BY ALFRED ROBINSON (12}), Warple Way Mixed School, Wandsworth.

Why I admire the Life-Boatman.

MOST of us have had the pleasure of a holiday by the sea during the summer, and probably have enjoyed the thrills of a delightful trip in a sailing boat. The golden sands and placid sea, thronged with happy faces, linger as a picture in our memories long after our return.

But the sea, like people, has many moods, and during the winter we have seen pictures of how terribly angry and destructive it can be. The boatmen are not engaged in pleasure trips then. Oh no 1 They make trips because the lives of their fellow-creatures are hi danger. They answer the call for help just as a doctor might, who is called out in the middle of the night to a patient who is dangerously ill. The doctor is certainly in- convenienced and is paid for this, but the life-boatman is not only inconvenienced, he is undertaking a dangerous task without a thought of himself. It is true that he re- ceives a reward for his services in saving life, but the satisfaction in knowing he has done his duty well is his greatest reward.

This spirit of self-sacrifice displayed by the life-boatman endears him to aU lovers of one of the greatest of virtues.

We often read or are told that " Familiarity breeds contempt." One feels sure that this cannot possibly apply to the life-boatman and his connexion with the sea.

One cannot know the sea in its angry mood and not fear it. It is during his ordinary work as a fisherman that he becomes familiar with every aspect of the sea. He realizes, only too well, the terror of its tremendous power, and its treachery and other bad qualities. But we know that the bravest is he who fears and conquers his fear. This is what the life-boatman does. He is not only brave and courageous ; he is more than this ; and one admires him because he is a hero.

His general appearance is typical of his calling. His weather-beaten face is as rugged and deeply lined as the coast he guards. His self-reliance has come to him in his daily battle with the sea for his living.

He is naturally a good-living man, for he must always be ready to make his great trip and, like the " Boy Scout," he must be prepared. Finally one admires him for possessing yet another great virtue—charity, or love for one's fellow-creatures. We are sure he has this, for are we not told that " Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend " ? The monuments to be seen at many seaside resorts all testify more than mere words to the sterling qualities of the life-boatman and why we admire him..