OPENING OF THE BUILDING.

WE extract from the local papers some ac- count of the interesting ceremony of opening the North Shields Sailors' Home on the 21st October last by his Grace the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G., through whose munificence it was erected at a cost of 8,000?. The want of such an institution, similar to those which have been erected and proved extremely beneficial in many other ports of the kingdom, had long been felt in Shields, where, owing to the extent of the shipping trade, and the consequent influx of seafaring people, it was, perhaps, as much required as at any other port. Probably the attainment of the object might have been still delayed, or, if compassed, an establish- ment only have been obtained falling far short of the requirements of the case, but for the happy interposition of the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND, who, well acquainted, from his seafaring experience, with the exigencies and temptations of homeless seamen in port, enlisted the influence, and popular feeling of Shields with him m a movement to secure the desired object. Al- ready the effort had made considerable pro- gress, under the patronage of his Grace, and the judicious and active exertions of the Ex- ecutive Committee, of which Mr, Alderman BARTLEMAN ably performed the duties of chairman, and CHARLES LAING, Esq. and C. H. GREENHOW, Esq. with equal assiduity and vigour, those of secretaries, when the Duke proposed to erect the Home entirely at his own cost, and leave the sum subscribed to be invested towards a peraiarieiit endowment of the institution. His Grace'a munificent offer received a grateful acquiescence, and the erection rapidly proceeded, and so nearly approached completion, that a subscription, headed by her Grace the Duchess of NORTH- UMBERLAND with 100L. was commenced to supply it with the necessary furniture, and had already reached about l,500f., when his Grace again stepped forward and evinced liis anxiety to have the institution bssed upon the stable footing of an adequate en- dowment by offering to supply the furnish- ings complete on condition of the subscrip- tions being raised to a corresponding amount, I and added to the sam permanently funded.

This will cause his Grace's expenditure on the institution to amount to between 8,OOOL and 9,0001.; in addition to which he has, at his own expense, supplied the in- stitution with a superintendent {whom the necessarily large expenditure in the outset might hare placed it beyond the means of the Committee to engage) in the 'person of an old and experienced officer of the royal navy, whose acquaintance with the feelings and habits "of sailors, and whose extended experience might secure their respect, while his social position would render him a valuable and agreeable coadjutor with the Committee.

His Grace having been conducted to the dais, was immediately surrounded by a nu- merous and influential company, including the mayors and other gentlemen of the surrounding towns, who presented to him addresses of welcome. We extract from the address of the Corporation of South Shields the following passage:— i " But it is not only when on shore that this care ! sad attention have been so watchfully bestowed, for | the safety of the British aariuer In circumstances of danger has not been overlooked by your Grace, the life-boats provided by you having been the means, under Providence, of saving from destruc- tion the lives of many who would otherwise have perished. In this the borough which we represent takes a peculiar interest, for it is undoubtedly that to South Shields, and to South Shields only, be- longs the honour of the invention of the life-boat.

It was within her boundaries that the invention took place; it was within her limits that the origi- nal life-boat was built; and it was from her shore that it first proceeded to rescue, and did rescue, those who, shipwrecked and imperilled, watched .

in anxiety, from the deeds of the stranded vessel, the boat as it proceeded with its gallant crew on its successful errand of mercy." As the address of the Cullercoats life- boat's crew and others contains so much of honest feeling, and was doubtlessly much appreciated by the Duke of NORTHUMBER-LAND as coming from parties who had prac- tically experienced the benefit of his munifi- cence by providing them with a life-boat, which had already done good service, we publish the whole of it. JAMES PANTOS, Esq., Secretary of the Cullercoats Branch of the National Life-boat Institution, read the following address;— "To REAR-ADMIRAL. THE MOST NOBLE THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G., F.R.S., &C., &C., PATRON OF THE CULLERCOATS BRANCH OF THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, " MY LORD DUKE,—"We, the undersigned Pilots, Fishermen, Mariners, and other Inhabitants of the village of Cullercoats and neighbourhood, take leave most humbly and respectfully to approach your Grace with feelings of the greatest respect and gratitude, and avail ourselves of your Grace's visiting North. Shields on the interesting occasion I of the opening of the Sailors' Home, to present to your Grace this address, expressive of our most dutiful and grateful acknowledgments for the in- terest which your Grace has, from time to time, evinced in ow behalf.

" We have specially to express our gratitude and obligations for your Grace's princely support to our life-boat establishment; and your Grace will be gratified to be assured that the Royal National Life-boat Percy has, on several occasions, been the means of rescuing life from shipwreck, and has otherwise been of great service to the fishermen and seafaring people on this coast.

" We have also to express our further obliga- tions for the interest which your Grace has taken in the pier sad haven of Cullercoats, and also in the general welfare of the fishermen sad their families, both as regards their temporal and moral welfare.

**My Lord Duke, plainly, yet sincerely and humbly, we herin record oar heartfelt gratitude and obligations; and earnestly pray that your Grace, and her Grace the Duchess, may long be spared to enjoy your exalted and noble position, and live in the hearts of the Cullercoats people.

" We are, my Lord Duke, your Grace's most obedient and most humble servants.

[Here follow signatures of 138 Pilots and others.] " On behalf of the Pilots, Fishermen, Mariners, and others, inhabitants of Cullercoats, the Local Committee of the Cullercoats Branch of the Royal National Life-boat Institution, have the honour to present the foregoing ad- dress, and have very respectfully to add their sincere and hearty concurrence in the senti- ments therein expressed.

" ALEXANDER BARTLEMAN, Chairman.

JAMES P ANTON, Honorary Secretary.

" Tynemouth, 21st October, 1856." The whole of the addresses having been presented, the Duke advanced to the front of the platform, and was saluted with im- mense cheering. He said:— " Gentlemen, when I was invited to take the chair at this meeting, I certainly was prepared for a statement from the Executive Committee as to the proceedings on their part of the Sailors' Home, and an expression of their satisfaction at the happy completion of this part of their labours; but I was not prepared for an address from the Mayor and Corporation of Tynemouth, nor from the Mayor and Corporation of South Shields, nor for the ad- dress which I have just received from Cullercoats.

I can only say to you, Gentlemen, collectively and individually, that I offer you my sincere thanks and acknowledgments, not only for the honour you have conferred upon me, but for the manner in which your approval of my conduct has been expressed. As to this building, and the accom- modation which it may afford to the seamen, you, Gentlemen, have had an opportunity of examining it, and of judging for yourselves. It appears that it will hold 150 seamen; and although 60 cabins only are prepared, others may be got ready as re- quired. I have heard with great gratification the statement of the Executive Committee, as to the rapid increase of the tonnage registered in the Tyne. No less than 406,350 tons were registered in the year 1855, "being one-eleventh of the whole tonnage of the United Kingdom, and being, as expressed by the mayor of Tynemouth, nearly equal to one-half of the whole tonnage of Scot- land, and more than the whole of the tonnage of Ireland. It is also a matter of very great surprise that there are 216 steam-vessels on the Tyne, especially to those who can recollect, as I do, that, at the conclusion of the last war, steam-vessels were only then first brought into use, and that in the year 1814 the first steam-vessel was built upon the Tyne. I think on Ascension-day it was launched in honour of the conservators of the river. Gentlemen, we must not either forget the great increase of the foreign trade of this port.

In the year 1855, of our staple commodity of coals and coke, there were exported foreign, 1,577,975 tons; while, in 1840, 15 years before, only one- third of that quantity was exported. Besides other advantages, there are now between these important towns of North and South Shields three steam-ferries that pass from different points; and there is also a communication, completed in the year 1839, by the railway, with Newcastle, and thus with the whole kingdom. Gentlemen, I trust that all the improvements of the Tyne will still continue—that the improvements that are now taking place at the piers of the Tyne—that the deepening of the channel of the river—that the proposed docks upon its banks, will all facilitate and increase the trade and commerce of the Tyne, and thus be of material advantage to it. To re- vert once more to this building, and to the in- mates of it, I will only say that the sailor who, by his skill, perseverance, and daring courage, over- comes all difficulties at sea, and almost surmounts impossibilities on the ocean to which he is accus- tomed, is, when he comes on shore, too often in the hands of those who impoverish him. He is careless of his earnings, and too often to him may be applied that line of Dryden— * Saved from the sea, but shipwrecked on the shore/ It has been wisely resolved to establish with this Institution a savings' bank, where the seaman may deposit in safety his earnings, or he may remit them to his family, as he thinks fit. There are also schools attached, under the direction and patronage of the committee. But, gentlemen, there is one thing more, namely, that while we look after the sailor's comfort, his health, his education, and bis pecuniary affairs, let us not forget that which is of more essential importance —his religion and his morals. I would earnestly recommend that subject to your notice, and I would gladly assist all your endeavours. It is quite certain that we should strive to make men not only happier, but better than they were before, for that is the only principle of doing good. In that, also, by the blessing of God, we shall suc- ceed, as we have in this institution, so far as it has gone. I have now only to declare that the Sailors' Home is open to sailors of all nations in vessels entering the port of the Tyne." Several rounds of cheering again greeted his Grace at the conclusion of his inaugural address, wound up by a hearty cheer for the Duchess.

Subsequently at the banquet, the Duke's health having been drunk with much cor- diality, his Grace thus responded:— " I sincerely thank you for the kind reception you have given me here and in the town. Indeed, I will not waste words to express what I feel.

But it has been a source of great gratification to me to-day to notice the manner in which all have met to evince their sense of the merits of the British sailor, and to support his welfare. For me to do so, gentlemen, is nothing; I was almost born and bred a sailor. I have not one feeling which is not in favour of seamen. I have experienced their good conduct, and know them to be as loyal to their sovereign as they are devoted to their country. I have been deeply indebted to them for their good behaviour and conduct in every ship I have commanded. Gentlemen, I will not talk about their skill and their daring in danger; but I will give you a few words of the great Lord Collingwood after the battle of Trafalgar. He said,' Every man appeared a hero on which the honour of his country depended.' Gentlemen, it is for these men I have built the Sailors' Home.

It is to encourage men who behave well, and do their duty in every position in which they are placed—it is their cause I commend to you, and I commend it with all the advantage we have had to-day of the honour of the presence of the mayors of the different towns—not only of the corporate towns upon our own river, but also of one who comes from a distance, and the distance lends a charm to his courtesy in attending—it is to you I commit these sailors and their interests." —(Loud and continued applause.) During the afternoon about 100 seamen, many of them old men-of-war's men, were entertained in an ante-room of the Sailors' Home at the expense of the noble founder of the Institution.