"where we have found health and contentment."

"Father," said the youngest, "all we children hope you are not going to be rich again; for then," she added, we little ones were shut up in the nursery, and we did not see

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much of you or mother. Now we all live together, and sister, who loves us, teaches us, and we learn to be industrious and useful. We were none of us happy when we were rich and did not work. So father, please not to be a rich man any more."

وو

A STORY is told of two travellers in Lapland, which throws more light on the art of being happy than a whole volume of precepts and aphorisms. Upon a very cold day in the winter they were driving along in a sledge, wrapped up in furs from head to foot. Even their faces were mostly covered; and you could see hardly anything but their eyebrows; and these were white and glistening with frost. At length they saw a poor man who had sunk down, benumbed and frozen, in the snow. "We must stop and help him," said one of the travellers. "Stop and help him!" replied the other, "you will never think of stopping on such a day as this! We are half frozen ourselves, and ought to be at our journey's end as soon as possible.' "But I cannot leave this man to perish," rejoined the more humane traveller; "I must go to his relief;" and he stopped his sledge. "Come," said he, "come help me to rouse him." "Not I," replied the other, "I have too much regard for my own life to expose myself to this freezing atmosphere more than is necessary. I will sit here, and keep myself as warm as I can, till you come back." So saying, he resolutely kept his seat, while his companion hastened to the relief of the perishing man, whom they had so providentially discovered. The ordinary means for restoring consciousness and activity were tried with complete success. But the kind-hearted traveller was so intent upon saving the life of a fellowcreature, that he had forgotten his own exposure; and what was the consequence? Why, the very effort which he made to warm the stranger,

warmed himself! And thus he had a two-fold reward. He had the sweet consciousness of doing a benevolent act, and he also found himself glowing from head to foot by reason of the exertions which he had made. And how was it with his companion, who had been so much afraid of exposing himself? He was almost ready to freeze, notwithstanding the efforts he had been making to keep warm?

The lesson derived from this little incident is very obvious. We are all travellers to a distant country. At every step of our journey we find other travellers, who need our friendly aid. Nay, God has brought them around our path in great numbers; and, far as the eye can reach, we see their dense and gloomy ranks. Now there are two ways of meeting these objects of Christian sympathy and brotherly regard. We can go forward with the stern purpose of a selfish and unloving spirit, saying, in reply to every appeal which is addressed to our better feelings, "Depart

in peace; be ye warmed and filled;"

or we can say, with the warm-hearted traveller, "I cannot see this man perish; I must hasten to his relief." And the rule which we adopt for our guidance in such cases, will determine the question, whether we are to be happy or unhappy. The man who lives only for himself, cannot be happy. God does not smile upon him; and his conscience will give him no peace. But he who forgets himself in his desire to do good, not only becomes a blessing to others, but opens a perpetual fountain of joy in his own bosom.

THE history of Christianity in Spain. is deeply interesting. Rejecting, as absurd, the Spanish tradition, that James, the son of Zebedee, first preached the Christian doctrine to the people of that country, sent seven presbyters to Rome to be ordained by Pope Peter, and then returned to Jerusalem in time to obtain the martyr's crown, we may confidently receive two facts which are sufficiently estab lished by authentic history; one of which is, that the Gospel was early preached in the Peninsula; and the other, that it extensively spread there notwithstanding the persecutions to which those who received it were from time to time exposed. Beyond these two facts, nothing is certainly known respecting the very early history of Christianity in Spain.

In the fourth century, the Spanish Churches were overrun by the Priscillian heresy, which predominated in them about two centuries, and was a compound of the tenets of the Manicheans and Gnostics. In other words, in its most important principle, it was Arianism. Nestorianism, and some other heresies of less note, also had considerable currency in Spain. But that which made the most noise was what was called "the adoptionarian heresy"-namely, that Christ is only the adopted Son of God-which was broached by Elipand, Archbishop of Toledo, in the eighth century.

But if Spain had her heretics, and even her heresiarchs, she also had noble defenders of the truth. Claude, so greatly celebrated as Bishop of Turin, in the ninth century, was a native of Spain. And so was Galindo Prudentio, Bishop of Troyes, in France, a contemporary of Claude, and, like him, a great favourite with Charlemagne, and an able and zealous friend of the true Gospel.

And although the Spanish Churches had Bishops in the fourth century,

and gradually, in imitation of the Churches in other countries, allowed, but after much opposition, the creation of metropolitans, archbishops, vicar-generals, &c., yet they never suffered the Bishops of Rome to inter fere authoritatively in their affairs during the first eight centuries. And although it may seem strange to those who only know that the Spaniards have been the most devoted and firm of all the subjects of the Roman see in modern times, and the most ready to fight its battles, to hear that the supremacy of the self-styled successors of St. Peter was never fully established in Spain until the first eleven centuries had passed away, it is nevertheless true. Still more, it was not until about three hundred and fifty years ago, that the zeal of the Spanish nation in behalf of the Roman see reached anything like its present maturity of growth and extent of vigour -a consummation to which the expulsion of the Moors in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic, and the discovery of both the Indies, greatly contributed.

Nor was the Roman see left long in undisturbed possession of Spain; for the doctrines of the Albigenses penetrated into the northern portions of the Peninsula in the twelfth century, if not earlier, and found many friends and advocates. Indeed, the northern districts of that country, and the adjacent provinces of France, were then, and for centuries afterwards, under the same government. Their inhabitants were, and are still, essentially the same people. Their language was, and is still, essentially the same patois, or dialect, differing almost equally from pure French on the one hand, and pure Castillian on the other -being, in fact, the remains of an old Celtic tongue, which has not been absorbed in either of the two Latin languages which have striven to supplant

it. Under these circumstances, nothing could be more probable than that the "Albigensian heresy," as Rome denominated the blessed doctrines held by the noble Reformers whom God raised up in Languedoc and Provence, and especially in the region around Toulouse, in the twelfth century or rather which were only a resuscitation of the primitive Christianity, which had never become extinct in those provinces-should spread into the northern, and especially the north-eastern parts of Spain. And history tells us that this was the case. Nor were they confined in their dissemination to the northern parts of the Peninsula-they spread extensively in other portions of it. And Spain possessed many thousands of devoted Christians, who never bowed the knee to that Baal which had been set up in Rome. They were called by various names, among which those of Albigenses, and Vaudois, or Waldenses, were the most common.

But history takes care also to inform us that the same Rome which instigated Simon de Montfort and the kings of France to make war upon the Albigenses in France, and upon their good and noble protectors, the Counts of Toulouse, and after having broken them down by war, exterminated them at her leisure by the aid of St. Dominic and his monkish janizaries, was not less active in hunting up those who had embraced the same doctrines south of the Pyrenees. Blood flowed abundantly in Spain as well as in France. And the prayers and the groans of dying martyrs ascended, from many a spot in that country, to heaven's high vault, not to remain unheard or forgotten by Him who is exalted to be "Lord over all," and who sitteth "King in Zion."

But Rome triumphed, and the truth fell down slain by her hand, both in France and Spain. And yet all was not lost. The holy appeal of Wickliffe in England, and of Huss and Jerome amid the mountains in Bohemia, found a welcome and a response in many a heart even in the Iberian Peninsula. It was in this way that error was prevented from having ex

clusive and uncontested dominion in that beautiful but benighted country.

At length the sixteenth century came, and with it the voice of Luther summoning the nations to rise and cast from them the yoke of Rome. Nor did the doctrines of the Reformation fail to reach Spain. There were many causes which led to this. A king of Spain was chosen Emperor of Germany, under the title of Charles V. This prince was born in the Netherlands, as what are now Belgium and Holland were then called, and which were then under the government of Spain. The eventful life of this monarch was spent in various countries. One while he was in Spain, then in Italy, then in Germany, then in the Low Countries, and then back in his patrimonial inheritance. This led to a vast intercourse on the part of the Spaniards with the Italians, the Germans, and the Flemish. Not only courtiers, statesmen, and merchants, but soldiers also, went from the Peninsula into those various countries; and there many of them came into contact with the Reformed opinions. And from those various countries these opinions were carried into Spain, in spite of all that Rome could dosometimes in the writings of the Reformers published at Wittemberg, or Basle, or Venice, or Antwerp; but oftener still in the hearts of those who had embraced them. In this way the truth threatened to overrun and conquer one of the fairest provinces of Rome.

It is certain that the Reformed opinions secretly gained an extensive currency in both Spain and Portugal for several years before they were avowed by any native of either country. The first Spaniard who is known to have professed openly the Protestant faith was Juan Valdes, who, by his conversations and by his writings, did much to make known, both in his native land and in Italy, the Gospel. He was a layman, who stood high in the estimation of Charles V., who sent him to Naples in quality of secretary to the viceroy; for the southern part of Italy, together with the island of Sicily, belonged at that day to the crown of Spain. At Na

ples, Valdes spent a number of years, actively promoting in secret the cause of truth, and died in the year 1450, to the great regret of all who loved the new doctrines in that city. Many of his best writings were published several years after his death, at Venice, among which was his Commentary on the Psalms.

The next Spaniard of influence who avowed the Reformed doctrine was Rodrigo de Valer, a native of Lebrixa, a town about thirty miles from Seville. He had been an exceedingly dissipated young man; but was led suddenly to abandon all the scenes of folly and fashion by the reading of the Vulgate, the only translation of the Bible permitted in Spain. For a while he was enabled boldly to make known the truth; but at length he was arrested and condemned to imprisonment for life; a punishment which he underwent in a monastery in the town of St. Lucar, near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, where, separated from all human society, he died about the age of fifty.

The most distinguished of the converts of Valer was Juan Gil, better known by the name of Egidius. He had early distinguished himself by his knowledge of scholastic theology, and was chosen preacher in the cathedral of Seville. Several years after, having entered upon the duties of that post, his mind was enlightened in the great doctrines of the Gospel by the conversations of Valer, and he became a faithful and most eloquent preacher of the truth, and brought many others to the knowledge of it, some of whom received the crown of martyrdom. At length, being suspected of heresy, he was arrested, tried by the Inquisition, and condemned to three years' imprisonment. Shortly after having completed this term of suffering for righteousness' sake he died. Few men in Spain did so much as he for the diffusion of the Reformed doctrines. He died in the year 1556. Among those who had aided most effectually in his efforts to make known the truth in Seville, were two men of distinguished merit; the one was Vargas, and the other Constantine Ponce de la Fuente. The

former, however, was, after a few years, taken away by death, and the latter was called for a while to the Netherlands.

One of the Spaniards who earliest embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, was Francisco San Roman, a native of Burgos, who, having gone to Bremen on mercantile business, there heard the Gospel, and embraced it with his whole heart. His zeal, which needed the restraints of prudence, led him to be arrested at Ratisbon, whither he had gone to see the Emperor of Germany. After having been carried in chains to Italy, and thence to Algiers, which the emperor attempted in vain to prevent, he was brought to Valladolid, in his native country, where he was tried by the Inquisition, condemned, and burned. The Christian manner in which he met this awful death, together with the nature of the accusation on which he was condemned, inspired many in that city who secretly held the new opinions to profess them boldly, and exert themselves actively in their propagation.

Among the distinguished Spaniards who embraced the Reformed doctrines, were three brothers of the name of Enzinas, Jayme, Francisco, and Juan, who were sent by their father to prosecute their studies at Louvain, a university in the Netherlands. It was there that they first became acquainted with the Gospel. The lives of these young men were various. One of them, Juan, studied medicine, and became a professor of that science at Marburg, in Germany. Jayme resided at Rome several years, engaged in the prosecution of his studies, and lived the life of a devoted Christian. But just as he was about to quit the eternal city for Germany, he was informed against, arrested, condemned, and burned as a heretic. He underwent this dreadful death with the cheerful heroism of a martyr. The second brother, Francisco, after having resided at Paris, Geneva, and Brussels, published his translation of the New Testament at Antwerp, in the year 1543; and, for doing so, and especially for his supposed attachment to the Reformed opinions, he

was thrown into prison in Brussels, where he lay several months: but, escaping from confinement, he took refuge in Germany, and afterwards visited London, whence he returned to the Continent, and went to reside at Basle.

The efforts of Francisco Enzinas to give his countrymen the Scriptures in their vernacular tongue, were followed by those of Juan Perez, Casiodoro de Reyna, and Cypriano de Valera, all friends of Egidius, who sought safety in quitting Seville, when that excellent man was thrown into prison. The first named translated the New Testament and the Psalms into Spanish, and wrote a Catechism, or Summary of Christian Doctrine, which were published at Venice in the years 1556 and 1557. After his death, De Reyna continued the translation of the Old Testament, and produced a version of the whole Bible, which was printed in 1569 at Basle. Cypriano de Valera revised the whole, and published the New Testament in 1596 at London, and both the Old and the New, in 1602, at Amsterdam. And although these translations appeared after the Reformation had been suppressed in Spain, they helped to diffuse the truth among the Spaniards residing out of Spain, and are a monument of the noble zeal of their authors in behalf of God's Word.

Among the most distinguished leaders of the friends of the Reformed doctrine in Spain, after the death of Egidius, were, unquestionably, Constantine Ponce de la Fuente, at Seville, and Christobal Losada, a doctor of medicine, Don Juan Ponce de Leon, and Domingo de Guzman, of the same city; Domingo de Roxas, Augustin Cazalla (esteemed one of the best pulpit orators in Spain, and of Jewish extraction), and Don Carlos de Seso, at Valladolid. There were, however, many others who were active in the good cause.

Seville and Valladolid were the two cities in and around which the Reformation spread most, penetrating even into several monasteries and convents. Yet there were many Protestants in Arragon, in New Castile, and in the provinces of Granada, Murcia,

and Valencia. In fact, the doctrines of the Reformation found secret friends in almost all parts of the Peninsula. And, what is not a little remarkable, they were among the distinguished people of the country for rank and learning. And so great was the progress of the truth, that, had not the government conspired with the Roman hierarchy, and put in requisition every means which the Inquisition furnished, Spain would, unquestionably, have soon become a Protestant country.

But at length Rome awoke to a sense of the danger which menaced her dominion in Spain, and buckled on the harness for the work of exterminating the "heresy" which was fast spreading there. And now bloody scenes began to be witnessed in all directions, especially about Seville and Valladolid, and in the country of Arragon. The Inquisition was worked with Spanish, or, in other words, hellish cruelty. It was in the year 1558 that Rome let loose the myrmidons of St. Dominic upon the Protestants of Spain, and so effectually did they accomplish their task, that in the space of two years they succeeded in getting quite through it. Vast numbers fled from the country. Those who resided in Arragon, and other parts of the northern portion of the kingdom, escaped by hundreds to Béarn and other adjoining provinces in France, where they were received with joy by their Protestant brethren. But many were condemned to hard work, to solitary confinement, or other forms of penance; and not a few were burned at the stake. The great and good Constantine Ponce de la Fuente died in a loathsome dungeon; so did Olmedo, a man distinguisned for his learning and piety; Cazalla, and his sister Donna Beatrice de Vibero, Don Carlos de Seso, Domingo de Roxas, Juan Sanchez, Don Juan Ponce de Leon, Juan Gonzalez, Garcia de Arias, Christobal d'Arellano, Juan de Leon, Fernando de San Juan, Christobal Losada, and many others, were burned. Among these were several ladies who underwent that dreadful death, of whom may be mentioned Donna Marina Guevara, Donna Isabel de