proceedings. He sought, they say, the enemy everywhere, and sunk, captured, or burnt eight ships. He attacked and took the islands of Bas, which he ravaged and set in flames, Le Rhé, Lemustre, Rochelle, Olonne, and Oleron, "where the sea laws were made." From some of these places he extorted ransoms; others he burnt, putting the French and Bretons to flight; and, having completed his affairs most happily, returned home. Hostilities with France were terminated by the treaty of Senlingham in June, and the truce having been prolonged from time to time, many years elapsed without the occurrence of any engagement at sea. Among the Conservators of the truce were the two Admirals of the English fleets for the time being, and their Lieutenants, as well as Sir John de Vienne, the Admiral of France, and Robert de La Hogue, his Vice-Admiral and Lieutenant. Parliament again met on the 12th of November, when a measure was adopted for the encouragement and protection of the English Navy, which was more fully carried out two centuries afterwards by the celebrated "Navigation Laws." It was enacted that "all merchants of the realm of England shall freight in the said realm the ships of the said realm, and not foreign ships, so that the owners of the said ships may take reasonably for the freight of the same." It was also enacted that foreign merchants should be well, courteously, and rightfully used, that they might have the more inducement to come to England; and that no customer or comptroller, not having ships of his own, should meddle with the freightage of ships. The Commons represented that in the last reign mariners were only entitled to eight shillings and the freight of one ton, and the "master shipman" to sixteen shillings and the freight of two tons, at the most, for navigating ships from England to Bordeaux and returning again; but that the mariners had entered into a confederacy not to serve in those ships without exorbitant wages, namely the "master mariner" twenty-four shillings and a freight of three tons; while some demanded one hundred shillings and a freight of three tons, and that, nevertheless, the said mariners refused to proceed with English, but only with aliens, if there were any, to the great injury of shipowners, as well as of the Navy of England. They therefore prayed that mayors and bailiffs of towns might have power to furnish such mariners at the suit of anyone who might be aggrieved, as in the time of Edward III. The King replied that he would charge his Admirals to oblige mariners to take reasonably for their services, and to punish those who acted contrarily. On the 2nd of February, 1398, John, Marquis of Dorset, the King's half brother, was made Admiral of the Irish fleet for life; and on the 9th of May he was appointed Admiral of the Northern and Western fleets also for life. Both of his commissions contained clauses forbidding him to exercise any authority contrary to the statute passed in the year 1391 for regulating the jurisdiction of Admirals. Notwithstanding the grant of the Admiralty of Ireland to the Marquis of Dorset for life, the Earl of Worcester was appointed Admiral of the Irish fleet on the 16th of January, 1399. Early in 1399, Richard having resolved to proceed again to Ireland against the rebels, vessels carrying twenty-five tons and upwards were ordered on the 7th of February to be arrested on the north coast, and sent to Bristol or Milford by the octaves of Easter for the King's voyage. He arrived at Milford on the 19th of May, but being detained there by a foul wind, he did not embark until the 30th, and within two days landed at Waterford. Such was the distress of Richard's army that his troops would have starved had not three ships arrived from Dublin with provisions; and the soldiers, in their eagerness to obtain food, rushed through the sea to the vessels. Henry Bolingbroke, first cousin of Richard II., was in France when his father, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, died, and about the 4th of July he sailed from Boulogne, and appeared off the north coast of England with eight small ships and two passengers, to re-possess himself of his father's estates, which Richard had seized. He sent a boat on shore with some men, who planted his banner on the land and returned to their ship. A fisherman seeing the banner, ran to it, but was unable to account for its appearance, though he saw the ships in the offing. The Duke then caused the man to be told that he was to acquaint the townspeople with his arrival, who hastened to the place and cried out, "Our lord the Duke of Lancaster is come for his rightful inheritance!" Eight thousand people soon collected, who with one voice called to the Duke to come on shore and take his own inheritance, and they would receive him as their lawful lord. Lancaster thereupon landed at Ravenspur, and proceeded to Pomfret Castle, where he was quickly joined by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, the most potent barons of the north, and soon found himself at the head of 60,000 men. As soon as the King heard of this event, he determined to return with his army to England, and arrived at Milford on the 13th of August, but his army soon melted away by desertion, and, falling into the hands of his enemies, he was brought to London by the Duke, and on the 29th September-a resignation of the crown being first obtained from him-Richard, who from his fondness for low company had forfeited the respect of his subjects, was solemnly deposed in Parliament, and Lancaster, as Henry IV., became King of England, which resulted in the "Wars of York and Lancaster," or the "Wars of the Two Roses." Richard was killed in Pomfret Castle five months after. During his reign the office of Lord High Admiral was created, to take cognizance of all offences committed on the high seas, the management of all maritime affairs, and the direction of the Royal Navy. (To be continued.) "THERE IS SORROW ON THE SEA." "WHAT a fearful night this must be at sea!" has no doubt been the exclamation of many a person during the late stormy and tempestuous weather, as they were sitting at the convivial board, or chatting around the hearth, on which a cheerful and blazing fire was burning before them. Ah! indeed, and what melancholy forebodings of stern realities did such remarks too truthfully indicate. How many ships were wrecked! how many of them foundered near, perhaps, some silent and forsaken shore; and what additions were there to the list of casualties which our saddened nature has to bear in weeping widows and poor fatherless children! The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society could furnish us with serious details of this fact; and knowing, as we do, the unbounded area of their philanthropical exertions, we may console ourselves that all which human kindness could do for survivors from each wreck was by their agency accomplished to the full. The vast numerical increase of our commercial navy, brought into being by the extension of British traders over every colony of the world, necessarily adds, not to the perils of the sea, but to the number of victims who perish in its waters. Within the last thirty-six years this special branch of naval enterprise has risen from a tonnage of 2,890,601 to that of 7,213,829, and consequently so many more ships are now required to carry on our foreign trade, and so many more able hands to manage them. The number of casualties, according to the "Wreck Register" recently published, have averaged 1,779 ships annually during the past twenty years, of which 967 wrecks, casualties, and collisions occurred on our coasts during the first six months of 1873, the lowest estimated value of which, including cargoes, cannot be far short of £2,000,000. There were also 728 lives lost, including 293 from thesinking of the 'Northfleet;' but, happily, the number of lives saved by lifeboats, rocket, and mortar apparatus during the same period was unusually great. The frequent shipwrecks, with the great sacrifice of human life, thus throws a heavier responsibility on public charity to support "the fatherless and widows" of our Fishermen and Mariners. All this we admit to be perfectly true, but many good and charitable persons are in comparative ignorance of the speciality of an institution which makes these unfortunate cases its own prerogative to relieve. The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society originated in 1839, under the direct influence of a single philanthropist, in the person of the late Mr. John Rye, a medical practitioner at Bath. Year by year its importance has been recognized by the community, and now by public donations to its fund, and by annual subscriptions of 3s. a year each from nearly 50,000 Fishermen, Mariners, and all under the category of British sailors, the income is very considerable. But a large income is soon consumed by heavy expenditure, and wise counsels teach careful treasurers to put by a reserve for a rainy day, or for a period when the exchequer may not be so flourishing as to allow an equivalent for the irresistible demands of afflicted claimants. The Society employs atleast 1,000 honorary agents, and these are scattered over almost every part of our shores and every island, so that it matters not where a shipwreck may occur, or who may be the shipwrecked sailors, British or foreign, they are clothed, fed, and forwarded at its expense to their respective homes. The income, therefore, that has to anticipate such unlimited results must be of the most elastic character. We have often pleaded for this Society, and we are gratified to know that the responses have been liberal, but in these days when public institutions are like a tree overloaded with blossoms, one may be overlooked, notwithstanding its superior merits, as capable to produce fruit of itself. This Society, because of its universal character, has an undoubted claim on the consideration of all people and all nations, and particularly at this season of the year when Christmas and New Year's bounties are usually distributed with a liberal hand. But if we leave to others that which we should do of ourselves the work is safe to be left undone. There is not a fishing village or hamlet in this country where evidence is wanting of its usefulness and generosity. For example, there are 1,099 widows, and 2,176 fatherless children, the widows receiving each a yearly allowance averaging from one to eight pounds, which is about one-third of the sum paid to them on the death of their husbands, and who by such means have been set up with a shop, a mangle, or some such provision wherewith to support themselves and families, and all this benevolence is the true, religious, and self-devoted work of one institution. That institution deserves, then, all the pecuniary aid which can be rendered; and widely known and widely appreciated as is the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, there is yet ample scope for its increasing spheres of labour, and consequently of a continued augmentation of its resources. HOMES FOR DESTITUTE BOYS AND GIRLS, AND WE were greatly gratified during a recent visit to Great Yarmouth to make the acquaintance of the Rev. R. Nicholson, who, in addition to the cares of the pastorate, has found abundant work in caring for the poor and needy of tender age, and also for the boys employed in the herring and mackerel fishery. Mrs. Our friend commenced his work several years ago in originating a home for destitute boys, and in this he has been very successful. Once in the work he found, as is usually the case, more to do, and about two years ago a Home was opened for destitute girls. There is room in the Home for twenty-five girls, and their ages at the time of our visit ranged from 2 to 14, and they are all of them either orphan or destitute children. It is not a Home for fallen girls, as some have supposed, but in cases where domestic servants have to give up their situations and have no home to go to, Mr. Nicholson kindly takes them in until they can obtain another place, rather than they should go and lodge at a publichouse or walk about the streets and be subject to the many temptations which would surround them under such circumstances. The object of the Home is to rescue destitute children from the streets and to educate them and train them in habits of virtue and industry and fit them for domestic service. All the work in the Home is done by the girls, who are taught how to make bread, cook, and bake, and instructed in other matters connected with the conduct of a well-regulated private household. Nicholson also takes the girls into her own house, where they have the privilege of a further training under that lady's superintendence, and are initiated into matters connected with domestic life, a knowledge of which they would not be able to obtain in the Home. In fact, the object is to fit the girls as far as possible for domestic servants, and from what we saw on our visit we should think that object has up to the present been attained in an eminent degree. The girls are as a rule tractable and teachable, although a good deal of patience and wisdom is required in some cases in dealing with the more wayward and wilful. The rules of the Home are strictly adhered to, and the discipline is found to have a very healthy and beneficial effect upon the girls. They rise at six in the morning, and are engaged in various occupations till a quarter past eight, when they have breakfast. School commences at nine and continues until twelve, when the girls are taken out for a walk (weather permitting), and at one o'clock they dine. From two till five the children are at school again, and are employed at needlework. At five they have tea, and the evening is spent in various occupations of profit and pleasure, or they are again taken out for a walk. At eight they go to bed. On Sunday the girls go |