of the British consul, he succeeded in smuggling into his apartment a quarter of a bushel of quick lime, and a brush. Once possessed of the means of purification, he was resolved to use them, even if he were obliged to lock up his guard whilst he did it. By rising very early, and bribing an attendant to help him, he accomplished the business one morning before the man was awake, and by this simple process his principal room was rendered so wholesome and sweet, that he ate his next meal in it with a better relish, had a good night's rest, and in a few days recovered his usual appetite for his simple diet of bread and tea, which was all that he allowed himself.

THOUGH the atmosphere of one apartment was now made more wholesome, the whole air of the Lazaretto was infected, and, owing to its being so badly conducted, it was still a very dangerous residence. Being furnished with the printed regulations concerning it, Mr. Howard had the means of comparing its present degenerate state with what it was originally intended to be, and part of his occupation, whilst a prisoner within its walls, was translating those documents, and writing an account of the present state of the laz

aretto.

Whilst our philanthropist was making this singular sacrifice to the cause of humanity, he received a packet of letters from his far distant home. Their varied contents were however such as to give him far more pain than pleasure. That

calm frame of mind and those even spirits, which his personal sufferings could not affect, were not proof against the sad tidings which reached him of his son's conduct. From his intimate friends, and confidential servants, he heard of the strange whims and extravagant behaviour of that only child; but the whole truth was not told him; none of his correspondents mentioned their suspicions, that his son labored under a mental malady. Not being at that time certain of the fact, they refrained from making the suggestion, though it would probably have been rather a consolation to the father than otherwise.

Another piece of intelligence reached him at this time, which would have been to most men very gratifying news, but which seems to have given Mr. Howard unmixed pain. He was informed, that a subscription had been set on foot, in England, for the purpose of erecting a statue, or some other monument, to his honor; that it was rapidly filled with the names of ministers, nobles, and persons of distinction, and a committee was appointed to determine upon the best mode of executing the design. His confidential friends knew his repugnance to all public honors so well, that they had discountenanced the undertaking, and now hastened to inform

him of the steps which had been hastily taken in the affair by his admirers in England. So far was this truly modest man from deriving any pleasure from so remarkable a testimony of public esteem, that all his expressions on the subject show his retiring nature to have been deeply wounded by the possibility of such an exposure to the world. In a letter to Mr. Smith, in which he poured out his grief as a father, he thus writes of the proposed monument.

"To hasten to the other very distressing affair, oh, why could not my friends, who know how much I detest such parade, have stopped such a hasty measure! — As a private man with some peculiarities, I wished to retire into obscurity and silence. Indeed, my friend, I cannot bear the thought of being thus dragged out. I immediately wrote, and hope something may be done to stop it. My best friends must disapprove it. It deranges and confounds all my

schemes fortune."

my exaltation is my fall, my mis

He mentions,* in the same letter, as a proof how opposed his wishes were to monumental honors, that, before he set out on this journey, he

* Dr. Aikin's Life of Howard.

had given directions, that in case of his death his funeral expenses should not exceed ten pounds that his tomb should be a plain slip of marble, placed underneath that of his dear Henrietta, in Cardington church, with this inscription: John Howard, died My hope is in

Christ.

aged

In all his letters written from Vienna, he expresses the deepest concern on the subject of the monument, and always classes that and the news of his son's conduct together as two very distressing affairs. In writing to John Prole he kindly laments the trouble and anxiety which that faithful servant was suffering from the misconduct of his son, thanks him for his wise and prudent behaviour, and promises to return home as soon as he can after his quarantine is over. In all his lamentations over that misguided youth we see the wounded feelings of an affectionate parent mingled with the habitual resignation of a truly pious man, and the struggles of a mind devoted to large schemes of benevolence, against being too much absorbed by private woe.

When this voluntary prisoner had completed the term of his confinement, he left the lazaretto with his health and spirits so much impaired by all he had suffered there, that he found it neces