HEBER HEMANS. 



513 



late lord Colchester. Whilst resident there as a 

 student, he had become a great admirer of parlia- 

 mentary oratory : and on any great question aris- 

 ing, was often known to leave the university at 

 mid-day, to be present at the contests of Pitt, Fox, 

 Burke, &c., generally returning to Oxford on the 

 following day. He thus became conspicuous 

 among his contemporaries as a warm politician ; 

 and he is supposed to have early formed the desire 

 to become one of the representatives of the uni- 

 versity, which was at length accomplished in 1821, 

 He died unmarried, at Pimlico, Oct. 4, 1833. 



Mr Heber's station in life, his easy fortune, his 

 gentlemanly manners, literary acquirements, and 

 agreeable conversation, caused his society to be 

 courted at this time by all ranks ; and few men 

 could boast so extensive and valuable a circle of 

 friends and acquaintances, among whom were 

 many of the statesmen, wits, and chief literary and 

 scientific characters of the day. The best testi- 

 mony, however, to the estimation in which he was 

 held is contained in the beautiful lines addressed 

 to him by Sir Walter Scott, in the introduction to 

 the sixth canto of his " Marmion." 



Mr Heber was tall, strong, and well made ; and, 

 until his health was impaired, had the appearance 

 of a person likely to live to an advanced age. In 

 person and features he was not very unlike his 

 brother, the bishop of Calcutta, though he was 

 considerably taller, and better looking. He was 

 very near-sighted. His address and manners were 

 extremely courteous and gentlemanly. His cheer- 

 fulness and the charms of his conversation, which 

 he knew well to adapt to please all ranks and 

 ages, and supplied with a fund of amusing anec- 

 oote, rendered him a most acceptable and delight- 

 ful companion. In addition to Greek and Latin, 

 he acquired the Italian and French languages ; and 

 had some little knowledge of the Spanish and Por- 

 tuguese. Besides the editions of Silius Italicus, 

 and Claudian, already noticed, he superintended 

 the publication of the third edition of " Ellis's 

 Specimens of the English Poets," which was re- 

 modelled and greatly improved from his rich and 

 unrivalled collection of old poetry. His valuable 

 dramatic collection was ever in the hands of the 

 late Mr Gifford, while he was editing Jonson, Mas- 

 singer,, and Ford. He also published an edition of 

 Brewster's Translation of Persius, with the Latin 

 text. These constitute, so far as is known, the 

 extent of his literary labours ; but he has left be- 

 hind him a vast monument of his industry, in the 

 catalogue and collections of a great portion of his 

 library. 



His mania for book collecting commenced, as 

 we have said, at an early period of life ; and at 

 every sale he was a great purchaser. His library 

 contained many pf the principal treasures possessed 

 by the late Dr Farmer, Isaac Reed, J. Brand, 

 George Steevens, the duke of Roxburgh, James 

 Bindley, Benj. Heath, J. Kerry, Gilb. Wakefield, 

 J. Kemble, E. Malone, R. Wilbraham, J. Dent, 

 Dr Gosset, Sir M. M. Sykes, &c. He collected 

 with great avidity the manuscript as well as the 

 printed works of the early English poets ; and was 

 well acquainted with their contents and merits. 

 He was very nearly becoming the purchaser of Mr 

 Jean Francois Vandevelde's entire collection, 

 which was sold at Ghent, contained in 14,000 

 lots ; arid he purchased an entire library of 

 30,000 volumes at Paris. He was in constant 

 communication with most of the old booksellers in 



VII. 



every city and town of the united kingdom ; and 

 those that periodically published catalogues fre- 

 quently sent the sheets to Mr Heber by the post, as 

 they were printed. On hearing of a curious book> 

 he has been known to put himself into the mail 

 coach, and travel three, four, or five hundred miles 

 to obtain it, fearful to intrust his commission to a 

 letter. Nor was it in English literature alone that 

 his stores were extensive. His collection of Greek 

 and Latin classics, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, 

 and French, very far exceeded any that ever was 

 made by a private individual. His collection of 

 Mexican books was singular indeed. He had an in- 

 superable objection to books printed on large paper, 

 because they occupied so much room on his shelves. 

 Some years before his death he built a library at 

 his house at Hodnet, which he is said to have filled. 

 His residence in Pimlico, where he died, was filled 

 like Magliabechi's at Florence, with books from 

 the top to the bottom every chair, every table, 

 every passage, containing piles of erudition. He 

 had another house in York Street, leading to 

 Great James Street, Westminster, laden from the 

 ground floor to the*garret with curious books. He 

 had a library in the High Street, Oxford, an im- 

 mense library at Paris, another at Antwerp, ano- 

 ther at Brussels, another at Ghent, and at other 

 places in the Low Countries and in Germany. In 

 short, there was neither end nor measure to his 

 literary stores. 



HEMANS, MRS, a favourite modern poetess, 

 was born in Duke Street, Liverpool, on the 25th 

 Sept. 1794. Her maiden name was Felicia Doro- 

 thea Browne. Her father, a merchant in Liver- 

 pool, was a native of Ireland ; her mother was a 

 German lady, a Miss Wagner, but descended from 

 some Venetian family, a circumstance which Mrs 

 Hemans would playfully mention as accounting for 

 the strong tinge of poetry and romance which per- 

 vaded her character from earliest childhood. When 

 very young, some embarrassments took place in 

 her father's affairs, which caused him to remove 

 his family to Denbighshire, in North Wales. They 

 here inhabited an old and spacious mansion (called 

 Grwych or Griech) lying close to the sea.-shore, 

 and in front shut in by a chain of rocky hills. Her 

 residence in this wild solitude, appears to have ex- 

 ercised a similar influence in developing the poeti- 

 cal tendencies of Felicia's mind, as the Highland 

 hills exerted on the youthful genius of Byron. So 

 early as the age of nine she composed some pieces 

 which were published, with others of a little later 

 composition, in 1808. At the date of this publi- 

 cation the authoress was under fourteen years of 

 age, and her ardent sensitive spirit was so much 

 affected by an unkind criticism which appeared, 

 that she took to bed, and could not raise her 

 drooping head for several days. The chastening, 

 however, was probably of service in showing 

 her the necessity of maturing her efforts by study 

 and meditation. Her second production, entitled 

 " Domestic Affections," appeared in 1812, and ex- 

 hibited a progressive ripening of her powers. In 

 the same year she was married to Captain Hemans. 

 " This union (says her biographer, Mr Chorley) 

 may be said to have closed, shortly before the 

 birth of a fifth son, by a protracted separation." 

 Several causes are said to have operated in lead- 

 ing to this unpleasing event. Captain Heman's 

 health had been injured by his military career, so 

 much as to render it necessary for him to exchange 

 his native climate for the milder skies of Italy. It 



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