speak!  This place is in the bosom of a mount.  Here we find an open space, like unto an amphitheater, large enough to seat thousands.  On this ground are two rows of stones each row high enough for a seat, and long enough to accommodate fifty persons.  Between them, other stones stand upright, which evidently supported planks, on which the bread and wine were passed in front of the communicants.  At a little distance are two other rows of similar construction.  Here were accommodations for 200 at one table service.  On one occasion, it is said, sixteen tables were served, the number of communicants on that day being no less than 3,000.

At one end of these four rows stands a small table of stone, from which, no doubt, the minister gave the bread and wine to the people.  Here he made the table addresses, that were so sweet and refreshing to these weary souls.  What solemn days these must have been.  Hungry hearts found a feast in the desert.  The wells of salvation overflowed; the palm trees of sacred ordinances shed their sweet fragrance, spread forth their shade, yielded their fruit, for these followers of the Lamb.  The presence of the Lord was deeply felt.  These Covenanters worshiped here in spirit and in truth.  Their prayers ascended on the wings of the winds; the sound of the Psalms mingled with the song of the birds and the chant of the brooks.  The eloquence of the preacher—­now rising like the storm, now falling like a spring shower—­now consoling the sad, now arousing the strong—­now exhibiting the loveliness of Jesus, now depicting the woes of the lost—­in its ever-varying notes of tenderness and power, echoed along the hillside, and died away in the distance.  Some of these sermons are yet in print.

These have been regarded, by certain writers, as the greatest days of the Church since the times of the apostles.  How bright and refreshing the sunshine that poured down from the spiritual heavens upon these Covenanters!  The desert rejoiced and blossomed as the rose.  Heaven was very near.  One who survived the persecution said, that if he had any part of his life to live over again, he would choose these years.

* * * * *

Points for the class.

1.  How should the Church respond to the love of Christ?

2.  In what way does her love often fail?

3.  How does Jesus reprove His people for growing feeble in love?

4.  How has He sometimes undertaken to revive His Church’s fidelity?

5.  What two questions did the Covenanters face in attending Conventicle services?

6.  Describe a Conventicle Communion.

7.  What memorials are found at Irongrey?

8.  How may we have the same rapturous joy at communions now?

XXVIII.

The home invaded.—­A.D. 1665.

Home, by Divine appointment, is a haven of rest for the weary father, a palace of honor for the virtuous mother, a citadel of defence for the helpless children.  How sacred, pleasant, and ennobling is the Christian home, when modeled after the Divine pattern!  It is a little paradise, a miniature heaven, a vestibule of the everlasting habitation; it fronts on the borders of the glory-world.