{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_10010/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_10010","id":"gutenberg_10010","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10010","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: British Literature","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Poetry","Howard, John, 1726-1790"],"text":"THE EULOGIES OF HOWARD.\n\nA VISION.\n\n\n    ----to tell of deeds\n    Above heroic. MILTON.\n\n\nM.DCC.XCI.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EULOGIES OF HOWARD\n\n\nIt was my chance to be conversing with a Friend of the benevolent and\nindefatigable HOWARD, when our country was first afflicted with the\npublic intelligence of his death. After our first expression of surprize\nand sorrow, we naturally fell into serious and affectionate reflections\non the gentle character and sublime pursuits of the deceased. On these\narticles we had no difference of opinion; but in the course of our\nconversation a point arose, on which our sentiments were directly\nopposite, though we were equally sincere and ardent in our regret and\nveneration for the departed Worthy, to whom it related. I happened to\nspeak of the public honours that, I hoped, a grateful, a generous, a\nmagnificent Nation would render to his memory. My companion immediately\nexclaimed, \"that every ostentatious memorial, to commemorate the virtues\nof his friend, would be inconsistent with the meekness and simplicity of\nthe man; that all, who had the happiness of knowing HOWARD, must\nrecollect with what genuine modesty he had ever retired from the\nenthusiastic admiration of those, who had hoped to gratify his ambition\nby undeserved applause; that he had really sought no reward but in the\napprobation of his conscience and his GOD; that the British Nation,\nhowever eminent for genius and munificence, could not devise any\nposthumous honours, or raise any monument, truly worthy of HOWARD,\nexcept in adopting and accomplishing those benevolent projects which his\nphilanthropy and experience had recommended to public attention for the\nbenefit of mankind.\"\n\nI readily admitted the singular and unquestionable modesty of the\ndeceased.--I allowed that the noblest tribute of respect, which the\nworld could render to so pure a spirit, would be to realize his ideas;\nbut I contended, that other honours are still due to his name; that it\nis the duty and the interest of mankind to commemorate his character\nwith the fondest veneration. I reminded my companion, that although we\nwere sincerely convinced that no human mind, engaged in great designs,\ncould be more truly modest than that of HOWARD; yet we had particular\nreason to recollect, that he was not insensible to praise. He had once\nimparted to us his feelings on that subject with a frank and tender\nsimplicity, highly graceful in an upright and magnanimous being,\nconscious of no sentiment that he could wish to conceal. Indeed, a\nsincere and ardent passion for virtue could hardly subsist with a\ndisdain of true glory, which is nothing more than the proper testimony\nof intelligent and honed admiration to the existence of merit: nor is it\nreasonable to suppose that the fondest expressions of remembrance from a\nworld, which he has served and enlightened, can be displeasing to the\nspirit of \"a just man made perfect;\" since we are taught by Religion,\nthat the gratitude of mankind is acceptable even to GOD. I endeavoured\nto convince my companion, that, as the Publick had seen in HOWARD a\nperson who reflected more genuine honour on our country than any of her\nPhilosophers, her Poets, her Orators, her Heroes, or Divines, it is\nincumbent on the Nation to consult her own glory by commemorating, in\nthe fullest manner, his beneficent exertions, and by establishing the\ndignity of his unrivaled virtue.\n\nMy arguments, and my zeal, made some impression on the mind of my\nantagonist; and sunk so deeply into my own, that on my retiring to rest\nthey gave rise to the following vision.\n\nI was suddenly transported to the confines of a region, which astonished\nme by its loveliness and extent; it was called, The Paradise of true\nGlory. As I approached the entrance, my eyes were delightfully\nfascinated by two beings of human form, who presided over the portal.\nTheir names were Genius and Sensibility:--it was their office to gratify\nwith a view of this Paradise every mortal that revered them sincerely;\nand to reject only such intruders as presumed to treat either the one or\nthe other with the insolence of disdain, or the coldness of contempt: an\nincident that I should have thought impossible, from the transcendent\nbeauty which is visible in each; but, to my surprize, they informed me\nit very frequently happened.\n\nAs I readily paid them the unsuspected homage of my soul, I was\ngraciously permitted to pass the gate.--Immediately as I entered, I was\nsaluted with a seraphic smile, by two benignant and inseparable Spirits:\nthese were Gratitude and Admiration, the joint rulers of the\ndominion--\"You are welcome,\" said the first, in a tone of angelic\ntenderness--\"You are welcome to a scene utterly new to your senses, and\nin harmony with your heart: you delight in the praises of the deserving:\nand you are now wafted to a spot, where those who have merited highly of\nmankind are praised in proportion to their desert, and where the praise\nof exalted merit is fondly listened to by an extensive human audience,\nhere purified by our supernatural agency from all the low and little\njealousies of the earth.\"\n\nI had hardly answered this pleasing information by a grateful obeisance\nto my radiant informer, when I perceived, in a gorgeous prospect that\nnow opened before us, three structures of stupendous size and superior\nmagnificence. The first was situated in a grove of olives, and appeared\nto me like an ancient temple of Attica, remarkable for massive strength,\nand a sober dignity--the second was less solid, but richer in\ndecoration; and seemed to be almost surrounded by every tree and plant\non which Nature has bestowed any salutary virtue: the third was shaded\nonly by palms; the form of it was so wonderfully grand and aweful, that\nit struck me as a sanctuary for every pure and devout spirit from all\nthe nations of the globe.\n\n\"These structures, that you survey with astonishment,\" said one of my\nbenevolent conductors, \"are devoted to what you mortals denominate the\nthree liberal professions, Law, Medicine, and Theology. Whoever has a\nclaim to distinguished honour from any one of the three, has a just\nencomium pronounced upon his services by the temporary President of that\nparticular fabrick, in which he is entitled to such grateful\nremembrance.\" \"Alas!\" I replied, with a murmur that I could not\nsuppress, \"the Man whose well-deserved praises I most anxiously expected\nto hear in this region, belonged not to any one of these eminent classes\nin human life--he had no profession but that of Humanity.\"\n\n\"Be patient,\" said the sweetest of my aetherial guides, with a rebuke\nthat was softened by a smile of indulgence! \"Let not your zeal for the\nhonour of an individual, however meritorious, make you unjust, or\ninsensible, to the merit of others! Assume the temper of this region,\nwhere praise is distributed by equity and affection, but where prejudice\nand partiality are not allowed to intrude!--Let us advance,\" continued\nmy monitor, with an encouraging movement of her hand; \"it is time that I\nshould lead you to the nearest assembly.\"\n\nI obeyed with reverential silence; and as I passed the vestibule of the\nmajestic edifice, my heart panted with an aweful expectation of\nbeholding the shades of Solon, Lycurgus, and other departed Legislators,\nfrom the various nations of the world. I was chearfully surprized by a\nvery different spectacle.\n\nThe capacious structure was filled with a concourse of living mortals,\nlively, yet respectable in their appearance, evidently belonging to\nmany countries; but all, as I perceived by their habits, connected with\nthe Law. Throughout all the multitude I heard no sound of dissention or\ndebate: but over all there reigned an air of intelligence and sympathy,\nwhile all were hushed in silent expectance, and eager attention, with\ntheir eyes directed to an elevated tribunal:--On this a personage was\nsitting, whose majestic figure I immediately recollected. His\ncountenance is marked with that austerity and grandeur, which are the\nexternal characteristicks of Law herself. His heart, as those who know\nit ultimately declare, expresses the tender and beneficent influence of\nthat Power, who is the acknowledged parent of security and comfort. With\na voice that pervaded the most distant recesses of the extensive dome,\nand in tones that sunk deep into the bosom of every auditor, he\npronounced the following oration:\n\n\"After passing many years of life in the painful investigation of human\noffences, it is with peculiar satisfaction that I find myself\ncommissioned to commemorate, in this Assembly, a character of virtue\nwithout example--a character, at once so meek and so sublime, that, if a\nfeeling spirit had been poisoned with misanthropy from too close a\ncontemplation of mortal crimes, this character alone might serve as an\nantidote to the word of mental distempers, and awaken the most callous\nand sarcastic mind to confess the dignity of our Nature, and the\nbeneficence of our God. In stating to you the merits of HOWARD, I might\nexpatiate with delight on the various qualities of this incomparable\nman; I might trace his progress through the different periods of a life\nalways singular and always instructive. I could not be checked by any\nfear of overstepping the modesty of Truth in the celebration of Virtue,\nso solid and so extensive, that the malevolence of Envy could not\ndiminish its weight, the fondness of Enthusiasm could not amplify its\neffects. But I must not forget that there are professional limits to my\ndiscourse. It is incumbent on me to confine myself to a single object,\nand to dwell only on those public services, that peculiarly endear the\nname of Howard to the liberal and enlightened community in which I have\nthe honour to preside.\n\n\"It was in the capacity of a Minister to Justice, that the pure spirit,\nwhom it is my glory to praise, first conceived the idea of those\nunrivaled labours that have rendered his memory a treasure to mankind.\nIn discharging a temporary office, that exposed to him the condition of\ncriminals, he was led to meditate on the evils which had grievously\ncontaminated the operations of Justice. He perceived that Law herself,\nlike one of her most illustrious Delegates (I mean the immortal Bacon),\nwas grossly injured by the secret and sordid enormities of her menial\nservants: that Captivity and Coercion, those necessary supporters of her\npower, instead of producing good, often gave birth to mischiefs more\nflagrant, and more fatal, than those which they were employed to\ncorrect. He found, even in the prisons of his own humane and enlightened\ncountry, an accumulation of the most hideous abuses: he found them not\nnurseries of penitence and amendment, but schools of vice and impiety;\nor dens of filth, famine, and disease: not the seats of just and\nsalutary correction and punishment, but the strong holds of cruelty and\nextortion. The irons of the prisoner, which he only beheld, entered into\nhis soul, and awakened unextinguishable energy in a spirit, of which\ncompanion and fortitude were the divine characteristicks. In the noble\nemotions of pity for the oppressed, and of zeal for the honour and\ninterest of civilized society, he conceived perhaps the sublimest design\nthat ever occupied and exalted the mind of man, the design to search and\nto purify the polluted stream of Penal Justice, not only throughout his\nown country, but through the various nations of the world. How low, how\nlittle, are the grandest enterprizes of Heroic Ambition, when compared\nwith this magnanimous pursuit! How frivolous and vain are the highest\naims of Fancy and Science, when contrasted with a purpose so\nbeneficently great! But, marvellous as the magnitude of HOWARD'S\nenterprise appears, on the slightest view that magnitude becomes doubly\nstriking, when we contemplate at the same time the many circumstances\nthat might either allure or deter him from the prosecution of his idea.\nConsider him as a private gentleman, possessed of ease and independence,\naccustomed to employ and amuse his mind in retired study and\nphilosophical speculation; arrived at that period of life, when the\nsprings of activity and enterprize in the human frame have begun to\nlose their force! consider that his health, even in youth, had appeared\nunequal to common fatigue! his stature low! his deportment humble! his\nvoice almost effeminate! Such was the wonderful being, who relinquished\nthe retirement, the tranquillity, the comforts, that he loved and\nenjoyed, to embark in labours at which the most hardy might tremble; to\nplunge in perils from which the most resolute might recede without a\ndiminution of honour. Under all these apparent disadvantages,\nunsummoned, unauthorized by any Prince, unexcited by any popular\ninvitation, he resolved to investigate all the abuses of imprisonment;\nto visit the abodes of wretchedness and infection; and to prove himself\nthe friend of the friendless, in every country that the limits of his\nadvanced life would allow him to examine. Against such an enterprize,\nprojected by such an individual, what forcible arguments might be urged,\nnot only by every selfish passion, but even by that prudence, and that\nreason, which are allowed to regulate an elevated mind! How plausibly\ndid Friendship exclaim to Howard, 'Your projects are unquestionably\nnoble; but they are above the execution of any individual: you are\nunarmed with authority; you have the wish to do great good, but the\npower of doing little! Consider the probable issue of the\nundertaking!--You will see a few hapless wretches, and tell their\ncondition to the inattentive world; perhaps perish yourself from\ncontagion, before you have time to tell it; and leave your afflicted\nfriends to lament your untimely fate, and the ungrateful Publick to\nderide your temerity!' What force of intellect, what dignity of soul\nwere required to prevent a mortal from yielding to remonstrances so\nengaging! The divine energy of Genius and of Virtue enabled HOWARD to\nforesee, that the sanctity of his pursuit would supply him with strength\nand powers far superior to all human authority:--His piercing mind\ncomprehended that there are enormities of such a nature, that to survey\nand to reveal them is to effect their correction.--He felt that his\nsincere compassion for the oppressed, and his ardent desire to promote\nperfect justice, would serve him as a perpetual antidote against the\npoison of fear.--He felt that in the darkness of dungeons he should want\nno associates, no guards to defend him against the outrages of detected\nextortion, or suspicious brutality.--He felt, that as his purpose was\nheavenly, the powers of Heaven would be displayed in his support; that\niniquity and oppression would not dare to lift a hand against him,\nthough they knew it was the business of his life to annihilate their\nsway in their most secret dominion. How admirably did the progress of\nhis travels evince and justify the pure and enlightened confidence of\nhis spirit! All dangers, all difficulties, vanish before his gentleness,\nhis regularity, his perseverance. Insolence and ferocity seem to turn,\nat his approach, into docility and respect. Every hardship he endures,\nevery step he advances, in his wide and laborious career of Beneficence,\ninstead of impairing his strength, invigorates his frame; instead of\ndiminishing his influence, increases the utility of his conduct, by\nmaking the world acquainted with the sanctity of his character. Witness,\nye various regions of the earth! with what surprize, delight, and\nveneration, ye beheld an unarmed, and unassuming traveller instructing\nyou in the sublime science of mitigating human misery, and giving you a\nmatchless example of tenderness and magnanimity! O, England! thou\ngenerous country! ever enamoured of glory, contemplate in this, the most\nperfect of thy illustrious sons; contemplate those virtues, and that\nhonour, in which thy parental spirit may most happily exult!--What\nspectacle can be more flattering to thy native, thy honest pride, than\nto behold the proudest potentates of distant nations listening with\npleasure to a private Englishman; and learning, from his researches, how\nto relieve the most injured of their subjects! how to abolish the\nenormities of perverted Justice! To form a complete account of the good\narising to the world from the life and labours of Howard, would be a\ntask beyond the limits of any human mind: an exact statement of the\nbenefits he has conferred upon society, could be rendered only by the\nattendant Spirit whom Providence commissioned to watch over him, and who\nmight discern, by the powers of supernatural vision, what pregnant\nsources of public calamity he crushed in the seed, and what future\nvirtues, in various individuals, he may draw into the service of mankind\nby the attraction of his example.\n\n\"Of good, more immediately visible, which his exertions produced, there\nis abundant evidence in his own country. In the wide circle of his\nforeign excursion, what nation, what city, does not bear some\nconspicuous traces of his intrepid and indefatigable beneficence! Of the\nastonishing length to which his zeal and perseverance extended, we have\nthe most ingenuous and satisfactory narration in those singularly\nmeritorious volumes which he has given to the world. In these we behold\nthe minute detail of labours to which there is nothing similar, or\nsecond, in the history of public virtue; and for which there could be no\nadequate reward but in the beatitude of Heaven. An eloquent Enthusiast,\nwhose genius was nearly allied to frenzy, has expressed a desire to\npresent himself before the tribunal of the Almighty Judge, with a\nvolume in his hand, in which he had recorded his own thoughts and\nactions: if such an idea could be suitable to the littleness of man, if\nit could become any mortal of faculties so limited to make such an\noffering to the great Fountain of all intelligence, that mortal must\nassuredly be Howard: for where could we find another individual, not\nprofessedly inspired, who might present to his Maker a record of labours\nso eminently directed by Piety and Virtue! a book, addressed to mankind,\nwithout insulting their weakness, or flattering their passions! a book,\nwhose great object was to benefit the world, without seeking from it any\nkind of reward! a book, in which the genuine modesty of the Writer is\nequal to his unexampled beneficence! The mind of Howard was singularly\nand sublimely free from the common and dangerous passion for applause:\nthat passion which, though taken altogether, it is certainly beneficial\nto the interests of mankind, yet frequently communicates inquietude and\nunsteadiness to the pursuits of Genius and Virtue. As human praise was\nnever the object of his ambition, so he has nobly soared above it. There\nappear, in different ages upon the Earth, certain elevated spirits, who,\nby the sublimity of their conceptions, and the magnanimity of their\nconduct, attain a degree of glory which can never be reached by the\nkeenest followers of Fame--They seek not panegyricks; and panegyricks\ncan add nothing to their honour. The Eulogies have perished which were\ndevoted by the luxuriant genius of Tully, and by the laconic spirit of\nBrutus, to the public virtue of Cato; yet the name of that illustrious\nRoman is still powerful in the world, and excites in every cultivated\nmind, an animating idea of independent integrity. The name of Howard has\nsuperior force, and a happier effect. It is a sound, at which the\nstrings of humanity will vibrate with exultation in many millions of\nhearts. Through the various nations that he visited, the mere echo of\nhis name will be sufficient to awaken that noblest sensibility, which at\nonce softens and elevates the soul. Every warm hearted and worthy\nindividual who mentions Howard will glow with an honest, a generous\nsatisfaction, in feeling himself the fellow-creature of such a man.\nWherever the elegant arts are established, they will contend in raising\nmemorials to his honour. Indeed, the globe itself may be considered as\nhis Mausoleum; and the inhabitants of every prison it contains, as\ngroups of living statues that commemorate his virtue. There is no class\nof mankind by whom his memory ought not to be cherished, because all are\ninterested in those evils (so pernicious to society! so dangerous to\nlife!) which he was ever labouring to lessen or exterminate. It might be\nwished, that different communities should separately devise some\ndifferent tribute of respect to him whose character and conduct is so\ninteresting to all: not for the sake of multiplying vain and useless\nofferings to the dead, but to impress with more energy and extent his\nennobling remembrance on the heart and soul of the living. It is hardly\npossible to present too frequently to the human mind the image of a man\nwho lived only to do good. I mean not merely such a resemblance of his\nform as Art may execute with materials almost as perishable as the image\nof human clay, but such an impression of his soul as may have a more\nlasting influence on the life and conduct of his admirers, such as,\ndiffusing among them a portion of his spirit, may in some measure\nperpetuate his existence.\n\n\"By this community, I am confident, such public honours will be paid to\nHOWARD, as may be most suitable to the peculiar interest which it\nbecomes us to take in his glory. What these honours shall be is a point\nto be settled by this liberal and enlightened Assembly, which assuredly\nwill not fail to remember that he suggested to Legal Authority her\nomissions and defects with the modest and endearing tenderness of a\nFriend; that he laboured in the service of Justice with that\nintelligence, fortitude, and zeal, which her votaries cannot too warmly\nadmire, or too gratefully acknowledge.\"\n\nThe President arose as he thus ended his speech; and the members of the\nAssembly seemed beginning to confer among themselves; but what debates\nensued, or what measure was adopted, I am unable to tell, as my\nvisionary Guides immediately hurried me to the adjoining Temple.\n\nThis second structure, though less extensive and less solid than the\nfirst, was more attractive to the eye, as it abounded with scientifical\nand diversified decorations. The Assembly consisted of men, who appeared\nto me equally remarkable for keenness of intellect and elegance of\nmanners. The seat of pre eminence among them was filled by a person who\npossessed in a very uncommon degree these two valuable qualities, so\nhappily conducive to medical utility and medical distinction. Though\nleft a young orphan, without patrimony, and obliged to struggle with\nearly disadvantages, he raised himself by meritorious exertion to the\nhead of a profession in which opulence is generally the just attendant\non knowledge and reputation. But neither opulence, nor his long\nintercourse with sickness and death, have hardened the native tenderness\nof his heart; and I had lately known him shed tears of regret on the\nuntimely fate of an amiable patient, whom his consummate skill and\nattention were unable to save.\n\nThus strongly prepossessed in his favour, I was delighted to observe\nthat he was preparing to address the Assembly in the moment we entered.\nMy celestial Guides smiled on each other in perceiving my satisfaction;\nand being placed by them instantaneously in a commodious situation, I\nheard the following discourse; which the character I have described\ndelivered with an ease and refined acuteness peculiar to himself, never\nraising his voice above the pitch of polite and spirited conversation:\n\n\"I am persuaded, that every individual to whom I have now the happiness\nof speaking, will readily agree with me in this sentiment, that we\ncannot possibly do ourselves more honour as a Fraternity than by\nconsidering HOWARD as an Associate: assuredly, there is no class of men\nwho may more justly presume to cherish his name and character with a\nfraternal affection. In proportion as we are accustomed to contemplate,\nto pity, and to counteract, the sufferings of Nature, the more are we\nenabled and inclined to estimate, to love, and to revere, a being so\ncompassionate and beneficent. If Physicians are, what I once heard them\ncalled by a lively friend, the Soldiers of Humanity, engaged in a\nperpetual, and too often, alas! unsuccessful conflict against the\nenemies of life; HOWARD is not only entitled to high rank in our corps,\nbut he is the very Caesar of this hard, this perilous, and, let me add,\nthis most honourable warfare. Perhaps the ambition of the great Roman\nCommander, insatiate and sanguinary as it was, did not contribute more\nto the torment and destruction of the human race, than the charity of\nthe English Philanthropist has contributed to its relief and\npreservation. Of this we are very certain, the splendid and\nindefatigable Hero of Slaughter and Vain-glory did not traverse a more\nextensive field, nor expose himself more courageously to personal\ndanger, than our meek and unostentatious Hero of Medical Benevolence. In\npoint of true magnanimity, I apprehend the spirit of Caesar would very\nwillingly confess, that his own celebrated attempts to reduce Gaul and\nBritain were low and little achievements, when compared to the\nunexampled efforts by which Howard endeavoured to exterminate or subdue\n(those enemies more terrific) the Gaol Fever, and the Plague.\n\n\"But leaving it to more able and eloquent panegyrists to celebrate the\noriginality, the boldness, and all the various merit of his\nphilanthropic exertions, I shall confine myself to a few remarks, and\nchiefly professional ones, on his invaluable character. It appears to me\nhighly worthy of observation, that Howard, before he entered on his\ngrand projects of Public Benevolence, was subject to those little, but\ndepressive variations of health which have betrayed many a\nvaletudinarian into habits of inaction and inutility. Happily for\nhimself, and for mankind, this excellent person surmounted a\nconstitutional bias to indolence and retirement. The consequence\nsequence was, he became a singular example of activity and vigour. His\npowers, and enjoyments of bodily and mental health, augmented in\nproportion to the extensive utility of his pursuits.\n\n\"Beneficial as his life has been to the world, his memory may be still\nmore so. It may prove a perpetual blessing to mankind, if it dissipates,\nas it ought to do, a weak and common prejudice, which often operates as\na palsy upon the first idea of a great and generous undertaking. The\nprejudice I mean is a hasty persuasion, frequently found in the most\namiable minds, that some peculiar strength of nerve, some rare mechanism\nof frame, and extraordinary assemblage of mental powers, are absolutely\nrequisite for the execution of any noble design. How greatly does it\nredound to the true glory of Howard to have given in his successful\nlabours the fullest refutation of a prejudice, so inimical to the\ninterest and the honour of human-nature! a prejudice, by whose\ninfluence, to use the words of our great Poet,\n\n    \"--The native hue of Resolution\n    Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of Fear,\n    And enterprizes of great pith and moment,\n    With this regard, their currents turn awry\n    And lose the name of action.\"\n\n\"The life and character of Howard, if they are justly considered, may\nnot only annihilate this pernicious prejudice, but tend to establish an\nopposite and consolatory truth. His example may shew us, that some\ndegrees of bodily weakness and mental depression may be most happily\ncured by active exertion in the service of mankind. Perhaps there never\nexisted a more striking proof how far a noble impulse, communicated to\nthe mind by a project of extensive Benevolence, may invigorate a frame\nnot equal in health, strength, and stature, to the common standard of\nmen. It is a prudential maxim of the celebrated Raleigh, that 'Whosoever\nwill live altogether out of himself, and study other men's humours,\nshall never be unfortunate;' a maxim, which the example of Howard might\nalmost teach us to convert into a medical aphorism by saying, 'Whosoever\nwill live altogether out of himself, and consult other men's wants, and\ncalamities, shall never be unhealthy.' It is delightful to those, who\ndetest the debasing tenets of a selfish philosophy, to see the happy\ninfluence of opposite ideas; to observe (what Physicians have frequent\nopportunities of observing), that as a selfish turn of mind often\nattracts and encreases the malignity of sickness, so an unselfish, a\ncompassionate spirit has a natural tendency to escape or subdue it. What\ncan be more pleasing to those, who assert and esteem the dignity of\nhuman-nature, than to see, that the having lost all thoughts of self,\nand having acted in direct opposition to selfish principles, has\npromoted even the personal advantage of a generous individual? From such\na series of philanthropic labour and peril, as a selfish and timid mind\nmight esteem it frenzy to encounter, Howard derived not only his\nunrivalled and immortal reputation, but the perfect restoration of\nenfeebled health; not to mention those high gratifications of the heart\nand conscience, which are superior to all the enjoyments both of health\nand glory. With such temperance in diet, that his daily food would\nappear to most people not sufficient to support the common functions of\nlife, he chearfully sustained the hardships of long travel, through\nregions where travelling is most difficult and dangerous. With a figure,\nvoice, and deportment, that seemed to preclude him from all personal\ninfluence and authority; and with no mental acquisitions, except those\nwhich are common to every cultivated mind, he secured to himself not\nonly universal admiration, but, I may venture to say, the just and moral\nidolatry of the world. So invigorating are projects of extensive\nBeneficence! so powerful is the energy of Public Virtue!\n\n\"Never, indeed, was the astonishing influence of plain and simple\ngoodness more strikingly displayed, than in the deference and respect\nwhich this private and meek individual received, not only from foreign\nand imperious Rulers of the Earth, but from hardened and atrocious\nwretches, on whom Justice herself could hardly make any mental\nimpression, though armed with all the splendour, and all the violence of\npower. Two particular examples of the influence I am speaking of, I\nshall mention here, not only as honourable to the prime object of our\nregard, but as they may suggest to contemplative minds some useful\nideas, by shewing how far the mere weight of an upright and benevolent\ncharacter alone may give to the most callous nerves a trembling\nsensibility, and awaken the most ferocious spirit to self-correction.\n\n\"When our indefatigable Visitor of prisons was in Russia, he beheld, in\npublic, the punishment of the knoot severely administered by a strong\nand stern executioner.\n\n\"On the following day he waited on this man, to request from him various\ninformation. The executioner attended him obsequiously; but this\nathletic savage, though trained to acts of cruelty, and conscious he had\na legal sanction for the barbarous violence he had exerted, could not\nbehold without shuddering the meek and gentle Missionary of Compassion.\n\n\"The second and more memorable example of his singular influence\noccurred in a prison of his own country, and relates to an outrageous\nfemale delinquent. A corrupt and ferocious woman is, perhaps, the most\nintractable fiend that human benevolence can attempt to reform; but even\nthis difficulty the mild and powerful character of HOWARD\naccomplished.\n\n\"In one of our Western gaols, he found an unhappy female loaded with\nheavy irons: on his appearance she entreated him to obtain for her the\nremoval of these galling fetters. Upon enquiry, he found that many\nendeavours had been made to keep this turbulent offender in proper\nsubjection without the severity of chains; but, after repeated promises\nof amendment on milder treatment, she had obliged the keeper to have\nrecourse to this extreme by relapsing into the most flagrant and\ninsufferable contempt of decency and order. Upon this information,\nHOWARD said mildly to the unhappy criminal, 'I wish to relieve you, but\nyou put it out of my power; for I should lose all the little credit I\nhave, if I exerted it for offenders so hardened and so turbulent.' 'I\nknow,' replied the intractable delinquent, 'I know that I have a proud\nand rebellious spirit; but if I give a promise to so good a man as you\nare, I can and I will command it.' On this firm assurance of\nreformation, the benevolent HOWARD became a kind of surety for her\nfuture peaceable conduct on the removal of her irons; and he had the\ninexpressible delight to find, on his next visit to the prisoners of\nthis gaol, that the outrageous and ungovernable culprit, for whom he had\nventured to answer, was become the most orderly among them.\n\n\"I could wish, for the moral interest of mankind, that it were possible\nto obtain a minute account of the services rendered to the calamitous\nspirit of many a forsaken individual by the singular charity of HOWARD.\nWhat could be more instructive than to observe how his Beneficence\nencreased by its exertion and success; while his desire of befriending\nthe wretched became, as it were, the vital spirit that gave strength and\nduration to his own existence!\n\n\"If we contemplate with pleasure the singular re-establishment of bodily\nhealth, which HOWARD derived from his active philanthropy; it may be\nstill more pleasing to recollect, that it also afforded him an\nefficacious medicine for an afflicted mind. Perhaps it was to shew the\nfull efficacy of this virtue in all its lustre, that Heaven allotted to\nthis excellent personage a domestic calamity, which appears (to borrow\nan expression from a great writer) 'of an unconscionable size to human\nstrength.'\n\n\"That capricious and detestable spirit of Detraction, which on Earth\nnever fails to persecute superior Virtue, has not scrupled to assert\nthat the affliction, to which I allude, was the mere consequence of\npaternal austerity. The Earth itself, though frequently accused of being\neager to receive ideas that may abase the eminent, could hardly admit a\ncalumny so groundless and irrational. In this purer spot it is utterly\nneedless to prove the innocence of an exalted being, to whom we are only\nsolicitous to pay that sincere tribute of praise and veneration which we\nare conscious he deserves. In truth, this admirable Character seemed to\nillustrate the philosophical maxim, that mildness is the proper\ncompanion of true magnanimity. He had a gentleness of manners, that was\npeculiar to himself; and, instead of possessing such imperious severity\nof spirit as might produce the calamity I allude to, he was really\nendued with such native tenderness of heart as must have sunk under it,\nhad he not found in the unexampled services that he rendered to the\nworld, an antidote to the poison of domestic infelicity. It is among the\nmost gracious ordinances of Providence, that man is sure to find the\nmost powerful relief for his own particular afflictions, in his\nendeavours to alleviate the sufferings of others. And permit me to add,\nit is this beneficent law of our nature, that gives a peculiar charm\nand dignity to the Medical Profession; a profession singularly endeared\nto the affectionate HOWARD! not only as its compassionate and active\nspirit was the guide of his pursuits, but as one of its prime ornaments\nwas his favourite associate and his bosom-friend. If different classes\nof men are to vie with each other, as it may certainly become them to\ndo, in rendering various honours to this their matchless Benefactor; I\nhope we shall display, with the most affectionate spirit, the deep\ninterest that we ought to take in his glory. I think it very desirable\nthat every Physician should possess a Medal of HOWARD, not only to shew\nhis veneration for the great Philanthropist, but to derive personal\nadvantage from such a mental Amulet, if I may hazard the expression.\nMost of us, in the exercise of Medicine, feel at particular moments that\nour spirits are too sensibly affected by the objects we survey; that\nscenes of misery and infection depress and alarm: at such a time how\nmight it rekindle the energy of our minds to contemplate a little effigy\nof HOWARD! to recollect, that all the trouble and danger that we\nencounter, in the practice of a lucrative profession, are trifling in\nthe extreme, when compared to the labour and the peril, which this\nwonderful man most willingly took upon himself, without looking forward\nto any reward but the approbation of Heaven!\n\n\"I mention not a Medal as a new idea--it has been already in\ncontemplation; and a motto for it suggested, which applies with such\nsingular force and propriety to the person whom it is designed to\ncommemorate, that perhaps the wide range of classical literature could\nnot afford another passage so strikingly apposite to a character so\nextraordinary--\n\n    \"Stupuere patres tentamina tanta,\n    Conatusque tuos: pro te Reus ipse timebat.\"--\n\n\"I must confess, however, that I wish for another, which may seem to\nbind him more closely to us in a medical point of view. But it is time\nto leave the different members of our Fraternity at full liberty to\npropose any marks of distinction that they wish to suggest.--It is\nsufficient for me to have reminded you of a truth, which I am confident\nwe all equally feel, that, while we justly consider ourselves as\nstudents in the extensive school of Humanity, it becomes us to look up\nto HOWARD, with a laudable veneration, as the Prince and Patron of our\nOrder.\"\n\nOn the conclusion of this discourse, my Guides immediately conducted me,\nwith their former celerity and kindness, to the only remaining\nStructure. It was the most extensive, and, from the hallowed majesty of\nits appearance, the most admirable of the three. In approaching it, I\npaused a moment in aweful surprise at the solemnity of the fabrick: the\nmost lovely and communicative of my two aetherial conductors smiled upon\nme, and said, \"You will find here Ministers of GOD from every Christian\ncountry; but only those who consider Evangelical Charity as the essence\nof true Religion, and who are disposed to honour, in the favourite\nobject of your veneration, the most signal example of that virtue, which\nthe present age has beheld.\" \"I hope then,\" I eagerly replied, \"I shall\nhave the delight of hearing, on this occasion, the most eloquent of our\nEnglish Bishops.\" On this exclamation, my kind informer regarded me with\nthat lively and soothing air with which intelligent Benevolence corrects\nmistaken simplicity, and thus continued to instruct me with united\nvivacity and tenderness.\n\n\"Earthly distinctions, you know, are of little moment in the sight of\nHeaven. You will hear no Prelate; and perhaps you may feel surprised and\nindignant, when you observe how very few of your Mitred Countrymen are\nto be seen in this Assembly; but you will not retain in this hallowed\nspot that most common of human infirmities, a tendency to censure or to\nsuspicion. You will recollect that this Convocation contains only those\ncharitable men, who are peculiarly disposed to honour your recent model\nof this Christian virtue. Other good men may exist, who, from motives of\ninnocent mistake, or of mere inadvertency, may fail to exhibit that\nanimated regard to his exemplary character, which assuredly it has\nmerited from all men, and which the Ministers of Religion may most\nproperly display.\n\n\"One of these,\" continued my Director, \"you are now going to hear; not,\nindeed, a Dignitary of your Church, yet a Divine of Talents, Learning,\nand Charity. He was led, by a laudable warmth of heart, to suggest to\nyour Country the first idea of paying a public tribute of veneration to\nthe signal virtue of Howard; and has acquired from this circumstance a\ntitle to commemorate here the merit, to which he was eager to render\nsuch early justice on earth. But it is time for us to attend him.\"\n\nWe immediately entered the temple; and I beheld an Ecclesiastic rising\nat that moment to address a very numerous Assembly of his order, that\nseemed to contain Christians of every sect, and Ministers of every\ndegree. The person preparing to speak was distinguished by a majestic\ncomeliness of person, though he appeared to have passed the middle age\nof life; and with a powerful elocution he delivered the following\ndiscourse.\n\n\"The Righteous are bold as a Lion.\"\n\nProverbs, chap, xxviii, ver. i.\n\n\"In these few words, my brethren, we have a passage of Scripture, that\nserved as a favourite maxim, or leading truth, to the admirable\npersonage whose glorious qualities it is now both my duty and my delight\nto recall to your remembrance. The words, indeed, are so consonant to\nthat exalted spirit which his life displayed, that they almost appear to\nme an epitome of his character. Let us consider Courage as one of his\nprincipal endowments! To contemplate so pure and resolute a being in\nthis point of view, may lead us to form just ideas on the true nature of\nthis primary virtue, on the sacred source from whence it should proceed,\nand the sublime end to which it should aspire. How large a portion of\nfolly, vice, and wickedness, have arisen from mere mistakes concerning\nthis most important of human qualities! so important, that the real\ndignity of man can only rise in proportion as this virtue is perfectly\nunderstood, and properly cherished! In the same proportion, let me add,\nour courageous Philanthropist will be found entitled to the praise of\nevery upright mind, to the homage of every feeling heart.\n\n\"If we take the word Courage\" in the most common and simple sense of\nthat term, as a generous and noble contempt of personal hardship and\ndanger; who has given more numerous or more striking examples of such\nbrave contempt! Or if we follow the definition of Courage given us by a\nprofound, an eloquent, and philanthropic Writer, namely, that it is a\njust estimate of our own powers; who is there among the most signal\nBenefactors of mankind, not professedly inspired, that ever formed an\nestimate of what he might achieve in the most glorious field of\nenterprize, at once so difficult, and so true, so humble, and so grand.\n\n\"With every apparent disadvantage, Howard conceived it possible that his\nendeavours might correct the abuses, and mitigate the sufferings of men,\nin various nations of the world. Whence happened it, that a mortal, so\nvisibly weak and gentle, shrunk not from an idea so pregnant with\ndifficulty and peril! It was because, 'The Righteous are bold as a\nLion.' It was because he felt the strongest internal conviction of this\nanimating truth, that, while Heaven blesses a man with health sufficient\nto pursue a benevolent and magnanimous design, the vigour of his mind,\nand most probably his powers of doing good, will be proportioned to the\nfirmness of his faith, and the sincerity of his virtue.\n\n\"Many achievements of beneficent Courage have undoubtedly been\naccomplished by men influenced by no motive but that generous love of\nglory which is so frequently the predominant passion of an active and\nardent mind: but the virtues that arise from this source are as\nunsteady, and as precarious, as the reward they pursue. He who acts\nonly as a candidate for the applause of mankind, will find his spirit\nvary with all the variations in the ever-changing atmosphere of popular\nopinion. He will be subject to hot and cold fits of action and\ninactivity, of confidence and distrust, in proportion as the illusive\nvapour, that he follows, may either sparkle or fade before him. Hence\nproceeded much of that inconsistency and weakness, which appear in some\nof the most enlightened, and exalted characters of the Pagan\nworld.--Wanting a purer light from Heaven, the most radiant spirits of\nantiquity were bewildered; one in particular, the mildest and most\nundaunted of antient Worthies, who had a sufficient portion of heroic\nphilanthropy to prefer the benefit of mankind to every selfish\nconsideration, had yet his hours of diffidence and despondency. On a\nfinal review of his own generous labours, he is supposed to have\nquestioned the very existence of Virtue, though he had made it the idol\nof his life; a striking proof, that the temperate and invariable energy\nof soul, which alone perhaps deserves the name of true Courage, can only\nproceed from a fuller knowledge and love of GOD; from the animating\nassurance, that, however we may prosper or fail in the earthly success\nof our endeavours to do good, the merit of the attempt is registered in\nHeaven; and we secure to ourselves the everlasting approbation of our\nAlmighty Parent, in proportion as we approach towards that blessed model\nof Perfect Benevolence, who has taught us, by his divine example, to\ncompassionate and to relieve the sufferings of the wretched. From this\nsource flowed the courageous beneficence of HOWARD: and how delightful\nit is to observe that the force, the extent, the utility, and the lustre\nof the stream, has gloriously corresponded to the height and purity of\nthe fountain!\n\n\"The Sensualist and the Sceptic may, indeed, deride the conduct of a\nman, who sacrificed all the common pleasures of life, and sought for no\nrecompence but in the favour of Heaven. It may be said that an illusive\nfervor of mind has hurried men, in all periods of the world, into\nsingular and wild exertions, which excite the wonder of the passing\nhour, and are afterwards either deservedly forgotten, or only recalled\nto notice by Reason and Philosophy, to caution the restless and\nimpetuous spirit of man against all similar excesses.\n\n\"But the pursuits of Howard, though they had all that sublime energy\nwhich so often distinguished the projects of Superstition, were so far\nfrom being influenced by any superstitious propensity, that perhaps they\ncannot appear to more advantage than by being brought into comparison,\nor contrast, not with the sluggish piety of sequestered Monks, but with\nthe bold and splendid feats of the most active and enterprising\nFanaticism. Allow me, therefore, to recall to your thoughts those\ndistant ages, when every ardent spirit in Christendom was inflamed with\na passionate desire to deliver the Christian pilgrims of Palestine from\nthe oppression of Infidels! Figure to yourselves the whole force of\nEurope collecting its violence, like a troubled sea, and preparing to\npour a terrific and destructive inundation over the Holy Land! Behold\nthe strong and the weak, the ambitious and the humble, pursuing the same\nobject! Behold assembled Kings and their People, Soldiers and Priests,\nthe servants of Earth and Heaven rushing, with equal ardour, to rescue\nthe Sepulchre of Christ, and to drown all the innumerable enemies of\ntheir Faith in an universal deluge of blood! In this scene we have the\nsublimest spectacle, perhaps, that was ever exhibited by mistaken piety\nand misguided valour. The love of God, by which this heroic multitude\nwas professedly impelled, was probably in many minds as sincere as it\nwas ardent. The religious spirit of their enterprize can still animate\nand transport us in the song of the Poet: and in the more rational page\nof History, while we justly lament the errors of their devotion, we\nadmire the force and perseverance of their courage.\n\n\"To the sublime fortitude of these collected warriors, let us compare\nthe mild magnanimity of HOWARD. Let us survey him setting forth for an\nexpedition as perilous as theirs; not as the Soldier of Fanaticism, but\nas the Pilgrim of Humanity! Attachment to GOD, and resolution which no\nhardship, no danger, no difficulty can daunt, are equally conspicuous in\nthe sanguinary Fanatic and the compassionate Philanthropist: but how\nwidely different are the prime earthly objects of their pursuits! The\nfierce Crusaders invaded Asia with a desire to exterminate the Infidels.\nThe benevolent HOWARD was led into the same quarter of the globe, and\ninto perils more deadly than those of war, by a wish to exterminate, or\nrather to restrain, the ravages of that terrific enemy to human life,\nthe Plague.\n\n\"He had conceived an idea, that, as this most alarming of mortal\nmaladies has been often strangely neglected by the sluggish and\nsuperstitious inhabitants of the East, it might be possible by a calm\nand courageous examination of its nature and its progress, to set limits\nto its rage; and particularly to secure his own country from a future\nvisitation of a calamity, against which the fearless and eager spirit of\nCommerce appears not to have established a sufficient precaution. For\nthe prospect of accomplishing public good, so devoutly to be wished, he\nnobly thought it a trifling sacrifice to hazard the little remnant of\nhis advanced life; and, however men or nations may differ in policy or\nreligion, whereever there is a human spirit sufficiently pure and\nenlightened to estimate public virtue, the sentiments and the conduct of\nHOWARD must secure to his memory the fondest veneration. There is a\nperfection and felicity in his character that appears supremely laudable\nin every point of view. If, abstracted from all religious\nconsiderations, we regard him only as a citizen who devoted himself to\nthe service of his country, the brightest records of Antiquity afford us\nno parallel to his merit. Had he lived in those early times, the\ngenerous enthusiasm of the antient world would have idolized his name.\nPhilosophy and Genius would have found, in his benevolent labours, the\nmost ample theme for instruction, and the purest subject for universal\npanegyrick. They would have celebrated him as a benefactor to mankind,\nwho had built a new portico to the Temple of Glory superior to the dome\nitself. They would have preferred the beneficent Philanthropist to the\ndazzling Conqueror, to the fascinating Demagogue, to the attractive\nSophist; and all the various idols of public praise. But as Antiquity\nexhibits no character of such unclouded lustre, we have great reason to\nconclude, that such a character could owe its existence only to the pure\nand sublime spirit of our Christian Faith. Let us, therefore,\ncontemplate HOWARD as a Christian! it is by considering him in this\nlight, that we shall feel ourselves most happily related to his virtues,\nand most delightfully interested in the honours they receive.\n\n\"In the poor and calamitous objects of his regard, in the gentleness\nand purity of his manners, in his modest and magnanimous refusal of\nearthly honours, in the wide extent and courageous perseverance of his\ncharity, we cannot fail to discern how richly he was endowed with the\ngenuine spirit of that pure and sublime Religion which has the divine\nprerogative of converting weakness into strength, and of giving to\nHumility the influence of Power. There is not a feature in the\ncharacter, there is hardly an action in the life of this exemplary\npersonage, that does not mark him as a true servant of CHRIST. And may\nwe not presume the blessed Author of our faith, in supplying us in these\ndissolute times with a recent example of such astonishing and unlimited\nbeneficence, is graciously pleased to afford us a new motive to prize\nand to cherish that animating faith, which could form, in an age like\nthe present, a character so wonderfully entitled to the veneration of\nthe world? The spirit of Christianity is so visible in the conduct of\nHOWARD, that the prime objects of his attention might be thought to have\nbeen suggested to him by the very words in which our blessed Lord\nannounces to the heirs of eternal glory the source of their\nbeatitude--'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared\nfor you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungry, and ye\ngave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and\nye took me in; naked, and ye cloathed me; I was sick, and ye visited me;\nI was in prison, and ye came unto me.'\n\n\"Is it possible for us, my Brethren, to recall to our memory these holy\nwords without feeling at the same time, in the most forcible degree, all\nthe Christian merits of HOWARD? Can we fail to admire and to venerate\nthe unexampled ardour, purity, and perseverance, with which he exercised\nthe peculiar virtue so distinguished by our Lord?--While we behold him\nsublimely pre-eminent in this Christian perfection, shall we not cherish\nthe delightful idea, that his heavenly rewards will be finally adequate\nto his unrivaled labours on earth? Shall not those who have loved him\nexult in the persuasion, that in that great and aweful day, when the\nliving and the dead are to receive their everlasting doom; when the\nprinces and the great ones of the earth may be confronted with those\nwhom they have persecuted and oppressed, or whom they have failed to\nrelieve; when the proudest Sons of Learning, Genius, or Wit, may shrink\nat the superior lustre of those whom they have ridiculed and reviled;\nHOWARD will shine encircled by thousands, who will gratefully plead for\nhis beatitude in those blessed words of our Redeemer, 'I was in prison,\nand he came unto me!'\n\n\"Yes, my Brethren, the day will assuredly come, when the servant so\nsignally faithful will be called to a reward, surpassing the utmost\nreach of our conception, by the voice of his Righteous Master--then, and\nthen only, will praise be fully proportioned to his transcendant merit;\nwhen this consummate Christian is raised to glory by the glorified\nMessiah, when his pure spirit exults in the commendation of his GOD.\n\n\"The imperfect efforts, that mankind may make to do honour to such a\nBeing, cannot, indeed, so much promote his glory, as they may conduce to\nthe interest of human nature. Subject as it has been to the wildest\nexcesses, human panegyric, in all its shapes, may be safely devoted to a\npersonage, whom it is hardly possible to praise with sincerity, without\nfeeling our disposition improved. In a beneficent, a sublime, and truly\nreligious character, there is a sort of magnetic virtue, which to those\nwho are affectionately drawn towards it, though only in idea,\ncommunicates a portion of itself. Hence arises, what we cannot too\nfondly cherish, the delight and the utility of commemorating departed\nworth. If its title to commemoration be justly proportioned to its\nmagnitude, its singularity, and extent; not only various individuals,\nbut different Nations, will become rivals in promoting the fame of\nHOWARD. As the glorious qualities, which his life displayed, are equally\nopen to the emulation of the great and the humble; every class of human\ncreatures is peculiarly interested in his praise. If to honour his\nmemory may be thought to belong to any one community more than to\nanother; surely, my Brethren, we shall not fail to assume to ourselves\nso pleasing a duty, so honourable a distinction. Well, indeed, might the\ninsulting enemies of our Faith reproach us with a supine and disgraceful\ninattention to the real interest of Virtue, and the true glory of\nReligion, could we suffer any other order of men to surpass the\nMinisters of CHRIST in a meritorious zeal to honour this faithful\nservant of Heaven, whose life exhibits a lesson more instructive and\nsublime than all the eloquence of the Pulpit! a Christian, who has shewn\nus, in the most signal manner, how practicable it is to follow, in\nsuccouring the distrest, not only the precepts, but the example of our\nGOD.\"\n\nIn the moment that this benevolent Divine concluded his address to his\nattentive brethren, my kind and vigilant Guides removed me from the\ntemple.--I was now led into a scene entirely different from those we\nleft. It was an open and verdant plain, with a few elevations in the\nground, that afforded advantageous views of the whole extensive spot.\nHere, instead of beholding the Ministers of Peace, I found myself\nencircled by the multitudinous votaries of War. It appeared to me that\nall the military and all the naval servants of our country were\ncollected together, and each different division of these well-appointed\nand well-looking men, that formed a pleasing spectacle alone, was\nattended by a crowd of miscellaneous spectators, more numerous than\nitself: yet in all this immense multitude there was no sign of tumult or\nconfusion. They were ranged in such a manner as to form a wide circular\narea in the midst of them. I was stationed on a little eminence within\nthis area; and in the same vacant space I beheld a party of veteran\nCommanders, both Military and Naval, who seemed to have been conferring\ntogether, but separated by the direction of my aetherial Conductors, to\naddress, in different parts of this extensive field, the different\ncompanies assigned to their care. What they respectively said in their\nseparate departments I was unable to discover, as I only heard\ndistinctly one gallant Veteran, whose character was particularly dear to\nme. This consummate officer has raised himself by merit alone from the\nhumblest rank of military life to a station of the highest honour and\ntrust. His modesty is as singular as his fortune: passing close to me,\nwith a gracious salutation, he approached a very fine orderly corps of\nfoot, who looked up to him with a sort of filial respect, while he spoke\nto them the few following words:\n\n\"As bravery and compassion are the characteristics of good Soldiers, you\ncannot want, my friends, any long exhortation from me to honour the\nmemory of HOWARD; the most resolute and the most compassionate man that\nhas lived in our time. Though he was not of our profession, as his life\nwas devoted to mitigate the united horrors of captivity and sickness,\nthose worst of enemies to the spirit of a soldier, you will undoubtedly\nfeel that he has a peculiar claim to our most grateful and generous\nregard.\"\n\nThis speech was followed by a burst of acclamation from those to whom it\nwas particularly addressed. Similar shouts of applause resounded from\ndifferent quarters of the spacious field, while our aetherial\nattendants, Gratitude and Admiration, who followed each speaker at the\nclose of each address to different divisions of this innumerable\nassembly, displayed, to each division in its turn, an extensive sketch\nof a simple but magnificent mausoleum to the memory of Howard, in the\nform of an English lazaretto. On the first display of this striking and\nworthy monument, the applauding multitude seemed to exult in the\nprospect of its completion. But I soon observed, to my inexpressible\nconcern, that while Gratitude and Admiration were busy in exciting the\nvarious ranks of the vast assembly, to accomplish this favourite design,\nthey were followed by two earthy fiends of a dark and malignant\ninfluence: these were Detraction and Indifference, who shed such a chill\nand depressive mist around them, that all the ardour of the Assembly\nseemed to sink. Among the miscellaneous crowds that were visible between\nthe divisions of the martial host, there ran a murmur of obloquy and\nderision against the pure object of public veneration. He was reviled as\na whimsical Reformer, and a rash Enthusiast, who had absurdly\nsacrificed his life in a vain and fantastic pursuit. This base spirit of\ncalumnious malignity was not communicated to any one division of the\nmartial multitude; but the universal zeal for the glory of HOWARD seemed\nto be almost annihilated; even Gratitude and Admiration appeared to grow\nfaint in their darling purpose. During their languor, they suffered\ntheir sketch of the Mausoleum to be gradually stolen from their hands,\nand to drop upon the ground. At this moment a sudden and violent\nearthquake was felt through all the extensive scene. The centre of the\nvacant area opened--it threw forth a phantom terrific and enormous--its\nmagnitude seemed to grow upon the sight; its lineaments were shrouded\nfrom our view by an immense mantle, on which were represented a\nthousand different and hideous images of Death. Its name was\nContagion--it rushed forward with an indescribable movement. Dismay and\nconfusion overwhelmed all that quarter of the crowded scene, that was\nparticularly threatened by its first advance. The affrighted multitude\nrolled back like a tumultuous sea. The horrid spectre stopt; and left a\nwide interval between itself and the retiring host. A ray of heavenly\nlight illumined the vacant space. I fixed my eye on the brilliant spot,\nand soon beheld the meek and gentle form of HOWARD advancing, without\nfear or arrogance, towards the terrific Phantom. With an untrembling\nhand he seized the dark folds of its extensive mantle, and seemed\nanimated with the hope of annihilating the Monster. In the instant, a\nburst of celestial splendor was spread over the gloomy plain. The Angel\nof Retribution descended; and snatching the consummate Philanthropist to\nhis bosom, he rose again; while all the astonished multitude, now\nreviving from their terror, gazed only on the celestial apparition; and\nheard the reascending Seraph thus address the beneficent spirit now\ncommitted to his care:\n\n\"Thou faithful servant of Heaven! thy hour of recompence is come. Justly\nhast thou cautioned mankind not to impute thy conduct to rashness or\nenthusiasm. Weak and wavering in their own pursuits of felicity, thou\nwilt not wonder to see them so in their sense of thy merit, and their\nzeal for thy honour: but I am commissioned to bear thee to that\nAll-seeing Power, who can alone truly estimate, and perfectly reward thy\ndesert. I know that the praise of beings, inferior to thy GOD, never\ninfluenced thy life; but the homage of good minds is grateful to the\npurest inhabitants of Heaven; and in departing from a world so much\nindebted to thy virtue, let it gratify thy perfect spirit to foresee,\nthat as long as the earth endures, the most enlightened of her sons will\nremember and revere thee as one of her sublimest benefactors.\"\n\nAs soon as the divine messenger had ceased to speak, every voice in the\nreanimated multitude, that heard him, raised a shout of benediction on\nthe name of HOWARD. I started in transport at the sound; and the effort\nthat I made to join the universal acclamation terminated my vision.\n\nPardon me, thou gentlest and most indulgent of Friends! that, conscious\nas I am of the sincerity with which thy pure mind ever wished to avoid\nall exuberance of praise, I yet presume to send into the world such a\ntribute to thy virtues as thy humility might reject. Let the motives of\nthe publication atone for all its defects!\n\nThis little work is made public, not from a vain expectation, or desire,\nin the Writer to obtain any degree of literary distinction; for, if his\nwishes and endeavours are successful, the world will not know from what\nhand it proceeds.\n\nThou most revered object of my regard, who art looking down, perhaps,\nwith compassion on the petty labours of various mortals, now trying to\ncommemorate thy merit, thou seest that I am influenced by no arrogant\nconceit of having praised with peculiar felicity the perfections that I\nso ardently admire. No! I am perfectly sensible, that the most worthy\nmemorial of thy virtues will be found in those pure records of thy\npublic services which thy own hand has given to the world with all the\namiable and affecting simplicity that distinguished thy character, and\nin the more comprehensive composition of some accomplished Biographer,\nwho may have opportunities and ability to do justice to thy life.\n\nThe chief aim of these few and hasty pages is to recall, at this\nparticular time, to the liberal spirits of our countrymen that generous\nardour with which they embraced the first idea of a public monument to\nHOWARD. While the expence and dignity of that monument are yet\nunsettled, a Writer may consider himself as a friend to national honour,\nwho endeavours to animate his country to the most extensive display of\nher munificence, and her gratitude towards the purest public virtue. May\nshe justly remember, that, to testify a fond maternal pride in such a\ndeparted son, to manifest and perpetuate esteem for such a character,\nis, in truth, to promote the interest of genuine Patriotism, of sublime\nMorality, and of perfect Religion!\n\n\nFINIS.","title":"The Eulogies of Howard: A Vision","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":10680}