and in what degree we can avail ourselves of those lights, which it was the particular purpose of my foreign journeys to collect."

An act of Parliament for establishing Penitentiary Houses had been passed in 1779, on which much thought and labor had been bestowed by men of great ability. This act provides for the appointment of three supervisors to superintend the erection of buildings. "The whole Kingdom," says one of his biographers,* "would naturally turn its eyes on Mr. Howard as the first person whose services ought to be engaged on this occasion; but it was not an easy task to obtain his acquiescence. Among other objections, his extreme delicacy with respect to pecuniary emolument stood in his way; and even the moderate salary annexed to his office, seemed to him scarcely compatible with the absolute disinterestedness of conduct he had maintained and was determined to preserve, during the whole of his labors. At length, however, the solicitations of his friends, particularly of the late Sir William Blackstone, the great promoter of the design, together with a consciousness of the service he might render the public in this station, overcame his reluctance."

* Dr. Aikin.

Having stipulated, as the condition of his acceptance of the office, that his highly valued friend Dr. Fothergill should be one of his associates, and having resolved to take no salary for himself, he consented to be appointed one of the three supervisors. Mr. Whately was the third. Two penitentiary houses were to be built for the metropolis, and the first point to be decided, was where they should be situated. Various places were proposed, and Mr. Howard visited them and duly considered all the circumstances favorable and unfavorable belonging to each. At last after mature deliberation he and Dr. Fothergill came to the conclusion that Islington was the most eligible spot for their purpose. Mr. Whately however gave the preference to Lime-house; and to this man's obstinate perseverance in his choice, were sacrificed the services of our philanthropist. By the death-bed advice of Sir William Blackstone, the two friends adhered to their opinion; but the opposition to them was continued throughout the year 1780, at the end of which Dr. Fothergill died, and Mr. Howard resigned.

No obstacle now appeared to stand between Mr. Howard and the enjoyment of that retirement, to which he had long looked forward.

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CHAPTER X.

TRAVELS IN DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND RUSSIA PUNISHMENT OF THE KNOOT -SEMINARY FOR FEMALES GOLD MEDAL-1781.

AN intimate friend of Mr. Howard's has said of him, that "it was a leading feature of his character, not to be content with any thing short of the greatest perfection which every object of his pursuit was capable of obtaining." This principle, applied to the great cause which had so long engrossed his attention, led him to the contemplation, not of the much that he had accomplished, but of the vast regions of the civilized globe which he had not explored. Accustomed as he had long been, to find his chief happiness in the performance of duty, all the comforts and social privileges of his agreeable residence at Cardington could not detain him from the field of labor which lay before him, and to which his sense of duty pointed. To those who knew him intimately it was therefore no surprise to learn, in the summer of 1781, that he was set out on a tour to the capitals of Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Poland.

Passing through a part of Holland and Germany, on his way to Denmark, he visited many places in those countries which he had not before seen, and carried on in each his system of minute investigation and careful notation; but the mixture of good and evil was so much like what we have already noticed, that the details would not be interesting to the general reader. In the Danish dominions however were some novelties, connected with Mr. Howard's pursuit, well worthy of a few minutes' attention.

The first of these that struck the traveller's eye, on entering most of the towns, was a whipping-post erected on some conspicuous spot, and on it, the figure of a man with a sword by his side, and a whip in his hand; another was the punishment of leading a criminal through the streets between two soldiers, with something like an inverted tub having a hole in the bottom, through which the head passes, resting on his shoulders and reaching as low as his knees. This awkward and heavy contrivance is strangely enough called a Spanish mantle. Mr. Howard measured one of them and found the part that rested on the shoulders was one foot eight inches in diameter, and the lower part was about three feet across. He says, "This kind of punishment

is very much dreaded, and is one cause that night robberies are never heard of in Copenhagen."

The common mode of execution in Denmark was decollation, and it was considered more honorable to be beheaded by the sword than the axe. For heinous crimes, the savage practice of breaking on the wheel was still resorted to; but executions of any kind were rare. Whipping, banishment, and slavery were the punish、ments in common use there. In visiting the

state prison, Mr. Howard observed the closeness of its cells, and heard that state prisoners were not allowed any court, nor any fresher air than came to them, through the very small windows of their apartments. It is told of a certain Count Struensee, who had been confined three months in one of those close places, that when led out to execution, though a terrible death was before him, he exclaimed, "O what a blessing is fresh air!"

The care taken of the sick and the poor, in Copenhagen, did great credit to the humanity of those in power, and furnished the benevolent traveller with some useful hints. Of his own personal deprivations whilst in these regions, we shall presently hear, in a letter written from Moscow, where they are slightly touched upon ;