lattered to have been
thought of in that connection; troubled to find myself in touch again
with that past so deeply rooted in my heart. And the illusion of
nearness is so great while I trace these lines that I feel as if I were
speaking in the name of that worthy Sailor-Shade of Old Andy, whose
faithfully hard life seems to my vision a thing of yesterday.

* * * * *

But though the past keeps firm hold on one, yet one feels with the same
warmth that the men and the institutions of to-day have their merit and
their claims. Others will know how to set forth before the public the
merit of the Sailors' Home in the eloquent terms of hard facts and some
few figures. For myself, I can only bring a personal note, give a
glimpse of the human side of the good work for sailors ashore, carried on
through so many decades with a perfect understanding of the end in view.
I have been in touch with the Sailors' Home for sixteen years of my life,
off and on; I have seen the changes in the staff and I have observed the
subtle alterations in the physiognomy of that stream of sailors passing
through it, in from the sea and out again to sea, between the years 1878
and 1894. I have listened to the talk on the decks of ships in all
latitudes, when its name would turn up frequently, and if I had to
characterise its good work in one sentence, I would say that, for seamen,
the Well Street Home was a friendly place.

It was essentially just that; quietly, unobtrusively, with a regard for
the independence of the men who sought its shelter ashore, and with no
ulterior aims behind that effective friendliness. No small merit this.
And its claim on the generosity of the public is derived from a long
record of valuable public service. Since we are all agreed that the men
of the merchant service are a national asset worthy of care and sympathy,
the public could express this sympathy no better than by enabling the
Sailors' Home, so useful in the past, to continue its friendly offices to
the seamen of future generations.

Footnotes

{1} Yvette and Other Stories. Translated by Ada Galsworthy.

{2} _Turgenev_: A Study. By Edward Garnett.

{3} _Studies in Brown Humanity_. By Hugh Clifford.

{4} _Quiet Days in Spain_. By C. Bogue Luffmann.

{5} Existence after Death Implied by Science. By Jasper B. Hunt, M.A.

{6} _The Ascending Effort_. By George Bourne.

{7} Since writing the above, I am told that such doors are fitted