MASTER MARINERS AND SEAMEN.

INTIMATELY connected with the work of Preservation of Life from Shipwreck is all that concerns the welfare, and tends to improve the character of the men who constitute our Mercantile Marine, That is the point, jn any scheme for their improvement, which chiefly concerns us; but we might with truth add, that intimately also is it connected with our national character, nay more, that intimately is it connected with the future welfare of mankind. For what must not be the influence for good or ill of so vast a number of men for ever in motion—circulating, as it were, through the body of the great human family ? A bad man may often contaminate those about him; he may live in a polluted atmosphere, vitiated by the example of his own evil life—but the seaman carries himself and his moral example to the remotest comers of the world: he is here to-day, to-morrow at the Antipodes, where he may be the only exponent and representative of his country, his religion, and of civilization.

This granted, and is not his moral and religious improvement an object of general and national importance? But an important element in moral improvement is self-respect. A man that respects himself will be careful not to demean himself either in his own eyes or in those of others; he will not only feel that he has a character to lose, but he will find himself possessed of some portion of that dignity of mind—a faint type of the divine principle within him —which, with God's help, shall preserve him from falling into the practice of vicious or immoral deeds.

Now probably the greatest defect, or rather perhaps the chief origin of the other defects, in the character of our merchant seamen, is this want of self-respect To what cause then shall we trace this want? Why should not a sailor respect himself as well as any other man ? Why should he notas well as another feel it a disgrace to be drunk—to lie—to be sensual, or profime— or even to be dishonest ? We reply to this question—Because, as a class, he has beenneglected —he has long felt that nothing better was expected of him—and judging from the little interest too often felt in him by his employers, and from his being hopelessly left a prey to crimps and vagabond thieves of every description whensoever he should step ashore on his native soil, he might well believe that he was looked on as the refuse and oftscouring of society, whose moral or even temporal welfare was not worthy of consideration.

A brighter day has, however, dawned on the British seaman, and we confidently hope that it will light him on his way to a highergoal than it has been hitherto his ambition | or his endeavour to attain to. Legislative interference in his behalf, evinced by many clauses in the Merchant Shipping Act of j 1854; sailors' homes springing up in all our chief ports; the public support given to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, and to that equally valuable Society, The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Benevo- j lent Society, all show an increase in the public esteem and regard for our merchant , seamen; whilst the provident associations, formed by themselves and their own great and increasing support to the before-named Benevolent Society, show a greater amount of thoughtfulness and foresight ill their own body, and a juster appreciation of their duty to help themselves.

As another and noble instance of the in-crease of public favour and interest in the class bf whom we are treating, we now are enabled to add " The Proposed Hospital for Aged and disabled Merchant Seamen." We rejoice in the reflection that there is a reasonable prospect of such an Asylum being afforded to the aged sailor, in which he may quietly, cheerfully, thankfully, respectably, and religiously pass through the decline of life, calmly reflecting on the past dangers and stirring incidents in his chequered career; with leisure to compose and prepare his mind hopefully to look forward to his approaching end, and to seek and obtain thereafter an admission into the haven of everlasting rest Alas! for Want of such an Asylum, what is but too often the end of the merchant seaman at the present day ? Bereft perhaps of alt relatives and friends, infirm or diseased in body, with no 'regular means of subsistence —ho home comfort*—no medical aid— he ekes out the remnant of his life in poverty and misery, amidst the lowest haunts of profligacy arid crime; wishing, may be, that the last shipwreck he had suffered had ended his career, or perhaps even lamenting the day that he was born! Tie first step towards the promotion of this great work has been taken by that above-ham l Society, which is so preeminently the seaman's friend, The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Society, which on the 17th of My test, at a Public Meeting convened by it, and held at the Mansion House, London, with the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor in the chair, announced its intention to make from its funds the munificent donation of 5,000?., and which then appealed to die British Government, to tile British public, and to the Whole body of British seamen to aid in the great undertaking.

We now present to our readers the Appeal made by the above Society at the Meeting in question; the Address of the Lord Mayor on the occasion, together with an engraving of the proposed building, the whole extracted from the quarterly periodical entitled The Shipwrecked Mariner, published by The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society. We will, therefore, conclude our own observations by commending the good work—1st, To the blessing of Almighty God, remembering that "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." 2nd, To the British Government, who could not more appropriate!/ and justly expend the whole residue of the Mercantile Marine Fund than in the erection of the building, and on its endowment.

3rd, To the British people, who cannot better advance the nation's honour and the nation's interests than by promoting the welfare, and thereby raising the character of the British seaman. 4th, To the British seamen themselves, that, by their regular contribution in the days of their health, Strength, and prosperity, to this provision for their old age, they may feel themselves in the proud position of being their own helpers—in the Christian position of being helpers of their neighbours, if they should not need that help themselves. We will only further remark, that if this work is undertaken at all, it must be on a scale proportionate to the necessity. It must be no hole-and-corner affair, providing for a few favoured hundreds out of more than as many thousands in need of its sheltering care. In proportion as our Mercantile Marine is more numerous than our Royal Marine, in such proportion must the magnitude of this Institution be greater than that of the noble Hospital at Greenwich for our Royal Marine, of which the nation has been long so justly .proud.

At a large and influential Meeting held in the Egyptian Hall, Mansion House, on Friday, the 17th July, 1857, the Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Chairman,— his Lordship addressed the Meeting as follows:— am perfectly aware of the arduous nature of the duty which we are about to undertake in endeavouring to establish an Hospital of the character which will be laid before you,"for thee benefit of the worn-out Seamen of Merchant Service of the United Kingdom. It appears to be an immense undertaking, and one which requires ' hearts of oak' to attempt to carry out; but, at the same time, we know the cordial feeling cherished by every individual in this country towards British seamen ; and we also know that, except we make a beginning, it is useless to expect that we shall ever come to a satisfactory conclusion.

" I am not sanguine enough to suppose that this can be carried out in a few months; but I am satisfied of one thing, that unless we begin in good earnest, there will be no chance of oar succeeding in any way whatever.

Much has been said as to the possibility of creating an institution of this kind, but we all know very well that the Mercantile Marine of this country consists of thousands of individuals, and if they would only put their strength together, a large amount of good may arise out of it; for however small individual subscriptions may be, they will, in the aggregate, produce a sum which will enable us to erect a building which will be an ornament to our native land. Connected •as I have been with the shipping interest, I cannot help feeling that it is a reflection upon the country at large, and upon the City of London in particular, that up to the present time we have bad no institution of this character for the relief and support of the worn-out seamen of the Merchant Service.

We know that they are men taken from all parts of the land, with ties in no particular locality, and, in very many instances, with no friends except the owners of the ships which they so thoroughly well man; and therefore it does seem to be our duty to come forward and endeavour, if possible, to do something which shall be of real service to them in their declining years.

" I should not be so sanguine of an institution of this class answering, were it not that we have already the details of a plan laid down in connection with the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, established some few years ago, and which has been so eminently successful. And how ? By the seamen themselves coming forward to support it with their own contributions, by which means they have raised a fund for the relief of their necessitous brethren, alike honourable to themselves and to their country.

Now, gentlemen, we must recollect that this institution was established only about eighteen years ago, and that, at the time it was started, the same kind of difficulties and objections were urged that are now pressed upon our notice in connection with our present enterprise. I know very well that without the assistance of the Government, as well as of the sailors and shipowners, it will be impossible to carry out our views as we desire; but, with that assistance, I trust we shall be able to accomplish them." Lord Henry Cholmondeley then read the following statement, on the part of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society :— " My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, —Having first obtained the assurance of cooperation and support from a number of influential gentlemen of the City of London, and others, the Committee of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society have called this meeting, and your Lordship having most kindly consented to take the chair for the important object of making some provision for the worn-out and disabled Merchant Seamen of this great empire, I am deputed by the Committee to say that they feel it due to you briefly to state the circumstances which have led them to think they are in their right place in taking this step, and also their general views on the subject, in order that your Lordship and the Meeting may judge how far you can give them your support, and commend the object proposed to the patronage of the public at large, whom they feel assured, with the commendation of such a Meeting, will not fail nobly to show that the sympathy for our gallant seamen, which is so largely expressed, exists in something more than words.

" The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, as your Lordship and the Meeting will be aware, twenty years since had no existence.—It is now represented on every part of the coast of the United Kingdom—relieves in the aggregate 6,000 persons annually, and is supported by about 70,000 subscribers, of whom 47,000 are blue-jackets,—Finding the Institution rapidly increasing in usefulness to the Merchant Seamen and their families, the Committee of Management obtained an Act of Incorporation in 1850, and being impressed with the feeling that the Society was left the only representative of the Mercantile Marine of the empire, in consequence of the entire failure of the Merchant Seamen's Fund, which was ordered to be wound up by Act of the Legislature, the Committee, looking forward to a time when they might be in a position to set on foot a provision, and places of refuge in different parts of the country for worn-out Merchant Sailors, somewhat similar to Greenwich Hospital, obtained a clause in the Act of Incorporation, authorizing them to build asylums for this purpose.

"The Corporation, through the blessing of God, finding itself in the position hoped for—at its last General Meeting voted 5,000/.

to head a subscription to carry out this long desired object. In the course of their inquiries into the subject, the Committee have gathered from various sources important information —a part of which is a fact which they think is by no means known to the general public, that there are upwards of a quarter of a million of men employed in the Merchant Navy (30,000 of whom are sailing out of the port of London alone), for whom (with a trifling exception) there is no provision but the workhouse, when, from age or otherwise, they are disabled from further service.

"They therefore respectfully commend to the Meeting, by way of a beginning, that an effort be made to establish an hospital for the reception of 500 persons of all grades of the Mercantile Marine; and that the wives of a certain number of each grade be admitted, under regulations yet to be considered.

That the hospital be built on or near fee banks of the Thames, in the Pprt of London, to be called (with her Majesty's gracious permission) The Royal Hospital for Worn-put and Disabled Merchant Seamen, ; and, in order to meet the feelings of all, that Out-pensions be provided for those who may have a home of their own, and prefer remaining in it; thus, by having a pension, the aged mariner, when unfit for seii, will be helped while passing the evening of his days in the bosom of his family.

The hospital will contain only those who give it preference, or those who, from infirmity and lack of relative ties, find a small pension of 10Z. or 1JM. per annum inadequate to keep them from the workhouse. Though it is not the desire of the Committee to congregate unnecessarily in one spot a large body of men, the building first raised will be so constructed as to form the centre of a plan which may be extended when necessary, and as the funds will permit.

" The Committee feel it to be important that the seamen should voluntarily subscribe towards providing themselves with a pension, and the maintenance of the establishment; and that their subscriptions should make them eligible for their admission into the hospital, subject to the rules of the Institution.

They believe that their doing so, coupled with the knowledge that they will never be reduced to pauperism, will operate to raise their moral standing, and bifid them more effectually to their country and its colours. It is proposed also, with a view to increasing their comfort by providing them with suitable occupation, to set apart a portion of the building where the inmates may manufacture such articles as they are accustomed to make, and that the profits arising, out of the same should belong to the parr ties by whose labour they have been produced.

The married women it is proposed to employ as much as possible in the domestic arrangements of the establishment, and in order to the internal government of it, that, under the Governor, there should be two Master Mariners appointed to each word, which will consist of a certain number of cabins; it being intended that each man should have a separate cabin, and that there should be first as/A, second captains of the ward.

" The Committee having sent a.&circular to the 500 honorary agents of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society-, to gather up the mind of the Merchant Seamen round the coast, are happy to say that they have received from various quarters the gratifying testimony that numbers of them are willing to aid the movement; and the .Committee feel no doubt, from the information they have received, that a large number will do so a£ soon as a well-digested plan forout-pensioas is brought intelligently before them, by which they will perceive the benefit which it is proposed to confer, by combining their own subscriptions with any funds that may be raised from other sources.

" There are three sources from whence it may reasonably be hoped funds for carrying on this benevolent object will be obtained.

"First, from the public—in donations, subscriptions, and legacies; and the Committee's ground of hope here is, from the universal sympathy that is known to be felt for our sailors.

" The second is from the seamen themselves —who, if satisfied of its usefulness, no doubt will subscribe in great numbers. The Committee argue from their experience in the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, which began its operations only eighteen years since, during which time they compute that 65,OQP mariners have subscribed. The new subscribers increasing annually on the average of 3,500 from the commencement, and the losses by death or otherwise of old subscribers being 1,000 per annum, leaves the numbers subscribing at present 47,000; and they remark, that when they proposed to them to subscribe an additional threepence annually for life-boats, 30,000 of them immediately responded.

" The third source is, the Board of Trade —and here they may notice, that they speak without having any official encouragement— but their hope arises from the fact that the Board receive the wages and effects of deceased seamen, and that it has, according to the official returns, a surplus from that source of 44,232?., with a probable annual increase of about 12,000?. after the payment of all established claims, and which moneys, it may be supposed, legitimately belong to the Merchant Seamen as a body,—added to which the Board had last year 165,137?.

balance over the working expenses of the Mercantile Marine, besides a large sum that has accumulated from this source. The Committee think it important to state to the meeting and their supporters, that the Corporation of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society having voted a donation of 5,OOOZ. to the Hospital now sought to be established, propose that it should be perfectly distinct, though under its watchful care, and that once fairly launched, it will not be allowed to cripple the resources of that noble Institution, " The Committee desire me to conclude with reminding the Meeting, that England, which may well be designated the greatest commercial country in the world, of which this great city is the centre, is the only maritime nation of any consequence in Europe or America that has no national provision for her Merchant Seamen—no provision for the men by whose skill and courage her vast commerce is conducted across the mighty deep, and who are the main instruments of her greatness—no link, such as is now proposed, to bind to their country those brave and hardy men by whose toil her merchants have become princes, and her ship-owners and manufacturers loaded with wealth—no place of refuge when incapacitated to toil at sea any longer, by some of the thousand casualties to which they are daily exposed, or when old age or infirmity cramps their energies, and leaves them destitute—no mark of their country's care that proves her estimation of her gallant tars, though, without them, if a daring foe should suddenly assail her, she would fall at once from the eminent position -which she now holds in the family of nations.

" The Committee leave it to the Meeting and the public to decide, whether from this day forward it shall any longer be said, that England, who owes most and is most dependent on her seamen of any nation in the world, and boasts most of them, and deservedly, should nevertheless do the least for them, when unable to serve their country any longer." Various Resolutions, pledging the Meeting to use its best exertions to promote the laudable object in view, were afterwards unanimously passed.