look among the cabbages, and you will find something for your family." To the same period must be assigned the first of the numerous foreign tours which Howard was to make. The journey in this case, unlike so many of his later ones, was undertaken with no further object beyond his own interest and enjoyment, and possibly the benefit of his health. Of the details of the tour we know nothing, save the fact that he visited France and Italy; but it was perhaps at this time that some of the pictures and works of art were purchased which afterwards adorned the house at Cardington. We now come to the curious story of Howard's first marriage. Like his illustrious contemporary, Dr. Johnson, he married a woman old enough to be his mother; and, like Richard Hooker, his marriage was to some extent due to the discomfort of life in lodgings. But whereas in Hooker's case the marriage was suggested by the landlady, who, after representing that he ought to have some one to look after him, presented him with her daughter Joan as a suitable wife, in Howard's case the suggestion was all his own, and it was the landlady herself, and not her daughter, to whose charms he succumbed. The facts are these. On his return from his travels, Howard, whose health was anything but good, was advised to move into the country, and settled down in lodg ings at Stoke Newington. He suffered from want of proper attention in the rooms which he first selected, and presently moved into the house of a Mrs. Sarah Loidore, or Lardeau-the name is given in both forms. Here he was seized with a severe illness; and so grateful was he for the attention shown to him by his landlady, that, on his recovery, the first thing he did was to offer her his hand in marriage. Owing to the disparity of their ages, for Mrs. Lardeau was over fifty and Howard himself but twenty-four, the lady hesitated to accept. But her suitor was persistent, and in the end obtained her consent. The marriage, which took place in 1752, turned out better than might have been expected. Mrs. Howard is. represented as a "sensible worthy woman," and her husband was sincerely attached to her. He was, as we have seen, in easy circumstances himself, and showed his disinterestedness by settling his wife's small fortune upon her sister. The union, however, was not destined to be of long duration, for Mrs. Howard, who was in weak health at the time of the marriage, died towards the close of 1755, and Howard was left a widower before he was thirty. CHAPTER II LIFE, TO THE DEATH OF HOWARD'S SECOND WIFE Change of Residence-Foreign Tour-Capture by French Privateer-Experiences in a French Prison-Howard elected F.R.S.-Settles at Cardington-Second Marriage -Anecdotes of Mrs. Howard-Removal to Watcombe -Return to Cardington-Birth of a Son and Death of Mrs. Howard. HE death of Mrs. Howard led to the break THE up of the house at Stoke Newington. Howard in characteristic fashion distributed his furniture among his dependents and poorer neighbours, and in after years his old gardener delighted to tell how, on this occasion, he received as his "dividend" a bedstead and bedding, a table, six chairs, and a scythe, in addition to a guinea for a single day's work, probably in removing furniture. For a time Howard took lodgings in St. Paul's Churchyard, but being now free to indulge his taste for roving and his desire to see foreign countries, it was not long before he started once more upon his travels. Shortly before this, there 8 had taken place the great earthquake of 1755, whereby Lisbon was laid in ruins; and Howard, moved probably by curiosity rather than any philanthropic design of relieving distress, determined to visit the scene of the calamity and to make a tour in Portugal. He failed, however, to reach the country, for the Hanover, the packet in which he sailed, was captured by a French privateer, and taken into Brest. The account of Howard's experiences on this occasion must be given in his own words, as he refers to the incident in a note in his book on Prisons, in order to illustrate the sufferings of prisoners of war. "Before we reached Brest I suffered the extremity of thirst, not having for above forty hours one drop of water, nor scarcely a morsel of food. In the castle at Brest I lay six nights upon straw, and observed how cruelly my countrymen were used there and at Morlaix, whither I was carried next; during two months I was at Carhaix upon parole, I corresponded with the English prisoners at Brest, Morlaix, and Dinnan: at the last of these towns were several of our ship's crew, and my servant. I had sufficient evidence of their being treated with such barbarity that many hundreds had perished, and that thirty-six were buried in a hole at Dinnan in one day. When I came to England, still on parole, I made known to the Commissioners of Sick and Wounded Seamen the sundry particulars which gained their attention and thanks. Remonstrance was made to the French Court; our sailors had redress; and those that were in the three prisons, mentioned above, were brought home in the first cartel-ships." In addition to the account of his sufferings, contained in this note, a few details are added by Brown. At Brest the prisoners were kept for a considerable time without nourishment; at last a joint of mutton was thrown into the filthy dungeon, which the prisoners were obliged to tear to pieces and gnaw like dogs. At Carhaix, where he spent two months on parole, the person at whose house he lodged supplied him, though an utter stranger, with both clothes and money-for he had been stripped of his belongings at Brest. And when at length he was allowed to return to England it was only upon his promise that he would once more return to captivity, should the English Government refuse to exchange him for a French naval officer.2 It is curious that at this early period, many years before his philanthropic labours began, Howard should thus have experienced in his own person something of the sufferings which he was to spend his later years in alleviating. The incident, however, stands by itself, and can hardly be said to 1 The State of Prisons, p. 11. 2 Brown's Life, p. 19, cf. Universal Magazine for 1790. |