proper to present his observations to the public in his own name, when Dr. E. D. Clarke sent his volume of travels through Russia, Tartary, and Turkey, to the press, he allowed him the free use of his journal, of which Dr. Clarke availed himself to a considerable extent in the form of notes to his work, by which its value was certainly largely increased. Dr. Clarke, in his preface, and in various parts of his volume, pays a well merited tribute to "the zealous attention to accuracy which appears in every statement" of Mr. Heber. Of the closeness and discrimination of his observations, the vivid recollection of Russian buildings, language, and incidents, which appear in his Indian journals, written nearly twenty years later, afford very striking proofs. What he saw in Hindoostan is repeatedly compared with what he recollected to have seen in Russia. He seems, at times, almost convinced that several Indian practices must have had a Russian origin, and he frequently detected himself in mingling Russian words with Hindoostanee when addressing the natives of India.* It was

* We may introduce here Mr. Heber's account of a

during this journey, and while in the city of Dresden, that he began a poem on Europe, which,

visit which Mr. Thornton and himself paid to the celebrated Plato, archbishop of Moscow, taken from Dr. Clarke's travels, to which it is annexed as a note.

"There is a passage in Mr. Heber's journal very characteristic of this extraordinary man. Mr. Heber, with his friend Mr. Thornton, paid him a visit in the convent of Befania; and, in his description of the monastery, I find the following account of the archbishop. The space beneath the rocks is occupied by a small chapel, furnished with a stove, for winter devotion; and on the right hand is a little, narrow cell, containing two coffins, one of which is empty, and destined for the present archbishop; the other contains the bones of the founder of the monastery, who is regarded as a saint. The oak coffin was almost bit to pieces by different persons afflicted with the tooth-ach, for which a rub on this board is a specific. Plato laughed as he told us this; but said, 'As they do it de bon cœur, I would not undeceive them.' This prelate has been long very famous in Russia, as a man of ability. His piety has been questioned; but from his conversation we drew a very favourable idea of him. Some of his expressions would rather have singed the whiskers of a very orthodox man; but the frankness and openness of his manners, and the liberality of his senti

however, he did not complete till after his return, and which he published in 1809. In the same year he published his poem of Palestine, to which

ments, pleased us highly. His frankness on subjects of politics pleased us highly. The clergy throughout Russia are, I believe, inimical to their government; they are more connected with the peasants than most other classes of men, and are strongly interested in their sufferings and oppressions; to many of which they themselves are likewise exposed. They marry very much among the daughters and sisters of their own order, and form almost a caste. I think Buonaparte rather popular among them. Plato seemed to contemplate his success as an inevitable and not very alarming prospect. He refused to draw up a form of prayer for the success of the Russian arms. 'If,' said he, 'they are really penitent and contrite, let them shut up their places of public amusement for a month, and I will then celebrate public prayers.' His expressions of dislike to the nobles and wealthy classes were strong and singular; as also the manner in which he described the power of an emperor of Russia, the dangers which surround him, and the improbability of any rapid improvement. It would be much better,' said he,' had we a constitution like that of England.' Yet I suspect he does not wish particularly well to us in our war with France.'"-Heber's MS. Journal.

he added another poem of a few lines, on the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea.

He returned from the continent in 1807, and soon afterwards was admitted to holy orders, and inducted into his patrimonial preferment of Hodnet in Shropshire, estimated at £3000 per annum, comprising the estate of his ancestors, which had been held by his father during the last years of his life. The patronage of this living had become vested in his family by a marriage with an heiress of the Vernon family. He now married Amelia, the daughter of Dr. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, and thenceforward willingly devoted himself to the enjoyment of the domestic charities, and to the discharge of those unobtrusive duties which fill up the life of a country clergyman. He was here surrounded by his relatives, and an intelligent and agreeable society. He possessed as many of the ingredients which make up the sum of human happiness as he could desire. The love of fame, however valuable in the eyes of most men, appears never to have had any strong hold upon his feelings, and, at this period, probably had none whatever. His society was indeed courted by the world which he was so

well qualified to attract and gratify; but he had set before himself, in the spirit of the truest and noblest ambition, a course of secret virtue and self-denying diligence, in pursuing which, he rightly estimated, that it was the way to the purest earthly happiness, and that its brilliant termination would be richly worth every sacrifice, should he be called to any, which he could make for it. Devoted to his profession, he considered it his most honourable distinction to become the friend, the pastor, the spiritual guide of those whose spiritual interests had been committed to his charge. "He laboured to accommodate his instructions," says one of his friends, " to the comprehension of all; a labour by no means easy to a mind stored with classic elegance, and an imagination glowing with a thousand images of sublimity and beauty. He rejoiced to form his manners, his habits, and his conversation, to those who were entrusted to his care, that he might gain the confidence and affection of even the poorest among his flock; so that he might more surely win their souls to God, and finally, in the day of the last account, present every man faultless before his presence with exceeding

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