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of his congregation, in a discourse which has been repeatedly published, in the close of which he bade them farewell, in the following pious, beautiful, and even eloquent expressions, the universal admiration of which has been amply proved by the frequency with which they have appeared in print: My ministerial labours among you must have an end; I must give over into other hands, the task of watching over your spiritual welfare; and many, very many, of those with whom I have grown up from childhood, in whose society I have passed my happiest days, and to whom it has been, during more than fifteen years, my duty and my delight (with such ability as God has given me) to preach the gospel of Christ, must, in all probability, see my face in the flesh no more.

cumstances, and connected with

Under such cir

many

who now

hear me by the dearest ties of blood, of friendship, and of gratitude, some mixture of regret is excusable, some degree of sorrow is holy. I cannot, without some anxiety for the future, forsake, for an untried and arduous field of duty, the quiet scenes, where, during so much of my past last life, I have enjoyed a more than usual share of earthly

comfort and prosperity; I cannot bid adieu to those with whose idea almost every recollection of past happiness is connected, without many earnest wishes for their welfare, and (I will confess it) without some severe self-reproach, that, while it was in my power, I have done so much less than I ought to have done, to render that welfare eternal. There are, indeed, those here who know, and there is One, above all, who knows better than any of you, how earnestly I have desired the peace and the holiness of his church; how truly I have loved the people of this place; and how warmly I have hoped to be the means, in his hand, of bringing many among you to glory. But I am at this moment but too painfully sensible, that in many things, yea in all, my performance has fallen short of my principles; that neither privately nor publicly have I taught you with so much diligence as now seems necessary in my eyes: nor has my example set forth the doctrines in which I have, however imperfectly, instructed you; yet, if my zeal has failed in steadiness, it never has been wanting in sincerity. I have expressed no conviction which I have not deeply felt; have preached no doctrine

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which I have not steadfastly believed: however inconsistent my life, its leading object has been your welfare-and I have hoped, and sorrowed, and studied, and prayed for your instruction, and that you might be saved. For my labours, such as they were, I have been indeed most richly rewarded, in the uniform affection and respect which I have received from my parishioners; in their regular and increasing attendance in this holy place, and at the table of the Lord; in the welcome which I have never failed to meet in the houses both of rich and poor; in the regret (beyond my deserts, and beyond my fullest expectations) with which my announced departure has been received by you; in your expressed and repeated wishes for my welfare and my return; in the munificent token of your regard, with which I have been this morning honoured;* in your numerous attendance on the present occasion, and in those marks of emotion which I witness around me, and in which I am myself well nigh constrained to join. For

* A piece of plate had been given to Mr. Heber by his parishioners.

all these accept such thanks as I can pay-accept my best wishes-accept my affectionate regrets— accept the continuance of the prayers which I have hitherto offered up for you daily, and in which, whatever and wherever my sphere of duty may hereafter be, my congregation of Hodnet shall (believe it!) never be forgotten."

His consecration to the office of bishop took place in May, 1823. A few days previous to this event, he wrote to a friend in the country: "My consecration is fixed for next Sunday; and, as the time draws near, I feel its awfulness very strongly -far more, I think, than the parting which is to follow a fortnight after. I could wish to have the prayers of my old congregation, but know not how to express the wish in conformity with custom, or without seeming to court notoriety."

Shortly after his consecration, a special meeting of the ancient Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which had for some years been engaged in active benevolent operations in India, and which comprises many of the most eminent members of the Church of England, was called, for the purpose of giving Bishop Heber a public dismissal

and farewell. There were present on this occasion, the archbishop of Canterbury, several of the Bishops, and a large and highly respectable attendance of the fair, the wise, and the pious of the realm. The Bishop of Bristol pronounced a valedictory address to him in the name of that venerable body, at once dignified, impressive, and affectionate. From this address the following passage is extracted, and while it does no more than justice to the motives of Bishop Heber, it will at the same time be gratifying to the reader.

"My Lord-The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge desire to offer to your Lordship their sincere congratulations upon your elevation to the Episcopal See of Calcutta.

"They derive from your appointment to this high office the certain assurance, that all the advantages which they have anticipated from the formation of a Church Establishment in India, will be realized; and that the various plans for the diffusion of true religion among its inhabitants, which have been so wisely laid and so auspiciously commenced by your lamented predecessor, will, under your superintendence and control, advance