ed characters of the Pagan
world.--Wanting a purer light from Heaven, the most radiant spirits of
antiquity were bewildered; one in particular, the mildest and most
undaunted of antient Worthies, who had a sufficient portion of heroic
philanthropy to prefer the benefit of mankind to every selfish
consideration, had yet his hours of diffidence and despondency. On a
final review of his own generous labours, he is supposed to have
questioned the very existence of Virtue, though he had made it the idol
of his life; a striking proof, that the temperate and invariable energy
of soul, which alone perhaps deserves the name of true Courage, can only
proceed from a fuller knowledge and love of GOD; from the animating
assurance, that, however we may prosper or fail in the earthly success
of our endeavours to do good, the merit of the attempt is registered in
Heaven; and we secure to ourselves the everlasting approbation of our
Almighty Parent, in proportion as we approach towards that blessed model
of Perfect Benevolence, who has taught us, by his divine example, to
compassionate and to relieve the sufferings of the wretched. From this
source flowed the courageous beneficence of HOWARD: and how delightful
it is to observe that the force, the extent, the utility, and the lustre
of the stream, has gloriously corresponded to the height and purity of
the fountain!

"The Sensualist and the Sceptic may, indeed, deride the conduct of a
man, who sacrificed all the common pleasures of life, and sought for no
recompence but in the favour of Heaven. It may be said that an illusive
fervor of mind has hurried men, in all periods of the world, into
singular and wild exertions, which excite the wonder of the passing
hour, and are afterwards either deservedly forgotten, or only recalled
to notice by Reason and Philosophy, to caution the restless and
impetuous spirit of man against all similar excesses.

"But the pursuits of Howard, though they had all that sublime energy
which so often distinguished the projects of Superstition, were so far
from being influenced by any superstitious propensity, that perhaps they
cannot appear to more advantage than by being brought into comparison,
or contrast, not with the sluggish piety of sequestered Monks, but with
the bold and splendid feats of the most active and enterprising
Fanaticism. Allow me, therefore, to recall to your thoughts those
distant ages, when every ardent spirit in Christendom was inflamed