were taught by the Divine Spirit. This blessed book will teach you the happiness of walking in the ways of God, particularly in early life. I hope you will often read the histories of the young, especially Josiah, Obadiah, Samuel, the Syrian general's little maid, and Timothy. Imitate their examples, but, more than all, follow the lovely spotless example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from

sinners.

6

• Read daily a portion of the Bible alone by yourself. Endeavour to commit one verse a day to memory-pray that a new heart may be given you, and a right spirit be put within you,—that grace may be your early portion,-that you may love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart,that here you may live to his glory, and in heaven enjoy his presence for ever. I give you a sweet text, which I hope you will often think on. Father, thou art the guide of my youth."

66

My

It was not only to his wife and children, but to all others who were in any way connected with him by ties of kindred, that he was wont to write in such terms as showed his willingness to identify himself at all times with their interests, and to advance, in every way in his power, their temporal and spiritual welfare. The following extracts are from letters addressed to his sister-in

law and her husband, the Rev. Samuel Flood, shortly after their arrival at Sierra Leone, where he held the post of government chaplain. They were written in 1823, and show how fully Mr. Jones' mind was impregnated with missionary zeal, and how thoroughly he seemed to enter into the difficulties and responsibilities of a missionary life. They are in this respect a fitting comment on the course which a few years before he had pursued; a striking evidence of his sincerity of purpose when he offered himself as a candidate for the high and holy office of proclaiming to the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ,'

The first extract is from a letter addressed to the Rev. Samuel Flood. After speaking thankfully of God's kind providence in permitting him to reach in safety, after a perilous voyage, the scene of his labours, he adds,—' You, my dear brother, now stand in a responsible, solemn situation; sometimes overwhelming, at other times cheering. The records of eternity will perpetuate your labours, whether successful or otherwise. You have a barren desert to cultivate, but remember it must "rejoice and blossom as the rose." It is now a dry and thirsty land where no water is, but the waters of life will cheer, refresh, and enlighten Free Town. It may now appear an unfavourable soil, but it is to become

Now the eternal

"the garden of the Lord." Jehovah is saying to you, "Son of man, can these bones live?" and by your labours and the labours of successors crowned by the blessing of his Holy Spirit "an exceeding great army shall arise" to worship the Lamb. What a glorious sight does the eye of faith behold, when the clouds of unbelief are not permitted to obscure the lovely sky of revelation! You see the glorious prophecies of the mighty men who have long slept with their fathers gradually opening-partly fulfilling. The Lamb has long commenced his mighty march, and He will go on from conquering and to conquer, until all the world shall bow to his sceptre and acknowledge Him to be all in all. Those events, great as they are, are all of them to be accomplished instrumentally, and it has pleased the Father, in whom dwelleth all fulness, to put the gospel treasure in earthen vessels, that the "excellency of the power may be of God, and not of man.' I often think that St. Paul exhibits one of the most perfect portraits of the Christian minister, and the indefatigable missionary. He willingly surrendered up all things, and in his fine, full, energetic language he says, "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things."

:

He records in the 11th chapter of his 2nd epistle to the Corinthians what makes us blush in this country when we talk of our trials, and what must encourage you to persevere. St. Paul preached; he succeeded; he triumphed he was more than a conqueror; and he now sits before the throne, watching the entrance of immortal spirits into glory, who, through many ages, have been brought to the knowledge of the Redeemer through his instrumentality. Men converted through his ministry, from time to time handed down the truth, and we shall not know, till the end of all things, the extent of his success. What an encouraging thought therefore for you, my dear brother, that if you are only the instrument of enlightening one soul by your present labours, you gain what a world could never purchase, and what eternity will celebrate! What a noble host have appeared on the theatre of the world since apostolic days,-Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Vanderkemp, David Brown, Johns, Brainerd, Buchanan, Henry,-all engaged in the same benevolent work! Oh, the privilege, the distinguished privilege to be engaged in such a labour of love l'

A few weeks after writing the above letter he addressed the following to Mrs. Flood. It contains a beautiful sketch alike of the real work of

God in the heart, and of the duties of the wife of a missionary.

It afforded us all much pleasure,' he writes, to hear that you had safely arrived at Sierra Leone, and that you were both so well. Your beloved parents had much anxiety about you. They feel for you as their well-loved child, and have anxieties known only to those who stand in such relations. The associations in their minds are often peculiarly painful; the dreary night, the stormy blast, remind them of those who are in a distant land. I hope we shall all be able to depend more entirely on the providence and goodness of our God. His promises are numerous ; they are great; they are all-sufficient; but our faith is weak. We alter the form of the apostle's exhortation, and walk by sight, and not by faith.

'I have often thought what a mercy it is that events are kept from our knowledge until they are brought to pass. The Lord in his goodness. will not disclose to us our future trials. He assures us that "all his ways are mercy and truth," that He will "never leave us, nor forsake us," but He will not suffer us to look into the volume of futurity. How delightful then is the assurance, that though our way may be through a thorny wilderness, though it will be through much tribulation that we are to enter the king