The Story of My Life Part 54

_Rome._--Three weeks among its antiquities, palaces, churches, colleges and schools.

_June 13th, 1845._--Naples; the peasants on the way from Rome to Naples; Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Pompeii, museums, hospitals, college, schools.

_June 20th._--In a steamer from Naples to Leghorn, thence in a hired coach to Pisa and Florence,--beautiful country, and highly cultivated. Employed four weeks in studying the inst.i.tutions and peculiarities of Florence; no beggars or Jesuits allowed in Florence; the grand Duke a father to his people.

_July 19th._--Proceeded to Bologna, re-enter the Papal dominions, and crossed the Appenines; views; a Normal School at Bologna, containing 1,000 pupils, and a Foundling Hospital with 3,000 children.

_July 23rd._--Left Bologna in a vetturina, in company with two agreeable gentlemen, a German and an American; Ferrara; reached the Po, where we entered Austrian dominions; when we entered the first custom-house in Italy, the head officers of which did not ask for money, and declined it when offered to them. Crossed the Adige; interesting places; thence to Venice, where I spend four days in that wondrous city.

_Bavaria._--In a stage by the Trent, through the Tyrolese Alps to Munich, capital of Bavaria, where I employed nineteen days in visiting its schools and museums, conversing with the professors.

From Munich by stage to Ratisbon; down the Danube to Luiz and Vienna--the most perfect city in its buildings, streets, and gardens I had visited. Gave a day to go down the Danube to the capital of Hungary.

_Bohemia._--From Vienna, through Bohemia, by the first train on the then new railroad to Prague; women working on the railroad.

_Saxony and Germany._--From Prague to Dresden--visits to schools; thence to Leipsic--visits to public buildings, schools, and university; thence to Halle--Franke's foundations, and other schools; to Wittemburg--Luther and Melancthon.

_Prussia._--Berlin, Sept. 8th.--Examination of its various inst.i.tutions, schools, and its university; Hanover, Cologne, Mayence, Wiesbaden, Frankfort, Strasbourg, Bale, Zurich; school of M. Fellenburg; Lausanne--Geneva--to Paris.

_Episode in my European travels, 1844, etc._--Acquaintance and travel with a Russian n.o.bleman, who becomes a Catholic priest--the Pope's Nuncio at the Court to have the Canadian school regulations for Separate School translated and published in the Bavarian newspapers; also requested me to be the bearer of a medal to Cardinal Antonelli. Rome; presentation to, and interview with, the Pope.

_London--February 22nd, 1845._--Started this morning in company with a young Russian n.o.bleman (Dunjowski), for the Continent. We commenced our voyage on the Thames, wending our way amidst shoals of craft of all descriptions. The most prominent object in the river was the new "Great Britain" iron steamer; she seemed to preside Queen of the waters; excelling every other ship, as much in the beauty and elegance of her form, as in the vastness of her dimensions. On our left lay Ess.e.x, rising gradually at a distance from the river; the undulating surface presents a high state of cultivation, variegated by stately mansions, farm-houses, and villages. On the right lay Kent, remarkable for its historical recollections. The chalk-hills near Purfleet, the men working in them, also the lime and sand, attracted my attention as a novelty I had never before witnessed. We had a tolerable view of Gravesend, the great thoroughfare of south-eastern England. We pa.s.sed the ancient village of Tilbury Fort, and Sheerness. We arrived at Holland on Sunday morning (about twenty hours from London), but could not ascend the river to Rotterdam on account of the ice. We therefore steamed to Screvinning, a village on the sea-sh.o.r.e, about three miles from the Hague. There were about fifty fishing-boats lying on the sh.o.r.e, high and dry, with their prows to the sea, as the tide was out. I was struck with their shortness, breadth, strength, and clam-like shape of their bottoms, with a portion in the centre perfectly flat. The speed of these curiously-constructed crafts is considerable; they sail close to the wind; having boards at the side as a subst.i.tute for a keel. Our mode of landing was novel. The boats were run aground, when several stout Dutch sailors jumped into the water nearly waist deep, and each took a pa.s.senger on his shoulders, soon placing him on _terra firma_. I have travelled in a great variety of ways, but I was never before placed on a man's shoulders, astride of his neck; but in this way I took my leave of the German Ocean. There is not a rock to be seen on the sh.o.r.e; which consists of fine sand thrown up from the sea, and forms a bank about twenty feet high; the highest land on the coast of Holland, forming a ridge from one to three miles wide along the northern coast. Screvinning is princ.i.p.ally inhabited by fishermen.

The road to the Hague is perfectly straight, level, and smooth, lying between two rows of oak trees, one row of which divides between it and a collateral ca.n.a.l--the accompaniment of every road throughout Holland. At 5 p.m. we went to the French Protestant Church, the place in which the famous Saurin delivered his eloquent discourses. The congregation was thin; my emotions and recollections of Saurin contrasted with the present preacher and congregation. The pulpit was at the side; the form of the church was amphi-theatrical. I noticed old Bibles, and Psalms; the text was Luke xxiii 27-28. A moderate preacher, calm, solemn and graceful; baptisms after the service. Went from the French to the English Church; only fifteen persons were present, including ourselves. I spoke to the clergyman (Mr. Beresford), introducing ourselves, and the object of our mission.

_February, 24th._--Went to the British Emba.s.sy with Rev. Mr.

Beresford; from thence to the Royal Library; and then proceeded to the Chinese and j.a.panese collection of curiosities; then on to the Gallery of Paintings; some very exquisite. From thence to the residence of the Russian (Greek) clergyman, Chaplain to the Queen of Holland, who kindly shewed us the Queen's private apartments--refined taste, and great magnificence. Then on to a Protestant school, of about 800 poor children, which is supported by subscription. The King is a subscriber to the amount of 1,000 guilders. The teachers consist of a head master and four a.s.sistants. No monitors; admirable construction of the seats; excellent order of the children; rod never used--shame, the chief instrument of correction; fine specimens of painting; Scriptures read, and prayers four times a day; salary of the head master 1,000 guilders, and a.s.sistants from 300 to 400; books furnished to the children, and all the stationery; an excellent building, well-ventilated, comfortably warm, and perfectly clean; the children remain from six to twelve years of age. Saw the British Charge d'Affaires, who procured me a general letter of introduction to teachers, etc., throughout Holland, from the Minister of the Interior. Visited the largest and princ.i.p.al free school at the Hague; it contains about eleven hundred children, girls and boys, taught by a head-master, aided by a second, and five other under-masters, and five a.s.sistants, lads from fifteen to eighteen years of age. No master ever sits, or has a seat to sit on. Were conducted by the Russian clergymen to the palace again; the state apartments were splendid indeed; collection of paintings extensive and most select; hot-houses and gardens delightful. Spent the evening with this gentleman, and was deeply interested in his conversation on his own labours, and the customs and character of the Hollanders.

_February 25th._--Left the Hague for Leyden. The country perfectly level, looking like a low meadow won from the empire of water by the industry of man, intersected by d.y.k.es and ca.n.a.ls, interspersed with villas and good private dwellings; here and there a wood of twenty or fifty years growth. On our way we visited Dr. de Rendt, who keeps the most select private school in Holland for the first cla.s.s of n.o.bility and gentry.

_February 26th--Leyden._--Attended the University, and conversed at large with the Inspector of Schools for the district, Mr. Blusse, who gave the history, and explained the whole system of elementary education in Holland. Visited six schools, admirable upon the whole. Three thousand poor children are taught in them, at an expense to the State. Visited the Museum, University, and Library; then proceeded to Haarlem, examined the schoolrooms of the celebrated Mr. Prinsen and afterwards heard his own views of the essentials of a good system of popular education: his remarks were profound and practical. He remarked, "a good system of education consists in the men. Theory and practice make the teacher. The government of the head, how acquired and how exercised. Few books; much exposition." His business for forty-four years has been to make school-masters. Religious instruction, history of his own career and of his own school. Afterwards examined Casler's monument and the church; heard the organ, and proceeded to Amsterdam.

_Feb. 27th--Amsterdam._--Had some talk with the Government Inspector of Schools. Visited a school, taught by a Roman Catholic, in which there were 950 children in one room, all quiet, and all attentive. There were four masters and twelve a.s.sistants. They have prayers four times a day.

_Feby. 28th._--Went to Saundau. Reflections on Peter the Great.

Visited the palace, its paintings and museum. Took supper with the Rev. Mr. Jameson, Episcopal clergyman.

_March 1st--Belgium._--Proceeded to Utrecht, thence to Antwerp.

_March 2nd--Sunday._--Went to the cathedral; paintings by Rubens; earnestness and oratory of the preacher. Went to St. Pauls; the streets very quiet.

_March 3rd._--Visited the Jesuit's church, and three schools; phonic and Lancasterian method of learning. Visited the museum, the city, the view from the tower of the cathedral, statues of Rubens, of the Virgin and Saviour. Proceeded to Brussels; visited three schools; courteously received; arrangements good. Visited the Hotel de Ville; Gobelin tapestry; history of Clovis; abdication of Charles V. Paintings. Reflections.

_March 4th._--Spent three hours in examining the field of Waterloo.

Went to Nivelles and visited the Normal School for south Belgium; all the arrangements perfect. Returned to Brussels.

_March 3rd._--Left Brussels for Ghent; met a commissioner at the railway station, and visited the Government Model School; the views of the intelligent master were very excellent. Called on a Doctor to whom I had a letter of introduction. He explained the school system of Belgium with great clearness. Visited the prison, the celebrated establishment that excited the admiration of Howard, and after the model of which several prisons in England and America have been built. There were about twelve hundred prisoners--arrangements wonderful, discipline apparently perfect--kept by twenty-eight men. Visited a poorhouse, a benevolent establishment to a.s.sist poor old people; about three hundred inmates; grateful feelings, sympathy. Visited the celebrated convent, containing about eight hundred nuns, who come and remain voluntarily; none, it is said, have ever left. Visited the university buildings--the best I have seen on the continent; lecture-rooms very fine. Left for Lille, in France; courteously treated at the French custom house.

_March 8th--Paris._--On our way from Lille we crossed a branch of the Rhine and the Meuse on the ice; country level and well cultivated; pa.s.sed Cambray and other towns. Walked to the park, Tuileries, to the Triumphal Arch of Napoleon--a world of magnificence.

_March 9th._--Studying French; walked through and around the Palais Royale in the boulevards--n.o.ble, splendid.

_March 10th--Sunday._--Attended the Wesleyan chapel--about one hundred present--then the English Church; thence to the Madeleine Church--most magnificent; congregation vast; music and chanting excellent beyond description; discourse read; paintings and sculpture fine; church built by Napoleon.

_March 11th._--Went to Dr. Grampier, the director of the French Protestant Evangelical Mission, a pious man, an able author, at the head of an excellent inst.i.tution having missions in Africa as well as in different parts of France.

_March 12th._--Removed to new lodgings; tolerably comfortable.

_March 13th._--Went to the university; heard lecture on history; Attended an evening party at Dr. Grampier's; was introduced to several gentlemen of rank and wealth. Singing and reading of the Scriptures; much pleased with the party; as many ladies as gentlemen; a.s.sembled at eight, broke up at eleven o'clock.

_March 14th._--Heard a most splendid lecture on astronomy from the celebrated Arago; audience very large; the professor had no notes; the subject was light--comets, causes of the changes in the color of the stars, etc., etc.; lecture two hours, much cheered.

_March 15th._--Went to the French Chamber of Deputies; saw Guizot.

Difference between the French Chamber of Deputies and the British House of Commons struck me--1st. The more ample accommodations for members; 2nd. The little attention which appeared to be paid to the President of the Chamber; 3rd. In the members going to the tribune to speak, and reading their speeches; 4th. In the position of the different officers of the House; 5th. The fine appearance of the servants, and the very convenient accommodations for them; 6th. The superior accommodations for strangers. Heard two lectures at the university, one on mineralogy; lecture good; specimens numerous--the other on electricity; splendid lecturer; fine ill.u.s.trations.

_March 16th--Sunday._--Went to the Oratoire, the princ.i.p.al Protestant place of worship; about seventy catechumens admitted; the dress of the females white. Sermon by Mr. Monod; text--"_Mon fils, donne-moi ton coeur_;" very practical and impressive; the singing peculiarly touching. He is a complete talking machine; read from Lamartine, as did M. Delille beautifully and effectively.

_March 17th._--Close application to the study of French all day.

Anecdotes at breakfast respecting the pride of Victor Hugo. Walked along the Seine, then across the river into Notre Dame--the Westminister Abbey of Paris--worthy of the appellation.

_March 18th._--Pursued my studies till 7 p.m., when I attended a party given by Count Gasparin, M.H.D., who, with his father, is styled the Wilberforce of France--the one being a member of the House of Peers, the other of the House of Deputies. They are regarded as the representatives of Protestantism in the French Legislature. Had a good deal of conversation with Dr. Grampier, on the strength, state, and prospects of Protestantism in France; also the mode of instructing young persons for public recognition in the Church, and admission to the Holy Communion. These catechumens are instructed two or three times a week, for six months, in the evidences, doctrines, and morals of Christianity. They are then examined, and if they shew themselves qualified, they are publicly admitted. The ceremony of admission takes place twice a year, a little before Easter, and at Pentecost. None are admitted under fifteen years of age. Dr. Grampier considered that Protestantism was decidedly gaining upon Popery; and that his own university had been as successful amongst the Catholics, as amongst Protestants, in genuine heart conversions; that whole congregations in some parts of France had embraced Protestantism. His remarks respecting Guizot were interesting and curious. The mother of this great man is now eighty-four years of age, a woman of great vigour of mind; a saint, and nursing-mother in Israel; she offers daily prayers for her son. Guizot is an orthodox Protestant, employed Dr. Grampier to instruct and prepare his children for the Holy Communion, but never goes to church himself, but has told Dr. Grampier that he prays every day. He has been much afflicted in the loss of two wives whom he greatly loved; and also of a son, about twenty-one, a young man of most amiable disposition, great acquirements, talents and virtues. Conversed also with Count Gasparin, who appears to be a truly converted man; spoke of the inefficiency of a formal religion, and the necessity of the religion of the heart. Mentioned the readiness of Roman Catholics to hear Protestant missionaries.

He believes that G.o.d is about to do a great work in France. The Count is an author; his father has been Minister of the Interior.

_March 19th._--Heard lecture on chemistry by Prof. Dumas, one of the ablest chemists of the present day, and a most eloquent lecturer.

_March 20th--Good Friday._--Went to hear a Protestant clergyman, one of the most pious and able ministers in Paris; his manner unaffected, eloquent, and impressive. No organ; singing good, all sang. It being a holy day, crowds were everywhere; streets for miles were filled with three, and sometimes four lines of carriages, of all descriptions; the broad sidewalks were literally crowded with pedestrians, forming solid ma.s.ses from twenty to fifty feet wide, and extending two miles. Order was preserved by soldiers and cavalry, stationed at short distances. I never saw such a moving ma.s.s of people, embracing, no doubt, every nation in Europe and America. The attractions of the harlequins, jugglers, hucksters, etc., of all descriptions, surpa.s.s imagination. I walked to Napoleon's Arch of Triumph; observed the inscriptions and remarkable figures on that elegant and extraordinary structure; ascended to the top, and there enjoyed one of the most magnificent views I ever beheld, embracing all Paris and its environs for many miles, the day being cloudless; the serpentine Seine, the richly cultivated country, its parks, its gardens, its arcades of trees, its villas, churches, colleges, hospitals, palaces, squares, and monuments, together with the elegant Tuileries, the n.o.ble Louvre, the magnificent Champs Elysees, the playing fountains, the s.p.a.cious streets, and the moving ma.s.ses of people, presented a scene which for variety, splendour, and I may add, solemnity, could not be excelled by any prospect that might have been commanded on the pinnacle of Jerusalem's Temple. In fifty years the ma.s.s of this vast mult.i.tude will be numbered amongst a bygone generation; and these stately works of art shall perish. What a worm am I amongst such a mult.i.tude! yet I am destined to immortality; have but a few years to live in a probationary state, but an eternity to exist!

_March 21st._--Went to the Louvre to see the paintings; about two thousand in number; some large and splendid, many beautiful, and some affecting; none of the paintings from sacred history equal those I have seen in England, Holland, and Belgium, especially in Antwerp.

_March 22nd--Easter._--Went to the Oratoire, where a discourse was delivered, and the Lord's Supper celebrated. The preacher, Mons.

Venueil, was so impressive and affecting that the greater part of the congregation were in tears several times. Being Easter Sunday, his subject was the resurrection, of Christ. He reminded me of Saurin. The spectacle presented of the communicants standing around a long table, and the minister in the midst, at one side, distributing the emblems with suitable addresses, reminded me of pictures I have seen of Christ at the Last Supper. The catechumens who had been received on the previous Sabbath, first partook. I, for the first time, communed with French Protestants, and I felt it good to be there. I attended the Wesleyan chapel; service in French; congregation about seventy-five; preacher (a little Frenchman), quite animated; he quoted many pa.s.sages of Scripture, chapter and verse, proving the universality of the Atonement. The communion followed.

_March 24th, 1845._--This day I am forty-two years of age! My life is more than half gone, at the best. The recollections of the past year are painful and humiliating beyond expression. It has been the least spiritual year of my Christian life. For some weeks past I have been revived in my purposes, devotions and enjoyments. By G.o.d's grace, my future life and labours shall be His. I have never before felt so keenly the weakness and depravity of the human heart; nor have I ever felt so deeply the necessity and the sufficiency of the atoning blood of Christ. He is all. All is wretchedness and death without Him.

_March 26th._--Worked very hard at my French studies; much discouraged, but must not abandon my efforts to speak a new language. Visited the Pantheon--wondrous structure--a sovereign's pride, and a nation's monument. Visited the tombs of the dead; ascended to the dome--magnificent view; fine paintings in fresco.

My impressions will never be effaced. This evening was in company with Count Gasparin and his n.o.ble father, and Mr. Monod, one of the princ.i.p.al Protestant ministers in Paris. Mr. Monod spoke strongly of Puseyism; mentioned that he was at a school this week where there were twelve Protestant young ladies sent from England to be educated in a Papal school, and every one of them had become Roman Catholics. He told me there was no intercourse between the Protestants in France and Holland; he considers vital religion is advancing in Holland.

_March 27th._--Went to the Observatoire; heard lecture from Mons.

Arago; room crowded. Visited the beautiful gardens of the Luxembourg.

_March 30th._--Heard Mons. Armand Delille (my host) preach, in Dr.

Grampier's Church; impressive service, and a comfortable place of worship outside the gates of the city.

_March 31st._--Commenced receiving lessons in French from Mons. O.

De Lille; believe I shall soon be able to speak. The name of G.o.d be praised for His help and blessing!

_April 2nd._--Went to the College (Sorbonne); heard a lecture on Botany.

_April 3rd._--Was strongly talked with for not speaking French; Oh, that G.o.d would help me; I desire to employ it to His honour. Heard Mons. Arago on Astronomy.