house. His scientific ardour was rewarded by his being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

A suitable opportunity occurring, he again entered the marriage state. His second wife appears to have been, as far as adventitious circumstances are concerned, far more suitable for Mr. Howard than his first; and his marriage with her was a source of great comfort to him. She was the second daughter of Edward Leeds, Esq. Serjeant at Law. She was a very amiable and excellent woman; and ardently attached to Mr.Howard, in whose plans of benevolence she most heartily co-operated. Her health was, however, delicate; which circumstance obliged them to pass a considerable part of their time at an estate which Mr. Howard had purchased in the New Forest, in Hampshire. Both there and at Cardington, the happiness of all around them appears to have been their constant care. Mrs. Howard, however, died in the seventh year after their marriage, soon after giving birth to a son, her first and only child. This was a severe affliction to her husband, who seems to have been most tenderly attached to her; but he endeavoured, in Christian resignation, to submit his will to the Divine purpose. He never ceased, however, to feel her loss, and always kept the anniversary of her death as a fast, devoting the day to private meditation and prayer. His biographer notices a similar circumstance in the life of Dr. Johnson; but adds, that there is reason to conclude that these two extraordinary men were influenced by very different views in the line of conduct which they adopted.

We cannot avoid complaining of the apparently studied diffuseness of this part of the memoir. The most trivial events are eked out with laborious and petty nicety; and the "multum" rather than the "bene" seems to have been the object of the biographer's effort. There CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 270.

is but one reason to be offered in apology; namely, that Howard's character for affection, and a regard to the charities of private life, had been so vehemently assailed that Dr. Brown has thought it right to place in array a host of incidents to bear down this unjust reproach. It is clear from the facts related, that though, in his conduct towards his wife and child, Howard was certainly peculiar, and that his sentiments of parental authority were those of a strict disciplinarian, his conduct by no means warranted the strong and calumnious representations which appear to have gone forth to the world on the anonymous authority of a petulant and invidious writer in "the Gentleman's Magazine." We cannot, however, quite justify the language in which the defence of Mr. Howard's character was undertaken by Dr. Aikin, who describes the attack as "a slander black as hell;" or that of Mr. Townsend, who paralleled the assault with that made "by the grand calumniator upon the perfect and upright character of Job."This is not the best mode of conducting a defence. Answering the slanderer thus "according to his folly," most probably made him wise in his own conceit; while a dispassionate statement of the awkward fact on which the erroneous imputation appears chiefly to have been founded, would have been the most effectual antidote to the poison,-if indeed the slander was worth noticing at all. But the testimony which has been called forth in consequence of it, from so many witnesses of unimpeachable integrity and unbiassed judgment, has placed the character of the philanthropist in its true light, and removed for ever that cruel and shameless accusation, that the insanity in after-life of his son was occasioned by the mode of treatment adopted by his father towards him in his infancy, and not, as is now most distinctly proved to have been the case, by the excesses of the son 3 C

himself, operating, it would seem, upon a frame predisposed to the malady.

The alleged fact on which the charge of cruelty rests was, that Howard locked up his son a whole night, while yet a child, in a toolhouse in his garden, as a punishment for mere puerile inattention to his father's wishes. On the closest investigation, the matter turns out to be, that one morning, not night, Howard and his son being in this tool-house together, he was informed that a gentleman on horseback wished to speak with him at his door. He desired his son to remain quietly in the tool-house till his return; and on going out, thinking that he might be disposed to wander, and get into mischief, he turned the key of the door and put it into his pocket. He was detained with the visitor longer than he expected; and his attention was so absorbed by the business on which they had been conversing, that he forgot his child till the afternoon, when, the servant reminding him of the circumstance, he flew to the spot to visit his prisoner and liberate him from his confinement. He found him quietly asleep on the matting, not at all disturbed by his being detained there longer than he expected.

Dr. Brown has bestowed great pains on this part of the memoir, and has succeeded in wiping away the blot. There can be no doubt that in the government of his family, and particularly as respected his son, in prescribing his dress and diet, and in various other circumstances which the generality of fathers either deem too trivial to notice or commit entirely to the care of others, Howard was disposed to take the direction into his own hands, and was firm in requiring others to execute what he was in his own mind satisfied to resolve; but we do not apprehend that his peculiarity went beyond this. This part of his character may be better seen by the following little anecdote,

which Howard himself was accustomed often pleasantly to relate, and with which we take leave of this part of the memoir.

"The truth is," says Mr. Palmer, his pastor, in his manuscript memoir of his distinguished friend, "he had a high idea (some of his friends may think too high) of the authority of the head of a family. And he thought it right, because most convenient, to maintain it, for the sake of avoiding the unhappy consequences of domestic disputes. On this principle, I have more than once heard him pleasantly relate the agreement he made with the last Mrs. Howard, previous to their marriage, that to prevent all altercations about those little matters which he had observed to be the chief grounds of uneasiness in families, he should always decide. To this the amiable lady readily consented, and ever adhered., Nor did she ever regret the agreement, which she found to be attended with the happiest effects. Such was the opinion she entertained both of his wisdom and his goodness, that she perfectly acquiesced in all that he did, and no lady ever appeared happier in the conjugal bonds." pp. 55, 56.

With the view of diverting his thoughts from the melancholy event of his second wife's death, Mr. Howard, having committed his son to the care of some excellent ladies who kept a school at Cheshunt, in Herts, again made a journey to the continent, visiting Genoa, Leghorn, and the Italian states. The extracts given from his journal mark the impression made upon his mind by the miserable and degraded state in which he found the population of these countries, and his indignation at the terrors and tortures of the inquisition. To an English mind, liberal like Howard's, this prominent feature of popish intolerance and bigotry must have appeared in its justly odious character. Well might Pope Paul IV., in the fondness of his approving delight, term this engine" the best battering ram ever constructed for the destruction of heresy and the defence of the papal sce."

Howard notices, with becoming reprobation, the idleness and vanity generated by the pompous festivals

point, and even in the crater. He lay down on the masses of lava and plunged his thermometer into the hottest liquid. The observations which he made, he afterwards communicated to the Royal Society. While at Naples, in imitation of the example of many devout persons of ancient and modern times, he drew up a solemn dedication of himself, his child, his time, his talents, his influence, and all he possessed, to the glory of his Lord and Master. From his formulary of self-dedication, we insert the following passages. In reference to the place of his temporary abode, he says

"Being deeply sensible it is the presence of God that makes the happiness of every place, so, O my soul! keep close to Him in the amiable light of redeeming love, and amidst the snares thou art particularly exposed to in a country of such wickedness and folly. Stand thou in awe,

and sin not-commune with thine own

heart-see what progress thou makest in thy religious journey! Art thou nearer the heavenly Canaan, the vital flame burning clearer and clearer; or are the concerns of a moment engrossing thy foolish heart? Stop! remember thou art a candidate for eternity! Daily fervently pray for wisdom. Lift up thy heart and eyes to the Rock

of Ages, and then look down on the glory of this world-a little while, and thy journey will be ended! Be thou faithful unto death." p. 93.

"Oh, compassionate and Divine Redeemer! save me from the dreadful guilt and power of sin, and accept of my solemn, free, and, I trust, unreserved, full surrender of my soul, my spirit, my dear child, all I am and have, into thy hands! Unworthy of thy acceptance! yet, O Lord God of mercy, spurn me not from thy presence! Accept of me, vile as I am, I hope a repenting, returning prodigal. I glory in my choice, acknowledge my obligations as a servant of the Most High God; and now may the Eternal God be my refuge; and be thou, O my soul! faithful to that God that will never leave

nor forsake thee.

"Thus, O my Lord and my God, is humbly bold even a worm to covenant with thee! Do thou ratify and confirm it, and make me the everlasting monument of thy unbounded mercy! Amen, Amen, Amen. Glory to God the Father, God the Son,

and God the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen!

Hoping my heart deceives me not, and trusting in his mercy for restraining returning what I have received of him into and preventing grace, though rejoicing in his hands, yet, with fear and trembling, I sign my unworthy name. "JOHN HOWard. "Naples, 27th May, 1770." p. 94.

From a note at the foot of this paper, it appears that he renewed his solemn covenant not long before his death, at Moscow, Sept. 27, 1789.

There are passages in the above extract, and many other parts of his journal, which will expose Mr. Howard to the reproach of enthusiasm and extravagance, from those who understand not his language. But Howard was no enthusiast: he was a man of most firm and placid decision; and by no means accustomed to act with precipitancy or on hasty convictions. It has indeed been said, and beautifully and truly, that "the moment of finishing his plans in deliberation, and commencing them in action, was the same." But his actions sprang not from momentary impulses, but from the dictates of a sound and sober judgment, framed in coolness of tem

per,

of purpose; and, so far from the heat of enthusiasm influencing his character, we constantly find him praising God in his journals for a flow of calm, steady, unruffled spirits, the sport of no sudden incidents, but subdued to the influence of his enlightened mind.

and with inflexible steadiness

After his return from the continent, Mr. Howard resided for several years at his beloved mansion in Cardington, and there employed himself in furthering by every little plan of benevolence which his ingenuity could devise, the comfort and happiness of his tenantry, building 'neat cottages for them, allotting them pieces of ground for gardens, establishing schools for the instruction of their children, and in every way fostering their industry and good habits. In the distribution of his little encouragements for their

improvement, although a Dissenter himself, it was no bar to his favour, that the person who needed it belonged to the Established Church. His catholic spirit was remarkably displayed in his continuing till his death to subscribe to the support of a meeting-house, and to the poor belonging to it, though he had felt himself obliged by a difference of opinion on some important points of doctrine, to secede from the communion of its members. The following passage shews the regularity of his attendance on every religious ordinance; and his care to avoid all unnecessary trouble to his servants on the day of sacred rest.

"Mr. Howard always set a very high value upon the Sabbaths which he spent in England; and we know from the extracts from his diary already inserted in this work, that, during his various journeys upon the continent, he had felt and deeply deplored the loss of the religious privileges which he enjoyed upon these sacred days at home. After the new meeting-house was opened, and the Rev. Thomas Smith had accepted the pastoral charge of the church and congregation assembling beneath its roof, that he might not increase the necessary labour of his domestics, or infringe upon their time for religious improvement, it was his constant practice, if the weather permitted, to walk from Cardington to Bedford, a distance of nearly three miles, before the morning service, and to return home in the same manner, directly after the conclusion of that in the afternoon. This, indeed, was a habit he so regularly pursued, that the only enemy he ever had-and it is a melancholy proof of the depravity of the human heart, that a man like him could have even one-an idle and dissolute wretch, whom he had often, but in vain, reproved for his vices, determined to avail himself of it, to carry into execution the diabolical purpose he had formed of waylaying and murdering him. But Providence,' says Mr. Palmer, upon whose authority this anecdote is related, remarkably interposed to preserve so valuable a life, by inclining him that morning to go on horseback a different road.' For the purpose of securing a retirement for his devotions, he built a house within a few doors of the meeting, which he suffered a family to occupy without paying him rent, upon condition that he should have the

use of the parlour when he was at Bedford on a Sunday. There he spent the intermediate time between the two services in solitude; the woman of the house preparing for him some slight refreshment." pp. 116, 117.

In the year 1773 he was called to the office of high sheriff for the county of Bedford; and he applied himself with diligence to the fulfilment of its duties. He undertook in person to inspect every jail and every cell; and here commenced that great work which has, from the extent of his unwearied labours in it, gained him the name of the Philanthropist of the World. Dr. Brown marks the origin of such a devotion to this singular and untrodden path of benevolence, and the first steps taken in its pursuit, by quoting the prefatory remarks of Mr. Howard himself, in his "State of Prisons."

"The distress of prisoners," he says, "of which there are few who have not some imperfect idea, came more immediately under my notice when I was sheriff of the county of Bedford; and the circumstance which excited me to activity in their behalf was, the seeing some, who by the verdict of juries were declared not guilty; some, on whom the grand jury did not find such an appearance of guilt as subjected them to trial; and some whose prosecutors did not appear against them; after having been confined for months, dragged back to jail, and locked up again till they should pay sundry fees to the jailor, the clerk of assize, &c. In order to redress this hardship, I applied to the justices of the county for a salary to the jailor in lieu of his fees. The bench were properly affected with the grievance, and willing to grant the relief desired; but they wanted a precedent for charging the county with the expense. I therefore rode into several neighbouring counties in search of a precedent; but I soon learned that the same injustice was practised in them; and, looking into the prisons, I beheld scenes of calamity, which I grew daily more and more anxious to alleviate." p. 123.

Mr. Howard, therefore, immediately commenced his plans of mercy; and visited all the jails in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham,