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 the inimitable person whose life is recorded, what I had determined with myself to perform: namely, to give a true and accurate account of a man, as extraordinary for virtuous attainments, as any that has ever been offered for public observation. Some may have attained to equal degrees of excellence; but 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 have taken the opportunity of exercising virtuous propensities to so great an extent. It appears that from his earliest youth to the age of seventy-five, the life of Mr. Stevens exhibited an uniform series of undissembled 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 vigour of his intellectual enjoyments accompanied him to the last. He was a true member of the Church of England, whose institutions and discipline he thoroughly understood, and whose worship, to the very close of his life, he most conscientiously attended. His memory will remain for the benefit of those who survive, as a man whose piety and obedience to his Maker were zealous, whose faith in his Redeemer was pure and unshaken, and whose charity and good-will to man, from 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 peace." May all who knew this great master in the art of holy living,

and all, into whose hands this account shall fall, profit by such an example; may they live the life of this righteous man, assured that living as he did is the only method of acquiring a well founded confidence that their last end shall be like his!

POSTSCRIPT.

WHILE the Third Edition of this Work is passing through the press, the excellent person so often mentioned in it, and who attended the death-bed of Mr. Stevens, and administered the consolations of religious devotion to him at that awful hour, as far as a layman could administer them*, himself departed this life on the 30th of June, 1823, in the 79th year of his age, full of piety and good works. In contemplating the lives of these two very exemplary Christians, it is impossible not to trace in them the most exactly similar conduct-the same pursuits, the same course of studies, the same deep and unfeigned devotion and piety towards God, without the least tincture of fanaticism or enthusiasm, the same indefatigable zeal and labour, willingly, generally, and voluntarily undertaken, and cheerfully performed, in the service of their friends, and the same unbounded liberality and extensive charity, on the purest Christian motives, towards their fellow creatures in general.

Bred to the profession of the law, but disliking its practice and the exercise of it, Mr. Bowdler early quitted London, as the place of his residence, and retired to a small distance from the metropolis. But not to a life of sloth and inactivity; for no man was more actively alive to the promotion of every pious and charitable work, which could advance the interests of the Church of England, the

See ante, p. 126.

Episcopal Church of Scotland, or which could benefit either the souls or bodies of mankind.

To the Scottish Episcopal Church, and to her poor, but pure members, his liberality flowed in copious streams; and only three weeks before his death, his regard for that depressed portion of the Church of Christ was shewn in a beautiful paper, dictated by himself, in which he earnestly recommends her cause to those who can assist her by their bounty; and to those also who, having neither silver or gold to bestow, could still, by their influence, afford her their countenance and support.

His earnest and unwearied zeal for the Church of England was proved by his constant attendance upon her ministrations twice every Sunday, frequently at weekly prayers, never missing the Holy Sacrament; by his zeal in support of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge; that for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts; and the National Society for the Education of the Poor, in the Principles of the Established Church.

But that object which had engaged his anxious and unwearied diligence for many years, which lay near his heart, and which, thank God, he lived to see accomplished, is that which I am about to mention. He was of opinion that the increase of sectarism was to be attributed greatly to the want of accommodation in our churches, both for rich and poor, but particularly for the latter; and he, and many of his friends, were satisfied that the attachment of the great body of the people of England to the Church was so great, that nothing but necessity drove them from it, into those places erected speedily, and at small cost, by the Dis

senters.

Many meetings were accordingly held by Mr. Bowdler and his friends on this important subject; but when once a glimmering of light appeared, I need hardly say with what indefatigable industry

his pious soul pursued it, till he saw the Society formed for the Building and Enlargement of Churches and Chapels, to which he constantly devoted his time and money, till he lived to hear, that additional accommodation was already provided by its exertions, for above 80,000 persons, of whom above 60,000 were to be those indigent people who could not afford to pay any thing for their accommodation; and till he lived also to see one million of money granted by parliament for the same glorious purpose; and Churches erecting (many of which are already finished) not only in the metropolis, but all over the kingdom, in those places where necessity most required the assistance granted.

Of the estimation in which Mr. Bowdler was held for his important merits in this great concern, an opinion may be formed from the following document passed at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Building and Enlarging Churches and Chapels, on the 22d May, 1823, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury in the chair, surrounded by a number of Prelates, and distinguished individuals, both of the. Clergy and Laity: "Resolved unanimously, that we deeply deplore the absence, in consequence of severe illness, of John Bowdler, Esq. one of our original and most valuable Members, whose constant attendance upon the Meetings of the Society, while health enabled him, evidenced the high sense he entertained of its great importance, in the promotion of the best interests of true Religion." This resolution was ordered to be communicated to Mr. Bowdler, and his Grace the Lord Archbishop was requested to enclose it in a letter from himself; a request, with which his Grace most cheerfully complied.

In these last efforts of Mr. Bowdler, in the promotion of the religious welfare of his countrymen, Mr. Stevens could take no part; for none of them