Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-09-04
8eli9tuus department.
THE BRETHREN OF ST. JOHN.


When European thrones were totterine
in lS40, aud crowned heads were Aying,
Punch humorously said IA cat may
look upon king, but she must be quick
about II or there will be no king TO look at"
That same year, Emmanuel Wichern, then
already known as the great Christian philan.
thropist OF Germany, in view Of the CHASTITY
spectacle Of the evils Of society crowding up
to the surface, said, "Christ only can cope
with this crisis, not To restore rulers but to
reform mankind" Ten years after that,
when he had visited thirty thousand prison.
ers in a hundred jails, had made his domi.
ellie in the deus Of twenty cities, had tracked
the steps Of crime from Cologne to Prague,
had mark how thieving is an art rich in
lore Of ages, how among the thieves there
is barter and exchange and grand tour aud
common tongue all over Europe and America,
and how there has been framed by them
certain moral code even, Tor the protection
of their immortality, SO that those who cheat
the whole world dare not cheat each other,
he called a meeting in Berlin ITO hear an
account Of the proposed Hospice OF St. John"
That was fifteen years ago, aud thirteen
Brethren of st. John, the apostle of love,
were consecrated TO the work. In 1872,
two hundred and nincty.One energetic Chris
tian men belonging to the knightly order, in
which mechanic aud noble meet on common
footing, and where though there may be a
touch of medieval romance there are none
hut the chivalrous ends that be6t modern
Christian activity, were engaged in the work
of Prison Missions. These Brothers are
sought after by the Government. They arc
at their labors in every province Of Prussia.
Prisons large and small are differed by them
All situations are accepted by them, from
superintendent to servant, from chaplain to
the lowest turnkey. And the results pro-
duced in prison reforms education Of prison.
ers, reformation of Juvenile convicts, pro.
vision for the discharged, and help given
to families tainted by the disgrace Of sou or
brother, are incalculablc.
The low quarters Of every large city are
crowded with thousands Who say, like dis
charged convict in Boston last week. "There
is nothing left for me now but to steal again"
Somebody should reach a hand TO such men.
There are scores of discharged prisoners in
New York every week who dare not 90
home, and whose na mes are never uttered
over the thresholds where they once belong
cd. III would give five dollars Of my earn.
} ings," said sOwing-girl to her associate in
Sunday school class, speaking of convict,
her twin brother, "to any one who will tell
me that John is dead" discharged is he ?"
said an aunt to the Boston city physician
who informed her only yesterday that her
nephew was out OF Jail. discharged
| III L. L.,,,
gallows' bird in my house !" And vet she
had taken the boy, when an infant, from his
dead mothers breast, and had lovingly
brought him up.
1t 81 a problem yet unsolved in England,
what to do with Ticket of Leave Men"
We call our prisoners, whose good conduct
in duress has earned premature discharge,
by another name. But here they are, in
Boston and Chicago, in st. Louis and Balti-
more, il one will but take the trouble to look
them up. "Once thief, always thief is
the first rule on Thieves Exchange, which
one who desires to reform must face. Every
one Of the fellowship, in ali marvellous varie-
ty of grades from the stylish swell mobsman
to the providing beggar, is down upon the
desertcr. To them he is unrghteous /: to
the profession he has proved uniaithful. He
| is marked jeerc1, banned. Stratagsms are
used to win him back, which, if unsuccessful,
revenge follows. Wichern tells of one
among many other cases which came TO his
knowledge while he was lodging with thieves.
, A man, often punished for stealing, left
Jail with good intentions and told his com.
5 RAIDS he would steal no more. The Vshm-
, gerich took his case in hand I; its members
Knocked him at the street corners and elbow
, ed him off the pavements. All did not
answer. The man was in earnest to be hon
t est. Then came the anger Of the roughs
| \ trap was laid for him. As he stood look
ing at passing procession one day, two of
his old comrades a man and woman, came
behind him. The former stole the purse of
, gentleman standing near aud thrust it into
our poor friends pocket the latter whispered
: to the gentleman, "Iiave you your purse,
Sir ?" And then, as the person addressed
discovered his loss, she adds, That man
yonder was at your pocket" The conse-
quence was almost inevitable. Arrested,
tried convicted aud sent to jail, this time,
at least, the reformed man was punished for
his honesty.
, Although, for some unexplained reason,
German charities arc never successful ex-
otics either in our country or in England ,
something perhaps may be learned from the
0 husbandry by which they thrive ut home.
Emmanuel Wichern, to great gifts, thorough
purpose and entire seIf-sacrfce, added a
! marvellous knowledge Of mankind. This
, was one secret of his success. When he
called his meeting in Berlin, in April 1853,
I he was the acknowledged phianthropist Of
Germany. lie had the friendship Of the
king, the favor of the royal family, the
= appreciation of the nobility and gentry.
[ When he attended that earlier meeting in
Hamburg in 1882, sixteen years before,
where the room was shed, and tho persons
coming together artisans, and the town
/ stricken with moral plague, and all strength
1 gone out Of the church, aud tho gospel n
name only, and public opinion reckless un.
+, godlinoss, be had just passed his majority, a
:. penniless caRdidat for orders. In both
!. meetings, however, he had but one pivot on
, which all he did turned, "JesWs Christ is The
corner stone" Never thrown off from this
! he built up the RduSe House, the nobest
, charity in Germany in the world
which, in all its branches has saved more
than thirty thousand boys from ruin he
established the Nurse Corps, which, when
disease in any part of the world drives men
mad with calamity aud chokes roads with
starving outcasts, sends out its members al
call, aud has now in active service eight
u thousand trained experts he instituted the
u "Pigrim Brothers." who are visitors to the
i poor under the shadows Of Tu rkish mosques
a and among the Laps Of the Ba lite sea, il
!. Syria and at the foot Of Mount Vesuvius
n and at the last he founded this nobcst Of all
c nhivnlric nhilnnthrnnies the @ Insnicn of