The stream is still unfailing, I deem its richest music Is where home's treasures meet: And in her smiles that soothe me, And in my children's shout, I see and hear but mercies Yet, more than all, discerning The source from whence they spring, I, once that source forgetting, And shall I, when is ended 66 Ο Land." H, weary in the morning, And weary at the noontide, Oh, weary of the turmoil, The striving and the care, And weary of the burden Which we on earth must bear : Yet, like a ray of sunlight, The Word shines through the gloom, As, after winter's darkness, Comes spring in fresher bloom; And, after vainly searching, We find a resting meet; For rest and hope and glory God never sends a sorrow Without the heavenly balm; And bids us fight no battles, His voice said, "Peace, be still." We will go forth and conquer, Must be an honoured place. IN TWO CHAPTERS.-CHAPTER I. LITTLE more than three hundred years ago, there lived in the well-known town of Brighton (then the humble fishing village of Brighthempstead or Brighthelmstone) a man who deserves to be held in lasting remembrance, for his fearless avowal of what he believed to be truth, for his firm and patient endurance of a long and cruel imprisonment, and finally of death at the stake, in defence of those principles of the Christian religion which are set forth in the New Testament, and which were then being assailed, as they are at the present day being assailed, by some who, like the Jews of old, are in danger of looking for the coming of Christ's kingdom in outward forms and ceremonies, and in outward show, instead of attending to His own words when on earth, when He said to the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.' " 1 Deryk Carver, whose brief history we are about to relate, as it is recorded by the martyrologist Foxe, was a Fleming by birth, and possibly came over to England in a time of persecution in his own country. Be that as it may, he appears to have taken up his residence in Brighton about eight or nine years before his death. Here he was blessed with a sufficiency of this world's goods, and was made a partaker also of those spiritual riches which endure when this world and its treasures have passed away. Wishing, it would seem, to induce others to become sharers in this lasting good, he invited a little company of worshippers to meet together in his house, like the early disciples, on the first day of the week," to read the Holy Scriptures and the English service, and to unite together in prayer. On one occasion, in the autumn of 1554, whilst they Luke xvii. 20, 21. 2 This spelling is said to have been that used by the son of the martyr, although Foxe spells the name Dirick. See Erredge's "History of Brighton." were thus piously engaged, this peaceful assembly was disturbed by a visit from Edward Gage of Firle, who was a county magistrate, and who came to apprehend Deryk Carver and his friends,' and thereupon sent them up to the Queen's Council "to be examined;" from whence, four, whose names are recorded by Foxe, viz., Deryk Carver, John Launder and Thomas Iveson (both of Godstone), and William Vesie, were sent prisoners to Newgate. Here they lay for eight weary months, enduring, we may well believe, many hardships in that dismal prison before being brought into the bishops' chamber to be examined: yet, if we may judge by what is recorded of them, their faith did not fail them, for it is related of Deryk Carver that, "during his imprisonment, although well stricken in years, and (as it were) past the tyme of learning, yet he so spent his tyme, that being at his first apprehension utterly ignorant of anye letter of the booke, hee coulde before his death read perfectly anye printed English. Whose diligence and zeale is worthy of no small commendation, and therefore I thought it good not to let it pass over in silence." 2 "2 By this extract we have a glimpse into the prison life of these worthy men, and can imagine how those sad and weary days were sweetened, as they spelt out together the wonderful history of our Saviour's life on earth, and of what He had borne for their sakes; or as they read in the Acts of the Apostles of all the suffering they had passed through in defence of the cause of truth. They would note, too, how the first martyr, Stephen, had been stoned to death by the Jews, just after uttering those burning words which follow the allusion he made to Solomon's temple: "Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord or what is the place of My rest? Hath not My hand made all these things ?" 1 Not for any evil they had done, but because they thus met together to worship God "in spirit and in truth." 2 Foxe's "Acts and Monuments." How would these devoted men in their lonely hours, away from the comforts of home, and from the happy voices of their children, be cheered and solaced, as they pored over the sacred page, in reading of how apostles and martyrs in the first age of the Christian Church had endured suffering and wrong, and had also been upheld and comforted. At last on "the 8th of June" came the day, long looked for, when they were to appear before their judges to answer to the accusations made against them. Let us have an extract from their answers. Deryk Carver, being apparently the first who was called upon at the examination, declared (in opposition to what the priests maintain), in reference to the so-called sacrament of the altar, "That he hath and doth believe, that the very substance of the body and blood of Christ is not in the said sacrament, and that there is no other substance remaining in the said sacrament, after the words spoken by the priest, but only the substance of bread and wine. . . . Concerning the faith and religion now taught, set forth, and believed in the Church of England, he answereth and believeth, that the faith and doctrine now set forth and used in the said Church of England, is not agreeable to God's Word. . . . And further being examined he saith, That since the Queen's coronation he hath had the Bible and Psalter in English read in his house at Brighthelmstead divers times, and likewise since his coming to Newgate, but the keeper hearing thereof took them away. And further said that Thomas Iveson, John Launder, and William Vesie, being prisoners with him in Newgate, were taken with him in his house at Brighthelmstone, as they were hearing the gospel then read in English." On the roth of the same month, two days after the previous examination, they were again called to appear before the cruel Bishop Bonner, in the Consistory of St. Paul's; and they then declared that they would abide by their answers. On this occasion Deryk Carver boldly told the bishop that the ceremonies in his Church were poison, and that confession to a priest was contrary to God's Word." We are told that 66 |