she was; though nature had done much, grace had done much more, and it was evident that she humbly felt that she was not her own, that she was bought with a price; that amidst all that surrounded her of the perishing things of time, she did not live unto herself, but unto Him who died for her and rose again, who was her Alpha and Omega, her all in all. In our little and afflicted church, the loss is great: she was one of our stakes, and one of our cords! The stake is removed, the cord is broken, but our God abideth for ever.”
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF PATRICK,
The Apostle of the Irish.
We think it will be agreeable to our readers, that we should occupy a few vacant pages, by the following lively particulars respecting “Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish.” They are extracted from a work lately published, under the title of, “Light in Dark Places; or Memorials of Christian Life in the Middle Ages,” which is stated, in the preface, to be translated from a German work by the late Augustus Neander. Patrick flourished in the early part of the fifth century, before the Romish yoke was imposed upon the British churches, but not before much superstition had become mixed with the purity of the Christian faith.
His early circumstances seem, however, to have entirely detached him from dependence upon man, and to have driven him to the One great Source of light and strength. Romanists have a story of his having gone to Rome, and having received there his authority as the first bishop of Ireland; but it is evident that his call to preach the gospel to the Irish, was not of man, or from man, but immediately from God, who inspired him with holy faith and courage, and in a most remarkable manner prospered his labours.
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This remarkable man was prepared, by very peculiar circumstances, for his important work; and in his instance, also, it may be seen, how that infinite wisdom which guides the development of the kingdom of God amongst men, is able to bring great things out of what seems insignificant to the eyes of men.
Patrick, called in his native tongue Succath, was born a.d. 372, between the Scottish towns of Dumbarton and Glasgow, (then appended to England,) in the village of Bonaven, since named in honour of him, Kilpatrick. He was the son of a poor unlettered deacon of the village church.
No particular care was bestowed on his education, and he lived on light-heartedly, from day to day, without making the religious truths taught him by his parents matters of personal interest, until his seventeenth year.
Then, it happened that he was awakened by a severe chastisement from his Heavenly Father from this sleep of death to a higher life. Some pirates of the wild tribe of the Scots, who then inhabited Ireland, landed at the dwelling-place of Patrick, and carried him off with other captives. He was sold into slavery to a Scottish prince, who committed to him the care of his flocks and herds. Necessity directed his heart to that God of whom, in his days of rest in his father’s house, he had not thought. Abandoned of men, he found consolation and blessedness in Him, and now first learned to perceive and enjoy the treasures which the Christian has in heaven. Whilst he roamed about with his flocks, through ice and snow, communion with his God in prayer, and quiet contemplation, were his portion. Let us hear how he himself, in a confession which he subsequently wrote, describes this change which took place in him.
“I was about sixteen years old, and knew nothing of the true God, when I was led into captivity with many thousands of my countrymen, as we deserved, in that we had departed from God, and had not kept his commandments. There God opened my unbelieving heart, so that I, although late, remembered my sins, and turned with my whole heart to the Lord my God, to Him who had regarded my loneliness, had had compassion on my youth and my ignorance, and had watched over me before I knew him; who, ere I knew how to choose between good and evil, had guarded and cherished me, as a father doth his son. This I know assuredly, that before God humbled me, I was like a stone lying sunk in deep mire; but He who is able came, He raised me in his mercy, and set me on a very high place. Therefore must I loudly bear witness to this, in order, in some measure, to repay the Lord for such great blessings in time and eternity, great beyond the apprehension of human reason. “When I came to Ireland,” he says, “and used daily to keep the cattle, and often every day to pray, the fear and the love of God were ever more and more enkindled in me, and my faith increased, so