IT was only in March last that H.K.H.

The PRINCE of WALES very graciously accepted the post of President of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, in succession to the late lamented DUKE of NORTHUMBERLAND, and at once we find him taking active measures in the discharge of his self-imposed duties.

Ever ready to help on any cause for the benefit of his country and people, and more particularly to advance the interests of any undertaking or movement with which he is officially connected, the Prince was to be found, notwithstanding his numerous important engagements, pre- siding at a very influentially and largely attended dinner at the Hotel Metropole on the 1st May last, on behalf of the London Life-Boat Saturday Fund, of which the DUKE of YORK is the President.

We append The Times Report of the speeches, and feel sure that they will be perused by our readers with the deepest interest. All workers for the Institution, whether in connection with the Branches or with the Life-Boat Saturday Auxiliary, will, we are confident, be greatly en- couraged and helped by the earnest words and support of the Institution's "Royal Coxswain," and the gallant coxswains and crews themselves will feel that in His Royal Highness they have a real friend and admirer.

The PRINCE of WALES, in proposing the toast of " The Queen," said:—My Lords and Gentlemen,—In rising to pro- pose the first toast to-night I feel sure you will agree with me that it requires no preface, as I know the feelings of all loyal Englishmen, and the way in which they will drink the first toast to-night.

(Cheers.) In a short time—I may say in a very few days—the Queen will reach the age of 80. (Cheers.) It is a source of the greatest pleasure and gratification, not only to myself and to my family, but to all loyal Englishmen, that she should have attained that age in the best of health. (Cheers.) I give you, not only to-night the health of her Majesty the Queen, but also that of the Patron of the Royal National Life-boat Institution.

(Cheers.) His Royal Highness invited the company to drink the toast with all the honours, himself leading the cheers, which were enthusiastically given.

The EARL of ALBEMARLE proposed, The Health of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Other Members of the Royal Family." The PRINCE of WALES, in responding, said:—My Lords and Gentlemen, I should, indeed, be fastidious if I did not appre- ciate the more than kind and flattering words in which my friend Lord Albemarle has proposed this toast to you, and the kind manner in which you have received it. I appear to-night to yon for the first time as President of this old and excellent Institution. I have always taken the deepest interest in its welfare, and at the death of the lamented Duke of North- umberland, who for so many years had been your president, I felt some diffidence in accepting the post after so distinguished a man. But, in accepting it, I felt it was one which in every sense of the word was congenial to me. Living as I do on the East Coast of England, I know full well how many are exposed to great dangers in their voluntary efforts to save the lives of their fellow-men, whilst risking their own. (Cheers.) I am glad to think that so many members of my family and those who have preceded me have been connected with this Institution.

My granduncle King George IV. was the first patron. His brothers, the Dukes of York, Clarence, Sussex, and Cambridge, were vice-patrons. I believe the first festival dinner that was held was presided over by the late Duke of York so long ago as 1825. I succeeded my lamented father as Vice-Patron in 1863 (cheers), and on three different occasions I pre- sided at annual meetings. This occasion is a crowning point as far as I am personally concerned, and a great pleasure it has given me to preside this year for the first time at a dinner at which great philanthropical and great efforts of humanity are displayed in furthering, perhaps, one of the most important institutions in this country. (Cheers.) I thank yon again for your kind reception of this toast, and the way in which yon have received the name of the Princess of Wales and the other members of my family. (Cheers.) The PRINCE of WALES again rose and said,—The next toast I have to propose to you is one that is always well received, and one which I think ought never to be omitted at all great gatherings of English- men—it is that of the sister services, "The Navy and the Army." (Cheers.) This country owes much to both. I am sure the desire of every Englishman is to see both in a strong state of efficiency, and the taxpayer does not mind putting his hand into his pocket when he knows that he has a good fleet and that the honour of the Empire is safe. (Loud cheers.) I do not think it will be necessary for me, even if I had the power to do so, to give you a long dissertation on the state of Her Majesty's Navy or her Army. Yon all know what is going on.

You all know the constant changes that take place. But, though we have con- fidence in those who are at the head of affairs, both of the Navy and the Army, and feel sure that the newest improve- ments are made, you must always have the feeling that in having a strong Navy and a strong Army the motto is " Defence, not defiance." (Cheers.) The Navy, fortunately, has had but little to do as far as active service is concerned; the Army has had more. We have had recently a campaign in India in which our troops, in conjunction with the brave Indian troops, have, I think, covered themselves with glory and with honour.

(Cheers.) We have also had the recent campaign in the Sudan. Though nomi- nally it was the Egyptian army, we all know that tnose troops were officered by brave Englishmen, and that we had a large force of English troops to assist, under the admirable guidance of the Sirdar, Lord Kitchener, who led them to victory. (Cheers.) The results have been great, I may say, for the sake of Christianity, for the sake of civilisation, and perhaps for the future of our great Empire. (Cheers.) These two toasts I have great pleasure in coupling, the first with the name of my old friend Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock, and the second— the Army—with the name of another old and valued friend, General Sir George Higginson. (Cheers.) Sir L. MCCLINTOCK and Sir G. HIGG- INSON having replied, The PRINCE of WALES again rose to propose the toast of the evening—" The London Life-boat Saturday Fund." He said:—My Lords and Gentlemen,—It is now my privilege to propose the principal toast of the night. In doing so I propose to allude to the history of the Institution, known possibly to most of you, but per- haps not to all, and I hope that what I now have to state may not weary you; but I conceive it is incumbent upon me in taking the chair for the first time as your President to enter perhaps into more detail than others have done. As you are well aware, the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION was established in 1824, seventy-five years ago, and the first President was Lord Liverpool, then Prime Minister. For many years the Institution did not thrive. The total receipts in 1825 amounted to barely3,4:001., and for the next fifteen years the annual receipts never reached that sum.

From 1841 to 1850 no appeal was made to the public, and the total receipts in 1849 were only 354Z. In 1850 a special effort was made to improve matters, and the Queen headed a subscription list with 100Z. (Cheers.) The Prince Consort likewise gave his assistance and support, and this, combined with the untiring energy of the late Duke of Northumber- land, has tended to make the Institution every year more prosperous and useful.

(Cheers.) LIFE-BOAT STATISTICS, [There are now no less than 295 Life- boats belonging to the Institution on the coast, and every year hundreds of lives are saved from shipwreck, thanks to the operations of the Institution. Last year alone the Committee of Management granted rewards for the saving of 756 lives, and from 1824, the year in which the Institution was started, up to the end of 1898 rewards had been given for the saving of upwards of 41,000 lives, this number having been increased by the saving of between 200 and 300 more lives during the present year. (Cheers.) The number saved during the past 46 years was nearly 30,000 by Life-boats and over 10,000 by shore boats. (Cheers.) Of the 295 Life-boats 254 are self-righting, 36 non-self-righting, and five are steam Life-boats.

ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION.

One of the most important indirect measures adopted by the Institution, with a view to diminish the loss of life from shipwreck on the coast, has been to pro- cure from the Government a system of electrical communication between rock lighthouses, light-vessels, &c., and the shore; also between the coastguard stations and signal stations and the post- offices nearest the Life-boat stations where there are no coastguard stations. This useful work was commenced in 1893, and steady progress has been made in it every year, and it will, it is hoped, before long be completed. (Cheers.) The Royal Commission which was appointed at the suggestion of the Institution in 1893 sat for four years, during which time they issued five reports, the fifth and final report being issued in the autumn of 1897. The most important recommenda- tions of the Commission have already been carried out, but in their last report they felt bound to state that they did not feel justified in recommending the con- nection of more light-vessels and the shore than those they had proposed until the ethereal system then under trial had been fully tested. I understand that those tesfs have been satisfactory, and you have all doubtless seen in the Press the accounts of the remarkable and successful experi- ments which have recently been carried out in connection with wireless telegraphy, under the superintendence of Signor Marconi,, the inventor (cheers), which would seem to solve the great difficulties which have been encountered in the efforts made to complete so important a system round our coast. (Renewed cheers.) I should mention likewise the use and importance of the telephonic and telegraphic connections which have been established by the Institution, and the utility of which each year has been increasingly demonstrated, they being more and more employed for calling out Life-boats when required, for preventing unnecessary launches, and for warning Life-boat crews to be on the alert to render assistance. (Cheers.) THE LIFE-BOAT SATURDAY FUND.

I must say a few words now respecting the Life-boat Saturday Fund, which was initiated in 1891. Its object has always been to stimulate interest among all classes in the life-saving work of the Institution and to obtain increased financial support. From the very begin- ning it met with the warmest approval, and in the course of a few years it was adopted by nearly all the important towns in the kingdom. (Cheers.) Ladies also have rendered most generous assistance and have given the greatest encouragement to the movement. The money raised by this fund is applied, as far as possible, towards grants to (a) widows and young children of life-boat men who have lost their lives in the service, not less than 100Z. being allowed for each widow and 25Z. for each dependent child; (6) grants to men injured in the service; (c) pensions and retiring allowances to coxswains, &c., of long and meritorious service who have been retired on account of old age, ill health, accident, or abolition of post; IST AUGUST, 1899.] THE LIFE-BOAT.

497 (d) payments to coxswains and crews for services rendered, for special rewards, &c.

The Institution, which is the oldest Life- boat service in the world, has since its foundation always endeavoured, so far as its funds permitted, to help the widows and orphans of those gallant men forming its crews, who have perished in their effort s to save the lives of others, and likewise to assist financially those who may have met with accidents in the service. (Cheers.) The great work of saving life cannot be carried on without the heroic services of those who man the Life-boats all round our coasts, but at the same time it must be borne in mind that all the intrepidity in the world would be useless and of no avail were it not for the means of saving life entrusted to the crews by the Institution. (Cheers.) The Committee of Management are always on the alert to examine and, if desirable, to adopt any proposal or invention which may either make the Life-boats safer and more efficient for their important work or lender them better suited for the crews who man them and for the shipwrecked people who have to be rescued by them.

The Life-boat crews, therefore, in order that they may be in a position to perform those deeds of heroism which have gained for them the admiration of the civilized world, are entirely dependent on the means which are placed at their disposal by the Institution for their work.

THE NEED OF FUNDS.

For this purpose and for ensuring the proper and efficient working of the machinery of this great national Institu- tion, the Committee of Management have to look for the voluntary financial support of the British public. Hitherto they have not appealed in vain, but continued and increased help is indispensable, and will, I am sure, be forthcoming. Let me mention that from time to time the com- mittee are compelled to lay out a very large sum at a single station to improve its efficiency; only last year nearly 4,0002. was expended at Margate in the necessary construction of two slipways for the two new large Life-boats placed there. Quite apart from the work performed by the Institution through the instrumentality of its Life-boats and crews is the encouragement and incentive to gallantry which it gives by offering rewards to all who risk their own lives in saving, or endeavouring to save, by means of shore-boats or other means, the lives of those who are in danger of drowning from shipwreck on any part of the shores of the United Kingdom. Many thousands of pounds have been spent by the Institu- tion in this way, and every year the expenditure under this heading is con- siderably increased. But the Institution not only does its best to save life in the directions I have mentioned; it likewise distributes broadcast excellent directions for restoring the apparently drowned, and these have constantly proved of the utmost service. I am anxious to draw your special attention to the fact that the cases of gallantry rewarded by the Insti- tution have been by no means confined to men. On some parts of our coasts, I am informed, the fisherwomen and girls help to launch the Life-boats and encourage in every way their husbands and brothers to man them. (Loud cheers.) There are several gallant British women, of whom we may well be proud, now alive who have been decorated with the silver medal of the Institution, and you probably all know that the celebrated Grace Darling was rewarded with the silver medal for her heroic services.

(Renewed cheers.) Each year, as the service is enlarged and the committee are enabled from experience and by the help of science to make it more efficient, the cost of conducting it increases, and the Institution, which, as I have before stated, is supported entirely by voluntary contributionc, requires in consequence a very large and permanent income to maintain and carry on its great work.

London, being the largest shipping port in this great maritime country, with an annual inward and outward tonnage of over 25 millions in 1897, ought to be specially interested in maintaining the Life-boats in their work of saving life round our dangerous coasts. (Cheers.) THE HEROISM OF LIFE-BOAT CREWS.

Before I sit down I must remind you that the boats belonging to the Institu- tion are manned entirely by volunteers, and that, as a rule, the crews are formed by the local fishermen. At some stations, however, they are supplemented from time to time by coastguard men when available. No words can adequately express the extraordinary gallantry shown by the Life-boat crews in carrying out the extremely hazardous work which they have to undertake in saving life from vessels in distress or when stranded.

(Cheers.) On a dark winter's night when suddenly summoned by a signal to launch and man the Life-boat, the work in most cases is one of the greatest possible danger, especially in some parts of the coast where a launching slipway cannot be arranged, and the boats have to be launched off the well-known Life-boat carriage. It is a great matter for con- gratulation that the loss of life to Life- boat crews is but a small one; but when lives are lost the Institution invariably provides for the widows and orphans in the most liberal way, and supports any local fund raised in the event of a disaster. (Cheers.) In proposing this toast which I know you will receive most cordially, you will forgive me if I have perhaps addressed you at too great a length, bat I am anxious now to give yon "Success to the London Life-boat Saturday Fund," a branch of the Parent Institution. In doing so I wish to connect with it the name of the chairman of the Committee, Sir Edward Birkbeck, who has for so many years taken such deep interest in everything that concerns the well-being and prosperity of this Institu- tion. (Cheers.) I may mention also the names of the vice-chairman, Colonel Fitzroy Clayton, and the Secretary. I mast not leave out the Chief Inspectors, who do their duty to the best of their ability, and who, although they may not encounter the dangers which the marine crews undergo, are at any rate responsible, | and feel "their responsibility if anything goes wrong. I ask you now, gentlemen, to drink the toast of the evening, " Success to the London Life-boat Saturday Fund." (Loud cheers.) SIR EDWARD BIRKBECK acknowledged the toast, and subscriptions were afterwards announced amounting to upwards of 2.420Z. There were also a number of promises of subscriptions, of which the amount was not stated..