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Of all the boats that swim, the lifeboat is certainly one of the most
interesting; perhaps it is not too much to add that it is also one of
the most useful. But this boat deserves a chapter to itself.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

LIFEBOATS AND LIGHTSHIPS.

When our noble Lifeboat Institution was in its infancy, a deed was
performed by a young woman which at once illustrates the extreme danger
to which those who attempt to rescue the shipwrecked must expose
themselves, and the great need there was, thirty years ago, for some
better provision than existed at that time for the defence of our
extensive sea-board against the dire consequences of storm and wreck.
It is not, we think, inappropriate to begin our chapter on lifeboats
with a brief account of the heroic deed of:--

GRACE DARLING.

There are not many women who, like Joan of Arc, put forth their hands to
the work peculiarly belonging to the male sex, and achieve for
themselves undying fame. And among these there are very few indeed who,
in thus quitting their natural sphere and assuming masculine duties,
retain their feminine modesty and gentleness.

Such a one, however, was Grace Darling. She did not, indeed, altogether
quit her station and follow a course peculiar to the male sex; but she
did once seize the oar and launch fearlessly upon the raging sea, and
perform a deed which strong and daring men might have been proud of--
which drew forth the wondering admiration of her country, and has
rendered her name indissolubly connected with the annals of heroic
daring in the saving of human life from vessels wrecked upon our
rock-bound shores.

Grace Darling was born in November 1815, at Bamborough, on the
Northumberland coast. Her father was keeper of the lighthouse on the
Longstone, one of the Farne Islands lying off that coast; and here, on a
mere bit of rock surrounded by the ocean, and often by the howling
tempests and the foaming breakers of that dangerous spot, our heroine
spent the greater part of her life, cut off almost totally from the joys
and pursuits of the busy world. She and her mother managed the domestic
economy of the lighthouse on the little islet, while her father trimmed
the lantern that sent a blaze of friendly light to warn mariners off
that dangerous coast.

In personal appearance Grace Darling is described as having been fair
and comely, with a gentle, modest expression of countenance; about the
middle size; an