10. "Here, Bill, catch!" shouts the man, and throws it to one of the boatmen. Well caught! only just saved, though, from falling into the sea. Hark! a baby's cry comes from it; and a shriek, "My child! my child!" from a woman, tells of the danger which the baby has just escaped. 11. We are full. "Cast off!" cries the captain. Up comes the anchor, and away we go, thirty women and children aboard of us. It is a case of hold on all, for the seas sweep clean over us, and we pitch and roll tremendously. 12. The Aid is reached, however, and the poor creatures are taken on board. This is nearly as difficult a matter as it was to get them into the boat. But at length it is accomplished; and though the rolled-up blanket has again a narrow escape, it also manages to get safe aboard, and its occupant is safely secured by the thankful mother. Two more voyages, and all are on board the Aid. 13. In taking you thus to the rescue of a ship's crew by the Ramsgate Life-boat, I have shown you the real work of a particular night. That same night, later, another ship's crew were saved by the same boat. Is not the Life-boat of great value? ap-proach' dif-fi-cult im-pos-si-ble back-wards e-scaped' in-sti-tu-tion rough-er pros-pect reg-u-lar sig-nals 10. GOD BLESS THE LIFE-BOAT MEN. 1. God bless the life-boat men! And may they ever be, When tossed on stormy sea, 2. They count not their lives dear, Be brave as heretofore. God bless the men! 3. When storms are raging high, The strength they need supply. Lord of the sea and land, The ocean's in Thy hand, Save Thou the noble band. God bless the men! W. J. N. NOTE. The Royal National Life-boat Institution began its work in 1824. It has under its charge a fleet of two hundred and fifty-six life-boats, which are stationed round our shores. Since its formation, the Society has been the means of saving about thirty thousand lives. At the present time, about one thousand lives are saved every year, at a cost of thirty thousand pounds. This institution is supported entirely by gifts, and it is worthy of our support. Will you try to help it all you can? You may not be able to help it much yourself, but you may help it a little; pence, if many give them, soon grow to pounds. And what a pleasure it will be to you some night, when you hear the wind outside blowing hard, and telling of rough weather for our sailors on the sea, to think you have done what you could to assist in saving life, and that perhaps the very life-boat which you helped to buy is even then doing its brave work, and carrying some rescued ones to a place of safety! 11. THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. [Map, p. 6. 1. The English Channel, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, separates England from France. It is a narrow sea, connected with the North Sea by Dover Strait, twenty-one miles broad; and it widens westward into the Atlantic Ocean. Across this channel Duke William of Normandy sailed in 1066, when he came with his knights to conquer England. 2. The south coast of England lies on the English Channel. It contains three important harbours— Portsmouth, Southampton, and Plymouth. Southampton Water and Portsmouth Harbour are close to each other, and lie behind the Isle of Wight. 3. The Spithead, a beautiful sheet of water between the Isle of Wight and the coast of Hampshire, is a well-known roadstead. It is so well sheltered from winds and storms that sailors call it the "King's Bed-chamber." Here a thousand vessels may ride in safety at once. 4. In 1782 the Royal George, a British manof-war, while undergoing repairs in the Spithead, was overbalanced. The water came in through her port-holes, and she sank. Out of twelve hundred persons on board, only three hundred were saved. 5. Portsmouth Harbour, the chief naval station of England, is an inlet on the coast of Hampshire, and is entered from the Spithead. Moored in the harbour is Nelson's flag-ship the Victory, on board of which he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar. 6. The spot on the deck where the admiral fell is still pointed out to visitors. On the wall of the room in which he died his last signal is recorded :— "England expects that every man 7. Southampton, on Southampton Water, is the chief station for mail-packets to the Mediterranean and the East and the West Indies. This port has the advantage of four tides in the twenty-four hours, caused by the tidal wave being checked both ways by the Isle of Wight. 8. Plymouth Sound is said to be the most beautiful of the Devonshire bays. Three small rivers fall into it, and two large towns--Plymouth and Devonport―stand on its shores. Plymouth is the second naval station in the kingdom. A massive break-water stretches for a mile across the Sound, and forms a safe anchorage for ships. This breakwater is a granite wall which took thirty years to build, and cost a million and a half sterling. SUMMARY.-The English Channel, connected with the North Sea by Dover Strait, separates England from France. The Solent, between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, contains Portsmouth Harbour, our chief naval station, and Southampton Water, a mail-packet station. Plymouth Sound, our second naval station, has a massive break-water. EXERCISE.-Draw a Map of the South Coast of England. 12. THE LOSS OF THE "ROYAL GEORGE." 1. Toll for the brave, The brave that are no more! 2. Eight hundred of the brave, And laid her on her side. 3. A land-breeze shook the shrouds, Down went the " Royal George" 4. Toll for the brave! Brave Kempenfeldt is gone; His work of glory done. |