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CHAPTER XIII.

ACCOUNT OF YOUNG HOWARD — HIS BEING PLACED SECOND EDITION OF THE AP

AT EDINBURGH

ON Mr. Howard's return from Ireland, he divided his time between London and Cardington, inspecting prisons in the metropolis, and arranging his papers for publication. In these excursions, he was now accompanied by his son, a fine-looking youth of eighteen, whose school education was finished, and whose entrance at either of the Universities was not determined upon; he was also attended, as usual, by Thomasson, whom he still believed to be worthy of the confidence he had ever reposed in him. In this man's character, however, he was completely deceived; under the semblance of a faithful servant, Thomasson hid a false heart, and, by corrupting the morals of the son, inflicted the deadliest wound on the feelings of the father. Being the person always appointed by Mr. Howard to

wait upon his son to and from school, and occasionally left with him at Cardington and elsewhere, he had had ample opportunities of instilling into the mind of that volatile youth the bad principles that filled his own; he had encouraged him in his wild pranks, helped him to deceive his father, and taught him, by his example, whilst he secretly despised all serious things, to affect a respect for them before the old gentleman. This undutiful son even allowed Thomasson to make game of his father, to ridicule his peculiarities, and speak contemptuously of those extraordinary labors, which the good admired and wondered at, but which could not be understood or appreciated by those whose minds were narrowed by vice and prejudice. Under the tuition of so dexterous a hypocrite as Thomasson, young Howard did not fail to make some proficiency in the arts of deception; but being naturally of an open and impetuous temper, his real feelings would occasionally break forth, and make him appear fitful and capricious. Though far from suspecting the real state of his son's morals, Mr. Howard saw much in his conduct to distress him; after making all allowance for difference of age, there was still too great a difference of opinion between them. All the son's feelings were in

opposition to those of the father, and he was encouraged in this unnatural hostility, by the secret influence of some of his relations, who having very different views from those of the philanthropist, looked on his labors with contempt, and regarded the use he made of his fortune as a wrong done to his son. All these bad impressions, together with the great disadvantage of being heir to a considerable property, independent of his father, proved too much for the virtue of young Howard; and before he was nineteen years of age, he was addicted to the grossest vices. During his visits to London in 1783, whilst his father was engaged in his useful labors, he and Thomasson were secretly leading a life of dissipation. After demurely attending Mr. Howard's evening reading of the Scriptures, and pretending to retire at his early hour, they would leave the house, and spend the night in riot and excess.

This confederacy of wickedness was at last broken up, by the removal of young Howard to Edinburgh, whither his father accompanied him, and saw him entered as a student of the University, and settled as an inmate of Dr. Blacklock's family. Having thus provided him with a new field of exertion, and recommended him

to the particular care of the venerable gentleman in whose house he had placed him, this anxious father hoped a favorable change might be wrought in his son's character. Ignorant as he still was of the vicious courses of his beloved child, he was greatly distressed with his general habits and tone of feeling, and sometimes blamed himself for not having conducted himself toward him in such a manner, as would have rendered their intercourse more confidential and affectionate. The conscience of this excellent man acquitted him of all errors of intention; he had, from the infancy of his son, always endeavoured to do that which he firmly believed would best promote his child's virtue and happiness; his parental feelings were, like his other affections, deep-rooted and strong, but he was not in the habit of expressing them freely, and in his intercourse with his only child, this dear relic of his beloved Henrietta, he was ever on his guard against acting from feeling, rather than judgment and a sense of duty. He now began to fear that he had carried this too far, and to regret that he had not more conciliated the affections of his son. He little knew that there were secret influences at work from that child's earliest years, to undermine his authority, to create

a contempt for his advice, and to prejudice his son against him. Even without this secret counteraction, the peculiarities of Mr. Howard's character rendered him particularly unfit to manage a lively and high-spirited youth. His manners and deportment, though gentle, were grave and precise; and the great disparity of years between the father and son, together with the very serious cast of the father's pursuits, made him less companionable to his child than most other affectionate parents. The absence too of female influences at the family fire-side, increased the difficulty of their relative situations; and when, to all these considerations, is added the corrupting influence of an unprincipled attendant, possessing the confidence of each party, we are less surprised that the character of young Howard disappointed the hopes of his anxious father.

In thus dwelling on the adverse circumstances that attended the education of this youth, I would not be understood as endeavouring to exonerate him from any of the responsibility of his own bad conduct. These circumstances are mentioned in justice to the father, not to exculpate the son. He, like every other rational being, had that within him which convinced him of sin, and if he had obeyed its monitions, he would