H O W 
HOUT'WAEL, a town of Holland: one mile eaft of 
Amfterdam. 
KOW, adv. [from hu, Sax. hoe, Dut.] To what degree. 
— How long wilt thou refufe to humble thyfelf before me ? 
Exodus. — How much better is it to get wifdom than gold ? 
and to get underftanding, rather to be chofen than filver ? 
Proverbs.-^How oft is the candle of the wicked put out ? 
And how oft cometli their detlru&ion upon them ? Job .— 
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation. Pfalms. 
How many children’s plaints and mothers’ cries! 
Hew many woeful widows left to bow 
To 'fad difgrace ! Daniel. 
In what manner.—’Tis much in our power how to live, 
but not at all when or how to die. L'Ejlrange. 
Mark’d you not, ■ 
How that the guilty kindred of the queen 
Look’d pale, when they did hear of Clarence’ death ? 
Shakefpearc. 
For what reafon ; from what caufe: 
How now my love ? Why is your cheek fo pale ? 
How chance the rofes there do fade fo faft ? Shakefpeart. 
By what means,—Men would have the colours of birds’ 
feathers, if they could tell how ; or they will have gay 
(kins inltead of gay clothes. Bacon.- —In what flate: 
Whence am I forc’d, and whither am I borne? 
How and with what reproach (hall I return ? Dryden. 
It is ufed in a fenfe marking proportion or correfpon- 
dence.—Behold, he put no truft in his fervants, how much 
lefs in them that dwell in houfes of clay, wdiofe founda¬ 
tion is in the.duft ? Job iv. 19.—It is much ufed in ex¬ 
clamation.— How are the mighty fallen ! Sam.—How doth 
the city fit folitary as a widow ! Lam. i.—In an affirmative 
fenfe, not ealily explained ; that fo it is; that.—Thick 
clouds put us in fome hope of land, knowing how that 
part of the South-fea was utterly unknown, and might 
have iflands or continents. Bacon. 
HOW'AN SOUND', a ftrait of the fea, between the 
iflands of Egilffia and Row fa, two of the Orkney Iflands. 
HOW'ARD, [i. e. kofward, the warden of a hall, Spel- 
mnn ; or holdward, the keeper of a ftrong hold, Vejlcrgen ; 
of hoch, Teut. high, and pap.b, a warden, Camden ; or of . 
hold, favour, Teut. and wold., worthy, Kilian ; or of hoib, 
liofpitality, and papt>, Skinner. ] A furname. 
HOW'ARD, duke of Norfolk. For the hiftory of this 
illuftrious family, and their fervices to their country, fee 
the article IjERALtiRY, vol. ix. p. 460-4.62. 
HOW'ARD (John), the celebrated philantbropift, was 
the only fon of a carpet-warehoufeman and upholfterer in 
London. He was born about 1727, either at Enfield or 
at Hackney, where his father lived after retiring from bu- 
finels with a handfome fortune. His education was among 
the proteilant dilfenters, of which feCl his father was a 
member: but more care appears to have been taken to fe- 
cure his moral and religious principles, than to inftrucl 
him in religious jealcmfies and coniroverfi.es. His mind 
was ever pregnant'with Chriftian toleration. In 1756, 
he fet out upon a tour to the continent. In this, his lead¬ 
ing object was, to view the ruins of Lifbon, lately de- 
folated by a dreadful earthquake. His intention was, 
however, prevented by the capture of the veflel in which 
he embarked, and his vifit was paid to France in the ca¬ 
pacity of a prifoner of war. The fufferings which he un¬ 
derwent, and was witnefs to, on this occafion, made an 
impreffion upon his mind that probably was a principal 
caufe of the philanthropical exertions which afterwards 
employed fo great a portion of his life. Their immediate 
effeCt was to induce him, upon his liberation, to lay the 
irate of his fellow-fufferers before the commiffioners of 
the fick and wounded feamen, who received his informa¬ 
tion with thanks. In 1758 he made a very fuitable alli¬ 
ance with the eldeft daughter of Mr. Serjeant Leeds, of 
Croxton, Cambridgefnire. He was then fettled at his 
Von. X. No. 673. 
H O W 435 
eflate at Cardington,' near Bedford ; but he foon after 
purchafed a feat in the New Foreft, Hampffiire, .where he 
refided three or, four years. Returning to Cardington, lie 
thenceforth made it the place of his fixed abode, and be¬ 
gan to put in practice tholeTchemes for the good of his 
poor neighbours and tenants, in which he ever took pe¬ 
culiar delight. He built upon his eflate a number of 
very neat and comfortable cottages, to each of which he 
annexed a little ground for a garden. Thefe he peopled 
with fober and induitrious tenants, over whofe welfare he 
watched with the vigilance of a parent. He eflablifhed 
fchools, where both fexes were gratuitoufly taught what 
would be moll ufeful in their condition of life. He alfo 
diflributed much in private charity to the indigent, and 
promoted various plans for public benefit, beyond his own 
immediate vicinity. His own family was dillinguiffied for 
order and regularity, and he was' exemplary in attention 
to religious duties, without any of the bigotry of party. 
One of his principal amufements was horticulture, in 
which he excelled. He was alio fond of philofophicai ex¬ 
periments and obfervations, and communicated to the 
Royal Society, of which he was a member, fome papers 
in this^clafs. In 1765 his domeflic happinefs was irrepa¬ 
rably injured by the death of his beloved wife, foon after 
ffie had borne her only child. The education of his fon, 
and his ufual benevolent occupations, continued to em¬ 
ploy him till theyear 1773, in which he ferved the office 
of high-fheriff for the county of Bedford. That confci- 
entious regard to his duty by which he was always actu¬ 
ated, would not permit him to pafs over Tightly any of 
the functions of this office ; and the fuperintendance of 
the prifons feemed to him one of the molt important. 
Finding many abufes to prevail, which he did not know 
how to remedy, he determined to obtain all poffible infor¬ 
mation on the fubject. With this view he began by vi- 
fiting moil of the county gaols in England. On a fecond 
journey he extended his refearches into town gaols and 
houfes of correction : and lo diligently did he purlue his 
object, that he was enabled, in March 1774, to lay be¬ 
fore the houfe of commons a large mafs of information, 
for which he received their public thanks. It was prin¬ 
cipally upon the credit of his teftimony, that two bills 
were palled during this feffion : one, “ For the relief of ac¬ 
quitted prifoners in matter of fees the other, “For pre¬ 
ferring the health of prifoners.” Thefe Mr. Howard pro¬ 
cured to be printed in a large character, and lent to every 
keeper of a county gaol throughout England. 
He was now entered upon a new field of philanthropical 
exertion, in which he difeerned that much good was to be 
done ; and with that fieady ardour of temper which al¬ 
ways led him to carry to the utmoll perfection every 
fclieme which he adopted, he refolved to devote his time 
and fortune to the improvement of this important part of 
civil polity. He accordingly, in 1775 and 1776, made 
two tours on the continent; and during their intervals 
travelled into Scotland and Ireland, and revifited all the 
counties of England, folely employed, in all thefe places, 
in collecting every particular relative to the management 
of prifons. The fruit of thefe elaborate refearches was 
given to the public in 1777, in a 4to vol. entitled, “The 
State of the Prifons in England and Wales ; with Preli¬ 
minary Obfervations, and an Account of fome foreign 
Prifons.” It was dedicated to the houfe of commons, and 
enriched with a number of illuftratiye plates. This ex- 
penfive publication was in a manner prefented by him to 
his country; for, befides a” very liberal donation of copies 
to individuals, heinfilted upon fixing fo low a price upon 
thofe for fide, that the purchafer received gratuitoufly- at 
leaft the whole value of the plates. And this praCtice he 
followed in all his publications. As foon as it appeared, 
the world was aftoniffied at the mafs of valuable materials 
accumulated by a private unaided individual, through a 
courfe of prodigious labour, and at the conltant hazard 
of life, in confequence of the infectious diieales prevalent 
in the l’cenes of his enquiries. The cool good fenfe and 
5 S moderation 
