especially the cruel Knout, are carefully described by him. He passed through Poland, and saw some sights of misery at Warsaw.5 It was during this, his fourth journey, that Edmund Burke uttered these famous words about Howard, when speaking to his constituents at Bristol: 6. "I cannot name this gentleman without remarking that his labours and writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe-not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosity of modern art; nor to collect medals, or manuscripts-but to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain, to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt, to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries. His plan is original; it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of this labour is felt more or less in every country. I hope he will anticipate his final reward by seeing all its efforts fully realised in his own." 7. In 1783 Howard carried out his design of visiting Portugal, in which he had been disappointed twenty-seven years previously. His purpose now was very different from his earlier one. Then, he wished to see the effects of a great earthquake; now, he was going to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain, to dive into the depths of dungeons. He endeavoured to penetrate the secret cells of the Inquisition, but those doors were as firmly closed against him as the gates of the Bastille of Paris had been previously. In Spain he found the prisons much superior to those in Portugal, but instruments of torture were used still to obtain confession. Here he was permitted to see the room where the accused were examined, but nothing more. Not only prisons, but hospitals and schools were carefully visited by this unwearied traveller. Passing through France, he found at Bordeaux deep dungeons and plenty of irons, but at Paris matters had somewhat improved. At Ghent, on making application to inspect a prison, he was told that the Emperor had prohibited visitors from entering, "but you, Sir, are an exception to all rules." 8. In 1785 he set out again to foreign lands with the special purpose of examining the hospitals. The plague was at that time very prevalent, and special hospitals, called Lazarettos, after the Lazarus mentioned in the Parable, who was laid at the rich man's gate full of sores,* were erected to receive its victims. Though taking every precaution, Howard shunned no danger. In France he had to assume disguises to escape imprisonment. At Malta1o he found the utmost inhumanity among those in office, some of whom were even amusing themselves with the ravings of a dying patient. From Malta, Howard proceeded eastward, and for the first time stood on Asiatic soil. He landed at Smyrna,11 but amid all the novelty and excitement of the strange scene, he never lost sight of his main purpose. He then went to Constantinople.12 At both these places he saw some shocking sights. *St. Luke, chapter xvi. At one place in Turkey, he found the sick lying neglected on the floors, for no doctor would attend to them. During this journey he had an interview with Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, and did not fail to impress upon the Emperor the necessity for immediate improvements in his military hospital. 9. In July, 1789, Howard set out on what proved his last journey. He proceeded through Holland and Prussia to Petersburg; from thence he went to Moscow, where he found the hospitals in a very sad state, "upwards of seventy thousand sailors and recruits died in them last year." Towards the end of the year he arrived at Kherson, near the mouth of the River Dnieper, on the shores of the Black Sea. Here he received a newspaper in which he read with joy an account of the fall of the Bastille in Paris. He was asked to attend a young lady who had caught the plague. He set out on a rainy night, intensely cold, to see her. He sat down by the bedside and watched her till the morning. That day she died, and at the same time her visitor felt he had caught the fever. Every possible attention was paid to him in that strange land. His great fame as a friend of the poor and afflicted found him many friends. On January 20th, 1790, amidst the severities of a bleak winter in a foreign land, John Howard breathed his last. The first statue erected in St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, was one to the memory of this prince of philanthropists. The facts in this lesson are taken from Dr. Stoughton's recent Life of Howard, the Philanthropist. 1. Bastille-A fortress in Paris, built during the fourteenth century, and used as a state-prison. It was seized by the populace on July 14th, 1789, and completely destroyed. This event is usually considered the beginning of the French Revolution, which overthrew the Government, caused the execution of King Louis XVI. and his Queen, Maria Antoinette, and hundreds of others. 2. Hamburg.-At that time a free city on the Elbe. 3. Berne. The capital of Switzerland. 4. Petersburg.-Capital of Russia. It was founded as a fortress by Peter the Great, in 1703, and declared his capital in 1712. Moscow, nearly in the centre of Russia, was the old capital. 5. Warsaw, then capital of Poland. 6. Edmund Burke.-One of the greatest orators and politicians of the last century; born about 1728, died at 7. Inquisition. sometimes called the Holy Office, was a secret court to try all offences against the Roman Catholic Church. It existed in many countries, but flourished most in Spain, where it was finally suppressed in 1820. 8. Bordeaux.-A beautiful city on the River Garonne, on the west coast of France. Large quantities of light French wines are shipped from Bordeaux. LESSON XVII. SUMMER MORNING SCENE. The meek-eyed morn appears, mother of dews, White break the clouds away. With quicken'd step And opens all the lawny prospect, wide. The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top, Swell on the sight and brighten with the dawn. Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents shine; Limps awkward: while along the forest glade At early passengers. Music awakes The native voice of undissembled joy; And thick around the woodlands hymns arise. E |