entreated for a few minutes' interview with such importunity
that it was granted to him. On his admission he explained with the
utmost feeling that the object of his visit was to acknowledge the
deepest debt of obligation; "that to her he owed, in the first instance,
that faith and those hopes which were now more precious to him than life
itself; for that it was by reading her poem of 'The Sceptic' he had been
first awakened from the miserable delusion of infidelity and induced to
'search the Scriptures.'" This was not the only time she received a
comforting assurance of this kind with regard to the poem.

The warm friendship of the Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Luxmoore, was a
great boon to Mrs. Hemans. He was always ready with his advice and his
support; and she found them of singular benefit in her comparatively
lonely position. The bishop's palace was like a second home. There she
and her children were always welcome. Of like value was the friendship
of another who was also destined to have a place on the episcopal bench.
Reginald Heber was a frequent visitor at the residence of his
father-in-law, the Dean of St. Asaph. He soon became deeply interested
in the welfare of Mrs. Hemans. She found in him one whose counsel,
especially in literary matters, was of the utmost value. His suggestions
and encouragement supplied just what she wanted. Any one who reads his
hints with regard to her contemplated poem "Superstition and Revelation"
will know how full and painstaking was the trouble he took to assist
his friend.

The design of the poem to which reference has just been made was a grand
one. It is best described in her own words: "Might not a poem of some
extent and importance, if the execution were at all equal to the design,
be produced, from contrasting the spirit and tenets of Paganism with
those of Christianity? It would contain, of course, much classical
allusion; and all the graceful and sportive fictions of ancient Greece
and Italy, as well as the superstitions of more barbarous climes, might
be introduced, to prove how little consolation they could convey in the
hour of affliction, or hope in that of death. Many scenes from history
might be portrayed in illustration of this idea; and the certainty of a
future state, and of the immortality of the soul, which we derive from
revelation, are surely subjects for poetry of the highest class." The
poem was commenced, but never completed. It was pressed out by other
under