cultivated his taste for the fine arts. On returning to England, in a delicate state of health, he studied some branches of natural philosophy, and the theory of medicine, which, in after life, was of the greatest service. The benevolence of his character was at the same time apparent, in his distribution of large sums to the necessitous.

he most zealously pursued the same course, seeking also to promote the spiritual interests of his fellow men.

Called in 1773 to the office of High Sheriff of the county of Bedford, he faithfully discharged his new duties. Not only did he pay great attention to the county jail, but to many other prisons; and received in consequence, the thanks of the House of Commons. Thus encouraged, he completed his inspection of the prisons in England, greatly improving the condition of many; and in 1775, after returning from a tour in Ireland and Scotland, he travelled into France, Flanders, Holland, and Germany.

On the death of his wife, Howard determined to leave England, distributed his furniture among the poorest housekeepers in the neighbourhood, and embarked in a Lisbon packet for Portugal. This vessel was taken by a French privateer, and his captors used him with great cruelty; for, after having kept him forty hours without food or water, he was carried into Brest, where he was confined in a castle, and afterwards in a dungeon. He was subsequently removed to Morlaix, and from thence to Carpaix, where he was on his parole of honour, owing to the humanity of the jailer. He there met with a person, who though an utter stranger to him, supplied him with clothes and money, expecting that he would one day or other be repaid. At length Howard was allowed to visit England, on his promise to return, should the British government refuse to liberate a French naval officer in exchange: this arrangement was hap-quired into Howard's conduct as a landpily effected.

To the captivity Howard so unexpectedly endured, he attributed the direction of his mind to the distressed condition of the sick and imprisoned. In the hope of alleviating their sufferings, he resolved on another tour, and again fixed on France, through which he passed to Geneva, visiting many places on his

route.

Most distressing were the scenes he often witnessed. Thus in reference to Liege, he says, "In descending deep below the ground, I heard the moans of the miserable wretches in the dark dungeons. The sides and roof were all stone. In wet seasons, the water from the fosses gets into them, and has greatly damaged the floors. The dungeons in the new prison are the abodes of misery still more shocking; and confinement in them so overpowers human nature, as sometimes irrecoverably to take away the senses. I heard the cries of the distracted as I went down them." He therefore endeavoured, in various ways, to mitigate the woes of suffering humanity, and again returned to his native land. Here

During his absence, on one occasion, a very respectable looking elderly gentleman, with a servant, stopped at an inn very near his house at Cardington, in Bedfordshire, and entered into conversation with the landlord concerning him. He observed that characters often looked well at a distance which would not bear a close inspection, and that he had therefore come expressly to satisfy himself in reference to one of whom he had heard so much. Accompanied by the innkeeper, he examined the house, offices, and gardens, all of which he found in perfect order. He next in

lord, to which honourable testimony was borne; and he returned to the inn, having fully attained the object of his visit. This gentleman was Lord Monboddo.

In the course of one year Howard was much occupied in revisiting the prisons of the British isles; and during the preceding twelve months, he made a circuit on the European continent of 4465 miles. In less than ten years, he travelled, for the reform of prisons, 42,633 miles.

Such was the course that called forth the eulogium of Burke:-" 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 curiosities of modern art; not to collect medals, or 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