so kind a heart, and he did not mean any harm." But he has wounded feelings too delicate for him to understand. It is perhaps true that he is kind, after his own fashion; when the fit goes off, he may be very sorry, and possibly will endeavour to procure a peace-offering. Gold has no charms that can heal lacerated feelings; but, in such a case, their possessor will not turn sullenly away from the offer of reconcilement; and the blue hedge flower coming with an expression of regret for the past, will be as kindly and gladly accepted as the most costly gift. Nothing, however, can make up to a placid spirit for the continual breaks upon its cherished repose by anothers wayward and uncertain temper.

Examples drawn from the common occur rences of every-day life may appear trivial, in treating the subject so seriously; but petty vexations, which, in some shape, are continually crossing our path, disregarded as they are by uninterested onlookers, are often more sifting to the temper than such trials as will readily be acknowledged great. There is a species of patience that arises from the absence of very acute sensibility. In such instances it will manifest itself more in a passive than an active manner; and current events do not deeply affect such a temperament. But when, on the other hand, patience exists in a sensitive nature, many a pang is endured when much is done, and much forborne, and no adequate return experienced. A placid disposition is so pleasing, that, like other good and valuable things, it has its counterfeits; but as no mere imitation can bear a very close scrutiny, an assumed meekness will be quickly detected in the crucible of temptation. The patient are not perfect, and those who are naturally gifted with a large share of meekness, are little aware of the hidden malice that may lurk in the unexplored recesses of their hearts, if no outward trial has yet overtaken them sufficiently fiery to draw out the dross into open view. Certain feelings will spring up, in the contemplation of kind offices unrequited by a becoming sense of their value. When these troublesome intruders ruffle the wonted composure of the spirit, then it is time to look within.

What has been the object of those fond desires thus grievously disappointed? If the moving spring of your actions was merely to please a fellow-creature-to hold a high place in the esteem of others-then there was selfishness mingled with self-denial, and ingratitude to the Giver of every good and perfect gift, in withholding from him the heart's supreme affections, and so giving up to the service of the creature those energies that should have been devoted to the Creator. What an affecting exclamation was that of the dying Cardinal Wolsey! Had I served God as diligently as I have done the king, he would not have abandoned my grey hairs; but this is my great reward." Thus those who sow the wind, need not be sur

435

prised that they should reap the whirlwind.— Hos. viii. 7.

But it is not among the unconverted or the thoughtless alone that the evils of impatience are seen and felt; neither are they confined to our conduct towards one another. There is a dark point in its fatal history which many are slow to confess, even to themselves-the way in which it affects the heart towards God. Bitter feelings towards a human creature may be too manifest for concealment; but who is willing to own that his heart rises in rebellion against his Maker, when he sees fit to deny wishes, to disappoint hopes, to blight flattering prospects, or visit with sore affliction? yet a sullen mood or an irritable spirit, under such troubles, are sure indications of this unsanctified frame of mind. The murmurer might tremble to give utterance to his rebellious thoughts; but He who scans the inmost recesses of the heart, requires no vocal expression to discover our sentiments. There is nothing but the "patience of the saints" which is not the mere product of any earthly temper, however amiable, that can carry us with "meekness of wisdom" through the many trials we may be called to endure; it is a fruit growing out of the felt assurance that nothing can happen to us without the divine permission, and that second causes but subserve the purposes of the great First Cause.

It is certain, that no one can be fully exercised in the Christian grace of patience without being taught of the Spirit; and much teaching, even in the school of Christ, is necessary, before the spirit that "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things," is wrought into the heart, and becomes the very habit of the soul, Gifts, however useful, and talents, however shining, must yield the palm to the quiet, unobtrusive, but most heavenly, grace of patience. "In your patience possess ye your souls," said the Pattern of divine perfection; and, says his servant Paul, who himself had need of it in an eminent degree, “Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope."

He

When the sinner's eyes are opened, and his feet seek the narrow way of eternal life, it is indeed a blessed change; but he will greatly mistake his circumstances, if he imagines that he shall meet with no difficulties therein. is only commencing a warfare-not celebrating a triumph; and except that the weapons of his warfare are not carnal, no child of Adam should ever win the victory. He has much to learn, and much to unlearn. Although he hates his sins, they still cleave to him; the difference is, that whereas they were before no burden, they are now a grievous load, from which he desires to be freed. He longs to relinquish them all-he struggles for emancipation from their bondage, and sometimes he is strengthened to overcome those enemies of his soul's peace, but at others he is, alas! overcome; he

is not contented, however, to remain a slave, and in the midst of temptation, and partial defeat, he will, though faint, be yet pursuing.

POPERY IN SPAIN.

CONCLUDING ARTICLE.

ITS DECLINE-EVANGELISTIC EFFORTS.

THOUGH within these few months there has appeared, among the many politico-ecclesiastical changes of which Spain has for years been the subject, one in favour of the ancient Popish despotism, civil and sacred; yet, regulating our judgment, not by the experience of months, but of recent years, it is matter of joy that there has been a decided decay of the power of Popery-a decay which, it is earnestly hoped, no accidental advantages will ever enable it to recover. The change which has taken place in Spain is not like that which has appeared either in France or in Germany-not like the gain of Protestantism against Popery in the former, through the labours of evangelical societies-not like the revolt spreading in the Popish Church itself in the latter, and, without the intervention of Protestants, carrying multitudes over to evangelical ground. It is not so far advanced as either movement; it is little more than the mere decline of Popery, from its felt absurdity and oppression long continued. There is a spirit of political liberty, but it is evidently not strong. Popery has deprived it of materials for working out its longings in a constitutional way, by the low tone to which it has degraded the public mind; and hence the decay of Popery in Spain seems to be rather the result of passive weariness and exhaustion, than of any strong positive principle, political or religious. Still there is decay, and we should be grateful to God whatever may be the way in which it is brought about. The weakening of the great enemy of Christ and of the souls of men, in an interesting land, over which he has long tyrannized, is ever important, especially if this be the mode in which the ground is to be cleared for a future foundation of good.

From the peculiarities of the position of Spain-for ages the champion of Popery, sealed at every point against the truth, the abode of the Inquisition when it had disappeared from other lands-it is plain that, if blessed with favourable cnange, this must be the result of events not from without, but from within. Accordingly, we find that the first propitious event was the translation and circulation of the Scriptures, in a comparatively popular form, about 1790. This was the deed of the king and the government, and was very obnoxious to the priesthood generally. They were not, however, backed though they were by the officers of the Inquisition, able to prevent it, after the public concessions which the Vatican, the better to meet the taunts of Protestants as to Rome forbidding the reading of the Word of God, had unwittingly made. This edition of the Spanish Scriptures has since been repeatedly reprinted in Spain, and also in Britain and America. At its first appearance, it was prefaced by an excellent essay "On the Reading of the Sacred Scripture in Vulgar Tongues," prepared by Dr Villanueva, under royal

authority. It has since become a standard in Spain, and has been much read by the higher classes of society. Thus does God wonderfully provide agents for carrying forward his own work. Men cannot exclude the Word, if He purposes it shall be circulated. If likely agents are awanting, extraor dinary ones-it may be Popish monarchs-shall be called into the field.

The next important event, adverse to Popery in Spain, was the suppression of the Inquisition by Bonaparte in 1808. At that time, it had twenty thousand familiars, open and secret agents, laymen and ecclesiastics, who, doubtless, counteracted as much as possible that circulation of the Scriptures which they could not altogether prevent. Along with the abolition of the Inquisition, there was the suppression of the convents to one-third of their former number. This was scarcely, if at all, less important. How remarkable, that Bonaparte, no evangelical Protestant-if anything, an Infidel-should be a greater weakener of the power of Popery, than the warmest friends of true religion! Prophecy has proclaimed that the destroyers of the Beast are not to be drawn from the ranks of evangelical Christians, but from among her own supporters; and events, so far as they have gone, strikingly confirm the prediction. The arrangement is a pleasing one, as showing, among other things, that the final catastrophe may come much more rapidly than faithful Protestants might otherwise have feared. As indicative, further, of the decline of Popery, it may be stated, that from 1808 to 1823-in other words, in fifteen years from the first blow of Napoleon-the friars and nuns of Spain hai been reduced one-half, and that the priesthood also were seriously impaired in strength. Such was the spirit of inquiry awakened by public events, that the king's brother found it necessary, in 1827, to have Cobbet's caricature of the British Reformation translated and circulated in Spanish. This is an indirect testimony, at least, to the dread of the awakening spirit of Biblical inquiry in the land. The Rev. Mr Rule states, that it has been an invariable practice for the more celebrated Lent-preachers not only to denounce Protestantism, but to use means to collect and destroy copies of the Sacred Scripturesall showing the fear of the Bible and of the reformation to which its free circulation necessarily conducts. Meanwhile, the friends of the Bible in this country were not idle, so far as events supplied them with openings into Spain. Little may have resulted from the translation, or rather paraphrase, of Amat, bishop of Astorga. Though contributions were raised in Britain to aid him in the work, he does not seem to have acted a straight-forward and honest part; but many thousands of copies of the Scriptures, without note or comment, found their way into Spain. Who has not heard of Borrow's "Bible in Spain?" The author's eccentricities may have been great and inexplicable, but his zeal in disseminating the Word of God was undoubted, and his very eccentricity in such a country may have contributed to his success.

Among the political proofs of the progress of change, we may refer to the contrast stated by Mr Rule between the article of the constitution establishing the Church of Rome as the national religion in

The latter article, after an able and wonderfully enlightened discussion, was carried by one hundred and twenty-five against thirty-four votes.

But, perhaps, the most striking proof of Popish decline is to be found in the feelings of indifference and infidelity with which large numbers of all classes regard the teaching and institutions of the Church of Rome, even in the most sacred forms.

We have already referred to various proofs of irreverence and unbelief. We subjoin another, expressive, at least, of great unconcern about the fortunes of the Romish Church. Mr Rule visited Valencia in 1838, and though it retains much more, externally, of Popery than many others, he states, that "the ruin of the Church appeared to be witnessed by the population with profound indifference." He mentions examples: One church was converted into a granary; heaps of corn covered the marble pavement, and half concealed the gilded altar pieces; the pictures of saints, &c., retained their places, but called forth no symptoms of honour or reverence. In another church, a smith's forge was set up, and three or four men were shoeing horses; the chapels of the building were converted into stalls, and the altars served as mangers, at which horses were feeding; and the poor beasts tossed their heads before 'the miraculous picture,' still unremoved. The spectator was forcibly reminded of the exclamation: Babylon is fallen, is fallen.'" He adds: "Similar indications of her fall have been, and still are, exhibited all over Spain."

To sum up the whole, Mr Rule, speaking of Spain very recently, says: "The dissolution of the monasteries, the diminution of the number of the parochial priesthood, the transfer of property from the Church to the State, the hostile position assumed by either party, and the open association of absolute monarchy and Papal tyranny, have not merely reduced almost to nothing the influence of the priests over the people, but have placed the people over the heads of the priests; and a crisis is brought about which cannot be of long continuance, but must rapidly induce a new state of things."-P. 350.

But some may ask: "Are there no symptoms of spiritual life? Are the only indications of the decay of Popery to be found in the breaking down of the adverse power, and the spread of the clements of renovation? Are there no indications of real spiritual building up?" From the circumstances of the case, very little of this can as yet be expected. At the same time, hermetically sealed as Spain has been against the truth of God from the days of the Reformation, it is interesting to find that the learned

be found infected with the old contagion of Lutheranism"--so difficult is it to root out the truth where it has once obtained a footing. To the great honour of the Wesleyan Methodist body, who have ever been eminently missionary in their spirit, there was a small congregation of professing Christians in that connection at Gibraltar, the southern point of Spain, seventy years ago. This body was blessed with a revival of religion. In the absence of a regular ministry, and disregarding the fancied "apostolic succession," pious officers from the British garrison conducted religious ordinances. When the French Revolution broke out in all the horrors of Infidelity, the Gibraltar congregation numbered one hundred and twenty members as many as assembled in the upper room at Jerusalem. They were weakened by the military changes which were so frequent in those eventful times; but the chain was never broken. In 1804, the humble congregation first received the services of a regular ministry, which has been kept up ever since. To the deep disgrace of the parties more immediately concerned, the Methodist worshippers were repeatedly persecuted by British officers, instigated by British chaplains. Methodist soldiers were forbidden to walk or converse together; and two of their corporals were actually reduced, and received two hundred lashes each, for no offence but attending the place of Methodist worship! We are justly indignant at the intolerance of Spain, and wonder at the execution of a poor Quaker at Valencia, a few years ago, for no crime save his adherence to his conscientious religious convictions! but where differs the case, except in the extent of its severity, from that of the persecuted soldiers at Gibraltar? Surely the guilt of the British authorities, in the sight of God, is not. less, but more aggravated, than that of the benighted Spaniards.

The faithful Methodists of Gibraltar, seem always to have had an eye, more or less decided, to the spiritual good of the natives, as well as to that of their own countrymen; but it was under the ministry of Mr Rule that the greatest and most successful efforts were made. Not satisfied with his labours at Gibraltar, which embraced schools attended by four hundred children, nor with the circulation of the Scriptures, and the translation and dissemination of evangelical books, he made more than one attempt to establish not only schools but Christian congregations, on the territory of Spain. Such was the blessing of God upon his efforts, that at Cadiz he soon had one hundred children at a Christian school, and a small, but increasing congregation besides. This, however, with all his circumspection and prudence, was too much for even falling Popery to endure; and 80, after the Cadiz school had been repeatedly shut by one authority and opened by another, he found it necessary to withdraw for the present; not, however, before he had practically proved the important points, that there is a growing religious freedom springing up in long-oppressed Spain, and that many of her people would gladly hear the word of life, if only permitted.

A high testimony to the altered state of feeling, civil and religious, in Spain, is to be found in the fact that, provoked by the labours of the friends of true religion, a society was, for the first time, formed in Spain in 1839, entitled "The Religious Society of Spain," for the express and avowed purpose of defending the Church of Rome, and counteracting the evangelistic efforts then in operation. It is founded on the model of similar societies in France-at Paris, Lyons, and Circassonne-and is intended to aid the cause of Popery both in Spain and in Heathen lands. Its labours, it is understood, have made little impression; but its existence shows at once the dread which has been awakened, and the change which has taken place in the public mind. Instead of a summary appeal to force e-a cry for the Inquisition or the Jesuits-there is a call to the exercise of private judgment. Arguments and moral suasion are the weapons employed.

The reader may wish to see what sort of books Mr Rule has translated into Spanish. Besides smaller publications connected with the Methodist Church and worship, and school-books, there are such works as Bogue's Essay on the New Testament-a valuable treatise on the Evidences; Nevin's Thoughts on Popery; Gurney's Observations on the Sabbath; Horne's Romanism Contrary to Holy Scripture; Letter on Religious Toleration and the Abuses of Rome; the Four Gospels, translated from the Greek, with Notes; Andrew Dunn-an admirable tract in the Popish controversy; Christianity Restored; and lastly, though not least in importance, Bishop Jewell's Apology, which has been translated by a professor of divinity, who, disgusted with the Romish Church, is longing for the peace and rest of the evangelical faith. Referring to his own translations, Mr Rule says that there have been, and continue to be, very frequent applications for them, both by inhabitants of Gibraltar, and strangers of all classes from Spain. They are dispersed along the coasts, and in many of the chief towns of the interior, Madrid included, the Balearic Isles, and the Spanish and French settlements in Africa.

We have now finished the object which we had in view-to acquaint the Christians of this country with the present moral and religious condition of Spain, leaving them to judge, from the information supplied, what is their duty, and the way in which they should seek to accomplish it. We have made full use of Mr Rule's "Memoir," because it is the only book on the subject, and because, after ten years' missionary labour in Spain, he is well entitled to be heard with all respect. It is not necessary to say anything recommendatory of the object; the facts speak for themselves. Suffice it to say, that the claims of our own countrymen sojourning in Spain are not insignificant. British are to be found in considerable numbers in all the sea-ports, and, with the revival of mining industry and the extension of steam navigation, are rapidly increasing. But the claims of Spain itself are far more serious. Is it no dishonour to the Churches of Britain and America, that, with the exception of the British Churches at Gibraltar, Mr Rule has for years been the solitary evangelical agent to above twelve millions of Europeans, within

a few days' sail of our shores? No doubt there are difficulties in the way of any extensive operations. Spanish Popery, with all its decline and poverty, is still very powerful. It is contributing largely to the spread of Popery in France. Portugal, a twin-sister, has shown, in the recent case of Madeira, that perse- | cution even to death may, if need be, be soon wit- / nessed in Europe. Mr Rule's correspondence with Lord Palmerston, in 1839, shows that British subjects, labouring to proselytize in Spain, will enjoy as little protection from British treaty as Lord Aberdeen assures us they will enjoy under Portuguese rule. But there are also many encouragements. Spain is more open than it has been for generations. More than one Spanish priest has lately abandoned the Church of Rome; and Merle D'Aubigné, who has had two of them as pupils, declares: "From what I have seen of these two friends, I do not hesitate to say, that the Spanish priests seem to be superior in uprightness to those of other Papal countries." If not by direct preaching, yet by the circulation of the Scriptures, and evangelical books and tracts, not a little, with God's blessing, may be accomplished. Whatever may be done should at least be attempted, and that without delay.

ERRATUM. In the second paper of this series, p. 279, column 2, line 20, for "eleven thousand,” read "eleven hundred."

"A BROTHER BORN FOR ADVERSITY."
HAST thou on Pleasure's sunny hill
Been lulled to sleep in rosy bowers,
And only waked to drink thy fill

Of happy day-dreams 'midst its flowers?
And have they vanished like the dew,

When by the wind the grass is shaken,
Or as the passing shadow flew,

Leaving the heart of hope forsaken?
Seek not again the airy height,
Where gay illusions cheat the sight;
But turn thee unto Him who gave
His life th' all hopeless else to save.
Did troops of friends when wealth was thine,
With smiles and talk thy table throng,
And eat thy bread, and drink thy wine,

And join with thee in dance and song;
But when along thy dark green leaf

The mildew of misfortune fell,
Fled they with speed thy home of grief,
All lonely leaving thee to dwell?
Mourn not their loss-a craven crew
To Mammon's worship only true:
But turn thee to that faithful Friend
Who loves his own-loves to the end;
In want or woe forsakes them never,
Sustains them now-enthrones for ever!
A. BETHUNE

LORD, IF THOU HADST BEEN THERE!"

A TRADITION OF THE CHURCH AT LAODICEA.

BY MRS HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. AT the time when the Laodicean Church was in the state described in the first part of the Revelation of John, lived the Elder Onesiphorus. The world had