By particular Defire we here infert the following Beautifully printed in a neat Pocket Volume with Types caft by FRY and SONS, A very familiar Letter of Reproof and Humiliation to The Rev. THOMAS TOWLE, Of CRIPPLEGATE BUILDINGS. On his late extraordinary Conduct refpecting the Publisher and Publication of that much approved Work, entitled, The NEW SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE, which is ftill Read with the greateft Pleasure and Satisfaction by all fincere, difinterested, and unprejudiced Profeffors of Religion and Virtue, notwithstanding the bafe Attempts of certain fecret Enemies to the Cause of Truth. Comprehending feveral very important Queries, propofed to the ferious confideration of Mr. TowLE, and to which he cannot poffibly with-hold a Publiç Anfwer. Whereunto will be added, A Word of Advice to the Rev. Meffrs. Who, out of Refpect to some of their Characters, are fuppofed to have been impofed on by Mifreprefentations, when they figned their Names to an Adver tifement, evidently defigned to prejudice the Minds of the Unwary against a Work which it was certainly their Duty to encourage and promote. Including alfo, an exact Copy of the Advertisement here alluded to, and many useful Remarks, worthy the Notice of all Perfons who are Followers of the above Gentlemen; together with a great Variety of curious Anecdotes of a very ins terefting Nature to the Public at Large. By a Clergyman of the established Church. Now Frinting for the Author, and to be published by Mr. HOGG, at the King's Arms, No. 16, Paternofter-Row, and fold by all Bookfellers, &c. in Town and Country... Of whom now may be had, new Editions of The First Forty Numbers (Price only Six-Pence each) of OR, Evangelical Treafury of Experimental Religion: Containing an approved Variety of original and felect Pieces on fyftematical and practical Subjects; being the moft rich and found Library of Calvinistical and Scriptural Divinity ever published in this Country. The Whole (being now carried on in Weekly Numbers, under the Patronage and Encouragement of feveral zealous and fincère Gofpel-Minifters) will be fully comprized in only Sixty Numbers, making Six large handfome Volumes; embellifhed with (among other Copper-Plates) upwards of One Hundred Portraits of the most eminent Gofpel-Preachers among the varicas Denominations, with ufeful and interesting Anecdotes refpecting the Characters of many of them, THE THE NEW CHRISTIAN'S MAGAZINE; BEING ΑΝ Universal Repository of Divine Knowledge. No. XLVIII. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF JUSTIN MARTYR. ST T. JUSTIN, firnamed the martyr, was a native of Palestine in Syria, being born at Neapolis, in the province of Samaria, about the year 103. He was one of the most learned of all the early writers of the Eaftern church, having had a very liberal education beftowed upon him by his father, whofe name was Prifcus, a Pagan. In his youth he travelled into foreign countries, for increafe of knowledge; and, being of a very inquifitive difpofition, he applied himself for inftruction to each of the feveral fects of philofophers of thofe times. His firft teachers were the Stoics, with whom he was foon diffatisfied, and went from them to a Peripatetic tutor, No 48. whofe covetoufnefs quickly gave him fo much difguft, that he departed, from him and applied hinfelf to a Pythagorean; but being difappointed in his expectations there likewife, he, laftly, went among the Platonifts, with whom he continued fome time, being much pleased with their notions, as efteeming them the only way to true happiness, and giving himfelf up, in confequence of his con junction with that fect, to study and contemplation. As he was walking one day in a private place by the fea fide, he was met by an ancient man* of a venerable afpect, who entered into converfation with him concerning the excellency of philofophy in general, and of Platonifm in particular. In the procefs of their difcourfe the ftranger endeavoured 1 to convince him of his mistake in esteeming the Platonifts to be the only guides to true happiness, and informed him, "That long before his admired philofophers exifted, there were certain holy and bleffed men called prophets, who were' true lovers of God, and, moreover, divinely inspired; in confe. quence of which they had foretold events which afterwards came to pafs that thefe alone had underflood the truth, and declared it to the world; whofe books being ftill extant, they would inftruct any one in what it was proper for a philofopher to know that the accomplishment of their prophe. cies, together with the miracles which they wrought, had put their teftimony beyond all poffibility of exception that they magnified God, the great Creator of the univerfe, and publifhed his Son, Chrift, as the Saviour of mankind." He concluded his dif courfe with adding, "And as for thyfelf, above all things, pray that the gates of light may be fet open to thee, for thefe things are not difcerned and understood by any, unlefs God and Chrifl grant to a man the knowledge of them." Having faid this, he immediately departed from him. He The difcourfe of this perfon having made a very ftrong impreffion on the mind of Juftin, he fet himfelf very ferioufly to examine the Chriftian religion; in confequence of which he was foon convinced of the truth thereof. declares that he found it to be the only certain philofophy, and that he could not but commend it, as containing in it a certain majefty admirably adapted at once both to terrify and perfuade thofe who who were out of the right way, and to beget the sweetest peace and ferenity in the minds of thofe who were in it. Nor were the exemplary conduct and heroic conftancy of the Chriftians of thofe times without their fhare of influence in the converfion of this great man, of which himself takes notice to the emperor (happy times of Chriftianity! when the lives of its profeffors pleaded thus powerfully the cause of their mafter): "For my own part," fays he, being yet detained under the Platonic inftitutions, when I heard the Chriftians traduced and reproached, and yet faw them fearlefsly rushing upon death and venturing upon all thofe things which are moft dreadful to human nature, I concluded with myfelf, that it was impoffible for these men to wallow in vice: for who that is a flave to pleasure can cheerfully bid death welcome, and would not rather endeavour to prolong his life, and conceal himfelf from the magiftrate instead of offering himfelf to a public execution.” It was in the year 133, and the thirtieth of his age, that Juftin was converted to the Chriftian faith; and, as before that happy event, he appears to have been no lefs a fincere lover of, than a diligent inquirer after the truth, fo, afterwards, he became a very eminent example of diftinguifhed virtue and elevated piety. He was endowed with good natural parts, which were improved by a large flock of learning. He loved his Creator ncerely, and earneftly endeavoured to promote his glory. His temper was remarkably kind, even towards his moft inveterate enemies; the excellency of his difpofition will, in fome measure, appear from the few following and abfurdity of the Pagan no tions, concluding with the following exhortation: "Come hither, O ye Greeks, and partake of a most imcomparable wisdom, be inftructed in a divine religion, and acquaint yourfelves with an immortal King, become as I am, for I was once as ye are.-' -This is the doctrine which expels all corrupt affections out of the foul, from which being freed, it enjoys a state of tranquillity, and mounts up to its Creator." lines, from his own writings: Apology to the emperor, &c." It is the voice of reafon, and ever attended to by men truly pious, that truth alone is the thing to be had in the highest honour, and to hold the first place in our affections. The fame right reafon dictates alfo that a lover of the truth muft, by all means, fquare his words and actions by the rules of justice, coft him what it will. For it is a maxim among us Chriftians, that we cannot fuffer any real hurt, if we cannot be convict ed of any crime. You may kill, indeed, but you cannot hurt us! It is in our power, at any time, to escape your torments, by deny-particularly against the heretic ing the faith when you queflion us about it; but we fcorn to purchafe life at the expence of a lie; for our fouls are winged with a defire of a life of eternal duration, and of an immediate converfation with God the Father and Maker of all things." Some of the moft confiderable of the Gentiles being much con. cerned at the lofs of fo extraordinary a perfon as Juftin from among them, he wrote an oration to the Greeks, in which he informed them, that he, had not rafhly, and without deliberation, departed from their religion, but because he could find nothing in it really facred and worthy of the Deity. "The matters among you," fays he, 66 as your poets have ordered them, are mo numents of nothing but madness and intemperance; and if a man apply even to the most learned of you for inftruction, he will be entangled in a thousand difficulties, and become the moft confufed perfon in the world." After which he proceeds, with a great deal of wit and eloquence, to expofe the folly About the year 150 Juftin went to Rome, where he undertook to defend the Chriftian religion against the oppofers of thofe times, and Marcion, who taught that there were two Gods, the one good, and the other evil; and the Chriftians being very feverely dealt with at that time by Antoninus Pius, the emperor, Juftin fet himself to plead their caufe; accordingly he publifhed an Apology, inscribed to the emperor and fenate of Rome, in which he defended his brethren with great ftrength of reafon againft the common objections of their enemies, fhewing, at the fame time, the divinity of their faith, and urging, moreover, the unreafonableness and injuftice of proceeding against them after the then ufual method. This address had its defired effect, and wrought fo powerfully in their behalf, that the emperor published a letter, in which he ftrictly commanded, that the Chriftians fhould not be any more molefted merely on account of their religion, unlefs they were alfo found guilty of fome erime against the ftate. A fhort time after this, Juftin removed from Rome, and went to Athens, where he became acquainted with 7 H 2 the the celebrated Jewish Rabbi Tarphon, or Trypho, a man of great eminence among his own people; with him he entered into a difpute concerning religion, which lafted two days, in which he most admirably defended the Chriftian caufe against Judaism; and the iffue was, that the Jew declared himfelf highly pleafed with his difcourfe, acknowledging, moreover, that he had urged ftronger arguments in behalf of Chriftianity than he expected to have heard, and requefted that he might enjoy his friend. fhip, in what part of the world foever he was. After Juftin had continued fome time at Ephefus, he returned back again to Rome, and meeting there with a philofopher named Crefcens, he had frequent debates with him concerning religion. This man was in confiderable repute at Rome; he was a Cynic by profef. fion, and, according to the genius of that fect, furly and ill-natured, proud and conceited, a philofopher in appearance, but, at the fame time, a notorious flave to vice and wickednefs of every kind; he endeavoured, to the utmost of his power, to render the Chriftians the objections ufually made against the Christians, and requested, that, after they had confidered the af fair, they would prefix his apology to their own determination, and publifh them together to the world, that all mankind might have an opportunity of judging of the juf tice of their caufe. This zeal and activity of Juftin in behalf of his brethren awakened afresh the malice of his adverfary Crefcens against him, who, as he was not able to confute what he had wrote, refolved to attack him a more effectual way; an event which Juftin himself had before looked for, and accordingly had told the em peror," He expected that Cre fcens, or fome other of their titular philofophers, would lay fnares to get him tormented or crucified;" nor was he at all mistaken in his conjecture; for the envious wretch at length procured him to be caft into prifon, where it is faid, he underwent divers torments, after which he (together with fix other Chriftians his companions) was carried before Rufticius the prefect of the city, who endeavoured to prevail with him to obey the gods, and comply with the imperial in fwer, "That no one could juftly be found fault with who obeyed the commands of Chrift his Savi odious, though he was utterly ig.junctions. He returned for an norant of their principles, and fought to procure the death of Juftin (which he at length accomplished) for his free reproofs of him for his abominable wickednefs. In the year 167 fome Chriftians at Rome having been put to death for the profeffion of their faith, Juftin prefented a fecond Apology to the emperor Marcus Antoninus, in which he urges the injuftice and cruelty of taking away men's lives merely on account of their religion; he answered, moreover, our." The governor then de manded of him "what kind of education he had ?" He replied, "That he had made it his business to understand the opinions of all the feveral fects of philofophers, but had finally embraced the Chrif tian doctrine, how little foever it was esteemed by thofe who were immerfed in errors and falfe opinions." "Wretch that thou art," faid the prefect," art thou, then, wedded |