east of Belfast, and stopping there over Sunday, being told that there was a Baptist chapel at Conlig, some two miles from that place, I went out on Sabbath morning for the first service. Conlig is a small village, composed mostly of working people, who are nearly all engaged in handloomweaving of several muslin trades. The workers in these trades are very badly paid, and work is hard to be got, which leaves those engaged therein very poor. But, though they are poor, I found that they are not kept from the house of God. Although it was the sacrament Sabbath in the Presbyterian church of that place, the Baptist chapel was pretty well filled in the morning; and in the afternoon, although the rain came down in torrents, I observed a good number of anxious hearers willing to attend the house of God and receive the truth, I trust in the love of it. I may here state that I was much pleased to see one person restored to the fellowship of the church, who for some time past had joined the Presbyterians, but on becoming convinced that he had taken an unwise step, and one which his conscience told him was not in keeping with his views of divine truth, he resolved to lose no time in applying to be again restored, and being accepted of by the church, he was publicly reunited on that occasion. I was introduced to the pastor, Mr. Brown, who kindly invited me up to the prayer meeting on Monday evening. It being only a pleasant walk, I availed myself of the opportunity, and can bear testimony to the healthy appearance of the meeting, and the zeal and earnestness with which prayer was made for the well-being of the cause at Conlig. I left much refreshed in mind, and I trust the blessing of the Most High will continue to be poured out upon that beloved land, until wrath, malice, superstition, and envy, are completely banished from the minds of men, and instead thereof, love, joy, and peace, infused by the Spirit of God into their hearts, transforming their lives, and bringing them under the banner of him who is the Prince of Peace. FORMATION OF A NEW HOLYWELL GREEN, NEAR HALIFAX. ON Monday, September 5th, 1864, a new Particular Baptist Church, on Strict Communion principles, was formed in this place. In the afternoon, at two o'clock, the Rev. D. Crumpton, of Salendine Nook, described the nature and constitution of a Christian church; the Rev. H. Watts, of Golcar, gave an address on the deacon's office; and the Rev. T. Michael, of Halifax, read the declaration of faith and practice (to which assent was publicly given by the persons about to be joined in Christian fellowship), and then formed the church. The Lord's supper was administered by the Rev. J. Hirst, of Blackley, aided by the other ministers, and many friends from the neighbouring Baptist churches par ticipated. At six o'clock a public meeting was held. The Rev. D. Crumpton was requested to take the chair. The Rev. J. Hirst offered solemn prayer to God for the newlyformed church, and for the two brethren chosen as deacons, and very instructive and encouraging addresses were given by the Chairman, the Rev. J. Hirst, the Rev. T. Michael, the Rev. H. Watts, and Mr. Jonathan Longbottom, one of the brethren chosen to office in the new church, and whose pious efforts had greatly contributed to bring about, with the blessing of God, the events of the day. Between the services, tea was provided for the friends, and a goodly number partook of the refreshment. The spirit of love pervaded the entire proceedings, and the services were marked by great attention and seriousness. Our hope is that this little one may be greatly multiplied and blessed. The district is populous and thriving, and it is pleasing to find gospel principles taking root in busy manufac turing localities, like this, whence, we trust, they will spread and bless many. MINISTERIAL CHANGE. BALLYMENA, IRELAND. - Mr. C. T. Keen has resigned the pastorate here, and returned to his former charge at Bridgenorth, in England. He is succeeded in the ministry by Mr. Eccles, late of Banbridge, who now resides on his large and beautiful farm which he has purchased several miles out of town. The cause is very low; but the Lord is able to raise it up. Much was said of the " glorious revival' here and elsewhere in the " year of grace," and the multitude of "wonderful conversions" that took place during that period; but, alas! where are the converts now? BAPTISMS. S. Mr. W. J. Wake, Wolverhampton ..D. .D. 05 0 0 2 6 Richard Hartland, Wednes Rev. William Jackson.. Mr. Josiah Thompson. Mrs. Thomas.. 050 .D. 0 5 0 00000666666000 .D. 0 2 6 D. 0 2 D. .D. 0 2 6 0 2 .D. 0 2 D. 0 2 6 D. 1 D. 0 1 .D. 0 1 .D. 0 10 RECEIVED FOR THE BAPTIST TRACT SOCIETY. Collected by Mr. WHITEHEAD. Rev. Joseph Smith, Pontesbury. D. 050 The Misses Strachan D. 0 0 2 90006 co co co co co cc89 D. 026 D. 0 2 6 D. 0 2 D. 0 1 0 D. 0 1 .D. 0 1 0 0 2 6 0 2 6 6 Mr. Thomas Evans D. 0 2 6 0 2 6 0 6 Rev. W. Lees 2 6 S. 1 0 0 S. 0 10 0 S. 050 050 D. 0 5 0 050 D. D. 0 2 6 D. 0 2 6 Mr. John Hanley.. Mr. Michael Coates. Mrs. John Cotterell William Burnett, Esq. Mr. S. Lloyd... 0 2 6 D. 0 2 6 D. 0 1 0 At Coseley. S. .D. .D. .D. 0 2 6 D. 0 2 6 .D. Mr. Smith, of Dudley. D. .D. .D. .D. .D. 0 2 0 5 5 5 0 0 3 2 2 0 2 0 6 "MOSES gives us no distinct account of the origin of sacrifice." At first sight this seems remarkable. If, on the one hand, the institution is of divine appointment, how could the historian have failed to mention it? If, on the other hand, the offering of sacrifice proceeded from the suggestion of human conscience and reason, how could such will-worship be acceptable to God? But though Moses gives us no account of the origin of those sacrifices which were offered up immediately after the fall, we believe their origin to be not the less divine, and that for the following reasons: 1. Because the institution in every stage of its development was the subject of divine direction. Trace it backwards from its consummation to its source. Begin with the sacrifice of Christ. That was of divine ordination. He is the "Lamb without blemish and without spot, fore-ordained before the creation of the world." Take next the Levitical sacrifices. They were appointed by God's express command. Ascending upwards to the source of the institution, we find on our way that the law of the passover, with all its minute details, was laid down on divine authority--that in the case of Job's three friends, the number and description of the victims were divinely prescribed—that Abraham's extraordinary sacrifices were the subjects of extraordinary revelation. Thus we have a strong presumption in favour of the divine origin of the Adamic sacrifices prior to any direct investigation of the subject. An institution so divinely recognised, guided, and utilised, needs no Solomon to discover its parentage. 2. Insuperable difficulties beset the hypothesis that this practice is of human origin. For what suggested to the mind of man the idea of worshipping by sacrifice? Cain and Abel are the first recorded worshippers by sacrifice. What led them to adopt this form? Especially, how shall we account for a righteous and a wicked man adopting substantially the same form? If the origin of this form is merely human, did it originate in Cain's mind, or in Abel's, or in both simultaneously? If in Cain's, what led him to worship by sacrifice? His worship was not acceptable, and therefore not hearty. He must have been a formalist. But formalism implies the adoption of a form. It presupposes known duty. It grasps the form, and neglects the substance. VOL. XXI.-NO. CCLI. 2 D There can be no formalist without the previous existence of a form having some real or supposed authority. Now what suggested this particular form of worship to Cain's mind? Not his piety, for he had none. Not the example of his younger brother, for whose person he had little love, and for whose forms of worship he could have but little esteem. What then remains to be supposed but that he received it by tradition from his parents? Or are we to suppose that the idea of worshipping by sacrifice originated with Abel? If so, what likelihood is there that Cain would have adopted it? Moreover, Abel's was a bloody sacrifice. Why so? He was indeed a keeper of sheep, and his sacrifice consisted of that which he possessed. But he was not a keeper of dead sheep, and under all circumstances, human reason, left to itself, would suggest the value of a living sheep as a more costly and acceptable gift than the blood of a dead one. Moreover, Abel offered the fat, as well as the blood. What led him to the conclusion that the fat was more acceptable to God than the lean? How long had he to reason with himself before he could settle this question? In what bright spot of his conscience did he find it written "all the fat is the Lord's"? 3. The fact that God had our first parents under his special care and spiritual direction after the fall, greatly strengthens the supposition that they, and not their children, were the first to offer sacrifice. The great mystery of Redemption was communicated to our first parents by the spirit of prophecy. Moreover, the Lord God made them "coats of skins," and clothed them. If the "coats of skins" have more than an outward meaning (as the nakedness they were designed to cover evidently has), the gift of them was not only a kind act of Providence, but designed to teach them the worthlessness of their own resources in seeking a covering for their spiritual nakedness. At any rate, if God did not leave it to them to determine what they should wear, it seems unreasonable to suppose that he would leave it to them to determine how they should worship. But the skins did not, like the fig-leaves, grow upon the trees. This clothing was obtained through death. Till Adam incurred the penalty of death, he needed no clothing. Now God appears, and covers his nakedness with clothing that could only be obtained by the sacrifice of life. Is it any stretch of imagination to suppose that Adam would learn from this his incapacity to devise the means of his reconciliation with God? For to him clothing must have had greater significance than to us. He had not from the first been accustomed to it. The necessity for it commenced at his fall. should provide a covering for his sin-created nakedness, showed the divine intention to deliver him from the effects of his fall, and the means by which that covering was obtained must have shown the manner in which his deliverance was to be effected. 66 That God 4. The offerings brought by Cain and Abel were of a kind precisely similar to those that were afterwards appointed by God under the Levitical law. The Israelites were required to bring the "first-fruit of their growing" (probably implying an acceptance of toil as part of the original curse), as well as the firstlings of their flocks," unto the Lord, and what is remarkable in the firstrecorded bloody sacrifice is, that " Abel brought of the fat" to God's altar. "All the fat is the Lord's," says the Levitical law. And "it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations that ye eat neither fat nor blood." How is this coincidence to be accounted for? Can anything be more rational than to trace the practice in both cases to the same origin? 5. The acceptance of Abel's sacrifice appears to have been testified by some external visible manifestation. He obtained witness that he was righteous." Cain knew, both that his own sacrifice was not acceptable, and that his brother's was, and "he was very wroth, and his countenance fell." How did he know this, if not by some visible manifestation? But it seems incongruous to suppose that the method of divine approval of certain acts should be more definite than the authority on which the acts are performed. |