An Ideal Knight.

AN IDEAL KNIGHT .

" Men who have long tossed npon the troubled ocean of life , and have learned to entertain just notions of the world and its concerns , to examine every object with unclouded and impartial eyes , to walk erect in the strict and thorny paths of virtue , and to find their happi . ness in tbe reflection of an honest mind , they alone are—free . "

WE can well imagine the author of the above lines having in mind one to whom he could point aa a living exemplification of his idea of a free man ; just such an one have we to-day in our " Ideal Knight . " Arrived at that age when he may justly be said to have long tossed upon the troubled ocean of life , he has won for himself honour and esteem by his uniform adherence to the strict , though perhaps at times thorny , path of virtue . To us he has long presented all the qualifications of an ideal , and , judging from the many opportunities we have had of forming an

opinion , we are enabled to say ho is so regarded by a Wgo number of his fellow creatures , both within the mystic circle of Freemasonry and outside it . He is one whose every action stamps him the possessor of genuine

happiness , and , unquestionably , that happiness is in him the reflection of an honest mind .. It is to such men we look for guidance , both in our Lodges , and in public affairs , and such are the men who are ever ready to give it . Their

advice is usually easy to follow , for they have learned to

entertain just notions of the world and its concerns , aud are loth to propose any course which may appear harsh to those who seek their counsel . They correct in such a manner as to occasion no heartburnings , and have

such a happy way of directing the wrong , as almost to lead to the supposition that they are advising rather than directing ; in fact they examine every object with

unclouded and impartial eye , and in all they undertake show that unbiassed nature which is one of the attributes of the man who is really free . The subject of our sketch began life , as was customary

in his youthful days , at the early age of 14 years , as apprentice to a medical practitioner ; he was thus doomed to pass five years in the constant drudgery of an open shop or surgery , the incessant calls upon his time during this period leaving him no room for reading or the

improvement of the mind , such as the modern student in medicine so fully enjoys . In due time he became an assistant in London , and while acting in that capacity he became acquainted with the late Mr . Herbert Ingram , the founder and proprietor of the Illustrated London Neivs . At that time the taxes on knowledge had not been repealed , but there was a notable band—of which the late Mr . Milner Gibson and Mr . Ingram were among the most earnest and determined workers—striving to induce the legislature to remove the several duties which weighed so heavily on newspaper proprietors , and so greatly impeded the spread of knowled ge . Just before this period our " Ideal Knight " was

induced to abandon , for a time at least , the medical profession , to devote himself to literary work , and join the staff of the newspaper that was destined to bring about a

complete revolution in journalistic literature . Mr . Ingram * elt that , by combining good pictorial effects in the letterpress news of the day , and thus more directly appeal to the eye , be could secure a far greater number of readers

, and the results which have attended the publication of the ¦ ttlitstratecl London News have proved the truth of this snrmise . The success of hia earliest efforts induced him to proceed further , and to introduce a liberal use of

An Ideal Knight.

illustrations into educational works . The first venture of the kind , " The Illustrated London Spelling Book , " proved an unlocked for success , and it was followed by other works in quick succession , issued under the supervision of our " Ideal Knight . " Some of these books were , indeed , entirely the production of his pen , among others being " The Elements of Natural Philosophy " ( 1853 ) , and " The History , Construction , and Application of the Microscope " ( 1854 ) . Of this latter work we may remark , it has passed through ten large editions , and at the present time is , perhaps , even more popular than in the days of its first publication . This valuable guide to the microscope gave a remarkable impetus . to the sale of that instrument , one London manufacturer stating a few years since that he could trace the sale of over a thousand microscopes to the book of our

** Knight . " . Numerous other useful and instructive works , in the preparation of which our hero tnnV « P « M ; uou ' put , ttuii a , list or wmcn would be too long to enumerate , subsequently appeared from the press of the Illustrated London News ; but we must not omit a special reference to

the ** Illustrated London Almanack , which he has edited since its commencement , upwards of forty years ago , and which we trust he will continue to direct until its --jubilee " year of publication has long passed .

An extreme desire which our " Knight still entertained to follow the medical profession once more induced him , in 1847 , to enter for the practice at Charing Cross Hospital , and at the completion of the regular terms he obtained , in 1850 , the Diploma of the Royal College of Surgeons of England . He was then acting as the assistant of the late eminent surgeon , J . G . Guthrie , F . R S ., twice Presidentof the College of Surgeons , and under his guidance , and by this

gentleman ' s recommendation , turned his attention to ophthalmic surgery , soon afterwards becoming Clinical Assistant at the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital . It should be mentioned also that in 1850 and 1851 he assisted Mr . Guthrie in the preparation of a course of lectures on the Surgery of the Urethra , which involved a series of original microscopical researches , and which were afterwards delivered before the Medical Society of London . In February 1855 ,

on a vacancy occurring in the office of Assistant Surgeon of the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital , our "Ideal Knight" was elected to the post , and from that moment he gave his unremitting , and almost entire , attention to the work of the hospital , of which , on the retirement of Mr . Hancock , in 1870 , he became full surgeon . It may be

fairly said that much of the success of this hospital was due to his exertions ; this the records of the Institution fully show . In the year following his appointment as Assistant Surgeon he introduced the use of the Ophthalmoscope into

the practice of the hospital , and early in 1857 he read a paper before the Medical Society of London , " On the value of the Ophthalmoscope in the treatment of diseases of the

Eye . " This paper was published m the Lancet , together with a number of interesting cases , and excited considerable attention ; subsequently it was issued separately , and

quickly ran through three editions . The editor of an Ophthalmic Journal of the period , in noticing this paper said , " the merit of having perceived the probable future value of tbe Ophthalmoscope , and having urged his opinion upon

the Profession , is clearly due to its author . " Other favourable opinions were expressed , and , as is usual in such cases , some amount of opposition to the instrument was encountered , but from that moment the Opthalmoscope became one of the most trusted and valuable aids in