CHAPTER XV.

Mr. Reginald Heber appointed Prebendary of St. Asaph—“ The Spring Journey"—" Happiness”—"Carol for May-day”—Ladies' Association at Cornwallis House-Oxlee-" On the Trinity"-Distress in Shropshire-Mr. Nolan-Southey's "History of the Brazils”—Chalmers” “Astronomical Discourses"— Proposed heads of Mr. Reginald Heber's University Sermons"Sketch of the Military and Political Power of Russia"-Typhus fever at IIodnet-Birth of Mr. Reginald Heber's first child --Proposed union between the Society for the propagation of the Gospel and the Church Missionary Society-Changes in Oxford-Death of Mr. Reginald Heber's child. 1817-1818.

IN 1817 the late Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Luxmoore, appointed Mr. Reginald Heber to a stall in that Cathedral, at the request of his father-in-law, the Dean of St. Asaph. His journeys into Wales became, in consequence, more frequent; and as he usually made them on horseback, be beguiled the loneliness of the way with poetical compositions, generally suggested by the scenes around him. From these lighter effusions of his muse the following are selected.

THE SPRING JOURNEY.*

Oh green was the corn as I rode on my way,
And bright were the dews on the blossoms of May,
And dark was the sycamore's shade to behold,
And the oak's tender leaf was of emerald and gold.

The thrush from his holly, the lark from his cloud,
Their chorus of rapture sung jovial and loud;
From the soft vernal sky, to the soft grassy ground,
There was beauty above me, beneath, and around.

* Several of Mr. Reginald Heber's Hymns, and some of his minor compositions, have been set to music by the Rev. W. H. Havergal, for the benefit of different charitable institutions.

The mild southern breeze brought a shower from the hill, And yet, though it left me all dropping and chill,

I felt a new pleasure, as onward I sped,

To gaze where the rainbow gleam'd broad over head.

Oh, such be life's journey, and such be our skill,

To lose in its blessings the sense of its ill;

Through sunshine and shower may our progress be even, And our tears add a charm to the prospect of Heaven!

HAPPINESS.

One morning in the month of May

I wander'd o'er the hill;

Though nature all around was gay,
My heart was heavy still.

Can God, I thought, the good, the great,

These meaner creatures bless,

And yet deny our human state
The boon of happiness?

Tell me, ye woods, ye smiling plains,
Ye blessed birds around,

Where, in creation's wild domains,
Can perfect bliss be found?

The birds wild carroll'd over head,
The breeze around me blew,
And nature's awful chorus said,
No bliss for man she knew!

I question'd love, whose early ray
So heav'nly bright appears;
And love, in answer, seem'd to say,
His light was dimm'd by tears.

I question'd friendship,-friendship mourn'd,
And thus her answer gave:

The friends whom fortune had not turn'd
Were vanished in the grave!

I ask'd of feeling,—if her skill

Could heal the wounded breast?
And found her sorrows streaming still,
For others' griefs distrest.

'HAPPINESS."

I ask'd if vice could bliss bestow?

Vice boasted loud and well:
But, fading, from her pallid brow
The venom'd roses fell.

I question'd virtue,-virtue sigh'd,
No boon could she dispense;
Nor virtue was her name, she cried,
But humble penitence!

I question'd Death,-the grisly shade
Relax'd his brow severe;
And, "I am happiness," he said,
"If virtue guides thee here!"

449

OH for the morning gleam of youth, the half-unfolded flower,
That sparkles in the diamond dew of that serener hour,
What time the broad and level sun shone gaily o'er the sea,
And in the woods the birds awoke to songs of extacy.
The sun, that gilds the middle arch of man's maturer day,
Smites heavy on the pilgrim's head, who plods his dusty way;
The birds are fled to deeper shades-the dewy flowers are dried,
And hope, that with the day was born, before the day has died;
For who can promise to his soul a tranquil eventide?

Yes--though the dew will gleam anew-though from its western sky,
The sun will give as mild a ray as morning could supply-
Though from her tufted thorn again will sing the nightingale,

Yet little will the ear of age enjoy her tender tale;

And night will find us toiling on with joyless travail worn,
For day must pass, and night must come before another morn.

TO A WELCH AIR.

1 mourn not the forest whose verdure is dying;
I mourn not the summer whose beauty is o'er ;

I weep for the hopes that for ever are flying;
I sigh for the aworth that I slighted before ;
And sigh to bethink me how vain is my sighing,
For love, once extinguished, is kindled no more.

VOL. I.-57

The spring may return with his garland of flowers,

And wake to new rapture the bird on the tree;
The summer smile soft through his chrystalline bowers;
The blessings of autumn wave brown o'er the lea;
The rock may be shaken-the dead may awaken,
But the friend of my bosom returns not to me.

I am ashamed to think that so long a time has elapsed without my acknowledging the honour which your ladyship has confer

*The following extract from Mr. Southey's "Colloquies," will explain the nature and objects of the institution to which this letter refers:

LADIES' ASSOCIATION AT CORNWALLIS HOUSE.

451 red on me, both by your obliging letter and your interesting communication through Mr. Stanley. My engagements have been very numerous, and I am, I fear, at best but a negligent correspondent. I can, however, no longer delay offering you my best thanks for the flattering attention which you have paid to my slight hints for the conduct of an institution which bids fair,

"Sir Thomas More.

Methinks it should make a living heart ache to think, whenever this land of credit is shaken by a commercial earthquake, how many a goodly fabric of happiness is laid in ruins; and to know how many women, who have been bred up among all the refinements of affluence, and with the expectation that their fortune was in no danger of any such reverse, are reduced to seek for themselves a scanty and precarious support, by the exercise of those talents which had been cultivated for recreation or for display. * You have no convents,

no religious communities in which such persons may be received and sheltered. * * "Montesinos.-An experiment of this kind has been undertaken; it remains to be seen whether this generation will have the honour of supporting it, or the disgrace of suffering it to fail. That which is most essential, and which might have seemed most difficult to find, was found; an institutress who devotes her fortunes, her influence, and her life, to this generous purpose; and who, to every other advantage, adds that of rank. Her institution has not the sanction only, but the cordial approbation of persons in the highest rank; but efficient patronage is still wanting; nor is it likely to attain that general attention and consequent support which its general utility deserves. The likeliest chance for its being rendered permanent seems to be from posthumous bounty, if some of those persons, (and there are some in every generation,) who bequeath large sums for pious purposes, should perceive that no purpose can be more pious than this.

*

"Sir Thomas More.-There is no endowment, then, for this institution?

"Montesinos.-None. It was hoped that from ten to fifteen thousand pounds might have been raised, which would have sufficed for putting it upon a permanent establishment; but though the queen, and the late princess Charlotte, and the other princesses, contributed to the subscription, not 5000l. were collected; and the experiment could not have been made, had it not been for the support afforded it by the institutress, Lady Isabella King, and by those members who were able to pay a high rent for their apartments;-the scheme being devised for three classes, differing in point of fortune, but upon an equal footing in education, principles and manners. The wealthier members contribute, by their larger payments, to the support of the establishment; the second class pays 501. each, per year, for their apartments and board; and there is a third class who, having no means of their own, though in other respects peculiarly fitted for such an institution, as well as peculiarly in need of such an asylum, are appointed to official situations, with salaries annexed. A school for female orphans, belonging to the same rank of life, is to be engrafted on the scheme whenever funds shall be obtained for it. No habit is worn; the institution has, necessarily, its regulations, to which all the members are expected to conform, but there is nothing approaching to what, in your days, would have been called a rule. It must be needless to say that no vows are required, nor even an engagement for any