PREFACE. It is now nearly forty years since the death of my grandfather, Dr Southwood Smith, and with this distance of time lying between him and us, it may not be uninteresting to this generation to. look back upon the origin of some of the great social reforms which have now reached such wide proportions, and to see these reforms as gathered round the life of a man who was in the forefront of the noble army which promoted them. He, one of the first to seize a truth, one of the most indomitable to persevere in the promulgation of it when perceived, went straight forward until it prevailed, and thus became instrumental in conferring some of the widest benefits which have come to us in this century. From his great grief in emerged the stronger. early manhood he but The force of his con densed sorrow produced an energy which carried all before it, and resulted in the strength of his middle age and the serenity of his latter years. In order that such a life-crowned by its humility -might not pass away without some permanent record of its nobleness, the following memoir has been written. I must apologise for the frequent allusion, in the midst of grave public questions, to my own recollections; but since all the early years of my life were passed at my grandfather's side, it has been difficult to avoid this. Moreover, I have hoped that something picturesque and touching would be found in the relation of the strong man and little child, who worked together at various public causes, playing together in the bright intervals, and that something of the reverent enthusiasm he inspired in that child might pass, through her, to those who read these pages. GERTRUDE LEWES. CONTENTS. Education. Marriage. Death of his wife. Edinburgh Uni- FIRST YEARS IN LONDON-DAWN OF THE SCIENCE OF Appointment to Fever Hospital. 'Westminster Review' articles in 1825. Laws of Epidemics. Principles laid the foundation of Sanitary Reform. Its practical im- portance. Devotion of himself to the cause. Parlia- mentary attention attracted to articles. Publication of the Treatise on Fever,' 1830. Its phenomena, treat- ment, and causes. Causes the most important. Con- 'Penny Encyclopedia.' The Medical Schools and dissection. Body-snatching. Lectures-physiological, forensic, and RISE OF THE SANITARY MOVEMENT, 1837. Outbreak of fever in London. Personal inspection of Bethnal Green and Whitechapel. First Report to Poor Law Commissioners. Ventilation in crowded districts. Overcrowding of children in workhouses. Second Report of Poor Law Commissioners, 1839. Takes the Marquis of Normanby (Home Secretary) to PHILANTHROPIC AND MEDICAL WORK, 1840-1848. Children's Employment Commission, Mines and Collieries. dispensary patients. "Sanatorium" founded. Letters from Charles Dickens. First model dwellings founded. THE TEN YEARS' STRUGGLE FOR SANITARY Causes of delay. History of the sanitary movement at this time a series of inquiries and defeated bills. "Health of Towns Association" founded to spread knowledge and guide legislation. Address to the working classes OFFICIAL LIFE-GENERAL BOARD OF HEALTH, 1848-1854. Appointment to the General Board of Health. Letter to Lord Morpeth. Work at Whitehall with Lord Ashley and Mr Chadwick. Cholera epidemic of 1848-49. System of "house-to-house visitation." Lord Brougham's com- ments on it. Cholera Report. Quarantine Report. In- terment Report. Attacks on the Board in Parliament. Fear of centralisation. Triumph of the sanitary prin- RETIREMENT FROM PUBLIC LIFE-ST GEORGE'S "The Pines," Weybridge. Happiness in its beauty. Need |