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that the poor in his village fhould be the most orderly in their manners, the neatest in their perfons and habitations, and poffeffed of the greatest share of the comforts of life, that could be met with in any part of England. And as it was his difpofition to carry every thing he undertook to the greatest pitch of perfection, fo he fpared no pains or expence to effect this purpose. He began by building a number of neat cottages on his eftate, annexing to each a little land for a garden, and other conveniences. In this project, which might be confidered as an object of taste as well as of benevolence, he had the full concurrence of his excellent partner. I remember his relating, that once, having fettled his accounts at the close of a year, and found a balance in his favour, he proposed to his wife to make use of it in a journey to London, or any other gratification fhe chofe. What a pretty cottage it would build,' was her anfwer; and the money was fo employed. These comfortable habitations he peopled with the moit induftrious and fober tenants he could find; and over them he exercised the fuperintendence of matter and father combined. He was careful to furnith them with employment, to affift them in fickness and distress, and to educate their children. In order to preferva their morals, he made it a condition that they fhould regularly attend their feveral places of worship, and abitain from public-houfes, and from fuch amufements as he thought pernicious; and he fecured their compliance with his rules by making them tenants at will.

I fhall here beg leave to digrefs a little, in order to make fome general obfervations on the different methods that may be propofed for bettering the condition of the lowest and moit numerous clafs among us. In the ftate in which they too frequently appear, depreffed to the extremeft point of indigence, unable by their utmost exertions to obtain more than the bare neceflaries of exiftence, debafed by

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the total want of inftruction, and par taking of nothing that can dignify the human character, it is no wonder that a benevolent perfon of the higher ranks in fociety fhould confider them as creatures of an inferior species, only to be benefited by the conftant exercife of his authority and fuperintendence. And I believe the fact to be, that, from the operation of our poor laws, and other circumstances, the poor in this country are more thoughtless, improvident, and helpless, than those of almost any other nation. Humanity will, therefore, in fuch a state of things, think it neceffary to affume the entire management of those who can neither think nor act for their own good; and will direct and overrule all their concerns, just as it would thofe of children and idiots. In short, it will aim at fuch a kind of influence, as the Jefuits of Paraguay established, (perhaps with the fame benevolent views) over the fimple natives.

But is this ftate of pupilage to be perpetual? And, in a land of liberty and equal laws, is the great body of people always to exift in a condition of actual fubjection to and dependence on the few? Are they never to be intrusted with their own happiness, but always to look up for fupport and direction to those who in reality are lefs independent than themfelves? This is an idea which a liberal mind will be unwilling to admit; and it will anxiously look forward to a period, in which meannefs of condition fhall not neceffarily imply debasement of nature: but those of every rank in fociety, feeling powers within themfelves to fecure their effential comforts, fhall rely upon their own exertions, and be guided by the dictates of their own reason. That this is not an imaginary state of things, the general condition of the loweit claffes in fome countries, and even in fome parts of England, where the working poor, at the fame time that their earnings enable them to procure the comforts of life, are inured to habits of fobriety and frugality, is a fufficient proof.

There

There are few counties in England which afford less employment to a numerous poor than that of Bedford; of course, wages are low, and much diftrefs would prevail, were it not for the humanity of the gentlemen who refide upon their eftates. Among thefe, Mr. Howard distinguished himfelf by a peculiar attention to the comfort and improvement of his dependents; and he was accordingly held by them in the highest refpect and veneration. I may add, that he poffeffed their love; which is not always the cafe with those who render effential fervices to people of that clafs. But he treated them with kindness, as well as with beneficence; and he particularly avoided every thing ftern or imperious in his manner toward them. Whatever there might appear of ftrictnefs in the difcipline he enforced, it had only in view their best interests; and if under his protection they could pass a tranquil old age in their own comfortable cottages, rather than end their lives in a work-house, the fubordination to which they fubmitted was amply compenfated. It is certain that the melioration of manners and principles which he promoted, was the most effectual means of eventually rendering them more independent; and I have reason to know, that, latterly at least, he was as well affected to the rights, as he was folicitous to augment the comforts, of the

poor.

His charities were not confined to thofe more immediately connected with his property; they took in the whole circle of neighbourhood. His bounty was particularly directed to that fundamental point in improving the condition of the poor, giving them a fober and ufeful education. From early life he attended to this object; and he established schools for both fexes, conducted upon the most judicious plan. The girls were taught reading, and needlework in a plain way: the boys reading, and fome of them writing, and the rudiments of arithmetic. They were regularly to

attend public worship in the way their parents approved. The number brought up in these schools was fluctuating, but the inftitutions were un→ interrupted. In every other way in which a man thoroughly difpofed to do good with the means providence has bestowed upon him, can exercise his liberality, Mr. Howard ftood among the foremoft. He was not only a fubfcriber to various public schemes of benevolence, but his private charities were largely diffused, and remarkably well directed. It was, indeed, only to his particular confidents and coadjutors that many of these were ever known; but they render him the most ample testimony in this refpect. His very intimate and confidential friend, the Rev. Mr. Thomas Smith of Bedford, give me the fol lowing account of this part of his conduct, at a time when he was deeply engaged in thofe public exertions which might be fuppofed to interfere with his private and local benefactions.

He still continued to devise liberal things for his poor neighbours and tenants; and, confidering how much his heart and time were engaged in his great and comprehenfive plans, it was furprifing with what minuteness he would fend home his directions about his private donations. His fchools were continued to the last.* It is impoffible any ftronger proof can be given, that the habit of doing good was wrought into his very nature, than that, while his public actions placed him without a rival for deeds of philanthropy, he fhculd still be unable to fatisfy his benevolent de→ fires without his accuftomed benefits to his neighbours and dependents.

Another early feature of that character which Mr. Howard afterward fo confpicuously displayed, was a determined refiftance of injuftice and oppreffion. No one could be more firmly relied on as the protector of right and innocence against unfeeling and unprincipled power. His indignation was roufed by any attempts to encroach or domineer; and his fpirit

A a.

led

led him, without hefitation, to exprefs, both in words and actions, his fenfe of fuch conduct. As no man could be more perfectly independent, both in mind and fituation, than himfelf, he made that ufe of his advantage which every independent man ought to do;-he acted as principle directed him, regardless whom he might difpleafe by it; he ftrongly marked his different fenfations with refpect to different characters; and he was not lefs ftrenuous in opposing pernicious fchemes, than in promoting beneficial ones.

The love of order and regulaty likewife marked the early as we as the later periods of his life; it directed his own domeftic concerns equally with his plans for the benefit of others. His difpofition of time was exact and methodical. He accurately knew the state of all his affairs; and the hand of economy regulated what the heart of generofity difpenfed. His taste in dress, furniture, and every thing exterior, was turned to fimplicity and neatnefs; and this conformity of difpofition rendered him an admirer of the fect of Quakers, with many individuals of which he maintained an intimate connexion.

non.

In common with many other benevolent and virtuous characters, he had a fondness for gardening, and the cultivation of plants both useful and ornamental. Indeed, as his own diet was almoft entirely of the vegetable kind, he had various inducements to attend to this pleafing occupation. That most valuable root, the potatoe, was a great favourite with him; and a remarkably productive fpecies of it, which he recommended to public notice, was diftinguished by his name. His garden was an object of curiofity, both for the elegant manner in which it was laid out, and for the excellence of its productions; and in his various travels he frequently brought home, and diftributed among his friends, the feeds of curious kinds of cultivated vegetables.

In this manner Mr. Howard paffed the tranquil years of his fettled refidence at Cardington; happy in himfelf, and the inftrument of good to all around him. But this ftate was not long to continue. His domeftic felicity received a fatal wound from the death of his beloved wife, in the year 1765, foon after delivery of her only child.

THE PILGRIM: A Tale.
Concluded from page 128.

THE PILGRIM'S STORY.. MY eyes firft opened to the viciffitudes of life, in the city of AvigMy father was a general in the French fervice; and, my mother, the only offspring of her noble, but indigent parents. They were united by difinterested affection, and as their happiness centered in each other, they were above the envy, or the malice, of mankind. My father's fortune, though not competent to procure the luxuries of the world, was, by my mother's economy and exemplary prudence, fufficient for the enjoyment of every comfort.

I was the only fruit of their unfullied attachment. My amiable mother only furvived a few minutes after he gave me being. She embraced me, and clafping me to her bofom, refigned her gentle foul to endless happiness.

My father, whofe profeffion called him from Avignon when I was scarcely three years old, committed the care of my education to the abbe de Verfac, a distant relation of my mother. He was a man celebrated for his profound erudition and brilliant talents: he inftructed my young mind in all the elegant acquirements of a scholar and a gentleman. The labours of his

anxious

anxious hours were repaid by my close application to the precepts he wished to inculcate.

• At the age of feventeen I had acquired a competent knowledge of the claffics, and had already compofed many fuccessful pieces in imitation of the Greek and Latin poets. The rocks of Vauclufe confecrated by the inspiration of the mufes, had often echoed with my matin fong, and the celeftial form of the immortal Laura, frequently blessed in vifionary dreams the flumbers of the evening!

I felt rapt, inspired, as I traversed the deep valley, or mused beneath the laurel'd bower, dedicated to love and virtue! I wandered on the margin of the fhallow rivulets that were once dear to the faithful Petrarch, their murmurs foothed my penfive heart; and as I dropped a tear upon their bubbling furface, I felt the confcious delight of having paid the tender tribute due to his memory and his forrows! Often did I caft my liftlefs form upon the fod, made facred by the footsteps of the wandering lovers. These were my happy moments— tranfient indeed they were, for they now almost appear to have been the phantoms of a bewildered fancy. The fubduing hand of mifery has nearly erafed the very fhadows of my early hours; the bright delufions of youths glowing day are funk in cold oblivion, as the glorious fun fets in the border of the dark and troubled ocean!

Filled with romantic infpiration, my mind was foftened like the tempered wax, and ready to receive the tendereft impreffions.

In the vicinity of Avignon, beneath the fhades of an embowering wood, devotion had long performed her facred orifons at the monaftery of St. Terefe; the lofty walls were inacceffible, except on the fifteenth of June, when at the celebration of the fete de Dieu, the grates were thrown open, and every eye was permitted to view the folemn ceremony of the High Mass.

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Curiofity, more than zeal, led me

to be a fpectator: the holy fifters ar ranged in the chapel of the convent, fung their choral anthems, replete with feraphic harmony; the vaulted arches repeated the thrilling founds, while the fumes of heavenly incenfe curled around a thousand quivering tapers. Among the veftals, my every fenfe was fafcinated by one, whofe beauty far furpaffed all I had yet conceived of mortal woman! A fweet melancholy gave inexpreffible softness to features exquifitely regular, and the meek blush of unaffected modesty heightened a complexion beauteous and glowing as the rays of the morning. Her age pronounced her but newly initiated in holy duties, and her every look declared the was formed for that world from which she was secluded, in the deep and cheerless gloom of monaftic apathy. I gazed upon her with a devotion more warm, more chafte, than even piety itfelf could have fuggefted. Her eye encountered mine-I fancied a thousand childifh things;-my earneft attention feemed to perplex her; the crucifix fell from her trembling hand, she rofe and left the chapel.

The

I returned to Avignon. image of this peerlefs angel never forfook me; I beheld her in my midnight flumbers, her voice vibrated on my enraptured ear, and awoke me to all the agonies of dire defpair. Often did I wander, when the fun funk beneath the horizon, to catch its laft beam that illumined the vanes of her lonely habitation. Often did I liften whole hours beneath the hated walls that enclosed the treasure of my foul, to catch the diftant and imperfect found of the holy evening fong. I fancied I could diftinguish her voice from every other, and my heart panted fadly refponfive to every fwelling note,

'I remained feveral months in this ftate of perfect wretchedness, when an accident opened to my distracted mind a gleam of tranfitory comfort. The abbe de Verfac, having embraced the most rigid state of holy bondage, was A 2 2

fre

frequently employed in the pious of fice of confeffor to the nuns of St. Terefe. A fudden indifpofition preventing his usual attendance, I availed myself of the opportunity that prefented itself, and, in the habit of a monk, bore to the abbefs of a convent a fpecious recommendation of myfelf, deputing me as worthy of the facred confidence. I was readily admitted into the cell of ghoftly admonition, and fortune directed the heavenly Louifa to the footstool of contrition!

The purity of her life fcarcely left her a fingle erro to acknowledge; my penance was gentle, as her foul was fpotlefs: I requefted her to perufe a leffon I had written, and to abide by the injunctions it contained; fhe thanked me, then, with the voice of meekness and humility, implored my benediction, and departed.

My fafety required that I fhould inftantly withdraw from the facred walls, left the impofition fhould be detected, and at once deftroy my reputation and my hopes. The tranf action was foon made public, and I frequently heard eternal vengeance denounced against the perpetrator of fo vile a fraud. The abbefs offered an immenfe reward for apprehending the facrilegious hypocrite, and every tongue united to condemn me. My letter informed her of my name, quality, and fortune; which, by my father's death, was not inconfiderable; I implored her compaffion for my fufferings, and earneftly requested a decifive answer. I told her, in the language of defpair, that nothing fhould induce me to furvive her refentment, and concluded my frantic prayer by informing her, that I fhould watch for ten fucceffive nights beneath the walls that immured her, to receive the fiat of my irrevocable destiny.'

At the twilight hour of the feventh day, when every breeze was hufhed, and nature feemed to paufe in melancholy filence, mufing beneath the trees that encircled the prison of my idol, my ear was fuddenly enchanted by

the melody of a female voice. I drew near the fpot from whence the found proceeded, and diftinctly heard the words of her complaint: they pierced my very heart-attuning every chord to fympathetic pity.' Elvira hinted a with that he would endeavour to recollect them; he complied with her defire, and thus began:

'Within this drear and filent gloom,
Fate shrouds her in a living tomb,
The loft Louifa pines, unknown;.
And heaven relentless hears her groan;
Yet 'midft the murky fhades of woe,
The tear of fond regret shall flow,
Yon lofty wall, that mocks my grief,
Still echoes with my ev'ning pray'r;
The gale that fans the trembling leaf
Shall waft it to the realms of air,
Till proftrate at the throne of Heav'n,
Unpity'd Love shall be forgiv’n.
Or, if to endless forrow born-

If doom'd to fade a victim here;

Still pining, friendless, and forlorn,
Ah! let Religion drop one tear:
Like holy incense shall it prove,
To heal the wounds of hopeless Love.
Ye black'ning clouds that fail along,
Oh, hide me in your shade profound;
Ye whifp'ring breezes catch my fong,
And bear it to the woods around.
Perchance fome hapless Petrarch's feet
May wander near this dread retreat.
Ah! tell him Love's delicious strain
No rapture yields, no jay inspires,
Where cold religion's icy chain
Has long fubdu'd its quiv'ring fires;
No ray of comfort gilds the gloom,
That marks the hopeless veftal's tomb !
The ruby gem within my breaft,
Now faintly glows with vital heat;
Each warring paffion finks to reft:
My freezing pulfes flowly beat.
Soon fhall thefe languid eye-lids close,
my woes.
And Death's ftern mandate feal
Then, when the virgin's matin fong
Shall 'midst the vaulted roof resound,
Haply the tuneful feraph throng
Shall whifper gentle pity round;
While Virtue, fighing o'er my bier,
Shall drop unfeen-a fainted Tear!'

From that moment I determined to release the beauteous Louifa, or perish beneath the flinty confines of

her

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