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CARTER-LANE, DOCTORS'-COMMONS.-English Presbyterian.

most persuaded to turn his thoughts to some other profession. In this particular he doubtless carried the matter to an excess. But if Mr. Stephens erred, it was on the safest side. Humility and self-diffidence are particularly to be commended in young ministers. But though Mr. Stephens discovered so great a backwardness to appear in public, he had no cause to be ashamed of his performances; for when he began to preach, his most judicious friends judged him sufficiently qualified, and earnestly persuaded him to persevere in so useful and honourable an employment. It is recorded of him, and ought to be mentioned as greatly to his honour, that to his dying day, he never entered the pulpit till he had previously submitted his notes to the judgment of a senior minister, his intimate friend. This prudent caution was of great use to him in his composures, and, had he lived, would have fitted him to appear with considerable reputation as a Divine and preacher.

Mr. Stephens was never settled in any pastoral charge, but preached occasionally about the metropolis, and most frequently for the aged Mr. Matthew Sylvester, at Blackfriars, of whose church he was a member. In this course he continued for a few years, till it pleased God suddenly to remove him by a malignant fever, in the 28th year of his age, January 5, 1693-4. He was seized with his distemper but a fortnight before his death. It first attacked, with great violence, his head; and was visibly increased by those awful thoughts of eternity, which dwelt upon his mind. After some days he was deprived of the free use of his reason, and continued in that state till he died. But his work was not then to do; he had, happily for himself, already chosen that good part which could not be taken from him. Mr. (afterwards the celebrated Dr.) Calamy preached a sermon at his interment, on John ix. 4. and afterwards printed it. This was the Doctor's first publication; a very serious, useful VOL. II.

T

CARTER-LANE, DOCTORS'-COMMONS.-English Presbyterian.

discourse, introduced with a preface by the Rev. Matthew Sylvester.

Mr. Stephens possessed a strong, hale, and vigorous constitution, and was favoured with a good share of health till he was seized with the disorder which brought him to an untimely grave. He possessed an amiable disposition, though his natural temper inclined him somewhat to melancholy. That great scrupulosity, and fear of offending God in the smallest matters, where others could apprehend no danger, tended to make his life not a little uneasy. He was, indeed, humble and inodest to a fault. But in this he erred on the safest, though not the most comfortable side. It was his happiness, however, to be able to conceal his inward trouble from the observation of the world, by a free, pleasant, and cheerful conversation; avoiding, by that means, the discouragement of others, which he much dreaded. He was a man of strict integrity; abhorred every thing that was mean, base, or servile, and had as much true generosity as most men of his age. Gratitude was a striking feature in his character; he entertained a becoming sense of the obligation conferred upon him by his friends, and was, himself, always ready, to the utmost of his capacity, to do any office of kindness to others. His attainments in religion, and furniture for the ministerial office, were of no ordinary kind, and held forth the prospect of extensive usefulness. He possessed a clear, intelligent, inquisitive mind, prone to seriousness, and capable of research. When in company with senior ministers, he was attentive to their conversation, calm and modest in his inquiries, and pertinent in his replies. He possessed an extraordinary concern for serious religion, for his advancement in holiness, and meetness for heaven; but through his extreme diffidence, and the undue suspicion he entertained of himself, he became a prey to many doubts and fears, from which he was scarcely ever free. This dejection of mind was a source of much unhappiness to himself, as well as un

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY,

ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

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D.D.

Samuel Wright
From an original Pointing.

Tu DW Mamsa_shoory Red Cross Street -
In Williams's

Published April, 11809 by Marwell & Wilson Skinner Street.

CARTER-LANE, DOCTORS'-COMMONS.—English Presbyterian.

easiness to his friends; though their concern was chiefly for his loss of comfort, as to the safety of his state none could doubt. It was some relief to him under this dejection of spirits, that he would frequently resort to some aged minister for a resolution of his doubts, to whom he would be very free and communicative; but he could not bear any thing that looked like administering to pride or self-conceit, being much rather given to censure himself, than extort self-commendation. He was greatly valued by that venerable man, the Rev. Mr. Sylvester, whom he often visited on those occasions; and who was much affected at his death. Mr. Stephens had a brother named Nathaniel, who was also educated under Mr. Frankland.*

SAMUEL WRIGHT, D. D. a minister of great reputation and celebrity in the city of London, was born on the 30th of January, 1682-3. He was the eldest son of the Rev. James Wright, of Retford, in Nottinghamshire, by Eleanor, daughter of Mr. Cotton, a gentleman in Yorkshire, and father to the Rev. Thomas Cotton, of Westminster.

Mr. Wright lost his father when he was about eleven years of age, and his good mother being removed the very next year, the care of his education devolved on his grandmother, and Mr. Cotton, of Haigh, in Lancashire, his maternal uncle. By them, he was put to boarding-school, at Attercliffe, in Yorkshire; but removed for grammar-learning to Darton, near Wakefield, in the same county. At sixteen years of age, he began to study philosophy, and other branches of academical learning, at Attercliffe, under the eminent Mr. Timothy Jollie, under whom were trained many valuable ministers. For the first two or three years, Mr. Wright boarded in a private family; but then removed entirely into Mr. Jollie's house. The strong and terrifying

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* Dr. Calamy's Sermon on the Death of Mr. Stephens.

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