The career of Sir Henry M. Stanley is not only of a more or less
romantic nature, but furnishes lessons that are as obvious as they
are useful. Beginning life as an unknown boy, he is now one of the
best-known, as he is the most highly honored of men. And he has thus
achieved, through the medium of his stalwart mental and physical
attributes. Sir Henry was born in Denbigh, Wales, and emigrated to
the United States in 1856. He was adopted by a New Orleans merchant,
whose name he now bears. Coming north, he became connected with the
New York Herald, and in 1870 was sent to Africa by that newspaper, in
order to explore some of the then unknown sections of that country.
Returning to America, in 1874, he was ordered at brief notice by
James Gordon Bennett, of the Herald, to find Dr. Livingston, the late
famous traveler and missionary, from whom no tidings had been heard
for some time. Stanley successfully carried out the instructions.
Subsequently he discovered the source of the Congo, and still later
his explorations, undertaken at the request of the King of Belgium,
resulted in the foundation of the Congo Free State. He also commanded
the Emin Pasha relief expedition. Since 1895 he has been a member of
the British parliament. His books are many and have for the most part
to do with his adventures and experiences in Africa. He was knighted by
the late Queen Victoria for his services to science as explorer.