even under the present want of system, when the best means for their purpose are not supplied; when they are without any certainty of reward; and act under the peculiarly appalling consideration, that if they perish, they may leave wives, children, and every one destitute who depend on them for support.

If, under such discouragement, we every year have so many instances of self-devotion, what might not be expected from the same men, when they knew that in the performance of their arduous duties, every possible means to execute them, with safety to themselves, and success to the objects of their efforts, would be supplied; that if they succeeded, they would be honoured and recompensed, according to their merits and situation in life; and if it were their lot to perish in so noble a cause, they had at least the consolation to know, beyond a doubt, that their families would not be left to deplore their loss in unassisted poverty?

To these objects the Institution ought unquestionably to extend, or it would be unworthy of the great country to which it belonged, and of the high patronage with which I hope it may be honoured.

Nor will I suppose that those whom I have specified are the only persons who will take an active part on such occasions. There is another class, who, from what I have individually seen, will, I am certain, become able and zealous leaders,—not only the employed, but the half-pay officers of the navy, now so widely spread over the coasts of the United Kingdom. Living in retirement in time of peace, they would not allow their energies to sleep when their brother seamen were in danger, but come forward with the conscious feeling, that those distinguished characters who preside over the British navy, would regard such meritorious services as being in the direct path of honour; and that to rescue a human being from the perils of shipwreck would not be less acceptable to their country than to subdue her enemies in battle.

The Romans rewarded with the civic crown those who had saved the life of a fellow citizen. Our late venerable sovereign conferred the baronetage on the gallant Viscount Exmouth, then Captain Pellew, for his noble and successful efforts, at the extreme hazard of his own life, to save the crew of an East Indiaman, wrecked at Plymouth, when the situation of every one on board appeared beyond the reach of human aid.

The whole class of the preventive service, with many departments of the revenue, could not be more honourably employed, and they must naturally feel that their brave exertions, on such occasions, would be fully estimated.

The assistance of medical men, who would enrol themselves to be ready to attend, might frequently be of the utmost importance to succour and restore those who might have sustained severe injury, or whose lives might be nearly extinct; and it is confidently to be hoped, that the happiest consequences would frequently result, from having always ready for use, the apparatus of the Royal Humane Society for restoring suspended animation—also by the circulation of their instructions for the treatment of persons in that situation.

There is not perhaps any subject connected with this proposed Institution, more worthy of its utmost attention and care, than the protection of persons and property from the cruel rapacity of those abandoned marauders, who, on some parts of our coasts, have but too long followed a practice disgraceful to a civilized state, and dangerous in its example as fatal to its victims, of plundering from wrecks, and there is much reason to fear, often suffering to perish, from want of assistance, many who might otherwise have been rescued from peril, and restored to their friends and their country; but by means of the numerous establishments of this Institution, the effects of a better example, the stimulus of rewards given for the preservation of life, the vigilant care and the vigorous measures which in such cases would unquestionably be pursued, it is confidently to be hoped that such atrocities would be heard of no more on our shores.

In time of war, it might be advisable that a limited number of known, steady, and brave seamen, who had already distinguished themselves on these occasions, should be protected from the impress, by belonging to this service. The number need not be large, as the retired veterans of the navy, and the fishermen on the coast, would constitute the majority to be employed.

The nature and extent of the recompenses for time and trouble, and the reward of those who hazard their own lives in the rescue of others, would form another important branch of the Institution for the labours of this Committee.

The qualifications for these rewards naturally form themselves into classes.

First, in case of successful efforts, where persons, at the risk of their own lives, save from imminent peril those of their fellow-creatures,—it should be established, beyond all doubt, that they should receive such reward for each life saved, as the Institution, on mature consideration, may determine. This might be fixed at not less than a certain sum, with power to extend it to a greater amount, to be decided by the Committee, according to the nature of the case; but, at all events, to the smallest of these rewards the parties to have an absolute claim, on furnishing unquestionable evidence of having saved a life.

In many cases of persons rescued from the wreck, saved amongst rocks, or when found washed by the breakers on shore, particularly on remote coasts, but too often exposed to scenes of lawless depredation, the parties should equally be entitled to reward.

Where lives are saved, without those employed hazarding their own, they should at least receive the smaller of the premiums conferred.

Rewards should also be given where every possible effort has been made, though unhappily without success.

When vessels are actually in distress, proportionate premiums should be given to the first, second, and other boats which get alongside, and for other assistance.

Remunerations should be given, and every inducement held out, for the prevention of plunder, and for the preservation of lives and vessels, in every situation of danger to which they may become exposed.

When a life is saved by a person who had been equally fortunate on a former occasion, his reward should be larger, and increase progressively for other successful efforts. In case of crime, the second offence is punished more severely than the first, and the third than the second. In meritorious acts, it were only sound policy that the rewards should bear a similar proportion.

Where an individual perishes in his attempts to rescue lives from shipwreck, or when assisting vessels in distress, his wife, children, or aged parents, if dependent on him for support, should have every relief which it may become practicable to give, and according to the particular circumstances of the case.

The Institution should also recompense for severe injuries, ascertained to have been unquestionably sustained in the actual performance of such services.

Ample and general powers should be given to confer rewards for such other acts as the Committee may consider justly entitled to them.

It might, perhaps, also be worthy the consideration of the Institution at large, whether any badge or medal conferred on a man who had saved a life from shipwreck at the hazard of his own, might not have a very powerful effect. To many minds, even in the humblest walks of life, such a recompense would be more acceptable than a pecuniary reward, whilst a laudable ambition might be thus excited in others to imitate so meritorious an example—thus