prevented his fulfilling his task. The Confessional, however, was answered by Doctor Glocester Ridley, and Mr. Jones' observations were not published till, on a new edition of the answer to an Essay on Spirit being called for, he added them as a sequel to that work. He appears, at this time, to have been in intimate correspondence with Archbishop Secker, by whom, notwithstanding any difference of opinion resulting from his Hutchinsonian principles, he seems to have been greatly admired. Of his talents he had the highest opinion, and when the Essay on the Principles of Philosophy was published, his Grace observed to one of his friends, "This work of Mr. Jones' is not to be treated with neglect; it is sensibly and candidly written; and if it is not answered, we little folks shall infer, that it cannot be answered." He had also a correspondence with his Grace on the subject of natural religion. He was of opinion that the works of no infidel, either ancient or modern, ever so vitally injured the cause of Christianity, as the intermixture of a pretended natural religion with the pure and mysterious doctrines of the Gospel. Few men could be better adapted to treat this all-important subject than Mr. Jones. He had long devoted himself to the study of philosophy; he had closely considered the relations of nature and revelation, and no one could suspect him of ever wishing to support the holiness of the Gospel by the advocacy of ignorance, or of preserving men faithful to the highest of all truths, by making them regard others as of no value. His writings, consequently, on this subject, are deeply interesting, and he seems to have spoken with a firmness proportionate to his full acquaintance with every part of the argument. The mixture, however, of his peculiar principles respecting the theory of Mr. Hutchinson, will not be considered as adding to the value of his works, by readers in general. And unless the circumstance of his connexion with this new school of philosophers be borne in mind, there are some parts of his religious philosophical works, which would remain obscure, and, to some persons, unintelligible.

In the year 1743, he collected into a volume, several disquisitions, which had already appeared separately. In one of these

essays we have the following observations on the Mosaic distinction of animals, into clean and unclean; we give them as a specimen of the manner in which he treated subjects of this sort: "As we did not invent the Bible itself, God hath wisely provided against our inventing the interpretation of it; the Scripture, when properly searched, being sufficient for the unfolding of its own difficulties. If any subject is left without an explanation, where it is first delivered, we find it resumed or referred to in other places; and some new circumstances are introduced, which serve to enlarge our views, and to clear up what is obscure. Hence it comes to pass, that however other books may be explained, the only rational method of interpreting the Scripture is to compare spiritual things with spiritual, to clear up one passage of Divine writ by others which relate to it; and in the mouth of two or three witnesses of this sort, every word ought to be established."

In 1776, under the character of a Presbyter of the Church of England, he published, in a Letter to a Friend at Oxford, which was reprinted in The Scholar Armed, Reflections on the growth of Heathenism among modern Christians; in the advertisement he says, "The reader may be shocked when he is told, that there is a disposition to heathenism in an age of so much improvement, and pronounce the accusation improbable and visionary; but he is requested to weigh impartially the facts here offered, and then to form his judgment." Again, “Whither, at last, will this taste for heathen learning, which hath been prevailing and increasing for so many years, from the days of Lord Herbert to the present time, lead us? Whither can it lead us but to indifference and atheism? A Christian corrupted with heathenish affections, degenerates into something worse than the original heathen of antiquity." This excellent man lived in times when events were about to take place in which the correctness of these ideas were fully proved; but the following observations are still more strikingly applicable to the aspect which Europe exhibited at the latter part of the eighteenth century: "Should any person ask me how Christianity is to be banished out of Christendom, as the predictions

of the Gospel give us reason to expect it will be, I should make no scruple to answer, that it will certainly be brought to pass by this growing affection to heathenism. And, therefore, it is devoutly to be wished, that some censor would arise, with the zeal and spirit of Martin Luther, to remonstrate effectually against this indulgence of paganism, which is more fatal to the interests of Christianity, than all the abuses purged away at the Reformation. This is now the grand abuse, against which the zeal of a Luther, and the wit of an Erasmus, ought to be directed; it is the abomination of desolation, standing where it ought not, even in the sanctuary of Christianity, and is a worse offence than all the profanations that ever happened to the Jewish temple."

About this time he bade farewell to his parish of Pluckley, where he had resided for more than twelve years, and to the inhabitants of which, he is said to have been a diligent and watchful shepherd. On leaving this place he removed to Nayland, in Suffolk, of which he obtained the perpetual curacy; and soon after his removal he exchanged the living of Pluckley for that of Paston, in Northamptonshire. In the year 1781, he revised the Physiological Disquisitions, in the introduction to which he mentions his determination to confine himself to two volumes quarto, but he lived only to complete a part of the plan. In 1786 he commenced a course of Lectures, which he delivered in the church of Nayland, on the figurative language of Scripture, which he shortly after published. This, though it was not esteemed, perhaps, at the time, of equal importance with his philosophical and larger works, is nevertheless among the most useful of his productions. It gives the general reader a clear and excellent idea of the manner in which the figurative portions of Scripture may be safely interpreted. Such a subject as this it is of the utmost importance to have carefully treated. The most dangerous errors have arisen from the temerity with which it has been handled; and weak or speculative men have employed the mistakes into which they have been led by false systems and interpretations to plunge themselves into Atheism. By employing Scripture as his sole guide to its proper

interpretation, our Author steered clear of the quicksands which on both sides threaten a writer on this subject, and his Lectures form a work which deserves to be very generally known. Among the other objects which Mr. Jones pursued with the ardour of a constantly active mind, was music; and in this, as well as in his other studies, he acquired that more than ordinary proficiency which proved the natural and unconfined strength of his mental constitution. He was profoundly versed in that most difficult of all the sciences, the theory of music, on which he wrote a treatise, which acquired him considerable reputation among the lovers of the art. His compositions, also, which consisted of several Church pieces, a morning and evening Cathedral service, four anthems, and the highly admired St. Stephen's tune, are considered as strong evidences of his practical as well as theoretical acquaintance with the science; and if he had not possessed many higher claims to notice, he would, it is probable, have been conspicuously known to the world as a professor of the art which furnished him with so rich an enjoyment in his hours of relaxation. Attached as he was to music, it was natural for him to wish to see his Church graced with an organ, and this favourite idea was at last met, and the Church of Nayland was furnished with an excellent instrument. At its opening he preached the Sermon, given in this collection, On the Nature and Excellence of Music. In this discourse he thus speaks of its connexion with the other external expressions of devotion: "When we consider the performance of Sacred Music as a duty, much is to be learned from it. If music is a gift of God to us for our good, it ought to be used as such for the improvement of the understanding, and the advancement of devotion. All our Church music tends to keep up our acquaintance with the Psalms, those divine compositions, of which none can feel the sense as music makes them feel it, without being edified. The sacred harp of David will still have the effect it once had upon Saul; it will quiet the disorders of the mind, and drive away the remains of our fear."

The idea which Mr. Jones had formed of the duties and cha

racter of a Christian minister was great and elevated, and he laboured to carry into execution the views he had been led to form of his station as a parish priest. His endeavours to instruct the younger members of his flock, were constant; and he left no method neglected, by which it appeared he might impress upon their minds consistent views of doctrine and duty. His Essay on the Church was written in consequence of his desire thus to establish the youthful part of his flock, on the safe and permanent footing of ungarbled truth. This little treatise was printed in the year 1787, and it is hardly necessary to say how useful and valuable its contents are, when we mention that Bishop Horsley had so high an opinion of it, that he recommended it to be placed on the list of books printed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Book of Nature, was another little work called forth by the same anxious desire, to be useful to the rising generation, and it deserves, like the former, to be in the hands of every person occupied in the education of youth. The Churchman's Catechism was written to warn his young charge against the dangers of Schism, and to teach them from their earliest youth to regard with reverence the Church from which their fathers had derived the waters of life ministered in pure and consecrated vessels. The effect of his exertions was such, as he felt to be a sufficient reward for all his labours. His parishioners regarded him with the highest esteem, and the seed of knowledge which he sowed among them, sprang up, and multiplied a hundred-fold on his path.

His successor in the Curacy of Nayland bore a grateful testimony to the diligence with which he performed all these various duties of his office, and replied to a person, who asked him respecting the result of Mr. Jones' labours, "that he profited in every way, and that among the other good effects which had been produced by his ministry at Nayland, was the great increase of the number of attendants on the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which, when he entered on the charge of the parish, was disgracefully small." No better test, perhaps, could be given of a minister's success in the discharge of his duties, than the re