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For several years he accepted of an invitation from the late Rev. Dr. Bayley, of St. James's Church, Manchester, to preach there on several days of the race-week. He was there received with much acceptance, and attended by overflowing congregations of attentive hearers, many of whom will have reason to bless God, in a future world, for the good effects of these occasional labours.

About the year 1781, he opened a school for young people of both sexes, and took upon himself the principal share of the labour. He had at one time more than 160 scholars, and during the winter months they were at their books an hour or two in the morning by candle-light. He regretted, when speaking of this period of his life, that his early discipline was too severe. But his method of illustration in the readings, which formed a part of his school exercises, was always so engaging, that they generally sat down to that exercise as the most agreeable relaxation.

When the new Sunday school was established, he attended, as well as his curate, once a month, to catechise and instruct the elder scholars: this had not been long continued before considerable numbers of strangers wished to attend at the same time; and as he perceived that the throng was inconvenient, but yet regarding the eager disposition to hear as a favourable indication, and, no doubt, recollecting the success of his endeavours many years before, he proposed to give an explanation of the Pilgrim's Progress every Wednesday evening, in the same place. This was accordingly undertaken; but was unhappily followed with a most severe and painful catastrophe. The room employed, which was an upper one, became so full at the end nearest the door, on the first evening, that one of the beams gave way, and precipitated a considerable number of the audience to the bottom: dreadful was the confusion, and most afflicting the consequences. One young woman survived only a few hours, and many others were miserably fractured. Every attention was paid to the sufferers, and a liberal subscription was made, which provided them with medical and other relief until their recovery. This, as may easily be supposed, was a most heavy affliction; but, satisfied that his object was good, he determined to pursue it; and accordingly very soon recommenced his labours on the ground floor, though more incommodious than the other, to very serious and crowded assemblies, for nine months, until a paralytic attack, more than ordinarily severe, put a final pe riod to these labours, the year preceding his death.

(To be continued.)

( 46 )

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN HERALD.

Sin,It has often struck me, that a page or two of your useful Miscellany, devoted occasionally to the insertion of extracts from works of acknowledged worth, would be of very considerable ust. If your opinion should coincide with mine, and you should think es favourably of the following extract from Dr. Gregory's excelJent letters on the Christian Religion as I do, you will, perhaps, at some time or other, find room for it. It is an answer, as your readers will see, to an objection which has been confidently urged r against the doctrine of the Atonement; and all must allow, that at possesses at least the merit of ingenuity and originality. With servent wishes for the success of the Christian Herald, I am, &c. A CONSTANT READER.

The

"THE last objection, I shall notice, has been stated in the following terms: According to the usual theory of atonearent, none less than a Divine person can bear away the sins of the whole world; yet a Divine person cannot atone for sin, because Deity cannot die.' This, it must be acknowledged, presents a difficulty of formidable aspect; yet it is one which arises rather from our ignorance of the nature of death, than from any inadequate views of the nature of atonement. following observations will, I trust, greatly diminish the difficulty, if they do not remove it. The death of a being constituted of a material and an immaterial part, does not consist in a perfect extinction of its existence, but in a separation of its constituent parts. What we call the death of an animal, is a separation of the spiritual principle of animation and sensation, from the organized matter which it animated. The death of a man is, in a similar manner, the separation of the spiritual source of sensation, volition, and action, from the material organization which forms the human body. The body without the spirit is dead; it is no longer an active, thinking, sensitive, determining being, but an insensible, inactive lump of clay. After death the man no longer exists in his compound nature: his constituent parts are separated: his body to be still farther decomposed and divided, but his soul to remain entire-a single, indivisible, indestructible soul as before. It does not follow, therefore, that the soul is dead ; indeed, strictly speaking, a soul cannot die. None but a compound being can undergo that separation which constitutes death; but a soul is simple and indivisible; for, if it were divisible into two or more parts, those parts, each partaking of the same spiritual essence, would each possess distinct consciousness; and would cach, therefore, become a distinct soul,

which is repugnant to reason, Hence it appears that a soul, though it may be annihilated by the power of Him who created it, cannot die. What is dead exists, however its mode of subsistence be changed; but what is annihilated has no existence. Admitting this, the objection must be relinquished; for, allowing Christ to have a soul, which all the Humanitarians do allow, it might as pertinently be objected, that, since his soul cannot die, he cannot atone for sin; and, therefore, since nothing divine, nor any thing human, can atone for sin, and nothing else can, (see Heb. x. 4) it would result that sin cannot be atoned for at all, which is contrary to the uniform tenor of Scripture. From this view of the subject, it follows, that when the Divine and human spirit of the Redeemer ceased to animate his body, the person of Jesus Christ as properly died as did that of Moses, David, or any other, when such individual yielded up his spirit. It follows also, that the death of Jesus Christ neither caused any mutation in his divine nature, nor in the powers and properties of his soul. As to the value or efficacy of his death, that manifestly depends upon the value of his person in the scale of being. Among animated beings, relative importance is estimated by the proportionate extent to which the spirits which animate them, carry their actions or their influence. Thus we place a sparrow, a pidgeon, and an eagle, successively higher in the scale: in like manner, a sheep, an ox, an elephant, would have assigned to them successively increased values. A rational and accountable being is naturally placed above all those :-of rational beings, a man is reckoned superior to a child--a philosopher to a peasant-a monarch to one of his subjects; and the effects resulting from their deaths are proportionally felt. Hence since Jesus Christ is, according to the system I am now explaining, infinitely wiser than the profoundest philosopher, infinitely more powerful than the greatest monarch, his death must be sufficiently efficacious to cancel all the guilt which rendered that awful event necessary."

THE PUBLIC MANNER IN WHICH DIVINE REVELATION HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED TO MEN.

This is a subject which, doubtless, merits mature consideration. He who overlooks, or takes but a slight view of it, can never possess a comprehensive knowledge of the extent of the mercy and of God to man. There is danger of his being confounded by the common objection to the truth of the Scriptures, which is drawn from their limited publication. He must overlook a stimulus of the most powerful nature,

grace

(viz. the example of God), to join in the efforts which are now making to enable all men to read in their own language the wonderful works of God. It would, perhaps, be too much to hope that the following remarks will give a very correct or enlarged view of the subject; but I trust they will call the attention of some one to it, who possesses every requisite qualification for this important task.

Plainness and publicity characterise divine revelation, to the whole of which may be justly applied the words of Jehovah by the prophet," I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain." There is here an allusion to the manner in which heathen oracles were delivered. They supported a system of falsehood, and could not bear the light-they needed only to be known, to be detected. Too many, however, were interested in the support of their credit; hence every means was adopted to maintain their influence over the multitude. To effect this, the priests pretended that the gods spoke only in solitary places, as thick groves, or in dark caverns of the earth. In opposition to this practice, Jehovah spoke in the most public places; mountains, cities, solemn assemblies, were the usual places chosen to reveal the will of heaven. Heathen oracles, though professedly given to regulate the conduct of men, were delivered in obscure, enigmatical language, unintelligible to all, and hence capable of being explained by the priests to serve their own purposes. No such obscurity characterised the oracles of heaven; for, in so far as they were designed to be a rule of conduct to us, they are so intelligible that he who runs may read and understand them. Jehoval hath not said to any man, "Seek ye me in vain."

I apprehend it will appear on mature examination, that God has, at sundry times and in divers manners, revealed his will to man in so explicit and public a manner, as that the knowledge of it might have been attained by the whole human race had they felt as much interest with regard to it, as they manifest at all times with respect to the supply of their temporal wants. The following remarks may not altogether establish this proposition, but it is hoped they will throw some light upon the subject: and this is not a matter of small importance; for if the truth of the proposition just stated, can be unfolded, it will furnish us with conclusive evidence that God delights in mercy, and will have all men come to the knowledge of the truth.

During the first ages of the world, the intimations of the divine will were, perhaps, comparatively few, but they were delivered from heaven in a manner most calculated to secure their publicity, and to lead the attention of mankind to them.

They were delivered to the fathers of the human race-to Adam, Abel, Lamech, and Noah. Several circumstances rendered these persons the most proper depositaries of the oracles of heaven: their civil influence, religious character, and long life. Every patriarch was the acknowledged ruler, not only of his immediate children, but also of their descendants, who all regarded him as their father, guide, protector, and prince. Those fathers to whom God revealed his mind were eminently religious-they were devoted to God, and he deigned to hold frequent communion with them. Indeed, there is reason to believe, that many more oracles were delivered to them than the few generally noticed, such as those which relate to the promised seed, the judgment, the flood. Many laws were religiously observed, but since God approved of their conduct, it is obvious he must have enjoined their observance; and we shall not, perhaps, err greatly, if we believe that Jehovah instituted them when he visited our fathers. God, in thus honouring them, required their children to respect them as anointed to teach them the way of life. To execute this trust, he preserved them long on the earth; and not one, but all of them. Adam lived till within a few years of the birth of Noah's father, and consequently he was well known to six patriarchs, of good report, viz. Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Ja] red, and Enoch. Here then were persons well qualified to witness for the truth revealed to Adam, for the space of nearly a thousand years. Their children all learned from them the necessary arts of life, retained the knowledge of them, and practised them wherever they went. Can any sufficient reason be assigned why they did not learn from them, and convey wherever they went, the knowledge of God? I know of none but that assigned by Paul," They did not like to retain God in their knowledge."

But their hatred of him did not shut up the bowels of his compassion. There is reason to believe, that, with the exception of Cain's descendants, the children of men, for several hundred years, regarded the religion of their fathers, that is, the religion of heaven. In the days of Seth "they began to call on the name of the Lord,"-to assemble publicly for his worship; and even in Noah's youth there was still a marked distinction between the children of the fathers and the race of Cain-the former are still denominated the sons of God. But they degenerated as their number increased; they joined themselves to the ungodly, and thus rendered the usual means of parental instruction insufficient to preserve or disseminaté divine revelation on the earth. Great, therefore, was the divine mercy in adopting a new method of revealing his willa method characterised by greater publicity than that which had been previously used. He raised up Noah, and constitútVOL. II. No. 2, G

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