"sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateli"ness of temples; not to make accurate (6 measurements of the remains of ancient

66

grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curi"osity 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 of pain; to take "the gage 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 it is

as full of genius as it is of humanity. It "was a voyage of discovery, a circumnavi"gation of charity. Already," adds the

British statesman and orator," 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 re"ceive not in retail, but in gross, the reward "of those who visit the prisoner"." He is

a Burke's Speech to the Electors in Bristol, 1780, vol. ii. p. 238. Am. ed. of his Works.

gone to receive that reward; and in the honours which were paid to his remains in Cherson in Crimea, as detailed by a late traveller', we see, that the " memory of "the just is blessed'," and that God will reward acts of humanity even in this life.

Though the treatment of prisoners is meliorated, yet much remains to be done; especially in regard to those who are imprisoned for debt. Such imprisonment as you have heard, was unknown in the Jewish dispensation. And under the Gospel dispensation, we may ask, if the insolvent debtor is honest, why is he deprived of his liberty? And if dishonest, why not punished"?

I know and gladly embrace this opportunity of stating, that though the case of the imprisoned debtor in our day is distressing, yet it is pleasant, when compared with that of those who were debtors in ancient times, among the heathen. Among the Romans, their treatment was cruel. Creditors might, according to the twelve tables, cut their debtors in pieces. Such is the construction which Gibbon himself, who admired the

b Clarke. c Prov. x. 7. d Burke's Speech at Bristol.

polytheism of Pagans, and was disposed to praise the Romans whenever he could, gives of the law".

The introduction of Christianity put a stop to this savage law.

Justinian, which are the

called the civil law in

The institutions of

basis of what is

modern Europe,

made express provision for debtors".

And

the spirit of the Gospel has gradually produced for them more mildness and attention.

We have to regret, that in this land, and in this State, so much is wanting in regard

d"The cruelty of the twelve tables against insolvent debtors still remains to be told; and I shall dare to prefer the literal sense of antiquity, to the specious refinements of modern criticism. After the judicial proof or confession of the debt, thirty days of grace were allowed before a Roman was delivered into the power of his fellow-citizen. In this private prison, twelve ounces of rice were his daily food; he might be bound with a chain of fifteen pounds weight; and his misery was thrice exposed in the market-place, to solicit the compassion of his friends and countrymen. At the expiration of sixty days, the debt was discharged by the loss of liberty or life: the insolvent debtor was either put to death, or sold in foreign slavery beyond the Tyber: but if several creditors were alike obstinate and unrelenting, they might legally dismember his body, and satiate their revenge by this horrid partition.”—Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. v. p. 365. Am. ed.

e Justinian's Institutes, by Cooper, 1. 4. t. 6. sect. 40.

to them. They are confined with no provision whatever made for them by law. The creditor does not support them, and the law gives them no relief. Thus in a Christian country individuals are exposed to famine, and death in consequence of that famine, in the midst of their fellow-citizens, and of temporal blessings.

This most shocking neglect, a neglect which does not even disgrace the castle of a feudal Baron, or of Pagan nations, who have the establishments of a prison, constrained a number of individuals to combine in an association for the purpose of administering to the wants of the debtors in our Jail. In their union, and the efforts which they have made for these many years, we see the wisdom of God. In this way he has made use of the benevolence of subjects to counteract the imperfections or wickedness of rulers. He raised up an Ebed-melech, in the days of Zedekiah, thus to relieve his prophet; and he has raised up the Humane Society to relieve those for whom the State has made no provision, and whom creditors are not bound to support. From them the application now comes for your assistance.

They ask not of the miser, for he has no heart, no feeling for the afflicted. He is greedy as death, and as destitute of kindness as the sand on the sea-shore is barren of fruit.

They ask not of the selfish man. He, poor wretch, thinks only of himself; measures all wants by his own, and makes his own satisfaction and relief, the standard according to which others shall be assisted.

They ask not of the rich man, who, though he fares sumptuously every day, and is clothed in linen, suffers a Lazarus to lie at his gate and perish for want.

All such characters, being strangers to the influence of divine mercy, can extend no mercy to their fellow-men. None such, I trust, have passed the threshold of this house of mercy; for I might as well supplicate the winds, nay, the grave, as them. They are dead; dead to feeling, dead to real happiness, dead to God.

But to those who feel pity for the unfortunate, such as are ready to give to the destitute as God has given to them, I now apply for the destitute, the miserable, the confined. None of you can tell, so inscrutable