SACRED POETRY. DEATH OF A YOUNG CHRISTIAN. O GRIEVE not for him with the wildness of sorrow, Lament not your lov'd one, but triumph the rather To think of the promise, the pray'r of the Lamb: The counsel and truth of the "God only wise." He came to the cross when his young cheek was blooming, And rais'd to the Lord the bright beam of his eye; And when o'er its beauty death's darkness was glooming, The cross did uphold him, the Saviour was nigh. I saw the black pall o'er his relics extended, I wept, but they were not the tear-drops of woe: THE LAND WHICH NO MORTAL MAY KNOW. THOUGH earth has full many a beautiful spot, There the crystalline stream, bursting forth from the Flows on, and for ever will flow; Its waves, as they roll, are with melody rife, Oh! who but must pine, in this dark vale of tears, To walk in the light of the glory above, MISCELLANEOUS. BARTON. Rev. James Garie.-This gentleman, with other ministers, attempted, in 1790, to disseminate the Gospel in some of the darkest parts of Ireland. After preaching several months at Sligo, with every appearance of success, a new place of worship was opened, which was attacked and seriously injured, the very day after. These attacks were repeated, till at length it was burnt down. A dreadful outrage was committed on one of the principal friends of Mr G.; and he was in so much danger of a violent death, that he was compelled to change his lodgings every night; but he still continued at his post. One evening a man entered his room with a pistol, threatening to take away his life. Mr Garie, holding up a small Bible, advanced towards him, and with a calm countenance looked him full in the face. Struck with his mild and innocent appearance, the man immediately retired from him, and his life was preserved. Mr Garie afterwards returned to Scotland, settled at Perth, and died in 1802. ened death. On one occasion, being in an unfurnished building two stories high, his foot slipped, and he fell to the ground upon an axe, the edge of which stood upright it cut his hat, but not his head, and he suffer. ed but little injury. At another time, a large piece of timber, on which he had set his foot, heaved up and fell with him into a saw-pit, and an anvil of a hundred pounds weight connected with it fell upon him, but it only slightly bruised his leg. A still more remarkable preservation was afforded him. As he was assisting in raising a beam in a mill, the rope slipped, and the beam under which he stood fell with him the height of four stories, and yet was he saved. And once more: he lane; when attempting to pass on to the other side of was driving a team with a load of hay down a narrow the waggon, he fell, and was thrown under one of the wheels; but calling out to the horses, they instantly stopped. But while God thus preserves the lives of his servants, that they may accomplish his designs, he often then removes them in a way not expected. Mr Raban was to learn by experience the truth of his friend Cowper's statement : Safety consists not in escape From dangers of a frightful shape; An earthquake may be bid to spare The man that's strangled by a hair. After preaching one Lord's day, and walking home, his foot slipped over a pebble, and he broke his leg, which in a few weeks brought on his death. A Word in Season.-Charles Simeon of Cambridge, having been preaching in a neighbouring parish, was walking about in the church-yard, reading the inscriptions on the grave-stones. One of these much interested him, and he directed the attention of a woman to it who was just then passing by. She replied, that the lines contained nothing suitable to her, for she had no interest in the love of Jesus. He felt concern for her unhappy state, and some days after went to her house, at the distance of several miles, where he found her in great temporal distress. He conversed with her, her aged mother, and the whole family, and relieved their wants. About a year after, he again visited the parish, and found the poor woman; who told him that when he first saw her in the church-yard, she was about, in a state of mental despair, to drown herself in the neighbouring river; but that his kind conversation had prevented her design, and that his subsequent visit had produced her conversion to God, and that of her mother; the latter of whom had died in the full assurance of faith. John Bacon, Esq.-This eminent sculptor and pious man, who died in 1789, appears on more than one occasion to have been remarkably delivered from death. When he was about five years of age, he fell into the pit of a soap-boiler, and would have perished had not a man, who had just entered the yard, observed the top of his head, and immediately drawn him out. At another time he fell before a cart, one of the wheels of which went over his right hand; but even this it happily did not crush, as it fell between two projecting stones. Separate Numbers from the commencement may at all times be had to complete sets. Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, at the Offices of the SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, 2, Hunter Square, Edinburgh, and 13, Glassford Street, Glasgow; JAMES NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., and R. GROOMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junr. & Co., Dublin; and W. M'COME, Belfast, and sold by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland. Subscribers in Edinburgh, Leith, and Portobello, will have their copies delivered at their own residences regularly, by leaving their addresses with the Publisher.--Subscribers in Glasgow will, in tike manner, have their copies delivered, by leaving their addresses at the Publishing Office there, 19, Glassford Street. Rev. T. Raban.-During the life of this worthy man, who was a Christian minister for many years at Yardley Hastings, he was several times preserved from threat-stitched in a printed wrapper, price Sixpence. Subscription (payable in advance) per quarter, of twelve weeks, eight weeks, 68.-Monthly Parts, containing four Numbers each, 1s. 6d.-per half-year, of twenty-four weeks, 3s.-per year, of forty THE SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, NDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. "B THE FEAR OF The Lord, thaT IS WISDOM." - 91. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1837. THE BENEFITS OF SICKNESS. PART I. BY WILLIAM BROWN, ESQ., F. R. S. E., : President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. title of this paper is not a very engaging Had it been "Preventives of Sickness," or emedies for Sickness," many would have begun perusal with eager attention, who will turn with indifference from an attempt to show sickness may be a benefit. We are generally ous about preserving or recovering health; a considerable number of individuals take h pains to obtain from books or newspapers uch information as possible upon this subject. present publication is scarcely a fit place for ical advices: but the benefits of sickness have so strongly impressed upon my observation, I hope a short notice of them may be read attention, and with profit. is a strange notion of some philosophers, sickness and death are nothing more than stages of life, or two forms of the constituof man, just as natural and as necessary to as winter torpidity is to the dormouse, and ortality is to the caterpillar. Such an opinion eeds either from a sullen and stoical apathy of 1, or from a dogged aversion to the statements cripture. That sickness is an evil, no one s to be told who has experienced even one of lightest forms; and if death be not an evil, this is not taught us by our natural feelings, ur social sympathies. When the acute pain flammation is suffered, or the languor and ng of fever; when the cold hand of cholera s the frame, when consumption melts away strength and substance of the body, when iny robs the once gifted and happy individual he dignity and enjoyment of reason, surely e is evil, evil to the sufferer, evil to his relaWhen sickness invades the poor man's tation, disabling the parent from being the eadwinner" of his family, showing him his lid, half-fed children, bringing clamour and ontent into the once neat and peaceful dwelperhaps tempting them to dishonesty and xication, surely there is evil moral evil suided to physical suffering. VOL. II. PRICE 14d. But God, in the course of his moral administration, extracts good out of evil; he teaches us to do so too; and it is our wisdom, in this as in all other things, to be imitators of God. In this view, the benefits derived from sickness are of a very marked character, and I proceed to notice some of them. I. Sickness teaches us our dependence on our fellow-men, and our obligations to them. It may be said, that we do not need sickness to teach us this. No statement can be more correct; for all the arrangements of social life point to us our dependence upon others. Food and clothing are supplied to us by the help of others; and were we unexpectedly called on to procure either from our own resources, the difficulties would be found to be very great. But still those of us who have not had this truth impressed upon us in a practical manner, can have no adequate conviction of it. Sickness often does this. The sick man is unable to do what he used to do before; he is compelled to receive the assistance of those around him, and his complete dependence on others is thus brought home to his mind with a force which is irresistible. Think of a man in robust health, of active habits, at the head of a family, accustomed to guide and direct those about him," to take the upper hand" in every domestic arrangement, to be busied in duties out of doors, perhaps to watch over the health of others, and to devise and apply the means necessary for the recovery of the sick,-when this man becomes the victim of disease, is unable to leave the house in the prosecution of his business, is compelled, by weakness or by pain, to remain in the lying posture in bed, needs an attendant to give him his food, to smooth his pillows, even to turn him from side to side; when he is unable to hold a pen, and must rely on the kind assistance of another; when he cannot even read, and must receive all his information from the reading or speaking of others, there is brought home to his mind the practical conviction that man is not a solitary, independent being, that we are all under innumerable obligations to one another, and that were God, in righteous judgment, to punish us for our pride, our selfishness, our unkindness, by leaving us to ourselves without help, we should be indeed most miserable. has been afflicted, for he has learned, as the Baby lonian monarch did, "that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men," and he is restored to his "right mind" in every respect. The very kindness of friends leads to gratitude to Him who has disposed them to be kind. Every one does not enjoy the assiduities which we are favoured as an intolerable burden; little kindness is shown to them, and sometimes their davs are shortened by savage cruelties. In no heathen land is there any infirmary for the sick poor; but we are favoured with those blessed institutions, where medical skill and Christian kindness are combined for the welfare of the inmates. Many of us need such a lesson. How apt are we to forget others, to think of ourselves, not only in the first place, but even to the exclusion of others! In our eager pursuit of wealth or of fame, we are ready to forget that others have rights as well as we, and we venture upon actions that will not bear a close inspection. But do we not often forget the feelings of others, and reck-with. The sick are considered among the heathen lessly do or say what is unkind, even when we would not, for the world, injure their purse or their good name? Nay, are not our acts of beneficence sometimes tainted by a proud, unbending selfishness? And in our very mode of doing a right thing, do we not sometimes forget the rule which is enjoined by our blessed Redeemer, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ?" Now, sickness makes a man regret all these things. It brings home to him the conviction of his dependence on those around him; and while he receives their unwearied kindnesses, those thousand attentions which sickness demands, and which the hand of a mother, a sister, a wife can bestow, a kindlier feeling is impressed on the sick man's heart, he feels more grateful to those whose kindnesses he is receiving, he feels more grieved and disgusted in recollecting his own selfishness, unkindness, peevishness, and he resolves, depending on the grace of God, to fulfil better, in the time to come, all his domestic and social duties. II. Thankfulness to God for his mercies ought to be the primary feeling impressed on us by sickness. Were the chords of our heart strung as they ought to be, they would, first and last of them, vibrate to the love of God. That this is not always the case, is one proof, in addition to others, that we are fallen beings. It appears to me that the sick man usually feels gratitude to man before he feels gratitude to God, but that this latter feeling becomes the predominant one as soon as the sufferer learns to see that his obligations to God are infinite. And should he require any time to learn this? God is the bestower of life; he is the former of our body, and the Father of our spirit. But life might be without enjoyment. He might have created us without the power of receiving impressions of happiness; or, continuing to us our present mental constitution, he might have deprived us of all our sources of enjoyment. What is sickness, but the abstraction of one or more of our sources of pleasure. He might have deprived us of all. The disease under which we suffer consists in pain of one member, or injury of one function;-but every member, and every function might have been similarly affected. We are confined to a sick-bed; but we have not severe pain, or we breathe with ease, or we are able to enjoy some repose, or, at all events, we possess the blessing of reason. Even in this most afflictive of all diseases, there may be circumstances which are fitted to excite gratitude in the sufferer's friends; and while recovery takes place, not seldom has the sufferer himself cause to bless God that he The cheering rays of the morning sun refresh the weary invalid, and leading his thoughts to his daily benefactor, he exclaims, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning great is thy faithfulness." Evening brings with it a new train of blessings to the sick man, and he again thinks of God: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." The beneficial effect of remedies reminds him of Him by whom these remedies have been so endowed. Who has givea to one remedy the power of moistening the clammy mouth, and relaxing the parched skin? to another the power of allaying pain, and inducing sleep? to a third the power of invigorating the languid frame, and restoring the natural desire ci food? Each of these is a creature of God, formes by him with its appropriate virtues; and the skil of man, which suggests the remedy, and regulates its effects for the accomplishment of the desired end, is itself the gift of God, and at his bidding, The mind is thus led to God on a thousand occa sions during the pressure of disease. He is entreated during suffering, he is thanked when the suffering is alleviated; he is looked up to as a gracious Father, he is felt to be a kind benefactor Surely, then, sickness is sometimes a bene That is a blessed instrument, whether it be a sta or a rod, which leads us to Him. SKETCH OF THE HISTORY AND CHARACTER OF BY THOMAS BROWN, ESQ. tinguished himself by his military services, was serupa Jacques de Mornay, father to Philippe, who had de lously attached to the creed and forms of the Romish Church, and was anxious that his children should all follow the same form of religion; while the mother of the family, on the other hand, secretly adopted the doctrines of the Reformers, and endeavoured to impress similar sentiments on the minds of her children. Philippe, the subject of our present memoir, was, at eight years of age, placed under the charge of his first preceptor, Gabriel Prestat de Sesane, himself an advocate for the new opinions; he was afraid, however, openly to manifest them, knowing that by doing so, he would lose the protection and good graces of the father. At nine years of age, Philippe was taken by his father to Paris, where his education was much retarded owing to bad health. The principles of the Reformation in which he had been so carefully instructed by his mother, were deeply rooted in his mind, and no influence or example could persuade him to renounce them. On one occasion, while attending the funeral of his father, who died in 1560, he was warned by a Remish priest, who accompanied him, to beware of the opinions of the Reformers, and enjoined to persist in the religion of his ancestors. The lad replied, he was resolved to be firm in what he conceived the service of God; but that when he had any doubts on particular points, he would study attentively the Scriptures and the practice of the apostles. When eleven years old, accordingly, he began eagerly to examine the New Testament in Latin and French, from a Lyons edition by Rouville, praying to God to enlighten his understanding in the knowledge of the true faith, and as he found nothing therein, enjoining invocation of saints, the mass, purgatory, adoration of images, and other tenets and observances of the Popish Church, he resolved by the grace of God to renounce opinions which his father had endeavoured so strongly to inculcate. About this period, Mornay removed to Paris and prosecuted his studies with such unwearied assiduity that his health became again affected, and he was obliged to suspend them for a while, and return to his mother's roof. An ardent desire, however, for learning triumphed over every other consideration, and he went back to Paris, where, after a lapse of four years, he had a visit from his uncle, the Archbishop of Rheims. This high prelate frequently reasoned with his nephew on matters of faith, and endeavoured to bring him back within the pale of the Romish Church; he tempted him with the offer of several livings, and tried to allure him by the views of worldly aggrandisement; but all was in vain, the young man was firm and immoveable in the opinions he had adopted. At length he was obliged to quit Paris in consequence of the religious feuds which then prevailed, and he retired into the country, where he composed a poem in French verse on the subject of the civil war then raging, dedicating it to Cardinal Chatillon. At this period the Protestants were persecuted in all quarters, and flying from place to place. Mornay took refuge at Geneva, where he remained unmolested and employed himself in study, particularly in acquiring a knowledge of the German language. In 1569, Mornay repaired to Frankfort, and thence to Italy, where he passed his time in literary pursuits and the study of jurisprudence. At Venice he was in continual danger as a Protestant, as well as at Rome, where the French ambassador, at the instigation of Charles IX., tried every means to induce him to renounce the new opinions. From Venice he went to Vienna, and thence to Frankfort, by the way of Hungary, Bohemia and Saxony. At Cologne he became acquainted with several Reformers, who had taken refuge there to avoid the tyranny and perfidy of the Spaniards. He interested himself deeply in the welfare of the suffering Flemings, and became intimately connected with the Prince of Orange, the main support at that time of the Reformed Religion. In the midst of all this, however, Mornay was indefatigable in the acquisition of knowledge, and above all, in spreading with renewed ardour, the religious opinions which were already circulating so rapidly over that part of Europe. In the course of his travels, he went over to England, and was received very graciously by Queen Elizabeth, who held him in much esteem. The same year he returned to Paris, where he met the celebrated Admiral Coligny. At this period, in the midst of apparent security, and in defiance of existing treaties, the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place; an event, for cruelty and atrocity, unparalleled in the history of the world. Mornay, on hearing of the dreadful tragedy, was preparing to inquire after the Admiral, when his own house was surrounded by the murderers. He had, however, time to burn all his papers, and escaped over the roof to the Louvre, and thence into the country. On arriving at his home, he was happy to find his mother safe; and he immediately intimated to her his intention of returning to England. He embarked at Dieppe, and was received by his former friends with the utmost kindness. Some time after, he came back to France, and in conjunction with other partizans of the Reformed Religion, took up arms in defence of their faith. At the head of these illustrious individuals, was the king of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of France, and the Prince of Condé, whose various military operations during the civil war, it forms no part of my plan to enumerate. In all these, however, Mornay took an active part. After the death of Charles IX., which happened in 1574, he retired for a time to Sedan to resume his favourite studies; and in the following year, while residing in the duchy of Cleves, he married Charlotte Arbaleste, widow of a distinguished warrior of that time. This lady had suffered much from the persecution of the Papists, was pious and charitable, and entered with zeal into every measure that could be useful in promoting the cause of the Protestants. About the end of 1576, the King of Navarre, on the one hand, and Monsieur, afterwards Henry III., on the other, did every thing in their power to gain over Mornay to their cause, knowing of how much consequence the services of so able a coadjutor would be to them. He hesitated not a moment from principle, to join the former at Agen; and he drew up, by order of the king, a declaration of the reasons of self-defence which obliged the Protestants to take up arms. Under these circumstances, it was deemed advisable to implore foreign assistance, and Mornay was provided with ample powers to treat with Queen Elizabeth, the States of Holland, and the Protestants in Germany. After escaping innumerable dangers, both previous to, and after his embarkation, he arrived safely at Dartmouth, and proceeding to London, was soon after joined by his wife from Dieppe. He stated to the queen, the justice and urgency of the King of Navarre's cause, and the unwarrantable conduct of his enemies in persecuting and murdering the Protestants, without the least regard to existing treaties. The queen supplied him amply with money, and enjoined him to take troops into pay from Protestant Germany, besides doing all in her power to persuade the German princes to join the common cause. This negociation was facilitated by the intervention of Walsingham and Sidney, then in the queen's councils. All these preparations and precautions, however, became eventually unnecessary, from the circumstance of Henry III. having made peace in September 1577. Mornay took advantage of this suspension of hostilities to resume his studies in retirement. At this period he was occupied with a work on the Truth of the Christian Religion, which he prosecuted for three years, notwithstanding continued bad health, when the civil war having been again renewed, his services were required by the King of Navarre. Further arrangements were, by his instrumentality, entered into with Queen Eliza beth, wno privately favoured the cause of the Reformers, in opposition to some of her counsellors, who were jealous of Mornay's ascendency over the queen, and who did all they could to defeat his plans. to forsake the Protestant cause, and thus secure to himself a throne which had so long been occupied by princes of a different persuasion. In answer to remonstrances urged by the Popish party, headed by the Afterwards he resided nearly two years in Holland Cardinal Bourbon and other dignitaries, the king sent his and the Netherlands with the army of the Reformers, answer on the 18th December 1591, drawn up by Morat the end of which he returned to Paris with his family. nay, to the effect, that he was ever ready to receive their On all matters of controversy between the Reformed and advice, and to settle the differences of the Church, which, Popish leaders, Mornay took a distinguished part, and in the midst of arms, he had little leisure to attend to; was constantly employed by the King of Navarre, head that the measures proposed by them were not excluof the Huguenots, whose object was to unite closer sively ecclesiastical, and that he would not agree to the and closer all parties of the Reformed faith, both politi- decision of the Pope, who had on all occasions assumed cal and ecclesiastical. In a letter addressed to the so hostile and ungracious an attitude towards him. king on the 14th April 1584, signed by Mornay and The king, however, continued to be strongly worked others of the leaders, it is stated: "The eyes of all upon to heal the differences of the nation by becoming France are upon you. You will experience from the a Papist, and, accordingly, at St. Denis, the 25th July nobles submission and fraternity, and from the parlia-1593, his abjuration of the Reformed Religion took ments love of justice. Above all, fear God, by whom place. kings reign, and who can remove every difficulty from before you." Having every reliance on Mornay, the king took him at this period into very particular favour, | and consulted him on every point where the interests of the Reformed party were concerned. This melancholy event formed an epoch in the history of France, and it placed Mornay in quite a new position. A long letter was addressed to the king, wherein was strongly depicted the firm, zealous, and consistent attachment of his friends of the Reformed party, and their long military services in forwarding his cause. He was urged to protect them in the exercise of their religion, and to put an end to those differences which had deluged the kingdom with blood. He sent for Mornay, who met him at Chartres in September. Here the king renewed his promises of protection, and his intention of calling national councils to decide on matters of faith, independent of the Pope, which Mornay assured him would never be sanctioned by the head of the Romish Church, as, according to their doctrine, laid down at the Council of Trent, their Church can not err. This negociation continued for some time, and at length the whole of the deputies, with Mornay at their head, transferred their deliberations to Saumur. The Popish party doubting the sincerity of the king's adherence, and assisted by the Jesuits, employed Jean Chastel to assassinate him. The attempt was made on the 27th December, providentially without success. The civil war continued with more or less activity between the two parties the whole of 1595, pending the negociations for general peace. The hostile demonstrations of the League caused a corresponding movement in March 1585 on the part of the Reformers, and Mornay entered into all their plans with his usual zeal and ability. Their spirited proclamations on this occasion claimed the admiration of all the Protestant states. Henry III. and the League offered to the King of Navarre that they would recognise him heir to the crown of France, provided he would renounce the Reformed doctrines, which having refused with indignation, he was excommunicated by Pope Sextus V., who, by a formal act, declared him removed from the succession. The war of religion was resumed in the following year with unusual vigour and animosity, and the King of Navarre's life being considered in danger, he was advised by his adherents to leave the kingdom for a while, which, however, he declined doing. In the month of May 1587, the celebrated barricades took place round Paris, and the Duke of Guise having got possession of the capital, the king was obliged to retire. Navarre offered his personal services, and all his means to assist the king. These, owing to a variety of causes, were not accepted, and the civil war was continued with renewed activity. In August of that year, Pope Clement VIII. offered to Another trial was made at this period to remove the give the king absolution on the following remarkable King of Navarre's scruples on the score of religion, and conditions, viz. :-That he would invoke the aid and to bring him within the pale of the Popish Church, counsel of the Virgin Mary on all occasions; assist every but without effect. At length an interview between day at high mass; repeat his chaplet on Sundays, the litathe two kings took place, and a suspension of hostili-nies on Wednesdays, and the rosary on Saturdays; that ties was the consequence when the Parliament was transferred to Tours. Shortly after this, Henry III. was assassinated by Jacques Clement at St. Cloud. This event was communicated to the King of Navarre by Mornay, who added that the crown, instead of being placed, had fallen on his head, and that confiding in the affection of his subjects, he must leave the rest to God, who had hitherto prospered him. Mornay proposed a general pardon and amnesty, those only excepted who had participated in the murder of the king. He passed almost the whole of 1590 with the new sovereign, who had recovered the greater part of Lower Normandy, but was prevented from approaching Paris by the Duke du Maine, then at Dreux. Some time after, when the king was besieging Paris, Palavicini, a Genevan then residing in England, on account of his religion, was sent by Elizabeth into Germany, to induce the Protestant princes to co-operate more effectually with her in promoting the Reformation in France. Mornay was the mainspring of all these negociations; the mind of the king, however, was about this period far from being so warm in the cause of the Reformation as heretofore, and he was gradually moved, by motives of state policy, as well as personal ambition he would conform to the laws and regulations of the Council of Trent; educate the Prince of Condé in the Roman Catholic faith; exclude all Protestants from situations of trust or dignity; re-establish the Popish religion in Bearn, replace the bishops, and found monasteries; cause his sister to be married to a Roman Catho lic, continue the war against the heretics, and finally exterminate them. All these conditions the king agreed to, except the last, and gave the Pope to understand that he had other means of converting the Protestants, than the measures proposed by his Holiness. The Reformed party, under the guidance of Mornay, resolved to keep firmly united till they could procure some security from the king for the safety of their persons and property, and the free exercise of their religion. Mornay, therefore, as their organ, stated to the king that, during the whole of his reign, they had served him with fidelity, notwithstanding the acts of the Parliament and of the League were still in force against them; that they had seen him change his religion, and treat with the chiefs and partizans of the League to their prejudice; that lately he had received absolution from the Pope, on conditions destructive of their interests; that he could not countenance them |