sacrifice; as Thou, the true God, with whom is no falsehood, has both before ordained and manifested unto me, and also hast now fulfilled it. For this, and for all things else, I praise Thee, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, by the eternal heavenly High Spirit, Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son; to whom with Thee, and theHoly Gnost, be glory, both now, and to all succeeding ages. Amen." At the close of this prayer of heroic faith the fires were kindled. The venerable saint, as eye witnesses affirm, stood unmoved amid the flames, "not like burning flesh, but like gold or silver glowing in the furnace!" Thus died, at the advanced age of one hundred years, the venerable Polycarp, A. D. 167. The pains of the stake were soon over. Having passed the baptising fire, he received the imperishable crown, and joined in heaven "the noble Army of Martyrs." KATIE LEE AND WILLIE GREY. Two brown heads with tossing curls, They were standing where a brook, They had cheeks like cherries red; "Pretty Katie," Willie said- Through the brownness of his cheek- Katie's basket up the hill." Katie answered with a laugh, Men are only boys grown tall, Stood again beside the brook Is it strange that Willie said- Crossed the brownness of his cheek- Life is but a slippery steep, Hung with shadows cold and deep; “Will you trust me, Katie dear? All your burdens up the hill?" Close beside the little brook, In a porch she sits, and lo! -Home Journal. THE SINS OF YOUTH. BY THE EDITOR. The dire effects of youthful sin upon the body have been illustrated in a former article; but still more gloomy are its results as these are manifested in the soul, especially in middle life, and still more in old age. That sin injuriously affects all the powers of the mind scarcely needs proof. The truth is open to common observation; and the thoughtful may easily learn it from the experiences of others around them. Sin is as a blight to the spirit. It not only darkens and weakens the mind, but it even tends to unhinge, and ultimately destroy it, as may be seen in many cases of insanity brought about by a profligate course of life. Sin defiles the conscience; so that it is tormented by the sense of guilt. It pollutes the imagination, afflicting it with images of sin from which it cannot deliver itself. It harasses and harrows up the memory; so that it cannot forget what it would fain remember no more. There is no tormentor like memory this side of the pit. Forgetting is the greatest relief which a poor sinner can seek unless he will seek Christ. But seeking long, he cannot find it. There is no Lethean water that will roll its peaceful wave over the memory of wicked acts. Through life the sinner is haunted by the remembrance of his ungodly deeds. Amid the loneliness of age they are still his unwelcome companions. They come like furious harpies out of the dim dark past, and beset him on every side. "Son, remember!" which were replied by Father Abraham to Dives, are the saddest words that ring through the chambers of eternal wo! Is there a sadder sight on earth than to behold an aged wornout sinner, sitting in the solemn evening of life eating the bitter fruits of his own doings. With the sins of youth in his bones, in his memory, he looks back with dismay, and forward with absolute despair. Having darkened the past of his life by his own acts, his future darkens itself before him. "Thou writest bitter things against me," he complains to God. But it was not God that has written them, so much as himself. Through all his life from youth, it was himself that has prepared the acts for the record, and an unseen hand was making the record of his sins of which he now complains. Had his life been better, the record would have been better. It stands as he made it; and now it is opened before his eyes, and recalled to his memory with all its boding wrath, and he exclaims: "Thou makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth." Not only in his bones and in his spirit does he feel the effects of his youthful sins, but he sees them in the world around him-in the bodies and souls of others. Beside himself he has corrupted others. If he cannot weep the stains from his own soul, how much less can be undo what he has effected in others. He beholds the dark stream of his evil works flowing on in the world around him and past him—and he cannot arrest it! It will flow over his grave-and he cannot arrest! It will hurl others, perhaps even his own children or friends, after him into an awful oternity-and he cannot arrest it! When he has groaned in hell for ages, the results of his sin in others will still be gathering in-and he cannot arrest the tide ! All the while the aged sinner is conscious that all this dark stream of sorrow rose in the green bright meadow of his youth. He recognizes it all as the legitimate result of the sins of his early life. In agony of spirit he exclaims: "Childhood and youth are vanity!" How sad it is, that just at the very time when he needs comfort most of all-in feeble old age-in prospect of the graveall the sources from which he might otherwise have drawn it, arc darkened by the results of his own sin. Alas! how subtle and deceitful is sin. It hides its sting. It defers its sorrow. It lays up its penalty in secret. It gathers its stores of wrath and sends them on before to meet the coming victim when he least expects it. How sure is the penalty of sin. How often, because judgment against sin is not speedily executed, are the hearts of men fully set in them to do evil. But the day of reckoning will come, though it be in mercy long delayed. Where sin is sown, the harvest of sorrow will be surely gathered in due time. As the promises of the Lord, so the threatnings of the Lord, are all yea and amen. Hath he said it, and shall he not do it; hath he declared it and shall not his word stand fast? How important is youthful piety. It is recommended by many examples in God's word. It is urged by many precepts, and encouraged by many promises. They that seek me early shall find me, saith the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Wilt thou not at this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth. How well adapted, and absolutely necessary is God's plan of mercy and grace as unfolded in the Christian system. It proposes to begin with early life. It receives even children into the cov enant of its grace. It offers a power against early inward evil, by early union with Jesus Christ, and the communication of the Holy Ghost. It furnishes restraint and direction, through Christian families and through the Christian Church. Let but the young be wise, and heed the instruction given to them, and they may safely preserve all that is innocent in their youth, and treasure up for themselves in that blessed season, precious memories for all after life, and a good hope through grace of life eternal. Youth once past will return no more. It has gone to join the years beyond the flood. Never, O never shall we be young again. We may cry, Give me back my youth, but it comes not again. In memory only, never in reality can we travel back to that sunny spot. Other scenes await us; and if we even return to the places familiar, the young life will never more meet us there. The trees may be green there-the fruits may ripen and fall-the swallows may still build their nests under the eves-the lark may rise from the fields and sing-the harvests may wave, and the woods be covered with the fresh glory of spring and the yellow glory of autumn; but the youthful eyes that looked upon them will see them so no more. No! it returns not again, the golden season of youth. Suns that set will rise-old years will be succeeded by new-empires will rise on the ruins of the old-and ages going will give place to ages coming, but we will never be young again. We may sigh for those better days to return, we may weep because they are gone, but sighs and tears will fail to recall them. They are gone. O we are young but once! Well if youth can be ours but once, let us store it with sweet memories, that shall bring back to us its joy, even as the odor of treasured flowers bring back the departed who gave them to us as tokens of faithful love. O ye young, darken not your youth by sin! Plant not the thorns of stinging memory among its fragrant flowers. Do not lightly esteem that innocence which is the light and solace that shall cheer your after years. Let not this Paradise be lost by follies that shall cast along every after path of your life the seeds of the curse. Be wise while you may learn from God's counsel, that you may not be compelled to learn, when too late, from bitter experience. 1 By the love of Christ, by the peace of your souls, by all that you hope for or desire in later life, and by all the bliss and wo of eternity, we beseech you, avoid sin, that you may escape its sorrow! "THE SLEEPING GIANT." BY THE EDITOR. It was regarded by many as a most truthful and appropriate hit, when Dr. Nevin, some years ago, in connection with the founding of Franklin and Marshall College, designated Pennsylvania as "the Sleeping Giant."-Thus far we had written, intending an article on the above caption, when we stopped to turn to the address of Dr. Nevin, in which the trope occurs. Finding what he says so admirably adapted to our purpose, at least in the way of introduction, we have concluded to give his words instead of our own; reserving for our next number the thoughts we wish to express on the same general subject. He speaks as follows: "The State of Pennsylvania has not been unaptly compared to a Sleeping Giant. The trope finds its application and significance in three points of resemblance. In the first place, the State itself considered, is of large size and strength. By its extent of territory, its fertility of soil, its mineral resources, its facilities and opportunities of trade, the peculiar character of its vast and sturdy oppopulation, its solid material wealth, and its commanding geographical position in the midst of the general American Union, it possesses a greatness and importance which must be at once acknowledged by the whole world. Politically, it forms the keystone of the arch, on which rests the structure of our glorious Republic. No President of the United States has been made without the vote of Pennsylvania. By its conservative weight emphatically, the nation is held together and kept to its place. In the second place, however, this great giant is still to no small extent asleep. It has not yet come to the full apprehension, and proper free use of its own powers and resources. Much of its strength has never been developed; and such force as it has come actually to exercise, is too often put forth in a comparatively blind way, without the waking insight and self-conscious purpose, that should go along with it, to make it of complete account. In politics, for example, the State, good natured, dozing giant, as she is, sells her birthright for a mess of pottage; and with the power of giving the nation a President in the person of one of her own distinguished sons, in all respects worthy of the station and entitled to its high honor, quietly foregoes the prerogative belonging to her by universal consent, and by her obsequious, but powerful and decisive patronage, turns the choice in favor of a comparatively unknown stranger |