ers, according to custom, were But the malice of Satan did going to nail him to the stake, not end here; for by means of he begged to remain as he was, the Jews, he prompted Nicetus for he who gave him strength to to advise the pro-consul not to endure the fire would enable him grant his body to the Christians, to remain unmoved in it on who were desirous of giving it which they only bound him. an honorable burial, lest leaving He, now standing as a sheep their crucified Master they ready for the slaughter, and should begin to worship Polyclasping his hands which were carp. They little knew," obbound behind him, poured out a serves the church of Smyrna, prayer, in which he gave thanks" how impossible it is that we 66 should forsake Christ who died for the salvation of the whole world, or ever worship any other. We adore him as the Son of God; but we love the martyrs on account of their distinguished affection towards their Lord and Master. May we be numbered with them!" to God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for having counted him worthy to receive a portion with the holy martyrs who had gone before, and to drink of Christ's cup; praying also to be received as an acceptable sacrifice, prepared by God himself, "Wherefore," he adds, "I praise thee for all thy mer- The centurion perceiving the cies; I bless thee, I glorify thee, malevolence of the Jews, caused through the eternal high priest the body to be burnt in the usuJesus Christ, thy beloved Son; al manner: The Christians gathwith whom to thyself and the ered up the bones as a valuable Holy Ghost be glory both now treasure, and interred them, reand for ever. Amen." solving to meet annually at his When he had finished pray-burying-place to commemorate ing, the executioners lighted the fire, and a great flame burst out, "But behold a wonder," says the church of Smyrna, “ seen by many of us! The flames assuming the form of an arch, like, the sails of a ship swelled by the breeze, encircled the body of Polycarp, who was in the midst, not as burning flesh but as gold or silver, purified in the furnace, Thus died Polycarp about the while his body sent forth a de-hundredth year of his age; elelightful fragrancy as of costly ven brethren from Philadelphia spices." The surrounding croud, suffering with him. "But he however, instead of being con- alone," says the letter already vinced were exasperated by the alluded to," is particularly celemiracle, and commanded a spear-brated by all. He was in truth man to plunge a sword into his body on which so much blood flowed from the wound as to extinguish the fire, to the astonishment of the spectators. his martyrdom, and to encourage others to bear a similar testimony to the faith: a circumstance that gave rise to those solemn anniversary commemorations of the martyrs which were generally kept in the first ages, and which were eventually productive of much superstitious abuse. not only an illustrious teacher, but also an eminent martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, because it was regulated exactly by evangelical principles. For by patience he conquered the unjust magistrate, and thus received the crown of immortality; and now exulting with apostles and all the righteous, he glorifies God, even the Father, and blesses our Lord, even the ruler of our bodies, and the shepherd of his church dispersed through the world." REV. GENTLEMEN, "I cannot but observe," says the learned Dr. Cave, in his account of this eminent saint," how heavy the divine displeasure, not HAVING taken peculiar long after St. Polycarp's death, satisfaction in perusing the acfell, as upon other places, so counts, which have been pubinore particularly upon this city,lished in your Magazine, from by plague, fire, and earthquakes," time to time, concerning the by which means their city, great work of God upon the before one of the glories and or-hearts of sinners, which accounts naments of Asia, was turned into are calculated both to cheer the rubbish and dust, their stately hearts of God's people, and houses overturned, their temples call the attention of sinners to ruined;"" their traffic spoiled, the infinite concerns of eternity; their marts and ports laid waste, I am induced to cast in my mite besides the great number of to promote so desirable an ob people that lost their lives." ject. I was first delayed in sendThe account of the holy Poly-ing the following account becarp cannot be better closed than by transcribing a passage from Mr. Milner's excellent history, of which free use has been made on the present occasion. "A comparative view," says that pious and judicious writer, of a Christian suffering as we have seen Polycarp, with a Romon stoic, or untutored Indian undergoing afilictions, where we have an opportunity to survey all the circumstances, might shew, in a practical light, the peculiar genius and spirit of Christianity, and its divine superiority. At the same time, those who now content themselves with a cold rationality in religion may ask themselves, how it would have fitted them to endure what Polycarp did, and whether something of what is VOL. VI. NO. 2. cause the work among us has FOR OR a number of years after | love through him; the necessimy settlement in the work ty and efficacy of divine grace in of the gospel ministry in this the regeneration, sanctification, place, there was a great degree and the perseverance of the of indifference and stupidity, saints; the inexcusableness and respecting those things which criminality of impenitents; and accompany salvation, both in the endless punishment of the the minds of professors and oth- wicked in the coming world. ers. In this time of declension among us and the adjacent towns, errors of various kinds increased, especially those of the Arians, Socinians, Arminians, and Universalists. Our articles of faith were expressed in very short and general terms, to which, those embracing the above-mentioned errors, as they said, could consistently sub-cate those articles, which I had scribe; it was thought, therefore, expedient to regulate and revise them, that we might be the better guarded against heresy in the church. When these articles were laid before the church, for their consideration and remarks, it appeared, that they either were not fully understood, or were absolutely opposed by some of the members. It was, therefore, proposed by some of the brethren, and unanimously voted, to request me to illustrate and vindi presented to the church, in public sermons on the Sabbath. I felt it my duty to comply with so reasonable a request: desiring at the same time that they would hear me patiently, till a fair opportunity was given, fully to discuss those important and fundamental principles of the In the year 1800 it was proposed to the church, whether it would not be adviseable to revise their articles of faith, and make them more explicit and intelli-Christian religion. gible; not faulting the old confession for what it did express, but for what it did not.. Having this request granted, I entered upon the arduous undertaking, which I conceived The proposition met with a would be the more difficult, as favorable reception, in the minds I was satisfied, there were those of the brethren present; and among us, who were fixedly opthey requested me to bring for-posed to some of the leading arward such a revision as I should ticles contained in the confesthink proper. sion. While I continued in my According to the desire of the public discourses on the Sabchurch, I soon presented them bath, to illustrate the truths exwith such articles of the Chris-pressed in the articles proposed tian faith as I conceived to be to be adopted by the church, it agreeable to the tenor of the ho- proved the occasion of great ly scriptures, in which, I endeav-controversy and contention, and ored to bring clearly into view, was the common subject of dethe leading and fundamental doc-bate among the people of almost trines of the gospel: such as every class, both on the Lord's original sin; the total depravity day, when out of public worship, of the human heart; the sove- and through the week. The reignty of God; the divinity of contention was so great, that it 1 Jesus Christ, and God's electing was truly alarming in the view that The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, of some, who professed to be friendly both to me and the doctrines which were delivered.-choaked the word, that it became They thought it adviseable, for unfruitful.' By his own account, the present, to desist from it appeared, that he had been unpreaching them. But as they der serious impressions, for awere considered to be the truths of bout two years; although this God, and the great pillars of the was not known by any person, gospel, in which the divine hon- even the wife of his bosom, unor was peculiarly concerned, til after he thought he was made and without the vindication of a subject of divine grace. which, we, as God's dependent creatures, could not expect his divine interposition and grace in the conviction and salvation of sinners; I was decided in my own opinion, that it was my in-renewed, so his conversation was dispensible duty to proceed, till I should have gone through the whole system, according to the request of the church. Agreeably to this resolution, I continued to labor and illustrate, in regular order, those truths expressed in the revised articles of faith, every Lord's day, for more than a year, only when some special occasion required a different subject. But before I had accomplished this laborious undertaking, I found to my unspeakable joy and satisfaction, that, indeed, the Lord was on our side, by his special grace, applying to the hearts and consciences of the people, those gospel truths which I had been laboring to illustrate and enforce, and which some had been equally opposing. This was very unexpected and therefore very surprising to the people. It was on Lord's day, March 15, 1801. As the temper of his heart was apparently upon new subjects, even spirit-. ual and divine things, which from his mouth, were never heard before. It is hardly conceivable with what astonishment, his friends and neighbors would stand and admire to hear the gracious words which dropped from his lips; while he spake to them of the infinite value of their souls, and the importance of being interested in that happiness, which Christ had purchased, for poor perishing sinners. He from experience, admonished them of the danger of having their souls ensnared with worldly subjects, to the neglect of that good part which cannot be taken away from them. This called up the attention of some, particularly, to the subject of experimental religion, and led them to conceive it to be a reality. About a month after this there was another very unexpected conversion. An old gentleman who had entered upon the seventy-sixth year of his age; and had spent his days to that advan The first appearance of the work was upon a man of about forty-five years of age, who was not more friendly to the cause of truth than all natural men; yet he did not attend to, or regard the subject of religion sufficiently to oppose it. His heart and mind were wholly swallow-ced period, in the service of sin. ed up in the pursuit of worldly He was particularly noticed for wealth. It might be said of him, profaneness and irreligion. Be ing rationally convinced, that he | lowing life and conversation bespake, that he was created anew in Christ Jesus; and that his great aim was to live to the glo This very singular instance was the occasion of seriously impressing the minds of those who were within the circle of his particular acquaintance. was in the last part of his life, he began to think it necessary to have some religion, when he died, or he must be wretched.ry of God. To use his own For about three years previous words, being asked how old he to his conversion, he embraced was? about eighteen or twenty the scheme of universal salva- months after his conversion, he tion. He had been taught, that replied, Through divine goodChrist had died to effect the sal-ness, I have had an existence in vation of all men, that his work God's world seventy-seven years; was done, his happiness secure, but I have not lived two.' and he had nothing to fear; that if he would believe the doctrine, he might take the comfort of it, and die in peace. Such preaching as this, being perfectly agreeable to a heart long accustomed to the love and practice of sin, he most cordially embraced and rested thereon, as the only foundation of his hope, in which he expected to live and die. But at this time, one stronger than the strong man armed, came upon him, and overcame him, and took from him all his armour, wherein he trusted and divided his spoils. When he brought eternal things into view, his hope fled like chaff before the wind. He found himself in a lost and wretched condition, without God, and without hope in the world, and eternity just before him. But it pleased God, of his abundant mercy, to appear for him, in this critical moment, and pluck him as a brand from the burning, and give his soul to rejoice at the manifestation of God's glorious character, as a righteous and just God, who would eternally vindicate his own law and character, against wicked men and devils. This proved, to a demonstration, to observing minds, among his acquaintance, that a man, when he was old, both in years and sin, could be born again. His There was an unusual collection on the Sabbath, and attention to the word preached, withan increased application for public lectures, in different quarters of the town, through the course of the week. About this time, it pleased the great dispenser of divine grace to call two others, out of the kingdom of darkness, into his marvellous light. One was a woman, who, in the view of some of her most intimate acquaintance was thought a Christian, and at certain times she was ready to conclude the same of herself, which opinion was grounded upon her external morality. But now she was brought to realize that her former hope would be as the spider's web, and the giving up of the ghost. She found by diligent self-examination, as she expressed herself, That she had lived forty years in the world, and had never given her heart to the Lord." At a public conference held at the meeting-house, where was a large assembly collected, after this woman had obtained a wonderful relief in her rind, at |