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concern for the salvation of men, in a large measure, and perhaps in a larger measure than ever afterwards.

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He preached the Gospel, as one really believing it, with great earnestness and fervour, with all his might and it was extensively blessed, and blessed to the awakening and evident conversion of many, I believe, of some hundreds. But as it is ever the case, when the Gospel succeeds, the enemy rages; if his kingdom is in danger, he will surely raise commotions. When there is peace and quietness under the preaching of the Gospel, we may be certain that it is not preached as it ought to be, and that it is not blessed. The opposition which Mr. Jones met with was extremely violent, more than we can well conceive in the present day. It is not by violence that the spirit of evil works now, but by subtilty and deception, by overlaying and undermining the Gospel, by hypocrisy and plausible pretences, by formality and voluntary works of superstition. lence was then suitable, and it often succeeded. So bold and enraged were the enemies of the Gospel, that they disturbed and annoyed Mr. Jones in the church, even while he was preaching. Many years after, that is, in 1836, when going to Wales, he stopped at Oswestry on Sunday, and thus notices the circumstance in a letter to a friend :—" I spent my Sunday at Oswestry, and sat in a pew at church, which, in my time there, was commonly filled with lawyers, who used to annoy me for preaching the Gospel, which is now preached in that pulpit with great fidelity." But though young and inexperienced, he was wonderfully supported.

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There were two things, as he often mentioned, which were graciously vouchsafed to him then in

a degree more than usual:-His natural diffidence was removed, and he was endued with a boldness which he never possessed before or afterwards in such a measure ;— and he had such patience and forbearance given him, that he was able to bear most easily all the violent abuse, contempt, reviling and reproach which he met with. According to his own expression, he lost sight of self more then than scarcely at any other period of his life. When asked about his own experience at this time, his answer was, That the inward conflict was not hard, that it had been often harder in after-times. He enjoyed peace and serenity of mind in a high degree, and with little interruptions, accompanied with a cheerful submission to all the difficulties of his situation. It was," to use his own words, 66 a happy time with my soul." The struggles of the inward conflict seemed to have been in a great measure suspended, while he was exposed to the outward onsets of the enemy. God graciously proportions our trials to our state and circumstances. When the war rages outwardly, he restrains the violence of its inward movements. And the reverse, too, is the case: when we do not fight earnestly against the kingdom of Satan and strenuously endeavour to further the kingdom of Christ, we shall find the contest within harder, either through deadness of spirit, or through discomfort or unhappiness of mind, or through violent temptations.

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His experience in this place, as well as afterwards, made him often say, that the simple, plain, earnest and zealous preaching of the Gospel is the best, and ever most blessed. "I am convinced," he used to say, that the best qualifications in a minister, are simplicity, humility, and zeal : they are far more valuable than

great talents." These are no doubt the prime qualifications. O that all we who are ministers were to seek them more than any other. A competent share of knowledge and learning, is doubtless needful, especially in the present day: but whatever learning we may have, it will be all useless, as to the great end of the ministry, except we possess the real spirit of our office. His sermons then, as to composition, were, as he often acknowledged, of a very ordinary character, in no way distinguished for that order, condensity, and clearness, which he afterwards exhibited in his writings. But his whole heart Iwas in his work, and an extensive blessing accompanied his labours. It seems to be the ordinary mode of the divine procedure, first to make the ministers of the Gospel to feel the importance of the truth, and then through them to produce the same impression on the hearers.

It was in the year 1780 that he went to Oswestry. Three sermons which he preached on Regeneration were found much fault with by the Rural Dean, who either lived in the place or near. At his particular request, when Mr. Jones had to preach before the Mayor and Corporation, he made use of one of the sermons of Bishop Horne; but that discourse was equally branded by his adversaries as heterodox. Nothing like the Gospel would suit them. He was dismissed at a month's notice, such was the hurry to get rid of him. He was not the first that has been so treated by those who hate the truth.

Being driven from Oswestry through the influence of those who disliked and hated his preaching, he took the curacy of Loppington, near Wem. He continued there about four years; and a similar effect followed his ministry,

and a similar opposition was made to his efforts.

The living became vacant, and the churchwardens locked the church doors against him, and, it was singular, on the very day on which Mr. Maddocks died, whom he afterwards succeeded. How he came to Creaton in 1785, shall be related in his own words:

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'When I had no place in Shropshire, I wrote to Riland, at Birmingham. He sent for me to assist him for a time. Soon after I went, there was a clerical meeting there, attended, among others, by Simeon and Romaine. Simeon, after having been with Riland in another room, came to the room where I was, and laying hold of my hand by his two hands, asked me, 'Will you go, Mr. Jones, to Creaton?'

'Where is Creaton?' said I. In Northamptonshire, a pleasant village, situated on an elevated part of the country. I preached there last Sunday to a very nice people.' After dinner I asked the company's advice respecting two situations-Creaton, and a chapel in Yorkshire. Romaine said, 'You must go to Creaton, Mr. Jones.' Contented with this, I said no more, and went there without delay; and there I have been till now (in the year 1827.) Mr. Simeon made the motion, and Mr. Romaine seconded it." He then added this remark: "Imprudent zeal will do much more good than cold prudence."

What he meant by the last remark may be understood by the following observations which he made at another time:

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ous truths of the Gospel should never be withheld, such as the fall and ruin of man, the salvation of Christ, and the renewing work of the Spirit. No reason can be valid for holding back or mincing these fundamental doctrines. Other truths, such as final perseverance, and what refers to the experience of confirmed Christians, ought to be preached by degrees according to the necessities of the people. Old Riland used to say, that the three Rs should never be lost sight of, that is, Ruin, Regeneration, and Redemption.'

When speaking on the same subject, he on one occasion made these remarks:

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We want faith in preaching. We should do our utmost, and yet trust not in the flesh. It is the Lord's work, and all that we can do of ourselves is nothing. We should do all in our power, and yet rely wholly on God, believing that without him we can do nothing."

The following observations on the same subject are also worthy of being recorded, as they are calculated to give encouragement, when appearances are discouraging.

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More good is done than what comes to our knowledge. I have found some on their death-bed in a right state, evidently possessed of divine grace, who manifested hardly any decisive tokens of piety during their lifetime. They had been attendants on the means, and had been on the whole correct in their lives, but afforded no clear proofs of godliness. I have heard some of my brethren mention the same thing. Our preaching may be useful to many of whom we are not aware."

One more of his remarks on preaching shall be added.

"I have often found the extraservices, those I did which I was

not bound to do, much blessed: such as the evening lecture in the week. It has been a great blessing, I have no doubt to many."

He frequently spoke of the weekday lecture with much pleasure. He enjoyed it himself; it seemed to have been a feast to him as well as to the people. His talking, as he used to call it, was better understood and more adapted to the exigencies of his hearers than his preaching on Sunday. He was ever remarkably plain and simple in his preaching, but still plainer and more familiar in the week-day. But it was the heart, the free outpouring of love, and effusions of sympathy, which formed the chief attractions of these addresses.

But there was another thing which made this lecture more pleasant to him and more interesting to the people; it was an exercise in which he felt himself, as it were, quite at home, without any trial to his natural timidity; so that he could unreservedly pour forth what his mind conceived and his heart felt. His nerves received a shock in his younger days, from which he never wholly recovered; and it was rather in a singular way, which from imperfect recollection, I shall not now attempt to detail. And it was on account of this unhappy event, that he hardly felt comfortable to preach in any pulpit but his own; and this was the reason that his friend Mr. Robinson could never prevail on him to preach at Leicester. It was the "thorn in his flesh," which he had to bear all his life.

Hence it was, that an over-exertion, or a trial, such as the loss of a friend, had occasionally such an effect on him, that he was obliged to go from home and visit some of his friends, in order to recruit his spirits. On one of these

occasions he came to Leicester to

spend a few days with Mr. Robinson; and the following account he related to me more than once:

One morning he had a good deal of conversation with his friend. What he greatly dreaded at that time, owing to strong nervous feelings, was derangement of mind: and addressing Mr. Robinson, he said "There is no affliction, I think, to which I could not be made willing to submit, except that which I now fear: I do not think it possible for my mind to be made willing to submit to such a dispensation of Providence." The only answer that Mr. Robinson gave, but gave in his usually emphatical manner, was, "I do not know that." And this answer, implying the possibility of a willing submission, dwelt on his mind. He afterwards went out and took a walk by himself. He got out of the town and rambled through the fields. thought of the words, "I do not know that," and then meditated on the greatness, sovereignty, love, mercy, wisdom, and goodness of the Almighty, until at last his mind was brought into such a frame, that he felt perfectly willing that God should do with him whatsoever he pleased; and as soon as he was enabled to say from his heart, Thy will, not mine, be done," his mind was at once relieved, his burden was instantly removed: and he returned from his walk with great cheerfulness, and shortly returned home to resume his usual duties. "I do not know that" led the way to his recovery.

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There is doubtless a reciprocal influence exercised by the body and the mind. The mind affects the body; and the body, thereby disordered, in its turn affects the mind. But there is also the reverse of this. Let the mind be again restored to its tone, and it will not fail to exercise a salutary

effect on the body. The chief and the only infallible healer of the mind is its Maker. Submission to the divine will, which the divine power alone can produce, yea, a willing, humble, and confiding acquiescence in whatever God may determine, arising from a right view of what God is, and is to those who trust in him-this affords such a relief, and proves such a healing medicine, such a soothing balm, as nothing else can ever bring. It is a child in the embraces of its father, a helpless being lodged in a place of perfect safety, a creature in the arms of his Omnipotent Creator. Resignation to the will of the infinitely wise and gracious God, is heaven upon earth, and a perfect security in the midst of the greatest dangers.

The age of Mr. Jones, when he came to Creaton, was thirty-three; and he resided in the same family for fifty-nine years and four months, and lived to see the fourth generation. He did not continue single from choice, but from providential circumstances. He ever considered a married life to be preferable for ministers, as affording protection against temptation, and greater opportunities for usefulness. Matters of this kind, dependent on the state of society, and on individual circumstances, admit of no invariable rule.

The religious state of this part of the country, and indeed of almost every part of it, was at that time very different from what is now, though still in much need of improvement. The light of the Gospel had indeed begun to shine at Creaton through the ministry of Mr. Jones's immediate predecessor, the Rev. Mr. Maddocks; but it had only begun. That excellent man was soon removed to a better world, and our departed friend succeeded him. When he came, and

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for some time after, he stood alone, in this neighbourhood, as a faithful, consistent, and zealous minister of the Gospel; and Creaton became the resort of many in the surrounding villages to a considerable distance. It was the place where the sound of the Gospel was to be heard and that sound, whenever clear and distinct, has ever been found to attract attention, to some extent, more or less. It is a joyful sound to all who are awakened and brought to see their state and their danger, though a strange and unwelcome sound to those who are asleep in their sins. But they only are blessed who know the joyful sound, and find it suitable to them, conveying to them glad tidings of great joy.

Periodical awakenings took place in several of the surrounding villages. A deep religious concern was excited to some extent in most of them at different times, and at various intervals. Hence the attendance at Creaton from these villages varied according to the religious feelings which prevailed. Some individuals were regularly visited in these places. When there is thirst, it ought to be allayed; when there is hunger, it ought to be satisfied. Mr. Jones used to read, to expound, and to pray in those families which he visited, when commonly some of their neighbours attended. He

seemed at that time to have been the minister of the whole neighbourhood, including, it may be, not less than a dozen villages. Necessity is often a law which supersedes every other: but this necessity had happily ceased long before the termination of his own ministry. This was the most laborious and active part of his life, and, as I have heard from his own lips more than once, the most happy. God has wisely ordained

that activity and enjoyment should go together. The more we do for God-not the more we do, but the more we do for God-the more we shall enjoy his favour, the more blessed and happy we shall be made in our minds. The observations which Mr. Jones made to me on this subject in the year 1827, were the following:

"We are far too idle. We do not labour as we ought, to save souls. The clergy are a great deal too secular. I did labour formerly much more than I do now, and the Lord blessed my labours. My age perhaps now (he was in his 75th year,) is in some measure an excuse to me. There are many things which hinder us. The present is a state of probation, of warfare. Sin deadens us. It enervates us. We do not feel as we ought. But we cannot do much except we feel the power of divine things. God may in some measure bless us without this; but not to a great extent. To make others feel, we must feel ourselves. I observed this," he added, " last night in addressing the children. I felt, and they felt, at least some of them, and wept too. My labours among the children have been often much blessed. Many have turned out well."

Notwithstanding the blessing which often attended his labours, he had occasionally very humiliating thoughts respecting his own ministry and they were no doubt designed as a counterpoise, that he might not be too much lifted up. On the same occasion he made the following remarks : I have

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had many times very desponding thoughts respecting the ministry. I have frequently felt disposed to give it up altogether, being ashamed of my poor preaching. But my support has been that comfortable saying According to what a man hath.' I have frequently found

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