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    that the prediction of Jesus would be ^ ifilted . and that the pride and obstiuacy of the Jews were hastening I bat event ; and lifting up his eyes to h eaven , in the ardour of anticipation he exclaimed : " ' Eehold , I see the

    h eavens op ened , and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God " ] t is probable Stephen ' s meaning was well understood , and , therefore , the Jews " cried with a loud voice , and stopped their ears , and ran upon him with one accord , and cast him out of the city and stoned him /'

    As io the apostrophe of Stephen , « Lord Jesus , receive my spirit / ' for there seems no reason to consider it as a prayer , it must be recollected , that the mind of this first martyr was

    strongly impressed with the figurative representation which Jesus had given of his appearance as the Son of Man , in the fulfilment of his prediction , and with the connexion of the event with

    the circumstances of those who would be witnesses of it * His own immediate danger would naturally bring to the mind of Stephen many of those declarations and admonitions of Jesus , which he addressed to those who

    might endeavour to escape from the impending calamity by unjustifiable means , by a mean denial of their relation to him , or by the concealment of their profession , as his followers j such # s the following : " Whosoever shall confess me before men , him will I

    confess before my Father , who is in heaven ; but whosoever shall deny me Wore men , him also will I deny before my Father , who is in heaven . " 46 Whosoever will save his life shall

    bse it , and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake , the same shall save it ; for what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself , or be cast away ; for whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of wy word , of him shall the Son of Man oe ashamed , when he shall come in his

    < n » n glory an ^ { n ] t { $ father s , and of ' " ¦ is holy angels" It is scarcely pos-& * ble that these passages should not have been in the mind of Stephen , connected as they are with the very - » ~ ^— -m- » .- ^ -m ^^ w m / - « m ^—•¦ W W V % + * « k ^* * W — r ^ ¦^ fc * ^ V la

    « guage of Jesus , to which he referred : and therefore it was particula « y natural tljat he should exclaim , ^ t the moment when he was aacrinci "g his life in the cause , and as a

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    proof of his attachment to liis master , " . Lord Jesus , receive my spirit , " ac ^ cept the offering of my life , which I am now making , rather than deny thee , or the import and meaning of thy w&i'ds . But surely this can be no warrant for our addresses to Christ ,

    seeing * we are not in similar circumstances , and ^ have no reason to sup pose that he is present with us , and can either hear or answer our requests . But on this subject we have the express authority of Jesus , in his

    instructions to his disciples : " In that day , " that is , when he was taken from them , " ye shall ask me nothing ; verily , verily , I say unto you , whatsoever ye shall ask the Fathek in my name , he shall give it you . " It is evident that the historian did not

    consider this ejaculation or apostrophe of Stephen ' s as a prayer , for he afterwards observes , that he kneeled down and prayed , " Lord , lay not this sin to their charge . " Nor is it conceivable that one " who was full of the holy

    spirit and © f faith , " could have acted in direct opposition to the instructions of Jesus , or could have been unmindful of the example and instruction of his Master : " Thou shalt worship Jehovah thy God , and him only shalt thou serve . " J . W .

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    On Stephen ' s Prayer , from Temple ' s Letters . 7 £

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    Sir , WH ILE reading the excellent criticism on Stephen ' s Prayer , by Hodgson , in your Number for August last , [ pp . 505—508 , ] it brought to my recollection a note m

    Temple ' s Letters to Randolph , published in the year 1778 , 8 vo ., and , with your permission , I have copied it for insertion in your valuable Miscellany , as it is out of print , and many of your readers may be unacquainted with it . It is as follows . See p . 213 , note .

    PHILALETHES . In the whole New Testament there is no command to pray to Jesus Christ-Jesus Christ himself and his apostles uniformly direct all prayer to be

    addressed to God only . There is , I am persuaded , no passage in the whole book , thai records an instance of proper prayer addressed otherwise than to the person of the Father , except Acts vii . 59 , where Stephen , at his

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1819, page 729, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1779/page/13/