A PUBLIC meeting in furtherance of the objects of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION was held on Wednesday afternoon, the 13th June last, in the Egyptian Hall at the Mansion House, by the special invitation of the Eight Hon. the LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, who presided.

The meeting was attended by a large number of influential citizens and the general public, amongst whom were His Royal Highness the DUKE OF SAXE- COBURG AND GOTHA, KG., Captain the Bight Hon. Lord CHARLES BERESFORD, E.N., C.B., Sir EDWARD BIRKBECK, Bart., Sir THOMAS SUTHERLAND, K.C.M.G., M.P., The Venerable the ARCHDEACON OF LONDON, Colonel FitzRoY CLAYTON, Admiral J. HALLIDAY CAVE, C.B., PERCEVAL ALLEYN NAIRN, Esq., Admiral Sir WILLIAM DOWELL, K.C.B., Mr. B. U.

PENROSE FITZ-GERALD, M.P., Mr. W.

H. LYALL, Sir SYDNEY WEBB, K.C.M.G.

(Deputy Master of the Trinity House), Colonel HOZIER (Secretary of Lloyd's), Mr. L. T. CAVE, Sir ALLEN YOUNG, C.B., Mr. ROBERT ESCOMBE, Admiral CHATFIELD, C.B., Mr. JOSEPH F. GREEN, Sir GEORGE HAYTER CHUBB, Mr. CHARLES DIBDIN (Secretary of the Institution), General Boss, Mr. W. J. SOULSBY, Lieut.

GARTSIDE - TIPPING, B.N., Admiral LE HUNTE WARD, C.g., Mr. 0. A. KENT (Secretary of the Trinity House), Lieut. KEPPELL, B.N. (in attendance on the DUKE OF SAXE - COBURG), Sir SIMEON STUART, Bart., and many others.

The SECRETARY announced that nume- rous letters had been received from noble- men and gentlemen stating their great regret at being unable to be present, and expressing their most cordial sympathy with the objects of the meeting. Amongst them were the BISHOP OF LONDON, the DEAN OF ST. PAUL'S, the MARQUIS OF ATLSA, Admiral Lord ALCESTER, Earl NOBTHBROOK, Earl PERCY, Earl WALI/E- GBAVE, Lord GEORGE HAMILTON, M.P., Alderman Sir REGINALD HANSON, M.P., A. G. H. GIBBS, Esq., M.P., Dr. ADLEH (Chief Rabbi), Mr. HENRY KIMBEB, M.P., the Postmaster-General, the Governor of the Bank of England, Admiral of the Fleet Sir ALEX. MILNE, the City Chamberlain, Alderman DA VIES and Alderman TEELOAB.

The LORD MAYOR, in commencing the proceedings of the meeting, said, " It is with great pleasure that I have invited you here to-day to ask you to co-operate with me in endeavouring to assist the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, one of the most meritorious and useful voluntary institutions in this the greatest maritime country of the world. Indeed, there is perhaps no society which better deserves the best financial support of the citizens of London, whose interests are so closely connected with the safety of our ships and sailors. The Institution, since its establishment in 1824, - has granted rewards for the saving of upwards of 38,000 lives by means of its Life-boats and in other ways, and it is to ensure the continuance of this grand work that I now plead. The speakers who will follow me will indicate more minutely the manner in which we as citizens may help the cause, but what I want to impress upon you is the absolute necessity for providing a permanent annual income for the Society, more especially in the way of annual subscriptions. Donations and gifts are very useful, but what is wanted most of all is well-sustained help in the form of annual subscriptions. I sincerely trust that the outcome of this great and influ- ential meeting will be that our leading citizens and the City Guilds will take the matter earnestly to heart and in hand, and set a worthy example to the other cities and large towns of the United Kingdom, several of which have already enthusiastically raised large sums of money for the cause by means of ' Life- boat Saturday' demonstrations and in other ways." H.R.H. the DUKE OF SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA, who was received with cheers, said," It is with great pleasure that I have responded to the invitation of Sir EDWARD BIRKBECK to come down here to-day and propose the first resolution. I do not propose to go into a long account or to give statistics of the work of this Insti- tution, but there are some points to which I must allude. You all are well acquainted with the magnificent work— the number of lives saved has been already mentioned by the LORD MAYOR— done by this Institution, and the heroic manner in which the brave men who man the Life-boats save so many lives which would otherwise inevitably perish. There is another point which must be parti- cularly noticed, namely, that this Insti- tution is supported by voluntary con- tributions. I think it is the proud boast of England that most, if not all, of its philanthropic work is done by means of voluntary contributions. But those who hare the management of these institu- tions, whether they be hospitals or institutions of this description, know that with each succeeding year the claims upon the income increase, whereas the income from voluntary sources is of a fluctuating nature. The object of this meeting is specially to try to secure that this income should not be fluctuating, but should be at all times adequate for its requirements. There have been special demands made upon this Institu- tion during the last few years in respect of new stations, including boathouses, new slipways, improvements to boats, higher pay to crews during the winter months, cost of the first steam Life- boat, and other things which render it imperative to make a more energetic appeal to the public. At Manchester and Salford the ' Life-boat Saturday' move- ment was initiated in 1891 by Mr. 0. W. MACARA, and since then many other large towns have taken up the movement with great success. ' Life-boat Saturday' pro- cessions and public demonstrations have been carried out, and have been found to be most useful and admirable, and the other towns in Lancashire and other places have come forward in the most handsome manner. The great idea with which I understand this particular meeting has been started is to bring London into accord with those other great towns who have made an advance in this matter (cheers). I understand that London has not contributed to the Life-boat Institu- tion in an adequate proportion to its commercial importance. In 1892, accord- ing to the Board of Trade returns, the number of vessels entering and leaving the port of London was 77,753, with a tonnage approaching 22,000,000. If public demonstrations and processions cannot easily be carried out in London as they are in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Dundee and other places where street collections are made with much success, I think a strong representative committee should be formed in the City, at all events, and other portions of this work could probably be successfully pressed by this committee in other ways.

It is to the trading communities and the companies of the City of London that we must look for a larger proportion of the much-needed assistance, without which the increasing demands on the Institution cannot be met. I hare much pleasure in proposing the following resolution:— "' That this Meeting of Citizens of London is of opinion that the ROYAL  NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION, which is maintained en- tirely by voluntary contributions, deserves the most earnest and hearty support of the people of this the first maritime port in the world, and pledges itself to do its utmost to promote its objects and welfare.'" Sir T. SUTHERLAND, M."P., seconded the motion, and expressed the pleasure they all felt that though his Royal Highness was now a German sovereign, he still remained an English prince (cheers), interested particularly in those nautical affairs to which he owed his training.

No doubt, owing to the strides of science, there was not as many Jives lost now as formerly, but on the other hand there was an enormous increase in the tonnage of our ships and in the mileage they ran.

The ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITU- TION was a sort of great national insurance against loss of life. It was not only the lives that were saved that were so valu- able, but it was the knowledge that when a mariner was wrecked on oar coasts he knew the Life-boat would come out to save him (cheers). He was aware that some few people thought the Institution should be managed by a Government department; but most of them who had experience of Government departments were quite satisfied that the Board of Trade had quite sufficient work of its own, and could never do the work of the Institution with the same efficiency with which it was now performed (loud cheers).

The Ven. ARCHDEACON OP LONDON sup- ported the motion, expressing on behalf of the City clergy their hearty sympathy with the objects of the Meeting. He could personally testify to the splendid work done by the Institution on the coast.

The Resolution was carried unani- mously.

Captain Lord CHARLES BERESFORD then moved:— "That steps be at once taken to form a branch of the Institution in the City of London, and that the following gentlemen be invited to join the Committee, with power to add to their number:—The Eight Hon. the LORD MAYOR, the Sheriffs of London, the Members of Parlia- ment for the City of London, the Very Rev. the Dean of St. Paul's, the Governor of the Bank of England, the Chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce, the Chairman of Lloyd's, the Chairman of the Stock Exchange, the Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the Deputy- Master of the Mint, the Deputy-Master nf the Trinity House, Vice-Admiral A. J. CHAT- FIELD, C.B., Mr. HENRY HCCKS GIBBS, Mr. HAMILTON NOEL HAMILTON-HOARE, the Bight Hon. Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., F.E.S., M.P., Mr. FREDERICK D. MOCATTA, and Mr. PERCEVAL ALLEYN NAIRNE. Honorary Secretary, pro tern., Mr. W. E. SMITH." He understood that last year, while the ordinary income of the Society was only 56.000/., it was necessary to spend 83,OOOZ.

Of course it was bad business to spend more than was coming in, and upon calculation he found that if more money were not forthcoming than last year they would eventually have to take off many Life-boats. Much money was spent on slip-ways, from which to launch the boats, some of which cost 1.500Z. each ; in drill- ing the men, which was very necessary; in rewarding them for life-saving services, &c. Altogether, a very large expenditure was indispensable to keep up the 305 Stations of the Institution around the coasts. The commerce of our country represented about 1,000 millions of money, while we owned two-thirds of the shipping of the world, and employed some 216,000 seamen. Unfortunately, many of our ships went out undermanned, which was a great cause of accident.

From 1876 to 1892 there were 1,300 ships missing, on which 16,000 people went down. In the same period there were 14,000 people drowned on ships, the details of the loss of which were known.

During that same time the Institution saved no less than 13,000 lives (cheers).

He said it was a grand thing for the people of this country to support an Institution like that. It showed what could be done by pluck, gallantry and voluntary subscriptions (cheers). The needs of the Institution were greater than ever, because our shipping was in- creasing, and we were more dependent on our mercantile marine for oar water- borne produce. It was sad to see that the funds were in some directions decreasing, and he hoped that would be obviated by the present meeting. He was glad to see the question of electrical communication between light-ships and the shore was being taken up, as he believed it would do a great deal to help in saving life and to make the work of the Life-boats more timely and efficacious (cheers). He would heartily oppose any proposition that the Government should take over the Life- boat Service. They did assist at present by lending coastguard men at a few of the stations to man the boats, but these men were man-of-war's men, who had not the local knowledge which was necessary in Life-boat work. What was wanted in the present state of things was a little more enthusiasm, and that was what they •had come there for (cheers). A generous few gave largely, bat what was wanted was the small subscriptions of the many, not so much now for new boats but to keep up properly what they had got. He concluded by urging each one present to try to get a friend to give a small annual subscription to the funds of the Society (loud cheers).

Sir GEO. H. CHUBB seconded the motion, and said they should have no hesitation in making the appeal they did on behalf of the Institution whose claims were superior to those of any other Society which appealed to Englishmen.

The Resolution was agreed to with acclamation.

The DUKE OF SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA said, " I beg to propose a resolution thanking the LORD MAYOR for taking the chair upon this occasion, and for placing this ancient hall at the disposal of the Institution for holding the meeting. I think it is a most fitting thing that this meeting should be held in this hall under the LORD MAYOR'S presidency, for this building has been so long associated with every philanthropical undertaking, and the LORD MAYOR for the time being has been at the head of such movements (cheers). It has given me great pleasure to think that in his capacity as LORD MAYOR the Chairman will have his name at the head of the Committee which has been proposed by the last resolution. I now beg to move— « ' That the best thanks of this Meeting be tendered to the Eight Hon. THIS LORD MAYOR for his kindness in presiding on this Occasion and for permitting the Meeting to be held in the Mansion House' " (cheers).

Sir EDWARD BIRKBECK, "But., said: " I most cordially second the resolution which His Royal Highness has moved, and on behalf of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, I beg to express our deepest gratitude to the LORD MAYOR in the first instance for having on the occasion of our Annual Meeting suggested that this public meeting should be held. We thank him most heartily on behalf of all our crews, and for everybody connected with the Institution for presiding on this occasion.

Since I have been in this hall a gentleman connected with the Stock Exchange in- formed me that when our posters were put about yesterday a certain number were placed in the Stock Exchange, and they were received with rattling cheers. I can only hope, as a suggestion, that the Stock Exchange will see their way some time during the year to hold a 'Life-boat Stock Exchange Day/ and if that is the case with them I am sure they of all people will set a brilliant example to the city to come forward and support the movement suggested to-day " (cheers).

The motion having been put to the Meeting by His Royal Highness, was carried nem. con., and the LORD MAYOR having suitably responded, the proceedings terminated.