Pagina 852 di 1118

Heaps of straw and stubble were seen along the walls, and by the

gutters, which appeared to be a particular provision of charity

for these unfortunate creatures; there their limbs reposed during

the night; and in the day they were occupied by those who,

exhausted by fatigue and suffering, could no longer bear the

weight of their emaciated bodies; sometimes, upon the damp straw

a dead body lay extended; sometimes, the miserable spark of life

was rekindled in its feeble tenement by timely succour from a

hand rich in the means and in the disposition to do good, the

hand of the pious Frederick.