as would enable all seaport towns, not to go to bazaars, or be dependent on individual munificence, but to have proper funds provided by Government, either through a tax upon shipping, or in any other way, for the establishing of training ships in every seaport town throughout the kingdom. This was a great epoch in the history of the institution, as it was the first meeting in that large and magnificent ship, and everything he had seen on board there witnessed to the efficiency of all engaged in the training."

The training ship for destitute boys and for the making of good seamen and good citizens had been launched, and was now in full sail. A much better use was to be made of the old man-of-war than fighting, or than leaving her to rot in dock, doing nothing. A good and prosperous voyage lay before the gallant ship— to use the figure most appropriate to the vessel; and never so gallant, although she was to be moored for many years in a river-true, one of the busiest in the world—and never go to sea; but she was to be fully manned, and fight hard against ignorance and vice, crime and want, and come off more than conqueror, thanks to the good and courageous hearts who equipped, manned, and commanded her.

VOL. II.

5

CHAPTER V.

GREEN'S SAILOR BOYS' HOME.

"Peace to the mem'ry of a man of worth,
A man of letters and of manners too-
Of manners sweet as virtue always wears
When gay, good nature dresses her in smiles.
He graced a college, in which order yet
Was sacred, and was honour'd, loved, and wept,
By more than one, themselves conspicuous there;
what they see
Of vice in others, but enhancing more
The charms of virtue in their just esteem.
The age of virtuous politics is past,

And we are deep in that of cold pretence.
Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere,
And we too wise to trust them.

Can he love the whole
Who loves no part? he be a nation's friend
Who is in truth the friend of no man there?
Can he be strenuous in his country's cause
Who slights the charities for whose dear sake
That country, if at all, must be beloved?"

COWPER.

N 1874 the Rev. R. Green, M.A., of South
Shields, offered to the committee of the
Wellesley a house situated at Mile End, South
Shields, as a free gift on condition that it be

fitted up for the use of the boys after they had left the ship, and be under the management of a superintendent appointed by the committee. The committee in 1875, while grateful to Mr. Green for the offer, and sensible of

the importance of having a "home" for the boys on their return from sea, were, however, compelled to postpone the consideration of it, with the financial responsibilities they had already undertaken. But during the following year the committee accepted the offer and established the "Home" for a time as a rendezvous for any sea-faring boys or men, and as a sanatorium to which all new boys. were sent until examined by the doctor. This was rather an important undertaking when, as Mr. Hugh Taylor said at the annual meeting, "they were £300 or £400 more to the bad this year than last," adding, "If the 1873 trade had lasted he might have made a dash at the £2500 deficiency himself; but they were all going to ruin now." But they were still responsible for the debt, which, however, was ultimately cleared off by a grand bazaar in Newcastle Town Hall on April 5th, 6th, and 7th, 1877, realising £2500, while Mr. Hugh Taylor collected nearly £1000 from gentlemen who had not taken an active part in the bazaar, and by concerts given at Tynemouth and Newcastle, at which Mrs. Hall and other ladies and several gentleman gave their services.

At the meeting in 1878 Mr. Hall drew attention to the need of an industrial school for the county of Northumberland for boys and girls. He said, " as a nation we were the most addicted to intemperance of any in Europe, and we were fast becoming, he believed, one of the most immoral to speak plainly. The numbers of little girls, mere children, to be found on the streets, acquired habits at an age of which the world had little idea, and no one who had any personal acquaintance with the wretchedness of their homes, or the misery of the lives they led, could be surprised at this. If we could not eradicate the evils of drunkenness, we could at least do something to rescue from a life of misery and sorrow those who at a

tender age were heartlessly thrown on the world by their progenitors. This could be best done through the instrumentality of industrial schools."

The Bishop of Durham (Dr. Lightfoot) in presiding at the annual meeting in 1879, said, "When I first entered upon the work of the diocese, the name of the Wellesley training ship was a name to me and very little more. I now discover that it is one of the most moral and educational institutions in my diocese. I venture to say that it is doing a truly evangelical work, because it exemplifies the true spirit of the gospel. I will explain what I mean. Heathen philosophers and even religionists did not care very much about the outcasts or the fallen. They were very much like the priest and the Levite in the parable-they cast a glance at them and then went on on the other side. Philosophy, they held, was for the virtuous and wise; they would have nothing to do with the ignorant and foolish. Religion was for the good and God-fearing; as for the outcasts they were to be left to themselves. The spirit of the gospel changed all this. To reclaim, to rescue, to reinstate-that is the very foundation of the morality of the gospel. Now, it is because this institution takes up this class of humanity that I venture to call its work, in the highest and truest sense, evangelical. It takes the waifs and strays of society-it goes into the homes of vice, and rescues the children from thence. It heals the moral bruises, and binds up the moral wounds of society. It lays its hand upon the moral demoniac, and expels from him the unclean spirit. I say, therefore, that it is doing a strictly evangelical work, and from what you have seen to-day, I confidently appeal to you to say that it is doing that work with the greatest efficiency. If you want a true test of efficiency, you must not merely take the absolute

results in themselves. The efficiency of an institution, like the efficiency of a workman, is to be tested by the relation of the results to the materials. It is no credit to a workman to turn ont a fair work from good materials ; but it is a credit-and the highest credit-for a workman to turn out respectable work from very bad materials. That is just what this society does; and if I want any proof of the efficiency of this institution, I have only to turn to the statistics as they appear in successive annual reports. The facts are these: in the year 1878, I find that no less than eighty-six and a half per cent. of the boys turned out from this training ship are going on satisfactorily. In the report of the year 1879, I find that not less than ninety-three per cent. are going on satisfactorily. These are remarkable statistics, and what is most pleasing about them is the fact that there seems to be progress. And remembering that these boys in most cases, have been rescued as they have been rescued from the vilest influences in the vilest parts of these great towns which line the banks of the Tyneremembering this you will call to mind, as I call to mind, the incident in the gospel of the demoniac with the evil spirit cast out of him-'clothed and in his right mind!'" Dr. Lightfoot further described a visit he had paid to the ship a few weeks before as "one of the greatest treats that he had had of late,” and pointed out the advantages of the isolation from evil and corrupting influences in a way no institution on shore could very well secure ; and said: "When I look at this seething mass of humanity -seething in corruption in the lanes and alleys of our great towns, I am almost in despair as to the possibility of any moral cleansing; but it does seem to me that our great hope is in the multiplication of training ships."

...

Mr. Hall in presiding in the absence of Colonel Joicey,