working force; and a form, too, that is not to be condemned or turned out of the fellowship of useful and pleasant charities. There is a general, even, diffusive goodwill to men that spreads itself out like a wide and sunny smile of good-nature. It is light, but not heat; still light is good for the eye, and the genial light of such inactive benevolence, if it does not actually produce the working charities, is grateful to society, and is far more useful even than ornamental. Then there is what may be called eccentric philanthropy, or a benevolence with a comet's orbit, narrow in the centre, but running to an extreme length and a sharp point in some special direction. These eccentric philanthropists have been most valuable and illustrious workers for human good. Their deeds and dispositions have brightened the pages of history with the beautiful sunshine of benevolence. They are the men and women who fix the eye and heart intently upon some particular form of moral evil or physical suffering, and sight and feeling grow more and more intense as they look and think upon the subject of their concentrated efforts. For a time, it may be, each has his own field all to himself, and it is large and the work is arduous, and he cannot even look over into another, much less lend a hand to the labour that other field demands. Such a philanthropist was John Howard. He was a man of
