OF all the stormy periods which have found noble work for our Life-boat Fleet, and which have tried the mettle of the brave fellows by whom it is manned, perhaps none have exceeded in violence and destructiveness that of the last few weeks. It has almost seemed as if the tornadoes or cyclones of the Tropics had found their way to our northern shores, although somewhat shorn of their strength before they have reached us. Indeed, if we contrast the character of the short, fitful, and varying storms of the last few years with the steadier and longer gales to which we had been formerly accustomed, it seems more than probable that such has been the case, and that a more general disturbance of the atmosphere in the northern hemisphere has been the result, which disturbance, with its consequent unsettled weather and diversified seasons, may possibly last for several years to come.

, Whether, however, such be the case, and whether the old seasons that we recollect "in the merry days when we were young " will again revisit us, or whether, as is perhaps more likely, the progressive changes which have in times past altered the relative climates of the globe, and left the remains of tropical animals and plants even in its present antarctic regions, will still go on and conduct the earth and its inhabitants through a progression of further changes, so great as to be now inconceivable to us—whether such be the case or not, of one thing we may be certain—that not only will storms and hurricanes continue, but that they are an essential element in preserving and promoting the purity of the lower stratum of the air, and in thus.maintaining it in a fitting state for healthy respiration by the animal and vegetable world.

It behoves us then, even while the dire effects of the storm are spread before our eyes in the shape of broken ships, wasted property, and drowned men, thankfully and reverentially to accept the lesser evil with the greater good that Divine Providence has willed for us; and manfully, as heretofore, to strive to lessen the effects of the evil.

And may we not feel sure that in so doing we are fulfilling at least one of the objects for which evil is permitted in this imperfect state of existence, viz., the stirring us up to the active exercise of the higher functions of our nature, as manifested in our duties one to another, which an unmixed good would fail to awaken within us. ' Let us, however, turn our thoughts to the more practical part of the subject—the rescue of the shipwrecked sailor whom the storm has cast away on our shores, and truly we shall find enough to enlist our sympathy and aid in his behalf. Let us contemplate him. lashed to the rigging or the bulwark of his craft, breaking up beneath his feet, with the great surf leaping over her, and nought but the huge waves breaking and roaring all around; when, with his life's blood chilling in his veins, death staring him in the face, and his heart failing him from fear, his thoughts are turned—may be for the last time—towards those who will mourn his loss in his distant home; when, except he should be able to descry the boat cf mercy coming to his aid, he knows his last hour is come.

Or again, let us change the scene and depict to our mind's eye a corresponding scene on shore :—the night is dark, the cold wintry wind and drenching rain, or blinding snow, have driven every living creature to the shelter of its home, except the few hardy men whose business is with wrecks or the Coast-patrol whose duty ties him to the shore. Suddenly a signal-light is seen at sea— experienced eyes know but too well the tale it tells. The alarm is given, and quickly, but at first one by one, the hardy boatmen of the place emerge from their humble dwellings, and soon an anxious crowd is gathered together—women, arid even children, have mingled with it: there is a running hither and thither—answering fights are shown to those at sea. Presently the Life-boat on its carriage, drawn by horses Or by men, comes rapidly to the spot, and is soon at the water's side. The determined men who form her crew are seated in her-—anxious, and often weeping women, their wives arid relations, are gathered round —the launching ropes'are'manned—there is a plunge, and the noble boat and her nobler freight have disappeared amid the thick darkness, and nought Is seen or heard but the roar of the waves as they raise their huge Wests and fall heavily and continuously on the shore.

Reader, this is n'o imaginary picture— it is one which has been repeated many times in the gales of the past two pionths; during those gales no less than two hundred and fifty-nine lives of human beings have "been saved by the life-boats of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION alone, nearly the Whole of whom would undoubtedly have perished but for that aid.

These noble services have varied much in Character t many have been during the dark hours of night, others have been by day; some have been at short distances from the shore, others on the outlying banks far from the land, to some cases greater danger has been incurred than in others. In some, men have been washed overboard from the boats but recovered again. One of the Institution's life-boats was upset when returning to her station; but although with sails set at the time, and the sheets kept fast, she soon righted herself again, and none of her crew were lost. But another life-boat, the property of the boatmen at Gorlestone, on the Norfolk coast, was upset by collision v with another vessel, and no less than twentyfive of those on board her perished.

.Indeed the work of saving shipwrecked persons, even in the best-appointed lifeboats, must ever be one of danger, and no little courage and hardihood are required on the part of those who engage in it. By giving their invaluable aid they perform their fall share of the duty of alleviating and reducing the amount of the misery and evil produced by the storms on our coasts. It remains for those who cannot share the risks and exposure which these brave men incur, to perform their part in this humane work, by enabling the Institution, which has undertaken to organise and superintend it—- to provide the Life-boats' crews with every means of safety and efficiency, and to remunerate them sufficiently—this serving as some encouragement to them in return for the risks and labour and exposure which they undergo.

The Institution accordingly appeals to all humane and generous, persons in the United Kingdom to contribute from their abundance towards so good a cause.