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anxiety for your eternal welfare to a friend of mine, he always said, in allusion to the story of Monica, the mother of St. Augustine,- Go home, and make yourself easy, the child of those tears and prayers can never perish.' Now, my dear, when God has removed me, imitate St. Augustine's behaviour after the death of Monica; do not be dejected, think of the happiness I shall then be enjoying, and say, as he said, when some wondered at his cheerfulness, My mother is not a woman to be lamented.'

We might add that this admirable woman's conduct was equally exemplary as a daughter; she constantly attended on her father, who lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven. He was much prejudiced against her religious principles, but was won to her belief by her consistent conduct; and, on his death-bed, he regretted ever having opposed her, and acknowledged his sense of her filial duty and love.

MRS. HEBER,

MOTHER OF BISHOP HEBER.

MARY ALLANSON, the second wife of Reginald Heber, was the daughter of Dr. Cuthbert Allanson, Rector of Wrath, in Yorkshire. Mrs. Heber had one son named Richard, by his first marriage, and a second family of two sons and one daughter, Reginald, who was born April 21st, 1783. Thomas, Cuthbert, and Mary. The Heber family appears to have been of considerable antiquity in the county of York. Like many other gifted individuals, Reginald Heber had a constitution of great delicacy. When four years old, he was afflicted with a dangerous pulmonary complaint, which it was expected he would never recover from, and even at that time he suffered severely from those inflammatory complaints to which, through his life, he had a tendency. In his sixth year he was seized with typhus fever, and his life was again despaired of. It pleased God, however, to answer the earnest prayers of his parents for his recovery, and he was once more raised up and restored to his customary state of health. At a very early age he was remarkable for the patience with which he submitted to the severe remedies which were several times prescribed to save his life, When

only two years old, having a severe attack of hooping cough, the physician ordered him to be bled; which operation he endured with surprising fortitude. On one occasion, seeing his mother in great alarm, he, "with a trust,

says his biographer, "which might have done honour to a person of advanced life, remarked, 'Do not be afraid, mother, God will take care of us.'

Both parents being pious, we scarcely need say that their children were religiously educated. When Reginald was only five years old, he could read the Bible with ease and fluency; indeed he was a great reader when very young, and especially fond of poetry. The sublime poetry of the Bible particularly attracted his attention, and his memory was so excellent that he could refer to almost any passage in the Holy Scriptures, when asked, with great readiness and accuracy. His knowledge was not, however, confined to the head. There is every reason to believe it was, by the Divine blessing on these early instructions, received into his heart; for when very young he had a deep sense of the importance of prayer, and would engage in it with an earnestness and frequency very unusual. His reverence for the Word of God was so great, and he had become so habituated to reading it regularly when at home, that when he was sent to school he still made it his daily and constant companion, never allowing anything to interfere with this practice. One day when he was at home, his mother missed her Companion to the Altar, and enquiries were made for it among the servants. It was, however, nowhere to be found for a period of three weeks, when Mrs. Heber, happening to mention her lost book to Reginald, he immediately

brought it to her, saying that he had made himself perfectly acquainted with its contents, which had deeply interested him, adding an earnest request that she would allow him to go with her when the sacrament was next administered. Mrs. Heber was so affected at this indication of piety in her son, who was then only fourteen, that she burst into tears of joy, and, as may be supposed, cheerfully consented to his request.

The biography of Bishop Heber gives us several records of his filial piety. Indeed, these instances are nearly all we can glean from his after life concerning his mother; but they are highly interesting, and not only prove that his affection for her was strong, but that she took an active part in furthering his studies. In a letter to a friend whilst at Brazen Nose College, Oxford, he writes

"My father and mother came up with me here, and go away to-morrow. I have just been agreeably surprised by the sudden arrival of my brother Richard. He stayed with me only an instant, and set off to the King's Arms to my father and mother. I would fain have gone with him, but it is past nine and the gates are shut."

Having written his prize poem on "Palestine," and recited it in public, on which occasion his father, then in his seventy-fifth year, was present, he withdrew from the applause which met him at every turn, and sought the solitude of his own chamber, there on his knees to return thanks to God for the assistance He had graciously condescended to afford him on the occasion. After seeking for him in vain among his acquaintances, his mother,

who was impatient to mingle her congratulations with those of others, found him there thus piously employed. We may imagine her feelings, and that her heart offered up its grateful incense for the blessing she possessed in such a son.

A few months subsequently to this period, the young man was called to attend the dying bed of his beloved father, and also to do his utmost to alleviate the deep affliction of his devoted maternal parent, who had watched the invalid, under a most distressing and painful malady, without exchanging her clothes for some weeks. Mr. Heber died, supported by those christian principles which had been his guide through life.

At the age of twenty-four, Reginald Heber, after mature deliberation and earnest prayer for Divine direction, took orders and became Rector of the living of Hodnet, in the county of Salop. Here he laboured indefatigably to promote the best interests of his parishioners, for nearly sixteen years. At this time the appointment to the See of Calcutta was offered him; and after some considerable delay and hesitation, connected with prayer, he accepted it, deeming, at length, that it was the will of God that he should do so. This hesitation did not arise from any personal shrinking from the dangers and difficulties which such a post would involve, but on grounds of consideration regarding the effects the climate would be likely to have on the health of his wife and daughter. He would not, moreover, act in a matter of so much importance without the concurrence of his beloved and now aged mother, who, with his sister, resided in the immediate neighbourhood of

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