Tffi LIFE OF JOHN HOWARD THE OXFORD BIOGRAPHIES JOHN HOWARD THE OXFORD BIOGRAPHIES DANTE .... By PAGET TOYNBEE SAVONAROLA . . . By E. L. S. HOKSBURGH JOHN HOWARD . . By E. C. S. GIBSON ALFRED TENNYSON . . By A. C. BENSON WALTER RALEIGH . By I. A. TAYLOR ERASMUS . . . . By E. F. H. CAPEY THE YOUNG PRETENDER . By C. S. TERRY ROBERT BURNS . . By T. F. HENDERSON LORD CHATHAM . . By A. S. McDowALL FRANCIS OF ASSISI . . By A. M. STODDART CANNING . . . By W. ALISOK PHILLIPS BEACONSFIELD . . By WALTER SICHEL GOETHE . . . By H. G. ATKINS. JOHN HOWARD From an engraving after the portrait by Mather Brown JOHN HOWARD EDGAR C. S. GIBSON il WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON New etttd Cfieetfer Issue First Published . . . November New and Cheaper Issue IQQ$ PREFACE r I A HERE are several Lives of Howard in ex- JL istence, but, with the exception of Dr. Stoughton's Howard the Philanthropist, the longer and better ones have all been for some years out of print ; and Dr. Stoughton's book, full and care- ful as it is, is somewhat discursive, and gives more space to ecclesiastical matters, which have but little to do with Howard, than seems to be necessary. Hence there appears to be room for another biography which shall tell the main facts of the philanthropist's life, and recall his memory to the present generation. In preparing it, the writer has made full use of Howard's own writ- ings, as well as of the early Lives by Aikin and Brown. Of these Aikin's View of the Character and Public Services of the late John Howard (1792) is our earliest authority, and has the advantage of being written by one of Howard's closest personal friends. It is, however, very slight and sketchy, and leaves much untold. A far fuller, 260903 vi PREFACE and more thorough work is Brown's Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of John Howard the Philanthropist, the first edition of which was published in 1818. Brown had access to Howard's private diary, as well as to a number of his letters, and made careful inquiries of his relatives, friends, and servants ; but unfortunately he was unable to obtain any letters from members of the Whitbread family. This necessitated a certain incompleteness in his work, and left a gap which much needed to be filled up. In spite of this, his volume will always remain the great storehouse of material for all subsequent workers, and will ever be the main authority for Howard's life. It needs, however, to be supplemented by the Rev. J. Field's Correspondence of John Howard (1855), in which the philanthropist's letters to Mr. and Lady Mary Whitbread were for the first time made public. Field had a few years earlier published a painstaking Life of Howard, shortly after the appearance of which he was informed of the existence of this correspondence, and happily obtained permission to publish it, thereby materially adding to our knowledge of Howard. This volume, then, and Brown's Memoir, together with Howard's own writings, are the main sources from which the present sketch has been compiled, although full use has also been made of the notices of Howard which appeared shortly PREFACE vii after his death in the Gentleman s Magazine and the Universal Magazine for 1790, as well as of Dr. Stoughton's work already referred to. Other Lives, such as that by Hepworth Dixon, have been consulted, but none of them add materially to our knowledge. In regard to the illustrations it may be well to note that the history of the frontispiece is given on p. 190. The " Portrait of the second Mrs. Howard " (No. 2) is taken from Brown's Memoir, for which the engraving was made from an original miniature, which Howard himself gave to his faithful servant, Mrs. Prole. The (e Scene in Bride- well " (No. 3) is, of course, the familiar one from Hogarth's " Harlot's Progress." The representa- tions of the "Courts of the King's Bench" and the " Fleet" (Nos. 4 and 5) are reproduced from Acker- man's Microcosm of London. The " Poor Debtor's Cell " (No. 6) is from an engraving in the British Museum. The next three illustrations (Nos. 7, 8, and 9) are all taken from Howard's State of Prisons. No. 10, "Howard relieving Prisoners," is from an old print published in 1791 shortly after Howard's death., and the illustration of "Howard's Tomb" is taken from the sketch by R. Heber in Clarke's Travels, vol. i. p. 573. E. C. S. G. CONTENTS CHAPTER I EARLY YEARS PAGE Howard's Parentage Date and Place of Birth School Days Apprenticeship Howard his own Master "Look among the Cabbages " Foreign Tour Marriage Death of Mrs. Howard i CHAPTER II LIFE, TO THE DEATH OF HOWARD'S SECOND WIFE Changeof Residence Foreign Tour Capture byFrench Privateer Experiences in a French Prison Howard elected F.R.S. Settles at Cardington Second Marriage Anecdotes of Mrs. Howard Removal to Watcombe Return to Cardington Birth of a Son, and Death of Mrs. Howard CONTENTS CHAPTER III LIFE, FROM THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE TO HOWARD'S APPOINTMENT AS HIGH SHERIFF OF BEDFORD PAGE Life at Cardington A wholesome Despotism Kindly Relations with his Tenants Foreign Travel Letters from Abroad Ascent of Vesuvius Return Home Trouble among the Congregationalists Howard's Sundays His Treatment of his Son . 17 CHAPTER IV HOWARD'S EARLY INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CONDITION OF PRISONS Appointed High Sheriff of Bedford Discoveries as to Treatment of Prisoners Practical Efforts to remove Hardships A New Career Burke's Panegyric Cowper's Lines on Howard Method of Travelling Proceedings in Parliament Howard before the House of Commons A new Subject of Inquiry Howard a Candidate for Parliament Foreign Tours Attempts to gain Admission to the Bastile Letter from Abroad Further Tours Howard at Warrington Publication of The State of Prisons Description of the Work . . . . -35 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER V ENGLISH PRISONS AS HOWARD FOUND THEM PAGE Failure of Earlier Attempts at Prison Reform Abuses disclosed by Howard Faulty Construction of Buildings Gaol Fever Lack of Discipline Idle- ness and Riotous Habits of Prisoners " Garnish " Absence of Classification of Prisoners Lack of Provision for Sustenance Gaolers Surgeons Chaplains State of Prisons in Scotland and Ireland 61 CHAPTER VI FOREIGN PRISONS AS HOWARD FOUND THEM Absence of Gaol Fever in Foreign Prisons Better State of Things generally than in England Good Rules in Switzerland and Holland Less Drunkenness than in England Abuses Horrid Dungeons at Vienna The Ducking Stool Torture . . 82 CHAPTER VII LATER INVESTIGATIONS AND JOURNEYS, 1777-1784 Death of Howard's Sister Renewed Investigations into the State of Prisons The Question of Transporta- tion The Hulks Act for the Establishment of Penitentiaries ForeignTour AccidentatAmster- dam Letters from Abroad Visit to a Capuchin Convent Return to England Investigation into xii CONTENTS PAGE the Condition of Prisoners of War Tour in England, Scotland and Ireland Difficulties con- cerning the Penitentiaries Howard resigns his Office as Commissioner Foreign Travel Letter from Moscow Howard and the King's Courier Visit to Ireland Travels in Spain The Inquisi- tion Letter from Spain Second Edition of The State of Prisons published . . . . 101 CHAPTER VIII INVESTIGATIONS CONCERNING THE PLAGUE AND PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK ON LAZARETTOS Howard's attention turned towards the Plague Sets off on a tour to inspect the Lazarettos Adventures in France Letters from Italy Howard at Malta Voyage to Smyrna A Sea-fight Howard in Action Quarantine at Venice Bad News from England Letters Home Christmas at Vienna The Emperor The Countess Return to England Visit to Ireland Meeting with John Wesley Publication of the Book on Lazarettos . 132 CHAPTER IX HOWARD'S LAST JOURNEY AND DEATH Howard starts on his Last Journey Its Object Letters from Moscow Letters from Cherson Visits to Military Hospitals Illness Visit from Admiral Priestman Death Funeral Monument at Cherson Statue in St. Paul's Cathedral . .166 CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER X PERSONAL TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS Howard's Dislike to have his Portrait taken Devices to escape ft Snap-shots" Portraits of Howard Personal Appearance Mode of Life Humour Anecdotes Love of Children Relations with his Servants and his Tenants Business-like Habits Personal Religion Courage Modesty Result of Howard's labours Conclusion . .187 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Portrait of Howard . . . Frontispiece 2. Portrait of Mrs. Howard . . to face p. 12 3. Scene in Bridewell .... to face p. 47 4. Court of the King's Bench . . to face p. 60 5. Court of the Fleet .... to face p. 71 6. Poor Debtor's Cell .... to face p. 74 7. Employment of Criminals in Switzerland to face p. 87 8. Employment of Female Criminals in Switzerland ..... to face p. 112 9. Criminal led about in the Spanish Mantle to face p. 119 10. Howard relieving Prisoners . . to face p. 130 11. Howard's Tomb .... to face p. 183 12. Howard's Statue in St. Paul's Cathedral to face p. 186 JOHN HOWARD CHAPTER I EARLY YEARS Howard's Parentage Date and Place of Birth School Days Apprenticeship Howard his own Master "Look among the Cabbages " Foreign Tour Marriage Death of Mrs. Howard. OF the childhood and early life of John Howard but few particulars have come down to us. His father was a wealthy upholsterer in the city of London, residing at one time at Enfield, and later on at Clapton ; and the fact that he was fined for Sheriff in the year 1742 testifies to his prosperous circumstances. His mother's name is said t6 have been Cholmley. According to his monument in St. Paul's Cathedral, the in- scription for which was written by his kinsman Mr. Whitbread, he was born at Hackney on the 2nd :*:;' JOHN HOWARD of September 1726, and though the statements as to place and date have both been questioned, yet, if Hackney be understood as including Clapton, it is probable that the inscription is correct. Howard's own authority may be claimed for the statement that he was born at Lower Clapton, " in an ancient house which had been many years in possession of his father and grandfather " ; l and if he was accurate in informing a friend in November 1787 that he was then sixty-one years of age, the year of his birth must have been 1726. 2 1 Dr. Aikin, Howard's personal friend and earliest bio- grapher, "believes" that he was born at Enfield, "about the year 1727 (View of the Character and Public Services of John Howard, p. 9). Enfield is also given as the place of his birth in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1790 (vol. lx. part I. p. $6y*)y and Field, in The Correspondence of John Howard, says : " I have been favoured with a copy of the family register, part of which is in Howard's own handwriting, and this records that he was born at Enfield," p. i. In spite of this, however, it is probable that Clapton was really the place. It is given in the notice in the Universal Magazine for 1790 (vol. Ixxxvi. , p. 170), characterised by Howard's friend, the Rev. S. Palmer, as "much the best" notice of him that had appeared (/'/>. p. 236) ; and in this particular matter Palmer himself was able to corroborate the assertion of the biographical notice, by the assurance that he had " more than once heard " Howard himself speak of the house at Clapton as that in which he was born (#. p. 319). This, taken with the evidence of the monument, seems to be conclusive. 2 See the Gentleman's Magazine (vol. lx. part i. p. 287). The date 1726 is also confirmed by a paper of directions EARLY YEARS 3 Howard's mother, who had previously borne to his father a daughter,, died while he was still in infancy, and being a delicate child he was sent, for the sake of his health, to Cardington, near Bedford, where his father owned some property ; and thus in very early days began his connection with the place which was to be famous as his home in later years. As the boy grew, his father, being a strict Independent, sent him for his education to a dissenting school at Hertford, kept by a Mr. Worsley. Beyond the fact that he remained here for seven years we know little or nothing of his school days. But in after years he certainly felt that the choice of the school had not been a happy one, for he is reported to have said, with more indignation than he usually expressed, that he left it "not fully taught any one thing." l On which Howard drew up with regard to his burial, in case he should die during his Eastern tour to investigate the condition of lazarettos in 1786. In this he gives a proposed inscription for his monument: " John Howard, died 1786, aged 59. .Christ is my hope." The paper was sent to Mr. Whitbread on Oct. 26, from Venice, but it contains internal evidence of having been written early in the year, some months before Howard's birthday, and was probably composed in the spring at Malta. He contemplates the possibility of dying " either here, or at Zante, Smyrna, or Constantinople " ; andas he left Malta for Zante and Smyrna towards the end of April it must have been written before this, when his age would be 59, if he was born on Sept. 2, 1726. 1 Aikin's Vieiv, etc., p. 12. 4 JOHN HOWARD his removal from Hertford he was placed for a time under the care of a Mr. John Eames, a man of considerable reputation, and tutor in philosophy and languages at a dissenting Academy in London. But Howard cannot be said to have been fortunate in his education ; and it is evident that in after years he felt his deficiencies somewhat acutely. Dr. Aikin's statement, that he " was never able to speak or write his native language with gram- matical correctness/' is fully borne out by his own letters, the spelling of which is distinctly original ; and in preparing his books for publication we know that he was glad to avail himself of the help of others whose literary attainments were greater than his own. " His acquaintance/' Aikin adds, " with other languages (the French perhaps excepted) was slight and superficial/' 1 An ex- ception must certainly be made as regards French, for Howard's own accounts of his travels not only supply ample proof of the facility with which he could converse in the language, but also show that he had no difficulty in actually passing himself off as a Frenchman, as occasion required. It is probable, however, that his knowledge of this and other languages was acquired later, and picked up by him in the course of his travels. Indeed, it would have been something quite un- usual had he left school with anything more 1 Aikin's View, etc., p. 13. EARLY YEARS 5 than a " slight and superficial " acquaintance with any modern language besides his own mother tongue. School days ended, Howard was apprenticed to a wholesale grocer in Watling Street ; but on his father's death, a few years later, he was left practically his own master, and in possession of ample means, of which his guardians left him entire control on his coming of age, although, accord- ing to his father's will, he was not to come into his property until the age of twenty-four. Business was not to Howard's liking, and accordingly before his time was up he bought himself out, intending apparently to live a life of ease and comfort, with Clapton as his head-quarters. To this period belongs the earliest anecdote that has come down to us of him, and, slight as the incident is, it may be mentioned here as illustrative of the kind-heartedness and whimsical humour which were characteristic of the man throughout his life. Many years later an old gardener, who had been for long in the service of the Howards at Clapton, used to relate, that during some alterations which were being made in the house, his young master used to come every other day to superintend the work, and that he , timed his visits so as to be there when the baker's cart was passing, when he would purchase a loaf, and, tossing it over the wall into the garden, exclaim to the gardener, " Harry, 6 JOHN HOWARD look among the cabbages, and you will find some- thing for your family." To the same period must be assigned the first of the numerous foreign tours which Howard was to make. The journey in this case, unlike so many of his later ones, was undertaken with no further object beyond his own interest and enjoy- ment, and possibly the benefit of his health. Of the details of the tour we know nothing, save the fact that he visited France and Italy ; but it was perhaps at this time that some of the pictures and works of art were purchased which after- wards adorned the house at Cardington. We now come to the curious story of Howard's first marriage. Like his illustrious contemporary, Dr. Johnson, he married a woman old enough to be his mother ; and, like Richard Hooker, his marriage was to some extent due to the discomfort of life in lodgings. But whereas in Hooker's case the marriage was suggested by the landlady, who, after representing that he ought to have some one to look after him, presented him with her daughter Joan as a suitable wife, in Howard's case the suggestion was all his own, and it was the landlady herself, and not her daughter, to whose charms he succumbed. The facts are these. On his return from his travels, Howard, whose health was anything but good, was advised to move into the country, and settled down in lodg- EARLY YEARS 7 ings at Stoke Newington. He suffered from want of proper attention in the rooms which he first selected, and presently moved into the house of a Mrs. Sarah Loidore, or Lardeau the name is given in both forms. Here he was seized with a severe illness ; and so grateful was he for the attention shown to him by his landlady, that, on his recovery, the first thing he did was to offer her his hand in marriage. Owing to the disparity of their ages, for Mrs. Lardeau was over fifty and Howard himself but twenty-four, the lady hesitated to accept. But her suitor was persistent, and in the end obtained her consent. The marriage, which took place in 1752, turned out better than might have been expected. Mrs. Howard is, represented as a " sensible worthy woman," and her husband was sincerely attached to her. He was, as we have seen, in easy circumstances himself, and showed his disinterestedness by settling his wife's small fortune upon her sister. The union, however, was not destined to be of long duration, for Mrs. Howard, who was in weak health at the time of the marriage, died towards the close of 1755, and Howard was left a widower before he was thirty^ CHAPTER II LIFE, TO THE DEATH OF HOWARD'S SECOND WIFE Change of Residence Foreign Tour Capture by French Privateer Experiences in a French Prison Howard elected F.R.S. Settles at Cardington Second Marriage Anecdotes of Mrs. Howard Removal to Watcombe Return to Cardington Birth of a Son and Death of Mrs. Howard. E death of Mrs. Howard led to the break- X up of the house at Stoke Newington. Howard in characteristic fashion distributed his furniture among his dependents and poorer neigh- bours, and in after years his old gardener delighted to tell how, on this occasion, he received as his " dividend " a bedstead and bedding, a table, six chairs, and a scythe, in addition to a guinea for a single day's work, probably in removing furniture. For a time Howard took lodgings in St. Paul's Churchyard, but being now free to indulge his taste for roving and his desire to see foreign countries, it was not long before he started once more upon his travels. Shortly before this, there 8 MARRIED LIFE 9 had taken place the great earthquake of 1755, whereby Lisbon was laid in ruins ; and Howard, moved probably by curiosity rather than any philanthropic design of relieving distress, deter- mined to visit the scene of the calamity and to make a tour in Portugal. He failed, however, to reach the country, for the Hanover, the packet in which he sailed, was captured by a French privateer, and taken into Brest. The account of Howard's experiences on this occasion must be given in his own words, as he refers to the incident in a note in his book on Prisons, in order to illus- trate the sufferings of prisoners of war. ''Before we reached Brest I suffered the extremity of thirst, not having for above forty hours one drop of water, nor scarcely a morsel of food. In the castle at Brest I lay six nights upon straw, and observed how cruelly my countrymen were used there and at Morlaix, whither I was earned next ; during two months I was at Carhaix upon parole, I corresponded with the English prisoners at Brest, Morlaix, and Dinnan : at the last of these towns were several of our ship's crew, and my servant. I had sufficient evidence of their being treated with such barbarity that many hundreds had perished, and that thirty-six were buried in a hole at Dinnan in one day. When I came to England, still on parole, I made known to the Commissioners of Sick and Wounded Seamen io JOHN HOWARD the sundry particulars which gained their atten- tion and thanks. Remonstrance was made to the French Court ; our sailors had redress ; and those that were in the three prisons, mentioned above, were brought home in the first cartel-ships." l In addition to the account of his sufferings, contained in this note, a few details are added by Brown. At Brest the prisoners were kept for a considerable time without nourishment ; at last a joint of mutton was thrown into the filthy dungeon, which the prisoners were obliged to tear to pieces and gnaw like dogs. At Carhaix, where he spent two months on parole, the person at whose house he lodged supplied him, though an utter stranger, with both clothes and money for he had been stripped of his belongings at Brest. And when at length he was allowed to return to England it was only upon his promise that he would once more return to captivity, should the English Government refuse to exchange him for a French naval officer. 2 It is curious that at this early period, many years before his philanthropic labours began, Howard should thus have experienced in his own person something of the sufferings which he was to spend his later years in alleviating. The incident, how- ever, stands by itself, and can hardly be said to 1 The State of Prisons, p. II. 2 Brown's Life, p. 19, cf. Universal Magazine for 1790. MARRIED LIFE n have affected his career. It is true that, in the note already referred to, he says that the sufferings which he endured on this occasion " perhaps in- creased" his "sympathy with the unhappy people " whose condition he was then investigat- ing. But the fact that seventeen years were allowed to elapse before he entered on his philan- thropic labours is sufficient proof that these sufferings of his were in no sense the moving cause of his subsequent efforts for the relief of distress. It must have been shortly before, or immediately after, the adventure just related that Howard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, on May 20, 1756. His scientific attainments do not appear to have been anything exceptional. But he was interested in meteorology and kindred subjects, and his exact mind delighted in close observation and the collection of statistics. His contributions, however, to the Transactions of the Society were neither numerous nor important. The earliest appears in the volume for 1764, and consists of a short letter " On the Degree of Cold observed at Cardington in the Winter of 1763." Two others are found in later volumes, ee On the Heat of the Waters at Bath," and " On the Heat of the Ground on Mount Vesuvius." On his return to England from his captivity Howard's first care, as his own words show, was to make representations concerning the state of the 12 JOHN HOWARD prisoners of war, to the Commissioners for the Sick and Wounded Seamen. This done, an exchange was effected with a French officer, and as soon as he was at liberty he settled down on his estate at Cardington, and proceeded to enlarge and improve the house, intending to make it his home for life. Two years later, in 1758, he married again. The lady of his choice was Miss Henrietta Leeds, daughter of Edward Leeds, Esq. of Croxton, in Cambridgeshire. The marriage was well calculated to make Howard a happy man. In- deed, in after years, he is said to have frequently referred to the few years of his union with his wife as the only years of true enjoyment that he had ever spent. The tastes of husband and wife were similar, and Mrs. Howard delighted to second her husband's efforts to improve the con- dition of the tenants upon his estate. The few stories that are preserved of her indicate great gentleness and simplicity of character. Howard himself, we are told, used in later years to describe how before their marriage he had suggested to her that " to prevent all altercations about those little matters which he had observed to be the chief grounds of uneasiness in families," the decision on any question that might arise should rest with him. To this the lady seems readily to have assented, and, to judge from the disposition of the two parties, there is little doubt MRS. HOWAKD 'From the portrait in Brown's Memoir MARRIED LIFE 13 that the arrangement was a judicious one, and that it proved satisfactory in its working. After their marriage Howard is related to have taken his wife to some place of public resort in London, in order to see what effect it would have upon her mind ; and as she appeared to be lost in thought, and to show no interest whatever in the scene before them, he suddenly turned to her, and exclaimed, "Now, Harriet, I must insist on your telling me what you have been thinking about." "Well/' was her answer, "if I must tell you, I have been thinking of Mr. 's sermon last Sunday ! " One other anecdote has been preserved, telling how when Howard, on making up his accounts, found that he had an unexpected balance in his favour, and suggested to his wife a journey to London for their own pleasure, or any other in- dulgence she might choose, he received for answer the remark, "What a pretty cottage it would build." Accordingly, the journey was abandoned, and the cottage was forthwith erected. It is evident from these* stories that the husband and wife were well suited to each other ; and, what is more important than anything else, they were united in religious feeling, although the one was a dissenter, and the other a member of the Church of England. It has already been men- tioned that the elder Howard was a Congrega- 14 JOHN HOWARD tionalist. His son had early joined himself to the same body, of which he remained an attached member to the end of his life. His relations with the ministers of the various chapels which he attended, whether in London or at Bedford, were uniformly cordial, and some of the firmest friend- ships of his life were made with them. Mrs. Howard was a churchwoman, and, during her life- time, Howard seems to have usually accompanied her, at least once on Sundays, to the parish church (where later on he erected a monument to her memory), though he never shrank from acknow- ledging himself a dissenter. He was a man of Evangelical piety, firmly convinced of the truth of the somewhat narrow Calvinistic creed in which he had been brought up, but of a large-hearted charity, tolerant of others who differed from him, and ever ready to unite with any who were in- spired w r ith the same spirit of benevolence and philanthropy which grew upon him as he gave it exercise. Soon after the marriage, in consequence of the weak state of Mrs. Howard's health, a change of residence from Cardington was advised, and Howard removed to Watcombe near Lymington, in the New Forest, where he purchased an estate. The result of the experiment was not satisfactory. The place was too damp ; and after three or four years the estate was sold, and the Howards MARRIED LIFE 15 returned to Cardington. This was to be their home for life, and they now set to work in earnest in improving the property. Their own house and gardens were considerably altered, and it was at this time that the root-house, which figures in a well-known story of Howard and his son was built. This was a favourite resort of Howard's, for quiet thought and meditation. He would spend hours here, and had it fitted up with a small bookcase containing works of a devotional char- acter, such as Hervey's Meditations (a favourite work among the Evangelicals of the last century), and the writings of Flavel and Baxter. Of the improvements made on the estate, and of Howard's efforts and plans for the good of his tenants, a more detailed account is reserved for the next chapter. He was now evidently looking forward to spending a quiet and retired life, with plenty to occupy him in the management of his property, and the pur- suit of those scientific studies and observations in which he delighted. As he says himself, in the earliest letter of his which has been preserved, he had his books and instruments comfortably about him, and was hoping for more time to enjoy them. Ten or a dozen hands were employed on the estate in digging and plan ting under his superintendence; l and the only thing that was wanting to complete his happiness, the birth of a son and heir, was 1 See Field's Correspondence of 'John Howard, p. 14. 16 JOHN HOWARD granted to him in the spring of 1765. But his happiness was soon dashed to the ground, for four days later Mrs. Howard, who till then had seemed to be going on well, suddenly passed away in her husband's arms. In the family register Howard himself has recorded his sad loss as follows : "John, my son, was born about four o'clock, March 27, 1765. Sabbath evening, March 31, 1765, died the dear mother. Unaffected piety, meekness, and goodness ran through her whole life. O God, sanctify the dear memorial ! Thy grace imparting the same temper and mind ; that we both, by Thine unbounded goodness, in and through Jesus Christ, may be followers of her faith and patience, and be for ever with the Lord.- glorious day ! " l 1 Field's Correspondence of John Hoivard^ p. 1 8. CHAPTER III LIFE, FROM THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE TO HOWARD'S APPOINTMENT AS HIGH SHERIFF OF BEDFORD Life at Cardington A wholesome Despotism Kindly Re- lations with his Tenants Foreign Travel Letters from Abroad Ascent of Vesuvius Return Home Trouble among the Congregationalists Howard's Sundays His Treatment of his Son. AFTER the death of his wife, Howard, whose health was not robust, continued to reside quietly at Cardington, finding his recreation in his meteorological observations, and in registering the temperature ; and his serious occupation in the improvement of his estate, and earnest endeavours to better the condition of his tenants. He was a sanitary reformer and an educationalist, in days when neither sanitary reform nor educa- tion were of much account. The village of Cardington lies low, and many of the cottages on his estate were damp and unhealthy. Accordingly, new and improved ones were erected, each with a small garden attached ; and 2 i8 JOHN HOWARD these were still let at the original low rent. Schools of a somewhat primitive character were started, and maintained by his liberality till the end of his life. The greatest pains were taken to find employment for the tenants ; and stringent rules were laid down for their conduct. They must avoid the public-house, and eschew all such amusements as their landlord disapproved of. They must attend public worship either at Church or at Chapel ; and in order to facilitate matters, one of his own cottages was fitted up as a meeting-house, where from time to time dissenting ministers would conduct service. Whig though he was in politics, Howard was a believer in a wholesome despotism ; and in order to secure full power to remove any who failed to conform to his regulations, he only admitted persons to his cottages as tenants at will. In all his efforts for the benefit of the poor, Howard had the warm support of his neighbour, Mr. Samuel Whitbread, lord of the manor at Cardington, and owner of a considerable property there. Mr. Whitbread was a connection of the Leeds family, and, through his wife, Howard claimed to be his cousin. A close friendship sprang up, not only between the two men, but also between Howard and Lady Mary Whit- bread, a daughter of Lord Cornwallis, who was THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 19 married to his friend in 1769- Happily a con- siderable number of his letters to them both have been preserved, which materially add to our knowledge of his life and character. His correspondence with Mr. Whitbread is largely concerned with business details, which show the happy relations existing between the two neighbours, and their earnest solicitude for the welfare of their tenants, so that we can easily believe the statement of a contemporary, that, as the result of their efforts, " Cardington, which seemed at one time to contain the abodes of poverty and wretchedness, soon became one of the neatest villages in the kingdom " ; and the following description of Howard's kindly re- lations with his tenants is worth citing : " He would visit the farmers, his own tenants especially, and converse with them in the most affable manner. He also visited the poor, sat down in their cottages, and generally ate an apple while he talked with them. Even the schoolboys, whenever they had an opportunity, would place themselves in hfe way ; for he never failed to speak kindly to them, and to give each of them a halfpenny, if he had enough in his pocket to supply them, invariably concluding his advice by telling them to be good children, and to wash their hands and faces. To the cottagers he was also very particular, in requesting them to 20 JOHN HOWARD keep their houses clean ; especially recommend- ing that the rooms should be swilled, and he had / sinks made in them for that purpose. He not only gave away the milk of his dairy, which was not used in his house ; but sent it round to the poor, that they might not lose their time in V coming for it." 1 This quiet life of unassuming benevolence lasted for some years, residence at Cardington being broken from time to time by visits to various watering-places, such as Bath or Bristol Hot wells a favourite resort of Howard's and by two or three tours abroad, undertaken partly for pleasure, and partly for the benefit of his health. In 1767 he made a short tour in Holland with his brother-in-law, Edward Leeds ; and two years later a longer journey was under- taken, and the best part of two years was spent by him upon the Continent. The course of his travels was somewhat erratic. Starting through France he visited Geneva, where he spent some weeks. From thence he proceeded to Milan and Turin, with the intention of spending the winter at Rome and Naples. Conscientious scruples, however, arose in his mind, which he thus records in his journal. " My return without seeing the southern parts of Italy was after much deliberation. I feared 1 Brown's Life, p. 107. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 21 a misimprovement of a talent spent for mere curiosity, at the loss of many Sabbaths ; and as many donations must be suspended for my pleasures, which would have been, as I hope, contrary to the general conduct of my life ; and which, on a retrospective view on a deathbed, would cause pain, as unbecoming a disciple of Christ, whose mind should be formed in my soul ; these thoughts, with distance from my dear boy, determine me to check my curiosity." l Influenced by these motives Howard made his way back, via Geneva and Paris, to Holland, intending to return home. But the state of his health was such that a more prolonged absence from Cardington seemed desirable. He there- fore determined to retrace his steps, and cany out his original intention of spending some time in Italy. Accordingly, in March 1 770, he returned to Paris, and again journeyed south, visiting several places in France, and so on to Italy, where some time was passed in Florence, Naples, and Rome. Thence he made'his way during the summer to Loretto, Bologna, and Venice, crossed the Tyrol into Germany, and, after visiting various towns there, came down the Rhine to Holland, where we find him at the end of August ready to return in a few weeks to England. Several letters written during this tour have 1 Field's Correspondence of John Howard, p. 23. 22 JOHN HOWARD been preserved, some to the Rev. Joshua Symonds, a Congregationalist minister at Bedford, and a close personal friend of Howard, and some to Lady Mary Whitbread. These are interesting, as showing the bent of Howard's mind at the time ; and as specimens of them the following seem worth inserting here. Others may be found in Brown's Life of Howard and Field's Correspondence. ' ' John Howard to the Rev. J. Symonds. "ABBEVILLE, January ^th^ IJJO. " DEAR SIR, Having an opportunity, by an Italian gentleman with whom I have travelled, I thought a few lines would not be unacceptable. After I landed in France, my first object was Geneva, where I spent some time before I went into Italy. The luxury and wickedness of the inhabitants would ever give a thinking mind pain, amidst the richest country, abounding with the noblest productions of human power and skill. I was seven days re-crossing the Alps. The weather was very cold ; the thermometer 11 below the freezing point. The quick descent by sledges on the snow, and other particulars, may perhaps afford a little entertain- ment some winter's evening. I returned to Geneva. There are some exemplary persons ; yet the principles of one of the vilest men (Voltaire) with the corruptions of the French, who are within one mile of the city, have greatly debased its ancient purity and splendour. I THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 23 spent about ten days at the dirty city of Paris. The streets are so narrow, and no footpaths, that there is no stirring except in a coach ; and as to their hackney carriages, they are abominable. There were but few English at Paris. I dined with about twenty at our ambassador's (Lord Harcourt). I am now on my route to Holland, a favourite country of mine ; the only one, except our own, where propriety and elegance are mixed. Above all, I esteem it for religious liberty. "Thus, dear sir, I am travelling from one country to another ; and I trust, with some good hope, through abundant grace, to a yet better. My knowledge of human nature should be enlarged by seeing more of the tempers, tastes, and dispositions of different people ; but shudder, my soul, at the glimpse of a thought of its dignity and excellence for 'how is the gold become dross ! ' " I bless God I am well. I have a calm and easy flow of spirits. I am preserved and supported through not a little fatigue. My thoughts are often with you on the Sabbath day. I always loved my Cardington and Bedford friends ; but I think distance, makes me love them more. But I must conclude, with my affectionate remembrance of them ; and my ardent wish, desire, and prayer for your success in promoting the honour of God, and the love of our Divine Redeemer. I am truly, your affectionate friend, etc., "JoHN HOWARD." 24 JOHN HOWARD John Howard to Lady Mary Whitbread. " ROME, June l$t/i, 1770. " MADAM, I have just received a very obliging letter, on my return from Naples. When ladies condemn we must plead guilty, and hope our judges are merciful ; so I enter not on my defence. Since I had the pleasure of writing to Mr. Whitbread from Genoa, I have visited Leghorn, Pisa, and Florence. In those places, as indeed both in Rome and Naples, I often see paintings of the first and second class, leaving all inferior ones. I confess that I had seen nothing before I came to Rome. I had often read of the Laocoon, the Apollo, the Gladiators, the Pantheon and Coliseum, the paintings of Raphael, Titian, and Guido, yet the description fell far short, as it does also of the magnificence and elegance of St. Peter's. To that church and the Vatican I go most evenings, the views from the latter being inexpressibly fine. The Pope I have often seen. The worthy good man dispenses with my kneeling. I should tremble to pay that homage to any human creature that I have seen paid to him. The Pretender passed close by me yesterday, and I had a full strong view of him. He had the look of a mere sot very stupid, dull, and bending double ; quite altered to when I saw him twenty years ago in France. "The situation of Naples is fine. As I have the best cartes, it may afford your ladyship some pleasure to see them. I ascended Mount Vesuvius ; and when I was up three parts of THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 25 the hill, the earth was, by my thermometer, somewhat warmer than the atmosphere. I then took the temperature every five minutes till I got to the top. The heat was continually in- creasing. After I had stood the smoke a quarter of an hour I breathed freely ; so with three men I descended as far as they would go with me, where the earth or brimstone was so heated that, in frequent experiments, it raised my ther- mometer to 240, which is near 30 hotter than boiling water, and in some places it fired some paper I put in. As these experiments have never before been made, I thought the account of them might afford your ladyship some entertainment. " We begin to have hot weather here, so I shall make my pilgrimage in the night to Loretto, and from thence to Venice, where I shall stay about a fortnight, when I think I shall take my route through Germany to my favourite country, Holland. When at Rotter- dam I shall hope to be favoured with a letter, though, I believe, I shall hardly be there till the middle or latter end of September, as I seldom fix any route or time in any place. This uncertainty prevents my hearing so often from my friends as I could wish. Permit me to say, I am, with much esteem, Your lady- ship's obliged and most obedient servant, "JoHN HOWARD. "P.S. My best compliments to Mr. Whit- bread." 26 JOHN HOWARD The same to the same. " THE HAGUE, August ^%th, 1770. "My LADY, On my arrival last week in Holland, I had the pleasure to find a very obliging letter from you. I greatly rejoice to hear of your own and Mr. Whitbread's health, yet I feel some concern for my young friend. "1 came down the Rhine, and stayed some time both at Mentz and Cologne, which were not new to me, nor were Aix-la-Chapelle or Spa, though the great alterations made me hardly recollect that place. It seemed an English colony there were four hundred ; but I give the preference to many of our own public places, as Scarborough, Matlock, Bristol, etc. Indeed in Italy, however magnificent the objects, and highly elegant the curiosities may be, we in England have the solid, the substantial, and important, which we ought to value above all the rest. " I have been well gratified with foreign elegance, and shall sit down at home in peace ; as the comfortable, useful, and honourable life should be our aim. I am sure I require the most favourable allowance of my friends. I intend to be in England in about a fortnight; yet permit me on this side of the water, to present my thanks for the favour of your very kind letters. I beg to be remembered to my friend, who need not fear growing too fat. In expectation of the pleasure of so soon seeing him, I am, my Lady, Your ladyship's obliged and obedient servant, "JoHN HOWARD/' THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 27 Howard wrote in good spirits ; but the tour does not appear to have been entirely successful in removing the depression from which he suffered, or in the restoration of his health, for we find that his residence at Cardington con- tinued to be broken by visits to various watering- places. In fact, at this period of his life, it looks very much as if he was in danger of thinking too much about his health, and of becoming a con- firmed valetudinarian, a fate from which he was happily saved by the absorbing interest of the career of active benevolence on which he was so soon to enter. Before, however, passing on to describe this, a curious episode, which took place soon after his return from his prolonged continental tour deserves notice, and something must also be said on the much controverted question of Howard's treatment of his son. There was no Congregational Chapel at Cardington, and, when at home, Howard was in the habit of spending his Sundays in Bedford, where he had fitted up for his convenience a small house near the " old meeting-house " w r here he worshipped the same in which John Bunyan had once ministered. Of this the Rev. Joshua Symonds, mentioned above, was the minister. The question of the propriety of Infant Baptism, and of the right method of administering the sacrament, whether by immersion or affusion. 28 JOHN HOWARD was at that time regarded as an open one among the Independents or Congregationalists, to whom the old meeting-house belonged, and in spite of the tradition of Banyan's day the custom there had latterly been to administer baptism to infants. Consequently, no little excitement was caused by the pastor's public announcement, on Feb. 9, 1772, that he had changed his views on the subject, and could no longer con- scientiously practise infant baptism. The con- gregation was sharply divided on the question. The majority seems to have supported Mr. Symonds, but a considerable minority determined to secede and form a separate congregation on the old lines. In this proceeding Howard took a leading part. He interested himself greatly in the building of the new meeting-house, not only subscribing liberally towards it, but also lending without interest a considerable sum that was required to meet a deficit. He did not, how- ever, allow the secession in any way to interfere with his friendly relations with Mr. Symonds, nor did he withdraw his subscriptions in aid of his work, but continued them to the end of his life. While the new meeting-house for the seceders w r as in course of erection temporary premises were taken, the services at which were conducted by various ministers, and among the number was a young man fresh from college, a son of the Rev. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 29 M. Townsend who had been Howard's pastor in the old days at Stoke Newington ; and Brown in his Life quotes some recollections of young Townsend which give us an interesting picture of Howard's Sundays. Townsend found, to his pleasure, that he was to be Howard's guest for the four Sundays on which he was told off to take the duty at Bedford. " He found him not disposed to talk much ; and supposed that he talked to him less than he would otherwise have done, because he was young in years, and almost boyish in appearance ; besides, that he sat but a short time at table, and was in motion during the whole day. On the Sabbath he ate little or no dinner, and spent the interval between the morning and afternoon service in a private room, alone. He had prayer in his family every day, morning and evening, and read the Scrip- tures himself; but asked his guest to pray. He was very abstemious, lived chiefly upon vegetables, ate little animal food, and drank no wine or spirits. He hated praise ; and when Mr. Town- send once mentioned to him his labours of benevolence, he spoke of them slightingly, as a whim of his, and immediately changed the subject." l The first minister appointed to the new meeting-house was one Thomas Smith, with 1 Brown's Life, p. 115. , 30 JOHN HOWARD whom Howard formed one of the closest friend- ships of his life. During his foreign tour he was his frequent correspondent,, and when at home the two friends were constantly together. Mr. Smith's daughter has left on record that her father used to say that his intercourse with Howard gave him some of the most delightful hours of his life. " Mr. Howard would then completely unbend himself, and give the most interesting accounts of his past travels ; open to him all his future plans, all his trials and sorrows in short, every feeling of his heart, in the most free and confidential manner/' The two men used to take long rides together in the mornings, and Howard delighted to keep his friend out so long that he would be too late for his early dinner, when he would say to him, " I find, my friend, that you can fast as long as I can ; but now you must go to Cardington and spend the day with me, as Mrs. Smith will have dined long before this time." l It will be remembered that, on his wife's death, Howard was left with the care of a little boy only a few days old. The story of the poor child's life is an unhappy one, and as Howard's treatment of his son has been made the subject of some controversy it cannot be altogether 1 Stougliton's John Howard, p. 85. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 31 passed over here. There is no doubt that his ideas on education were peculiar. The boy was brought up on Spartan principles, and subjected to a sterner discipline than was wise. Indeed Aikin admits that, in after years, Howard " was sensible that he had in some measure mistaken the mode of forming his son to that character he wished him to acquire." l But there is also no doubt whatever that he was at heart a most affectionate father, devoted to his child, and that, whatever severity of treatment there may have been was caused, not by unkiiidness, but by an injudicious attempt to cariy out his principles. Frequent references in his diary and correspondence show that his " ever-dear boy " was constantly in his thoughts. It is impossible to read them without feeling that they are . of themselves amply sufficient to repel the notion that there was any lack of affection on his part ; while the charge of habitual cruelty that was brought against him soon after his .death was immediately refuted by his friends, and shown 1 Aikin's fietv, etc., p. 47. It is not a pleasant story which is told by Brown (Life, p. 62), as illustrating the Spartan discipline to which the boy was subjected that on one occasion when Howard, accompanied by his son, was walking in the garden with a lady, the poor child was bidden to take off his shoes, and walk as best he could without them, till his father ordered him to put them on again. 32 JOHN HOWARD to rest on a glaring exaggeration and ridiculous misrepresentation of the fact. The story, which is said to have been pretty widely circulated, was that, by way of punishment, Howard was in the habit of shutting up his son in the root-house erected in his garden, and of confining him there all night. Brown, who gives the story, made careful investigation into the truth of it, and states the result of his inquiries as follows : " One afternoon, as he was walking with the child in the garden, according to his usual practice, whilst the servants were at dinner, he took him into the root-house, and, after having been engaged in playing with him for some time, he sat him down upon the matted bench, and, being called away at the moment by the arrival of a gentleman who wished particularly to see him, told him to stay there until he returned. His mind being occupied with the business upon which he had been brought into the house, he unfortunately forgot the child and the situation in which he had left him ; and it was two or three hours before he came into his mind, when he hastened to the root-house, and found him sitting very contentedly where he had placed him. On finding that the child had been left so long alone, he was very much vexed with himself at his absence of mind, and took him immediately in his arms into the house ; telling THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN 33 him at the same time, in his most affectionate manner, that he had quite forgotten him." The story, Brown says, was well known to Howard's friends, and to some of his servants, who had a distinct recollection of it. 1 Yet on this simple accident the absurd charge of habitual cruelty has been based ; for it was nothing but a baseless calumny which suggested that young Howard's subsequent unhappy career, and the hopeless insanity which overtook him at an early age, were due to the sufferings he was made to endure as a child. This notion was suggested in a singularly ungenerous notice of Howard which appeared in the Gentleman s Magazine 2 immediately after his death. Not a particle of evidence was ever brought forward to confirm it, and against it may be set the unanimous testimony of those who were acquainted with the family, and remembered young Howard as a child. The witness of several of these, in- cluding personal friends and domestfc servants, is quoted in Brown's Life ; and it is perfectly clear that, while Howard had a horror of any- thing like indulgence, and had a great belief in the efficacy of "firmness," on which he evidently prided himself, there was, beyond the Spartan discipline to which he subjected him, 1 Brown's Life, p. 59. 2 Gentleman s Magazine ', vol. Ix. p. 277. 3 34 JOHN HOWARD never anything of harshness or unkindness in his treatment of his son. As time went on, he was increasingly absorbed in the philanthropic labours to which he had devoted himself. But the boy was never allowed to run wild. Careful provision was made for his training and educa- tion ; and a review of the dates of the father's several journeys suggests that he often timed them so as to be at home for the holidays, and that he was anxious, when possible, to remain at Cardington, until his son was safely despatched again to school. We can well believe that the childhood of young Howard, like that of many another mother- less boy, with a father immersed in occupations which perpetually took him away from home, must have been a lonely one. But there is no sort of reason to imagine that it was rendered unhappy by any lack of natural affection, or want of proper care on the part of the surviving parent. CHAPTER IV HOWARD'S EARLY INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CONDITION OF PRISONS Appointed High Sheriff of Bedford Discoveries as to Treat- ment of Prisoners Practical Efforts to remove Hard- ships A New Career Burke's Panegyric Cowper's Lines on Howard Method of Travelling Proceedings in Parliament Howard before the House of Commons A new Subject of Inquiry Howard a Candidate for Parliament Foreign Tours Attempts to gain Admis- sion to the Bastile Letter from Abroad Further Tours Howard at Warrington Publication of The State of Prisons Description of the Work. SO far there has been nothing remarkable in Howard's life. His desire has been to "sit down at home in peace/' and to lead a " comfort- able, useful, and honourable life." He realised his duty as a landlord far better than the great majority of country squires of his day, but that was all. He was now in his forty-sixth year, and there seemed every prospect that he would settle down permanently to a quiet life at Cardington, 35 36 JOHN HOWARD amusing himself with his thermometers, planting trees, building cottages, interesting himself in their drainage and water supply, exercising patri- archal discipline over his tenants, chatting with them and eating apples at their doors, with no further ambition, and no desire to make himself useful on a larger scale. That which completely changed the character of his life was his experience as High Sheriff of the County of Bedford. To this office he was appointed in 1773. It will be re- membered that he was a dissenter, and thus, by the provisions of the Test Act, was liable to severe penalties if he failed to qualify by receiving Holy Communion, according to the order of the Church of England. He had regularly attended his parish church during his wife's lifetime, and his rela- tions with the Vicar of Cardington were always of the most friendly character, but there is no evidence that he had ever received the Holy Communion ; and he was certainly the last man to receive it merely as a qualification for a civil office. Happily the law was not very vigorously enforced. No notice was taken of his failure to comply with its provisions, and he served his year of office without any objection being raised to him. Up till this time Howard had never shown any special interest in the condition of prisoners con- fined in gaol, nor was he more familiar with the EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 37 details of the law concerning them than a quiet country gentleman of a retiring disposition might naturally be expected to be. Accordingly, at the first Assize he was called upon to attend, it was a great shock to him to discover that a number of prisoners who were acquitted were nevertheless carried back to prison and once more confined there, simply on the ground that they had not paid the customary fees due to the gaoler and to ff the tipstaff for being taken into custody"; for, strange and almost incredible as it may seem to us, if through some stupid mistake of a blundering constable or justice's clerk, a person was unlucky enough to be arrested, however innocent he might be, it was impossible for him to regain his liberty without first having paid the bill presented to him for the privilege of being taken up, conducted to gaol, and lodged there. John Bunyan's publisher, Francis Smith, has left us an account of his experiences wfien thrown into gaol, for " having a hand in printing and com- piling dangerous books," in which he says, " I was locked up in a room where I had neither chair nor stool to rest upon, and yet ten shillings per week must be the price, and before I had been there three nights 1 , 15s. was demanded for present fees. That is to say, <5 to excuse me for wearing irons, ten shillings for my entrance week lodging, five shillings for sheets, five shillings for "garnish " 38 JOHN HOWARD money, 1 and the rest for turnkey's fees." 2 This was in 1660, but the century which had passed since then had brought with it little or no change for the better. Thus, at the county gaol of Howard's own town of Bedford, there was a printed notice signed by the gaoler " All persons that come to this place, either by wan-ant, committment, or verbally, must pay, before discharged, fifteen shillings and four pence to the gaoler, and two shillings to the turnkey." Elsewhere, as in the table of rates and fees to be taken by the gaoler for the county of Salop, settled by the justices of the peace for the said county, such a notice as this appeared " To the gaoler, for the discharge of every person charged with felony, or other crime, or as an ac- cessory thereto, against whom no bill of indict- ment shall be found by the Grand Jury, or who on his or her trial shall be acquitted, or who shall be discharged by proclamation for want of prosecu- tion If at assizes . 0134 If at sessions . 090" In the case of a debtor it was quite a common occurrence for the fees thus demanded to reach a larger sum than the original amount for which the unhappy wretch was incarcerated. The debt 1 On the meaning of this, see below, p. 72. 2 See Brown's Life of 'John Bunyan^ p. 182. EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 39 might be paid, but still the poor creature was compelled to languish in prison until somehow or other he had satisfied the demands made upon him by the officials. Instances of this are fre- quently recorded by Howard, and he tells us further that " many young creatures, when their term is expired, are detained in prison ; others stript of a remaining handkerchief, apron, or petticoat. Such necessaries have I seen left with the keepers till they could bring their fees." 1 Such were the evils which first attracted his attention ; and here is the account which he himself has left us in the Introduction to his book on Prisons of his discovery, and of the endeavours which he made to remove the hardship. " The distress of prisoners, of which there are few who have not some imperfect idea, came more immediately under my notice when I was Sheriff of the county of Bedford ; and the circum- stance which so excited me to activitf in their behalf was, the seeing some who by the verdict of juries were declared not guilty ; some on w r hom the grand jury did not find such an appearance of guilt as subjected them to trial; and some whose prosecutors did not appear against them : after having been confined for months, dragged back to gaol, and locked up again till they should pay sundry foes to the gaoler, the clerk of assize, etc. 3 The State of Prisons, p. 40. 40 JOHN HOWARD " In order to redress this hardship, I applied to the justices of the county, for a salary to the gaoler, in lieu of his fees. The bench were properly affected with the grievance, and willing to grant the relief desired ; but they wanted a precedent for charging the county with the expense. I therefore rode into several neigh- bouring counties in search of one ; but I soon learnt that the same injustice was practised in them ; and, looking into the prisons, I beheld scenes of calamity, which I grew daily more and more anxious to alleviate. In order, therefore, to gain a more perfect knowledge of the particulars and extent of it by various and accurate observa- tion, I visited most of the county gaols in England." l The effect of the discoveries which Howard thus made, and of the sights and scenes which he now saw for the first time, was to start him on a career of benevolence which was only terminated by his death. His whole course of life was changed. From this time onwards he was constantly in the saddle. Journey succeeded to journey with be- wildering rapidity. He was hardly ever at home for more than a few weeks at a time. Oc- casionally, especially during his boy's holidays, a short time of rest was spent at Cardington ; but no sooner were the holidays over than he was off 1 The State of Prisons , p. I. EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 41 again on a tour of inspection, investigating the condition of every prison and house of correction in England, or carrying on his researches in Scotland and Ireland, and extending them far beyond the borders of his own country, so that in the course of his seventeen years of untiring exertions, in the noble words of Burke's famous panegyric, he " visited all Europe riiot to survey the sumptuousness of palaces or the stateliness of temples ; nor to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur ; nor to form a scale of the curiosity of modern art ; nor to collect medals, or collate manuscripts but to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the in- fection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain, to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt ; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and compare and collate the dis- tresses of all men in all countries. His plan is original : it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of his labour is felt more or less in every country ; I hope he will anticipate his final reward by seeing all its effects fully realised in his own." 1 The speech, containing this fine passage, was delivered in the year 1781, and in the same year 1 Speech at Bristol, see Burke's Works (il$2) 9 vol. iii. p. 421. 42 JOHN HOWARD William Cowper introduced into his poem on " Charity " the following apostrophe to Howard : "Patron of else the most despised of men, Accept the tribute of a stranger's pen ; Verse, like the laurel, its immortal meed, Should be the guerdon of a noble deed ; I may alarm thee, but I fear the shame (Charity chosen as my theme and aim) I must incur, forgetting HOWARD'S name. Blest with all wealth can give thee, to resign Joys doubly sweet to feelings quick as thine, To quit the bliss thy rural scenes bestow, To seek a nobler amidst scenes of woe, To traverse seas, range kingdoms, and bring home, Not the proud monuments of Greece or Rome, But knowledge such as only dungeons teach, And only sympathy like thine could reach ; That grief, sequestered from the public stage, Might smooth her feathers, and enjoy her cage ; Speaks a divine ambition, and a zeal, The boldest patriot might be proud to feel. Oh that the voice of clamour and debate, That pleads for peace till it disturbs the State, Were hush'd in favour of thy generous plea, The poor thy clients, and Heaven's smile thy fee." It would be tedious to describe in detail the various journeys which Howard made, the course of which was frequently erratic ; and often it is only from incidental notices in his book that we are able to trace them. A table of those journeys, undertaken before the publication of the first EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 43 edition of his book on Prisons, is added at the close of this chapter, and from this the reader will be enabled to form some idea of them, and can hardly fail to be astonished at the amount of ground which Howard covered, and the rapidity of his movements. He began by travelling from place to place with some moderate degree of comfort in a post-chaise. But very soon he dis- covered that his clothes were rendered so offensive by the pestilential atmosphere of the dungeons and dens of horror which he visited that he was unable to bear the windows closed. He therefore abandoned his carriage, at least in England, and was obliged to travel commonly on horseback. " The leaves of my memorandum book," he also tells us, " were often so tainted, that I could not use it till after spreading it an hour or two before the fire : and even my antidote, a vial of vinegar, has, after using it in a few prisons, become in- tolerably disagreeable. I did not wonder that in those journeys many gaolers made excuses ; and did not go with me into the felons' wards." l A few further particulars of his mode of travel- ling are given by Aikin, partly from his own knowledge, and party from a gentleman who had himself had much conversation with Howard on the subject. "When he travelled in England or Ireland, it 1 The State of Prisons, p. 7. 44 JOHN HOWARD was generally on horseback, and he rode about forty English miles a day. He was never at a loss for an inn. When in Ireland, or the High- lands of Scotland, he used to stop at one of the poor cabins that stick up a rag by way of sign, and get a little milk. When he came to the town he was to sleep at, he bespoke a supper with wine and beer like another traveller, but made his man attend him, and take it away, while he was preparing his bread and milk. He always paid the waiters, postillions, etc., liberally, because he would have no discontent or dispute, nor suffer his spirits to be agitated for such a matter ; say- ing that, in a journey that might cost three or four hundred pounds, fifteen or twenty pounds addition was not worth thinking about. When he travelled on the Continent, he usually went post in his own chaise, which was a German one that he bought for the purpose. He never stopped till he came to the town he meant to visit, but travelled all night if necessary ; and from habit could sleep very well in the chaise for several nights together. In the last tour but one he travelled twenty days and nights to- gether without going to bed, and found no in- convenience from it. He used to carry with him a small tea-kettle, some cups, a little pot of sweetmeats, and a few loaves. At the post-house he could get his water boiled, send out for milk, EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 45 and make his repast, while his men went to the auberge." l Howard's earliest tours, which were made in the autumn and winter of 1773-1774 were not without immediate result, for in March 1774 he was examined before a Committee of the House of Commons. The attention of Parliament had been drawn to the condition of prisoners in gaol by a Mr. Popham, member for Taunton, who had actually introduced a Bill to effect the reform in the matter of fees which Howard so earnestly desired, as early as February 1773, some months before Howard himself had begun his investiga- tions. The Bill after being read a second time was dropped in Committee, but was introduced again in the following session, in 1774. It was on this occasion that Howard was examined before a Committee of the whole House ; and so great was the impression made by the evidence Vhich, from his personal observations, he was able to give, that, upon the House resuming, the Chairman re- ported that " he was directed by the Committee to move the House, that John Howard, Esq., be called in to the bar, and that Mr. Speaker do acquaint him that the House are very sensible of the humanity and zeal which have led him to visit the several gaols of this kingdom, and to communicate to the House the interesting ob- 1 Aikin's f^ieiv, etc., p. 224. 46 JOHN HOWARD servations he has made upon that subject." l The motion was earned nem. con., and Howard was summoned to the bar to receive the thanks of the House, an honour which he greatly appreciated, as he showed a few years later by the dedication of his work on The State of Prisons "to the Honourable House of Commons, in gratitude for the encouragement which they have given to the design, and for the honour they have conferred on the author." It should be added that Popham's Bill for paying the fees of felons, dis- charged out of prison, from the county rate, became law in this session, as did also another Bill, introduced at the same time, for better providing for the health of prisoners. Unfortunately the machinery for enforcing both Acts was so faulty that, as Howard's subsequent investigations showed, the good done by them was very limited, and their provisions were frequently ignored and evaded. It was actually left for Howard himself, a private person, to have copies printed and sent round, at his own expense, to every gaol in the kingdom. Perhaps the gravest evil of all was the absence of any provision for inspection, an omission the impor- tance of which Howard at once discerned. Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that it was largely due to this that he felt himself called on to con- tinue his self-imposed labours, and for the rest of 1 Brown's Life. p. 133. EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 47 his life to constitute himself a sort of unofficial in- spector-general of prisons and houses of correction. The greater part of the year 1774 was spent by him in journeys all over England and Wales, new subjects for investigation opening out before him in the course of his travels. " Seeing in two or three of [the county gaols] some poor creatures whose aspect was singularly deplorable, and, asking the cause of it, the answer was that 'they were lately brought from the bridewells/ This started a fresh subject of in- quiry, I resolved to inspect the bridewells ; and for that purpose travelled again into the counties where I had been ; and, indeed, into all the rest ; examining houses of correction, city and town gaols. I beheld in many of them, as well as in the county gaols, a complication of distress ; but my attention was principally fixed by the gaol fever and the smallpox, which I saw prevailing *to the destruction of multitudes, not only of felons in their dungeons, but of debtors also." l 1 State of Prisons, p. i. The bridewells, or houses of correc- tion, took their name from a miraculous well of St. Bride or St. Bridget, near Blackfriars. Here there was a royal palace (familiar to readers of Shakespeare as the scene of the third act of Henry vm.) This palace standing idle in the reign of Edward vi. was, at Bishop Ridley's suggestion, sur- rendered by the King to the Corporation as a refuge and workhouse for the unemployed and vagrants. Subsequent- ly it was converted into a place of punishment and reforma- 48 JOHN HOWARD A short suspension of his labours was neces- sitated in the autumn of this year, as he consented to stand as a candidate for Parliamentary honours for the borough of Bedford. It was the time of troubles with the American colonies. Party spirit ran high, and matters were complicated in the borough by a quarrel between the Duke of Bedford (whose influence till recently had been paramount) and the Corporation of the town ; while there was a strong party that desired to be represented, neither by the nominees of the Duke nor by those of the Corporation, but by indepen- dent candidates. These persons persuaded Howard and his neighbour, Mr. Whitbread, to stand in opposition to the official candidates of the Corpora- tion, Sir W. Wake and Mr. Sparrow. A better choice could not have been found. But the time allowed for their canvass was but short, and at the close of the election Howard found himself at the bottom of the poll, the candidates of the Cor- poration being both returned by a substantial majority. 1 A petition was presented against their tion for disobedient apprentices and idle and refractory characters; and the name was given to similar houses of correction in all parts of the country. 1 The numbers as originally declared were Wake, 527; Sparrow, 517; Whitbread. 429: Howard, 402. As the result of the petition they were altered to the following : Whitbread, 568 ; Wake, 541 ; Howard, 537 ; Sparrow, 529. The election turned largely on the question of the legality of EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 49 return, and in the end Whitbread and Wake were declared to be elected, the two unsuccessful candidates being Howard (who was now only four votes behind Wake) and Sparrow. The result was certainly a disappointment to Howard, but he was able to take it philosophically, and, as he said himself, " calmly to retire," and to hope that it might be " promotive of his best interest." l The whole incident was merely a passing episode in his life. He had never shown any ambition for a political career ; and when, later on, he was solicited to come forward again, he steadily re- fused to stand. We need not greatly regret his failure to secure the seat. Had he been returned, it is doubtful whether he would have been able to do anything like the same amount of good as a member of Parliament as that which he was enabled to do in the original and independent career which he marked out for himself. Even as it was, the election was scarcely suffered to interfere with his labours. No sooner was it over than long before the question of the petition was decided he started again on another tour, this time extending his journey to parts of Scotland and Ireland, in order to investigate the state of things in the prisons there. the votes of honorary freemen, and of those of burgesses who had partaken of the benefits of a local charity. 1 Letter to the Rev. J. Symonds. 4 50 JOHN HOWARD He was now contemplating making public the results of his investigations ; but while disclosing to the country the horrible state of things which existed in almost eveiy gaol in the kingdom, he was anxious also to suggest such remedies as might be found possible. It occurred to him, therefore, that something useful to his purpose might be collected abroad. Accordingly he laid aside his papers, and travelled into France, Flanders, Holland, and Germany. In most places he appears to have experienced little or no difficulty in obtaining an entrance into the prisons. France was an exception. At the Bastile, to his great disappointment, he failed altogether, though from no lack of assurance on his part. "I knocked hard" he tells us "at the outer gate, and immediately went forward through the guard to the drawbridge before the entrance of the castle. But, while I was contemplating this gloomy mansion, an officer came out much sur- prised ; and I was forced to retreat through the mute guard, and thus regained that freedom, which for one locked up within those walls it is next to impossible to obtain." l Elsewhere in France, Howard was more successful ; but only because he made the happy discovery, that there existed an arret of parliament for the regulation of prisons, which directed 1 The State of Prisons, p. 176. EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 51 gaolers to admit all persons desirous of bestowing charity on the prisoners under their charge. To this period belongs the following letter written to his friend Mr. Smith : John Howard to the Rev. T. Smith. " BRUXELLES, May 17, 1775. " DEAR SIR, The very kind part you take in my affairs makes me flatter myself that a line will not be disagreeable. Since I left England I have visited several gaols in French Flanders, as almost every one in Paris ; and indeed with no little trouble or resolution did I get admittance into those seats of woe, as, at this time, both at Paris, Versailles, and in many provinces, there has been the greatest riots and confusion. The military patrole the streets of Paris night and day : [there are] daily executions, one of which with pain I attended last Thursday. I came late last night to this city ; the day I have employed ir* visiting the gaols, and collecting all the criminal laws, as I have got those of France ; however rigorous they may be, yet their great care and attention to their prisons is worthy of commendation ; all [is] fresh and clean ; [there is] no gaol distemper ; no prisoners ironed ; the bread allowance far exceeds that of any of our gaols, e.g., every prisoner here has two pound of bread a day, once (a day) soup, and a Sunday one pound of meat. But I write to my friend for a relaxation from what so much engrosses my thoughts. And indeed I force myself to the public dinners and suppers for that purpose, though I show so little 52 JOHN HOWARD respect to a set of men who are so highly esteemed (the French cooks), as I have not tasted fish, flesh, or fowl, since I have been this side of the water, Through a kind Providence I am very well, calm, easy spirits. The public voitures has not been crowded, and I have met in general with agreeable company. I hope to be in Holland the beginning of next week ; the country, especially Flanders, affords the pleasing prospect of the greatest plenty. This dry weather affects them less than in other countries. I beg my best compliments to Mrs. Smith. Remember me to Mrs. Belsham, and any of our friends who may be so kind as to think of me. Permit me to remain, with affection and esteem, Dear Sir, your obliged friend and servant, " JOHN HOWARD." This tour lasted from April to July 1775. In the autumn of the same year a second inspection of English prisons was commenced. This occupied him till the month of May in the following year. It was then broken off, in order that he might repeat his visits to those foreign countries in which he had been the year before, and also extend his researches to Switzerland. This Continental journey over, he resumed his inspection of English prisons, and by the close of 1776 he felt that he was ready to publish. Mistrusting his own literary powers he first took his note and memorandum books to a friend in EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 53 London , one Richard Denshaw, a fellow-pupil with him under Mr. Eames, who assisted him in arranging them. They were next submitted to another friend,, Dr. Price, who thoroughly revised them and prepared them for the press. After this Howard took them to Warrington in Lancashire, where was the press at which he desired to have his book printed, and where resided his friend Dr. Aikin, whose assistance he was anxious to secure. Of Howard's manner of life at Warrington Brown in his biography has given us a tolerably complete account. It was, as might be expected, characterised by great method and regularity. Lodgings were taken near to the printer's, and no journeyman printer could have worked harder than Howard himself did. He rose .every morning at two, and worked at the correction of proofs till seven, when he breakfasted. " Punctually at eight he repaired to the printing- office, and remained there until the workmen went to dinner at one, when he returned to his lodgings, and, putting some bread and raisins or other dried fruit in his pocket, generally took a walk in the outskirts of the town during their absence, eating, as he walked along, his hermit fare, which, with a glass of water on his return, was the only dinner he took. . . . When he had returned to the printing-office, he generally 54 JOHN HOWARD remained there until the men left work, and then repaired to Mr. Aikin's house, to go through with him any sheets which might have been composed during the day ; or, if there were nothing upon which he wished to consult him, would spend an hour with some other friend, or return to his lodgings, w r here he took his tea or coffee, in lieu of supper ; and at his usual hour retired to bed. He did not do this, however, without closing the day with family prayer ; a duty which he never neglected, though there was but one, and that one his domestic, to join him in it ; always declaring, that where he had a tent, God should have an altar." l In this manner some weeks were spent, and by the month of April, 1777, the book was ready to be issued. It was published as a large quarto volume, and Howard insisted on fixing the price at so low a rate that, according to Aikin, "had every copy been sold he would still have presented 1 Brown's Life, p. 208. Brown adds that Howard maintained the practice of family prayers throughout his journeys in every part of Europe, " it being his invariable practice, wherever and with whomsoever he might be, to tell Thomasson [his confidential servant] to come to him at a certain hour, at which, well knowing what the direction meant, he would be sure to find him in his room, the doors of which he would order him to fasten ; when, let who would come, nobody was admitted until this devotional exercise was over." EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 55 the public with all the plates, and great part of the printing." l Copies were also distributed by him with lavish profusion to " all the principal persons in the kingdom, and all his particular friends " ; and thus, for the first time, the public was made aware of the state of things which existed in every town and county gaol throughout the kingdom. Nothing could be more matter of fact than the book. There is a studious avoidance of every appearance of exaggeration. No attempt is made to draw harrowing pictures of the horrors which Howard himself had witnessed, or of the sufferings of the unfortunate prisoners immured in the dungeons he had visited. The bare facts spoke for themselves. He contented himself with the driest possible enumeration of such particulars as he deemed material. After a brief Introduction, and an account of the foreign prisons he had visited, he takes the several counties of England separately. Details are given in a tabular form of every gaol and bridewell ; the nature of the accommodation, the number of prisoners confined in them, the names of the officials, the salary (if any) of gaoler, surgeon, and chaplain ; the allowance of food for the prisoners, and the fees exacted from them. A specimen, taken at random, will best show the plan on which the work is arranged, and the various 1 Aikin's Flew, etc., p. 62. 56 JOHN HOWARD allusions in it will, it is hoped, be easily understood from the general description of the state of things which Howard revealed, to which a separate chapter must be devoted. COVENTRY CITY AND COUNTY GAOL. COVENTRY. Gaoler BASIL GOODE. Salary, 12, now taken off. Fees, Debtors^ . V 155. 4d. ,, FelonsJ Transports, 8 each. Licence, Beer. Prisoners' Allowance, Debtors, none. ,, ,, Felons ; i II. of bread a day. Garnish, 2s. Number of Number of Debtors. Felons, etc. 1773, Nov - 20 ... 9 7 1776, Jan. 7 . . . 16 10 Oct. 30 ... 7 5 1779, March 26 ... u 3 ,, Nov. 25 ... 5 4 1782, May i ... 8 z Deserters 4 Chaplain, None. Surgeon, Mr. HARPER. (Salary, none ; he makes a bill.) Remarks. This gaol, built about 1772, is in a close part of the city. I was shewn a fine spot which some gentlemen very judiciously preferred. It has eight lodging-rooms for master's side debtors, and the common ward. Women-felons EARLY INVESTIGATIONS 57 have only one room, and that without a fireplace. The men have a day-room. To their dungeons there is a descent of twelve steps to a passage only 4 feet wide ; the four dungeons are about 9 feet by 6 ; at the upper corner of each, a little window, 11 inches by 7. All are very damp, dirty, and offensive : we went down with torches. Only one court for all prisoners. No straw ; no infirmary ; no bath. Rooms might be made for criminals in the area where the old county hall stood ; in which case the horrid dungeons need not be used, and the sexes might be separated. Neither clauses against spirituous liquors, nor the Act for preserv- ing the health of prisoners, are hung up. One of the felons, James Ward, received his^ majesty's pardon, on condition of his going to sea. Mr. Francis Waters, clerk of the assize, wrote in the letter which enclosed the pardon (which was dated August 25, 1781): 'The Secretary of State's fee is . p. 327. 5 Il>. p. 334. S' IOOR I)E|TQRV CEIT - POOR DEBTOR'S CELL From an engraving in the British Aluseu)>> ENGLISH PRISONS 75 promote the collection in their several parishes." l At Hull a collection is made from which the debtors receive some supply,, on Sundays and Thursdays. 2 "The Corporation" this is in con- nection with Yarmouth town gaol, where there was an allowance of a penny loaf a day " sends out a begging basket three times a week." 3 At Salisbury Howard found outside the prison gate " a round staple fixed in the wall ; through it was put a chain, at each end of which a common-side debtor, padlocked by the leg, stood offering to those who pass by, nets, laces, purses, etc., made in prison." Here also he notes, that ee at Christmas, felons chained together are permitted to go about ; one of them carrying a sack or basket for food, another a box for money." 4 Not only, however, was there no proper pro- vision for the maintenance of those confined in gaol. In many 'cases there was literally none for those whose business it was to keep them there. Indeed, sometimes the gaoler not only received no salary for his duties, but was actually required to pay a rent. Of course this meant that he made what he could out of the prisoners under his care. Hence the iniquitous system of fees, and charges not only for the comforts but also for the most elementary necessities of life. Unless 1 The State of Prisons, p. 314. 2 Ib. p. 415. 3 Ib. p. 299. 4 Ib. p. 376. 76 JOHN HOWARD the unfortunate prisoners were prepared to pay for the luxury of a bed, or even a portion of one, 1 they were literally required to "lie upon straw/' and that often damp and mouldy. Even this was sometimes not allowed ; for the significant entry, " no straw/' is a not infrequent one in Howard's book. But the gaoler's best source of income undoubtedly was the tap. It was quite the exception for him not to hold a licence for beer and wine. Thus it became directly his interest to encourage drinking among the prisoners. " Gaolers who hold, or let, the tap, find their account not only in conniving at, but promoting drunkenness and midnight revels, so that most of our gaols are riotous alehouses and brothels. What profligate and debauched company of both sexes do we see let into our gaols, that the tap may be kept running ! Even condemned criminals are sometimes heated with liquor until they be- came outrageous, as Lewis was, who was executed at Leicester in 1782. Besides this the gaoler's interest in the sale of liquors may prompt him to be partial in his behaviour to his prisoners ; to treat at least with neglect those who are poor and have nothing to spend, which is the case of 1 The charge was of course often but small ; but in the summer of 1776, the King's Bench in Southwark was so crowded that a prisoner paid five shillings a week for half a bed (The State of Prisons, p. 244). ENGLISH PRISONS 77 the greater number ; while he shall caress dis- honest debtors, who take shelter in a prison, in order to live there in riot, upon the property of their creditors." l Let it be remembered, also, that there was no system of inspection ; and that the justices, if they ever came near the prison at all, probably con- tented themselves with viewing the outside, 2 and it will easily be understood what hells upon earth the majority of English gaols and houses of correction were. The inmates were left absolutely to the tender mercies of the gaoler (who often lived at a distance) and his underlings, while the whole system appeared to be framed for the express purpose of encouraging rapine and cruelty on the part of these officials. The marvel is, that among them there were to be found any who 1 The State of Prisons, p. 26. 2 Should any justice express a desire to make a closer inspec- tion the gaoler was generally ready with an artifice to prevent him, for " when a gentleman, particularly a magistrate, has come with an intention to visit the gaol, the keeper has pretended the utmost willingness to accompany him, but at the same time has artfully dropped a hint, that he fears that there maybe some danger in it, as he is apprehensive that the fever has made its appearance among them. The visitor, alarmed, returns thanks for the kind caution, and instantly leaves the house. On such occasions," Howard grimly remarks, " I have always the more insisted on the necessity of a close inspection, and have generally found the prison very dirty indeed, but no fever " (The State of Prisons, p. 468). 78 JOHN HOWARD were at all enlightened or animated by humane sentiments. Yet, in more than one instance, Howard freely accords them commendation for their treatment of their prisoners. 1 Nothing is more striking in his book than his sense of fairness, and, amid all the horrors he describes, and the censures he is compelled to pass, his readiness to seize upon anything in the least hopeful, and to award praise, wherever, on a most liberal construc- tion, praise might be due. To pass from the gaolers to the surgeons and chaplains : the Act of 1774 made provision for the appointment of both these officers, in accordance with the claims of humanity. But in many instances the Act seems to have been shamefully neglected. Not infrequently it appears from Howard's notes that none had been appointed. Even in those cases where the letter of the Act was complied with, and chaplains and surgeons were appointed, the stipends were miserably inadequate, and the duties attached to the offices were too often shamefully neglected. It actually appears that in one case the surgeon told Howard that, by the terms of his contract, he was excused from attending prisoners confined in the dungeons with gaol fever ! 2 Yet here also it is pleasant to 1 Instances are given at Norwich (p. 293), at Northampton (p. 334), and at Newcastle (p. 423). 2 The State of Prisons, p. 383. ENGLISH PRISONS 81 to half the fees, and, by himself paying the other half, restored several of these unhappy creatures to liberty. " Some/' he tells us, " had children dying with the smallpox, others had hardly rags to cover them. But this distress had no more effect on the clerk of the crown, sheriffs, and gaolers, than to engage them to give up half their fees." l In one matter prison discipline in Ireland was distinctly in advance of that in England, for Howard found, not without some surprise, that no liquors were permitted to be sold by gaolers in any of the prisons that he there visited ; and on inquiry learnt that an Act of the Irish Parliament had been passed against it some years before. The good effects of the Act un- fortunately were not so great as they might have been, for spirituous liquors were freely introduced by others. Thus, at the city Marshalsea in Dublin, " the wives and children of the debtors, living with them, bring in spirits, and this makes most of the lower rooms gin shops." 2 In other matters there was no improvement, and the want of cleanliness may be imagined from the following note : " The only building designed for a bath, which I saw in the gaols in Ireland, was in the court yard at Trim, June 17, 1782. I looked into it, and found it was the gaoler's pigsty." 3 1 The State of Prisons, p. 204. 2 Lazarettos, p. 80. 3 Ib. p. 207. 6 CHAPTER VI FOREIGN PRISONS AS HOWARD FOUND THEM Absence of G&ol Fever in Foreign Prisons Better State of things generally than in England Good Rules in Switzerland and Holland Less Drunkenness than in England Abuses Horrid Dungeons at Vienna The Ducking-stool Torture. HOWARD'S researches into the condition of foreign prisons were made, it must be remembered, not primarily for the sake of dragging to light such abuses as might be found in them, but rather with the object of discovering what might be learnt from them by way of example, for the reform of prisons at home. Consequently, he was always on the look-out for good points, and for such things as might seem worthy of imitation. One thing which impressed him greatly was the absence of gaol fever. This scourge of our English prisons was almost if not quite unknown on the Continent. It is strange that it should have been so, for in many places the dirt and filth were as bad as in England, and the neglect FOREIGN PRISONS 83 of elementary sanitary precautions was as dis- graceful as anything that Howard had disclosed at home. In Denmark the Stock-house at Copenhagen was in a shocking state. <( Dirty beyond description " is Howard's note ; and he adds that " the offensiveness of this prison always gave me a headache, such as I suffered at my first visits to English prisons." l In Sweden the prisons were "as dirty and offensive as those in Denmark/' and when Howard attended at the trials in the Court of Justice at Stockholm, " the want of fresh air, in consequence of the windows being shut," affected him te so much as to make him ill a considerable time afterwards." 2 At Lille, where there were small and dark dungeons fifteen steps underground, he actually caught fever from visiting the sick ; 3 but of the gaol fever proper he found no traces anywhere. In Germany he testifies that the Germans were well aware of the necessity of cleanliness in prisons, and that care was generally taken to build their gaols and houses of correction in suitable situations. An exception is noted in the case of the house of correction at Brunswick, where, although the person who conducted Howard over carried a pan of charcoal through the rooms, " his fumigation could not overcome the offensiveness of this dirty 1 The State of Prisons, p. 78. 2 Ib. p. 82. Ib. p. 164. 84 JOHN HOWARD house." 1 At Lausanne he had a conversation with an eminent medical man, who " expressed his surprise at our gaol distemper, from which Switzerland was entirely free " ; and he added that " he had not heard of its being anywhere but in England." 2 In Italy Howard thought that from the heat of the climate the gaol fever would be very likely to prevail, but notes that he did not find it in any of the prisons. 3 Russia was entirely free from it, and he saw no symptoms of it in Moscow, or in any part of the country. 4 At Vienna, where were many " horrid dungeons," Howard thought that he had succeeded in discovering a case. In one of the dark dungeons, down twenty-four steps, was a poor wretch loaded with heavy irons and chained to the wall ; "anguish and misery appeared with clotted tears on his face. He was not capable of speaking to me." It seemed a clear case at first. " But on examining his breast and feet for petechice, or spots, and finding that he had a strong intermitting pulse, I was convinced that he was not ill of that dis- order." 5 There can be no doubt that at this time England was behind rather than before many other countries, and that right principles of prison discipline were far better understood in several 1 The State of Prisons, p. 71. 2 Ib. p. 125. 3 Ib. p. 117. 4 Ib. p. 94. 5 Ib. p. 103. FOREIGN PRISONS 85 states of continental Europe. It was from the prison for juvenile criminals at San Michele, in Rome, that Howard drew the motto from Cicero, which he prefixed to his book ; as over the door of this house he found inscribed what he justly calls " the following admirable sentence, in which the grand purpose of all civil policy relative to criminals is expressed " : Parum est improbos coercere poena nisi probos efficias disciplina. 1 The wretched custom of demanding "garnish" from newcomers was almost peculiar to England ; at any rate it was "not common in foreign prisons." 2 In France it was strictly prohibited. 1 The State of Prisons, p. 114. 2 Ib. p. 84. The regulations might not recognise garnish, but it is to be feared that it was very commonly exacted by the prisoners. James Choyce, a master-mariner who was taken prisoner by the French in 1802, certainly speaks of it as if it was common. " We remained five days in the prison at Limoges, where there were a number of French villains of notorious character, who insisted on our paying our foot- ing, and, as we had no money, tried to strip the clothes off our backs. This we naturally resisted, and the jailors hear- ing the row put us in a separate apartment, otherwise we should have been stripped of every rag we had on. This we found to be the custom in all large gaols, where felons were confined, who, having nothing to lose but rags and dirt, en- deavoured to plunder all newcomers, whether French or English ; and any poor conscripts, who had deserted and been caught, and were sent from prison to prison till they reached the army, fell a prey to these merciless scoundrels." The Log of a Jack Tar, p. 159, cf. p. 175, where Choyce 86 JOHN HOWARD " If prisoners demand of a newcomer anything of that sort; on whatever pretence ; if, in order to obtain it, they distress him by hiding his clothes, etc., they are shut up for a fortnight in a dark dungeon, and suffer other punishment. They are obnoxious to the same chastisement for hiding one another's clothes, or being otherwise injurious/' 1 In general there seems to have been more attempt at discipline, classification, and proper separation of the sexes than in England ; and prisoners were less at the mercy of gaolers and turnkeys. In France, Howard found " good rules for preserving peace ; for suppressing profaneness ; for prohibiting gaolers or turnkeys abusing prisoners by beating them or otherwise ; forbidding their furnishing them with wine or spirituous liquors, so as to cause excess, drunkenness, etc. Keepers are punished for this, when known to the magis- strates, by a fine for the first offence ; and for the second by stripes. They are allowed to sell some things to their prisoners ; but the quality, quantity, and price must be such as the ordinances of police define and require. The turnkeys visit the dun- geons four times a day ; in the morning w r hen the prisons are opened, at noon, at six in the evening, describes how he joined others in making newcomers pay their bien-venu, as it was called, and " lived well that night and day " as the result. 1 The State of Prisons, p. 167. 3 I FOREIGN PRISONS 87 and at ten at night. ... If the turnkeys find any prisoners sick, they must acquaint the physician and surgeon, who visit them ; and, if needful, order them to more wholesome rooms till they recover." l It is also noted that (( the nom- ination of a gaoler belongs to the magistrates. When he has been nominated he is proposed to the procureur-general ; and if, after a careful in- quiry into his character, it appears that he has the reputation of a man of probity, he is fixed in the office, and takes an oath of fidelity. The office is freely given him without any expense whatever ; so that keepers are not tempted, by paying for their places, to oppress their prisoners : to remove all pretext for so doing, rents, which they formerly paid to the Crown, are remitted, and the leases given up/' 2 In Switzerland he found many excellent rules. Solitary confinement was the rule for the felons, that they may not, said the keepers, tutor one another. , 3 Proper care was taken of the sick. The keepers were forbidden to sell to the prisoners, wine r brandy, or other provisions. Gaming of any sort was prohibited. Care was taken for the spiritual well-being of the prisoners, and it seemed to Howard that a principal object was "to make 1 The State of Prisons, p. 1 68. 2 Ib. p. 169. 3 Ib. p. 124. 88 JOHN HOWARD them better men." l He gives an amusing account of an escape of some prisoners at Berne, and of the way in which it was regarded by the authorities. " An old keeper having left the door of one of the men's wards unlocked, twelve prisoners forced the outer door, and walked off; the people, who happened to see them, suffering them to pass, because they supposed that they were going to work in the streets. When four or five of them, some time after, were retaken and carried to their old lodgings, the magistrates ordered that they should not be punished, considering that everyone must be desirous of regaining liberty. As they had not been guilty of assault or violence in mak- ing their escape, the punishment fell on the keeper for his negligence." 2 What struck Howard most in this country, as also in some parts of Germany and Holland, was the excellent manner in which the houses of correction were conducted. Both in Germany and Holland these were white-washed every year. Of the enlightened principles which he found to prevail in the last-mentioned country he speaks with the utmost enthusiasm. " Prisons in the United Provinces are so quiet, and most of them so clean, that a visitor can hardly believe that he is in a gaol. They are commonly (except the rasp-houses) whitewashed 1 The State of Prisons, p. 126. 2 Ib. p. 125. FOREIGN PRISONS 89 once or twice a year ; and prisoners observed to me, how refreshing it was to come into the rooms after they had been so thoroughly cleaned. A physician and surgeon is appointed to eveiy prison ; and prisoners are in general healthy. In most of the prisons for criminals, there are so many rooms that each prisoner is kept separate. They never go out of their rooms ; each has a bedstead, straw mat, and coverlet. But there are few criminals, except those in the rasp-houses and spin- houses. Of late, in all the seven provinces, seldom more executions in a year than from four to six. . . Debtors also are but few. The magistrates do not approve of confining in idleness any that may be usefully employed ; and, when one is imprisoned, the creditor must pay the gaoler for his mainten- ance, from five and a half to eighteen stivers a day, according to the debtor's former condition in life No debtors have their wives and children living with them in prison, but occasional visits in the daytime are not forbidden. You do not hear in the streets as you pass by a prison, what I have been rallied for abroad, the cry of poor hungry starving debtors. The states do not transport convicts ; but men are put to labour in the rasp-houses, and women to proper work in the spin-houses, upon this professed maxim, " Make them diligent, and they will be honest." The rasping log- wood, which was formerly the principal work done 90 JOHN HOWARD by the male convicts, is now in many places per- formed at the mills much cheaper; and the Dutch, finding woollen manufactures more profit- able, have lately set up several of them in those houses of correction. In some, the work of the robust prisoners does not only support them ; but they have a little extra time to earn somewhat for their better living in prison, or for their benefit afterwards. Great care is taken to give them moral and religious instruction, and reform their manners, for their own and the public good. The chaplain (such there is in every house of correc- tion) does not only perform public worship, but privately instructs prisoners, catechises them every week, and I am well informed that many come out sober and honest. Some have even chosen to continue and work in the house after their dis- charge." l To this account is added in a note a story of an Englishman who was imprisoned in the rasp-house at Amsterdam for some years, and was permitted to work at his trade of shoemaking. " By being constantly kept employed, he was quite cured of the vices that were the cause of his con- finement " ; and Howard was told that at his release he received a surplus of his earnings, which enabled him to set up his trade in London, where he lived in credit ; and at dinner com- 1 The State of Prisons, pp. 44-46. FOREIGN PRISONS 91 monly drank "Health to his worthy masters at the rasp-house/' l It is clear that Holland was at this time far beyond every other country in grasping the right principles of prison discipline ; and at the end of the very full account which he gives of the system in vogue there,, Howard says : ee I leave this country with regret,, as it affords a large field for in- formation on the important subject I have in view. I know not which to admire most the neatness and cleanliness appearing in the prisons, the industry and regular conduct of the prisoners, or the humanity and attention of the magistrates and regents." 2 For the most part there seems to have been far less drunkenness in foreign prisons than was customary in England. Even then our national vice was conspicuous. In many places abroad spirituous liquors and gaming were strictly pro- hibited ; and only very occasionally does Howard note, as in one place in Sweden, that " the gaoler here, as in the other prisons, sells liquors. His room, like those I have too often seen in my own country, was full of idle people who were drink- ing." 3 A proper allowance of food seems also to have been more general than in England. It is true that in Russia both felons and debtors had to subsist, as best they could, on voluntary contribu- tions, and " alms received from passengers in little 1 The State of Prisons, p. 46. 2 16. p. 66. 3 16. p. 83. 92 JOHN HOWARD boxes placed before the windows " ; 1 but else- where Howard generally found that the food allowed was superior in quality and quantity to what was customary in England. In France it was decidedly better. 2 This was also the case in Holland, and so struck was Howard with the provision made at the rasp-house at Rotterdam that he gives the regulation for the daily diet for a week in full ; 2 and certainly, if the regulation was properly adhered to, the prisoners here had nothing to complain of. Turkey is a country from which it was scarcely to be expected that England would have been able to learn much in the way of prison discipline. Yet even there Howard found that, in the midst of much which shocked and horrified him, there were some things which were better managed than at home. Thus he notes that "in those cities which I have seen in Turkey the debtors have a prison separate and distinct from the felons," and adds that " without such a separation in England, a thorough reformation of the gaols can never be effected." 3 Again, he was struck with the stillness and quietness of the prisons at Constantinople, for which he was "at a loss to account," until he "reflected that the only beverage for the prisoners is water" 4 1 The State of Prisons, p. 87. 2 Ib. p. 48. 3 Lazarettos, p. 62. 4 Ib. p. 63. FOREIGN PRISONS 93 There were of course plenty of horrors to be found in almost every country which Howard visited. Even in those countries in which right principles of prison discipline were understood, and good regulations obtained, the administration was often faulty. In many countries loathsome dungeons and deliberate cruelty seemed to be the rule rather than the exception. At Vienna he found very few of the dungeons empty. " Some had three prisoners in each dungeon ; and three horrid cells I saw crowded with twelve women. All the men live in total darkness, and are not permitted to make any savings from their daily allowance (of four creutzers) for the purpose of procuring light. They are chained to the walls of their cells, though so strong, and so defended by double doors, as to render such a security needless. No priest or clergyman had been near them for eight or nine months ; and this is reckoned, even by these criminals, so great a punishment) that they complained to me of it with tears, in the presence of their keepers." * In the same city he noticed that the bakers were punished for frauds "by the severity and disgrace of the ducking-stool." " This machine of terror, fixed on the side of the Danube, is a kind of long pole or board, 1 Lazarettos, p. 66. 94 JOHN HOWARD extending over the water, at one end of which the delinquent, being fastened in his basket, is immersed." l Strange to say, a somewhat similar practice was not entirely unknown in England, for, at the Liverpool bridewell, Howard discovered a bath with "a, new and singular contrivance/' At one end of the bath was "a standard for a long pole, at the extremity of which was fastened a chair. In this all the females (not the males) at their entrance, after a few questions, were placed, with a flannel shift on, and underwent a thorough ducking, thrice repeated. An use of the bath," he adds, " which I daresay the legis- lature never thought of, when in their late Act they ordered baths with a view to cleanliness and preserving the health of the prisoners ; not for the exercise of a wanton and dangerous kind of severity." 2 Bad as things were, it is pleasant to feel that in one matter England was distinctly in advance of most other countries ; for although, as we have seen, irons were customary for the safe custody of the prisoners, and there was a terrible amount of wanton cruelty practised by gaolers, yet the deliberate infliction of torture, either by 1 The State of Prisons, p. 105. 2 Ib. p. 437. On a later visit Howard was glad to find that " this use of the bath was discontinued." FOREIGN PRISONS 95 way of punishment or to extract a confession, was happily a thing of the past. 1 This was by no means universally the case on the Continent. In Sweden, it is true, it had just been abolished by the reigning monarch, Gustavus in., who had ordered a dark cellar, applied to that purpose in the great prison at Stockholm, to be bricked up. 2 So also in Prussia, Frederick the Great had set the example in Germany of abolishing 1 It is the boast of the common law of England that it never recognised torture as legal. In spite of this, how- ever, torture was for some centuries habitually inflicted, both as a means of obtaining evidence and as a part of punish- ment, being ordered by the Crown or Council, or by some extraordinary tribunal like the Star Chamber. In Henry vi. 's reign the rack was first introduced into the Tower, and under the Tudors torture was in frequent use. A list of the principal kinds of torture employed at the Tower is given by Lingard (History of England, vol. vi.. Appendix), including the rack, the scavenger's daughter, iron gaunt- lets, and little ease. It should be added that the peine forte et Jure, suffered by prisoners who refused to plead, differed from torture in nothing but name. In cases where a prisoner stood mute, he was condemned to be stretched upon his back, and to have iron laid upon him as much as he could bear and more ; and so to continue, fed upon bad bread and stagnant water through alternate days, until he pleaded or died. The last case of this inhuman treat- ment of a prisoner seems to have occurred in 1726, but it was not legally abolished until a year or two before Howard began his labours (12 George HI. c. 20). See the Encyclopedia Britannica, Art. "Torture." 2 The State of Prisons, p. 82. 96 JOHN HOWARD the cruel practice. Elsewhere it was still customary. Of Hanover Howard writes : "The execrable practice of torturing prisoners is here used in a cellar where the horrid engine is kept. The time for it is, as in other countries, about two o'clock in the morning. A criminal suffered the Osnaburg torture twice, about two years ago ; the last time, at putting to him the third question (the executioner having torn off the hair from his head, breast, etc.), he confessed, and was executed. On such occasions a counsellor and secretary attend, with a doctor and surgeon, an Osnaburg executioner, and sometimes the gaoler. If the criminal faints, strong salts are here applied to him, and not vinegar, as in some other places." l At Hamburg one of the most excruciating instruments of torture that Howard ever saw was kept and used in a deep cellar of the prison. " It ought," he says, " to be buried ten thousand fathoms deeper. It is said the inventor was the first who suffered by it; the last was a woman, a few years ago." 2 At Mannheim the prisoners committed to the Maison de Force were " commonly received in form with what is called the Men venu. A machine is brought out. in which are fastened their necks, hands, and feet. Then they are stripped ; and 1 The State of Prisons, p. 99. 2 Ib. p. 70. FOREIGN PRISONS 97 have, according as the magistrate orders the grand venu of twenty to thirty stripes, the demi venu of eighteen to twenty, or the petit venu of twelve to fifteen ; after this they kiss the threshold and go in. Some are treated with the same compliment at discharge. The like ceremony is observed at many other towns in Germany." 1 At Nuremburg was one of the worst prisons Howard ever saw. "The dark, unhealthy dungeons, and the dismal torture chamber, do no honour to the magistracy of this city." Here he found that the gaoler was accustomed to make use of what he calls " a low trick," to prevent the escape of his prisoners, " by terrifying them with the apprehension of falling under the power of witches " ! 2 Osnaburg was even worse. Indeed, the state of things here was so disgraceful that Howard was tempted to omit all mention of it; and only inserted an account of it, in the hope that it might lead to some reform. There were seventeen chambers for criminals, with no light but by a small aperture over each door. In one of these Howard found an unfortunate prisoner who had been confined for three years, and had survived the cruelty of the torture, the method of which was "more excruciating than 1 The State of Prisons, p. 135. 2 Ib. p. 130. 7 98 JOHN HOWARD in most other countries/' and was commonly known by the name of the Osnaburg torture. 1 At Munich, in the Prison de la Cour y was a " black torture room," of which he gives the following description : " In this room there is a table covered with black cloth and fringe. Six chairs for the magistrates and secretaries, covered also with black cloth, are elevated two steps above the floor, and painted black. Various engines of torture, some of which are stained with blood, hang round the room. When the criminals suffer, the candles are lighted ; for the windows are shut close, to prevent their cries being heard abroad. Two crucifixes are presented to the view of the unhappy objects. But it is too shocking to relate their different modes of cruelty. Even women are not spared/' 2 Nothing, however, surpasses the account given of the two prisons, known as the old and the new, at Liege. " In two rooms of the old prison I saw six cages made very strong with iron hoops, four of which were empty. (The dimensions were seven feet by six feet nine inches, and six feet and a half high. On one side was an aperture of six inches by four, for giving in the victuals.) These were dismal places of confinement, but I soon 1 The State of Prisons, p. 67. 2 Ib. p. 129. FOREIGN PRISONS 99 found worse. In descending, deep below ground from the gaoler's apartments, I heard the moans of the miserable wretches in the dark dungeons. The sides and roofs were all stone. In wet weather, water from the fosses gets into them, and has greatly damaged the floors. Each of them had two small apertures, one for admitting air, and another, with a shutter over it strongly bolted, for putting in food to the prisoners . . . The dungeons in the new prison are abodes of misery still more shocking ; and confinement in them so overpowers human nature, as sometimes irrecoverably to take away the senses. I heard the cries of the distracted as I went down into them. One woman, however, I saw, who (as I was told) had sustained this horrid confinement forty-seven years without becoming distracted. The cries of the sufferers in the torture-chamber may be heard by passengers without, and guards are placed to prevent them from stopping and listening. A physician and surgeon always attend when the torture is applied ; and, on a signal given by a bell, the gaoler brings in wine, vinegar, and water, to prevent the sufferers from expiring. f The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.' " l Passing to France, we find that torture was still customary in some prisons there. At Avignon, where Howard noticed the rings, 1 The State of Prisons, p. 137. ioo JOHN HOWARD pulleys, etc., for the torture, the gaoler told him that he had seen drops of blood mixed with the sweat, on the breasts of some who had suffered it. 1 In Russia the punishments were hideously cruel. In St. Petersburg Howard was shown all the instruments commonly used, including a machine (happily already disused) for breaking the arms and legs, an instrument for slitting or lacerating the nostrils ; and the knout, or knoot, as he always writes it. He was also present at the infliction of this terrible punishment upon two criminals, one of whom was a woman, who received twenty-five strokes, her companion re- ceiving sixty, after which "both seemed but just alive." 2 Even in Switzerland Howard found " excruciat- ing engines of torture/' at Freyburg. 3 At Geneva he "hoped to have found no torture-chambers," but "had only the pleasure to hear that none had suffered in them these twenty-five years." 4 1 Lazarettos, p. 52. 2 The State of Prisons, p. 86. 3 Ib. p. 125. 4 Ib. p. 124. CHAPTER VII LATER INVESTIGATIONS AND JOURNEYS, 1777-1784- Death of Howard's Sister Renewed Investigations into the State of Prisons The Question of Transportation The Hulks Act for the Establishment of Penitentiaries Foreign Tour Accident at Amsterdam Letters from Abroad Visit to a Capuchin Convent Return to England Investigation into the Condition of Prisoners of War Tour in England, Scotland, and Ireland Diffi- culties concerning the Penitentiaries Howard resigns his Office as Commissioner Foreign Travel Letter from Moscow Howard and the King's Courier Visit to Ireland Travels in Spain The Inquisition Letters from Spain Second Edition of The State of Prisons published. THE first three months of 1777 were, as we have already seen, occupied with the printing of the first edition of The State of Prisons, the dedication of which to the House of Commons bears date Cardington, April 5, 1777. Of Howard's movements during the remainder of the year we have scarcely any notices. As far as we can gather no prisons were visited by him. It is probable that the greater part of the year 101 102 JOHN HOWARD was spent in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest at Cardington. In August, however, the rest was broken by a summons to London, owing to the illness of his sister, which terminated fatally before he could arrive, as he describes in the following curious letter to his servant Thomasson : " THOMAS, I got to town about seven o'clock this morning, but alas ! too late to see my poor sister, and take one final leave. She died five o'clock yesterday afternoon. You will come to town on Friday, bring all my black clothes butter, cheese, sage r . balm, and mint. Ann will buy a mourning gown. I will pay for it. I hope to be down some time next week. Yours, "JoHN HOWARD. l " LAMB'S, CONDUIT STREET, August 13, 1777." Miss Howard, by her will, left to her brother a sum of 15,000 and her house in Great Ormond Street. This accession to his fortune was evidently not unwelcome. The expenses of his journeys must have been enormous ; and we can well believe an admission, made later on to Mr. Whi thread, that he had been somewhat involved by his reforming schemes. 2 But he had no intention of using the legacy for his own comfort. 1 Brown's Life, p. 227. 2 The statement occurs in a letter to Mr. Whitbread, of June 21, 1785, quoted in Field's Correspondence of John Howard, p. 88. LATER INVESTIGATIONS 103 It was regarded by him as a " talent for which he would have to give account/' l He felt that his son was well provided for, and accordingly he had no scruple in devoting the legacy to the prosecu- tion of his benevolent designs. The house was presently sold, and the whole amount of the funds that accrued to him seems to have been spent in the cause to which he had devoted his life. Howard's rest at Cardington was of no long duration. The first days of the following year, 1778, saw him busily engaged again on his in- vestigations. For some tipie he had devoted much thought to the question of transportation, which had been a customary penalty for grave offences for the greater part of the century. It grew naturally out of the laws which prescribed banishment for certain offences, and was definitely established by an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of George i. (1718), whereby offenders who had escaped the death penalty were handed over to contractors who engaged to transport them to the American colonies. 2 The evils w r hich at- tended the system were manifold. Howard was fully alive to them. He regarded transportation as "impolitic," and as "always injurious to the community." He had, as he tells us in the Intro- 1 Brown's Life, p. 228. 2 The sums paid to these gentlemen figure under the head of " Transports " in Howard's book, see above, p. 56. 104 JOHN HOWARD duction to his book on Prisons, " taken some pains to make inquiries concerning the state of Tran- sports, with regard to whom many cruelties and impositions were commonly practised, and whose condition was in many respects equally contrary to humanity and good policy." He hoped also that he had "discovered means of remedying these evils in a considerable degree, and of dis- burthening the counties of a heavy expence with which they were charged," l when an entirely new turn was given to the matter by the change of relations which had recently taken place be- tween England and her colonies. The American colonies, to which the convicts had till now been transported, had declared their independence in 1773, and had thus introduced a dead lock. Their independence was not yet recognised by England. The law still required transportation ; but the colonies would no longer receive the convicts. Accordingly, the British Government, making a virtue of necessity, in 1776 passed an Act " to authorise for a limited time the punish- ment, by hard labour, of offenders who for certain crimes are or shall become liable to be transported to any of His Majesty's colonies and plantations." The plan adopted was to confine such criminals and it was estimated that provision must be made for at least a thousand annually in hulks on the 1 The State of Prisons, p. 42. LATER INVESTIGATIONS 105 Thames, or elsewhere ; and there to employ them in hard labour. These hulks Howard had visited in the autumn of 1776, and he was horrified with what he found there. With characteristic self- restraint, however, he refrained from exposing the evils in his book, which was published in the following year, considering that it was a new departure for which sufficient trial had not yet been given, and that the arrangement was not intended to be a permanent one. He contented himself, therefore, with the following note : " I went one Sunday in October last to see the men-convicts on board the Justitia, near Woolwich. I wished to have found them more healthy ; and their provision good of the sort; and to have joined with them in divine service. But as the scheme is new, and temporary, I am not willing to complain." x But although Howard did not expose in public the abuses which he witnessed, his investigations were not without result. He probably spoke with his customary plainness to those in authority. Anyhow, when he paid a second visit to the hulks in January 1778, he was pleased to find that in many ways a better state of things was prevailing, although there was still plenty of room for im- provement. Parliament now took the matter up, and a Select Committee of the House of Commons 1 The State of Prisons, p. 76 (ed. I.). io6 JOHN HOWARD was appointed to inquire into the measures which had been pursued for carrying into effect the Act of 1776 referred to above, and into the results obtained under it. Before this Committee Howard was examined on April 15 ; nor did he shrink from detailing before the representatives of the country, the horrors which he had generously suppressed in his book. In answer to the questions put to him, he " gave an account of his first visit to the Justitia, in which he stated that he saw the con- victs all together upon deck, and found, by their wretched appearance, that there was some mis- management in those who had the care of them. Many had no shirts, some no waistcoats, some no stockings, and others no shoes. Several of them required medical attendance, but had none. By waiting to see their messes weighed out, he ascertained that the broken biscuit actu- ally given to them was green and mouldy, though that which the captain showed him as a sample was good and wholesome, a piece of deception for which he indignantly reproached him, as he con- victed him of falsehood, by showing him the biscuit in the face of the whole crew. In every other respect, these poor wretches were as miser- ably neglected. Even the sick who were only separated from the healthy, if any such there could be in this loathsome prison, by a few boards roughly nailed together, had nothing to LATER INVESTIGATIONS 107 sleep upon but the bare decks. Their drink was water, and many of them told him in a whisper, lest their inhuman task-masters should overhear their complaints, that their meat was much tainted. With so much food for pestilence, we need not wonder that he discovered, in this ill- conducted hulk, a disagreeable smell, like that of a gaol ; or that he should express his decided conviction, that had not the Legislature turned its attention to the subject, instead of a third or a fourth part, all the convicts confined here would have been lost." l Howard further gave evidence of the improved state of things which he found on the occasion of his second visit, and took the opportunity of bringing before the Committee the disgraceful state of the bridewells of the country, pointing out that they were utterly inadequate to receive the convicts for whom it was necessary to make provision. The result of the inquiry was, on the whole, favourable to the system of the hulks as against transportation. The Committee recommended its continuance, and an Act was passed to render the system permanent. At the same time a Bill was prepared for the establishment of a proper system of penitentiaries and houses of correction, such as those which Howard had seen and had 1 Brown's Life, p. 232, quoting the Journals of the House of Commons. io8 JOHN HOWARD so highly approved of in Holland and elsewhere. In the form in which it passed and received the royal assent on June 30 of this year, this Act pro- vided for the erection of two penitentiary houses in Middlesex, Essex, Kent, or Surrey, and en- trusted the superintendence of the execution of the Act to three Commissioners, namely, Dr. Fothergill, Mr. Whatley, the Treasurer of the Foundling, and Howard himself. Some time, however, before the Bill passed, Howard was out of England, for, in order to gain more information upon this subject, he started, only two days after his examination before the Committee of the House of Commons, on a fresh tour abroad. This tour occupied the greater part of the year. He began by revisiting Holland, where he was de- layed for some time by a rather serious accident ; being knocked down in the streets of Amsterdam by a runaway horse. He was badly bruised, and a good deal shaken by the fall ; and although he managed after a few days to move on to the Hague, he was there confined to his room for more than six weeks by an inflammatory fever due to the effects of the accident. 1 As soon as ever he was able to travel again, he resumed his 1 With characteristic courtesy Howard refers in a note to the kindness and friendship which he received on this occasion from Sir Joseph Yorke, the English ambassador at the Hague (The State of Prisons, p. 66). LATER INVESTIGATIONS 109 investigations. He visited the Rasp and Spin houses in most of the towns in Holland, and passed on from thence to Germany, whence he wrote the following letter to his friend, the Rev. T. Smith : John Howard to the Rev. Thomas Smith. li BERLIN, June, 28, 1778. "DEAR SIR, It is with pleasure I heard by John Prole's letter which I received last Thurs- day (on my arrival), that you are at Cardington ; it gives me pleasure to think that a place on which I have employed so many of my thoughts should afford my friend any entertainment. My pain and fever, brought on by the accident I met with in Holland, made me almost despair of accomplishing my journey, or even ever returning to England; but, through sparing mercy, I am recovered, and have now the pleasing hope before me. I was presented on Friday to Prince Henry, who very graciously conversed with me ten minutes, and said, ' He could hardly conceive of a more disagreeable journey, but the object was great and humane/ "We are here just on the eve of an important event the king of Prussia in Silesia, and the Emperor encamped within a few miles of him, 40,000 men ready to destroy one another, as the prejudices or passions of an arbitrary monarch may direct. This would be a matter of great con- cern to a thinking mind, had it not the firm belief of a wise and over-ruling Providence. I hope in about a fortnight to be clear of the armies no JOHN HOWARD and to be at or near Vienna, till which time a thought of England is too distant. " I have both parts of this day joined with the French Protestants, a pleasure I shall be debarred of many weeks. I am here nobly lodged, drank tea this afternoon with Prince Dolgoruky, the Russian Ambassador, yet I thirst for the land of liberty, my Cardington friends, and retreat. " Please, Sir, to tell John Prole I observe the contents of his letter; I shall write in five or six weeks, and that I must build no more cottages (as he is still fetching materials to finish the last), till I have quite done with my gaol schemes. " Through the Hanoverian dominions and that part of Germany I have seen, there is prospect of great plenty of corn, which must prevent it being very dear in England. I take my leave with affectionate compliments to Mrs. Smith, and a kiss for the babe ; and accept the tenderest assurances of regard from, dear Sir, your friend and servant, "J. HOWARD. " Thermometer 79 in the shade. "I beg to be remembered to any inquiring friends at Bedford, that I am well ; and in spirits to under- take any enterprise but one, which I hope never more will be pressed on me, 1 as totally destructive of that tranquillity and ease, in which I hope to pass the few remaining years of my life. 1 The allusion is clearly to the suggestion that he should again contest the borough of Bedford at the next election, cfp. 49- LATER INVESTIGATIONS in " Adieu, my friend. Let me share your serious moments. "J. H. "To the REV. MR. SMITH. Cardington, near Bedford (Angleterre)." From Germany Howard proceeded to Austria and Italy, countries that he had not previously visited since he began his investigations. To this tour belongs an amusing incident, the account of which is given by Brown. Howard was visit- ing a Capuchin convent at Prague, and ee found the holy fathers at dinner round a table, which, though it was meagre day with them, was sump- tuously furnished with all the delicacies the season could afford, of which he was very politely invited to partake. This, however, he not only declined to do, but accompanied his refusal by a pretty severe lecture to the elder monks, in which he told them that he thought they had retired from the world to live a life of abstemiousness and prayer, but he found their monastery a house of revelling and drunkenness. He added, more- over, that he was going to Rome, and he would take care that the Pope should be made ac- quainted with the impropriety of their conduct. Alarmed at this threat, four or five of these holy friars found their way the next morning to the hotel at which their visitor hadj taken up his abode, to beg pardon for the offence they had ii2 JOHN HOWARD given him by their unseemly mode of living, and to entreat that he would not say anything of what had passed at the Papal See. To this request our countryman replied, that he should make no promise upon the subject, but would merely say that if he heard that the offence was not repeated, he might probably be silent on what was past. With this sort of half-assurance the monks were compelled to be satisfied ; but, before they took leave of the heretical reprover of their vices, they gave him a solemn promise that no such violation of their rules should again be permitted, and that they would keep a con- stant watch over the younger members of their community, to guard them against similar ex- cesses ; and here the conference ended." l After this some time was spent by Howard in Italy, where, among other places, he visited Florence, Rome, and Naples, investigating the con- dition, not only of the gaols, but also of the hospitals and charitable institutions, of which he had heard much and in which he was greatly interested. From Italy he returned to Switzerland and some parts of Germany which he had not previously visited ; and towards the close of the year we find him back in Holland, whence he journeyed to France. Here he interested himself in the con- 1 Brown, quoting Thomasson's MS. Journal, in Life, etc., P. H9- LATER INVESTIGATIONS 113 dition of the English prisoners of war who were confined at Calais and Dunkirk, and was success- ful in obtaining some alleviation of their lot, though he was informed by the French officials interviewed, that they had received great com- plaints from French prisoners, similarly situated in England, of the treatment which they had there received. The information was of a kind that Howard was not likely to neglect. On his return to England, at the beginning of 1779, he at once waited on the Commissioners of the Sick and Wounded Seamen, and not only gave them an account of the English prisoners in France, but also informed them of his intention to visit the French prisoners in England. A short rest was taken at Cardington during his boy's holidays ; but no sooner were these over than he began a third systematic visitation of English prisons, in order to see what improvements had been made in consequence of the recent Acts of Parliament. These he was desirous of laying before the public, in an appendix to his book. Mindful of his promise to inquire into the condition of French prisoners in England, he commenced his tour by visiting those parts of the country where the majority of such prisoners were confined. As might be expected, he found that things were very far from satisfactory, for, though the Com- missioners seem to have been sincerely anxious to 8 ii4 JOHN HOWARD do their best, yet the prisoners were far too much at the mercy of their local agents, who, in several instances, proved unworthy of the trust reposed in them. Howard, therefore, strongly recom- mended the appointment of independent persons as inspectors, to report quarterly as to health, pro- visions, etc. He indicated also a further advan- tage which would result from such an appoint- ment "These prisons are usually guarded by the militia, and the sentinels have in several instances shown themselves too ready to fire on the prison- ers, in which they have been countenanced by in- experienced officers. Several persons have thus been killed on the spot, though perhaps there was no serious design of an escape. The agent is too much in awe of the officers to make due inquiries and representations on these occasions ; whereas an independent gentleman would probably exert himself in a proper manner." l The greater part of this year was occupied with this systematic visitation of English prisons, to- gether with those of Scotland and Ireland, to which he paid a second visit in the course of the summer. The month of November saw him once more established at Warrington, preparing an appendix to his work. This was published in 1780, and almost simultaneously a second edition 1 The State of Prisons , p. 189. LATER INVESTIGATIONS 115 of the work was issued in octavo, in which the additional matter collected in the appendix was inserted in its proper place. Howard was happy in being able to report that in many cases a de- cided improvement had taken place since he began his researches. Many abuses had been remedied, and the gaol fever was far less prevalent. Indeed he notes that during the course of his prolonged tour in 1779, he only found one person ill of it. He was in Newgate, lying under sentence of death. 1 The appendix and second edition were greatly enriched, not only by the account of prisons in Italy and Austria, and those parts of Germany which Howard had not visited when the previous edition was published, but also by a full account of foreign hospitals, to the condition of which he had, as we have seen, recently paid great attention. During this same year (1780) much time and thought were devoted by Howard to the subject of the penitentiaries, for the erection of which the Act passed two years before had provided. Personally he had not been anxious to have any- thing to do directly with the measures for carry- ing it into effect, and had only accepted the office of supervisor at the earnest request of Sir William Blackstone, and with the express stipulation that his friend Dr. Fothergill, in whose judgment 1 The State of Prisons, p. 468. n6 JOHN HOWARD he had the greatest confidence, should be joined with him in the office. These two supervisors were thoroughly agreed, but difficulties very soon arose with Mr. Whatley, the third of the number, and with others concerned in the administration of the Act. Howard speaks of " constant opposi- tion " from " some of those whom the Act ap- pointed judges of the situation, plans, etc. " l Details were hard to settle, and upon his return from Warrington he found that little or no progress had been made with the preliminary arrange- ments ; and that the first thing to be done was to determine upon a site for the first of the penitenti- aries to be erected. Howard and Dr. Fothergill were of one mind in recommending a site at Islington. To this Mr. Whatley refused to agree, urging as against it the claims of one at Limehouse. Neither party would give way, and the supervisors being thus divided, the matter was to be referred to the decision of His Majesty's judges ; when, towards the close of the year, the death of Dr. Fothergill deprived Howard of the colleague whose appointment he had made a condition of his own. He was now left alone to contend with Mr. Whatley, whose opposition he felt most keenly. Consequently he came to the conclusion that the position was an impossible one, and that, there being no chance of agreement, nothing remained 1 Lazarettos , p. 226. LATER INVESTIGATIONS 117 for him but to resign his office. This step he took at the beginning of 1781, sending in his resignation to Lord Bathurst, the President of the Council, in the following letter : " MY LORD, When Sir William Blackstone pre- vailed upon me to act as supervisor of the buildings intended for the confinement of certain criminals, I was persuaded to think that my observations upon similar institutions in foreign countries would, in some degree, qualify me to assist in the execution of the Statute of the 19th year of his present Majesty. With this hope, and the prospect of being associated with my late worthy friend, Dr. Fothergill, whose wishes and ideas upon the subject I knew corresponded entirely with my own, I cheerfully accepted his Majesty's appointment, and have since earnestly endeavoured to answer the purpose of it ; but at the end of two years I have the mortification to see that not even a preliminary has been settled. The situation of the intended buildings has been made a matter of obstinate contention, and is at this moment undecided. Judging, therefore, from what is past, that the further sacrifice of my time is not likely to contribute to the success of the plan, and being now deprived, by the death of Dr. Fothergill, of the assistance of an able colleague, I beg leave to signify to your Lordship my deter- mination to decline all further concern in the business, and to desire that your Lordship will be so good as to lay before the King my humble request, that his Majesty will be graciously pleased to accept my resignation, and to appoint uS JOHN HOWARD some other gentleman to the office of a supervisor in my place. I have the honour to be With great respect, etc. "JOHN HOWARD." l Six weeks later he wrote to his former colleague, Mr. Whatley, who was apparently superseded, as three new supervisors were appointed Sir. G. Elliot, Sir C. Bunbury, and Dr. Bowdler. They were equally unsuccessful with their predecessors, and the scheme was finally dropped ; and a few years later, to Howard's disgust, a return was made to the "expensive, dangerous, and destructive scheme of transportation," 2 the recently discovered island-continent of Australia affording a place for the reception of those convicts for whom the United States of America were no longer available. John Howard to G. Whatley. " CARDINGTON, March 10, 1781. " DEAR SIR, I was last night favoured with your letter. I have been some time waiting for my dismissal, but I now suppose that I shall only see it in the Gazette. No one can doubt of your zeal for the public, who considers the honourable character you sustain as patron to the orphans. " Though we had an equal right to our own opinions, yet it was an unhappy affair, as it divided the Bench. It was natural to think that both they themselves and the new supervisors 1 Lazarettos, p. 226. 2 Ib. p. 147. CRIMINAL LED ABOUT IN TUli bPANISH MANTLED From an engraving in Howard's State of the Prisons in England and Wales LATER INVESTIGATIONS 119 would wish all contests obliterated, and so they will probably now fix on a spot which has not been proposed by any of us. "Two eminent physicians had given their opinion against building the penitentiary houses at Bromley (since our old friend's death), which I conjecture may have been another cause of an entirely new appointment ; yet the supposition above is the more probable. " We both have this satisfaction, that we acted for the best ; and this we know, we have got rid of a deal of trouble, which would have ended only with our lives. With esteem, I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant, "JOHN HOWARD." l Being now relieved from all responsibility Howard was free to pursue his own course. There were several countries of Europe, in which he had not as yet inspected the prisons. He, therefore, determined to make a more extended journey than any he had yet taken. He left England in May 1781, and spent the greater part of the year in inquiring into the state of prisons in the principal countries of Northern Europe. A few days were spent in Holland en route for Denmark, where he had never yet been. Nearly a week was passed at Copenhagen, where he saw prisoners punished by being led about the city in the Spanish mantle, a kind of heavy vest, 1 Field's Correspondence of John Hoivard, p. 66. 120 JOHN HOWARD something like a tub, with an aperture for the head, and irons to enclose the neck. From thence he crossed the Sound to Sweden, and after travelling to various places in that country he proceeded to Russia, visiting not only St. Petersburg and Moscow, but Cronstadt, Wyschnei, Wolotschok, and Tver as well. It was on this journey that he was present when two criminals suffered the penalty of the knout, and, from what he saw on the occasion, he can have had no difficulty in believing the statement, which the executioner is said to have made to him, that criminals often died under the punishment. From Moscow the following letter was de- spatched to Cardington to Mr. Smith, describing his experiences and plans : John Howard to the Rev. T. Smith. ''Moscow, September 7, 1781. " DEAR SIR, I am persuaded a line will not be unacceptable even from such a vagrant. I have unremittedly pursued the object of my journey, and have looked into no palaces, or seen any curiosities so my letters can afford little entertainment to my friends. I stayed above three weeks at St. Petersburg. I declined every honour that was offered me, and, when pressed to have a soldier to accompany me, I declined that also. Yet I fought my way pretty well five hundred miles and bad roads in less than five LATER INVESTIGATIONS 121 days. I have a strong, yet light and easy carriage, which I happily bought for fifty roubles (about ten guineas). This city is situated in a fine plain, [and is] totally different from all others, as each house has a garden, which extends the city eight or f ten miles, so that four and six horses are common in w* the streets. I content myself with a pair, though I think I have drove to-day nearly twenty miles to see one prison and one hospital. I am told sad stories of what I am to suffer by the cold ; yet I will not leave this city till I have made repeated visits to the prisons and hospitals, as the first man in the kingdom assured me my publication would be translated into Russian. My next step is for Warsaw, about seven or eight hundred miles ; every step being homeward I have spirit to encounter it, though through the worst country in Europe. I bless God I am well, with calm easy spirits. I had a fit of the ague a day or two before I set out from St. Petersburg, but I travelled it off, the nights last week being warm. I thought I could live where any men did live ; but this northern journey, especially in Sweden, I have been pinched : no fruit, no garden stuff, sour bread, sour milk ; but in this city every luxury, even pine apples and potatoes. Baron Dimsdale and his lady will be on his return about my time : we propose meeting at Berlin, but I am under a promise to visit Professor Camper and Mr. Hope in Holland, who has sent me into Russia an order to see the prisoners of war, so I cannot accompany them. I must also review some places in Flanders before my return. A line to the Post-house at Amsterdam would be a cordial to me. I have no time yet to write to 122 JOHN HOWARD John Prole ; please to acquaint my boy I am well, and will write to him from Warsaw. I hope Mrs. Smith has anything she chooses out of my garden. Remember me to my friends Mr. Gadsby, Mr. Belsham Leachs, Mr. Costins, etc. How does Mr. go on at ; shall I find him a useful neighbour, relative to my schools, etc. ? Accept the best wishes of, dear Sir, your affectionate friend, "JoHN HOWARD." Leaving Russia Howard passed on to Poland, not yet partitioned among her more powerful neighbours. He then proceeded once more to Germany, to visit some districts in which he had never yet examined the prisons. It is to this period that a story belongs which is given by Dr. Aikin, and which is worth inserting as an illustra- tion of the ( firmness ' on which Howard certainly prided himself not a little. "Travelling once in the King of Prussia's dominions, he came to a very narrow piece of road, admitting only one carriage, where it was enjoined on all postillions, entering at each end, to blow their horns by way of notice. His did so ; but, after proceeding a good way, they met a courier travelling on the king's business, who had neglected this precaution. The courier ordered Mr. Howard's postillion to turn back ; but Mr. Howard remonstrated, that he had complied with the rule, while the other had LATER INVESTIGATIONS 123 violated it ; and therefore that he should insist on going forward. The courier, relying on an authority, to which in that country everything must give way, made use of high words, but in vain. As neither was disposed to yield, they sat still a long time in their respective carriages ; at length the courier gave up the point to the sturdy Englishman, who would on no account renounce his rights." l On his way back to England he passed again through Flanders, and at Bruges, as usual, inspected the hospital, which was managed by sisters of charity. They asked their visitor whether he was a Catholic : to which he replied, " I love good people of all religions." Then said they, " We hope you will die a Catholic." 2 The next year (1782) is marked by no foreign tour, but almost the whole of it was devoted to a fourth visitation of the gaols in all parts of England, and a third of those in Scotland and Ireland, to each of which Howard paid two visits in the course of the year. In Ireland he was much gratified by the honour done to him by Trinity College, Dublin, in presenting him with the degree of doctor of laws. But what he cared about still more was the passing of an Act by the Irish Parliament for discharging all prisoners who 1 Aikin's Vieiu, etc., p. 219. 2 The State of Prisons, p. 149. i2 4 JOHN HOWARD were confined for fees only. He was glad also to find that the House of Commons had taken up the subject of prison discipline, and had appointed a Gaol Committee to make inquiries, to which he was able to give valuable information. Another subject which greatly interested him was the condition of the Protestant Charter Schools, of which glowing accounts had been given to the public. Of the truth of these accounts he had his suspicions, which the investigations he now made proved to be only too well founded. The schools were in a shocking condition ; their administration was radically bad, and they demanded a thorough Parliamentary inquiry. Howard was unable to go into the subject as fully as he desired at this present time, but he made sufficient notes to enable him to add a short section on the subject in the next edition of his book ; and, as will be seen later on, he subsequently returned to the inquiry, and made a more thorough investigation of it. The beginning of 1783 saw him once more starting on his travels abroad. Except Turkey, the only countries in Europe which he had never yet visited were Spain and Portugal. To these he now turned his steps. On the last day of January he sailed from Falmouth for Lisbon. Here, to his great disappointment, he failed to gain admittance into the Inquisition, and was LATER INVESTIGATIONS 125 obliged to content himself with inspecting the other prisons and the hospitals. Entering Spain by way of Badajos, on March 9, he renewed his attempts to secure admission into the prisons of the Inquisition. At Madrid he obtained from a friend an introduction to the Inquisitor General, who received him early one morning, and con- ducted him to the tribunal, which was hung with red. " Over the inquisitor's seat there was a crucifix, and before it a table, with seats for the two secretaries, and a stool for the prisoner." These very ordinary objects were all that he was allowed to see, as, in spite of his urgent request, the Inquisitor declined to show him any other part of the prison. 1 At Valladolid he managed to see a little more. " I was received at the inquisition prison by the two inquisitors, their secretaries, and two magis- trates, and conducted into several rooms. On the side of one room was the picture of an Auto-de-Fe in 1667, when ninety-seven persons were burnt ; at this time the Spanish Court resided at Valladolid. The tribunal room is like that at Madrid, but has an altar, and a door (with three locks) into the secretary's room, over which was inscribed, that the greater excommunication was denounced against all strangers who presume to enter. In two other tribunal rooms were the 1 The State of Prisons, p. 160. 126 JOHN HOWARD insignia of the Inquisition. In a large room, I saw on the floor and shelves many prohibited books, some of which were English ; in another room I saw multitudes of crosses, beads, and small pictures. The painted cap was also showed me, and the vestments for the unhappy victims. After several consultations, I was permitted to go up the private staircase, by which prisoners are brought to the tribunal ; this leads to a passage with several doors in it, which I was not permitted to enter. On one of the secretaries telling me, { None but prisoners ever enter those rooms,' I answered I would be confined for a month to satisfy my curiosity ; he replied, ' None come out under three years, and they take the oath of secrecy/ I learnt, by walking in the court and conversing with the inquisitors, that the cells have double doors, and are separated by two walls, to prevent prisoners conversing together, and that over the space between the walls there is a sort of chimney or funnel, enclosed at the top, but having perforations on the sides, through which some air and a glimmering of light enter. These funnels, the inquisitors told me, are double-barred ; and one of them serves two cells. Both the inquisitors assured me that they did not put irons on any of their prisoners. The passages into which some of the cells open have small apertures for the admission of light. LATER INVESTIGATIONS 127 In a gloomy area at the back of the prison, there was nothing but a great mastiff dog. It is well known that from this court there is no appeal. I need not say how horrid the secrecy and severity of it appear. I could not but observe that even the sight of it struck terror into the common people as they passed. It is styled,, by a monstrous abuse of w r ords, the holy and apostolic court of inquisition/' a With this scanty information he was compelled to be satisfied, and shortly after he resumed his journey. By the middle of April he was at Pampeluna, whence he wrote to Mr. Smith an account of his travels. John Howard to the Rev. T. Smith. 11 PAMPLONA, ijt/i April 1783. " DEAR SIR, I am still in Spain ; the manner of travelling with mules is very slow. I was fourteen days betwixt Lisbon and Madrid (400 miles). You carry all your provisions ; the luxury of milk with my tea I seldom could get. I one morning robbed a kid of two cups of its mother's milk but I bless God I am pure well, calm spirits. The greatest kindness I received from Count Feman Nunez, the Spanish ambassador at Lisbon, through whose recommendation to Count Compomanes every prison has been flung open to me : I have a letter to one of the 1 The State of Prisons, p. 160. 128 JOHN HOWARD magistrates through every city that I pass. I have been here three days, but must stay a few days longer before I cross the mountains. The Spaniards are very sober and very honest, and if he can live sparingly and lay on the floor, the traveller may pass tolerably well through their country. " I have come into many an inn, and paid only five pence for the noise (as they term it) I made in the house ; as no bread, eggs, milk, or wine do they sell. Peace has not been declared. Many will hardly believe it ; they talk of General Elliot with a spirit of enthusiasm ; never were two nations so often at war, and individuals have such esteem and complacency one towards another. I travelled some time with an English gentleman, but my stops for the prisons, etc., not being convenient, he went off with his Spanish servant. I go through Bayonne, stopping only one day, and pitch my tent at Bordeaux, where I have much business, some horrid dungeons, etc. I am still in time for my Irish journey in July and August, as I promised the Provost, that Parliament meeting in October. I have very little more to do in England, before I go into the press, after which I hope to be in comfort at my own fire-side. Remember me to Mr. Barham, Gadsby, and our united friends. With much esteem, I remain, your friend and servant, " JOHN HOWARD/' p.S. I hope you have fine weather, as I have ; every shutter open till night ; many towns have LATER INVESTIGATIONS 129 not one pane of glass thermometer 68 in the shade. " The Rev. MR. SMITH, at Bedford, via London." The journey was continued through France and French Flanders, where Howard w r as detained for a short time by a fever caught in visiting the prisoners 4 at the Tour de St. Pierre in Lille, where were confined " three debtors, five smugglers, and four vagrants." Five of these "were sick in a very offensive room with only one bed." To this illness he refers in the third edition of his book. "I have reason to be abundantly thankful for recovery from a fever which I caught of the sick in this prison, at my last visit ; and would make my grateful acknowledgment to that kind hand, by which I have been hitherto preserved." l After a delay of about ten days Howard was able to resume his journey, and to continue his inspection of prisons in the Netherlands and Holland ; and by the end of June he was back in England, ready for his promised journey in Ireland in July and August. A few more gaols in England remained to be visited in the autumn, and then he was ready for the publication of a fresh (second) appendix, and a third edition of the whole work, into which was introduced the 1 The State of Prisons, p. 164. 9 130 JOHN HOWARD fresh information gained during the tours of the last few years. A large amount of new material had been collected by him, requiring new sections on Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Silesia, Portugal, and Spain. Moreover, he was anxious to note all the improvements and happily they were not a few which had taken place since he began his investigations. In his second edition he had been able to omit many of the notes of censure respecting the management of gaols, as to cleanliness, ailments, bedding, and the like, which he had previously thought it his duty to insert, and he was now thankful to erase still more. 1 The preparation of this new edition cost him considerable labour, and occupied much of his time in 1784, a year in which he made no journey, but apparently spent more time at Cardington than he had ever done since he first entered upon his philanthropic labours. He had now been engaged in them for ten years ; and in one of his MS. books he summed up the number of miles he had travelled in the course of his various journeys. This curious document came into Brown's hands, so that he was able to append it in a note to his Life, from whence it is copied here. 2 1 The State of Prisons, p. 211. 2 Brown's Life, p. 651. LATER INVESTIGATIONS An Account of the Number of Miles travelled on the Reform of Prisons. JOURNEYS. MILES. In Great Britain and Ireland, 1773, '74, '75, '76 10,318 First Foreign journey, 1775 .... 1,400 Second ditto, 1776 ...... 1,700 Third ditto, 1778 4,636 In Great Britain and Ireland, 1779 . Fourth Foreign journey, 1781 In Great Britain and Ireland, 1782 . Fifth Foreign journey, 1783 . To Ireland To Worcester To Hertford, Chelmsford, and Warrington Total . 6,490 4.465 8,165 334 7i5 238 602 JOURNEYS IN 1779. MILES. ist, Western 534 2nd, Southern ..... 368 3rd, Eastern . . . . . 512 4th, Kent, etc 353 5th, Northern ..... 957 6th, South Wales .... 580 7th, Scotland and Ireland . . . 1151 8th, North Wales .... 690 9th, Nottingham and Hunts . . 450 loth, Lincolnshire and Bedford . . 500 nth, Liverpool, etc .... 395 538 273 803 516 93* 472 537 2030 924 845 295 Total. . 6490 8165 To God alone be all the Praise ! I do not regret the loss of the many conveniences of life, but bless God who inclined my mind to such a scheme. CHAPTER VIII INVESTIGATIONS CONCERNING THE PLAGUE, AND PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK ON LAZARETTOS Howard's attention turned towards the Plague Sets off on a Tour to inspect Lazarettos Adventures in France Letters from Italy Howard at Malta Voyage to Smyrna A Sea-fight Howard in Action Quarantine at Venice Bad News from England Letters Home Christmas at Vienna The Emperor The Countess Return to England Visit to Ireland Meeting with John Wesley Publication of the Book on Lazarettos. WE now enter upon a new chapter in Howard's life, and one that shows his dauntless courage and devotion to the good of humanity in a more striking light than any other. During his researches into the condition of prisons he had given much consideration to the subject of those contagious and infectious diseases which he had found so prevalent in them ; and visits to one or two lazarettos on the Continent had turned his thoughts in the direction of that frightful scourge of which Europe lived in constant dread, 132 CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 133 namely, the plague. This subj ect he now determined to investigate thoroughly, and to collect all the information possible for himself, in the hope that something might ultimately be done to stamp out the evil. He thus describes, in the Intro- duction to his book on Lazarettos, how his plans grew. " In my latest tours I had with pain observed, that, notwithstanding the regulations which had been made in our own country, and elsewhere, for preserving health in prisons and hospitals, yet that infectious diseases continued occasionally to arise and spread in them. I had also been led, by the view of several lazarettos in my travels, to consider how much all trading nations are exposed to that dreadful scourge of mankind which those structures are intended to prevent, and to reflect how very rude and imperfect our own police was with respect to this object. It likewise struck me, that establishments, effectual for the preven- tion of the most infectious of all diseases, must afford many useful hints for guarding against the propagation of contagious distempers in general. These various considerations induced me, in the last edition of The State of Prisons, to express a wish " that some future traveller would give us plans of the lazarettos at Leghorn, Ancona, and other places/' At length I determined to procure these plans, and acquire all the necessary information 134 JOHN HOWARD respecting them, myself ; and, towards the end of the year 1785, I went abroad for the purpose of visiting the principal lazarettos in France and Italy. To the physicians emplo} r ed in them,, I proposed a set of queries respecting the nature and prevention of the plague ; but their answers not affording satisfactory instruction, I proceeded to Smyrna and Constantinople. For, although the subjects of the Turkish Empire be little en- lightened by the modern improvements in arts and sciences, I conceived that, from their inti- mate acquaintance with the disease in question, and from the great difference between their customs and manners, and ours, some practices might be found among them, and some informa- tion gained, not unworthy the notice of more polished nations. I also pleased myself with the idea, not only of learning, but of being able to communicate somewhat to the inhabitants of these distant regions, if they should have curiosity enough to inquire, and liberality to adopt the methods of treating and of preventing contagious diseases which had been found most successful among ourselves." l The first indication of his intention is given in a letter addressed to his cousin, Mr. Whitbread, on October 26, 1785. 1 Lazarettos, p. I. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 135 John Howard to Samuel Whitbread, M.P. SIR, For several months past I have thought on a scheme of a new publication, of an 8vo size, for the use of those who will give sincere attendance on prisons, hospitals, and poor-houses. This I had partly resolved on before I came to town ; and it inclined me rather to sell than to let my Hackney estate. It will take me about eighteen months to collect new materials (three or four of them I shall be abroad, and shall go to Marseilles), to get plans of lazarettos, and to ascer- tain their manner of treating the sick. If I thought the French would now confine me l I would endeavour to get an ambassador's protec- tion, or that of the Secretary of State. I know such schemes are liable to fatal miscarriages ; but I have made up my mind on the subject ; so I thought it proper to give you the earliest in- telligence of my determination. With esteem, I am sincerely yours, JOHN HOWARD." In November he left England for Holland, in- tending to start his inquiries at Marseilles, where the jealousy of the French with regard to their trade in the Levant made it a matter of extreme difficulty to obtain access to the lazarettos. An 1 Howard's apprehension of imprisonment was probably due to his knowledge of the attitude of the French govern- ment towards him, in consequence of his having published in French and English a suppressed pamphlet on the Bastile. He had also incurred the displeasure of the authorities, by dissuading some of the English prisoners of war at Dunkirk from entering the French navy. 136 JOHN HOWARD attempt was made to gain permission for Howard to visit it, through the good offices of Lord Carmarthen, the Foreign Secretary. This was, however, unsuccessful, as Lord Carmarthen not only reported that "it was with some difficulty that even the Emperor was allowed to see the lazarettos/' 1 but also assured Howard that he " must not think of entering France at all, as, if he did, he would run a risk of being committed to the Bastile." ' Nothing daunted by the refusal of permission Howard determined to make the attempt without it. He crossed the frontier and boldly proceeded to Paris. What followed must be told in Brown's words. " Immediately on his arrival he took his ticket for a seat in the Lyons diligence ; and that he might incur less risk of discovery, lodged in an obscure inn, near the place whence that convey- ance started. Having gone to bed, however, according to his usual custom about ten o'clock, he was awoke between twelve and one by a tremendous knocking at his room door, which, starting up in somewhat of an alarm, he immedi- ately opened ; and, having returned to bed, he saw the chambermaid enter with a candle in each hand, followed by a man in a black coat, with a sword by his side, and his hands enveloped in an 1 Field's Correspondence of JoJin Ho r wjrd J p. 97. 2 Brown's Life, p. 414. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 137 enormous muff. This singular personage immedi- ately asked him if his name was not Howard. Vexed at this interruption, he hastily answered, "Yes, and what of that ? " He was again asked if he had not come to Paris in the Brussels dili- gence, in company with a man in a black wig. To this question he returned some such peevish answer, as that he paid no attention to such trifles ; and his visitor immediately withdrew in silence. Not a little alarmed at this strange adventure, though losing none of his self-possession, and being unable to recompose himself to sleep, Mr. Howard got up, and, having discharged his bill the night before, took his small trunk, and, re- moving from this house, at the regular hour of starting took his seat in the diligence and set off for Lyons/' l On the journey he passed himself off as a medical man, and acted in that capacity with some success for a lady who was one of his fellow- travellers. At Lyons, although visiting the gaols and hospitals, he avoided publicity as much as possible, the secret of his identity being only entrusted to one or two Protestant ministers. The same course was followed at Marseilles, where, on visiting one of his Protestant friends, he was met with the words, " Mr. Howard, I have always been glad to see you till now. Leave France as soon as you can ; I know they are 1 Brown's Life, p. 415. 138 JOHN HOWARD . i- searching for you in all directions." He also now learnt that the " man in a black wig " was a spy, and that he would have been arrested in Paris, but for the accident of the absence of one of the officials. In spite of the intelligence thus given him, Howard insisted on seeing all that he had come to see, and would not leave Marseilles until he had gained admission to the lazaretto. From Marseilles he travelled to Toulon, where, by pass- ing himself off as a Frenchman, he secured an entry to the arsenal. He was now anxious to visit Italy, but his friends were evidently much alarmed for his safety, and thought that he ran considerable risk of arrest if he attempted to cross the frontier in the ordinary way. He therefore, by the help of a liberal fee, induced the master of a small sailing vessel to smuggle him out of the country, and after some exciting experiences was safely landed in Italy. 1 To his friends at home he wrote the following accounts of his adventures : John Howard to the Rev. T. Smith. NICE, Jan. 30, 1786. " SIR, I persuade myself that a line to acquaint you that I am safe and well out of France will 1 It has been thought that Howard and his friends may have exaggerated the risks which he ran : but the main facts are beyond dispute ; and there is no doubt whatever as to the mysterious visit paid to him in the night. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 139 give you pleasure. I had a nice part to act ; I travelled as an English doctor, and perhaps among the number of empirics I did as little mischief as most of them. I never dined or supped in public ; the secret was only trusted to the French Protes- tant ministers. I was five days at Marseilles, and four at Toulon. It was thought I could not get out of France by land, so I forced out a Genoese ship, and have been many days striving against wind and tide three days in an almost desolate island, overgrown with myrtle, rosemary, and thyme. " Last Sunday fortnight, at the meeting at Toulon, though the door [was] locked, and curtains drawn, one coming late put the assembly in fear, even to inquiry before the door was opened. I was twice over the arsenal, though [there is] a strict prohibition to our countrymen. There is a singular slave, who has publicly pro- fessed himself a Protestant these thirty-six years, a sensible good man, with an unexceptionable and even amiable character. The last person who was confined merely for his religion was released almost eight years ago. My friend may think I have taken a final leave of a perfidious, jealous, and ungenerous nation. 1 ee I am bound this week for Genoa, and then to Leghorn where a lazaretto has been built within these few years. I know, Sir, you will not treat 1 Howard had the traditional eighteenth-century English- man's dislike of the French, as the following note of his witnesses, "However I may esteem some few of the French, yet their government I dislike their national character I detest" (Brown's Life, p. 421). 140 JOHN HOWARD any new attempt as wild and chimerical, yet I must say it requires a steadiness of resolution not to be shaken, to pursue it. " My best compliments to Mrs. Smith, and our Bedford friends ; and please to inform John Prole that I am well. " I w T rite this with my windows open in full view of an orange grove, though the mountains at a great distance I see covered with snow. With my best wishes, I remain, your affectionate friend, " JOHN HOWARD. " The Rev. MR. SMITH, Potter St., Bedford (Angleterre)." John Howard to Samuel Whitbread, Esq., M.P. "LEGHORN, Feb. 13, 1786. " DEAR SIR, I have the pleasure the particular pleasure to receive a letter from you, with the account of my son and several other interesting matters. I came here early yesterday morning by sea from Genoa. I have seen several lazar- ettos, and have received every assistance from the governor here as I did from the magistrates of Genoa; so I have copied all the plans, and the regulations are given me. I have all en- couragement to pursue my object, and I persuade myself it will be of use to mankind. " I have now taken a final leave of France. I am sensible that I ran a great risk, but I accom- plished my object in five days at Marseilles. At Toulon. I went all over the arsenal, though strict orders are given that no strangers, particularly no English, shall come in. All business there is CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 141 at a stand, and four hundred workmen were just discharged. Three men-of-war were on the stocks, but there was no timber, and there is no money. The misery in the southern provinces is beyond conception. I forced a small vessel out at Toulon, and was a few days in a desolate island. My Protestant friends thought I could not get out by land as my person was ascertained at Paris. They were my friends, and the only friends I could trust, and happy I was to arrive at Nice, out of the country of a deceitful, jealous, and ungenerous people. " I bless God I am well, with calm and easy spirits. In no way do I alter my mode of living. I have been happy in meeting with good company, so that I got a bed in monasteries, etc. I can bear great fatigue, and when forced into disagree- able company, in dirty houses, I make them, and thus myself, as easy as possible. I go to Florence, Rome, and Naples, as I cannot go through Germany. I hope to see your son en passant. Several persons of different countries whom I have met, spoke in the highest commendation of him. I value myself on the relationship. " I thank you for your letters in Holland. They know of my return that way. I hope all things go easy in Bedfordshire. Your elegant lodge there I suppose is nearly finished. " Whether I shall be quiet at Cardingtoii a year or two before I die, God knows, but I must say I hope and wish for it. ... I direct to you the letter for my son. I hope he will find the happy medium, and be a wise and good man. " May I say that I see the fruits of my labour in France and other countries ! I rejoice and 142 JOHN HOWARD glory in my mode of travelling. France might have deprived me of liberty, but could not have made me miserable ; like as in the torture, there is an impassable line. Affectionate compliments to Harriet, etc. A line under your letter to Thompson that I am well. Can yet fix nothing of my servant's meeting me. I go on at a much easier expence. I am, dear sir, truly and affection- ately yours, " JOHN HOWARD." " To SAMUEL WHITBREAD, Esq., M.P." This last letter indicates Howard's route. Landing at Nice, after an adventurous voyage from Toulon, he had proceeded overland to Genoa, and thence by sea to Leghorn, inspecting the prisons and lazarettos at each place. From Leghorn, he journeyed via Pisa to Florence, where he was delighted with the great improve- ment that had taken place in the condition of the prisons and hospitals, " in consequence of the great care and attention of the Grand Duke" since his visit to this city, about seven years before. " The prisons were white-washed ; debtors were separ- ated from felons ; and the number of prisoners was diminished." l Rome was the next place visited. Here he was accorded an interview with the Pope, Pius vi. The usual ceremonial was dispensed with, but, at parting, the Pope dismissed him with his benediction, saying, as he laid his 1 Lazarettos, p. 57. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 143 hand on his visitor's head : " I know you English- men do not value these things ; but the blessing of an old man can do you no harm." After a fortnight in Rome, about the same time was spent in Naples, where he took ship for Malta, then under the government of the Knights of St. John. Sir William Hamilton, the English ambassador at Naples, had given him a letter to the Grand Master, which procured him ad- mission to all the prisons and hospitals. After inspecting them, he was asked by the Grand Master what he thought of all that he had seen ; and, with his customary candour, he spoke out plainly of the many abuses he had discovered. " But/ 5 he tells us, my " animadversions were reckoned too free ; yet being encouraged by the satisfaction which the patients seemed to receive from my frequent visits, I continued them, and I have reason to believe they produced an alter- ation for the better in the state of these hospitals with respect to cleanliness and attention to the patients." l To this he refers in a letter written to Mr. Whitbread from Zante, to which he now made his way, hoping there to meet with a ship bound for Smyrna. 1 Lazarettos, p. 60. 144 JOHN HOWARD John Howard to Samuel Whitbread, Esq., M.P. " ZANTE, May i, 1786. " DEAR SIR, I wrote to you from Naples, where I took shipping for Malta. As there was no object in my line in Sicily, we lay four or five days close to Messina, Catania, Syracuse,, etc. We saw some of the awful effects of the earth- quake ; and even a fortnight before there was a shock, which the ships felt at a great distance. I was three weeks at Malta, to see the celebrated hospital, reported to have six hundred patients, all served by the knights, etc., in plate. My letter from Sir William Hamilton to the Grand Master flung open every place to me. At the first visit he promised to supply me from his own table with butter for my tea, and about a pound was directly sent to me, with promises, compliments, etc. In a week after, I waited on the Grand Master, who asked me what I thought of his hospitals. I told him freely my opinion, and pointed out many glaring abuses and impro- prieties which, if his Highness would but at times look into his hospitals, would be redressed. Alas ! here was an end of all my presents ; so my tea was ever after with dry bread. I did not, however, cease visiting those places even to the last day, as there was a placidness in the countenances of the patients through the many alterations that were then made. I took a formal conge of the Religion, as there called, who are de- tested by the Maltese for their pride and pro- fligacy. In short, they are a nest of pirates, running on the Barbary coast, and catching all CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 145 the little boats of fishermen and traffickers in the creeks, bringing them with their wives and children into perpetual slavery. They wear the cross, the ensign of the Prince of Peace, and yet declare eternal war and destruction to their fellow- creatures. "There being no ship at Malta for Smyrna, I came here in search of one, either for that city or for Constantinople, and the first fair wind one is expected. We have had a bad travelling year, constant storms in this sea ; but I am told I may expect good winds, as this sea is bad six months and good the remainder. There is a report here that a large Turkey ship is lost in the Levant, but the crew saved. We have no inns here, but I have a good room in the late bishop's palace, who died last year. I have it to myself, and am locked in, but the old bishop has not yet haunted his heretical successor. He left me an old chair, but bed, and even chamber articles, I was forced to purchase at Malta. ef That which we call the currant in England, is a grape. I shall send a barrel home, to make the poor at Cardington a Christmas pudding. " My friend, I am afraid, thinks me a rash ad- venturer on account of my French expedition ; but courage and conduct accomplish many things. Perhaps I should not tell him I am going on my present expedition with but little money in my pocket and no credit ; yet I persuade myself that I shall not want. Should I draw on you I doubt not you will pay my drafts ; 1 but I spend little 1 Mr. Whitbread was always ready to act as (Howard's banker, and on more than one occasion Howard was in- 10 146 JOHN HOWARD money. The medical line, during the contagion, live very low. Everything here is very cheap, meat 2d. a pound. Supplies are from Turkey ; the Continent is about eight or ten miles off. The Greeks are fine figures, but the young women never appear till they are married. Please to inform my son, and any person you think proper, I am well. I will write to him from my next encampment. With affectionate compliments to Harriet, Lady St. John, and my worthy young friend Samuel. I am, most sincerely yours, " J. HOWARD. " S. WHITBREAD, Esq., M.P." At Zante a passage was secured in a miserable Turkish boat, but Howard was lucky in doing the voyage in six days and a half. 1 He spent some time at Smyrna, examining the prisons and hospitals there ; after which he sailed to Con- stantinople, intending to travel from thence overland to Venice. His determination, how- ever, to see and experience everything for himself led to a change of plans, which is thus described in the work on Lazarettos. " On further consideration I determined to seek an opportunity of performing quarantine myself \ and with this view to submit to the inconveniences of a sea voyage to Venice, the debted to him for advances, to enable him to meet the very- heavy expenses in which his labours involved him. 1 Aikin's rieiv t etc., p. 132. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 147 place where lazarettos were Jtrst established. And, in order to obtain the best information by performing the strictest quarantine, I further determined to return to Smyrna, there to take my passage in a ship with a foul bill." 1 The voyage thus courageously undertaken was an unusually long one. The vessel was detained by contrary winds ; nor was the risk of catching the plague the only danger to which Howard was exposed, for the ship was attacked by a Tunisian privateer with whom they had a " smart skirmish." (i In this skirmish one of our cannon, charged with spike-nails, having accidentally done great execution, the privateer immediately, to our great joy, hoisted its sails and made off." 2 The cannon which did such execution was, according to Aikin, 3 pointed by Howard himself; and he afterwards learnt that the captain, hold- ing that if they were taken the only alternatives before them would be death or perpetual slavery, had determined to blow up the ship rather than surrender. Arrived at Venice, Howard made trial of quarantine to his heart's content. He was placed with his baggage in a boat fastened by a cord ten feet long to another boat in which were six rowers. As they neared the shore, 1 Lazarettos, p. 10. 2 Ib. p. 22. 3 Aikin's View, etc., p. 134. 148 JOHN HOWARD the cord was loosed,, and his boat was pushed in by a long pole to the shore. Here he was met by the official, who conducted him to the "new lazaretto/' where he was to undergo his quarantine. He describes it as "a very dirty room full of vermin, and without table, chair, or bed." His representations of the offensiveness of the place secured his removal a few days later to the "old lazaretto," where his hopes to be more comfortable were disappointed, for the apartment appointed for him was " no less disagreeable and offensive than the last." A third lodging was, however, more comfortable, and, by the help of a little whitewash, was rendered "so sweet and fresh " that Howard soon recovered his health, which had suffered considerably from the in- sanitary character of the quarters first assigned to him. His judgment on the various regula- tions for performing quarantine was that they were "wise and good," but that there was "such remissness and corruption in executing these regu- lations, as to render the quarantine almost useless, and little more than an establishment for provid- ing for officers and infirm people." l At Venice Howard received a budget of letters from England, arid was much disturbed and dis- tressed by two pieces of news which here reached him. 1 Lazarettos , p. 22. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 149 The former of these was a design, which had been started by some well-meaning but indiscreet admirers of his, of erecting a statue in his honour. The plan was first suggested in the columns of the Gentleman's Magazine, by a person who could claim only the slightest acquaintance with Howard. It was eagerly taken up, and for some months the columns of the same periodical were filled with suggestions of all kinds for the memorial. Nothing could possibly have been more distasteful to Howard himself. His own friends were well aware of it, and most of them would have nothing to say to the design. He had always shrunk from publicity, and detested anything approaching to display. When, there- fore, he was informed, by letters from home, of the proposal thus to honour him, he was horrified, and at once wrote to his friends to express his distress, and to beg them to use all their influence to stop the scheme ; following this up a little later by a letter sent to the promoters from Vienna, where he was in December, urgently requesting that the design might definitely be abandoned. (f GENTLEMEN, I shall ever think it an honour to have my weak endeavours approved by so many respectable persons, w r ho devote their time, and have so generously subscribed, towards a fund for relieving prisoners and reforming prisons. But to the erecting a monument, permit me, in the most i 5 o JOHN HOWARD fixed and unequivocal manner, to declare my re- pugnancy to it, and that the execution of it will be a punishment to me. It is, therefore, gentle- men, my particular and earnest request, that it may for ever be laid aside. With great respect, I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant, "JOHN HOWARD. " VIENNA, Dec. 15, 1786." Even this proved ineffectual, and so, when he returned to England early in the following year, the first thing he did was to write again to the promoters and subscribers, entirely declining to have anything to do with the proposed memorial, or to permit his name to be in any way associated with it. To the Subscribers for erecting a Statue, etc. 9 to Mr Howard. " MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, You are entitled to all the gratitude I can express for the testi- mony of approbation you have intended me, and I am truly sensible of the honour done me ; but, at the same time, you must permit me to inform you that I cannot, without violating all my feel- ings, consent to it, and that the execution of your design will be a cruel punishment to me. It is, therefore, my earnest request, that those friends who wish my happiness and future comfort in life would withdraw their names from the sub- scription, and that the execution of your design may be laid aside for ever. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 151 " I shall always think the reform now going on in several of the gaols of this kingdom, and which I hope will become general, the greatest honour and the most ample reward I can possibly receive. ff I must further inform you that 1 cannot per- mit the fund, which in my absence and without my consent, has been called the Howardian Fund, to go in future by that name ; and that I will have no concern in the disposal of the money subscribed ; my situation and various pursuits rendering it impossible for me to pay any atten- tion to such a general plan, w^hich can only be carried into due effect in particular districts by a constant attention and a constant residence. I am, my Lords and Gentlemen, your obedient and faithful humble servant, "JOHN HOWARD. " LONDON, Feb. 16, 1787." This was conclusive, and the scheme was dropped. Some persons received their subscrip- tions back, a sum of 200 was apportioned to the relief of prisoners, and the remainder of the money collected was invested, and employed, after Howard's death, in the erection of a monu- ment in St. Paul's Cathedral and the striking of a medal in his memory. The other matter of which Howard received intelligence at Venice was of a more serious nature. The proposal for a statue was an annoyance, and nothing more. But the accounts which he now received of his son's behaviour 152 JOHN HOWARD were such as to cause him the gravest anxiety and most acute suffering. The boy had been carefully educated. At one time Howard had intended to send him to Eton, but the accounts which he received of the absence of religious training there decided him against it ; and young Howard was placed under the care of a tutor in the Midlands. At the age of eighteen he was sent to Edinburgh University, where he was placed under the care of Dr. Blacklock. Here, apparently, for the first time his conduct was such as to cause his father serious uneasiness, and he was presently removed. In 1784 he was entered as a Fellow Commoner at St. John's College, Cambridge ; and it was while he was there that his behaviour became so strange as to leave no doubt that it was due to insanity. Howard had always done his best to see what he could of him in the holidays, and certainly on one occasion had taken him with him on a visit to Ireland. But, all through his life, the boy must have been left far too much to the care of tutors and servants. One who had more to do with him than almost anyone else was Howard's confidential servant, Thomasson. Unfortunately his master's confidence in this man was entirely misplaced, and there seems to be no doubt that he en- couraged young Howard in a course of dissolute conduct, which, it is thought, may have con- CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 153 tributed largely to the malady to which he now fell a victim. It was at Venice that the first news of the unhappy lad's strange conduct at Cardington, during his Cambridge vacations, reached his father, at the same time that he received the earliest intimation of the design of erecting a statue in his honour. His letters, written during his quarantine, are full of these subjects, and show the intense agitation which they caused him. Writing to Thomasson, in whom he still had unbounded confidence, after describing his adventure with the privateer, and speaking of his condition "in an infectious lazaretto," he says that through all his trials his steady spirits never forsook him, ' ' till yesterday, on the receipt of my letters, the accumulated misfortunes almost sink me." To John Prole, his faithful bailiff, he writes more at length : " It is with great concern I hear the account of my son's behaviour. I fear he gives you, as well as others, a great deal of trouble. A great loss to children is their mother ; for they check and form their minds, curbing the corrupt passions of pride and self-will, which is seen very early in children. I must leave it to Him with whom are all hearts ; and sigh in secret, trusting that the blessing of such an excellent mother is laid up for him. As to another affair, it distresses my mind. Whoever 154 JOHN HOWARD set it afoot, I know not ; but sure I am, they were totally unacquainted with my temper and disposition. I once before, on an application to sit for my picture to be placed in public, hesitated not a moment, in showing my aversion to it. And, as I knew I was going on a dangerous expedition, Thomas will remember about the last words I said to him : ' If I die abroad, do not let me be moved ; let there be only a plain slip of marble placed under that of my wife's, Henrietta, with this inscription : " John Howard died aged . My hope is in Christ/' ' This I said that Mr. Leeds and my son might know that my mind was fixed and still unaltered. I have set many engines to work to check the flames, for I bless God I know myself too well to be pleased with such praises ; when, alas ! we have nothing of our own but folly and sin." Subsequent letters from England brought fuller details of an even more distressing character. Howard was anxious to return home as fast as possible, but his health had suffered so seriously that he was unable to make a rapid journey. Writing from Vienna, where he was compelled to stop and rest for some time, to Mr. Smith, he explains the delay in his movements, and pours out his heart to his old friend on his son's un- happy condition. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 155 John Harvard to the Rev. T. Smith. "VIENNA, December 17, 1786. " MY GOOD FRIEND, I acknowledge it is too long since I last wrote to you. Various occur- rences, as a traveller in an unfrequented path, have happened to me " perils by land, perils by water." After a long and dangerous voyage, the immediate confinement in one of the most offensive lazarettos, without chair, table, or a board to lay my bed on, with the dreadful accounts I received of my son, almost broke my steady spirits. The ill-judged zeal of some persons in another affair vexed me not a little ; but in this my mind was fixed a statue I detest ; I should have carefully avoided the sight of it ; it would indeed have been a punishment to me ; and as I have last post wrote to the Committee, in the most plain and unequi- vocal manner, I am persuaded that the affair is at an end. The money will be far better employed in the Fund for Relieving Prisoners and Reforming Prisons. My son's conduct is a bitter affliction to me ; the loss of his mother, and such a mother, to check and guide the infant passions ; the uninter- rupted health and strength he enjoyed was pro- ductive of many an anxious thought, yet I hoped the best. By my accounts he has lost his senses ; if so, calm restraint and confinement, with proper medical assistance, is necessary. I have wrote last post to Mr. Tatnall, with my free consent and full acquiescence in whatever steps he and his uncles may think proper to take ; as I can form no proper judgment at this distance ; and my presence or commands would have little weight 156 JOHN HOWARD with him, and still less, if distracted. Yet I shall hasten home as fast as possible ; but as my apart- ment at the lazaretto was as offensive as a sick- ward is at night (the Venetians being very dirty), the walls probably not washed these fifty years, I soon lost all stomach to my bread and tea, and was listless, as I have known several persons in similar circumstances by their confinement in our gaols. I talked of lime-whiting my room, but I soon found the prejudices the Venetians had against it ; so I privately procured a quarter of a bushel of lime, and a few days after proper brushes. Early one morning, three hours before my guard was up, I began with my valet who was sent to light my fires (having determined to lock up my guard, if he opposed me), and slacking the fresh lime at different times, always with boiling water (my brick walls and ceiling being before brushed down), we washed every part of my room, and afterwards the floor, with boiling water, and finished our job by noon, so that at four o'clock I drank my tea, and at night lay in a sweet and fresh room ; and in a few days my appetite and strength returned. I had before tried the wash- ing the walls with boiling water, but it had no effect on the infectious walls, etc. " I stayed a week after I left the lazaretto, at Venice, and in three days came by sea to Trieste ; I found at the former, and at this place, the slow hospital fever creeping upon me, by my long con- finement, the whole air of the lazaretto being infected. Mr. Murray, our last ambassador from Constantinople, died there of the putrid fever. But the sub -governor of Trieste spared me his easy and good carriage, and I came here last CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 157 Tuesday, in four nights and five days ; three of the former I travelled, but one night I was forced to stop ; I am much reduced by fatigue of body and mind ; I have great reason to bless God that my steadiness of resolution does not forsake me in so many solitary hours. If my night fever keeps off, I will soon go the long stride to Amsterdam. Pray let me there receive a letter from you (at Messrs. Hopes, bankers) ; give me your advice, fully and freely. Is my son distracted ? Is it from the probability of his vice and folly at Edinburgh ? How could Mr. receive him to the sacrament ? What do you advise ? My old servants, John Prole, Thomas, and Jos. Crockford, have had a sad time. I hear they have been faith- ful, wise, and prudent. Please to thank them particularly, in my name, for their conduct; two of them I am persuaded have acted out of regard to his excellent mother, who I rejoice is dead. Remember me to our connected friends at Bedford. I am, with all good wishes, ever yours, "JOHN HOWARD. " P.S. Excuse writing, etc., as wrote early by a poor lamp. What I suffered I am persuaded I should have disregarded on the lazaretto, as I gained useful information. The regulations are admirable, if they were better kept. Venice is the mother of all lazarettos, but, O ! my son, my son. " P.S. The post not going out till this evening, the 19th, I just add, that I had a poor night ; much of my fever, though quite off now, six o'clock ; yet must stop two or three days longer. 158 JOHN HOWARD The mountain air,, I hope, will take it off, and I shall get on by the light nights. 1 only want a month's rest, for indeed nobody knows what I have suffered this journey ; many weeks dry biscuits and tea ; often have I wished for a little of my skimmed milk. Yet I bless God for many comfortable Sabbaths, and my mind steadily approving the object I had in pursuit. Adieu, adieu. " To Rev. Mr. SMITH, Potter Street, Bedford (Angleterre)." During his stay at Vienna Howard was honoured by an interview with the Emperor, Joseph n., of which he gives a full account in his diary, which is worth transcribing. "Xmas Day, 1786, Vienna. I this day had the honour of near two hours conversation in private with the Emperor : his very condescending and affable manner gave me that freedom of speech which enabled me plainly and freely to tell him my mind. His Majesty began on his Military Hospital, then the Great Hospital, also the Lunatic Asylum, the defects of which I told him, On prisons I fully opened my mind : it pleased God to give me full recollection, and freedom of speech. His Majesty stopped me, and said, ( You hang in your country.' I said Yes, but death was more desirable than the misery such wretches endure in total darkness, chained to the wall no visitor, no priest, even for two years together ; it CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 159 was a punishment too great for human nature to bear ; many had lost their rational faculties by it/ His Majesty asked me the condition our prisons were in at London. I said ' they were bad, but in a way of improvement ; but that all Europe had their eye on His Majesty, who had made such alterations in his hospitals and prisons/ I said ' the object was to make them better men, and useful subjects/ The Emperor shaked me by the hand, and said I had given him much pleasure. The Emperor freely and openly con- versed with me. I admire his condescension and affability, his thirst and desire to do good, and to strike out great objects. He was not a month on the throne before he saw every prison and hospital ; now he continually and unexpectedly looks into all his establishments. I have seen him go out in his chariot with only one footman no guards, no attendants ; sometimes drives himself with only his coachman behind ; looks in- to everything, knows everything I think means well. The Emperor told his Minister he was greatly pleased with my visit ; I had not pleaded for the prisoners with soft and flattering speech that meant nothing : some things I advised he should do, others he should not do." To the same occasion belongs another rather comical incident. The governor of Upper Austria, in the course of a visit to Howard, made some 160 JOHN HOWARD inquiry as to the state of the prisons in the pro- vince to the government of which he had been appointed. "The worst in all Germany/' was the answer, " particularly in the condition of the female prisoners ; and I recommend your countess to visit them personally, as the best means of rectifying the abuses in their management." The lady, who had accompanied her husband, exclaimed indignantly at this, "I go into prisons ! " and abruptly quitted the room, retiring downstairs with such rapidity that Howard feared she would meet with an accident. He was not, however, deterred from shouting after her as she fled : " Madam, remember that you are a woman yourself, and must soon, like the most miserable female prisoner in a dungeon, inhabit but a small space of that earth from which you equally originated." Shortly after this Howard was well enough to return to England. He reached London early in February 1787, only to find that his worst anti- cipations were realised, for his son had completely lost his reason, and had been brought by his uncles to Cardington where he was placed under proper control. It seemed best to leave him there for a time, as all hope of a recovery was not abandoned. Howard naturally felt that, under these circumstances, Cardington was no place for him ; and therefore it is no wonder that in a CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 161 very short time he was off on his travels again. In March he began a Jifth inspection of English gaols, which occupied him pretty constantly throughout the remainder of this year and the greater part of the next, being only broken in upon by a visit to Scotland, and two to Ireland, where he made a more thorough and searching inquiry into the condition of the Protestant Charter Schools than he had previously been able to do. There were thirty-eight of these schools, which had been founded in the interests of Protestantism, and, strong Protestant as Howard was, he would naturally have been disposed to regard them with favour. He was, however, thoroughly disgusted with the disgraceful way in which they were managed, and in his rounds saw enough of the evil of compulsory proselytism to lead him, when examined before a Committee of the Irish House of Commons, to make some strong remarks on the subject, and to express an earnest desire that free schools might be universally established " for children of all persuasions, 1 and that " the Protestant cause " might be less regarded in bestowing the advantage of education upon the poor. 1 It was in Dublin, during one of these visits to Ireland, that Howard was introduced to John Wesley (on June 21, 1787), who has left in his 1 Lazarettos t p. 119. II 162 JOHN HOWARD diary a brief notice of the interview. (t I had the pleasure of a conversation with Mr. Howard, I think one of the greatest men in Europe. No- thing but the mighty power of God can enable him to go through his difficult and dangerous employment." l Howard was equally pleased with Wesley, and, speaking afterwards of the interview to Alexander Knox, told him how he had been encouraged to go on vigorously with his designs. " I saw in him how much a single man might achieve by zeal and perseverance, and I thought, Why may I not do as much in my way as Mr. Wesley has done in his, if I am only as assiduous and persevering ? And I determined I would pursue my work with more alacrity than ever." Two years later, Howard called on Wesley in London to present him with a copy of his book on Lazarettos, but Wesley was then in Ireland, and Howard had to content himself with leaving the following message for him : " Present my respects and love to Mr. Wesley, tell him I had hoped to see him once more perhaps we may meet again in this world, but, if not, we shall meet, I trust, in a better." So far as is known the two men never saw each other again, but about this time Wesley wrote to his brother Charles (June 20, 1789) his opinion of Howard : " Mr. Howard is really an 1 See Tyerman's Life and Times of John Wesley, vol. iii. pp. 495. 58i. CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 163 extraordinary man ; God has raised him up to be a blessing to many nations. I do not doubt but there has been something more than natural in his preservation hitherto, and should not wonder if the providence of God should hereafter be still more conspicuous in his favour." These tours ended, Howard was ready to publish the results of his last four years' work ; and for this purpose retired once more to Warring- ton, to superintend the printing of his new book, and to consult over it with Dr. Aikin. Some time was spent here in the autumn of 1788, and early in the following year the volume was ready for publication. It is, as its title indicates, a miscel- laneous work:'^4w Account of the Principal Laza- rettos in Europe : with various papers relative to the Plague ; together with further observations on some foreign prisons and hospitals, and additional remarks on the present state of those in Great Britain and Ireland. Even this does not exhaust the list of subjects treated of, for a section of some length is added on the Charter Schools of Ireland. The portion of the work which treats of lazarettos and the plague is of course concerned with a subject which was entirely novel, but the re- mainder of the volume may be regarded as an appendix to the previous work, bringing his in- quiry into the condition of our prisons up to date. He was able to note with satisfaction the good 164 JOHN HOWARD results whicli had been obtained by the Act for Preserving the Health of Prisoners, and speaks warmly of " the liberal and humane spirit which engages the public to alleviate the sufferings of prisoners in general, and, particularly, to release many industrious though unfortunate debtors. But at this point," he was compelled to add, " the spirit of improvement unhappily seems to stop, scarcely touching upon that still more im- portant object, the reformation of morals in our prisons ; yet it is obvious that, if this be neglected, besides the evil consequences that must result from such a source of wickedness, a suspicion will arise, that what has been already done has pro- ceeded, chiefly, from the selfish motive of avoiding the danger to our own healthy in attending courts of judicature. " In this further reformation, it will be absolutely necessary to begin with the capital ; for as, in my former visits, when I have met with the gaol fever in country prisons, I have been almost constantly told, that it was derived from those in London ; so the corruption of manners also, flowing from that great fountain, spreads far and wide its malignant streams. In what prison in London is there a proper separation of criminals, the old from the young, convicts from the untried ? Where are the night- rooms for solitary confinement and reflection ? Where is any proper attention paid to sick and CONCERNING THE PLAGUE 165 dying prisoners ? Where are the rules and orders of magistrates for the direction of gaolers, and the government of prisoners ? In what gaol are not the ears shocked with the profaneness both of prisoners and turnkeys? Where is any regard paid to the Lord's day ? Where is not the after- noon of that day a time of greater concourse of visitants than any other? And, though the gaoler's taps are abolished, yet are not publicans continually waiting to serve the prisoners and their company ? Is not beer now sold by the debtors ? And do not turnkeys keep shops in the gaols ? " l This paragraph, which contains Howard's last remarks on the subject, forms a terrible indictment of the system still acquiesced in throughout the country, even after sixteen years of persistent labour on his part ; while the fact that every one of the reforms which he indicates as desirable has since been effected, with the happiest results, is the best testimony to the clearness with which he had grasped the principles on which alone a satis- factory system of prison discipline can be properly carried out. * JjazarettoS) p. 233. CHAPTER IX HOWARD'S LAST JOURNEY AND DEATH Howard starts on his Last Journey Its Object Letters from Moscow Letters from Cherson Visits to Military Hospitals Illness Visit from Admiral Priestman Death Funeral Monument at Cherson Statue in St. Paul's Cathedral. IT might well have seemed to Howard that with the publication of the volume on Lazarettos his work was ended. There was no longer any reason why he should not once more reside at Cardington, as his unfortunate son had by this time become so hopelessly insane that it had been found necessary to remove him to a private asylum at Leicester, where he remained till his death in 1799; at the age of thirty- four. The house was thus once more free, had Howard been disposed to settle down in it to that " comfortable, useful, and honourable life," which had once been his aim. 1 But his ideal had greatly changed since then. He now felt that "a retirement to ease 1 Cf. p. 26. 166 LAST JOURNEY AND DEATH 167 would be cowardly, sinful, and base." l There can be little doubt that his domestic sorrows, with which Cardington was so closely associated, made the thought of residence there distasteful to him. Besides this, habit had become second nature to him. He had lived the life of a wanderer for so long, and had spent so many years upon those researches of which he spoke slightingly as his " hobby," that it would have been unnatural to him to abandon them and settle down to a quiet life in the country. He felt that his time was short, and that there was still much to be done in the line which he had marked out for himself. He was consumed with the earnest desire to 5 pjEr:'D LD 25AP'57W' 22 1960 . jn - v - JUN 12 1958 U r i-\ /"' ri 27Api 59 CQ REC'D LD \ j LD 21-100w-6,'56 (B9311slO)476 General Library University of California Berkeley YA 00897 260903