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Justin replied," Although I suffer what you threaten, yet I expect to enjoy the portion of all true believers; as I know that the divine grace and favour is laid up for all such, and shall be so while the world endures."

"Do you think," inquired the Præfect, "that you shall go to heaven and receive a reward ¿"

"I not only think so," said the martyr," but I know it, and have a certainty of it, which excludes all doubt."

The Præfect then insisted on their sacrificing to the gods, and threatened to torment them without mercy unTess they complied.

Justin exclaimed, "we desire nothing more sincerely than to endure tortures for our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be saved. Hence our happiness is promoted; and we shall have confidence before the awful tribunal of our Lord and Saviour."

The rest added, "Despatch quickly your purpose, we are Christians and cannot sacrifice to idols!""

The Governor then pronounced this sentence," Let those men, who refuse to sacrifice to the gods, and to obey the imperial edicts, be first scourged, and then beheaded, according to the laws!"

The martyrs rejoiced, and blessed God, and being led back to prison, were whipped and afterwards beheaded. Justin Martyr suffered about the year of our Lord 168. He does not appear to have entered into the ministry; notwithstanding he was always actively engaged in the cause of Christianity. It is charitable to hope, that he retained his profession of philosophy, not merely to gratify his own taste, but also from the hope of thereby winning over learned men to Christianity. If so, his want of success may warn others from attempting to make converts to Christ, by temporizing expedients. He found it easier to provoke opposition, and to lose his own life, than to induce a single philosopher to become a Christian.

Well had it been for the Church, if ministers had always been contented with a simple statement of divine truth. A desire to be wise above what is written, and to reconcile to human capacities things in their nature incomprehensible, was first introduced by Justin-grew to a dreadful height under Origen-and at length became the fruitful parent of an immense tribe of exalters of hu

man ability, and debasers of the divinity and atonement of "God our Saviour!"

ADVICE TO THE YOUNG.

Extracted from a Sermon of the REV. MR. FOXCROFT, former Pastor of the First Church in this City, which now meets in Chauncey-Place.

LET young people be persuaded to give themselves to Meditation. Learn to fix your thoughts and contract a habit of thinking;--sober, serious thinking. With the reason that becomes men, and the solicitude that becomes sinners, set yourselves to meditate on Divine and Spiritual things; especially those truths which tend most to awaken you to repentance.

O think on the guilt, pollution, and misery of your natural state. Think on the evil of sin in its nature and consequences. Think on the sins of your past lives; consider them in their quality, number, and aggravating circumstances. Think on the infallible knowledge, infinite purity, and inflexible truth, almighty power, and exact righteousness of that God whom you have provok-* ed by your sins. Think on the reasonableness and perfection of his precepts, the dreadfulness of the threatnings and greatness of the promises annexed thereto.Think on your absolute inability to fulfil the Law, to expiate for sin, or endure the curse. Think on the blessed provision made for you in Jesus Christ. Think on the greatness of the salvation purchased by Christ, and proposed in the gospel; the freeness and grace of the offer; the condescension of the terms; and the assistance tendered to you. Think how much it cost the Son of God, even his own most precious blood, to procure this redemption for you. Think much of Christ and him crucified, of Christ and him glorified. Think particularly on the agonies of his soul, which was exceeding sorrowful even unto death, under a sense of sin and apprehension of the wrath of God; and endeavour after some imitation hereof.-Meditate on the vanity and meanness of all earthly things. Think on the cer

tainty and awfulness of approaching Death, Judgment and Eternity. Think on the glories and joys of heaven; the miseries and pains of hell; and the iufinite folly you are guilty of, in not taking a timely care to secure the former, and avoid the latter.

These are some of the things, which you should meditate upon, and a due consideration thereof would have a rational tendency to impress your hard heart, and awaken you out of your sleepy insensibility.

O sinner, I beseech you then, think on these things seriously in the fear of God. Set your heart unto all these things, give yourself wholly to them. Let your meditations be voluntary and chosen, free and unconstrained. Let them also be leisurely, frequent, and solemn. Take time, and take pains, and be diligent in the work.

This is a duty of vast importance; and therefore must not be trifled in, much less neglected. This also is what you have a natural capacity for. You can thus meditate if you will. You do not stand in need of ability, nor do you lack opportunity. And this is the best use that can be made of your thinking powers. Your thoughts are generally busy: and what can you employ them about, that is of greater weight or value than the subjects before mentioned? Your minds are very apt indeed to run upon your worldly affairs, pleasures, profits, honours, friends, &c. But alas! how foolish are you in this? Since those other meditations, recommended above, are incomparably more necessary, excellent, delightful, and beneficial; and in themselves are no greater toil and labour.

What Excuse then can you frame? What pretence to palliate your neglect of holy, spiritual meditation? Verily" thou art inexensable, O man, whoever thou art," that livest in the omission hereof. Be exhorted then, to dismiss your vain thoughts with shame and regret for them; and to overcome your natural aversion to spiritual meditation, and speedily set about this great work. O that I could persuade you immediately to retire and spend a little time in serious debates with your own heart on the sin and folly of present delays in the affairs of your soul! And henceforth to accustom yourself, now and then to separate some small portion of your time,

though it were but a few minutes in a day, in solemn consideration of some awakening truths; possibly this might be blessed to your saving conviction:-and methinks, this would be an inconsiderable thing to do for There can be no rational expectation of your your soul. awakening, till you can be brought to sober thinking.But, if I could persuade you to this, so necessary, so cheap, so reasonable a duty, and you would engage in it in earnest, it would be a hopeful omen of your conver. sion. O therefore deny not this much to yourself, deny it not to God, if thou wilt deny it to me. I have told the truth; "consider what I say, and the Lord give you understanding!" Or if you put me to conclude in harsher terms, they shall still be the Oracles of God. consider this ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."-Psalm i. 22.

"Now

A JUVENILE LAY FOR THE MONITOR.

THAT youth whose tender soul aspires
To know his great Creator's name;
Whose active mind with joy admires
His splendid, universal frame-
Shall flourish like the op'ning bud,
Which sends its savoury fragrance wide;
Or as some tree, beside the flood,
Which blooming drinks the flowing tide.

Religion smiles to own the guest,
And makes the stranger now her own;
She gives the wand'rer peaceful rest,
And shows the prodigal a home.

Sage Wisdom rears its earnest voice,
And calling spreads its richest store:
O Son! receive my happy choice,
The fear of God, and want no more.
I dwell with prudence, peace and love,
And every neighbouring grace is mine;
Far from the worlds of light I rove,

To offer blessings so divine.

To such the Father's promise stands,
"Who early seek, shall early find ;”、
He follows such with open hands,
While age decripit fall's behind.

His morning years shall beam with light,
Free from the clouds of vice and sin ;-
The ripening shock, no storm shall blight,
Till to the garner gathered in.

AERIAL VOYAGES.

IMPROVEMENTS in the arts and sciences have recently been so great and so rapid, that we can but imperfectly conjecture what it is possible may soon be invented or discovered. The success which has attended the application of steam-engines to purposes of Navigation, is truly astonishing. Scarcely less surprising have been the recent experiments made in the science of Aeronautics, or navigating the Air in Balloons. This subject is one with which a large proportion of the young are little acquainted. We shall here introduce extracts from some of the most interesting accounts of aerial voyages we have seen, and follow them with such reflections as the subject may seem to suggest.

"In June, 1781, M. Testu ascended from Paris with a balloon, 28 feet in diameter on the motion of which he was able to produce a very sensible effect by the manævring of wings. It was filled only 5-8ths with gas; but, at 2,900 feet high became quite full, by the expansion which it underwent in the rarer atmosphere. Dreading the bursting of the balloon, should he continue to ascend higher, he applied himself vigorously to the manoeuvring of the wings; and after much difficulty, and severe labour, descended in the plain of Montmorency, to take in ballast. Here he procured some stones without leaving the car. A crowd of people, impelled by curiosity to see him, forced their way through a field of corn, which was so considerably damaged, that the proprietor seized on the aeronaut for indemnification.

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