The Express.
London, England, 1860-05-24 00:00:00

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LONDON, TIiIIREDAY, MAY 24.

the the 25th day of October, 1694, it was
announced by authority that a lasting mounnient
of the gratitude which England felt for the
courage and patriotism of her sailors would soon
be erected. Queen Meal. had seen with pain the
difficulty of providing good shelter and good
attendance for the thousands of brave men who
had come home wounded after the great battle of
La Hogue. While she lived scarcely any step
had been taken to accomplish her favourite scheme
of converting the Palace at Greenwich into a re-
treat for seamen. But within two months after
her oath • charter was Mined. " A plan,"
Licari-ay. says, was furnished by Wua ; and
" soon an edifice surp•esing that asylum which the
" Magnificent Lewes had provided for his soldiers
" rose on the margin of the Thames." Though
the inscription which runs round the frieze de-
elates that, " Out of Royal charity for the safe
" retreat and public maintenance of men who
" have kept their watch over the public safety the
" Palace of Greenwich has been dedicated by
" M•aT to the relief of sailors in the reign of
" WILLIAR and MARV, 1694," few of those who
now pas on the noblest of European hospitals
are aware that it is • memorial of the virtues of
the good Queen Maav, of the love and sorrow of
Wiu.s au ; but perhaps fewer still of those who have
loitered under those colonnades would conjecture
that this Greenwich was designed to be
the place of retreat not for retired officers
but for retired seamen. To those who have
known anything of this great Institution
those things have long been notorious, but it
needed the industry of a Royal Commission to
Anne the fact before the public. Accordingly, in the
month of November of last year, Mr. R. lament,
the member for South Shields; Mr. Herr, the
member for Gateshead ; and Captain Hay, R.N.,
sere appointed to inquire into the management of
Greenwich Hospital, and to say whether its
resourc.•s could le• better applied for the benefit
of seamen who have served in the Royal Navy.
The results of that inquiry are now before us in
the shape of a very able Report which commands
attention. It is to be hoped that Government
will bee no tone in carrying into effect such changes
as nay be practicable.

The general design of this national Hospital is
patent upon the face of many public documents.
As the Report says :—" A bmely of between 2,000
" said 3,000 meritorious seafaring men, expremmly
" selected on account of their age, wounds, and
" other causes of suffering and infirmity, debarred
" thereby from ordinary enjoyment and occupation,
" without employment, removed from the aasociatioi
" of their birth or early neighbourhood, are to be
" lodged, clothed, fed, and cared for in much a
" manner as shall best mark the gratitude of a great
" nation for their services, and best incite others to
" tread in their steps and to emulate their
" example." Besides the provision for the men
themselves, provision is also to be made for their
wives and the education of their children. And,
lastly, the Institution is to be made the means of
promoting that nautical skill which is the chief
foundation of British supremacy.
The means for accomplishing these objects are
not inconsiderable. The net income for the year

I B:i9 amounted to 148,1981. Bs. 2d. And if the
calculations of the Commiasioners are correct, an
addition of no less than 32,4401. should be made,
so that the total annual revenue should be at least
180,000/. Large, however, as these resources are,
and splendid as are the buildings, it is a striking
fact that for the last twelve years the ber of va-
cancies has been gradually increasing. The au-
therised number for whom accommndation is pro-
%idea is 2,642, whereas the actual residents are
now fewer thau 1,600. Indeed, mince the year
I $4B the number of vacancies him increased front
II to the elion ((((( ta ber of 1,124. How
comes it then that seamen will not accept the
charity intended for them 1 There seems to be no
reluctance on the part of officers to take up their
&book within the walls of the Hospital. Hut ogled=
were lint the object of Queen MitaY's solicitude.
Some officers, of course, are needed to =Lintels&
discipline ; but the battered seamen who lied
weathered the storm and ranged alongside the
enemy were the real objects of the Royal bounty.
The plain truth is th.t respectable old seamen
of the Royal Navy will not, and indeed cannot,
submit to ask ailiniesion to the Hospital under
the present arrangements. Thu t ' ((((( missiotiers
distinctly declare this to he the fact, and
it must be admitted that they give nuafole reasons for
their conclusion. Let us look at the matter. M hen
a seaman enters the Hospital all distinctions of
ran'. are effaced. Radges of good conduct are
retained ; but, unlike the practice of the
Royal Navy, these badges carry with the,,, neither
emolument nor consideration. Men who Gave
attain..) the rank of petty, even of u arraot officers,
are practically disrated, and mingled nuliscrimi•
iiaLely with erdioary seamen and the refuse of