,000 pounds in
building and endowing churches. In 1857, he offered a prize for the
best model of a life-boat, and he afterwards supplied several stations
on the coast with these invaluable adjuncts. At North Shields, he
erected "The Sailor's Home," making provision for both the temporal and
spiritual wants of the seamen, a class, in whom he felt great interest,
having, himself, in early life, served as a midshipman on board the
Tribune frigate.

The story of the years, though too often blotted and spoiled by the
passions of men that have wrought cruelty, and the sins of men, which
have brought tempests of sorrow, is yet the story of the goodness and
mercy of God. Through all the changes that have taken place, there has
been a gradual growth of commercial power, of civilisation, morality,
and religion. The times have always been progressive, there has been
no going back, but a continual, persistent, onward tendency, is
evident. And though the progress may be slow, it is nevertheless very
sure. There _is_ a Power that has said to the evil influences that in
the times of long ago desolated Northumbria, even as it has often said
to the raging billows that wash its shores, "Hitherto shalt thou come,
but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." And that
Power it is which has kept always burning brightly the lamp which
Paulinas lighted in dark places in those far off ancient times.
To-day, indeed, no worshippers bow at the shrines of the saints, and
many things that our forefathers thought sacred are treated lightly by
their posterity. But the real has taken the place of the unreal; truth
reigns where fiction lived, and the substance is grasped, while the
shadow is left to fade away. The people, indeed, kneel today where
their fathers knelt, but many of them, at least, care less for gorgeous
ceremonial than their fathers cared. And crowds have learned to
consecrate themselves to the God for whom they, in the darkness, longed
and cried. And he who came as the Lamb of God that taketh away the
sins of the world, has, in our day, thousands, where before were only
tens. Let us thank God and take courage. "The Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we are glad." The good times have come; and yet
they are only earnests of better days still that are on their way. Let
the children, not only of Northumbria, but of every part of our land,
sing Christian songs, and live Christian lives. And let all the p