"With every apparent disadvantage, Howard conceived it possible that his endeavours might correct the abuses, and mitigate the sufferings of men, in various nations of the world. Whence happened it, that a mortal, so visibly weak and gentle, shrunk not from an idea so pregnant with difficulty and peril! It was because, 'The Righteous are bold as a Lion.' It was because he felt the strongest internal conviction of this animating truth, that, while Heaven blesses a man with health sufficient to pursue a benevolent and magnanimous design, the vigour of his mind, and most probably his powers of doing good, will be proportioned to the firmness of his faith, and the sincerity of his virtue. "Many achievements of beneficent Courage have undoubtedly been accomplished by men influenced by no motive but that generous love of glory which is so frequently the predominant passion of an active and ardent mind: but the virtues that arise from this source are as unsteady, and as precarious, as the reward they pursue. He who acts only as a candidate for the applause of mankind, will find his spirit vary with all the variations in the ever-changing atmosphere of popular opinion. He will be subject to hot and cold fits of action and inactivity, of confidence and distrust, in proportion as the illusive vapour, that he follows, may either sparkle or fade before him. Hence proceeded much of that inconsistency and weakness, which appear in some of the most enlightened, and exalted characters of the Pagan world.--Wanting a purer light from Heaven, the most radiant spirits of antiquity were bewildered; one in particular, the mildest and most undaunted of antient Worthies, who had a sufficient portion of heroic philanthropy to prefer the benefit of mankind to every selfish consideration, had yet his hours of diffidence and despondency. On a final review of his own generous labours, he is supposed to have questioned the very existence of Virtue, though he had made it the idol of his life; a striking proof, that the temperate and invariable energy of soul, which alone perhaps deserves the name of true Courage, can only proceed from a fuller knowledge and love of GOD; from the animating assurance, that, however we may prosper or fail in the earthly success of our endeavours to do good, the merit of the attempt is registered in Heaven; and we secure to ourselves the everlasting approbation of our Almighty Parent, in proportion as we approach towards that blessed model of Perfect Benevolence, who has taught us, by his divine example, to compassionate and to relieve the sufferings of the wretched. From this source flowed the courageous beneficence of HOWARD: and how delightful it is to observe that the force, the extent, the utility, and the lustre of the stream, has gloriously corresponded to the height and purity of the fountain!