The Duke Of Edinburgh At Devonport.

cordial reception which I have met with here to-day . I need scarcely tell you—and my presence amongst you I hope will assure you of it—that to come here and take part in this interesting ceremony is a matter of very great pleasure , and by no means of

inconvenience—( hear , near . ) And I am sorry that Sir Henry Keppel should have dwelt so much upon that point ; because when one sees the good that can be done on an occasion of this sort , I am sure that no inconvenience and no distance should keep one away —( hear , hear . ) I must

congratulate the directors of this excellent institution upon the great success with which the proceedings of to-day have been crowned , and upon the liberal subscriptions which have come in to meet the demand Air . Aletham has made for the £ 4 , 000 necessary to complete

these new wings , and to enable another election to take place from amongst the 150 candidates who are waiting for admission to this institution —( applause . ) I am informed that since the institution was founded , in the year 1 S 39 , there have been a thousand young girls trained and

passed through it and sent out into domestic service where they are doing well * and I am sure that this is not only an excellent thing for the orphans of our brave soldiers themselves , but it is also an excellent thing for society at large in providing good and trustworthy domestic

servants —( applause . ) I am sure that the appeal which has been made , and to which so far there has been made a hearty response , will not fail in being crowned with complete success , and that the full sum will be realized to enable

this institution to be thoroughly and successfully carried on —( applause . ) Before I resume my seat I wish to ask ycu to join with me in drinking " Prosperity to the Royal British Female Orphan Asylum , " and I couple with the toast the name of Air . Aletham —( applause . )

Mr . Aletham said : Alay it please your Royal Highness : I will not dwell on the personal pride and pleasure with which I hear " Success to the Royal British Female Orphan Asylum , ' ' proposed as a toast by a member of the Royal Family , for the deep gratitude I feel to vm

Royal Highness preponderates every other consideration . From the great interest you have always evinced in the welfare of your humbler companions in arms , I am sure it will be gratifying to you to know that when to-day and its ceremony have long faded from your mind

its good fruits will , in an ever increasing degree , be enjoyed by the orphans of our sailors and soldiers . Our great difficulty , hitherto , has been to convince the public that the benefits of the asylum are not confined to the orphans who are inhabitants of this locality only . As Royal

patronage would never be bestowed on a charity based on such narrow grounds , they will now believe the truth , and the sailors' or soldiers orphan , come whence she may , from the East , the AVest , the North , or South , will have the same chance of election as a child born in the

next street to the asylum . She needs no recommendation , none can canvass for her if they would ; the record of her father ' s services and her own destitution are her only passport . And again , your Royal Highness , visit will , I am confident , bear fruit more important still for the

relief of this destitute and deserving class . AVe celebrate to-day the inauguration of a system by which the State recognises its duty to care for the orphans of those who lose their lives in the public service . These wings would never have been built but for the provision which the

Admiralty have made for 200 orphans of seamen and marines from the Greenwich Fund . As this Institution , 35 years ago , with ils five inmates , and , £ 130 in the treasurer ' s hand , backed , however , by a strong faith in the goodness of the cause , backed too , by the far-seeing , benevolent and patriotic spirit of our gracious Queen , who

did not hesitate to commit her Royal name to the possibility of a failure , was but the type of what it is to-day , so am I confident the present Asylum is but a type of what it , and others like it , will be when England has been awakened to a sense of what she owes to her brave soldiers and sailors . Is it not a shame that the orphans of those who have fought , bled , and died to

The Duke Of Edinburgh At Devonport.

uphold the honour of England , to protect her commerce on every sea , and to guard her sacred soil from the approach of an enemy , and all we hold nearest and dearest from the invaders , pointing touch , shall be left exposed to the dangers which-poverty , ignorance , her own undisciplined

mind , and the designing vice of others may suggest ? But for the aid ofa charity like ours , begin their history as you may , it is sure to end in beggary or the streets . They gravitate , as a matter of course towards the hospital , the refuge and the union , until they find their last and only

rest in the pauper ' s grave . Not a child who has lost her father by his devotion to his duty , by the sword , disease , shipwreck , should , by the remotest possibility , be subjected to such a fate , but ought to be considered as the adopted daughter of the State . It is a work , too , that

would cost very little , and would re-pay its cost tenfold . Lord Shaftesbury lately said that if he had , £ " , 000 he would sweep the streets of London of all its waifs and strays , and convert those who are a dinger and embarrassment to the State , into willing and intelligent seamen for the Roval and Alercantile Alarines .

Give me half the money for the orphans of those who have died in actual service , by the sword . disea . se , fire , and shipwreck , and I will pay back to England ten times the value , in the shape of her greatest want—willing , intelligent , Godfearin _ servants . If it be a merit to the

husbandman who supplies the wants of our bodies to make two blades of grass grow where but one grew before , surely it must be a greater merit to shield from want , ignorance , and vice , 200 children with perishable bodies and immortal souls , where but 100 were sheltered before : and

by training them m industrial , intellectual , moral , and religious culture to convert what would have been a danger , into a blessing to society . You have to-day seen 111 children , as healthy , contented , intelligent and well conducted , as ever were gathered together under one roof . I ask

you to give me means to make 150 others of their sisters , and fellows who are on our list of candidates , as happy as they are . If we cannot raise the ^ 2 , 000 still necessary , to pay for these new wings , they , and many others like them , will be disappointed , perhaps , for ever . It

rests with the country , either through the Government , or in its individual character , to say whether the future of the orphans of our brave defenders shall be bright as that of the 1000 children we have already rescued from want and ignorance , and trained to earn their

own livelihood , or whether it shall be so dark that humanity shudders at the contemplation , drifting as they are down life ' s rapid , and , to them , turbid stream , towards the dread ocean of eternity , uncared for and unthought of , their mental and spiritual need neglected as their bodily . On behalf , then , of these poor children ,

who are at once so deserving , and so destitute , I again most gratefully thank your Royal Highness for the opportunity your visit has given me of pleading their cause , not only before this most influential coupany , but through | the press , which will report our meeting , before all England .

Sir Henry Keppel : I have now the honour of proposing the toast of "the Lord Bishop of the Diocese "—( applause . ) It is unnecessary for me to sing his praises , and I can only say that his activity is apparent in every

direction—( hear , hear . ) His lordship is ever ready to take part in any good action . At one time he comes down at the shortest notice to confirm two hundred of our sailors boys ; at another time , when a lifeboat has to be launched he comes

to pray for God s blessing upon it . I give you the Lord Bishop of Exeter —( applause . ) The Bishop of Exeter : Alay it please your Royal Highness , my lords , and gentlemen ; I am very much obliged to you for the kindness with which you have received the proposal of my

health , and I am obliged also to those who have arranged this programme for another reason , and that is that it just gives me the opportunity of saying a few words—and I can assure you that they shall be very few—in behalf of this institution , into the working of which I have lately been looking , and which 1 believe deserves

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the larger and very much more general and liberal support than it has yet received —( applause ) —because the history of it shews that it has a double claim upon us . It has not only the claim of having a very good object . That ,

in this country I believe , is shared by a great many different institutions . Very often indeed such institutions come before the public , and those who have charge of them are a little disappointed at finding what little response is made

to the appeals that are urged upon all who are within reach to support them . Very often indeed there is a sort of feeling that if you will only set before people how excellent the object is at which an institution aims , that ought to be

quite sufficient * but everybody who has to listen to such appeals knows perfectly well that there passes through the mind a question which it is not always civil to ask , but which , nevertheless , has a very great effect indeed upon the

contributions that it is possible to get ; and that is the question , whether those who are promoting the object are the right persons to promote , and whether it is quite certain that the aim—though it be a very excellent one—will be attained by

the means which they use ; whether , for instance , in establishing a school like this , the people who establish it are likely to be the best administrators of such a school , and whether it is at all sure that the administration of it will be such as

to justify the contributions that have been given . Such questions do enter the mind constantly , and very frequently indeed they materially check the subscriptions . Often , without a word being said , there is a sort of feeling that although

the object is admirable , yet it is not by any means certain that the object will be attained . But this institution—and anyone wh o studies its history may see it—has won its way from very

small beginnings , not so much by the excellence of its objects , which is confessed from the very first , but by the excellence of its administration . The . £ 15 , 000 voted some while ago from Lloyd ' s Patriotic Fund—and I believe that it

contributed very largely to give the institution the permanent character which it now possesseswas given because after careful examination those who had charge of the money were satisfied of the excellence of the work that was done .

They were satisfied , not only that those who had charge of the schools were desirous of doing a very excellent thing , but that they were doing it , and I at sure you that there is a great deal of difference between aiming at doing a

thing and succeeding m doing it . This institution has the claim of really proving to all coniemed that the work can be done , and will be done . And here it has been done —( hear , hear , and applause ) . I believe it would be very

difficult to find any institution which , in the pursuit of a very excellent object has been so thoroughly successful as this has been . I shall detain you no longer , but I think it worth while to press that consideration upon all those who are within

reach of any words that I can use —( applause ) . Air . Aletham : I am sure we ought not to separate without thanking our Chairman for so ably presiding at this Board —( applause . ) A \ e owe a very great deal to Sir Henry Keppel , and

we have received from him an amount of kind assistance which is not often forthcoming in a movement of this kind—( hear , hear . ) Three hearty cheers were given for Sir Henry , and the proceedings were brought to a close .

By the thoughtful consideration of the Lunch Committee , the desert , which remained unconsumed , was afterwards given to the inmates of the Asylum , together with the sweets , for which the children were indebted to the kindness of Air . Loving , by whom the luncheon was provided . His Royal Highness left Plymouth by the 7 . 45 p . m . mail train for London .

THE AIM AND EXD OF THE CuAFT DEFINED . The laws of Alasomy are sense and reason ; its principles , love and benevolence * its religion , truth and purity ; its object , peace on earth ; its disposition , good will towards men .