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Concerning the means by which they were to be brought into effect. The reformation of abuses, and the relief of mifery, were the two great purpofes which he kept in view in all his undertakings; and I have equally feen the tear of fenfibility start in to his eyes on recalling fome of the diftrefsful fcenes to which he had. been witnefs, and the fpirit of indignation flash from them on relating inftances of bafenefs and oppreffion. Still, however, his conftancy of mind and felf-collection never deferted him. He was never, agitated, never off his guard; and the unfpeakable advantages of fuch a temper in the fcenes in which he was engaged, need not be dwelt upon.

"His whole courfe of action was fuch a trial of intrepidity and fortitude, that it may feem altogether fuperfluous to fpeak of his poffeffion of thefe 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 fearlefs of confequences. Nor was it only on great occafions that this ftrength of mind was fhown. It raifed him above falfe fhame, and that awe which makes a coward of many a brave man in the prefence of a fuperior. No one ever lefs "feared the face of man," than he. No one hefitated Jef in fpeaking bold truths, or avowing obnoxious opinions. His cou

rage was equally paffive and active, He was prepared to make every facrifice that a regard to strict veracity, or rigorous duty, could enjoin; and it cannot be doubted, that had he lived in an age when afferting his civil and religious rights would have fubjected him to martyrdom, not a more willing martyr would ever have afcended the fcaffold, or embraced the ftake.

"The refolute temper of Mr. Howard difplayed itself in a certain peremptoriness, which, when he had once determined, rendered him unyielding to perfuafion or diffuafion, and urged him on to the accomplishment of his purpose, regardless of obftacles. He expected prompt obedience in those from whom he had a right to require it, and was not a man to be treated with negligence and inattention. He was, however, extremely confiderate, and fufficiently indulgent to human frailties; and a good-will to pleafe him could fcarcely fail of its effect. That his comirands were reasonable, and his expectations moderate, may be inferred from the long continuance of most of his fervants with him, and his fteady attachment to many of thofe whom he employed. His means of enforcing compliance were chiefly rewards; and the witholding them was his method of fhowing difpleafure +.

"The fpirit of independence by

which

"The following characteriftic anecdote was communicated to me by a gentleman who traveled in a chaife with him from Lancashire to London in 1777: Mr. Howard of rved, that he had found few things more difficult to manage than poft-chaife driver, who would feldom comply with his wishes of going flow or fat, tili he adopted the following method. At the end of a ftage, when the driver had been perverfe, he defired the landlord to fend for fome poor induftrious widow, or other proper object of charity, and to introduce fuch peifen and the driver together. He then paid the latter his fare, and told him, that as he had not thought proper to attend to his repeated requests as to the manner of being driven, he should not make him any prefent; but, to fhow him that he did not withold it out of a principle of parfimony, he would give the por perfou prefent double the fum ufually given to a postition. This he did, and difmiffed the parties. He had not long practiled this mode, he faid, before he experienced the good effects of it on all the roads where he was known.

A

his independeney would have found
a refource in the fewn is of his wants ;
and it was an ineftimable advantage
which he brought to his great work,
an advantage perhaps more uncom
mon in this country than any of
thofe already mentioned, that he
poffeffed a command over all corpo-
real appetites and habitudes, not less
perfect than that of any ancient phi-
lofopher, or modern afcetic. The
ftrict regimen of diet which he had
adopted early in life from motives of
health, he afterwards perfevered in
through choice, and even extended
its rigour, fo as to reject all those in-
dulgences which even the moft tem-
perate confider as neceffary for the
prefervation of their ftrength and vi-
gour. Animal foods, and ferment-

which he was ever diftinguished, had in him the only foundation to be relied on, moderate depres. Perfectly contented with the competence which Providence had beftowed on him, he never had a thought of increafing it; and, even when in a fituation to expect a family, he made it a rule with himfelt to lay up no part of his annual income, but to ex pend in fome useful or benevolent fcheme the fuperfluity of the year. Left this should be converted into a charge of careleffnefs in providing for his own, it may be proper to mention, that he had the beftgrounded expectations, that any children he might have, would largely partake of the wealth of their rela. tions. Thus he preferved his heart from that contamination, which (tak-ed and spirituous drinks, he utterly ing in the whole of life) is perhaps the disease most frequently attendant on a state of profperity, the luft of growing rich; a pallion, which is too often found to fwallow up liberality, public fpirit, and, at laft, that independency, which it is the beft ufe of wealth to fecure. By this temper of mind he was elevated to an immeafurable distance above every thing mean and fordid; and in all his tranfactions he difplayed a fpirit of honour and generofity, that might become the "blood of the Howards" when flowing in its nobleft channels.

"Had Mr. Howard been lefs provided with the goods of fortune,

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difcarded from his diet. Water and the plaineft vegetables fufficed him. Milk, tea, butter, and fruit, were his luxuries; and he was equally fparing in the quantity of food, and indifferent as to the ftated times of taking it. Thus he found his wants fupplied in almost every place where man exifted, and was as well provided in the pofadas of Spain and caravanferas of Turkey, as in the inns and hotels of England and France. Water was one of his principal neceffaries, for he was a very Muffulman in his ablutions; and if nicety or delicacy had place with him in any refpect, it was in the perfect cleanliness of his whole perfon. He

"A more extraordinary inftance of his determined spirit has been related to me. Travelling once in the king of Pruffia's dominions, he came to a very narrow piece of road, admitting only one carriage, where it was enjoined on all poftilions entering at each end, to blow their horns by way of notice. He did fo; but, after proceeding a good way, they met a courier travelling on the king's business, who had neglected this precaution. The courier ordered Mr. Howard's poftilion to turn back; but Mr. Howard remonftrated that he had complied with the rule, while the other had violated it; and therefore that he should infift on going forwards. The courier, relying on an authority to which, in that country, every thing must give way, made ufe of high words, but in vain. As neither was dilpofed to yield, they fat ftill a long time in their refpective carriages: at length the courier gave up the point to the sturdy Englishman, who would on no account renounce his rights.”,

was

was equally tolerant of heart, cold, and all the viciffitudes of climate; and, what is more wonderful, not even fleep feemed neceffary to him, at least at thofe returns and in thofe proportions in which mankind in general expect it. How well he was capable of enduring fatigue, the amazing journies he took by all modes of conveyance, without any intervals of what might be called repofe (fince his only baiting places were his proper scenes of action), abundantly tetify. In short, no human body was probably ever more perfectly the fervant of the mind by which it was actuated; and all the efforts of the strongest conftitution, not inured to habits of self-denial, and moral as well as corporeal exercife, would have been unequal to his exertions †,

"With respect to the character of his understanding, that, too, was as happily adapted to the great bufinefs in which he engaged. He had not, in a high degree, that extenfive comprehenfion, that faculty of generalizing, which is faid to diftinguifh the man of genius, but which, without a previous collection of authentic materials, is ever apt to lead into

erroneous fpeculations. He was ra. ther a man of detail; of laborious accuracy and minute examination; and therefore he had the proper qua. lities for one who was to lead the way in refearches where all was ignorance, confufion, and local cuftom. Who but fuch a man could have collected a body of information, which has made even profeffional men acquainted with interefting facts that they never before knew; and has given the English reader a more exact knowledge of practices followed in Ruffia and Spain, than he before had of thofe in his own country? This minuteness of detail was what he ever regarded as his peculiar province. As he was of all men the most modeft eftimator of his own abilities, he was used to say, "I am the plodder, who goes about to colleft materials for men of genius to make ufe of." Let thofe who look with faftidioufnefs upon long tables of rules and orders, and measurements of cells and work-rooms. given in feet and inches, confider, that when a fcheme is brought into practice, thefe fmall circumftances muft have their place; and that the most

"The following account of his mode of travelling, communicated to me by a gentleman in Dublin, who had much free converfation with him, and the substance of which I well recollect to have head from himfe f, will, I doubt not, prove interefting. When he travelled in England or Ireland, it was generallyn horfeback, and he rode about forty English miles a day. He was never at a lofs for an ina. When in Ireland, or the Highlands of Scotland, he uled to stop at one of the poor cabins that flick up a rag by way of fign, and get a little milk. When he came to the town he was to fleep at, he befpoke a tupper, with wine and beer, like another traveller, but made his man attend him, and take it away, whilst he was preparing his bread and mi k. He always paid the waiters, poftilions, &c. liberally, because he would have no difcontent or difpute, nor fuffer his fpirits to be agitated for fuch a matter; faying, that in a journey that might coft three or four hundred pounds, fifteen or twenty pounds addition was not worth thinking about. When he travelled on the continent, he ufually went poft in his own chaite, which was a German one that he bought for the purpose. He never ftopped till he came to the town he meant to vifit, but travelled all night, if neceffary; and from habit could fleep very well in the chaife for several nights together. In the last tour but one he travelled twenty days and nights together without going to bed, and found no inconvenience from it. He used to carry with him a fmall teakettle, fome cups, a little pot of fweet neats, and a few loaves. At the poft-houfe he could get his water boiled, send out for milk, and make his repast, while his man went to the auberge."

ingenious plans often fail in their execution for want of adjustment in the nicer parts. Perhaps even the great Frederic of Pruffia was more indebted for fuccefs to the exactness of his difpofitions in every minute particular connected with practice, than to deep and fublime views of general principle.

"From a fimilar caft of mind, Mr. Howard was a friend to fubordination, and all the decorums of regular fociety; nor did he dislike vigorous exertions of civil authority, when directed to laudable purposes. He interfered little in difputes relative to the theory of government; but was contented to take fyftems of fovereignty as he found them eftablished in various parts of the world, fatisfied with prompting fuch an ap. plication of their powers as might promote the welfare of the refpective communities. A ftate of imprifonment being that in which the rights of men are, in great part, at least fufpended, it was natural hat his thoughts fhould be more converfant with a people as the fubjects, than as the fource, of authority. Yet he well knew, and properly valued, the ineftimable bleflings of political freedom, as oppofed to defpotifin; and, among the nations of Europe, he confidered the Dutch and Swifs as affording the best examples of a strict and steady police, conducted upon principles of equity and humanity. To the character of the Dutch 'he was, indeed, peculiarly partial; and frequently afferted, that he should prefer Holland for his place of refidence, to any other foreign country. I can add, from undoubted authority, that Mr. Howard was one of those who (in the language of the great lord Chatham)" rejoiced that America had refifted," and triumphed in her final fuccefs; that he was principal ly attached to the popular part of our

conftitution; and that in his own county he diftinguifhed himself himfelf by a fpirited oppofition to ariftocratical influence.

"His peculiar habits of life, and the exclufive attention he beftowed in his latter years on a few objects, caufed him to appear more averse to fociety than I think he really was; and it has been mentioned as an unfortunate circumftance, that his fhynefs and referve frequently kept him out of the way of perfons from whom he might have derived much useful information. But it is vain to defire things incompatible. Mr. Howard can icarcely be denied to have chofen the best way, upon the whole, of conducting his enquiries; and if he had been a more companionable man, more ready to indulge his own curiofity, and gratify that of others, he would no longer have poffeffed one of the chief advantages he brought to his great work. Yet while he affiduously fhunned all engagements which would have involved him in the forms and diffipation of fociety, he was by no means difinclined to enter into converfations on his particular topics; on the contrary, he was often extremely communicative, and would enliven a fmall circle with the moft entertaining relations of his tra vels and adventures.

"Mr. Howard had in a high degree that refpectful attention to the female fix which fo much characterifes the gentleman. Perhaps, indeed, I may here be referring to rules of politenefs which no longer exift. But he was as thoroughly impreffed with the maxim of place aux dames as any Frenchman, though without the ftrain of light and complimentary gallantry which has accompanied it in the individuals of that nation, His was a more ferious fentiment, connected with the uniform practice of giving up his own cafe and acom

moda:

nodation, for the fake of doing a real kindness to any female of decent character. It is excellently illuftrated by an anecdote related in a magazine, by a perfon, who chanced to fail with him in the packet from Holyhead to Dublin, when, the veffel being much crowded, Mr. Howard refigned his bed to a fervant-maid, and took up with the cabin floor for himself. It is likewife difplayed throughout his works, by the warmth with which he always cenfures the practice of putting female prifoners in irons, and expofing them to any harth and indelicate treatment. He was fond of nothing fo much as the converfation of women of education and cultivated manners, and ftudied to attach them by little elegant prefents, and other marks of attention, Indeed, his foft tones of voice, and gentleness of demeanour, might be thought to approach fomewhat to the effeminate, and would furprise those who had known him only by the energy of his exertions. In his judgment of female character, it was manifeft that the idea of his loft Harriet was the standard of excellence; and, if ever he had married again, a refemblance to her would have been the principal motive of his choice. I recollect to this purpofe a fingular anecdote, which he related to us on his return from one of his tours. In going from one town in Holland to another in the common paffage boat, he was placed near an elderly gentleman, who had in company a young lady of a moft engaging manner and appearance, which very ftrongly reminded him of his Harriet. He was fo much struck with her, that, on arriving at the place of deftination, he caufed his fervant to follow them. It was not without fome difappointment that he learned, that the old gentleman was an eminent merchant, and the young lady, bis wife.

For

"Mr. Howard's predilection for female fociety, was in part a confequence of his abhorrence of every thing grofs and licentious. His own language and manners were invariably pure and delicate; and the freedoms which pafs uncenfured or even applauded in the promifcuous companies of men, would have affected him with fenfations of difguft. a perfon poffeffed of fuch feelings, to have brought himfelf to fubmit to fuch frequent communication with the moft abandoned of mankind, was perhaps a greater triumph of duty over inclination than any other he obtained in the profecution of his defigns. Yet the nature of his errand to prifons probably infpired awę and refpect in the most diffolute; and I think he has recorded, that he never met with a fingle infult from the prifoners in any of the gaols he vifited.

"As Mr. Howard was fo eminent. ly a religious character, it may be expected that fomewhat more fliould be faid of the peculiar tenets he adopted. But, befides that this was a topic which did not enter into our converfations, I confefs, I do not perceive how his general plan of conduct was likely to be influenced by any peculiarity of that kind. The principle of religious duty, which is nearly the fame in all fyftems, and differs rather in ftrength than in kind in different perfons, is furely fufficient to account for all that he did and underwent in promoting the good of mankind, by modes which i'rovidence feemed to place before him. It has been fuggefted, that he was much under the influence of the doctrine of predeftination; and I know not what of fernness has been attributed to him as its natural confequence. For my own part, I am not able to difcover in what thofe notions of Providence, general and particu

lar,

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