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Produced by Jonathan Ingram and PG Distributed Proofreaders | |
THE EULOGIES OF HOWARD. | |
A VISION. | |
----to tell of deeds | |
Above heroic. MILTON. | |
M.DCC.XCI. | |
THE EULOGIES OF HOWARD | |
It was my chance to be conversing with a Friend of the benevolent and | |
indefatigable HOWARD, when our country was first afflicted with the | |
public intelligence of his death. After our first expression of surprize | |
and sorrow, we naturally fell into serious and affectionate reflections | |
on the gentle character and sublime pursuits of the deceased. On these | |
articles we had no difference of opinion; but in the course of our | |
conversation a point arose, on which our sentiments were directly | |
opposite, though we were equally sincere and ardent in our regret and | |
veneration for the departed Worthy, to whom it related. I happened to | |
speak of the public honours that, I hoped, a grateful, a generous, a | |
magnificent Nation would render to his memory. My companion immediately | |
exclaimed, "that every ostentatious memorial, to commemorate the virtues | |
of his friend, would be inconsistent with the meekness and simplicity of | |
the man; that all, who had the happiness of knowing HOWARD, must | |
recollect with what genuine modesty he had ever retired from the | |
enthusiastic admiration of those, who had hoped to gratify his ambition | |
by undeserved applause; that he had really sought no reward but in the | |
approbation of his conscience and his GOD; that the British Nation, | |
however eminent for genius and munificence, could not devise any | |
posthumous honours, or raise any monument, truly worthy of HOWARD, | |
except in adopting and accomplishing those benevolent projects which his | |
philanthropy and experience had recommended to public attention for the | |
benefit of mankind." | |
I readily admitted the singular and unquestionable modesty of the | |
deceased.--I allowed that the noblest tribute of respect, which the | |
world could render to so pure a spirit, would be to realize his ideas; | |
but I contended, that other honours are still due to his name; that it | |
is the duty and the interest of mankind to commemorate his character | |
with the fondest veneration. I reminded my companion, that although we | |
were sincerely convinced that no human mind, engaged in great designs, | |
could be more truly modest than that of HOWARD; yet we had particular | |
reason to recollect, that he was not insensible to praise. He had once | |
imparted to us his feelings on that subject with a frank and tender | |
simplicity, highly graceful in an upright and magnanimous being, | |
conscious of no sentiment that he could wish to conceal. Indeed, a | |
sincere and ardent passion for virtue could hardly subsist with a | |
disdain of true glory, which is nothing more than the proper testimony | |
of intelligent and honed admiration to the existence of merit: nor is it | |
reasonable to suppose that the fondest expressions of remembrance from a | |
world, which he has served and enlightened, can be displeasing to the | |
spirit of "a just man made perfect;" since we are taught by Religion, | |
that the gratitude of mankind is acceptable even to GOD. I endeavoured | |
to convince my companion, that, as the Publick had seen in HOWARD a | |
person who reflected more genuine honour on our country than any of her | |
Philosophers, her Poets, her Orators, her Heroes, or Divines, it is | |
incumbent on the Nation to consult her own glory by commemorating, in | |
the fullest manner, his beneficent exertions, and by establishing the | |
dignity of his unrivaled virtue. | |
My arguments, and my zeal, made some impression on the mind of my | |
antagonist; and sunk so deeply into my own, that on my retiring to rest | |
they gave rise to the following vision. | |
I was suddenly transported to the confines of a region, which astonished | |
me by its loveliness and extent; it was called, The Paradise of true | |
Glory. As I approached the entrance, my eyes were delightfully | |
fascinated by two beings of human form, who presided over the portal. | |
Their names were Genius and Sensibility:--it was their office to gratify | |
with a view of this Paradise every mortal that revered them sincerely; | |
and to reject only such intruders as presumed to treat either the one or | |
the other with the insolence of disdain, or the coldness of contempt: an | |
incident that I should have thought impossible, from the transcendent | |
beauty which is visible in each; but, to my surprize, they informed me | |
it very frequently happened. | |
As I readily paid them the unsuspected homage of my soul, I was | |
graciously permitted to pass the gate.--Immediately as I entered, I was | |
saluted with a seraphic smile, by two benignant and inseparable Spirits: | |
these were Gratitude and Admiration, the joint rulers of the | |
dominion--"You are welcome," said the first, in a tone of angelic | |
tenderness--"You are welcome to a scene utterly new to your senses, and | |
in harmony with your heart: you delight in the praises of the deserving: | |
and you are now wafted to a spot, where those who have merited highly of | |
mankind are praised in proportion to their desert, and where the praise | |
of exalted merit is fondly listened to by an extensive human audience, | |
here purified by our supernatural agency from all the low and little | |
jealousies of the earth." | |
I had hardly answered this pleasing information by a grateful obeisance | |
to my radiant informer, when I perceived, in a gorgeous prospect that | |
now opened before us, three structures of stupendous size and superior | |
magnificence. The first was situated in a grove of olives, and appeared | |
to me like an ancient temple of Attica, remarkable for massive strength, | |
and a sober dignity--the second was less solid, but richer in | |
decoration; and seemed to be almost surrounded by every tree and plant | |
on which Nature has bestowed any salutary virtue: the third was shaded | |
only by palms; the form of it was so wonderfully grand and aweful, that | |
it struck me as a sanctuary for every pure and devout spirit from all | |
the nations of the globe. | |
"These structures, that you survey with astonishment," said one of my | |
benevolent conductors, "are devoted to what you mortals denominate the | |
three liberal professions, Law, Medicine, and Theology. Whoever has a | |
claim to distinguished honour from any one of the three, has a just | |
encomium pronounced upon his services by the temporary President of that | |
particular fabrick, in which he is entitled to such grateful | |
remembrance." "Alas!" I replied, with a murmur that I could not | |
suppress, "the Man whose well-deserved praises I most anxiously expected | |
to hear in this region, belonged not to any one of these eminent classes | |
in human life--he had no profession but that of Humanity." | |
"Be patient," said the sweetest of my aetherial guides, with a rebuke | |
that was softened by a smile of indulgence! "Let not your zeal for the | |
honour of an individual, however meritorious, make you unjust, or | |
insensible, to the merit of others! Assume the temper of this region, | |
where praise is distributed by equity and affection, but where prejudice | |
and partiality are not allowed to intrude!--Let us advance," continued | |
my monitor, with an encouraging movement of her hand; "it is time that I | |
should lead you to the nearest assembly." | |
I obeyed with reverential silence; and as I passed the vestibule of the | |
majestic edifice, my heart panted with an aweful expectation of | |
beholding the shades of Solon, Lycurgus, and other departed Legislators, | |
from the various nations of the world. I was chearfully surprized by a | |
very different spectacle. | |
The capacious structure was filled with a concourse of living mortals, | |
lively, yet respectable in their appearance, evidently belonging to | |
many countries; but all, as I perceived by their habits, connected with | |
the Law. Throughout all the multitude I heard no sound of dissention or | |
debate: but over all there reigned an air of intelligence and sympathy, | |
while all were hushed in silent expectance, and eager attention, with | |
their eyes directed to an elevated tribunal:--On this a personage was | |
sitting, whose majestic figure I immediately recollected. His | |
countenance is marked with that austerity and grandeur, which are the | |
external characteristicks of Law herself. His heart, as those who know | |
it ultimately declare, expresses the tender and beneficent influence of | |
that Power, who is the acknowledged parent of security and comfort. With | |
a voice that pervaded the most distant recesses of the extensive dome, | |
and in tones that sunk deep into the bosom of every auditor, he | |
pronounced the following oration: | |
"After passing many years of life in the painful investigation of human | |
offences, it is with peculiar satisfaction that I find myself | |
commissioned to commemorate, in this Assembly, a character of virtue | |
without example--a character, at once so meek and so sublime, that, if a | |
feeling spirit had been poisoned with misanthropy from too close a | |
contemplation of mortal crimes, this character alone might serve as an | |
antidote to the word of mental distempers, and awaken the most callous | |
and sarcastic mind to confess the dignity of our Nature, and the | |
beneficence of our God. In stating to you the merits of HOWARD, I might | |
expatiate with delight on the various qualities of this incomparable | |
man; I might trace his progress through the different periods of a life | |
always singular and always instructive. I could not be checked by any | |
fear of overstepping the modesty of Truth in the celebration of Virtue, | |
so solid and so extensive, that the malevolence of Envy could not | |
diminish its weight, the fondness of Enthusiasm could not amplify its | |
effects. But I must not forget that there are professional limits to my | |
discourse. It is incumbent on me to confine myself to a single object, | |
and to dwell only on those public services, that peculiarly endear the | |
name of Howard to the liberal and enlightened community in which I have | |
the honour to preside. | |
"It was in the capacity of a Minister to Justice, that the pure spirit, | |
whom it is my glory to praise, first conceived the idea of those | |
unrivaled labours that have rendered his memory a treasure to mankind. | |
In discharging a temporary office, that exposed to him the condition of | |
criminals, he was led to meditate on the evils which had grievously | |
contaminated the operations of Justice. He perceived that Law herself, | |
like one of her most illustrious Delegates (I mean the immortal Bacon), | |
was grossly injured by the secret and sordid enormities of her menial | |
servants: that Captivity and Coercion, those necessary supporters of her | |
power, instead of producing good, often gave birth to mischiefs more | |
flagrant, and more fatal, than those which they were employed to | |
correct. He found, even in the prisons of his own humane and enlightened | |
country, an accumulation of the most hideous abuses: he found them not | |
nurseries of penitence and amendment, but schools of vice and impiety; | |
or dens of filth, famine, and disease: not the seats of just and | |
salutary correction and punishment, but the strong holds of cruelty and | |
extortion. The irons of the prisoner, which he only beheld, entered into | |
his soul, and awakened unextinguishable energy in a spirit, of which | |
companion and fortitude were the divine characteristicks. In the noble | |
emotions of pity for the oppressed, and of zeal for the honour and | |
interest of civilized society, he conceived perhaps the sublimest design | |
that ever occupied and exalted the mind of man, the design to search and | |
to purify the polluted stream of Penal Justice, not only throughout his | |
own country, but through the various nations of the world. How low, how | |
little, are the grandest enterprizes of Heroic Ambition, when compared | |
with this magnanimous pursuit! How frivolous and vain are the highest | |
aims of Fancy and Science, when contrasted with a purpose so | |
beneficently great! But, marvellous as the magnitude of HOWARD'S | |
enterprise appears, on the slightest view that magnitude becomes doubly | |
striking, when we contemplate at the same time the many circumstances | |
that might either allure or deter him from the prosecution of his idea. | |
Consider him as a private gentleman, possessed of ease and independence, | |
accustomed to employ and amuse his mind in retired study and | |
philosophical speculation; arrived at that period of life, when the | |
springs of activity and enterprize in the human frame have begun to | |
lose their force! consider that his health, even in youth, had appeared | |
unequal to common fatigue! his stature low! his deportment humble! his | |
voice almost effeminate! Such was the wonderful being, who relinquished | |
the retirement, the tranquillity, the comforts, that he loved and | |
enjoyed, to embark in labours at which the most hardy might tremble; to | |
plunge in perils from which the most resolute might recede without a | |
diminution of honour. Under all these apparent disadvantages, | |
unsummoned, unauthorized by any Prince, unexcited by any popular | |
invitation, he resolved to investigate all the abuses of imprisonment; | |
to visit the abodes of wretchedness and infection; and to prove himself | |
the friend of the friendless, in every country that the limits of his | |
advanced life would allow him to examine. Against such an enterprize, | |
projected by such an individual, what forcible arguments might be urged, | |
not only by every selfish passion, but even by that prudence, and that | |
reason, which are allowed to regulate an elevated mind! How plausibly | |
did Friendship exclaim to Howard, 'Your projects are unquestionably | |
noble; but they are above the execution of any individual: you are | |
unarmed with authority; you have the wish to do great good, but the | |
power of doing little! Consider the probable issue of the | |
undertaking!--You will see a few hapless wretches, and tell their | |
condition to the inattentive world; perhaps perish yourself from | |
contagion, before you have time to tell it; and leave your afflicted | |
friends to lament your untimely fate, and the ungrateful Publick to | |
deride your temerity!' What force of intellect, what dignity of soul | |
were required to prevent a mortal from yielding to remonstrances so | |
engaging! The divine energy of Genius and of Virtue enabled HOWARD to | |
foresee, that the sanctity of his pursuit would supply him with strength | |
and powers far superior to all human authority:--His piercing mind | |
comprehended that there are enormities of such a nature, that to survey | |
and to reveal them is to effect their correction.--He felt that his | |
sincere compassion for the oppressed, and his ardent desire to promote | |
perfect justice, would serve him as a perpetual antidote against the | |
poison of fear.--He felt that in the darkness of dungeons he should want | |
no associates, no guards to defend him against the outrages of detected | |
extortion, or suspicious brutality.--He felt, that as his purpose was | |
heavenly, the powers of Heaven would be displayed in his support; that | |
iniquity and oppression would not dare to lift a hand against him, | |
though they knew it was the business of his life to annihilate their | |
sway in their most secret dominion. How admirably did the progress of | |
his travels evince and justify the pure and enlightened confidence of | |
his spirit! All dangers, all difficulties, vanish before his gentleness, | |
his regularity, his perseverance. Insolence and ferocity seem to turn, | |
at his approach, into docility and respect. Every hardship he endures, | |
every step he advances, in his wide and laborious career of Beneficence, | |
instead of impairing his strength, invigorates his frame; instead of | |
diminishing his influence, increases the utility of his conduct, by | |
making the world acquainted with the sanctity of his character. Witness, | |
ye various regions of the earth! with what surprize, delight, and | |
veneration, ye beheld an unarmed, and unassuming traveller instructing | |
you in the sublime science of mitigating human misery, and giving you a | |
matchless example of tenderness and magnanimity! O, England! thou | |
generous country! ever enamoured of glory, contemplate in this, the most | |
perfect of thy illustrious sons; contemplate those virtues, and that | |
honour, in which thy parental spirit may most happily exult!--What | |
spectacle can be more flattering to thy native, thy honest pride, than | |
to behold the proudest potentates of distant nations listening with | |
pleasure to a private Englishman; and learning, from his researches, how | |
to relieve the most injured of their subjects! how to abolish the | |
enormities of perverted Justice! To form a complete account of the good | |
arising to the world from the life and labours of Howard, would be a | |
task beyond the limits of any human mind: an exact statement of the | |
benefits he has conferred upon society, could be rendered only by the | |
attendant Spirit whom Providence commissioned to watch over him, and who | |
might discern, by the powers of supernatural vision, what pregnant | |
sources of public calamity he crushed in the seed, and what future | |
virtues, in various individuals, he may draw into the service of mankind | |
by the attraction of his example. | |
"Of good, more immediately visible, which his exertions produced, there | |
is abundant evidence in his own country. In the wide circle of his | |
foreign excursion, what nation, what city, does not bear some | |
conspicuous traces of his intrepid and indefatigable beneficence! Of the | |
astonishing length to which his zeal and perseverance extended, we have | |
the most ingenuous and satisfactory narration in those singularly | |
meritorious volumes which he has given to the world. In these we behold | |
the minute detail of labours to which there is nothing similar, or | |
second, in the history of public virtue; and for which there could be no | |
adequate reward but in the beatitude of Heaven. An eloquent Enthusiast, | |
whose genius was nearly allied to frenzy, has expressed a desire to | |
present himself before the tribunal of the Almighty Judge, with a | |
volume in his hand, in which he had recorded his own thoughts and | |
actions: if such an idea could be suitable to the littleness of man, if | |
it could become any mortal of faculties so limited to make such an | |
offering to the great Fountain of all intelligence, that mortal must | |
assuredly be Howard: for where could we find another individual, not | |
professedly inspired, who might present to his Maker a record of labours | |
so eminently directed by Piety and Virtue! a book, addressed to mankind, | |
without insulting their weakness, or flattering their passions! a book, | |
whose great object was to benefit the world, without seeking from it any | |
kind of reward! a book, in which the genuine modesty of the Writer is | |
equal to his unexampled beneficence! The mind of Howard was singularly | |
and sublimely free from the common and dangerous passion for applause: | |
that passion which, though taken altogether, it is certainly beneficial | |
to the interests of mankind, yet frequently communicates inquietude and | |
unsteadiness to the pursuits of Genius and Virtue. As human praise was | |
never the object of his ambition, so he has nobly soared above it. There | |
appear, in different ages upon the Earth, certain elevated spirits, who, | |
by the sublimity of their conceptions, and the magnanimity of their | |
conduct, attain a degree of glory which can never be reached by the | |
keenest followers of Fame--They seek not panegyricks; and panegyricks | |
can add nothing to their honour. The Eulogies have perished which were | |
devoted by the luxuriant genius of Tully, and by the laconic spirit of | |
Brutus, to the public virtue of Cato; yet the name of that illustrious | |
Roman is still powerful in the world, and excites in every cultivated | |
mind, an animating idea of independent integrity. The name of Howard has | |
superior force, and a happier effect. It is a sound, at which the | |
strings of humanity will vibrate with exultation in many millions of | |
hearts. Through the various nations that he visited, the mere echo of | |
his name will be sufficient to awaken that noblest sensibility, which at | |
once softens and elevates the soul. Every warm hearted and worthy | |
individual who mentions Howard will glow with an honest, a generous | |
satisfaction, in feeling himself the fellow-creature of such a man. | |
Wherever the elegant arts are established, they will contend in raising | |
memorials to his honour. Indeed, the globe itself may be considered as | |
his Mausoleum; and the inhabitants of every prison it contains, as | |
groups of living statues that commemorate his virtue. There is no class | |
of mankind by whom his memory ought not to be cherished, because all are | |
interested in those evils (so pernicious to society! so dangerous to | |
life!) which he was ever labouring to lessen or exterminate. It might be | |
wished, that different communities should separately devise some | |
different tribute of respect to him whose character and conduct is so | |
interesting to all: not for the sake of multiplying vain and useless | |
offerings to the dead, but to impress with more energy and extent his | |
ennobling remembrance on the heart and soul of the living. It is hardly | |
possible to present too frequently to the human mind the image of a man | |
who lived only to do good. I mean not merely such a resemblance of his | |
form as Art may execute with materials almost as perishable as the image | |
of human clay, but such an impression of his soul as may have a more | |
lasting influence on the life and conduct of his admirers, such as, | |
diffusing among them a portion of his spirit, may in some measure | |
perpetuate his existence. | |
"By this community, I am confident, such public honours will be paid to | |
HOWARD, as may be most suitable to the peculiar interest which it | |
becomes us to take in his glory. What these honours shall be is a point | |
to be settled by this liberal and enlightened Assembly, which assuredly | |
will not fail to remember that he suggested to Legal Authority her | |
omissions and defects with the modest and endearing tenderness of a | |
Friend; that he laboured in the service of Justice with that | |
intelligence, fortitude, and zeal, which her votaries cannot too warmly | |
admire, or too gratefully acknowledge." | |
The President arose as he thus ended his speech; and the members of the | |
Assembly seemed beginning to confer among themselves; but what debates | |
ensued, or what measure was adopted, I am unable to tell, as my | |
visionary Guides immediately hurried me to the adjoining Temple. | |
This second structure, though less extensive and less solid than the | |
first, was more attractive to the eye, as it abounded with scientifical | |
and diversified decorations. The Assembly consisted of men, who appeared | |
to me equally remarkable for keenness of intellect and elegance of | |
manners. The seat of pre eminence among them was filled by a person who | |
possessed in a very uncommon degree these two valuable qualities, so | |
happily conducive to medical utility and medical distinction. Though | |
left a young orphan, without patrimony, and obliged to struggle with | |
early disadvantages, he raised himself by meritorious exertion to the | |
head of a profession in which opulence is generally the just attendant | |
on knowledge and reputation. But neither opulence, nor his long | |
intercourse with sickness and death, have hardened the native tenderness | |
of his heart; and I had lately known him shed tears of regret on the | |
untimely fate of an amiable patient, whom his consummate skill and | |
attention were unable to save. | |
Thus strongly prepossessed in his favour, I was delighted to observe | |
that he was preparing to address the Assembly in the moment we entered. | |
My celestial Guides smiled on each other in perceiving my satisfaction; | |
and being placed by them instantaneously in a commodious situation, I | |
heard the following discourse; which the character I have described | |
delivered with an ease and refined acuteness peculiar to himself, never | |
raising his voice above the pitch of polite and spirited conversation: | |
"I am persuaded, that every individual to whom I have now the happiness | |
of speaking, will readily agree with me in this sentiment, that we | |
cannot possibly do ourselves more honour as a Fraternity than by | |
considering HOWARD as an Associate: assuredly, there is no class of men | |
who may more justly presume to cherish his name and character with a | |
fraternal affection. In proportion as we are accustomed to contemplate, | |
to pity, and to counteract, the sufferings of Nature, the more are we | |
enabled and inclined to estimate, to love, and to revere, a being so | |
compassionate and beneficent. If Physicians are, what I once heard them | |
called by a lively friend, the Soldiers of Humanity, engaged in a | |
perpetual, and too often, alas! unsuccessful conflict against the | |
enemies of life; HOWARD is not only entitled to high rank in our corps, | |
but he is the very Caesar of this hard, this perilous, and, let me add, | |
this most honourable warfare. Perhaps the ambition of the great Roman | |
Commander, insatiate and sanguinary as it was, did not contribute more | |
to the torment and destruction of the human race, than the charity of | |
the English Philanthropist has contributed to its relief and | |
preservation. Of this we are very certain, the splendid and | |
indefatigable Hero of Slaughter and Vain-glory did not traverse a more | |
extensive field, nor expose himself more courageously to personal | |
danger, than our meek and unostentatious Hero of Medical Benevolence. In | |
point of true magnanimity, I apprehend the spirit of Caesar would very | |
willingly confess, that his own celebrated attempts to reduce Gaul and | |
Britain were low and little achievements, when compared to the | |
unexampled efforts by which Howard endeavoured to exterminate or subdue | |
(those enemies more terrific) the Gaol Fever, and the Plague. | |
"But leaving it to more able and eloquent panegyrists to celebrate the | |
originality, the boldness, and all the various merit of his | |
philanthropic exertions, I shall confine myself to a few remarks, and | |
chiefly professional ones, on his invaluable character. It appears to me | |
highly worthy of observation, that Howard, before he entered on his | |
grand projects of Public Benevolence, was subject to those little, but | |
depressive variations of health which have betrayed many a | |
valetudinarian into habits of inaction and inutility. Happily for | |
himself, and for mankind, this excellent person surmounted a | |
constitutional bias to indolence and retirement. The consequence | |
sequence was, he became a singular example of activity and vigour. His | |
powers, and enjoyments of bodily and mental health, augmented in | |
proportion to the extensive utility of his pursuits. | |
"Beneficial as his life has been to the world, his memory may be still | |
more so. It may prove a perpetual blessing to mankind, if it dissipates, | |
as it ought to do, a weak and common prejudice, which often operates as | |
a palsy upon the first idea of a great and generous undertaking. The | |
prejudice I mean is a hasty persuasion, frequently found in the most | |
amiable minds, that some peculiar strength of nerve, some rare mechanism | |
of frame, and extraordinary assemblage of mental powers, are absolutely | |
requisite for the execution of any noble design. How greatly does it | |
redound to the true glory of Howard to have given in his successful | |
labours the fullest refutation of a prejudice, so inimical to the | |
interest and the honour of human-nature! a prejudice, by whose | |
influence, to use the words of our great Poet, | |
"--The native hue of Resolution | |
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of Fear, | |
And enterprizes of great pith and moment, | |
With this regard, their currents turn awry | |
And lose the name of action." | |
"The life and character of Howard, if they are justly considered, may | |
not only annihilate this pernicious prejudice, but tend to establish an | |
opposite and consolatory truth. His example may shew us, that some | |
degrees of bodily weakness and mental depression may be most happily | |
cured by active exertion in the service of mankind. Perhaps there never | |
existed a more striking proof how far a noble impulse, communicated to | |
the mind by a project of extensive Benevolence, may invigorate a frame | |
not equal in health, strength, and stature, to the common standard of | |
men. It is a prudential maxim of the celebrated Raleigh, that 'Whosoever | |
will live altogether out of himself, and study other men's humours, | |
shall never be unfortunate;' a maxim, which the example of Howard might | |
almost teach us to convert into a medical aphorism by saying, 'Whosoever | |
will live altogether out of himself, and consult other men's wants, and | |
calamities, shall never be unhealthy.' It is delightful to those, who | |
detest the debasing tenets of a selfish philosophy, to see the happy | |
influence of opposite ideas; to observe (what Physicians have frequent | |
opportunities of observing), that as a selfish turn of mind often | |
attracts and encreases the malignity of sickness, so an unselfish, a | |
compassionate spirit has a natural tendency to escape or subdue it. What | |
can be more pleasing to those, who assert and esteem the dignity of | |
human-nature, than to see, that the having lost all thoughts of self, | |
and having acted in direct opposition to selfish principles, has | |
promoted even the personal advantage of a generous individual? From such | |
a series of philanthropic labour and peril, as a selfish and timid mind | |
might esteem it frenzy to encounter, Howard derived not only his | |
unrivalled and immortal reputation, but the perfect restoration of | |
enfeebled health; not to mention those high gratifications of the heart | |
and conscience, which are superior to all the enjoyments both of health | |
and glory. With such temperance in diet, that his daily food would | |
appear to most people not sufficient to support the common functions of | |
life, he chearfully sustained the hardships of long travel, through | |
regions where travelling is most difficult and dangerous. With a figure, | |
voice, and deportment, that seemed to preclude him from all personal | |
influence and authority; and with no mental acquisitions, except those | |
which are common to every cultivated mind, he secured to himself not | |
only universal admiration, but, I may venture to say, the just and moral | |
idolatry of the world. So invigorating are projects of extensive | |
Beneficence! so powerful is the energy of Public Virtue! | |
"Never, indeed, was the astonishing influence of plain and simple | |
goodness more strikingly displayed, than in the deference and respect | |
which this private and meek individual received, not only from foreign | |
and imperious Rulers of the Earth, but from hardened and atrocious | |
wretches, on whom Justice herself could hardly make any mental | |
impression, though armed with all the splendour, and all the violence of | |
power. Two particular examples of the influence I am speaking of, I | |
shall mention here, not only as honourable to the prime object of our | |
regard, but as they may suggest to contemplative minds some useful | |
ideas, by shewing how far the mere weight of an upright and benevolent | |
character alone may give to the most callous nerves a trembling | |
sensibility, and awaken the most ferocious spirit to self-correction. | |
"When our indefatigable Visitor of prisons was in Russia, he beheld, in | |
public, the punishment of the knoot severely administered by a strong | |
and stern executioner. | |
"On the following day he waited on this man, to request from him various | |
information. The executioner attended him obsequiously; but this | |
athletic savage, though trained to acts of cruelty, and conscious he had | |
a legal sanction for the barbarous violence he had exerted, could not | |
behold without shuddering the meek and gentle Missionary of Compassion. | |
"The second and more memorable example of his singular influence | |
occurred in a prison of his own country, and relates to an outrageous | |
female delinquent. A corrupt and ferocious woman is, perhaps, the most | |
intractable fiend that human benevolence can attempt to reform; but even | |
this difficulty the mild and powerful character of HOWARD | |
accomplished. | |
"In one of our Western gaols, he found an unhappy female loaded with | |
heavy irons: on his appearance she entreated him to obtain for her the | |
removal of these galling fetters. Upon enquiry, he found that many | |
endeavours had been made to keep this turbulent offender in proper | |
subjection without the severity of chains; but, after repeated promises | |
of amendment on milder treatment, she had obliged the keeper to have | |
recourse to this extreme by relapsing into the most flagrant and | |
insufferable contempt of decency and order. Upon this information, | |
HOWARD said mildly to the unhappy criminal, 'I wish to relieve you, but | |
you put it out of my power; for I should lose all the little credit I | |
have, if I exerted it for offenders so hardened and so turbulent.' 'I | |
know,' replied the intractable delinquent, 'I know that I have a proud | |
and rebellious spirit; but if I give a promise to so good a man as you | |
are, I can and I will command it.' On this firm assurance of | |
reformation, the benevolent HOWARD became a kind of surety for her | |
future peaceable conduct on the removal of her irons; and he had the | |
inexpressible delight to find, on his next visit to the prisoners of | |
this gaol, that the outrageous and ungovernable culprit, for whom he had | |
ventured to answer, was become the most orderly among them. | |
"I could wish, for the moral interest of mankind, that it were possible | |
to obtain a minute account of the services rendered to the calamitous | |
spirit of many a forsaken individual by the singular charity of HOWARD. | |
What could be more instructive than to observe how his Beneficence | |
encreased by its exertion and success; while his desire of befriending | |
the wretched became, as it were, the vital spirit that gave strength and | |
duration to his own existence! | |
"If we contemplate with pleasure the singular re-establishment of bodily | |
health, which HOWARD derived from his active philanthropy; it may be | |
still more pleasing to recollect, that it also afforded him an | |
efficacious medicine for an afflicted mind. Perhaps it was to shew the | |
full efficacy of this virtue in all its lustre, that Heaven allotted to | |
this excellent personage a domestic calamity, which appears (to borrow | |
an expression from a great writer) 'of an unconscionable size to human | |
strength.' | |
"That capricious and detestable spirit of Detraction, which on Earth | |
never fails to persecute superior Virtue, has not scrupled to assert | |
that the affliction, to which I allude, was the mere consequence of | |
paternal austerity. The Earth itself, though frequently accused of being | |
eager to receive ideas that may abase the eminent, could hardly admit a | |
calumny so groundless and irrational. In this purer spot it is utterly | |
needless to prove the innocence of an exalted being, to whom we are only | |
solicitous to pay that sincere tribute of praise and veneration which we | |
are conscious he deserves. In truth, this admirable Character seemed to | |
illustrate the philosophical maxim, that mildness is the proper | |
companion of true magnanimity. He had a gentleness of manners, that was | |
peculiar to himself; and, instead of possessing such imperious severity | |
of spirit as might produce the calamity I allude to, he was really | |
endued with such native tenderness of heart as must have sunk under it, | |
had he not found in the unexampled services that he rendered to the | |
world, an antidote to the poison of domestic infelicity. It is among the | |
most gracious ordinances of Providence, that man is sure to find the | |
most powerful relief for his own particular afflictions, in his | |
endeavours to alleviate the sufferings of others. And permit me to add, | |
it is this beneficent law of our nature, that gives a peculiar charm | |
and dignity to the Medical Profession; a profession singularly endeared | |
to the affectionate HOWARD! not only as its compassionate and active | |
spirit was the guide of his pursuits, but as one of its prime ornaments | |
was his favourite associate and his bosom-friend. If different classes | |
of men are to vie with each other, as it may certainly become them to | |
do, in rendering various honours to this their matchless Benefactor; I | |
hope we shall display, with the most affectionate spirit, the deep | |
interest that we ought to take in his glory. I think it very desirable | |
that every Physician should possess a Medal of HOWARD, not only to shew | |
his veneration for the great Philanthropist, but to derive personal | |
advantage from such a mental Amulet, if I may hazard the expression. | |
Most of us, in the exercise of Medicine, feel at particular moments that | |
our spirits are too sensibly affected by the objects we survey; that | |
scenes of misery and infection depress and alarm: at such a time how | |
might it rekindle the energy of our minds to contemplate a little effigy | |
of HOWARD! to recollect, that all the trouble and danger that we | |
encounter, in the practice of a lucrative profession, are trifling in | |
the extreme, when compared to the labour and the peril, which this | |
wonderful man most willingly took upon himself, without looking forward | |
to any reward but the approbation of Heaven! | |
"I mention not a Medal as a new idea--it has been already in | |
contemplation; and a motto for it suggested, which applies with such | |
singular force and propriety to the person whom it is designed to | |
commemorate, that perhaps the wide range of classical literature could | |
not afford another passage so strikingly apposite to a character so | |
extraordinary-- | |
"Stupuere patres tentamina tanta, | |
Conatusque tuos: pro te Reus ipse timebat."-- | |
"I must confess, however, that I wish for another, which may seem to | |
bind him more closely to us in a medical point of view. But it is time | |
to leave the different members of our Fraternity at full liberty to | |
propose any marks of distinction that they wish to suggest.--It is | |
sufficient for me to have reminded you of a truth, which I am confident | |
we all equally feel, that, while we justly consider ourselves as | |
students in the extensive school of Humanity, it becomes us to look up | |
to HOWARD, with a laudable veneration, as the Prince and Patron of our | |
Order." | |
On the conclusion of this discourse, my Guides immediately conducted me, | |
with their former celerity and kindness, to the only remaining | |
Structure. It was the most extensive, and, from the hallowed majesty of | |
its appearance, the most admirable of the three. In approaching it, I | |
paused a moment in aweful surprise at the solemnity of the fabrick: the | |
most lovely and communicative of my two aetherial conductors smiled upon | |
me, and said, "You will find here Ministers of GOD from every Christian | |
country; but only those who consider Evangelical Charity as the essence | |
of true Religion, and who are disposed to honour, in the favourite | |
object of your veneration, the most signal example of that virtue, which | |
the present age has beheld." "I hope then," I eagerly replied, "I shall | |
have the delight of hearing, on this occasion, the most eloquent of our | |
English Bishops." On this exclamation, my kind informer regarded me with | |
that lively and soothing air with which intelligent Benevolence corrects | |
mistaken simplicity, and thus continued to instruct me with united | |
vivacity and tenderness. | |
"Earthly distinctions, you know, are of little moment in the sight of | |
Heaven. You will hear no Prelate; and perhaps you may feel surprised and | |
indignant, when you observe how very few of your Mitred Countrymen are | |
to be seen in this Assembly; but you will not retain in this hallowed | |
spot that most common of human infirmities, a tendency to censure or to | |
suspicion. You will recollect that this Convocation contains only those | |
charitable men, who are peculiarly disposed to honour your recent model | |
of this Christian virtue. Other good men may exist, who, from motives of | |
innocent mistake, or of mere inadvertency, may fail to exhibit that | |
animated regard to his exemplary character, which assuredly it has | |
merited from all men, and which the Ministers of Religion may most | |
properly display. | |
"One of these," continued my Director, "you are now going to hear; not, | |
indeed, a Dignitary of your Church, yet a Divine of Talents, Learning, | |
and Charity. He was led, by a laudable warmth of heart, to suggest to | |
your Country the first idea of paying a public tribute of veneration to | |
the signal virtue of Howard; and has acquired from this circumstance a | |
title to commemorate here the merit, to which he was eager to render | |
such early justice on earth. But it is time for us to attend him." | |
We immediately entered the temple; and I beheld an Ecclesiastic rising | |
at that moment to address a very numerous Assembly of his order, that | |
seemed to contain Christians of every sect, and Ministers of every | |
degree. The person preparing to speak was distinguished by a majestic | |
comeliness of person, though he appeared to have passed the middle age | |
of life; and with a powerful elocution he delivered the following | |
discourse. | |
"The Righteous are bold as a Lion." | |
Proverbs, chap, xxviii, ver. i. | |
"In these few words, my brethren, we have a passage of Scripture, that | |
served as a favourite maxim, or leading truth, to the admirable | |
personage whose glorious qualities it is now both my duty and my delight | |
to recall to your remembrance. The words, indeed, are so consonant to | |
that exalted spirit which his life displayed, that they almost appear to | |
me an epitome of his character. Let us consider Courage as one of his | |
principal endowments! To contemplate so pure and resolute a being in | |
this point of view, may lead us to form just ideas on the true nature of | |
this primary virtue, on the sacred source from whence it should proceed, | |
and the sublime end to which it should aspire. How large a portion of | |
folly, vice, and wickedness, have arisen from mere mistakes concerning | |
this most important of human qualities! so important, that the real | |
dignity of man can only rise in proportion as this virtue is perfectly | |
understood, and properly cherished! In the same proportion, let me add, | |
our courageous Philanthropist will be found entitled to the praise of | |
every upright mind, to the homage of every feeling heart. | |
"If we take the word Courage" in the most common and simple sense of | |
that term, as a generous and noble contempt of personal hardship and | |
danger; who has given more numerous or more striking examples of such | |
brave contempt! Or if we follow the definition of Courage given us by a | |
profound, an eloquent, and philanthropic Writer, namely, that it is a | |
just estimate of our own powers; who is there among the most signal | |
Benefactors of mankind, not professedly inspired, that ever formed an | |
estimate of what he might achieve in the most glorious field of | |
enterprize, at once so difficult, and so true, so humble, and so grand. | |
"With every apparent disadvantage, Howard conceived it possible that his | |
endeavours might correct the abuses, and mitigate the sufferings of men, | |
in various nations of the world. Whence happened it, that a mortal, so | |
visibly weak and gentle, shrunk not from an idea so pregnant with | |
difficulty and peril! It was because, 'The Righteous are bold as a | |
Lion.' It was because he felt the strongest internal conviction of this | |
animating truth, that, while Heaven blesses a man with health sufficient | |
to pursue a benevolent and magnanimous design, the vigour of his mind, | |
and most probably his powers of doing good, will be proportioned to the | |
firmness of his faith, and the sincerity of his virtue. | |
"Many achievements of beneficent Courage have undoubtedly been | |
accomplished by men influenced by no motive but that generous love of | |
glory which is so frequently the predominant passion of an active and | |
ardent mind: but the virtues that arise from this source are as | |
unsteady, and as precarious, as the reward they pursue. He who acts | |
only as a candidate for the applause of mankind, will find his spirit | |
vary with all the variations in the ever-changing atmosphere of popular | |
opinion. He will be subject to hot and cold fits of action and | |
inactivity, of confidence and distrust, in proportion as the illusive | |
vapour, that he follows, may either sparkle or fade before him. Hence | |
proceeded much of that inconsistency and weakness, which appear in some | |
of the most enlightened, and exalted characters of the Pagan | |
world.--Wanting a purer light from Heaven, the most radiant spirits of | |
antiquity were bewildered; one in particular, the mildest and most | |
undaunted of antient Worthies, who had a sufficient portion of heroic | |
philanthropy to prefer the benefit of mankind to every selfish | |
consideration, had yet his hours of diffidence and despondency. On a | |
final review of his own generous labours, he is supposed to have | |
questioned the very existence of Virtue, though he had made it the idol | |
of his life; a striking proof, that the temperate and invariable energy | |
of soul, which alone perhaps deserves the name of true Courage, can only | |
proceed from a fuller knowledge and love of GOD; from the animating | |
assurance, that, however we may prosper or fail in the earthly success | |
of our endeavours to do good, the merit of the attempt is registered in | |
Heaven; and we secure to ourselves the everlasting approbation of our | |
Almighty Parent, in proportion as we approach towards that blessed model | |
of Perfect Benevolence, who has taught us, by his divine example, to | |
compassionate and to relieve the sufferings of the wretched. From this | |
source flowed the courageous beneficence of HOWARD: and how delightful | |
it is to observe that the force, the extent, the utility, and the lustre | |
of the stream, has gloriously corresponded to the height and purity of | |
the fountain! | |
"The Sensualist and the Sceptic may, indeed, deride the conduct of a | |
man, who sacrificed all the common pleasures of life, and sought for no | |
recompence but in the favour of Heaven. It may be said that an illusive | |
fervor of mind has hurried men, in all periods of the world, into | |
singular and wild exertions, which excite the wonder of the passing | |
hour, and are afterwards either deservedly forgotten, or only recalled | |
to notice by Reason and Philosophy, to caution the restless and | |
impetuous spirit of man against all similar excesses. | |
"But the pursuits of Howard, though they had all that sublime energy | |
which so often distinguished the projects of Superstition, were so far | |
from being influenced by any superstitious propensity, that perhaps they | |
cannot appear to more advantage than by being brought into comparison, | |
or contrast, not with the sluggish piety of sequestered Monks, but with | |
the bold and splendid feats of the most active and enterprising | |
Fanaticism. Allow me, therefore, to recall to your thoughts those | |
distant ages, when every ardent spirit in Christendom was inflamed with | |
a passionate desire to deliver the Christian pilgrims of Palestine from | |
the oppression of Infidels! Figure to yourselves the whole force of | |
Europe collecting its violence, like a troubled sea, and preparing to | |
pour a terrific and destructive inundation over the Holy Land! Behold | |
the strong and the weak, the ambitious and the humble, pursuing the same | |
object! Behold assembled Kings and their People, Soldiers and Priests, | |
the servants of Earth and Heaven rushing, with equal ardour, to rescue | |
the Sepulchre of Christ, and to drown all the innumerable enemies of | |
their Faith in an universal deluge of blood! In this scene we have the | |
sublimest spectacle, perhaps, that was ever exhibited by mistaken piety | |
and misguided valour. The love of God, by which this heroic multitude | |
was professedly impelled, was probably in many minds as sincere as it | |
was ardent. The religious spirit of their enterprize can still animate | |
and transport us in the song of the Poet: and in the more rational page | |
of History, while we justly lament the errors of their devotion, we | |
admire the force and perseverance of their courage. | |
"To the sublime fortitude of these collected warriors, let us compare | |
the mild magnanimity of HOWARD. Let us survey him setting forth for an | |
expedition as perilous as theirs; not as the Soldier of Fanaticism, but | |
as the Pilgrim of Humanity! Attachment to GOD, and resolution which no | |
hardship, no danger, no difficulty can daunt, are equally conspicuous in | |
the sanguinary Fanatic and the compassionate Philanthropist: but how | |
widely different are the prime earthly objects of their pursuits! The | |
fierce Crusaders invaded Asia with a desire to exterminate the Infidels. | |
The benevolent HOWARD was led into the same quarter of the globe, and | |
into perils more deadly than those of war, by a wish to exterminate, or | |
rather to restrain, the ravages of that terrific enemy to human life, | |
the Plague. | |
"He had conceived an idea, that, as this most alarming of mortal | |
maladies has been often strangely neglected by the sluggish and | |
superstitious inhabitants of the East, it might be possible by a calm | |
and courageous examination of its nature and its progress, to set limits | |
to its rage; and particularly to secure his own country from a future | |
visitation of a calamity, against which the fearless and eager spirit of | |
Commerce appears not to have established a sufficient precaution. For | |
the prospect of accomplishing public good, so devoutly to be wished, he | |
nobly thought it a trifling sacrifice to hazard the little remnant of | |
his advanced life; and, however men or nations may differ in policy or | |
religion, whereever there is a human spirit sufficiently pure and | |
enlightened to estimate public virtue, the sentiments and the conduct of | |
HOWARD must secure to his memory the fondest veneration. There is a | |
perfection and felicity in his character that appears supremely laudable | |
in every point of view. If, abstracted from all religious | |
considerations, we regard him only as a citizen who devoted himself to | |
the service of his country, the brightest records of Antiquity afford us | |
no parallel to his merit. Had he lived in those early times, the | |
generous enthusiasm of the antient world would have idolized his name. | |
Philosophy and Genius would have found, in his benevolent labours, the | |
most ample theme for instruction, and the purest subject for universal | |
panegyrick. They would have celebrated him as a benefactor to mankind, | |
who had built a new portico to the Temple of Glory superior to the dome | |
itself. They would have preferred the beneficent Philanthropist to the | |
dazzling Conqueror, to the fascinating Demagogue, to the attractive | |
Sophist; and all the various idols of public praise. But as Antiquity | |
exhibits no character of such unclouded lustre, we have great reason to | |
conclude, that such a character could owe its existence only to the pure | |
and sublime spirit of our Christian Faith. Let us, therefore, | |
contemplate HOWARD as a Christian! it is by considering him in this | |
light, that we shall feel ourselves most happily related to his virtues, | |
and most delightfully interested in the honours they receive. | |
"In the poor and calamitous objects of his regard, in the gentleness | |
and purity of his manners, in his modest and magnanimous refusal of | |
earthly honours, in the wide extent and courageous perseverance of his | |
charity, we cannot fail to discern how richly he was endowed with the | |
genuine spirit of that pure and sublime Religion which has the divine | |
prerogative of converting weakness into strength, and of giving to | |
Humility the influence of Power. There is not a feature in the | |
character, there is hardly an action in the life of this exemplary | |
personage, that does not mark him as a true servant of CHRIST. And may | |
we not presume the blessed Author of our faith, in supplying us in these | |
dissolute times with a recent example of such astonishing and unlimited | |
beneficence, is graciously pleased to afford us a new motive to prize | |
and to cherish that animating faith, which could form, in an age like | |
the present, a character so wonderfully entitled to the veneration of | |
the world? The spirit of Christianity is so visible in the conduct of | |
HOWARD, that the prime objects of his attention might be thought to have | |
been suggested to him by the very words in which our blessed Lord | |
announces to the heirs of eternal glory the source of their | |
beatitude--'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared | |
for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungry, and ye | |
gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and | |
ye took me in; naked, and ye cloathed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; | |
I was in prison, and ye came unto me.' | |
"Is it possible for us, my Brethren, to recall to our memory these holy | |
words without feeling at the same time, in the most forcible degree, all | |
the Christian merits of HOWARD? Can we fail to admire and to venerate | |
the unexampled ardour, purity, and perseverance, with which he exercised | |
the peculiar virtue so distinguished by our Lord?--While we behold him | |
sublimely pre-eminent in this Christian perfection, shall we not cherish | |
the delightful idea, that his heavenly rewards will be finally adequate | |
to his unrivaled labours on earth? Shall not those who have loved him | |
exult in the persuasion, that in that great and aweful day, when the | |
living and the dead are to receive their everlasting doom; when the | |
princes and the great ones of the earth may be confronted with those | |
whom they have persecuted and oppressed, or whom they have failed to | |
relieve; when the proudest Sons of Learning, Genius, or Wit, may shrink | |
at the superior lustre of those whom they have ridiculed and reviled; | |
HOWARD will shine encircled by thousands, who will gratefully plead for | |
his beatitude in those blessed words of our Redeemer, 'I was in prison, | |
and he came unto me!' | |
"Yes, my Brethren, the day will assuredly come, when the servant so | |
signally faithful will be called to a reward, surpassing the utmost | |
reach of our conception, by the voice of his Righteous Master--then, and | |
then only, will praise be fully proportioned to his transcendant merit; | |
when this consummate Christian is raised to glory by the glorified | |
Messiah, when his pure spirit exults in the commendation of his GOD. | |
"The imperfect efforts, that mankind may make to do honour to such a | |
Being, cannot, indeed, so much promote his glory, as they may conduce to | |
the interest of human nature. Subject as it has been to the wildest | |
excesses, human panegyric, in all its shapes, may be safely devoted to a | |
personage, whom it is hardly possible to praise with sincerity, without | |
feeling our disposition improved. In a beneficent, a sublime, and truly | |
religious character, there is a sort of magnetic virtue, which to those | |
who are affectionately drawn towards it, though only in idea, | |
communicates a portion of itself. Hence arises, what we cannot too | |
fondly cherish, the delight and the utility of commemorating departed | |
worth. If its title to commemoration be justly proportioned to its | |
magnitude, its singularity, and extent; not only various individuals, | |
but different Nations, will become rivals in promoting the fame of | |
HOWARD. As the glorious qualities, which his life displayed, are equally | |
open to the emulation of the great and the humble; every class of human | |
creatures is peculiarly interested in his praise. If to honour his | |
memory may be thought to belong to any one community more than to | |
another; surely, my Brethren, we shall not fail to assume to ourselves | |
so pleasing a duty, so honourable a distinction. Well, indeed, might the | |
insulting enemies of our Faith reproach us with a supine and disgraceful | |
inattention to the real interest of Virtue, and the true glory of | |
Religion, could we suffer any other order of men to surpass the | |
Ministers of CHRIST in a meritorious zeal to honour this faithful | |
servant of Heaven, whose life exhibits a lesson more instructive and | |
sublime than all the eloquence of the Pulpit! a Christian, who has shewn | |
us, in the most signal manner, how practicable it is to follow, in | |
succouring the distrest, not only the precepts, but the example of our | |
GOD." | |
In the moment that this benevolent Divine concluded his address to his | |
attentive brethren, my kind and vigilant Guides removed me from the | |
temple.--I was now led into a scene entirely different from those we | |
left. It was an open and verdant plain, with a few elevations in the | |
ground, that afforded advantageous views of the whole extensive spot. | |
Here, instead of beholding the Ministers of Peace, I found myself | |
encircled by the multitudinous votaries of War. It appeared to me that | |
all the military and all the naval servants of our country were | |
collected together, and each different division of these well-appointed | |
and well-looking men, that formed a pleasing spectacle alone, was | |
attended by a crowd of miscellaneous spectators, more numerous than | |
itself: yet in all this immense multitude there was no sign of tumult or | |
confusion. They were ranged in such a manner as to form a wide circular | |
area in the midst of them. I was stationed on a little eminence within | |
this area; and in the same vacant space I beheld a party of veteran | |
Commanders, both Military and Naval, who seemed to have been conferring | |
together, but separated by the direction of my aetherial Conductors, to | |
address, in different parts of this extensive field, the different | |
companies assigned to their care. What they respectively said in their | |
separate departments I was unable to discover, as I only heard | |
distinctly one gallant Veteran, whose character was particularly dear to | |
me. This consummate officer has raised himself by merit alone from the | |
humblest rank of military life to a station of the highest honour and | |
trust. His modesty is as singular as his fortune: passing close to me, | |
with a gracious salutation, he approached a very fine orderly corps of | |
foot, who looked up to him with a sort of filial respect, while he spoke | |
to them the few following words: | |
"As bravery and compassion are the characteristics of good Soldiers, you | |
cannot want, my friends, any long exhortation from me to honour the | |
memory of HOWARD; the most resolute and the most compassionate man that | |
has lived in our time. Though he was not of our profession, as his life | |
was devoted to mitigate the united horrors of captivity and sickness, | |
those worst of enemies to the spirit of a soldier, you will undoubtedly | |
feel that he has a peculiar claim to our most grateful and generous | |
regard." | |
This speech was followed by a burst of acclamation from those to whom it | |
was particularly addressed. Similar shouts of applause resounded from | |
different quarters of the spacious field, while our aetherial | |
attendants, Gratitude and Admiration, who followed each speaker at the | |
close of each address to different divisions of this innumerable | |
assembly, displayed, to each division in its turn, an extensive sketch | |
of a simple but magnificent mausoleum to the memory of Howard, in the | |
form of an English lazaretto. On the first display of this striking and | |
worthy monument, the applauding multitude seemed to exult in the | |
prospect of its completion. But I soon observed, to my inexpressible | |
concern, that while Gratitude and Admiration were busy in exciting the | |
various ranks of the vast assembly, to accomplish this favourite design, | |
they were followed by two earthy fiends of a dark and malignant | |
influence: these were Detraction and Indifference, who shed such a chill | |
and depressive mist around them, that all the ardour of the Assembly | |
seemed to sink. Among the miscellaneous crowds that were visible between | |
the divisions of the martial host, there ran a murmur of obloquy and | |
derision against the pure object of public veneration. He was reviled as | |
a whimsical Reformer, and a rash Enthusiast, who had absurdly | |
sacrificed his life in a vain and fantastic pursuit. This base spirit of | |
calumnious malignity was not communicated to any one division of the | |
martial multitude; but the universal zeal for the glory of HOWARD seemed | |
to be almost annihilated; even Gratitude and Admiration appeared to grow | |
faint in their darling purpose. During their languor, they suffered | |
their sketch of the Mausoleum to be gradually stolen from their hands, | |
and to drop upon the ground. At this moment a sudden and violent | |
earthquake was felt through all the extensive scene. The centre of the | |
vacant area opened--it threw forth a phantom terrific and enormous--its | |
magnitude seemed to grow upon the sight; its lineaments were shrouded | |
from our view by an immense mantle, on which were represented a | |
thousand different and hideous images of Death. Its name was | |
Contagion--it rushed forward with an indescribable movement. Dismay and | |
confusion overwhelmed all that quarter of the crowded scene, that was | |
particularly threatened by its first advance. The affrighted multitude | |
rolled back like a tumultuous sea. The horrid spectre stopt; and left a | |
wide interval between itself and the retiring host. A ray of heavenly | |
light illumined the vacant space. I fixed my eye on the brilliant spot, | |
and soon beheld the meek and gentle form of HOWARD advancing, without | |
fear or arrogance, towards the terrific Phantom. With an untrembling | |
hand he seized the dark folds of its extensive mantle, and seemed | |
animated with the hope of annihilating the Monster. In the instant, a | |
burst of celestial splendor was spread over the gloomy plain. The Angel | |
of Retribution descended; and snatching the consummate Philanthropist to | |
his bosom, he rose again; while all the astonished multitude, now | |
reviving from their terror, gazed only on the celestial apparition; and | |
heard the reascending Seraph thus address the beneficent spirit now | |
committed to his care: | |
"Thou faithful servant of Heaven! thy hour of recompence is come. Justly | |
hast thou cautioned mankind not to impute thy conduct to rashness or | |
enthusiasm. Weak and wavering in their own pursuits of felicity, thou | |
wilt not wonder to see them so in their sense of thy merit, and their | |
zeal for thy honour: but I am commissioned to bear thee to that | |
All-seeing Power, who can alone truly estimate, and perfectly reward thy | |
desert. I know that the praise of beings, inferior to thy GOD, never | |
influenced thy life; but the homage of good minds is grateful to the | |
purest inhabitants of Heaven; and in departing from a world so much | |
indebted to thy virtue, let it gratify thy perfect spirit to foresee, | |
that as long as the earth endures, the most enlightened of her sons will | |
remember and revere thee as one of her sublimest benefactors." | |
As soon as the divine messenger had ceased to speak, every voice in the | |
reanimated multitude, that heard him, raised a shout of benediction on | |
the name of HOWARD. I started in transport at the sound; and the effort | |
that I made to join the universal acclamation terminated my vision. | |
Pardon me, thou gentlest and most indulgent of Friends! that, conscious | |
as I am of the sincerity with which thy pure mind ever wished to avoid | |
all exuberance of praise, I yet presume to send into the world such a | |
tribute to thy virtues as thy humility might reject. Let the motives of | |
the publication atone for all its defects! | |
This little work is made public, not from a vain expectation, or desire, | |
in the Writer to obtain any degree of literary distinction; for, if his | |
wishes and endeavours are successful, the world will not know from what | |
hand it proceeds. | |
Thou most revered object of my regard, who art looking down, perhaps, | |
with compassion on the petty labours of various mortals, now trying to | |
commemorate thy merit, thou seest that I am influenced by no arrogant | |
conceit of having praised with peculiar felicity the perfections that I | |
so ardently admire. No! I am perfectly sensible, that the most worthy | |
memorial of thy virtues will be found in those pure records of thy | |
public services which thy own hand has given to the world with all the | |
amiable and affecting simplicity that distinguished thy character, and | |
in the more comprehensive composition of some accomplished Biographer, | |
who may have opportunities and ability to do justice to thy life. | |
The chief aim of these few and hasty pages is to recall, at this | |
particular time, to the liberal spirits of our countrymen that generous | |
ardour with which they embraced the first idea of a public monument to | |
HOWARD. While the expence and dignity of that monument are yet | |
unsettled, a Writer may consider himself as a friend to national honour, | |
who endeavours to animate his country to the most extensive display of | |
her munificence, and her gratitude towards the purest public virtue. May | |
she justly remember, that, to testify a fond maternal pride in such a | |
departed son, to manifest and perpetuate esteem for such a character, | |
is, in truth, to promote the interest of genuine Patriotism, of sublime | |
Morality, and of perfect Religion! | |
FINIS. | |
End of Project Gutenberg's The Eulogies of Howard, by William Hayley | |
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