the life- boat stations on the east coast of England from Berwick-on-Tweed to the Thames, and took advantage of the opportunity afforded to try several of the boats in stormy weather.

He has furnished a detailed Report on the present condition of all the stations, which will enable the Institution to proceed systematically in replacing what may be old or inefficient along that coast, on which wrecks are so frequent, and also in aid of local associations and individual liberality, by which much has already been accomplished.

Life-Boats.—It was mentioned in last year's Report that four life-boats, on the most recent construction, were building, and were about to be stationed on the coast of Northumberland : these boats, by the courtesy of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, were conveyed to their stations in H.M.S.

Lightning in September last, and taken charge of by the respective Local Committees at Cullercoats, Newbiggin, Hauxley, and Boulmer. In the stormy weather, which occurred shortly after, an opportunity was afforded of trying them; which was taken ad- vantage of by the Inspector of Life-boats, who fully tested their merits as sea-boats; they have since been out on several occasions, and have been instrumental in saving life and property.

These four stations having been completed with boats, boat-houses, carriages, life-belts, buoys, and every requisite fitting, the whole has been most liberally presented to the Ship- wreck Institution by His Grace the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND, our President, on the understanding that everything shall be main- tained in efficient working order, and the crews be regularly trained and exercised.

Acting in the name and on behalf of the' subscribers to the Institution, tfae Committee have thankfully accepted this munificent gift, and they pledge themselves, in conjunction with the respective Local Committees, to fulfil to the utmost the conditions on which this charge has been intrusted to their care.

A life-boat similar to the above, designed by Mr. PEAKE, has been stationed at North Sunderland, at the expense of the trustees of the late Lord Crewe; and a 31-feet boat at Appledore, Devon. The Worthing boat, mentioned last year, has been completed and placed on her station; a 27-feet boat for Budehaven is on her way to that port; similar boats are ready for Barmouth and Cemlyn, and are waiting for a conveyance to their destination. Boats also for Aldboro', Lyme Regis, Sennen, and Douglas, Isle of Man, are in a state of forwardness at Messrs. FORRESTT'S, at Limehouse, boat-builders ; to the Institution. The life-boats at Filey and Bridlington, in Yorkshire, have been put into thorough repair, and plans have been furnished to Hartlepool and the Tees Bay Society. An application from the Prus- sian Government has also recently been received for a life-boat on Mr. PEAKE'S design, to be stationed at Swinemunde, in the Baltic; The Committee consider it due to the pub- lic spirit of the Messrs. RICHARDSON, of Aber Hirnant, Bala, North Wales, to notice their iron tubular life-raft, on which they successfully accomplished a voyage from Liverpool round the Land's End to London.

The experiment is a very interesting one, and should it be found that the iron, of which the tubes are formed, can be preserved from rapid decay, it seems probable that such a life-raft might prove useful, particularly on a very flat beach.

The sad accidents to the Lytham and Rhyl life-boats are too recent not to be well known to all who take an interest in these subjects f the Committee, therefore, only advert to them to assure the subscribers to the Institution and the public, that no similar fittings, nor the use of water ballast, will be permitted in any life-boat in connexion with this Institution, nor, except in special cases, will the use of sails be sanctioned.

Boat-houses.—Boat-houses of ample width and height of doorway, have been erected at Hauxley, Newbiggin, and Cullercoats, at the expense of the President, and are now transferred to the Institution. Also at Aldboro' in Suffolk, at Worthing, and on the Northam Burrows, at Appledore, Devon, (towards all of which the Institution has con- tributed), and one at Sennen Cove, Land's End, at the sole cost of JAMES TRKMBATH, Esq., lord of the manor. The boat-house at Filey has likewise been repaired, and the road to the beach improved.

s Carriages.—The carriage mentioned last year, as building in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, on the design and under the superintendence of Colonel COLQUHOUN, R. A., Director of the Carriage Department, has been completed, and is now stationed at Cullercoats, where it is found that it moves easily, that the life-boat can be got upon it without difficulty and launched from it with safety: a similar carriage has been built for Hauxley; one is building for Newbiggin and for North Sunderland; and applications for a copy of the plan have been received from several quarters. The carriage travels on four wheels; but for launching, as well as for transporting the boat to any short distance, the platform, or body on the hind wheels, is all that is neces- sary. This permits the limber or fore-carriage, on arriving at the place of launching, to be detached, and to be employed to convey the mortar, barbed shot, lines, stay, whip, and all necessary stores, to the point that offers most advantage for effecting a communication, for which purpose it has accordingly been fitted. The Committee gratefully record that the Master-General, and Board of Ordnance have declined to make any charge for the expense of this carriage; and they beg to offer their best thanks to Colonel COL- QUHOtJN, for the care and attention he has bestowed in having brought the work to so satisfactory a result.

Rockets and Mortars.—Two rocket stations have recently been formed in the Shetland Islands, one at Fetiar on the north-eastern coast, the other at Noss on the south-east, being two of the most exposed points, and the site of many wrecks. To each of these places a set of CARTE'S 6 Ib. rockets, with the requisite lines, has, through the courtesy of the Comptroller-General of the Coast-guard, been forwarded by the Institution.

It is with regret the Committee have to record the deaths of Mr. JOHN DENNETT, of Newport, Isle of Wight, and of Mr. ALEXANDER G. CARTE, late Ordnance Store- keeper at Hull, who have been the chief agents in establishing rocket-stations around our coasts, for effecting communication with a stranded vessel. DENNETT'S rockets (ori- ginally proposed by TRENGROUSE, of Helston in Cornwall, in 1807) were supplied by this Institution to Atherfield, St. Lawrence, and Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, as early as the year 1826, and there are now about 120 stations on the coasts of the United Kingdom furnished with his rockets. CARTE first supplied his rockets in 1836, and they are now placed at about 31 stations, chiefly on the coasts of Durham and Yorkshire.

Both of these individuals are entitled to very honourable mention, as having been instrumental in saving many lives from ship- wreck.

Some experiments were made last autumn with an anchor-shot and grapnel-shot which proved satisfactorily; that with a charge of 10 ounces of powder, either anchor or grap- nel, fired from a 5J-inch mortar, will carry out a 2-inch Manilla line from 130 to 160 yards ; and that its holding-power, in toler- able ground, is equal to the strength of from 12 to 15 men. Thus two of them would be sufficient to haul a life-boat off a beach in a moderately heavy sea.

Local Committees.—Committees of the resident and neighbouring gentlemen, and officers of the Coast Guard, have been formed during the past year at the new life-boat stations on the Northumberland coast, also at Berwick-on-Tweed, Bridlington, Filey, Worthing, Lyme Regis, Penzance, Bude Haven, Aberdoyey, and Barmoiith. It is through the instrumentality of such local associations, that the Committee hope to insure the efficient management of the several life-boat establishments at those places, and they earnestly request their cordial co- operation, as essential to the well-working of the Institution.

Shipwrecks.—The Committee regret to have to state that the frequency of ship- wrecks on the coasts of the United Kingdom, during the past twelve months, has been un- precedentedly great. They had occasion to observe, in their last Report, that the year 1851 was considered to be the most disastrous, as respected shipwrecks, on record, the large number of 701 wrecks having been reported; but the past year has far exceeded it in amount and fatality—no less than 1,100 vessels appearing on the Admiralty Register of Wrecks, and the number of lives lost, as far as could be ascertained, being about 900. The greatest destruction occurred about the latter end of October and beginning of November, when, within the short space of 30 days, 300 vessels were lost or damaged, with the fearful loss of 217 lives. Again, a very severe gale occurred on the 26th of December, which strewed the coasts of our islands with wrecks, and left such deep impressions in its wake as will not easily be forgotten.

The Committee need not now dwell on the sad scenes of desolation, of bereaved women and children rendered widows and orphans by these calamitous visitations; but it may be permitted to them to express their opinion of the necessity of the utmost efforts being made to provide life-boats and every other assistance for the fishermen and residents on our coasts who are ever ready to rush to the aid of their fellow creatures in distress. Too ready, the Committee might almost say, for, without habits of discipline and without proper boats, they are constantly venturing out, at the extreme hazard of their own lives, to the relief of the stranded crew.

Of the casualties and loss of human life by wind and wave, which every winter brings with it, no inconsiderable number consists of those who, whilst endeavouring, with imperfect means at command, to rescue the lives of others, have lost their own—a fact to which striking and melancholy testimony is borne by the number of widows and orphans to be met with on our coasts, mourning for those who have thus unhappily perished. Surely, with these fearful effects of the storm before them, our wealthier and more favoured countrymen cannot but be roused to a sense of the deficiencies that exist, and impelled to lend a helping hand to an Institution which has for its object to lessen the sacrifice of life from such calamities.

Since shipwrecks have been unusually numerous during the past year, the efforts made to rescue their crews have been in proportion great and meritorious; and it is a source of satisfaction to know, that almost in every instance where the services of the life-boat have been called into requisition, during the late disastrous gales, they have been attended with success; and your Committee refer particularly to the life-boats stationed at Shields, which have, as usual, specially distinguished themselves; as well as to those at Yarmouth, Rye, Liverpool, Anglesea, and Wexford.

Rewards.—Although the summary of the Rewards distributed by this Institution, (which will be found in the Appendix,) only shows a moiety of the actual services rendered to shipwrecked persons during the preceding year,—being those alone which have been brought before the Committee,— yet it will be seen that, in addition to 23 silver medals, and 13 other honorary re- wards—a sum of 314/. has been voted to persons who have assisted in the saving of 773 lives, or nearly double the number of any former year—a gratifying fact, both on ac- count of the amount of actual good done, and of the share which this Institution has had in the encouragement of laudable exertions to save life.

As there may be, and doubtless are some, who question the principle on which re- wards for saving life are given, considering that a lesser motive is thereby substituted for a greater one, and that the high moralitv of such acts, when performed without the prospect of fee or reward, may dwindle away to a mere mercenary feeling, the Committee would here shortly remark, that such has not been found, by the experience of mankind, to be the case; and that by the distribution of their rewards, they feel that they are not substituting one motive for another, but are acting strictly in imitation of the great Governor and Lawgiver of the universe, who, whilst He has offered his creatures the purest and highest principles for their guidance, has at the same time surrounded them with a thousand minor helps and secondary springs of action, none of which they can with impunity depise or reject.

In the Report for 1851, 3 detailed statement was given of the number of Medals voted, the persons to whom presented, and the amount of pecuniary rewards bestowed for saving life since the first establishment or the Institution in 1824. It is only necessary, therefore, now to state, as a summary, that the Committee have granted 78 gold Medals and 523 silver Medals, for distinguished services in saving life, besides pecuniary rewards, amounting together to the sum of 8,7901.

The number of lives saved within the past year, and for the rescue of whom a portion of the above-named Medals and rewards have been bestowed, is, as before mentioned, 773; and the total number saved since the foundation of the Institution, for which rewards have been given, is 8,151, exclusive of the crews of several vessels, the numbers of which were not ascertained.

The Committee are thankful to be able to report that so large a number of their fellow- creatures have thus been rescued from a watery grave, and restored to their families and friends, and they feel entitled to offer their congratulations on this result to the subscribers and supporters of the Institution; as although the Society may not, in a great number of cases, have been directly instru- mental in saving life, there can be no doubt that the rewards it has bestowed, and the certainty which prevails around the coast that no humane exertions will be left unnoticed, have tended most materially to keep alive the spirit of emulation and activity, which has generally been exercised on occasions of shipwreck, by sailors, fisher- men, and other residents on the sea-coasts of the United Kingdom.

Publications.—The small periodical entitled The Life-boat Journal, proposed in last year's Report, has been continued to the close of the year; and seven monthly num- bers of it have been issued and circulated around the Coast. Small as it may appear it contains a larger amount of useful information connected with life-boats, and the means of saving life, than can be found in any other publication in this country. It comprises, also, some valuable statistics as to the number of fishermen resident on different parts of the Coast of England never before printed ; a wreck register more complete than any hitherto compiled; and brief memoirs of the late SIR WILLIAM HLLLARY and Mr. THOMAS WILSON, the founders of this Institution.

After a trial of a few months, it has been found that the necessarily limited circulation of the Journal among residents on the Coast and fishermen, will not cover the expense of paper and printing at the low price at which it has been fixed. Viewing it, however, as important to have some means of direct communication with the several life-boat stations, and of circulating useful suggestions around the Coast, yet at the same time being unwilling to trench upon the funds subscribed by the public for what may be considered the more immediate objects of the Institution, it has been decided for the present to publish the Journal only once a quarter; and the Committee request the co-operation of well- wishers to the cause to aid its circulation among their poorer brethren on the Coast by every means in their power.

Finances.—In the annexed balance-sheet will be found a statement of the Income and Expenditure of the Institution for the year ending the 31st of March, 1853, whence it will be seen that a sum of 726Z. has been laid out in the building, repairing, and fitting life-boats, and in objects immediately connected with them; 521. on rockets and lines ; and 333Z. on Medals and rewards for saving ife; being the principal and legitimate objects of the Institution. The total expenditure has seen 1,57 4L, while the whole income from all sources does not exceed 704J.; it will thus be seen that to meet the pressing necessities of the Coasts, the Committee have been reluctantly compelled to encroach on the reserved funds of the" Society by the sale of 300Z. Exchequer Jills and of 300L stock; thus diminishing in the last twelve months, by 600?, the funded Mipitai of the Institution, so essential to its permanent efficiency.

Under these circumstances the Committee feel it their duty earnestly to call the attention of the public and of the friends of the Institution to the balance sheet, and to press upon them the necessity for renewed support.

It must be borne in mind that, in establishing a new life-boat station, it is not only the first cost of the boat, carriage, and boathouse, (which cannot be reckoned at less than 3001.

for the whole), but each new boat requires a permanent annual outlay for the pay of the coxswain and exercise of the crew; it is most desirable, therefore, that there should be a material increase of annual subscriptions to meet this expense.

The Committee make their appeal with the more confidence as they are satisfied the public would not wish that the funds of the Institution should be hoarded; on the contrary, that they should be liberally expended, as they have been during the past year, on objects of imperative necessity. Neither the Institution nor the public would be satisfied that the Committee should rest while any ex- posed points on our coasts are left unguarded —and this result, with God's blessing, they hope to accomplish, if sufficient funds are sup- plied for the purpose. The aid solicited is comparatively small; the recompense, if but one life be saved, incalculably great. It is the cause of the sailor they plead, a cause that in this sea-girt island has never been pleaded in vain. The Committee therefore confidently appeal to the wealthier portion of the community throughout the land—happily re- moved as they are by locality from the pain of being eye-witnesses of these scenes of dis- tress—and especially to the influential merchants and shipowners of this vast metropolis, to do that for the shipwrecked seaman, which a WIGRAM, a SOMES, a GREEN,-and others, by the establishment of " Sailors' Homes," have already done for the welfare of the sailor on shore.