ing to express in that manner his intention of allowing him one hundred pounds per annum out of his own pocket."

This whole transaction is equally honourable to Archbishop Moore and Mr. Stevens, and proves decidedly what their opinion was of the merits of Mr. Jones, for whose comfort, without solicitation, they were willing, voluntarily and instantaneously, to make such exertions. But it was only for a short time that these good men were thus called upon to assist the venerable Pastor; for on the morning of the Epiphany, 1800, he was called to the reward of his labours. Although I am not writing the life of Mr. Jones, but of his biographer, I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of copying, nor my reader the pleasure of reading, the following extract of a letter from Mr. Stevens, dated the 23d of January, 1800, which conveys the sentiments of Bishop Skinner respecting Mr. Jones, before he knew of his death, and the account of the close of his life by another hand in very affecting terms:

"I thought you would admire the preface to the Life of Bishop Horne. The Archbishop (Moore) approves it much; and I told his Grace I flattered myself that Hutchinsonianism would appear to be such a harmless thing that nobody need be afraid of it. Bishop Skinner (not knowing, alas! that we had lost our champion) says, in a letter I received from him two days ago, "In the limited circle of my acquaintance, I know not where one could be found, so capable as Mr. Jones of writing the cha racter of a lively, ingenious, entertaining writer, with that of a truly Christian, learned, and orthodox: Divine; one who, since the death of his vene rable friend, the late Bishop of Norwich, seems to stand unrivalled as an author, who traces the. glorious scheme of Christianity from its proper source,

and shews how it may be found in the Book of Nature, rightly understood, as well as in the two grand repositories of divine truth, the Old and New Testaments.' The Bishop sincerely wishes and prays that Mr. Jones may yet live to offer to the public now and then such well drawn sketches of what is called the Hutchinsonian scheme, as may at last remove that disgust with which it has been too generally viewed. But the good Bishop's prayers and wishes were vain; the world was not worthy of him, and he was removed. You have seen an affecting letter, containing a full account of his last illness and death, which you could not fail to admire, though full of enthusiasm: but I have seen a letter mentioning the event, not full of enthusiasm-it came from a neighbouring clergyman; and part of it I will transcribe: On the morning of the Epiphany, that good and wise man was conducted to the presence of that Saviour in whom he trusted, and the fruition of the three persons in the Eternal Godhead, whose doctrine he maintained upon earth with so much ability and conviction. Could he have foreseen that his death would happen on the morning of the Epiphany, how his pious and fertile imagination would have dwelt upon the subject!' He was warmly engaged on some important subject of Christian doctrine to the last; and the Bible and Common Prayer Book were almost the only books he looked into for some considerable time back. I found them always before him; and I am persuaded that he shed as many tears over the Psalms of David as the author himself. In him I have lost an agreeable and most useful friend, and the Church one of its most able champions. The Church might fairly be denominated militant on earth with regard to him, for he was constantly fighting its battles; and in him the Devil and the wicked world experienced an active and undaunted opponent. He loved his son and

daughter, and their happiness was very dear to his affections; but neither son, nor daughter, nor any other interest on earth lay so near his heart, nor occupied so much of his attention in his latter days, as that of Christ and his Church; and the danger to which she is exposed, under the present circumstances of the Christian world, amongst the heaviest of the afflictions which he endured.'

The friends with whom Mr. Stevens chiefly associated, in the latter years of his life were Richard Richards, Esq. of the Chancery Bar, her Majesty's Solicitor General *; James Allan Park, Esq. the King's Counsel †; John Bowdler, Esq. of Hayes, near Bromley, in Kent; and John Richardson, Esq. Barrister at Law. With Mr. Bowdler, who lived out of town, he could not have such frequent personal communication, although the congeniality of their sentiments, upon every point of religion and politics, led Mr. Bowdler to Broad-street whenever he visited London; and Mr. Stevens passed many agreeable hours at Hayes; but at the houses of each of the three other gentlemen, Mr. Stevens dined regularly once a week upon a set day, when either those friends were invited who delighted in his society, or he was at liberty to choose his own company, by inviting those whom he pleased to meet him; and those who saw him once, in the moments of cheerful ease and conviviality, were ever anxious to meet him again. In several of the letters now lying before me, his kindness and affection for his friends are pourtrayed in such strong

* Now the Right Honourable Sir Richard Richards, Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer.

+ Now the Honourable Sir James Allan Park, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

Now the Honourable Sir John Richardson, another of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas.

and marked characters, and his gratitude for their friendship so strongly expressed, that it would give infinite pleasure to the reader to peruse the overflowings of such a heart. But as many of those of whom, and to whom these ebullitions of an affectionate heart were poured forth, are still alive, I lament that it is the duty of the Biographer to forego this pleasure himself, and to deprive his readers of it.

A man so much attached as he was to his friends, and so beloved as he was for his virtues and his cheerfulness of disposition, was likely to receive all those attentions that could be grateful to his feelings, or make the close of life most agreeable to him. One of his friends, hearing him repeatedly speak of others of sound principles in Church and State, expressed a desire to look such men in the face; in consequence of which a meeting was appointed, and a club instituted in honour of their revered and much admired friend, denominated Nobody's Club, in conformity to the name which his humility had induced him to assume when he collected his various pamphlets. This club was

not to meet so often as to make the attendance burdensome, nor so seldom as to allow it to become neglected. Accordingly three meetings were to be held every year, during the winter and spring months, viz. the end of November, the beginning of March, and the 29th of May. The first meeting of this club was in the spring of the year 1800, and it was composed, besides the gentlemen above named, of two noble Lords, and persons of the first station for talents and worth in the three learned professions, and others of a literary character, who delighted in the conversation, admired the prin ciples, and honoured the prominent and active virtues of Mr. Stevens's character. In a letter to Bishop Skinner, describing the first meeting of the club, he

says:

"We should have been very happy to have had you make one at the meeting at the Crown and Anchor. Our excellent friend, Mr. Bowdler *, was much pleased on the occasion: and I own it appeared a mighty comfortable thing to see so many good fellows got together at one time; all true to the backbone. It was doing Nobody great honour to put him in the chair."

In a letter to another friend he says:-"You are very right in preparing your good man to stay in town till after the 29th of November; he must assist at Nobody's Club; it is a kind of meeting suited to his taste; where Nobody is, there he likes to be; and where he is, I like to be. I remember Sam Johnson's friends, a year or two before his death, instituted a club for his amusement: this is something of the same nature; and will last about as long it may be the only opportunity your husband will have of attending, and he should not miss it."

The same cause which has prevented me from speaking of Mr. Stevens's affectionate letters respecting his living friends, obliges me to withhold any commendation of those who composed Nobody's Club: but as two of them departed this life in the time of the venerable head--and as they were men of considerable eminence, it is trusted there can be no impropriety in a work intended to produce, for the example of the living, models of departed worth, to make a more particular mention of them. The very year in which this club *See the Postscript.

+ How long Dr. Johnson's club lasted I know not; but Nobody's Club, instituted in 1800, still exists, (July 1825) though its venerable head be no more, under the name of Nobody's Friends: many new and respectable members, both for learning and worth, have been added since his death; and I see no reason why it may not exist for many years to come.