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;
not to collect medals, or collate 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 to compare and collate the
distresses of all men in all countries. His plan is original; and is
as full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery; a
circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of his labour is felt
more or less in every country; I hope he will anticipate his final
reward by seeing all its effects fully realized in his own. He will
receive, not by detail, but in gross, the reward of those who visit
the prisoner; and he has so forestalled and monopolized this branch of
charity, that there will be, I trust, little room to merit by such acts
of benevolence hereafter.