him to forsake Christianity; vainly asking, What harm there could be in saying 'Lord Cæsar!' and worshipping his image? What a frightful idea is this! a worm of the dust, a thing that the scriptures say is crushed before the moth," honoured as God! Polycarp would not bow down to a dumb idol, nor give to man the honour that belongs to God only so the magistrates, offended and angry, thrust him out of their chariot, and left him to his fate. Polycarp went on unmoved as if nothing had occurred, and was brought before the proconsul, or Roman governor, who was appointed to try and punish Christians. Here the first question put to him was as to his identity- Art thou that Polycarp?' and so impressive and affecting was his aspect, that the judge suggested to him to deny the truth, and intreated him to have pity on his great age. One name of reproach given to the people of Christ at this time was Atheists:' and, among other tests of Christianity, the accused were obliged to exclaim, Take away the Atheists,' if they wished to be thought Pagans: this was accordingly proposed to Polycarp; and he, gravely waving his hand, and looking up with a solemn countenance to heaven, said, 'Take away the Atheists.' 'Swear then,' said the proconsul, and I will release thee -reproach Christ.' Polycarp, who I think I now see standing erect before his judge, with a look of sorrow for the hardness of men's hearts, of indignation at the base demand, and of firmness in the cause of Christ, answered, Eighty and six

years have I served Him, and He hath never wronged me; how can I blaspheme my King who hath saved me!' The proconsul still urging him, and willing to save him, Polycarp boldly declared, It is vain; I am a Christian.' 'I have wild beasts,' said the judge; I will expose you to them.' 'Call them,' answered Polycarp. 'I will tame your spirit by fire,' the judge threatened. "Your fire burns for a moment, and will soon be extinct,' said Polycarp; you are ignorant of the fire of eternal punishment.'

Polycarp was then, by the unanimous suffrage of the people, condemned to be burnt alive. They hastily collected fuel, and the malicious Jews were foremost in the cruel work. Polycarp was then about to be bound to the stake, but he said, 'Let me alone: He who gives me strength to sustain the fire, will enable me to remain in it unmoved without your nails.' Polycarp then prayed aloud, and as soon as he had pronounced an Amen, the fire was set to the fuel: the people, however, had not patience to wait till the fire should do its work, but ordered the confector, a Roman officer, who presided at the games, to thrust his sword into the venerable Christian's side.

His faithful friends and followers longed to obtain his honoured remains; but the Jews insisted that, if it were delivered to them, they might, to use their own words, ' Leave the worship of the crucified one, and go to worship him.' We might suppose, in this case, that the Jews judged from

the example of their fathers, who were so prone to idolatry, that, as you may remember, the Lord hid the body of Moses, lest they should pay it divine honours.

But though in all false religions we see the good and the virtuous honoured after death as deities, the believer in Jesus, who knows that man is altogether vanity, can worship and serve none but Him, "who of God is made unto them wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." No person acquainted with the Scriptures will be inclined to elevate man above his proper place they know that " every thought of every man's heart is only evil; and that if some persons are eminent for virtue, faith, or holiness, it was from God these things came, and to God the praise is due. If we are wise, wisdom has been given us by God; if we are holy, holiness cometh from Him; if we are jealous in the cause of Christ, He has given us that zeal. How ridiculous then is it, to give any share of the adoration due to God to those saints whom He enabled to glorify Him here by their lives and deaths.

The friends of Polycarp, in tender love, gathered up his bones; and, while they abhorred the thought of paying them undue honours, they carefully buried them in a place where they thought they might sometimes meet together to think of his life and his love, to remember his counsels, and pray for grace to follow them, and for strength to tread in the steps of him they loved. But they little thought

that, in after days, people could be so foolish as to gather up the imagined bones of saints, to show them as holy sights, to worship them as idols, and to pray to them, as to living saints, instead of to Him who liveth for ever and ever.

Another Christian, who ranks high among the sufferers during the persecution of Marcus, is Justin Martyr. He was eminent, not for piety only, but for human learning, philosophy, and science. In his younger days, he describes himself as possessing an ardent desire to know God. "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace," says one of old. This is the highest knowledge man can acquire, and this Justin could not gain from all the philosophers and wise men of old. Justin did not know the true God, he did not know the word of God, and therefore he searched in vain to find out such a God as he believed in. He applied in restless anxiety to one philosopher after another-none could give him the information he wanted; so true it is, that "the world by wisdom knew not God." One told him this was a knowledge by no means necessary. The knowledge of God not necessary! Surely, if we know not our God here, we shall when it is too late know him, as a righteous and just God fulfilling his word: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people who forget God."

Justin at last obtained the knowledge he wanted; not from the writings of learned men, not from the works or conversation of philosophers, but from

the Word of God. He had been advised by a stranger to study the Scriptures: he did so; and, praying for spiritual understanding, he soon, he says, found the Divine Scriptures to be the only sure philosophy; and in them he found all he sought, in finding Him, of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour of the world!

After his conversion to Christianity, Justin wrote to the emperor Marcus to endeavour to soften the malice of his heart against the Christians; but Marcus was not to be affected by such appeals. Justin was afterwards apprehended and brought before the Roman magistrate, charged with the guilt that was blackest in the eyes of Marcus, that of being a Christian. This emperor professed to admire learning, yet Justin was a man of learning and a philosopher, and these were of no avail in his eyes, for they were not enough to counterbalance his being a Christian.

Wretch,' cried the magistrate who examined him, 'art thou captivated by that religion?' 'I am,’ replied Justin, I follow the Christians, and their doctrine is right.' This bold declaration was sufficient, and Justin was sentenced to be scourged, and afterwards beheaded. He died with joy for the testimony of Jesus; happier, I am sure, in his death of violence, than was the proud emperor of Rome upon his throne.

Yet Marcus is said to have been once saved from perishing by the prayers of Christian soldiers; for