In St. Paul's Cathedral there stands a monument representing a man
with a key in his right hand and a scroll in his left, whilst on the
pedestal from which he looks down are pictured relics of the prison
life of the past. The man is John Howard, who travelled tens of
thousands of miles, and spent many years in visiting gaols all over
England and the Continent, and in endeavouring to render prison life
less degrading and brutalising. Wherever he went prison doors were
unlocked as if he possessed a magic key; and by his life and books he
did more to help prisoners than any other man.
It is only just over a hundred years since John Howard died; yet in
his day persons could be put to death for stealing a horse or a sheep,
for robbing dwellings, for defrauding creditors, for forgery, for
wounding deer, for killing or maiming cattle, for stealing goods to
the value of five shillings, or even for cutting a band in a hop
plantation. And many persons who were innocent of any offence would
lie in dungeons for years!
At his father's death John Howard came into possession of a good
property; and, marrying a lady some years older than himself, settled
down on his estate and passed three years of quiet happiness.
Then a great grief came to him. His wife died, and Howard was bowed
down with sorrow.
But the distress brought with it a longing to be a comfort to others;
and he set out for Lisbon, which had just been visited by the great
earthquake of 1755, with the hope of assisting the homeless and
suffering.
France and England were then at war, and on his way thither he was
captured by a French vessel and thrown into prison. He was placed in
a dark, damp, filthy dungeon, and was half starved. For two months he
was kept a prisoner, and as soon as he was free he set about obtaining
the release of his fellow captives.
Some years later he became a sheriff of Bedford, and began visiting
the prisoners in the gaol where John Bunyan wrote the _Pilgrim's
Progress_.
From the inquiries he made during the course of his visitations he was
astonished to find that the gaolers received no salary, and that they
lived on what they could make out of the prisoners. As a result it
often happened that those who had been acquitted at their trial were
kept in prison long afterwards, because they were unable to pay the
fees which the gaoler demanded.
Horrified at the state in which he found the prison and at the abuses
of justice that prevailed, John Howard determined to find out what
was done in other parts of the kingdom, and visited a number of gaols
throughout the country. And fearful places he found them to be! Boys
who were taken to gaol for the first time were put with old and
hardened criminals; the prisons were dirty and ill-smelling; the
dungeons were dark and unhealthy; and, unless prisoners could afford
to pay for comforts, they were obliged to sleep on cold bare floors,
even delicate women not being exempted from such cruel treatment.
At Exeter he found two sailors in gaol, having been fined one shilling
each for some trifling offence, and owing £1 15s. 8d. for fees to the
gaolers and clerk of the peace. When he visited Cardiff he heard a man
had just died in prison after having been there ten years for a debt
of seven pounds. At Plymouth he found that three men had been shut up
in a little dark room only five and a half feet high, so that they
could neither breathe freely nor stand upright.
Hundreds of cases as bad or worse than these did he discover and bring
before public notice.
He gave evidence before the House of Commons of what he had seen. Then
Acts of Parliament were passed, providing that gaolers should be paid
out of the rates, that prisoners who were found not guilty should be
set at liberty at once, that the prisons should be kept clean and
healthy, and the prisoners properly clothed and attended to.
Determined that these Acts should not remain a dead letter, he went
about the country seeing that what Parliament required was actually
carried out.
Not contented with what he had already done, he travelled abroad,
inspecting the prisons of France, Russia, Holland, Switzerland,
Germany, and other countries, in order to see how they compared with
those in Great Britain.
Strange to say, he discovered that in a number of cases they were in
many ways better; and the prisoners, unlike their fellows in Britain,
were generally employed in some useful manner.
When he was in London on one occasion he heard that there had been a
revolt in the military prison in the Savoy. Two of the gaolers had
been killed, and the rioters held possession of the building. Howard
set off for the prison, though he was warned that his life would not
be safe if he ventured inside. Nothing daunted, he went amongst
the prisoners, and soon persuaded them to go back to their cells
peaceably, promising to bring their grievances before the authorities.
At Paris he was unable for a long time to get into that great prison
house which then existed called the Bastille. Try as he would, he
could gain no admittance. One day when he was passing he went to the
gate of the prison, rang the bell and marched in. After passing the
sentry he stopped and took a good look at the building, then he had to
beat a hasty retreat, and narrowly escaped capture; but by that time
he had partly accomplished his object.
When Howard was in Russia the empress sent a message saying she
desired to see him; but he returned an answer that he was devoting
his time to inspecting prisons, and had no leisure for visiting the
palaces of rulers.
At Rome, however, he was prevailed on to go and see the Pope, on
the express understanding that he should not be obliged to kiss his
holiness's toe; and he came away with a very pleasant remembrance of
the Holy Father.
At Vienna the Emperor Joseph II. specially requested an interview.
Howard refused at first to meet the emperor's wishes; but, on the
English ambassador representing good might come of the visit,
Howard went to see his majesty, and remained with him two hours in
conversation, during which time he made the emperor acquainted with
the bad state of some of the Austrian prisons. Once or twice the
emperor was angered by Howard's plainness of speech, but told the
ambassador afterwards that he liked the prison reformer all the better
for his honesty.
Having made up his mind to see the quarantine establishment at
Marseilles, Howard made his way through France, though he was so
feared and disliked by the Government that he was warned if he were
caught in that country he would be thrown into the Bastille.
He disguised himself as a doctor, and after some narrow escapes
arrived at Marseilles and visited the Lazaretto (or place of detention
for the infected), though even Frenchmen were forbidden to do so. He
took drawings of the place, and then went on a tour to many southern
cities. He was at Smyrna while fever was raging with fury, and went
amongst the sick and fever-stricken, fearless of the consequences.
In the course of his travels the ship in which he was a passenger was
attacked by pirates, and John Howard showed himself as brave in actual
battle as he was in fighting abuses; for he loaded the big gun with
which the ship was armed nearly up to the muzzle with nails and
spikes, and fired it into the pirate crew just in time to save himself
and his companions from destruction. The books in which he gave an
account of his experiences were eagerly read by the public, and
produced a profound effect.
His last journey was to Russia. At Cherson he received an urgent
request to visit a lady who had the fever. The place where she lived
was many miles off, and no good horses were to be obtained. But he
was determined not to disappoint her; so he procured a dray horse and
started for his destination on a wintry night, with rain falling in
torrents. As a result of this journey he was stricken down by the
fever, and died 20th January, 1790.
Howard was a very hard worker, and a man of most frugal habits. He was
often up by two o'clock in the morning writing and doing business till
seven, when he breakfasted. He ate no flesh food, and drank no wine
or spirits. He had a great dislike to any fuss being made about him
personally; and, though £1500 was subscribed during his life to erect
a memorial, it was, at his earnest desire, either returned to the
subscribers or spent in assisting poor debtors.
But after his death a memorial was put up in St. Paul's, and quite
recently a monument has been erected at Bedford, where he first began
his labours on behalf of the prisoners.