About ten days before her death, she encountered her spiritual enemy in a conflict which lasted two nights and one day. Her father kindly suggested to her that she had already conquered many troubles, doubts, and fears; and that through Divine aid she would be brought through the final struggle; to which she readily assented. In the morning she was found praising the Lord, the snare having been broken, and abundance of joy having returned to her heart. During the last night that she lived, her husband sat by her, and asked her some questions concerning death. Though she was so weak that all her words could scarcely be understood, yet she distinctly stated to him, that she had no fear of death, and that her mind was kept in perfect peace. At length the last hour arrived, and being quite conscious of it, she said, "I am in the valley; how long I shall be in the valley, I do not know; I have no fear; the valley is lighted up all the way." And when the hand of death had firmly grasped her worn and faded frame, the battle of life being finished, and the unseen realities of the eternal state beginning to break upon her vision, she softly uttered the words, "Thank the Lord; praise the Lord" and the sanctified spirit passed away triumphantly to her glorious rest, October 9th, 1861.

Her death was improved in our chapel at Nanstallon, by Mr. W. J. HOCKING, in a sermon on Rev. xiv., 13. The chapel was thronged on the occasion, many tears were shed, and there is ground for hope that many souls were benefited, as shortly afterwards several individuals were brought to God.

My last two visits home, while my dear sister lived, gave me ample opportunity for observing the happy state of her soul, and the glorious brightness of her hope. In conversation she used such expressions as, "When I am gone," and "When I am dead," as calmly as any one could say, "I sit down," or "I rise up." The last tie that bound her to this world was a mother's solicitude for her only child, and that tie was gently broken; but most touching and memorable were her appeals to us respecting him. When we knelt together around her bed, the bliss which filled our spirits cannot be represented in words. It seemed as if the "heavenly powers" had come down to carry us all above. If any would learn how sin can be subdued, the prince of darkness held back, and heaven brought down to earth, through faith in Jesus Christ, let him witness such a scene. There, in the very presence of the grim destroyer of all human generations, might be seen, in beams of glory, an illustration of the scripture statements,-"To die is gain ;" and "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

Adieu! to thee, the earliest and choicest companion of my childhood. My sister, whose affection for me never changed, except to deepen and strengthen; and whose last lingering look still attracts me towards thy mansion! Adieu! till in God's mercy we meet again. W. LUKE.

MEMOIR OF MR. HENRY WILLIAMS.

THE subject of the following remarks was born in the year 1788. His father was a native of Carnarvonshire, North Wales, but was for several years the Incumbent of Llanishen Church, Monmouthshire,

and at his demise was succeeded by his son John, who was regarded as a truly devoted christian minister, greatly beloved by those who knew him. He was exceedingly liberal in his religious sentiments, and wished prosperity to all who taught and preached Jesus. His name is still as ointment poured forth in the remembrance of his surviving friends, but his ministerial work soon came to an end, and he was called to his reward in the days of comparative youth.

HENRY was the second son, and continued with his father on the glebe farm for many years, but subsequently removed to the Mardy Farm, where he continued for forty-two years, until called to give up his earthly possessions for an eternal state. During his sojourn in this farm, he entered into marriage bonds with Miss Rachel Williams, of the Dufferyn. They were blessed with a large family, some of whom were called away by death at an early age; but two sons and five daughters still survive. Soon after the preaching of the Gospel was introduced into the house of our departed brother, J. Edwards, in the parish of Llanishen, (1824), Mr. Williams's family became hearers of the truth proclaimed there, and very shortly after, Mrs. Williams, and others of the family, joined the Bible Christian Church; which was thought by some of her neighbours very humiliating on her part. But she esteemed it one of the highest honours to be a sharer of the blessings and persecutions of the people of God; knowing that if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. She was called to her rest by an inscrutable providence, in the month of August, 1843. One morning, shortly after she had left home for Monmouth, on business, her horse was found without its rider, and after a little search, the lifeless body was discovered in an adjacent field. Her friends had not to sorrow as those without hope, she had given full evidence of her conversion to God, for many years.

Her husband, having witnessed the great change produced in his beloved wife, through the ministry of the Bible Christian Ministers, was induced to become a regular hearer at the same place of worship, and their door was soon thrown open for the reception of the servants of Christ. It may be truly said, in this particular, he has not been "weary in well-doing." There was no dissimulation in his reception of the messengers of mercy. They were received with a smile on his countenance, and a few words of kindness, and for many years have been welcomed as a part of his own family. He took a lively interest in the erection of Bethel Chapel, and rendered much service in conveying a part of the materials, free of charge, and was ready at all times to render his aid to help forward the cause of Christ.

The first powerful impression he received of his being a lost sinner was, he informed me, when about twenty-two years of age, while he wept over his mother's grave, and on hearing a sermon preached on the same Sabbath by Mr. W. Jones, in Llausoy Church. His mind was very deeply distressed; and he used to pray while following the plough, after hearing this sermon; but did not go often on his knees. He said, "I soon became as wicked as ever, and remained so for a long time; but as I advanced in years, my mind became gradually impressed again. I have nothing to trust in but Christ, whose name is most precious to me. I wish to die when it is the will of God to take me." He told me several times that the fear of

death was removed, that he prayed to God, and his only hope was in Jesus. He was desirous to receive the Lord's Supper, and he found it a profitable season, as we had also experienced on a similar occasion. I found that his bodily strength was fast declining. His complaint was a compound contraction of the muscles, and paralysis, which at last quite disabled him from moving hand or foot. For months he was fed by the hands of his affectionate children, who in all cases kindly administered to his necessities; and I may say never was an afflicted parent more tenderly cared for.

To his son Henry, he remarked, a short time before he departed, that he had great cause to praise the Lord for the powerful change the Lord wrought in the heart of his beloved wife, through the preaching of the Bible Christian ministers; intimating that it had been rendered a blessing to his own mind through that channel.

In all my visits I found him gradually sinking. He was able to converse but little at a time. The sound of the voice in reading, or praying, would act so powerfully upon his nerves as to bring on violent pain. For many months persons were obliged to sit up with him at night, and for a long time he took but little sleep. He required to be moved constantly, and as he could take but little food, and that chiefly by sucking it through a quill, he was reduced to a skeleton. He had a strong conviction of his approaching dissolution, and would often say he should not be very long; but as his bodily strength weakened, his hope in Jesus seemed to brighten. He said to his son the last night of his stay on earth, June 18th, when the servant left the room, "John, don't you go from me," and spoke much of the need of prayer. As morning approached he grew more composed, and it was at length found that, when he had seemingly fallen asleep, the spirit had quitted its clay tenement without a struggle or groan, we confidently hope, for a blissful immortality.

We

It may be said that he feared God above many, though his christian experience may not have been so profound as that of some. believe our loss is his infinite gain, as his only hope and confidence was in Jesus.

His affectionate children have lost in his death a loving father; his servants an indulgent master; his neighbours, a kind, good-natured friend; the Bible Christian Society, a faithful member. We hope he has joyfully greeted his beloved partner on the shores of everlasting rest, where sorrow and sighing shall never interrupt their union, and that they will by and by have the happiness of welcoming their beloved children to sit down with them in the kingdom of unfading felicity, to recount the pleasing story of God's everlasting love.

On Sunday, August 3rd, in compliance with the request of some of his children (three of whom are members of Society), 1 made some remarks on his life and death, from Matthew xxv. 46, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Great interest was evinced by the overflowing congregation, which at an early hour assembled. The chapel not being sufficiently large to contain half the number, the service wa held in the open air. Many tears were shed during the delivery of the address, and very many said it was good to be there.

J. MOXLEY.

Miscellaneous.

ENGLISH NONCONFORMITY.*

A momentous era in the history of our country is drawing on. We are on the eve of a conflict in which religious conviction, traditional ideas, and worldly policy will engage. Struggles inspired by religion, or entered on in the name of religion, have often proved the most obstinate, and have produced the most important consequences. The present generation will probably see the question of the Union of Church and State decided, and the agitation of such a question cannot but produce great social convulsions. If we are right in our supposition, the history of our times may be regarded by posterity as the fifth act in a drama in which the breach of Henry the Eighth with the Papacy, the Commonwealth, the Restoration and the Revolution have successively appeared.

It is an auspicious circumstance that at this juncture the attention of the nation has been called to a period of our national history from whence the highest lessons are to be drawn ;-times around which plays the radiance of patriotism and of piety. The story of 1662 is surely destined to have an important share in arousing the attention and stimulating the determination of that section of our people who claim to be the representatives and to have received the traditions of those who were then the victims of a State Church policy. And it is perhaps a significant sign of this that such a man as Dr. Robert Vaughan should be moved to bring the weight of his name, the wealth of his learning, and the power of his pen to the service of the cause, by the production of the noble volume to which we would call the attention of our readers.

Truth came from the hands of her Lord naked and unadorned, save by the native simplicity and power with which He clothed and armed her. She was provided with nothing to attract the ambitious and the proud;-her Lord himself presented a visage "more marred than any man's" to the darkened eye of the worldling;-not till the truth had been received into the heart did He appear as the "fairest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely." She did not address herself to worldly powers or earthly magnates, but to the poor and lowly; and in their hearts was that kingdom set up which shall fill the whole carth. To the self-seeker the Gospel held out the promise of ignominy and persecution. It was the common people who heard our Saviour gladly; and approving itself unto individuals as "the power of God unto salvation," the Gospel must spread from individual to individual, and from class to class, till the whole of society be permeated with its truths.

Dr. Vaughan's first chapter, treats of these features in the early history of the progress of Christianity. "It addressed itself at first, not to the men by whom multitudes are governed: but to the individuals of whom multitudes are composed." Christ's "was a kingdom founded wholly on moral forces. It claimed no alliance

English Nonconformity. By Robert Vaughan, D.D. London: Jackson Walford and Hodder. 1862.

with secular law. It simply prayed to be let alone." But this very speciality soon brought it into collision with worldly powers. "Empire in the mind " was too important, too auxiliary to empire over the body, to be lightly surrendered by earthly potentates. Thus arose the persecution of Christianity by the Roman Emperors. Church and state became combatants.

Within the walls of ancient Rome, and in that part of the vast inclosure where the ruins of the ancient city stand apart, and crumble into deeper ruin in comparative solitude, there is one structure which rises higher than the rest, and is more gigantic than the rest. Several of the hills, so memorable from the incidents connected with them in Roman history, slope down towards the level on which that edifice rests. The form of the building is circular, the outward surface rising in one upward line from the base to the summit. There are many ways of entrance. Passing through one of those arched passages, you reach an even floor in the interior, forming a vast circle. Walls rise to the height of some twenty feet around the edge of that circle, and from that elevation benches range off, each higher, wider, and more distant than the former, until the vast basin marks its outline on the open sky, and presents sitting room in the nearer, or standing room on the further circles, for some seventy or eighty thousand persons. There were occasions when around on those front seats might be seen the emperor and his family, the partrician nobles, constituting the senate of Rome, and the ambassadors of foreign countries. Beyond, were men and women splendidly attired, in the next gradation of rank and opulence; and beyond those you might see a mass of heads from the busy life of Rome, terminating with the lowest class, who press upon each other on the standing room upon the highest and outer curve of the edifice. Such was the appearance of the interior of the Colosseum on a Roman holiday.

But for what were all these persons brought together-brought together day after day, and sometimes week after week? The answer to this question is not to the honour of Roman civilization. That multitude has come into that place in search of pleasure, and the pleasure they seek is to see the strongest and most ferocious animals let loose upon each other down upon that central floor, or to see men wrestle to death there with men, or with infuriated beasts. Between the successive exhibitions of this nature, the spectators eat and drink, and joke and laugh. Should the excitement flag, from the repetition of these scenes, you may hear the cry raised, "The Christians to the lions!" And if that cry becomes sufficiently general, officers are sent to the prisons, and a supply of Christians is furnished. The modern Christian can hardly stand for the first time on that floor, at the base of that huge structure, and look up at those now mouldering benches, and not picture to himself his brother Christian who was made to stand there, long centuries ago, that he might furnish amusement to that pitiless multitude, by doing battle with the hungry lion before him. Was it a marvel that the ances tors of such a people should have been described as suckled by a wolf? Or that the mildest of the apostles should have spoken of that Roman "world" as "lying in wickedness?" But if the Colosseum multitude was representative of the people and power of Rome, so that Christian man thrust before them was also a representative-a representative of Christianity and of Christ. He might be the image of weakness to the outward sense, but he was the reality of power from the spiritual influences which were embodied in him. The two great forces which were to try their strength against each other in the world of the future, were there face to face. We know that in this struggle, the force which was apparently so much the weakest, was to prove the strongest. The great religious and social system, shadowed forth in that Colosseum multitude, is to be unwoven and displaced, almost to its last shred, and the man on that blood-stained floor is the presence of the power by which that work is to be done. Even the Roman eagles are to submit to the might of the Cross. Pages 4—6.

Christianity being an inward, spiritual power, its early professors felt it to be such, and disseminated it by spiritual means, unencumbered by ceremonial and pomp. It was after its unholy alliance with VOL. XXVIII. NEW SERIES.

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