454 
II O W 
moderation or -his narrative, contrafted with that -enthu- 
fiaftic -ardou? which muft have impelled him to his under¬ 
taking, were not lets admired; and he was immediately 
regarded as one of the extraordinary characters of the age, 
and the leader in all plans for meliorating the condition 
of that wretched part of the community for whom he in- 
terefted liimfelf. He had no .objeft more at heart than 
the correftion of their vices, which he'thought might be 
efrefted by gentle but ftriCt difcipiine, accompanied-with 
that degree of perfonal comfort which was compatible 
with confinement; and to this end the greater part of his 
obfervationsjvas directed. 
The h;oufe of commons having laudably feconded his 
zeal by bringing in a bill for the eftablithmertt of lioufes 
of correction according to his ideas, he thought himfelf 
obliged to new exertions in order to give all poffiblej per¬ 
fection to this defign. He therefore, in 1778, repeated 
his vifit to the continent, in which.he included Italy, as 
well as the nearer countries. After his return in 1779, ^ le 
made another complete furvey of the prifons of England 
and Wales, and thole of Scotland and Ireland. In thefe 
tours he comprehended another objeft of importance to 
humanity, that of hofpitals. He every where obferved, 
arid carefully noted down, their ftrafture an deregulations, 
and procured plans and draughts’where he thought they 
might fiiggeft fomething ufeful for imitation. Thefe re- 
tearches furnidled him with a large and interefcing “Ap¬ 
pendix” to his former work, printed in 17S0, 4'ro. At 
the feme time, he’publithed an edition in large 8vo, of his 
“ State of the Prifons,” containing the additional matter 
of his Appendix. At this period he accepted the office 
of one of the three fupervifors appointed by the aft for 
eftablifhing penitentiary houfes. He made it an indifpen- 
fable condition of his acceptance, that his friend Dr. f o- 
thergiil fliould be one of his affocia'ces, and he refolved to 
take no falary for his labours. The death of Dr. Fothe’r- 
gill, and difference in opinion with the other fupervifor, 
concerning the fituation of the fir ft of thefe buildings, 
caufed him, in January 1781, to refign his office, but it 
was only to relume his far greater exertions in the fame 
laudable caufe. - In the courfe of that year he.puriued his 
ufual enquiries ip a tour through the northern parts of 
Europe, comprifing Denmark, Sweden, Ruiffia, and Po¬ 
land ; and he employed the next year in fu’rveying the 
prifons of England, and revifiting Scotland and Ireland. 
The Proteftant charter-fchools in the latter kingdom were 
a new objeft of attention, and he freely expofed the 
abufes to which they had been fubjefted. The year’i7S3 
completed his furvey of all the civilifed parts of Europe, 
with that of Spain ar.d Portugal ; and upon his return, 
he again travelled into the three Britifh kingdoms. Ma¬ 
terials had now accumulated upon his hands fufficient for 
another “Appendix,” which he printed in 1784, toge¬ 
ther with a new edition of his firft work, comprifing all the 
additional matter. 
Though Mr, Howard had now almoft exhaufted the ob¬ 
jects which firft engaged his refearches, yet the habits he 
had acquired would not fuffer him to refign himfelf to re- 
pofe, while any thing remained in which he thought his 
further labours might ferve the interefts of humanity. 
The progrels of contagion in prifons and hofpitals had 
led him to confiderof all the means ufed for checking it ; 
and he expefted to find thefe praftifed in their fulleft ex¬ 
tent in the prevention of that moll fatal contagious dif- 
eafe, the plague. He alfb knew that the regulations for 
quarantine in this country were frivolous, and ufually 
evaded He therefore thought an examination of ail the 
principal lazarettos in Europe wouid produce much valu¬ 
able information ; and as perfonal hazard never, in his 
eftimation, ftood in competition with a matter of duty, 
he did riot hefitate to expofe himfelf to all the dangers 
which might attend on fo near an approach to the moil 
dreaded peftilence. He fet out on this new. expedition 
■ towards the end of 1785, unaccompanied by a fervaht. 
A R- D. 
fince he did not think it juftifiable to expofe to fimilar 
dangers any one not aftuated by the fame" motives. He ' 
took his way by. the fonth of France, through Italy, to 
Malta, Zarite, Smyrna, and Conftantinople, From the 
latter capital he. returned to Smyrna, where he knew the ’ 
plague then to prevail, for the purpofe of going to Ve¬ 
nice with a foul bill of health, that he might be fubjefted 
to all the rigour of a quarantine in the lazaretto,' a.ud by 
confequence become acquainted with its rules. On his 
return by Vienna, the emperor Jofeph expreffed a defire 
of feeing him ; for Mr. Howard was now a known and 
refpefted cnarafter throughout Europe. 'I'he interview 
palled as between an enlightened fovereign defirous of in¬ 
formation, and,a plain independent gentleman above the 
awe of rank, or the vanity of being noticed. During his 
abfence on this journey, the admiration of his countrymen 
fuggefted a .defign of doing him honour which proved 
highly ppp.reffive to his feelings. A fubfcription was en¬ 
tered’into for the purpofe of eVecling'a ftatue, and it 
was foon filled with names of the firft dillinction. As. 
foon as he was informed of the fchenie, he expreffed fucli 
a decided averjion to what he called being “ dragged out 
in public,” that it was reluctantly, abandoned. He re¬ 
turned in 1787; and after a Ihort reft went to Ireland, and 
came back by Scotland. He revifited Ireland in 1788, 
chiefly for the purpofe of completing a furvey of its char- 
ter-fchools, to which he had excited the attention of the 
parliament of that kingdom. All the county gaols, molt 
of the bridewells, the infirmaries and hofpitals, and the - 
prifon-hulks, of England, were again examined by him, 
during the courfe of thefe two years. The year 1789 was 
chiefly devoted by him to the methodlfing and printing 
the'copious and important matter which had accrued from . 
his refearches'fince the laft publication. A appeared in 
that year in a quarto volume, entitled, All “Account of 
the principal Lazarettos in Europe, with, various Papers 
relative to the Plague; together with further Observations 
on tome foreign Prifons and Hofpitals ; with additional 
Remarks on the present State of thole in Great Britain 
and Ireland.” It was accompanied with many plates, il- 
luftrative and ornamental, which, as before,, were given to 
the readers, This work opened feveral new fources of in¬ 
formation to the author’s countrymen,, and was received 
with avidity. It concluded with the’ Draught of a. Bill 
for the better regulation of gaols, particularly with relpeft 
to the prevention of drunken nets in them, a vice which 
he regarded with particular deteftation, as the origin of 
moll others to which the lower claffes of people are liable. 
At the clofe of this publication he declared his intention 
of again quitting his native country for the purpofe of re¬ 
vifiting Rulfia and Turkey, and extending his travels in 
the Eaft. What were the particular ohjefts which he 
had in view in. this protraftion of his almolt-unequalied 
labours, at a time when advancing years and declining 
ftrength feemed to urge him to repofe, was not clear even 
to his intimate friends; and it is probable that he was 
chiefly impelled by the long habit of purfuing a certain 
courfe of enquiry, joined to the difquietude of mind lie 
felt at home in confequence of the unfortunate ftate of 
infanity into which liis fon had fallen. He quitted Eng¬ 
land in the fummer of 1789, and proceeded through Ger¬ 
many to Peterffiurgh and Mofcow. He found every where 
the prifons and hofpitals thrown open to him, as to the 
general cenfor of that part of the police, whole authority 
was recognifecl in every civilifed country. Such is the 
force of pure.and exalted virtue! He next proceeded to 
the new Ruffian lettlements on the Black Sea, and took, 
his ftation at the, town of Cheribn. At this place a fever 
of. a malignant kind prevailed, among whofe victims was 
a young lady whom ]ie had been reqnetted to vifit; for 
he had been fo ebriverfant with infeftious difeafes, that he 
was thought (and thought himfelf) to poffefs medical tkii 1 
in tbofe cafes. From h'er'he probably received a contagion 
which carried him off on January 20, 1790, about the age 
