delight' to announce what he knew would be the most welcome of
birthday presents, namely, the news that he had been 'sent up' for a
very good copy of seventy-nine verses, 'all longs, on Napoleon e
Seylhia profugus, passage of Beresina, and so forth.' His Latin
verses were his strong point, and from this time forward he was
frequently sent up, in all twenty-five times, an almost unprecedented
number.

In fact he was entering on a fresh stage of life, from the little boy
to the lad, and the period was marked by his Confirmation on May 26,
1842. Here is his account both of it and of his first Communion.
The soberness and old-fashioned simplicity of expression are worth
remarking as tokens of the quietly dutiful tone of mind, full of
reverence and sincere desire to do right, and resting in the
consciousness of that desire, while steadily advancing towards higher
things than he then understood. It was a life and character where
advancement with each fresh imparting of spiritual grace can be
traced more easily than usual.

It is observable too that the boy's own earnestness and seriousness
of mind seem to have to him supplied the apparent lack of external
aids to devotional feeling, though the Confirmation was conducted in
the brief, formal, wholesale manner which some in after-life have
confessed to have been a disappointment and a drawback after their
preparation and anticipation:--

'You will know that I have been confirmed to-day, and I dare say you
all thought of me. The ceremony was performed by the Bishop of
Lincoln, and I hope that I have truly considered the great duty and
responsibility I have taken upon myself, and have prayed for strength