for his western tour, the plan of campaign in the legislature, had been agreed upon, between them and their mutual friends.

Howard was now examined on the subject by the House of Commons; his testimony against the manifold abuses of the penal system, was logical and conclusive. He was publicly thanked by the supreme legislature of the country for his philanthropic exertions,―an honour seldom accorded to other than the heroes of war and conquest.

Not yet satisfied with his investigations, he now resolved to renew them. The gaols of London were still unknown to him; he set to work to visit them all. He daily traversed the vast area of the metropolis, penetrating into all kinds of dark nooks and corners. Nothing was too obscure to escape his vigilance, nor too paltry for his visitations. Petty prisons, belonging to courts, manors, and liberties, the existence of which was scarcely suspected, till he discovered them, were explored and reported upon. There was one of these in Whitechapel, used for the confinement of debtors in sums of between £2 and £5. For these trifling amounts, twenty-five persons were incarcerated; the gaoler had to share with the lady of the manor-the private owner of the prison-the proceeds of his extortion, to the extent of £24 a-year. This was

only a sample of many others.

On 31st March 1774, Mr Popham brought forward his two bills for the better regulation of prisons, which in due course received the sanction of the legislature

and the Crown. By these all fees were abolished, persons declared not guilty, were to be immediately set at liberty, the gaoler was to receive a salary out of the county rate, the walls of the prisons were to be whitewashed once a year, the rooms to be regularly washed and ventilated, infirmaries were to be provided for the sick, confinement in underground dungeons to be prevented, if possible, and such measures taken as shall tend to restore, and preserve the prisoners' health.

The passing of these humane laws caused infinite satisfaction to Howard, but his work was not yet ended; he felt that he must now personally overlook the enforcement of these acts. That no time might be lost in rendering them operative, he caused them to be printed in larger character, at his own expense, and sent a copy of them to every warder and gaoler in the kingdom.

He started on a visit to the prisons of Wales, where gaol fever and small-pox were prevailing terribly; he then travelled again into Devonshire and Cornwall, where he found that Plymouth could boast of eminence in the way of prison horrors. The gaol had a room for felons called "the Chink," 17 feet long, 8 feet wide, and only 51⁄2 feet high, so that a person of ordinary stature could not stand erect in it. This diabolical dungeon was dark and stifling, having neither air nor light, except such as could struggle through a wicket in the door. Yet Howard learned, with horror, that men had been kept in this den for two

months; they would have died of suffocation, had not each in turn crouched at the wicket to catch a breath of air. When Howard saw it, the door had not been opened for five weeks, when he ordered the bolts to be withdrawn, and entry to be made; the indescribable stench would have driven back any less courageous visitor, yet Howard forced his way in, and found there a miserable wretch, who declared to him that he would prefer being executed at once, to being buried any longer in this loathsome dungeon. With his usual chariness of words Howard thus describes it: "The whole is dirty, and has not been whitewashed for many years; no court, no water, no straw."

Persuaded rather by his friends, than to gratify any feelings of personal ambition, Howard consented to come forward, in conjunction with his neighbour, Mr Whitbread, as a candidate to represent Bedford, in the House of Commons. Though a Dissenter, so greatly was he respected, that many both of the clergy and laity of the English Church cordially acted with Howard's committee, to secure his return. He was, however, unsuccessful, and seems to have been grieved and disappointed, at the result.

His next journey was to Ireland, Scotland, and the north of England. With the state of the prisons in Ireland, the philanthropist seems to have been much gratified. His visit to Scotland was brief, but honourable to himself, and of signal service to that part of the kingdom. At Glasgow he was kindly received by all ranks and classes, was invested with the free

dom of the city, and treated in public and private ast became his merits, and their intelligence.

On his return from this journey it was his intention to have arranged his papers, and given them to the world; but to render his plan more complete, he determined to travel into France, Germany, and Holland, to inspect the prisons in those countries. He left England in 1775. Paris was his first haltingplace. Here the prisons were rigorously closed against the traveller's researches. He fortunately discovered that there was an old law, which directed the keepers of prisons in Paris, to admit all persons who were desirous of bestowing alms on the prisoners. But the law had so fallen into disuse, that although he had provided himself with it, yet he was still refused admission, until he obtained an authorisation from the commissary of prisons, to inspect the Grand Chatelet and others. He was thus able to speak with, and examine almost every inmate of the great civil prisons of Paris; but of course this advantage was procured at not a little outlay in charities. The dungeons he visited, were dark, damp, and noisome beyond description. Many lost their lives by diseases; many more the use of their limbs; in the severe winter of 1775, hundreds of persons perished within the walls of the Bicetre, from cold.

Into the ominous fortress of the Bastile, Howard found it impossible to penetrate. Neither the influence of the English ambassador nor of his Parisian friends, availed to open its gates. It was dangerous