be transmitted to Holland, where if taken they would meet with the punishment due to traitors. He charged the petty officers among them to see that the clothing he had distributed was properly applied, and gave to each a small gratuity to quicken their vigilance. Having done all he proposed, he dismissed the assembly which he had convened by his sole authority, and thus ended at once a heavy grievance which none else dared attempt to remove. In his own account of the Dutch prisoners at Shrewsbury, he makes no mention of this transaction; he merely says they were clothed by a subscription.

We are fortunate enough to find another anecdote of this remarkable man saved from oblivion by an inhabitant* of Shrewsbury, who relates it nearly in the following manner. Among the Dutch prisoners, whose distress Mr. Howard was the chief instrument in relieving, was one of a singularly benevolent character. He was extremely attentive to those of his fellow captives who were ill, sitting up with them at night, administering their medicines, praying by them, and, in short, discharging, in a very rational and consistent manner, the offices of a nurse and

* Mr. Wood's Letter to the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV. p. 339.

spiritual physician. Mr. Howard was much struck with the conduct and conversation of this kindred spirit, and naturally felt a desire to make his temporary confinement as comfortable as it Icould well be. In answer to Mr. Howard's repeated inquiry how he could serve him, this modest, but interesting prisoner told him, that when the necessities of his fellow-sufferers were provided for, he should feel no want, nor regret the deprivation of those little indulgences which he could not expect in his present situation. At length however this friend of the captive drew from him a confession, that when at home, his greatest enjoyment was to partake of a comfortable dish of tea with his wife and family. About a week after this, the gentleman, upon whose authority this anecdote is related, received a letter from Mr. Howard informing him that he had consigned a parcel to his care, which he requested him to deliver to the Dutch sailor. That parcel contained a small loaf of sugar, and a pound of tea; and that nothing might be wanting to enable the poor fellow to enjoy his favorite beverage, these were accompanied by a tin kettle and the other necessary apparatus.

The whole of this year was consumed in this fourth inspection of prisons, &c. in his native

land, and whilst he was thus assiduously collecting fresh materials, he had the satisfaction to observe, that the legislators of his country were making the use he desired of his former publications. The attention of Parliament was directed to the subject of prison discipline, and the whole nation was aroused to a sense of its importance, and the defects which called loudly for a remedy. That his philanthropic exertions began to be understood and appreciated, may be inferred from the following panegyric pronounced upon him in a speech made by the celebrated orator, Mr. Burke, before his constituents at Bristol. After quoting Mr. Howard to justify himself in having voted in favor of a bill for the relief of debtors, he thus proceeded :

"I cannot name this gentleman without remarking that his labors and writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe, not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosity of modern art; not to collect medals or 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 the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt; to remember the forgotten; to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and compare and collate the distresses of all men of all countries. His plan is original, and it is full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery; a circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of his labor is felt more or less in every country. I hope he will anticipate his final reward, by seeing all its effects fully realized in He will receive, not by retail but in gross, the reward of those who visit the prisoner; and he has so forestalled and monopolized this branch of charity, that there will be, I trust, little room to merit by such acts of benevolence hereafter."

his own.

15*

LILLE- RETURN TO ENGLAND - VISIT TO IRELAND WITH HIS SON 1783.

HAVING closed his labors with the closing year, Mr. Howard spent a month at Cardington; but even then he was revolving in his mind new plans, and contemplating new fields of labor. Two southern kingdoms of Europe were still unexplored; and though civil despotism and religious bigotry rendered Spain and Portugal less hopeful regions than those he had already visited, something might be learnt from them, and therefore he was resolved to make the trial.

Twenty-seven years had elapsed since the earthquake at Lisbon had tempted him to embark for that place. The imposing spectacle of a great city in ruins was then his attraction, and the gratification of an innocent curiosity was the end he proposed; he now went to search out the more hidden misery of his fellow creatures, and