AT a life-boat service held at Lande- wednack Parish Church, and attended by the crews of the Lizard, Cadgwith and Coverack life-boats, on 22nd August, 1954, a diocesan lay reader took as his text Acts 27 verse 20: And when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was nozv taken away.

In his sermon he said: I remember as a small boy being told by my Sunday School teacher, an old seaman, that the storv of St.

Paul's voyage to Rome and shipwreck is the most perfect account that may be found in any literature. In these days of steam and motor ships it may not be generally appreciated, for much of the terror of the sea has been removed thereby; but to those who remember the days of canvas, when in fair weather ships were a joy to watch, but in storm and gale it was soul- rending to see them in their weakness —especially being driven on to a lee shore—it is a moving story.

The Grylls Act Particularly should it appeal to us who live in Cornwall, for we are told that when the crew and passengers had safely landed on the Island of Melita (Malta) that the barbarians treated them with no common kind- ness. It is here in this church, situated so close to what was known to the men of the sailing ships as the dreaded Lizard, that I would like to protest at the iniquitous statements that have been made about the Cornish people in regard to wrecking. That anyone could possibly believe that the captain of a sailing ship, a highly skilled navigator, could be put off his course by the sight of a light—if it was possible to see such a thing—east by a horn lantern tied to a cow's tail, is fantastic to a degree. Not very far from this site, and at several places along the coast near here, may be found the graves of seamen, whose bodies were recovered after shipwreck, and who were given Christian burial, as may be seen from the orientation of the graves, in the days long before the Grylls Act made it compulsory for local authorities to bury bodies recovered from the sea.

Grylls, who was responsible for the Act, lived not far from this spot.

Again not very far from here, on the Looe Bar, was tried out and found efficient the first rocket life-saving apparatus, invented by Henry Tren- grouse, who lived at Helston. And nowhere around the coast of Great Britain has finer work been done by the men of the Life-boat Service, than here in the Lizard Peninsula, from the dreaded Manacles to Predannack Head.

An artist friend, who has spent much of his life in the West Country, told me some time ago that if you want to find the finest example of Cornish men you must seek them in the little fishing coves that face on to the Atlantic, for there you will find men who live daily with danger in their efforts to wrest a living from the cruel sea. They have a sturdiness of char- acter that equals the invincible cliffs that resist the attacks of the mighty sea. They "look on tempests and are not shaken " and are prepared to wage war on it at its worst. And that is a quality that is passed on from father to son, a tradition that has bred soundness of character and a desire to serve one's day and generation.

The boys who play on the beach today and carve model boats out of bits of driftwood will be the life-boat- men of tomorrow. That is why, after a tragedy like that which befell the St. Ives life-boat some years ago, a new crew was immediately forth- coming. A people that is permeated with such tradition of service will never be destroyed.

German Captain's Comment Some weeks ago a small steamship was wrecked on the rugged coast near the Lands End, and when the crew was rescued bv the rocket appara- tus, the captain, who was a German, said: "You English are a great people." It was not a great event in the lives of the local people, for they were born and bred in the tradition of service to their fellow-men.

It is interesting to note what happened to the actors in the drama told in this chapter from the Acts.

The Syro-Phoenician sailors who tried to desert the ship immediately they thought she would be lost, the Roman soldiers who cut away the boat to make sure that no chance of their own safety should be thrown away, the Christian prisoners—bred in the creed of unselfishness—who kept calm and trusted in God to save them, the bar- barians of Malta who befriended the unfortunate castaways. Syro-Phoe- nicia and Rome have passed away; Christianity with its creed of unselfish- ness remains; the barbarians of Melita were the defenders of Malta in the last war.

Let us keep our traditions, which are the guarantee of survival. Let us remember that we live riot only in our own generation, but in the genera- tions that are to follow us. Let us remember that peace will not come by legislation, but in our efforts to live in the lives of our fellow-men, be they friend or ex-foe. Let us further remember that he who loses his life will not only save it, but live the fuller life, and let us thank God for the great example shown us by the men of the Life-boat Service..