Volume 2 > Half-Volume 4

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dislike to Rodney, because he was a Tory, so that
he was fully seconded by only five or six ships. Of
these the Elizabeth, in which Heriot served as a
subaltern officer of marines, was one; and in the
unequal contest, in which his ship bore up against
two of the enemy, he was among the wounded.
During the same year, having exchanged into the
Brune frigate of thirty-two guns, he was exposed off
the coast of Barbadoes to that tremendous hurricane
of the 10th of October, 1780, by which the island
was so fearfully devastated, and nearly reduced to
ruin. So imminent was the danger to which the
Brune was exposed on this occasion, that Heriot
ever afterwards commemorated the return of that
day as one of solemn festival and devout gratitude.
After continuing in the service till the peace of 1783,
Mr. Heriot, in consequence of the general reduction,
retired with the rank and half-pay of a first lieu-
tenant, after he had been afloat five years.
On coming ashore Heriot found that his life was
to be commenced anew. Upon this occasion his
first proceeding was one of such filial piety as to
insure him both long life and success in whatever
career he might select; he mortgaged his half-pay
that he might assist his parents in their reduced cir-
cumstances, although he thereby left himself wholly
destitute. Having learned no regular occupation
before he went to sea, and having now neither time
nor means for such a purpose, he proceeded to turn
such scholarship and experience as he had acquired
to their best account, by becoming author ; and for
several years his life was that precarious scramble to
which authorship is often doomed before it attains its
proper footing. Among his attempts in this way he
wrote a poem entitled Sorrows of the Heart, and two
novels, one of which, entitled the Half-pay Officer,
contained an account of several adventures in which
he had been personally engaged; and from the profits
of these works he contrived to subsist nearly two
years. His next occupation was that of journalism,
and he was employed in the Oracle, until a mis-
understanding with the proprietor occurred, when
he removed his services into the World, of which
he became sole editor. This World, however, was
so completely a falling one, that no literary Atlas
could have propped it up; and in a short time he
was glad to escape from the burden. Still it was
fortunate that while journalism was now obtaining
that ascendency which the keen and public discussion
of great political questions had occasioned, Heriot,
by practice, had become an able journalist. His
support was therefore worth having; and being a
stanch Conservative, and opposed to the over-liberal
opinions which the French revolution had engen-
dered in Britain, it was natural that the officers of
government should secure the services of such an
efficient advocate. Accordingly, one of the secre-
taries of the treasury, who admired his talents, pro-
posed that he should start a daily paper, while two
other influential government functionaries engaged
to support it with funds from their own pockets.
Thus assisted, Mr. Heriot, on the 1st of October,
1792, issued the first number of the Sun, a daily
paper that soon outstripped its contemporaries in
the rapidity and wideness of its circulation. Ani-
mated by this success, he also started, on the 1st of
January, 1793, a daily morning paper called the
True Briton, and continued to edit both journals
with great success until 1806, when he was relieved
from this oppressive double labour by being ap-
pointed a commissioner of the lottery. Even while
employed in superintending his two daily newspapers,
he gave, in 1798, a proof of his indefatigable industry
and application, by publishing an interesting account
of the battle of the Nile, drawn up from the minutes
of an officer of rank in the squadron, which passed
through several editions.
After this the career of Mr. Heriot was one of
honour, profit, and comfort. In 1809 he was ap-
pointed deputy-paymaster to the troops in the Wind-
ward and Leeward Islands, where he resided till 1816,
and discharged the duties of the office so much to
the satisfaction of the Duke of York, that at his
return to England he was appointed comptroller of
Chelsea Hospital. In this tranquil situation he re-
mained till his death, which occurred on the 29th of
July, 1833
HERON", ROBERT, a miscellaneous writer, was
born in the town of New Galloway, on the 6th
November, 1764. His father, John Heron, was a
weaver, generally respected for his persevering in-
dustry and exemplary piety. By his grandmother,
Margaret Murray, aunt of Dr. Alexander Murray,
he claimed no very distant relationship to that
profound philologist. He was early instructed in
his letters under the careful eye of a fond parent,
and was not sent to the school of the parish until he
had reached his ninth year. He soon became re-
markable for the love he showed for learning, and
the unwearied anxiety with which he pursued his
inquiries after every point connected with his studies.
This being early perceived by his parents, they re-
solved to give him the benefit of a liberal education
as far as their means would allow. He had scarcely
remained two years at school when, at the age of
eleven, he contrived to maintain and educate himself
by mingling with his studies the labour of teaching
and writing. From his own savings out of a very
limited income, and a small assistance from his
parents, he was enabled to remove to the university
of Edinburgh at the end of the year 1780.
His hopes of preferment at that time being cen-
tered in the church, he first applied himself to the
course of study which that profession requires. While
attending the college he was still obliged to devote a
considerable portion of his time to private teaching,
as well as writing occasional essays for newspapers
and magazines, in order to provide for his subsistence.
To quote his own words, "he taught and assisted
young persons at all periods in the course of educa-
tion, from the alphabet to the highest branches of
science and literature." Being well grounded in a
knowledge of the French language, he found con-
stant employment from booksellers in translating
foreign works. His first literary production pub-
lished with his name appeared in 1789, A Critique
on the Genius and Writings of Thomson, prefixed to
a small edition of the Seasons. It was highly spoken
of, and reflected much credit on the judgment and
taste of the author. His next work was a version
of Fourcroy's Chemistry, from the French, followed
by Salary's Travels in Greece, Dumourier's Letters,
Gesner's Idyls in part, an abstract of Zimmerman on
Solitude, and several abridgments of Oriental Tales.
In 1790-1 he says he "read lectures on the law
of nature, the law of nations�the Jewish, Grecian,
Roman, feudal, and canon law�and then on the
several forms of municipal jurisprudence established
in modern Europe;"�these lectures, he says, were to
assist gentlemen who did not study professionally
in the understanding of history. Though he devoted
much time and study to prepare these lectures, he
was afterwards unfortunate in not being able to ob-
tain a sufficient audience to repay him for their com-
position�they were consequently soon discontinued.
A syllabus of the entire course was afterwards pub-
lished. Still the sums of money he continued to