In our last number we inserted the annual report of the Sailors' Home. We now publish that of the Asylum, which, although connected with the "Home," is under distinct management, and both its receipts and expenditure kept as a separate account. At the Asylum for the Houseless Poor, at Glasshouse-fields, large numbers of sailors receive a nightly shelter during the inclement season of the year. We have, ourselves, seen under its roof from eighty to one hundred at one time; but the institution, whose report we now give, and which is established for seamen exclusively, is open the whole year round, and from its admirable arrangements is well deserving the confidence and support of a benevolent public.

The Directors of the Destitute Sailors' Asylum desire to present to the subscribers their eighteenth Annual Report, under a deep sense of their obligations to Almighty God, who has now been pleased to employ the Asylum as his instrument for rescuing no less than 24,721 British seamen from a state of destitution, under the effects of which, multitudes would have been likely to have sunk into an early and untimely grave, multitudes likely to have become finally disqualified for serving their country as able and effective seamen, who now, by the blessing of God, on the intervention of this Institution, are perhaps, at this moment, more than compensating to the community the expense of their maintenance, under the roof of the Asylum, by many a deed of British heroism, many an achievement of bold seamanship, many a mariner contributed to man the vessels of Great Britain, whether in her navy or in her merchant-service, at a period at which her demand for seamen has grown pressing, and every separate man is felt to have his value.

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REPORT OF THE DESTITUTE SAILORS' ASYLUM.

For no small proportion of all this, the Directors are bold to say, that the country is indebted, under God, to the Destitute Sailors' Asylum. It is thus no uncommon thing for men, with all the appearance of high credit and respectability as seamen, and perhaps at the time residing in the "Sailors' Home," to come to the Superintendent of the Asylum, and acknowledge with deep gratitude, the obligations under which they feel themselves to lie, for the resource which they have found in that institution in a season of distress; a resource to which they trace, with truth, their subsequent recovery of a position which they would otherwise have had no opportunity of regaining; and thus all the success, prosperity, and respectability, which has since attended them. To estimate aright the utility and claims of the Destitute Sailors' Asylum, we must look not merely to its operation at periods (transient, and of precarious duration) of commercial prosperity, or unusual activity, in the department of commissioning and manning ships in Her Majesty's navy,-we must look to times which have already been; to times which are always likely to recur,—when British seamen have been found by hundreds, passing the most inclement nights of a hard winter in the open streets of the metropolis, a state of the most absolute and abject destitution, the want of shelter and a meal all the reward which they have reaped for toils and dangers which have made Great Britain "the merchant of many isles ; " have rendered "her merchants princes, her traffickers the honourable of the earth.” True indeed, that it is his vices which, in multitudes of cases, have reduced the seaman to this state of wretchedness; but then those very vices are the fruits of his profession, the fruits of moral disadvantages to which the seaman is subjected in the service of his country: the fruits of a spiritual neglect, which transfers to his wealthier and more enlightened countrymen a portion, at least, of the responsibility, even of his moral degradation; and which turns that very degradation into a ground of additional claim on his behalf.

Nor is it invariably true, that the seaman's misfortunes are the effects of his misconduct. It is sometimes, and not unfrequently the case, that the characteristic daring of the sailor, that accidents and injuries resulting out of everything which we justly consider as most valuable in his character,-that these have led to the distress to which the Destitute Sailors' Asylum hastens to administer. Often shipwreck, often disease, are found to be its causes; so that, even at the present moment, when the very unusual demand for men, both in the navy and the merchant-service, and it may be added, the demand also for labour on land, have tended materially to alleviate the burdens of the Institution; still, the amount of misery relieved by it will be found, by an examination of the books, to have been far from inconsiderable. Not less than 884 men have passed through the Institution even in the course of the past year; many of them also well entitled to be made the objects of a sympathy and care like that of which the Destitute Sailors' Asylum is at once the expression and the instrument. To the patient,

for instance, 'discharged from the Dreadnought, Hospital Ship, after cure, and requiring support for the time that he is seeking employment in a ship; to the seaman who has lost, or has been plundered of his money (a case of no uncommon occurrence); to men reduced to destitution by misfortune or improvidence; to the shipwrecked mariner or starving prodigal; to these, the Destitute Sailors' Asylum has offered a resource which it seems to be scarcely more than justice to the British seaman to provide for him; his misfortunes those which he encounters in the service of his country on the dangerous ocean, and his very vices (as have been previously suggested) the results of a profession which, while contributing so materially to the wealth and greatness of the nation, acts with no benign or favourable influence on the seaman's character.

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In the Asylum, not merely sheltered, fed, and (as the necessity exists for it) even clothed, the destitute seaman is assisted also in his endeavours to obtain a ship; a most important service for the society to render him, inasmuch as sailors, as a class, are the most helpless of men, when once overtaken by misfortune and calamity on shore. Nor, it is trusted, are instances wanting of still higher and more valuable benefits which the Asylum has been the means of conferring on its inmates. They come to it frequently "filled with their own ways; with experience, bitter and abundant, of the truth that " the way of the transgressor is hard;" dispirited for the moment, if not contrite; in a frame of mind, at least, more than usually favourable for receiving those truths of the gospel which are preached to them here continually and industriously; and not, it is trusted, without some indications of divine blessing; some appearance that "the word preached profits, being mixed with faith in those who hear;" though the persons "passing to and fro" are so many," and so quickly lost to observation, that it is seldom easy to speak with certainty of the result.

For the last two years a bath has been in use in the Asylum, which has contributed materially to the cleanliness and comfort of the inmates; and a drain of improved construction, has been made in the course of the last year, at an expense of £40. 10s.

The Asylum is now licensed, pursuant to the provisions of the Act 8 and 9 Victoria, cap. 116; by which the facilities for shipping men from the Institution will be very greatly increased.

The Directors have again gratefully to acknowledge the grant of £100 from the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, being the fifteenth donation bestowed by that benevolent Board.

The Directors, in conclusion, tender their best thanks to the different Auxiliaries in connexion with the society, in different parts of England, and individually to the friends and supporters of the Institution, both in London and the country.

THE LIVERPOOL SAILORS' HOME.

OUR opinion of the value of Sailors' Homes has been too frequently recorded to render it necessary to give expression to it again. It is, therefore, with unfeigned pleasure that we have to report the commencement of the noble and magnificent building, which in the port of Liverpool is henceforth to afford shelter and protection to multitudes of British seamen. Our readers are not unacquainted with the operations of the Liverpool Seamen's Friend Society, and with the successful efforts which that committee have made to destroy the crimping system by the establishment of a Registry Office. We are too closely allied to that society in sympathy, in object, and in interest, not to wish it increasing prosperity; and we have no apprehensions that this additional effort for the benefit of seamen in that port will damage the interests of the older institution. If it bring the claims of our mercantile marine before the public-if it stimulate the friends of the other Institution to renewed and increasing activity-if it stir up a deeper and more earnest spirit of pious and prayerful zeal for the highest interest of the sailor, the establishment of the Liverpool Sailor's Home, will produce a double benefit; it will, by its direct influence, promote the sailors' advantage, and it will, by its reflex influence, tend to accomplish the same object. The information which we subjoin, has appeared in the daily papers; but it is due to the importance of the undertaking to give it a place in our pages, and thereby secure for it a permanent record.

Our readers are aware that the ceremony of laying the first stone of the edifice was performed by his Royal Highness Prince Albert. He arrived in Liverpool on the 30th of July, and was received in due form by the Mayor of the town, and a large party of noblemen and gentlemen; and at the Town Hall, to which he proceeded, the following address was read by the Recorder :

"TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT. "The humble Address of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Borough of Liverpool.

"May it please your Royal Highness,-We, the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Liverpool, desire to greet your Royal Highness with a cordial welcome, and to express the satisfaction and joy which the arrival of a prince so exalted in station, and so justly entitled to every tribute of respect and esteem, has diffused throughout this loyal borough. This visit to a seat of mercantile industry, your consent to sanction and grace by your presence the opening of new accommodations to trade and shipping, and your purpose to take part in forwarding an institution for the advantage and welfare of sailors at this port, are manifestations to us most gratifying of your princely regard for the commerce of that wide empire, with the destiny and history of which your Royal Highness, in sacred union with our most gracious Sovereign, is so auspiciously, and, as we fervently hope, so lastingly connected. Our town boasts not of monuments of ancient art and magnificence, but of the flags which, from every quarter of the globe, countless in number, now wave in sign of welcome, on the waters and along the shores of the Mersey, attest the successful energy by which, under the blessing of Providence, the port of Liverpool has been rendered conducive

and subservient to the progress of manufactures, the intercourse of nations, and the happiness of mankind; and we trust that a view of various public works and buildings now advancing to completion here will satisfy your Royal Highness that a spirit of useful enterprise still lives amongst us, to derive fresh vigour and encouragement from the proceedings of this day. Filled with sentiments of the most respectful attachment and regard, we pray that your Royal Highness may long share the happiness of a Queen who reigns in the hearts of her subjects, and with her continue to adorn the loftiest sphere, with a brilliant example of public and private virtue."

After the reading of the address his Royal Highness returned the following gracious reply:

"I experience the greatest satisfaction from the cordial welcome which the address you have just presented to me gives me, upon my arrival in this town. I am glad to perceive that my coming amongst you, in order to take part in two ceremonies connected with your mercantile industry and enterprise, should have been gratifying to you; and on my part I have only followed the bent of my own inclination, in at once responding to your kind invitation. Your expressions of loyalty and attachment to the Queen, cannot fail to be most satisfactory to me, and I am sure will be felt as such by her Majesty."

After the reception of the address, his Royal Highness drove down to the Docks, and went on board the Fairy, accompanied by the chairman of the Dock Committee, the naval officers of the Port, &c. The Fairy entered the Dock amidst the cheers of the thousands who were assembled to witness the magnificent sight.

The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Sailors' Home was reserved for the following day.

This institution will be called "The Liverpool Sailors' Home, Registry, and Savings' Bank," and its general object is to provide for the sailor a safeguard against the many evils and corrupting influences to which his kind heart, inexperienced, and joyous nature, expose him when temporarily on shore. Its establishment was first suggested at a public meeting at Liverpool, in 1841, and by 1844 all the plans had been matured and the site obtained. At a public meeting held in that year, and attended by the first men in Liverpool, the whole arrangements were made. The objects of the institution are thus explained by the founders::- "The immediate objects of the institution shall be to provide for the seamen frequenting the port of Liverpool, board, lodging, and medical attendance, at a moderate charge; to protect them from imposition and extortion, and encourage them to husband their hardearned wages; to promote their moral, intellectual, and professional improvement; and to afford them the opportunity of receiving religious instruction. A reading-room, library, and savings' bank shall be attached to the institution, and with the view of securing to the able and wellconducted seaman a rate of wages proportionate to his merits, a registry of character shall be kept. Among the ulterior objects in contemplation are schools for sea apprentices, and the sons of seamen, with special regard to the case of children who have lost one or both their parents." In a very short time the patronage of her Majesty was obtained, and donations were made to the institution to the amount of £15,000. The annual subscriptions soon reached £300. Temporary premises were