[These extracts are from Dame Millicent Fawcett's book of reminiscences, " What I Remember," which were published (12*. 6d. net) last autumn. They are made by her kind permission, and that of her publishers, Messrs. T. Fisher Unwin.

It will be remembered that Dame Millicent spoke at the Annual Meeting in 1920, and on that occasion gave some of her recollec- tions of the Aldeburgh Life-boat.] THERE was a very cordial arid friendly feeling between my father and the sea- faring men at Aldeburgh. He was a mer- chant and owned a small fleet of trading vessels which plied between our little town and London, and also Newcastle and the North. Later he built vessels for himself at his principal place of business, Snape, a few miles higher up the river than Aldeburgh. He had some official position which con- nected him with the beachmen. I remember on his business writing-paper the, to me, mysterious words : " Agent for Lloyd's and Receiver of Droits of Admiralty." The sound and look of the words Droits of Admiralty fascinated me.

In the old days of sailing vessels the coast of Suffolk, and particularly the Alde- burgh Bay, were very dangerous, and there was never a wreck without my father being present, and if there were lives to be saved he took an active part in the dangerous and difficult work.

The rocket apparatus for sending a cord or rope over a distressed ship had not then been perfected, and lives were often lost in the vain attempt to reach and save mariners in ships which had been storm driven on one of the shoals off Aldeburgh. The gun, three times fired, which summoned the Life-boat Crew for active service was a familiar and none the less an intensely thrilling sound, in our ears. Whenever the Life-boat was launched, even were it only for a practice, every man, woman and child who heard the gun hurried to the beach, some to lend a hand, and all to see and wish and hope that the departing men would return in safety and bring their rescued comrades with them. It was a deep angry sea where a tall man would be out of his depth three yards from the shore, and the great breakers in a storm beat with deadly weight upon men and ships alike.

I remember one awful day, 2nd Novem- ber, 1855, when there were seventeen ships driven ashore or broken up on the shoals off Aldeburgh in my father's dis- trict. Everything that possibly could be done was done, but there was a terrible loss of life. My father received the official thanks of The Royal National Life-boat Institution en-! Lightgrossed on Vellum for his services on this occasion. This document which now belongs to my nephew, Philip Cowell, runs thus : That the Special Thanks of The Royal National Life-boat Institution be presented to Newson Garrett, Esq., in testimony of his highly meritorious conduct in assisting to rescue through the surf nine out of the eleven of the crew of the Swedish brig VESTA, which in a gale of wi-nd was wrecked near Orford Low Lightgrossed house on the 2W, November 1855.

There was a family of seamen for which we ever after felt a deep bond of gratitude and affection—the Cables.

My father and George Cable were taking a leading part in making a human chain along a rope to reach a shipwrecked crew in urgent distress and fetching them off one by one. My father went first, Cable second, and a good number following; after doing this and bringing in his man several times, my father showed signs of exhaustion, and Cable said to him, " Look here, governor, you have done this often enough," and he took the leading place on the rope from my father and assumed it himself ; he never came ashore again ; the rope snapped between my father and Cable, as if it had been pack thread, and Cable was washed away and perished in sight of the gallant men who had undertaken the work of rescue. My father was again, and by his own choice, in the place of the greatest risk, which had just ended fatally before his eyes. We were always taught by my mother to remem- ber that Cable had saved my father's life.

James Cable, the son of George, just referred to, was only a boy when all this happened, but as he grew in years he developed into a very fine seaman, much respected and well known all along the coast and in the Life-boat Society, for combined courage and caution; for many years, indeed until old age compelled him to withdraw, he was Coxswain of the Aide- burgh Life-boat. On one occasion this boat under James Cable's command had I more than usually distinguished itself, so that newspaper men from London came down to learn and retail all the particulars of the brave work. They found Cable the very reverse of commu- nicative, their only chance seemed to be to pump his narrative out of him in fragments, question by question. One of these, and Cable's reply to it, form a sort of epitome of his character.

Newspaper Reporter : " Now. Mr. Cable, you can tell me, I expect, how i many lives you have saved at sea ?James Cable : "I don't know I'm sure, sir, I don't keep no count on 'em." This was the sort of thing that made ! every one in Aldeburgh just love Cable, but he was not a bit spoiled—he was always the same simple, modest, upright man that his father had been before him.

Another incident of my childhood in connexion with the Life-boat was an intense joy to me. The Life-boat gun had been fired, but only for a practice.

The Crew received 3s. a head for practice on a smooth day and 5*. on a rough day ; this was a 5s. day. We all ran off to the beach as usual, I holding my father's hand. While the boat was still ! on the rollers one of her crew said to my father, " Come along with us, governor "; he replied, " I should like it, my lad, but you see I can't, I've got the child with me." Looking down on me, the sailor rejoined, " Little missie would like to come, too, sir." There was no need for me to say anything. I was too enchanted at this unexpected adventure. The smallest cork jacket in the collection was found and slipped over my head, and we embarked. The seas broke over the I boat as we crossed the shoal and drenched ; my hair and shoulders ; one of the kind sailors produced a pink cotton handker- chief from his pocket, and said, " Here, missie, wrop this round your neck." Of course, I did so, and, of course, the jiink handkerchief was soon as wet as the rest of my clothing. I was intensely happy, and never dreamed of being sea-sick.