IN the year 1851 the first self-righting Life-boat was built by Mr. JAMES BEECHING, the well-known boat-builder, at Yarmouth, who had obtained the prize of 1007., which had been offered in the previous year by Admiral the DUKE of NORTHUMBERLAND, for tho best model of a Life-boat. In the following year the Duke stationed five similar boats on the coast of Northumber- land ; and, after a sufficient trial of their properties, the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, of which His Grace was the President, decided to adopt that class of boat, and commenced the construction of that noble Life-saving Fleet which has steadily increased until it numbers no less than 232 boats, of which 210 are built on the self-righting principle. ' At the outset there were many persons, practical seamen and others, who ridiculed the idea of making Life-boats to self-right, and foretold their failure; and even to the present day there are some who do so, and who labour under the misapprehension that in proportion as a boat is made to self-right with facility, in nearly the same proportion will she be more liable to upset. An acquaintance with the principles on which the self- righting property is obtained would dissipate any such mistaken view. We do not, however, now propose to explain those principles, but to state the results of its adoption, as shown by the relative loss of life which has been occasioned by accidents to Life-boats possessing that property, and to those which did not.

Since the first self-righting Life-boat was stationed on the coast in 1852, there have been 32 boats of that class upset, on board of which were 367 men, and of that number 15 only lost their lives, being in the proportion of only 1 to every 24 lives risked.

On the other hand, since the year 1849, when the Shields Life-boat was upset, there have been 8 Life-boats of other kinds upset, on board of which there were 140 men, no less than 87 of whom have been drowned, being in the proportion of nearly 2 out of every 3 lives risked.

The contrast between these results of accidents to the two classes of boats is so extraordinary that it must speak for itself; lest, however, it should appear that the number of self-righting boats that have upset has been excessive, it must be borne in mind that, although the actual number that have done so is greatly in excess of the number of similar accidents to other classes of boats, yet that, in proportion to the number of boats in use of each class, the relative number has been very much less. Moreover, the self-righting boats belonging to the Institution are taken afloat for exercise four times every year, often in heavy surfs, and half of those which have been upset have been so when out for exercise; whilst, on the other hand, the other classes of Life- boats, the greater number of 'which are not in connection with the Institution, have not been taken afloat for exercise, and consequently have, in comparison, much less frequently incurred the risk of accident.

Apart, however, from the prognostication that such boats would be more unsafe than the previously existing classes of Life-boats, there were three special objections 'made to them; and the fact will not be thought to be without interest that experience has proved the fallacy of each:— In the 1st place it was predicted that, owing to their great buoyancy and their high ends, at bow and stern, they would hold so much wind that they would never be propelled against a heavy sea and a strong gale. The reply, in this the twentieth year of their career, is, that they have since been launched in gales of wind many hundreds of times, and have saved several thousand lives, and that their failures to effect their object have been so few that we shall probably be within the mark if we estimate them at once in fifty times that their services have been required. It must also be remembered that in heavy gales of wind in some localities, there are often broken seas of such magnitude that no boat in existence could be taken into them with- out certain destruction.

2ndly. It was foretold that the self- righting property would be of no service, as their crews, after being thrown out of them, would never be able to regain them; since, being so high out of water, and holding so much wind, they would speedily be carried to leeward beyond the reach of the unfortunate persons who had been suddenly ejected from them.

The reply to this supposition is that in only one of the thirty-two cases above quoted, has the Life-boat been carried to leeward of the crew and they prevented from regaining her; and that even when upset [ under sail, and with the sheets fast, they have righted again, and their crews have I regained them without the loss of a single ! life. The exceptional case was that of the Padstow Life-boat, which was upset by an enormous sea three-quarters of a mile from the shore, when, being thrown " end over end," the stern perpendicularly over the bow, and the men • being all thrown out, she was carried at I once to leeward of them by the same sea by which she was upset, so that they were unable to regain her; whereas, in every other instance, the boats having been upset more or less on the broadside, those in them -have been thrown out to leeward; and in nearly every instance one or more of the men have remained in them, and have then been enabled to assist the others to get in.

3rdly. It was said that, although the men working the boats, being provided with good life-belts, might be able to regain them, any unfortunate wrecked men who might be in them, having no belts, would be drowned. Again, how- ever, as in the other cases, theory has not been borne out by fact, for, happily, in one instance -only has a Life-boat be- longing to the Institution been upset with a wrecked crew on board, and in that instance no life was lost—a circumstance for which we cannot be too thankful, since undoubtedly even the self- righting property itself would not have shown such splendid results, if the Institution had not provided its Life-boats' crews with the best description of life- belts to support them in the water until able to regain their boats, after being thrown out of them.

The case referred to is that of the Peninon Life-boat, which had a wrecked crew of five men on board when upset in March, 1868. The two following Tables show all the recorded instances of Life- boats upsetting that have occurred on the coasts of the United Kingdom since the year 1849. Table I. exhibits those of the self-righting Life-boats, and Table II. those of Life-boats which would not self- right.