'Amid all changes evermore unfolded By mental throe, by accident of time, Mankind shall venerate the men who moulded Heroic actions with an aim sublime! O! ye who shine along life's desert places, Who've lived for others' good to help and save, Affection hails ye with profound embraces And bows before a brother truly brave! One whose gallant deeds in noble brotherhood, Nobler far than warrior's valiant strife, Have found their own reward in others' good And proved a blessing in preserving life. And WHO IS HE of whom this land is proud, Whose name we honour and whose worth is known? He's one who does his duty in the crowd, A worker there--and yet he stands alone! Without pretension, who by deeds endears His name afar beyond his native strand, A son of toil--yet one of Nature's peers! Whose worth's acknowledged in his native land! His is the praise well won for gallant action In saving life along our Humber shore, And there are many hearths where recollection Returns to him in blessings evermore! And he is worthy!--for in his soul implanted There is a noble usefulness--his choice For others' good, which bards of old have chanted To those who, like him, have made hearts rejoice. O! should these lines be found in after days-- A tribute to his fair and honoured name-- Let such accord to him the meed of praise, Tell of his bravery and his worth proclaim! All honour to thee, Ellerthorpe, and thine, And as duty calls thee to thy post each morn, May good attend thee and its graces shine, And lead thee upward and thy name adorn.' [Sidenote: VOTE OF THANKS FROM THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.] The following petition, signed by W. Hodge, Esq., Mayor, and upwards of sixty of the leading ministers, merchants, and gentlemen of Hull, was forwarded to the Royal Humane Society:-- To the Honourable the Court of the Royal Humane Society. We, the undersigned, members of the municipal corporation, the Trinity House, and the Dock Company at Kingston-upon-Hull, and merchants of that borough, beg most respectfully to submit to the consideration of your honourable court, the services of John Ellerthorpe, now a foreman in the service of the Dock Company of this borough, who, during the course of the last forty years has, by the providence of God and his own intrepidity, rescued from a watery grave no fewer than twenty-eight persons, often at the great risk of his own life, as may be seen from the statement of particulars hereto annexed. On a former occasion, on the 18th of January, 1836, you were pleased to award to Ellerthorpe a medallion and certificate on a representation being made to the society of his having saved eight persons from drowning while employed as a mariner in the New Holland Ferry.