Guided by gratitude, and the admiration we feel for the Hydropathic system and its origination, we have ventured to present this humble address to your Imperial and Royal Highness, trusting that the visit of such an enlightened Prince will be a good augury for the further dev[e]lopment and extension of the curative system from which we have ourselves experienced such happy results." In the ensuing summer a most flattering testimony was decreed to Priessnitz by the Emperor of Austria. It was a gold medal (called a _Verdienst Medaille_ or medal of merit), and was presented to him by the Governor of Troppau, on the 7th of July, 1846, at the altar, with great ceremony, in the very church in which he had been formerly denounced. Shortly after, an incident occurred which had nearly deprived the world of this great man: this was the marriage of his eldest daughter, then only seventeen, to an Hungarian nobleman of large fortune. The young couple started for Hungary; and Priessnitz, on taking leave of them, was observed to be much affected. Later in the day, whilst visiting his patients, he found it difficult to lift one hand to his head. He hurried home, where he hardly arrived when he was suddenly struck with general paralysis, and was quite insensible. His attendants resorted to his own remedies, he was placed in a tepid bath and rubbed by four persons for nearly two hours before he began to regain his senses, when he ordered the tepid water to be changed for cold; and he has since been heard to say, the former would not have been attended with sufficient reaction, and consequently would not have had the desired effect. He now ordered his own treatment and recovered in a few days; his health was afterwards re-established by a fortnight's visit to his daughter in Hungary. A few months since he was rejoiced by the birth of a son. This event conferred great happiness on him; for, as may be remembered, his first-born whom he lost was a son, and all his other children until the last, were daughters. It is to be hoped, that Providence will spare his valuable life to see his son grow up, so that he may initiate him experimentally in the theory of Hydropathy, which can never be perfectly disseminated in any other way. Several monuments and fountains erected at Gräfenberg, testify the admiration and respect in which Priessnitz is held. The English and the Hamburghers are at present engaged in erecting similar testimonies. The latter have placed his bust in the Exchange at Hamburg. Judging from the strides Hydropathy is making, it is fair to conclude that in the course of time these examples will be followed by every nation in the world.[1] [1] _Father Matthew's letter to Mr. Priessnitz._ "Cork, Sept. 25th, 1845.