282 RESUSCITATION SOCIETIES. the amount of the population, occur in these canals, and fewer would still happen, if they were guarded against by a railing, which is rarely erected in any part of the city. At night, as the city is well lighted, a passenger, unless he is blind, or very much inebriated, a disgraceful condition, which as I have before observed is not often displayed in Holland, is not very likely to experience a watery death. However, to guard as much as possible against the gloomy consequence of these casualties, the keepers of all inns and taverns, and all apothecaries in Amsterdam, and in every other city in Holland, are compelled under a heavy penalty to keep a printed paper containing the most approved method of resuscitating the suspended animation of drowned persons, in a conspicuous part of their houses. The government is also very liberal in distributing rewards to those who, at their personal peril, rescue a fellow creature from destruction. Upon such occasions, gold, silver, or medals are bestowed, according to the risk and rank of the preserver. The first society for the restoring of drowned persons was formed in this city in 1767, and the utmost encouragement was every where given throughout the united provinces, by the magistrates in particular, and afterwards by the states-general, and the success of it has been equal to its RESUSCITATION SOCIETIES. 283 humanity. To the Dutch nation the English are indebted for these admirable institutions, by which so many of our countrymen have at various times been snatched from the gripe of death, and restored as it were to a new existence, and to their agonized families. It is a curious circumstance to remark, that the visible disarrangement which the human frame experiences, from being a considerable time in water, is very little, so little that many are the instances where the sufferer has, in the first instance, displayed all the indicia of death, and has within a few hours been enabled to thank his deliverer in person. The body, during this temporary suspension of animation, resembles a clock, upon its pendulum being accidentally stopped, its works are not mutilated nor shaken out of their proper places, but are competent to renew their functions the moment the former is touched by some friendly hand. As a memorable illustration, I beg to relate an anecdote of an illustrious hero and august personage, who shedding light and happiness upon nearly forty millions of beings, and ruling once the most extensive empire upon the face of the earth, felt that he added a new ray of glory and happiness to his imperial dignity in preserving, by his own perseverance, a miserable fellow-creature from a watery grave. 284 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER. In one of the journeys which his Imperial Majesty the Emperor Alexander made through Poland, as he was riding alone, his attendants being considerably behind him, on the banks of the little river Wilia, which flows between Kouna and Wilna in Lithuania, he perceived some persons assembled near the edge of the water, out of which they appeared to be dragging something; he instantly alighted, and on approaching the spot, found it to be the body of a man apparently lifeless. Urged by those exalted sensibilities which regard rank and power only as bounties delegated by heaven for the benefit of mankind, the monarch, without any other assistance than that of the ignorant boors about him, who from his uniform could only conceive him to be an officer of rank, drew the apparent corpse completely from the water, and laid it on the side of a bank, and with his own hands took off the wet clothes of the poor sufferer, and began to rub his temples and breast, which he continued to do for a considerable time with the most ardent anxiety, but found all his efforts to restore animation ineffectual: in the midst of this humane occupation, the Emperor was joined by the gentlemen of his suite, amongst whom were Prince Wolkousky, and Count Liewen, two Russian noblemen, and Dr. Weilly, his majesty's principal surgeon, an English gentleman of distinguished professional talents, who always travels with, and is scarcely ever from his majesty. They united their exertions to those of the Emperor, and when Dr. Weilly THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER. 285 attempted, but in vain, to bleed the poor creature, his majesty supported and chafed his arms, and lent every other assistance in his power: for three hours were they thus employed with all the ardour of humanity, but saw no symptoms of returning life, and Dr. Weilly pronounced the patient irrecoverable. Fatigued as the Emperor was with these unceasing exertions, he would not relinquish the work as a hopeless one, but by his own example and language, urged and encouraged Dr. Weilly to renew his labours, which, solely in obedience to his Imperial Majesty's wishes, and completely despairing of success, he recommenced; and as the whole party were making the last effort, the emperor had the inexpressible satisfaction of seeing the blood flow from the puncture, and of hearing a faint groan issue from the lips of his patient. The emotions of his Imperial Majesty at this moment were indescribable, and in the fulness of his transport he exclaimed in French, "Good God! this is the brightest day of my life!" and tears of joy sparkled in his eyes, to ratify the feelings of his heart. Every exertion was now redoubled, and as humanity loves to dwell upon the minutest circumstances of this affecting scene, I must not omit to relate, that when Dr. Weilley looked round for 286 POLISH GRATITUDE. something to stop the blood with, the Emperor with vivid promptitude took out his handkerchief, tore it in pieces, with his own hands bound the sufferer's arm, and remained with him until he completely recovered, when he conveyed him to a place where proper care could be administered to him; at parting, he ordered him a liberal present of money, and afterwards, upon his return to his capital, as if grateful to him for so large a portion of felicity, settled a pension upon him and his family. The sensations of the patient, when he was informed of the exalted rank of his preserver, can be better felt than described. The poor inhabitants of that part of Poland, who were but rude artists, fabricated four snuff-boxes, on the lids of which they delineated, as well as they were able, this striking and exemplary event, which they presented to the Emperor and the gentlemen who assisted him in this work of humanity. Such is the heart of a prince, who, almost unassailable in his mighty empire, and moved alone by the elevated desire of impeding the gigantic progress of a power which aims at universal domination, renounced all the pleasure of tranquillity, and at the head of his gallant legions thundered at the gates of princes, to awaken them from their fatal lethargy, and to invoke them to oppose the common enemy of the world. Alas! the solemn invocation was faintly and imperfectly |