e kingdom; strong in the possession of dauntless hearts and iron
frames, and ready to plunge at any moment into the foaming sea to the
rescue of life or property?

Who can say, during any storm, that he may not be personally interested
in the efforts of those heroes?

We knew a family, the members of which, like those of all the other
families in the land, listened to the howling of that fearful storm
which covered our shores with wrecks on the 25th of November, 1859.
Their thoughts were sad and anxious, as must be the case, more or less,
with all who reflect that in such nights hundreds of human beings are
_certainly_ perishing on our shores. But ah! what would the feelings of
that family have been had they known--as they soon came to know--that
two stalwart brothers of their own went down that night among the 450
human beings who perished in the wreck of the "Royal Charter?"

In regard to the "Royal Charter," it may be truly said that there was no
necessity for the loss of that vessel. God did not send _direct_
destruction upon her. The engines were too weak to work her off the
land in the face of the gale, and the cables could not hold her. These
were among the causes of her loss. And when she did get ashore, every
life might have been saved had there been a lifeboat or rocket apparatus
at hand. We know not why there were neither; but may it not have been
because lifeboats and rockets are not sufficiently numerous all along
our shores? How many bleeding hearts there were that would have given
drops of their life-blood to have provided the means of saving life on
the coast of Anglesea on that terrible night! A few small coins given
at an earlier date might have saved those lives! No individual in the
land, however far removed from the coast, can claim exemption from the
dangers of the sea. His own head may indeed lie safe from the raging
billow, but at any moment the sea may grasp some loved one, and thus
wreck his peace of mind, or engulf his property and wreck his fortune.
Why, then, should not the whole nation take the affairs of the coast
nearer to its heart? The Lifeboat Institution is not supported by
taxation like our police force. It depends on the charity of the
people. Don't you think, reader, that it has a strong claim on the
sympathies, the prayers, and the purse of every living soul in the
kingdom? But to return, with many apologies, from this digression.

Guy Foster noted the peculiar ap