On Sunday, the 15th day of February, the day after Mr. Stevens's burial, his intimate and affectionate friend, the Rev. Mr. Prince, in the chapel of the Magdalen Hospital, of which charity Mr. Stevens had acted on the Committee for many years, in a sermon on the text of St. Paul', "That ye sorrow not even as others, which have no hope," introduced a very just and affecting eulogium upon the religious character and conduct of his dear, departed friend; and as is usual with that excellent person, he endeavoured to enforce upon his hearers the necessity of following the steps of this bright example in the paths of virtue and holiness. He thus concludes this animated discourse ::

"His body is at peace, and his spirit returned unto God who gave it; he is gone to his grave, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season. It is ours, who knew, and loved, and revered him, to imitate, far as we are able, the pattern he hath left behind; by a life of faith and holiness, of piety and charity, and of active, cheerful benevolence; discharging the duties of our respective stations well; using this world, as not abusing it; doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. So whensoever it shall please the Almighty to call us hence, Death will not find us unprepared; but we shall have hope in our death: and when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, we shall be ever with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words!"

9 1 Thess. iv. 13.

11 Cor. vii. 31. Micah vi. 8. 2 1 Thess. iv. 16.

It might be supposed that one of such extensive benevolence, and whom Providence had blessed with temporal prosperity, would, being a bachelor, have left large sums by his will for charitable uses. But this was not the case. His conduct was formed upon principle; and he had often said, and acted upon that opinion, that charity is a personal grace; and that if a man has exercised that virtue during his life, and also carries on his benefactions by will, he deprives his successors of the means of exercising those virtues as he has done; and thus prevents them from showing themselves to be good stewards of the bounties of heaven. Accordingly, except two legacies, one of four thousand pounds stock, and another of two hundred pounds sterling, one of which lapsed by the death of the individual before him, he left the whole of his fortune to his first cousin, the Rev. William Horne, Rector of Otham, in the county of Kent, the brother of the venerable Prelate so often referred to in the course of this work.

I have now completed, though not in a manner equal to my own wishes, or to the deserts of him whose life is recorded, what I had determined with myself to perform. Some may have attained to equal degrees of excellence; few have begun their course of virtue and religion so early; few have continued it so uniformly; and few in the private walk of life exercised virtuous dispositions and principles to so great an extent. From his earliest youth to the age of seventy-five, the life of Mr. Stevens exhibited an uniform series of undissembled

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146 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM STEVENS, ESQ.

piety and pure Christian charity. His erudition was solid and various, and his mind was directed principally to the cultivation of sacred learning, though it delighted itself continually with whatever was admirable in literature; and the freshness of his intellectual enjoyments accompanied him to the last. He was a true member of the Church of England, whose institutions and discipline he well understood, and whose worship, to the close of his life, he regularly attended. His memory will remain for the benefit of those who survive, as one whose piety and obedience to his Maker were zealous and stedfast, whose faith in his Redeemer was pure and unshaken, and whose charity and good-will to man-grounded on the only solid principle, love to God-were extensive and universal.

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace3." May all who knew this proficient in the art of holy living, and all, into whose hands this account may fall, profit by such an example; may they live the life of the righteous, assured that to live as he did is the only method of acquiring a well-founded confidence that their last end shall be like his!

3 Ps. xxxvii. 37.

APPENDIX.

No. I. (See p. 7.)

THE following excellent observations on Confirmation by Mr. STEVENS are now printed for the first time. They appear to have been drawn up for the use of his young friend Jane Hookham (afterwards married to John Frere, Esq.), among whose papers they have been preserved.

ON CONFIRMATION.

The Apostle to the Hebrews (ch. vi. 2), enumerating the general fundamental principles of Christianity, in which Christians are equally concerned, and which all ought equally to observe, mentions the laying on of hands as one of them. It is reckoned next after Baptism in these words, the doctrine of Baptisms, and the laying on of hands, which must needs imply that it is a rite as universal in its observation as Baptism itself, and in order of time after it; and, as such, it can only be applied to imposition of hands in Confirmation, which was always used after Baptism as a solemn rite or ceremony for conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I. This Ordinance of Confirmation by imposition of hands is an Apostolic institution. This is evident from Scripture. For (Acts viii. 12) when the Apostles

who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, and were baptized, both men and women, they sent unto them Peter and John: who when they were come, prayed and laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost. So St. Paul, having met twelve disciples at Ephesus, after they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, laid his hands upon them, and the Holy Ghost came on them (Acts xix. 1-6). And the same may likewise be proved from reason; for that which the universal Church did always hold and practise, and was never instituted by Councils, but has always been retained in all Christian Churches (as the observation of the Lord's day), could be of no institution but the Apostles'; but Confirmation by imposition of hands was always held and practised in the universal Church, before the Reformation; and was never instituted by any Council since the Apostles' time; and therefore it must needs be of Apostolical, and by consequence of Divine institution.

II. The Apostles were, and their successors the Bishops are, the proper ministers of it. This is evident from the history of the Samaritan disciples. For by the ministry of Philip they had received Baptism, but they could not receive from him the Holy Ghost; for as yet (saith the text, Acts viii. 16) the Holy Ghost was fallen upon none of them, only they were Baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; but when the Apostles Peter and John came and laid their hands upon them, then they received the Holy Ghost. And in conformity to this example of the Apostles, who needed not to have sent Peter and John to lay their hands upon the disciples, if Philip could