The rise and progress of religious life in England

Preface

MR. GLADSTONE says that revealed religion derives its strength "from the fact that it not merely presents to us a body of abstract truths, but carries with it the executory powers neccessary to procure their acceptance,— the vital influences without which we cannot receive, digest, and assimilate these truths."* The true history of our religion must, therefore, consist in tracing the working of these powers, and influences, in successive generations of good men. By excluding from this narrative, so far as is practicable, the consideration of all collateral history, it is not intended to deny that secular public events have an

* " The State in its Relations with the Church," p. 292.

2072326

VI PREFACE.

influence on the progress of the Kingdom of Christ. But the specific task which I have proposed to myself is, to discover and follow the single line of evangelical doctrine and practice. Doubtless, when larger fields of view shall open upon us, and fuller powers of vision, brighter faculties, and larger hearts shall be given to us, we shall perceive how the whole web of worldly affairs, so tangled in appearance now, has been pervaded by the one beautiful design of Divine mercy.

The Papal Church is constructing a biographical history of enormous dimensions. It is framed on the basis of the Romish calendar, and consists of an exhaustive life of every canonized Saint. All the famous libraries of the world have been laid under contribution in order to its accomplishment. For nearly two hundred years, a succession of learned men have given their lives to the task as a religious duty. The Bollandists, the most diligent and devoted compilers, have given a name to the colossal undertaking. It is still progressing; its steps are

PREFACE. Vll

measured by decades, and its least utterances are folios. The fresh -looking volume published in 1863 is the continuator of a series of which the first members already bear the venerable hue of past ages.

My aim is vastly more restricted than this, and may well be expressed by the Latin proverb, "Melius est petere fontes, quam xccfari rivulos"

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

A.D.

CHAPTER II. £|JB Jfirst planting

Cimmerian Epoch, 5.

Christianity from the

East, 8. 219. Romano-British period,

9. 314. British Bishops, 9.

Pelagins, 9.

Albau, 10.

400. Irish Saints, Patrick, II. 544. St. David, St. Asaph, 12. .1(32. Columba, lona, 12.

CHAPTER III. Jmonb

597. Augustine the Monk, 14.

British Church, 15.

Anglo-Saxon Church, 16.

St. Oswald, 16.

Bede, 16.

Anglo-Saxon Bible, 17-

Caedmon, 17. 669. Theodoras, 18. 694. Wilfred, 18.

Kilian, 19. 705. Aldhelm, Offa, 19,

Alfred, 24. 994. Education, 24.

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

A.D.

Slavery, 25.

Identity of Principles, 27.

Chapter IV

1066. Effects of Conquest, 29. 1092. Anselm, 31.

Character of Church, 32.

Darkest Ages, 33. 1 190. Traces of Scriptures, 34.

Ecclesiastical Buildings,

Mediaeval Preaching, 35.

Chapels — Haddon-Hall,

St. Bernard, 38.

Hidden Evangelism, 38.

Roman Breviary, 39.

Crusades, 39.

Religious Excitement, 40.

Pre-reformation signs, 40.

Pre-reformation protests,

1158. Obscure Reformers, 42.

Mayors' Chronicles, 42.

Italian and other Refor-

mers, 43. 1087. Berengarius, 43.

Heresy, so called, 44. 1253. Hugh Greathead, 45.

British Mouachism, 45.

Convent Life, 47.

Chapter V. A.d

Bradwardine at Merton, 49.

Richard Fitz Ralph, 50.

Signs of the Dawn, 51. 1362. Piers Plowman, 52. 1370. Wyeliffe, 56.

First Tracts, 56.

Chaucer and Gower, 58. 1384. Wycliffe's Missionaries, 59.

Wycliffe's Inner Life, 59.

His Influence, 60. 1399. Queen Anne, 63.

CHAPTER VL

% $ ollarbs.

1389. Lollardism and Lay

Preaching, 65. 1391. Swinderby, Brute, 67.

William Thorpe, 68. 1401. Statute against heresy,

Sir John Oldcastle, 71. 1416. Conventicles, 73.

University of Oxford, 74.

Ploughman's prayer, 75.

Complaint of clergy, 76. 1414. John Claydon, 77-

Spread of the Truth, 77. 1422. Lollards in Scotland, 80.

Ultimate Triumphs, 82.

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

XI

CHAPTER. VII. &\t C0«m of tlje

Mysticism, 84.

Dramatic Representations, 86.

Printed Books, 87.

Character of the Movement, 88.

1422. Progress in various places, 89.

Characteristics, 90.

Half-hearted Reformers, 93.

Tract Literature, 93.

Model in Scripture, 94.

Chapter VIII

f ntrg <%^%

1530. Tracy's Testament, 96.

Witnesses to the

Truth, 97.

Practical Treatises. 98. 1527. Tyndale, 98.

Benet, 102.

1529. John Tewkesbury, 103.

Bainham and Bayfield, 104.

Harding and Wife, 104.

Colchester Brethren, 105.

Provinces and Registries, 107.

Buckinghamshire, 107.

Scripture readers, 108.

Cambridge and Oxford

Students, 112.

Becon, 113.

The Christian Brotherhood, 113. 1526. Young Men, 113.

Garrett and his

Latimer, 119. 1538. Publication of Bible, 120.

Its reception, 121. 1548. Rogers's Concordance,

Fisher, of Rochester, 124.

Dean Colet, 125.

CHAPTER IX. 6bfoarb §i*t|r

1548. Demand for Preachers, 127.

Itinerant Ministers, 128.

Hooper and Latimer, 128.

Hancock, 129.

Richard Taverner, 130.

Dramatic Representations, 131.

Miles Coverdale, 131.

Dr. W. Turner, 131.

Southern Europe, 132.

Protestant Teachers, 133.

Protestant Emigration,

134.

The Young King, 134.

Xll

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

A.D.

Sir John Cheke, 135.

Studies of the Higher

Classes, 136.

Lady Jane Grey, 137.

Chapter X

ibc $tin of <

John Bradford, 141. 1555. Private Assemblies, 144.

Thomas Rose, 140.

George Marsh, 148. 1557. Eagles, of Suffolk, 152.

Lawrence and others, 153.

Ridley, 154.

Smithfield Tragedies, 155.

Laurence Saunders, 157.

Perpetuity of Truth, 158.

CHAPTER XL

Religious Language, 160.

Secondary Influences, 160.

Shakspeare, 161.

Lord Bacon and Coke, 163.

Sidney's Family, 166.

Sacred Poetry, 167.

Lecturers, 169.

Coverdale, 170.

Rise of Religious Parties, 171.

1583. Origin of Nonconformity, 171.

1590. Rise of Puritanism, 175.

Independency, 175.

Phases of Nonconformity, 176.

Separatists and Baptists, 176.

Prophesyings, 178. 1599. Education, 180.

Outbreak of Nonconformity, 180.

Penry and his Friends,

Hooker and Travers,185.

Municipal Ordinances,

Religious Troubles, 188. 1592. Gatherings of the godly,

Paleario, 189.

Return of Foreign Refugees, 190.

CHAPTER XII. Editions of Scriptures, 192

Influence on Literature,

1600. Cambridge Home Mission, 193.

Missions on Mendiphills, 193.

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

Lord Bacon's testimony,

Mr. Herring, 195. 1620. Baptists at Bristol, 196.

Dr. Harris, 197.

Shakspeare's contemporaries, 197.

Rise of preachers, 199.

Baxter's family, 200.

Sibbes, 201.

Milton's opinions, 201.

Progress of Nonconformity, 202.

John Canne, 203.

John Carter, 204.

Lady Bowes, 205. 1627. Lectures, 205.

Herbert, 205.

Missionary workers, 207.

Woodward, 207.

John Eliot, the Apostle of Indians, 207.

Home missionary spirit, 208.

Rothwell, 209.

Tendency of court, 211.

Lady Apsley, 212.

Usher's preaching, 212.

Early Puritans, 213.

Lady Falkland, 214. 1633. Henry Jessey, 215.

Pilgrim Fathers, 217.

Smart, of Durham, 217.

Character of the age, 219.

Chapter XIII. A.d

Increase of personal re-

ligion, 220.

Dr. Owen, 221. 1643. Westminster Assembly,

Cromwell's Soldiers, 224.

Mrs. Hutchinson, 225. 1650. Cromwell's Letters, 226.

His Inner Life, 227. 1653. Establishment of Religion

by Ordinance, 234.

George Fox, 236.

Religious experiences,

Selden and Usher, 239.

Hanseid Knollys, 242.

Kiffin, 243.

Dr. Gouge, 244 Philip Henry, 244.

Mr. Blackerby, 245.

Experiences, 247.

John Rogers, Usher,

Puritan Literature, 246.

The "Friends, "-247.

Establishment of Dissent,

Chapter XIV

1660. Effects of the Restoration, 253.

XIV

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

1661. Savoy Conference, 254.

Course of Legislation, 254 Howe, 255.

Bartholomew Act, 258.

Farewell Sermons, 259.

Pursuits of the Ejected,

The Henry Family, 269.

Flavel, 267.

Bunyan, 274.

1666. Fire of London, 262.

Baxter's Works, 262.

Mrs. Baxter, 266.

Merchants' Lecture, 257.

1676. Cockermouth, 277. 1692. Kalph Thoresby, 277.

Howe and Spilsbury, 278.

Gouge of St. Sepulchre's,

Wadsworth, of Cambridge, 279.

1695. Young Men's Associations, 279.

1680. Earl of Rochester, 280.

Decay of Piety, 281.

Intercourse with Holland, 282.

Flavel and Alleine, 283. 1682. Guthrie and Traill, 283,

Matthew Henry, 286.

Decline in standards, 286.

A.D.

CHAPTER XV. Contempt for Religion

291.

Reformation Societies,

291, 292.

Progress of Decay, 293. 1706. Dr. Watts, 295. 1722. Samuel Harvey, 298.

Mr. Barker, 300.

Defoe, 300. 1711. Address for New

Churches, 302.

Dr. Doddridge, 303.

Col. Gardiner, 306. 1729. The Wesleys, 308.

The Societies, 311.

Thomas Hanby, 315. 1735. Howel Harris, 316.

Whitefield, 312. 1743. Scottish Revival, 317.

Adam of Winteringham,

318.

The Countess of Hunt-

ingdon, 319.

Berridge, 324.

1740. John Nelson, 326.

1741. Deacon and Taylor, 327. 1746. Jonathan Edwards, 328.

ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVI. (Bigjjieenilj Ctnterg

A.D.

Extent of Prior Decay,

1760. Robert Hall Senior, 330.

1757. Abraham Maddock, 331.

1751. Society for Promoting

Christian Knowledge,

1754. Henry Venn, 333. 1775. Edwards the Engineer,

334.

Attempts at alliance,

335. 1767. Revival at University,

335.

The Apostle of Sussex,

Lord Dartmouth, 337.

The Hills, 338.

Toplady, 339.

Ireland, 340.

Religious periodicals, 341. 1764. Cowper, 342.

London Churches, 345.

Booth, 347.

Jones, 347.

Picture of Leicester, 348. 1777. Burder, 348. 1784. Baptist Missions, 349. 1799. Bacon the sculptor, 351.

Wilberforce and his friends, 352.

Simeon, Milner, 354.

Wilson, 357.

Romanist Piety, 357.

Signs of the Future, 361.

CHAPTER XVII. Conclusion, 362

THE RISE AND PROGRESS

KELIGIOUS LIFE IN ENGLAND,

Introduction

CHRISTIANITY on earth is essentially historical. "We ourselves are ever compaiing that which it is now, with that which it seemed to us to be at the commencement of our career : we read the annals of our country, and find that it has an historical development there ; we investigate the unfolding of Western civilization, and discover it as the moving power there ; we extend our view to the whole ancient world, and find it to be the greatest fact left to us by the entire past. Inseparably linked to chronology, it gives interest to all time ; we are taught to carry our contemplation concerning its course backward amid the unknown successions of primeval things, and forward to the ulti-

B

2 INTRODUCTION.

mate arrangements which shall stand in perpetual relation to its completion. Its connexion with place may be but of fleeting interest, but not so its associations with time, for it is the true and only key to the dynasties of all things.

Its history, therefore, is not like that of a sect or school of arts or sciences or philosophy, but it stands unique amidst the forces and facts of the world, availing itself of all the laws of thought and sympathy, yet superior in its origin and supreme in its action.

"We cannot account for its prevalence in this country on the ground of its congruity with the desires of mankind, or of its intrinsic power as an institution. It is not a mere product of civilization, or consequence of the social compact; nor did it arise from Latin -or barbarian peculiarities of race. It does not owe its success to the Church as a worldly corporation, for when the latter was most powerful the former was in its weakest condition ; nor to the state, else the Italian republics would have possessed it in perfection. Its lineage is higher than all these, for its kingdom is not of this world.

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers in time past by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son :" " that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ."

But inasmuch as its essence is the personal obedient reception of Divine revelation, its annals can consist of little more than a succession of biographies of individuals who influenced each other by the laws of association,

INTRODUCTION. 3

themselves still more influenced by the force derived from a common source of life and truth and love. This renders its delineation difficult, for spirituality ever shuns the light when left to its own free choice; and we know, that of the work of the Holy Spirit, " we hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth."

The persons, too, who have ever formed the bulk of its votaries, have been unknown to fame, and unskilled in letters.

A cause so potent as to give ultimate shape to all history must, however, have left some waymarks along the highways and byways of Time. To trace these, and try to connect them, by the aid of the very imperfect materials available, may yield us some present instruction. To do it perfectly, will be one of the grateful occupations of heaven.

In England the progress of piety has been a pursuit under difficulties. The truth had to be discerned and selected whilst in fellowship with error; it had to be eliminated in the face of opposition ; it had to be won with courage and held with constancy, in spite of successive faihires apparently total : and this, too, after many great combatants on its side had sunk in discouragement, though not in despair. After heroic exertions made for many years without either public fame or immediate fruit, it pleased God ultimately to crown the long course of warfare with glorious triumph.

The very failures were consoling ; for, unlike the denial of political liberty, the prevention of religious freedom in

4 IOTRODUCTION,

society, could never hinder its prevalence in the heart of the combatant. Though the victory were deferred, yet the individual always won. Even in outward bondage he enjoyed all the immunities of inward emancipation.

The history of religion has been usually depicted in Rembrandt-like style, — all darkness in one part of the field, and all light in another ; but Guide's picture of the dawn is a better symbol of the historical reality, for there we see light from the eastern heavens shedding down and becoming diffused over the lower landscape, until the dark shadows lingering over tower and town slowly disperse, and glorious day conies on.

" 0 Spirit of the Lord ! prepare

All the round earth her God to meet ; Breathe thou abroad like morning air, Till hearts of stone begin to beat.

" Baptize the nations far and nigh ;

The triumphs of thy Cross record ; The name of Jesus glorify, Till every kindred call Him Lord.''

Chapter II

irst planting.

IN search of a commencement, -we must pass over the primordial period of European life, whose scattered flint implements are sole witnesses of the most ancient dwellers : the age of stone monuments, too, characterized by cromlechs and cairn-burials, yields us no response ; nor do any of the generations anterior to the Roman invasion echo back a reply grounded on Divine oracles. No relic has come down to us, from those remote distances, to indicate the nature of the religious hopes of the original settlers, or early colonists, of Atlantic Europe. Further researches into the cave-resorts, grave-pits, and battle-fields of our remote forefathers (if such investigation should ever disinter aught save axes and arrow-heads) may bring to light proofs of the prevalence of suffering and of sin, and indications of some recourse to the supernatural. We need not these, however, to assure us of the inevitable wretchedness occasioned by outliving all knowledge of the true God. The records of Holy Scripture prove the rapidity and certainty of human declension, consequent

6 THE FIRST PLANTING. [THE FIRST v. CENTS.

on the abandonment of Divine teaching and the repudiation of Divine guidance. Man, like the prodigal, takes his portion, goes into the far country, and speedily becomes little better than the beasts that perish, save in the fertility of his resources for offence, or in some scanty recognition of higher life, manifested more in superstition than in obedience.

An attempt has been made, or rather renewed, of late years, to deduce from the history of society a natural law of progress, and to show that the march of improvement has been an evolution of nature, effected, not by means of, but in spite of, Christianity; and that the latter has greatly contributed to the irregularities and retardations of the natural stream of human advancement.* It is no part of the present undertaking to venture out into the province of the secondary influences of Christianity ; but, in dealing with the history of religion, it is impossible for any candid student not to perceive that the whole present civilization of the world is just what Christianity has made it, in spite of obstacles, and that it is by no means the result of inherent social law. The slightest compai'ison of Christian with Pagan communities, either ancient or modern, will prove the error of those who attribute the advancement of the world to anything save revelation. The closer the comparison is carried on, the more manifest will it become, that conformity to the revealed will of God is the measure of true civilization and human happiness. In resorting to the sources and tracing the course of spiritual life, we are drinking at the * By the late Mr. Buckle, in his "History of Civilization."

THE nusT v. CENTS.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 7

very fountains of social science as it regards man's highest interests.

In the westward march of the wanderers who originally peopled our shores, the degeneracy of their condition had augmented at every step, until, on their arrival here, the last traditions of patriarchal knowledge had died out, and they had become reduced to unmitigated barbarism. They had willingly left, and now totally lost, the light from heaven. They knew not of the special events taking place beyond the Mediterranean, whereby God was preparing for the advent of Him who should be a " light to lighten the Gentiles ; " nor of the approach of that auspicious hour, of which it should ever after be sung —

" This is the month, and this the happy morn,

Wherein the Son of Heaven's Eternal King, Of wedded Maid and Virgin Mother born, Our great redemption from above did bring. "

The nearest approach to this knowledge, was the indication, which by the observance of the rite of sacrifice they gave, of the need of a propitiation in their approach to God. This appears to be of the essence of all human religions ; and as the tradition of a Redeemer lies at the basis of all sacrificial observance, so Christ, though unknown to the worshippers, is the true groundwork of all historical religion. " Of Him, through Him, to Him, are all things ! " But our barbarous progenitors knew not the dignity or end of the rites they used, they had lost hope even in religion, and no one had yet come to say to

8 THE FIRST PLANTING. LIHZ FIRST T. CX>T».

them, — "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you."

The first Christianity of this country was. communicated by an impulse of that wave which, beginning its flow at Jerusalem on the death of the proto-martyr Stephen, passed over Asia Minor, by Macedonia, into Greece ; thence to Italy, Africa, Spain, and Gaul ; everywhere fertilizing as it flowed. It came to us coloured with some few corruptions which had been thrown into its pure waters in their westward course, but still free from the baneful mixtures which Rome afterwards added to the noble current. The earliest historical relations of British Christianity, — rejecting the hypotheses which would assign its origin to Apostolic preaching, — or to the influence of Claudia, celebrated by the verse of Martial, and possibly the same as is referred to in the Epistle to Timothy, — or to Bran, the father of the patriotic British king Caractacus, — appear to have been with ecclesiastical Gaul, of which Lyons and Vienne were the chief cities.* From this circumstance, our historians have fondly deduced the pedigree of British Christian doctrine and discipline from Antioch, rather than from Rome; and this conclusion is supported by Neander and by Lappenberg, as well as by our own writers.t

* Several of the public museums of France and Germany (for instance, those of Lyons and Mayence) contain a series of inscriptions and antiquities of the Romano-Gauloise epoch, showing the transition from heathenism to Christianity, especially in epitaphs. I am not aware that the collections of Romano-British antiquities contain any distinctively Christian art-relics, though doubtless many such have existed.

t Neander, "Church History," vol. L, p. 30; Lappenberg, voL i., p. 48; Soamea' "Anglo-Saxon Church," p. 41.

THI riBsr T. CEMT8.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 9

There is very little direct evidence on a subject so trivial in the estimation of the Latin writers, as the introduction of the " new superstition " into a part of the world so remote as Britain.

Tertullian's testimony, in the year 219, is, "In whom * but in Christ have all nations believed ? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, &c., — all the borders of Spain, the various nations of Gaul, and those parts of Britain inaccessible to the Bx)man arms, — are now subdued to Christ." * Eusebius, in the beginning of the fourth century, states that some missionaries of the Gospel had "passed over the ocean to those which are called the British Isles, "f Chrysostom and Jerome, both writing in the fourth century, and Theodoret in the fifth, severally affirm that Britain and its people had received the glad tidings of salvation.

The profession of Christianity in Britain, which thus commenced towards the close of the second century, is also attested, first, by the fact that the Diocletian persecution, A.D. 303, extended to these remote pai-ts; next, by the circumstance that three British bishops were present at the Council of Aries, in Provence, A.D. 314; at Sardica in 347 ; and at Rimini in 359. Its vitality and activity are proved by the existence within its borders of fierce doctrinal disputes, which originated in the teaching of Morgan, xisually known as Pelagius. The efforts of the latter were directed to the vain task of reducing into systematic logical consistency, tenets concerning liberty and grace. The existence and extensive prevalence of controversy on this subject shows that even at this period * Adv. Judseos, vii. f Evang. Demonst., iii. 7.

10 THE FIRST PLANTING. [THE FIRST r. CENTS.

the scope of Scripture and the nature of our subjectiveness to its deliverances, were well known. There werfe many persons who, amidst the din of this and other controversies, effected an escape from the strife of polemics, into the safe hiding-place of communion with God.

We may safely conclude that the faith of the Romano- British believer, who preferred death to apostasy, was of the right New-Testament sort ; but we have to draw on imagination only, when we seek to complete the pictui'e, by surrounding the primitive brotherhood with all " the things which accompany salvation." Such, however, is the true nature of the life of God in the soul, that we may well rest satisfied with the conviction, that the measure of it allotted to the soldiers of the Cross at that time, arming them for the higher combats of faith, was also found to yield in daily life the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

Among the 48,000 Roman soldiers who for thirty-three years constituted the Italian force here, succeeded by a number for very many years only one-third less, there were, doubtless, many disciples of our Lord.

The story of the youthful martyr Alban, is true in its leading facts ; it is only one of a class of occurrences, the details of which are lost in the obscurities of time, but to be recovered and reinstated in true historic sequence amidst the restitutions of eternity. Such events must have happened ere Christianity could be established in the face of Roman law. The latter required sacrifice to the gods, the former rested on the fact of the one sacrifice " once for all offered." The assertors of the one must die

THE FIRST v. CESTS.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 1 1

rather than conform to the other, because conformity involved the absolute denial of their faith.

The power of the Divine life, the identity at all times of evangelical truth and obedience, are manifested in the lives of St. Patrick and the missionary teachers who, from Great Britain, carried the Gospel in. this age into regions beyond the pale of the Roman empire. In truth, a missionary spirit is essential to Christianity. The religion of the Bible is so truly cosmopolitan, that it cannot disavow its duty of overleaping the barriers of nationality and race. If it had been content to be local, it would have encountered no opposition ; the Pantheon would have been open to a statue of the King of the Jews : but its votaries could not ignore the obligation, inherent in its profession, to proclaim throughout the world its doctrines and its facts, in order that others might believe and be saved. This circumstance rendered it inevitably antagonistic to all other forms of faith and worship : hence was it that the demons of persecution trooped from all quarters, in hostile attitude, towards the novel intruders.

It was about the year 400 that St. Patrick, then a - bondman in Ireland, but who had been trained in the knowledge of Christian doctrine by his mother, became imbued with its power and true meaning. His experience, as quoted by D'Aubigne from Archbishop Usher, is deeply interesting. He says — " The love of God increased more and more in me, with faith and the fear of His name. The Spirit urged me to such a degree, that I poured forth as many as a hundred prayers in one day.

12 THE FIRST PLANTING. [THE FIRST v. CEHTS.

And even during the night, in the forests, and in the mountains, where I kept my flock, the rain, and snow and frost, and sufferings which I endured, excited me to seek after God. At that time I felt not the indifference •which I now feel : the Spirit fermented in my heart." *

The ministry of St. David, and of St. Asaph, in Wales, which closed about A.D. 544, — of Columba at lona, from 563 to 596, though somewhat in advance of this epoch, yet belong to it, as they all derived their impulses from Romano-British Christianity.

Columba was born at Gartan, a wild place in the highlands of Donegal, in Ireland, in the year 521 ; he became a pupil of Finnian, then a priest, went to Scotland, and settled in lona in the year 562, and died in 597. He was, says Dr. Lindsay Alexander, " an eminently pious man ; a man exercising a continual faith in God, feeling that, unworthy as he was, it was only through the merit of Christ he could be accepted of God, and seeking the favour and approbation of God as the richest reward he could obtain. He was much given to prayer, both social and private, "t

The earliest strata of our history, like the most ancient layers of our rocks, present but few traces of former life ; but in the one, as in the other, the traces we do find instantly attest identity of Divine operation. The faith of the martyr, the perseverance of the believer, the spirituality of the life, — in a word, the Christology, of the obscure specimens furnished by these old records, are all

* D'Aubign6, JJep., voL v. p. 25, from Patrick Conf. t lona.

THE FIRST V. CENTS.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 1 3

products similar to those with which we are familiar now, and which we have been taught to expect by the examples of holy writ. There has been no revolution in the constitution or government of the kingdom of Christ.

The trump of the archangel will call up strange forms * from the grassy graves of our remote forefathers ; they i will come from cromlech and cairn, from the soil of buried cities, from the margins o the silent Roman roads, // but their utterances will be the same.

" They, with united breath, Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb ! Their triumph to his death."

It is a grand idea of St. Augustine, to designate the whole church of all time, "The City of God," — the building made without hands, which grows up through all the centuries, to stand when time shall be no more. At present we live in its narrow streets, we cannot command a view of the whole ; but when our stand-point is in heaven, we shall be able to trace its vast circumference and progressive architecture.