*- '^*&*rt* ■?:■. f »^Of0ODD,0£)0£i'00r0£),L '^g Co ■- a«>. dc&Hjfjj /y. m SHINGTON LIBRARY. his „Z>oo/ to ho returned within jjj] days, without injury, under a IJjfi 7 of / eentyfor every Horary fjjjjj er. iPi REGULATIONS. r shall be at liberty to take out on each share as fol- arto, two octavo-., or under ; and keep the folio four vetlts, octavo two weeks, duuducimo and under one tin the city; and double the above period, ii residing the privilege of renewal, if not called for on ilie day on lable ; and shall be subject to a penalty of six .mil a h book, for every Library day they are detained over % H XP % & livery shareholder shall be at liberty to transfer their shares, by a certifi- cate directed to the Librarian, who shall record the same ; provided, that no transfer shall be entered mud all arrearages on the share shall have been paid. Any shareholder applying for a book, or set of books, which may be out* shall be lnlormed ol the time they ought to be returned ; and if desired, the Librarian shall not re-enter to any other person, until one day after the re- quest has been made. Any book, part, or set of a book, having reference to each other, maybe taken out, except new publications, one volume of which only can be taken at a time, during the limitation allowed for reading, within the first three months alter their receipt into the Library, and excepting periodical works and plays, of which only two volumes can be taken out at a time. Any person not a permanent resident of the city or its vicinity, may havo the use of the Library at the rate of 5 dollars per year, I 2 dollars per three months, 3 " ^ six month's, | 1 " one month: To be paid in advance, on a deposit being made with the Librarian of double the puce affixed (or the book or set of books, subject in all other respects to the same regulations as subscribers. No person who owes more thjnii our year's contribution, shall be entitled to take out books; the contribution having first beeji legally demanded." *■ Ay VIEW OF THE LIFE, TRAVELS, AND PHILANTHROPIC LABOURS —*-* OP THE LATE JOHN HOWARD, ESaUIRE, LL. D. F. R. S. In Commune auxilium natus, ac publicum bonum, ex quo dabit cuique partem : etiam ad calamitosos, pro portione, improbandos et emendandos, bonitatem suam permittet............Seneca. BY JOHN AIKIN, M. D. ----*VU^--^ ^ij^ PUBLISHED BYr DAVID HUNTINGTON, Corner of William and Liberty-streets. 1314. V.' 7, H a o lb h Van Winkle & Wriley, Printers. INTRODUCTION. IF it be a just observation, that every man who hae attained uncommon eminence in his particular line of pursuit, becomes an object worthy of the public notice, how forcibly must such a maxim apply to that species of excellence which renders a man the greatest bene- factor to his fellow creatures, and the noblest subject of their contemplation ? Beneficence, pure in its inten- tions, wise and comprehensive in its plans, and active and successful in execution, must ever stand at the head of those qualities which elevate the human cha- racter ; and mankind cannot have a concern so impor- tant as the diffusion of such a spirit, by means of the most perfect and impressive examples, in which it has actually been displayed. Among those truly illustrious persons -who, in the several ages and nations of the world, have marked their track through life by a continued course of doing good, few have been so distinguished, either by the ex- tent of the good produced, or the purity of motive and energy of character exhibited in the process of doing it, as the late VIr. Howard. To have adopted the cause of the prisoner, the sick, and the destitute, not only in his own country, but throughout all Europe; to have considerably alleviated the burden of present mi- aery among those unfortunate classes, and at the same time to have provided for the reformation of the vitious, and the prevention of future crimes and calamities;— IV al in the actual establishment of many plans of humanity and utility, and to have laid the foundation for much more improvement here- after ;—and to have done all this as a private, unaided individual, struggling with toils, dangers and difficulties, which might have appalled the most resolute; is surely a range of beneficence which scarcely ever before came within the compass of one man's exertions. Justly, then, docs the name of Howard stand among those which confer the highest honour on the English character; and, since his actions cannot fail to trans- mit his memory with glory to posterity, it is incumbent on his countrymen and cotemporaiies, for their own sakes, to transmit corresponding memorials of their veneration and gratitude. It would, indeed, be a convincing proof of the in- creased good sense and virtue of the age, if such cha- racters as this were found to rise in the comparative scale of fame and applause. Long enough have man- kind weakly paid their admiration as the reward of per- nicious exertions—of talents, often very moderate in themselves, and only rendered conspicuous by the blaze of mischief they have kindled. It is now surely time that men should know and distinguish their benefactors from their foes; and that the noblest incitements to action should be given to those actions only which are directed to the general welfare. Since the lamented death of this excellent person, there have not been wanting respectable eulogies of his character, and such biographical notices concerning him, as might, in some measure, gratify that public curiosity which is awakened by every celebrated name. There is yet wanting, however, what I consider as by much the most valuable tribute to the memory of eve- ry man distinguished by public services} I mean a por- traiture of him, modelled upon those circumstances which rendered him eminent; displaying in their rise and progress those features of character which so pe- culiarly fitted him for the part he undertook, the ori- gin and gradual development of his great designs, and all the successive steps by which they were brought to their final state of maturity. It is this branch of bio- graphical writing that alone entitles it to rank high among the compositions relative to human life and manners. Nature, indeed, has implanted in us a de- sire of becoming acquainted with those circumstances belonging to a distinguished character which are com- mon to him ami the mass of mankind; and it is, there- fore, right that such a desire should, in some degree, be gratified; but to make that the principal object of attention, which, but for its association with somewhat more important, would not at all deserve notice, is surely to reverse the value of things, and to estimate the mass by the quantity of its alloy, rather than by that of the precious metal. The deficiency which I have stated relative to Mr. Howard, it is my present object, as far as I am able, to supply; and however the task, in some respect, may be beyond my powers, yet the advantage I enjoytd of a long and confidential intercourse with him during the publication of his works, and of frequent conversation with him concerning the past and future objects of his in- quiries, together with the communications with which I have been favoured by some of his most intimate friends—will, I hope, justify me in the eye of the public for taking it on myself. I trust I have already appeared not insensible to his exalted merit, nor indifferent tn lus reputation* 1* VI One thing more I think it necessary to say concern- ing this attempt. It has been more than once sug- gested in print, but, I believe, without any foundation, that a life of Mr. Howard might be expected to ap- pear under the sanction and authority of his family. It is proper for me to avow that this is not that work. The undertaking is perfectly spontaneous on ray part, without encouragement from his relations or repre- sentatives. Mr. Howard was a man with whom every one capable of feeling the excellence and dignity of his character, might claim kindred; and they were the nearest to him whom he made the confidants and depo- sitaries of his designs. VIEW OF THE LI * OP THE LATE JOHN HOWARD, ESQ. LL. D. F. R. S. JOHN HOWARD was born, according to the best information I am able to obtain, about the year 1727. His father was an uphol- sterer and carpet-warehouseman in Longlaue, Smithfield, who, having acquired a handsome fortune, retired from business, and had a house first at Enfield, and afterwards at Hackney. It was, I believe, at the former of these places that Mr. Howard was born. As Mr. Howard's father was a strict pro- testant dissenter, it was natural for him to educate his son under a preceptor of the same principles. But his choice for this purpose was the source of a lasting misfortune, which, 8 as it has been too frequent an occurrence, de- serves particular notice. There was at that time a schoolmaster at some distance from Lon- don, who^Hfeonsequence of his moral and religious '< inculcate the idea that he had at- taint considerable proficiency in letters, I feel myself obliged, from my own knowledge, to assert, that he was never able to speak or write his native language with grammatical correctness, and that his acquaintance with other languages (the French, perhaps, ex- cepted) was slight and superficial. In estima- ting the powers of his mind, it rather adds to the account that he had this additional diffi- culty to combat in his pursuit of the great ob- jects of his later years. Mr. Howard's father died when he was young, and bequeathed to him and a daugh- ter, his only children, considerable fortunes. He directed in his will that his son should not come to the possession of his property till his twenty-fifth year. It was, probably, in consequence of the fa- ther's direction that he was bound apprentice to a wholesale grocer in the city. This will appear a singular step in the education of a yoUDg man of fortune; but, at that period, inuring youth to habits of method and indus- try, and giving them a prudent regard to mo- ney, with a knowledge of the modes of em- ploying it to advantage, were by many consi- dered as the most important points in every condition of life. Mr. Howard was proba- bly indebted to this part of his education for some of that spirit of order, and knowledge of common affairs, which he possessed; but he did not, in this situation, contract any of that love of aggrandizement which is the • basis of all commercial exertions; and so irk- some was the employment to him, that, on coming of age, he bought out the remainder of his time, and immediately set out on his travels to France and Italy. On his return he mixed with the world, and lived in the style of other young men of lei- sure and fortune. He had acquired that taste for the arts which the view of the most per- fect examples of them is fitted to create; and, notwithstanding the defects of his education, he was not without an attachment to reading and the study of nature. The delicacy of his coDstitution,however, induced him to take 12 lodgings in the country, where for some time his health was the principal object of his at- tention. As he was supposed to be of a con- sumptive habit, he was put upon a rigorous » regimen of diet, which laid the foundation of that extraordinary abstemiousness and indif- ference to the gratifications ol the palate which ever after so much distinguished him. It is probable that, from his first appearance in a state of independence, his way of thinking and acting was marked by a r.ertaiu singu- larity. Of this, one of the most remarkable . consequences was his first marriage about his twenty-fifth year. As a return of gratitude to Mrs. Sarah Lardeau, (or Loidore,) widow, with whom he lodged at Stoke Newington, for her kind attention to him during his invalid state, he proposed marriage to her, though she was twice his age, and extremely sickly; and, notwithstanding her remonstrances on the im- propriety of such a union, he persisted in his design, and it took place. She is represented as a sensible, worthy woman; and on her death, three years afterwards, (during which interval he continued at Newington,) Mr. Howard was sincerely affected with his loss; nor did he ever fail to me«Uon her with re- spect, after his sentiments of things may have been supposed, from greater commerce with the world, to have undergone a change. His liberality, with respect to pecuniary* concerns, was early displayed ; and at no time of his life does he seem to have considered money in any other light than as an instru- ment of procuring happiness to himself and others. The little fortune that his wife pos- sessed he gave to her sister; and during his residence at Newington he bestowed much in charity, and made a handsome donation to the dissenting congregation there, for the purpose of providing a dwelling house for the minister. His attachment to religion was a principle imbibed from his earliest years, which conti- nued steady and uniform through life. The body of christians to whom he particularly united himself were the Independents, and his system of belief was that of the moderate Calvinists. But though he seems early to have made up his mind as to the doctrines he thought best fouuded, and the mode of wor- ship he most approved, yet religion abstract- edly considered, as the relation between man and his Maker, and the grand support of morality, appears to have been the principal 2 14 object of his regard. He was less solicitous about modes and opinions than the internal spirit of piety and devotion; and in his esti- mate of different religious societies, the cir- cumstances to which he principally attended, were their zeal and sincerity. As it is the nature of sects in general to exhibit more earnestness in doctrine, and strictness in dis- cipline, than the establishment from which they dissent, it is not to be wondered at that a person of Mr. Howard's disposition should regard the various denominations of sectaries with predilection, and attach himself to their most distinguished members. In London he seems chiefly to have joined the BaptisWJon- gregation in Wild-street, long under the mi- nistry of the much-respected Dr. Stenuett. His connexions were, I believe, least with that class called the Rational Dissenters; yet he probably had not a more intimate friend iu the world than Dr. Price, who always ranked among them. It was his constant practice to join in the service of the establishment when he had not the opportunity of attending a place of dissenting worship; and though he was warmly attached to the interests of the party he espoused, yet he had that true spirit of Catholicism, which led him to honour vir- tue and religion wherever he found them, and to regard the means only as they were sub- servient to the end. He was created a Fellow of the Royal So- ciety on May 13, 1756. This honour was not, I presume, conferred upon him in conse- quence of any extraordinary proficiency in science which he had manifested; but rather iu conformity to the laudable practice of that society, of attaching gentlemen of fortune and leisure to the interests of knowledge, by in- corporating them into their body. Mr. How- ard was not unmindful of the obligation he lay under to contribute something to the com- mon stock of information. Three short papers of his are published in the Transac- tions. These are, In Vol. LIV. On the degree of cold ob- served at Cardington in the winter of 1763, when Bird's Thermometer was as low as 10 1-2. In Vol. LVII. On the heat of the waters at Bath, containing a table of the heat of the waters of the different baths. In Vol. LXI. On the heat of the ground on Mount Vesuvius. 16 Tins list may serve to give an idea of the kind and degree of his philosophical research. Meteorological observations were much to his taste; and even in his later tours, when he was occupied by very different objects, he never travelled without some instruments for that purpose. I have heard him likewise mention some experiments on the effects of the union of the primary colours in different pro- portions, in which he employed himself with some assiduity. After the death of his wife, in the year 1756, he set out upon another tour, intending to commence it with a visit to the ruins of Lisbon. The event of this design will be hereafter mentioned. He remained abroad a few months; and, on his return, began to alter the house on his estate at Cardington, near Bedford, where he settled. In 1758 he made a very suitable alliance with Miss Henrietta Leeds, eldest daughter of Edward Leeds, Esq. of Croxton, Cambridgeshire, king's ser- geant, and sister of the present Edward Leeds, Esq. a master in chancery, and of Joseph Leeds, Esq. of Croydon. With this lady, who possessed in an eminent degree all the mild and amiable virtues proper to her sex, he passed, as I have often heard him de- clare, the only years of true enjoyment which he had known in life. Soon after his mar- riage he purchased Watcombe, in the JNfew Forest, Hampshire, and removed thither. Con- cerning his way of life iu this pleasant re- treat, I fiud nothing characteristic to relate, except the state of perfect security and har- mony in which he managed to live in the midst of a people, against whom his predeces- sor thought it necessary to employ all the contrivances of engines and guns in order to preserve himself from their hostilities. He had, indeed, none of those propensities which so frequently embroil country gentlemen with their neighbours, both small and great. He was no sportsman, no executor of the game laws, and in no respect an encroacher on the rights and advantages of others. In possess- ing him, the poor could not fail soon to find that they had acquired a protector and bene- factor; and I am unwilling to believe that in any part of the world these relations are not returned with gratitude and attachment. After continuing at Watcombe three or four years, he sold the place, and went back to 2* 18 Cardington, which thenceforth became his fixed residence. Here he steadily pursued those plans, both with respect to the regulation of his persoual and family concerns, and to the promotion of the good of those around him, which princi- ple and inclination led him to approve. Though without the ambition of making a splendid appearance, he had a taste for ele- gant neatness in his habitation and furniture. His sobriety of manners and peculiarities of living did not fit him for much promiscuous society; yet no man received his select friends with more true hospitality; and he always maintained an intercourse with several of the first persons in his county, who knew and re- spected his worth. Indeed, however uncom- plying he might be with the freedoms and irregularities of polite life, he was by no means negligent of its received forms; and, though he might be denominated a man of scruples and singularities, no one would dis- pute his claim to the title of a gentleman. But the terms on which he held society with persons of his own condition, are of much less importance in the view I mean to take of his character, than the methods by which he rendered himself a blessing to the indigent and friendless in a small circle, before he ex- tended his benevolence to so wide a compass. It seems to have been the capital object of his ambition, that the poor in his village should be the most orderly in their manners, the neat- est in their persons and habitations, and pos- sessed of the greatest share of the comforts of life, that could be met with in any part of England. And as it was his disposition to carry every thing he undertook to the great- est pitch of perfection, so he spared no pains or expeuse to effect this purpose. He began by building a number of neat cottages on his estate, annexing to each a little land for a garden, and other conveniences. In this project, which might be considered as an ob- ject of taste as well as of beuevolence, he had the full concurrence of his excellent partner. I remember his relating that once, having set- tled his accounts at the close of a year, and found a balance in his favour, he proposed to his wife to make use of it in a journey to Lon- don, or any other gratification she chose. " What a pretty cottage it would build," was her answer; and the money was so employed 20 These comfortable habitations he peopled1 with the most industrious and sober tenants he could find; and over them he exercised the superintendence of master and father com- bined. He was careful to furnish them with employment, to assist them iu sickness and distress, and to educate their children. In order to preserve their morals, he made it a condition that they should regularly attend their several places of worship, and abstain from public houses, and from such amusements as he thought pernicious; and he secured their compliance with his rules by making them tenants at will. I shall here beg leave to digress a little, in order to make some general observations on the different methods that may be proposed for bettering the condition of the lowest and most numerous class among us. In the state in which they too frequently appear, depressed to the extremest point of indigence, unable by their utmost exertions to obtain more than the bare necessaries of existence, debased by the total want of instruction, and partaking of no- thing that can dignify the human character, it is no wonder that a benevolent person of the higher ranks in society should consider them as creatures of an inferior species, only to be benefited by the constant exercise of his authority and superintendence. And I believe the fact to be, that, from the operation of our poor laws, and other circumstances, the poor in this country are more thoughtless, impro- vident, and helpless, than those of almost any other nation. Humanity will, therefore, in such a state of things, think it necessary to assume the entire management of those who can neither think nor act for their own good; and will direct and overrule all their con- cerns, just as it would those of children and idiots. In short, it will aim at such a kind of influence as the Jesuits of Paraguay esta- blished (perhaps with the same benevolent views) over the simple natives. But is this state of pupilage to be perpe- tual ? and, in a land of liberty and equal laws, is the great body of people always to exist in a condition of actual subjection to, and de- pendence on, the few ? Are they never to be intrusted with their own happiness, but always to look up for support and direction to those who in reality are less independent than them- selves ? This is an idea which a liberal mind mil be unwilling to admit; and it will anx- 22 iously look forward to a period, in which meanness of condition shall not necessarily imply debasement of nature; but those of every rank in society, feeling powers within themselves to secure their essential comforts, shall rely upon their own exertions, and be guided by the dictates of their own reason. That this is not an imaginary state of things the general condition of the lowest classes in some countries, and even in some parts of En- gland, where the working poor, at the same time that their earnings enable them to pro- cure the comforts of life, are inured to habits of sobriety and frugality, is a sufficient proof. There are few counties in England which afford less employment to a numerous poor than that of Bedford; of course, wages are low, and much distress would prevail were it not for the humanity of the gentlemen who reside upon their estates. Among these Mr. Howard distinguished himself by a peculiar attention to the comfort and improvement of his dependents; and he was accordingly held by them in the highest respect and veneration. I may add, that he possessed their love; which is not always the case with those who lender essential services to the people of that class. But he treated them with kindness, as well as beneficence; and he particularly avoided every thing stern or imperious in his manner towards them. Whatever there might appear of strictness in the discipline he en- forced, it had only in view their best interests; and if under his protection they could pass a tranquil old age, in their own comfortable cot- tages, rather than end their lives in a work- house, the subordination to which they sub- mitted was amply compensated. It is certain that the melioration of manners and princi- ples which he promoted, was the most effec- tual means of eventually rendering them more independent; and I have reason to know, that, latterly at least, he was as well affected to the rights, as he was solicitous to augment the comforts, of the poor. His charities were not confined to those more immediately connected with his proper- ty; they took in the whole circle of neigh- bourhood. His bounty was particularly di- rected to that fundamental point in improving the condition of the poor, giving them a sober and useful education. From earl}'lift he attend- ed to this object; and he established schools for both sexes, conducted upon the mo-,i judicious 24 plan. The girls were taught reading, and needle- work in a plain way; the boys reading, and some of them writing, and the rudiments of arithmetic. They were regularly to attend public worship iu the way their parents ap- proved. The number brought up in these schools was fluctuating; but the institutions were uninterrupted. In every other way in which a man, thoroughly disposed to do good with the means Providence has bestowed upon him, can exercise his liberality, Mr. Howard stood among the foremost. He was not. only a subscriber to various public schemes of benevolence, but his private charities were largely diffused, and remarkably well direct- ed. It was, indeed, only to his particular confidents and coadjutors that many of these were ever known; but they render him the most ample testimony in this respect. His very intimate and confidential friend, the Rev. Mr! Thomas Smith, of Bedford, gives me the following account of this part of his conduct, at a time when he was deeply engaged in those public exevtious which might be sup- posed to interfere with his private and local benefactions. " He still continued to devise liberal things for his poor neighbours and tenants; and, considering how much his heart and time were engaged in his great and com- prehensive plans, it was surprising with what minuteness he would send home his directions about his private donations. His schools were continued to the last." It is impossible any stronger proof can be given, that the habit of doing good was wrought into his very nature, than that, while his public actions placed him without a rival for deeds of phi- lanthropy, he should still be unable to satisfy his benevolent desires without his accustomed benefits to his neighbours and dependents. Another early feature of that character which Mr. Howard afterwards so conspicu- ously displayed, was a determined resistance of injustice and oppression. No one could be more firmly relied on as the protector of right and innocence against unfeeling and unprinci- pled power. His iudignation was roused by any attempts to encroach or domineer; and his spirit led him, without hesitation, to express, both in words and actions, his sense of such conduct. As no man could be more perfectly independent, both in mind and situation, than himself, he made that use of his advantage which every independent man ought to do;— 3 26 tie acted as principle directed him, regardless whom he might displease by it; he strongly marked his different sensations with respect to different characters; and he was not less streuuous in opposing pernicious schemes, than in promoting beneficial ones. The love of order and regularity likewise marked the early as well as the later periods of his life; it directed his own domestic con- cerns equally with his plans for the benefit of others. His disposition of time was exact and methodical. He accurately knew the state of all his affairs; and the hand of economy re- gulated Avhat the heart of generosity dispen- sed. His taste in dress, furniture, and every thing exterior, was turned to simplicity and neatness; and this conformity of disposition rend; red him an admirer of the sect of qua- kers, with many individuals of which he maintained an intimate connexion. In common with many other benevolent and virtuous characters, he had a fondness for gardening, and the cultivation of plants, both useful and ornamental. Indeed, as his own diet was almost entirely of the vegetable kind, he had various inducements to attend to this pleasiDg occupation. That most valuable root, the potato, was a great favourite with him; and a remarkable productive species of it, which he recommended to public notice, was distinguished by his name. His garden was an object of curiosity, both for the elegant manner in which it was laid out, and for the excellence of its productions; and in his va- rious travels he frequently brought home, and distributed among his friends, the seeds of curious kinds of cultivated vegetables. In this manner Mr. Howard passed the tranquil years of his settled residence at Car- dington; happy in himself, and the instrument of good to all around him. But this state was not long to contiuue. His domestic feli: city received a fatal wound from the death of his beloved wife, in the year 1765, soon after delivery of her only child. It is unnecessary to say how a heart like his must have felt ou such an event. They who have been wit- nesses of the sensibility with which, many years afterwards, he recollected it, and know how he honoured and cherished her memory, will conceive his sensations at that trying pe riod. • He was thenceforth attached to his home only by the duties annexed to it; of which the most interesting was the education 28 of his infant son. This was an office which almost immediately commenced; for, accord- ing to his ideas, education had place from the very first dawn of the mental faculties. The very unfortunate issue of his cares, with re- spect to his son, has caused a charge to be brought against him very deeply affecting his paternal character. That this charge was in its main circumstance false and calumnious, has, 1 trust, beeu proved, to the satisfaction of the public, by appeals to facts which have remained uncontroverted. I shall not, there- fore, go over again the ground of this contro- versy; but shall rather follow the proper line of this work, by briefly displaying Mr. How- ard's ideas on education, and his manner of executing them. Regarding children as creatures possessed of strong passions and desires, without reason and experience to control them, he thought that uature seemed, as it were, to mark them out as the subjects of absolute authority; and that the first and fundamental principle to be in- culcated upon them, was implicit and unlimit- ed obedience. This cannot be effected by any process of reasoning, before reason has its commencement; aud, therefore, must be the result of coercion. Now, as no man ever more effectually combined the leniter in moda with the fortiter in re, the coerciou he prac- tised was calm and gentle, but at the same time steady and resolute. I shall give an instance of it which I had from himself. His child one day, wanting something which he was not to have, fell into a fit of crying, which the nurse could not pacify. Mr. Howard took him from her, and laid him quietly in his lap, till, fatigued with crying, he became still. This process, a few times repeated, had such an effect, that the child, if crying ever so violently, was rendered quiet the instant his father took him. In a similar manner, with- out harsh words and threats, still less blows, he gained every other point which he thought necessary to gain, aud brought the child to such a habit of obedience, that I have heard him say he believed his son would have put his finger into the fire if he had commande'd him. Certain it is, that many fathers could not, if they approved it, execute a plan of this kind; but Mr. Howard in this case only pursued the general method which he took to effect any thing which a thorough conviction of its propriety induced him to undertake. It is absurd, therefore, to represent him as want- 3* 30 ing that milk of human kindness for his only son with which he abounded for the rest of his fellow creatures; for he aimed at what he thought the good of both, by the very same meaus; and, if he carried the point further with respect to his sou, it was only because he was more interested in his welfare. But this course of discipline, whatever be thought of it, could not have been long practised, since the child was early sent to school, and the father lived very little at home afterwards. As to its effect on the youth's mind, (if that, and not intention, be the circumstance .on which Mr. Howard's vindication is to depend,) I consider it as a manifest impossibility, that controlling the child should have been the cause of the young man's insanity. If any such remote cause could be supposed capa- ble of producing such an effect, the opposite extreme of indulgence would have been a much more likely one. But 1 think it highly probable that a father, whose presence was associated with the perception of restraint and refusal, should always have inspired more awe than affection; and should never have created that filial confidence, which is both the most pleasiug and most salutary of the 31 sentiments attending that relation. And this has been the great evil of that rigorous mode of education, once so general, and still fre- quent among persons of a particular persua- sion. I have authority to say, that Mr. How- ard was at length sensible that he had in some measure mistaken the mode of forming his son to that character he wished him to acquire; though, with respect to his mental derange- ment, I know that he imputed no blame to himself on that head. With what parental sorrow he was affected by that event will ap- pear iu the progress of the narration. Having now given such a view of the tem- per and manners of this excellent person, in his private situation, as may serve to intro- duce him to the reader's acquaintance at the time of his assuming a public character, I shall, without further delay, proceed to trace him through those years of his life, the em- ployment of which alone has rendered him an object of the curiosity and admiration of his countrymen. In the year 1773 Mr. Howard was nomi- nated high sheriff of the county of Bedford. An obstacle, however, lay in the way of his 32 accepting that office, concerning which I shall take the liberty of making a few remarks. When a principled dissenter, whose condi- tion in life permits him to aspire to the honour of serving his country in some posts of magis- tracy, reflects on his situation, he finds that he must make his election of one of the three following determinations. He must either comply with a religious rite of another church, merely on account of its being made the con- dition of receiving the office; or take upon himself the office, without such compliance, under all the hazard that attends it; or he must quietly sit down under that vacation from public charges which the stale, in its wisdom, has imposed upon him, satisfied with promoting the welfare of individuals by modes not interdicted to him. It would be great ^ presumption in me to decide which of these determinations is most conformable to duty. In fact, there is only a choice of difficulties, . and the decision between them must be left to every maD's own feelings, which, if his inten- tions be good and honest, will scarcely lead him wrong. But it was perfectly suitable to Mr. Howard's character to make option of the office with the hazard; for as, on the one 2 on hand, no consideration on earth could have induced him to violate his religious princi- ples; so, on the other, his active disposition, and zeal for the public good, strongly impel- led him to assume a station, in which those qualities might have free scope for exertion; and as to personal hazard, that was never an obstacle in his way. There may be casuists who will condemn this choice, and regard it as a serious offence against the laws of his country, to have taken upon him an office without complying with its preliminary con- ditions. But, I conceive, the sincere philan- thropist will rather make a different reflection, and feel a shock in thinking, that, had Mr. Howard been influenced by those apprehen- sions which would have operated upon most men, he would have been excluded from that situation which gave "occasion to all those services which he rendered to humanity in his own country, and throughout Europe.* * The penalties to which Mr. Howard, in this in- stance, exposed himself, are declared in the following clause of the test act, which cannot too often be placed before the eyes of Britons. " Every person that shall neglect or refuse to take the sacrament as aforesaid, and yet, after such neglect or refusal, shall execute 34 He entered upcu his office with the reso- lution of performing all its duties with that punctuality Avhich marked his conduct iu every thing he undertook. Of these one of any of the said offices or employments, and being thereupon lawfully convicted, shall be disabled to sue, or use any action, bill, plaint, or information, in course of law, or to prosecute any suit in any court of equity, or to be guardian of any child, or executor or adminis- trator of any person, or capable of any legacy, or deed of gift, or to bear any office; and shall forfeit the sum of five hundred pounds, to be recovered by him or them that shall sue for the same."—In the debate on the repeal of this act, the mover, with much elo- quence, introduced the very case of Mr. Howard, and seemed considerably to impress his audience by the supposition of such a man suffering its penalties, in consequence ef an information which any villain might lay against him. In reply, it was said, that whatever Svere a man's intentions, if he voluntarily contravened a known law of his country, it ought not to be reckon- ed a hardship that he incurred the penalties by which it was sanctioned- And this reasoning is undoubtedly just, as it respects the interests of an, individual put in competition with the security of a law. But surely it is a proper consideration for the legislature, whe- ther a law be grounded on those principles of equity and general utility which can justify the imposition of such dreadful penalties for the breach of it, especially when experience has shown that the most conscien- tious and well-intentioned persons are most liable to incur them. Hit the most important, though least agreeable, h the inspection of the prisons within its juris- diction. But this, to him, was not only an act of duty; it interested him as a material con- cern of humanity. The attention of Mr. Howard to persons " sick and iu prison," is by himself dated as far back as the year 1756, when he was in- duced by a singular, but what I should call a sublime, curiosity, to visit Lisbon, then lying iu the recent ruins of its terrible earthquake. The packet iu which he sailed being taken by a French privateer, he, with the rest of the crew, was first exposed to all the barbari- ties exercised by those licensed pirates, who possess the right of the sword, not mollified by the feelings of gentlemen; and, on his arrival in France, he for a time endured some of the hardships of a prisoner of war, and became acquainted with all the sufferings of his coun- trymen in the same situation. These, on his return to England, he took care to make known to the commissioners of sick and wounded seamen, who gave him their thanks for his information, and exerted themselves to obtain redress. It was impossible that so feeling a lessoD of the calamities inflicted upon 36 the unprotected classes of mankind, by fellow creatures, " dressed in a litMe brief authori- ty," should fail to make a durable impression on such a mind as Mr. Howard's. It was not. however, till the period of his serving the office of sheriff, that the distresses of those confined in the civil prisons of his own country engaged his particular notice. Iu the introduction to his State of the Prisons, he has, with the most unassuming simplicity, re- lated the gradual progress of his inquiries; and in what manner he was led, from an exa- mination of the gaols in his own small county, to an investigation of all the circumstances belonging to this branch of police throughout the kingdom. 1 he first thing which struck him was the enormous injustice of remanding to prison for the payment of fees those who had been ac- quitted or discharged without trial. As the magistrate? of his county, though willing to redress this grievance, did not conceive them- selves possessed of the power of granting a remedy. Mr. Howard travelled into some of the 'neighbouring counties in search of a pre- cedent. In this search, scenes of calamity and injustice still opening upon him, he went 3? on, and paid visits to most of the county -f "glols in England. Some peculiarly deplo- rable objects coming in his view, who had been brought from the bridewells, he was in- duced to enter upon an examination of these places of confinement; for which purpose he travelled agaiu into the counties he had be- fore seen, and into all the rest, visiting houses of correction, city and town gaols. He had carried on these inquiries with so much assiduity, that, so early as March, 1774, he was desired to communicate his informa- tion to the house of commons, and received their thanks. As he was then little known, I cannot much wonder that so extraordinary an instance of pure and active benevolence was not universally comprehended, even by that patriotic body; for a member thought fit to ask him " at whose expense he travelled?" a question which Mr. Howard could scarcely answer without some indignant emotions. Soon after this public testimony given to the exist- ence of great abuses and defects in our prisons, a very worthy member, Mr. Popham, brought into the house two bills, one " for the relief of acquitted prisoners in matter of fees"—the other " for preserving the health of prisoners." These salutary acts passed during the same 4 38 session, aud made a commencement of those reforms which have since been so much ex- tended. Mr. Howard, aware of the great deficiency of the mode of promulgating laws among us, had these acts printed in a differ- ent character, and sent to every keeper of a couuty gaol in England. In this year he was induced, by the ur- gent persuasions of his neighbours and friends of the town of Bedford, to stand candidate, in conjunction with Mr. Whitbread, to repre- sent that borough in parliament. No two persons could be better entitled to the esteem of a town; and they were very warmly sup- ported in a contest, which, however, terminated in the return of two other gentlemen. Mr. Whitbread and Mr. Howard petitioned the house against the return; and the event was, that the former, and one of the sitting members, were declared duly elected. To those who are acquainted with the constitution of that bo- rough, it will not appear extraordinary, that a person possessing the attachment of a majo- rity of the inhabitant voters should lose his election. This, however, was a most fortu- nate circumstance for the public; since, if Mr. Howard had obtained a seat in the house of commons, his plans for the reformation of 39 prisons must have been brought within a nar- row compass; and the collateral inquiries, which, so greatly to the advantage of huma- nity, he afterwards adopted, could never have existed. It was Mr. Howard's intention to have pub- lished his account of English prisons in spring, 1775; but as he was sensible that to point out defects, without at the same time suggest- ing remedies, would be of little advantage, he thought it best to examine with his own eyes what had been actually put in practice with respect to this part of police in some of the most enlightened countries on the continent. Accordingly, in that year he visited France, Flanders, Holland, and Germany; and in 1776 repeated his visit to those countries, and also went to Switzerland. In the intervals he made a journey to Scotland and Ireland, and revisited the county gaols and many others in England. Thus furnished with a stock of information greater than had ever before been collected on this subject, and, indeed, probably greater than any man had, in the same space of time, ever collected on any subject that required si- milar pains, he offered it to the public, in J777, in a quarto volume of near 500 pages, 40 dedicated to the house of commons, by way of grateful acknowledgment for the honour conferred on him by their thanks, and for the attention they had bestowed on the business. Before I proceed to give an account of this work, I shall just observe, that so zealous was Mr. Howard to diffuse information, and so determined to obviate any idea that he meant to repay his expenses by the profitable trade of book making, that, besides a profuse muni- ficence% in presenting copies to all the princi- pal persons in the kingdom, and all his parti- cular friends, he insisted on fixing the price of the volume so low, that, had every copy been sold, he would still have presented the public with all the plates, and great part of the printing. And this practice he followed in all his subse- quent publications; so that, with literal pro- priety, he may be said to have given them to the world. By the large expenses of his journev, charities, and publications, he has made himself even a greater pecuniary bene- factor to mankind than can readily be paral- leled in any age or country, his proportioned circumstances considered. Yet how small a part was this of the sacrifices he made! He chose the press of Mr. Eyres at War- rington, induced by various elegant specimens 41 which had issued from it, and by the opportu- nity a country press afforded of having the work done under his own inspection, a" his own time, and with all the minute accuracy of correction he determined to bestow on it. I may also say, that an opinion of the advan- tage he might there enjoy of some literary assistance in the revision aud improvement of his papers, was a farther motive. To this choice I was indebted for that intimate per- sonal acquaintance with him, which I shall ever esteem one of the most honourable cir- cumstances of my life, and the lively recol- lection of which will, I trust, never quit me while memory remains. He resided in War- rington during the whole time of printing, and his attention to business was most indefa- tigable. During a very severe winter he made it his practice to rise at three or four in the morning, for the purpose of collating every word and figure of his daily proof sheet with the original. As I thought it right to meution Mr. How- ard's literary deficiencies, it is become neces- sary to inform the public of the manner in which his works were composed. On his re- turn from his tours he took all his memoran- dum books to an old retired friend of his, 4# 42 who assisted him in methodising them, and copied out the whole matter in correct lan- guage. They were then put into the hands of Dr. Price, from whom they underwent a revision, and received occasionally consider- able alterations. What Mr. Howard himself thought of the advantages they derived from his assistance, will appear from the following passages in letters to Dr. Price: "I am ashamed to think how much I have accumu- lated your labours; yet I glory in that assist- ance to which I owe so much credit iu the world, and, under Providence, success in my endeavours."-----" It is from your kind aid and assistance, my dear friend, that I derive so much of my character and influence. I exult in declaring it, and shall carry a grate- ful seuse of it to the last hour of my exist- ence." With his papers thus corrected, Mr. Howard came to the press at Warrington; and first he read them all over carefully with me, which perusal was repeated sheet by sheet as they were printed. As new facts and ob- servations were continually suggesting them- selves to his mind, he put the matter of them upon paper as they occurred, and tjien re- quested me to clothe them in such expressions as I thought proper. On these occasions, such 43 was his diffidence, that I found it difficult to make him acquiesce in his own language when, as frequently happened, it was. unexception- able. Of this additional matter, some was interwoven with the text, but the greater part Was necessarily thrown into notes, which, in some of his volumes, are numerous. The title of this first work is, The State of the Prisons in England and Wales; with Pre- liminary Observations, and an Account of some Foreign Prisons. It begins with a gene- ral View of Distress in Prisons, showing in what respects those of England are deficient in the articles of food, water, bedding, and fresh air; and that the morals of the prison- ers are totally neglected, the most criminal and abandoned being suffered to corrupt the younger and less practised. Notice is also taken of the gaol fever, a disease which has in a peculiar manner infested the prisons of this country, and has, at various times, spread its ravages from them among our courts of judicature, our fleets, and armies. The au- thor's next section is on Bad Customs in Pri- sons, under which he takes notice of the de- maud of garnish, the permissiou of gaming, the use of irons, the practice of varying the towns where the assizes are held, the local unfre- 44 quency of gaol delivery, the fees still demand- ed by clerks of assize and of the peace, the non-residency of gaolers, the crowding of gaols with the wives and children of prisoners, aud the circumstance of some gaols being private property. From this, and the foregoing sec- tion, every one must be convinced of the dreadful state of our police in this important matter, and the absolute necessity for a re- formation. For proof that the complaints here made in general terms are not unfounded or exaggerated, he properly refers to the sub- sequent account of particular gaols, where they are too abundantly verified. He con- cludes the second section with an enumera- tion of all the prisoners in England and Wales, under their several classes, who, in 1776, amounted to 4,084, a number much less than some Vague conjectures had stated, yet suffi- ciently great to demand the serious attention of the legislature, especially when it is consi- dered that every man in prison may be reck- oned to have two dependants on him for sup- port. Mr. Howard's third section offers Propo- sed Improvements in the Structure and Ma- nagement of Prisons. He begins with obser- vations on the prison itself, with respect to its situation and plan, the latter of which is illus- trated by an engraving. He then proceeds to that most essential topic, the regulations. These he considers under the several heads of gaoler, chaplain, surgeon, fees, cleanliness, food, bedding, rules and orders, and inspector. He much insists upon the necessity of absolute- ly takiug away the tap from the keepers of pri- sons, the possession of which was obviously the cause of promoting intemperance and riot, from the interest it gave the keeper in such irregula- rities. In lieu of this source of profit, he pro- poses a liberal addition to the salaries of this officer, the importance and respectability of whose employ he everywhere inculcates. He makes a separate article of bridewells, the ori- ginal peuiteutiary houses of the country, and planned with much wisdom, but which, by long neglect and abuse, were become rather a nui- sance than an advantage to the police. In many of them, though the persons confined were sentenced to hard labour, no work of any kind was done; and this state of idleness, with the company of hardened criminals, proved to be a most effectual method of completing the corruption of young and petty offenders. Va- rious excellent remarks and suggestions are given in the whole of this section, which con 46 tains the groundwork of all improvement iu the economy of prisons aud houses of correc- tion. In section IV. Mr. Howard gives an ac- count of Foreign Prisons; not of all he had seen, but of such only as afforded matter of instruction; nor in these does he notice the frauds and defects he observed; for he says, " the redress and investigation of foreign abuses was not my object." The countries of which the prisons are described are, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and Flan- ders. In the first, the suspicious policy which then prevailed would have rendered it very difficult for him to have obtained access to the interior part of the prisons, had he not availed himself of a benevolent rule, which permits any person to distribute alms to the prisoners with his own hands. A spirit of order and precision, tempered with humanity, was ob- servable in the conduct of this department, the regulations of which were fixed by a very comprehensive and judicious eode contained iu an arret of 1717. In Switzerland, the separation of male and female prisoners, the solitary confinement of felons, and the employ- ment of those called galley slaves, are circum- stances deserving notice. The German pri- sons are regulated in a similar manner; and the houses of correction at Manheim, Ham- burgh, and Bremen, afford useful examples of order and industry. But it is in Hol- land that the purpose of reforming criminals by a course of discipline is carried into exe- cution with most care and effect. Few debt- ors, and few atrocious offenders are to be found there; and the rasp and spin houses contain the great body of prisoners. The regulations of these are given in detail, and the different employments of the prisoners in different towns are particularly noted. Hol- land appears to be Mr. Howard's great school, to which we shall see that he was never wearied iu returning. The Austrian Nether- lauds offer some of the largest establishments of the penitentiary kind, and prove the possibi- lity of managing a great number of criminals so as to make them useful to the slate, and de- cent in their behaviour, by the aid of steadt discipline and separate confinement at night. Mr. Howard saw, what I suppose was theu deemed an'impossibility in England, in the house of correction at Ghent, near 190 stout criminals governed with as much apparent ease as the most sober and well disposed as- sembly in civil society. The regulations of 48 this prison are deservedly given at some length. Mr. Howard concludes this section with a forcible and manly appeal to his coun- trymen with respect to the comparison he was obliged to exhibit between foreign and En- glish police in this point, so unfavourable to the latter; calling upon his reader to judge, from the facts laid before him, " whether a design of reforming our prisons be merely visionary; and whether idleness, debauchery, disease, and famine, be the necessary attend- ants of a prison, or only connected with it iu our ideas, for want of a more perfect know- ledge and more enlarged views." Section V. takes up the greatest part of the book. It contains a particular account of English prisons, arranged according to the cir- cuits, and comprising every county in England and Wales. The mode adopted is very well contrived for the easy consultation of magis- trates and other persons concerned. Every principal prison in London, and every county aud city gaol, has the leading facts respecting it disposed in a short table under the four heads of gaoler, prisoners, chaplain, and sur- geon. A brief description follows of situa- tion, plan, measurements, &c. with such re- marks, either of approbation or censure, as the circumstances suggested. Lists are given of legacies and benefactions; and all tables of fees, and rules and orders, are copied verbatim. Next to these are concise accounts of all the county bridewells, and the town gaols and bridewells, with occasional remarks. The work is closed by some tables relative to fees and numbers, crimes and punishments, of cri- minals. A short conclusion terminates the whole, in which the author apologizes for the language of censure he has so often been com- pelled to use; enumerates the leading objects requiring reform; and promises, that if such a thorough parliamentary inquiry into this great object as alone can prove effectual to put it upon a proper footing should be under- taken, he would devote his time to a more extensive foreign journey, for the sake of ob- taining new information to lay before the public. I cannot dismiss the account of Mr. How- ard's first and great work, without a few re- flections, to Avhich the contemplation of it gives rise. And first, we may derive from it a clear idea of the capital objects which the author had at heart respecting prisoners. These were, to alleviate their miseries, and correct their vires. As to the former purpose, 5 50 he considered that men, partaking a common nature, have certain claims upon their fellow creatures which nothing can entirely abro- gate :—that even the highest degree of crimi- nality does not absolutely exclude compassiou towards the perpetrators of crimes, especially when suffering under their effects;—that as no man passes through life without some de- viation from strict rectitude, so none has lived without the performance of some good actions —and that, although human laws must draw a line between such circumstances of conduct as do, or do not, come within their cognizauce, yet there is a tribunal before which all man- kind must appear as culprits, only distinguish- ed by the degree of delinquency. He further considered that among the inmates of a pri- son there is every possible degree of moral de- merit, from the mere inconsiderate violation of some hard, ill understood, local law, to the deliberate breach of the most sacred and uni- versal rule of action; and that a great number are, in the eye of the law, innocent persons, only under a temporary state of confinement, till their conduct is properly investigated. From these differeut views of the subject, he convinced himself that it was the duty of every society to pay due attention to the Dl health, and, in some degree, eveu to the com- forts, of all who are held in a state of confine- ment;—that wanton and unnecessary rigour should be practised upon none;—and that some were entitled to all the indulgences compati- ble with their condition. It was, however, by no means his wish (as some chose to represent it) to render a prison so comfortable an abode that the lowest order of society might find their condition even bettered by admission into it. On the contrary, the system of disci- pline which he desired to establish, was such as would appear extremely grievous to those of an idle and licentious disposition. For, whenever imprisonment was made the punish- ment of a crime, his idea of reformation be- came a leading principle in the regulation of prisons; and it was that which cost him the chief labour in collecting and applying facts. To accomplish this end he showed that these things were essential;—strict and constant su- perintendence—close and regular employment —religious instruction—rewards for industry and good behaviour, and penalties for sloth and audaciousness—distribution into classes and divisions, according to age, sex, delin- quency, &c.—and occasional and nocturnal solitude. Iu laying down these regulations, 52 he might be thought to have given way to a certain austerity, were it uot so tempered' by attention to the real demands oi human nature, and sanctified by a regard to the best interests of offenders themselves, that the friend of man- kind was ever apparent, even in the strict dis- ciplinarian. He extremely lamented that the plan of reformation seemed, of all parts of his system of improvement, least entered into or understood in this country. The vulgar idea that our criminals are hardened and abandon- ed beyond all possibility of amendment, ap- peared to him equally irrational and pernicious. He scorned, through negligence or despair, to give up the worst cases of mental corruption; he fully believed that proper remedies, duly administered, would recover a large share of them; and he thought it the greatest of cru- elties to consign a soul to perdition, without having made every effort for retrieving it. Merely to get rid of convicts by execution or perpetual banishment, he regarded as a piece of barbarous policy, equally denoting want of feeling, and deficiency of resource; and he had not so much English prejudice about him as to suppose, that a system not adopted iu this country, was, therefore, absurd or im- practicable. b'.i Sly second topic of reflection is the striking proof this work affords of the extensive benefit arising from a free press. By its meaus we see an individual, enjoying neither royal nor mi- nisterial patronage, but solely borne up by ardent zeal for the public good, and the re- sources of his own mind and fortune, enabled not only to lay before the world complete information concerning a most important and little known subject, but, in some measure, also to enforce the correction of abuses, by bring- ing before the bar of the public those by whose negligence or criminality they had been foster- ed. For as the history of mankind has shown, on the one hand, that palpable injustice and mismanagement, even in an absolute govern- ment, cannot long stand their ground against the odium of an enlightened public, so, on the other, it has proved, that even iu free consti- tutions, notwithstaudiug all their boasted checks and balances, very gross abuses may long prevail, unless they are placed in open day, and submitted to the censure of the na- tion at large. It is scarcely, I think, to be doubted, that the freedom we enjoy iu this country, and the ultimate defeat of every per- nicious project, are less owing to the mecha- nism of our constitution, than to the habitual 5* 54 practice (rather assumed by the spirit of the people than granted by the laws) of subjecting every public measure to popular discussion by means of the press. From this ready communication of facts aud opinions, it has happened, that many useful designs and im- provements have among us originated from persons who had neither power nor interest of their own, but whose plans were adopted in consequence of the public conviction. The respect paid to Mr. Howard's virtues, abili- ties, and industry, placed him in a manner at the head of the department in which he had engaged as a volunteer; and this, not only in his own country, but afterwards, in some mea- sure, throughout Europe. Though in exer- cising the office of a censor he was superior to the fear of giving offence, yet he ever ob- served the utmost delicacy in marking out individuals as objects of blame. He boldly and forcibly displayed the abuse, but left it to those more immediately concerned to take no- tice of the delinquent. It cannot be question- ed that numbers looked with an evil eye upon bis keen researches and free detections; but how could they venture, before the public, to confront a man whose assertions were correct, whose intentions Avere above all suspicion, 55 and whose life would stand the severest test ? May this example animate all future friends— of mankind with a noble confidence becoming their cause! The house of commons now took up, with laudable zeal, the important business of regu lating the prisons; and in the draught of a bill " to punish by imprisonment and hard labour certain offenders, and to establish proper places for their reception," the plan was formed upon the rasp and spin houses in Holland. Mr. Howard was now called upon by his pro- mise, as well as his inclination, to make a new tour for the purpose of acquiring fresh and more exact information. He, accordingly, in April, 1778, went over to Holland, and revi- sited, with the greatest attention, the well conducted establishments of the penitentiary kind in the United Provinces. Thence he travelled into Germany, taking his course through Hanover and Berlin to Vienna. From this capital he proceeded to Italy by Venice; and, having gone as far south as Naples, re- turned by the western side of that country to Switzerland. Thence he pursued the course of the Rhine through Germany; and, cross- ing the Low Countries to France, returned to Eugland in January, 17 79. During the 06 spring and summer of this year he made ao other complete tour of Englaud and Wales, aud likewise took a journey through Scotland and Ireland. The labours of these two years were cer- tainly not less productive of useful information than his former journeys. In some respects they were more valuable, since, being now fully master of his subject, and acquainted with the means of procuring the best intelli- gence, he pursued his inquiries with greater ease and effect. He was now, too, a distin- guished character in Europe, and might ven- ture to assume that kind of authority to which the collection of facts, interesting to all civili- zed nations, seemed to entitle him. It is here proper to mention, that although he often found it necessary, especially when treading newr ground, to avail himself of recommenda- tions to persons high iu rank and office; yet that he much preferred, when he could prac- tise it,, carrying on his researches as an un- known individual, whose business was not sus- pected, and who took such times and oppor- tunities of making his visits, as secured him against any thing like disguise or preparation- Arid it was his general custom, after he had once obtained access to a prison by the pi-p- bl seuce aud interposition of authority, to stay some time iu the place, or revisit it, for the purpose of renewing his inquiries single aud unexpected. Thus careful was he to guard against deception, and with such coolness of investigation did he execute a design wlych it required so much ardour of mind to conceive. I shall not, however, conceal that some sen- sible and not uncandid observers of his con- duct have thought him too apt to be preju- diced by first impressions, the effects of which it appeared extremely difficult to remove; and they have also charged him with sometimes giving undue credit to persons of inferior con- dition, at the places where he was making his inquiries; and likewise with being apparently better pleased with finding occasion to censure than to commend. If, in a few instances, there may have been ground for these impu- tations, (as nothing human is without its de- fects,) yet I thiuk his works may, on the whole, be confidently referred to, as proving, by an immense mass of allowed and uncontradicted facts, the accuracy of his representations. It is likewise to be considered, that, as abuses in general proceed from superiors, it was not likely that a fair account of them should be obtained from that quarter; aud, as his great 58 purpose was to correct, it is natural that his attention should have been more drawn to what was wrong than what was right. A Hercules, who went about in order to contend with monsters, had little to do with the fair forms of civil life. Yet numerous instances of liberal praise m.ry be found in his works, especially where he could propose the object of it as an example proper for imitation. The tours now b lore us were likewise ren- dered richer in utility by the comprehension of another great object, that of hospitals. To these institutions of humanity Mr. Howard had long been attached; he had been a pro- moter of them, and attentive to th-ir improve- ment \ aud in his journeys through this king- dom, he had seldom failed to visit th" hospi- tals and infirmari s situated in our principal towns. He had also, in his first publication, taken cursory notice of a few which he saw abroad. But he now made them an avowed object of his examination; a circumstance, it may be supposed, not a little pleasing to his medical friends. For, although the knowledge collected by a professional mm with similar opportunities would, doubtless, have beeu more applicable to the purpose of science, yet matter of fact, accurately stated by a sensible observer, must ever have its value. Besides, when can we expect to see the spirit and qua- lities of a Howard, united, in one of our pro- fession, with his fortuie and leisure? The fruit of all this research appeared, in the year 1780, iu an Appendix to the State of the Prisons in England and Wales; containing a further account of foreign prisons and hos- pitals, with additional remarks on the prisons of this country. It is a quarto volume of about two hundred pages, with several plates. The Avork begins with the foreign prisons and hospitals, and Holland takes the lead, since a main object of the journey was a minute ac- count of the excellent regulations of the houses of correction in that country. Many of the rules, dietaries, yet the very circumstance of their difference from the rest of Europe made their systems of police an object of curiosity. He sailed to Lisbon in February, 1783, and proceeded thence by land into Spain, passing from Badajos to Madrid, and through Valladolid, Burgos, and Pam- plona, to France. From this last country he returned, through Flanders and Holland, to England. Travelling in Spain is a severe trial of patience to those who have been ac* customed to easy conveyance and luxurious indulgences; but Mr. Howard's wants were easily satisfied. " The Spaniards," says he, in a letter to the same friend, " are very so- ber, and very honest; and if a traveller can live sparingly, and lie on the floor, he may pass tolerably well through their country." From Lisbon to Madrid he could seldom gel the luxury of milk with his tea; but one morn- ing (he tells his friend) he robbed a kid of two cups of its mother's milk. He remained, how- ever, in perfect health and spirits; and re- ceived that mark of attention which he most of all valued, a free access to the prisons of all the cities he visited, by means of letters to the magistrates from Count Campomanes. 73 After a short repose on his return from this tour, he made another journey, in the summer of the 6ame year, into Scotland and Ireland, and again visited several of the English pri- sons. His materials had now once more accumu- lated to such a mass as to demand communi- cation to the public. During the last three years his labours had been even greater than in any former equal period; yet it could not be expected that the matter absolutely new which he had collected should be proportion- ally great. It was, however, enough to em- ploy him very closely during several months of the year 1784, in printing an Appendix, and a neAV edition of the main Avork, in which all the editions were comprised. The Appen- dix contains all the matter of that of 1780, together with Avhat had since accrued. Of the latter I now proceed to give some ac- count. Several new houses of correction are de- scribed under the head of Holland, the coun- try which Mr. Howard ever found the most fertile source of instruction in this branch of police. The plan of the large new Avork- house of Amsterdam must be well worth stu- dvinsr^ as affording hints for the construction 7 74 of penitentiary houses. Germany has the ad- dition of the prisons of Hanover and Bremen, a minute account of the great aud well regu- lated workhouse at Hamburgh, and short no- tices concerning Silesia. Of the northern kingdoms which he now first visited, it may in general be observed, that their models, as well with respect to police, as to mode of liv- ing, have been Holland and Germany; but their poverty, and the rigour of their climate, have made them degenerate in their imita- tions. In particular, they are extremely deficient in cleanliness and industry. The new articles, therefore, of Denmark aud Swe* den, though valuable for the information they contain, yet afford little or nothing of instruc- tion. The vast empire of Russia, lately emerged from obscurity, to take a command- ing station in the system of Europe, and go- verned by uncontrolled power, at present directed by a spirit of magnificent improve- ment, could not but offer in its institutions various things worthy of notice. Its police respecting criminals, its prisons, hospitals, and places of public education, are briefly men- 4ioued by Mr. Howard; but he has found lit- tle to propose as an example for other coun- tries. The regulations of the great convent lb at Petersburgh, for the education of female children of the nobility aud commouers, are given iu detail, and afford some salutary rules for the preservation of the health of young persons, and for promoting habits of cleanli- ness and temperance. The plan and descrip- tion of a magazine for medicinal herbs at Mos- cow, will be a pleasing uovelty to most read- ers. Mr. Ho\v%rd had been anticipated, in his survey of the prisons and hospitals of the northern kingdoms, by that Avell informed traveller, Mr. Coxe, who published a pam- phlet on the subject in 1781, here referred to with commendation. The short head of Po- land coutaius little but a testimony to the neglected and Avretched state of public institu- tions in that ill-governed country. All tra- vellers have concurred in similar representa- tions of the Avhole system of affairs, internal and external, in that unhappy seat of aristo- cratical tyranny; so that it may be presumed there does not exist so determined an enemy of innovation as not to rejoice in the change of constitution Avhich has lately been effected there, by means of the silent aud peaceable progress of light and reason. There are various additional articles under Flanders, one of which relates to a great altera- 76' lion for the Avorse in the house of correctiou at Ghent. A once flourishing manufactory carried on in the prison was at an end; and the allowance of victuals to the prisoners was reduced in quantity and quality. In the ac- count of a very offensive prison at Lille, Mr. Howard expresses his grateful acknowledg- ments to Providence for his recovery from a fever caught there of the siclw The account of Portugal is almost confined to the prisons and hospitals of Lisbon; the state of which, upon the whole, does credit to the goverument. The employment of about a thousand vagrant and deserted children in a manufactory, is one of the most observable circumstances. Spain, which has been long distinguished for its charitable establishments, affords like- wise, in its criminal police, many things de- serving of attention; though the spirit of ri- gour and severity is perhaps too apparent, amidst much laudable order and exactness. The house of correction at Madrid, called San Fernando, may vie with some of the best regulated institutions of this nature; and the Hospicio, a kind of workhouse, in which ex- tensive manufactories are carried on, is a good example of the uuiou of employment with u confinement. The account of the charitable society of the Hermaudad del Refugio, who patrole the streets in the evening, for the pur- pose of inviting destitute wanderers to a com- fortable supper and night's lodging, will excite pleasing sensations in the breast of every lover of humanity. The prisons of the iu- quisition, those objects of horror and detesta- tion to every protestant, and now, probably, to most catholics, excited great curiosity in Mr. Howard, of which, however, all his efforts could only procure a partial gratification. Yet he has been able to communicate enough concerning those of Valladolid, to form a stri- king picture of terror. On the whole, the predilection he had entertained for the Spa- nish character Avas not dimiuished by his visit to the country; nor does he seem to have thought his pains in extending his inquiries to it ill bestowed. The additional notices in France, chiefly relate to the Paris hospitals. It is needless to dwell on these, siuce a very accurate description of them has since been given in a capital work by M. Tenon. To the account of foreign prisons and hos- pitals, succeeds a fresh survey of the prisoners ef war. The new journeys to Scotland, now extend- 1* 78 ed as far as Inverness, afford little but censure for the neglect of the prisons in that country. Under Ireland are introduced additional re- marks on the faults and abuses still observable in the prisons there; notwithstanding a very spirited exertion of the legislature to amend their state, by framing good acts for their re- gulation. But, " quid leges sine moribus," &c. The horrid effects of that cheap poison, whisky, upon the health and morals of the loAver classes in that country, are noticed by Mr. Howard with much indignant disgust. A new object of attention occurred to him in the two last visits to Ireland—the protestant char- ter schools, a noble foundation, but which he found sunk into wretched abuse, notwithstand- ing the patronage and superintendence of the first persons in that kingdom. Erroneous ac- counts of them, published by a committee, and authorized by being annexed to a printed ser- mon of a prelate in their favour, were detect- ed by Mr. Howard on his visits to some of them, and are exposed with bis usual freedom. Further accounts of the hulks follow. To the remarks on the gaol fever, Mr. Howard adds the information, that in 1782 he did not find one person in this kingdom affected with that disease; but that in 1783 he had the mor- I» tification to observe several prisons, through original bad construction aud neglect, relap- sing to their former state. So essential is a plan of constant vigilance and iuspection to counteract the lamentable tendency to abuse in all public institutions! 'J his principle of corruption and decay in every thing human is so incessantly active, that, if not resisted by the timely efforts of reformation, all the contrivances of wisdom against natural and moral evils, would, like the dikes of Holland, perpetually sapped and worn by the force of the elements, fall into irremediable ruin. The remainder of this volume is taken up with a revieAv of all the English prisons, to- gether with particulars of all the alterations which they had undergone since the last pub- lication. The reader will be gratified in find- ing, from the number of new prisons, and new buildings and conveniences added to the old, that the counties in general had by no means been deficient in liberal attention to this great object, since it had been brought forward and aided by Mr. Howard's indefatigable exertions. At the conclusion, among the tables, is a sketch of general heads of regulations for peniten- tiary houses, which will be highly useful in suggesting a complete body of rules aud orders 30 for siich establishments, if ever they should again be thought of in this country. The printing of this copious Appendix, to- gether with a complete editiou of his State of the Prisons, into which all the additions were incorporated, making a large and closely printed quarto volume, occupied much of Mr. Howard's time in the year 1784. The re- mainder of that, and the greater part of the next year, do oof appear marked with his public services. They were, I believe, chiefly employed in domestic concerns, of which the choice of a proper place of education for his son, now rising towards manhood, was oue that most interested him. But the habitude of carrying on researches into an object, which, by long possession, had acquired deep root in his miud together Avith a new idea, collaterally allied to it, which had struck him, at length impelled him once more to engage in the toils and perils of a foreign journey. He had observed that, notwithstanding the regulations for preserving health in prisons and hospitals, infectious diseases continued oc- casionally to arise and spread in them; he had also in his travels remarked the great solicitude of several trading nations to pre- serve themselves from that most destructive 81 of all contagious distempers, the plague; and, at the same time, he was well apprized of the rude and neglected state in which the police of our own country is left respecting that ob- ject. Combining these ideas, he thought that a visit to all the principal lazarettos, and to countries frequently attacked by the plague, might afford much information as to the means of preventing contagion in general, as well as particular instruction concerning esta- blishments for the purpose of guarding against pestilential infection. His intent, therefore, was nothing less than to plunge into the midst of those dangers which, by other men, are so anxiously avoided; to search out and confront the great foe of human life, for the sake of recognising his features, and discover- ing the most efficacious barriers against his as- saults. Who but must be struck Avith admi- ration of the firmness of courage, and the ar- dour of benevolence, which could prompt such a design! As a proof of his own idea of the hazards he Avas to encounter, it may be men- tioned, that he resolved to travel single and unattended; not thinking it justifiable to per- mit any of his servants to partake of a dan- ger to which they Avere not called by motives similar to his oArn. 82 It was towards the end of 1785 that Mr. Howard set out upon this tour, taking his way through Holland and Flanders, to the south of France. As, from the jealousy and dis- pleasure of the French government, he was not able to obtain permission to visit the esta- blishments there, or even to gain assurance of personal safety, he travelled through the country as an English physician, never took his meals iu public, and intrusted his secret only to the protestant ministers. In a letter from Nice to the friend above mentioned, dated January 30, 1786, he acquaints him with these circumstances, and says, that he Avas five days at Marseilles and four at Tou- lon; and, as it was thought that he could not get out of France by laud, he embarked in a Genoese vessel, and was several days striving against wind and tide. They Avho at present conduct the government of France, I am per- suaded, will blush at the idea, that a Howard was obliged to conceal his name and purpose while carrying on, in their country, inquiriei which had no other aim than the good of man- kind ! Front Nice Mr. HoAvard went to Genoa, Leghorn, and Naples, and to the islands of Malta and Zante. He then sailed to Smyrna, 83 ! and theuce to Constantinople. I have been i favoured with a letter of his to Dr. Price from this metropolis, dated June 22, 1786, some extracts from which I shall present to the i reader. » " After viewing the effects of the earthquake » iu Sicily, 1 arrived at Malta, where I repeat- edly visited the prisons, hospitals, poor houses, > and lazarettoes, as I staid three weeks. From 5 thence I went to Zante: as they are all G reeks, 5 I wished to hive some general idea of their { hospitals and prisons, before I Aveut into Tur- i key. From thence, in a foreign ship, 1 got a \ passage to Smyrna. Here I boldly visited , the hospitals and prisons; but as some acci- . dents happened, a few dying of the plague, j. several shrunk at me. I came thence about r a fortnight ago. As I Avas in a miserable ; Turk's boat, 1 was lucky in a passage of six , days and a half. A family arrived just be- . fore me had been between two aud three months. " I am sorry to say some die of the plague about us; one is just carried before my win- dow; yet I visit where none of my conduc- tors Avill accompany me. In some hospitals, as iu the lazarettoes, ami yesterday among the sick slaves, I have a constaut headach, but 84 iu about an hour after it always leaves me. Sir Robert Ainslie is very kind; but for the above and other reasons, I could not lodge in bis house. I am at a physician's and I keep some of my visits a secret." He designed to proceed from Constantino- ple over laud to Vienna; but, having deter- mined, upon reflection, to obtain, by personal experience, the fullest information of the mode of performing quarantine, he returned to Smyrna, where the plague then was, for the purpose of going to Venice with a foul bill, that would necessarily subject him to the utmost rigour of the process. His voyage was tedious, and rendered hazardous by equi- noctial storms; and in the course of it he in- curred a danger of auother kind, the ship in which he was a passenger being attacked by a Tunisian corsair, which, after a smart skir- mish, was beaten off by the execution done by a cannon loaded Avith spike nails and bits of iron, and pointed by Mr. HoAvard himself. It aftenvards appeared to have been the in- tention of the captain to blow up his vessel rather than submit to be taken into perpetual slavery. It Aras not till the close of 1736 that Mr. Howard left his disagreeable quar- ters in the lazaretto of Venice, in which his 85 health and spirits suffered considerably.— Thence he went by Trieste to Vienna. In this capital he had the honour of a private con- ference with the emperor, which Avas conduct- ed Avith the utmost ease and condescension on the part of Joseph II., and equal freedom on the part of the Englishman. A relation of this instructive scene, in his own words, will, I doubt not, be agreeable to the reader. " The emperor desired to see me, and I had the ho- nour of a private audience with him of above an hour and a half. He took me by the hand three times in conversation, and thanked me for the visit. He afterwards told our ambas- sador ' That his countryman spoke well for prisoners; that he used no flowers, Avhich others ever do, .and mean nothing.' But his greatest favour to me was his immediate alte- rations for the relief of the prisoners."* That the late emperor had an ardent zeal for im- provement of every kind, and a strong desire of promoting the prosperity of his subjects, will scarcely be denied, even by those A?ho are the severest censurers of the mode in Avhich he conducted his plans, and his extreme muta- bility respecting them. He will also be ho- * Letter to Mr. Smith. 8 86 uoured, for the readiness with Avhich he laid aside the etiquette of his rank, on every occa- sion Avhere it obstructed him in the acquisi- tion of knowledge, or the activity of exertion. Mr. Howard returned through Germany and Holland, and arrived safe in England early in 1787. It was during this tour, and while he AA'as in solitude occupying a cell of the Venice lazaretto, that he receiYed from England two pieces of intelligence, both of Avhich distress- ed and harassed his mind, though the emo- tions they excited must apparently have been very different. One of these related to the melancholy derangement of mind into Avhich his son had fallen, and which, after various instances of strange and unaccountable beha- viour, terminated at length iu decided insa- nity. They Avho cannot believe that the most benevolent of mankind could be a stern aud unnatural parent, Avill sympathize in the an- guish he must have felt on hearing (and in such a situation too) of an event which blasted the dearest hopes of comfort and solace iu his declining years. I, who have frequently heard him speak of this son, with all the pride and affection of the kind father of an ouly child, cannot read, without strong emotions. 87 the expressions he uses in writing to his friend relative to this bitter calamity. When he con- cludes a long letter upon various topics, with the exclamation, " But, O ! my son, my son!" I seem to perceive the efforts of a manly mind, striving, by the aid of its internal re- sources, to dispel a gloomy phantom, which was yet ever recurring to his imagination. But iu this emergency, as in all others, the consolations of religion Afere his chief refuge.* The other cause of uneasiness by which his mind Avas agitated, will, to many, appear a very extraordinary one; since it arose from a testimony of esteem and veneration in his countrymen, Avhich might be imagined to afford balm for his Avounded spirit. During his ab- sence, a scheme had been set on foot to honour him in a manner almost unprecedented in this * To prove that Mr. Howard had kind and tender feelings for domestic as well as for public occasions, will, I hope,by most persons, be deemed a superfluous task. For those who require such proof, I copy the following passage from one of his letters to Mr. Smith. " My old servants, John Prole, Thomas Thomason, and Joseph Crockford, have had a sad time. I hear they have been faithful, wise, and prudent. Please to thank them particularly in my name for their conduct. Two of them, lam persuaded, have acted out of regard ts his excellent mother— who, I rejoice, is dead." 88 age and country. Without attempting to trace it to its origin, it may suffice to say, that, in a , periodical work of extensive circulation, the public were called upon to testify their re- spect for Mr. Howard by a subscription for the purpose of erecting a statue, or some other monument, to his honour. The authors of this scheme, though, doubtless, actuated by a pure and laudable admiration of illustrious virtue, yet must have been totally unacquaint- ed with Mr. Howard's disposition; otherwise they Avould uever have thought of decorating a man, whose characteristic feature had al- ways been a solicitude to shun all notice and distinction, with one of the most glaring and prominent marks of public applause, which might put to the blush modesty of a much less delicate texture than his. The English na- tional character (if national character can be said to belong to so heterogeneous a people) is by nothing so strongly marked, as by a coyness and reserve which shrink from obser- vation, and even to those who are acting for the public, render the gaze of the public eye painful. The love of glory, which is so active a sentiment to some of our neighbours, ope- rates feebly upon us: many do not rise to it, and some go beyond it. That " humble 89 Allen,"' whose disposition it Avas to " do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame," was a genuine English philanthropist; and such was Mr. Howard, rendered, perhaps, still more averse to public praise by a deep sense of re- ligious humility. A similar want of acquaintance with Mr. Howard's designs caused the proposers of this plan to attribute to him an extravagance of philanthropy, which could not but appear ridiculous to those whose judgment was not dazzled by the ardour of admiration. It was asserted, among real topics of applause, that he was now gone abroad with the view of ex- tirpating the plague from Turkey; an idea scarcely so rational, the character of that nation considered, as would be that of a mis- sion to convert the grand seignior to Chris- tianity. Mr. Howard meant, undoubtedly, to do all the good which should lie withiu his compass in that, as in all other countries which he visited; but he never was so roman- tic as to suppose that he could effect that which would manifestly require a total change in the religious and political system of a great empire, of all the least disposed to change. The project of a statue, however, was eager- ly adopted; the subscription filled, and was 8* 90 adorned with the names of ministers, nobles, and persons of distinction; and a committee was appointed to determine upon the best mode of fulfilling its purpose. The confiden- tial friends of Mr. Howard were in a disa- greeable dilemma; for as, on.the one hand, they could not but rejoice in the warmth of admiration Avhich his country testified for his character, so, on the other, they well knew that its manner of display could not fail to give him extreme pain, and if effected, pro- bably banish him forever. On this account, they did not concur in the scheme, and some of them veutured publicly to throw out objec- tions to it. Some of its Avarm promoters, in reply, talked of forcing his modesty, and seemed determined at all events to put in exe- cution their favourite design. In the mean- while Mr. Howard was informed of this ho- nourable persecution that was preparing against him at home; and the sensations this intelligence occasioned in his breast are shown in the following expressions contained in a letter to the iutimate friend who has already furnished me Avith various extracts: " To hasten to the other very distressing affair; O, why could not my friends, who know how much I detest such parade, have stopped such 91 a hasty measure ! As a private man, with some peculiarities, 1 wished to retire into obscurity and silence. Indeed, my friend, I cannot bear the thought of being thus dragged out. I immediately wrote, and hope something may be done to stop it. My best friends must dis- approve it. It deranges and confounds all my schemes—my exaltation is my fall, my misfortune."* The same sentiments on this business are expressed with equal strength in his letters to Dr. Price. Among other things he says, " My truest, intimate, and best friends, have, I see by the papers, been so kind as not to subscribe to Avhat you so justly term a hasty measure. Indeed, indeed, if nothing now can be done, I speak from my heart, never poor creature Avas more dragged out in pub- lic." That in all this there was no affectation, clearly appeared from the letter he sent to the subscribers; iu which, after expressing his * He mentions in the same letter, as a proof how opposite his wishes were to monumental honours, that before he set out on this journey, he had given direc- tions, that in case of his death, his funeral expenses should not exceed ten pounds—that his tomb should be a plain slip of marble placed under that of his dear Henrietta, in Cardington church, with this inscription: John Howard, died —, aged —. My hope is in Christ 92 gratitude, he displayed so determined a re- pugnance against admitting of the proposed honour, deprecating it as the severest of punish- ments, that nothing could be urged in reply, and the business Avas dropped. Of the sum subscribed, amounting to upwards of 1,500/., Mr. Howard refused to direct the disposal in any manner, and begged it might no longer be termed the Howardian fund. A part of it was reclaimed by the subscribers, but a con- siderable share remained in a stock; and, since Mr. Howard's death, it has been re- solved to employ it in conferring those ho- nours on his memory which he would not accept while living. This intention is in every respect strictly proper; and, as the noble edifice of St. Paul's is at length destined to receive national monuments, no commence- ment can be more auspicious than with a name which will ever stand so distinguished among those Qui sui memores alios fecere merendo. To resume the narrative of Mr. Howard's public life. After his return, in 1787, he took a short repose, and then Avent over to Ireland, and visited most of the county gaols and char- ter schools, and came back by Scotland. In 1788 he renewed his visit to Ireland, and com- pleted his survey of its gaols, hospitals, and schools. I shall la^rbefore the reader part of a letter to Dr. Price, dated from Dublin, March 23d, of this year. " My journey into this country was to make a report of the state of the charter schools, which charity has been long neglected and abused"; as, indeed, most public institutions are made private emoluments, one sheltering himself under the name of a bishop, another under that of a lord; and for electioneeriug interest breaking down all barriers of honour and honesty. How- ever, parliament now seems determined to know how its grants have been employed. I have, since my visits to these schools in 1782, been endeavouring to excite the attention of parliament; and some circumstances being in my favour, a good lord lieutenant, a worthy secretary, (an old acquaintance,) and the first secretary of state, the provost, a steady friend, I must still pursue; so I next Aveek set out for Connaught and other remote parts of this kingdom, Avhich, iudeed, are more barbarous than Russia. By my frequent journeys my strength is somewhat abated, but not my courage or zeal in the cause I am en* 94 gaged in." During these two years, he like- wise repeated his examination of all the county gaols, most of the brideAvells, and the infirma- ries aud hospitals of England, and of the hulks on the Thames, at Portsmouth, and Plymouth.* The great variety of matter collected iu these journeys was methodised and put to the * It was, I believe, during his absence in some of the tours of this period, that an incident happened which the reader, I hope, will ttiink well worth relating. A very respectable looking elderly gentleman on horse- back, with a servant, stopt at the inn nearest Mr. How- ard's house at Cardington, and entered into conversa- tion with the landlord concerning him. He observed that characters often appeared very well at a distance, which could not bear close inspection; he had, there- fore, come to Mr. Howard's residence in order to satisfy himself concerning him. The gentleman then, acoompanied by the innkeeper, went to the house, and looked through it, with the offices and gardens, which he found in perfect order He next inquired into Mr. Howard's character as a landlord, which was justlj represented; and several neat houses which he had built for his tenants were shown him. The gentleman returned to his inn, declaring himself now satisfied with the truth of all he had heard about Howard. This respectable stranger was no other than Lord Monboddo; and Mr. Howard was much flattered with the visit, and praised his lordship's good sense in taking such a method of coming at the truth, since he thought it worth his trouble. press in 1789. It composes a quarto volume, beautifully printed, and decorated with a num- / ber of fine plates, which, as usual, are pre- sented to the public; and so eager were the purchasers of books to partake of the donation, that all the copies were almost immediately bought up. The title is, An Account of the Principal Lasarettoes in Europe, with various Papers relative to the Plague ; together with further Observations on some Foreign Prisons i and Hospitals; with Additional Remarks on the Present State of those in Great Britain '' and Ireland. Of this work I shall proceed to give a brief analysis. The first section relates to lazarettoes, be- ginning with those of Marseilles, in which city the horrid ravages of the plague, within the present century, have left strong impressions of dread of that destroyer of mankind. Those of Genoa, Leghorn, Malta, Zante, Venice, and Trieste follow; the descriptions of which are illustrated by excellent views and plans.* * In one of his letters Mr. Howard mentions hav- ing met with a young Frenchman going to the academy at Rome, who, for a few sequins, thankfully worked under his eye, so that he can attest the accuracy of his draughts. Several of the plates were engraved in Hol- land. 96 Of the lazarettos of Venice a very particular account is given, comprising the mode of re- ception Avhich he himself experienced, the re- gulations of every kind respecting officers and their duty, visitation of ships, manner of per- forming quarantine, and the expurgation of goods of all classes, &c. All these appear to have been devised with much judgment and prudence; but Mr. Howard is obliged to give testimony to various instances of abuse and neglect, which greatly impair the utility of this institution, as well as of many others in that once celebrated and potent republic. Section II. contains proposed regulations, and a new plan for a lazaretto; followed by observations on the importance of such an establishment in England. In these are intro- duced two letters on the subject to Mr. How- ard ; one, a long and argumentative one from the Euglish merchants residing at Smyrna; the other, confirming their opinion, from those of Salonica. These commercial papers ap- pear worthy of the most serious attention: and indeed it is wonderful that a nation which boasts of good sense and knowledge should so long have remained patient under a police respecting this matter, which ansAvers no ef- fectual purpose of security, but seems only ca! culated to discourage commerce, and produce fees to persons in office, by the most barefaced impositions.* Section III. consists of papers relative to the plague. They commence Arith a set of answers, by different medical practitioners, to queries with which Mr. Howard was furnish- ed by the late Dr. Jebb and myself. I must observe, however, that all the queries do not appear, some of them having been misappre- hended, or imperfectly answered, particularly such as related to the discrimination of other fevers of the typhus genus from the plague. These replies will probably be thought to add little to the stock of knowledge Ave possessed respecting this disease; yel it is of some im- portance, that the leading facts on Avhich all modes of preservation must be founded, viz. that the plague is not known to arise spon- taneously anywhere, but is always to be traced to contagion; and that the distance to which its infection extends through the atmosphere is very small, are established in them by gene- * Such is the negligence and absurdity respecting fhe regulations of the quarantine of persons, that I have been assured, a naval officer has been called out of the opera house, to go on board his ship and per- form his quarantine. 9 98 ral agreement. The " Abstract of a Curative and Preservative Method to be observed in Pestilential Contagions," communicated from the office of health in Venice to the court of Russia; aud the " Abridged Relation of the Plague of Spalato in Dalmatia, in 1784," both extracted from the Italian originals by myself, are the other papers in this section. In the latter the medical reader will be struck with the equivocal nature of the symptoms supposed to discriminate this disease, and the very gradual progress from suspiciou to cer- tainty as to its presence. Section IV. relates to Foreign Prisons and Hospitals. The employment of the galley slaves in the arsenal of Toulon is the most observa- ble circumstance relative to the south of France. Under Italy there is a pleasing ac- count of the improvements at Florence, in con- sequence of the humane attention of the Grand Duke Leopold, the present emperor. This prince, besides other instauces of liberal favour to Mr. Howard's inquiries, caused a copy of his'new code of laAvs to be presented to him, of which, on his return, Mr. Howard had a translation printed, and distributed among the heads of the law and other persons, in and out of parliament. Of the grand duke Mr. How- 99 ard never spoke without the warmest expres- sions of gratitude and respect, calling him a glorious priuce, and declaring that nothing could exceed his attention to Avhatever might promote the happiuess aud prosperity of his people. It is earnestly to be Avished that the same regard to the principles of justice aud humanity may accompany him in the very elevated station which is now assigued him by Providence. Malta, that celebrated seat of piracy, dig- nified by the spirit of chivalry and devotion, affords a new and curious article. Its great hospital, which boasts of lodging the sick in a palace, and serving them in plate, is here de- scribed by one whose penetrating eye could distinguish between parade and comfort; and it undergoes some severe censure. Mr. Hoav- ard visited it before he delivered his letter of recommendation from Sir W. Hamilton to the grand master, as well as frequently afterwards. The Turkish dominions, whence all light, liberty, and public spirit, are most effectually excluded, could not be expected to yield in- struction in police to Europe. Yet debtors - and felons are there confined in separate pri- sons, a refinement to which this country is not yet entirely arrived. The hospitals in the 100 great commercial city of Smyrna seem all lo belong to the Franks, Greeks, and JeAvs. Even at Constantinople the Turks have few hospitals, and those in a wretched state. The hospitals for lunatics there, are, indeed, exam- ples of admirable construction, but neglected in their management. Yet, amidst this disre- gard of the human species, Mr. Howard found an asylum for cats. Such are the contradic- tions of man! The institutions of Vienna show that singu- lar mixture of clemency and rigour, of care and neglect, that might be expected from the indecisive character of the sovereign. The perpetual confinement of criminals in dark, damp dungeons, as a substitute for capital punishment, manifestly appears to be as little an advantage on the side of lenity, as it is on that of public utility. The much beaten ground of Holland still affords new observa- tions, particularly respecting the legal pro- cess for debt in use there. Section V. relates to Scotland; and what is new chiefly regards the charitable institu- tions of Edinburgh. As to the prisons there, Mr. Howard was obliged to remark to the lord provost, " that the splendid improvements carrying on in their places of entertainment, 101 streets, squares, bridges, &c. seemed to occupy all the attention of the gentlemen in office, to the total neglect of this essential branch of the police." This weighty animadversion deserves serious notice, as a strong confirma- tion of those charges against the spirit of luxu- ry, which various modern philosophers have been fond of turning into ridicule. In fact, a spirit which increases personal wants and in- dulgences, and augments the distance between the higher and lower orders of society, can- not but interfere with the duties, as well of charity as of justice, Avhich are OAving to our fellow creatures of eveiy condition. The arts of luxury may promote knowledge, and this may secondarily be employed with advantage on objects of general utility; but it is not likely that the same persons whose minds are occupied with schemes of splendour and ele- gant amusement, should bestow attention on the coarse and disgusting offices annexed to the care of the poor and miserable. The subject of section VI. is the Irish Pri- sons and Hospitals. Mr. Howard observed a very liberal and humane spirit with respect to prisons, prevailing among the gentlemen of that country, displayed in the erection of many new gaols, the plans of which, however, he 102 could not approve. The evils occasioned by the use of spirituous liquors, particularly ap- parent iu Ireland, draw from him much com- plaint and ceusure. It is a shocking consider- ation that the interest of the revenue should, in this matter, be suffered to prevail over the good of the nation; and nothing can deserve severer animadversion, than the conduct of those servants of the public, the commission- ers of excise, who presume to grant liceuses to tippliug houses in villages, contrary to the declared wish and opinion of gentlemen who reside on the spot, and are witnesses of their fatal consequences to the health and morals of the neighbourhood. This is, indeed, rever- sing the order of civil government, and eleva- ting subaltern interests to ruling principles. All the hospitals in Dublin are noticed by Mr. Howard, with remarks. He then pro- ceeds to a survey of all the county gaols and hospitals in the kingdom. The county hospi- tals are, in fact, national institutions, maintain- ed in great part by the county rates and king's letter, and, therefore, are not so exactly superintended as those in England, which de- pend upon private subscription for their sup- port. The consequence of this is shown in the Avretched state in Avhich the greater part of them were found; the abodes of filth, hun- ger, neglect, and every species of abuse. Yet a spirit of improvement Avas beginning to ope- rate among them, to which this free statement of their defects would, doubtless, much contri- bute. Section VII. is devoted to an account of the charter schools in Ireland.- The public detection of misrepresentations and abuses in this great national object had excited the at- tention of several of the leading men; and Mr. Howard had been desired to lay his ob- servations before the committee of fifteen in Dublin, who have the superintendence of them. He also made a report of their state before the Irish house of commons; and, having en- tered heartily into the subject, he resolved to give it a thorough investigation. He, there- fore, extended his visits to the whole of them, in number thirty-eight, and to the four pro- vincial nurseries from Avhich they are sup- plied. The result of his observations is here given, with free censures of defects, and can- did acknowledgments of improvement. He concludes the account with some general re- marks on the institution, and some hints for rendering it more useful;. and, after express- ing a wish that the benefits of education were 104 aiore generally extended over Ireland than they can be by those schools, he displays the enlarged liberality of his mind in the follow- ing sentence, which contains a maxim Avorthy of being written in letters of gold. " I hope I shall not be thought, as a protestant dissent- er, indifferent to the protestant cause, when I express my wish that these distinctions (be- tween catholic and protestant) were less re- garded in bestowing the advantages of educa- tion; aud that the increase of protestantism Avere chiefly trusted to the dissemination of knowledge and sound morals." This section is concluded with an example strikingly illustrative of the ease Avith which education may be extended to the whole body of poor, afforded by the trustees of the blue coat hospital in Chester, whose report of their plan and its success is here copied; and also, with the rules of the quakers' school at Ack- worth, excellently adapted to promote that deceut and regular deportment in youth which Mr. Howard so much admired. Ire- land has reason to think herself peculiarly in- debted to him for his laborious investigations and free remarks on her public institutions. No country certainly wanted them more; and none, I believe, is better disposed to profit by them. She has not been ungrateful to hei benefactor; (that Avas never her character;) for in no country is the memory of Mr. How- ard more revered. During his journeys there, several of the principal towns presented him with their freedom; and the University of Dublin, with great liberality, conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of laws. Mr. HoAvard's aversion to all kinds of distinction, and the natural dislike of chang'ng his usual designation at an advanced age, prevented him from publicly assuming this respectable title. Section VIII. relates to English Prisons and Hospitals. The prisons are all specified in the order of the former works, with such remarks as the alterations made in them, and other circumstances, suggested. Many of the descriptions of hospitals are new, particularly an account of all the hospitals for the sick in the metropolis. It is probable that feAV insti- tutions of the kind in Europe are better con- ducted than these; yet there are defects, both general and particular, which Mr. Howard has briefly pointed out, and which claim the attention of those who are really interested in the utility of these noble charities, and do not consider them merely as subservient to pri- vate emolument. In a note under the county 106 gaol in Southwark, he mentions in stroug terms of pity and indignation, the state of fifty felons, seuteuced for transportation in the course of the preceding five years, and kept in the most wretched condition till an oppor- tunity should offer of putting their sentence in execution. This necessary delay of punish- ment must ever be a strong objection to the scheme of distant banishment, and gives a de- cided preference, both in justice aud policy, to the plan of penitentiary houses, so thought- lessly abandoned for the Botany Bay settle- ment. The injustice, iudeed, of the interme- diate confinement, is lessened by au act of 24 Geo III which directs, that all the time du- ring which a convict shall have continued in gaol under sentence of transportation, shall be deducted out of the term of his transportation. Still, however, such couhnement is a different, and, in these circumstances, a much worse, punishment, than that to which they are sen- tenced. The county bridewell at Reading occasions a note which deserves particular attention. Mr. Howard has been supposed the peculiar patron of solitary confinement, aud his recom- mendation has caused it to be adopted in Va- rious places; but to a degree beyond his inten- 107 tions. He well knew, from manifold observa- tion, that human nature could not endure, for a long time, confinement in perfect solitude, without sinking under the burden. He had seen the most desperate and refractory in foreign countries tamed by it; he, therefore, proposed in our own prisons a temporary treat- ment of this kind, as the most effectual, yet lenient, mode of subduing the ferocity of our criminals; but he never thought of its being made the sentence of offenders during the whole term of their imprisonment; such be- ing not only extreme and scarcely justifiable severity, but inconsistent with the design of reclaiming them to habits of industry by hard labour. He, indeed, universally approved of nocturnal solitude, as affording an opportunity for serious reflection, and preventing those plans of mischief, and mutual encouragements to villany, which are certain to take place among criminals, Avhen left to herd together without inspection. The employment of convicts in building a new county gaol at Oxford, Avith their general good behaviour in it, affords an example of the possibility and probable good effect of occu- pying them iu useful labour at home. The fever wards of the Chester infirmary 108 are very properly noticed, as a spirited in- stance of extending relief to persons suffering under a dangerous and infectious disease, and, by proper regulations, rendering the contagiou harmless to others. I am persuaded that the plague itself, thus managed, might be prevent- ed from communicating itself even to those under the same roof with it. Mr. HoAvard was happy to find in this city a character con- genial with his own in the ardour of active benevolence, and distinguished by various successful plans for the public good. To the medical reader, as well as to many others, it Avill be unnecessary to mention the name of Dr. Hay garth. A particular account of all the hulks is given at the end of the English gaols. The condition of these floating bridewells Avas im- proved in several respects since Mr. How- ard's former visits; but, if considered in any other light than as temporary places of con- finement till some better plan is adopted, they are liable to many objections, which are here stated. Remarks on Penitentiary Houses follow. Iu these the writer states his ideas concerning their nature and object, gives the reasons which induced Dr. Fothergill and himself to 109 fix on the situation of Islington, and relates his resignation of the office of supervisor, as formerly mentioned. The geueral heads of regulations proposed for such houses in the last appendix, are here reprinted; and a plate is added explanatory of the plan of building he approves. It is on every account to be lamented that Mr. Howard should not have had the satisfaction of seeing one of his fa- vourite desigus, the subject of his most labo- rious research and maturest reflection, carried into execution. The objection of expense was surely unworthy of a country like this, whose prosperity and resources are so magni- ficently displayed, Avhen the provinces of Hol- land, petty states of Germany, and cantons of Switzerland, have not been afraid of incur- ring it. Whether the preferred scheme of coloniziug with convicts at the Antipodes has the advantage of it in this respect, the public are now pretty well able to determine. In the remarks on the gaol fever, repeated with a little variation from the last publica- tion, Are are informed, that since 1782, Avhen the prisons of this kingdom were entirely free from this disease, several fatal and alarming instances of it hid occurred. Its appearance and frequency -will probably much depend 10 110 upon the epidemic constitution of the year, aa long as its occasional causes continue to sub- sist; but that proper care and regulations in prisons might almost entirely extirpate these causes, there seems no reason to doubt. 1 he conclusion expresses the writer's satis- faction in that humane and liberal spirit which has so much alleviated the distress of prison- ers; but laments that here its exertions seem to stop, and that little or nothing is done towards that most important object, the re- formation of offenders. From close observa- tion he is couvioced that the vice of drunk- enness is the root of all the disorders of our prisons, aud that some effectual means to era- dicate it are necessary, if Ave mean to pre- serve the health, and amend the morals, of prisoners. Mr. Howard, therefore, subjoins, as his final legacy towards the improvement of this branch of police, the draught of a bill for the better regulation of gaols, and the pre- vention of drunkenness and rioting in them. Of this the leading clauses are framed for the purpose of absolutely prohibiting the entrance of any liquor into a gaol except milk, whey, buttermilk, and Arater, unless in case of sick- ness and medical prescription. He was fully sensible that, in this free living country, the Ill denial of even small beer Avould be deemed a species of cruelty; aud he doubted not that it would go far to lose him, in the popular esti- mation, the title of the prisoner's friend; but as attaining a popularity of that kind Avas not his original object, so he could bear to forfeit it, while couscious of still pursuing the real good of those unhappy people. Being con- vinced from experience that there was no medium iu this matter, and that if strong li- quors were at all admitted into prisons, no bounds could be set to their use, he thought it right to deny an indulgence to a few, for the sake of the essential advantage of the many. Debtors, then, while the same place of confinement serve for them and felons, must be subjected to the same restraints. And, to take off the objection of the hardship this would impose upon innocent debtors, it Avas greatly his wish that such alterations should take place in our law for debt, that none but fraudulent debtors should be liable to impri- sonment, who, he justly observes, are really criminals. He supposes that the gentlemen of the faculty Avill condemn the total rejection of fermented liquors from the diet of prison- ers, under the notion of their being useful as antiseptics: aud I confess I was one Avho 112 pleaded with him on this subject; but he an- swered me with arguments which he has here stated, and they are worthy of consideration. After all, many Avill suppose, that in his feel- ings, both with respect to these privations, and to his proposed indulgences of tea and other vegetable articles, he w?s in some mea- sure under the influence of his own peculiar habits of life; so natural is it for our judg- ment of particulars to be warped, when our general principles remain fixed and unaltered. The draught of a bill will, I presume, appear inmost respects excellent; and the great pur- pose of preserving sobriety in gaols, cannot, surely, be too much 'nsisted on. ♦ Mr. Howard's leading ideas on this subject were formed some years before. In May, 1787, the lord chancellor, in an excellent speech on a proposed insolvent bill, after dis- cussing the point of imprisonment for debt, aud the nature of such bills, proceeded to some con- siderations respecting the management and dis- cipline of our prisons. He said " he had lately had the honour of a conversation upon the sub- ject with a gentleman who was, of all others, the best qualified to treat of it—he meant Mr. Howard, whose humanity, great as it was, was at least equalled by his wisdom; for £15 lions with him on the subject; and I found rather a wish to haATe objects of inquiry point- ed out to him by others, than any specific views present to his own mind. As, indeed, his purpose was to explore regions entirely uew to him, and of which the police respect- ing his former objects Avas very imperfectly known to Europe, (for the Turkish domi- nions in Asia, Egypt, and the Barbary coast, Avere in his plan of travels,) he could not doubt that important subjects for observation would offer themselves unsought. With re- spect to that part of his tour in Avhich he Avas to go over ground he had already trodden, I conceive that he expected to do good in that censorial character, which his repeated pub- lications, knoAvn and attended to all over Europe, gave him a right to assume; and which he had before exercised to the great relief of the miserable in various countries. If to these motives be added the long formed habitude of pursuing a certain track of in- quiry, and an inquietude of mind proceeding from domestic misfortune, no cause will be left to wonder at so speedy a renewal of his toils and dangers. He had resolved to go this journey, too, withont an attendant; and it Avas not till aftet 116 the most urgent and affectionate entreaties, that his servant obtained permission to ac- company him. Before he set out, he and his very intimate aud highly respected friend, Dr. Price, took a most affectionate and pathe- tic leave of each other. From the age and infirmities of the one, and the hazards the other was going to eucounter, it was the fore- boding of each of them that they should never meet again in this Avorld; and their farewell corresponded with the solemnity of such an occasion. The reader's mind v/ill pause upon the parting embrace of two such men; and revere the mixture of cordial affection, tender regret, philosophic firmness, and christian re- signation, which their minds must have dis- played. It Avas in the beginning of July, 1789, that he arrived in Holland. Thence he proceeded through the uorth of Germany, Prussia, Cow- land, and Livonia, to St. Petersburgh. From this capital he Arent to Moscow. Some ex- tracts of a letter to Dr. Price, dated from this city, September 22, 1789, aviII, I doubt not, be acceptable, as one of the latest records of his career of benevolence. '< When I left England, I first stopped at Amsterdam, and proceeded to Osnaburgh, Ha- 113 a more judicious, or a more sensible reasoner upon the topic he never had conversed with. His own ideas had been turned to solitary im- prisonment and a strict regimen, as a punish- ment for debt; and that notion had exactly corresponded with Mr. Howard's, Avho had agreed with him that the great object ought to be, Avhen it became necessary to seclude a man from society, and imprison him for debt, to take care that he came out of prison no Avorse a man, iu point of health and morals, than he went iu." His lordship afterwards recited a story which Mr. Howard had told him, in proof of the corruption and licentious- ness of our prisons. A quaker, he said, called upon him to go with him and witness a scene which, if he were to go singly, would, he feared, be too much for his feelings; it was to visit a friend in distress—a person who had lately gone into the king's bench prisou. When they arrived they found the man half drunk, playing at fives. Though greatly shocked at the circumstance, they asked him to go Avith them to the coffeeroom, and take a glass of wine. He refused, saying he had drank so much punch that he could not drink wine—however, he would call upon them be- fore they Avent away. Mr. Howard and his 10* 114 friend returned, with feelings very different from those with Avhich they entered the place, but not less painful. The volume concludes with several curious and valuable tables, Avhich will probably be used for reference at future distant periods. The enumeration of all the prisoners in En- gland, at his visits iu 1787 and 1788, shows an alarmiug increase, though in some measure to be accounted for from a long suspension of the usual transportation. They amount to seven thousand four huudred and eighty-tAvo. Mr. HoAvard remained but a short time at home after the printing of this work. In the conclusion of it he had declared his intention " again to quit his native country, for the pur- pose of revisiting Russia, Turkey, and some other countries, and extending his tour in the east." The reason he has assigned for this determination is, " a serious, deliberate con- viction that he v/as pursuing the path of his duty;" aud it cannot be doubted that this con- sideration Avas now, as it ever had been, his leading principle of action. But if it be ask- ed what was his more peculiar object in this new journey, no decisive ansAver, I believe, can be given by those Avho enjoyed the most of his confidence. I had various conversa- nover, Brunswick, and Berlin; then to Ko- nigsberg, Riga, and Petersburgh; at all Avhich places I visited the prisons and hospitals, which Avere all flung open to me, and in some, the burgomasters accompanied me into the dungeons, as well as into the other rooms of confinement. I arrived a feAV days ago in this city, aud have begun my rouuds. The hospitals are iu a sad state. Upwards of seventy thousand sailors and recruits died in them last year. I labour to convey the torch of philanthropy into these distant regions.----- I am quite Avell—the weather clear—the morniugs fresh—thermometer 18, but fires not yet begun. I Avish for a mild winter, and then shall make some progress in my Euro- pean expedition. My medical acquaintauce give me but little hope of escaping the plague in Turkey. I do not look back, but would readily endure any hardships, and en- counter any dangers, to be an honour to- my christian profession." From Moscoav he took his course to the very extremity of European Russia, extended as it now is to the shores of the Black Sea, where long, dreary tracts of desert are termi- nated by some of those new establishments, which have cost such immense profusion of 118 blood and treasure to two vast empires, now become neighbours and perpetual foes. Here, at the distance of 1,500 miles from his native land, he fell a victim to disease, the ravages of which, among unpitied multitudes, he was exerting every effort to restrain. Finis vita nobis hictuosus, amicis tristis, extraneis etiam ignotisque non sine cura! From the faithful and intelligent servant who accompanied him, (Mr. Thomas Thoma- son,) I bave been favoured with an account of various particulars relative to his last ill- ness, which I shall give to the reader in the form in which I received it. " The Avinter being far advanced on the taking of Bender, the commander of the Rus- sian army at that place gave permission to many of the officers to visit their friends at Cherson, as the severity of the season would not admit of a continuance of hostilities against the Turks. Cherson, in consequence, became much croAvded; aud the inhabitants testified their joy for the success of the Bus- sians by balls and masquerades. Several of the officers, of the inhabitants of Chersoo, aud of the gentry in the neighbourhood, who attended these balls, were almost immediately afterwards attacked with fevers; and it was 119 Mr. Howard's idea that the infection had been brought by the officers from Bender. Amongst the number who caught this conta- gion was a young lady who resided about sixteen miles from Cherson. When she had been ill some little time, Mr. Howard Avas earnestly requested to visit her. He saAV her first on Sunday, December 27. He visited her again in the middle of the week, and a third time on the Sunday following, January 3. On that day he found her sweating very profusely; and, being unwilling to check this by uncovering her arm, he passed his under the bedclothes to feel her pulse. While he was doing this the effluvia from her body were very offeusive to him, and it Avas ahvays his OAvn opinion that he then caught the fever. She died on the following day. Mr. Howard was much affected by her death, as he had flattered himself Avite hopes of her amend- ment. From January 3d to the 8th, he scarcely Avent out;* but on that day he went to dine Avith Admiral Montgwinoff, who lived : about a mile and a half from his lodgings. ! He staid later than usual; and when he re- i turned, found himself unwell, and thought » • There seems some mistake here, as there is a full report in his memorandums, of a visit to the hospitals in Cherson, dated January 6. 120 he had something of the gout flying about him. He immediately took some sal vola- tile in a little tea, and thought himself better till three or four on Saturday morning, when, \ not feeling so well, he repeated the sal vola- tile. He got up in the morning and walked out; but, finding himself worse, soon returned and took an emetic. On the following night he had a violent attack of fever, when he had recourse to his favourite remedy, James's poAfder, which he regularly took every two or four hours till Sunday the 17th. For, though Prince Potemkin sent his oavo physi* cian to him, immediately on being acquainted j Avith his illness, yet his own prescriptions were never interfered with during this time. ] On the 12th he had a kind of fit, in which he suddenly fell down, his face became black, his breathing difficult, and he remained insen- sible for half an hour. Ou the 17th he had another similar fit. On the 18th he Avas seized with hiccoughing, which continued on 1 the next day, when he took some musk draughts by direction of the physician. About seven o'clock on Wednesday morning, the 20th of January, he had another fit, aud died iu about an hour after.* He was per- • See Appendix. 121 fectly sensible during his illness, except iu the fits, till withiu a very few hours of his death. This event he all along expected to take place; and he often said that he had no other wish for life than as it gave him the means of relieviug his fellow creatures. " Duriug his illness he received a letter from a friend, Avho mentioned having lately seen his son at Leicester, and expressed his hopes that Mr. Howard Arould find him bet- ter on his return to England. When this ac- count was read to him, it affected him much. His expressions of pleasure were particularly strong, and he often desired his servant, if ever, by the blessing of God, his son was restored, to tell him how much he prayed for his happiness. He made a will* on the Thursday before be died; and Avas buried, at his own request, at the villa of M. Dau- phine, about eight miles from Cherson, where a monument is erected over his grave. He made the observation that he should here be at the fame distance from heaven as if brought back to England. While in Cherson he saw the accounts of the demolition of the Bastile, which seemed to afford him a very particular * This must probably have been only some direc- tions to his executors, as his will is dated in 1787. 11 122 pleasure; and he thought it possible the ac- count he had himself published of it might have contributed to this event." On this relation, the general exactness of which may, I doubt not, be fully relied on, I shall only make a medical remark or two. Notwithstanding Mr. HoAvard's conviction of having caught the contagion from the young lady, I think the distance of time between his last visit to her and his own seizure, makes the fact dubious. Contagion thus sensibly received, usually, I believe, operates in a less period than five days.* Perhaps his visit to the hospitals on the 6th, or his late return from the admiral's on the 8th, in a cold sea- son and unwholesome climate, will better ac- count for it. The nature of his complaint is not very clear; for it is very uncommon for the senses to remain entire to the last, in a fever of the low or putrid kind; nor are fits, resembling epileptic attacks, among the usual symptoms of such a disease. That a wander- ing gout might make part of his indisposition, is not very improbable, as it was a disorder to which he was constitutionally liable, though • According to Dr. Lind, its effects, shivering and sickness, are instantaneous. See Dissertation on Fe- vers and Infection, c. ii. s. 1. 123 his mode of living prevented any severe pa- roxysms of it. At any rate, his disease a?as certainly attended Avith debility of the vital powers, and, therefore, the long and frequent use of James's powders must have been pre- judicial. And I think it highly probable that Mr. Howard's name may be added to the numerous list of those whose lives have been sacrificed to the empirical use of a medicine of great activity, and, therefore, capable of doing much harm as well as good. It was Mr. Howard's written request, that his papers should be corrected and fitted for publication by Dr. Price and myself. The declining state of health of Dr. Price* has * Whilst I am engaged in this work, Dr. Price has followed his friend to the grave. A character so illus- trious will, doubtless, have all justice done it by some pen qualified to display its various merits. May I be permitted, however, to tnke this occasion of mingling my regrets with those of his other friends and admirers, and offering a small tribute to the memory of one of the most excellent of men! Though during life the ad- vanced station he occupied in political controversy ren- dered his name as obnoxious to some, as it was che- rished and revered by others, yet now he is gone to that place where all worldly differences vre at an end, it may be hoped that the liberal of all denominations will concur in respecting a long course of years spent in the unremitted application of eminent abilities and 124 caused the business to devolve solely on me, and I have executed it to the best of my pow- er. Little Avas requisite to be done to the greatest part, tphich he had himself copied out fair. The rest was, with some difficulty, to be compiled out of detached aud broken memo- randums ; but in these his own Avords are as much as possible preserved. Of this Supple- ment I shall give a general account, as I have done of the former parts of his Avorks. The order and regularity of Holland still afford useful descriptions; and some of the abuses which even there had crept in, seem to have been corrected since Mr. Howard's visits. The friend to humanity has yet, how- ever, to lament the continued use of the tor- ture there to force confession. The state of the prisons in Osnaburgh, Hanover, and Brunswick, is agaiu dwelt upon with some acquirements^to the promotion of uhat he regarded as the greatest good of his fellow creatures. A cha- racter in which were combined simplicity of heart with depth of understanding—ardent love of truth with true christian charity and humility—high zeal for the public interests with perfect freedom from all pri- vate views—cannot be ultimately injured by the petu- lance of wit, or the invectives of eloquence. Dr. Price's reputation as a moralist, philosopher, and poli- tician, may safely be committed to impartial posterity. minuteness, obviously because the writer thought there was some probability of his attracting, in a more peculiar manner, the no- tice of those who have the power of remedy- ing their defects. Who avIH not sympathize with him in the disappointment he expresses in this instance, and bewail the strange fatality by which the utmost barbarity of the torture is retained in the dominions of a mild aud enlightened sovereign, whose interpositions could not but be efficacious in suppressing it! At Berlin and Spaudau the institutions ap- pear to preserve the good order in which they were left by the great Frederick. Ko- nigsberg seems to show the neglect incident to places distant from the seat of government. In a note under this place Mr. Howard makes an acknowledgment of the attention with which his remarks have been honoured in various foreign countries, and properly ad- duces it as a reason for his adoption of that censorial manner of noting abuses, Avhich, in his later journeys, he has not scrupled freely to employ. At St. Petersburg!! he had the pleasure to observe several improvements in the hospitals, probably in great part owing to his own sug- gestions. Under Cronstadt he finds occasion, 11* 126 however, to animadvert upon an alteration iu the plan of diet, generally adopted throughout the marine and military hospitals of Kussia, which, in his opinion, is highly prejudicial. This alteration consists in changing milk, and various other articles, constituting the usual liquid and middle diet of the sick, for the stronger and less digestible food of men iu health. The prisons at Moscow seem greatly neglected by those whose office it is to super- intend them ; but the charity displayed by in- dividuals towards the poor Avretches confiued in them, gave Mr. Howard a favourable idea of the humane disposition of the nation, con- firmed by Avhat he saw of their manners in his travels. He now hastened to those scenes Avhere a destructive war, cooperating with an unwhole- some climate, produced such evils, aggravated by neglect and inhumauity, that they gave him no other occupation than to lament and complain. After all the allowances that can- dour demands for inevitable wants and bard- ships in the distant posts of a ueAvly possessed country, and during the height of Avidely extended military operations, the Russian commanders cannot be vindicated from an inat- tention to the lives and comforts of their sol- i2r diers, greater, as Mr. HoAvard observes, than he had seen in any other country. Ignorauce, abuse, mismanagement, and deficiency, seem at their very summit in the military hospitals of Cherson, Witowka, and St. Nicholas. The lively pictures he has drawn of the distresses he here Avitnessed, and his pathetic descrip- tion of the sufferings of the poor recruits, marched from their distant homes to these melancholy regions, must awaken in every feeling breast a warm indignation against the schemes of ambitious despotism, however varnished over with the colouring of glory, or even of national utility. No lesson ought to be more forcibly impressed on mankind than, that uncontrolled power in one or feAV, notAvithstanding it may occasionally be exer- cised in splendid and even beneficent designs, is, on the Avhole, absolutely inconsistent Avith the happiness of a people.* The Empress of Russia's unjust seizure of Lesser and Crim Tartary has been the cause of miseries not to be calculated to her own subjects and those of Turkey, and has endangered the tranquil- lity of all Europe. • Scilicet ut Turno contingat regia conjunx Nos, anima; viles, inhumata infletaque turba, Sternamur campis. JEn. xi- 128 I shall conclude this review of the Avorks and public services of Mr. Howard Avith brief annals of his more than Herculean labours," during the last seventeen years of his life. 1773. High sheriff of Bedfordshire. Visited many county and town gaols. 1774. Completed his survey of English gaols. Stood candidate to represent the tOAvn of Bedford. 1775. Travelled to Scotland, Ireland, France, Holland, Flanders, and Germany. 1776. Repeated his visit to the above coun- tries, and to Switzerland. During these tAvo years revisited all the En- glish gaols. 1777. Printed his State of Prisons. 1778. Travelled through Holland, Flanders, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, aud part of France. 1779. Revisited all the counties of England and Wales, and travelled into Scot- land and Ireland. Acted as supervi- i sor of the penitentiary houses. ■' 1780. Printed his first Appendix. 1781. Travelled into Denmark, SAveden, Rus- sia, Polaud, Germany, and Holland. 1782. Again surveyed all the English pri- 129 1785. 1786. 1787. sons, and went into Scotland and Ire- land. 1783. Visited Portugal, Spain, France, Flan- ders, and Holland; also, Scotland and Ireland; and viewed several English prisons. 1784. Printed the second Appendix, aud a new edition of his Avhole Avorks. ' From the clo^e of the first of these years, to the beginning of the last, on his tour through Holland, France, Italy, Malta, Turkey, and Germany. Afterwards Avent to Scotland and Ireland. 1788. Revisited Ireland; and, during this and the former year, travelled over all England. 1789. Printed his Afork on Lazarettoes, &c. Travelled through Holland, Germany, Prussia, and Livonia, to Russia, and Lesser Tartary. 1790. January 20, died at Cherson. Having thus traced the footsteps of this great philanthropist from the cradle to the grave, and followed them with close inspec- tion in that part of his course which compre- hends his more public life, it only remains to 130 assemble those features of character which have been displayed in his actions, and to form them in conjunction with such minuter strokes as studious observation may have enabled me to draw, into a faithful portraiture of the man. The first thing that struck an observer on acquaintance with Mr. Howard, Avas a stamp of extraordinary vigour and energy on all his movements aud expressions. An eye, lively and penetrating, strong and prominent fea- tures, quick gait, and animated gestures, gave promise of ardour in forming, and vivacity in executing, his designs.* At no time of his life, ' 1 believe, Avas he Afithout some object of warm * Mr. Howard had so much contempt for worldly honours that he would never sit to any painter what- ever, and this has given rise to an opinion that there is no correct likeness of him. In this respect, however, | the public seem to be under a mistake An ingenious and respectable artist, Mr. T. HoUoway, whose talents are justly admired, had often an opportunity of being in company with Mr. Howard in a public place, where a sketch of his features might be stolen. 'I he tempta- tion was too great to be resisted. An accurate sketch was made, and an engraving, executed from it, accom- panies this life, and will afford a very just idea of the features of this great and good man. The American editor can assure the public that the original sketch alluded to above, is now iu the pos- session of Mr. Caleb Lownes of this citv. pursuit; and in every thing he pursued he Avas indefatigable in aiming at perfection. Give him a hint of any thing he had left short, or any new acquisition to be made, and Avhile you might suppose he was deliberating about it, you were surprised with finding it Avas done. Not Caesar himself could better ex- emplify the poet's Nil actum credeos, dum quid superesset agendum. I remember that, having accidentally re- marked to him that amongst the London pri- sons he had omitted the ToAver, he was so struck with the deficiency, (though of trifling consequence, since confinement there is so rare,) that at his very first leisure he ran to London, and supplied it. Nor was it only during a short period of ardour that his exer- tions Avere thus awakened. He had the still rarer quality of being able, for any length of time, to bend all the powers and faculties of his mind to one point, unseduced by (very allurement which curiosity or any other affec- tion might throtv in his way, and unsusceptible of that satiety and disgust tvliich are so apt to steal upon a protracted pursuit. Though by his early travels he had shown himself not 132 indifferent to those objects of taste and infor- mation which strike the cultivated mind iu a foreign couutry, yet in the tours expressly made for the purpose of examining prisons and hospitals, he appears to have had eyes aud ears for nothing else; at least, he suffered no other object to detain him or draw him aside.* Impressed Avith the idea of the im- portance of his designs, and the uncertainty of human life, he Avas impatient to get as much done as possible within the allotted limits. And iu this disposition consisted that enthu- siasm by which the public supposed him ac- tuated; for otherwise, his cool and steady temper gave no idea of the character usually distinguished by that appellation. He fol- lowed his plans, indeed, Avith Avonderful vigour and constancy, but by no means with that heat and eagerness, that inflamed and exalted imagination, which denote the enthusiast Hence, he Avas not liable to catch at partial representations, to view facts through falla- cious mediums, and to fall into those mistakes which are so frequent in the researches of the * He mentioned being once prevailed upon in Italy to go and hear some extraordinary fine music; but, finding his thoughts too much occupied by it, he would never repeat the indulgence. 133 man of fancy and warm feeling. Some per- sons, Avho only knew him by his extraordinary actions, were ready enough to bestow upon him that sneer of contempt, which men of cold hearts and selfish dispositions are so apt to apply to whatever has the shoAV of high sen- sibility. While others, Avho had a slight ac- quaintance with him, and saw occasional fea- tures of phlegm, and perhaps harshness, were disposed to question his feeling altogether, and to attribute his exertions either merely to a sense of duty, or to habit and humour. But both these were erroneous conclusions. He felt as a man should feel; but not so as to mislead him, either in the estimate he formed of objects of utility, or in his reason- ings concerning the means by Avhich they were to be brought into effect. The refor- mation of abuses, and the relief of misery, were the two great purposes which he kept in view in all his undertakings; and I have equally seen the tear of sensibility start into his eyes on recalling some of the distressful scenes to which he had been Avitness, and the spirit of indignation flash from them on relating instances of baseness and oppression. Still, however, his constancy of mind and self col- lection never deserted him. He was never 12 134 agitated, never off his guard; and the un- speakable advantages of such a temper in the sceues in which he was engaged, need not be dwelt upon. His whole course of action was such a trial of intrepidity and fortitude, that it may seem altogether superfluous to speak of his posses- sion of these qualities. He had them, indeed, both from nature and principle. His nerves were firm; and his conviction of marching in the path of duty made him fearless of conse- quences. Nor was it only on great occasions that this strength of mind was shown. It raised him above false shame, and that awe which makes a coward of many a brave man in the presence of a superior. No one ever less " feared the face of man" than he. No one hesitated less in speaking bold truths, or avoAving obnoxious opinions. His courage was equally passive and active. He was prepared to make every sacrifice that a regard to strict veracity, or rigorous duty, could enjoin; and it cannot be doubted, that, had he lived in an age when asserting his civil and religious rights Avould have subjected him to martyrdom, not a more willing martyr Avould ever have ascended the scaffold, or embraced the stake. 135 The resolute temper of Mr. Howard dis- played itself in a certain peremptoriness, which, Avhen he had once determined, render- ed him unyielding to persuasion or dissuasion, and urged him on to the accomplishment of his purpose, regardless of obstacles. He ex- pected prompt obedience in those from Avhom he had a right to require it, and was not a man to be treated with negligence and inat- tention. He was, however, extremely consi- derate, and sufficiently indulgent to human frailties; and a good will to please him could scarcely fail of its effect. That his com- mands were reasonable, and his expectations moderate, may be inferred from the long con- tinuance of most of his servants Avith him, and his steady attachment to many of those whom he employed. His means of enforcing com- pliance were chiefly rewards; and the Avith- holding them Avas his method of showing dis- pleasure.* • The following characteristic anecdote was com- municated to me by a gentleman who travelled in a chaise with him from Lancashire to London, in 1777. Mr. Howard observed that he had found few things more diflicult to manage than post-chaise drivers, who would seldom comply with his wishes of going slow or fast, till he adopted the following method. At the end of a stage, when the driver had been perverse, he de- 136 The spirit of independence by which he Avas ever distinguished, had in him the only sired the landlord to send for some poor, industrious widow, or other proper object of charity, and to intro- duce such person and the driver together. He then paid the latter his fare, and told him, that as he had not thought proper to attend to bis repeated request* as to the manner of being driven, he should not make him any present; but to show him that he did not with- hold it out of a principle of parsimony, he would give the poor person present double the sum usually given to a postillion. This he did, and dismissed the parties. He had not long practised this mode, he said, before he experienced the good effects of it on all the roads where he was known. A more extraordinary instance of his determined spirit has been related to me. Travelling once in the King of Prussia's dominions, he came to a very nar- row piece of road, admitting only one carriage, where it was enjoined on all postillions entering at each end, to J blow their horns by way of notice. His did so; but, after proceeding a good way, they met a courier tra- velling on the king's business, who had neglected thii precaution. The courier ordered Mr. Howard's pos- tillion to turn back; but Mr. Howard remonstrated, , that he had complied with the rule, while the other had violated it; and, therefore, that he should insist on going forwards. The courier, relying on an authority i to which, in that country, every thing must give way, made use of high words, but in vain. As neither was disposed to yield, they sat still a long time in their re- spective carriages; at length the courier gave up the point to the sturdy Englishman, who would on no ac- count renounce his rights. 137 foundation to be relied on, moderate desires. Perfectly contented with the competence which Providence had bestowed on him, he never had a thought of increasing it; and even when in a situation to expect a family, he made it a rule with himself to lay up no part of his an- Dual income, but to expend in some useful or benevoleut scheme the superfluity of the year. Lest this should be converted into a charge of carelesuess in providing for his oavo, it may be proper to mention that he had the best-grounded expectations, that any children he might have would largely partake of the wealth of their relations. Thus he preserved his heart from that contamination, Arhich (taking in the whole of life) is, perhaps, the disease most frequently attendant on a state of prosperity—the lust of growing rich; a pas- sion which is too often found to sAvalloAv up liberality, public spirit, and, at last, that inde- pendency, which it is the best use of Avcalth to secure. By this temper of mind he Avas elevated to an immeasurable distance above every thing mean and sordid; and in all his transactions he displayed a spirit of honour and generosity, that might become the " blood of the Howards," when flowing in its noblest channels. 12* 138 Had Mr. Howard been less provided with the goods of fortune, his independeucy would have found a resource in the fewness of his wants; and it Avas an inestimable advantage which he brought to his great work, an advan- tage, perhaps, more uncommon in this coun- try than any of those already mentioned, that he possessed a command over all corporeal appetites and habitudes, not less perfect than that of any ancient philosopher, or modern .ascetic. The strict regimen of diet Avhich he had adopted early in life from motives of health, he afterwards perscveied in through choice, and even extended its rigour, so as to reject all those indulgences Avhich even the most temperate consider as necessary for the preservation of their strength and vigour. Animal foods, and fermented and spirituous drinks, he utterly discarded from his diet. Water aud the plainest vegetables sufficed him. Milk, tea, butter, and fruit, were his luxuries; and he Avas equally sparing iu the quantity of food, and indifferent as to the sta- ted times of taking it. Thus he found his wauts supplied in almost every place where man existed, and A\as as well provided in the posadas of Spain, and caravaus-eras of Tur- key, as in the inns and hotels of England and 139 France. Water was one of his principal necessaries, for he Avas a very Mussulman in his ablutions; and if nicety or delicacy had place with him in any respect, it was in the perfect cleanliness of his Avhole person. He Avas equally tolerant of heat, cold, and all the vicissitudes of climate; and, Avhat is more wonderful, not even sleep seemed necessary to him, at least at those returns and in those proportions in which mankind in general ex- pect it. How Avell he was capable of enduring fatigue, the amazing journeys he took by all modes of conveyance, without any intervals of what might be called repose, (since his only baiting places Avere his proper scenes of ac- tion,) abundantly testify. In short, no human body was probably ever more perfectly the servant of the mind by which it was actuated; and all the efforts of the strongest constitu- tion, not inured to habits of self denial, and moral as well as corporeal exercise, would have been unequal to his exertions.* * The following account of his mode of travelling; communicated to me by a gentleman in Dublin, who had much free conversation with him, and the sub- stance of which I well recollect to have heard from himself, will, I doubt not, prove interesting. "When he travelled in England or Ireland, it was generally on 140 With respect to the character of his under* standing, that, too, Avas as happily adapted to the great business in which he engaged. He had not, in a high degree, that extensive com- prehension, that faculty of generalizing, which is said to distinguish the man of genius, but horseback, and he rode about forty English miles a day. He was never at a loss for an inn. When in Ireland, or the Highlands of Scotland, lie used to stop at one of the poor cabins that stick up a rag by way of sign, and get a little milk. When he came to the town he was to sleep at, he bespoke a supper, with wine and beer, like another traveller, but made his man attend him, and take it away, whilst he was preparing his bread and milk. lie always paid the waiters, postil- lions, &tc. liberally, because he would have no discon- tent or dispute, nor suffer his spirits to be agitated for such a matter; saying, that in a journey that might cost three or four hundred pounds, fifteen or twenty pounds addition was not worth thinking about. When he travelled on the continent, he usually went post in his own chaise, which was a German one that he bought for the purpose. He never stopped till he came to the town he meant to visit, but travelled all night, if necessary; and from habit could sleep very well in the chaise for several nights together. In the last tour but one he travelled twenty days and nights together with- out going to bed, and found no inconvenience from it He used to carry with him a small teakettle, some cups, a little pot of sweatmeats, and a. few loaves. At the post house he could get his water boiled, send out for milk, and make his repast while his man went to the auberge." 141 which, without a previous collection of authentic materials, is ever apt to lead into erroneous speculations. He Avas rather a man of detail; of laborious accuracy and minute examination; and, therefore, he had the pro- per qualities for one who was to lead the way in researches where all was ignorance, confu- sion, and local custom. Who but such a man could have collected a body of information, which has made even professional men ac- quainted Avith interesting facts that they never before kneAV; and has given the English reader a more exact knowledge of practices followed in Russia and Spain, than he before had of those in his own country ? This minuteness of detail was Avhat he ever regarded as his peculiar province. As he Avas of all men the most modest estimator of his own abilities, he was used to say, " I am the plodder, Avho goes about to collect materials for men of genius to make use of." Let those who look with fastidiousness upon long tables of rules and orders, and measurements of cells and Avork rooms, given in feet and inches, consider, that Avhen a scheme is brought into practice, these small circumstances must have their plare; and that the most ingenious plans often fail in their execution for Avant of adjustment iu the L42 nicer parts. Perhaps even the great Frederick of Prussia Avas more indebted for success to the exactness of his dispositions in every mi- nute particular counected with practice, than to deep and sublime vieAvs of general prin- ciples. From a similar cast of mind, Mr. HoAvard was a friend to subordination, and all the de- corums of regular society ; nor did he dislike vigorous exertions of civil authority, when directed to laudable purposes. He interfered little in disputes relative to the theory of go- vernment ; but was contented to take systems of sovereignty as be found them established in various parts of the world, satisfied with prompting such an application of their powers as might promote the welfare of the respective communities. A state of imprisonment being that in which the rights of men are, in greal part at least, suspended, it was natural that his thoughts should be more conversant with a people as the subjects, than as the source, of authority. Yet he well knew, and properly valued, the inestimable blessings of political freedom, as opposed to despotism ; and, among the. nations of Europe, he considered the Dutch and Swiss as affording the best exam- ples of a strict and steady police, conducted 143 upon principles of equity and humanity. To the character of the Dutch he was, indeed, peculiarly partial; and frequently asserted, that he should prefer Holland for his place of residence, to any other foreign country. I can add, from undoubted authority, that Mr. Howard was oue of those Avho (in the language of the great Lord Chatham) " rejoiced that America had resisted," and triumphed iu her final success; and that he was principally attached to the popular part of our constitu- tion ; and that in his own county he distin- guished himself by a spirited opposition to aristocratical influence. His peculiar habits of life, and the exclu- sive attention he bestoAved in his later years on a few objects, caused him to appear more averse to society than I think he really was; and it has been mentioned as an unfortunate circumstance, that his shyness and reserve frequently kept him out of the way of persons from Avhom he might have derived much use- ful information; but it is vain to desire things incompatible. Mr. Howard can scarcely be denied to have chosen the best way, upon the Avhole, of conducting his inquiries; and if he had been a more companionable man, more ready to indulge his oavo curiosity, and gratify that of others, he would no longer 114 have possessed one of the chief advantages he brought to his great work. Yet, while he assiduously shunned all engagements which would have involved him in the forms and dissipation of society, he was by no means disinclined to enter into conversations on his particular topics; on the contrary, he was often extremely communicative, and would enliven a small circle with the most entertaining relations of his travels and ad- ventures. Mr. Howard had, in a high degree, that re- spectful attention to the female sex which so much characterizes the gentleman. Perhaps, indeed, I may here be referring to rules of politeness which no longer exist. But he was as thoroughly impressed with the maxim of place aux dames as any Frenchman, though Avithout the strain of light and complimentary gallantry which has accompanied it in the in- dividuals of that nation. His was a more serious sentiment, connected Avith the uniform practice of giving up his own ease and accom- modation, for the sake of doing a real kind- ness to any female of decent character. It is excellently illustrated by an anecdote related in a magazine, by a person who chanced to sail with him in the packet from Holyhead to 145 Dublin, when, the vessel being much croAvded, Mr. Howard resigned his bed to a servant maid, and took up with the cabin floor for himself. It is likeAvise displayed throughout his works, by the Avarmth with Avhich he al- ways censures the practice of putting female prisoners in irons, and exposing them to any harsh and indelicate treatment. He was fond of nothing so much as the conversation of women of education and cultivated manners, and studied to attach them by little elegant presents, and other marks of attention. In- deed, his soft tone of voice, and gentleness of demeanour, might be thought to approach someAvhat to the effeminate, and would sur- prise those who had knoAvn him only by the energy of his exertions. In his judgment of female character, it was manifest that the idea of his lost Harriet was the standard of excel- lence ; and, if ever he had married again, a resemblance to her would have been the prin- cipal motive of his choice. I recollect to this purpose a singular anecdote, Avhich he related to us on his return from one of his tours. In going from oue town in Holland to another, in the common passage boat, he Avas placed near an elderly gentlemau, who had in company a youn°r lady of a most engaging manner and J4ti appearance, which strongly reminded him of his Harriet. He was so much struck with her, that, on arriving at the place of destina- tion, he caused his servant to follow them, and get iutelligencc who they were. It was not Avithout some disappointment that he learned that the old gentleman was an eminent mer- chant, and the ) oung lady—his wife. Mr. HoAvard's predilection for female so- ciety was in part a consequence of his abhor- rence of every thing gross aud licentious. His own language and manners were invariably pure aud delicate; and the freedoms which passuncensured or even applauded in the pro- miscuous companies of men, Avould have af- fected him Avith sensations of disgust. For a person possessed of such feelings, to have brought himself to submit to such frequent communication with the most abandoned of mankind, was, perhaps, a greater triumph of duty over inclination than any other he ob- tained in the prosecution of his designs. Yet the nature of his errand to prisons probably inspired awe and respect in the most disso- lute; and I think he has recorded that be never met with a single insult from the pri- soners in any of the gaols he visited. As Mr. Hotvard was so eminently a reli- 14* gious character, it may be expected that some- what more should be said of the peculiar tenets he adopted. But, besides that this A?as a topic Avhich did not enter into our conversations, 1 confess I do not perceive how his general plan of conduct Avas likely to be influenced by any peculiarity of that kind. The principle of religious duty, which is nearly the same in all systems, and differs rather in strength than in kind in different persons, is surely suffi- cient to account for all that he did and under- Avent in promoting the good of maukiud, by modes which Providence seemed to place be- fore him. It has been suggested thit he was much under the influence of the doctrine of predestination; and I know not what of stern- ness has been attributed to him as its natural consequence. For my oavu part, I am not able to discover in Avhat those notions of Pro- vidence, general and particular, which make part of the profession of all religions, differ essentially from the opinions of the predesti- narians; and from manifold observation, I am certain that the reception of the doctrine of predestination, as an article of belief, does not necessarily imply those practical consequences which mi«*ht seem deducible from it. The language, at least, of our lower classes of peo- 143 pie is almost universally founded upon it; but when one of them dies of an infectious disease, notwithstanding the bystanders all speak of the event as fated and inevitable, yet each, for himself, does not the less avoid the infection, or the less recur to medical aid if attacked by it. With respect to Mr. Howard, he never seemed to adopt the idea that he Avas moved by an irresistible impulse to bis designs; for they were the subject of much thought and discussion; nor did he confront dangers be- ; cause he had a persuasion that he should be preserved from their natural consequences, ,, but because he A?as elevated above them. This sentiment he has himself more than once expressed in print; and surely none could be cither more rational, or more adequate to the effects produced. " Being iu the way of my duty," says he, " I fear no evil." I may ven- , ture to affirm that those of the medical pro- ; fession, whose fearlessness is not merely the result of habit, must reason upon the same , principle, when they calmly expose themselves > to similar hazards. They, for the most part, . use no precautions against contagion; Mr. Howard did use some; though their effecU were probably trifling compared with that of his habitual temperance and cleanliness and 149 his untroubled serenity of mind. v On the Avhole, his religious confidence does not appear to have been of a nature different from that of other pious men; but to be so steadily and uniformly under its influence, and to be ele- vated by it to such a superiority to all worldly considerations, can be the lot of none but those who have formed early habits of refer- ring every thing to the divine Avill, and of fixing all their views on futurity. From Mr. Howard's connexions Avith those sects Avho have ever sIioavo a particular abhor- rence of the frauds and superstitions of popery, it might be supposed that he would look with a prejudiced eye on the professors and mini- sters of that persuasion. But such Avas his veneration for true vital religion, that he was as ready to pay it honour when he met with it in the habit of a monk, as under the garb of a teacher; and throughout his works, as well as in conversation, he ever dwelt with great com- placency on the pure zeal for the good of mankind, and genuine christian charity, which he frequently discovered among the Roman Catholic clergy, both regular and secular. He was no friend to that hasty dissolution of convents and monasteries which formed part of the multifarious reforms of the late Empe- 150 vor of Germany. He pitied the aged inmates, male and female, of these quiet abodes, who Avere driven from their beloved retreats into the wide world, with a very slender, aud often ill paid, pittance for their support. " Why might not they," he would say, " be suffered gradually to die away, and be transplanted from one religious house to another, as their numbers lessened ?" Those orders which make it the great duty of their profession to attend with the kindest assiduity upon the sick and imprisoned, and who, therefore, came continually Avithin his notice, seemed to con- ciliate his good will to the Avhole fraternity; and the virtues of order, decency, sobriety, and charity, so much akin to his OAvn, natu- rally inclined him to a kind of fellowship with them. He rigorously, however, abstained from any compliances with their Avorship, which he thought unlaAvful; and gave them his esteem as men, without the least disposition to concur with them as theologians. Such were the great lines of Mr. Howard's character—lines strongly marked, and suffi- cient to discriminate him from any of those who have appeared iu a part somewhat similar to his own on the theatre of the world. The union of qualities which so peculiarly fitted 151 him for the post he undertook, is not likely, in our age, again to take place; yet different combinations may be employed to effect the same purposes; and with respect to the ob- jects of police and humanity Concerning which he occupied himself, the information he has collected will render the repetition of labours like his unnecessary. To propose as a model, a character marked with such singularities, and, no doubt, with some foibles, Avould be equally vain and injudicious; but his firm attachment to principle, high sense of honour, pure benevolence, unshaken constancy, and indefatigable perseverance, may properly be held up to the view of all persons occupying important stations, or engaged in useful enter- prises, as qualities not less to be imitated than admired. I shall conclude with some account of the literary honours which Mr. Howard has re- ceived from his countrymen. It Avould, in- deed, have been extraordinary, if, while se- nates and courts of judicature offered him their tribute of applause, poetry and elo- quence should have shown an insensibility to his merits. Besides the acknowledgments paid him in every publication upon topics similar to his own, he became the theme of 152 the elegant muse of Mr. Hay ley, who ad- dressed to him an ode in the year 1780, to which reference has already been made. That celebrated poem is, by the American editor, subjoined to the. present work. In the suc- ceeding year, Mr. Burke, adverting, iu a speech to the freemen of Bristol, to a fact in Mr. HoAvard's book, struck out, with the enthusiasm of genius, into a panegyrical di- gression on his plans and actions, d< corated with his peculiar strain of glowing imagery. Nothing, perhaps, can more forcibly express the general idea entertained of Mr. Howard's exalted Avorth thau the following extract from that speech. " I cannot name this gentleman," says Mr. Burke, " I cannot name this gentle- man, without remarking that his labours aDd writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe, not to survey the sumptiiousness of palaces, nor the slateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosities of modern art; not to collect me- dals, iior to collate manuscripts; but to dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge into the infection of hospitals; to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain; to take guage and dimen- 153 Bions of misery, depression, and contempt; to remember the forgoticn; to attend to the ne- glected; to visit the forsaken; and to com- pare and collate the distresses-of all men in all countries. His plan is original, and it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It is a voyage of phitailhropy—a circumna\igatiort of charity' Already the benefit of this la- bour itself is felt more or less in every coun- try ; I hope he will anticipate his final reward by seeing all its effects fully realized in his own. He will receive, not iu retail, but in gross, the reward of those who visit the prisoner; and he has so far forestalled and monopolized this branch of charity, that there will be, I trust, little room to merit by such acts of benevo- lence hereafter." This speech was after- wards printed, and the passage concerning Mr. Howard was copied into various periodi- cal writings, and read with universal appro- bation. His character tvas even exhibited on the stage; for a comedy of Mrs. Inchbald's, entitled Such Things Are, contained a part evidently modelled upon his peculiar cast of benevolence, which, for a time, rendered the piece popular. Dr. Darwin's very beautiful poem of The Botanic Garden, printed in 1739, amidst an 154 unexpected variety of subjects, presents au eulogium of Mr. Howard, so appropriate aod poetical, that I am sure no reader of taste will require an apology from me for inserting it. —And now, benevolence ! thy rays divine Dart round the globe from Zembla to the line: OYr each dark prison plays the cheering light, Like northern lustres o'er the vault of night.— From realm to realm, with cross or crescent crown'd, Where'er mankind and misery are found, O'er burning sands, deep waves, or wilds of snow, Thy Ho ward journeying seeks the house of wo. Down many a winding step to dungeons dank, Where anguish wails aloud, and fetters clank; To caves bestrew'd with many a mouldering bone, And cells, whose echoes only learn to groan ; Where no kind bars a whispering friend disclose, No sunbeam enters, and no zephyr blows, He treads, inemulous of fame or wealth, Profuse of toil, and prodigal of health; With soft assuasive eloquence expands Power's rigid heart, and opes his clenching hands; Leads stern-eyed justice to the dark domains, If not to sever, to relax the chains; Or guides awaken'd mercy through the gloom, And showi the prison, sister to the tomb !— Gives to her babes the self-devoted wife. To her fond husband liberty and life !— —The spirits of the good, who bend from high Wide o'er these earthly scenes their partial eye, When first, array'd in v irtue's purest robe, They saw her Howard traversing the globe ; 155 Saw round his brows her sun-like glory blaze In arrowy circles of unwearied rays; Mistook a mortal for an angel guest, And ask'd what seraph-foot the earth imprest. —Onward he moves !—Disease and death retire, And murmuring demons hate him, and admire. After these lines the editor avails himself of this favourable opportunity of exhibiting to the public, an extract from the funeral sermon occasioned by the death of Mr. Howard. And as it was delivered under the influence of heartfelt emotions, accompanied with serious regret, and refers to the leading principle of all his actions, it is presumed that it will not be deemed misplaced, at the close of a vo- lume, the purpose of which is to represent in strong, faithful, and glowing colours the cha- racter Of the BExNEVOLENT HoAVARD. "Those who best knew Mr. Howard,*1 says Mr. Palmer* in his sermon on the death of his benevoleut friend, " are so Avell ac- quainted with the strength of his christian principles, and Avith his evangelical views, as not to entertain a doubt but that, during his last sickness, and in the prospect of death, (melancholy as his situation was, at a distance from all his friends,) he exercised the great- * Reverend Mr. Palmer of Hackney. 156 est degree of firmness, patience, and submis- sion to the divine will; a lively faith in the promises of the gospel; a cheerful confidence in the grace of God, in a Redeemer, for ac- ceptance, renouncing, as he often had expli- citly done, all pretensions to merit by all the good works he had performed; and a humble triumph in the prospect of life eternal, as the free gift of God through Jesus Christ. A little before he left England, when a friend expressed his concern at parting with him, from an apprehension that they should never meet again, he cheerfully replied,' We shall soon meet in heaven;' aud, as he rather ex- pected to die of the plague in Egypt, he add- ed, ' the way to heaven from Grand Cairo is as near as from London.' He that thus lived in the hope of immortality, may well be sup- posed^ death to have experienced a joy un- speakable and full of glory." " Thus lived and thus died this distinguish- ed philanthropist, this bright ornament of hu- man nature, and of the religion of Jesus. As his life was singularly useful, his death Avas equally glorious. He fell a martyr in the cause of humanity. As thousands blessed him while living, millions will lament him now dead. A greater loss this country, may 1JI I not say this world, has seldom sustained. It may appear to many a mysterious Provi- dence, that such a friend to his species should be cut off at a time Avhen he had such noble ends in view, and Avhen, cousidering the vigour of his constitution at the age of sixty- five, he might have been expected to continue some years as a blessing to his native coun- try, particularly in promoting the execution of the plans which he had suggested in his publications. But his Avork was done; the designs of Provideuce by him were accom- plished ; and doubtless all the circumstances of his death were Avisely ordered by Him who doth all things well, and Avho can easily raise up other instruments for perfecting what he had begun." " His being cut off in a foreign country, hoAvever grievous it may be to his friends here, is a circumstance Avhich may probably be Avisely designed, and happily overruled, for some very important purposes iu that rising kino-dom, Avhich will esteem itself honoured by entombing such a patriotic Englishman; and where a spirit of emulation may probably be excited to imitate his virtues, and to adopt his plans, for promoting the growing glory and happiness of that vast empire." 158 " While, therefore, we devoutly praise God for what he had done by this his eminent ser- vant, let us submit to his will, and adore his wisdom and sovereignty iu his removal. And let us make the best improA'ement of so affect- ing a dispensation; particularly by cultivating that benevolence by which the deceased was actuated, and by doing what we can, in our different spheres, for repairing his loss. This Avill be the best way of expressing our vene- ration for his character, and doing honour to his memory." " That others, upon his decease, wrould be excited to prosecute some of his schemes for the public good, he himself had a firm persua- sion. This made him the less anxious about his own life, Avhich his friends thought of so much importance. In the last conversation I had with him, when I expressed my fears for his safety, and my wishes that he could haA'e been prevailed upon to continue at home, in order to carry into execution the generous plans he had formed for tlie good of his coun- try, his answer was, ' When I am dead some body else will take up the matter and carry it through.' God grant that his expectations may be verified !—But where is the man to be found who is like minded with him ? Ano- 159 ther Hoavard this country cannot hope to see. JNor is one, altogether his equal, ooav needed. He laid a foundation on which it would be comparatively easy to build. He, with incredible labour and expense, has bro- ken up the ground, prepared the soil, and sown the seed; to raise and gather the crop will require but a small portion of iudustry and public spirit. And are there none among you, ye men of fortune and leisure, in Avhom that portion of industry and public spirit is to be found ? Ye Avho, in the strongest terms lan- guage can supply, celebrate the philanthropy of the deceased, and have shoAvn yourselves impatient to erect a monument to his honour, so as scarcely to be restrained from hurting his modesty while yet alive; is there no one among you that Avishes to inherit his virtues, and rear the glorious fabric he had fra- med ? Who that has the ability would not be ambitious of the honour ? If it be honour of too great magnitude for an individual to grasp, let it be divided. Here is enough to adorn many a broAV. O that all in the higher ranks of life would claim their share !" " If but a few men of fortune and influence had a spirit equal to their power, what a blessed country would Britain soon become' 160 The poor would be more happy and less bur- densome. The industrious would live in ease; the idle and profligate would be re- claimed. Crimes would be prevented instead of being punished. Our prisons in time would scarce need humane visitants, but would often (like some abroad) be almost empty; at least, those confiued in them Avould be there useful to the community, and not dangerous to it when discharged. Many Avould go out re- formed, and would become good members of society. Thus Englishmen, Avho vainly boast of their liberty, would enjoy liberty: would rest in their beds, and travel by day or by night, without fear of being murdered or plun- dered by their own species. That it is other- wise is in a great measure owing to the want of public spirit in men of rank and power. Would to God that the loss of one patriot may prove the occasion of raising up MA*T !" ODE INSCRIBED TO JOHN HOWARD, LL. D. F. R. S. BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ. " Second to iionf In the works of humanity and benevolcrce." 14* ODE, &c. FAV'RITE of heaven, and friend of earth! Philanthropy, benignant power! Whose sons display no doubtful worth, The pageant of the passing hour! Teach me to paint, in deathless song, Some darling from thy filial throng, Whose deeds no party rage inspire, But fill th' agreeing world with one desire, To echo his renown, responsive to my lyre! Ah! whither lead'st thou ?—whence that sigh'.' What sound of wo my bosom jars ? Why pass, (where misery's hollo w eye* Glares wildly through those gloomy bars ? Is virtue sunk in these abodes, Where keen remorse the heart corrodes; Where guilt's base blood with frenzy boils, And blasphemy the mournful scene embroils ?— From this infernal gloom my shudd'ring soul recoils. But whence those sudden sacred beams ? Oppression drops his iron rod ! And all the brigbt'ning dungeon seems To speak the presence of a god. Philanthropy's descending day Diffuses unexpected ray! 164 Loveliest of angels!—at her side Her favourite votary stands;—-her English pride, Through horror's mansion led by this celestial guide. Hail! generous Howard ! though thou bear A name which glory's hand sublime Has blazond oft, with guardian care, In characters that fear not time; For thee she fondly spreads her wings; For thee from paradise she brings, More verdant than her laurel bough, Such wreaths of sacred palm, as ne'er till now The smiling seraph twin'd around a mortal brow. That hero's* praise shall ever bloom, Who shielded our insulted coast 5 And launch'd his light'ning to consume The proud invadei-'s routed host. Brave perils rais'd his noble name: But thou deriv'st thy matchless fame From scenes, where deadlier danger dwells; Where fierce contagion, with affright, repels Valour's advent'rous step from her malignant cell*. Where, in the dungeon's loathsome shade, The speechless captive clanks his chain, With heartless hope to raise that aid, His feeble cries have call'd in vain; Thine eye his dumb complaint explores; Thy voice his parting breath restores; Thy cares his ghastly visage clear From death's chill dew, with many a clotted tear, And to his thankful soul returning life endear. What precio»8 drug, or stronger charm, Thy constant fortitude inspires In scenes, whence, muttering her alarm, Med'cine,t with selfish dread, retires ? * Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham. t Mussabat tacito reee'eciua titwore. Lucretius. ItiJ Nor charm, nor drug, dispel thy fears; Temperance, thy better guard, appears; For thee I see her fondly fill Hit chrystal cup from nature's purest rill; Chief nourisher of life ! best antidote of ill! I see the hallow'd shade of Hales,* Who felt, like thee, for human wo, And taught the health-diffusing gales Through horror's murky cells to blow, As thy protecting angel wait; To save thee from the snares of fate, Commission'd from the eternal throne ; I hear him praise, in wonder's warmest tone, The virtues of thy heart more active than, his own. Thy soul supplies new funds of health That fail not, in the trying hour, Above Arabia's spicy wealth, And Pharmacy's reviving power. The transports of the generous mind, Feeling its bounty to mankind, * Stephen Hales, minister of Teddington; he died at the age of 81, 1761; and has been justly called " An ornament to his profession as a clergyman, and to his country as a philoso- pher." I had the happiness of knowing this excellent man when I was very young; and well remember the warm glow of benevolence which used to animate his countenance in relating the success of his various projects for the benefit of mankind. I have frequently heard him dwell with great pleasure on the fortunate incident which led him to the discovery of his venti- lator, to which 1 have alluded.—He had ordered a new floor for one of his rooms; his carpenter not having prepared the wort so soon as he expected, he thought the season improper for lay- ing down ne.v boards, when they were brought to his house, and gave orders for their being depositeo in his barn;—from their Mtcidental position in that place, he caught his first ideiof this useful invention. 166 Inspirit every mortal part; And, far more potent than precarious art, Give radiance to the eye, and vigour to the heart. Blest Howard ! who like thee can feel This vital spring in all its force ? New star of philanthropic zeal; Enlight ning nations in thy course ! And shedding comfort's heavenly dew On meagre want's deserted crew ! Friend to the wretch whom friends disclaim, Who feels stern justice, in his famish'd frame, A persecuting fiend beneath an angel's name. Authority! unfeeling power, Whose iron heart can coldly doom The debtor, dragg'dfrom pleasure's bower, To sicken in the dungeon's gloom ! O might thy terror-striking call, Profusion's sons alone enthrall! But thou canst want with guilt confoond : Thy bonds the man of virtuous toil surround, Driven by malicious fate within thy dreary bound. How savage are thy stern decrees ? Thy cruel minister I see A weak, laborious victim seize, By worth entitled to be free! Behold, in the afflicting strife, The faithful partner of his life, In vain thy ruthless servant court, To spare her little children's sole support, Whom this terrific form has frighten'd from their sport Nor weeps she only from the thought, Those infants must no longer share His aid, whose daily labour bought The pittance of their scanty fare. The horrors of the loathsome gaol Her inly bleeding heart assail; E'en now her fears, from fondness bred, See the lost partner of her faithful bed Drop, in that murd'rous scene, his pale, expiring head. Take comfort yet in these keen pains, Fond mourner! check thy gushing tears! The dungeon now no more contains Those perils which thy fancy fears : No more contagion's baleful breath Speaks it the hideous cave of death : Howard has planted safely there; Pure minister of light! his heavenly care Has purg'd the damp of death from that polluted ah-. Nature ! on thy maternal breast For ever be his worth engraved! Thy bosom only can attest How many a life his toil has sav'd : Nor in thy rescued sons alone, Great parent! this thy guardian own ! His arm defends a dearer slave j Woman, thy darling ! 'tis his pride to save* From evils that surpass the horrors of the grave. Ye sprightly nymphs, by fortune nurst, Who sport in joy's unclouded air, Nor see the distant storms, that burst In ruin on the humble fair; Ye know not to what bitter smart A kindred form, a kindred heart, * Mr. Howard has bee.n the happy instrument of preservin;; female prisoners from an infamous and indecent outrage—It was formerly a custom in our gaols to load their legs and thighs with irons, for the detestable purpose of extorting money from these injured sufferer?.—This circumstance, unknown to me when the Ode was written, has tempted me to introduce the few additional stanzas, as it is my ardent wish to render this tribute to an exalted character as little unworthy as I can of the very extcn-ive and sublime merit wbicb it aspires to cele- brate. 168* I Is often doom'd, in life's low vale, , Where frantic fears the simple mind assail, And fierce afflictions press, and friends and fortune fail. See yon sweet rustic, drown'd in tears! It is not guilt—His misery's flood, "While dire suspicion's charge she hears Of shedding infant, filial blood : Nature's fond dupe! but not her foe ! That form, that face, the falsehood show :— Yet law exacts her stern demand; She bids the dungeon's grating doors expand, And the young captive faints beneath the gaoler's hand. ' Ah, ruffian ! cease thy savage aim ! She cannot 'scape thy harsh control: Shall iron load that tender frame, And enter that too yielding soul ?— Unfeeling wretch! of basest mind ! To misery deaf, to beauty blind ! I see thy victim vainly plead; j For the worst fiend of bell's malignant breed, Extortion, grins applause, and prompts thy ruthless deed. With brutal force, and ribbald jest, Thy manacles I see thee shake; Mocking the merciful request That modesty and justice make; E'en nature's shriek, with anguish strong, Fails to suspend the impious wrong; Till Howard's hand, with brave disdain, Throws far away this execrable chain : O, nature, spread his fame through all thy ample reig'ir Hi, care, exulting Bri tain found Here first displ\v'd, not here confiu'd ' No single tract of earth cotdd bound The active virtues of his min«'. 169 To all the lands, where'er the tear That mourn'd the prisoner's wrong severe, Sad pity's glisfning cheek impearl'd, Eager he steer'd with every sail unfurl'd, A friend to every clime ! a patriot of the* world ' Ye nations through whose fair domain Our flying sons of joy have past, By pleasure driven with loosen'd rein, Astonish'd that they flew so fast! How did the heart-improving sight Awake your wonder and delight, When, in her unexampled chase, Philanthropy outstript keen pleasure's pace, When, with a warmer soul, she ran a nobler race ! Where'er her generous Britain went, Princes his supplicants became : He seein'd the inquiring angel, sent To scrutinize their secret shame.* Captivity, where he appeared, Her languid head with transport rear'd; And gazing on her godlike guest, Like those of old, whom heaven's pure servant blest E'en by his shadows seem'd of demons dispossest. Amaz'd her foreign children cry, S eing their patron pass along, " O! who is he, whose daring eye Can search into our hidden wrong ? What monarch's heaven-directed mind With royal bounty unconfin'd, * I am credibly informed, that several princes, or, at least, persons in authority, requested Mr Howard not to publish a minute account of some prisons, which reflected disgrace on their government. 15 170 'H as tempted freedom's son to share These perils; searching with an angel's care Each cell of dire disease, each cavern of despair ?" No monarch's word, nor lucre's lust, Nor vain ambition's restless fire, Nor ample power, that sacred trust, His life-diffusing toils inspire: Rous'd by no voice, save that whose cries Internal bid the soul arise From joys, that only seem to bless, Prom low pursuits wliich little minds possess, To nature's noblest aim, the succour of distress j Taught by that God, in mercy's robe. Who his celestial throne resigned, To free the prison of the globe From vice, the oppressor of the mind, For thee, of misery's right*bereft, For thee, captivity! he left Inviting ease, who, in her bower, Bade him with smiles enjoy the golden hour, Wlule fortune deck'd his board with pleasure's festire flower. While to thy virtue's utmost scope I boldly strive my aim to raise As high as mortal hand may hope To shoot the glittering shaft of praise; Say! Howard, say ! what may the muse, \\ hose melting eye thy merit views, What guerdon may her love design ? What raav she ask for thee, from power divine, Above the rich rt u an is; which are already thine ? Sweet is the joy when science flings Her light on philosophic thought; When genius, with keen ardour, springs To clasp the lovely truth he sought: Sweet is the joy, when rapture's fire Flows from the spirit of the Jyre; in When liberty and virtue roll Spring tides of fancy o'er the poet's soul, That waft his flying bark through seas above the pole. Sweet the delight, when the gall'd heart Feels consolation's lenient hand Bind up the wound from fortune's dart, With friendship's life supporting band ? And sweeter still, and far above These fainter joys, when purest love The soul bb willing captive keeps ! When he in bliss the melting spirit steeps, Who drops delicious tears, and wonders that he Aveeps! But not the brightest joy which arts, In floods of mental light, bestow; Nor what firm friendship's zeal imparts, Blest antidote of bitterest wo ! Nor those that love's sweet hours dispense, Can equal the extatic sense, When, swelling to a fond excess, The grateful praises of reliev'd distress, Re-echoed through the lieart, the soul of bounty bless- These transports, in no common state, Supremely pure, sublimely strong, Above the reach of envious fate, Blest Howah d ! these to thee belong •. While years increasing o'er thee roll, Long may this sunshine of the soul New vigour to thy frame convey! Its radiance through thy noon of life display, And with serenest light adorn thy closing day! And when the power, who joys to save. Proclaims the guilt of earth forgiven; And calls the prisoners of the grave To all the liberty of heaven; In that bright day, whose wonders blind The eye of the astonish'd mind; n When life's glad angel shall resume His ancient sway, announce to death his doom, And from existence drive that tyrant of the toinb. In that blest hour, when seraphs sing The triumps gain'd in human strife ; And to their new associates bring The wreaths of everlasting life : May'st thou, in glory's hallowed blaze, Approach the eternal fount of praise, With those who lead the angelic van, Those pure adherents to their Saviour's plan, Who liv'd but to relieve the miseries of man. APPENDIX. (From Clarke's Travels in Tartary,&c] LET me now, therefore, direct the reader's atten- tion to a more interesting subject; to a narrative of the last days, the death, and burial of the benevolent How- ard ; who, with a cliaracter forcibly opposed to that of Potemkin, also terminated a glorious career at Cher- son. Mysterious Providence, by events always remote from human foresight, had wonderfully desdned that these two men, celebrated in their lives by the most contrasted deeds, should be interred nearly upon the same spot. It is not within the reach of possibility to bring together, side by side, two individuals more re- markably characterized by every opposite qualifica- tion ; as if the hand of destiny had directed two per- sons, in whom were exemplified the extremes of vice and virtue, to one common spot, in order that the con- trast might remain a lesson for mankind. Potemkin, bloated- and pampered by every vice, after a path through life stained with blood and crimes, at last the victim of his own selfish excesses; Howard, a volun- tary exile, "enduring the severest privation for the benefit of his fellow creatures, and labouring, even to his latest breath, in the exercise of every social virtue. The particulars of Mr. Howard's death were com- municated to me by his two friends, Admiral Mord- vinof, then Chief Admiral of the Black Sea fleet, and Admiral Priestman, an English officer in the Russian Iff* 174 service; both of whom were eyewitnesses of his w.st moments. He had been entreated to visit a lady about twenty-four miles* from Cherson, who was dangerously ill. Mr. Howard objected, alleging that he acted only as physieian to the poor; but hearing of her imminent danger, he afterwards yielded to the persuasion of Admiral Mordvinof, and went to see her. After ha- ving prescribed that which he deemed proper to be administered, he returned, leaving directions with her family to send for him again if she got better; but adding, that if, as he much feared, she should prove worse, it would be to no purpose. Some time after his return to Cherson, a letter arrived, stating that the lady was better, and begging that he would come with- out loss of time. When he examined the date, he per- ceived that the letter, by some unaccountable delay, had been eight days in getting to his hands Upon this he resolved to go with all possible expedition. The weather was extremely tempestuous, and very cold, it being late in the year, and the rain fell in torrents. In his impatience to set out, a conveyance not being im- mediately ready, he mounted an old dray horse, used in Admiral Mordvinof's family to carry water, and thus proceeded to visit his patient Upon his arrival he found the lady dying; this, added to the fatigue of the journey, affected him so much that it brought on a fever. His clothes, at the same time, had been wet through; but he attributed his fever entirely to another cause. Having administered something to bis patient to excite perspiration, as soon as the symptoms of it ap- peared, he put his hands beneath the bedclothes to feel her pulse, that she might not be chilled by removing them, and believed that her fever was thus communi- • Tlwty-fite nnu. 175 eated to him. After this painful journey Mr. Howard returned to Cherson, and the lady died. It had been almost his daily custom, at a certain hour, to visit Admiral Priestman; when, with his usual attention to regularity, he would place his watch on the table, and pass exactly an hour with him in con- versation. The admiral, finding that he failed in his usual visits, went to see him, and found him weak and ill, sitting before a stove in his bedroom. Having in- quired after his health, Mr. Howard replied that his end was approaching very fast: that he had several things to say to his friend, and thanked him for having called. The admiral finding him in such a melancholy mood, endeavoured to turn the conversation, imagin- ing the whole might be merely the result of low spi- rits ; but Mr. Howard soon assured him it was other- wise ; and added, " Priestman, you style this a very dull conversation, and endeavour to divert my mind from dwelling upon death; but I entertain very different sentiments. Death has no terrors for me ; it is an event I always look to with cheerfulness, if not with pleasure; and be assured the subject of it is to me more grateful than any other. I am well aware I have but a short time to live; my mode of life has rendered it impossible that I should get rid of this fever; if I had lived as you do, eating heartily of animal food, and drinking wine, I might, perhaps, by diminishing my diet, be able to sub- due it. But how can such a man as I am lower his diet, who has been accustomed for years to exist on vegetables and water, a little bread and a little tea; I have no method of lowering my nourishment, and, therefore, I must die. It is such jolly fellows as you, Priestman, who get over these fevers." Then, turning the subject, he spoke of his funeral; and cheerfully gave directions concerning the manner in which he ire wnuld be buried. " There is a spot," s.ud he, " new Uie village of Dauphigny, which would suit me nicely ; you know it well, fori have often said I should like to be buried there ; and let me beg of you, as you value your old friend, not to suffer any pomp to be used at my funeral; nor any monument or monumental in- scription whatsoever to mark where I am laid ; butbiy me quietly in the earth, place a sun-dial over my grave, and let me be forgotten." Having given these direc- tions, he was very earnest in soliciting that Admiral Priestman would lose no time in securing the object of his wishes; but go immediately and settle with the owner of the land for the place of his interment, and prepare every thing for his burial. The admiral left him upon his melancholy errand, fearing at the same time, as he himself informed me, that the people would believe him crazy, to solicit a burying ground for a man who was then living, and whom no person yet knew to be indisposed. How- ever, he accomplished Mr. Howard's wishes, and re- turned to him with the intelligence: at this his counte- nance brightened, a gleam of evident satisfaction came over his face, and he prepared to go to bed. Soon after he made his will, leaving as his executor a trusty follower, who had lived with him more in the capacity of a friend than of a servant, and whom he charged with the commission of bearing his will to England. It was not until after he had finished his will that any symptoms of delirium appeared. Admiral Priestman, who had left him for a short time, returned and found him sitting up in his bed, adding what he believed to be a codicil to his will; but this consisted of several unconnected words, the chief part of which were ille- gible, and all without any meaning. This strange composition he desired Admiral Priestman to Afitocss and sign; and, in order to please him, the admiral consented; but wrote his name, as he bluntly said, in Russian characters, lest any of his friends in England, reading his signature to such a codicil, should think he was also delirious. After Mr. Howard had made what he conceived to be an addition to his will, he became more composed. A letter was brought to him from England, containing intelligence of the improved state of his son's health j stating the manner in which he passed his time in the country, and giving great reason to hope that he would recover from the disorder with which he was afflicted.* His servant read this letter aloud; and, when he had concluded, Mr. Howard turned his head towards him saying, " Is not this com- fort for a dying father ?" He expressed great repug- nance against being buried according to the rites of the preek church ; and begging Admiral Priestman to prevent any interference with his interment on the part of the Russian priests, made him also promise that he would read the service of the church of England over his grave, and bury him in all respects according to the forms of his country. Soon after this last request he ceased to speak. Admiral Mordvinof came in and found him dying very fast. They had in vain besought him to allow a physician to be sent for; but Admiral Mordvinof renewing this solicitation with great ear- nestness, Mr. Howard assented by nodding his head. The physician came, but was too late to be of any ser- vice. A rattling in the throat had commenced; and the physician administered what is called the musk draught, a medicine used tmly in Russia, in the last extremity. It was given to the patient by Admiral Mordvinof, who prevailed on him to swallow a little; but he endeavoured to avoid the rest, and gave evident • tit. Hovrwd'iMM laboured under an stt:Kk of inianity. 178 signs of disapprobation. He was then entirely given over; and shortly after breathed his last. He had always refused to allow any portrait of him- self to be made; but after his death Admiral Mordvi- nof caused a plaster mould to be formed upon his face, which was sent to Mr. Wilberforce. A cast from this mould was in the admiral's possession when we were in Cherson, and presented a very striking resemblance of his features. He was buried near the village of Dauphigny, about five versts from Cherson, on the road to Nicholaef, in the spot he had himself chosen ; and his friend, Ad- miral Priestman, read the English burial service, ac- cording to bis desire. The rest of his wishes were not exactly fulfilled; for the concourse of spectators were immense, and the order of his funeral was more magnificent than would have met with his approbation. It was as follows: l. The body, on a bier, drawn by six horses with trappings. 2. The Prince of Moldavia, in a sumptuous aarriage, drawn by six horses, covered with scarlet cloth. Si. Admirals Mordvinof and Prif.stman, in a carriage drawn by six horses. 4. The generals and staff officers of the garrison, in their respective carriages. 6. The magistrates and merchants of Cherson, in their respective carriages. 6. A large party of cavalr t, 7. Other persons on horseback. 8. Jtn immense concourse of spectators and people on foot, amounting to two or three thousand. A monument was afterwards erected over him, which, instead of the sun-dial he had requested, con- sisted of a brick pyramid, or obelisk, surrounded by stone posts with chains. This, of course, will not long survive the general destruction of whatsoever is inte- resting in the country. The posts and chains began to disappear before our arrival; and, when Mr. Heber visited the spot, not a vestige of them was to be seen; there remained only the obelisk, in the midst of a bleak and desolate plain, before which a couple of dogs were knawing the bones of a dead horse, whose putrifying carcass added to the disgust and horror of the scene. A circumstance came to our knowledge before we left Russia concerning Howard's remains, which it is pain- ful to relate; namely that Count Vincent Potocki, a Po- lish nobleman of the highest taste and talents, whose magnificent library and museum would do honour to any country, through a mistaken design of testifying his respect for the memory of Howard, had signified bis intention of taking up the body, that it might be conveyed to his country seat, where a sumptuous monument has been prepared for its reception, upon a small island in the midst of a lake. His countess, be- ing a romantic lady, wishes to have an annual jHe con- secrated to benevolence; at which the nymphs of the country are to attend, and strew the place with flow- ers. This design is so contrary to the earnest request of Mr. Howard, and, at the same time, so derogatory to the dignity due to his remains, that every friend! to his memory will join in wishing it m*y never be f«l: 180 filled. Count Potocki was absent during the time we remained in that part of the world, or we should have ventured to remonstrate; we could only, therefore, intrust our petitions to a third person, who promised to convey them to him after our departure. The distance from Cherson to Nicholaef is only sixty-two versts, or rather more than forty-one miles. At the distance of five versts from the former place, the road passes close to«£j.- tomb of Howard. It may be supposed we did not halt with indifference to view the hallowed spot. " To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible if it were endeavour- ed, and it would be foolish if it were possible. What- ever withdraws us from the power of our senses; what- ever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predo- minate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far be from me, and from my friends, that frigid philosophy which might conduct us indifferent or unmoved over any ground that has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue." So spake the sage, in words never to be forgotten ; unen- vied be the man who has not felt their force ; lamented he who does not know their author! KJ > Cs (4 fsffi'j. V