bers are brought under consideration. In this way, great power is given to the laymembers over the church, and such as may be gifted with a power to exhort and to give counsel, have in this meeting an opportunity to make themselves useful. At Llannwchlyn, however, some mischievous, but crafty, men had crept into authority, who had, previous to Mr. Jones's going there, proved themselves cunning anti-minister men. They held the doctrine that the minister was the servant of the Church, and not the servant of Christ to guard the interest of the Church.

In the year 1816, Mr. Jones was joined in marriage to Mary Hughes, the third daughter of Edward Hughes, Esq., Cwmcarned, Llanbrynmair, by whom he had five children, three daughters and two sons; the youngest son being dead, having departed this life a short time before Mr. Jones, when he was twenty-four years of age. As Mr. Jones had married without consulting the leading men of his church, when they heard that this had taken place, they immediately held a meeting to consider the matter. They, however, did not venture to say anything, but bided their time.

Robert Roberts, Tyddynyvelin, was the ruling man in the church, a wealthy farmer, a good scholar, and an excellent preacher. He was always very friendly towards Mr. Jones, and always remained so; and his wife, Marga. ret Roberts, was one of the most pious women. Unfortunately his circumstances became embarrassed, and being indebted to many of the members for large sums of money, he was hurled from authority, which was the commencement of a lengthened time of troubles for Mr. Jones. There was a tailor in the church, called Hugh Robert, a man of great cunning and coolness, who assumed great zeal for orthodoxy, and was very sanctimonious. All the Llannwchlyn people were proverbial for their theological discussions, but Hugh Robert was considered the hero of what the old people considered orthodoxy, or Antinomian sentiments. Hugh Robert was the rival of Robert Roberts, and the downfall of the latter was of considerable advantage to the former. Moreover, when Hugh Robert heard of any members walking unruly, especially if they were farmers in good circumstances, he went very officiously to visit them, generally with a pan in hand-and so well could Hugh Robert manage the matter, that he seldom returned home without a panfull of good milk, frequently with a good lump of butter in it, and sometimes with a good cheese under his arm. Such gross sentiments man sometimes is capable of connecting with the sacredness of religion! Hugh Robert had great influence over John Williams, Ty'nybryn, a wellmeaning farmer, but not of equal capacity with Hugh. They were both great zealots, and very hot-headed on behalf of high Calvinism, anti-Sunday-school, anti-minister, and anti-everything that was new, whether it was an improvement or not, to consider which they never took the trouble. Nothing would do for them but the old doctrine, and the old doctrine in the old form, and promulgated in the old ways. They were both emboldened after the downfall of

Robert Roberts. It is the fashion in Wales for tailors in country places to go about to different houses to work, and not at their own shops at home. Thus Hugh Robert had a good opportunity to spread his sentiments, and to work people up against the new things preached and patronised by Mr. Jones.

ever

Things were similarly situated in some other churches, Machynlleth, Talybont, Llanvyllin, etc., with a sprinkling here and there of individuals that sympathised with this party, which was only a small minority-but a thoroughly desperate minority, that was determined to pull the castle down on their own heads, rather than deliver it peacefully up to the enemy. Llannwchllyn, however, became the field of battle. Charges were preferred against Mr. Jones, not for any immorality of conduct, which no one could cast any reflections upon, but of being a heretic, and preaching doctrines that were not sound. A meeting of ministers was called, and both parties agreed upon having the following individuals-the Revs. W. Hughes, Dinas, J. Roberts, Llanbrynmair, W. Williams, Wern, J. Lewis, Bala, Č. Jones, Dolgellan, E. Davies, Trawsvynydd, E. Davies, Cutiau, R. Everett, Denbigh, Thomas Jones, Moelvio, and D. Morgans, Machynlleth. Mr. Jones stated to them what doctrines he preached, and showed that they were the same as when he received their invitation to be their pastor. The ministers unanimously agreed that he erred neither in word or works, and his opponents were told there and then that his doctrine and life were blameless. These ministers were then the leading men of the denomination in North Wales, and distinguished for piety, intelligence, and influence. Still this party of illiterate and ignorant country people, a minority of the Llannwchlyn church, were resolved not to receive the advice given them by intelligent ministers, that with all Christian love desired their welfare. If before they were mad, they now raved, and with redoubled energy cried out 'heresy," and withdrew from communion with the church; but received no support from any minister connected with the denomination, except in one case. But the Welsh Calvinistic Methɔdists, to their great discredit, took them by the hand, and supplied their pulpit for years. Methodism in Wales has since become quite a different thing, and is improving every day through the very truths it endeavoured to suppress at Llannwchlyn and elsewhere. To some extent it is still in the rear, but coming on with a quick march.

The "old people," as they were called, put their heads together and contrived how they could become possessed of Mr. Jones's chapel. Law was resorted to, and he was served with a writ or warrant in 1823, and again in 1824, and again before the end of the same year. Mr. Jones was put to great expense to defend himself. Mr. Jones is frequently blamed by those that are ignorant of the matter, for going to law with his people, while the very reverse is the case. Going to law was as far from entering his head as going to the moon. But surely it was a hard case for a minister to quit his chapel and

congregation to gratify a few disturbers; and it would be a most dangerous precedent, which if followed out, there would be but little security for chapel property, and we should never rid ourselves of disturbers gormandizing in their demand for chapels. Mr. Jones, however, through the losing some deed and some legal frivolities and tricks, was finally defeated, and turned out of his chapel. The congregation for a number of years assembled at an out-building at Weirgloddwen; and the writer of this memoir must say that he and others that worshipped for years in the straw-thatched building at Weirgloddwen never enjoyed such religious feasts as they had there. There

was such a striving to understand the word of God, which was the characteristic feature of Mr. Jones's ministry, and his people were so thoroughly imbued with the same spirit, that love and spiritual health were the attendants, and the religion was real. Mr. Jones and his people prospered. His pay was not sometimes above £5 a year; but he had a small farm and a school, as well as the property he had with his wife; and with a philosophic indifference, he never took things too much to heart. Besides, all the ministers were with him, and the board of the three denominations in London supported him, as his case was considered one of general interest. The Old People, however, were evidently under the visitation of heaven. They had an immoral man for their minister, and from one step of immorality to another he came tumbling down from the high tower of of Antinomian conceit; and the last Sabbath he was with his people, they locked him out of the chapel and literally fought him. Thus Antinomian pride, of which this minister was the chosen embodiment, was dethroned by its own friends. The Old People very soon afterwards, to pay law expenses they had so wantonly incurred, were obliged to come to terms, as they were not themselves able to pay; and Mr. Jones and his friends, rather than wait the decision of Chancery, treated with them; and the Old People gave up the law, as they had not the means of proceeding further. Thus ended the Antinomian persecution, backed by some individuals, nevertheless, whose names we shall not mention, from respect for their families that are now living. Mr. Jones, however, lost all his property; but the Lord never allowed him, or any of his family, to suffer want; and those that were foremost in per secuting this man of God, suffered reverses something very like the finger of the Most High. It is a dangerous thing to fight with heaven. God can make rich Dissenters poor, if they employ their wealth against his will, and support things that he has a mind to overthrow.

Soon after Mr. Jones and his friends returned to the chapel, there was a great revival, and scores were added to the church. No doubt in these revivals there is much that is low and carnal. It was so in this case, and it was not when he was outwardly prosperous that he enjoyed most of the comforts of religion. Religion became more general, but it was not so real. Mr. Jones remained cool and unshaken in the noise and

stir of this revival which was quite a tempest. An American gentleman, from Cincinnati, was the means of originating it. When the people wanted to have their passions roused and their fancies tickled, Mr. Jones, the expounder of Bible truth, was not quite the thing for them. There was deep piety and a heavenly unction to give a power to all that he said, but it did not harmonize with the whirlwind of a revival that had been stirred up at Llannwchlyn, which, to a great extent, had an unhealthy craving. It worked itself out at last, and died of self-exhaustion. Mr. Jones adhered to the old plan he had of teaching the people; and generally of a Sunday evening he held meetings after preaching, to examine the people how much they remembered of the sermon, when each was obliged to reply, both male and female, young and old. Those that did not wish to join, left after the sermon was over. ministry was eminently adapted to teach and to ground one in the word of God. He was altogether a man of the Bible.

His

The Sunday-schools in Wales are more for adults than children; where there is more expounding of Scripture than mechanical reading. In country localities the church frequently separates into different Sunday-schools, meeting in farmhouses or school-houses built according to conveni

ence.

In such a place it is necessary for a minister to be able to expound any portion of Scripture, and to be what might be termed a “questioner," that is, to examine the school publicly, which is very popular in Wales. Mr. Jones was considered very capable at this work, and many souls have been blessed through his ministry in these meetings.

Also the "cyveillach," which we have already mentioned, he greatly improved. He turned it to a meeting to expound and apply Scripture, beginning with an epistle, and going on regularly to the end. Under his ministry this was a most useful meeting, and always was well attended. It is seldoni that churches enjoy the advantages of what might be termed a spiritual education to the same extent as those which Mr. Jones presided over.

During all this time he was minister also at Bethel, a chapel about ten miles from Llannwchlyn, and in his connection with that church he was always most happy. The Rev. Mr. Pugh, now of Heol Mostyn, was co-pastor with him for several years in the different small churches below Bala. Mr. Pugh was always greatly respected by Mr. Jones. They agreed in sentiment and sympathy, and in many things they were very much alike. They preached and spoke a great deal in public together.

In consequence of the removal of the college, now at Brecon, from North to South Wales, the ministers of North Wales thought it necessary to have some institution to prepare young men for the ministry in North Wales. The result was that Mr. Jones was fixed upon as the most adequate to undertake the office of being tutor. He had already under his care a free school, and in connection with this, he generally had a number of young men preparing for college.

From poor young men he generally took no remuneration, and the majority under his care was so circumstanced. In connection with the above institution, he felt it necessary to leave Llannwchlyn, and was invited to Bala, where he settled for the remainder of his life. He was minister there for twelve years. His chief reason for removing was that a town was considered more advantageous for the academy than a country place.

Owing to the care of five churches, Bala, Tynybont, Bethel, Soar, and Llanddervel, the academy, the free school, and his farm, few men worked so hard as Mr. Jones. He was up all the year round between four and five o'clock in the morning. The young men met him in class at six every morning without fail, as he was always particular as to time. At nine he went to school, and was there generally till about ten; and he devoted another hour to the young men, one of the students then taking care of the school. At eleven they were all dismissed; at one they met again, and he remained with the school for about two hours, and devoted another hour or more to the students every afternoon. He preached thrice every Sunday, and travelled from eight to twelve miles, frequently walking it. This was continued unremittingly for twelve years. He had also to attend meetings during week nights, at the distance of four or five miles; at least once every week, frequently more. He did the work of three men, as pastor, teacher, and tutor. He contrived to devote a good portion of time, notwithstanding, for study. Thirtynine young men were educated for the ministry by him. His work was too much, however, for his gigantic frame, and for two years previous to his decease, he suffered from the complaint that terminated his life. A few days before the vacation, 1853, he was taken ill with gravel, and was prostrated on the bed of sickness.

The Rev. Mr. Edwards, M.A., of Bala, said if he were asked what sort of man Mr. Jones was, he would call him a strong man— strong in body and mind; he knew nothing about flinching and manoeuvring to meet circumstances, but was always a man of eternal morals, and never feared to stand up for truth. He was eminently independent in the formation of his opinions, as well as in the adoption of means to carry them out. This independency of thought and action he carried out in everything, in choice of diet, drink, and dress. He was a plain man, and in person and manners he had much in common with the Rev. John Burnett, only that Mr. Jones was no wit. His failing, no doubt, was his rigour, though it was this unflinching rigour that made him what he was.

Some

times this rigour descended to tyranny, though it never was a selfish rigour; for no one was more self-denying to help persons in need; but a rigour to demand rectitude of

conduct, whether the assent of the will had been gained or not. He was bodily and morally such a strong man, that he had but little sympathy with the weaknesses of human nature. He always behaved with honour towards all men, and never did anything but was right. He was perfectly free from all ministerial jealousy, would serve at any post, or not serve at all, without being at all dissatisfied. He was a man above trifles. The advancement of truth was the object aimed at by Mr. Jones, and he never cared who had the greatest share of adulation, or occupied the highest seat. Though, to a great extent, a model man himself, he was no hero worshipper. It was the great God and his truth that made him, every body, and everything, what they were and are, and it was God and truth alone that he bowed before.

He died characteristically. He was no poet, but a man of fact and figures. He was never satisfied with the dreams of imagination, but required proof and demonstration. His wife, seeing him uneasy with the torturing pains that would make others writhe, said, "Well, my dear, it is very hard." "No," he said, in his own cool way, "it is light affliction, which is but for a moment, working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." He did not place too much confidence in hymns, and his wife repeated a very popular verse which refers to our tarrying on the brink of the deep Jordan, in fear of crossing. When he heard the word, fear, "No," he said, "there is no fear. Scripture-Scripture, my dear." Then the twenty-third Psalm was read to him, as his interruption prevented his wife finishing the verse, and when the words were read to him, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil," etc., "Yes, my dear, there is a rock now." Thus he died, putting no faith in man, and trusting all to God.

was

What a glorious system the Gospel is, raising man so nigh to his Maker, and stamping his glorious image upon him! He died in the 68th year of his age, and fortieth of his ministry, October 27th, 1853, and buried on the 31st; when about thirty ministers of all denominations were present, and several of his fellow-labourers that had shared his toils from his youth, including the Revs. C. Jones, Dolgellan, Morgans, Llanvyllin, and E. Davies, Trawsvynyd. All the country for many miles around, came to his funeral, although for years he had, from a sense of duty, been forced to place himself in an antagonistic position against men and things. But he held to his principles to the end, and lived to see them victorious, and his last days were those of peace and prosperity. He was buried with his youngest son, Edward Hughes Jones, near Ebenezer Chapel, Llanwchlyn.

Batty, at Jarrow, where the venerable Bede once resided; Thomas Dixon, at Kellow; Thomas Wilson, at Lumley; Thomas Kentish, at Middleton; Mr. Brough, at Norton; William Pell, M.A., of Magdalen College, Oxford, at Great Stainton; Mr. Graves, at Wearmouth; and Mr. Hutton, at Wilton Gilbert. The churches of the Congregational order, now in this county, amount to sixteen. An interesting account of John Rogers, whose ministry led to the formation of the church at Barnard Castle, is given in Palmer's History of the Nonconformists, vol. i., pp. 379-385.

The ejected ministers in the county of Northumberland were, Mr. Strong, at Allerton; Gilbert Rule, M.D., at Alnwick, he was imprisoned twelve months on the Bass, near Edinburgh, of which an account is given in Woodrow's Sufferings of the Church of Scotland; John Foreside, at Ancroft; John Darnton, at Bedlington; Alexander White, at Long Benton; Lake Ogle, M.A., at Berwick-on-Tweed; he was visited by General Monk, on his way with his army from Scotland; after the Five Mile Act, he went to Bousden. During the Monmouth Insurrection, he was carried to Newcastle, where he was confined six weeks, to the hazard of his life. In the reign of James II., he had a good congregation at Berwick. During the reign of William and Mary, he was invited both to Kelso and to Edinburgh, but he lived and died at Berwick, Robert Leaver, of St. John's College, Cambridge, heir to Mr. Leaver, of Blaniepeth, laboured in and about Newcastle. Some young men, who conducted him to the secret place of meeting, were cited before the Lord Chief Justice Jefferies, at Newcastle. He had been ejected from Bolam. John Thomson, at Bothall; he was imprisoned in the common jail for Nonconformity; Mr. Marrow, at Benton; John Davies, Fellow of Magdalen College, Cambridge, at St. Peter's, Bywell; he was one of the ministers sent by Cromwell to supply vacant parishes in the North; after his ejectment, he lived at Weldon, three miles from Bywell; he was "of the Congregational judgment, but had a general aspect from persons of different persuasions. He loved all good men, and all good men loved him. He preached in his own house, and crossed

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the mountains to preach at Weardale and Allendale." He was kindly treated by Sir William Blackett, of Newcastle. He is said to have preached in coalpits! James Duncanson, at Chatton, where he was placed by the Commissioners of the Long Parliament; after his ejectment, he retired to Leeds, where he died. Mr. Taylor, at Chollerton; Henry Erskine, son of Ralph Erskine, of the family of the Earl of Man. He is said to have been one of the youngest of thirty-three sons! There is a very remarkable account of him in Palmer, vol. iii., p. 61, and also in Woodrow's History, vol. i., p. 256. William Henderson, at Earsdon, near North Shields; he became chaplain to the Earl of Delavel. John Pringle, at Ellingham; he afterwards assisted Dr. Gilpin, at Newcastle; he suffered imprisonment for Nonconformity. Mr. John Seaton, at Felton; "a good preacher, who did much good in his place." Ralph Ward, M.A., of Sidney College, Cambridge; at the Restoration, he retired to Newcastle, where he conducted a respectable school, preaching occasionally for Mr. Hammond and Mr. Durant. became domestic chaplain to Sir John Hewley, at York, where he spent thirty years, preaching privately. On the publication of the Declaration of Indulgence, 1672, he began to preach publicly; he was, however, afterwards excommunicated, bullied by Judge Jefferies, tried, and imprisoned on Ouse Bridge, York. Mr. Palmer gives an interesting letter, which he wrote to his people, when driven from them, vol. iii., pp. 70-74. Mr. John Hume, at Haughton. Samuel Lane, at Long Houghton; "a man of great sincerity, and of an unblameable, exemplary conversation" Robert Blunt, of Trinity College, Cambridge, at Kirk Harle; he suffered much for conscience' sake; in 1682, he became minister of a congregation at Horsley. Mr. Benlows, at Mitford; he became a Counsellorat-law and a Justice of the Peace. Edward Ord (or Ogle), a native of York, at Norham. At Newcastle-upon-Tyne, there were the following: Samuel Hammond, D.D., King's College, Cambridge, and Fellow of Magdalen College, and a successful preacher at St. Giles's, in the university town. went to the North as chaplain to Sir Arthur Haslerigg, became minister of Bishop Wearmouth, and went from

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