30 AROUND THE WORLD VIA INDIA. 



humanity, stripped of the excitement and glories of 

 war. brings out the best attributes of man. Heroism 

 rendered at the altar of humanity, with no expectation 

 of renown or reward, among the sick and dying, under 

 conditions attended by vastly more danger to life and 

 health than the risks of war, gives testimony of the 

 highest type of a hero or heroine. 



Such a hero was Father Damien, the subject of this 

 sketch. During his life devoted to the welfare of exiled 

 lepers, his motives were often misunderstood and his 

 noble soul experienced many a pang when he was ma- 

 ligned, as was not infrequently the case. We can say 

 of him : 



"Glory conies too late when paid only to our 

 ashes." — Martialis. 



Father Damien is no stranger to the medical profes- 

 sion (Fig. 6). His heroic labors among the banished, 

 maimed and disfigured lepers of Molokai, and his glori- 

 ous death from the disease he fought so courageously, 

 have made him a hero in the estimation of the medical 

 profession and in the eyes of the entire world — a hero 

 whose name will live long after the disease he fought 

 and from which he died will have become extinct. As 

 a humanitarian, his memory will go down to the future 

 side by side with that of Henri Dumont; as the leper 

 hero, it will never die. The whole life of Father Da- 

 mien from the cradle to the grave was an exemplary 

 one, and his work was characterized by unselfishness 

 and an ardent devotion to his manifold and trying 

 duties. How it was possible that statements to the 

 contrary could have been made during his lifetime is 

 a mystery that admits only of one explanation — he. like 

 other great men. had enemies whose envy was arousrd 

 by the marvelous success in everything he attempted. 

 His entire career as a priest and friend of the lepers 

 breathes a spirit of true, earnest Christianity which 

 those who knew him best never questioned. The ma- 

 licious attacks on his character were made bv men who 



