The most interesting of all their North German experiences was visiting
the Prussian Royal Family, then in Silesia, whither, on leaving Berlin,
they had been invited to follow them. Mrs. Fry had always misgivings in
regard to her intercourse with exalted personages, chiefly, she herself
explained, lest in anything she said or did she might not "adorn the
doctrine of God her Saviour." But she was soon put at ease as to this,
on finding that she was coming to real Christians, as devoted as she was
to the service of the Master, for such there have generally been among
members of the House of Brandenburg. The King and Queen of Prussia were
at the time residing at Ermansdorf, and most of the Royal Family were
with them or in the neighbourhood. Addresses and conversations on
matters connected with prisons or with religious liberty were prominent
as usual, but the especial feature in the Silesian visit was the
intercourse with the poor Tyrolese refugees from Zillerthal, expelled
from their own country by the Austrian Government, and settled in
Silesia by the permission of the late King of Prussia. These people had
become converts from Romanism to the Reformed faith, by reading the
Bible and religious books. After much suffering, they were commanded to
quit their homes at short notice. The King of Prussia, on hearing of
this cruel edict, was willing to receive them all, and gave them a new
home in the domain of Ermansdorf, which they called Zillerthal, after
their native village. The Countess Reden, an excellent Christian lady,
was authorised to do everything for their comfort. She had cottages
built in the true Tyrolese style, with balconies and all the
picturesqueness of Swiss chalets. Schools were established, and every
means taken to benefit the exiled families. The good Countess Reden
arranged for Mrs. Fry meeting the Zillerthallers, who came in their
national costume, and heard words of kind and earnest counsel from the
English lady. A Moravian brother was brought a distance of forty miles
to be interpreter.
XIII.
IN LONDON AND IN PARIS
Not long afterwards Mrs. Fry's greatly enfeebled health compelled her
return to England. She landed at Dover on the 2nd of October. After a
short stay at Ramsgate with her husband and some of her family, she was
taken to Norfolk. There she received letters from the Countess Reden,
giving most gratifying tidings of the impressions made by her visit, and
of the practical reforms in prisons, effected by royal order since her
visit to Prussia. The chaplain of the great prison at Jauer stated that
above two hundred Bibles and Prayer-books had been purchased by the
prisoners out of their small earnings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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