atmosphere. I then took the temperature every five minutes, till I got to the top. The heat was continually increasing. After I had stood the smoke a quarter of an hour, I breathed freely; so with three men I descended so far as they would go with me, where the earth or brimstone was so heated that, in frequent experiments, it raised my thermometer to 240°, which is near 30° hotter than boiling water, and in some places it fired some paper I put in. As these experiments have never before been made, I thought the account of them might afford your ladyship some entertainment. "We begin to have hot weather here, so I shall make my pilgrimage in the night to Loretto, and from thence to Venice, where I shall stay about a fortnight, when, I think, I shall take my route through Germany to my favourite country, Holland. When at Rotterdam I shall hope to be favoured with a letter, though I believe I shall hardly be there till the middle or latter end of September, as I seldom fix any route or time in any place. This uncertainty prevents my hearing so often from my friends as I could wish. Permit me to say I am with much esteem, "Your ladyship's obliged and In the streets of Rome he met with the Confraternità della Misericordia-a brotherhood of Charity known by the singular garb they wear when on duty. He describes the cemetery where criminals are interred: "I was in Rome on the 29th of August, the only day in the year when the burial-place is open to the public. Adjoining an elegant church is a chapel. In the portico and on one side are marble squares, in which are circular apertures for the interments of those who are executed. Round these stones is inscribed "Domine, cum veneris judicare, noli nos condemnare." He visited Civita Vecchia to inspect the Pope's galleys. Prisoners condemned for life were chained two and two, and if guilty of forgery, they had to wear an iron glove. Punished for limited terms, they were fastened by a single chain; but after the lapse of two years a ring only was attached to the leg, and this was lessened as the expiration of imprisonment approached. "None are sent to the galleys," he says, "under the age of twenty; criminals of a younger age are kept at the Hospital of St. Michele in Rome. till they are of age."1 Of the prison at Civita Vecchia, containing 1364 prisoners, he gives a horrible account. He saw a low vaulted room with only gleams of light, where men were chained heavily, and fastened down, and the noise they made was "such as may be imagined at the entrance of hell." Amongst them were 700 murderers and bandits. "They were a ghastly crew, haggard, ferocious, reckless assassins." "What are you here for?" Howard said to a heavylooking fellow lying on his back. The man would not answer, but a companion said, "He is here for stabbing." "Why is he in this part of the prison?" 1 Foreign Prisons, p. 96. 66 Because he is incorrigible." "What are you condemned for?" he inquired of another. "For murder.” On his way, again and again, at Naples and Rome, and afterwards when travelling homewards, he recorded in his Journal and in letters, self-abasing lamentations. Though on a mission of mercy, and everywhere behaving with the utmost circumspection, he confesses, in language like that of Augustine, not in style but in spirit, his utter sinfulness, wrestling with God for mercy and forgiveness. It appears from the following letter, that passing from Italy, he visited Stuttgart, the capital of Wurtemberg, pleasantly situated, with long, wide streets, and a Royal palace. Stuttgart, July 26th, 1770. “MY LADY,—I received a very kind letter at Venice; accept a very poor return,—my thanks,—also for your obliging visit to my boy. When I left Rome, I steered my course to Loretto. The immense riches that are there locked up are as surprising as the folly of the votaries. The superstition, folly, and nonsense that one hears and sees, must give any thinking mind pain, and that such a gross imposition should be carried on such a number of years. They say the Virgin's chamber was brought over the Venetian Gulf, A.D. 1290; and they told me it was brought by a miracle, and supported from falling by a miracle, though enclosed by a marble case, and many iron bars to prevent its falling in. I could not help saying, in their holy chamber, it would be another miracle to make me believe either one or the other. "I went from thence to Bologna, and spent a few days there. The city is no otherwise remarkable than for the piazzas (as in Covent Garden) to every house. There are some fine pictures, and one rich Monastery of the Olivetano, from whence is one of the finest views in Italy. Thence I came to Venice, the situation of which amidst many, as it were floating islands, is surprising; yet when I saw the Rialto, St. Mark's Place, etc., I was much disappointed; prints had raised my expectation, but they the realities-fell short. The streets are all alleys-in many places two persons cannot pass. The houses are all dirty, the canals quite offensive, so that it required some patience to stay eight or ten days. And I was not singular, as an English family there told me they never were so tired of a place in a week's time." 1 The course he took next is uncertain, except that we find him at Heidelberg in July. Afterwards he reached Rotterdam; and he sat down one Sunday night to express his sentiments in the following strain : "This morning, on the review of the temper of my mind, how humbled I ought to be before God. I have an evil and wicked heart, ever ready to depart from Him, starting aside like a deceitful bow, mourning yet trusting in my Lord and my God, when by calm, retired thoughts, I would hope I am one step forward on my Christian journey. Yet, alas! in company how many steps backward! God give me wisdom!" "I desire, with profound veneration, to bless and praise God for His merciful preservation of me in my long journey. No danger, no accident, has befallen me; but I am among the living, I trust, ever to praise 1 Addressed to Lady Whitbread. Howard Correspondence. Him. And as to my soul, among all its weakness and folly, yet I have some hope it has not lost ground this year of travelling. I am very desirous of returning with a right spirit, not only wiser, but better, with a cheerful humility, a more general love, and benevolence towards my fellow-creatures, watchful of my thoughts, my words, my actions, and resigned to the will of God, that I may walk with God, and lead a more useful and honourable life in this world."1 From the Hague, that favourite spot, he wrote to England: "The Hague, Aug. 20th, 1770. “MY LADY,—In Italy, however magnificent the objects, and highly elegant the curiosities may be, we in England have the solid, the substantial, and important, which we ought to value above all the rest. "I have been well gratified with foreign elegances, and shall sit down at home in peace, as the comfortable, useful, and honourable life should be our aim. I am sure I require the most favourable allowance of my friends."2 This, and the previous letter to the same lady, written at Stuttgart, enables us to trace Howard's route on his way home, a matter left in obscurity by previous biographers. 1 Brown, p. 98. 2 Addressed to Lady Whitbread. |