CHAPTER VII.

First spot Heber visits in India-His safe arrival at Calcutta-Introduction to lord Amherst-Installation—Preaches his first sermon in India—Immense accumulation of ecclesiastical affairs-Successful efforts to reconcile contending parties—Consecration of churches-Great attention to schools-Their obvious utility-Pleasure he took in his labours, and zeal with which he prosecuted them—Multiplicity of his engagements-His description of Calcutta—Manners and habits of the natives-Bishop's College --Lively interest Heber takes in its completion— Happy effects of his conciliatory spirit-Great want of ministers in Ceylon.

THE first spot on which Heber landed in India was an interesting village on the banks of the Ganges, that had seldom before been visited by Europeans. Here he was invited by the natives to view the pagoda, which they called the temple of Mahadeo. He followed his guides through the beautiful grove which overshadowed their dwellings, by a winding and narrow path, until he arrived at a small building, with three apertures in the front, resembling lancet-windows, in the age of Henry the Second. Ă flight of steps led up to it, where the Brahmin, apparently a most ignorant man, waited to receive him. Of this spot he writes, "I greatly regretted

having no means of drawing a scene so beautiful and interesting: I never recollect having more powerfully felt the beauty of similar objects. The greenhouse-like smell and temperature of the atmosphere which surrounded us, the exotic appearance of the plants and of the people, the verdure of the fields, the dark shadows of the trees, and the exuberant and neglected vigour of the soil, teeming with life and food, neglected, as it were, out of pure abundance, would have been striking under any circumstances; they were still more so to persons just landed, after a three months' voyage; and to me, when associated with the objects which have brought me out to India—the amiable manners and countenances of the people, contrasted with the symbols of their foolish and polluted idolatry, now first before me-impressed me with a very solemn and earnest wish, that I might, in some degree, however small, be enabled to conduce to the spiritual advantage of creatures so goodly, so gentle, and now so misled and blinded."

As the progress of the government yacht up the river was slow, owing to the strength of the opposing current, and the light winds which then prevailed, it was thought desirable to send two bholiahs (large row-boats, with convenient cabins) to convey the bishop and his suite to Calcutta. In these he set out on the following day, October 10th, and had a delightful passage nine miles further up the river. On landing he was conducted to the government-house in the fort, which lord Amherst had kindly assigned for his temporary residence, where he arrived safely in the twilight of the evening, and found a number of native servants in readiness to obey his orders.

Immediately on his arrival, he composed and offered up the following prayer. "Accept, O blessed Lord! my hearty thanks for the protection

which thou hast vouchsafed to me and mine during a long and dangerous voyage, and through many strange and unwholesome climates. Extend to us, I beseech thee, thy fatherly protection and love in the land where we now dwell, and among the perils to which we are now liable. Give us health, strength, and peace of mind. Give us friends in a strange land, and favour in the eyes of those around us. Give us so much of this world's good as thou knowest to be good for us; and be pleased to give us grace to love thee truly, and constantly to praise and bless thee; through thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.”

The house assigned to the bishop, for his present use, was a large and handsome building, situated in the centre of the vast square formed by the fort, the barracks, and other buildings. The square is grassed over, and divided by broad roads of pounded brick, with avenues of tall trees, on which were immense flights of crows: when he arrived, they had scarcely finished their evening concert. In the house was a lofty and well-proportioned hall, forty feet by twenty-five, and a drawing-room of the same length, with six or seven rooms on the same floor; one of which served as a chapel, the others being chiefly appropriated to different offices or lobbies. Suspended from the ceiling of the different apartments were what are termed punkas, consisting of large frames of light wood, covered with cotton, resembling fire-boards, to which cords were attached, and which servants were employed to draw backwards and forwards, to agitate the air and cool the apartments. A number of glass lamps, filled with cocoa-nut oil, were hung round the white and otherwise unadorned walls.

On the 11th of October, 1823, Heber was introduced to the governor-general, lord Amherst, who accompanied him to the cathedral, where the ceremony of

the bishop's installation was performed. The day following, being Sunday, he preached his first sermon in India, to a good congregation, in the cathedral.

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Heber now entered upon the important business that devolved upon him; and when he came to look into it, such was the state of its affairs, that he felt almost alarmed at the immense accumulation of ecclesiastical matters that required to be immediately settled. He however applied to it with the utmost diligence and perseverance, and thus brought it, before long, into something like a manageable compass. In one of his letters he writes: My situation here is extremely pleasant, as pleasant as it can be at a distance from such friends as I have left behind; and I have a field of usefulness before me, so vast that my only fear is, lest I should lose my way in it. The attention and the kindness of the different members of the government, and the hospitality of the society at Calcutta, have been every thing we could wish, and more. The arrears of business which I have to encounter, though great, and some of a vexatious nature, are such as I can now see my way through. My own health, and the health of my wife and child, have rather improved than otherwise since our landing; and the climate, now that we have lofty rooms, and the means of taking exercise at proper times of the day, is any thing but intolerable. On the whole, you will judge, from my description, that I have abundant reason to be satisfied with my present comforts and my future prospects; and that, in the field which seems open to me for extensive usefulness and active employment, I have more and more reason to be obliged to the friend who has placed me here."

One of the first things that required Heber's attention, and for which, indeed, he was admirably qualified, was that of reconciling contending parties,

and making peace between those with whom no strife or divisions ought to have existed. A dispute had unhappily arisen between the Rev. Mr. Davis, the senior chaplain in the Bombay establishment, and the Rev. Dr. Barnes, the archdeacon of Bombay; the former having refused to permit the latter to occupy his pulpit so frequently as he desired. This refusal created a most unpleasant discussion, which could only be set at rest by an appeal to their new diocesan. A large parcel of papers, from the archdeacon, relative to this affair, was handed to the bishop very shortly after his arrival, who, though surrounded by a press of other matters not less important, attempted immediately to heal the breach, and happily his efforts proved completely successful.

Instead of issuing an authoritative mandate, he preferred the more Christian, and not less effective method of writing to Mr. Davis, who appeared to be the aggressing party, a long letter, in which he entered fully into the details of the case, concluding with the following admirable remarks: “I entreat you, as your fellow-labourer in the Lord, as your spiritual father, (however unworthy the name,) Ì advise, exhort, and admonish you, that you no longer seek to narrow the usefulness and impede the labours of your brother; that you no longer continue to offer to the heathen, and those who differ from our church, the spectacle of a clergy divided among themselves, and a minister in opposition to his spiritual superiors; but that you recal your unguarded words; that you recollect your ordination engagement; and even if you are still unconvinced as to the full extent of the claims which your archdeacon and your diocesan have over you, that you would be ready to abandon, for the sake of peace, some little of your supposed independence, and rather endure a wrong than violate a charity. It is my duty to re