MEMOIR OF THE REV. T. STEVENSON, OF LOUGHBOROUGH.

WITH Scanty materials the writer has consented to attempt the composition of this memoir. He hopes it may be rendered useful; and he feels persuaded that it would argue a criminal indifference to the means of doing good, not to endeavour to preserve from oblivion an example so fitted to kindle a desire for the attainment of divine and human knowledge, and to animate the mind in the diffusion of it.

The REV. T. STEVENSON was born at Hickling, in Nottinghamshire, in February, 1779. His remote ancestors were respectable farmers in the Vale of Belvoir. His grandfather entered into trade; and realizing considerable profits, was induced, in the absence of religious principle, to form habits of dissipation, and neglect the education of his family. His second son, the father of the subject of this memoir, was put in early life to agricultural employment: he was prudent and economical, and having married his fellow-servant, who was equally careful with himself, he united her little savings to his own, and purchased a piece of land in the Vale. From thence they removed to Wimeswould, where they continued until their son William took the farm.

In early life Thomas was subjected to a variety of hardships. The extreme anxiety of his parents to thrive in the world, induced them to exact from him more labour than he was well able to perform: but they were not wholly inattentive to the cultivation of his mind. His mother took considerable pains to make him acquainted with the Scriptures; and as his memory was tenacious, he was able, while merely a child, to repeat large portions of the Bible, and turn to almost any passage to which allusion might be made.

At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Mr. Storer, Carpenter and Joiner, at Barrow-on-Soar. Here, the serious impressions of a comparatively strict education were worn away by the pernicious influence of evil example. The ridicule of his companions made him ashamed of even the appearance of piety; and having renounced its principles, he became thoughtless, worldly, and profane; a change which induces us to remark, that great care should be taken by parents in the selection of places of employment for their children, and that it should be their chief aim to keep them as much as possible out of the way of temptation.

The first restorative impulse was given to Mr. Stevenson when he was VOL. 4.-N. S.

B

about eighteen or nineteen years of age. He had resolved, in company with a few light associates, to attend a prayer-meeting for the purpose of making a little sport; but while in the place, the sentiments expressed in one of the prayers pierced his heart, and brought him to serious reflection. Conviction of sin seized his conscience, tears flowed from his eyes, and having resolved to lead a new life, he resisted for a short time the allurements of his companions. But conviction is not conversion. At the next Barrow festival he was again overcome, and persuaded to unite in singing profane songs at a public house.

About this time an incident occurred which, as it shows the critical state of his mind, and the eagerness of Satan to have him fast in toils, it may be proper to mention. He had been directed to make a salt-box, but had disregarded the direction. His master inquired whether it was made, and was answered in the affirmative: but no sooner had his employer withdrawn, than conscience began to perform its office, and the idea of the meanness of his conduct in uttering a falsehood covered his face with blushes, and filled his heart with pain. It is probable he would have shuddered to utter so gross an untruth in the domestic circle; and it would be well were young people in general to feel unhappy at the remembrance of having uttered a falsehood. Some of them, it is to be feared, will repeat untruths without a blush, and without a sentiment of remorse. Thomas Stevenson became very unhappy. Ridiculed by the world, and despising himself, he went out into the fields, and there, where no eye was upon him but that of heaven, confessed his wanderings and wickedness, and implored mercy and grace. From this period he began to attend class among the Methodists, and assisted in meetings for social prayer.

Very soon afterwards the Baptists from Quorndon opened a house for preaching in Barrow, and the subject of baptism was discussed in his presence. His old prejudices revived; and wishing to prove believers' baptism unscriptural, he repeatedly examined the New Testament to find arguments against it. But his efforts were in vain he became convinced that the practice he was opposing was enjoined by the Word of God, and began in consequence to attend the General Baptist chapel in Quorndon, where he was baptized, and received under the pastoral care of the late Rev. B. Pollard.

:

The term of his apprenticeship having expired, he removed to Leake, where he worked as a journeyman, and formed an acquaintance with Miss Ann Hall, who with her pious mother was a member of the Church in that village. His union with her was a great advantage to him. Her economy and industry obviated many an inconvenience which his straitened circumstances at his setting out in life would have made him feel most sensibly; and her judgment, aided by her meekness, liberated him from many unpleasantnesses into which he brought himself by the quickness of his feelings and resentments. At Leake he began to preach, and attracted considerable attention by the freedom and energy of his discourses. His personal appearance at that time was ungainly, and his knowledge scanty; but there was an animation and force in his delivery, which by the discerning were considered as presages of his future popularity. They who saw him only in his latter days will scarcely be able to form an idea of the change produced, even in his countenance and carriage, by the refining influence of piety, in combination with the pursuit of knowledge. His manners for the

last twenty or thirty years were easy and graceful; his conversation entertaining and instructive; and his whole deportment free from the indications of original rudeness. Piety, fed by habitual devotion, was the principal cause of this amelioration; but the influence of good society, which he eagerly sought, and the cultivation of polite literature, were not without their effect in producing the pleasing change.

In 1806 he came to Leicester, and joined the Church at Friar-lane. In this town he began business on his own account; but still continued to preach as opportunity offered. His preaching drew public notice; and Mr. Simpson, who was then the minister at Archdeacon-lane, having invited him to occupy his pulpit on one occasion, was so delighted with his public services as to press him at once to become the minister of the place. The worthy old gentleman rejoiced to see the evidence of superior gifts in his young friend, and was quite willing to retire into the shade when he saw that God had prepared another instrument more fitted to advance his own glory, and effect the conversion of souls. In the same year Mr. Stevenson became the pastor of the Church. He continued in this situation for five years, during which period the chapel was twice enlarged, once in the area, and once to erect a gallery, which he made and fixed with his own hands.

His

While he resided at Leicester he derived great advantage and improvement from the society and conversation of the late Rev. R. Hall, and of the Rev. Thos. Mitchell, by whom he was directed in the choice of books, and to each of whom he read the ancient classics. It is certain that the splendid eloquence and high reputation of the former of these ministers gave a powerful impulse to his natural desire to excel in oratory. spirit was generous, and his heart incapable of envy. The fine passages of Hall's written sermons he committed to memory, and frequently recited them, together with references to bursts of eloquence which he had heard from him either in the pulpit or the parlour. He often preached for Mr. Hall; and, with the exception of a small interval, during which his tenets were, perhaps, rather misapprehended, was always held in high regard both by Mr. Hall, and the congregation in Harvey-lane.

During his stay at Leicester an incident occurred which evinced the special providence of God over him. Application to study, and the cares of the pastoral office, prevented his succeeding in secular business; and his finances being very low on one occasion, he told his affectionate and assiduous wife that she must indeed endeavour to borrow a little money in order to meet the pressing exigencies of the day. She hesitated: he urged her to try. "I think," said he, when narrating these circumstances, "I see her now, setting the things in order, and lingering about the house, unwilling to go forth on so unpleasant an errand." It is hard for honourable minds to place themselves in a condition of dependence. They would much rather exercise the most painful self-denial than run in debt. While she lingered the Postman came to the door with a letter, which, when opened, was found to contain a present of £5 from Mr. Brackenbury, a respectable Wesleyan Methodist. This gentlemen, while staying at Leicester, had heard Mr. Stevenson preach; and perceiving his superior talents, and the apparent poverty of his circumstances, had in this way shown him a kindness. About the same time this tried minister found it necessary to take a journey into Lincolnshire in order to repair his health. Here, he

not only experienced the kindest treatment from christian friends, but met with another proof of the tender care of his heavenly Father. Necessity had compelled him to leave his beloved and very prudent partner without pecuniary means, Friends in Leicester, however, supplied her wants, and those of her family, by little donations delicately and regularly transmitted to her. While she felt thankful for these, she could not divest herself of solicitude with regard to the condition in which her husband would find himself on his return home; his money having been expended in this need. ful journey, and several debts having shortly to be discharged. Relief came in an unexpected manner. Certain individuals, who had heard Mr. Stevenson preach, and who had probably had private information conveyed to them with regard to his temporal distresses, sent him in the most handsome way several sums of money. With these he was enabled not only to pay every expense of his jonrney, but bring home nearly £20 to his forecasting and anxious wife. These facts are related in order to illustrate the faithfulness of God, and to show that those of his servants who in indigent circumstances are toiling for him, may be assured of his compassion, and encouraged to expect his help in the time of special need. Deserving ministers ought not, however, to be subjected to the severe trials of poverty, whenever the Churches which they serve can possibly prevent them.

Having laboured in Archdeacon-lane rather more than five years, he removed to Loughborough in 1811, where his popularity as a minister rose to its highest pitch. At the commencement of his ministry in this town public attention was fixed upon him, and it was soon found necessary to enlarge and re-enlarge the chapel. He was not then a man of great moral courage but as a proof that he had some confidence in his mental resources it may be stated, that he soon gave notice of a course of lectures to young men on the principles of natural and revealed religion; and at the same time encouraged his audience to make free inquiries on the points which might come under discussion. They were well attended; and contributed, by the novelty of their character, to fix his reputation as a man of knowledge, and an eloquent speaker. Among the members of the Church at Loughborough there were some, however, who questioned the soundness of his views with regard to the Deity of Christ, and the distinct work of the Spirit. They did not concur in the invitation given to him, and for more than a year the Church was distracted by the disputes which they created, and the opposition which they raised against him. The result was that they withdrew, and opened a chapel in connection with the Particular Baptist denomination. It is to be lamented that some of the separating party displayed so much of the bitter spirit of faction; and it is pleasing to record, that when Mr. Stevenson had given the all-important subjects above-mentioned a more thorough investigation, he began to speak upon them in a strain more conformable to that of the founders of the New Connexion. The novelty of his phraseology might partly contribute to the alarm which was felt; and it might be the fact, that he had not accurately defined and fixed his opinions.

The claims of a large and increasing family compelled him to open a boarding-school; and though the profits arising from it enabled him to rise above his temporal embarrassments, its toils, added to those of his pastorate, enfeebled his constitution. He broke up his school in the year 1826, when at the request of several ministers and influential friends in the Mid

land Counties, he took the care of an Educational Society, formed for the purpose of preparing young men for the christian ministry.

The life of the most distinguished minister furnishes but few incidents which admit the colourings of fancy. The exploits and hair-breadth escapes of the warrior we read with a glow of enthusiasm: but the high and holy course of the humble pastor, his moral heroism, and his conflicts, are appreciated by none but God and angels. It may, however, quicken the diligence of the slothful, and abate the censures of the prejudiced, to observe how this good man spent his days. His plan was, in the summer, to rise and be in his study by six in the morning, and in the winter by seven. After the exercises of private devotion he spent an hour and a half in preparing lessons, and writing lectures, &c. At half-past seven his classes were called in, with whom he was engaged till half-past eight, which was the time of breakfast. This, with family worship, occupied him till half-past nine, when he again retired to his study, and made requisite preparations for the senior classes, which he met from eleven to half-past twelve. He then, if the weather permitted, walked half an hour before dinner. At one he dined, and generally left the table before two. It was usual for him then to throw himself on the sofa for a quarter of an hour, and sleep; but in this slight indulgence he was often prevented by business or ill health. After this short repose was his customary time for reading, when Orton's Life of Doddridge, or Law's Serious Call, were frequent companions. At three he commenced hearing the theological exercises of the students; and at half-past four, if at home, he invariably repeated his walk. He took tea at five; and if there was neither lecture nor prayer-meeting to prepare for, his regular round of visiting the members began. Upon those evenings occupied by week-day services this terminated at eight o'clock, when he was, with a regularity and punctuality in which he was fully imitated by no other member of the Church, seen at the appointed hour taking his station at the desk. In cases of severe illness he would pay a visit after the service. At half-past nine he summoned the family for supper; and at ten, or a little after, family worship was performed. He generally retired to rest at eleven.

The above is a correct portrait of most days. On Mondays, when there were no lessons, he spent more time in visiting families; and on Fridays and Saturdays he was more occupied in preparing for the services of the Sabbath. It is also certain that the calls of friends, the claims of public duty, and the varied business of the Educational Society, would often require him to deviate in some degree from his own arrangements for the distribution of his time. But his constant ambition was to follow in the footsteps of Doddridge as respects filling up every portion of his time with some useful study or labour.

The success of his exertions was great. In 1806, when he began to preach at Leicester, the Church in Archdeacon-lane was thirty-eight in number; but in 1812, when he left it, the numbers were 124. At the latter date, when he removed to Loughborough, the Church consisted of 240 members; and in 1841, when he died, it consisted of 515. A new chapel, capable of seating 1200 persons, had been built and paid for; the Sunday-school numbered 800 scholars; and the Tract Society extended its operations over the whole town. These facts are thrown together as