once more went unto their zealous prayers; and behold, while they were calling upon God, he answered them; for there leaped a mighty fish into their boat, which, to their double joy, not only quieted their outrageous hunger, but also gave them some token of a further deliverance. However, the fish is quickly eaten; the horrible famine returns, the horrible distress is renewed ; a black despair again seizes their spirits. For another morsel they come to a second lot, which fell upon another person, but still they cannot find an executioner. They once again fall to their importunate prayers; and, behold, a second answer from above! A great bird lights and fixes itself upon the mast; one of the men spies it; and there it stands until he took it by the wing with his hand. This was a second life from the dead. This fowl, with the omen of a further deliverance in it, was a sweet feast unto them. Still their disappointments follow them; they can see no land, they know not where they are. Irresistible hunger once more pinches them; they have no hope to be saved but by a third miracle. They return to another lot; but before they go to the heart-breaking task of slaying the person under designation, they repeat their addresses unto the God of Heaven, their former friend in adversity. And now they look, and look again, but there is nothing. Their devotions are concluded, and nothing appears; yet they hoped, yet they stayed, yet they lingered. At last one of them spies a ship, which put a new hope and life into them all. They bear up with their ship, they man their long-boat, they beg to board the vessel, and are admitted. It proves a French pirate. Major Gibbons petitions for a little bread, and offers all for it; but the commander was one who had formerly received considerable kindnesses of Major Gibbons at Boston, and now replied cheerfully, "Major Gibbons, not a hair of you or your company shall perish, if it lies in my power to preserve you." Accordingly he supplied their necessities, and they made a comfortable end of their voyage. Lessons by the Way; or, Things to Think On. LIVE FOR SOMETHING. Thousands of men breathe, move, and livepass off the stage of life, and are heard of no more. Why? They did not partake of good in the world, and none were blessed by them; none could point to them as the means of their redemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke, could be recalled; and so they perished their light went out in darkness, and they were not remembered more than insects of yesterday. Will you thus live and die, O man immortal? Live for something. Do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue, that the storms of time can never destroy. Write your name, by kindness, love, and mercy, on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with year by year, and you will never be forgotten. No, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind, as the stars on the brow of the evening. Good deeds will shine as brightly on the earth as the stars of heaven.Dr. Chalmers. THE MILLENNIUM. Oh! blessed Saviour, what a strange variety of conceits do I find concerning thy thousand years' reign! What riddles are in that prophecy, which no human tongue can read! where to fix the beginning of that marvellous Millenniary, and where the end; and what manner of reign it shall be, whether temporal or spiritual, on earth or in heaven, undergoes as many constructions as there are pens that have undertaken it; and yet, when all is done, I see thine apostle speaks only of the souls of the martyrs reigning so long with thee, not of thy reigning so long with those martyrs. How busy are the tongues of men, how are their brains taken up with the indeterminable construction of his enigmatical truth, when, in the meantime, the care of thy spiritual reign in their hearts is neglected. Oh! my Saviour, while others weary themselves with the disquisition of thy personal reign here upon earth for a thousand years, let it be the whole bent and study of my soul to make sure of my personal reign with thee in heaven to all eternity.-Bishop Hall. MANLIKE AND GODLIKE. A gentleman who had filled many high stations in public life, with the greatest honour to himself, and advantage to the nation, once went to Sir Eardley Wilmot in great anger at a real injury that he had received from a person high in the political world, which he was considering how to resent in the most effectual manner. After relating the particulars to Sir Eardley, he asked if he did not think it would be manly to resent it? Yes," said Sir Eardley; "it would doubtless be manly to resent it, but it would be Godlike to forget it." This the gentleman declared had such an instantaneous effect upon him, that he came away quite another man, and in temper entirely altered from that in which he went. 66 DESCENDANTS OF A DISTINGUISHED In an Appendix to the Life of Thomas Hooker, a work recently published, we have a catalogue of some of his descendants, in which we find the names of forty-one ministers of the Gospel, and forty more who married his female descendants; nine professors, authors, and poets; forty who have occupied important public offices; fourteen members of the bar, not included in the preceding; and seventeen doctors of medicine. The list comprises some distinguished names, such as the late Dr. Dwight, Jonathan Edwards, D.D., (the second Edwards,) Dr. Yates, Jonathan Edwards, the late Dr. Richardson, Dr. Cornelius, Percival the poet, Gen. Hart, Maj. Hooker, and Col. Hooker, of the Revolutionary Army, Aaron Burr, with a list of judges, governors, and legislators. Verily, "children's children are the crown" of that good man's memory, and "the glory of the children are their fathers."-Christian Observer. EJACULATIONS. They take not up any room in the soul. They give liberty of callings, so that, at the same instant, one may follow his proper vocation. The husbandman may dart forth an ejaculation, and not make a balk the more; the seaman, nevertheless, steer his ship right, in the darkest night; yea, the soldier, at the same time, may shoot out his prayer to God, and aim his pistol at his enemy, the one better hitting the mark for the other. The field wherein bees feed is no whit the barer for their biting; when they have taken their full repast on flower or grass, the ox may feed, the sheep fat, on their reversions. The reason is, because those little chemists distil only the refined part of the flower, leaving the grosser substance thereof. So ejaculations bind not men to any bodily observance-only busy the spiritual half, which maketh them consistent with the prosecution of any other employment. -Fuller's Good Thoughts. A WORD FITLY SPOKEN. Job Throgmorton, a Puritan minister, who was described by his contemporaries "as being as holy and as choice a preacher as any in England," is said to have lived thirty-seven years without any comfortable assurance as to his spiritual condition. When dying, he addressed the venerable John Dod, "What will you say of him who is going out of the world, and can find no comfort?" "What will you say of him," replied Mr. Dod, "who, when he was going out of the world, found no comfort, but cried, 'My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?"" This prompt reply administered consolation to the troubled spirit of his dying friend, who departed within an hour after, rejoicing in the Lord. TIME LOST. One of the sands in the hour-glass of time is, beyond comparison, more precious than gold. In nothing is waste more ruinous, or more sure to bring unavailing regrets. Better to throw away money than moments; for time is much more than money. As we lose our days, we incur an increasing risk of losing our souls. "The life-blood of the soul runs out in wasted time." The years which have winged their flight have gone to be recording angels; and what is the "report they have borne to heaven ?" Will the record testify for us or against us, when the throne of the Son of Man shall be set, and the books shall be opened ?-Chris. Observatory. THE OLDEST RELIGION. A certain Italian priest, of a social and friendly character, recognized in his church, in time of mass, the well-known countenance of an English gentleman. Glad to see him there, and wishing to convince him of the superiority of the Papal communion, he wrote on a slip of paper with his pencil, and sent to his friend the following words: "Where was your English Church before the days of Luther ?" The English gentleman wrote, in like manner, the following answer: "In the Bible, where your Roman Church is not." LIBERALITY. "Let us," says Dr. Chalmers, "pour forth of our liberality for the support of our Master's cause and honour in the world; suffering no retexte, not even the plausibilities of a seeming and common place philanthropy, to divert our means from this the greatest of objects, and in the prosecution of which it will be found that the most devoted piety and the truest philanthropy are as one." PETITIONS OF DR. CHALMERS. Do thou, O Lord, break my hard heart, and then heal my broken one. May thy grace, O Lord, open a way for thy word into our hearts, and strengthen us to act upon it. Let me bridle my tongue, so as that neither the impulses of passion shall hurry me into bitter, nor the sallies of humour betray me into idle words. GOLD HUNTING. Mr. Prescott, in his History of the Conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, gives the following as the result of the great gold finding, which set all Europe crazy in those days. Can it not be regarded as applicable to the present mania? "It was the story often repeated in the history of Spanish enterprise. A few, more lucky than the rest, stumbled on some unexpected prize, and hundreds, attracted by their success, press forward in the same path. But the rich spoil which lay on the surface had been already swept away by the first comers, and those who followed were to win the treasure by long protracted and painful exertion. Broken in spirit and fortune, many returned in disgust to their native shores, while others remained to die in despair. They had thought to dig for gold-but they only dug their graves." PLEASURE AND ADVANTAGES OF The rich man pays dearly for health-the labouring man is paid to be healthy. Exercise is the best physician. Those who have strength and a good pair of legs need not to be drawn about in a cab, a brougham, or a carriage-andfour. Coaches are fine things for doctors. The more they increase, the more need will there be of medical men and drugs. Were our carriagefolks to walk or to work, they would save themselves feeble legs; and those who never work create for themselves weak arms, delicate hands, and infirm or crooked spines. Labour has its joys as well as its sorrows, and a far higher reward than that of wages. If this fact were better understood, no one would be idle. Far better is it to work for no pay at all, than to suffer the ills of having nothing to do. Go and sweep the causeway, mend the road, or relieve yonder poor traveller by carrying half of his burden, rather than sit still. What if there is no pay in pounds, shillings, and pence; there will be health, and the satisfaction of doing good, which, after all, are higher wages than the idle sinecure gains with his £10,000 a year. A good appetite, healthy digestion, and a free circulation of the blood, are among the blessings of labour. GREATNESS. The greatest man is ne who chooses the right with invincible resolution, who resists the sorest temptations from within and without, who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is calmest in storms, and most fearless under menace and frowns, whose reliance on truth, on virtue, on God, is most unfaltering. Channing. Biography. REV. WILLIAM JONES, TABERNACLE, BRIDGEND, GLAMORGANSHIRE, SOUTH WALES. AMONG the many localities in which the Congregational Churches of South Wales have recently been called to lament the loss of their beloved and devoted pastors, a conspicuous place has been assigned to the county of Glamorgan. Repeatedly, and at no distant intervals, have the Christians of that district had occasion to propose the ancient inquiry, “Our fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?" The late Rev. Griffith Hughes Whitecross, whose memory persons of all classes united to honour, is no more. The Rev. Thomas Williams, Bethesda-y- fro, the sweet singer of Israel, and the talented preacher, is gone. The Rev. Daniel Griffiths, of Neath, whose talents as a preacher aroused the Principality, is not to be found here. The Rev. Herbert Herbert, of Newton Nottage, with the Revs. Jones and Evans, Merthyr; Jones, Taihirion; Morgans, Pendarren; Jones, Cwmbach; are all silent in the grave. And we have to add to the list of the sainted dead, the revered name of William Jones, Tabernacle, Bridgend, the late venerable secretary of our County Association, who sustained, for thirty-seven years, the pastorate of the Congregational Churches assembling in Bridgend, Bryny menin, Coity, and Bethel, and whose praise is in all the churches. The excellency of his character, the extent of his usefulness, and the estimation in which he was held, not only in Glamorgan, but in the different parts of North and South Wales, as well as the Metropolis and Liverpool, which were the scenes of his occasional labours, demand that, in the CHRISTIAN WITNESS, a tribute should be paid to his memory as a Christian and a Christian Minister. He was The Rev. William Jones was born in the town of Bala, Merionethshire, North Wales, in the year 1784. is parents' names were William and Elizabet Jones. They were members of the Calvinistic Methodists in that town, and his father was an officer in the church. So it was his happiness to be blessed with a godly father and mother; and powerful was the influence which their advice and prayers and examples exercised over his youthful mind. allowed, when a child, to attend the societies of the Methodists by the hands of his godly parents; and early convictions brought him as a penitent sinner to the foot of the cross. was not, however, till about the sixteenth year of his age, that he could date that decided change which at once made him " a new creature in Christ Jesus," and opened to him those resources of infinite mercy which were to be the foundation of his hope, and the occasion of his joy for ever. No longer did he feel any satisfaction in the companions which once were his choice; his heart was renewed by Divine grace. His views, his feelings, his habits, his whole character, was changed. The things which he loved before had lost their charms. It So far as instrumental agency was concerned, he assigns this change to a sermon which he heard from the late Rev. Thomas Philips, D.D., Neuaddlwyd, Cardiganshire, founded on David's choice: "I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness," (Pa. lxxxiv. 10.) He heard it with a solemnity appropriate to the subject itself, and to the excellent talents of that extraordinary preacher. As a penitent sinner, he was drawn to a throne of grace; the ear of mercy gently bowed to listen, as he approached in prayer; the God of his parents he soon found to be his God. The whispers of pardon, the aboundings of Divine love, melted his heart"Old things passed away, and all things became new." Consequently he united himself with the Independent Church at Bala; of which he continued an honourable and useful member, until it pleased God to commit to his charge that ministry which was to be afterwards the business of his life. In reference to this, he related his experience to the writer several times, thus: "I cannot remember a time when I had not a wish to enter the ministry; but when I began to feel the power of religion, and the vast importance of an interest in Christ, my desire for this work increased, though my motives assumed a different character. It was my wish to devote myself to the study of the Holy Bible; and, as I found that every renewed discovery of its excellences, and its adaptation to sinners, endeared it the more to my heart, I longed to proclaim it to those who were without God in the world. I can certainly say that my only desire was to preach the Gospel of Christ; to reveal more extensively his glory; to forward the sublime purposes of his redemption. I entered not, however, on the work of the ministry until I had taken the advice of those on whose judgment and prudence I could rely; and chiefly through the instrumentality of the late Rev. Thomas Charles, D.D. (Methodist Minister), I was introduced to the academy." Feeling, however, the importancy of mental cultivation, as a preliminary to the Christian ministry, he sought admission into the Academy at Wrexham, then under the presidency of Rev. Jenkin Lewis, D.D. (afterwards of Newport, Monmouthshire), and he was fully admitted, in the year 1806, in the twenty-second year of his age; where he spent four years, pursuing very diligently his studies, with great honour to himself as well as his competent tutor. Having honourably completed his academical courses, he accepted the unanimous invitation of the Churches at Bridgend and Brynymenin, Glamorganshire, to become their pastor, and commenced his labours there in June, 1810. After having preached with great acceptance and usefulness to the people, he was ordained February, 1811; on which occasion, his venerable tutor, the Rev. D. Davies, of Swansea, the Rev. G. Hughes, Whitecross, and the Rev. E. Jones, Pontypool, conducted the leading parts of the service. At Bridgend and Brynymenin a wide and barren field presented itself before him. He entered upon the cultivation of it with diligence and zeal; and was privileged to witness the fruit of his labours. Many sinners were awakened and converted under his mini stry, and considerable accessions were made to the churches and congregations. New chapels were erected; one at Bridgend, one at Coity, others at Bethel and Penuel; and the debts upon them were entirely liquidated. In the year 1814, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Mary, the youngest daughter of Thomas and Susannah Turberville, Trokandy, near Treoes. The produce of this marriage was ten children, of whom seven are now alive; viz. Susannah, now Mrs. Wright, of London; Mary, now Mrs. Powell, of Pontypridd; Sarah, now Mrs. Philips, Bridgend; Elizabeth, or Miss Jones, Cowbridge; Gwenllian, or Miss Jones, Bridgend; William, and Edward. He enjoyed the comfort of seeing his children almost all under the banner of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His marriage union was the source of the greatest domestic happiness, and will ever be regarded with grateful praise by his surviving friends and family. How truly his heart was formed to enjoy every social and family endearment, none who knew him can doubt. But, to his great lamentation, he had the painful task of following the remains of his dear Mary unto the grave. She departed this life October 23, 1836; and the writer of these lines preached her funeral sermon, according to her wish, from Phil. i. 23: "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." And Mr. Jones comforted himself in the belief that his severe loss was a great gain to his departed beloved wife. A few years after, he was bereaved again of his second daughter, Margaret, on whom the domestic concerns devolved cntirely after the death of her mother. All the rest of the children were dispersed from their father's home, till he was left lonesome "as a sparrow on the house-top;" which made it necessary for him, in his old age, to look out for an helpmate once more. He married the second time with Mrs. Howells, Ystradowen, a member of the Congregational Church at Maendy, who proved to him an invaluable partner in his old age she still survives to mourn the loss of the best of husbands. Mr. Jones was not without a share of those failings and imperfections which attach to the character of the best of men; but few, we believe, ever acted with more uniform consistency, integrity, and affection. The genuine piety which lay at the foundation of his entire character, shione forth conspicuously in every circle in which he moved, and he has been enabled to pass through an ensnaring and tempting world without a spot or blemish. As a man, our departed brother had his peculiarities. There was a firmness and determinateness in his natural disposition, which some might think he carried to an extreme. Whatever he set his mind upon, he was determined, if possible, to accomplish. He was very strong in his prejudices and aversions. These peculiarities, perhaps, rendered him less amiable in the estimation of some than he would have appeared without them. But we expect not perfection in the present state; and he is now, "without fault, before the throne of God." As a Christian, Mr. Jones was upright, sincere, consistent, devotional. He had acquired, by his uniform and correct deportment, a weight of character that commanded general respect. Whatever men might think of his religion as a Christian, or his profession as a Dissenter, all would acknowledge that Mr. Jones, Bridgend, was a good man. He loved the Gospel, he lived the Gospel, and was cheered, to his last days, by those hopes and prospects which the Gospel presents. As a minister, he was sound, and truly evangelical in his views,-" a scribe well-instructed in the mysteries of the kingdom,"-" a workman that needed not to be ashamed,"-" rightly dividing the Word of Truth." As a preacher, his style was plain and simple; and there was great evenness in his discourses, like his late Rev. Tutor, the Rev. J. Lewis, D.D. He was never caught with a poor sermon. In his pulpit ministration he never seemed concerned that the Ambassador should appear greater than the Prince. On every occasion he desired to stoop, that his audience might look over the servant's head, to see the Master's face. He was not an idler in the vineyard of the Lord. For many years he preached thrice every Sabbath; and twice in the month four times on the Sabbath; and once on the week-night in two of his chapels. He was very punctual also to attend the Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Meetings of his Connexion; and there is reason to believe that his labours were not in vain. He was a Dissenter from principle, and a firm believer in the Scriptural constitution of Churches of the Congregational order. As a Nonconformist, he was intelligent, decided, and consistent. He embraced his principles, not from birth, as hereditary; not from early example; not because they were professed by the majority; but as the result of thought, of examination, of conviction. He had read the New Testament for himself, and in the spirit of a true Protestant, he appealed to that Book as the sole authority of religious faith and practice. He considered himself responsible for his belief, not to man, but to God, knowing that he must give an account of himself at the last day. As an author, the productions of his pen are, like his preaching, all of a useful tendency. His publications are these: "A Catechism of Doctrine and Ordinances, for the higher classes of Sunday-schools,"" A Collection of Hymns for the People of God,"-" Seven Sermons on John iii. 14-21,"-"A Sermon on the Proper Divinity of Jesus Christ," -- another, "On the Office of Deacons,"" A Theological Dictionary," in two volumes, Svo. As this was his last and largest work, so it might be considered as one of the best, if not the best that appeared in the Welsh language. He had another dictionary in contemplation; that he termed " Figurative Dictionary" the proposal of which aroused in the Principality a sanguine expectation. But, in the midst of his undertaking, he was called home from his labours to his reward. Thus was our dear brother "in labour more abundant." He had an active habit of mind; was always well and usefully employed; and "his works praise him in the gate." His last sickness was short and severe; for there were not many days between his being in great pain in this world, and in great happiness in another. Having walked in the way of uprightness, his latter end was peace. He bore his affliction with exemplary patience, fortitude, and resignation. Having finished his work, his mind was at rest. On the last Sabbath, in May, 1847, he preached thrice for his last time, and administered the ordinance of the Lord's Supper twice, when he declared himself to be in much pain, and that few persons feeling as he did would attempt to preach at all. That night he went home with Mrs. Jones, and retired to bed to rise no more in this world of trouble. The night before his departure, one of his scholars said unto him, "Master, your feet are in the river;" to whom he replied, without fear or trembling, "Yes, my dear child; farewell; all is well with me." That night he was labouring under great weakness and pain, and sinking rapidly under the disease with which he was afflicted. He was heard praying: "O Lord Jesus, have mercy upon thy old servant, and deliver him out of his sufferings;" lifting up his eyes, and clasping his hands together. Then he would say, "Oh! how doth the Lord cure me!" He died before morning, without a struggle or a sigh, on the 5th of June, 1847, in the sixty-third year of his age. His funeral was attended, the following Wednesday, by a great concourse of people, composed of the members of his own Churches, and the ministers of his own Connexion, with a great many others from the town and neighbourhood. All the shops of Bridgend were shut up during the procession of the funeral. Before his departure, he arranged that the writer of these lines was to preach on his funeral by the House, and the Rev. L. Powell, Cardiff, in the Tabernacle. The service was conducted accordingly. Well let us all remember that we are hasten ing to the grave. Short is the course we have WILLIAM GRIFFITHS. Popery. HERESIES AND NOVELTIES OF POPERY. THE Papal Priesthood have bent their utmost strength to separate between their vassal people and the Sacred Scriptures, well-knowing that their system is condemned in every page of inspiration, and to let loose the Scriptures would, therefore, be to invite the aggression of an all-devouring foe. In these impious and cruel endeavours they have all but universally succeeded; thus the prophets, apostles, and Christ himself have not been suffered to witness against them. But there was one power they could not touch-that power was history, over which, happily, they had no control. They could neither prevent history from being written, nor printed, nor published, nor preserved. This is one of the greatest afflictions of the Vatican. It was a rueful day for Rome, that beheld the first action of the printing-press; so long as men were dependent on the use of the pen for the multiplication of books, the Popish Priesthood had little to fear, and went on with considerable comfort; but when moveable types were discovered, their sheet-anchor was destroyed and their empire divided; history, ever vigilant, has made her observations and quietly minuted events as they occurred, that the records, in after times, might be ready for the use of truth. But for history, Popery might and would have finished her fabric of falsehood by telling the world that what she is now compelled to designate the commands of the church, were the commands of the Apostles, and that the whole pile of her impieties dates from the days of Peter, history alone prevents where was the withholding of the cup Invocation of Saints.-Introduced in the fourth century. God forbids it"See thou do it not; I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God," Rev. xix. 10. See also 1 John ii. 1; 1 Tim. ii. 5; 1 Cor. viii. 6. Worship of Images. - Introduced in the year 787. The Popes Gregory II., Gregory III., and Zachary, opposed this sin. Pope Constantine I. deposed the Greek Emperor Philip, in the year 713, and put out his eyes for setting up images |