hospitals of the place, took me in charge. He carried me to the house of
a worthy and benevolent clergyman of the German Reformed Church, where I
was to take tea and pass the night. What became of the Moravian chaplain
I did not know; but my friend the Philanthropist had evidently made up
his mind to adhere to my fortunes. He followed me, therefore, to the
house of the "Dominie." as a newspaper correspondent calls my kind host,
and partook of the fare there furnished me. He withdrew with me to the
apartment assigned for my slumbers, and slept sweetly on the same pillow
where I waked and tossed. Nay, I do affirm that he did, unconsciously, I
believe, encroach on that moiety of the couch which I had flattered
myself was to be my own through the watches of the night, and that I was
in serious doubt at one time whether I should not be gradually, but
irresistibly, expelled from the bed which I had supposed destined for my
sole possession. As Ruth clave unto Naomi, so my friend the
Philanthropist clave unto me. "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where
thou lodgest, I will lodge." A really kind, good man, full of zeal,
determined to help somebody, and absorbed in his one thought, he doubted
nobody's willingness to serve him, going, as he was, on a purely
benevolent errand. When he reads this, as I hope he will, let him be
assured of my esteem and respect; and if he gained any accommodation from
being in my company, let me tell him that I learned a lesson from his
active benevolence. I could, however, have wished to hear him laugh once
before we parted, perhaps forever. He did not, to the best of my
recollection, even smile during the whole period that we were in company.
I am afraid that a lightsome disposition and a relish for humor are not
so common in those whose benevolence takes an active turn as in people of
sentiment, who are always ready with their tears and abounding in
passionate expressions of sympathy. Working philanthropy is a practical
specialty, requiring not a mere impulse, but a talent, with its peculiar
sagacity for finding its objects, a tact for selecting its agencies, an