boy of twelve years old. Lord Amherst, in addition to these splendid robes, placed a large diamond aigrette in his turban, and tied a string of valuable pearls round his neck, then gave him a small bottle of attar of roses, and a lump of pawa, or betel, wrapped up in a plaintain leaf.

'Next came forward the "vakeel" or envoy of the Maharajah Scindeah; also a boy, self-possessed and dandy-looking. His khelât and presents were a little less splendid than those of his precursor.

6

Then followed Oude, Nagpoor, Nepaul, each followed by their vakeels; and each in turn was honoured by similar, but less splendid, marks of attention.

'The next was a Persian Khân-a fine militarylooking man, rather corpulent, and of a complexion not differing from that of a Turk, or other southern European-with a magnificent black beard, and a very pleasing and animated address.

'On the whole, it was a striking and interesting sight, though less magnificent than I had expected; and less so, I think, than the levee of a European monarch.

'The sameness of the greater part of the dresses (white muslin) was not sufficiently relieved by the splendour of the few khelâts; and even these, which were of gold and silver brocade, were eclipsed by the scarlet and blue uniforms, gold lace and feathers of the English.'

Such were Heber's first impressions of native magnificence.

He looked on outward show with the dispassionate judgement of one who saw beneath it all the ignorance

prejudice, and degraded state of the natives, and the fatal mode of government pursued by the English rulers.

How he must have contrasted the scene, with his far different mode of life at Hodnet, or his boyhood at school.

In the April of this year, 1824, Heber entered his forty-second year, and in the following June started on his first visitation to the Upper Provinces. He determined to let nothing deter him from a rigid investigation of the diocese, and would willingly have travelled quite unattended except by his chaplains and interpreter. This, however, was considered unsuitable to his position; as that of the bishop was very properly considered one of the four highest posts in India. His course was to be conducted chiefly by water, in a simple Bengalee bark.

The decks of these rude but fast sailing little boats, are made entirely of bamboo; and a kind of cottage or cabin, chiefly made of cane and straws, forms the sleeping-room, kitchen, and dining-room for the whole party who travel by them.

The boatmen guide the bark from an upper deck, that is raised six or seven feet above the roof of the cabin, which would not otherwise be strong enough to sustain their weight. Their oars are merely long bamboos, with circular ends. In such a rough dangerous-looking conveyance did Heber begin his long and arduous travels.

He went first to Benares, which he describes as more entirely oriental than any place he had hitherto visited. Here he appointed more missionaries, and was pleased to find from the information given him by

the various English officials, that in a great measure the Anti-Christian prejudices were yielding to the efforts of those missionaries already appointed among them.

Many of the children educated at the native schools of Benares had voluntarily asked for baptism; and even those among them who had not been baptized, used the Lord's Prayer. All this was, as far as it went, cheering; but Heber's active mind was not satisfied with only leaving the work to go on as it had begun.

He wrote to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; and, through the adoption of his able suggestions, conversions have greatly increased in Benares.

From Benares to Allahabad, onwards towards Cawnpore, the Bishop continued his journey, two hundred miles farther on by means of the same mighty river, till he arrived at the latter town.

He frequently landed at the villages they passed on their route, not only to answer the calls of his episcopal duties, but to indulge some fallen Rajah with a visit from the Lord Sahib Bishop.'

His kindness of heart led him never to omit paying due respect to these fallen princes, many of whom were in a state of extreme poverty.

He was startled one day by a request from a Brahmin of high rank, and a very learned man, for an interview, which, of course, was granted. The aged Brahmin respectfully entreated to be instructed by the 'Sahib Bishop' in the Christian religion; and Heber had the satisfaction of afterwards baptizing so eminent a convert before he left Cawnpore.

Heber's visitation satisfied him that the places he went to were good fields for Christian teachers. The parents of native children, even when not favourably inclined to their offspring becoming Christians, seemed indifferent to any form of prayer, as long as they never sat with pariahs or Christians; they allowed them to pray with Christians, but if they were baptized they lost caste.

At Benares, Chunur, Merut, and Agra, the liturgy of the Church of England was performed, translated into Hindostanee; and the Bishop preached to those · congregations, encouraging the members of them to persevere in all their exertions.

He established missions wherever he went; and the first place, after Benares, to have that privilege bestowed on it was Boglipore.

Though the Bishop considered this journey in the light of a visitation, and that of a strictly religious nature, he studied the native character, and seemed to have formed a favourable idea of it. He did not consider that the Hindus deserved the imbecile character often assigned them, at the same time that his quick perception of character taught him, how varied were the native attributes among each different tribe and race, and how much a better and more intimate knowledge of them was required than was possessed by their rulers at that time.

The most important thing, he thought, was to give them a better religion.

Writing home to a friend, he says:

"Of all idolatries which I have ever read or heard of, the religion of the Hindus, in which I have taken some pains to inform myself, really seems to me the worst!'

How little did he dream when writing these words, in the heart of Oude in 1825, that, thirty years later, sickening and horrible atrocities would be committed in that very province under pretext of the idolatrous faith he was condemning!

From Bombay, which he reached by slow degrees, he paid a visit to the Island of Ceylon. The beauty of its deep rapid clear rivers, well-dressed lawns, cocoa palms, and plants of all hues, struck Heber with amazement and delight. To quote from a writer, describing Heber's visit to Ceylon:

"The picture, though, has its deep shadows. Along the borders of those romantic streams there lurks an air that no man can breathe long and live; a fact the more remarkable, as the tanks or standing pools of the same country are said to exhale an atmosphere of health, and to one of these Kandy has been supposed to owe its comparative salubrity.'

Heber was pleased to find, that the prejudice of caste was less marked in Ceylon than on the continent of India; and he established and confirmed the.. efforts of those English missionaries already in the island.

On the 15th of October, 1825, he once more rejoined his family, after a fifteen months' separation, sorely felt by his affectionate spirit. After a year spent in works of conversion and usefulness, in Calcutta, he set off once more, this time to Madras.

His progress between Madras and Trichinopoly was, as had been his visitation to Oude, distinguished by the earnest and indefatigable manner in which he endeavoured to perform the duties entrusted to him, so as best to aid the cause of conversion among the Hindus.