of the farm. It was he who sowed the fields and carried the grain to the market or the mill. It was he who sledged firewood from the forest in winter, risking many accidents; and who performed a variety of laborious offices ungrudgingly, finding his reward in a sense of the performance of duty. He had one day loaded a cart with barley to sow in an adjacent field. The horse drawing it was restive and uncontrollable, and young Priessnitz held on by the bridle in vain. The animal kicked him, knocking out several of his front teeth, and made off dragging the cart over his body. He was picked up insensible and laid upon his bed. He woke to consciousness to hear the village doctor pronounce it as his opinion that recovery was impossible, or if by chance his life was saved, that he would live a useless cripple. To his sensitive nature this announcement was terrible. To think that he could never more be of service to his blind father and poor mother was a thought hard to bear. The herb poultices ordered by the doctor gave him no relief; indeed they heightened his anguish, and he tore them off. He now remembered what he had once heard his father tell, one winter's night, while he as a keen listener sat in a dark nook, of a certain miller, a local doctor. In Freiwaldau one man was famous for curing cattle, another for mending broken bones, and the miller was famous for setting dislocated ribs. Preissnitz remembered his peculiar method, tried the experiment, and succeeded so far. He then, mindful of past experience of cold water, swathed himself in wet bandages, and for the first time since his accident had both ease and sleep. By frequently changing the wet bandages he was able, in the course of a few days, to look after his business, and by following his own treatment for a twelvemonth he perfectly recovered. Whatever previous faith he had in the efficacy of cold water was now confirmed and never to be shaken, -he felt that he had fulfilled the behest-Physician, heal thyself!-and his fame travelled beyond the boundaries of his native district, and at the early age of nineteen he was often called to attend upon patients in Bohemia and Moravia. At this time he chiefly used a sponge in manipulating, and by the country people, who could not understand the simple remedy, was regarded in the light of a wizard. As long as his practice was confined to his poor neighbours, he was lauded as a wonderful and benevolent man; but when strangers came to visit his poor abode, the prophet ceased to have honour in his own country. Came one to Gräfenberg inquiring for the house of the water-doctor, he would be told-" Ah, don't go to that man, he is a fool!" Envy and bad feeling were not confined to the poor; the physicians of Freiwaldau joined the cry against him and, with the aid of the civil authorities, threw every obstacle in his path. Many whom he had healed were brought before the magistrates and questioned, so as, if possible, to establish a case against him. Among others a plain, blunt miller was examined, who it was known had been under previous medical treatment. When asked whether he had not derived help from the apothecary and physician, he replied 66 They all have helped me-the apothecary, the doctor, and Priessnitz. The apothecary and doctor helped me of my money, and Priessnitz helped me to life!" The clergy, too, railed against the wicked prophet, as he was called, and from the pulpit warned the people against this new superstition. The priest of Vogelseifen, in Silesia, publicly threatened to have him locked up if he dared to enter his parish. This man subsequently, in his need, was fain to have recourse to Priessnitz, who cured him of a chronic complaint, and from that hour the persecutor became his warmest friend. In spite of calumniation, the fame of the youthful physician rapidly spread, and evermore the number of visitors to Gräfenberg was on the increase. The old wooden house in which he and his parents dwelt was found inconvenient to receive patients, and was pulled down to be replaced by one of stone. Priessnitz carried the stone and sand and other materials necessary for the structure, and when he had opportunity worked with his own hands. It was a monument of filial affection. His mother was the thrifty, industrious housekeeper, who kept all in order; and her he was destined shortly to lose. The poor woman was crushed by an infuriated bull, and died in a day or two after the accident. He was now in his twenty-sixth year, left in charge of an establishment and to care for a blind father. His sorrow for his mother was great, but consolation and aid were soon to illumine his lonely dwelling. Sophia Schultzen saw in Vincent Priessnitz an upright, honourable and amiable man, and became his wife in February, 1828. In her he found a true helpmate. She cheered his labours, and supported his heart when the foul breath of calumny threatened to fever it. Envy was still abroad. He was accused by the faculty, in 1829, as a medical blunderer, because he busied himself in the cure of diseases contrary to the letter of the law and without a diploma. The magistrate of Freiwaldau sentenced him, in consequence, to an arrest of several days, on short provisions. His appeal against this sentence led to the settlement of the legal question, and as his character was well-known in high quarters, his establishment was licensed in 1831. Renewed complaints from other quarters were still made to the government, and the Austrian Chancery felt itself compelled to issue a commission to inquire into all that was going on at Gräfenberg. At the head of this commission was Freiherr Von Turkheim, a councillor of state and a physician-a man well versed in science, upright as a magistrate, and unbiassed in D his profession-a man in every way well qualified to see, hear, and judge. The commission prosecuted its inquiries and was unanimous in the report it made to government. The report of the commission led to the order that the establishment at Gräfenberg should be continued under the direction of Priessnitz. The constant influx of visitors required the erection of more buildings, and around the site of the old wooden house stands now a little town of substantial stone houses. From every continent, and every clime and nation, came the halt, the lame and the infirm, to seek health at the fountains of Gräfenberg, His ear was Priessnitz was constantly occupied. open to all who applied to him, without respect of persons. He listened with astonishing patience to the lengthy and often contradictory tale of their ailments, and pronounced on their case with a rapidity and decision that took many quite by surprise, and led some to regard him as a clairvoyant. From all quarters presents came from patients to testify their gratitude. Medals, busts, pictures and humbler offerings bore witness to the good physician on the part of the donors. On the road between Freiwaldau and Gräfenberg, a pyramidal block of granite was erected with the inscription, "Au genie de l'eau froide." But these honours and praises did not at all affect the simple-hearted man. He was still the same inquiring, beneficent spirit, ready to extend his aid to the very humblest, without thought of recompense. Priessnitz was simple in his habits as in his whole being. He rose early, and was immediately ready for business. He was a man of action. What could be done immediately, was done immediately. He never did things by halves. All his letters requiring answers were answered within four-and-twenty hours, whatever their number. He detested triflers, gossips, and scolds. If he had a lady-scold as a patient, he was wont to prescribe so many glasses of cold water to cool down the unruly member! He has been accused of greediness and a love of money; but his biographer asserts of him quite the reverse. He declares that he never asked for a fee. "He took what was given him, and many, very many gave him nothing." His wants were few, and what money he saved was for his family. "Thank In 1851 Priessnitz felt and announced that he was drawing towards his end. In his last illness he prescribed for himself after his own system. God," he said, "there is still cold water." He died gently, in the presence of his family, on the 28th of November, 1851. We must not omit to add to this sketch of the life and character of Priessnitz, the testimony of his biographer, that never was there a better husband and father, and that his happiest hours were spent in the company of his wife and seven children. V. J. OUR FLOWERS. WITHIN our simple dwelling Our fair and graceful LILY, |