class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">292

III.

The Unclean Spirit in Dry Places

294

IV.

Satan an Angel of Light

296

V.

The Young Child

298

VI.

Varieties of Preaching

300

VII.

The Six Crocodiles

301

VIII.

Envious Ambition

303

IX.

The Dove, the Raven, and the Eagle

304

INTRODUCTION.

The introduction of Christianity into Britain is said to have taken place about sixty-three years after the crucifixion.  By whose agency it was effected, cannot now be satisfactorily determined.  Tradition has ascribed it to Joseph of Arimathea.  This, however, is exceedingly doubtful.  It has also been attributed to the apostle Paul.  That the apostle Paul visited Britain, is quite probable, from the testimony of Theodoret and Jerome.  That he was the first preacher of the gospel in Britain, is certainty a mistake.  The weight of evidence seems to be in favour of Claudia, a Welsh lady, belonging to Cæsar’s household.  The circumstances were these:—

The Romans invaded Britain about fifty years before the incarnation.  Failing to conquer the Welsh, they made peace with them, and dwelt among them in amity.  Many Welsh soldiers joined the Roman army, and several Welsh families went and resided at Rome.  Among the latter were Claudia and her husband.  Saint Paul was then a prisoner under Nero; dwelling, however, “in his own hired house,” and receiving all who came to hear the word of God.  Under his ministry, Claudia was converted to Christianity.  She soon returned to her native country, and scattered “the Seed of the Kingdom” among her own people.  This was in the year of our Lord sixty-three.

About a century after this, Faganus and Daminicanus went to Rome, were converted there, and became “able ministers of the New Testament.”  In the year of our Lord 180, they were sent back to Wales, to preach to their own countrymen.  They were zealous and successful laborers.  They opposed the pagan superstitions of the Welsh with wonderful energy.  They pursued Druidism to its dark retirements, and poured upon it the withering blaze of the gospel.  Through their preaching, Lucius, king of Wales, was brought to embrace Christianity.  He was the first king that ever bowed to the Prince of Peace.  The royal convert was exceedingly zealous in the propagation of the truth.  The Macedonian cry issued from the throne of Wales, an earnest appeal to Eleutherius for help.  Then “the word of the Lord had free course, and was glorified.”

Under the reign of Dioclesian, about the year 300, the Welsh Christians suffered a dreadful persecution.  Their books were burned, their houses of worship were destroyed, and multitudes obtained the crown of martyrdom.  The first three were Alban, Aaron, and Julius.  They were all excellent men, and greatly beloved by their brethren.  They died in triumph, and their blood became the seed of the church.  Many others soon followed them in the same path.  Dioclesian gave strict orders for their destruction.  Not a Christian was to be spared, not a Christian church, not a book or a scrap of writing that could transmit their faith and history to future generations.  This was the tenth persecution.  The great dragon had sent forth his flood to destroy the church.  But “mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”  The bush still lived,

“And flourished unconsumed in fire.”

The first Christian king, we have said, was a Welshman.  So, in part, was the first Christian emperor.  Constantine the Great was born in Britain.  His father was Roman; his mother Welsh.  Having resided some time in Britain, they removed to Rome.  Constantine ascended the Imperial throne.  Converted, he made Christianity the religion of the empire.  The intolerant edicts of his predecessors were abolished; and the absurd rites of paganism, as far as possible, suppressed.  The emperor employed all his energies and resources in spreading the gospel.  But his course, if honest, was injudicious.  In the end, he dishonoured Christianity more by his imprudence, than he glorified her at first by his zeal.  He opened the door of the church so wide as to admit Antichrist himself.  The “man of sin” came and seated himself in the temple of God.

Intoxicated with her prosperity, the church throughout the empire gradually embraced the grossest superstitions.  But the Welsh Christians strenuously resisted all innovations.  They adhered firmly to the primitive simplicity of Christian faith and worship.  Yet they lost a portion of their spirituality.  The storms of tribulation are often more favourable to the growth of vital religion, than the sunshine of prosperity.  The church becomes dizzy when placed upon the pinnacle of worldly praise.  The boatmen wax careless when their craft glides gently along on a smooth sea, before a pleasant gale.  This is the natural tendency of the human mind, in circumstances of prosperity.  It was thus with the Christians of Wales.

Other things operated unfavourably.  The Pelagian controversy divided and distracted the churches, and destroyed the spirit of Christian meekness and love.  The Welsh were soon involved in a civil war with the Picts and Scots.  In their distress, they solicited the aid of the Saxons.  The Saxons promptly responded to the call.  But the ally soon became an enemy.  They fell upon the Welsh, drove them to the mountains of Cumry, and took possession of their land.