oat man, with a gallant, gallant crew.

Some years ago I remember reading a tale, the hero of which was a youth
of nineteen. The scene was laid around the lifeboat of either Deal or
Walmer. There was supposed to be a ship in distress on the Goodwins,
and the night was dark and stormy. All the boatmen hung back, so the
story ran, from the work of rescue, and shrank from the black fury of
the gale, when the hero appeared on the scene, and roundly rating the
coxswain and crew, sprang into the lifeboat, pointed out exactly what
should be done, gave courage to all the quailing boatmen, and seizing
an oar--those heroic youths always 'seize' or 'grasp' an oar--pulled to
the Goodwin Sands 'in the teeth of a gale.' I notice these heroes
always prefer the 'teeth of a gale,' especially when pulling in a
lifeboat; nothing would apparently induce them to touch an oar if the
wind were fair or moderate.

Having rescued the crew of the distressed vessel, _solus fecit_--some
slight assistance having also been rendered by the lifeboatmen--the
lifeboat is of course overturned, and he swims ashore. Still, by some
extraordinary manoeuvre on the part of the wind 'in the teeth of the
gale,' bearing the beauteous heroine in his arms, with the usual result
and the inevitable opposition from the cruel uncle, who is actuated of
course by deadly hatred to all heroic youths of nineteen.

I only refer to this fiction to point out how absurd it is to represent
the brave men who man our lifeboats of the Goodwin Sands and Downs as
ever needing to be roused to action by passing and incompetent
strangers, who must be as ignorant of the perils to be faced as of the
work to be done. When the boatmen of Deal hang back in the
storm-blast, who else dare go?

Again, the three lifeboats of this locality always _sail_ to the
distant Goodwin Sands. To reach those sands, four to eight miles
distant, according as the wreck lies on the inner or the outer edge, in
one of our heavy lifeboats, if they were only propelled by oars, would
be impossible. As a matter of fact, the lifeboat services to the
Goodwins are invariably effected under sail. In other places, where
the wreck lies close to the land, and the lifeboats are comparatively
light, services are performed with oars, but not to the Goodwin Sands,
which have to be reached under sail, and from which the lifeboats have
to get home by sail, often against a gale off shore, eight miles to
windward--wit