quette of his rank, on every occafion where it obftructed him in the acquifition of knowlege, or the activity of exertion. Mr. Howard returned through Germany and Holland, and arrived safe in England early in 1787.' After his return, he took a short repofe, and then went over to Ireland, and visited moft of the county gaols and charter fchools, and came back by Scotland. In 1788 he renewed his vifit to Ireland, and completed his furvey of its gaols, hofpitals, and fchools.' The great variety of matter collected in these journies was methodized and put to the prefs in 1789. It compofes a quarto volume, beautifully printed, and decorated with a number of fine plates, which, as ufual, are prefented to the public; and fo eager were the purchafers of books to partake of the donation, that all the copies were almost immediately bought up. The title is, An Account of the principal Lazarettos in Europe, with various Papers relative to the Plague; together with further Obfervations on fome foreign Prifons and Hofpitals; with additional Remarks on the prefent State of thofe in Great Britain and Ireland *.'. Mr. Howard remained but a short time at home after the printing of this work. In the conclufion of it he had delared his intention" again to quit his native country, for the purpose of revifiting Ruffia, Turkey, and fome other countries, and extending his tour in the east.". In the beginning of July 1789 he arrived in Holland. Thence he proceeded through the north of Germany, Pruffia, Courland, and Livonia, to St. Petersburgh. From this capital he went to Moscow.'- From Mofcow he took his courfe to the very extremity of European Ruffia, extended as it now is to the fhores of the Black-fea, where long dreary tracts of defert are terminated by fome of thofe new establishments, which have coft fuch immenfe profufion of blood and treasure to two vaft empires, now become neighbours and perpetual foes. Here, at the distance of 1,500 miles from his native land, he fell a victim to difeafe, the ravages of which, among unpitied multitudes, he was exerting every effort to refrain. Finis vitæ nobis lu&uofus, amicis triftis, extraneis etiam ignotisque non fine cura!' The winter being far advanced on the taking of Bender, the commander of the Ruffian army at that place gave permiffion to many of the officers to vifit their friends at Cherfon, as the feverity of the feafon would not admit of a continuance of hoftilities against the Turks. Cherfon, in confequence, became much crowded; and the inhabitants teftified their joy for the fuccefs of the Ruffians by balls and masquerades. Several of the officers, of the inhabitants of Cherfon, and of the gentry in the neighbourhood, who attended thefe balls, were almoft immediately afterwards attacked with fevers; and it was Mr. Howard's idea, that the infection had * Of this work an account will be found in the 1ft volume of our New Series, p. 134. 248. been been brought by the officers from Bender. Amongst the number who caught this contagion was a young lady who refided about fixteen miles from Cherfon. When he had been ill fome little time, Mr. Howard was earnestly requested to vifit her. He faw her first on Sunday, December 27. He vifited her again in the middle of the week, and a third time on the Sunday following, January 3. On that day he found her fweating very profufely; and, being unwilling to check this by uncovering her arm, he paffed his under the bed-clothes to feel her pulfe. While he was doing this, the effluvia from her body were very offenfive to him, and it was always his own opinion that he then caught the fever. She died on the following day. Mr. Howard was much affected by her death, as he had flattered him felf with hopes of her amendment. From January 3d to the 8th he fcarcely went out*; but on that day he went to dine with Admiral Montgwinoff, who lived about a mile and a half from his lodgings. He ftaid later than ufual; and when he returned, found himself unwell, and thought he had fomething of the gout flying about him. He immediately took fome fal volatile in a little tea, and thought himself better till three or four on Saturday morning, when, feeling not fo well, he repeated the fal volatile. He got up in the morning, and walked out; but finding himself worse, foon returned and took an emetic. On the following night he had a violent attack of fever, when he had recourse to his favourite remedy, James's powder, which he regularly took every two or four hours till Sunday the 17th. For though Prince Potemkin fent his own phyfician to him, immediately on his being acquainted with his illness, yet his own prefcriptions were never interfered with during this time. On the 12th he had a kind of fit, in which he fuddenly fell down, his face became black, his breathing difficult, and he remained infenfible for haif an hour. On the 17th he had another fimilar fit. On the 18th he was feized with hiccupping, which continued on the next day, when he took fome musk draughts by direction of the phyfician. About feven o'clock on Wednesday morning, the 20th of January, he had another fit, and died in about an hour after. He was perfectly fenfible during his illness, except in the fits, till within a very few hours of his death. This event he all along expected to take place; and he often faid, that he had no other with for life than as it gave him the means of relieving his fellow-creatures.' In the preceding abstract, we have been under the neceffity of omitting many important particulars: but they will be perufed with more pleasure and effect, in connection with the numerous obfervations and reflections which accompany them. These are so pertinent and judicious, that we fhould fcarcely think our duty difcharged without making fome extracts from them, were we not perfuaded that the work itfelf will be uni *There feems fome mistake here, as there is a full report in his memorandums, of a vifit to the hofpitals in Cherfon, dated January 6.' The above particulars were given by Mr. H.'s fervant. verfally Y 2 verfally read. One paffage from Dr. Aikin's masterly portrait of Mr. Howard's character we must quote, because it may serve to obviate a misapprehenfion which feems to have been commonly entertained concerning him : • Mr. Howard poffeffed the rare quality of being able, for any length of time, to bend all the powers and faculties of his mind to one point, unfeduced by every allurement which curiofity or any other affection might throw in his way, and unfufceptible of that fatiety and difguft which are so apt to fteal upon a protracted purfuit. Though by his early travels he had fhewn himfelf not indifferent to those objects of tafte and information which ftrike the cultivated mind in a foreign country, yet in the tours exprefsly for the purpose of examining prifons and hofpitals, he appears to have had eyes and ears for nothing elfe; at least he fuffered no other object to detain him or draw him afide *. Impreffed with the idea of the importance of his defigns, and the uncertainty of human life, he was impatient to get as much done as poffible within the allotted limits. And in this difpofition confifted that enthusiasm by which the public fuppofed him actuated; for otherwife, his cool and fteady temper gave no idea of the character ufually diftinguished by that appellation. He followed his plans, indeed, with wonderful vigour and conftancy, but by no means with that heat and eagernefs, that inflamed and exalted imagination, which denote the enthufiaft. Hence, he was not liable to catch at partial reprefentations, to view facts through fallacious mediums, and to fall into those mistakes which are fo frequent in the refearches of the man of fancy and warm feeling. Some perfons, who only knew him by his extraordinary actions, were ready enough to bestow upon him that fneer of contempt, which men of cold hearts and felfish difpofitions are fo apt to apply to whatever has the fhew of high fenfibi lity. While others, who had a flight acquaintance with him, and faw occafional features of phlegm, and perhaps harfhnefs, were difpofed to question his feeling altogether, and to attribute his exertions either merely to a sense of duty, or to habit and humour. Büc both these were erroneous conclufions. He felt as a man should feel; but not fo as to mislead him, either in the estimate he formed of objects of utility, or in his reafonings concerning the means by which they were to be brought into effect. The reformation of abuses, and the relief of mifery, were the two great purposes which he kept in view in all his undertakings; and I have equally feen the tear of fenfibility ftart into his eyes on recalling fome of the distressful fcenes to which he had been witnefs, and the fpirit of indignation flash from them on relating inftances of baseness and op preffion. Still, however, his conftancy of mind and felf-collection never deferted him. He was never agitated, never off his guard; and the unspeakable advantages of fuch a temper in the fcenes in which he was engaged, need not be dwelt upon. *He mentioned being once prevailed upon in Italy, to go and hear fome extraordinarily fine mufic; but, finding his thoughts too much occupied by it, he would never repeat the indulgence.' • His His whole courfe of action was fuch a trial of intrepidity and fortitude, that it may feem altogether fuperfluous to fpeak of his poffeffion of thefe qualities. He had them, indeed, both from nature and principle. His nerves were firm; and his conviction of marching in the path of duty made him fearless of confequences. Nor was it only on great occafions that this ftrength of mind was fhown. It raised him above falfe fhame, and that awe which makes a coward of many a brave man in the prefence of a fuperior, No one ever lefs" feared the face of man," than he. No one hefitated less in speaking bold truths, or avowing obnoxious opinions. His courage was equally paffive and active. He was prepared to make every facrifice that a regard to ftrict veracity, or rigorous duty, could enjoin; and it cannot be doubted, that, had he lived in an age when afferting his civil and religious rights would have fubjected him to martyrdom, not a more willing martyr would ever have afcended the scaffold, or embraced the stake.' The point of view, in which Mr. H.'s character ought chiefly to be held up as an object of imitation, is very properly ftated in the following paffage : To propofe as a model, a character marked with fuch fingularities, and, no doubt, with fome foibles, would be equally vain and injudicious; but his firm attachment to principle, high fenfe of honour, pure benevolence, unfhaken conftancy, and indefatigable perfeverance, may properly be held up to the view of all perfons Occupying important ftations, or engaged in ufeful enterprifes, as qualities not lefs to be imitated than admired.' With this fenfible remark, we close our extracts from a work that has afforded us fingular pleasure, as an accurate and finished delineation of a character, which will ever ftand distinguished among those ART. XIII. T° Qui fui memores alios fecere merendo. Abelard to Eloifa: a Poem. By Mr. Jerningham, 4to. pp. 15. Is. 6d. Robfon. 1792, o endeavour to write a counterpart to Pope's Epistle from Eloifa to Abelard is a bold attempt. Of that admired poem, Dr. Johnson, who was feldom lavish of praise, has said, that it may perhaps be with juftice pronounced " to have excelled every compofition of the fame kind," In a happy union of dignity with tenderness, and of poetical ornament with the natural expreffion of paffion, it perhaps ftill remains unrivalled. Much as we are inclined to admire the productions of Mr. Jerningham's mufe, we cannot place this epiftle on a level with that of Pope. Waving the comparison, however, we readily allow it a confiderable share of merit. Y 3 The The fuppofed ftate of Abelard's mind, at the commencement of the poem, when, after a filence of three years, his fmothered paffion burft forth in tender lamentations, is ftrongly conceived, and poetically expreffed. In the account of his past fufferings, Abelard introduces the perfecution which he had fuffered from the jealoufy and bigotry of St. Bernard; through whofe intereft with the fee of Rome, a fentence of excommunication was paffed on him for herefy. The ftate of humiliation and despair, into which his mind was thrown by this fpiritual calamity, and the relief afforded him by the reverfal of the fentence, are thus defcribed: Now the pale outcast both of Heav'n and earth, No more my image to her thought adjoin'd With madd'ning hand I tore my rooted hair.- The holy church, by my remonftrance won, All |