IN our January Number we gave an account of the spirited and philanthropic exertions of the inhabitants of Ipswich, headed by Mr. BATEMAN BYNG, to raise a fund for the establishment of a Life-boat station on the coast, and stated that so successful had those exertions been, that no less than 5002. had been raised to effect the desired object, 2061. of that sum having been the response to a general appeal and collection in the various places of worship in the town.

We have now to supplement that account by a recital of the very interesting circumstances attendant on the public presentation of a first-class Life-boat and Transporting Carriage, the result of the Ipswich subscription to the Institution, and the exhibition and trial of the boat at Ipswich.

The 29th May had been appointed for the ceremony to take place, and the boat and carriage, which had been made in London by the builders of the Institution, were conveyed gratuitously to Ipswich by the Eastern Counties Railway Company, two days previous to that date. So general an interest had been felt in the undertaking, that we believe almost every man, woman, and child in the place had for days previously looked forward to the arrival and exhibition of the Lifeboat as a thing in which the honour and credit of the town were intimately concerned, and it was determined to do a good thing in good style. Accordingly preparations were made on a large scale for a procession through the streets, for the decoration of the town, and for a public launch of the boat, and a suitable trial and exhibition of some of her qualities in her own element. Almost at break of day it was evident that there was to be a general holiday in Ipswich, and, despite of a wet, inauspicious morning, that the town was to put on its holiday attire. At an early hour the firing of spontaneous salutes from peaceful, impromptu ordnance of one description or another awoke some of the still sleeping portion of the community from their slumbers, soon(followed by the ringing of bells from churches and chapels, proclaiming, as it were, a work of mercy and of " goodwill towards men." Flags of every hue shortly after spanned the streets from house to house, and hung suspended from their windows.

Knots of the working classes of the population began to assemble—the country folks commenced arriving, and ere long it seemed that the majority of the good people of Ipswich were in the streets, bent on taking a part in the celebration of a good work in which they could all jointly feel an honest pride. By 11 o'clock the various public bodies who were to take part in the procession had assembled in the barrack square, a large and suitable enclosure, where, under the direction of the marshal, Mr. J. ALLOWAY, each fell in to his appointed place. It will suffice to say, without going into full details, that the procession was of an imposing character, and of especial interest as showing how universal a sympathy was felt in the day's proceedings—that the boat herself was drawn by eight magnificent horses, lent for the occasion by the celebrated Ipswich firm of RANSOME & SIMS—that in the procession were the high functionaries of the town and county, the members for each—the High Sheriff and High Steward —the Mayor and Corporation—the Suffolk Militia Artillery and Walton Volunteer Artillery, with their flags, guns, and bands of music—that there were surviving members of the Old Volunteers of 1806, with their flags—long deputations of the " Odd Fellows " and " Foresters," gay with paraphernalia, banners, and devices. That the Chairman, several members of the General Committee, and the officers of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION were also there, having come from London expressly for the occasion— that the Captain of H.M.S. Pembroke, the Coastguard ship at Harwich, with detachments of the " blue jackets " and marines of that ship, to represent the Government, were also there, and, finally, that the coxswain and crew who will have to work the boat on the coast, when on her station, had been brought 30 miles now to take charge of her, to be drawn in her through the streets in their Life-boat dress, and to assist at her experimental trial.

Thus preceded and followed by this long and imposing procession, surrounded by the general populace, saluted by the cannon, and greeted from the windows and housetops, the " Ipswich " Life-boat was borne joyfully, if not triumphantly, through the winding and narrow streets of this old English country town, and then conveyed to the water's side, where an artificial beach had, with much pains and labour, been made, to enable her to be launched, with her crew on board, as she would hereafter be on her station on the coast.

Here, at the head of that beautiful estuary through which the river Orwell passes to the sea, was to be the climax of the day's proceedings. On suitable platforms, on either side of the boat, were assembled on the one side the public functionaries, and the leading inhabitants of the town who had taken a prominent part in the undertaking, and on the other, the Chairman and Members of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, &c. The lifeboat's crew were seated in her, oars in hand, and belted with cork — her carriage-wheels at the water's edge, and her bow overhanging the water's surface, into which she was about to plunge. The launching ropes were in the hands of seamen from the Pembroke man-of-war. Around, the quays, and banks and shore, nearly as far as the eye could reach, were swarming with human beings— the numerous steamers, yachts, and trading-vessels were decked in flags: and lastly, on an open space at the boat's side, in readiness to perform the christening ceremony, stood the lady of the High Steward, Mrs. AUSTIN, attended by twelve young ladies dressed in white, who most worthily represented the feminine grace and beauty of the town of Ipswich and its neighbourhood: and there stood also the minister of the gospel of peace, the Rector of the parish, in the robes of his office, ready, on the part of those assembled, to invoke a blessing from the Great Ruler of all Events on this work, undertaken for the benefit of his creatures.

All being now in readiness, the EARL OF STRADBROKE, Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk, addressing himself to Mr. THOMAS BARING, M.P., Chairman of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, in a suitable speech, formally presented the life-boat to that Society on the part of the town of Ipswich.

In an equally suitable address, Mr. BARING, on the part of the Institution, accepted the same, and expressed their grateful appreciation of the noble gift, and of the extremely gratifying manner in which it had been made.

The Hector, the Rev. W. W. WOODHOUSE, now offered up before the uncovered multitude an appropriate prayer,—the lady sponsor stepped forward and breaking against the boat's side the usual bottle of wine, named her the Ipswich, and then, almost with a bound, the life-boat darted from her carriage, and in another second, amidst the firing of guns and the cheers of the assembled thousands, she was under full command of her stalwart crew, and gliding rapidly along by the force of their oars.

We will not further recount the various experiments and tests to which, for the satisfaction of the public, she was afterwards submitted—the qualities of these valuable boats being now pretty generally known; neither need we relate the exhibition of the rocket life-saving apparatus by the coast-guard, and the bringing ashore, by its means, imaginary wrecked men from vessels anchored safely in the smooth waters of the Orwell. Neither need we allude to the usual public dinner with its appropriate toasts, all of which had been got up to give additional eclat to the great object of the day. Our object solely being to record that which we deem to be at all times a noble spectacle and worthy of admiration and imitation; viz., the fact of a whole community heartily responding to the call of a few individuals, in an unmistakably good and patriotic work, not for the immediate benefit of their own body, but in the general interest of strangers in adversity amongst their fellow-men.