kes concerning
this most important of human qualities! so important, that the real
dignity of man can only rise in proportion as this virtue is perfectly
understood, and properly cherished! In the same proportion, let me add,
our courageous Philanthropist will be found entitled to the praise of
every upright mind, to the homage of every feeling heart.

"If we take the word Courage" in the most common and simple sense of
that term, as a generous and noble contempt of personal hardship and
danger; who has given more numerous or more striking examples of such
brave contempt! Or if we follow the definition of Courage given us by a
profound, an eloquent, and philanthropic Writer, namely, that it is a
just estimate of our own powers; who is there among the most signal
Benefactors of mankind, not professedly inspired, that ever formed an
estimate of what he might achieve in the most glorious field of
enterprize, at once so difficult, and so true, so humble, and so grand.

"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 exalt