THE FAMILY OF BETHANY. stances we may rely upon its existence and operation, and especially in times of extremity. "When father and mother both forsake me, the Lord will take me up." As no mention is made of their parents, Lazarus and his sisters were probably orphans; and if so, we have here a touching proof of the benevolence of our Lord, and a striking exemplification of the nature of that religion of which he is the author. How rich a source of consolation this to religious parents in prospect of their dissolution: Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me." "A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widow, is God in his holy habitation." Such was the family of Bethany-such their peaceful, holy, happy home. We feel, while contemplating its unobtrusive piety, as if gazing on some sweet lake whose purity no foreign admixtures conspire to sully, and the deep calm of whose heaven-reflecting waters nothing, as one is apt to think, can disturb. But of a sudden the sky lowers, and darkness gathers over the scene; thus reminding us that we have not yet reached "the better country, that is, an heavenly," where all is enduring, where the sun never sets, and the inhabitants never die. Lazarus grew sick. Christ's disciples are not exempted from the common ills of humanity. When these overtake them, they are not to be regarded as indicative of the absence or withdrawal of the Saviour's affection. The opposite conclusion rather should be drawn; for "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Afflictions are sent that "the trial of their faith, which is more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, may be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ." The conduct of the sisters showed at once their love for their brother and their high estimation of Jesus. They forthwith transmitted to him intelligence of what had taken place, saying," Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." They had confidence equally in his love and in his power; nor was their confidence misplaced, although returned in a form very different from what they anticipated. And it were well if, in similar circumstances, we acted a similar part. Jesus is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. To him we may at all times freely unbosom ourselves, under the conviction that he will cordially sympathize with us, and impart the grace we need. And how easy is he of access! We have not to send to a distance to apprize him of the state of our affairs. He knows them before we tell him of them; and he did so in the case of Lazarus. But it is at once our duty and our privilege to lay them before him at a throne of grace. Whenever, then, we are perplexed and troubled, let us go and tell Jesus, and let us ask his sympathy and aid, not only for ourselves, but for others also, especially for his afflicted people and his suffering Church. An answer will come, although it may not be immediately, nor in the form ex- But we dwell not upon it, nor even upon the in his saints, and to be admired in all them public-houses, playing tennis under the hall, bobbing, that believe ! Biographical Sketch. REV. DANIEL ROWLANDS OF LLANGEITHO, THE WHITEFIELD OF WALES. PART I. DANIEL ROWLANDS was born at Llancwnlle, in the year 1713-his father being clergyman of the parish; but, it is said, very careless in the discharge of his duties in that capacity. Daniel, although possessing no idea whatever of the importance and responsibility of the sacred office of the ministry, was brought up for it by his parents as a profession; and having begun his studies early, was ordained when twenty years of age. His conduct when attending college was singularly inconsistent with his ultimate views; and was not at all altered even when he entered on the ministry. His biographer tells us, There was commonly in every parish some place where the vain, the foolish, and the dissolute assembled; and there among them Rowlands appeared the foremost, the liveliest, and the most active of the party, after having been in church reading. praying, and preaching in the morning! Drunkenness, no doubt, followed. Though it is not said that he was notorious for that habit, yet he fell into it occasionally. The spiritual condition of Wales generally at the time was very deplorable. It had been favoured with many devoted men among its ministers; but persecution had long since silenced them in prisons, or driven them to seek refuge in other lands; while those who filled their places, instead of guiding the people in the paths of holiness and truth, actively joined in all the irreligion and frivolity which disgraced the period The priest and the people were alike, both extremely ignorant of religion, and wholly given up to the vanity of their own minds. Though the Bible was known, or might be known, and divine service was regularly performed in the churches, yet ignorance and ungodliness prevailed through the whole country. Preaching, such as it was, was very scanty; in some places not more frequent than four times in the year. Prayers were thought sufficient; and those were only read, and not prayed; as if they possessed a sort of charm, which, being applied by mere reading, were to effect all the good intended by them. It was the bead-praying of the Papists. The common people were more inclined to go to church on Sabbath mornings than the gentry; but in the afternoons they greedily followed their amusements. There was hardly a Sabbath afternoon on which they had not, in some part of the country, some place for sports. Here the youths exhibited their strength, and a great number of the people of the neighbourhood came together to look at them. On Saturday nights, especially in summer, the young people, both males and females, kept what was called singing-nights, and amused themselves by singing with the harp, and dancing, till the dawn of the Sabbath. In this town (Bala) they were usually, on the Sabbath afternoons, singing and dancing in the &c. There was in every corner of the town some sport going on until night. The interludes in sum mer were played in the loft of the hall, on the afternoons of the Sabbath; and both the gentry and the common people thus amused themselves together, and profaned the Lord's-day. Rowlands went along with the multitude in all these things, and for five years remained minister of Llangeitho, without once directing his people to Christ. But at the end of that period he was signally awakened-the Lord brought him to a knowledge of the truth, and his subsequent life formed one of the brightest instances of devotion to the cause of Christ which the records of Christian biography can furnish. sion were as follows:-The Rev. Griffith Jones, The circumstances which led to his converan eminent itinerating preacher of the day, at one time visited the district; and it having been announced that he would preach at Llanddewibrevi, a place about four or five miles distant from Llangeitho, Rowlands was induced by curiosity to go and hear him. The same the fame of Jones, as a powerful and energetic curiosity had attracted a large audience-for preacher, had spread over the country-and, there being no room for them to sit down, the whole assemblage stood-Rowlands placing himself prominently in the centre, and expressing, by his countenance, no small measure of contempt. So indecorously did he conduct himself, that the attention of the preacher was repeatedly drawn towards him-till at last, looking stedfastly in his face, he paused, and suspending his discourse, offered up a very earnest prayer for Rowlands, beseeching the Lord to open his heart, and to make him even yet a mighty instrument in his hand for turning many from darkness unto light. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." He who came to mock, remained to pray, and went home an altered man! "The proud gait had disappeared, and the vain talk was no longer heard. Walking with his face towards the ground he seemed very thoughtful;" and thereafter the work of grace was followed up. The Lord led him by degrees till he rejoiced in the full knowledge of the truth. He seems first to have been awakened to a singularly vivid sense of his state by nature, as a sinner, condemned by the law, and under | the curse; and not seeing clearly his own interest in Christ, not being able to say that he was redeemed from the curse, his spiritual experience for some time was of a distressing kind. Terrors overwhelmed him. And as he thought, so he preached. We are told that Awful and extremely terrific was his message; nothing but the consuming flashes and dreadful thunders of the Law, with hardly anything like the joyful sound of the Gospel. Endless condemnation, deserved by sinners, was what he set forth with unusual power and energy. His own spirit seemed to have been filled with great and awful terror. He appeared as if he wished to kindle the fire of hell around the transgressors of God's law, that he might SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATION-THE DOVE. terrify them. He unfolded the indignation of Heaven against sin with amazing clearness, earnestness, and vigour. But there was no harshness in his voice nor sternness in his countenance; but, on the contrary, the most melting tenderness. He spoke as one overflowing with compassion, and under the deepest conviction of his own unworthiness. The effects of his preaching were very wonderful. The people were roused from their apathy-thousands poured forth to hear the Word; and as, in the manner described, the preacher proclaimed the terrors of the law and the coming of the judgment, the immense assemblages were moved-tears streamed down the faces of multitudes--the most thoughtless groaned in agony of soul, as if they stood on the brink of perdition-while many fell, through overwhelming fear, as if dead, upon the ground. But, as in the case of Rowlands himself, although thus awakened, the people were not for some time brought to the peace of the gospel. "Deep convictions of sin, and hardly anything else, were produced." "Pricked in their hearts," they cried out, "What shall we do to be saved?" And even for years the work stopped there. But in the Lord's good time a blessed change took place. The soul of Rowlands was visited with light from on high-abundant light; and straightway, speaking from the fulness of his heart, he proclaimed to the distressed and almost despairing multitudes the unsearchable riches of Christ. The Law he still preached, but he added the Gospel; and the effect was instantaneous. Those who had been broken and bowed down under the terror of the one, were made to leap for joy by the blessed tidings of the other; and in proportion to the depth of their convictions was now the fulness of their joy. So wonderful was the change, that the thousands who gathered to hear the Gospel from Rowlands' lips are said to have returned home singing and shouting for joy-those on foot and those on horseback, men and women-so much so, that "the country around, to a considerable distance, re-echoed with their joyful hallelujahs." It was at this time that the practice of leaping while singing the praises of God in the field first commenced in Wales. Rowlands, not well knowing how to act in reference to the practice, neither encouraged nor discouraged it. Others were much against it; and a story is told of one friend in England who wrote to Rowlands, earnestly requesting him to put a stop to the practice. Rowlands had no wish to say anything respecting it; but his friend returning again and again to the subject, he at last answered him as follows: "You English blame us, the Welsh, and speak against us, and say, 'Jumpers, Jumpers.' But we, the Welsh, have something also to allege against you; and we most justly say of you, 'Sleepers, Sleepers,"" And whatever we may think of the practice itself, its commencement by the Welsh 113 THE dove is universally admitted to be one of the most beautiful objects in nature. The brilliancy of her plumage, the splendour of her eye, the innocence of her look, the excellence of her dispositions, and the purity of her manners, have been the theme of admiration and praise in every age. To the snowy whiteness of her wings and the rich golden hues which adorn her neck the inspired Psalmist alludes among the pots, yet ye shall be as the wings of a in these elegant strains: "Though you have lien dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." These bold figures do not seldom occur in the classical poets of antiquity. HER SIMPLICITY. The surprising brightness of her eye and the simplicity and chastity of her look, which is directed only to her mate, are selected by the Spirit of God to express the purity and fidelity of a genuine believer: fair; thou hast doves' eyes "Behold thou art fair, my love: behold thou art -a faithful index of the holiness which reigns within. They neither court the notice nor meet the glance of a strange lord; they are lifted up to heaven, and stedfastly fixed on the glorious realities of a better world. Sensible of the sin and danger of casting a wishful eye on forbidden objects, the true Christian earnestly prays: "Turn thou me in thy way;" and, like Job, he makes a away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken covenant with his eyes, that his mind may not be polluted with an unholy thought. He looks "not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." The same beautiful figure is employed to represent the peerless excellences of the Redeemer, and particularly his infinite wisdom and knowledge, which are ever exercised for the good of his people-which are pure and holy, and in the estimation of every saint, as in their own nature, ineffably precious and lovely: waters, washed with milk and fitly set." The eyes "His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of of a dove, always brilliant and lovely, kindle with peculiar delight by the side of a crystal brook; for this is her favourite haunt here she loves to wash and to quench her thirst. But the inspired writer let, she delights especially in those places which are seems to intimate, that, not satisfied with a single rivuwatered with numerous streams, whose full flowing tide approaches the height of the banks, and offers her an easy and abundant supply. They seem as if they were washed with milk, from their shining whiteness; and fitly, rather fully set, like a gem set in gold; neither too prominent nor too depressed, but so formed as with nice adaptation to fill up the socket. So precious and admirably fitted to the work of mediating between God and man are the excellences of Jesus Christ. God and man in one person, he is at once invested with all the attributes of Deity, and all the perfections of which our nature is capable. As the eternal Son of God, he is wisdom and prudence itself; and as the Son of man, he is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners: He is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand: yea, he is altogether lovely." HER VOICE. The voice of the dove is peculiarly tender and plaintive, and bears a striking resemblance to the groan of a person in distress. Hezekiah, alluding to the sickness from which he had just recovered, pours out his gratitude to Jehovah in these emphatical terms: "Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a dove." And the men of Judah thus deplore the bitter consequences of their sin: "We mourn sore like doves; we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us." In Hebrew--We groan with the groaning of a dove; that is, with a heavy and continual groaning. The Prophet Ezekiel, describing the grievous lamentations of his people in the day of their destruction, employs the same figure: "But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning every one for his iniquity." The hoarse and mournful cooing of the dove gives a vivid idea of the low and murmuring complaints uttered by the dejected captives, dragged by their pitiless conqueror from the land of their fathers to a far distant and unfriendly region. To this circumstance Nahum alludes, when he predicts the desolations of Nineveh: "Huzzab shall be led away captive; she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts." And The THE SWIFTNESS OF HER FLIGHT. The sacred writers more than once allude to the flight of this bird, which they praise for its swiftness and ease. "Who are these," said Isaiah," that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows?" In this passage, he beheld in vision the captive Israelites liberated by the decree and encouraged by the invitation of Cyrus, returning with the greatest alacrity to the land of their fathers; and exulting at the sight, he cries out, with surprise and pleasure: "Who are these that fly as doves to their windows?" The prophet apparently supposes that in his time buildings for the reception of doves were very common. this is by no means improbable; for when Maundrell visited Palestine, dove-cots were numerous in some parts of the country. In the neighbourhood of Ispahan are many pigeon-houses, built for the sole purpose of collecting pigeons' dung for manure. extraordinary flights of pigeons which alight upon one of those buildings, furnish a good illustration of the prophet's vision. Their great numbers, and the compactness of their mass, literally look like a cloud at a distance, and obscure the sun in their passage. In some parts of Egypt are numerous whitened dovecots on the tops of the houses. The dove flies more swiftly when she returns to the windows of these cots than when she leaves them; because she hastens to revisit her young which she had left, and to distribute among them the food which she has collected. A similar passage occurs in Hosea: "They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord." They shall fly with trepidation, or like a dove trembling for its young, or alarmed for its own safety, which puts forth its utmost speed. In allusion to her extraordinary swiftness, the Psalmist says: "O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." Kimchi gives it as the reason why the Psalmist prefers the dove to other birds, that while they become weary with flying, and alight upon a rock or a tree to recruit their strength, and are taken; the dove, when she is fatigued, alternately rests on one wing and flies with the other, and by this means escapes from the swiftest pursuers. The Orientals knew well how to avail themselves of her impetuous wing on various occasions. It is a curious fact, that she was long employed in those countries as a courier, to carry tidings of importance between distant cities. The manner of sending advice by them was this: They took doves which had a very young and unfledged brood, and carried them on horseback to the place from whence they wished them to return, taking care to let them have a full view. When any advices were received, the correspondent tied a billet to the pigeon's foot, or under the wing, and let her loose. The bird, impatient to see her young, flew off with the utmost impetuosity, and soon arrived at the place of her destination. These pigeons have been known to travel from Alex-|| andretta to Aleppo, a distance of seventy miles, in six hours, and in two days from Bagdad; and when taught, they never fail, unless it be very dark, in which case they usually send two, for fear of mistake. HER DWELLING. Her native and original dwelling is in the cave or holes of the rock. A beautiful allusion to this fact occurs in the Prophecies of Jeremiah, where he describes the flight of the Moabites to the rocky mountains from the sword of their enemies: "O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth." Our Lord addresses the Church, in the Song of Solomon, in similar terms: "O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." The phrase which we render "the secret places of the stairs," may with more propriety be translated, the secret crevices of the precipitous rocks; for the original term signifies a place so high and steep that it cannot be approached but by ladders. So closely pursued were the people of Israel, and so unable to resist the assault of their enemies, that, like the timid dove, they fled to the fastnesses of the mountains and the holes of the rocks. The miserable remains of the Jews that survived the destruction of their country by the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, are represented by the prophet as tame doves violently driven from the valleys which they had been accustomed to haunt, and wandering lonely and mournful upon the mountains, the proper abode of the wild pigeon: "But they that escape, shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys; all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity." The truth and propriety of these allusions are confirmed by the writings of several modern travellers. In Asia Minor, according to Chandler, the dove lodges in the holes of the rock; and Dr Shaw mentions a city in Africa which derives its name from the great number of wild pigeons which breed in the adjoining cliffs. It is not uncommon for shepherds and fishermen to seek for shelter in the spacious caverns of that country, from the seve rity of the weather, and to kindle fires in them, to warm their shivering limbs, and dress their victuals; in consequence of which, the doves which happen to build their nests on their shelves must be frequently smutted, and their plumage soiled. Some have conjectured that the royal Psalmist may allude to this scene, in which he had perhaps acted a part while he tended his father's flocks, in that singular promise: "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." The people of Israel, who had long bent their necks to the galling yoke of Egypt, and groaned under the THE DOCTRINES OF MAYNOOTH. most cruel oppression, may not unfitly be compared to a dove in the fissure of a rock, which had been terrified by the intrusion of strangers, and polluted by the smoke of their fires, which ascended to the roof of the cavern, and penetrated into the most remote and secret corner; or by the smut of the pots which they had set over these fires for culinary purposes, among which she fluttered in her haste to escape.-Paxton's Scriptural Illustrations. CHRISTIAN HOPE. TRUE hope is Jacob's staff indeed; That springs from mire, or else can feed By hope just men are sanctified; In the same ocean safe at anchor ride, Hope's the top-window of that ark Wouldst thou not be engulf'd or drown'd Hope hath a harvest in the spring; Yet nips no bloom. Hope brings me home when I'm abroau; F. TEATE, 1669. THE DOCTRINES OF MAYNOOTH. As it is clear that the Protestants of the country have a struggle before them, in reference to the proposed national endowment of the Popish College of Maynooth, we have thought that it would be well, and might perhaps prove useful, were we to present our readers with one or two short papers, showing, from the authorities and text-books in use at the College, what the Popery there taught really is; for sure we are, that if the masses of our people but knew the extreme and awful doctrines which are instilled into the minds of the young men attending that College, and which, of course, as priests, they afterwards teach to the people, the spirit of opposition which has been roused against the proposed endowment would be increased tenfold. 1. PERSECUTION. In a former article we gave some extracts on this subject, from Cardinal Bellarmine and other Romish authorities, declaring that Protestants ought to be put to death, nay, that whole nations of them should be "exterminated," and "sent to their proper place." As we have reason to know that some of our readers were greatly startled by those extracts, not having been aware that even the Church of Rome, drunk as 115 she is with the blood of the saints, had so openly and unblushingly avowed her intolerance, we give one or two additional extracts on the same subject, from standards received as authoritative throughout the whole Church, viz., the decrees of the general councils -to the truth of the whole of which every priest must of necessity subscribe; and the sentiments of which, therefore, every priest, if he be an honest man, must hold. 1. One of the councils acknowledged by all Papists as general and infallible, is the fourth or great Lateran. And the following is one of its decrees, breathing the darkest spirit of intolerance and murder, viz. : "That the secular powers should be admonished, and, if necessary, compelled by ecclesiastical censures, to swear that they will, to the utmost of their power, strive to EXTERMINATE FROM THEIR TERRITORIES ALL HERETICS, declared to be such by the Church. And further, that if any temporal lord, being required and admonished by the Church, shall neglect to purge his territory from all taint of heresy, he shall be excommunicated by the metropolitans and other provincial bishops; and if he contemptuously omit to give satisfaction within a year, it shall be signified to the holy Pontiff, in order that he may. thenceforth proclaim his vassals absolved from fealty to him, and may expose to CATHOLICS his territory, to be occupied by them; who, having EXTERMINATED THE HERETICS, may possess the same without contradiction." Here it is declared, not only that heretics are to be "exterminated," but, moreover, that if kings do not aid in their extermination, they shall be immediately dethroned for their contumacy-driven from their kingdoms, and their territories made over to any good thorough-going Papists who may choose to take possession! And to the propriety of this decree every Popish priest must swear! 2. By the same council it was decreed, that every bishop should "go round his diocese annually, either by himself or by his archdeacon, and sedulously investigate if any one infected with heretical contagion lay concealed in it; and that any one who was slothful and negligent in expurging the diocese committed to him from this heretical plague, should be deposed from his office, as unworthy the pastoral ministry." This latter decree is cited by Dens in his "Theology," and given, too, in the edition used at Maynooth College, and published no farther back than the year 1832, under the sanction of Dr Murray, present Popish Archbishop of Dublin. 3. In the "Theology" of Dens, taught at Maynooth, we find the following (vol. viii. p. 218):— "Are heretics justly punished with death? "St Thomas answers, Yes; because forgers of money, and other disturbers of the State, are justly punished with death, therefore also heretics, who are forgers of the faith, and, as experience proves, grievously disturb the State. "Also in the Bull Unigenitus,' the 100th proposition is the following: It is a deplorable time, in which it is believed that God is honoured by persecuting the truth and its disciples.-In vain does any one flatter himself with the purity of his intentions, and his zeal for religion, if he is blinded by his own passions, or carried away by those of other men, because he does not wish to examine. We often think |